Spirit and Empowerment Articles
Now that it is officially spring, it’s time to revive energy and gain new motivations by incorporating color into one’s life. Color therapy, or chromotherapy, is a holistic practice that traces back thousands of years to ancient civilizations. This type of therapy has been documented to naturally affect physical, emotional, spiritual and mental well-being because each color enables the body to heal and balance itself. The following are tips for spring cleaning and detoxifying mind, body and space.
Eat Your Greens – Imagine the color of new life, the color of leaves when they first begin to blossom on trees. Green supports balance and harmony, so incorporate it to all parts of the day. Eat more green foods such as baby greens, asparagus, avocados, cilantro, celery, parsley and sprouts. Try putting limes in a bath, to liven up drinking water, and to freshen up proteins like chicken and seafood. Making guacamole with avocado, lime, and cilantro at a get-together is an easy way to promote a fresh start and detox with friends.
Dress to Impress – Wearing bright clothing and undergarments will instantly put the wearer and those around them in a cheerful mood. For example, pink is a great color that gives off vibes of love – wear it to become more loving of one self and others.
Energize with Water – Transform moods with different colored waters. For example, if energy is being sought after, take red colored paper and place it underneath a clear glass of tap water, or pour water into a red colored glass. Let the water sit in the sunlight and brighten the room as light reflects the color. Use different colored paper or glasses for different moods.
Breathe in Color – While meditating, an individual should visualize breathing in color and being surrounded by it to transform moods. For instance, yellow is associated with being able to focus, instruct, learn and detox. Spring is the perfect time to start fresh in any aspect of your life. Imagine breathing in yellow when seeking to focus on a detox. Colors like lavender and pink are also great for meditation to calm the mind and focus on new endeavors.
Liven Up Home and Office Walls with Fresh Colors – Painting walls a certain color will instill a particular mood for that room. In spring, go with a lighter color palette, think of Easter or the colors of flowers budding, grass growing and a pale blue sky in the afternoon. Again, spring is about starting fresh, and wanting to feel new and improved.
New Accessories, New Room – If painting the walls becomes inconvenient, spice a room up with fun-colored pillows, rugs, window treatments, art pieces or plants to recharge energy. Lavender signifies calming, spirituality and wisdom. Incorporate this color into a room for calming the mind to gain new insights for starting fresh this spring.
When Life Gives You Lemons – Freshen up water. Take a bath with lemons and sea salt to revive skin and get a refreshing spring glow. Squeeze lemons into drinking water or eat them to detox bodies and prepare for spring and summer activities.
Get New Light Bulbs – Light bulbs with full spectrum lighting mimic natural sunlight to emit all colors of the rainbow and reduce depression.
Wear Color Therapy Glasses – Lenses with colored tints allow for light entering the body to be concentrated in one spectrum. Therefore, mood will enhance according to the color of the lenses.
Consider a Color Therapist – Color therapists can determine the most enlightening color for an individual’s mood by providing supervised color therapy treatments under special colored lights. For example, the Enlightened Healing Center in Orland Park, Illinois uses red and infrared light therapy to treat inflammation and stimulate new, healthy cell growth.
Is your glass half-full or half-empty? Do you see the positive side of life or the negative side to everything? I have a colleague who wisely states that each day that we wake up on this side of the earth is a good day – and it is time to start releasing your negativity and appreciate each day for what it is!
My mom was the most negative person I ever knew. She was happy when she made other people unhappy. Do you know anyone like that? I hope not.
My mantra in life is to surround myself with people who come with batteries – not those who need them. In doing so, I think positive thoughts, release negativity as needed, and I feel better in the process.
So, what are some methods that we might use to release negativity?
• A visual board (cut and paste photos of the positive things in your life and review it daily; add those things that you wish to accomplish and reflect on your accomplishments as they occur).
• Positive expectations (see the winning trophy before you, and chances are that it is within your reach).
• Let a higher power help you (pray).
• Emotional release (we store memories in our bodies, and we need to release those energy stores periodically).
• Close your eyes in a quiet location.
