Shadow Boxing

Shadow Boxing ©2012 Joan M Newcomb

How often do you have imaginary arguments in your head?  Or long conversations explaining the injustices done to you by others (sometimes with Oprah)!

I call these "Shadow Boxing".  You are sparring with your shadows.  You are jabbing at illusions.  It doesn't matter how real the situation was or is that you're talking about, inside your head it isn't real.

Oh, you could be talking to guides, it could be one of your sub personalities expressing themselves, but it's not really happening in front of you, in your body and with someone else in their body.

You're driving your car, you're tossing and turning at 3am, you're sitting in a meeting.  And between you're ears, you have a captive audience listening to your story.

I've had such a story going on in my head since before Christmas, when I decided not to move my mother to Seattle.  It's a potent story, I've actually shared it with some people with satisfying results.  But the point is, it's five months later .  And a significant amount of emotional energy is being wasted still recounting it (over and over again).

What's at the core of our story?  We want to be heard.  We want to be recognized.  We want to be understood.  We want wrongs to be corrected.  We want an apology or an amends.  We want the world to know WE ARE RIGHT.

Shadow boxing takes your energy backwards, towards the past, which no longer exists.

It's like trying to drive with your eyes on the rear view mirror.

It's time to tell a different story.  Redirect your focus towards more productive topics.

Your thoughts create energy.  You can create being depressed or happy, by what you're dwelling on.  The stories in your head show where you are directing your energy.

Grab yourself by the ears and turn in a more positive direction.

Make a new story up.  Day dream winning the lottery.  Recite a series of uplifting affirmations.

The more you do this, the easier it will be, and the less charge the old thoughts will have.

Doing this actually creates new neural pathways in the brain, and can chemically change your moods.  Whole new possibilities open up for you, because you're receptive to them now.

Try this for 7 days and see what happens!