10 Myths About Self-Healing Debunked

by Lissa Rankin MD -

Positive psychology and New Age ideas about health and healing have flooded the internet and bookstore shelves in recent years.

As a doctor who wrote a science-based book about the physiology of the body’s natural healing process, it strikes me that some of what’s out there is giving the idea that the body can heal itself a bad rap.

Why do I say that?

Well, there’s a lot of pseudo-science and quasi-psychology masquerading as real data, when people are hungry for truth.

Here’s some help debunking popular myths that may confuse what’s real.

1. It’s “just the placebo effect.”

Just the placebo effect? Why do people say “placebo” as if it’s a four-letter word? Don’t they understand that the placebo effect is proof positive that the body is brilliantly equipped with natural self-repair mechanisms that can fix broken proteins, kill cancer cells, fight infectious agents, and retard aging?

Don’t they realize that even if a clinical trial fails to demonstrate that a drug or surgery or alternative medicine treatment is better than a placebo, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t “work” when 18-80% of the time, the body heals itself when given a sugar pill or saline injection in a clinical trial. And that’s GREAT NEWS!

The placebo effect needs a major image overhaul. I suggest we call it the “self-healing effect” to remind ourselves that it’s just a measurable phenomena related to the body’s known self-repair mechanisms.

2. The placebo effect is all in your mind.

While thoughts, beliefs, and feelings originating in the mind can activate placebo-like “self-healing effects” in the body, the placebo effect doesn’t just make people feel better; it effects measurable outcomes in the body’s physiology.

When patients are treated with sugar pills, saline injections, and fake surgeries, warts disappear. Colons become less inflamed. Bronchi dilate. Bald men even grow hair.

It’s not just in your mind. It’s in your body.

3. Placebo effects only happen to gullible people.

Nope. All of us are susceptible to placebo effects. In fact, some studies suggest that people with higher IQ’s may be even more susceptible than average.

The only ones who seem to be relatively immune to placebo effects are those with Alzheimer’s.

4. You can heal yourself.

To say you can heal yourself is kind of a misnomer. As I elucidate in great detail in Chapter 3 of  Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself, the data suggests that your body can heal itself but it does so much more effectively when the process is facilitated by the right kinds of healers who support the body’s self-healing process.

These may include doctors and nurses, but they may also include therapists, acupuncturists, energy healers, naturopaths, shamans, and many other modalities of healing practitioners.

A combination of positive belief on the part of your provider and nurturing care that leaves your amygdala feeling calm and safe has been scientifically proven to improve health outcomes.

5. Doctors don’t use placebos in clinical practice.

Psych! Approximately 50% of doctors admit to using placebos in clinical practice, usually without the patient’s consent. They’re not trying to be sneaky. Those who do this are just trying to help. (For example, when a patient has maxed out her pain medication and will be at risk if she gets more, a doctor may inject saline into her IV and tell her it’s morphine. Very often, she gets relief.)

It’s not always a sugar pill or a saline injection. Sometimes, instead, it’s a drug known to be ineffective for the condition being treated or a vitamin proven not to work.

It’s an ethical dilemma for doctors, and many are conflicted about their choices, but if you think it doesn’t happen in medical offices,think again.

6. If you can’t heal yourself, you’ve done something wrong.

No! No! No! While thoughts, beliefs, and feelings that originate in the mind can trigger stress responses in the body that deactivate the body’s natural self-healing processes, predisposing the body to illness, the presence of illness does not mean that you’ve been a bad patient with bad thoughts and you deserve a cosmic spanking.

There’s  no place for blame, shame, or guilt  when it comes to the healing process. Such thoughts only trigger more stress responses.

As Dr. Christiane Northrup says,

“We are responsible  to our illness, not for our illness.” 

Instead of blaming yourself, try asking yourself,

• “Is there a lesson I might learn from my health condition?” or 
• “If my illness had a message to deliver me, what would it tell me?”

If the answer to both questions is “Nada,” cool beans.

Even if your health condition has something to teach you, it doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong. It means you’re doing something very right by allowing illness to be an opportunity for awakening.

7. Healing yourself is all quantum physics.

I’m studying energy medicine and what I’m learning fascinates me. But I think there’s a tendency to try to explain everything with science, when perhaps some things are better explained in spiritual terms.

These days it seems like everyone and her mother is referencing quantum physics as the explanation for things some may find hard to believe or understand.

Perhaps we need to cultivate our tolerance for ambiguity, rather than trying to couch what we don’t fully understand in pseudo-scientific language that just gets the scientists up in arms.

In other words, if you’re gonna quote science, make sure you get it right. Don’t throw scientific language around if you’re not really sure what you’re talking about.

8. All illness results from past life karma.

I’m learning all about past lives after recently meeting psychiatrist  Dr. Brian Weiss, author of  Many Lives, Many Masters, with whom I had the privilege of experiencing a past life regression when we were both speaking at Hay House’s I Can Do It! conference in Atlanta. (Read about my past life regression here).

I’m not dissing past lives or suggesting that we can’t learn a lot about how we’re behaving in this life by looking at the arc of our soul’s journey in past ones.

Whether past life regressions illuminate real past lives or are metaphors for what our soul is here to learn in this one, I think they can be profoundly healing to body, mind, and soul.

But to suggest that all illnesses are the result of bad karma we inherit from things we did “wrong” in past lives strikes me as off base. It sounds too much like blame, and if you’re an 8 year old who has leukemia or you just got hit by a semi and are now paralyzed, the last thing you need to hear is that past life karma is striking you down in this life.

