HEALTHY LIVING IN BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT

Back in 2015, I welcomed the new year with my post: 7 New Year's Resolutions for a Healthier 2015. Now that it's 2018, I would like to share new insights for living a healthier and more harmonious lifestyle.

Thankfully, I have recovered from chronic Lyme disease (MSIDS) and have been symptom-free for over 5 years. WOOHOO!! And the best part is that I consider myself HEALED! A big part of my recovery was changing the way I saw myself. And with lots of work and practice, I went from seeing myself as VICTIM to VICTOR! (Click My Healing Story for more detailed info).

So I would like to share what I have learned along the way to stay healthy in body, mind and spirit.

BE CONSCIOUS OF YOUR THOUGHTS: Did you know that every one of your itty bitty cells has a consciousness? That means that each and every one of your cells is connected to each and every one of your thoughts! So be aware of your thoughts! Thoughts of fear, anger, worry, guilt, etc., wreak havoc at the cellular level as well as the emotional and spiritual level, too. Reading books by spiritual teachers, like Eckhart Tolle, Joel Goldsmith, Wayne Dyer and Louise Hay etc., can lift your consciousness to a more balanced and healthier way of thinking.

EAT FOR GOOD HEALTH:  When I was sick with chronic infections, I had to stick to an anti-inflammatory diet, like The GAPS Diet. I was also ART tested by my doctor to find that I had to eliminate gluten, dairy, sugar, soy, white potatoes and corn from my diet. (Click Autonomic Response Testing for Chronic Illness for more info). Changing my diet was an important part of getting well. Now, even though I can eat everything,             I choose to stay on a low-carb diet and I feel great!

EXERCISE OUTDOORS: One of the healthiest ways of strengthening and stimulating your inner core is to be outside and move! My husband and I hike, walk and run outdoors all year round. We wear snowshoes for snow and crampons (metal spike attachments for snow or ice) for slippery trails and we're good to go! Exercising in nature (thanks to my hubby) is an essential part of empowering my body, mind and spirit and keeping my energy flowing.

My favorite walking/jogging trail in our local park.

PRACTICING GRATITUDE: The more you give thanks, the more you will feel blessed. The more you feel blessed, the happier and healthier you will be. I have learned that every problem in your life is an opportunity to shift from an ego thought (aka being a complaining victim) to a divine and loving way of thinking (being one with God and a Victor in light and love). Being thankful and feeling thankful creates good chi (life energy!) and brings more peace and harmony into your life.

BEING FORGIVING:  Did you know that forgiveness is the great healer? Forgiving others is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. When you forgive those who hurt you, you are releasing a past negative thought that is blocking you from your inner light. We are all connected. Therefore, you are also sending healing frequencies to the other person. When you forgive yourself from guilt, you are also healing your Spirit. Releasing past emotional trauma has helped me to be aware of false thought patterns that I had created for myself. Through forgiveness, I am learning to unblock these past thoughts (ego) and see the inner light and infinite love within me (God).

FINDING YOUR SPIRITUAL SELF: I am learning to believe that we are not separate from God. Therefore, God is within each of us. God is Spirit. Therefore, God's consciousness is in each of us. I am also learning to believe that God is Infinite Love. And Infinite Love is in each of us, too. This Love is what binds us and creates Oneness. Therefore, we are One with God. We are One in Infinite Love.

God (Infinite Love) does not punish. God (Infinite Love) does not create sickness. God (Infinite Love) does not cause accidents. God (Infinite Love) does not condemn. God (Infinite Love) does not kill. 

God (Infinite Love) is who we really are.

We are all part of the Oneness of Light and Love, which is God, the Universe, Jesus, Buddha, Allah, the Divine Self, or whatever other faith you may practice. Thinking with love, compassion, forgiveness, gratitude and goodwill bring harmony to not only your life, but to those around you.

The miracle of Love is inside each and every one of us. You create your world with your thoughts. So create divine beautiful thoughts and re-create your world into something beautiful!

I wish everyone healthy and beautiful thoughts now and always!

