Healing
INDEX:
Re-building ourself
With everything we go through in life, we need to re-build our self-esteem, our self-worth, our self-confidence, or our self-respect and so on, for our overall well-being. With so many experiences that can pull us down, we need to 'pick ourself up' so we can live a joyful, fruitful life, getting the best out of our innate talents and abilities. One way of picking ourself up, is by placing our compassion, kindness, and love, where ever we can in the outside world. This, however, also means being compassionate, kind, and loving towards ourself. Those feelings are already in there, we just sometimes overlook them, forget them, or have buried them deep within us.
We probably all have had experiences that have made us feel small and insignificant, or unimportant, unwise, unworthy, suppressed, etc.
We have to realise that these feelings are also within us already, planted there for one reason or another - and when we feel those feelings, it is because they have been triggered by someone or a situation outside of us.
It is up to us to work through these feelings, to heal them, to release them, to understand them, so that we can leave them behind for good. This inner work can take time, it is often layered, and we often need help to work it all out.
It is helpful to remember that we need to build ourself up again. We can't rely on anyone else to do it. We get help, but we are the only ones who truly know who we are. So getting to know ourself, is an essential step on the way.
Re-programming ourself:
Be good to yourself, nurture your natural beauty, honor your body, take care of your body, build up some feel-good-about-yourself momentum.
Lessons in Life
Many of the experiences we go through in life can be thought of as LESSONS - or MESSAGES - as within each lesson there is a message that can help us evolve and grow at our SOUL level.
These lessons show up to teach us, for example:
- how to love ourselves
- how to communicate our needs and desires
- how to give life to our dreams by focusing on them
- how to stay strong in our own convictions
- etc. etc.
or to help us:
- trust in our own judgment
- be discerning of who to engage with and who not to (who lifts your vibration and supports you and who drags you down)
- set boundaries for behaviour we are willing to accept from others
- let go of past hurts and wounds
- focus on the now
- see in which situations we dim our light
- etc. etc.
In most cases, in order to receive 'lessons', we need to engage in the outside world - as it is mostly through interaction with others that the lessons come forth. Challenging interactions point to challenges within us. The challenges can arise with people in our private circle, with people we meet or acquaintances, with strangers that cross our path etc.
If we want to get into it, the lessons can show us where, with a little bit of effort, we can come to get a greater understanding of life - and of ourselves. The incidents can inspire us to become observers of our own behaviour and patterns - and to try to trace where these patterns are coming from, so that we can make different choices that are better aligned with who we are as our true nature, ie. soul.
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When we GET the message behind the lessons, and make positive changes to our life, we GROW and EVOLVE at our SOUL level, and we rise to a higher vibration.
At that new 'level', the next chapter of our journey starts.
We will encounter new experiences that will 'challenge' us to stay in that vibration, which in turn will help us expand our understanding of life and ourselves even further. We are evolving as souls.
The next time you have encountered a difficult or challenging situation, you can try to see if you can define the lesson or message behind it - thus giving yourself the chance to learn from your experience, and move on from that particular theme or challenge - and thereby helping yourself rising to ever higher vibrations and soul 'levels'.
Self-reliance = Soul-reliance
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his essay in 1841 that "Pursuing one's own thoughts and intuitions" is important!
With that one sentence alone he really described what "self-reliance" is all about.
Having your own values, resting in an inner confidence, making decisions on where you want to go and how to get there - and accepting yourself and your true nature is all part of being self-reliant.
But how do we develop these values, access this inner confidence and find our true nature so we too can become self-reliant?
Soul encompasses it all
In my experience we can access everything by connecting with our soul, in our heart space.
In there we find our true nature - our unspoiled, free-spirited, light-filled nature. In our heart space we also find unlimited imagination, ideas, and creativity. It is where all our strength, power and "self-confidence" resides.
When we consciously visit our heart space, via e.g. meditation, we can feel a boundless love and compassion for ourselves. We can feel our value. We can feel that inner strength and self-confidence.