9. Illnesses that resolve without medical treatment are the result of miracles and magic.

While I’m not denying the presence of Divine intervention and miracles (I believe!), and while I’m certainly open to the possibility of magic, the body’s ability to heal itself can be explained with pure physiology.

The people in the medical literature who experience spontaneous remissions from seemingly “incurable” illnesses aren’t just lucky. Instead of learning helplessness and sitting back passively, feeling like victims, many of them chose to be proactive about increasing their odds of spontaneous remission. (Read here to learn the 6 behaviors people who experience spontaneous remission from Stage 4 cancer have in common).

Mind Over Medicine  explains in great detail the physiology of how such behaviors influence the amygdala in your brain, which affects hormones in your blood stream, and affects every cell in your body. While magic may exist, when the mind is optimally healthy, the body may follow.

10. It’s all about cure.

Yes, when we’re sick, it’s natural to focus on how much relief we’d feel if only the disease would vaporize completely.

But what if there’s a deeper sense of peace we can access when we let go of the need to control outcomes and instead, surrender to what is, while simultaneously doing everything within our power to make our bodies ripe for cure?

Kris Carr  and I will be appearing together on a DVD that we’re filming this week as part of a public television special about  Mind Over Medicine.

In preparation for our interview, I asked her how she handles the fact that she’s done everything “right” on her healing journey, but she still has Stage 4 cancer. Kris eloquently told me that she long ago relinquished the attachment to cure, choosing instead to define success as thriving, with or without cancer. Within such surrender, true healing lies.

lissarankin.com

 healhealthcarenow.com

wakeup-world.com

Transcendence of the Ordinary

by Keith Varnum -

“How’d they do that?” 

I asked myself time and time again in my youth. As a journalist and documentary filmmaker, I witnessed ordinary people performing extraordinary feats on countless occasions. 

I documented individuals in moments of crisis and emergency going beyond the limits they and society believed possible.

Caught up in earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and accidents, I watched mild-mannered people become super-heroes.

When extreme circumstances demand action, paranormal abilities arise from normal folks. 

• Women lift two-ton trucks and hold them aloft until their child or husband is freed from beneath the vehicle. 

• Young boys perform successful medical procedures as if they were trained professionals. 

• Men lead victims to safety through burning buildings, pitch-black forests and raging floods. 

• Teenagers bend steel and rip open closed elevator doors to liberate loved ones. 

• Scared people jump ten feet over a chasm to safety. 

• Given a death sentence by doctors, people heal themselves spontaneously.

“Where do human beings get the power and knowledge to perform such implausible feats?” I wondered.

I observed that when life offers people a choice between their beliefs in what is possible and the necessity to save another from harm, people often scrap their perceived limitations and choose to do whatever needs to be done. 

Every day people choose life, caring and rescue over the restrictions of their belief systems.

“If we can break out of our belief box when life has us up against the wall, why can’t we release our limiting beliefs at will when we are not in a crisis?” I inquired within myself.

I looked around in my world for examples of people who know how to free themselves from tribal collective limitations—mainstream cultural beliefs—in order to access fresh possibilities of human potential. I discovered my models through reading biographies of dynamic individuals and interviewing adventurous people. 

I found that people who are forerunners, pioneers and explorers in social, political and artistic expression invariably refer to one or more moments in their lives in which they opened to a peak experience.

And not only do these resourceful people make reference to these extraordinary moments, they draw strength, wisdom and compassion from these glimpses of their true power. They have learned how to tap into these past moments of heightened awareness and achievement in order to surmount present life challenges. 

Whether it be excellence in athletic or artistic expression, or success in business or romance, these potent moments of “transcendence of the ordinary” act as wells of inspiration and inventiveness that enable people to handle current predicaments.

With a degree of benevolent innocence, I decided that if these people could break free of their restrictive belief systems and tap into the power of previous peak experiences, then I could as well.

Their successes inspired me to try this approach myself—to reach beyond my perceived boundaries.

Every day now I invite magic into my life and welcome miracles into my world. It is my heartfelt wish that you too are inspired to go beyond your own self-created limits.

What do we have to lose—except our fears and imaginary walls?

thedream.com

How to Cultivate Miracles

by Keith Varnum -

I’ve been blessed with a life adventure full of miracles. When people read about the magic in my life, they often ask me, “Why have you had these fascinating extraordinary experiences—and not me?”

I suggest to them that a more accurate way for them to ask that question might be, “Why do you recall all these extra-ordinary events—and not me?”

I’ve been a life coach and acupuncturist for over thirty years. In order to help people uncover the root causes of their problems, I had to delve deeply into the underlying facts beneath the surface of their lives.

I had to reveal some truth behind the superficial stories we tell ourselves. I had to discover the real scoop hidden by our socially acceptable explanations of how life works.

Surprise Findings

In this detective process, I found out that just as many extra-ordinary events occur in most people’s lives as occur in mine! So, then, how come most folks aren’t aware of the extra-ordinary in their lives? Good question!

One reason many people don’t feel their lives are filled with exceptional events is because they don’t notice the uncommon events when they occur! They literally don’t see what is going on right in front of their eyes. 

Why not? Another great question.

• They don’t see the magic because they aren’t looking in the right place.
• They don’t see the magic because they aren’t looking in the right way.
• They don’t see the magic because they aren’t looking for magic!

