Healing The Child Inside Through Play

Beautiful Muir Beach where we enjoyed our picnic

Have you ever watched a child run, jump and play without a care in the world and thought 'I wish that was me?' The incredible thing is that sometimes the road to healing involves just that. As adults we live with all these preconceived ideas running though our minds telling us how to behave and what is the 'proper' thing for us to do at any given moment. When we were children we were free of these limiting constraints and only learned how to shut down our true selves from well-meaning adults who were similarly raised when they were young. What does this do to our young minds when we grow to become adults ourselves? It can serve to stifle us. World renown author and self-help guru Louise Hay and author of the book You Can Heal Your Life, has become one of my go-to people on the subject of healing the inner child. "I have found that working with the inner child is most valuable in helping to heal the hurts of the past," says Hay. "At this point in our lives—right now—we need to begin to make ourselves whole and accept every part of who we are. We need to communicate with our inner child and let it know that we accept the part that did all the stupid things, the part that was funny looking, the part that was scared, the part that was very foolish and silly—every single part of ourselves."  This is one of they key things to accepting your inner child and accepting and loving yourself for who you are. In that spirit this past Monday I was invited last minute to a spontaneous birthday picnic for a close friend of mine. I had my whole day mapped out and various obligations that I thought I had to do or the sky would fall. But then a little voice inside said 'play hooky'. For once I listened to the child inside calling me outside to play. The crazy thing was that when I pulled back from my constant busy to-do list and hung out on the beach with my two friends Monica and Ria,

I had a day that was more fulfilling than the adult day of tasks I had planned. I discovered that the tarot reading course I had only been thinking about taking was a thing that I was definitely going to make happen. The tarot readings I gave my friends just for fun on the beach came out so accurately I was shocked. Ria, the birthday girl had brought her hula hoop with her because she is aspiring to teach others the art of hula hoop dancing. As she twirled and spun with joy and wild abandon, showing that she can make a career out of something that is so much fun, she gave me such hope and confidence.

That day at the beach taught me that not only can playing like a child be productive, but it can heal us on the deepest levels - the places where our hopes and dreams live, where we are told we can't.  That day I ended up networking with Monica whose fiance and her are starting an event for artists of various styles, singers, dancers, painters, poets etc to come together in a safe space to showcase and explore their art called The Morph Life. My other hat besides the healing arts is singer and lyricist(Yes I was told I couldn't be a singer as a young girl). So I was thrilled when she offered me an opportunity to perform as I had been working to manifest singing gigs. All that from taking a 'get-out-of-jail-free day' at the beach! I came away from the experience with even more determination to bring this child-like sense of playfulness into everything I do. Why? Because I have discovered that everything I color with that energy has more exuberance and vitality and just plain feels amazing!

Opening My Heart With Kundalini Yoga

Today I had a soul-stirring session of Kundalini yoga. This is actually the first time in a long time that I've practiced Kundalini. I feel like my soul is coming back to me for the first time in a long time. My sister passed away after a long battle with cancer earlier this year and the grief was over-whelming. In my usual style, even though I'd promised myself that I wouldn't, I blocked a lot of the  put some of my feelings away to be able to get back
to the things I needed to do such as work. But now that I've gotten past some of the more devestating emotions, I can deal with some of the deeper ones that seem to linger forever. I need to be able to remember my sister with joy instead of pain. I'm starting another blog to release some of those pent up feelings and I'm renewing my faltering yoga practice. I need nurturing and to redefine my heart. I need to not be afraid to feel the pain that losing her has inflicted on me. I need to stretch and expand my horizons and heal in a way that only yoga can offer to me. My Kundalini yoga practice with Gurmukh is like an old friend, helping through the roughest of patches that life can throw at you. I am so thankful that yoga has made it's way into my life!

Image courtesy of adamr at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

All I Want For Valentine's Day Is A Heart

While millions of people today are scrambling to make last minute plans for their sweeties and significant  others, dasing to romantic getaways, buying engagement rings, flowers, chocolates and various other trinkets to brighten their loved one's day, Linsey Bingham is receiving a more precious gift... a second shot at life. She has been waiting for this day since she for this day since she was first diagnosed with dialated cardiomyopathy ( and enlarged heart) on June 20th, 2012. Linsey (then 8)  is only 9 years old.