Whenever we choose to go in to that space, and connect with our soul, we can choose to 'bring all that power' forward into our daily life. By going in often, and becoming consciously aware of the existence of our soul 'in there', we are able to draw on all that light and power and be guided by it in our daily activities and 'earthly' choices.
Having had a low sense of self-reliance in some areas of my life, and after having worked through it, I have come to realise that:
self-reliance = soul reliance
We can always rely on our soul. Soul guides us in gentle, loving ways, no sense of urgency or shame, guilt or judgment - only loving guidance.
If you want to create something but feel 'stuck' or 'blocked' then try to ask yourself why you are feeling that way. Is the blockage maybe due to lack of soul connection, ie connection to your true you?
Soul speaks to you through your intuition. So when you are paying attention to your intuitive messages - you are connecting with soul, and drawing on unlimited resources. Your soul holds everything you are, and everything you need, in order to manifest your desires.
You may ask: "But who am I - what is the essence of my soul?"
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Going back to your childhood can help you to retrieve the answer to that question. Who you were as a child is who you are at your core - it is similar if not the same as your inner child - and it is also a reflection of who you are as a soul.
As a very young child we are pure, innocent, and hold an immense wisdom. As we grow, we start to put layers and layers on top of our pure core. Layers of our beliefs and our actions, and influences that come from our own words and the words of others. Words and experiences and what we allow in, shape the layers that wrap around our core of purity. Often we also bring layers with us from previous lifetimes, and these layers also start to cover up our core as we progress through life.
But, underneath all these layers 'you', the true you, your soul essence is still there.
Therapy in its many different forms can help us peel off all those layers that surround our core, our soul.
Our inner child stays with us throughout our lifetime here - it, as our soul, is purity, innocence, and immense wisdom.
Moving forward
We benefit from drawing on our soul on a CONSISTENT BASIS - not only to get an idea and get started, but also to continuosly keep the ball rolling on whatever project, business, or activity we want to manifest.
This consistency ensures that our heart and soul stays in all our activies, at all times.
"Knowing who you are is the basis for living your life to the fullest"
Letting your intuition guide you (Exercise)
Follow your intuition - pay attention to how you feel about someone or something.
If you let your ego's needs for flatter or 'shallow' excitement or words make you spend prolonged time with someone or something, you may end up getting hurt or feel less than your actual worth. If you follow your heart, you will instead learn to steer clear of those who make you feel drained, question your own values and integrity, and who may end up hurting you or taking advantage of your good and positive energy.
Here is an EXERCISE you can do in your own mind/heart space to help you notice the intuitive messages that come from within you, and that are always there guiding you along:
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- In your mind, go through each PERSON that is in your life, and feel how you initially feel about them when you think of them. What is really your feeling about them?
- Then do the same thing with your JOB, your DAILY LIFE, your ACTIVITIES. How do you really feel as you address each activity or project one by one??
- Do you feel a contracting, constricting, limiting feeling, or an expansive, widening, joyfeel feeling when you place someone or something in your attention?
- Then make your choice - what kind of energy do you want to allow into your life?
This is a 'fun', often surprising little exercise you can do, to help you become more in tune with your own intuition, and your ability to detect a "vibe", so that you become aware of what you are willing to accept into your life.
With practice, it will become easier to create 'purer waters' for you to navigate in - and your confidence in using your intuition in your daily life will keep growing.
Bereavement - and "the Force"
(blog post from Feb 2019)
"Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is". Yoda.
Yoda - the little green ET in Star Wars, who is as wise and compassionate as the Universe itself - delivered this quote in "Revenge of the Sith" (2005) - and the quote rings a bell with me for two reasons:
Reason 1) Soon after my husband had passed, in 2009, I was one day guided to pick out a book on the book shelf in my office in our home. As I flipped open the book, the first sentence that caught my eye, spoke of The Force (as in the Life Force permeating, binding and surrounding everything in the Universe, as per the Star Wars movies) - Luke was told by someone who had passed (I cant remember who now, but I'm guessing it was his father), that he (the father) was still with him - and I instantly knew, without a doubt, that this was a message from my husband! He was telling me that this is how it is - that he was still with us.
