Australian Natural Health Magazine

Think, seek, create

Penny Lara manifests her dreams through the use of vision boards and shows you how you can too.

John F. Kennedy set the goal to send man into space by the end of the 60s, and in 1969, eight years later, Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon. Martin Luther King ‘had a dream’ to rise from segregation to social justice. These are moments in time where seeds were planted and goals were made to bring about change. How can we be more like these inspirational leaders to achieve our goals and dreams? First we must have a clear idea on what we desire. Once you set your goals, you can then work on making them a reality.

Holistic health coach and writer, Jessica Ainscough, believes a great way to bring your dreams into materialised form, before they have even manifested, is by using a vision board. “A vision board is simply a corkboard or poster that is covered in images and words that illustrate what it is that you want to attract into your life,” says Ainscough. By looking at visual images of things you want in your life, materialistic or not, you may start to attract them. “Where we place our attention is 
what we will create for ourselves,” 
says Ainscough.

A vision board can help you to visualise your goals and keep you on track of your dreams, while motivating you to achieve them. “Creating a vision board and sticking it in your line of sight is an awesome way to communicate with the Universe about what you would 
like to collaborate on in your life” 
says Ainscough.
Below is Ainscough’s three step process for creating a vision board:

1. Think
Find a quiet place to sit or lie, where you will be able to seek enough solace to daydream. I have a daybed in the courtyard just outside my room/office that is perfect for this activity. Spend some time with your thoughts. Allow your mind to wander into the most inspired future you can visualise for yourself. Ask yourself these questions:

• “Who am I surrounded by?”
• “Where do I live?”
• “What do I do for work?”
• “Who are my mentors?”
• “What do I look like?”
• “How much money do I earn?”
• “How do I feel?”
• “What do I want to be?”
• “What do I want to do?”
• “What do I want to have?” (Material possessions are totally fine here).
• “What will make me excited?”

2. Seek
Find images, words, quotes and affirmations that reflect all of the images you see in your future; all of the people you want to meet and be around, the places you want to live in and visit, the events you want to experience, the accomplishments you want to reach, the feelings you want to emulate, and the emotions you want to fill your cells with. Use Google Images, Compfight, Flickr or Pinterest, to find images online, or flick through magazines for inspiration.

3. Create
Buy a corkboard or just any old board and pin or stick your images to it.

You can build your board up over time and when you connect with an image or a saying, stick it on your board. For example, you might have a desire to be pregnant, so when you see a picture in a magazine of a pregnant woman cut it out to stick on your board (you can even stick a photo of your head on top of theirs). Or maybe envision a beautiful house that you want for yourself, so you cut out what you like and stick it on your board.

Other things you may like to put on your vision board:

•  Images of where you would like to see yourself in your career. For example, you might want more recognition for the hard work you do, so put a self-made gold medal certificate on your board. Or you wish you could communicate better with your boss, so on your board put words like ‘open communication’.
• People that inspire you or make you feel positive (even famous people). We are constantly influenced by the people in our lives, our parents, siblings, friends, partners, colleagues and the media, in both positive and negative ways.
• Inspiring sayings, positive affirmations, motivational words or phrases. Ainscough uses the affirmation “I have a perfectly healthy mind and body” on her vision board to remind her to 
keep that thought at the forefront 
of her mind.
• Your values and beliefs. You might have images that symbolise your beliefs or values.
• Your pet.
• Places you want to visit.
• Material things you want.
• A skill you want to learn.

What to not put on your visual board:

• Don’t focus on anything you don’t want in your life. “Anything that doesn't light you up, that isn't in alignment with what YOU want in your life and anything that you don't want to attract,” says Ainscough.
• Things you don’t truly want deep down. “Vision boards and visual manifestation is very powerful, so be careful that you don't ask the universe for something that you don’t really want,” suggests Ainscough.
• Try not to focus on any limiting beliefs you have set about yourself, as they can distract you from reaching your goals. These are taught through our environment and from people in our lives, which can limit our actions, and possibly stay with us throughout adulthood if we let them.