Healer To Healer™

How to overcome your deepest fears as a healer

Last week during a healing session with a client who is a healer, these two phobias came up, can you relate?

1. Fear that nothing will come through me in a session.
2. Fear that healing won't happen for the client, that nothing I do will help.

These fears are totally natural and many healers start practicing with them... or refuse to practice because of them.  Happily, we eliminated the client's fear reaction so these shifted from paralyzing fears for her to mere thoughts.

But what about you?  Fears like this constrict our ability to faciliate healing, making themselves come true.  These fears tighten us up, block off the flow of information, cut off the energy it flows on.  The more intuitive and less procedural your healing technique or process, the more this might affect you.

How can you let these thoughts and worries go?  Here are three ways: 

1. One is by doing healing.  Through the feedback process of observing your clients, you come to see that you really can't stop exactly what the client needs from happening.  So if you don't have any or many clients this week, practice on your plants, your pets, the world.  Offer a practice sessions to a friend or relative (NOT one you have a secret desire to fix or change, however).

2. The second way is to learn spiritual principles or truths like "You really can't stop exactly what the client needs from happening".  When you first learn something like this, it's an idea.  As you experience it, it becomes wisdom.  Eventually you can know it's true.  Find a good mentor, listen to tapes about these principles, and test them out until you master them.  This blog is a great source for spiritual principles related to healing.

3. The third way is to connect more often and more clearly with your inner knowing or intuition.  When you doubt, you can tap into this part of you that always knows.  The more you connect with your inner wisdom, the less you doubt in all areas of your life, and the less fear and worry you endure.  Take a class about intuition and/or meditate regularly.

In April, I'll be unveiling an exciting new source of practical spiritual principles!  An organization designed to help you walk your spiritual path more easily and learn and apply these principles in your modern life.  Stay tuned!

Exceptional dreams bubbling up?

Have you ever felt something bubbling up inside you -- an invention, a book, a business idea, or art -- but you couldn't quite put words or form on it?  If you stayed with it, it started to clarify itself, maybe through a “coincidence” or surprise opportunity.  Or you tried something and it was wrong.  Congratulations, you learned something and moved forward!

Healers often search for years to find how in the world to express the wonderfulness they can feel inside them.  Has your life been like this?

That vague in-between phase can be super-frustrating!  The solution is to do your best and keep taking action, however imperfect.  Each step you take towards the goal, even if it’s “wrong”, will bring clarity.  And it will make more space for more information to bubble up.

I’ve been pursuing one of these dreams for a decade.  Last year it went online as the Int’l Institute for Practitioners of Genuine Healing.  I was thrilled, and had the honor of teaching two programs called “Awakening Your Inner Healer.”  Everyone loved the classes and the students were exceptional! 

But still, there was more…  Something bigger in some way, something to help all seekers walk their spiritual path to true success and happiness, on their own terms.  For the last five months I’ve been working hard on it.  (Love those inspirations, but then comes the perspiration!)  Well, I just previewed the new website mockups, and I am so excited I’m just not sure my feet are touching the ground!   

We each come into this world with a powerful, precious gift.  When you use your gift, it becomes healing not only for you but for those around you.  May your gift and dreams also surface into reality this year.

Please let me know how I can help you.

Can you answer the hardest question on the planet?

My four-year-old took me out for a walk today.  She rode her scooter (no brakes--what were they thinking?!)  I kept up on foot. 

After finding my MP3 player in my jacket pocket, I popped in an earbud and pushed play blindly.  Ah, Timothy Ferriss's The 4-Hour Work Week, a book that straightens out all your bad ideas about working for work's sake and letting your job walk all over you.  I'd had it on "fast".  Matched my pace.

Nothing is not spiritual.  We all walk the same spiritual journey, though we choose different words to describe ourselves and what we find.  Whether your approach to life is random, religious or atheistic, it's the same journey, same experiences, same tasks, same discoveries. 

Chapter 15 of Ferriss's book is quite spiritual.  After he spends most of the book curing you of your job and a lot of limited, passive thinking, he is then almost obligated to help you answer to one of the hardest, scariest questions on the planet: 

"If you had all the time and money in the world, what would you DO all day?"

Think about it.  (Oh c'mon, could you really do that for more than a month without getting bored?) Where would you live and how and with whom?  What would you do to make a difference?  What's your favorite issue or personal mission?  This book is full of resources to help you really do that.

If you've made enough spiritual progress to get a sense of yourself and what you were made or meant to do, then check out this book for laughs if not for perspective.  It's a fun read.  Get a copy here through my amazon affiliate link (thank you muchly):

BOOK:  The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated: With Over 100 New Pages of Cutting-Edge Content (Hardcover), by Timothy Ferriss.