Linsey's parents Jason and Stacey Bingham, were beside themselves with worry because just 6 years prior, their oldest daughter Sierra had recieved a heart transplant for teh same condition.  Having to live this nightmare all over again for a second time is something that no parent should have to suffer. Yet it is happening a therid time with their youngest son Gage, who is currently on medication in an attempt to controll his condition. 3 out of the Bingham's 5 children are afflicted with this disease. Their oldest child Sierra has had a transplant and is facing a life-long battle to keep her body from rejecting her new heart. Soon to join her in the fight is her younger sister Linsey who is recieving the operation for her new heart today.

If you believe in a higher power, please pray for Linsey to have a successful operation and a speedy recovery. And if you don't believe, the just sending your positive thoughts, love, and well wishes will I'm sure be much appreciated by the Binghams. I'm sending a prayer that her Valentine's day will be the best ever, and that this is just the first of many more Happy Valentines to come.

For more information on the  Binghams and how you can support them through donations please visite their webpage at: http://www.heartsforbinghams.org/ or their blog which gives young Linsey's response to his happy day at: http://jasonandstacybingham.blogspot.com/ and remember their fight is not over. They still have to hope for young Gage and the continuing conditon of their daughters.

Waiting To Exhale

Photo Credits: Salvatore Vuono

A quote from the famous song of the late, great Whitney Houston entitled "Exhale" said it best when she sung "You'll find a point when you will exhale." I think this happens to everyone at some time in their life and today it happened to me... again. Troubles seemed to mount to the point where I became confused as to what my next step should be and where I should turn to. That's when I remembered to breathe. Just the simple action of breathing in and then letting out the air. Advice that is so simple and pure --and something I've been reading a lot about lately. I've recently learned a revolutionary new healing technique pioneered by a brilliant man named Gordon Smith. He wrote a book on his unique method which he calls Quantum Touch. His method has literally changed the face of energy healing, and in the same breath (pun intended) powerfully enhancing other modalities such as reiki, chiropractic medicine, massage therapy and a host of other energy therapies. Smith points to breath-work as one of the key most important factors behind his amazing discovery. With practices like a process he calls 'running the energy', a rhythmic pranayamic style of breathing that is important for raising a healing vibratory resonance, visualizations, and focusing on the universal energy of love, you can be a healer in a very short amount of time. I finished the book over the course of a few days and have already integrated the process into my other energy work with some pretty amazing results. I predict that this invaluable way of healing is soon going to be an energy healing standard. Already I can't imagine how I've done my work without it! To find out more about Quantum Touch, simply visit Gordon Smith's website at www.quantumtouch.com/  or purchase the book by clicking on the link below. It's an amazing read and will forever change how you percieve the body's ability to heal.

 

 

 

The Right To Happiness

One of my favorite inspirational people when I'm having a particularly bad day is Brad Yates. He's an amazing Law of Attraction Coach (the method of attracting good things into your life by using positive thoughts and feelings a la The Secret). He also is an exceptional demonstrator of EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), a method that I've discussed in past blogs, which I've used to literally turn my life around and heal deep-seated, old emotional wounds. I'll be posting another blog at a future date that has to do with EFT, what it is and will lead you through a DIY session. EFT is something anyone can learn to do for themselves or their loved ones to help them heal, simply by aping that instructor and following their hands through a series of tapping points on their body and repeating their affirmations. You can also create you own series of affirmations and EFT sequences as you learn more about it. That being said Brad Yates, a world-renown EFT coach has helped me when I've felt at my absolute low, by being the voice that makes me say that whatever I'm feeling right at this second, "It's OK. Now how do I get beyond this feeling and progress to healing?" I simply want to share an EFT Video that I've started using recently. In the video Yates reminds that we have an innate right to happiness and joy and that no one can take that away from us but us. I hope you enjoy and use it regularly to remind yourself that there are people out there who want you to be happy and who care. For more on Brad Yates go to http://www.bradyates.net/For more on EFT visit http://www.emofree.com/ and read about it's founder Gary Craig. There is a online tutorial that will help you explore this fast, fun and easy technique. Happy tapping!

Experiences With Moldavite

I received my Moldavite stone in December. I was like a child opening up a gift on Christmas! I was so excited. I unwrapped the paper envelope to reveal the contents -- a small green stone that fit between my thumb and forefinger. Being pretty experienced with handling stones and an avid researcher of healing stone therapy, I cleansed the stone first by smudging it with some incense. I recommend that any person who gets a healing stone or any stone for that matter, give it a proper cleansing first to clear it of any negative energies. Just a little background for beginning stone enthusiasts, gemstones both of precious and semi-precious varieties can pick up the energies of all their previous handlers like little metaphysical recorders. That being said, I cleansed my stone, and boy was I in for a treat.

