SPIRITUAL INSPIRATION
FIND YOUR INNER RETREAT OR SAFE PLACE.
In your busy, often stress-filled day, you may seem overwhelmed at times. How do you regain composure and focus? Usually it is not possible to leave the daily regime to find a quiet place to rejuvenate. But what if there was such a portable place that you could take with you and use whenever or wherever you are?
If you take the time to create a safe place, you can then use this imaginary retreat when you are stressed or uncomfortable in body or mind. All it takes is some practice time to set up such a place and to experience the feelings that accompany it. This should be done as often as possible to make it an easy process. Then you can recall it at will whenever your daily life becomes a little hectic.
How do you begin to create your personal safe retreat? Sit quietly and close your eyes in a place where you will be undisturbed. Use your vivid imagination to create a beautiful place that is peaceful and safe for you. It can be a simple place in your real world like your bedroom, den, or a spot in your yard. It can be a place that you have visited like a favorite beach or mountain area. It might even be an imaginary place that inspires your soul to feel joy.
Once you have determined that special place, immerse yourself in its essence. See, hear, feel, and smell all of its peace and beauty. Know with every part of your being: body, mind, and soul that you are one with your higher self and with nature and with the Divine-God energy. Once you have fully integrated yourself into this place repeat the following affirmation: “I am happy. I am healthy. I am safe.” Repeat this soothing series of words ten times to yourself or aloud.
These are the simple steps to follow each day as you need relaxation and refocus.
Then when you feel stressed or unhappy, imagine your new safe place retreat and feel the inner calm and sense of being one with the Universe. This oneness will fill you with a renewed peace, love, joy, and compassion for yourself and the world around you. You only need a few minutes connected with this inner place to reenergize and turn your mood around.
In your practice sessions, you can use this safe place scenario to heighten your sense of wholeness by adding these additional steps. First, find something big in your life like your family, home, or job to be grateful for. Then offer your gratitude for something small in your life like the coffee you are drinking, or the comfortable chair you are sitting in. The big and the small are equally worthy of your focus. You will begin to see your glass of life as half full rather than half empty. Instead of searching out of an inner void, you can move forward with a sense of adventure.
After this, imagine one possibility for your life. Think about one creative area of your life as it applies to your job, relationships, health, or sports and hobbies that you would like to improve or begin. See it unfolding into a positive, productive activity where you are successful in its process. See yourself moving forward into the absolute possibilities. Feel it happening. If negatives arise in your thoughts, step around them, know that there are solutions. Create the solutions. Remember all is possible! Open yourself to the possibilities. Some of the greatest minds on this planet have heard the negative limitations but refused to stop there, rather allowing their imaginations to pursue and persevere.
Finally, enjoy the feeling of emotional balance and security in this safe place filled with love, joy, peace, and vitality. Bring all of this back with you as you return to your everyday existence.
Whenever you feel the need during your day for some revitalization remember that you can return to your safe place for a few minutes to center and ground yourself.
Blessings,
Gale Judine Lee
March 29, 2010
Forgiveness and Healing
Forgiveness is the initial step in the healing process. The Lord’s Prayer states: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We ask the Divine to forgive us. We ask this in a tone of belief, without the possibility of rejection and without conditions. But the second part is connected to the first. It states that the two are linked. As we forgive those who have hurt us in thought, word, or deed, we too are forgiven. We are reminded that we are still working on our own spiritual path to perfection in the Oneness of God’s love.
Many times we are harsher in judging our own actions than we are of others. Once we can see our own frailty and truly believe in the forgiving grace that we are worthy of, then the next step is to offer that grace to the ones who have harmed us. Looking into the eyes of our enemy is like looking into a mirror which reflects our own sins or shortcomings. This is a Divine gift. By seeing and actually feeling the pain that others inflict on us, we are able to see how we have hurt others, knowingly or unknowingly. The miracle then lies in the Grace of the forgiveness process. As we ask for Divine forgiveness and fully expect it, we are able to fill our souls with enough love to send forgiveness out to those we see as our “enemies”. The Power of Divine Love heals all wounds, if we only allow it to fill us. There is no accident that the two processes are connected. You cannot have one without the other.
The present day is the most important day of your life. So, today take the first step in changing your life. Begin by connecting to your higher self, the part of you that is always connected to the Divine God. Ask for forgiveness in one aspect of your life. Expect that God hears all and that you are worthy of that forgiveness no matter what your transgression. Allow yourself to feel the strength of that love. Take several minutes to fully integrate it into your body, mind, and soul. Thank God for this grace. Now, think of one person who has hurt you. Send him your forgiveness through your focused prayer. Send it as a gift that requires no response or counter action. Just as God gave you forgiveness freely, so you send out forgiveness. If you never wish to meet face to face with this person again it is alright. In your heart send them your love even if you do not plan to begin a new relationship with them. Allow them to move on. Forgiveness never requires that you allow them to cause you harm in physical or mental ways. It only allows you to clear your heart of the negative emotions that hamper your spiritual progress. If this person has already died and left this life, you can also send them forgiveness. Understand that they were doing the best they could with the knowledge and experience they had. We are all here to learn a better way to love. When we allow others to progress, we better understand our own process of spiritual growth. Let today be the first day of the rest of your transformation.
Blessings,
Gale Judine Lee
January 16, 2010