• Select the negative energy you wish to release; concentrate and feel it pass through your body.
• Repeat the process with each issue or emotion as follows: Imagine that it fills up your body, then imagine blowing all that emotion into a balloon. Breathe the emotion out of your body, out of your mind. You may notice as you blow the emotion into the balloon, that it changes colors. It may turn brown or black with the energy of that negative emotion. When the balloon is full, imagine tying it off, and let it float up into the sky. Continue filling the balloons, tying them off and letting them float up until you feel complete release.
• Let yourself feel peaceful.
Feeling better is a process! Being a positive human being is a process! These are processes that you can achieve and appreciate. Let those glasses be half-full; raise them high and celebrate the release of your negative feelings. Celebrate the positives in your life!
http://www.bodymindhypnosis.com.
“The lines are not written into the human hands without reason, they come from heavenly influences and man’s own destiny.” De coelo et mundi causa
“Hands, whose shape and functioning are so intimately connected with the psyche, might provide revealing, and therefore interpretable expressions of psychological peculiarity, that is, of human character. “ Carl Jung
Our characteristics, traits, and behaviors reveal themselves in the shape, color, texture, and lines on our hands. Palmistry is divided into two broad areas: the study of hand structure, known as cheirology, and the study of the palm lines, known as chiromancy.
Palm reading has been associated with fortune-tellers and Gypsies for centuries in many cultures. The Chinese began hand reading 5,000 years ago to gain information about a person’s health; Buddhists believed that hands reveal the true essence of a person. Romans, Egyptians, Greeks, Hebrews and famous people such as Aristotle and Hypocrites acknowledged the significance of hands. It was discovered that certain areas of the hand relate to certain aspects of life, such as love, career, and creativity. Every line also indicates something about how each area of life develops. The hands reveal lessons, strengths and weaknesses, and karmic lessons. Hands do not describe a future set in stone; rather, like astrology and numerology, they show predominant personality traits and the potential a person can attain in this lifetime.
LEFT AND RIGHT, PAST TO PRESENT
The hand we write with represents the present and the future. We use this hand, the sender, or active hand, to perform most mundane as well as creative tasks. It reflects our conscious thoughts. The other hand, the receiver, or passive hand, represents the past, including qualities we inherit from our parents, or perhaps influences from past lives. This hand reflects our subconscious thoughts. We use this hand to support the writing hand. Ideally, we want to balance what the sender and the receiver reveal by applying what we’ve learned from the past to fulfill our potential in this lifetime. The hands indicate the difference between our innate potential and the degree to which it is being fulfilled.
HAND TYPES:
• Earth
• Air
• Water
• Fire
Earth
People with the earth hand approach life from a practical standpoint. They like to keep busy and be productive. They are quite capable of handling a lot of responsibility, and will do their best to make sure the job gets done. When they combine their sense of practicality and their eagerness to work and serve, they can be prosperous. This hand type needs to watch the tendency to be too regimented and narrow minded. They may burn themselves out by doing too much.
Air
People with the air hand approach life from a mental standpoint. They love to learn, talk and analyze life. They love new ideas and theories that they can wrap their mind around. They can use their mental acumen to become great teachers, writers and politicians. This hand type sometimes speaks without thinking, often hurting others feelings. They can become disconnected from their feelings and body needs. They would do well to integrate their knowledge with experience.
Water
People with this hand approach life from an emotional perspective. They have strong feelings that need expression. They are also quite intuitive and perceptive of other people. They are sensitive and will withdraw from a situation that is overwhelming. They can use
their compassion and understanding of others to help people. Their big challenge is to overcome emotional confusion.
Fire
People with the fire hand approach life with zest and enthusiasm. They have a can do attitude and a love of life and people. Their charisma makes them popular and great leaders or entertainers. Their big challenge is to overcome impulsivity.
Combination hand types
If your hand shape does not fit into one of the above categories, then you may be a combination type. Refer to the pictures and descriptions below to determine if you are a combination type.
