Money: How to Make it Serve You! Part 2 of 5 Series

How do we begin to have money serve us, rather than be its servant? 

It’s actually very easy.  We must first recognize that money was created by human beings – not the other way around.  We created money as a form of currency to get what we need and desire.  However, it is interesting how many of us have become a slave to money.

How can we be a slave to something that we ourselves created in order to serve us?  Did money one day take up arms against us, revolt and take us over?  No.  However, our wants and desires did and therefore money has become our master instead of serving many of us.  As soon as we put ourselves in a position of lack or desire; we are then slaves to money, asking the Universe, God or anything else to send us some form of it in abundance. We simply need to take back our power from money – as it is only an illusion that it has any power over us anyway.

How do we take back our power and become the master of money and the master of our lives once again?

Like any loyal and faithful servant that is hired to serve us; we must recognize our position of authority and act from that position.  It wouldn’t do us much good if we hired a cook, gardener, cleaner or anyone else to provide a service to us, and then when they arrived at our house, we tell them, “you know what, do what you want; it would be nice if you would carry out your duties and I will pay you, but really, I have no authority over you, so you can just do whatever you want!”  Hence, we must not do this with money either. Otherwise, it will do just that for us – nothing!  Our belief that we are a slave to money will ultimately allow it to have mastership over us.

We must begin to establish a relationship with money that begins with honesty regarding our feelings and attitude towards it.  Then, we can begin to take ownership over it and become the authoritative master to our loyal and faithful servant that was in fact, created for us and to serve us.

Let’s begin by writing money a letter: 

 Dear Money

I love you and I respect you.  I have known you all of my life.  I have appreciated your worth since time began – the extrinsic power that you have to create excitement, fear, loathing, abhorrence and pleasure.  I have probably felt all of these things towards you at some point or another.  I have felt excitement when I have been given you;  when I have earned you; when you have been spent on me; and when I have spent you.  I have felt sadness and despair when I have lost you and when you have been stolen from me.  I have felt great and profound excitement when I’ve had you.  I have kept you, saved you, wasted you, spent you and given you to others.  I have felt for a long time that you have power over me and I have to beg to have you in my life.  I’ve prayed, pleaded, asked, and cried over you at times.  However, I now recognize my error.

I now recognize my authoritative power and I realize that I am not your servant – you are mine.  You were created by humans in order to aid us in having and obtaining and keeping what it is we desire.  I now recognize that you are a form of energy, manifested in paper and metals and have been created solely to serve us – to serve me.  I now treat you in this form – an energy – a source in order to help me create and have the life I desire.

You are not only my faithful and loyal servant – you are my friend, my aid, my supporter in all things.  You are in my life in abundance and more and more of you is coming to me and to my life.  You are paying off my loans.  You are paying all of my bills easily and effortlessly.  You are coming to me – in my mail, in my email, in my bank account, in my hands and in the form of gifts, prizes, treasures, offers and opportunities that are coming easily and effortlessly to me.  You are coming to me in abundance and I am attracting more and more of you each and every day.  You are my loyal and faithful servant!

You are my loyal and faithful servant and you are to serve me and support me today and the rest of my life – in abundance.  The only thing I owe you is my gratitude. I appreciate you and love you and allow you to NOW flow easily, effortlessly and abundantly into my subconscious, consciousness, life, bank account, wallet and my hands!  My cup and my life runneth over with you!  And I know this to be true.

Your faithful and loyal master, ________________.

I recommend that you write your own letter to money; preferably hand-written first.  There is something very powerful about using our hands and the power of putting ink to paper.  Then, if you wish, you can type it and post it somewhere you will read it every day for at least 30 days – although 40 days seems to be the magic number when it comes to creating a habit.

May you begin to see the physical manifestation in your life that money is not only your friend, but your loyal and faithful servant that wishes to be your companion and helper each and every day of your life!

Powerful Subliminal Training for Money:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlw97AQyswc

Next Post:  Money: Taking Note of Where it is and isn’t Serving You!

Prosperity: Becoming Open to It! Part 4 of 5 Series

I am open and receptive to Abundance, Prosperity and Money from unexpected and expected sources!!!

What blocks us from receiving prosperity?

#1:  Childhood Messages:  We are often told a list of negative messages from our parents or other people in our childhood whether they be verbal or silent messages.  For example, we may have had parents who said things such as:

Money doesn’t grow on trees!

Rich people are stuck up!

Money is the root of all evil!

#2:  Non-verbal Messages:

The obstacles that prevent us from receiving prosperity may simply be the beliefs  we were taught or the conditions in which we lived.

