habits
Healing Through Radical Self-Forgiveness
There’s no getting around the fact that we’re our own worst critics. There has been much written on the subject of forgiving others, but what about forgiving ourselves? This is the first and most crucial step to real, lasting, healthy self-love.
The roots of the pain many of us feel are guilt and shame – the knowledge that we have wronged or hurt someone else, and the lasting fallout resulting in self-harm. Guilt is sometimes a catalyst to change behavior, but shame often comes with long-term effects, such as negative thinking patterns, self-harming behavior such as addiction, depression or anxiety, and self-sabotage.
Over long periods shame is like a poison in our bloodstream which touches every aspect of our lives. But it doesn’t have to last! There is a healthy way to overcome the legacies of shame and guilt, and it all starts with compassion.
A Spiritual Approach To Chronic Complainers
Don’t complain, don’t ever complain. These are words I read in a book long ago, and they have stuck in my mind ever since. However, I certainly seem to have attracted a lot of complainers into my life – moaners and critics who have taken the very process to an art form! Amongst these individuals are family, friends and love relationships, and they are all challenging in their own way.
I have come to the conclusion that the lesson those souls have given me, is to rise above the irritation, and perhaps to try and see their predicament and unhappiness from a place of compassion. I have since managed to become less affected by other people’s groaning, because I stopped thinking that their displeasure might be my fault, or that I could ‘fix’ them and turn them from a ‘cup-half-empty’ type of person to a ‘cup-half full.’
Spring Forward Energy Shift
Many of us know the feeling of disorientation we get when Daylight Savings Time (DST) kicks back in… including perhaps the craving for an extra cup of coffee! But did you know that our physical and spiritual energies are undergoing a dramatic shift at this time also?
The vernal equinox at the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere exposes us to more sunlight, after the short days of winter. The body and mind now send signals for new growth. More cellular activity takes place in spring than any other season. Literally, we are become new versions of ourselves at this time, as our cells are replaced.
It’s the perfect time to begin new routines or rid ourselves of practices which are no longer beneficial. Cleaning out closets and attics in our homes can be likened to conducting a spiritual ‘spring cleaning.’
On the equinox, the hours of light and darkness are evenly balanced. This only happens twice a year. It’s a reminder from the Universe that both sides need to be in harmony, and neither can exist without the other. Our personal energies are more balanced than ever at this time, which makes it a perfect time for meditation, deep psychic exploration, and shamanic journeys. Continue reading
Clearing Your Chakras
With spring just around the corner, many of us have the urge to clean house. But did you know it’s just as important to do a spiritual cleansing? The perfect place to start is our seven chakras: the centers of energy in the human body. It’s just as important to conduct a regular spiritual health check as a physical health check, and for the same reasons.
Much like our cars or living spaces, our chakras don’t function correctly if they are neglected and left to ‘gather dust.’ When this happens our entire well-being is affected, from our physical and emotional health to our relationships with others.
Likewise, we won’t be at our best if we only focus on some, and not all of our chakras. Your car wouldn’t run if you gave it oil changes, but forgot to put air in the tires! The three upper chakras (Crown, Third Eye, Throat), the lower three (Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus) and the Heart Chakra, which ties them together, are all equally important. Continue reading
Monitoring The Blame Game
We are in a time where the human activity of assigning blame is more public and becoming a common habit for the individual, as well as the collective. Have you noticed? Hands up if you participate in the Blame Game!
This is no judgment. What, no hand up? Is that because you don’t or is it a half-hearted admittance to participating, depending on the situation?
Whichever category above you chose to place yourself in, remember the propensity for assigning blame is natural. We may blame our boss for the unnecessary challenges at work. And we may blame the government for our household budget not making ends meet, due to too much tax. There are instances where there is a valid and specific rationale for blame. We are allowed to define why something did not go to plan, or as expected. Continue reading
Spiritual Cleansing
With a new year comes the opportunity again to better ourselves, but how many of us consider the spiritual along with the physical or mental? Like our homes or our cars, our spiritual selves accumulate ‘junk’ over time and need cleaning too.
The first clue that a spiritual cleansing or psychic clearing is overdue is that general feeling of heaviness, emotional clutter, or being overwhelmed. Just as we tend to get depressed when our living space is a wreck, if our spiritual essence is no longer working properly, neither will we as a whole unit.
A perfect way to get started, which is inexpensive and environmentally friendly, is to smudge your physical space with a healing herb such as sage, or something stronger like frankincense. As you burn these herbs, focus on ridding negative energies and memories and repeat a mantra such as, “I release that which I no longer need, and focus now on the present.” Continue reading
Poco A Poco
I thought today of how certain expressions tend to stick in our minds; thoughts which we adopt for a while, or even a lifetime. It can be the words of a famous writer we have read somewhere, an expression in a song, or even just the ideas of somebody we just had a brief conversation with.
Internationally renowned author and speaker, Wayne Dyer, once said, “You will never get everything done.” It’s a good feeling at the end of the day, to know that we’ve gotten through much on our ‘to-do list.’ But for me, I also gain some comfort from such as words of wisdom as Wayne Dyer’s, as well as the poem, Desiderata, which advises us to, “Go placidly amid the noise and the haste.” Continue reading