CD/Audio: The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated (CD Audio), by Timothy Ferriss.

And send us a postcard.

A new level of spiritual practice invites itself over

It started as a noticeable little nudge about a month ago, like I felt I needed more meditation.  How very odd.  Like I was hungry for something, really had a taste for... meditation?  Sure, sure, after I finish my 2009 bookkeeping and write my new web copy and launch my new site... I'll get to it, been meaning to be more formal about that for a while now...

Nudge again.  Realization a few days ago that when I wake up in the morning and spend a long while with my eyes closed, it is essentially a meditation already, collecting remnants of dreams and interpreting them, allowing priorities for the day to show themselves, saying the morning thank you prayers.  Hmm, it might be nice to do that sitting up, official-like.

A few days later (yesterday), a book about Buddhism is in my hands unexpectedly.  I open "randomly" to a prayer I've essentially been saying in different words for a while now.  It is my core theme this year: how can I help the most people the most, how can I make the difference?  On the spur of the moment I sit outside in the weak spring sunshine on an unusually warm Wisconsin day to read the whole book.

Gulp.  Haven't read about Buddhism in a long while.  I'm shocked to realize I'm like a Buddhist who believes in God.  Except Buddhists meditate.  Regularly.

This beautlful silly baby beginner gift book talks about meditation in just the right way, and I know.  It is time.  For me to shift my spiritual practice more formally.  To commit to a new level of communion with the world, or I won't be able to move where I can feel my life going. 

Oh, I could point to gentle signs going back about 6 months.  Then today my coach and husband both suggest the exact same kind of meditation to me, completley independently.  OK.  Got it!  Listening!!

I know it's up to me, it's a choice.  I teach this: your spiritual calling is an invitation, and you can refuse or accept at any time, without judgment.  If you put it off, it will patiently wait for you.  The hints may progressively get more noticeable -- just in case you missed the invite.  Like in the first Harry Potter movie when zillions of envelopes pour down the chimney after he doesn't respond to a few invitations.  Hard to miss.  "More noticeable" means more frequently, more unusually... or more painfully, depending on what you react to.

All I can say is I'm delighted and grateful to have gotten this message so easily, without getting sick, without getting into a state (eg., of injury) where all I could do is meditate.  And I have a cool new Buddhist prayer on my vision board as a bonus.

It's time to let my new practice bubble up from where it already exists, hidden within me.  I have a sense of what it has to be.  I'll ask and find out details.  And then I'll figure out how to incorporate it into an already seemingly full life.  The difference is that now it's not a "should".  I really WANT to.

How is your spiritual practice going?  Does it fully feed you and support not just where you are but where you are going?  If you'd like help to discover your ideal spiritual practice, I can read you and tap your higher wisdom for an answer (to anything in life or biz, it's fun and fascinating).  Or you can sit in stillness and let it bubble up from that place where your Full Potential already is.  All that you need is already within you: you just have to find it.

I love you.  Go heal.

What do you want? What do you really, truly want?

Name two things you think you want.  One is... ______.  Another is... ______.  Good.

Did you know that the biggest hurdle to succeeding is actually knowing what you really want?  It is.

The trouble is, there are two kinds of "wants".  Most of the stuff we think we want are not truly objects of desire.  They are short-term stop-gap solutions to our problems.  Aiming for wants like this reminds me of pets who chase the bright spot of a flashlight or mirror across the floor and up the walls.  It's bright and shiny, but it's not really something they can catch.  Nonetheless, they will chase until they are wiped out or injured.  Is that the quality of results you seek?  

A quick example: if you struggle to pay your bills, you may decide you want more money.  Your logical mind said money is a solution to your shrinking bank accounts.  But money may not even be your main issue.  You may be poor because you can't see or receive your inner genuine value.  Or you may not be acting in full integrity.  Or you may be sabotaging yourself due to an unhealed pattern from childhood.

What do you really seek?  Wholeness.  Knowing who you are and what to do about it.  Connection to your true self and to your source of Inspiration -- and all the wonderful things that flow from that.  Taking what brings you joy out into the world and exchanging it with others for more joy. 

You seek your true self.  You seek to Awaken.

Stay tuned here for a powerful solution to attaining your true desires...  In the meantime, sit with what you thought you wanted and ask what is underneath it?  How is your desire simply a solution you could think of to a problem?  What can you find out about your core longings, without thinking of the problems you want to fix?   

I love you.  Go heal.

Joke: This guy goes to a healer...

So this guy goes to a healer for help.  Right away, the healer notices he has a banana sticking out of one ear. 

A carrot is poking out of the other ear.

Green beans, wheatgrass and celery protrude from his nose. 

