I have been a life-long tryer. Whenever I wanted something, I would really go for it, chase after it, make it happen, and generally put forth several million watts of energy. I’m not sure there’s an English language word for what I do, so I’ve coined the word, “over-efforting.” Over-efforting could be defined as:

Trying really, really, really hard to make something happen by using way more energy (both mentally and physically) than is necessary while also putting huge amounts of pressure on one’s self to do whatever it is “right,” perfectly, or really extremely above averagely.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered the law of attraction. What? Here is this natural law in place that brings things to me? I don’t have to chase after them? I can just sit back, align my energy into a place of peace, and they show up?

Seriously?

At first, I tried to apply my usual over-efforting approach to the law of attraction. That was a little counterproductive, to say the least. Trying and being peaceful don’t exactly co-exist. It was kind of like using a flame-thrower to lightly toast a slice of bread. A wee bit of overkill.  On the very rare occasion, I have a tendency to do that. (Insert husband rolling his eyes, here.)

In case you’re thinking of trying the over-efforting law of attraction approach, let me assure you right now that it is a giant waste of time.

I quickly saw that I’d need a whole different approach to manifesting. This coincided with me realizing I’d need a whole different approach to life. I was experiencing a level of fatigue akin to what one might feel after swimming across the English Channel, twice. I imagine, anyway.

My over-efforting was taking its toll. You wouldn’t think mental over-efforting would be so exhausting, but it truly is. I was trying to think, analyze, and intellectually figure out everything in my life. It was awful.

It was time to start letting my inner wisdom take the lead.

I began to practice trusting my intuition, gut feelings, and instincts. From this was born a completely new way of being. Instead of forcing my mind to work hard, try, and think, think, think, I started the radical practice of lying down and doing nothing.

I started doing nothing first thing every morning. Sometimes I did nothing by lying on the floor and breathing. Other times I did nothing by walking or doing yoga. My only nothing requirement was that it involve a deep awareness of my body, because the body is the conduit for inner wisdom.

For a perfectionist and over-efforter, doing nothing was a really unusual experience. Luckily I was so tired that doing nothing was kind of all I could do. Thus, I stuck with it.

It didn’t take long before interesting things started to happen. Stuff started showing up in my life. As in, things I’d been trying to manifest. In fact, in my state of “who cares” exhaustion, I was pretty much ignoring everything, and pretty much everything was flourishing. (Except, I will admit, my houseplants. I think those need actual water.)

Maybe it was just the visceral learning that happened from this experience, but I started to really catch on. The more I un-tried, the better things worked. It felt a bit like falling backwards on a giant trampoline, arms and legs totally relaxed, and finding it not only supported me, but bounced me delightfully upward.

I used this image (falling back on the trampoline) in my mind anytime I wanted to manifest something. I would fall back into nothing, and ignore whatever I was hoping to manifest. Then, when ideas and inspiration came out of the nothing-ness, I took physical action on them.

This is the interesting twist to slacker manifesting: it’s actually mental slacking more than it is physical slacking. If I want to, say, write a blockbuster blog post or informative ebook, it starts with doing nothing. Then I ignore the project.  Eventually, a slew of ideas flows in, which I write down. I keep up this cycle until one of the ideas is to start actually writing. I physically sit down and write, but everything I need is already there, mentally speaking.  I move my fingers, but my mind is doing nothing. It’s the easiest thing in the world.

I use this approach with everything (albeit not perfectly, mind you! Sometimes I forget and start over-efforting).

• Do nothing.
• Ignore it.
• Listen for ideas.
• Take action on the ideas.

It’s the recipe for instant manifestation. I have learned not to put one ounce of mental or physical effort into anything until I have done nothing, ignored it, and listened for ideas. Yes, this is the exact opposite of everything we learned in school.

Recently, I’ve really gotten the hang of this. It’s the who-cares, whatever school of manifesting. It’s strangely relaxed. I’m always quite delighted when I do manifest things, but I’m also oddly detached. I feel like a partner with the universe, which always delivers amazing and completely unexpected treats with each new manifestation. For example, I slacker manifested around a group coaching exercise I was leading a few weeks ago. I wanted it to be really fun and useful, so I applied the slacker techniques. Did nothing. Ignored it. Listened.

On the day of the group exercise, I took action on all of the ideas that had surfaced. I felt pleasantly calm. I trusted that the ideas would lead somewhere great. My mind did absolutely nothing. In the end, several people went away weeping, laughing, and utterly transformed from this experience. I could not have figured out, planned, or orchestrated anything that happened during that group coaching exercise. I was just the listener and the doer of what the brilliant universe concocted. I was blown away, too, and I was the facilitator.

I have this experience pretty much daily – sometimes in small ways, other times in big ways. I am happily manifesting all kinds of fantastic things both in my personal and business life. I’m having so much relaxed fun with this that I plan to continue slacking into the indefinite future.

You can find Abigail doing nothing, ignoring things, and listening for ideas regularly at www. thehealthylifecoach.com.

She is currently ignoring a new website design and giant new audio product about the mind-body connection, due out … well, whenever the universe says so.

It makes me giggle out loud even thinking about it.  But it’s probably a misguided intention, truth be told.

Here’s why:

I’ve been putting a spell on my belly.  It goes like this:

“You are the flat belly of a 22 year old co-ed who majored in volleyball.”  (I’m smiling again just typing it!)

I repeat it three times while rubbing said belly and then finish with three little pats and the words “You know what to do.”

I told you it was ridiculous!

