"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I believe that inside you, inside me and inside everyone a Wholeness exists and that all healing comes from that Wholeness. I believe our thoughts, centered on this Wholeness, can heal us.
Our thoughts help us heal
Each time we perceive ourselves as well, grounded, happy, calm, peaceful and at ease we strengthen our ability to make that our new way of being.
Have you ever noticed that you can hide your positive feelings about yourself with thoughts that are depressing or anxiety producing by worrying, or by comparing yourself to others?
Feeling desperate about losing weight or not having a body we like, living with chronic pain and fatigue, inflammation, or more serious illnesses can make our opportunities seem limited. Needing a new job, a place to live or struggling in a floundering relationship can be equally daunting. Of course not every condition can be permanently reversed but what can change is our perceptions about ourselves and for that to happen we can turn to the Wholeness within us.
Psychologists use Cognitive Behavior Therapy to help people change their thinking in the midst of such challenges. We can also begin a change inside ourselves with meditation, practicing compassion, gratitude and cultivating the awareness of what makes us happy and what helps us to feel Whole.
"Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you."
Paramahansa Yogananda
A new reality of Wholeness for deepest healing
As we turn our attention to consciously experiencing Wholeness within we may begin to feel new feelings of oneness, happiness and have life affirming thoughts. Repeatedly turning our attention to the Wholeness within we will strengthen our ability to remember these feelings. Over time it becomes easier to call them up. Focusing on these new feelings several times a week creates a new reality of Wholeness within us and about us.
When we can remember our Wholeness and allow ourselves to embrace it-truly our deepest healing takes place. Then, our remembered Wholeness can become the foudnation upon which our special diets, medications, natural remedies, what we have heard from our families, friends and even our self talk rests.
Stefan’s Story
Recently I was asked to meet a man I'll call Stefan to see if I could help him experience more joy. Stefan is an 80 something gentleman who has many challenges. He can no longer walk and uses a wheel chair. He has dementia and can only speak in short phrases of 2-3 words.
Using simple questions I discovered that he was a retired interior decorator who loves nature and classical music. He liked my idea of driving to see some of the beautiful homes in our area.
Summer is just beginning its end here and the weather for our drive was gorgeous. We took our time driving by homes with dramatic landscaping, covered verandas, entry ways twined with morning glories and roses. Stefan let me know that he liked what we were seeing with just a few words "Beautiful, oh so beautiful"
As the ducks were settling onto the lake I pulled my car close to the water and we sat there sharing the grace of the morning. "Beautiful, oh so beautiful".
I dialed up Il Divo, Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli. As the music filled the car Stefan began to sway his upper body with the music and smiled.
A friend was out walking and stopped to greet us. After she continued on her way Stefan turned his eyes fully on me and said “So warm.”
We looked at every tree slowly, winding through the woods. Together we became one with each leaf on every tree and one with all the spaces in between each leaf and tree. Stefan’s eyes were luminous and he kept smiling as we drank in the beauty. Each tree was Stefan’s own universe of joy and light. "Beautiful, oh so beautiful."
By the time I returned Stefan to his memory care facility his entire being was glowing. Even though we had few words to share we were able to experience an entire universe of Wholeness which enriched and healed us both.
Try this on yourself
Find a way to recognize your own Wholeness or Oneness and when you are really feeling it say "yes this is truly me." Breathe it in and if you can stand up straight with good posture and repeat that a few times and then breathe some more.
Anyone can do this-though we may each have a different way of enhancing our experience of Wholeness. It might be with music that sounds beautiful to you. Some people like Stefan can be truly renewed while they are out in nature. Others may only feel at ease and free inside their homes. Whether it is your cat or your car or something different-experiment with what it is that takes you out of your every day self and allows you to remember your own Wholeness and the sense that truly we are all One.
May your heart open.
May joy emerge.
May love flow through you.
May you heal and help others.
Charlene Costanzo from "The 12 Gifts of Healing"
Music that Stefan enjoyed:
