I Am Willing to Change! Part Two

  (So yesterday I left you hanging, I was having a bit of a time getting the photos off my phone.  Fortunately, the photos are beginning to trickle in.)
     The longer I practice reiki and other forms of healing, the more I have realized that the body resembles the earth.  In the mid 1800's as Pasteur developed his germ centered disease theory, Prof Louis-Claude Vincent took very similar data and came to slightly different conclusions.  Yes, streptococcus bacteria causes strep throat, but Vincent says if the body is out of balance, it creates a home to nurture disease.  The longer I work with healing, the more I agree with Vincent.  As a college student, any time I was tested, I had a positive strep test without ever getting the symptoms like my friends.
     In creating our new "park" in the back yard, we followed the same steps that I recommend to clients who have long term health issues.  Begin by identifying what you would like to change.  In my yard, it was a work intensive garden that had no comfortable place to sit and enjoy.  In my life it is a laundry list of little symptoms that add up to hormonal imbalance (yes, I know, shocking for a 45 year old....).

    In yesterday's work, I showed pictures of the ground work being laid, but couldn't show you what we decided to save.  Here you see two of the three trees that we saved while putting in the patio.  It is like looking at my own body.  There is a lot of living in this body to create the hormonal imbalance that I am experiencing.  Do I want to give up my past and become a high school student again? Absolutely not. I keep my past, put it in perspective, then create something wonderful out of it.

       Notice how carefully the ground is being prepared.  The forms have loads of reinforcement and gravel is only in the low spots (on the right of the picture).  This is like the preparation work we do in healing.  Keep a temperature log (to see if your body runs cold), check your pH first thing in the morning (to see if your body is acidic).  Take Chem X or Metal X to get rid of the metals and chemicals that prevent healing.  Then it is time to create the life you want.

  Start with the remedies you need (for our garden it was a lot of concrete).  Remember your long term goal, because the remedy may cause a bit of havoc.  This truck broke off many limbs of by fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus), but look at what started to grow....

         Another part of the healing process is detox.  The body gets rid of things that no longer serve.  This can be through excretory processes or through emotional release.  Though I have done this many times with my body, I was absolutely horrified when the concrete truck cleaned it's chute into my back yard.

     I went into my house so that I didn't have to watch.  It was all cleaned up by my excellent contractors, but the process was awful.  It was like watching pus being drawn out of an infected wound, necessary in the long run, but difficult in the present.
    Of course, the patio is still in process.  The concrete has set enough to walk on, but there is still clean up and beautification to do.  For our park we need benches and flower pots and a fire pit (and anything else I can dream up).  Again, just like healing.  I've finished the first round of remedies to remove some underlying causes, now it is time for the next.  I leave you with a picture of the brand new patio with a 20 year old bench.... It's not beautiful, but it is great to sit on in the morning and drink hot lemon water.

I Am Willing To Change!

     Everyone got it right!  2012 is a year of Great Transformation. This is the time to use my favorite Louise Hay affirmation, "I am willing to change." Now, I'm not a believer in the end of the world, but I know that my world is changing remarkably (with one child in college, the other going next year and lots of other changes, one could say it is the end of my world as I knew it). Think R.E.M.

    Our entire house and property is in a state of upheaval.  We brought home furniture from our trip to New Jersey.  It is all lovely and fits into the house much better than I expected.  However, it has necessitated rearranging almost every room in the house.  Two rooms are completely finished.  I love them.  Those others, not so much.  They will be great soon (or as soon as I get to work).  The funny thing about this change is it is just work, not upsetting, just irritating in the fact that the living room is full of books and the parlor with pictures and our bedroom with.... (you get the picture).
   To add the cherry atop the sundae of change, we have been trying to find a contractor to put in a back patio for us the whole spring and summer and Friday it finally happened. On Friday morning our back corner looked like this...

  It began life about fifteen years ago as a beautiful English style garden, complete with vegetable patch.  When the kids were small we would spend hours in the back yard playing and gardening.  As they grew and life happened things have changed.  Since I knew we would dig the whole thing up, this year I didn't pull a single weed and boy does it show.  The only things we wanted to keep were the three redbud trees I had planted to honor my dad.  He died in springtime just as the redbuds peaked.  The last week he was alive I put over 700 miles on my car just driving to and from the hospital and dropping the kids off with friends.  That week I spent a lot of time admiring the redbuds along the 275 loop around Cincinnati.
      So, we were changing, getting rid of things that no longer served us (the garden) while keeping the things we loved (the trees).  Sound a bit like energy healing and growing up?  When we set off to make a change for the better, the first thing we need is the proper tools.  If you've ever had a session with me, you know I use my Nu|vision computer system, Biogenesis tools and healing crystals.  To fix this backyard, we needed 6 men and a Bobcat.

