Superhealing: Engaging Your Mind, Body, and Spirit to Create Optimal Health and Well-Being (ARC) (29 page)

saying
I couldn’t draw, then somehow I would be able to do so. My 200

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mind’s perception of my ability shifted in an instant, and I understood how to draw! It was so simple yet equal y profound. For years, I’d attempted to draw what I thought the object was—that is, from

my logical side—rather than drawing what I saw.

That day, I drew a picture of a beautiful Bengal tiger. I was amazed.

And, as they say, the rest is history. Without taking formal lessons, I learned to draw and paint the vibrantly beautiful flowers that I love to behold. I watched a few PBS painting programs and some how-to-paint DVDs, but for the most part, my inner guidance showed me

how to express my creativity.

I’ve hung a few of my abstract paintings next to my floral ones to remind myself of how far I’ve come and what is possible. My creativity has uplifted me, soothed me, and given me the most rewarding

sense of well-being and accomplishment.

Express yourself creatively in whatever way you deem appropri-

ate. Explore new avenues of expression.

Prayer

Prayer is the primary and traditional way all humans communi-

cate with the Divine. Although its true value has been questioned, most people clearly understand its power. A recent survey found that more than 43 percent of Americans pray for their own health.2

One of the first studies on prayer that I became aware of was

conducted at the University of California at San Francisco Medi-

cal School. Dr. Randy Byrd divided 393 seriously ill intensive care unit patients, all experiencing various types of diseases affecting the heart, into two groups. The people in the groups were matched for

age, type of disease, and the severity of their conditions. Dr. Byrd then asked people from different religious traditions—Catholics,

Protestants, and Jews—to pray for the people in one group several

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times each day. They received only the patients’ first names and diagnoses, then prayed for their rapid recovery and the prevention of complications, holding the belief that the prayer would help them

recover. Neither the doctors nor the patients knew who was being

prayed for. The study demonstrated remarkable results.

Despite their similarities, only the people in the group that was

prayed for experienced fewer serious complications, including car-

diac arrests, heart failure, pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs) and pneumonia. Even more amazing, not one person in the group being

prayed for died during the study!3

In addition to prayer, incorporating your spirit into all the mind engagement techniques I outlined in Chapter 3 will enhance your

practice and deepen your spiritual connection. Expressing your spir-it this way is a form of turbocharging your mind.

Forgiveness

I’ve saved the best and hardest way of engaging your spirit for last.

According to the
Oxford English Dictionary
, forgiveness is “to grant free pardon and to give up all claim on an account of an offense or [a]

debt.” While one of the most challenging components of superheal-

ing, it is one of the most powerful.

Forgiveness transforms our emotional pain and our attitude to-

ward the offender, replacing negative emotions with positive atti-

tudes, including compassion and benevolence. It requires a conscious decision to transform negative attitudes toward the wrongdoer into positive ones, setting us free from the desire for retaliation, revenge, and estrangement. It occurs with our awareness that we deserve better and that we must let go of the desire for a past that will not change in order to live a greater, happier present.

To make room for engaging our spirit, we must forgive and release 202

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the anger and hostility that cannot occupy the same space in our

minds as the love that quietly and powerful y, like an ocean tide, promotes and provokes forgiveness.

Forgiveness affords us the opportunity to move on and release the

ties that have bound us to our past. The discordant energy of these old unresolved issues impedes and interferes with our path to wholeness. But forgiveness will ease their sting and eventual y set us free of the pain and suffering they once caused us.

Forgiveness is not giving permission for the act. Rather it’s the

understanding that there is something within us that remains un-

harmed, unchanged, and untouched by it. Mahatma Gandhi con-

tended, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong.”4 It is an exercise of releasing the past pains, wounds, and anguish that facilitate disease. We must also forgive ourselves for our own transgressions. Forgiveness aids the process of ending our internal self-rejection and self-loathing.

How do we begin to forgive? How do we forgive those who have

caused us great pain? It isn’t easy, but it is imperative. When we open our hearts, the areas that need to be forgiven the most are usual y not the wrongdoings that first come to mind, but the deeper, hidden transgressions that have lurked in the hidden trenches and recesses of the unconscious mind. Because they are so painful and severe,

they tend to surface gradual y, when we are ready to weather the

emotional storm their memories bring.

ENGAGING YOUR SPIRIT

It’s important to realize that you are engaging your spirit every

moment and in every way. But there is a difference between being

aware of it and being unaware of it. The practice of engaging your spirit is equivalent to the practice of engaging your life. Identifying

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with those aspects of your life that give you a sense of inner peace, comfort, strength, love, and connection will expand and enhance you in a way that nothing else can. In fact, many things you once deemed important will begin to take on a less significant role in your life.

There is a natural sense of well-being that accompanies the aware-

ness of your spirit, leading to your freedom from the imposed (self- or otherwise) limitations that have encumbered joy, serenity, freedom, and self-fulfillment. It is where the ultimate pursuit of happiness and the search for the meaning of life resolve. Engaging your spirit helps you to realize the truth of who you real y are, your very being. It results in being ful y alive, so that each conscious moment becomes a dynamic process of unfolding and continuously expanding your spirit.

If you want to improve your spiritual health and well-being, I en-

courage you to explore the following practices. These are but a sampling of ways to engage your spirit. There are many more. Use only those that appeal to you; there is no right or wrong way. You get to decide. Please remember that you are unique, and so is your path to superhealing, so what works for others may not work for you. Be creative!

