Lohri is essentially a festival dedicated to fire and the sun god. It is the time when the sun transits the zodiac sign Makar (Capricorn), and moves towards the north. In astrological terms, this is referred to as the sun becoming Uttarayan.

Fire is associated with concepts of life and health. Fire, like water, is a symbol of transformation and regeneration.It is the representative of the sun, and is thus related, on the one hand with rays of light, and on the other with gold.It is capable of stimulating the growth of cornfields and the well being of man and animals.

It is also an image of energy and spiritual strength. That is why the Lohri fire gets sanctified and is venerated like a deity. On Lohri, people offer peanuts, popcorn and til (sesame seed), sweets made of til- chirva, gajak and revri – to propitiate fire as a symbol of the sun god.

The pious Gayatri Mantra is directed to Sun God to bless us with intelligence & wisdom

Now with all this gyaan, what better than an evening of celebration with friends and familycould make Lohri special !

Happy Lohri! Happy Harvesting throughout the year!

Sit quietly. Close your eyes. Withdraw the senses. Fix the mind on this Supreme Light and enjoy the real DEEPAVALI, by attaining illumination of the soul.

He who Himself sees all but whom no one beholds, who illumines the intellect, the sun, the moon and the stars and the whole universe but whom they cannot illumine, He indeed is Brahman, He is the inner Self.

Celebrate the real DEEPAVALI by living in Brahman, and enjoy the eternal bliss of the Paraatpara Shiva and Aadya Shakti bestowed on you!

When I first started doing Affirmations about 3 years ago, I heard of a powerful technique of doing them in front of a mirror. Phewww…..the mere thought of talking to myself in front of the mirror used to freak me out.

“You look awful.” “You stink”. You don’t know how to dress up.” These are the voices I used to hear! Popping out of everywhere when I would look myself in a mirror.

“How could a person who as a child was bombarded with criticism most of the time, muster the courage to see anything good about herself in the mirror?” said my course instructor at my certification course on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.

There ………my tryst with ‘look within’ began.

Looking into my eyes in front of a mirror I began talking to myself. Yeah…it looked funny, sounded weird, and felt scary too!!

“I love you. I really really love you.” Saying these two lines were the most difficult than anything else. Why? Why is it so difficult for us to say that we love ourselves?

Although as a child, we all do talk to ourselves…in our minds, saying it aloud…well…some do it in front of the mirror. Only those who knew this secret…like all the successful speakers, leaders like Winston Churchill, Einstein did mirror work as a part of their habits!

What was their secret? What did these people discover so powerful about this technique?

Well, they would talk to that ‘child’ inside.

Did you know there is a 3 year old child within each one of us?

I began to talk to this child within me every single day, nourishing this child, telling her how wonderful and capable and magnificent she is.

Within 3 months of doing my affirmations in front of the mirror, I began to feel different about myself. It was miraculous!!!

I remember, around the same time, my ex- trainees organised a get-together and hesitatingly invited me, knowing how busy I used to be with work and only work.

To their surprise I quickly agreed to join them and was actually pleased to be invited there….And the moment I reached I was floored with compliments …  “Oh My God Preiti you look 10 years younger than how you used to look last year.” “Preiti what have you been doing? You are glowing!”

I knew within what was working for me …for the first time in my life I felt connected ! Connected to my Inner Self, to my Being , to the very Source within me!!  I knew that I had found a treasure after all!

But today, to my trainees and coachees this doesn’t seem like a treasure when at first I share it with them. For all they see it as a fathomless funny exercise.

I witnessed the sheer amount of pain he had to go through when I handed the mirror to one of my coachees in a session and have him say “I love you and accept you exactly as you are.”

For 5-6 consecutive times he couldn’t go beyond “I love….” …..” I love….” And he’d put the mirror away after that.

That 3 year old child within him was so angry and resentful that all these years he had not given that child all the love the child deserves. How could he expect the child to accept love from him so easily now.

However with support and persistence he was able to express love at least 2-3 times in the session. This was an excellent beginning!!

With regular practice of doing Mirror Work at home he began feeling from being uncomfortable to feeling lighter and at ease with himself and others too, both at home and work.

Here’s the thing…When we look deep into our eyes and say our Affirmations, then these merely do not remain as words, coz then feelings are generated. And research has shown long ago that it is ‘feelings’ that are a powerful force that carries energy and thus vibration. These vibrations then go into the Universe and attract the similar vibrations to you. This is how you manifest anything you affirm!

Brhadaranyaka Upanishad of the 1.4.10 of the Yajur Veda says ‘Aham Brahamsi’ which means ‘I am the creator’ . This mahavakya or great saying is the basis of Law of Attraction. Where ‘I’ means the Self. You have the power to create anything you want.

But for that you will have face the mirror!

What would you want to create for yourself?

Are you ready to do your affirmations by looking yourself in the mirror?

What is holding you from facing ‘Yourself’ in the mirror?

I welcome your feedback and comments. Please continue to share your experiences.

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We all want to know ‘how’ things work. I love “how to’s” as well.

All theory in the world is useless unless we know ‘how’ to apply it and make changes.

Many of us begin doing the Affirmations with a lot of excitement, and yet we may not see the results. And in despair, some of us give it up.

It is here that knowing ‘how to do the affirmations’ really help!!!

Affirmations are any statements we make.

Doing Affirmations only a few minutes in the morning is a good exercise. But what do you do for the rest of the day is equally important!