Did we grow up in poverty or hungry or believing that it was normal to live pay cheque to pay cheque?  Did we internalize messages from our parents that money caused problems with relationships because they continually fought over it?  Did we grow up believing that money is intrinsically a reward and punishment system where we are rewarded when we do what others want such as our chores and punished when we fail to live up to other’s expectations?  Did we grow up with one parent who was good with money and another that was poor at saving it and there was perpetual conflict with spending and saving?  Did we grow up being given hand-me-downs or shopping at thrift stores or counting pennies and therefore believe that we deserve second best or we always have to worry about saving or spending money?

There are countless messages that we receive throughout our lives that affect the way in which we perceive money.  These are deep-rooted beliefs about money.  It is not simply enough to say affirmations regarding abundance and prosperity.

#3:  The belief that money is evil:

What we need to remember is that money is simply energy and we exchange it for a service or something in which we desire.  William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet states, “Nothing is neither good nor bad; but thinking makes it so.”  Which is exactly true regarding money.  Money, in and of itself is simply matter that has been reformed from trees (so, in fact, money does grow on trees!) and created by humans to symbolize power and energy.  With money, we have the power to purchase things for ourselves and it is energy that we exchange for things such as food or shelter.

Bringing About Change & Prosperity in Our Lives:

What can we do to bring to the surface these negative beliefs regarding money?

We can look in the mirror and ask ourselves this question:  “What scares me most about money is”…and notice what answers come up.  Next, we need to ask ourselves from whom or where did we learn these limiting beliefs.  We then need to have a conversation with whomever taught us these things – the good news is that the person does not have to be present or alive  – you simply need an empty chair and imagine this person in it.  Sit down across from this person and begin a conversation as follows:

Hi Mom/Dad/Uncle/Teacher:

Why did you teach me this belief?  (Wait for his/her answer.)

What happened in your life that you began to believe that (money is the root of all evil)?

As you progress in the conversation you can continue to ask this person questions as they come up –  you can even switch chairs and speak from their perspective and then switch back to your own chair to ask more questions.

At the end of the conversation two things should happen:  One is that you have a better understanding of this person and their own limiting beliefs about money and the second is that you tell them that you are willing to forgive them for teaching or passing on these limiting beliefs. Thank them for trying to help you deal with money and then tell them that their beliefs no longer serve you and you are releasing these beliefs.

We must first bring to the surface these limiting beliefs.  Then, we must be willing to release them and believe that they no longer serve us.  And most importantly, begin to replace these old beliefs with new, positive ones about money.  Below are just a few examples of the ones you can formulate for yourself:

I am willing to receive abundance in my life.

There is abundance of money, love, prosperity in life for me.

Life supports and cares for me.

I am rich in all areas of my life and money flows to me from many sources, expected and unexpected.

Next Post: Prosperity: How to Recognize it when it Happens!

10 Things Your Authentic Self Wants to Tell You: Forget Your Shoulds! Part 6 of 10 Series

“You SHOULD!”

How many times have we shaken our fingers at ourselves about something we should have done, should be doing, or should do soon?  We are often “shoulding” ourselves about something; and this is not surprising as most of us could not count how many times we have been told in our past about something we should do.  We have heard it from our parents, adults, teachers, authority figures, siblings, peers in the past and perhaps even now; and more often, from ourselves.  We are carrying on a tradition that others began inside of our minds and we should stop!  Okay, this is the one should you can listen to!

For example, how many us are able to accomplish our New year’s resolutions?  Most of us are not successful because we often try to change things that are so well-established not only as a habit and part of our life-style,  but in the neuro-pathways of our mind.

One exercise that I completed in my four years of training to be a psycho-therapist was extremely helpful in  helping me begin to make changes – albeit small changes at first – in my life and getting rid of my shoulds and turning them into accomplishments.

Many of us have a long list of shoulds:

I should go to the gym

I should go on a diet

I should be more patient

I should travel more

I should save my money for travel

I should save more!  Work more!  Work less!

…and the list goes on.

For some reason, the word “should” continues to resonate in our minds as a non-committal, sit-on-the-fence mentality that rarely ever brings about action, let alone change.   Hence, we continue to tell ourselves that we should do this or we should do that; and we almost never get around to it.

The exercise to change this kind of mentality is very simple – and yet it works.  It entails making a list of our shoulds.  Then, after reading it through, we need to decide whether we WILL or we WON’T take the action.  After we decide, we need to literally cross out the word “should” and write above it (or below it) the words “I will” or “I won’t”.  For example, if you have on your list, “I should eat less” cross out the should and write what you’ve decided to do:  I will eat less or I won’t eat less.

After you’ve finished “correcting” your list, then tuck it away somewhere and leave it for a month or two months – however long you can wait.  I did this for one month and when I returned to my list – I could barely remember what I had written on it – I had accomplished all but one of the things that I had previously, so many times said I should do.