SUPERHEALING SPIRIT ENGAGEMENT

TECHNIQUE #1: SELF-LOVE

Authentical y loving yourself, which is not hard, is the foundation of all superhealing. Focusing on loving
you
requires giving yourself attention, acceptance, and appreciation. How do you currently treat yourself? Do you have an inner voice that is very critical and judgmental? Most of us do, and that’s okay. But a key ingredient to loving yourself is shifting your attention to silencing that voice and replacing negative thoughts with kinder, more loving ones.

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Superhealing Self-Love Engagement Suggestion

Try doing this simple exercise. Just spend ten to fifteen minutes each day quietly reflecting on yourself.
Give yourself your undivided attention.
Tune in to your thoughts, emotions, feelings, and bodily sensations and fluctuations with acceptance and then appreciate yourself in this moment. Change your judgment of yourself and let the inner critic go.

To accomplish this, get into a quiet state, either through the meditation practices I outlined in Chapter 3, by focusing on your breath, or through awareness exercises.

SUPERHEALING SPIRIT ENGAGEMENT

TECHNIQUE #2: BREATHING

Breath is related to spirit. Breathing is usual y an unconscious

process but a critical one. One of the easiest ways to live ful y in the moment is by focusing on your breathing.

In our society, most people breathe shallowly, engaging just the

upper part of their lungs. To breathe more deeply, you employ your diaphragm, the muscle that lies between your chest and your stomach. Diaphragmatic breathing more ful y engages the spirit because it is a relaxing form of breathing and sends that message of relaxation to the brain. When you are primarily using the muscles in the lungs, that indicates stress.

Superhealing Breathing Engagement Suggestion

To ascertain how you are currently breathing, place one hand on

your abdomen and the other on your chest. Watch the way they move

when you inhale and exhale: the movement (or lack of it) of the hand on your abdomen indicates whether you are breathing optimal y.

If you are not, you can easily learn to do so. Take a breath and feel the air entering through your nostrils and then expanding your ribs

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as it enters your lungs. Now slightly push out your abdomen, using your diaphragm muscle to help draw the air deeper into your lungs.

When you exhale, suck in your abdomen so your diaphragm will

help push the air back out. Continue doing this gently and easily.

Once you have mastered diaphragmatic breathing, spend a few

minutes every day, with no distractions, and focus on it until it becomes your normal breathing pattern.

SUPERHEALING SPIRIT ENGAGEMENT

TECHNIQUE #3: APPRECIATION

My motto is this: Be grateful—“great filled”—for what you have.

Ask yourself the following: What am I grateful for? What and who are meaningful in my life? Then express that appreciation in some way.

Superhealing Appreciation Engagement Suggestion

You can write a letter of gratitude to that significant person, or you can engage in one of the most profound ways to express appreciation, which is through keeping a gratitude journal. Doing that on a regular basis for at least twenty-one days will change your brain function and physiology. Finding things to be grateful for is a key positive emotion that will improve your health and reduce stress.

SUPERHEALING SPIRIT ENGAGEMENT

TECHNIQUE #4: BEING

I suspect that I don’t need to explain to you how to pray, but I do want to share with you how to expand on prayer and other previously described mind-body techniques by infusing them with your awareness of a variety of spiritual qualities. Dwelling in the awareness of or focusing on spiritual at ributes is a particular helpful technique in responding to stress and negative thought pat erns.

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Superhealing Being Engagement Suggestion

Call into your awareness a spiritual quality that you desire to express more consciously in your life—such as love, peace, joy, wisdom, intelligence, abundance, or enthusiasm—as you gently focus your heart on your inner being. You can do this during prayer or meditation or as an affirmation.

SUPERHEALING SPIRIT ENGAGEMENT

TECHNIQUE #5: GIVING

Because of the oneness of all things, reflected physical y through our interconnectedness, whenever we give to others we are truly giving to ourselves. Thus the ancient axiom “As you give, so shall you receive.” But the interesting fact, which I previously mentioned, is that when you give solely to gain a benefit for yourself, the effect is only temporary. You do not achieve long-term enhancements when

your motives are not in alignment with your spirit.

Superhealing Giving Engagement Suggestions

There are many ways to give. Explore new avenues for giving of yourself to others: family, friends, colleagues, coworkers, and strangers. The purest and easiest way is to be ful y present with a person when you are together.

Committing random and conscious acts of kindness and volun-

teering on a regular basis, particularly when engaging in the acts from a place of spiritual awareness, are remarkable ways to experience optimal well-being.

SUPERHEALING SPIRIT ENGAGEMENT #6:

EXPRESSION OF YOUR CREATIVITY

In my view, there is no difference between picking up a brush to

paint and praying. Consciously engaging your spirit by creating is wonderful y uplifting and enjoyable.

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Expressing your creativity is not limited to activities like art; it encompasses all of how you live your life. Expression is the foundation of being. To be is to express, and to express is to be.

Superhealing Creativity Engagement Suggestion

There are many ways to express your creativity: drawing, painting, dancing, singing, writing, knitting, crocheting, listening to music, or gardening. You get to decide.

SUPERHEALING TECHNIQUE #7: FORGIVENESS

Forgiving means the end of resentment, anger, and hostility that

was caused by an offense (either real or perceived), a disagreement, or an argument. Born from a conscious decision, it entails letting go of the past and the memories of a painful experience that caused you harm and suffering. A bold choice, it is often viewed as being in conflict with our natural mechanisms of self-preservation.

There are many ways to forgive. The most important step is to