How to Kick Negative Feelings and Habits: The Confrontation Technique

Confrontation is one of the most useful tools/tricks I have ever learned. It's wonderful because it's easy, effective, and can be used for just about any negative situation. I was about to write out a Confrontation exercise for one of my clients to take home, but decided to just turn it into a blog so that it's easily accessible to anyone who wants to use it.

I use the Confrontation exercise just about every day of my life. It can be used to get rid of negative thoughts, habits, situations, feelings...... I use it for everything from overcoming fear to getting in shape. So here it is!

The Confrontation Exercise:

1) When whatever you are trying to get rid of comes up, focus on the presence of God inside of you. My meditation post talks about how to do this (the first meditation exercise on that post is a good one for this exercise), but you don't have to be in a deep meditative state. I often do this exercise in my crowded gym on a treadmill, so being in a meditative state is definitely not necessary.

2) For those who haven't tried meditation before, or aren't used to feeling one with God, just focus on the thought that the all-powerful God, who created this whole Universe, is within you and resides in you.

- EXTREMELY quick break down: Most religions agree that "God is everywhere." So, if God is EVERYWHERE, then it logically follows that God ALSO has to be inside of YOU. Thus, God is inside of you. :-)

You can visualize this as a big, bright light inside your head (eyes closed helps, but adjust it accordingly if you are in public and don't want people to think you're crazy).

3) Once you're focused on the presence of God inside you, you say:

"The God-Power within me is GREATER than ___________ (fill in the blank with your negative thought/habit). I completely yield my mind, body, and emotions to the God-Power within me."

4) Keep repeating that statement over and over while you visualize the God-Power inside of you (the big, bright light) growing and taking over your mind and body, pushing out or disintegrating the negative feeling. Try to FEEL the God-Power within you really flooding your body and confronting the negative energy. The concept is that NO temporary negative energy (which is what negative thoughts and feelings are) can stand up to the power of God. So when you confront the negative energy with God (who resides inside of you), the negative energy has to give (it LOSES!!!! TKO!)!!! :-D

I say the first part of the phrase ("The God-Power within me...") over and over until I completely feel the statement inside of me and then I move to the second part ("I yield...."). I just keep repeating it until I feel like I'm ready to move on. BTW, the "I completely yield" part will take you into a deep, meditative state, if you'd like to go there.

5) Once you are done with the confrontation say:
"I give thanks to the God-Power within my mind for giving me Self-Mastery."

And you're done!

6) Keep repeating this exercise whenever the negative feeling/thought comes up until it's gone forever.

Please keep in mind that you are free to change up the above terms for whatever you feel comfortable with. If you don't like the term "God-Power" change it up to whatever resonates with you.

Alright, those are the steps above, but I will give a couple examples to give you a better idea of how it can be applied.

Since I mentioned using this to get in shape (and I know that's a popular goal), this is how I use it at the gym:

Example 1-
I'm on the treadmill and I want to get off/am tired/bored/have a cramp:

I say, "The God-Power within me is GREATER than the energy of laziness inside me. I completely yield my mind and body to the God-Power within me."
"I give thanks to the God-Power within my mind for giving me self-mastery."

- This has REALLY taken my work outs to a new level!


Example 2-
I'm hungry late at night (I've already had dinner)/I'm about to reach for junk food:

I say, "The God-Power within me is GREATER than the negative energy in me causing me to overeat. I completely yield my mind and body to the God-Power within me."
"I give thanks to the God-Power within my mind for giving me self-mastery."

Example 3-
Fear. That's my big one in the spiritual realm. It's one of my life lessons. So I use this exercise for fear all the time. I usually lay down on my bed, close my eyes:

And I say, "The God-Power within me is greater than any feeling of fear inside me. I completely yield my mind, body, and emotions to the God-Power within me."
"I give thanks to the God-Power within my mind for giving me self-mastery."

Those are just a few examples from my every day life, but you can really use this confrontation technique for ANY feeling/issue. Play with it and use words that resonate with you. The point is just to confront the negative emotions/thoughts/habits with the power of God inside you because none of those energies can survive when confronted with the power of God.

It has definitely one of the most helpful techniques I have come across, so I'm happy to share it. :-)

Sending lots of love and light,
J