Last Updated on November 10, 2021
Try to think of a time when you were in complete despair— a really really low point in your life. Were you able to just snap out of it?
Most likely not.
In fact, chances are, it took a really long time to recover from this despair.
In order to go from complete despair, to feelings of joy and love, you must climb a long ladder of emotions ranging from doubt and boredom, to optimism and enthusiasm.
This “ladder of emotions” is what Abraham Hicks calls the emotional guidance scale.
Before we dive in to how to use the emotional guidance scale, let’s learn a little more about what it is, and where it came from.
The Emotional Guidance Scale was first written in the book “Ask and it is Given” by Esther and Jerry Hicks. The name Esther Hicks may sound familiar— she a leading author on Law of Attraction and Manifestation.
In the book, Abraham Hicks teaches how the emotional guidance scale can be used as an emotional guidance system to identify and guide our emotions as a part of a manifestation practice.
By now, you’re probably wondering what exactly the emotional guidance scale looks like.
So, before we get further into how to use it, lets take a look at Abraham Hick’s Emotional Guidance Scale:
You’ll notice that the top of the scale are universal and inherently positive feelings, joy, love, freedom, and more.
At the bottom are insecurity, guilt, and unworthiness. Think: Rock bottom.
You may be wondering the purpose of laying out emotions in such a way.
Well, like we talked about how it is difficult to jump directly from complete despair to complete joy, the emotional guidance scale provides a blueprint for creating more positive emotions.
Think of it like a map. The path from despair to joy is not easy. With the emotional scale, we can instead focus on climbing the ladder one step at a time.
So even if we are not experience positive emotions yet, we can see progress towards a better emotional state.
So how can you use the emotional guidance scale? There’s no right or wrong way, but there is a process you can follow:
This is the first and most powerful step. To be mindful of the emotions you are currently experiencing is further than many will achieve. This allows you to begin intentionally moving up the scale, rather than aimlessly sliding up and down the scale.
Questions to ask yourself:
Acknowledge it is OK to feel what you feel: when we fail to accept our emotions, we risk sliding further down the scale by spiraling into negative emotion. It’s important to acknowledge and accept your emotions through journaling and mindfulness.
Is there a certain person or activity that you feel contributes to your emotions?
A few methods to try:
It may not seem like an accomplishment to go from feeling frustration to feeling pessimism, for example. But recognize when you move up the scale.
Know that you are headed in the right direction and celebrate these small wins
Don’t put pressure on yourself to move up the scale too quickly. Remember, this is where the power of using this emotional guidance scale lies.
You may be wondering what this all has to do with the Law of Attraction.
According to the law of vibration, these aren’t just emotions— they are vibrations of energy. The lower emotions on the scale correspond to negative vibrations, and the higher correspond to positive vibrations.
The thing is, the energy of our emotions determines which thoughts of ours resonate.
When you’re consumed with negative feelings, your thoughts probably align. And when your thoughts align, you can continue to manifest negativity in your life, even unintentionally.
Likewise, when you’re in a negative place, you may try to “think happy thoughts,” and notice it doesn’t actually make you feel better at all.
Why?
Your energy is simply not aligned with extremely positive thoughts yet. So, you can go back to the emotional guidance scale and take smaller steps.
The emotional guidance scale is made of two spirals: a downward spiral, and an upward spiral. This signifies that when you are in these spirals, you have momentum to keep going up or down.
For example, think of a time you have been angry. Isn’t is easy for that anger to quickly turn into wanting to get revenge? Before long, you’ll find yourself in full blown hatred.
On the flip side, when you feel content, you more easily attract hopeful thoughts, and become optimistic. In this case, you have upward momentum.
But in order to get here, and in order to keep momentum, it’s important to be intentional about moving up the emotional guidance scale.
A couple thing will happen as you move up the emotional guidance scale:
The people around you will either come with you, or they will stay behind.
Vibrations are contagious. Which is great news, because it means that by helping yourself, you can also help others with your positive vibrations.
But it can also mean that negative vibrations of others can hold you back, preventing you from achieving true joy.
Someone who matched your vibration yesterday, may not tomorrow.
So, when doing this work, it’s important to know that your relationships with others may change.
The higher the vibration, the more power you have to manifest. If your manifestations haven’t been working, the emotional guidance scale can be a great place to start. Because, you need positive vibrations to attract positive things into your life.
Now is a great time to spend some time reflecting on where you are on the emotional scale. Even this small step provides the framework to work towards more positive emotions, avoid moving down the scale, or maintain upward momentum.
So what are you feeling right now? How can you raise your vibrations in this moment?
Lean toward the emotional guidance scale to help you find these answers.
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