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A post shared by Gab Cohen ?ॐ (@gypsyloveflow) on Jun 28, 2020 at 1:30pm PDT

We’ve all heard the saying, “Go to your happy place.”

We brush it off as if it’s just a woo-y way of saying everything is “all good.” But truly, what is your happy place?

For some, it’s a beach or a beautiful, secluded log cabin. For me, it’s hotels, beaches, and beds. Yes, beds. We always hear, “go to your happy place,” and disconnect from the suffering in this moment through fantasy, visualization, and imaging.

Imagining, daydreaming, and deep visualization practices can be a huge tool for healing when you are struggling to get rest, or ground and center yourself away from an energy that is not meshing with yours well.

It’s cliché, but that’s the thing about clichés; they’re often true. At the tail end of Venus retrograde, my insomnia was hitting new heights. The only way I could really get into a safe space mentally to sleep and turn off, was if I deeply envisioned and tapped into the feeling I got when I was in a few of my happiest places. After doing this exercise and making it a practice, I realized that every single one of my happy places had to do with being completely alone and absorbed in divine privacy.

One of these happy places was a hotel room I stayed in this time last year when I taught for a yoga convention. It was the first time in years, I’d had a studio-sized space to myself. After living with roommates from age 18 to 29, this was that ahhh moment of complete bliss, complete privacy. Something I hadn’t truly experienced in over a decade.

Those three nights in the hotel were glorious, and the bed was the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in.

The other happy places are villas and hotel rooms I’ve stayed in while in Bali. All of these happy places have the same common thread—the feeling of divine isolation, healing, escape, intimacy, and privacy. So figure out the common thread of your happy places and perhaps imagine your reality endlessly in that state of mind and feeling.

For me, if I want my entire life to feel like that happy-place feeling I’ve had, I must manifest a life where I have my own space, no roommates, and really up-level my lifestyle. This is how we can realize our true desires.

Try these practice and journal prompts to help you tailor your life to match more of your “happy place moments”:

>> Close your eyes and visualize one of your happy places. Take inventory of the emotions, the feeling, the mood, and the ambiance that you receive when tapping into this place.

>> Why is this place so sacred and blissful for you? Take a look around in your mind’s eye. What are the qualities of this moment? Are you physically comfortable? What do you see around you? Does nature play an important role? Where are you sitting and what is the chair or surface like?

>> Write down all of the moods, emotions, feelings, and ambiance. Be detailed so you can truly tap into the essence of the atmosphere of your happy place.

>> What are the qualities of your happy place? What is the common thread or theme in your happy places? Is it comfort? Is it mental ease? Is it physical comfort? Is it privacy? What makes this happy place just so happy?

Manifesting our reality to be more “happy place-esque”:

>> What can you do to alter your daily lifestyle and routines that will help you tap into the emotion, the feeling, and the essence of your happy place? This doesn’t mean you have to hop on a plane for 25 hours, move cross-country, or save one million dollars. This doesn’t have to be material-based.

>> What rituals and routines can you incorporate into your life so that you can feel the essence of one of your happy places?

>> Take a step back from your life and try to see it from a larger lens, above you. What is your current living situation like? What do you not like about it? What small goals can you create for yourself to start making steps toward a new direction?

In order for us to create a life that feels like we are constantly in a happy place, it requires mental power. We can alter and manipulate our energy to match inner bliss by connecting to the imagination and transforming those imaginations into reality by creating a plan.

Continue writing ways you can create your life to match the energy of one of your happy places—even if it means listening to waves and beach sounds for a few hours of your day or purchasing something that will make your physical reality more comfortable, like new sheets, a new chair, or a nice cup or mug! Sometimes it’s the little tweaks that can take us to new levels of happiness.

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For more guided meditations and a plethora of writing prompts, check out Gab’s Modern Meditation and creative writing course. There are over eight hours of guided meditations, and over seven worksheets of writing exercises that will guide you through healing trauma, toxic cycles, and manifesting your reality to match more of your happy places.

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