For some reason, our brain is able to make connections to our commitment to take action and either consciously or subconsciously, we begin to make small – and sometimes big – changes in our lives.  What can an exercise like this one hurt?  Perhaps, if you return to your list and you still have things to change, you can redo the list and re-commit.  I know for me, this was the beginning of changing my entire language around accomplishing anything.

For example, another non-committal word is trying.  “Trying is lying” to ourselves.  As long as we are in the should stage or the trying stage, we do not accomplish the things we want.  Instead of saying, “I should work out three times per week,” say, “I will or I am working out three times per week.”  Instead of saying, “I’m trying to change” simply say, “I am changing ________ about my life” or “I will change _________ in my life.”  Period.  We wouldn’t want a non-committal reply from people we are relying on, so why do we accept it from ourselves?

Next Post:  10 Things Your Authentic Self Has to Tell You:  You Don’t Have to Like Your Family!  Part 7 of 10

10 Things Your Authentic Self Has to Tell You: Go Have Fun! – Part 4 of 10

What do these children have to teach you?             Everything! 

One of my favourite exercises that allows us to not only get in touch with our inner child and understand who they are; but also allows us to reconnect with ourselves as adults and understand who we REALLy are, is taking the time to do two things:

1.  Find a picture of yourself (that you really like) when you were a child; enlarge it, frame it and put it somewhere you can see it every day!

2.  Communicate with this child on an on-going basis – everyday, if possible.

Finding the photo should be the easy part.

How do we go about communicating with our inner child and why should we even bother? 

The child that we once were, in its innocence and youth was the true core of who we were meant to be as adults.  Along the way, with school, peers, parents, teachers, authority figures telling us who we were and who we ought to be – we began to lose our connection with our inner child.  However, that child hasn’t gone anywhere!

He/She is within us, waiting for us to come out and play, if you will.    Similar to the Holiday Song, Frosty the Snowman, when he says, “Now don’t you cry, I’ll be back again some day!” we have said to our inner child.  However, how many of us have ever bothered to return to our inner child and went out and played with full abandonment?

We are like Frosty – no one believes that as adults we should dance and sing and play and be silly like children, but I’m here to tell you that we love this story because it is just that –  unbelievable and silly!

Have a look at the photos above of these young children.  What do you imagine would be their message to us as adults?  I encourage you to sit down as soon as possible and write a letter (or just a question or two) to your inner child and ask it what it would tell you about yourself:

1.  What qualities did you possess as a child?

2.  What did you love to do?

3.  What did you dream of becoming?

4.  What advice does he/she have for you about some situation in your life that you are at a loss about?

5.  What recommendation does he/she have for you in order to have more fun, joy and laughter in your life?

I have done this exercise and it works.  Just like John Lennon says, “There will be an Answer” if you take the time to talk and listen to your inner – Authentic Self, today! To get you into a more playful, open state, watch the video below!  It’s fun!

Frosty the Snowman (video and lyrics)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGDi8TqqeX8

Next Post:  The 5th Thing Your Authentic Self Has to Tell You!

Our Senses – How We Perceive Our World – Part 2 of Top 5 Series

What do you see? 

A young lady or an old woman?

Sensory Perception is defined as:

The conscious recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli that serve as a basis for understanding, learning, and knowing or for motivating a particular action or reaction. (www.freedictionary.com)

Sensory Perception is an interesting phrase – mostly because we trust that what our senses tell us is truth – but our perception is essentially based on what we think we are seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling and it is not necessarily the reality of the situation.

Hence, it is called sensory perception –  meaning that we are only able to make conclusions based on what our senses discern, depending on what our past experiences have been.  Of course, the problem with this is that sometimes we have had many negative experiences and we tend to perceive many new experiences in the same manner.

For example,  if while the majority of society is taught that something is “blue” –  we are told that this same colour is called “red” and no one tells us differently, every time we see what is society-approved as blue, we will inevitably call it red; causing our experience to be different and setting us apart from others.  This difference in perception and in cultural teaching is what often leads to cultures and races being unable to truly understand or agree with each other.  How many ideas, beliefs and opinions cause conflict among people because they believe their belief to be absolute truth.

Much of what we learn regarding our senses is based on what our society or culture teaches us to be “our truth”.  Of course, there are things across humanity, such as “hot” that our bodies respond to instinctually – when our sense of touch sends a message to our brain that something is hot and could harm us – we automatically release or remove it from our hands.

Similarly,  when we hear something that we perceive as negative or we might consider harmful to us emotionally, we also tend – or have learned to – react automatically – and not always in the most positive manner.  This is metaphorically referred to as our “blind spot” – that part of us that is not able to see the situation clearly; and therefore, is not able to respond in a positive or healthy manner.

While it would be very difficult – although not impossible – to reprogram our brains to not respond to hot substances, it is absolutely possible to re-program our minds (and heal our hearts) about certain incidents in the past and therefore, learn to respond positively instead of react negatively to external stimuli that we perceive as harmful.  Check out the Perception Test below and see how your perception rates!