   In under an hour, my once beautiful, now weedy English garden was a pile of refuse. Though I kept portions of all the plants, it was hard to see the remainder discarded.  It is like when a child goes to college.  It is good for both you and your child.  Usually there have been years of straining the bonds of civility.  It doesn't make driving away with the adult child in your rearview mirror any easier.  Fortunately we have pictures from all the Easter egg hunts and good times that were had in the garden (when it was a child as well).

   Acknowledging that is time for a change can be challenging, but this spring we decided what we were looking for was more of a park than a garden.  Wouldn't it be nice to have a place that was restful and beautiful, a place where we could entertain and enjoy? Absolutely.  The tear down is the first step.  Friday we ripped off the band-aid.

Love Your Liver: or how to surround the dragon

   Have you ever watched the television show House?  I used to love watching how the group of doctors took a number of symptoms and kept looking at the patient from different angles to come up with a diagnosis.  They would write it all up on a board, ponder and pace.  They would try different medicines and somehow at 55 minutes into the show come up with a miraculous solution (usually).  The process is called differential diagnosis
    If you were trying to apply this to energy healing (and, I am), we start in the same place.  What are the symptoms?  What in our life or our client's life is not working and could use a little help?  We could go on for days, but let's not.  I like to gather a symptom list so we can look for improvements, not to diagnose.  Remember in energy healing we do not diagnose, treat, or cure (it would be illegal!)
    In any given situation, some healing steps are universal.  We want to create conditions in the body where it can just heal itself.  So we look at the terrain.

1. Does your body run cold?  Take your temperature each morning upon rising.  A body temperature routinely under 98.2 has a hard time burning off predators (bacteria, viruses, etc.)
2. What is your pH?  Use Nature's Sunshine pH Test Strips 100 strips  first thing in the morning to check salivary pH before eating or drinking anything.  Ideally your body is neutral (pH of 7).
3. Look at your diet.  Try to eat on the alkalizing side of the chart.
4. Drink warm lemon water twice a day.  Use the juice from half a lemon and pure water (I use the Soma Board, Water Revitalizer and the Wings of Genesis on my water, as well as filtering it) This not only cuts down on the mucus in the body, but it alkalizes as well. (Tip from experience, do not buy the big beautiful lemons that beckon in shining piles, go for that bag of organic lemons.  Not only are they smaller and chemical free, but they are also easier to juice.  The first time I tried this, I used a large lemon.  The water was almost undrinkable!)
5. Watch the Quantum K video.  The video is 23 minutes and seems a bit odd on first look.  I have found the quantum K numbers to be very effective in my practice and this is an easy way to use them. The last section on Spiritual Healing references some beliefs that I do not hold, but it is mixed with a lot of things about forgiveness that I wouldn't want to miss.  You'll have to decide for yourself.

The next places to work are more Peter Pan than gardening. Just think lovely thoughts.

1. My first stop is Louise Hay's   Heal Your Body A-Z: The Mental Causes for Physical Illness and the Way to Overcome Them.  For the liver she suggests the probable cause is that the liver is the seat of anger and primitive emotions.  Her healing affirmation is  "Love and peace and joy are what I know."  Tape the affirmation to your bathroom mirror and say it to your self several times in the morning and evening.  Keep it in your wallet or use it as a bookmark.
2. In Jin Shin Jyutsu, liver is attached to middle finger (anger).  Hold the middle finger with the opposite hand.  If you'd like to make this stronger, say to yourself "I release all anger."
3. Young Living Oil of Transformation.  Get a little help with the anger, use some of this oil. By replacing negative beliefs with revitalizing new thought patterns, a transformation in behaviors, emotions, and attitudes is possible.  I found some advice to use it with polarity yoga.  I have never tried this, but if I'm working on the liver, why not try something new.  I'm not sure if I could stop laughing which is a great tonic for anger.

       There are just so many more things to do than take a pill.  Only two of these suggestions take any thing other than your body and a few groceries.  After coming up with your own list of symptoms and remedies, give it a try.  Most of these suggestions will help with any condition.  After a few weeks, assess your progress by running through your symptom list.  Drinking lemon water and eating a bit cleaner raised my body temperature a full degree in about two weeks.

       I love how energy healing has broadened my world.  Be Blessed.

Yoga for a Quiet Mind

      Today's yoga class was great!  It really crystallized some thoughts that have been running through my mind.  We always begin sitting and I ask for requests for a focus for the class.  One student asked for yoga to cool a "hot" brain.  Without thinking much, I was up and running.  What I realized about halfway through the class was that I was teaching my "Take the Sting out of Stress" class in yoga format.  Who knew?
     Here is a YouTube video of a highlights version of the class.