What are they doing?

• They’re looking for what they expect to see.
• They’re looking for what they’re conditioned to see.
• They’re looking for what they’re told is there!

Dullsville, PA

I’ve come to realize that I happened to grow up in an environment that nurtured my ability to see beyond the borders of the believable.

Firstly, the small, remote Pennsylvania mountain town I grew up in had to be one of the most boring places on Earth! Nothing ever happened out of the ordinary there.

In this nondescript village there were no fights, no drugs, no crime, no minorities, no crises—not even divorce or betrayal (that anyone talked about). No fuss, no muss—just white picket fences and 4th of July parades and apple pie. 

The only thing that ever changed in my hometown were the four seasons. And they were often almost the same—cloudy or rainy.

The Rest of the Story

Of course, there was the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say. The foundation of this typical small town America did have its cracks beneath the veneer of public harmony.

These deviations from the American Dream were never mentioned. Not between town folk. Not between drinking buddies. Not at the bridge table. Not on the golf course. Not at home. And not even to oneself!

Thus, on the surface of it all, all was well. … And extremely mind-numbing to a young kid!

So, just to entertain myself, just to pass the time on days just like every other day, I began to look for anything in my life, in my town, that was out of the ordinary—outside of the obvious, predictable everyday occurrences.

Guess What?

What you look for, shows up. What you look for, you see.

I desperately wanted to see something different or new. I longed for anything unusual or strange.

I sent my attention out searching for any element of life that was out of order, sync or sequence with the everyday humdrum routine.

And, sure enough, I found it! Everywhere I looked. … In my life. In other people’s lives. In school. On the street.

Everywhere I looked with the intention to see more than what’s expected, I saw more of what didn’t fit my expectations.

When I looked outside the box, I saw life outside the box. And when I got outside my own limited paradigm, I could appreciate the view from other people’s paradigms.

I witnessed teenage friends—and myself—being “miraculously” saved from disastrous car accidents. I saw people (angels) pop out of nowhere to save townfolk in a desperate situations.

I watched time contract (or expand) to fit the prayers of those in need. I observed synchronicities that guided me to the best course of action.

Mealtime Mystery

A second eye-opener in my youth occurred at every meal. My father was a lawyer and my mother a court reporter.

Our family discussions at the kitchen table always centered on their legal court cases. Court cases by their very nature are centered around disputes, disagreements—differences of perception.

I was constantly being presented with a particularly curious and startling phenomenon. Three witnesses to a car accident: three different stories of what has occurred. Four people involved in dispute: four equally possible versions of the “facts.”

I learned that the truth is in the eye of the beholder.

Or rather, the truths are in the eyes of the beholders!

The Prison of the Prism

I became aware of the prison of the prism through which we each view our world. The perceptual filters of our known paradigm literally create what we can see—and what we can’t see!

The Undoing of My Upbringing

These two unusual aspects of my upbringing had a profound influence on how I experienced everyday life. 

I began to see the cracks in the façade of the social matrix.

And I found a way to use these cracks in the social fabric to break on through to the other side. To view another world of options and alternatives.

To enter a wider range of possibilities and adventures. I could see not only what was happening in other people’s worlds but also what could happen in the world of infinite possibility (miracles).

How ‘Bout You?

What experiences or circumstances in your background have opened the door for you to expand your vision of what is possible in life?

Showtime

Would you like to recall the forgotten magic that has occurred in your life?

Would you like more everyday miracles in your life today?

My suggestion?

• Make a conscious decision to welcome the uncommon.
• Invite the unexplainable.
• Be open for the new and different.
• Treasure the strange and weird.

Celebrate surprise... and you will be surprised… by a whole new world of wonder and amazement.

thedream.com

Magnetic Resonance

Create miracles with optimism.

by Sandra Anne Taylor -

Let the “Glad Games” begin. There’s a wonderful story about a little girl whose refusal to think anything negative changed an entire town; in this story, Pollyanna encourages people to stop seeing themselves as sick, alone or hopeless in any way. 

Even when things are hard, she teaches them to play the “glad game,” a game where the person tries to find at least one thing to be glad about, no matter what difficulty they may be experiencing.

This inspiring story was very popular many years ago. Over time, however, people have begun to see themselves as too sophisticated to engage in such a simplistic approach to things. In fact, the name Pollyanna is now often used as a term of derision, a way to belittle someone who is “too optimistic,” implying that they’re not being realistic enough.

But Pollyanna had a point! 

As simplistic as it might sound, there’s no reason to ever engage in pessimism. No matter what difficult experience you’re faced with, pessimism doesn’t help the situation. 

It doesn’t change things for the better. It doesn’t empower you or anyone involved. And it certainly doesn’t create the kind of energetic environment that fosters miraculous and happy outcomes. 

In fact, no matter what the obstacle, it’s utterly self-defeating to engage in the energy of pessimism, precisely at the time you need a miracle most!

The Energy of Optimism

Only the energy of optimism and value can create the miracle you need at any given moment. You must assume the best, and you must search for something to value in your life, no matter what hardship you may be enduring. 

The “glad game” is a way to find something of value, something that could be appreciated no matter what else is going on. This is a powerful decision at any time, for the choice to appreciate and acknowledge value always attracts more value. 

Of course, Pollyanna had no awareness of quantum physics. She just knew it made her feel better and when she taught it to others, it made them feel better, too. Pessimism, on the other hand, only succeeds in making people feel worse.

