Good morning! Take a deep breath, let your eyes close and find that quiet place within and have a healing during today’s message!
Last month a friend gave me the idea to write a message about what helps me keep a high vibration as I live life. I wrote about the notion of remembering that God is not a person. Seeing God as a human, with all the vagaries, neurosis and judgments, results in trying to be like a dysfunctional being! But if God is really Godliness, a quality of compassionate love and joy from which all is created, we have an energy to aspire to that will never let us down or turn on us like humans do!
Today, I would love to share another tip on how I help hold my vibration in alignment with peace and love. This won’t be new to you, but if you are like me, reminders of how to be the truth of who we are, are needed daily!
This tip is mastering our thoughts without ignoring our emotions. Usually when we first learn to control our thoughts, we are taught about mantras and visualizations. We practice replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, and imagining what we would love to have or see happen. Those are great tools to engage! I practice inhaling and exhaling to the mantra “I am,” and I use visualization regularly.
But neither works well when our emotional self isn’t heard and given an outlet! Stuffed emotions such as anger, sadness, resentment, guilt, anxiety or fear sit within us and magnetize to us the situations that cause us to react instead of respond. Those stuffed emotions fuel our unhealthy reactions, and impede our ability to be more present, neutral and loving in our communication and thoughts.
Ignored feelings feed illness and sabotaging behaviors and addictions. Emotions must be felt and loved in order to be released so we can heal. The result of releasing depressed emotions is a much larger and deeper capacity to hold our joy, passion, love and peacefulness within ourselves. Then, those emotions are more readily available in daily life!
The brain’s ability to hold the feeling of love is much lower than it’s ability to hold the feeling of fear. It has to do with survival and the wiring of the fight or flight part of the brain. The frontal cortex of the brain holds the wiring of love, joy and compassion. To direct our brain to respond more from love takes some time. So don’t be put off by finding yourself checking in with your dominant thoughts and emotions many times a day!
For me, this means being in present time and noticing how I am feeling and thinking from moment to moment. If I am not feeling at peace or if I am experiencing stress or anxiety, I know I need to check in with the feeling and see what is going on inside of me. I have to check in with what I am thinking as well, because usually if a feeling won’t subside in a reasonable amount of time, there will be a thought running in my mind that is causing the uncomfortable feeling!
When I find something that has been affecting how I feel in a negative way for a while I start my investigating. I may need to discover when I started feeling stressed. Did something specific happen? Or was it a buildup of events that triggered unresolved emotions in me?
Let’s look at one together for ourselves and do some healing! Recently I was looking at going home to Ohio for Thanksgiving. I told my family I will come home, and that made them really happy. But I had anxiety about it because my dog, Angus, has a disease and will die soon. I thought I was okay leaving him with friends but a day or so later I realized I did not feel peaceful.
I tuned in to what I was thinking about it all, and when did it all begin? What was the catalyst? I realized I was initially at peace with going to Ohio. I love seeing my family. But soon after, I started feeling stress. I realized I wanted to stay with him and help him through his end of life.
I tuned into my thoughts, and what I was telling myself about staying with Angus that was causing me to not feel peaceful. I was telling myself that I have to go to Ohio, that it will make the family happy and now they will be disappointed. How can I miss a Thanksgiving with my family? It may be our last one all together!
I checked in with my heart and higher self wisdom and saw that being here with Angus was best for me. It felt peaceful and loving to me. Yes, my family wishes I would be there, but they will be okay! I am not a bad daughter, and I will see them as soon as I can. It’s all okay!
Now that I am following my inner truth versus outside expectations, I don’t have conflict over my decision to stay here through Thanksgiving. I can’t control how my family feels or responds to me, and I can’t control how they create their holiday. I can control how I create my holiday. I will miss my family. But that is a normal emotional response, and it will pass, as long as I feel the sadness and not accompany it with a negative thought or judgement!
