Healing Yourself

Is it possible to heal yourself by using your mind?

The answer to this is a definite yes.  But at the same time I should qualify the answer.

Firstly, healing with your mind should be an integral part of a holistic approach.  The approach should include an appropriate lifestyle, including eating healthily and exercising appropriately.  It should also include your medical team, assuming we are talking about a medical issue (you will see later that “healing” can be a much wider concept than simply dealing with medical problems).  “Medical team” may mean just your doctor, but for more complex situations it may also include a number of specialists.  Never assume that because you are taking a natural approach and also using the healing power of your mind you can afford to ignore proper medical advice.  You should also make sure your medical team are aware of the other strands within your holistic approach.

Secondly, not everyone will be able to heal every condition.  If you have, for example, been diagnosed with terminal cancer do not assume you will be able to confound your doctors by completely healing that cancer and going on to live to a ripe old age.  You may be able to do just that.  But do not be disappointed if you find you do not have the ability to do it.  Somewhere deep inside each of us is such an ability, but we can each only access it to a certain degree.

This seems like a very negative start, but it is important to clarify these two points before doing anything else.

Having dealt with the negatives, do not now let them cloud your thinking.  If you start with the assumption that you will not be able to heal yourself one thing is certain – you will be right!  Having made sure you are taking all the other appropriate steps, and having accepted that nothing in this universe is certain, take a very positive view.  Recognize that it is only when you have a positive view that you can work the miracles that the universe wants you to work.

Healing is not about “fighting illness”.  It is about recognizing the perfect being the Universe wants you to be and allowing that “real you” to shine through.  In some cases that will mean you are negating illnesses so that they disappear, but in other cases it may mean allowing negative attitudes and emotions to disappear, accepting improvements to your mental, emotional, spiritual and physical state etc.

There are many different ways of approaching the healing process.  The method I prefer is to focus on the Light that represents the Universe made manifest within you.  I begin by imagining my mind moving upwards, right up to the stars, and finding the true source of everything – which appears to me as a kind of ball of light.  I merge my mind with that ball of light and then bring it right back down so it is now centred in my body.  Now I sit quietly for a while, basking in the Light within me, the Light that is the power of the Universe.

When I am ready to move on I focus on the particular healing task I have chosen.  This must always be framed in a positive way, not a negative one.  Here, the approach used by Émile Coué is helpful.  For example, using the very generic “Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.”

While you are doing this, feel the Light within you expanding.  First filling your whole body with light.  This alone will transform you and allow the Light to begin working its miracles.  Feel it flowing through all your blood vessels, penetrating every space in your body.  Feel a deep sense of gratitude to the Universe for the way this makes you feel and for the healing you are receiving.

Finish the exercise by feeling the Light expanding out beyond you.  Let it grow and grow until eventually it fills the whole Universe – which is the reality anyway, as that Light and the Universe are one.  Now you and the Universe are one.  Which means you have all the power of the Universe.  All that power to achieve just a very small healing.

Subliminal Messaging

A subliminal message is a message that passes under the radar.  It is not intercepted en route by your conscious mind.  To use Freudian terminology, it avoids the super-ego, which might otherwise criticise or reject it.  Think of that super-ego as the little voice that keeps telling you things like "it won't work!", "you shouldn't do it!", "there are too many problems!", "yes, but ..." etc.  If you can get the message in without allowing that voice to intercept it you have a much greater chance of succeeding.

Many people get quite nervous about the idea of subliminal messaging.  They imagine all kinds of instructions going into their unconscious mind and then making them do things they have not chosen to do.  They see it as something that could counter their free will.

The reality, however, is quite different.  Research at the University of Warwick over 10 years ago showed that although subliminal messaging can influence your decisions and actions, it cannot do so in a way which is counter to your original intention.

