Healing Your Spirit

When I was ill with Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia, my life was so out of control I thought I might die and knew I could if I stopped fighting to get well and just stayed in bed. I was depressed and life seemed hopeless. I felt useless.

One day I ran into an old friend I hadn’t seen in several years. She didn’t recognize me at first. “It’s Patty,” I reminded her.
“Patty? What has happened to you? Your aura—your light is gone.”
I had worked with her when I was an enthusiastic, energetic coordinator of a women’s education resource center where I counseled and taught self-sufficiency skills. Now, I had CFIDS and was only a shell of what I once was. Prolonged stress has a way of zapping your immune system. Several hundred women went through our program and many came into the program as little ducklings, filled with fear and afraid to go into the water and face their future. I tried to instill them with hope and direction. I knew they could do it because I had been a single parent of seven children who returned to school and completed my bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Why did I choose a web site (www.healingyourspirit.com/) on healing your spirit or soul?

I believe that your spirit, your soul, your chi-whatever you want to call it--is grieved when you are so ill. It's as if your spirit is saying, "I'm not comfortable here--I want to be in a peaceful, happy place (or body).

In Chinese culture, Chi is known as a universal l force energy. Everything in creation is made up of electromagnetic energy vibrating at different frequencies that correspond to sound, light and color. The existence of electromagnetic fields around every object in the world, known as an Aura, is a scientifically proven fact. The Chinese refer to this energy as 'Chi' (pronounced Chee), the vital life force energy of the Universe, present within every living thing. Western medical science is now beginning to take a serious look at ancient Far Eastern traditions that focus on Chi - the life force energy which flows through the pathways of all living forms - in order to maintain health and wellness, mentally, physically and emotionally.
Chi is a Chinese word meaning aliveness, life force energy or life breath - also known as Ki, Qi or Prana.
"Theories of traditional Chinese medicine assert that the body has natural patterns of qi associated with it that circulate in channels called meridians in English. Symptoms of various illnesses are often seen as the product of disrupted or unbalanced qi movement through such channels (including blockages), deficiencies or imbalances of qi, in the various organs. Traditional Chinese Medicine seeks to relieve these imbalances by adjusting the flow of qi in the body using a variety of therapeutic techniques."

I believe you can help heal the spirit.soul or chi) by filling your heart with love, forgiving, getting rid of negative emotions, expressing gratitude, using Tai Chi, and/or by connecting to a higher power. For me that means God or Jesus Christ. For others it may mean something or someone else.

While attending a convention of workshop presentations for therapists, psychologists, and marriage counselors, I watched in amazement as about 75 professionals learned the following technique.
Some displayed symptoms of being stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, or other negative emotions or feelings. All lowered their stress level tremendously by doing the following seven steps. Some overcame anxiety. Repeating this exercise over and over as needed, changes the negative neural patterns in the brain. It leads to more effective communication, lowers blood pressure, improves decision making, helps panic and obsessive compulsive tendencies, and helps in solving problems. It helps get rid of negative thought patterns and replaces them with positive feelings.
Take a short emotional vacation by using the Freeze Frame Technique explained below. Positive emotions can help you replace negative, stressful thought patterns and feelings with more positive perceptions and emotions in the moment you need them most. It is so easy to do.
Steps:
When you are feeling stressed or ill, or are facing a problem, describe your feeling in one word. Examples could be ill, weak, anxious, fearful, afraid, confused, angry, frustrated, sad, disgusted, enraged, overwhelmed, lonely, victimized or depressed.
2. Now, shift your attention to the area around your heart. Imagine yourself breathing in through your heart—breathe in to the count of five, breathe out to the count of five. Continue doing this for several minutes.
3. Think of a positive feeling—the love you have for a child, spouse, or grandchild. Try to
experience that positive feeling and send that positive feeling or love out to
someone else. You may want to think of a positive experience or place where
you have felt serenity, peace or laughter. Work on recapturing that
feeling right now.
4. Go back to step number two and again breathe in through your heart to the count
of five and then breathe out to the count of five through your solar plexus while
still experiencing the positive feelings.

5. Ask yourself what would be good answer to your problem or a helpful attitude to
balance and de-stress your mind and body. If possible, write it down. Heart perceptions and intuitions are often subtle. They gently suggest effective
solutions for you and all concerned with the problem.
6. Sense any change to your original stress as noted in step number one. Write it
down and sustain the positive feeling as long as you can. Listen to answers.

7. Repeat these steps as often as needed.