Study and change

I’d love to provide you with a bit of a summary of my experiences with the Peaceful Place CDs and the Piece of Mind book.  My sister actually has had the Students Steps to Success book for quite some time and lent me the accompanying CDs, which is how I came to explore your works further.  Below is a bit of an outline and if you need any further details just let me know and I would be happy to oblige.

I’ve been using the PP10 and PP11 over the past 5 years and have found them to be extremely beneficial, both in terms of improving my self-confidence and ability to handle new situations, as well as achieving my goals in my studies. 

In terms of PP10, I would have to say its impact on how I’ve coped with the transition from high school to university, and the new challenges one faces with university work; being able to juggle classes and assessment and excel in stressful exam periods is immeasurable.  Also with many changes occurring for me at home, with my parents divorcing and some times of grief, I’ve found it’s been very useful as a time to just release and let go of the day’s tensions, and often revisiting my Peaceful Place throughout the day (porpoising) has been a real help to maintain relaxation and a sense of calm.  I love being able to turn around any situation in which I may feel unsure/apprehensive about, and with repetition of the meditation, those circumstances can become positive times, and enjoyable moments in my life, instead of potentially negative memories.  This period of life has also been a really important time for personal growth, so PP10 has also helped to re-affirm positive thoughts and emotions of self-love and worth into my subconscious, and has helped to create a real appreciation for myself as a unique individual.  I also feel that this has then begun to shine through in my communication with other people, and how I approach life more generally. 

A lot of things that I would have felt anxious about in the past, no longer seem so scary.  An example of this would be when one day, after I’d been doing the PP10 meditation for a while, I finally felt courageous/confident enough to start going to dance lessons by myself.  This had been something that I’d had a desire to do for quite some time, but it wasn’t until I started picturing myself actually being confident walking into the classroom and able to take that time for myself, that I actually achieved it.  More generally, I’ve used the Self Confidence and Worth meditation in developing confidence in group situations where communication often seemed a little difficult and I had felt out of my depth. 

The combination of using PP10 and PP11 has had a great impact on my college and university studies thus far too.  With the pressures of leaving school and achieving in Year 11/12 exams to make it into uni, having a time to focus on achieving specific, subject-related goals has been very helpful.  As with anything, often when you start it is all a bit daunting and you feel a little apprehensive about how it will work out.  But, after using PP11 on some subjects and not others at school and seeing the results, I am convinced that PP11 helped me to make it into uni and get to where I am now today in my studies.  With every new semester at uni comes four new subjects and the prospect of four major final exams in 15 weeks time.  I’ve successfully placed my goals for these exams inside my mind’s eye – usually at the start of each semester – and over many repetitions throughout the semester, have found that I achieve my goals (or thereabouts) infallibly every time.  This has worked for me over so many subjects in the past that I’m already practising PP11 for my next four!

The techniques of using mind charts and creating a positive feeling about a particular learning activity has really helped me in achieving far beyond what I could initially believe possible.  Going into each lecture open and wanting to learn the subject matter, and going to my Peaceful Place and bringing my lecturers/teachers in there to teach me, has had an indescribable impact on how much I remember and retain from those classes.  Then, from imprinting those lessons into my subconscious I can readily recall the knowledge in exams and for assignments, and even just in conversations with other students or family.  It makes discussing questions with teachers after class about something I didn’t completely understand at the time a lot easier as well. It’s awesome! And it makes learning so much more fun!

I will be going into my 4^th and final year of a combined Bachelor of Actuarial Studies/ Commerce degree  this year, and with the technique of setting goals for each of my subjects, I’m sure I will achieve exactly what I want to in order to complete my undergraduate degrees successfully.