I’ve learned this journaling exercise as I was taking Regan Hillyer’s “The Art of Manifesting” course from the Mindvalley platform (which is well worth the investment by the way).

Our beliefs are what stir up our emotions and drive our actions. Our beliefs shape our reality.

But we all hold limiting beliefs in our subconscious mind. These limiting beliefs hold us back from living a truly aligned life that we dream of, because a part of us think that having these beliefs can keep us safe.

One of the most common limiting beliefs we all hold is “I’m not good enough”. We can also substitute the word “good” with other adjectives such as “smart”, “thin”, “beautiful”, “worthy”, and more.

The limiting belief is like an open app that is running in the background of our phone and we are not aware of, but it’s preventing our phone from running at optimal performance.

For example, in our conscious mind, we may think that we are good enough, that we are worthy of abundance, love and health. But 93% of communication happens on the subconscious level. So if subconsciously we actually believe that we are not good enough, we will sabotage ourselves from receiving abundance, love and health, and we will create this reality to reconfirm our limiting belief.

So to rewrite limiting beliefs, here is a simple journaling exercise that can help you begin the process:

1. First, write down your limiting belief.

For example, “I’m not good enough.”

2. Then write down 3 new beliefs that reverse the limiting belief into a positive statement starting with “I choose to believe”.

For example, “I choose to believe I am good enough. I choose to believe that I am worthy. I choose to believe that I am enough in all areas of my life.”

3. Continue this exercise with writing 3 new beliefs with every limiting belief.

You can focus on one area of your life for one time. It may be your beliefs around money, your body, relationship, career, or spirituality.

4. When you finish, read all the new beliefs out loud to yourself.

You may resonate with certain new beliefs strongly. Choose the ones that ring true and feel like an absolute YES to your whole being. Write them out on a separate piece of paper as affirmations. Place your affirmation somewhere you can see easily and read them out loud to yourself at least once every day.

5. Pay attention to what unfolds for you as you practice reading out loud these new beliefs to yourself every day

As we rewrite our limiting beliefs consciously and repeat these new belief statements to ourselves, we can start to rewire the neural pathways in our brains, and align our thoughts and actions with what we desire to create and manifest in our lives.

This is a simple and powerful journaling exercise to try out.

I’d love to hear how it works for you.

Feel free to drop me any questions and sharing here.

*Disclosure: This blog post includes affiliate links. Please note that I only recommend books, products, courses, and services that resonate with me and all opinions expressed are my own. The affiliate link below means that I will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase at no cost to you. 

First of all, what is an empath and how do you know if you’re one?

I’ve learned about the term empath many years ago. When I read about empaths in Anita Moorjani’s book “Sensitive is the New Strong” in 2021, I only thought of myself as a highly sensitive person and not really an empath.

Only when I reread the book the second time last winter (because the book is THAT good), and start to embrace and see myself as an empath, many things have clicked and started making sense for me.

Everyone is sensitive to a degree. There is definitely a spectrum of sensitivity, and everyone can develop their intuitive gifts to become more sensitive to energies.

In Anita Moorjani’s book “Sensitive is the New Strong”, she shares that there are highly sensitive people, and then there are empaths.

Highly sensitive people are people who are quite sensitive to energies of people and the environment. For example, a highly sensitive person can step into a meeting room and immediately pick up the vibe of the meeting. A highly sensitive person can also feel quite overwhelmed by crowded spaces, negative news, words and emotions of others and EMF (electromagnetic fields).

An empath is a highly sensitive person who can feel a lot more than others, and who can also take on and even absorb other people’s feelings.

Both highly sensitive people and empaths have lots of intuitive gifts to share with the world, but unfortunately a lot of them are not aware of their own sensitivities to begin with.

Empaths, especially, may feel easily overwhelmed and weighed down by anxiety, nervousness, depression, fears from others and the world, and they may not even realize that these emotions and feelings do not belong to them at the first place.

So how do you know if you’re an empath and/or a highly sensitive person?