This not only means you may need to re-evaluate your view on the "dangers" of subliminal messaging, but also need to think very carefully about how you are using it.  If you are using subliminal messaging as a part of your personal development programme you cannot simply set up your subliminal software or listen to some music with underlying subliminal messages and expect this to work immediate powerful changes.  Before you start trying to work subliminally you must first work on a conscious level.

For example, if you listen to a subliminal mp3 designed to make you give up smoking but have not made a conscious decision that you want to give up smoking, that mp3 is not going to be much help.  Make the conscious decision first, though, and if it is well produced it can be very powerful indeed.

Many people leave out this important step, and then wonder why the change is not happening.  Do not fall into this trap.  Decide first on what changes you wish to make.  Don't worry about how you are going to make them or even whether or not you believe they are possible, as if you start doing that you will be inviting your super-ego to sabotage your efforts.  Just decide exactly what it is you want to happen.  Once you have done this, use subliminal techniques to start the inner change process.

You can use subliminal messaging to achieve a very wide range of goals.  These include improving your ability to study, improving your memory, quitting bad habits such as smoking, etc.  It is by no means the "be all and end all" of personal development, but if you include it in an overall programme for change you should find it a great deal of help.

I would like to thank James Stapley (http://www.jamesstapley.com) for supplying the radar image used at the top of this article.

Dealing with Worry

Do you ever worry about anything?  If so, why?

Worry can be a killer.  Literally.  It can, for example, bring on a heart attack.  It can trigger depression.  It can result in painful ulcers.  It can make you feel suicidal.  So why would you inflict all this on yourself?

Worry does, of course, have an underlying reason.  It is intended to alert you to a problem that needs fixing.  A future event that may have undesirable consequences unless you do something about it.  Just as the reason for pain is to alert you to a physical problem that needs fixing.

Once the worry has done its job of alerting you, then as long as you do something about the potential problem there is no longer any need for the worry.  Unfortunately, just as is the case with pain, it usually continues well after its purpose has vanished.  Wouldn’t it be good if we could make the worry vanish just as easily?

Well actually we can!

Park the worry on the side for a minute.  You should do this by thanking your subconscious for giving you this warning, telling it you are now taking action, and therefore the worry has done its job.  You may feel a little silly at first, talking to yourself like this, but it is important to do this if you want to deal with the worry properly.  If you thank your subconscious in this way it knows it can relax.  Otherwise it will keep the worry there, turning up the volume more and more to attract your attention, until that worry reaches a disabling pitch.

Once you have parked the worry you must then sit down, or even lie down, and start to think through what this worrying situation is and what, if anything, you can do about it.

Now take the action or actions you have decided upon.  This is a vital step.  Ignoring it is just as bad as ignoring whatever a pain is trying to tell us.  Also, if you try to park your worries and then do nothing about them your subconscious will soon get the message that your “thank you” speech is meaningless and it will not allow you to park future worries.  If it is not possible to take action now, work out when you can do so, and then make sure you do.  In this latter case, again thank your subconscious for the worry and tell it when you will be addressing it.

Sometimes this is all that is necessary.  Recognize the issue, address it, and stop worrying.  Wouldn’t it be nice if that was always the case?  Alas, that is NOT always the case.  In fact in most cases you will find that either there is nothing you can do about it, or if there is something you can do there is no certainty it will change things for the better.  In all these cases there is another essential step you must take.

Imagine whatever it is that has worried you has now happened.  Accept that this is not an ideal situation, that you would rather have avoided it, but now it has happened and you must move on.  Dig a bit deeper – just how bad is this situation?  Is it the worst thing that could possibly happen to you?  Is it worse than any of the nasty situations you have read about or watched in the news?  Somehow I don’t think it is!  Recognise that is the case.  Accept that life goes on.

Accepting the problem in this way is really important.  There is always a bright side to everything in this life, even though it may be difficult to see it at the time.  We all have our problems, but we can draw a line under them and move on.  So imagine drawing that line and moving on.

