Positivity and Creativity Through Exercise

I sat down with the positivity power couple Mark Victor Hansen, co-author of best-seller Chicken Soup for the Soul, and his wife Crystal Dwyer Hansen to talk about the power of asking. Their new book, Ask! The Bridge From Your Dreams To Your Destiny, is just the perfect antidote to a tumultuous year.

If the year 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that nothing is certain. And while we may not be able to control or change what’s happening around us, we do have the power to control how we react. And to harness that power, we need to stop and ask ourselves a few key questions.

The 3 Channels to Ask

Crystal Dwyer Hansen says, “Mark and I say in the book [Ask! The Bridge From Your Dreams To Your Destiny] that there are three channels through which to ask and those are, ask yourself, ask others, and ask God. 

And for me, it always starts with asking yourself some of those tough questions. And we say there are three critical phases of questions that you can ask yourself. 

So the first phase is: Where am I now?  Because we have to question ourselves. 

Sometimes we just don't want to, or we can't even get in touch with where we really are. But we can't go forward until we fully understand where we are. So underneath that, you know, where am I right now? What's working, what's not working? What do I really want for myself? How do I really see myself? Am I holding myself back? What are my opportunities right now? 

And then there are so many questions that unfold as you start asking yourself, Where am I right now, in all areas of your life?

The second critical phase is: Where do I want to be? Because often we are so out of touch with what we really want. 

When I started asking myself those questions, I knew that was not the life I wanted. I did not like the way that looked or felt, I didn't want to show up and be dependent on somebody else to buy my food for me; that was unacceptable to me. So, where did I want to be? 

What will you accept for your life?

And asking yourself, Where do I want to be, more questions will come after that. In my perfect successful scenario, what does that look like? What am I doing every day? Who am I talking to? What do my business connections look like? What's important to me when I wake up every day? All of those things that come under that scenario of, Where do I want to be? 

And then, the third critical phase of that is: What specific actions do I need to take to get there? 

Because we really need to start to look at those and start to move our asking journey forward by taking those actions.”

Exercise for more positivity and creativity

And if you find yourself antsy or unable to focus, or you’re too distracted, then get your blood flowing. Whatever you do for exercise, go do it!

“Your brain works better when you're releasing endorphins and blood's flowing to your entire body."

CRYSTAL DWYER HANSEN

Crystal says, “Your brain works better when you're releasing endorphins and blood's flowing to your entire body. And also, it becomes so much easier to reach a meditative state because when you're exercising, your brainwave actually goes into a slightly hypnotic state. It's a dreamer state, it's the artist's state. The artist's state, the dreamer state, is the creative state where you can start to dream and wonder, and also receive feedback from the universe like you start to get understanding.”

So take some time to ask yourself these questions. You might surprise yourself by how much power you have locked inside yourself. You just need to ask.

For the full interview, click here.