Related Articles & Activities:

Take the Perception Test (Can you Spot a Fake Smile?) – Fun!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/

Physical limitations of our 5 senses (ie: blind spot):

http://io9.com/5926643/10-fundamental-limits-to-human-perception-++-and-how-they-shape-your-world

Next Blog:  Our Senses – Are we connected with them?

Our Senses – Being in the NOW – Part 1 of Top 5 Series

Sight                               Hearing                                                  Smell

Taste                                             Touch

During my four years of studying with the Gestalt Institute of Toronto, I heard one of the catchiest – and inspiring –  phrases of my life (so far):

“Lose Your Mind and Come to Your Senses!”

This phrase is born from the idea that in order to live in the present moment, we need to stop ruminating about our past and to stop worrying about the future.  In essence, we need to allow ourselves to get out of our heads – lose our minds – and become fully AWARE of our bodies and more specifically, our five senses:  sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. This also includes being aware of our breathing and any pain, discomfort or feelings present within our bodies.

This allows us to become more present – and in the present, there is no past and there is no future and therefore, we are not ruminating or worrying.  There can only be a state of awareness and this is where we can do our most meaningful internal work.

It is interesting that in our society we are told we should not lose our mind – to lose our mind or our head infers that we are in a state of some irrational or uncontrollable emotion or that we have checked out of reality.

I don’t know about you – but sometimes doing just that, feels really good!

More often than not, however, we use food, alcohol, drugs or any number of external stimuli to help us get out of our minds and escape reality.  So, how do we learn to achieve this state of being – aware and in the moment – without these stimuli and why is it important to do so?

First of all, I am not condoning or judging anyone’s need for these external stimuli – in a world like ours with so many stresses, it is no wonder that we feel we need these things.  In fact,  some of these things – in moderation – can help us to be more in the moment.  A glass of wine every once in a while can relax us and allow us to enjoy our sense of taste!

Even after a lot of this type of training – and believe me, when I first began learning about being in the present moment, I was generally always in my head – I was struggling with being aware of my senses and therefore, being present.   This was never so obvious until one day, I was having lunch with a friend in a little deli that was partly under renovations.  We were engrossed in a very heady conversation when I realized that I had been leaning against the wall – more like framework with studs – for 45 minutes; and sticking out from the beam that I was leaning on, was a nail – the sharp end protruding out.

Had I really been leaning my arm against the sharp end of a nail for 45 minutes and hadn’t noticed?  I thought to myself, ‘Oh my goodness, how numb am I to my own senses and how much pain can I actually take before I take action?”

Interestingly enough, another exercise that we did in our group training was holding our index fingers against someone else’s cheek and pressing in – the instruction was to do this until the person receiving the pressure told us to stop.  While we did this, the person who was experiencing the pressure was to state – as best they could in this position, “I can take it.  I can take it,” over and over.  I took the pressure for at least 2-3 minutes without ever telling the person to stop.  After the exercise, we were asked a series of questions:

1.  How long did you take the pressure or pain?

2.  If you did take it for a prolonged amount of time, what made you continue taking it?

3.  Why did you take it at all?

This was one of the first revelations I had about my ability to take pain in my life; and my need to prove to myself and everyone around me that I can take it and how very strong I am.  The most significant question that our leaders posed to us after this exercise, was, “why would you take this pressure at all, if at any given moment – the first second it started – you could have told the person to stop?”

What a question!  Yes, why did we?

Why do we accept pain so easily and why do we – why did I, have something to prove regarding my own pain?  It wasn’t that I was unaware of this pain, like I was with the nail – which was really more frightening to me as I had to wonder, how could anyone lean on a nail for 45 minutes and not be aware of it?

The exercises around this topic taught me that I was almost completely unaware of my own body.  In fact, I was so unaware of my own internal pain that I had become numb to the things that caused me external pain and I had this stubborn need to prove to the world that I could take anything it threw at me.

The real issue with this is that as long as we remain numb to our pain; we often remain numb to joy and contentment as well.  Hence, I have written  blogs on depression and how it creeps up on us because of our inability to allow ourselves to feel our pain – our sadness or anger; hence, we end up not being able to feel anything – not even joy or satisfaction.

There are a few quick and effective ways to begin tuning into our bodies – ours senses – and they are well worth the time.

1.  A quiet room:   One of the things I do is sit in the sauna – this not only affords me complete interaction with my body in that I am sitting quietly allowing it to breathe and to sweat – I am usually completely alone and able to take the time to get in touch with how I am feeling emotionally and physically.

