The LOA Experiment (DIY)

[Acting Like Godot]

Four people (3nigma; Joeschmoe; Jawillie & Aspiring to Clarity) are currently conducting their own LOA experiments, with me as the consultant. Please feel free to participate. The experiments will run for about two months and have just started, so it's not late for you to join in.

Your experiment will only require 15 - 20 minutes per day, three to five days a week. Many of the exercises can be easily incorporated into your daily routine.

Furthermore the experiment will be designed such that even if LOA is untrue (a view which, of course, I personally reject), you should get some practical benefits out of doing the experiment. For example, you will learn how to do relaxation exercises; gain clarity on your goals; work on your action plans, and so on.

I suggest the methodology and the LOA exercises, but you choose your own intentions and are free to adapt the structure of the experiment to suit your own needs and preferences.

See next post for details on how to participate.

[Acting Like Godot]

Original post here. This is what you need to do:

1. Get a file, notebook or blog, to keep proper written records of your experiment. Choose one or two areas of your life, for the purposes of this experiment. For example, "Career"; "My Hobby"; or "Health".

2. Suppose you choose "Career". Now do a writing exercise, to describe the reality of your career as you currently see it. A very simple framework could be as follows:

(a) five things you like best about your job, and why
(b) five things you dislike the most about your job, and why
(c) what you expect your job situation would be like, in 2 months' time, if you just carry on with your life pretty as usual.

3. Date your piece of paper, and keep your paper somewhere safe. Note: You will not be looking at this piece of paper again, until the experiment is over in two months' time.

The paper is just to record your current reality as it is, and your current thinking as it is. In 2 months time, you will revisit this piece of paper and see what kind of changes your use of LOA has created, over a 2-month period.

[Acting Like Godot]

Original post is here. In Step 2, we do an exercise, one purpose of which is to get your brain familiar and acquainted with what could be possible, in your chosen life area.

1. Get to a quiet, comfortable place where you know you won't be disturbed. For best results, you need to be feeling calm, happy, peaceful or at least neutral (not angry, stressed etc).

2. Helpful to do some simple stretching exercises beforehand, to get the body all relaxed and comfortable.

3. You can lie down or sit. Just get comfortable. Once you're comfortable, stop all unnecessary body movements. Don't wiggle your legs, scratch your nose, fidget etc.

4. Now, breathe. Very deep .... very slow .... Exhalations should be longer than inhalations. Hold your breath briefly at the end of each inhalation, before beginning the exhalation. At the end of the exhalation, pause briefly, before beginning to inhale. Count nine deep, slow inhalations + exhalations.

5. Keep your attention on your breath. Don't think about other things. If you get distracted, just start from zero and do nine inhalations and exhalations again.

The above steps are preparatory. They may be used for visualisation exercises in general. Next:

6. Run a mental movie of your chosen life area. For example, suppose you'd chosen "My Job". You will visualise a mental movie of your daily routine at work, comprising typical daily scenes and incidents. Do this movie, as if you're "in your own body" looking out.

7. Unsure about how to visualise? Just replaying your memories of your workplace. Eg if I ask you, "What does the guy sitting next to you at work look like? How does he sound? Do you remember anything unusual about the way he walks? Or the kind of clothes he wears?", certain images should start appearing in your mind. Your mental movie will consist of images like that.

8. You may feel that your movie is not very vivid. Whenever you have that problem, slow down your movie and pick out very, very specific details in the scene. For example, if you're visualising yourself sitting at your workstation, pause and focus on details like the exact location of your pencil holder; the Microsoft Word program running on your screen; the feel of your buttocks on your chair.

9. Note - your movies are not just about visual images. You can have sound, tactile sensations, taste, smell etc all incorporated. Also emotionally feel the movie - how would you feel if this was really happening? Feel that. What are your emotions, as all these different things happen in your movie?

The above are general tips for visualising effectively, And now, for the magick .....

10. As mentioned, your mental movie is like replaying your memories as clearly as possible. But for your LOA exercise, do not simply replay memories. Alter them.

11. For your first exercise, don't attempt anything too amazing or drastic. As you play your movie, simply substitute the little things and details in your movie that you don't like, with things and details that you DO like.