Once you have done this, once you have done everything possible to avoid the problem and have also accepted the consequences if it occurs no matter what you do, it is time to use the Law of Attraction properly.  You must now feel inwardly and deeply all the positive, good sensations of this issue NOT arising.  Place yourself in the future at a time after whatever it is you were worrying about could have happened, and know that everything is ok and it didn’t happen after all.  If you don’t do this, the work you have just undertaken will actually cause the Law of Attraction to start trying to bring you the problem, and you certainly don’t want that.  It was necessary for you to do it so you could really put that problem in perspective, but now you must neutralize the effect.

For example, if you were worrying about failing an exam, know that you have now passed it, and start to feel the emotions you will feel when that actually happens.  If you were worrying about your partner being hurt in an accident on the way home, know that he or she is now safe and sound with you at home.  Notice the positive way I have phrased this.  I haven’t said “you haven’t failed the exam”, but rather “you have passed the exam”.  I haven’t said “your partner hasn’t been hurt in an accident”, but rather “your partner is at home with you, safe and sound”.

Those of you who regularly practice the Law of Attraction will recognise the technique I am proposing here and will have other “tweaks” they normally use.  If you are such a person, use the Law of Attraction here in the way you normally do.  But even if you have never used the Law of Attraction before, do what I have said and you will find it starts working for you.

Be assured this technique really does work.  I have used it myself for many years and can confirm my own worries only last long enough to alert me to the potential problems, which I then address and my worries disappear.  Try it – you will be amazed at just how effective this is!

Using the Pareto Principle

What is the Pareto Principle, and how can you use it in your own life?

The Pareto Principle is an almost universal principle.  It tells us that 80% is produced by 20%.  Percent of what?  Well, of almost anything.  For example, 80% of the results you get come from only 20% of what you do.  If, therefore, you can find out which 20% is giving you those results you should be able to stop doing the other 80% and only suffer a 20% loss in results.  At this point you may be saying “I don’t want a 20% drop in my results!”  True, but as you have stopped doing the 80%, that means you can devote more resources to something else, which will hopefully bring in more than the 20% you have lost.

You can apply this principle in so many ways.  Once you have grasped the concept it is easy to find many ways you can use it to improve your life.  Achieve far more with far less effort!

For example, you will probably find around 80% of the time and effort you put into something is more or less wasted.  Examine more carefully what it is you are doing and start cutting out what seems to be irrelevant.  It seems obvious, doesn’t it?  But very few people actually do it.  Work on this and you will be amazed at the difference it can make in your life.  It will free up an enormous amount of time, some of which you can re-direct to the more effective activities and some of which can become your “quality time”.  Apply this process properly and you will find you are achieving far more in a lot less time.

If you run a business you can find many more ways to use Pareto.  For example, around 80% of your turnover probably comes from only 20% of your clients.  Focus your efforts far more on those clients and you should find a large increase in turnover.  You can do this without having to spend any more time working – simply take the time from the other 80% of clients who are far less profitable.

Take a look, too, at some of the personal development techniques you use.  What results are you getting from them?  Some will be giving you a great deal of benefit, and some very little at all.  Given the large time lag that is often involved this is probably going to be a more difficult exercise, but it is certainly not an impossible one.  Also, you must be “fair” to each of the techniques – check very carefully that you are applying them properly.  You may be surprised to find that a large number of people do not do this – they study the technique, adapt it so it is “more suitable” for them, and then find it doesn’t work properly.  Make sure you don’t fall into that trap!  The ultimate benefits you will gain from doing this properly will make the effort required very well worthwhile.

Now that you are aware of the 80-20 rule take a good look at your life and try to find all the diverse ways in which you can apply it.  I have given you some examples above, but they are just a few I have thought about which are likely to apply to many of my readers.  There are far more, and every time you find a new way you can apply it you should find it gives you more of what you want out of life.  More time, more money, more improvement – the sky is the limit!