🧠 The Source by Tara Swart - manifest your life (book review)
📚 The Source by Tara Swart - I wanted to get my hands on this book as soon as I heard Tara speak on Dr. Rangan Chatterjee's podcast, Feel Better Live More. The book emphasizes the importance of our thoughts and how our mind can truly be the catalyst in helping us live our best lives.
Main takeaways:
» Our mind is malleable - it reacts and grows based on what we feed it with (eating fruits and veggies is so much better than processed carbs and refined sugars, getting enough sleep every night, surrounding ourselves with positive and uplifting people, etc)
It may be easy to think that once we're past a certain age, our brain is developed and "fixed" and that none of these outside factors can have any impact, but that's simply not true. Like the rest of our body, our brain is constantly taking in stimuli and using that to grow.
A few examples:
Eating a diet rich in healthy fats and good cholesterol (HDL) helps to keep the brain in good condition compared to eating junk food. Continuing to eat healthy provides the brain with the proper materials to prosper, which can lead to less fatigue/brain fog/a general increase in wellbeing
Constantly exposing yourself to the same behaviour solidifies them as habits, which are then so much harder to break (can be a good or bad thing). There is often so much we can do physically, but it's our minds that scream at us to stop, which is why we then give in
I used to only work out for 30-45 minutes per day because I thought that was the most I could do, but now I can do 60 minutes daily because I've conditioned myself and all parties in my mind know that it's going to be 60 minutes and nothing less
I have a really bad habit of checking my phone at the slightest sense of accomplishment (i.e. writing a few paragraphs and then taking a break) which is fine sometimes - but added up, these "breaks" interrupt my stream of consciousness much more than I probably am aware of
» Thinking about all situations through these different lenses helps keep the brain agile: emotionally, physically, intuitively, motivationally, logically and creatively
This is something I personally struggle with because when making decisions based on facts and logic, I'm really good at separating my emotions and doing what's right. The book doesn't suggest to bring in your emotions into every decision but rather, to just be aware of all these different sides when making a decision because oftentimes we just shut everything out except what's needed to make the right choice.
Two examples of this in play:
If you're working on a quantitative exercise and the result points you in a specific direction then that's the correct choice to make (i.e. analyzing savings rates and choosing what bank to go with - you should go with the bank that's offering the highest saving rate regardless of what emotions you feel about the bank, what you think of their colour scheme, etc)
If you're trying to console a family member or loved one that's been through a tough day, you wouldn't lay out all the facts (i.e. this is one day out of a lifetime, this won't matter in 5 years time) but rather your emotional side would come out to comfort them
» Ruminating over past events and/or having a negative outlook on everything wires our brain to just see the bad in everything and approach life with a worried/stressed attitude
If we expose ourselves to negativity and have negative self talk, this leads us to view life with a very scary perspective.
The perfect example is watching the news - when do they ever show good things in the news? Never. It's always the latest shooting, car crash, robbery, war/civil unrest, COVID cases reaching a new high, traffic and the list can go on. Obviously if you have this playing on the TV or the radio, you slowly start to think that the world is such a bad and scary place and I'm not saying that everything is butterflies and rainbows but personally, I know that if there's something serious that I need to know about, it'll reach me eventually.
Similarly, thinking about past events with the "Omg I wish I didn't do that", "I wished it turned out this way instead", "I'm so stupid for doing that" type of commentary should also be stopped. What good are you doing yourself by thinking like this? Things might have not happened the way you wanted them to, but unless you're really close to building a time machine to take you back into the past to fix all those things, it's really not serving you any purpose. If things hadn't played out exactly like they had, you wouldn't be here in this very moment doing what you're doing. Let that sink in - crazy right?
» Visualizing your ideal life and practicing gratitude through a consistent meditation practice trains and transforms your brain to stay calm and look for potential opportunities with whatever life throws your way
Two things I want to touch on here:
Vision boards: I thought vision boards wouldn't work for me but I decided to give it a try because who doesn't love pretty pictures? At the beginning of the year, I did a browse on Pinterest and curated a vibe that I wanted to attract, along with quotes that spoke to me. A few things have come true, but what I love is that I'm in constant view of my board, and I know its subconsciously seeding me for the type of life I want.
Gratitude: I've been practicing gratitude for many years now, but before, I thought of it as a daily highlight. I would be "grateful" for this one particular thing that happened - and there's nothing wrong with that but I believe that the way I practice now is so much more powerful. At the end of the day, before I'm about to sleep, I say out loud all that I'm grateful for and usually it's the same list: my parents, my grandparents, my family, living in Canada, having a job, etc etc. This puts me at such peace because I know that whatever happens tomorrow, I'm just so grateful to have gotten to that point.
Concluding thoughts
Our brain is so powerful and can get so much done if we just let it and feed it with the correct things (foods, positivity, proper care). There have been days where my brain just feels so foggy and it feels like I can't think through anything, and that's not how it should be - we can accomplish and literally make our dream lives come true if we reign in this beastly brain of ours and teach it.
I'll leave you with a quote with none other than the great Buddha himself:
"All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts." - Buddha
Sending you lots of love and light,
-Reina xo
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