spiritual practice
Forgiveness Is The Solution
Forgiveness may be the path to a truly happy and fulfilled life. In his book The Forgiveness Solution, Dr. Philip Friedman puts forth the idea that all our emotional concerns, such as judgment, anger, and grievance, come from our inability to forgive. When we hold onto this emotional baggage, it harms everything. Hurt people hurt people. Taken to the extreme, it may lead to self-harm, or harm to others. But there’s a way out of this vicious cycle.
The first and most important step is to learn to forgive ourselves and develop, what Dr. Friedman calls ‘self-regulation skills.’ In essence these skills are defined by the classic Serenity prayer for courage to change what we can, acceptance of what we cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference. In addition, becoming wholly healthy, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, will better allow self-forgiveness.
When we engage in our daily spiritual practice, we should ideally include a mantra about forgiveness. It may take a while for the idea to take root. Habits take about 30 days to become routine, but after you’ve begun to forgive, you can let the pain go by the wayside.
Keeping a positive attitude is essential to the process of forgiveness. This doesn’t mean that you have to be happy all the time. What is does mean is that setbacks and obstacles are regarded as challenges to overcome, rather than insurmountable hurdles.
Nine Lemons In A Bowl
You will always find a bowl filled with exactly nine lemons in the center of my kitchen island. It is a labor of love keeping that bowl filled to this exact number, but the happiness which fills my soul with just a quick glance at them, makes all the effort worthwhile – because I know they are doing so much for me physically, mentally and emotionally.
So, why lemons and why exactly nine? In Feng Shui, lemons are believed to help clear away bad karma and their bright yellow color is a symbol of optimism and happiness. Also, in Feng Shui, the number nine is considered to be the luckiest, as it represents wealth, accomplishment, and attaining personal goals. Why would I not want to welcome these wonderful attributes into my home with such a gift from nature?
I love the pop of color those nine lemons bring to my home and they have actually become a permanent part of the decor. Of course, it does help that I happen to have a large lemon tree in my backyard. From December to April lemons are available in abundance here in Arizona!
Lemons are also a great source of nutrition. They are a natural antioxidant and great source of Vitamin C. Lemons helps to detoxify the body and clear away negative energies, to bring balance to your health and your soul. They also create a positive, uplifting environment.
How To Use Crystals In Your Life
Stones and crystals have been sought after throughout human history, especially for the making of jewelry, amulets and ornaments. Many cultures also used them for healing purposes. The Egyptians, Sumerians, and Mayans are especially known for using crystals and stones in their healing rituals. Today these ancient traditions are regarded as pseudoscience.
Interestingly, the crystal structure is the basis of one of the biggest technological advances in the last 50 years. That technological advance is the microchip.
Some scientists attribute the healing potential of crystals to the placebo effect. Yet, despite the mainstream notion that there cannot be any scientific basis to the healing effect of crystals, the metaphysical community remains obsessed with the use of crystals and stones for healing and spiritual purposes.
The metaphysical use of crystals and stones has become a multi-billion dollar industry, and it is not appearing to slow down. Many are drawn to the touch, to the color, and to their properties. Rose quartz heals the heart. Amethyst calms. Citrine improves finances. Black tourmaline releases negative emotions and protects.
In my experience crystals really do have the ability to heal. They uplift people. They connect with us. Crystals heal and transform the environment.
The Akashic Halls Of Learning
Many of us are seeking to clear out residual emotional blockages from earlier life experiences, as well as from our past lives, not to mention seeking the deeper meaning of our lives. But not many know that this process depends on the Akashic records.
I first became aware of the Akashic records in my childhood, when it came up in a conversation with my father during one of our many walks. On these walks, he’d often open up about his views on the mystical side of life. For some reason, he sensed I would be open to and unafraid of ‘other worldly’ topics of conversation. I would often journal things my dad told me soon after we arrived home. I was a very lonely kid during that particular period of my life, and I now realize that the loneliness was part of my chosen life lesson. We’d moved from the bustle of a busy town to a remote home in the countryside of the Canary Islands. I had a lot of time to myself and was often alone to journal and ponder the notes I’d made on life’s mysteries.