In general, here are some characteristics and qualities of an empath:

• Highly intuitive and intuition may come as a sense of deep knowing or feeling
• Can anticipate other people’s needs easily
• Can feel what others are feeling easily
• Listen well and can understand what’s being spoken even in between lines
• Service-oriented and have a passion to help others
• Interested in all things metaphysical and spiritual
• Feel drawn to nature and calm spaces
• See the inherent good nature in other people
• Have a strong affinity to connect with animals, plants and nature

However, sensitivities are like double-edged swords. If empaths are not aware of their own sensitivities and don’t know how to master them, they may be deeply affected by the environment and other people’s energies. Below are some possible challenges that an empath may encounter:

• Negative comments and words can feel very hurtful and affect an empath for much longer and deeper
• Empaths can tend to be people-pleasing as they feel good when other people around them are in a good mood
• Empaths tend to avoid conflict and any confrontation to feel safe so they bottle up their feelings and stress themselves out even more
• Empaths may take on burdens and responsibilities of others to help others feel better and forget about prioritizing self-care
• Empaths may be easily taken advantage of, manipulated or exploited by others because of the tendency to see and believe in the good in others
• Empaths may feel drained by listening to others as others may “dump” their feelings on them

The above may cause empaths to lose confidence and start doubting themselves and they may hold themselves back from expressing their truth because they are afraid of disappointing others.

If you want to find out whether you are an empath or not, check out Anita Moorjani’s online empath quiz (no sign ups required) here: https://www.anitamoorjani.com/empath-quiz

(From Anita Moorjani’s empath quiz, my personal score is 21 – an intuitive empath which is so true)

So what to do once we realize that we are an empath? How can we master our sensitivities as gifts, and use these intuitive gifts to carry out our soul purpose?

Luckily there are a lot of wellness tools and spiritual practices that can help us empaths raise our own vibration level and to ground and protect our energies with love. I emphasize the intention with love, and not fear, as it’s easy to view the world as a place full of danger and pitfalls for empaths.

Learning to embrace our sensitivities as a superpower and knowing that we can thrive in the world is an act of self-love.

When you recognize yourself as an empath or a highly sensitive person, chances are you may suddenly unlock some mysteries in your life in terms of explanation for certain responses, tendencies and patterns.

For me, once I’ve embraced myself as an empath, it suddenly makes sense to me why I feel so much pressure to pay salaries at the end of each month because somehow I feel like I’m carrying all my staff’s expectations and financial responsibilities on my shoulders. Or why it’s so hard for me to just shrug off a negative comment or feedback compared to others, because I can feel the energetic weight of words on my energetic bodies and hurtful words can cut me like a sword.

I always say that awareness is key and 50% of the issue is already resolved once we are aware.

Stay tuned for my next blog for some wellness tips and spiritual practices to help empaths and highly sensitive people stay more grounded and to feel more centered.

So are you an empath or a highly sensitive person? If so, how do you recognize your own empathic or sensitive nature affecting your life?

Feel free to share and contact me directly here.

December tends to fly by so quickly in a blink with a whirlwind of events and celebrations. And then before we know it, it’s already the new year.

If you can find some solo down time before or after the holiday season, I’d highly recommend doing some journaling on your own to take a pause and reflect on what you’d like to manifest and create for the new year.

This can help us feeling more centered and grounded entering the new year, instead of feeling scattered and all over the place.

Today I’d like to share with you two of my favorite journaling prompts that can help us tap into our heart’s true calling.

Are you ready to be 100% honest with yourself now?

If so, find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed, set a timer for 5 minutes, pick up a pen and your journal (or just some paper), and start writing.

In other words, if you have all the money in the world, if everyone around you supports you no matter what, and you have all the time you need, what would you do? Is there anything you would do differently than now? Is there anything that you would jump straight right in and do it now?

After writing the answer, you don’t need to act on it right away. Rather, take the time to reflect and sit with the answer. You may notice your fears or limiting beliefs that you may have that are stopping you from doing what your heart is calling you to. If so, write them all down in your journal. You don’t need to find any solution yet. Just becoming aware of your inner thoughts and feelings are already good enough.