ARE YOU A VICTIM OF YOUR THOUGHTS?

When I became aware of my thoughts, I again was stunned to discover that I saw myself as a victim from the time I was very young. Thoughts like:

Why is this happening to me? What's wrong with me? It's my fault! It’s their fault!  It’s not fair! Why can't I ever get a break? AND..the big one...Why is God punishing me? - were the constant negative messages that were in my daily thought process. When I became chronically sick with Lyme (also known as MSIDS – Multi-Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome, these unconscious messages magnified and led to depression.

After reading, Louise Hay's wonderful self-healing book, YOU CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE, I realized that I had unknowingly created a world of resentment, fear, criticism and guilt. Eckhart Tolle's revolutionary book, THE POWER OF NOW, made me aware that I was not living in the present. Every day, I was unknowingly punishing myself with thoughts from my past. Thoughts of people who had hurt me. Thoughts of resentment. Thoughts of anger. Thoughts of blame. And thoughts of self-loathing.

I had unconsciously made myself into a helpless victim...of my THOUGHTS!!!

So when did I start becoming my own worst enemy?

“When we are very little, we learn to feel about ourselves and about life by the reactions of the adults around us...If you lived with people who were very unhappy, frightened, guilty, or angry, then you learned a lot of negative things about yourself and about your world...

When we grow up, we have a tendency to recreate the emotional environment of our early home life...this is not good or bad, right or wrong; it is just what we know inside as “home”...We treat ourselves the way our parents treated us. We scold and punish ourselves in the same way...We also love and encourage ourselves on the same way, if we were loved and encouraged as children...

However, I would not blame our parents for this. We are all victims of victims, and they could not possibly have taught us anything they did not know. If your mother did not know how to love herself, or your father did not know how to love himself, then it would be impossible for them to teach you to love yourself. They were doing the best they could with what they had been taught as children...Those people who “did all that stuff to you” were just as frightened and scared as you are”...from the book, YOU CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE by Louise Hay.

The thought that “my mother did not know how to love herself, or my father did not know how to love himself, then it would be impossible for them to teach me how to love myself”, was a revelation for me! WE ARE ALL VICTIMS OF VICTIMS! They were doing the best they could. They loved me the best that they could  but...they also saw themselves as victims!

I unconsciously believed I was a victim. I unconsciously blamed my parents and other people for problems that manifested in my life. I unconsciously felt that I wasn't responsible for my own problems and experiences. I unconsciously blamed God for my problems. I was unconscious that I harbored all this resentment and blame.

Until...I became aware!

“If we choose to believe we are helpless victims and that it's all hopeless, then the Universe will support us in that belief, and we will go down the drain. It is vital that we release these foolish, outmoded, negative ideas and beliefs that do not support us and nourish us. Even our concept of God needs to be one that is FOR US, not against us.” from the book YOU CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE by Louise Hay.

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I completely agree with Louise Hay's inspirational advice, but, this is easier said than done. I was so stuck in my negative thinking that I needed help to release my past emotional blocks. The energetic therapies of Dr. Rasa and Dr. Gurevich, such as Applied Psycho-Neurobiology (APN) and Mental Field Therapy (MFT) helped me to heal many of my self-destructive thoughts..

MFT - an amazing and effective self-help therapy, has made it possible for me to release the layers of pain from my past in the privacy of my own home. This therapy is proof that we all have the power to replace self-destructive thoughts with new patterns of love, acceptance, forgiveness and gratitude.

I am no longer my own worst enemy. I am no longer a victim of my mind. God never punished me. I punished me! I  now know that I am responsible for everything that I  do, think and say.  I now know I have the power to choose my thoughts. So I choose good health. I choose gratitude. I choose joy. I choose to release the past and forgive everyone – even myself!. And most of all, I choose love.

I choose to love myself. I choose to accept myself. For most of my life, I didn’t love myself - ENOUGH! So I am now learning to love all my imperfections as well as the divinity of who I am.