At that time my dad was into reading all the Lobsang Rampa books he could lay his hands on. The particular book he was reading at the time dealt with the Akashic records, or “Halls of Learning” as my dad liked to call it. My dad explained how the Akashic records contain all the knowledge of absolutely everything that has ever happened in this world. “Every world has its own Akashic records, in much the same way that countries outside of our own have their own radio programs,” I remember him saying.
Drinking Crystal-Charged Water
Drinking crystal-powered water is a must for anyone doing any kind of healing work. It is a great way to boost your immune and nervous systems, clear your mind of negative thoughts, increase your intuition and raise your vibration.
So, how does it work? First, you want to select a crystal that resonates with you. Keep in mind that each crystal and stone has a different metaphysical meaning, quality, energy and vibration.
Quartz crystal is the most powerful for healing work.
Rose quartz and green stones, like Malachite and Aventurine, helps with healing heartbreaks and emotional loss.
Amethyst is good for raising your vibrational and increasing your intuitive ability.
Carnelian is good for giving you a creative boost.
Citrine helps with finding your inner wisdom, will power and healing your childhood wounds.
Red Jasper and Bloodstone are great for releasing fear and anxiety.
Lapis Lazuli is great for helping you be a more effective communicator. It is a great elixir to drink right before giving a speech or having an important meeting.
From Victim To Survivor To Soul Evolution
The process of healing begins with psychological healing, which can then be carried forward to become transformational and contribute to your soul evolution. The original traumatic event or circumstances are experienced as a wound, as it should be. The pain of the occurrence is meant to be a lesson.
To shut this down by being stoic, or to minimize what happened to you, or your family, or your race, or to sugarcoat the experience with so called ‘positive thinking’ are the actions of a victim in denial. To feel the pain, to go through it and come out the other side is the journey of a warrior. This is where you start.
You set up this lesson before you ever incarnated. As a soul, working with your sacred group, and with guidance, you pre-determined these circumstances to create an amazing opportunity to forward your evolution as a soul. Accept what happened, which means don’t fight it, don’t deny it, go through the experience, feel it. Let it affect you, shape you, change you, challenge you.
Victim Stage
If you have a legal battle ahead of you for something such as rape, you will have to stay in victim (or victim survivor) mode as that is what the legal system demands. In fact, you will have to emphasize damage done to you in order to win your case. Even when one must call the police to come to a situation, law enforcement officers counsel people to say, for example, “I think I saw a gun.” This is done in order to get the police out in a timely manner and get it on record. Law enforcement is so overwhelmed that they have to prioritize which calls to respond to. Sadly the same is true for the courts. Emphasizing the danger you are in, or the harm you suffered, is a necessary strategy for legal battles, however, it is no way to continue living your life once the battle is done.
Forget Self-Love
If you are wounded or unhealed; if you grew up in a dysfunctional family; if you grew up in an environment of poverty, violence, racism, or sexual assault… forget self-love! Seriously. Where on Earth would you have learned the skills for giving yourself some healthy self-love? You will be shooting in the dark trying to do something that you have never seen modeled for you, and never really experienced.
‘Self-love’ has become an overrated marketing slogan to sell self-improvement products and services. Start instead with self-care. This will be difficult enough. If you have children, think back on how complex it was figuring out how to care for your first born. The same concept applies to owning your first pet as an adult. No matter how much you prepared, you were never truly prepared. You made mistakes and you learned from them.
You also discovered that sometimes caring for your child meant doing things that the child did not like, or even hated. Your child would cry, fight, throw a tantrum, while you tried to keep him away from the hot stove, or from putting something harmful in her mouth.
Learning self-care is similar to raising a child or caring for a puppy. However, you will be the child and Spirit will be the parent. You will make mistakes and you will resist, because some of the things you currently think are acts of self-care are actually harmful to you. Continue reading