Because optimism is emotionally beneficial, it’s also favorable energetically. Emotions charge your energy and the excitement that comes from optimism pumps up the volume of your magnetic resonance more than almost any other emotion. 

So whether you decide to be optimistic because it makes you feel better or because you finally realize that it’s necessary to change your energy, it doesn’t really matter. 

The magnetic consequences of your optimism will remain the same. When you choose to be optimistic, you radically change your electromagnetic field, bringing a brighter, happier light frequency to your world—and to the world of those around you.

sandrataylor.net

Miraculous Living

by Marianne Williamson - 

God will replace the darkness with light.

Every morning when you wake up, your mind is more open to receive new impressions than at any other time. 

If you go directly to the news as the world defines it—to a newspaper, to radio or television that reports on the anguish and the despair of the world—and particularly if you add caffeine, don’t be mystified if you are depressed by noon. 

Turn to meditation or inspirational reading or whatever spiritual source material puts your mind and heart on track—on track with God’s will and on track with the deepest love, for the two are the same.

The level of thought is the level of cause. 

The level of your life experience manifested in the world is the level of effect. Therefore in order to change your life, you must change the nature of your thinking. 

Often the problem, however, is that this can be much easier said than done. And that is why spirituality supersedes traditional psychology. Sometimes it is difficult to change our thoughts. 

Sometimes our mental habits were formed very, very early in childhood and they represent the teaching and training of a fear-based world. And that is why we go to God. 

He renews your life by renewing your mind. He cannot take from you what you will not release to Him. 

Take time to release to God all energies within you, all thoughts and feelings, all character defects, all wounds within you, which you know limit your life, block your growth and keep from you the radiance and joy, which is your natural inheritance as a child of God.

As it is said in A Course in Miracles, it is not enough to bring the light to the darkness; we must bring the darkness to the light. 

If you go to the doctor with a broken hand, it’s not good enough to show the doctor your knee. 

Rather, we give to God, we place on the altar all that is wounded, all that is dark, all that is neurotic and all that is painful in order that the spirit of God might lift up all that is low to that which is high, make all that is weak now strong, make all that is poor now rich and all that is bound by fear released into the arms of love. God Himself would replace all darkness with light. 

Make yourself available for the experience—and miracles will follow.

A Morning Meditation for you to try:

We see in the middle of our mind a little ball of golden light. We watch this light as it begins to grow larger and larger. Until now, it covers the entire inner vision of our mind. 

You see for yourself in this light a beautiful temple. You see a garden that surrounds the temple and a body of water that flows through the garden. You see that the inside of the temple is lit by this same beautiful golden light. And here you are, for you have been born to this day in the spirit and grace of God. 

We surrender who we are. We surrender this day. May only God’s will prevail. You open your heart to all living things.

Thank you, God, for this day. Thank you for this new chance, this new opportunity for life. We call to mind everything that will happen on this day. 

Call to mind all the people in your life. For the relationships that are good and peaceful and abundant. Give thanks in your heart and commit within to participate even more fully, even more compassionately, to be even a greater space of love for these people with whom you share the fruits and goodness of your life. 

We place all these relationships in the hands of God.

Now gently call to mind the people with whom you are not in good relationship, the people or situations that annoy you, the burdens, the questions, the problems that you carry. Do not push them away. Do not allow yourself to become distracted. 

Rather call to mind all the burdens on your heart and gently, tenderly deliver them into the hands of God. In the mind of God lies a perfect day. You surrender now who you were yesterday. And ask that the spirit of God enter into you and lift you up to the better angel of your being.

May the spirit of God come upon you and smooth out all your rough edges. May the spirit of God come upon you and remove every burden you carry.

A path lies before you of perfect grace. It exists. 

Take the hand now of your Divine guide, be it an angel, be it Jesus, be it the presence of an amorphous light, allow your guiding light to walk across the bridge from your old self lost in fear and limitation and ego and pain, released now to the possibility of unlimited grace and radiance through the power and presence of God.

Dear God, Give meaning to my life, health to my body and graciousness to my heart on this day and every day, may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, for me and for all humankind. Amen.

marianne.com 
 healyourlife.com

Recipe for Miracles

by Lynn Robinson -

Every day I speak with clients who are scared and worried about their lives. It could be the loss of a job, a change in a relationship, a health challenge or a crisis with a child. 

Often they feel like there is no way out, no hope on the horizon. Their worry makes them focus on a pessimistic future. “What will happen if…” Or, “I worry that if X happens then Y will happen and then it will be even worse".

"Live each day as if you expect a miracle. You are your miracle! Your power tools are imagination, thinking and desires and your precision instruments are intuition and illumination. Imagine God’s glory pouring through you and make it bold enough to pay dividends." --Edna Lister

I love to cook. The other day I was thinking that cooking is a lot like life. If you put in a bunch of bad ingredients (negative thinking) and don’t pay much attention to cooking times (prolonged worry) you’re going to end up with an unappetizing result.

It’s human nature to worry at least a little. However, in order for positive change to occur, you need to shift your thinking and change your ingredients! 

RECIPE FOR MIRACLES:

1. Keep Your Focus on the Positive  

When life is challenging it’s all too easy to think about how bad things are. You might even imagine and spend time dwelling upon on how these bad times could get worse and how your life will become REALLY difficult. 