I am learning that the root of many of our problems is lack of self-love. If we can all learn to love and accept ourselves, then our world would  truly be a peaceful place.  This new world would reflect our harmonious thoughts. All thoughts are energy. And we are energetic beings creating our own world. We can create a life of peace and harmony or we can create a life of misery and suffering.  Our present thoughts create our future experiences.  So think beautiful loving thoughts, for yourself and others, and that will be your world!

Iceberg Lake Trail in Glacier National Park - My New World :)

“...When we really love and accept and APPROVE OF OURSELVES EXACTLY AS WE ARE, then everything in life works. It is as if little miracles are everywhere. Our health improves, we attract more money, our relationships become much more fulfilling, and we begin to express ourselves in creatively fulfilling ways. All this seems to happen without our even trying.” - YOU CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE by Louise Hay

THE ROOT OF NEGATIVE THOUGHT PATTERNS

I have recovered from chronic Lyme disease, (Multi-Systemic InfectiousDisease Syndrome) through holistic and energetic therapies. Some of these therapies addressed not only physical symptoms, but cleared unresolved emotional issues that were affecting my health. For the first time in my life, I became consciously aware of my thoughts and realized that I was burdened with daily negative thought patterns that plagued me since I was very young.

So when did my thoughts start becoming my own worst enemy? As I look back, even though I had a relatively happy childhood, I began to develop mood swings, including episodes of anxiety), as early as the age of 6. My cranky moods were unpredictable but many times came out during festive occasions like family outings, birthday parties, shopping trips, etc.

Here is a picture of me, pouting, while at the zoo with my childhood friends.

Moody me!

My mother had taken me and my girlfriends to the local zoo to celebrate my 7th birthday. For some reason, I wasn't happy. And I certainly wasn't going to fake a smile for the picture. I remember being downright miserable. But for what reason – who knows? After all, I was only 7. So why do I look so...ungrateful? Why am I acting... like a spoiled brat!

Yes, unfortunately, I acted like a spoiled brat on many occasions! I was an only child for the first 8 years of my life. As an only child, I was around adults more than children. I received lots of adult attention which is not necessarily a good thing. Not all of this attention was loving and nurturing.

Being sensitive and intuitive, I would sometimes be overwhelmed with negative emotions that were confusing and disturbing. I remember being overcome with fear, insecurity, guilt and feeling isolated many times. These emotional tidal waves seemed to come out of nowhere. And I had absolutely no control over them. And being a young child, I couldn't verbalize these thoughts to my parents. I would act on them. The negative thoughts that I was feeling became negative behavior. My negative behavior, like acting like a spoiled brat, was the direct result of these negative emotions and ultimately feeling bad about myself.

Already, as a young child, I was beginning to feel the twisted thoughts of self-criticism, unworthiness and guilt. I had terrible guilt for thinking that I was the cause for these troubled thoughts swirling around in my head. After all, these bad thoughts belonged to me so I must be a bad kid. Right?

According to motivational author, Louise L. Hay, “when we are little, we learn how to feel about ourselves and about life by the reactions of the adults around us.” - from the book, You Can Heal Your Life.”

As a child, I had absorbed both positive and negative thought patterns from my parents. Even though my parents were loving and devoted parents, they were not aware of their thoughts. They were not aware of the negative influence and impact that these thought patterns would have on their children. They in turn, absorbed both positive and negative thought patterns from their parents. And so on and so on.

Positive thought patterns of love, thankfulness, forgiveness and compassion are healing and uplifting emotions. But negative thought patterns are a whole different story. These damaging patterns can be passed down (unintentionally) and absorbed from one generation to another and may be the cause of much strife in our society.

Research has proven how powerful your mind is but the concept of inherited thought patterns is still in its infancy. More research is needed for this concept to be accepted in mainstream philosophy. But until then, it is up to each of us to be responsible for our thoughts, words and actions and to be a positive force for ourselves, our children and our society.

The key is to be aware of your thoughts.

By identifying negative thought patterns, dissolving them and replacing them with positive loving thoughts, we can live happier, healthier and more productive lives.

To be cont.

Stay tuned for "So What's a Negative Thought Pattern? on the next Healer Dealer Diary!