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Monday, January 17, 2011

VISION BOARDS AND THE NEW MOON CYCLE.

You could really use a vision board.
Most everyone desires for a better future for themselves and for their families. We spend a lot of time and energy on actions that we hope will bring about that future. Here’s an activity that you may not know about that can help you achieve the better life that you wish for. It’s called a vision board, and it’s a collage of visual images of what you value and what you want to see as part of your life. The purpose of a vision board is to create a focus on specific things that will enable you to realize your dreams. By selecting and putting together a set of very significant pictures and writing, you’ll begin to reveal those things in a very positive way. Physically, it is a poster or corkboard with cut out pictures, drawings and writing about things that you want in your life. Like many other endeavors that involve heart and spirit, new moon energy can help you with your vision board. (More about this later.)

The vision board is also called a manifestation board, an intention board or treasure map because it provides us with a road map of the intentions/hopes/goals that we want to attract in our lives. By frequent reviewing of our creation, we can focus our energy in a way that helps us move closer towards our goals.

Consider the things that you dream about or think about when you are alone. What do you imagine yourself doing or having? These questions are the ones that can help you reach the objectives you’re searching for. It’s our own sense of positivism or courage that needs to be activated so we can obtain our most cherished dreams. There is universal energy (part of the Universal Mind) available to all of us that can help us find the strength and wisdom that we need to succeed.

The theory for the vision board comes from the Law of Attraction. The basic idea behind this law is that we attract things to us by focusing on or giving our attention to them. And this happens whether or not we are aware of this principle. If you think negative thoughts about yourself, that attracts bad things to you – things like lack of money, loneliness, worries. If we focus on things that are positive for us, then we can attract the brighter, better future that we long for.

What do you want on your vision board?
Consider your priority areas for the next year. The items on your vision board may involve things, beliefs and/or environments. Do you want a nicer or more organized home? Better health? A stronger marriage? Do you want to connect or reconnect with some person or a group of people? Do you want to live in a safer and more loving community? Do you want your lifestyle to be simpler and more eco-friendly? Do you want to keep a journal or write a book? Do you want to eat more nutritious and less fattening meals?

Do you even really know what you want? If you are like many of us, you've been so busy with everyday activities that you haven’t had time to fully consider your own needs. Don’t worry if you don’t have any clear goals when you begin this process. That’s what you’re going to find out once you sit down and figure it out. Choosing what to include in the board may take a number of hours or even a few days. Give yourself the gift of time to dream and be guided by your visualizations.

Ways to put your board together.
Collect a lot of magazines, Internet clipart, drawings, and/or photos. Go through the pictures, cutting out any images that appeal to you. Whether they're words or pictures – if it’s what attracts you, separate it, and put in your "keeper" pile.  Consider including some things in these areas: health, wealth, family, friends, personal growth, home and environment.
Pick out your favorite images from all the cutouts. Lay these on your board and begin to arrange them into the places that you want. Glue your images to the board.

Draw some lines under each image. The spaces under each item can be used later to write in just when and how those dreams make themselves apparent in your life. You can also decorate the board with paints, shapes, and hand drawn pictures. If you like, you can write words or short phrases beside the pictures. Make your board as attractive as possible. If you like, you can even do the whole board as pin-ups on a bulletin board. Or use computer software to collect all kinds of photos and digital images and put them in a single vision board file (as in my drawing). It can, then, be a computer print-out or the image on the background of your computer desktop.

It’s good to leave a space in the center of the board for a photo or drawing of yourself. This makes your vision board personal to you. You can also draw lines or place ribbons (like rays out from the sun) to emphasize your connection to each item.

Affirmations are part of the vision board process.
State your affirmations (desires) for each item in the present tense and in very positive terms. For example: I am healthy. My children are strong and doing well. I have the money that I need. I help my family and friends and they help me. I pray often and my prayers comfort me.

Put your vision board somewhere in your home where you can see it several times a day – in the kitchen, in your bedroom, in the hallway. Every day spend a few minutes in front of your vision board and imagine all these wishes happening in your life. Repeat your affirmations out loud in the morning when you get out of bed, and then again in the evening – perhaps before going to bed. As you make the affirmations part of your everyday life, you’ll begin to notice some changes happening around you. These changes will point to new possibilities, and you’ll find the steps you need to take to accomplish your dreams.

In the following weeks and months, you’ll see many of the items on your board actually appearing in your life. Also, if after a time, something that you have on your board doesn’t feel “right”, then remove it and replace it with something else. Changes are O.K.

Begin your vision board with the new moon.
The best time to create your board is during the first four days of the lunar cycle (day of the new moon and the three following days). Some experts recommend that the board be made in conjunction with the yearly astrological cycle - that's Aries in April. But you don’t have to wait for an annual cycle. Any lunar cycle during the year will do. Ideally, you should complete your board within the first four days of the new moon. Don’t worry if you don’t finish all the work in four days. Get the bulk of it done in those days, and if necessary, you can add some details later. Be ready before the new moon cycle by buying supplies, collecting pictures, and bringing together all the materials that you’ll use in your board. But don’t begin it early. The energy of the new moon will help you create your board faster and in a more positive frame of mind.

2 comments:

MAry Jane said...

I like your idea but feel (as usual) that I will do it the other way. I have always been backward. I do everything backward... like reading the last chapter of a book first, I drive well in reverse, when I began to read, I read from the bottom up... things like that.
At seventy I feel vendicated. I now have an excuse, at least, for looking back as opposed to looking forward.
I will make my vision board, but of things I remember that are so important to me.
You will certainly be on my board.

GrandmaS said...

MJ, Well, a lot of people have read this post on vision boards - several hundred, at least. You're the first to comment &, of course, the only one to mention that it could be done with images mainly from the past. And I don't see any particular reason why not. In this case, you value the past as an important part of your present - so it fits in your scheme for a vision board. Go ahead by all means & I'm pleased to be a part of it all.