2. Sitting in or Near Water: Not everyone of course, has the luxury of having a sauna, but taking a hot bath or shower can work as well – anywhere there is water or the sound of water  can be soothing and cleansing – being in water cleanses our entire chakras and aura.  The sound of running water also affords us the luxury of tuning out external noises and distractions.  Furthermore, the bathroom is great as it usually is the only room in the house with a lock on the door – especially if you have young children or anyone living with you that could be distracting.

3.  Closing Our Eyes for 30 Seconds:  You can do this anywhere – even at work.  Close your eyes and check in with your body – from the top of your head, right down to your toes.  You can simply do a mental scale from top to bottom or you can actually ask your body what it is feeling.  The important thing is to become aware of any sensations within your body – good or bad – pleasant or uncomfortable – without judgement.

Notice how you are breathing as well.  Once you become aware of your breathing, attempt to take in deeper breaths through your nose and out through your mouth.  Some people are very uncomfortable with the idea of meditating or doing long breathing exercises – I totally understand this as I am still working on it myself – but even 30 seconds can ground you and bring you back to a state of peace if things are hectic around you or within you.

4.  Go lose your mind:  Exercise, run, play – do anything physical that can bring you out of your head and into your body.  If you want, punch a punching bag or go into the woods for a walk and smash a stick against an old root – apologize to the root beforehand perhaps if you feel badly about it – and lose your mind.  This is a great way to release tension, stress and anger that is built up.  After you’re done, check in and notice what emotions come up.  You might be surprised about what you get to finally release or whose pictures come to mind!

5.  Massage:  Whether you visit a massage practitioner or you simply ask for one from a partner or just massage your own feet, be sure to get touched at least a few times a day as our body needs to have this sense stimulated as it releases endorphins and it simply feels good.

6.  Pet an animal:  Petting an animal certainly is one way to become connected with your sense of touch.  It also calms our breathing and usually while we are being stared at by big brown eyes or listening to the purring of a contented cat, we escape from our minds – and the stress of the day – at least temporarily.

Namaste – Peace Be With You!

Next Blog:  What is Sensory Perception and How Do Our Perceptions Lie to Us?

Depression: Foods Linked to Depression – Part 4 of Top 5 Series

Just as food fuels the body; it fuels the mind.  And just as some foods have a higher vibrational and nutritional level; some foods have lower energy vibrations and contain unhealthy substances.  There are several articles that offer suggestions about what food and drink to either cut out altogether or to definitely reduce in one’s diet.

Many of these items have high sugar/carbohydrate content, so cutting them out – or cutting down on them – makes a lot of sense, since high sugar and highly-processed foods give us a temporary “comfort” feeling and then cause sugar crashes and chemical imbalances in the brain, which of course can lead to bouts of depression.

With chronic intake of these substances, there has been evidence to suggest that chronic depression can occur.  Aspartame seems to be at the heart of a lot of these warnings.  This chemical is foreign to the body and has been linked to causing the break down of the myelin sheath in the body – the substance that protects our spinal cord, nervous system and helps to promote strong chemical and neural connections in the brain.  Isn’t that reason enough to stop ingesting it?

In any case, I have included a couple of pertinent articles explaining how soft drinks (Soda-pop), high sugar foods and other foods are linked to depression or feelings of lethargy.  These are certainly worth reading; and at the same time it is always a good idea to track what we ingest and how it makes us feel on a daily basis.  This is being mindful of what we take as a mouthful!

What Foods Can Cause Depression: 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/378804-what-foods-can-cause-depression/

What Soft Drinks (Soda-pop) Do to Our Bodies and Our Minds:

http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/blogs/healthy-living/sweet-sodas-soft-drinks-may-raise-risk-depression-183000091.html

Next Post:  Part 5 of Top 5 Series – Healing Depression – Without Drugs

Healing Depression – Moving From “Dis-ease” to “Ease” – Part 5 of Top 5 Series

 

Want to get over your depression?  Well, then, just enjoy the sunshine, get plenty of sleep – and be sociable!

Ugh!  Okay, what if we don’t feel like going out in the sunshine; we can’t sleep because our minds are too busy stressing and we definitely do NOT feel like seeing or talking to anyone?

The bottom line is that depression or anything that affects our physical, mental and emotional well-being cannot be alleviated overnight.  It takes time.  It’s a process and rather than looking externally to drugs and pharmaceutical companies to heal us, I cannot stress enough that we must look within.

Our health and well-being is the most important aspect in our lives.  Why?  Because no amount of money, prosperity or possessions can replace, be traded for or buy good health.  How can we truly enjoy anything in life if we are physically unwell?  Louise L. Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life believes that every physical ailment is a psychological manifestation.  Her book outlines almost every possible illness that we can create within our own bodies, along with the root emotional cause and the affirmation which can help to alleviate it.  Of course, it is not simply our words that bring about good health, prosperity or love. It is the emotion and energy we attach to it and how often we practice self-love and positive thinking and speaking.