When I don’t feel at peace, I check in and explore how I am feeling, and then investigate the thoughts that are keeping me in conflict. Both must be addressed! My feelings need to be felt and heard.
So notice for you something you would like to have a healing on. Imagine a conflict or issue in a bubble out in front of you. Something that takes your peace away. Ground the bubble to Mother Earth. What happened? How does it make you feel? Sometimes we can trace it back into childhood, because of something that happened in the family or at school. For my issue, not being with the family at Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the issue from childhood because I lived in Ohio with them. But definitely not wanting to disappoint them and feeling responsible for their reactions and feelings was something I learned as a child!
See yourself as a child, at the age you first felt the feelings that are in your bubble. Then imagine yourself at that young age sitting on your lap. Let this part of you tell you, the spiritual, wise adult how he or she is feeling! This is addressing the feelings, letting them be known and expressed, instead of denying them and stuffing them.
For me, it would be my inner child letting me know how stressful it is to be responsible for making my parents happy. And, my inner child was letting me know that it was stressful to not be with her beloved pet when he needs her! What a huge job to put on a four year old! So what is the burden you are putting on your four year old?
Next, look at what you, the loving, spiritual adult can tell your inner child now, so that she or he can feel at peace. I told mine that we are not responsible for making the family happy, and it is actually very loving to want to spend time with end of life care for Angus. This brought peace to my inner child, and I adjusted my thoughts to loving ones to support that truth! What can your loving present time adult self tell your inner feeling child-self?
What does your inner child need to hear from you right now? And, what thoughts can you shift to that promote peace within you instead of discord? Bring this energy into a golden sun over your head and fill yourself in with it. This is a very fast version of what can be a longer process….but I hope it makes some sense to you!
It is helpful to see your emotional self as your inner child. The observer is you, the spiritual loving and wise adult who is choosing to check in and see what the trapped emotion needs. Seeing the emotion at the age we were when we got stuck in it helps us to reach compassion sooner and to stop judging it. We wouldn’t judge and say mean things to an actual child, so why do it to ourselves? And yet, that is what we are doing much of the time!
Imagine my inner four-year-old in front of me and I am verbally telling her the unhealthy thoughts in my mind. “You have to go to Ohio for Thanksgiving because you are in charge of making the family happy. You are not a good person if you don’t go back. You are selfish for wanting to care for your old dying dog. You will cause much sadness and pain for your family, and it will be all your fault.” See the craziness of that? I wouldn’t say that to any four-year-old. I wouldn’t say that to an adult! So why say it to myself?
My family will create a fun Thanksgiving for themselves. And we will all talk and keep in touch!
See this bubble of conflict in front of you set in a loving space with your present time spiritual awareness in it. Fill it in with your present time loving spiritual adult wisdom, and let it go.
I also use this technique to help with moment-to-moment thoughts that do not promote peacefulness. For example, recently on a morning walk the following example flowed through my awareness very quickly and fluidly.
I had some money with me because I was going to stop by the grocery store as I walked and buy some dishwasher soap. I noticed I had some angst within and with some amusement I checked in with myself. What was I thinking that was perpetuating angst about buying the soap? I discovered that I was thinking that I was wasteful buying the soap at the small local market instead of driving to a giant store later. Therefore I had anxiety about money, even though it was just regarding a few dollars!
I imagined my inner four-year-old. Would I really berate her for spending a few dollars too much on dishwashing soap? What if I reminded her that we live in an abundant world, and that there was also an efficiency in getting the soap on my walk and not driving. I am a grown, responsible, spiritual, loving adult and we are okay! I will still be able to pay rent even after buying the more expensive soap!
This process took me less that a minute in my mind, and it could be judged as trivial, but that’s one of the tricks of the ego to keep us from feeling and healing more deeply! A quick check-in and shift that results in peace is never wasted, no matter how trivial it seems. We can live mostly in peace if we choose to!