It’s important to understand that your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions have power. The fear, panic and anxiety you feel is often the result of the habitual thoughts you’re thinking.

What can you do to turn these around? Begin to think about what you would like to happen. Esther Hicks has a great sentence completion exercise that I love, 

“Wouldn’t it be great if…” 

You fill in the blank with whatever your heart desires. Grab a pad of paper and complete as many of those sentences as you can think of..

Examples: Wouldn’t it be great if… 

“A wonderful, fun job came my way".
“I could make a living doing X".
“I found a terrific apartment closer to my job".

It will take some focus and practice to break the habit of habitual worrying, but the dividends will be huge. Because of your new openness, your intuition will be able to deliver some brilliant new ideas. You’ll also be receptive to synchronicities and coincidences that will open up possibilities and new directions.

2. Use the Power of Your Mind  

What’s the outcome that you want? Don’t try to figure out HOW it’s going to happen. That’s for the Universe to resolve. It’s part of expecting miracles. An element of faithful expectation is involved. 

Picture the desired outcome that you want. Imagine and feel it as vividly as you can. Spend time each day visualizing what your life will look like when this imagined situation is created.

3. Surrender 

When you’re in the midst of a difficult situation it’s extremely hard to imagine a way out. Many of the spiritual traditions recommend releasing or surrendering the problem to Infinite Intelligence. You are asking the Power that grows the trees, creates the sky and makes the sun rise and set each day to create a miracle for you.

Sit in a quiet place and close your eyes. Briefly envision your current situation. Use whatever words fit your belief system about God to ask for help. An example is: “I ask for your Divine wisdom and guidance in this situation. 

I invite and welcome Your help to create a perfect outcome for all involved. I release this to You, in faith, with the knowledge that all is well".

4. Invite Miracles 

Much has been written about the power of gratitude. When you’re feeling thankful you open up to the energy that invites miracles. For example, you’re out of work and you’re scared you won’t be able to pay the mortgage this month. 

Each morning when you wake up and before you go to bed at night, close your eyes, go within and affirm “Thank you for the mortgage payment.” Or, simply, “I am open and receptive to money flowing into my life. I know that abundance is my true nature. Thank you.” 

When you’re scared and worried, make a conscious decision to open your heart and mind to whatever it is that you want. Anticipate and say “thank you” as if you already have it.

5. Dwell on Optimistic Expectation 

Have you ever been around someone who is a complainer or fear monger? It’s draining! “The gas prices are awful.” “The economy is going down the tubes.” If you find yourself thinking things like this, shift your focus. 

What you say to yourself is often a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

It may take some work to change your habitual thoughts but it’s worth the effort. 

Try saying things like, 

• “Let me be open to new possibilities.” 
•  “Things have a way of working out for me.” 
• “The economy may be bad, but I’m open and receptive to new avenues of income".

6. Pay Attention to Your Intuition 

Your intuition is your inner compass. It points you in the right direction. If you’re feeling down, scared and worried, that’s your intuition inviting you to shift your focus. It’s telling you to choose thoughts and actions that will make you feel better. 

If listening to your intuition feels difficult, or if you’re out of practice, try this: each day choose one thing you commit to doing that makes you feel better. It could be as simple as changing an habitual negative thought, taking a walk, hanging out with positive people, not watching the news. 

 Intuition guides you toward miracles and lets you know which direction will produce the success you seek. It communicates through images, words, dreams, feelings and physical sensations.

Miracles happen every day. 

You can create them in your life. Let your thoughts be open to possibilities. 

God wants you to succeed. He is constantly sending messages to encourage your receptivity to His miracles. Your life can take a turn for the better in a moment. It can happen to you.

lynnrobinson.com

The Why and How of Letting Go

by Sandy Stevenson -

When You Let Go Miracles Occur:

We hear the expressions...

'Go with the flow’, ‘Let go and let God’
and ‘Surrender to Spirit’. 

• What is it that we are supposed to be letting go of and to whom? 
• What does it mean and where do we start? 

Words like God and Spirit mean different things to different people. Perhaps we agree that it is a concept of creation or consciousness, a Divine flow or the natural order of things.

We probably think all our problems could be solved if we could just win the lottery.

But perhaps, what we really want from life is more along the lines of loving and caring relationships, joy, fun, happiness and harmony, where we feel we are being useful. How do we ensure that we achieve that?

First of all, you have to want to change. 

If you feel that life is a bit humdrum, a treadmill and you are getting worn out trying to control each part of it (otherwise it is bound to fall apart!) with the odd distraction that gives pleasure - are you ready to change?

By following your intuition and ‘going with the flow,’ life can change for the better.

OK. We are ready. A new life is afoot. 

Where do we start?

As the wise old sages say ‘out of stillness comes wisdom,’ so first of all we need to stop our thoughts distracting us.

I am sure we’ve all had those sleepless nights, with a never ending stream of thoughts going around in our head. We need to apply some sort of discipline to put us back in control of our own thoughts, so that we are controlling them and they are not controlling us.

Begin by finding some time in each day, even if it's just 10 minutes, that is just for you. A quiet place in the garden is ideal. A time to relax and be still, where your attention will not be dragged onto something or someone.

Sit quietly and as each thought pops into your head, quietly and firmly say no and don’t pay it any attention.

Don’t bury the thoughts but let them float up and pass by like feathers on a gentle breeze, letting them go.

Release, release, release. 

Keep doing this for at least 10 minutes each day, for however long it takes, until you have achieved a permanently quiet mind.

