Friday, November 19, 2010

Life is Really Very Simple....

A beautiful life affirmation from Louise Hay.

She writes: "Life is really very simple. What we give out, we get back. What we think about ourselves becomes the truth for us....Every thought we think is creating our future. Each one of us creates our experiences by our thoughts and our feelings. The thoughts we think and the words we speak create our experiences.....No person, place, or thing has any power over us, for "we" are the only thinkers in our mind. When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives."

As I read these affirmations out loud to myself, it's interesting to observe which parts my mind rejects as being untrue or impossible. This is a sure sign of which areas need the most work! Our thoughts create our reality. Why not create the most amazing reality imaginable?


In the infinity of life where I am,
all is perfect, whole, and complete.
I live in harmony and balance with everyone I know.
Deep at the center of my being, there is an infinite well of love.
I now allow this love to flow to the surface.
It fills my heart, my body, my mind, my consciousness,
my very being, and radiates out from me in all directions
and returns to me multiplied.
The more love I use and give, the more I have to give.
The supply is endless.
The use of love makes me feel good;
it is an expression of my inner joy. I love myself;
therefore, I take loving care of my body.
I lovingly feed it nourishing foods and beverages,
I lovingly groom it and dress it, and my body lovingly
responds to me with vibrant health and energy.
I love myself; therefore, I provide for myself a comfortable home,
one that fills all my needs and is a pleasure to be in.
I fill the rooms with the vibration of love
so that all who enter, myself included, will feel this love
and be nourished by it.
I love myself; therefore, I work at a job I truly enjoy doing,
one that uses my creative talents and abilities,
working with and for people I love and who love me,
and earning a good income.
I love myself; therefore, I behave and think in a loving way
to all people for I know that which I give out
returns to me multiplied.
I only attract loving people in my world,
for they are a mirror of what I am.
I love myself; therefore, I forgive and totally release the past
and all past experiences, and I am free.
I love myself; therefore, I live totally in the now,
experiencing each moment as good and knowing that my future
is bright and joyous and secure,
for I am a beloved child of the Universe,
and the Universe lovingly takes care of me
now and forever more. All is well in my world.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Finding Peace in the Holiday Season

The holidays are just around the corner, which for most of us means time spent with close family. In some cases, this is not always a pleasant thought, thanks to old, negative family dynamics. These bonds are deep and powerful, and can affect us greatly. If there is someone in your family who really gets under your skin, who really pushes your buttons, this post is for you.
The only person we can change in any situation is ourselves. If you are waiting for someone else to change so you can be at peace and be happy, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. It is our failure to accept people exactly as they are that gives us pain in a relationship. The key is self-love. If you love yourself deeply enough, you won't be looking to others for validation, and you won't be affected by what they say and what they do. 99% of the actions of others have nothing to do with you. If you love yourself deeply enough, their actions can be seen for what they truly are, an indication of their fears and inability to love, nothing to do with you. When you are able to separate yourself, you will see how afraid they are, and how that fear manifests itself as anger, resentment, bitterness, and guilt, which they then project onto others. You will see their fear, and realize the only answer for it is love and compassion.
Our families, especially our parents, are able to push our buttons, because they programmed them! No matter our age, when we spend time with our parents in some ways we become 5 years old again, still looking to them for love, nurturing and approval. If they say negative things to us or start pointing out our faults, chances are on some level we are still buying into it, still believing it. "What happens to us externally does not determine our internal condition. It is what we tell ourselves about what is happening externally that determines our internal condition." If your parent (or sibling, or grandparent) is still able to push your buttons, then on some deep level you are still telling yourself that they are right. Chances are you can't change the other person, but you can change yourself, by changing what you are telling yourself at that moment. Refuse to buy in, refuse to play the long-established game. Love yourself deeply enough to know your own worth and to reject their fear. By having compassion and realizing that their negativity has nothing to do with you, you are meeting their fear with love. And when love meets fear, love always wins.
Wishing you a happy and peaceful holiday season!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Making the Mind, Body, Spirit Connection.

Pain is the body's way of telling us something is wrong. It's a red flag, signalling "I need help!" Emotional pain works the same way. When we feel angry, resentful, ashamed, guilty, or afraid, these emotions are a message from our soul, "I need help!" Unfortunately, many of us ignore both kinds of pain, or try to medicate it away at the encouragement of the medical experts, or numb it with alcohol or street drugs. The problem is that taking a painkiller or an anti-depressant will mask the pain temporarily, but it won't cure what's hurting, what's actually causing it.

Looking at why something hurts emotionally is hard work and many of us don't have any idea how to begin, so we bury it, try to pretend it doesn't exist. We try to just keep going, "tough it out". Which is fine until you just can't anymore. A nervous breakdown or anxiety attack occurs, or depression hits thanks to all the feelings you're repressing. Or your body starts to manifest these emotional ills physically so that you can't ignore the issue any longer. This is how many serious illnesses begin. It's recognized by medical science now that cancer, heart disease, strokes, brain aneurysms, etc. can all be caused by unaddressed emotional issues. I've learned this the hard way in my life, diagnosed with a stomach ulcer at age 12 from repressing my worry and feelings over my mother's health issues. I was literally swallowing my feelings, terrified to let them out, until they ate a hole in my stomach lining.

For the last 2 years I've suffered periodically with severe lower back problems. The medical explanation is that I have an old injury and my muscles tighten to protect that area and the scar tissue there. I've been in and out of physical therapy, tried regular deep tissue massage, muscle relaxants, dietary supplements, yoga, and exercise. Nothing has worked, long-term. For the past 2 months I've been having a flare-up. I was so tired of being in pain, and had no idea what else to try, I guess you could say I'd "hit bottom". So I asked the Universe to please help me heal this......coincidentally, (except I don't believe in coincidences!) I won a gift box from an inspirational website. In the box was an amazing dvd by Louise Hay, called "You Can Heal Your Life". In it she talks about the direct link between physical issues and our thoughts and emotions. It made so much sense to me. I guess I was finally ready to consider that my back pain might be related to my thoughts, and not something that was confined to just my body, that I might actually be creating this situation somehow. If that was true, maybe I could also heal it! I began to really look at this, analyzing when the pain flares up, and seeking to uncover the underlying emotional causes.

After doing some really hard work, lots of journaling, meditation, and using some transactional analysis-inner child techniques, I found the source of the problem. An old emotional wound is causing deep-seated fears, triggered when I allow myself to be vulnerable with another. My fears were causing me to tense up, literally a "fight or flight" response, so much so that I was causing my back to completely seize up. As soon as I realized this, I was able to start working on those fears, and my back immediately responded by relaxing. Now, two weeks later, my pain is almost completely gone.

What an incredible gift, and lesson. Our thoughts are powerful beyond our wildest dreams, and can be used for us or against us. Awareness is the key. So the next time you have pain, either physical or emotional, stop for a minute and consider that it's possible that you can heal your life.

Sending you love and light.