Graham Walzer Photography

Morning

Emotional Priming

Our thoughts, feelings and emotions can be primed by factors we’re not even aware of, which greatly impacts our performance in other aspects of our lives. When practiced correctly and often, priming can help you cultivate positive emotions and drastically improve the quality of your life.

1. SIT
Find a chair in a relatively quiet area and sit actively. Place both feet on the floor, shift your shoulders back, chest up, and hold your neck long and your head high.

2. BREATHE
By changing your breath, you change your state of being. Tony’s method incorporates a breathing exercise with three sets of 30 breaths, with a pause in between each set. 1 MINUTE

3. BEGIN HEART BREATHING
Put your hands on your heart. Feel its power and strength as you breathe into it. 30 SECONDS

4. PRACTICE GRATITUDE
Think of three things you’re really grateful for right now. They can be from your past, present or future. Step into the first moment and picture it as vividly as possible. After about a minute, go to the second thing, then onto the next. Pro tip: Make one of these things simple, like a child’s smile or a time someone said, “thank you” and really meant it. Even on your worst days, you can find something small and meaningful to be grateful for. 3 MINUTES

5. VISUALIZE
Now comes the part that’s like a blessing or a prayer. It can be as spiritual as you want it to be. Tony imagines colored light coming down and filling his body, healing anything that needs to be healed – body, thoughts, emotions, feelings. Envision your problems being washed away. Ask for the best parts of you to be strengthened. 1 MINUTE AND 30 SECONDS

6. SHARE
Now send all the energy you’ve gotten through your healing and strengthening out to others. Feel the energy going up and down, pouring out to your family, loved ones, colleagues, clients, friends and even strangers you’ve only met once. 1 MINUTE AND 30 SECONDS

7. FOCUS AND CELEBRATE
Now think about the three outcomes or goals that you want to achieve the most. These are things that will excite you once they’re completed. What would achieving them feel like? Place yourself in that position of achievement and celebrate that feeling of completion and victory. Visualize how it will impact you and what those victories could do for those around you. As with gratitude, go through each outcome one by one, fully experiencing the feeling of success. 3 MINUTES

8. GET READY TO ROCK
Take as long as you’d like to stretch and reflect on all of the positive work you just did. You are now positioned to excel in the state of your optimal self. Stay in character and get out there to conquer the day.