Perhaps you have heard the words: “Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” The passage is found in the New Testament in Matthew (7:7, NIV). For many people, these words are merely a beautiful text with little or no meaning on a personal level. Yet, during the last years of my own life, this passage has been transformed from a distant possibility to an actual reality. In my interpretation today, I believe the “asking” is not primarily meant to be a wishing for good or better things. Rather, it would refer to “a yearning for a change of mind and heart”.
Be Still and Know…
For many people, finding time and space for “stillness” can be difficult in modern everyday life. Yet, being still has many highly valuable benefits for our health and wellbeing, as proven by research. When we still ourselves, by sitting or laying down, closing our eyes, and turning our attention inward, we are able to tune into our bodily sensations and become aware of our thoughts and feelings, and ultimately, listen to our inner voice. People who practice meditation, mindfulness, yoga, or similar forms of centering practice on a regular basis are well acquainted with the calming, deeply relaxing and even healing outcomes of being still…
The Gift of Presence
We are all born with the basic need to feel seen, heard, appreciated and loved. Also, to varying degrees, we all need someone to share our thoughts, feelings, activities and wordly things with. Sharing our feelings with another person is of particular importance, may it be pleasurable ones of joy and love, or painful ones of worry and sadness, or just modest feelings of everyday character. As children, we naturally turn to our parents for expressing our feelings and sharing our daily experiences, and to receive confirmation, appreciation, compassion, love, or support in return. Yet, most parents (naturally) tend to have lots on their mind and are not always able to be fully present with the child…
From Fearful Thinking to Peace of Mind
This is a true story about a conversation between a young boy and his mother. The boy and his family had been downtown for dinner at a restaurant with some relatives. As they sat down in the car to head back home in the evening, the boy seemed anxious and eager to get going as quickly as possible. The mother asked him why he felt anxious, whereupon the boy answered with surprising clarity and self-awareness: “I want to get home as quickly as possible, because if we get home late, I will fall asleep late, and then I will be tired the next day, and then I will oversleep on Monday morning, and then…”
From pain to insight to healing – a personal story
This is a personal story about my own journey of understanding and healing from a recurring diffuse pain in my lower legs. After some deep inner work (the same as I do for my clients), I realised that the actual root cause was a set of four “interconnected” subconscious beliefs and certain emotional residues, all of which originated in two stressful events in my childhood. Some ten years ago, I developed a diffuse pain in my lower legs. After a few years with the recurring symptom, I finally decided to do some deep inner work through EFT Tapping…
Six essential factors for healing
Many persons who have finally healed from a chronic health condition (such as chronic pain, fatigue, PTSD, or cancer) emphasize certain conditions that have been essential to their healing. These conditions can be summarized as: authenticity, joy, freedom, self-empowerment, optimism, and social support. Frances Goodall, co-founder of the Women’s Wellness Circle, describes her own healing journey from Chronic Fatigue. Her full healing finally happened when she “let her authentic feelings flow”, as she explained. Not only did she let her negative emotions flow, but also she began listening to and fully expressing her positive feelings, including her joy…
The Outer Guard Position v.s. The Inner Soul Center
In my coaching, I often tell my clients that we are like a Sphere of Consciousness, with different layers… The OUTER layer of the sphere is where our EGO resides. When we are inside this outer layer, we operate from our Ego-mind. We are like a Point of Awareness that is temporarily located in the outskirts of our own Consciousness. Our Ego-mind functions like a self-proclaimed Guard, guarding its own interests and the survival of the body/flesh against any perceived potential threat in our surroundings.
Be a wise gardener of your mind
Your mind can be likened to a garden where you plant seeds of beliefs and associated thought patterns. These seeds of beliefs eventually grow into flowers of emotional and physical experiences. Hence, it follows, that some thoughts are like ‘weeds’ that grow into painful emotional and physical experiences, while other seeds of beliefs are like the seeds of beautiful flowers, which eventually become expressions of compassion, peace, joy, beauty, and freedom.
Stress-related physical pain
For the last eight years, I have been deeply interested in the causes and symptoms of stress, particularly physical pain. Stress-induced pain can be experienced in almost any part of the body. Some persons get headaches and migraines, while others get aching arms and legs. Still others experience pain in the neck, shoulder and back, while many have recurring pain in the stomache.
Three types of stress-related symptoms
As individuals, we can react in both unique and partly common ways to long-term stress. While some persons react primarily with psychological symptoms, such as anxiety, irritability, and low patience, others react more physiologically with digestive issues, migraine and body aches, etc.