How to Conserve Your Energy: 6 Things to Cut From Your Life to Increase Your Energy & Change Your Life

Energy is highly valued in our society. It is essential to our well-being and lives. People buy energy drinks, energy pills, and even drink 2 cups of coffee before work just to have more energy. It's sought after because not only is it associated with vitality and youth, but because we need it to reach our goals! One-pointedness and tunnel-vision are often associated with people who have accomplished great feats in life. If you want to accomplish your goals quickly, you need as much energy as possible directed towards them. So as important as energy is to humans, why are most humans so quick to use up their energy on just about anything?? Most people voice a desire to have more energy, but at the same time are quick to scatter their energy around and throw it away.

The following tips are designed to help you eliminate things in your life that zap your energy, so you can have the energy you need to reach your goals, enjoy more vitality and youthfulness, and actually have the energy to enjoy every moment of your life.


1. STOP JUDGING OTHERS.

When you judge someone your energy is being tied up and used up in negativity and in having negative thoughts, instead of being used in creating, increasing prosperity, or improving the quality of your life. So you're the one who ends up reaping the negative effects rather than the person you are judging. Whatever you focus on grows, so when you focus on the negative, that's what will increase in your life. To help you quit judging, remember that this is YOUR life and YOU are creating it. If you don't like something, why are you bringing it into your personal life by focusing on it and giving it your attention? When you're having thoughts about it, you're now giving it a place to live in your head. You just made it part of your life. If something doesn't resonate with you, just choose to not be interested in it and save your energy for the things that DO resonate with you.


2. STOP WORRYING ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK OF YOU.

What other people think about you is really none of your business. Because it's never really about you. Other people's opinions about you are largely based on THEIR beliefs, issues, experiences, and emotions. It has little to do with you to begin with, so spending your energy worrying about what others think or trying to prove yourself to others is silly. Other people's thoughts about you only carry as much power as you give them. If you don't give them power, they have no effect on you. So stop using your energy to empower the negative thoughts of others. In truth, this is YOUR life for YOU to enjoy, so save your energy for enjoying life instead.


3. DROP THE WORRY HABIT.

A ridiculous amount of energy is wasted on worrying. Worrying never helps anyone. On top of tying up your energy so you can't quickly direct it towards finding a solution or formulating a plan of action, your energy is actually being used to energize the negative and help THAT grow. As Dr. Michael Beckwith says, "Anxiety is just you projecting your fears into the future, and worrying is emotionally rehearsing the VERY THING you DON'T want to see happen." So now you're emotionally living it multiple times, though it might never even happen. Kind of crazy, right? So drop the worry habit. Remind yourself that you are actually harming yourself when you worry because you are putting energy behind what you don't want to see happen. Same goes for worrying about others. When you worry about them you are visualizing them as lacking. When someone tells me they're worried about me, I'm the first to say, "Please don't! Don't do me that disservice! Put that energy into thinking about me being happy, successful and knowing what to do instead!" My grandmother is finally cooperating with me and no longer worrying about me every time I jump on a flight. :-D Don't do yourself or your loved ones the disservice of worrying about them, and conserve your energy in the process.


4. LET GO OF THE PAST.

People spend so much energy on re-living the past in their own heads. That same energy could be used to come up with the next great invention, create an artistic masterpiece, or come up with the way to bring world peace. Imagine what brilliant ideas you could come up with and create if you saved all the energy you spend on re-playing your past, regretting your past, worrying about your past, and instead aimed it all towards your next great plan? Now, don't go back and regret the fact you could have been a millionaire by now! The key is to realize that the most important moment is NOW. Who cares about what you did in your past?? It's done. You can't time travel to change it. Instead change your present, which you DO still have the time and power to change. Harness the amount of energy you usually spend re-living things that have already happened, and you will have a lot more energy to fuel your current projects.


5. LET GO OF ANGER AND GRUDGES.

It takes a lot of energy to be angry, to hold a grudge, and to not forgive. While the person may not even remember you or even care that you are mad at them, and is therefore unaffected by your anger, you're the one who is being affected. It takes energy to get all red and raise your voice. It takes energy to remember you are mad, to permanently hold that emotion stored somewhere in your mind so that you can re-experience the anger at any given time- precious energy that could be going towards other things. So forgive and take back your energy. Forgiving doesn't mean that you now have to hang out with the person. It just means you are letting go of the anger and setting yourself free. You are making a choice to no longer be tied to that person and to take back your energy and the power they have over you. When you are angry at someone, they are holding power over your emotions, life, and physical health (anger can kill you- high blood pressure and strokes). That is way too much power to give to someone you don't even like. So forgive, and take back your power and energy.