There are 6 combination hand types
Earth-Air Earth- Water Earth-Fire Air-Water Air-Fire Water-Fire
Earth-Air:
The hand is square like the earth hand, with longer fingers. The hand is thicker than a pure air hand, and the fingers aren’t quite as long as the pure air.
Earth-Water:
The hand is a bit longer than the earth palm, with long fingers. The hand will be thicker than a pure water hand.
Earth-Fire:
The palm is longer than the square earth palm, but not quite oblong. The fingers are short.
Air-Water:
The palm is a bit longer than a pure air hand, with long fingers.
Air-Fire:
This hand is thicker than a pure air hand, and the palm is a bit longer than the pure air hand. The fingers are short.
Water-Fire:
This hand is thicker than a pure water hand, with fingers a bit shorter than in a typical water hand.
Earth-Air:
This is the practical thinker. You have many ideas and like to find a practical concrete way to share them with others, such as through writing. Your lesson is to listen to our feelings and nurture the emotions. Check in with yourself to see how you feel on a daily basis.
Earth-Water
You are a strong nurturer. You have strength and compassion. You are a good gardener, and would do well in the healing profession. Your lesson is to overcome stagnation. You tend to like peace and harmony, at the expense of change.
Earth-Fire:
You are an action-oriented individual who thrives on keeping busy. You have a drive to get things done and be a leader. You may burn yourself out with too much activity. Your lesson is to learn gentleness and avoiding the tendency to be a bully.
Air-Water:
You are a compassionate listener and possess a good understanding of human emotions and behavior. You would do well in psychology or counseling. You have the ability to understand and connect with people on a deep level. Your lesson is to avoid over analyzing and balance your mind and heart.
Air-Fire:
You are the passionate thinker. You have many ideas that are fueled with passion and zeal. You have a burning desire to share your ideas with the world, and you may not stop at anything to communicate them. Your lesson is about learning to listen to other people and avoid being self-righteous.
Water-Fire:
You are a natural actor or actress. You have a strong emotional nature that you can use to persuade people, or to capture an audience. Keeping your emotions in balance with your zest for life is your key to success. Your lesson is about balance and using your power to help others.
Each night we enter a new world where we experience anything from the mundane to the bizarre. This world is the world of dreams. When we examine just how much time we spend in this strange existence, eight hours per night on average, we begin to realize that most people will spend one third of their lives in this alternate reality. By the age of sixty you will have spent twenty years in the land of sleep and dreaming. When we put that into perspective it seems prudent to make better use of our time in this strange world.
During eight hours of sleep we spend far less time actually dreaming. Usually we sleep in ninety-minute cycles and within each cycle we experience about ten minutes of actual dreamtime. That means that the average sleep period will yield about four to five dream cycles. What happens within that ten-minute dream, however, has no limits. You can experience a dream that seems to last from hours to days. Many times you may jump from one scene to another. You may even experience an on-going story.
To begin using your dreamtime more effectively, examine your dream and seek to understand the apparent message within it. There are many different techniques offered to understand the messages within dreams. I have found some to be effective and others much less so. Some people even suggest that there is no message for us within our dreams. My experience, however, has shown that there is indeed a relevant message and that all it takes is a little time and effort to understand. My suggestion is to follow your heart and listen inside to see if what you see and hear rings true for you.
The first shift in perspective to consider is that all of your dreams are about you. After all, you are the dreamer. That means that all of the people and things in your dreams are representations of your own consciousness. When you become angry with someone in a dream it reflects a part of yourself, not necessarily how you feel about the person who you are dreaming about. For example, you may dream about someone you know whom you see as being shy. If you are angry with this person in a dream it may represent that you become angry with yourself when you shy away from relationships and opportunities because of whatever fear may motivate you to do so. Realizing this one shift in perspective has helped many people who have tried to interpret their dreams literally.
Our dreams communicate to us in another language, a language that predates any known spoken language, the language of human experience. Some people call this the language of the mind. When we learn this language, in much the same way that we learn Spanish or French, we can begin to see and understand more about our life.