      Better yet, if you are looking for the yoga version, here is an outline of a home practice to accomplish the same steps.  For clarity I will use the common English terms for each yoga pose.  This is going to be a bit long, so here are two versions (the Readers Digest and the full length...)

Short Version

Breathe- Sit quietly, noticing your breath.  Encourage the exhale to become longer than the inhale.

Affirm- Give your mind something concrete to focus on, rather than running loops around whatever subject is currently driving you crazy.  In class we used 4 alignment points (feet, hips, shoulders and hands).  For our purposes, pick one and as you do your active practice, notice the alignment in each pose.  A few sun salutations would be a good choice.

Relax-  Come into a wide legged forward bend, resting your head on a block (or stack of blocks).  Let the mind begin to quiet.  Do a few standing poses like Warrior 2, side angle and triangle.  In each pose, place your back hand on the base of your skull and relax into it. If your toes are turned toward the right, use your left hand.
             Lay down in corpse pose (savasana) or sit for seated meditation.  Set a timer for 5 minutes and allow the body and mind to rest.  Enjoy.

Long Version

From Pain to Peace

       I had the most interesting experience last night.  I learned how to relax into pain.
       For the last few months (okay, longer than that...) I have  been having a rough time once a month.  Let's just say, my friends have been teasing me about The Change.  Not being ready for menopause, I have been denying it vigorously.  What I couldn't deny was the pain that each month brought.
       Since I have been preparing for a class on stress, I decided to treat pain as a stressor.  On Monday, I wrote a post about how I create affirmations.  Last night I put it to work.
       When I described the cause of my stress, it had the words hurt, afraid, whole body and descriptions of time (more than last month, less than two months ago).  I realized that a lot of the pain was caused by my reaction to the initial complaint.  So how to relax the body amidst distraction...

     I printed out Monday's post and wrote all over the back.  You can kind of see the bubble of the zebra's words in the top left corner. The affirmation I came up with you can see on the bottom.  " I am consciously aware of the calm silence of my spirit." (this sounds awfully good, bet I read it somewhere before, maybe from Louise Hay...) I like this because it also reminds me of the calm I have cultivated when things are not as stressful.  I love to meditate, why not access it now?
    It took about 2 hours of conscious inner relaxation.  The pain was still there, but by not tensing against it, I was not creating more.  Once I got to bed, I slept easily through the night.  I also found that this came in handy when I was running this morning.  Consciously relaxing the muscles that were protesting really works!  I hope this technique will benefit you as well.  Be Blessed!

Make Light of It: Creating Affirmations to Take the Sting out of Stress

What is stressing you out today? Though we try to stop, there is always the next thing.  Somehow it seems that even when things are going well, a stone is in your gym shoe.

At any time, any event can cause you stress, or not.  I have watched people deal with cancer better than I do taking my child back to college.  Surely the life threatening disease is more important, but that is the funny thing about the mind.  Deep in the lizard brain, I’m going to save him from the cold cruel world of hardship….

For me, more often than not rationality does not rule.  This means it is time to talk to the lizard brain in a way it understands, feelings.  Creating an affirmation from your stressor is not hard, just hard to remember under stress.

To develop your affirmation, first you need to figure out what is really getting under your skin.    For example, rather than saying, my son going back to school is stressful, we want to look at the root cause.  Freshman year it was the thought that my baby was leaving, but this summer it is different.  I have been relying on him for clever thoughts, using the fresh college way of looking at the world to break out of my preconceptions.  So really, hard as it is to admit, I’m afraid I’m not clever enough to blog without him (ouch!)

On to the affirmation.  My important words were afraid and clever.  So my affirmations would be something like “I am confident” or “Thoughts flow to me easily” or “I am a successful and confident blogger.”  It may change from day to day as I grow and change or it can stay the same for weeks.  I spent 8 months on “I am willing to change.”

How to use the affirmation?  Put it on your mirror and read it to yourself, looking in your own eyes, 10 times each morning and evening.  Put it on your dashboard, read it as you wait at stop lights.  Use it as a bookmark in your current book.  Find a way to make it part of your life.

Here are the steps, print this out. Feel free to use the back of the paper if you need more space.

  

What causes your stress?	Turn your words around, make an affirmation
(after you are finished, underline the Important words)	(only positive words!)