6. STOP ARGUING YOUR POINT OF VIEW TO ANYONE WHO IS BREATHING.

How much energy do you waste on silly arguments? Always remember that wisdom is very relative. You may currently believe what you are arguing is right, but remember that two years from now you might think just the opposite. There are things you are sure you won't change your mind about, but think back to other things you've had strong convictions about when younger... If you are honest, there are things you felt strongly about and have since changed your mind. That's part of growing up. If you haven't changed your mind about any beliefs, then you are in trouble because that means you aren't growing. Keep all of this in mind when deciding how much energy to expend on random arguments where you are trying to impose your viewpoint (and by the way, trying to impose your point of view on others is a sign that your ego is running your life). It's a sign of maturity to realize that generally more than one point of view is right, and that as you grow up your point of view is sure to change and expand. So choose your battles wisely. It is said that you never really win an argument because even if you win, the other person is now upset they lost. Even though you proved your point, the other person is now angry with you, so what did you really win? A popular strategy is to stop before, or in the middle of an argument, and ask yourself, "Would I rather be right or happy?" If your answer is happy, then stop. Whether the other person believes the sky is blue or not is really not going to affect your life. However, the energy you just spent trying to prove them wrong could have gone to more worthwhile pursuits.


Happy growth and change! Some of these steps may be a little challenging for some, but they are definitely worth mastering, and will change your life. In future entries I intend to post exercises for each of the steps above.

How To Deal With Negative Emotions in a Healthy Way When They Rise Up

I’ve been really enjoying working through Shiva Wheeler's “When Your Voice is Authentic, You Don’t Have to Yell.” Every chapter and exercise is so incredibly short and simple, and yet every chapter has been very cathartic for me. Not sure if it’s a personal thing for me at this point in my journey or if the book is just on another level of awesomeness.

Yesterday’s lesson was on something that I find most people have a challenging time figuring out- how to deal with your emotions in a healthy way.

We all know you shouldn’t suppress emotions. If you do, they then get stuck in your energy body and chakras causing blocks and issues, eventually leading to physical disease. On top of that, when they get stuck in your system, they are then attracting more of the same stuff to you. So if you suppress anger, it gets stuck in your liver and then your energy field is holding anger and therefore attracting more anger to you. Same with distrust, heartache, fear, etc. Not good.

But at the same time many of us on a spiritual path, or even just a well-being path, try to avoid negative emotions like the plague. C’mon be honest, many are scared of negative emotions (hey "the only thing to fear is fear itself" didnt become a popular quote for no reason! People relate to it). We know negative energy attracts more of itself and before you know it you end up wallowing in negativity and things start going wrong and you feel worse and then more things go wrong and so on. When you’re feeling negative emotions you’re vibrating low and blocking your positive desires from manifesting, etc. Oh and since you know you’re “supposed” to feel peace, love, and trust, feeling anger or fear can make you feel like you’re messing up. We know feelings like anger, shame, and fear don’t help us any and we don’t want them! Anger steals your energy and can actually kill you, shame blocks your communication, fear restricts your freedom, and so on and so on. However, since everyone is a work in progress, negative emotions are normal. Just like your physical body has pain as an alert mechanism, your emotional body has negative emotions as its alert mechanism.

So people end up feeling confused in regards to how to deal with negative emotions when they rise. We want to avoid feeling them, but we’re not supposed to suppress them. And in the process of trying to avoid negative emotions many people end up suppressing them because they don’t know what else to do.

I loved Wheeler's guidance on the topic:

In modern psychology it is considered a healthy mark of progress to be in touch with your emotions. For both men and women the courage to feel emotions is but the beginning of the journey towards freedom. Feeling and acknowledging emotions while not solidifying them into one’s identity constitutes how to be an adult in handling their impact.

That’s a total gem right there. PERFECT guidance on the topic. So I’ll write it again on its own.

The key: Feeling and acknowledging emotions while not solidifying them into one’s identity constitutes how to be an adult in handling their impact.

Great, so how do you do that?


EXERCISE:

He has you observe your emotions in the 3rd person. And it’s actually pretty fun. Feels like giving a play-by-play of your life as its happening or being a narrator.