A silent mind, allows you to get in touch with your intuitive side. You are trying to live from your spiritual nature and not from the dictates of your mind.

DROP EXPECTATIONS

Check every now and again during the day and ask yourself ‘Am I in my head or my heart’?

That means ‘am I doing what the mind is telling me I should or must do or am I listening to my intuition and doing what interests and feels right to me?

If you find you are doing something that doesn’t interest or excite you, stop and listen again to your inner voice. In each minute, you will find there is always one thing that is more right for you to do than anything else.

IN THE FLOW

Following this feeling of rightness is called ‘being in the flow and Divine order’.

When you live your life in this way, the weight of the world is removed from your shoulders and any struggle or suffering is replaced by joy, happiness, love and excitement.

It may not be achieved in an instant but with a bit of determination and really listening to your inner voice, each moment will become a minute and then an hour and a day. Soon you will be experiencing a new life in all its magnificence and beauty.

You have ‘let go’ and now ‘miracles can happen’.


lightascension.com

How to Be a Miracle Maker

by Keith Varnum -

Here's a fascinating secret about miracles:

You can't necessarily always place an order for magic at will, but you can deliberately create the conditions -- environment, atmosphere and attitude -- that make miracles a thousand times more likely to occur.

Want to know how you can create a miracle-​​​friendly world? By taking these practical steps, you will bring magic into your relationships, body, finances and more!

PRACTICAL STEPS

Your ability to Make Miracles is in direct proportion to your willingness to:

• Tell yourself more truth about the situation you want to transform 

The more honest you are about where you're really at, the more personal power you have to realize your dreams. By aligning yourself accurately with what is real, you retrieve all of the life force you've invested in holding together false situations and relationships.

This re-captured energy then attracts the goals you desire. In this universe what's congruent gets the energy. What's not congruent doesn't get the energy.

Where aren't you being honest or accurate about some aspect of your life?

What truth about your life is right now safe, timely, helpful, nurturing and liberating for you to acknowledge to yourself?

• Act "outside the box" 

All magic occurs beyond the boundaries of your current belief system. What obstacles lie between you and moving outside your "comfort zone?"

Where could you let your vision for your life be more outrageous? More fun? More of what you really want?

• Withdraw from collective mass consciousness 

Step beyond general consensus to remove the limits of what's possible for you to have. Many people have changed society -- and had fun -- by doing "what couldn't be done." You can too.

When you withdraw your energy field from the energy field of the tribal collective agreement, you can create outside that agreement. Be "in the world, but not of it." Where in your life could you step a little further outside of mass consciousness thinking?

• Use the Law of Attraction: Energize what you love with gratitude 

Our magnetic field of energy is always (all ways) attracting exactly what we need to create our heart's desires. Discover the ancient wisdom of multiplying what you have with deep thankfulness.

As you pour the vibration of appreciation into the love, health, prosperity and joy that you already have, this vibration will magnetize more of the same to you. It's the physics of the Universe. What aspects of your life could you right now be genuinely grateful for?

• Experience "concrete, physical" reality as energy 

When we choose to experience so-called "solid" things as the vibrational energy -- fields of energy -- that they actually are, these aspects of our reality become infinitely more malleable and flexible in responding to our intentions.

Where are you willing right now to open to experiencing your body -- and other people, conditions, animals, rocks, emotions -- as an energy field (life force/flow dynamic) rather than as fixed, static, solid objects?

• Reclaim your Personal Power 

Are you energizing ideas and activities and maintaining relationships that no longer serve you? When you choose to invest in those relationships and situations that do feed your dreams, you regain tremendous personal power.

When you choose to call back your spirit from the people, ideas and activities that no longer serve you, you regain tremendous personal power to invest in those relationships and situations that do feed your dreams.

What are you tolerating, avoiding or denying in your life right now? Where are you compromising, sacrificing or settling for something less than what you really want? Where could you invest your time, energy and attention that would really serve you?

• Relax your grip on your belief system 

When you release your vise grip on the rigid, fixed beliefs you inherited from society, the things can shift that need to shift for something new, fresh, wonderful and miraculous to happen to you.

What are your beliefs about how life operates?

How important are these beliefs to your survival, identity, reputation (need for approval) and sense of worth? In what areas of your life could you right now relax your need to control the exact functioning of the people and events around you?

• Build Your Chi – Your Internal Life Force Energy 

Our free attention, time and energy are the lifeblood of our ability to create and attract what we desire in life. The more we consciously manage and steward these natural assets, the more we can build a reservoir and reserve of miracle-​​​producing power.

Where could you be more accessible to energy-giving situations and people? Where could you be more inaccessible to energy-​​​draining situations and people? How can you naturally and easily "build your internal life force chi" through activities that are fun for you? What in your life are you not experiencing as an adventure?

• Connect directly with Spirit 

Your soul is in charge of your life! Your spirit has been running the show from behind the stage curtain since the beginning of time.

Open a direct line to the wonders, wisdom, support and guidance of your own brilliant soul plan. How do you mediate/pray? Is it as effective as you would like? Have you tried a moving meditation?

• Align your personality with your soul 

When you're aligned with your true intentions in being here this lifetime, prosperity flows automatically with no effort or doingness. Align your everyday lifestyle with your soul vision and receive all the support, energy and love you need—and begin to enjoy the ride!