12. For example:

(i) suppose your boss often walks to your workstation carrying a blue file and with a frown - he then proceeds to speak rudely to you in front of everyone. Now instead of playing this exact scene in your mental movie, have him walk to your workstation with a blue file and a big smile - and he proceeds to praise you, in front of everyone, for a piece of work you did well.

(ii) suppose your workspace is disorganised and untidy. Instead of playing this exact scene, visualise your workspace being as neat and organised as you want it to be. Etc.

(iii) suppose you often find yourself stressed at work, looking at your project materials and feeling unsure about what to do next. Instead of playing this exact scene, visualise movie scenes where you are feeling happy and competent and interested at work, enjoying working on your project.

Do this throughout your mental movie - and what is happening? You are actually visualising a perfect, or at least, a very good day at work.

Now, even if you (currently) do not believe in the "magical' aspects of LOA, this exercise will show you what is possible at work - how it could be much better than what it currently is - so that you have a better idea of what you can strive towards.

Anyway, have fun playing your movie. 20 minutes is good. Next record some notes on what you did, for the purposes of your experiment. Date your record.

[Acting Like Godot]

Joeschmoe's experiment relates to dance. Joeschmoe would like to dance better.

I don't know anything about dance, but I do know that mind methods can work very well with improving sports performance (including those requiring a high degree of body coordination, skilled movement etc). Therefore I would suppose that mind methods can go a long way towards improving dance as well.

Here is an article about hypnosis & sports. As a matter of fact, it also briefly discusses how hypnosis can be used to help dancers.

How hypnosis can help your athletes to produce their top performance

In case you are wondering how come I am suddenly talking about hypnosis instead of LOA, well, basically all this stuff is related. Hypnosis; meditation; creative visualisation; prayer and magick are all different descriptions of the same thing - how we create reality with our minds.

[All Is Well]

I am very excited to sign up for this experient. There are three areas I would like to work on. I finished step 1 last night and did step 2 for one of the intentions. I did not check the time but I guess it would be more than 20 minutes.
I have two questions regarding step 2.
1. Does one 20-minute session meant for one intention? If so, does it mean I need three sessions for the three areas I want to improve?
2. During the visualization, do you focus on one scene or several scenes? For example, for a job related intention, do you just focus on visualizing a meeting with your boss in one session? Or you visualize doing presentation at seminars too?
Thanks for all your time and help, ALG.

[All Is Well]

Actually after I finished writing my step 1 last night, I thought how nice it would be if ALG could start a new thread on this experiment so that more could participate.
See what happen today!

[Acting Like Godot]

Hello AIW:

15 to 20 minutes is just a guide. You can do it for a longer time, but I'm suggesting 15 - 20 minutes in general, because some participants are skeptical.

If I say "Lie down and visualise for one hour", they will run away because they think that they can't afford to waste that much time.

You can do more than one intention per session. If in a single session, you are doing an intention quite different from the previous one, I recommend that you do a short breathing exercise in between, to clear your mind first.

For example, you can again take slow, deep breaths, nine of them, focusing on nothing but the sensation of breath around your nostrils. After that, move on to visualise the next intention.

[Acting Like Godot]

For our next exercise, we will rely on words rather than images. This example is very simple.

1. Write about your chosen life area, or some aspect of it.

2. Write about it in its ideal form, just as you would like the situation to be.

3. Do not pre-plan this exercise. Once you start writing, just keep writing continuously, without pausing, without allowing yourself to stop to doubt or analyse or edit or delete. Just keep going, no matter what, until you have completed one entire page.

4. Write in the present tense, as if your ideal situation has already come true and is your current reality.

5. When you have finished, date your paper and file it away.

Here is a personal sample of mine, where I was manifesting to do very well in certain exams. Naturally I passed the exams quite easily.

http://bp3.blogger.com/_9ZAhhMQJYOY/...0/IMG_0001.jpg



Go here:

http://bp3.blogger.com/_9ZAhhMQJYOY/RlMHhELObCI/AAAAAAAAAEE/zErq0nTQhi0/s400/IMG_0001.jpg

for bigger image.