For the next 3 days, every time you start to feel an emotion or are feeling an emotion, DONT think or say “I'm angry” “I'm scared” “I’m feeling sad,” etc. Instead switch your words and thoughts to "This emotion is anger,” “This emotion is fear,” etc.

And then you just observe it go through you (its really just energy passing through you). Observe how it feels in your body and how it affects your body. Watch its’ effects on you like you’re watching a show. Stay detached.

Really energy should move right through u as long as you don’t identify with it & claim it as your own. It’s just energy passing through you, but when you identify with it by claiming you’re it (i.e. “I’m ___” ), then you’re making it part of you. And Wheeler says at that point you become invested in the emotion and then it doesn’t just pass through you easily. So just let it flow right through you watching it, knowing that it is NOT you. You’re not your emotions. Those are temporary things.

This strategy keeps you from suppressing because you actually identify and acknowledge the emotion rather than pretending it’s not there, but it doesn’t become you. From this detached perspective you’re better able to figure out what the emotion is alerting you to and how you should handle the situation/issue or what changes you need to make (as Rev. Michael says, “If vision doesn’t pull you, pain will push you.”).



My Personal Notes:

Funny that when I was a child, this was actually my strategy for physical pain. I figured out at an early age that if I observed physical pain and tried to figure out what the pain really felt like, its effect on me, and tried to describe it, the pain would decrease a lot. Detachment.

I started doing this exercise last night and am finding it useful and funny. As an example, of its application/effect- right when I started the exercise, I went into the restroom and a huge mosquito flew at me out of nowhere (the big flying spider looking ones). I immediately on reflex felt panic, screamed, jumped, and then stopped and said, “This emotion is fear.” (Identified it as a separate entity). Then noted how my shoulders had gone up, neck tightened, throat made a surprised sound, and a sensation was still traveling through my left lung. All the while the mosquito was still coming at me and I just stared at it and suddenly started laughing. I chose not to kill it or react. I just laughed at the fact that a tiny insect had made that wave of fear travel through my body and in a detached manner asked, “Why the fear?” And thought, “Because I don’t want it to touch me. But how many times has a mosquito touched you before? How many times has a mosquito bitten you in your sleep? Hundreds! And it was nothing. The world didn’t end. You didn’t even feel it. Yes, you think its gross for an insect to touch you, but its happened so many times- does it really warrant that fear? Looks like I've been holding an irrational fear of mosquitos I need to go ahead and release.” And I was just straight laughing at myself while sitting there with Mr. Mosquito. Please note that under normal circumstances I would’ve immediately left the bathroom and used a different one. And if I had been feeling particularly brave, I would’ve killed it (I think its gross to kill insects and try to avoid it). But last night I just chilled with it.

P.S. This exercise wasnt the cathartic part of this lesson for me, though I found it very practical and useful. There was another exercise where you wrote down your relationship to certain emotions and THAT was insight after insight for me- like 6 pages of it with major healing/shifts. Maybe I'll blog about it later.

Exercise to Help You Listen To Your Heart and Also to Self-Heal Any Other Organs

I'm going to start by sharing my meditative insight as to why it can be so challenging to hear your heart, and describing the process by which the exercise came about. Then I'm going to share the exercise. I suggest reading the first part, but you are welcome to scroll down for the exercise at any point.

During meditation I felt like sending love and gratitude to the Universe and started radiating it out from my heart. Suddenly I decided to send that love and gratitude from my heart, up to my crown, and through my spiritual cord up to God. The second I started sending it, I felt the energy get stuck in my throat. I imagine that if the love energy my heart was sending to my crown got stuck in my throat, then the messages my heart sends to my brain are likely to have often suffered the same fate.

This is really interesting because the throat chakra (or “Daath”) is the center of intellect and knowledge.

That leads me to think my intellect and the knowledge I’ve acquired from books have often acted as a web where the messages from my heart get stuck and never reach my brain. Which is why it took me so long to be able to hear my heart. I remember the first time I read “The Alchemist” I was so frustrated because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t hear ANYTHING from my heart. And I’d always considered myself to be an “intellectual.” Click. We need to bypass some of our intellectual blocks to listen to our hearts more freely.

Anyhow, I wanted to share that observation because I found it interesting. Also that led to a good exercise.

When the love from my heart got stuck in my throat, I didn’t give up. I started sending my throat love instead. Filling it with the energy of love and embracing it. Healing it with the love energy from my heart and saying a few times in my head, “My throat is now cleared, healed, and healthy.”