I had been feeling particularly depressed and crappy that week as I was dealing with some personal issues. I thought OK, so I'll go ahead and hold on to this stone and see what happens. I read online that you are supposed to meditate on the stone, and as you do this to connect to it. And I definitely connected to the stone. After just about 15 minutes of holding the miniscule little stone, that "Moldavite Flush" that everyone rumored about, became the stuff of reality. I could feel this energy surging through my entire body. All of a sudden, I felt an overwhelming sense of calm and clarity. It was absolutely amazing! I wore it all day and didn't take it off except to shower for 3 days. After that the energy actually became too intense and was too much and so I also started to wear a grounding stone ( some onyx) to bring down the power of the Moldavite some. I actually had to stop wearing it for a few days because it was giving me such a rush. It was releasing so many old emotions and stuck energies that I was becoming weepy and emotional and so I added a rose quartz crystal when I finally did start wearing it again.

Did that effects wear off after a while you might ask? Well at first I thought so, because after the initial week of "Flush", I wore the stone for 2 weeks straight and felt the affects start to mellow and die away which after the experience I had, actually needed to happen. I even recommended it to some co-workers who after wearing it for a while and experiencing the energy asked me if it only worked for a little while. I had begun to wonder that myself. So one day around the end of December, some time before New Years, I re-cleansed the stone and charged it, and then held it and meditated on it, and felt another surge, not as crazy as before (fortunately my body adjusted to the frequencies of the stone, thank goodness) but definitely very wonderful. A sense of calm strength and resolve washed over me. This confirmed to me that this wasn't just a one-time thing and that the affects of the stone were continual.

And what about Moldavite putting a person on their path. Hmmmm... I'm still experimenting with that one, but I can say that several positive things happened to me in the little over a month of having the stone, not necessarily in this order. I recieved a powerful spiritual cleansing from a Reiki master that benefited me greatly by clearing away old blockages, I found out an alternative way to market this blog which I had been looking for some time, I received $11 for a survey I don't even remember signing up for at all, I'm learning to speed read, My client base at my job spiked, I received an unexpected sum of money from a friend, I bonded more deeply with my boyfriend, I started on a more vigorous vitamin regimen, and I'm doing yoga daily again. So I would say that it had a positive effect on me. Stay tuned for more updates!

An Over Year Long Hiatus...

I haven't posted anything to this blog in almost a year and a half. One of the main reasons why I haven't is because of the major transformations that have occured to me. During this time, I lost my business in the turbulent economic conditions in which we all live, I fell out of my yoga practice after I had to relocate to San Francisco, I joined the working class world, traded a 2 bedroom 2 1/2 bathroom townhouse off the water for a much smaller space. But since then I have also experienced a lot of blessings. Even though the current financial demands of living where I am now offer their own set of challanges, I've gained many new friends, I'm working my way to become a Reiki Master, and I've delved into crystal healing, both of which have changed my life immensely. Speaking of crystal healing; in my path torwards enlightenment, I have acquired a wealth of different crystals and my collection is growing all the time. My current favorites are ocean jasper, carnelian, citrine and flourite. Ocean jasper grounds, focuses and calms me within minutes of holding it in my hand. I'm working with a healing net including carnelian, citrine, and flourite every day for at least 15 to 20 minutes to cleanse my aura and promote deep emotional healing.

Today I'm adding two more stones to my collection. One is the much discussed, often expensive crystal moldivite that is renown for it's life transforming properties. The other is labradorite which is used for protection against negative energies in your surrounding environment. I have to say I'm particularly excited about the moldivite crystal and can't wait until it comes in the mail. In the book Moldavite Starborn Stone of Transformation, the authors talk about an informal study they conducted, wherein they gave different individuals a moldivite crystal and had them meditate on the stone everyday for 3 months and record their observations. This resulted into life-changing results for each of the participants. I have  to say that this had stimulated my curiosity. I have to try it. And so for 3 months, once I've recieved the stone, I'm going to keep a diary of the changes I undergo while wearing the stone everyday. Aparently, the wearer of the stone has to acclimate their body to the frenquencies and energies of the stone for 3-5 days. During that time the wearer may become overwhelmed by the energy and resort to wearing it for only a few hours a day until they adjust. My god am I so excited. I will provide an update as soon as I recieve the stone. They say that the first time you wear it you experience what has beed dubbed the 'Moldivite Flush', an sensation wearers feel that starts in the hand that holds the crystal and spreads throughout the body into the heart chakra where it starts to line up that chakra with the universe and all the other chakras. The person possessing the crystal is said to become flushed from the energies of it interacting with their aura. Amazing huh? I'm so anxious to try it. I can't wait! Did I say I can't wait?