I have always believed in reincarnation, and that we transform back into what they call 'the Force' when we leave this physical plane - and this is what he was telling me from beyond the veil. Our oldest son was at the time very into Star Wars, and I felt that this message was also meant as a comfort to him.
The message did not NOT make me mourn my husband and miss him - the void will always be there. The sense that we are not sharing our life on this physical plane any longer is a fact - BUT.. the strong intuitive feeling I have (always had) that we are still in touch with loved ones after they have passed on, is to me very comforting, and, I feel, was validated through this strong experience of contact.
Reason 2) The other reason why the above quote by Yoda rings a bell with me, is because of these words that came to me a little bit later: "Be grateful for those who are still with you (in this physical plane)".
While we mourn and feel sad for the fact that our loved one is not near us in the physical world anymore, we can turn our attention to the ones who still are. We are all still here together.
While we miss our loved one terribly - longing for their voice, their hug, their eye contact, their laugh, their comments, their support - we still have their love, and we still have access to their comments in our mind. They are still speaking with us - so we can rejoice for them, because they have transformed into the Force, and we too will, one day, join them.
Meanwhile, we still have our life to live on this physical earth plane - and keeping the connection and the belief alive, serves as a great comfort and solace, as well as a great help in building and supporting our internal strength, as we move forward with those who are still here.
Marianne Johansen, February 2019
Untying the knots of fear inside us - Creating Flow
Fear makes us shrink inside, contract into a knotted world where the light can't get through or flow easily.
You may for example fear UFOs, or aliens, or mystical experiences of all kinds, etc. But when you try to relax the fear, and tell yourself that we all DO have these extraordinary abilities, and that the world is so much more than the material and the physical, then you begin to open up and you realise that the light and the information and your consciousness is able to expand in pain-free, worry-free, magical and loving ways that will only expand your vision and perspective to degrees you would have never thought possible.
Feeling Ancient in a Modern World?
Do you sometimes feel like you are "an ancient one" ? Like you belong in a world that now feels long-gone? Do you feel like one who possesses a lot of worldly, and cosmic, higher wisdom and knowledge, one who holds nothing but kindness for the earth and for life - and yet finds it hard to find a way to deliver your messages in this modern world?
Perhaps you feel that you are "out-dated"?
Perhaps you were an oracle once, in an earlier life, and now your gifts have re-awakened. You may see a card or an image of an ancient oracle, and wish that you were living in those times of the ancient world - in solitude, on a mountainside, with a breathtaking view of open sea or just open landscape, valleys and hills - feeling close to the skies and clouds above - and people making the effort to come to you for advice.
In some ways a simpler time.
But you chose to come here, at this time. Feeling like a fish out of water, perhaps. But when you go within, you know that you ARE the Oracle - and circumstances and surroundings do not alter that inner, core state of who you are.
So the key to your situation is 'do what you are here to do' - choose whatever 'modern platform' appeals to you and you feel comfortable with. Choose whatever platform helps to bring forth YOUR light and YOUR gifts within. Maybe it is on video, maybe it is written, perhaps you create images or paintings.
Whatever platform you choose, act as a channel for Spirit, because you ARE a channel for Spirit - so deliver your accumulated wisdom, sage advice, and messages in a contemporary way that still keeps you true to who you are.
"I gave it my best":
When things look bleak and your feel weary and tired of all the worries and troubles of this world, in this realm - then remember, that you will one day be back in your true home; you will one day be the free soul, the eternal you, that is your true self.
But while you are here, you can commit to working on bringing out your soul every day , and share it with everyone else here on Earth. "Showcasing" your soul through your actions, your words, your caring for others can be on your 'to-do-list' every day.
To help yourself get through the 'low days', the difficult days, you can also think of this life as:
"While I am here, I can use the time to be kind, to be understanding, to unravel the old hurts and crooked beliefs that twist my words and actions - I can choose to act from my heart space. I can choose to relearn ho to connect with my heart. So once I do leave this world behind, I will look back and think, "well, I gave it my best, in the kindest way possible"."