16
Apr
April brings the energy of renewal and rebirth. As new life starts to blossom all around us, it stimulates our own blossoming. As I prepared for this season of growth, I took time to look back on the first three months of the year. They were, in many ways, very intense. I was surrounded by people who were in the midst of terrible grief, and I was also dealing with my own. My children were going through a lot of transition and teenage angst. And, as is often the case, when things got overwhelming, my body got sick.
All of this brought to the surface many old wounds that needed to resurface so I could air them out and let them go. Even though I often guide my clients through this process of revisiting old burdens, I admit that I sometimes resist it myself. I have a part that gets angry that I have to deal with things that happened so long ago, and yet can feel as painful as if they had just occurred. And then I feel shame that I can’t just snap out of it. Fortunately, I have been though this process many times before, and every time it gets somewhat easier to remember to be compassionate and loving with myself as it all unfolds.
As I reflect on this I feel genuinely grateful for this process. I can feel the grace that has been cultivated in me during these past three months, and I feel so much more capable to help my clients and students on their journeys.
During this time I had several resources that helped me. I share some of them with you here in the hope that they might be helpful to you as well.
1. Life Coaching- Even though I coach people through their own difficult emotions, I still need my life coach to help hold a sacred space for me and my feelings. Seeking outside help is one of the healthiest things we can do. If this doesn’t feel doable for you right now, you can seek the help of a trusted friend. This should be someone who can listen without judging, dismissing, or belittling your pain. Also, someone who has done their own healing work and will not project their unhealed issues onto you.
2. Reiki– Being able to practice self-reiki is an incredible gift. Emotions are made up of energy, and reiki can help us to transform the constrictive energy of painful emotions into harmonious, graceful energy. Of course, I also love receiving reiki from others, but self-reiki is something I can do every day, and that really helps speed up my healing. (Remember, I’m leading a Reiki Level 1 training June 1st if you’re interested in learning).
3. Meditation– I wrote a lot about my meditation practice in a previous post so I won’t spend too much time on it here. Suffice it to say that meditation is essential to my well-being. Even meditating for five minutes can center me, reminding me of my priorities and intentions.
4. Prayer– I abandoned prayer for a few years. I’d had some painful experiences with organized religion and turned my back on anything that felt connected to the church. However, I was still very spiritual, and although meditation felt somewhat like prayer, I recognized that it wasn’t the same. As I’ve healed I’ve come back to prayer. Many times I create my own prayers but I also connect with formal prayers like the St. Francis Prayer (the one that starts, “Lord make me an instrument of thy peace”). I see prayer as time to cultivate a deep, personal, intimate connection to God/Goddess. I don’t fully understand how it works but over and over I have felt the grace that prayer brings. There were times during these past few months when I felt very overwhelmed and all I could do was sit in prayer. Everything else felt overwhelming. So I would pray. Even though at times it felt mechanical and like I was just going through the motions, eventually something would shift, the cloud of pain would lift, and relief would come. To me, it felt like grace. Like I said, I don’t understand how prayer works, and perhaps we aren’t meant to. But I am so grateful for the gift of prayer.
5. Angels– I’ve believed in angels my whole life but over the past seven years I have really come to understand that angels are available to help us with everything. In fact, their purpose is to help us, and they lovingly await our permission to intervene. I’m planning to write about angels in more detail soon but I couldn’t leave angels out of this list. One of my favorite ways to connect with them is using oracle cards. Oracle cards do not tell the future but they are a way for angels and other spirit guides to communicate with us and help give us clarity on our path. Author and psychologist Doreen Virtue has many wonderful cards, and their loving messages always uplift me.
I invite you to make a list of your own self-care tools. If the list is too short, take time to think of other things you can put in place. As you reflect on this, you might notice that when things are challenging you engage in some unhealthy practices. For instance, I can easily turn to food to numb myself, which of course ends up making me feel worse. If you notice similar patterns, write them down and have compassion for yourself. We all do this to an extent. The important thing is to create a pool of healthy and empowering resources for yourself so you can rely on them and integrate them into your life.