In order to be mentally, physically, emotionally and sexually healthy, is to first love ourselves.  We must begin to eliminate all negative self-talk and replace it with loving affirmations towards ourselves.  Positive thinking and speaking – some call this a form of mediation – has been scientifically proven to alleviate stress and negative moods and feelings, ultimately creating more serotonin and feel-good chemicals within our body.   This positive energy, in turn, can be as effective as chemotherapy or pharmaceutical drugs in that it can create positive chemical reactions in our bodies.  However, if we have spent a lifetime of producing negative alchemy within our body, then obviously it will take some time and effort regarding our affirmations to undo the harm we have – and perhaps our parents in what they taught us regarding ourselves  – created in our own bodies and ultimately in our lives.

How do we do this?

Again, major illnesses come from deep-rooted or chronic belief systems.

The Belief that Illness Brings Attention:

If we had a parent or sibling who had an illness while we were growing up and we associated being sick with receiving a lot of attention, we sometimes manifest illness or chronic illness (hypochondria) in order to get the attention we feel we need from our environment.

Chronic Stress:

Any amount of stress over time, if not released can cause toxins in our body.  These toxins accumulate very much like keeping a storage box full of anger, sadness, and unforgiveness towards others or events in life.  When we begin to free ourselves from these “stuck” emotions, we also tend to see symptoms of illnesses – as well as behaviours that can bring about illnesses such as over-eating or lack of exercise – alleviate and disappear.

Out of Ease:

When we find ourselves not at ease it often leads to some kind of “dis-ease”.  At times, we have moderate stress and it can manifest in a simple cold. We tend to recuperate at the rate at which we can reduce the stress or stimuli that is causing the issue in the first place.  However, if we look at pneumonia for example, it is caused by a buildup of infection that is “stuck” from chronic illness in our bodies.  We tend to have emotions that are “stuck” in our bodies and build up to the point where we sometimes need help from an external source to fight against it.

Over-Eating or Lack of Motivation for Exercise:

Anything regarding food and unhealthy eating usually has something to do with lack of self-love and not feeling safe in our environment.  I cocooned myself during my high school years by over eating in order to protect myself from the critical environment in which I found myself.  Interestingly enough, once I finished University and moved to another country, far away from the stimuli that was causing me to cocoon, I lost forty pounds which seemed to melt off of me with no work on my part.

I also felt empowered for the first time in my life and received a lot of positive attention as I was a stranger in a foreign country.  It turned out that my belief system about myself and the critical voice that I had internalized from my childhood began to give way to a more positive, self-loving voice.  I am convinced that this helped me to heal from long-standing criticism.  It was just the beginning and while my physical appearance looked great as I began to exercise and eat much healthier, I still had a lot of internal work to do to catch up.  Eventually, however, with the help of reading many books such as Louise L. Hay’s, I began to do the internal work that was needed to restore my complete mental, emotional and physical well-being.  I have not gained the weight back in fifteen years and probably look ten years younger now than I did then.

Mirror Work:

It is important that on a daily basis we look in the mirror and remind ourselves of the love we have for ourselves.

What if we do not feel loving towards ourselves right now?

#1:  Mirror Work does get easier the more you do it, but if you are not ready to say, “__________, I love you and I believe you deserve wonderful health in your life,” then begin with, “_________, I am willing to like/love you in this moment and am beginning to believe you deserve wonderful health in your life.”  As the words get easier – and they will get easier over time – readjust them to be more positive and direct.

#2:  If you are having a really difficult time loving your adult self, take some time to peruse some old photographs when you were a child.  Choose a photo of yourself as a child that you do feel compassion or tenderness towards.  Take it out and put it in a frame or better yet, enlarge it and put it somewhere in your home that you can be reminded of that innocent child that you still have within you that desperately needs to hear from your adult-self that you love him or her.

Repeating such statements as, “I love and approve of myself” daily can begin a healing process within our bodies that can astound us.  This is not only effective in our physical health and well-being but also for our emotional and mental health as well.  If you cannot say it to yourself yet; then say it your childhood picture – to your inner child for whom you do feel love.

Affirmations:  Sample Affirmations that You Can Use

Health & Well Being

“I am 100 % healthy on a molecular, cellular structure.”

“My face and body reflect the youthful child within me!”

“I love my body and am healthy, fit and feel great.”

“I am healthy and happy at ___ (your ideal weight) pounds.”

“I have lots of energy and exercise 3 times a week!”

I challenge you to begin doing this today and healing and well-being will begin to manifest within your body and your life!  You may even wish to give love to the certain body part of area that is inflicted with the illness.

Some other suggestions: (See website below for reference)

▶ Take 1,500mg of omega-3 daily (in the form of fish oil capsules), with a multivitamin and 500mg vitamin C and 1000 mg of Vitamin D ***Make sure you check with your doctor if you have never taken any of these or you are taking other medications – and it is NEVER recommended to go off any anti-depressants unless your doctor has been consulted.