The healer puts her clipboard down.  "I think I know what your main problem is," the healer says.

"Really? That was fast!" the man says.

"Yes, well, it looks like you haven't been eating properly."

Use this joke as a lighthearted reminder to take a look at your own diet.  Choose to change just ONE thing today.  Either eliminate something you know is not good for you, or add something that is.  You can change your life and body ONE step at a time! 

The world needs you.  Thanks for nuturing yourself.

Inspirational Quote: Donna Karan

My mission in life is to access God’s gift of creativity to inspire, to touch people's minds, bodies and spirits with love and compassion — to make a difference in this world.

— Donna Karan, Fashion Designer

 

Have you written out your life's mission statement?  Every person on the planet (including you) has a mission (which is ultimately healing) and a healing message.  Notice that Donna Karan's is not to make lots of money or live in a big house or make cool clothes for celebrities.  Those are only some of the things that happen as she implements her life's mission.  Your mission is bigger than what you do and even bigger than the results you get.  It's that thing you're meant to do, what makes your heart sing.

How can you take a few minutes today to start writing and honing your mission in life?  If you're stuck, start with hers: it's beautifully specific and general.  Edit it to fit your life.  Also jot down how you dream of fulfilling your mission.  Your "how" will evolve through your life, but your mission will stay fairly steady.  (Of course you will get increasing clarity on it.)  We'd love to hear your mission in the comments! 

Inspirational Quote: Emily Dickinson

"If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain:
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain."

--Emily Dickinson, American Poet (1830-1886)

I've loved this poem since I discovered and collected it into a notebook in high school.  I know many of my healer/creative/intuitive clients would agree with its sentiment!

From Wikipedia about Emily Dickinson: "Virtually unknown in her lifetime, Dickinson has come to be regarded as one of the greatest American poets of the 19th century. Although she wrote (at latest count) 1789 poems, only a few of them were published, all anonymously and some perhaps without her knowledge."  Don't let a lack of recognition from others slow you down.  Stay true to what you know in your heart and get your creations out there -- the clients will come sooner or later.  Either way, you will have helped.

Inspirational Quote: Rae Atira-Soncea

"To me it's like living and breathing: when I don't make art I'm not happy.  And philosophically, I believe that the process of making is what holds the earth together, whether it's making love or making bread or making babies or making art.  It's part of the process that maintains the world.  We should never discourage anyone from making or creating or engaging the body-mind in that dance or that flower arrangement because it does two things.  It makes the person sane, and it keeps the world going."

-- Rae Atira-Soncea, artist, died 1 March 2009 

Visit her memorial blog and see her art at  http://hedgecroft.net/blogs

Hey Russia, it's not about the medal count!

CNN reports Russian government officials and its citizens are rawther unhappy with their unexpected 11th-place Olympic finish by medal count.   Worse, it sounds like they are being unrawther unpleasant to anyone who didn't medal, or didn't contribute to medaling.   
(http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/03/01/russia.olympics.president/index.html)

Wow, Russia.  Have you missed the point?  You didn't lose face.  It's not about whose medal count is biggest.  (And those of you in the U.S. who are snickering right now because we had the most can pay attention, too.)  The Olympics are a celebration.  They are an elegant celebration of sportsmanship that crosses country, religious, cultural, color, and other borders.  The Olympics is about what we all have in common, not about who comes out on top each time.

C'mon Russia, you are a rich, rich source of cultural and creative arts.  You are impressive wellspring of alternative/energy healing methods and sensible research about them.  You are the gracious hosts for the Olympics in 4 years and we look forward to learning more about you. 

But please get with the celebration.

Life, and sports, is a journey, not an end product.  Results are great, but it's really about how you got there.  If I only cared about who won, I could just check the scores when the Olympics was over.  Instead, I watched as much competition as I could. For the most part, it was a beautiful display of sportsmanship, cameraderie, teamwork, and the results of self-discipline, self-care, self-faith, and stretching beyond your comfort zone to give it your all.  That inspires me.

Yes, it's a lot of fun to win.  We take turns winning.  But there's a lot more to a winning attitude and a winning culture than counting who has the most marbles at the end of the day. 

Here's the thing:  Why not honor all your athletes?  They hauled their butts across several time zones and gave it their all.  Why not give them ALL a financial bonus, not just the ones whi medaled?  Why not celebrate the fact that you love them so much because they're Russian and you know they're wonderful even if the judges didn't think so this time around.  Give them all a special government medal because they went, they tried, and they had a tough time yet you know and honor their true potential. 

Here's to you Russia, to your highest Potential.  And here's to all of ours, too, because we are walking this journey together.  We can lift each other up, or we can drag each other down. 

I like the "up" option.  See you in Sochi.