But it makes me laugh and it makes me trust my belly and I will also say – I am looking better than otherwise expected in these little summer tanks!  (Cute little belly, you!)

However, if I’ve learned anything in my ups and downs as a deliberate creator, it’s that we don’t really want to weigh a certain amount or be a certain size or look a certain way.

What we want is to love and feel good about ourselves.  That’s what we’re REALLY seeking when we start a new diet or exercise plan or – ahem – belly spell.

I know that.  And yet when Michele Woodward recently suggested that focusing on weight loss seemed very “social self” it was as if someone rang a big wake up bell inside my head.

Duh!!

In case you’re not familiar with the lingo, “social self” is somewhat of a four letter word in Martha Beck world.  Here it is from Martha herself which I lifted from Pam’s excellent post on the topic:

The social self is the part of you that developed in response to pressures from the people around you, including everyone from your family to your first love to the pope. As the most socially dependent of mammals, human babies are born knowing that their very survival depends on the goodwill of the grown-ups around them.  Because of this, we’re all literally designed to please others.

For example, many of our smiles are based on social convention.  When you smile but don’t mean it, that’s your social self in action.  When you say yes but mean no (or vice versa), that’s likely your social self in charge.

So far so good?

Our essential self, on the other hand, is what Abraham might call our Inner Being.  It’s the core of who we really are, and it is sourced from ultimate and pure divine love.

Okay, so that takes me back to Michele and her brilliant observation.

What do you think YOUR essential self (aka Inner Being) thinks you should weigh?  Or look like?

I’ve got a funny feeling my belly spell didn’t come from my Essential Self or Inner Being.  I think it came from the part of me that wants to look good to others.

After all, what if I didn’t know what “looked good”? What if my social self grew up in a culture where round bellies were exalted? Would I be “spelling it away” then?

I’m pretty sure not.

I mean, think of the social conditioning required to make this seem like a good idea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neck_ring

So I may very well get the flat belly of a 22 year old co-ed who majored in volleyball, but I will not be a true winner as long as I’m using my manifesting prowess to satisfy my Social Self.

Know what I mean?  Michele does.

(and she finally wrote on the topic! Check it out at Michele’s blog.)

But before you go, I’d love if you shared your thoughts on the subject!

Becoming ‘resistant’ to illness is a top priority for most individuals.

This stance is reflected in the media and TV commercials, community programs and government policies, but as the saying goes, what we resist persists. It makes you wonder, does fighting dis-ease really serve our wellbeing?

Consider these commonly held beliefs about health:

1. Illness is difficult, bad and isolating
2. Doctors know more about the body than we do
3. Symptoms are the enemy and must be suppressed

In this paradigm, illness is a threat. We do what we can to prevent disease and if that doesn’t work, we fight it, right? That’s what I used to think before I studied under a wonderful astrologer named Howard Sasportas.

He said, illness can be understood as a message that something in life is not right and needs adjusting.

Illness is a message? It seemed like a strange notion but as soon as I started looking at dis-ease in a new way, it made sense. In this paradigm the beliefs are different:

1. Illness is instructional (and the instructions come from you!)
2. You know more about your body than anyone else
3. Symptoms are a message to be read

So how do we read these messages? My two favourite tools are active imagination and astrology.

Active imagination is a technique Jeannette taught me a few years ago. It is a way of engaging with the body that brings amazing results. The idea is to relax in a quiet space and ask your ‘symptoms’ what is wrong.

For example, if I have an upset stomach I lie down, close my eyes and observe. I allow my imagination to begin a dialog with my stomach, asking without judgment what it needs, wants and has to offer. The key phrase here is without judgment. I have to get light and easy with whatever my stomach has to say.

The other tool I use is medical astrology. Each sign of the zodiac rules, or links, to a particular part of the body, starting with Aries ruling the head and ending with Pisces ruling the feet. Knowing these connections can bring huge ‘ah ha’ moments.

For example, I know the sign Cancer rules the stomach. This water sign has to do with making connections, feeling nurtured and ‘needed’ by others. If my stomach is upset, my nurturing life may be out of balance. With that knowledge I can start to ask the right questions such as, ‘Am I feeling loved. Am I looking after myself?’ The alternative is to take an antacid and hope for the best.

Another common example is a headache. The head is ruled by Aries, the sign of independence and action. Aries likes to initiate projects, start the ball rolling and above all, be the boss. If I get a headache I ask, where am I not being independent and assertive in my life? Where have I taken a subordinate role when really I want to be top dog? Again, I can take an aspirin, or I can listen to the message.

If we treat aches and pains and even life threatening diseases like spam and ‘bulk delete’ without reading the message, a great opportunity for true wellbeing is missed.

Here is a condensed list of the astrological signs and their traditional rulerships:

• Aries – assertiveness – head
• Taurus – sensation – throat
• Gemini – communication – shoulders, arms, hands, lungs
• Cancer – nurturing – stomach
• Leo – creativity – heart
• Virgo –discernment – upper digestive tract
• Libra – relationship – kidneys and lower back
• Scorpio – transformation – sexual organs and lower intestines
• Sagittarius – exploration – hips and thighs
• Capricorn – enterprise – skin, skeletal system and knees
• Aquarius – originality – nervous system, circulation and ankles
• Pisces – spirituality – the psyche and feet

Are there any recurring symptoms in your life? Have you taken a moment to ask your body What’s up, Doc? I’d like to know what you think.

Kim Falconer is a professional daydreamer, astrologer, and author of The Spell of Rosette, Arrows of Time, and Strange Attractors.  Follow Kim’s Astro Mojo at http://www.kimfalconer.com/scopes.html