To understand this new, or rather ancient language, follow these simple steps. First, keep a journal of your dreams. This will allow you to begin examining them and keep the information in the dreams accurate. Second, whenever you see a person in your dream ask yourself how you would describe that person in one or two words. This will give you insight into what that person represents within you. Third, when you see an object that seems important, like a car for instance, ask what function it plays in your life. In this example, a car is a vehicle, so it may also represent your physical body, which is a vehicle for your mind. Keeping these three keys in mind will get you started on your way to understanding these formerly cryptic messages from your inner mind.
Patrick Andries is a teacher and cofounder of the School of Intuitive Arts and Sciences in Fox River Grove, Illinois. To learn more about how you can interpret your dreams contact the school at 847-462-8951 or visit the Web site at www.intuitiveschool.com. The School of Intuitive Arts and Sciences is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational organization.
by Liat Ben Yakov, MBA, CST
Body-Mind-Energy Balancing is the core of every holistic therapy.
It is based on the understanding that there is neither separation nor boundaries between body, mind and energy (soul).
Each and every organ and system has its own specific function, not only physical but emotional and spiritual as well. Happiness, health, satisfaction, knowledge and prosperity can not reach their full potential without the understanding and the balancing of the entire system.
Life brings about different types of stressful situations, unpleasant experiences, and traumas which leave their marks on our body, creating negative feelings and wrong insights on ourselves and the world around us.
We all have repressed feelings and emotions caused by experiences we had as embryos, babies, children and even as adults. In order to repress we contract our muscles, which causes disruptions in the circulatory system. These contractions create stress in our body, pain and diseases – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual; accumulated for years without our control and usually even without our knowledge.
Individuals usually react only when they begin to experience pain or disease. Unfortunately they then seek treatment which is typically symptomatic – medication or even surgery, unaware of the fact that the symptoms were valuable signals.
For most of us it is easy to understand that when embarrassed we blush, our cheeks become red and our pulse increases; when scared we start to sweat, our muscles get tense and our heart beats faster; bad news can paralyze us and excitement raises adrenalin levels in our body. Nonetheless, we find it hard to believe that loneliness, sadness and dissatisfaction can also be expressed as physical symptoms.
It is likely to believe that heart attack can be caused by hyper stress or anger, but it may seem ridiculous to think that back problems can be caused by an unsatisfying job or financial problems.
Our body doesn’t speak English, Spanish or any other spoken language. But it communicates with us through signals – pains, chronic issues – skin problems, digestive problems, allergies, sprained muscles and other dis-eases. When we don’t listen to our body, it tries to shout louder and louder, resulting in more symptoms and an increase in the severity of existing ones.
Body-Mind-Energy Balancing Therapy is aimed at understanding our body-mind-soul language, to decode the signals. The experienced therapist, along with the client’s narrative, will decipher the mystery of the body, mind & soul, understand the syndromes and heal them.
The therapeutic tools differ between clients, customized to their needs, aspirations and inhibitions. These include: conversation, art therapy, body work, movement, vocal therapy, breathing, healing and many others.
When the whole system of Body-Mind-energy (soul) is balanced we can increase the joy of living; use our talents and gifts; develop satisfying relationships; enhance self-esteem and achieve our goals.
The author, Liat Ben Yakov, MBA, CST, is a Practitioner of body-mind-energy balancing, from Reidman International College, Israel, in affiliation with IPSB, U.S.A.
Prayer and healing is certainly a controversial topic, particularly in these times of “evidence-based medicine” and abundant medical research on the efficacy of treatments. However, if prayer, as a healing tool or treatment, was completely ineffective, it would have disappeared centuries ago. Let me ask you a question – have you ever had a friend you didn’t talk to – really, were you ever able to make a friend without some kind of communication? I’ll answer this question and explain what it has to do with prayer and healing later in the article.
Does prayer really help us heal or is it a placebo? Researchers are mixed in their results. And there is an interesting disconnect between what doctors believe – 70% believe that miracles happen in this day and age, but only 29% believe that medical outcomes are related to “supernatural forces”. Research aside, prayer provides many different things to different people.
1 - Prayer offer patients hope. A positive attitude, hope, and learned optimism play a role in health and getting healthy. When prayer plays a role in a more positive outlook, one’s medical outcome will likely be better.