And if you feel ready to act on it, set an intention for the new year that you will follow through.

To some, thinking of death may be grim, but to me, it reminds me that we are only here on earth for a finite amount of time. Imagine if we know when we will die, would your priorities change then?  How would you like to spend your last hours?

This journaling prompt reminds us what is truly most important for us, and we can take the answer to reflect on how we are setting our priorities in our daily basis.

Now that you have your answers, hopefully they can provide you some clarity on how you’d like to shape your 2024.

If you find yourself stopping yourself from doing what your heart calls you to (aka your answer to both questions), ask yourself in a non-judgmental way, what is truly stopping you? What is the belief, or the narrative that you are telling yourself? And is this thought truly serving you, or is it stopping you from doing what your heart desires?

To take the next step into focusing on what you’d like to manifest for the new year, you can:

• Set an intention for the new year – check out my blog here
• Create your vision mandala for clarity – learn to do it in my self-paced online course here 
• Join our special year-end wellness classes to release what no longer serves you and to gain clarity on what you want to manifest for 2024 (see below for more information)

I hope you enjoy these journaling prompts today.

If you need more support, I’m here for you! Feel free to drop me any questions about journaling here.

When was this class?

This workshop took place on Instagram Live as a collaboration with Bliss Bash 2023 Singapore on June 18, 2023.

What’s this class about?

We already know the many benefits of meditation, such as boosting our immune system, lowering stress, and increasing feelings of happiness and well-being. Now the question is how to get started with meditation? In this 60-minute online workshop, Tania will introduce 5 meditation styles that you can use at home that will engage each of your five senses: sight, sound, touch, smell and taste. Engaging our five senses can help bring our wandering mind back to focus, and to guide us to the place of stillness and calm within.

Your Facilitator:

Tania Ho, owner and founder of Museflower Retreat & Spa and meditation teacher

Who’s this class for?

• A beginner in meditation who just wants to dip your toe to try it out
• A failed meditator who is looking to give meditation a second chance
• A regular who wants to get some new ideas
• Anyone who is just plain curious

Thank you to all those who have joined our “12 Days of Meditation Magic” adventure from December 21, 2020 to January 1, 2021 on Facebook LIVE.

12 Days of Meditation Magic 2020 is a daily free 20-minute meditation led by Tania Ho and Susanna Eduini on Museflower Retreat & Spa’s Facebook live. This series of videos aim to inspire you to start a regular meditation practice, as well as to help you discover more magic in your life.

Every day we will guide you through a simple and easy meditation based on a different theme. Meditation can help us to be more present, and to see the extraordinary in the ordinary. After the meditation, we share some tips on how you can immerse deeper into the magic of the daily theme.

I have now uploaded all our Facebook live videos on Youtube, and I want to gather all the videos in one blog post so you can find them easily.

You can follow the 12 days in order or select the one theme you feel resonated with. The themes are inspired by the topics from the Twelve Healers flower essences by Dr Edward Bach.

I hope you will enjoy this series, and if you have any questions, comments or sharing, feel free to contact me directly here.

As we’re entering into the last two weeks of 2020, I personally like to find some quiet time to take a pause and reflect on the past year before the busy holiday times hit. This is to allow my mind, body, heart and soul to arrive at the same page so I can prepare for the new year ahead.

It does seem more difficult to prepare for next year, since this year has been so unpredictable and a lot of things that I’ve used to do basically got thrown out of the window or were put on hold.

But it’s because the past year has been so unpredictable that I feel like I really need to take the time this year to be quiet and listen to my inner guidance.

In today’s blog I invite you to join me on this reflective journey. I will share three journaling exercises with you that you can complete over three days. I have personally completed these journaling exercises myself, and they help me to tune into what direction I’m heading towards next year.

Obviously you can finish all the exercises in one sitting, but I find that it is easier to break it down over three days so the questions get settled into the psyche and answers may come up throughout the day.

So grab your journal and pen and let’s get started.