 One of my trainees got very excited with these ideas and started doing daily affirmations in the morning. But during the day, when she would talk to me or others she would usually complain about her life situations. Grudgingly she came to me expressing her discontent with the whole idea of doing Affirmations.

To me it was no wonder why she could not see affirmations working for her!

One of the Power Points I firmly believe is “Every thought we think is creating our future.”- Louise L. Hay

 Continuous modes of Thinking and Speaking produce Beliefs; and beliefs produce Behaviours in our life!

What statements do you use while talking to your friends, or boss, or family? Is it positive or ……..is it negative?

Are you in the habit of using statements like: “Hurry up, else you will miss the bus.”  Or  “No matter how hard I try I never succeed”

And while you may be doing morning Affirmations like – “I am always on time wherever I go” and  “Everything I touch is a success.”  These may not show results if you are talking negative for the rest of the day!

I had a client of mine who would always begin with “ I don’t want…” statements , when asked as to what did he want.

He’d say …….“I don’t want to be stuck in this job.” Or  “I don’t want to be broke.”

Too often we think in negative affirmations. Negative affirmations only create more of what you say you don’t want. Saying: “I don’t want to be sick” is not going to make you healthy. Declaring: “ I am healthy and Good health is mine now and forevermore” will open channels in your consciousness to create that.

How often have we lamented upon what we didn’t want? Did it ever bring us what we really wanted? This is nothing but ‘fighting the negative’! And it never brings what we really want.

I remember how I used to talk so much about what I didn’t want in my life. I even had a list prepared … Ha ha… and then I used to question why am I seeing more and more of all the things listed?

The more you dwell on what you don’t want, the more of it you create.

Louise Hay puts The Law of Attraction as – “What you put your attention on, grows and becomes permanent in your life.”

It is clearly mentioned in the Vedas and the Western teachers have made it simple for us to understand that – Consistent modes of thinking create beliefs. And beliefs produce behaviours in life.

Another word of caution while doing affirmations is to always do it in PRESENT TENSE – “ I am ….”  or  “ I have….”.

Do you know why??

Coz our subconscious mind is such an obedient servant that if you declare in the future tense, “I want” or “I will have”, then that is where the idea will always stay – just out of your reach in the future!

So say your affirmations in the present tense like -

I am loving and lovable.

I have a perfect living space.

I am treated with love and respect wherever I go.

I am always safe and  divinely protected.

This way you could create your own affirmations. But remember ……..

1. To continually think, speak and talk your affirmations.
2.  Make sure your affirmations are in the present tense.

“In the Infinity of life where I am all is Perfect, Whole and Complete.

My life is ever new. Each moment of my life is new and fresh and vital.

I use my affirmative thinking to create exactly what I want.

This is a new day. I am a new me.

I think differently, I speak differently, I act differently.

Others treat me differently.

My new world is a reflection of my new thinking.

It is a joy and a delight to plant new seeds, for I know these seeds become my new experiences.

All is well in my world.”

-         Louise L.Hay

Love and Peace,

Preiti

Coming next : Mirror work and Visualisation – Powerful ways to do affirmations!

Now and again,I keep sharing this secret with people I meet…. relatives, friends, my clients and trainees. Many of them come back to me and share how they were able to manifest what they affirmed. It gives me immense happiness to see it working for us all.

But, to many it is still a mystery or perhaps a tool yet to discover!……. A very powerful tool ,at that one!

Affirmations are anything we say or think. All our self-talk is a stream of Affirmations. Consistent and continuous thoughts or words become beliefs. And these beliefs show results in our lives.

Whatever we think, becomes true for us. You see, the Universe has no sense of judgement, Universe judges us at our own value. So, if we think positive thoughts and speak positive words again and again, we see positive things happening. And, if we think negative thoughts and speak negative words, we see more of negative experiences in our life.

One of my clients consulted me for workplace success. And this person would constantly complain about his job, saying, ‘My job sucks!’ . It was no surprise to me  to know that he disliked his workplace, hated his boss and also attracted criticism at work most of the time.

I believe that what we give out, we get back! So if I want acceptance and respect and appreciation from others, I need to first give it to others. One way to do this is – action. Doing it !

There is another yet more powerful and subtle way – Affirmations.

I suggested him to do these affirmations …..and to do it consistently. – ‘I have a wonderful job and I love doing what I do. ‘ My workplace is a place of haven and everybody appreciates my work.’ I work for the most wonderful bosses.’

After a few weeks, he came back to me sharing how his boss approached him with a new profile for him, which he was absolutely enjoying. And now he was eager to work on other areas of his life.

You see, God has gifted us with this very powerful tool called ‘mind’. Only if we know how to use it , we could create what we have ever wanted for us.

 When we begin affirming, the Law of Attraction brings to us what we have in our consciousness. There is no denying to this law of nature.

So, begin affirming!! What are you waiting for?

                            
Here are a few of my own affirmations. Feel free to use them to attract abundance into your life.

 My Daily Affirmations - 

 Self -Love
I love myself exactly as I am
I am loving and lovable. Love is everywhere
I am glad to be born–I have a right to be here

Health
I love my body. My body loves to be healthy.
Abundant energy and vitality are my birthright
Every cell in my body is healthy and well

Abundance
My income is constantly increasing.
I prosper whereever I turn.
Every rupee I spend comes back to me multiplied
People enjoy paying me money for what I enjoy doing most

Gratitude
I am the perfect expression of gratitude
I am deeply grateful for all the good in my life
Thank you Life for all the good that I have
 

Coming soon – ‘How to use Affirmations for quick results!’