What actions could you take that would bring your life more in accord with your life purpose? What changes could you make to be more authentic in your life?

• Allow yourself to receive from Spirit 

The primary joy and purpose of our spirit friends -- the Ascended Masters, guardian angels, spirit guides, nature devas, spirit animals -- is to assist us to reach our life goals.

Do you regularly ask for assistance and let in love and energy from your other dimensional allies?

• Embrace your Shadow 

What you choose not to see, you can't change. What weaknesses, faults, fears and shortcomings do you feel you have -- socially, physically, spiritually, romantically, financially, sexually?

Are you willing to open up to your soul's point of view on your so-called "dark side"?

• Hang with people who nurture you 

By your own pre-arranged conscious design, old soulmates deliver messages to you that trigger timely awareness, alchemy and awakening.

What people and environments are not entirely safe, supportive or inspiring for you to be with? Where could you refuse to let another be reckless with your heart? Where could you be less reckless with another's heart? Where could you celebrate the success of others?

• Listen to your body 

Our body is a natural feedback system to keep us abreast of how well we are dealing with the pressures and demands of life.

What lessons is your body reflecting to you? What wake-up calls from your body have you been denying? What's the weight you are carrying around? What's your body dying to tell you?

• Follow the guiding signs and synchronicities​​ Spirit gives you everyday 

Our soul is always (all ways) trying to steer us toward our goals. We live in an interactive, responsive universe that is designed to fulfill our deepest dreams -- if we would only play along!

Allow your intuition to guide you to the forms and vehicles that will empower your spirit to express fully.

What messages and signals has the Universe been sending you that you have been ignoring, misinterpreting,​​​ or are afraid to act on?

• Choose to be innocent (free) of the past: Welcome surprise and serendipity 

Open the door to more magic, meaning and money in your world by learning to suspend skepticism and conditioned responses. Learn to surf through the surprises of life, instead of being swept away by them.

Where could you approach your goals with more flexibility, openness and sense of play?

• Feng-shui your life: Give yourself a "spaceshift" 

Feng-shui is the ancient art of consciously managing matter and energy within space. By intuitively re-arranging the elements of your daily life, you create the space to nurture the freedom, opportunities and effectiveness you desire.

By clearing out the old, dead elements of your life, you create a natural vacuum and an unblocked channel for fresh, new energy and ideas to come into your private and professional life.

How could you unblock your energy now? Where can you re-arrange the ways you live your everyday life in a fresh, new, intuitive way?

• Live your life as an experiment 

Consider your life as the latest -- and greatest -- experiment by human consciousness to express Heaven on Earth -- or just to have fun playing in the 3rd dimension.

Where could you lighten up, celebrate and have more humor in your approach to living?

thedream.com

Territory of the Expanded Heart

by Cathy Olsen -

You Have Arrived. 

You have entered a new dimensional space within the recent days of your time. The energies have propelled you like never before into the new reality which is upon you. All that is not in alignment with your essence self is dissolving like so many particles of water behind a ship traversing at high speeds. Know that this is so.

Trust that you dwell now in new territory. This is the territory of the expanded heart. This is the plane of existence where the essence of love will create miracles of manifestation in your lives.

Do not doubt your ability to create the life that your dreams would dictate. 

This is your time. Trust and know that the foundations of the new earth are in place and ready for the new structures which you will collectively build together.

These structures will now merge and converge with the Cities of Light which have been prepared for you as you take on your roles in the new world. As beings continue to enter the higher dimensions, the vibrational realignments will become a vortex of creative energy drawing people together for collective purpose.

Soul families will meet and greet each other once again as dimensions merge and the grand reunion ensues. This is the cause of great rejoicing in the higher realms.

We say to you, "Job well done." You have come through tremendous adversity as you journeyed through the shadowlands. Your light precedes you as now you have become that which you have searched for externally through time.

You are the wayshowers; those who have paved the way for others to follow in your stead. Your courage, your determination and your love of Creator has brought you to the precipice of your new reality. The way has been made clear by your commitment to love and knowledge. We hold you in high esteem and would honor you for your service.

Know that this is indeed your time.

So we would ask you, "What is it you wish to create in these new times? How do you wish to express your unique spiritual essence in this new place?"

We await your creations and the joy that will now accompany them. For it is through joy that the new world will take shape before you. Creation in these realms comes through heart-centered knowing and aligning with Divine Will.

This is the place of true co-creation as you take on the tasks of bringing into form all that has been held from you in times past.

"What is your heart's greatest desire in this moment? 

How would it look and feel to you to be present in your creation?" Feel this fully and trust that all will come to fruition. See the smile on your face, feel the joy in your heart as you walk the path of Divine Inspiration.

Know that as you wish it, it will be so. No longer doubt your ability to create what you desire. For the veils of limitation and confusion cannot follow you here.

All has been prepared for you. You, yourself have been preparing for this moment for eons of time. And the time is now. Trust that it is so.

Trust that the Divine Plan is alive and well. 

Trust that all wisdom and understanding are available to you now and will guide your forward motion. Intend to align with your path and purpose and watch as miracles unfold. We are ever with you and as dimensions merge we will once again meet you face to face with tears of remembrance and joy overflowing!

spiritlibrary.com

Mind, Body and Healing

by Vishwas Madhuvarshi - 

Faith and Healing:

In a classic 1950 study, many pregnant women suffering from severe morning sickness were prescribed syrup of ipecac, a vomiting inducing substance but were told it was a new, powerful cure for nausea. Amazingly, the women ceased vomiting.

