Creative visioning to help decisions

I decided last week to change the nature of the weekly session I run on Thursday evenings (my intuition said ‘time to change’). I spoke to the participants and they supported the idea of group discussion on a range of themes, to bring ideas, perspectives and challenges from different views.

Interestingly people were also discussing changes they had faced from recent decisions so it seemed quite apt to have ‘decisions’ as the topic of the week.

To prepare for this I began to think about the nature of decisions and I was surprised where my trail of mind moved to.

I realised every moment we are making decisions, albeit unconscious ones that move us to the next moment. I began to ponder what was behind these more unconscious decisions as opposed to those that require more conscious processes of thinking, planning, analysing and evaluating.

Automatic decisions are generally impulsive in nature and often not aligned with our deeper desires and intentions. I wondered how to influence this more automatic and unconscious aspect to align more with what we truly want as opposed to against what we want for our lives.

I thought how useful it would be if quality automatic decisions could ‘help us out’  in our day to day living because relying on ‘trying’ to make best conscious decisions can be quite taxing;

• We decide to go one way however it doesn’t seem to align with another part of our life that is important
• One part of us wants one thing and another part wants another and there is lack of congruency
• Best fit approaches and solutions are often inspired from creative or intuitive approaches rather than the more calculated

So it is understandable that confusion, stagnation, dissatisfaction or a sense of disempowerment can result.

I thought it may be worthwhile to investigate some creative approaches to enhance our likelihood of quality actions with our automatic decisions in every day moments.

The most significant approach that stands out in my own life is the use of creative visioning and its influence on decisions in relation to physical activity which is an important area in my life.

I create a vision of how I see physical activity fit amongst my whole of life experience; what I see as the way regardless of time, place or context. I see it clearly in my mind. For example it includes the following

I see myself moving energetically from one situation to another.

I see myself seeing the opportunities for an incidental walk or outdoor activities.

I hear myself saying yes when asked to try a different activity that appeals to my senses.

I see myself taking my dogs for regular walks.

I see myself stretching and using my body in its full range

I see myself taking the opportunity for a movement that brings a meditative state such as yoga, tai chi, cycling

I see myself talking enthusiastically about my commitment to be physically active

I feel me as this person who is prepared for these opportunities.

I connect regularly with this vision and the sensation of this in my body as these actions actually represent the choices I desire.

Then I allow myself to naturally ‘fall into’ these aspects of my vision without structured planning, rules and expectations.

When I do undertake physical activity, it seems more from the memory and connection with my vision and feels more like a natural ‘thing to do.’

Using this over time I have noticed I engage more regularly and purposefully in physical activity and the decision to do so is without struggle or expectation.

So, I hope this slant on decisions can spark an approach that gets you moving in ways that feel good.

Enjoy your fortnight,

Tricia