Day 1: What Excites You or Not?

Find a quiet space and time when you won’t be disturbed for some reflective journaling time. It is ideal to do some type of meditation before journaling, so we are in touch with our hearts and souls instead of just our thinking minds.

Reflect on all the things that you have done the past year, and start to make two lists with the following prompts.

One list writes: What excites you?

The other list writes: What doesn’t feel so exciting anymore?

Allow yourself at least 5 minutes to do some free writing. Free writing is similar to brainstorming where you just write down whatever comes to your mind. There is no need to edit or screen anything out or to analyze at this point.

Be brutally honest with yourself when you write down your lists.

After you have finished writing, you can look back at the activities under each list.

Under the list of activities that no longer excite you, is there anything there that you can start to eliminate or stop doing, or delegate to other people? Sometimes we do things out of habit or tradition, and we forget to question the intention of why we are doing it at the first place. Does the activity still reflect on your original intention?

Perhaps the intention still excites you but the activity doesn’t, so how can you change the activity? If you don’t know the answer yet, it is totally fine. Pose the question to the Universe as a prayer, and wait for the answer to arise naturally.

Under the list of things that excite you, how can you incorporate or prioritize them in your life better? Start with small steps. And I always find it helpful when we schedule time for that activity or task to make it a priority.

Day 2: Challenges and Gifts

Our greatest challenges are often our biggest gifts.

Reflecting over the past year, what have been your challenges and how have they been your gifts? It’s okay if you can’t see them as a gift yet.

Start by listing out the challenges the past year.

How have you honored your feelings around these challenges? How have you moved through them? How have the challenges strengthened you? Perhaps you have developed more resilience. Perhaps your heart was broken into a million pieces, but as you gathered the pieces back, your heart became bigger and fuller.

If you are still going through a challenge and you cannot see the gift in it yet, do not worry. Start by acknowledging your feelings and emotions around this challenge. Does it make you feel like a failure? Does it make you feel you angry or frustrated or worried or sad? Acknowledge and embrace all your feelings and emotions and write them down in your journal.

Again it is completely okay if we don’t have any answers yet, nor should we rush to any conclusions. It is the process that counts. The answer will come, so trust the Universe. Trust your inner wisdom.

Day 3: Gratitude

I always find that it is such a beautiful way to “end the year”, so-to-speak, with listing out the top 10 things I am grateful for in the past year.

My life has changed a lot since COVID-19 hit. There would have been things that I would have never started if it weren’t for the global pandemic situation, such as holding virtual circles and events, running an online course, making videos, starting my own website, and getting more involved in my family business. Online courses that I could take and learn from teachers all over the world. Traveling domestically more often and discovering more local gems. And just having more faith and trust in the Universe that everything is working out for our highest good.

What are your top 10 things that you are grateful for in 2020? Write them down in your journal.

You can even take one step further and use your list as a base to do Gregg Braden’s 2-step heart and mind meditation. You can refer to his meditation here.

You can also share this activity with your family and friends (virtually works well too) during your new year celebration, as a way to send off 2020. If you have a Christmas tree at home, you can write them down on gift tags and hang them on your tree.

I hope you find the above exercises helpful. You can adapt the journaling prompts to any way you like to suit your needs. Give yourself at least 15 minutes or more to do the reflective journaling. You can start to think about the questions at the beginning of the day, and do the writing at the end of the day. You may start with the prompt and end up writing something else, and that is totally cool. This is the beauty of journaling.

It is your private conversation with your soul.

Do you want to delve deeper into some fun and soulful reflections together this winter?

If you’d like to embark on a deeper inner journey to slow down for some soulful reflections, come join our free “12 Days of Meditation Magic” on Facebook live starting from December 21 to January 1, 2021. My friend Susanna Eduini, breathwork facilitator and coach, and I will be facilitating a 20-minute daily meditation from 2.30-3pm Thailand time based on a daily theme. You can also watch the replay later when it is convenient for you. For more information on “12 days of Meditation Magic”, visit our Facebook event page here.