To do so we must be grounded in our bodies and willing to learn and grow. We need to be curious about our emotions and notice when we don’t feel at peace and start listening to them and asking why.
I would like you now to notice three punishing thoughts that you tell yourself. Often these thoughts involve how we look, what we eat, how we manage money, how much we do or don’t do or what’s unworthy about ourselves. What are three of yours?
Now, imagine you at 4 years old in front of you. See yourself on a good day, smiling and happy, playful and sweet. Imagine saying these three things to him or her: “You don’t look right. You are wasteful. You are lazy. You need to lose weight. If you aren’t perfect you won’t be loved. Your emotions aren’t important. If people around you aren’t happy it’s your fault. You are unforgivable. ”
You wouldn’t say that to any little kid, right? You can create a punishment-free zone in your head, and have healthy emotional awareness by listening to your inner emotions, bringing your light, love and compassion to them. Then, shift your thinking to reflect your present-time loving adult self!
Check in with with your higher self guidance, the part of you that is of divinity and choose to feel more feelings and think more thoughts that support your truth and awareness that you are nothing but love!
Take a deep breath, and release any old energies related to past negative thoughts and judgements that are ready to do. Let them drop down your grounding cord into the earth. Check in and notice how you are feeling. Would you like to investigate? I guarantee that if you make this part of your practice, you will experience more and more peace!
Next would you notice what your default emotion is when you feel stress. Do you get anxious? Angry? Full of grief and victim energy? Ask what color that default emotional energy is. Remember it. Next, imagine getting on an elevator. The doors close and it’s going up to your 12th chakra where you hold your connection with God/Divinity.
The doors open and you step out into the energy of unconditional love and Oneness of of Creator. Relax, and just be and receive the nurturing love and joy here. Say hello to the energy of Godliness and Unconditional love. Let the beingness there know that you are healing and learning to experience more of this energy as a being while in your physical body here on Earth. Ask Creator for a rose in the color of the dominant emotion you would prefer to live from in your body. Receive this rose and any communication Source had for you. Do you have message for God/Goddess?
Now it’s time to get back on the elevator. The doors open and you step into it, bringing your rose with you. When the doors open again you are stepping out into your center of head, with the rose. Notice the color. Notice your hypothalamus gland. Just picture it. There will be lines or veins in it of the old dominant emotion color that you looked at earlier. Now place the rose you received from Creator into your hypothalamus gland. This is the new emotion you would love to operate from. Instruct this new emotion to replace the old emotion at a pace that is comfortable for you and your body!
Breathe. You always have a choice over your own beliefs and intent, and resulting feelings, thought and reactions and actions. Imagine a big gold sun over your head, and start to let it fill in with your highest vibration of life essence. What are your colors? What are the qualities of beingness that you aspire to? What is meaningful to you?
Can part of what is meaningful for you include quiet moments where you stop and tune into yourself and notice how you are feeling? And then notice what you are thinking?This life is yours to live, and you can live it tuned into your higher self, and experience more of the opportunities that await you.
You are becoming a conscious reservoir of limitless energy and awareness, tuned into the truths of Divinity. Breathe, and allow your gold sun fill in with these 12 wonderful truths and reminders as taught by The Masters:
- We are not only on Earth to learn—but to love.
- You are a miracle—treat yourself like one.
- This Earth and the Universe are also miracles.
- Each one of us in more powerful than we imagine.
- Each one of us, All of creation, is connected.
- Allow, let go, let Spirit work in your life.
- Show love to others by allowing them to show love.
- Learn to listen to your heart.
- You are never alone.
- Your most powerful tool is your power of choice.
- You have one chance at life as you—live fully.
12) Live and feel your gratitude.
Fill in with this gold sun. Experience a sense of yourself in the moment as whole and healed. See yourself wired and plugged into your heart, into your limitless reservoir of grace and love, joy and peace. This part of you is endless and free, and ever-present. Walk in this awareness from this point forward, through the holidays and into the new year! Amen.