2 - Prayer serves as a way of connecting to family, friends and others during a health crisis when isolation might be needed or expected.
3 - Prayer provides inner peace. Patients can turn over their worries and fears to God, allowing for reduced stress and improved immune system function.
4 - Prayer can be the beginning road to forgiveness – the lack of which is the root of much evil and bitterness. Bitterness left unchecked can grow like a cancer – figuratively and literally in some people.
5 - Prayer gives patients a sense of control – it is one thing they can do for themselves while they are healing or when there aren’t any apparent answers to health challenges.
6 - Prayer offers connection to God. This is the real answer why prayer is important in healing and day to day life.
The last point is the most important. It provides the answer to the above question regarding communication and friendship. Prayer is the primary method of talking to and hearing from God. When we are in a solid relationship with someone we talk to him or her everyday – sometimes multiple times per day. We listen and communicate with that special person intently. God desires the same from us. He wants to hear from us – about our trials and victories, and our health concerns. In prayer we can hear from Him. Listening to God requires the same thing as listening to our friends, like focused attention, solitude and time.
An assignment for a week. Just try prayer. Whatever time you spend spewing your problems, thoughts, worries, challenges and victories to God, spend the same amount of time listening for His answer. That challenge was offered to me through a wise pastor recently and I have found it quite enlightening and healing. Whether prayer is proven to aid healing in the literature is not really that important when all the other benefits are taken into consideration.
I work with people on a daily basis to help them heal and release emotional issues in hypnotherapy and I find that forgiveness is one of the most misunderstood subjects and most people don’t really understand it. I hear people say to me all the time that this person doesn’t deserve forgiveness for what they did, so they are not going to forgive. Many believe they have forgiven, however, when they talk or remember the situation and they have emotional reactions, such as bitterness, anger, resentment, hurt, numbness, guilt or other negative feelings, this means they haven’t truly forgiven. If you are experiencing anything other than peace or love about a situation, another or thyself, you have not forgiven or released it.
Forgiveness is not about making the other person wrong, judging them, or feeling superior. It is not something you do only if the person says they are sorry and wants your forgiveness and/or is willing to pay restitution. To forgive as defined by the Webster dictionary means “to cease to feel resentment against, to pardon one of an offense without punishment or penalty”. This means that forgiveness is about releasing or freeing oneself of these negative emotions that we are holding on to and projecting towards another or thyself. Forgiveness is an internal process first and what follows are the external actions. Your actions will reflect how your heart feels. One will know if you have released them, released these feelings, because your heart will be peaceful and loving towards them. To say to another “I forgive you” from your mind, from a place of ego and judgment, is to come from a place of superiority..of finding them wrong, in which, no forgiveness really takes place. Only from one’s heart, a place of non-judgment, one can truly forgive or release.
Why should we forgive? We all know that many religions and sacred spiritual texts, like the Bible, say to forgive, however, many do not understand why, what’s the benefit. First we must understand that everything is connected, that what we do to another, we do to ourselves. If we hold resentment and anger towards another, we do this to ourselves. These lower negative emotions are stored in our body, constantly draining us of energy, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. When these energies are stored in the body, they create illness in the body or mental health issues. When we don’t forgive, we give the person or situation power over us, becoming the victim of our circumstances, instead of the creator of our destiny. This will forever keep you in a weakened state and keeps you connected to that person or situation. Once you release it, you release the energy of that situation, so you are less likely to draw another situation like that back to you.
So how does one forgive, especially when the person has no remorse and we feel they were wrong? The following are some steps that can help you forgive, otherwise, see a qualified Hypnotherapist that specializes in regression emotional releasing therapy.
- First, we must realize forgiveness or releasing another has nothing to do with whether they have remorse, we just need to have the desire to want to release and forgive.
- Be willing to look at the situation and see what can I learn from this, what is this teaching me and how can I turn this into something positive to help others and myself?
- Be open to possibility that there is a bigger picture, there is a reason this happened and you don’t have all the facts.