Want and Belief 

“It is part of the cure to want to be cured”, Stoic Lucius Seneca said. This phrase could be rewritten as ‘It is part of the cure to want to be cured and to have a belief in the cure‘.

These women not only wanted to be cured but they also believed in the powerful new drug offered. Chemically, the medicine that was supposed to induce vomiting had completely opposite effect because that matched the patient’s belief. This study indicated that there is a strong and body follows that mind accepts.

“Expectation is a powerful thing,” says Robert DeLap, M.D., head of one of the Food and Drug Administration’s Offices of Drug Evaluation. “The more you believe you’re going to benefit from a treatment, the more likely it is that you will experience a benefit.”

The Placebo Effect 

Another trial for a drug targeting ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’ was conducted at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease in 1995 by Dr Stephen Straus, M.D. and colleagues. A ‘very significantly impaired’ woman recovered miraculously after being administered the new potent drug. 

She was very weak, could not work and had to stay home most of the time before the treatment. She and her parents were very happy with recovery and blessed the researchers for this wonder drug. Later, it turned out that the woman’s impressive recovery from chronic fatigue occurred after taking placebo or look-alike pills, not the experimental drug.

Again, this woman had a strong belief in the new drug and she desperately wanted to be cured of CFS that had crippled her. Her mind believed in the new drug’s ability to cure and her body followed what the mind believed.

“Most of the history of medicine is the history of the placebo effect,” observes Dr Herbert Benson in his book “Timeless Healing”.

“Psychologist Bruno Klopfer was treating a man named Wright who had advanced cancer of the lymph nodes. All standard treatments had been exhausted and Wright appeared to have little time left. His neck, armpits, chest, abdomen, and groin were filled with tumors the size of oranges, and his spleen and liver were so enlarged that two quarts of milky fluid had to be drainedout of his chest every day.

Wright heard about an exciting new drug called Krebiozen, and he begged his doctor to let him try it. At first the doctor refused because the drug was being tried on people with a life expectancy of at least three months. Finally the doctor gave in and gave Wright an injection of Krebiozen on Friday but in his heart of hearts he did not expect Wright to last the weekend.

To his surprise, on the following Monday he found Wright out of bed and walking around. Klopfer reported that his tumors had ‘melted like snowballs on a hot stove’ and were half their original size. Ten days after Wright’s first treatment, he left the hospital and was, as far as his doctors could tell, cancer free. When he entered the hospital he had needed an oxygen mask to breathe, but when he left, he was well enough to fly his own plane at 12,000 feet with no discomfort.

Wright remained well for about two months, but then articles began to appear asserting that Krebiozen actually had no effect on cancer of the lymph nodes. Wright, who was rigidly logical and scientific in his thinking, became very depressed, suffered a relapse, and was readmitted to the hospital. This time his physician decided to try an experiment.

He told Wright that Krebiozen was every bit as effective as it had seemed but that some of the initial supplies of the drug had deteriorated during shipping. He explained, however, that he had a new highly concentrated version of the drug and could treat Wright with this. The physician used only plain water and went through an elaborate procedure before injecting Wright with the placebo.

Again the results were dramatic. Tumor masses melted, chest fluid vanished and Wright was quickly back on his feet and feeling great. He remained symptom-free for another two months, but then the AMA announced that a nationwide study of Krebiozen had found the drug worthless for the treatment of cancer. This time Wright’s faith was completely shattered. His cancer blossomed anew and he died two days later. ” (Brono Klopfer, Psychological Variables in Human Cancer, Journal of Prospective Techniques 31, 1957, pp. 331-40. )

Mind-Body Connection 

Our mind and beliefs affect the body and the healing process. In 1981 neurobiologist David Felten and his team of researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine discovered the connection between body’s immune system and the central nervous system that is under control of the brain.

Felten’s team discovered a network of nerves leading to blood vessels as well as to cells of the immune system using fluorescent stains to trace nerves to bone marrow, lymph nodes and the spleen. They also found nerves in the thymus and spleen terminating near clusters of lymphocytes and mast cells, all of which help control immune function.

In simpler terms, they found the direct wiring that exists between mind and immune system. This discovery of mind-body connection meant that mind has the ability to communicate and direct body’s immune-system cells depending upon its belief system.

Benefiting With the Knowledge 

Impact of this discovery is visible in many treatment centers where holistic healing is now offered as treatment. There is a new branch of religious preachers trained in healthcare known as “Health Care Chaplains”. 

Their job: To be the spiritual care specialist on the healthcare team who has the training necessary to treat spiritual distress in all its forms. Meditation is an integral part of treatment of chronic diseases at many hospitals now.

We can use the mind-body connection to keep healthy and be healthy again after manifestation of any disease. The key to good health and cure, as discussed earlier is ‘to want and to believe’. To want to be healthy is natural and easier but belief in a cure may or may not come naturally. With all kinds of information about terminal diseases coming from health workers, newspapers and internet working against our belief system, having faith is easier said than done. That is where mind tools like meditation and hypnosis can help.

We all have healing powers and can use them to heal ourselves and others but it manifests in equal proportion of our faith in it. There are several healing techniques that help us manifest these healing powers. Prisualization (prayer+visualization) is one of them. I’ll discuss this technique in one of my forthcoming blogs. In the meantime, you may read about and practice this technique at my website

  iliveeasy.com

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