[Vee]

I am planning to take part. I've got two intentions. I've done step one - and plan to start step two tonight. x

[Acting Like Godot]

And for now, for our next exercise. In the context of your chosen life area, choose one (just one) simple, positive idea or thought ...... which would help improve things significantly (if it were true or if it was successfully implemented or if you really felt that way).

This must be a very simple idea. It should be easily expressible in one or two sentences.

Example - suppose your chosen life area is "health". You have been trying to exercise regularly, but on many days, you just don't feel like it. A simple, positive idea or thought which could help you significantly could be:

"Exercising is fun! I love exercising."

Another example - suppose your chosen life area is "studies". You are a maths student. Currently you are having some problems with calculus. A simple, positive idea or thought which could help you significantly could be:

"Calculus is easy. With practice, I can definitely do it."

3rd example - suppose your life area is "social life". Your problem is that you feel shy and awkward when meeting new people. A simple, positive idea or thought which could help you significantly could be:

"I am a confident person. And I love making new friends!"

Now you have chosen your positive affirmation. When you go to bed tonight and are waiting to fall asleep, mentally keep repeating this affirmation to yourself. Don't stop. Keep repeating and repeating and repeating until you fall asleep. And put some positive emotion into it.

"Exercising is fun! I love exercising. Exercising is fun! I love exercising. Exercising is fun! I love exercising. Exercising is fun! I love exercising. Exercising is fun! I love exercising. Exercising is fun! I love exercising ..."

Don't make any special effort to stay awake. Just keep repeating and repeating, until you fall asleep. Which could be pretty quick, depending on how easily you normally fall asleep.

For a short explanation of why this LOA technique works, and an example of how it worked for me, click here.

Next morning, just make a short note to record that you'd done this exercise, and write down the affirmation you had used. Date your record. This is an experiment, remember.

[jawillie]

I can already attest to the above. One thing I want to do is walk for an hour in the morning before getting ready for work. I have been focusing on this in a positive manner and this morning, I woke up 2 minutes BEFORE my alarm went off, and I was ready to go.

Now, today is my "Friday" and I am off for the next five days, so, Honestly, it could just be that. lol. We will see how I do NEXT week when I have a FULL work week!

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Hey, ALG. Thanks for doing this experiment with us.

I've done step one on both areas I want to work on.

My question is when dealing with intentions for a relationship, I would assume you don't intend to have the other person do something specific. That would be trying to control them? So in exercise two when you you come up with the positive idea or thought, how would it be worded? Something like, "my relationship is full of trust, openness and connection." Like that?

In the visualization I could picture my boyfriend doing the things I hope he will do? In the same way you talked about changing the movie of what your boss does? Is that not intending for someone else to change?

Just confused, but I am on board!

[Zoey Jordan]

Thanks much Acting Like Godot - this is a great exercise, and I am looking forward to participating as well.

[Acting Like Godot]

Hello, Aspiring_To_Clarity:

First, a small technical detail. "My relationship is full of trust, openness and connection" is quite a mouthful. You will find it difficult to repeat it correctly in your head, as you grow sleepy. You might wish to rephrase it in a more easily repeatable form. Eg:

"I love [John]. I trust [John]. All is well."

Now, on the issue of not using LOA to influence others. This is a little debate all in itself, with many subtleties. For example, using paranormal powers to heal someone's illness (eg in reiki) is a form of using LOA on someone else - yet it does not seem to be an obviously objectionable idea.

However I do have a LOA technique which is helpful when:

(1) Your intention is inextricably linked to another person;
(2) You are concerned that it is not ethical or right to use LOA on another person.

This LOA technique is known as "subjective communication" and is taken from the Silva Method. My wife uses it with great success in relation to her boss; her brothers; her friends; her colleagues and the occasional non-physical entity.

I will explain the subjective communication technique sometime in the near future. And turn it into another exercise for our little experiment.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Thank you very much for your input, ALG. I will be looking forward to your next exercise.

This is a very exciting experiment for me. I greatly appreciate you sharing with us and taking the time to help!

[Angela]

I love that, ALG. Using words like "I love [John]", etc. feel like they have much more dynamic power in the current moment than wishing something for "my relationship." It feels more like a real, present generation of power.

[Joeschmoe]

Ok, well, I've done the sleep trick as well as i could for two nights now. I missed the writing exercise somehow but will do it asap.