- Ask yourself, Why did I draw this situation into my life? … How did I contribute to this situation? … Realize that you helped create this situation in some way.
- Put yourself in their shoes, understand their background and see life as much as possible from their perspective. See their hurt, fear, lack of and need of love.
- When you feel you are ready to release and forgive, imagine them in front of you, with your hands on your heart, tell them you forgive and release them from the bottom of your heart.
In this fast paced, demanding world that we live in it is so easy to get “caught up” in the drama of life, situations, and others. We can get so busy dealing with one problem or “fire” after another that we don’t even have a moment to breathe let alone connect with our own needs—our own self. When we wait for that next weekend or vacation before we reconnect to oneself, we are choosing stress, disconnectedness, unhappiness, dissatisfation and longing in this moment. So here are simple ways to reconnect to your Spirit/Self every day:
1 – Breathe: Take 3-5 Deep, abdominal Breaths consistently through day—every hour, every time talk on phone, get in the car or whatever you choose to help remind you.
If we are alive we are breathing. However, there 2 ways to breathe. Shallow, chest breathing causes our body to operate from the “fight or flight” mode. In this mode we get less oxygen to the brain, organs and cells, increase load or stress on the heart, decrease digestive efficiency, & can build up lactic acid in muscles more readily. Deep abdominal breathing initiates the Parasympathetic Nervous System which optimizes digestion, relaxation, detoxification, and helps to keep hormonal organs balanced.
2 – Gratitude: Throughout day think of things that you are grateful for or end the day with writing in a journal the numerous things that you have been blessed with that day.
What we feel creates real chemical reactions in the body. In general negative feelings such as anger, resentment, anxiety and fear creates chemicals in our body that increases degeneration, breakdown of vital tissues, and causes our body to work harder in stress mode. Positive thoughts release chemicals that help with relaxation, digestion, euphoria, and overall well-being. The state of Gratitude can shift our focus from the negatives to the positive aspect of our lives. No matter how bad the day, we all have countless of things to be grateful for—just look for them!
3 – Laugh: Laugh for 10 minutes every day for the fun and health of it!
Laughter can be the best medicine! It changes the physiology of the entire body—increases circulation, releases different “happy” chemicals in the body, reduces stress, keeps you in a lighter frame of mind, helps the heart and can even burn calories! If there’s nothing to laugh at, just start fake laughing and in no time, you’re belly will ache from real laughter—it’s contagious too!
4 – Sit in Silence: Sit with yourself for 10-30 minutes
If you can meditate great—there are infinite benefits of meditation for the mind, body & overall energy! If not, just make a choice to sit with yourself for as long as you can every day. Get in the practice of quieting the mind, sitting with your breath, and thinking of what you want to create, what you want to experience this day. If you don’t know what you want or need, who does?
5 – Take a 15-20 minute walk outside
Connecting to nature can help us connect to oneself—we are a part or extension of nature itself. It can help to slow down thoughts, remind you of the miracle & beauty that exists in the simplest flower or tree not to mention the tremendous benefit of fresh air and sunlight.
Links:
Wikigenes Link
Newsweek Link
Science Daily Link
CBS News Link
There you are going along…going to work, going to school, taking care of your daily duties, plans for the weekends, etc. You are taking care of business or so it seems and BAM! out of the blue some sort of volcanic eruption occurs…not anything that you expected! It could be the news of a loved one being diagnosed with cancer…”She was just fine when I talked to him yesterday!” A car hits you…”Where did he come from?” Your spouse or significant other requests some “time-out.” Time-Out? You ask…what the heck is “Time-Out?”
Something Happens…that alters the way life has been for you. Something Happens that screams Fear at you.
Something Happens that jolts you out of just existing and into living.
Something Happens that makes you say, ”Why is this happening to ME?
Whether you believe that you choose your life or you just ended up on Planet Earth doesn’t really matter. What matters is whether or not you have not been living your life according to your Path. Everyone has one…a Path…a Journey…his or her Purpose. Most of us spend our lives trying to figure out what that Purpose is. If we struggle with it, it takes longer. If we struggle with it, it becomes something less than what we’d hoped for. Struggle occurs when we lace our Life Force energy with negative emotions. And eventually, our own personal tsunami will hit.