Blessings!
Lisa
All of this brought to the surface many old wounds that needed to resurface so I could air them out and let them go. Even though I often guide my clients through this process of revisiting old burdens, I admit that I sometimes resist it myself. I have a part that gets angry that I have to deal with things that happened so long ago, and yet can feel as painful as if they had just occurred. And then I feel shame that I can’t just snap out of it. Fortunately, I have been though this process many times before, and every time it gets somewhat easier to remember to be compassionate and loving with myself as it all unfolds.
As I reflect on this I feel genuinely grateful for this process. I can feel the grace that has been cultivated in me during these past three months, and I feel so much more capable to help my clients and students on their journeys.
During this time I had several resources that helped me. I share some of them with you here in the hope that they might be helpful to you as well.
1. Life Coaching- Even though I coach people through their own difficult emotions, I still need my life coach to help hold a sacred space for me and my feelings. Seeking outside help is one of the healthiest things we can do. If this doesn’t feel doable for you right now, you can seek the help of a trusted friend. This should be someone who can listen without judging, dismissing, or belittling your pain. Also, someone who has done their own healing work and will not project their unhealed issues onto you.
2. Reiki– Being able to practice self-reiki is an incredible gift. Emotions are made up of energy, and reiki can help us to transform the constrictive energy of painful emotions into harmonious, graceful energy. Of course, I also love receiving reiki from others, but self-reiki is something I can do every day, and that really helps speed up my healing. (Remember, I’m leading a Reiki Level 1 training June 1st if you’re interested in learning).
3. Meditation– I wrote a lot about my meditation practice in a previous post so I won’t spend too much time on it here. Suffice it to say that meditation is essential to my well-being. Even meditating for five minutes can center me, reminding me of my priorities and intentions.
4. Prayer– I abandoned prayer for a few years. I’d had some painful experiences with organized religion and turned my back on anything that felt connected to the church. However, I was still very spiritual, and although meditation felt somewhat like prayer, I recognized that it wasn’t the same. As I’ve healed I’ve come back to prayer. Many times I create my own prayers but I also connect with formal prayers like the St. Francis Prayer (the one that starts, “Lord make me an instrument of thy peace”). I see prayer as time to cultivate a deep, personal, intimate connection to God/Goddess. I don’t fully understand how it works but over and over I have felt the grace that prayer brings. There were times during these past few months when I felt very overwhelmed and all I could do was sit in prayer. Everything else felt overwhelming. So I would pray. Even though at times it felt mechanical and like I was just going through the motions, eventually something would shift, the cloud of pain would lift, and relief would come. To me, it felt like grace. Like I said, I don’t understand how prayer works, and perhaps we aren’t meant to. But I am so grateful for the gift of prayer.
5. Angels– I’ve believed in angels my whole life but over the past seven years I have really come to understand that angels are available to help us with everything. In fact, their purpose is to help us, and they lovingly await our permission to intervene. I’m planning to write about angels in more detail soon but I couldn’t leave angels out of this list. One of my favorite ways to connect with them is using oracle cards. Oracle cards do not tell the future but they are a way for angels and other spirit guides to communicate with us and help give us clarity on our path. Author and psychologist Doreen Virtue has many wonderful cards, and their loving messages always uplift me.
I invite you to make a list of your own self-care tools. If the list is too short, take time to think of other things you can put in place. As you reflect on this, you might notice that when things are challenging you engage in some unhealthy practices. For instance, I can easily turn to food to numb myself, which of course ends up making me feel worse. If you notice similar patterns, write them down and have compassion for yourself. We all do this to an extent. The important thing is to create a pool of healthy and empowering resources for yourself so you can rely on them and integrate them into your life.
Blessings!
Lisa