▶ Don’t dwell on negative thoughts – instead of ruminating start an activity; even conversation counts.

▶ Exercise for 20-30 minutes a day when possible – even if it’s a walk in the sunshine.

▶ Get 15-30 minutes of sunlight each morning in the summer. In the winter, consider using a lightbox.

▶ Be sociable – even going for a coffee is beneficial

▶ Get eight hours of sleep

Related Articles:

( http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jul/19/beat-depression-without-drugs )

Next Post Series:  Top 5 Expert Series – Intuition and Our 5 Senses – How to Use Them to Enhance Our Lives!

L.O.V.E – lights, camera, action! – Part 1 of Top 5 Ways to Change the World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-U0pMpYFJY (A wonderful link to watch and listen to after reading the blog – to remind and encourage you that you can be sure whatever you do in action for someone; the Universe will see to it that it will be contagious!  Trust in that!)

In my blog # 18, I mentioned that love is not a feeling, but an action.  You may have heard this before, but many of us have a difficult time getting our mind around this idea because often we are convinced we feel “love” somewhere in our bodies.

We certainly feel in our bodies, a response to a thought about love.  For example, imagine in this moment something or someone to which you feel love.  What is the feeling?  Where in your body do you feel it?

It is often a feeling of excitement like butterflies in our stomachs or a warm feeling in our hearts or maybe if it is romantic love, it is a longing to touch or be touched or kissed by that person.  These are physiological responses to thoughts, which is wonderful as it means that we can not only train our minds to think about love; we can also help our bodies to simulate these feelings whenever we choose.

Sometimes when I simply gaze at a picture of an ocean or look down at my beautiful aqua-blue ring that reminds me of the ocean, I feel a warm sense in my chest and an uplifting feeling.  I do not necessarily have to be standing on a beach in Cuba to feel this type of “loving” feeling – our minds are wonderful entities in that even when we imagine a person, event, or situation that we associate with happiness, our bodies react as if these experiences are real.

Herein lies the key to acting in love and thus, creating more love in our lives and consequently, attracting more of it too.  There is a very simple action that we can take in order to lift our frequencies from that Frustration Station of 97.5 to the L.O.V.E. Station of 101.5.  It is the action of doing a kind deed.

Almost every time in my life when I have found myself in a low or depressed state, something will happen either by coincidence or something that I do by choice for someone else and lo and behold I am uplifted out of this lower vibrational state into a higher, more loving state.  An example of this is that I am often the first person on the scene of accidents and I am confronted with an opportunity to act or react in a manner that causes me to completely forget about my own life, worries or situation and to be entirely focused on helping another human being.

My homework is not of course for any of us to go find the scene of an accident (but perhaps be open to whatever situation the Universe brings to help us out of our own funk) but to consciously choose to do something kind for someone else today.  You may buy the coffee for the person behind you in line (or the drive-thru) or you may not even decide what you’re going to do – part of what helps make each day more exciting is to start my day off with this simple prayer:  God/Universe, please put in front of me anyone (or anything including an animal) that may need a helping hand today.

Instead of hoping for a guardian angel, ask God/Universe to allow you to be one for someone else. How cool would it be to know that when you leave your home during the day that you could be on a mission for a higher power – imagine for one day what it would be like to know that God has chosen you to be his helper on this earth. You might be amazed at how willing God and the Universe is to use you to “love” another human being! One thing I know from experience is that when you put love into action and help another human being feel loved; the blessing will be returned to you exponentially.  One cannot out give the Universe; nor can one out love God!

Please try this experiment for one week with me.  Feel free to write to me at tcooperauthor@yahoo.ca or leave a comment about any of your experiences.  I would love to hear about anything that you do or have done that has helped you to tune into a higher vibrational frequency!

L.O.V.E. What is it, how do we find it and is it ALL we need? Part 2 of Top 10 Series

Albert Einstein

It is our beliefs, thoughts and experiences that make the answers to these questions regarding love very complicated.  Let’s simplify it:

1.  What is it?    It is a form of energy.

2.  How do we find it?  We don’t – we express it and we attract it.

3.  Is it ALL we need?  Yes.

By a dictionary definition Love is:  noun, verb (www.dictionary.com)

1.  a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.

2.  a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.

Love, in fact, is not an emotion at all.

We definitely feel emotions surrounding it, but love itself is simply a form of energy vibration with its own frequency – that we are either capable of receiving from or sending out into – the world.

However, this capability of receiving or sending love depends upon our openness to it.  Think of love like a radio station with its own frequency of 101.5.  If we are tuned into 101.5 we are capable of receiving and responding to this frequency.  However, if we are tuned into 97.5 (the frustration station), we will not be able to receive or respond to 101.5.   Now this does not mean that the love station is not sending out frequencies – it simply means we are not tuned into it at the moment.