Is this “tsunami” something that simply occurs because we haven’t been on our “Life’s Path?”
No, actually, when you go back and think about all the little tidal waves you’ve been hit with, the ones you haven’t paid much attention to, you will most likely see a pattern. For example, if you haven’t been paying attention to how little your partner has NOT been paying attention to you…all the times he/she used work or a new hobby to stay away from home or even work at home more and to be “busy” doing something all the time and then all of a sudden they want a separation or divorce…well, that’s your tsunami. You didn’t pay attention to the ripples that were building over the years.
Or let’s say you’ve just been diagnosed with some sort of tumor, probably not malignant, but it has to come out. And that tumor HAPPENS to be in your head! Ouch! What? You’re going to open up my head?? Yes, indeedy! And that’s just what happened to me 15 years ago! (I always said I had to “get hit over the head to get ‘it’”). And my other smaller tidal waves? What were they you ask? I can only guess but maybe the fact that my husband and I didn’t have children for the first 8 years of our marriage was telling me something or the fact that we had never even discussed having children! Or that we had been going through life living up to everyone else’s expectations and not our own. Or that we never had really bonded in the first place! The tumor was the ultimate wake-up call that “THIS MARRIAGE ISN’T WORKING!” And not only was the marriage not working but MY life and HIS life weren’t working…we were just too programmed from our parochial upbringing and programming to see any differently. We weren’t operating from spirit.
Let’s say, however, that you have been one of those fortunate ones whose Life Purpose has been well defined and you had no ego trips trying to tell you that you shouldn’t pursue it, then you are coming from your spirit. You know you’re coming from Spirit when life starts to flow. Things and people and situations start showing up in your life…and I’m talking GOOD things, good people, and good situations!
How do I know when I’m coming from my spirit? How do I know if I’ve evolved enough to surrender my ego-like ways?
I was having this discussion with a like-minded colleague one day while going to lunch. I told her that the way it started for me was parking spaces started showing up. “Parking spaces?” she responded with a high pitched voice. “What are you talking about?”
I said that I would get parking spaces closer to the building I needed to get to, or I instinctively knew that as I drove down a particular row that a parking space would open up for me. My friend retorted by saying that they just don’t “appear.” And to that I said, “Yes, they do and it happens everyday I give up my ego!
Another friend of mine who was even more evolved said she would get all the green lights going to work. When I heard this, I knew I was onto something. And so I tried it out even further.
One day while waiting in line at a department store, I noticed a bra hanging from the discarded clothes rack. I “sized” it up and knew it would fit. From the looks of it it seemed to be of very good quality. I said to myself, “Ten bucks. I’ll buy it for ten bucks.” With that I beckoned an idle sales clerk as to the size and price of the bra. She responded with the size ( mine ) and she said, “It’s on sale for $9.99.” “SOLD!” I said. And I smiled upward.
Last Christmas I was with a group of girls from work. The neighborhood stores were having a “Girls Night Out” event. You went from store to store which was adorned in holiday trimmings and were greeted with goodies, music, beverages and well wishers. Everyone had their personal information on a sheet of paper and had to have each shop keeper sign it as an indication you had visited their store that night. The winner won gift certificates, holiday wreaths, candles, etc. I thought to myself…”What are the odds I’d win?” I envisioned me winning…they would surely call me up the next day! I tamed my exuberance by coming back down to earth and having a free coffee with my friends. Days went by…even a week…no call…surely I had been fantasizing.
Then…you guessed it…one of the shop keepers called introducing herself saying I had won all the goodies from “Girls Night Out!” Too funny, I thought…I was like a kid in a candy store. I looked up and smiled.
Now, you say, “Okay, you get lucky every so often.” “Yes, I do!” And I keep getting luckier and luckier. Healthier people are coming into my life…job offers that are more “me” than the ones I struggled with in the past. All this adds to a much more “whole” me because I am attracting that which I am.