Set Your Mind Free

    If the theme this week is all about play, today's yoga class was just right.  We played around with different ways to mobilize the joints, looking for freedom rather than rigid stability.  One key to looser muscles, however, lies right between your ears.  When the mind is free, so is the body.  This is the meditation with affirmations that I used to both begin and finish the class.

A Little Time Off

    I woke up this morning, had a great run, then turned into a crazy woman.

The dirty kitchen was unbearable, etc. etc. etc. Sorry, boys, I really took it out on you.  Eventually we worked it out through funny music, the icanhasacheezburger website and a bit of cleaning.  Later I wondered why I turned into such a beast, especially just after a run when I usually feel great.

      All this changing is hard work.  I know a belief is only an idea or thought that I accept to be true.  That last bit is the hard part.  It is hard to change what we accept.  I felt like this picture (really the cheezburger website is great!)

   It is a little strange in this metaphor that I am both the cat and the master, but there is energy work for you. When I am alone (without my teenage sons who always have the next funny website), I'll play happy music or use guided meditation.
    Here is my one of my favorite relaxing guided meditations, from Louise Hay's Love Yourself, Heal Your Life Workbook (Insight Guide)

Here’s an exercise you can do to help you let go and relax:

As you read this exercise, take a deep breath, and as you exhale, allow the tension to leave your body. Let your scalp, forehead, and face relax. Your head need not be tense in order for you to read. Let your tongue, throat, and shoulders relax, Let your back, abdomen, and pelvis relax. Let your breathing be at peace as you relax your legs and feet.

Can you feel a noticeable change in your body since you started reading the previous paragraph? In this relaxed, comfortable position, say to yourself:

“I am willing to let go. I release. I let go. I release all tension. I release all fear. I release all anger. I release all guilt. I release all sadness. I let go of old limitations. I let go, and I am at peace. I am at peace with myself. I am at peace with the process of life. I am safe.”

Go over this exercise two or three times. Repeat it whenever thoughts of difficulty come up. It takes a little practice for the routine to become a part of you. Once you’re familiar with this exercise, you can do it anywhere at any time. You will be able to relax complete in any situation.

This meditation relaxes and makes me feel powerful.  One last powerful cat picture.  I really do look amazing in the mirror.

Reiki and Affirmations

2012.  A time of great change.  Everyone agrees.  It doesn’t seem to matter if you are trying to fix the Euro or following the Mayan calendar.  This is the year to take us all by storm.

This morning I heard a wonderful piece on Nora Ephron, an American filmmaker and author who died today.  I don’t have the exact quote but she was talking about how aging is one of those things that you think happens only to other people.  What a surprise when that is not true.  I feel the same way about 2012 and the Great Transformation.  Wasn’t I just going to observe it?  Turns out, it has been more like standing in a tunnel with an oncoming train.

With each challenge, opportunity also enters.  This year of great challenge has lead to experimenting with reiki and energy work like never before.  Some of my old tricks are not enough to keep up with where I am going, so I have been trying new things like using reiki to empower affirmations.  In the past I have used affirmations from Louise Hay’s book You Can Heal Your Life (Gift Edition)  and in giving attunements, but I have never used the same one for more than a few days.  This year I have given my affirmations quite a workout.

Change has always been difficult for me.  I’m the one searching out the new thing, trying the next step, but there is a well of reserve within me.  Have you ever gone to preschool and watched a child pulled away from the parent, apparently inconsolable?  If you watch them for a few minutes, soon the tears dry and the child engages in the classroom.  When it comes to change, I am both the child and the teacher trying to pull the child away.  Let’s just say it’s hard to play both sides at the same time.

Over the years I have sent loads of reiki, taken remedies and meditated, trying a variety of solutions.  Each of these has only been marginally effective.  When I tried Access Hanna Express, I was given the affirmation “I am willing to change.”  When I read it, I had the same feeling as putting on a great pair of jeans or my most comfortable shoes.  It fit perfectly.

I began work with it about a week ago.  I could feel the energy shifting as I said it aloud and gave it energy.  The first thing I noticed is that it would resolve minor physical complaints, like a stomach ache I didn’t know that I had until it went away.  The little things that the body does to tell us we are going astray.  The big confirmation came yesterday.  Tuesday is yoga day for the blog, so I teach a class in the morning, then tape and post a YouTube video of some aspect of that class in the afternoon and evening.  As I was watching one of the takes for the video, my first thought was how good I look. Now, just between you and I, my flaws are many and varied, but they were not my first impression.  Rather than finding faults, I saw strengths. 

That little affirmation, 5 short words, changed a major bias.  Our society is obsessed with perfection; the perfect face, the perfect voice, the perfect demonstration.   After years of standing in the mirror saying “I love you” to myself, it turns out, I do.  What a great place to be.