The following exercise is taken from Anodea Judith’s fantastic book, Creating on Purpose. In it, she uses the psychology of the chakra system to help readers turn visions and dreams into realities. This exercise is in a chapter about identifying the underlying beliefs we hold about ourselves and unspoken commitments we have made to certain “truths” or external priorities.


Step 1: Identify Competing Commitments and Desires

Write down the major goals you have for your life and what prevents you from achieving them.

Instead of using but (“ I want to lose weight, but I love eating sweets.”), use and.

For example:

  • “I want to lose weight, and I want to eat sweets.”
  • “I want to earn more money, and I want to have more time off.”
  • “I want to travel, and I want to pay off all of my debts.”

Writing down your goals is a good way to acknowledge the truth— you have many competing commitments, needs, desires, and beliefs. That’s okay. We all do. The first step is allowing them all to be true, without resisting any of them.

Step 2: Identify Competing Beliefs

Pick one of the following subjects, and spend five minutes writing down every belief you’ve ever had about it:

  • Money
  • Sex
  • Power
  • Religion
  • Your body

For example, “I believe money is the root of all evil. Money is good. Money gives me freedom. Money is dirty. Money is the key measurement of success.” You may find that you can list thirty or more beliefs.

Next, notice how many of those beliefs compete directly with each other. The key is to expose unconscious competing beliefs to your conscious awareness.

Step 3: Release Crosscurrents

To complete and clear a crosscurrent, you have to be willing to experience it fully and express it fully. One of our favorite ways to do this— and certainly the most fun— is to exaggerate it. This technique has evolved out of theater games and drama therapy, where it’s used to help people fully express a particular character or emotion. It works equally well when applied to crosscurrents (which behave like character actors) that operate below the conscious level.

To exaggerate means “to make bigger than it is.”

OVER THE TOP

That’s the spirit we’re talking about.

Thoughts and voices inside your head sound just like you, so you mistakenly believe they are you. But they’re not. They’re crosscurrents reasserting themselves. How can you tell? If they repeat the same messages over and over, they’re not you. They’re part of the mind’s automatic machinery, but they are trying to get your attention. In fact, when they’re active, they’re competing for your attention. Until you give it to them, they will continue to assert themselves. They act like a messenger who’s been hired to personally deliver a message to you. He raps on your door to let you know he’s there. If you don’t answer, but he knows you’re there, he knocks louder. If you continue to ignore him, he rings your bell, then shouts— louder and louder— until you finally open the door, and say, “What?!” He hands you the message, and when you say, “Thank you,” he turns around and disappears, having completed his duty.

When you exaggerate a crosscurrent, you allow the message to come through— fully and completely. Then, both the messenger and the message can complete the cycle of their creation, and they can go away. You’ll prove this to yourself when you do this exercise. We’ve taught this method to hundreds of people, and every one of them has been surprised at how easy it is to eliminate thoughts and feelings that have been present in their consciousness for years— even decades.

You can do this exercise by yourself or with a partner. Be ready and willing to look and act silly. The more fun you have, the better the technique works.