[impaul99]

Since this thread moved off to the second page, does that mean everyone already gave up?

[Acting Like Godot]

I'm a bit disappointed that 3nigma, who was the original reason why I started this experiment, conveniently disappeared as soon as the experiment actually got going ...

But I've not been posting in the past few days because I'm on a short holiday, with limited internet access. Currently typing this from my blackberry.

[Vee]

Hi ALG,

Thanks for taking out the time to do this. But at the moment I am not in the right mindframe to do it properly. When I am feeling better I may look back on the thread and do it by myself.
x

[Arboretor]

Hi ALG,

I do not participate "officially" in this experiment, but I am following it closely and do my own manifestation attempts. So please do not be discouraged, there are more people reading this thread than posting, and I always enjoy your clear, insightful posts. Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[Arboretor]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

I will explain the subjective communication technique sometime in the near future. And turn it into another exercise for our little experiment.

Adding to my previous post: I am very interested in the technique you mention here, so please write about it if you have the time!

[GranCanaria]

Originally Posted by Arboretor

Adding to my previous post: I am very interested in the technique you mention here, so please write about it if you have the time!

Me too! How does your wife make other people manifest what she wants?

GranCanaria

[moonrambler]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

I'm a bit disappointed that 3nigma, who was the original reason why I started this experiment, conveniently disappeared as soon as the experiment actually got going ...

But I've not been posting in the past few days because I'm on a short holiday, with limited internet access. Currently typing this from my blackberry.

I always find the psychology of all this fascinating, including that the one who declared "LOA is total bullshit" has not posted anymore about the experiment.

But I tell you what, I was very interested in the subjective communication technique and so I went looking for it, gave it a whirl, and had a couple results the very next morning, which I will post once you explain the technique here in the experiment thread!

My big request for myself, in this thread, is that you address the issue of STUCK. Stuck at a certain level of success and seemingly unable to move forward. Stuck with a certain script. How does that breakthrough finally happen?

I have been spending a LOT of time with all this over the past six months, and although the situation has improved from the descension it was taking last fall, it is still STUCK at a certain level. It's almost bizarre that no matter what I do, there is this ceiling. I keep feeling like if I can break through that ceiling, the sky's the limit.

Paul, I was reading on your site about when you found an affirmation you used to do that stated a certain level of income and that's what you became stuck at years later. I don't have anything like that though. And I've been affirming a new level of income for over six months straight -- visualizing, doing alpha work at night, morning affirmations, you name it. I don't get it.

[Vee]

Originally Posted by moonrambler

I always find the psychology of all this fascinating, including that the one who declared "LOA is total bullshit" has not posted anymore about the experiment.

But I tell you what, I was very interested in the subjective communication technique and so I went looking for it, gave it a whirl, and had a couple results the very next morning, which I will post once you explain the technique here in the experiment thread!

My big request for myself, in this thread, is that you address the issue of STUCK. Stuck at a certain level of success and seemingly unable to move forward. Stuck with a certain script. How does that breakthrough finally happen?

I have been spending a LOT of time with all this over the past six months, and although the situation has improved from the descension it was taking last fall, it is still STUCK at a certain level. It's almost bizarre that no matter what I do, there is this ceiling. I keep feeling like if I can break through that ceiling, the sky's the limit.

Paul, I was reading on your site about when you found an affirmation you used to do that stated a certain level of income and that's what you became stuck at years later. I don't have anything like that though. And I've been affirming a new level of income for over six months straight -- visualizing, doing alpha work at night, morning affirmations, you name it. I don't get it.

Thank you for asking this Moonrambler - this is exactly my problem. I do think I am getting signs from the universe but it's not the massive break through that you have mentioned. I feel STUCK too.

For example -
1) I've been actively trying to manifest an fulfilling social life with friends I love. It's been quite a few months and very shaky, some weekends are a blast, but mostly weeks go by with nothing happening. Recently, I've been upping the ante and I keep on seeing people from my past ie. past colleagues, old workmates etc. but they are people who I find pleasant but on a social level we have nothing in common and they wouldn't want to do the social activities I love. It's like the universe is trying but can't quite make it?!

