A Soul Map
Motivation is vital when you want to finally release emotional eating and achieve FREEdom. Creating and using a Soul Picture is an amazingly powerful way of finding and cementing motivation.
As the saying goes, 'A picture is worth a thousand words' and this is especially true when you think about motivation. There are lots of studies showing the effectiveness of visualisation in achieving a desired outcome. It's used especially in sports performance, but is also part of the power of hypnotherapy.
What is a Soul Picture?
Soul Pictures represent you, at a deep level. This may not be the 'you' that you see in the mirror, and it may not be the 'you' that you feel yourself to be at the moment. However, Soul Pictures are a creative way to playfully find and cement the Self that you want.
A Soul Picture is a route to greater clarity, to linking imagination with motivation, and to cementing change.
A Soul Picture can represent your desired outcome. After all, it's there to motivate you to move towards that, and to remind yourself of the intention that you've set. So, it should show the positive: what you want to feel.
How to create a Soul Picture
Another of the great things about Soul Pictures is that they are a way to get an 'outside' perspective on what is going on for you. To create a Soul Picture you can start by thinking about what you want to achieve. What would that look like? Perhaps think beyond a picture of a person, what would symbolise how you want to feel and act?
In thinking about symbolism, you could think about what object, animal or landscape would represent how you want to feel. Some people start from an affirmation, and think what that would look like.
For example, if you want to honour the fact you are a health nut, and stick with what you know is healthy (rather than doing/eating things you regret), you could think about what kind of a nut you would be. I chose an almond, as lots of studies have shown that eating almonds, in particular, supports shedding excess weight. I then added trainers and some weights to represent different healthy activities. And wrote the affirmation around it.
As you can see from this example, you don't have to be a great artist to create something that speaks to you.
If you are more artistic, feel free to draw or paint something. And it can be just colours and shapes, it's about what is meaningful to you!
You can also use vectors or photos you find online, or cut out of a magazine. Be playful and enjoy the process.
Creating a Soul Map
I also highly recommend a Soul Map. Start by asking yourself where you are now? What are you struggling with?
Next, where do you want to get to: this might be your original Soul Picture.
And lastly, what would help you get from where your are to where you want to be? This may be a trickier question, and I sometimes encourage people to find some way of generating a 'random' answer. You could use a random word or random image generator. You could flick through a book or dictionary and pick a word at random, then plug that into something like Pixabay.
Using Your Soul Picture
The simple act of creating your Soul Picture or Map is already a great way to externalise your emotions and get into a more creative, problem-solving state. Studies have also shown how calming doing something creative is. Then, having a tangible reminder of your intention, and possibly of your path forward, acts as a motivator and helps keep you on track.
You could stick your Soul Picture up on a wall, or use a magnet on the fridge. You could have it as a screensaver/wallpaper on your phone or device. You could create a special place for it where you will see it every day.
You can also tap on your Soul Picture: 'Although at the moment I'm here, and I want to get there, I know how I'm going to act moving forward, and I can keep my momentum going...'
So, what will your Soul Picture look like?
