Over the course of my life I’ve amassed an ever increasing body of experiences and evidence to suggest there exists a mysterious force that sometimes responds to our requests, particularly if they are worded in certain ways.

Whether it’s the universe, God, the subconscious mind, the supposed higher self, some combination of the above, or something else entirely, is up for debate.

Regardless of what it is, I’m thoroughly convinced that there is a reason why the quote “ask and you shall receive” is so incredibly famous.

Here are a few experiments you can run to help test the aforementioned assertions:

Test #1: Please help me, Please teach me, Please show me

Prior to going to sleep, make a request beginning with one of the following three statements:

Please help me

Please teach me

Please show me

Followed with something along the lines of:

(Please help me) understand the root cause of my anxiety

(Please teach me) about my relationship with my father

(Please show me) how to let go

To make this request, mentally say a statement of this structure to the whatever you believe in, be it the subconscious mind, God, the Universe, the Source, etc.

Then go to bed. In the morning, think and or journal about the dreams that you had.

Variation on this practice:

Instead of making the request prior to going to sleep, make it prior to doing a session of the meditation technique described in this video. The longer the meditation session, the more likely it is that you will receive some type of answer.

Note: If you want to take an even deeper dive into the blending of asking practices with meditative practices, I’d recommend reading or listening to Somatic Descent, by Dr. Reggie Ray.

Test #2: Asking To Remember

You can give this one a shot the next time you loose your keys or forget what you were about to say.

If the former occurs, simply think the phrase, “Where are my keys?” or “Where did I put my keys?” (Or whatever it is you lost).

If the latter occurs, think the phrase “What did I want to say to (insert name of the person to whom you were speaking)?”

I know it may sound a bit ridiculous, but for me, it almost always works.

Test #3: The Most Important Question Practice

This is a practice I got one from listening to an interview with the extraordinary chess prodigy / martial arts master / paddle surfer Josh Waitzkin, who claims to frequently use it. It’s quite similar to the first practice, but I figured I’d throw it in, seeing as Waitkin has a lot more street cred than me, and it might help convince some of you to hear that world class performers in objectively difficult fields also believe in this sort of thing.

To perform this practice, simply think a question to the universe/your subconscious/etc at some point a few hours before going to bed. Could be anything. What do I need to do in order to grow my business? What is something I should let go of? What is something I should do more of? Then just let the question go. After waking up, journal about the question, and any answers that may have come to you.

I often do it randomly throughout the day, and often get answers out of the blue without journaling about them, but as always, I’d recommend experimenting to see what technique works best for you.

Conclusion

If you end up trying any of these practices and feel compelled, I’d love to hear if they worked for you. I can be reached via email at contact@sundaynewsletter.com

Cheers,

• Sam