2) I met a girl I really got on with last year. We went out a lot and I was having lots of fun. Then she stopped returning calls and we are not really friends now. Now to my knowledge nothing has happened ie. argument so I don't understand why she was acting this way. Throughout our friendship i was really positive, having fun, had no doubts, gave thanks for her in my daily thank you list- so I don't understand why this happened as it was making me really happy and now it's gone

3) Last year I was in a job I disliked. During this time I was trying to manifest a job in the same company in a role I knew I would love. I ended up walking out at the start of the year because I couldn't take it anymore. Luckily I got a job in 2 weeks in a role I really like. But it's not my dream job - although I do really like what I'm in. I am so grateful for this job - but it didn't match my intention.

4) I've been trying to manifest a partner for ages. Again, I've upped the ante and I met a guy two weeks ago who has been emailing me and asked me out for a drink next week. Now, he's a nice guy and we do get on but I know I wouldn't want to go out with him. There is no attraction to this guy on that level, it just doesn't feel right. And before people say I should give it chance I have tried this before - I've dated guys I wasn't sure about at the start and my feelings did not develop. I don't want to go there again and waste my time and this guys time as well. I am lonely but I don't think it should mean I should settle for anyone. So the universe is really frustrating. It feels like it's making fun of me and playing games with me ie. giving me what I want with a dark twist.

[moonrambler]

Vee, I know what you mean -- I often feel like the universe is just joking around with me, which is fun when it's just a fun situation, but plain frustrating when it's not.

After posting this morning about money (again, as usual), I needed to run to the grocery store. Got in the car, turned the key, and the radio was on, playing "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits.

On the way home, I was listening to public radio, and thinking about how I have such a talent for creating coincidences. I thought, I'm going back on that forum and ask how come I can conjure up songs about money, but not money? How do I turn this talent into cold hard cash? At that moment, the host was telling how to order a copy of the program and the last letter of the program number was, he said, "C, as in cash." ACK!

But these are not alpha reflections. This stuff happens to me CONSTANTLY. And it appears to have no practical value whatsoever. I just keep slogging away with that ceiling above.

I said when I first found this forum, that I was looking for an epiphany. I want an answer that really resonates, and I simply cannot find it.

[001]

This sounds like fun! I hope it's not too late for me.

[Vee]

Originally Posted by moonrambler

Vee, I know what you mean -- I often feel like the universe is just joking around with me, which is fun when it's just a fun situation, but plain frustrating when it's not.

After posting this morning about money (again, as usual), I needed to run to the grocery store. Got in the car, turned the key, and the radio was on, playing "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits.

On the way home, I was listening to public radio, and thinking about how I have such a talent for creating coincidences. I thought, I'm going back on that forum and ask how come I can conjure up songs about money, but not money? How do I turn this talent into cold hard cash? At that moment, the host was telling how to order a copy of the program and the last letter of the program number was, he said, "C, as in cash." ACK!

But these are not alpha reflections. This stuff happens to me CONSTANTLY. And it appears to have no practical value whatsoever. I just keep slogging away with that ceiling above.

I said when I first found this forum, that I was looking for an epiphany. I want an answer that really resonates, and I simply cannot find it.

It's like you are reading my mind! I am so glad it's not just me, you are articulating what I've been feeling for ages - "having no practical value whatsoever" is exactly the way to put it. For example on New Years I wanted to manifest a night out - and someone called! All good - but they couldn't give me a lift home - and i didn't have enough money for a cab at the time and I didn't want to venture home alone at 3am in the morning for safety - so my manifestation had no pratical value whatsoever. I am actively waiting for the ah-ha moment when my intention is exactly what I wanted in my visualisation.

I've read so many books by Tolle, Chopra, Dyer, etc. sought comfort in the words of Buddha and Jesus but after a while you need to see practical action instead of reading yet another book or listening to another tape. It's like having a convo and no one is responding - after a while it'll get to you.

Nb. I am not trying to be negative about this experiment because I think collective support is great and what ALG is giving is so nice.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

I'm still here, just been sidetracked by my friend's suicide and the fact that I may not have a relationship to work LoA magic on anyway.

I do hope you continue the experiment. I think all the info being on one thread will be valuable to a lot of people. I fully intend to get back to work as soon as possible.