So, my Friends, the bottom line here is that it’s much easier to pay attention to the little ripples, the waves that come in and splash gently up against you once in a while, by saying, “Get on track!” “Start living YOUR life!” It’s much harder to have to pick up all the debris from your tsunami, that is, the illness, the divorce, the job loss, the child gone astray, or the financial upheaval. The lesson here is: Don’t wait until the big one hits…there are plenty of signs along the way.
I am all about body mind connection. Symptoms are words trapped in the body. How do you get rid of them? How do you feel better as a whole of body, mind and spirit? Three modalities that I am using is the way to connect with your subconscious child, acknowledge the problem that he/she is been going through, get it out by tapping (Energy Psychology-EFT-emotional freedom technique), and fill in new suggestions (using hypnosis) that you would like to achieve in your life. So, the whole concept is to acknowledge the problem, accept the problem then let it go.
Affirmations, visualization and changing your language are the fastest ways to de-program and re-program your subconscious mind. “Imagination Is More Important than Knowledge”, Albert Einstein. Visualization and imagination is the only language that your subconscious can connect with you. You can change or create your life the way you wanted by connecting and training your subconscious child the way you wanted. Once you learn to connect with her/him, the rest is easy. It is so exciting for me to have my clients discover that and learn how to manage it. I love teaching these techniques to people and watch them to discover their own power.
The first stage in the change cycle is Endings/Loss. In this stage you come to terms that a relationship to person, place or thing has ceased to exist as we once knew it. It’s natural and good for you to grieve the loss so long as it doesn’t put you in a state of ongoing depression. The goal of this stage is to look back and evaluate the past experience for the wisdom it has to offer:
The most important aspect of sitting with these questions is that you reconcile your behaviors with a spirit of compassion and forgiveness. No one is perfect and life affords us the change cycle to expand and grow over time. We can get stuck in this phase when we can’t move through being the Victim or Martyr. If that happens, an individual should seek professional counseling.
The second stage in the change cycle is Preparation. In this stage we retreat to refuel to get ready for whatever lies ahead. Keep in mind this is a time to:
The challenge in this phase is learning to manage your anxiety of the unknown so you don’t undermine the learning or networking opportunities as they arise. Be sure to practice a variety of stress management techniques to identify which are successful in helping you deal with fear otherwise your Saboteur will hold back from moving forward.
The third stage in the change cycle is Beginnings. In this stage we have a vision of what the future can hold. Many of the details are still lacking, but we have the momentum to move forward. The most important aspect of this phase is the self discipline to stay true to your spirit. Ask yourself:
Too often individuals are motivated to accomplish goals/projects for reasons outside themselves. Be careful you don’t let your Prostitute sell your sense of self for the money, title, social status, etc.
The last stage in the change cycle is Abundance. In this stage we experience the highest potential our situation has to offer. To experience Abundance you must tame your Inner Child from:
When you are naturally experiencing Abundance, you live from a place passion and joy. In addition, your positive energy radiates to all who come in contact with you. It’s a state of knowing you are in communion with your spirit and you are at peace with the original change, understanding it was for your highest good.
Whenever you feel a transition at hand, step into the change as an opportunity to assess whether you are living in alignment with your spiritual beliefs, values and purpose. Every change is a chance to grow into our highest potential of who we are meant to be and what we are meant to contribute in this lifetime.
Spring Color Therapy - by Karen Erickson, BS
Navigating Change – by Sheila Shaughnessy, MA
Reprogram Your Mind to Live the Life You Deserve – by Dr. Funda Kahn
Something Happened on the Way to My Life – by Linda McCarrin, B.A., CHLC
Simple ways to Restore your Spirit/Connection to Self – by Dr Helen Lee
Forgiveness… What Is It Really About? – by Karen Erickson
Ever Had A Friend You Didn’t Talk To? – by Dr Kristina Sargent
Palmistry – by Kathryn Andries
What is your body-mind-soul system trying to tell you? – by by Liat Ben Yakov, MBA, CST
Dream a Little Dream or Three Keys to Understanding Your Dreams – by Patrick Andries