Which leads to the answer for question # 2:  How do we find it?  We do not find love.  We are love; we are able to connect to the love station at any given moment if we choose to.  Like gravity, which exists at every moment whether we are conscious of it or not, love’s frequency is constantly flowing towards us, through us and from us.  While gravity keeps us grounded and connected to the earth; love keeps us connected to all of humanity.

We walk around all day, every day rarely thinking about gravity; we just trust that it is there keeping us on this earth.  However, every once in awhile when we take off our shoes and plant our feet in the soft grass or the squishy sand, we do become aware of our connection to this earth.

Similarly, we walk around most days rarely thinking about love or that we are always connected to it.  Why?  Because our minds, with the constant external stimulation of our lives – traffic, people, getting where we are going, consuming, talking, paying bills – are not tuned into love’s station.  We usually wake up with our alarms tuned to that frustration station of 97.5 and never turn the channel all day long!

However, we can learn to change the station and tune into 101.5.  Surprisingly, it’s not much more difficult than raising our hand to turn the radio button or the remote control but we certainly make it more complicated.   We have to simply decide in to which frequency we are going to choose to be tuned.  It might even help today to consciously think about what radio station we are setting our alarms to…what type of station or music do we wake up to in the morning?  Is it soft and calming or is it the news with all of its graphic negative stories about what went wrong in the world yesterday or music that really doesn’t resonate with awakening?

I once counted how many times I actually changed the radio station in my car on my thirty minute route to work.  I changed it 21 times mostly because of the following reasons:  there was too much talking, too much advertising, too much negativity or simply because I didn’t like the music they were playing.  If I can take the energy and time to change my radio station 41 times in one half hour to tune into something that resonates with my spirit and makes me feel good, how much more difficult can it be to exert this same energy to change my thoughts and tune into love?

I have been consciously putting this into practice in the last month as I drive to work.  Every time I get upset at another driver, think about something someone said to me yesterday or any number of thoughts (these are our pre-programmed radio stations) that enter my mind that bring me down or cause me to feel anything less than love, I simply change my “mind” to another station.

One way is to simply counteract the thought with something positive, or to tune into a song that makes me feel better or reviewing what I have to be thankful for.  It is an amazing phenomenon that happens – I instantly begin to feel better.  Even if it’s not quite “love” that I begin to feel for my fellow drivers, at least I am more tuned into and able to respond with compassion and an honest awareness that sometimes I am not the best driver!

This is love. The action of changing our thoughts and with that being able to receive and allow more understanding or compassion to flow through us.  It does not mean that I have to love everyone.  It means that I have allowed myself to connect to the law of love (just like the law of gravity) which is always flowing through me by the way I am designed.

We are designed to love – that is why so many advertisers use puppies and babies to illicit our affection and therefore connect with their product.  When we are connected on that frequency we feel an affinity towards what we are seeing, hearing or perceiving.  Therefore, in answer to question # 2 – love is within us and flows through us at all times.  We do not need to look for it.

The irony of searching for love is that the less we look for it and the more we extend it to our fellow humans, the more we attract it.  If you are looking for a loving partner, the quickest way is to become a loving partner and remind yourself every day of who you are….perhaps change  your affirmation from “I am attracting a loving partner” to “I am a loving partner” or “I am love” and see what happens.

Question # 3:  Is love ALL all we need?  Well, of course we need food, water, shelter and warmth to survive but in essence these are the physical manifestations of love from a Universe/God that longs to provide everything we need.  If we send out love frequencies on a daily basis, we often find wonderful things in the physical world manifesting and being attracted to us.  It is much like when we smile – more times than not – it will elicit a smile from someone else.  The most wonderful thing about love is that it is contagious – and it is my hope that it will go ‘viral’ throughout this world and just as disease can spread and kill; love can spread and heal an entire society.

Decide in what form you want to be contagious in this world.  Do you want to spread  hatred, negativity and judgement or love, joy and compassion ?  Will you tune into frustration or will you tune into love?  Of course this will not happen over night, but we can begin to change little by little and so too will the world.

What I know is that when I am filled with love – even if it’s simply when I greet or get greeted at the door by my two little dogs – Francesca and Jack – that I feel good no matter what kind of day I’ve had.

I encourage you to make a list of the things that make you feel love or feel loved and make an attempt to not only simulate these experiences as much as possible for yourself, but for others and to make a conscious effort whenever a negative thought, judgement, worry or fear stomps through your mind, immediately rid yourself of it by changing your thought and frequency and tune into 101.5 – it is so much more fun than the alternative 97.5 Frustration Station…

Next Blog:  Practical exercises to raise our frequency from 97.5 to 101.5 and keep it programmed there!