[Acting Like Godot]

Subjective communication (SC) takes a bit of explaining. Hence I write about it in 2 parts. In Part 1, I explain the ideas behind this technique. In Part 2, I discuss examples of practical applications for this technique.

The Necessity for Alpha

SC is one of those techniques which require you to first access an altered state of consciousness first. You have to go "deep" and get seriously into alpha. Those of you who meditate or practise self-hypnosis know what I mean. Some of you may get into alpha using progressive muscular relaxation or those Holo-Sync CDs.

If you do not know how to access these states, you can still try. But for SC, the deeper you go into alpha, the more powerful the effect. Conversely, if you stay in everyday consciousness (mostly beta), the SC won't work for you very well, if at all.

Prayer As An Illustration

To understand how SC works, it's useful to use prayer as an illustration. Suppose a person strongly believes that there is a God (for the purposes of this post, think of "God" as an external non-physical entity which is extremely powerful).

The person begins to pray to God. In his head, he begins to say, "Dear God, please help me to do this, do that, give me strength" etc. He prays so intensely that he grows absorbed, slips into alpha, concentrates fully on his prayers. He may even "hear" God's response in his mind, like a little voice, answering directly. Or he may experience God's presence through, say, inexplicable feelings of love, or light, or whatever.

All of the above are well-known religious experiences, which cut across cultures and specific religions. In other words, people of all religions all around the world have had such experiences.

And Now for Subjective Communication

Prayer is an SC with an entity known as "God".

In fact, you can communicate subjectively with other kinds of consciousnesses as well. Such as the consciousness of your spouse, friend, business partner, relative etc.

I also believe that people who communicate, or claim or believe themselves to be communicating with angels, guides, spirits of the deceased, etc etc, are all using what may be termed as "subjective communication".

And channelling, as per Esther Hicks, JZ Knight, Jane Roberts, etc is an example of SC taken to a great extreme.

How clear and strong the subjective communication is, and whether it is one-way or two-way (ie whether it's just you communicating to that other consciousness, or whether you can also pick up responses from the other consciousness and have, in effect, a conversation) depends on how strong a connection you manage to establish.

In SC, what you do is that you call up the consciousness you wish to speak to. After you have gone into a deep alpha, you may visualise, say, the relvant person in front of you. You then say what you want to say. You wait to see if you receive, or are able to receive, any answers from the person (or you may pick up vibes as to how the person feels about what you've said). If you don't pick up anything, that's ok. There is still benefit in that you, at least, have communicated what you want to say.

Why Subjective Communication?

In real life, there are times when you are unable to communicate properly with a person. For example, the person refuses to talk to you, or you sense the person is not teling you the whole truth, or the subject matter is sensitive and personal, and therefore awkward to talk about directly; or pride is getting in the way; or due to past misunderstandings, you feel that your motivations will be misconstrued if you launch a direct conversation etc etc etc.

This is where SC comes in useful. You use your deeper mind to communicate with the other person's deeper mind.

In practice, the usual aftermath is NOT that the person will suddenly call you and say, "Hey, I received a message from you yesterday! Were you using telepathy or something?". However, what will happen (if SC is successful) is that suddenly the person can see things from your perspective and understands your situation a lot better. It is as if the SC really did take place in real life.

Also, you may discover that you too can understand the person better (especially if your SC was two-way and he started responding to you while you were doing your SC).

Where To Find Out More About SC?

SC is part of the Silva Method.

There is also a chapter in "Think & Grow Rich" which is about SC too. Napoleon Hill talks about forming a committee of counsellors - "imaginary" people whom you respect and admire. Then whenever you need advice, you go inside yourself and you talk to your regular counsellors, who will give you advice.

In TAGR, Napoleon Hill relates how his counsellors all seemed imaginary at first. Quite possibly, he originally conceived them merely as a kind of creative thinking tool. Over time, however, he found that his counsellors became shockingly "real" in his own mind.

So for instance, you may communicate with various entities in your own mind. Over time, as the connection grows stronger, they become more and more real, especially if you keep communicating with the same entities.

You may find for instance that they tell you factual things which you yourself could not have known about. Or they may speak in accents or use words which aren't your own accent, or aren't words which you typically use. Etc.