Then I went back to sending love up through my crown and it didn’t get stuck! It went up all the way up through my head. It was kind of intense and human fear started to creep in a little due to the head rush and the feeling really light (I thought, “what if I’m accidentally making all my blood rush to my head with this exercise??”).

So I started to feel my left kidney clear. My left kidney has been clearing all week. And yes, it feels crazy, in case you are wondering. I’m used to feeling my throat clearing. That was weird when it first started happening but I got used to it. I once canceled a date because my throat was clearing and releasing all kinds of old energy and didn’t feel right about hanging out with this guy while my throat was shooting off negative energy (that was a fun conversation. Thank God the men I attract are very open minded). But I’ve NEVER felt my kidney clear before and its been pretty weird to walk around feeling an organ I usually have zero awareness of, functioning and processing. BUT I’m happy because that must mean I’m making leaps and bounds in releasing old fears.

Anyhow, when I felt my kidney clearing, I started doing the same thing I did to my throat, to my kidney. I started sending love from my heart down to my left kidney and visualizing my kidney being completely surrounded and filled with that love energy. And saying in my head, “I love you kidney” while sending it my love (hey laugh all you want. But people who’ve needed kidney transplants have been healed w/exercises where they start appreciating their kidneys. I’m appreciating my kidney because even though its perfectly healthy on the physical level, it had fear blocks on the emotional level and you want to handle that before it ever turns into a physical block). Then I started saying, “My left kidney is now cleared, healed, and healthy.”

During this process I started feeling my spleen heat up and process a little too. So I repeated the steps above for my spleen (likely released some resentment tied to fears of my own emotions, which is what was processing in my left kidney. Which makes sense cause who knows how many people I ended up resenting over my own fear of getting hurt?). It was a fun and beneficial exercise and felt very powerful to me. So, here it is- an exercise to help you clear the path for messages from your heart and to help you self-heal other organs.

EXERCISE:

1) Lay down somewhere comfortable and quiet.

2) Put yourself in a relaxed/meditative state. You can do this by taking deep slow inhales and exhales (see last blog entry).

3) After you feel your body relax, on your deep inhales feel/visualize all the love energy in your heart being gathered up and concentrated into the middle of your heart. Then on your exhale send all that love/gratitude energy from your heart up through your throat and to your crown chakra (right at the top of your head), out to God/the Universe. If you aren’t sure how to “send” this energy, you can will it to go up, intend to send it up, or visualize it going up. You can visualize it as a cloud of pink energy (and I personally like to say “Thank you God. Thank you for everything” while I do this. But optional. Chant what feels right to you). Do this at least 3 times. But as many times as you like.

4) If you feel the energy get stuck in your throat, repeat the instructions in step 3, but sending the energy to your throat instead. As you’re sending the energy of love to your throat, you can use, “I love my throat” (or I love you throat) as a mantra. Repeat at least 3 times. Then use the mantra, “My throat is now cleared, healed, and healthy,” for 3 breathing cycles.

5) If you did Step 4, go back to Step 3 and see if the energy goes through. Do as many times as needed.

6) Repeat Step 4 for any of your own “problem” organs, charkas, or spots, one by one (you can even send it to anywhere you feel tension/pain). Each time visualize your organ being healed by the love energy your heart is sending it. Love energy is one of the most healing energies in the world and you have it inside you. Use it. :-)

Enjoy!

Amazing Meditation Experience From a Simple Exercise

I just had one of those out of this world, room-spinning type of experiences. Will do my best to try to express it on paper. It was better than going into the light (at least for me).

Every time I go to the Agape bookstore a book by the check out counter called, “When Your Voice is Authentic You Don’t Have to Yell,” catches my attention. I just really like the title. So like a year later, I just finally bought it.

I started it today and just did the first exercise. And its what led to the incredible experience.

So the exercise has you lay down and get comfortable. Focus your attention on your heart and then do “Conscious Breathing” for 3 cycles (inhale for 9 counts, hold for 9 counts, exhale for 9 counts). Then go to breathing normal while you ask yourself “Who Am I?” Take note of what comes into your head (visuals, thoughts, sound). Then ask and “And where does this ‘I’ come from?” And keep alternating like that over and over again. As long as you want. Just observe and take note. Don’t judge any thoughts.

So I go through the steps. And was like dang, I’ve gotten REALLY good at stilling my mind because when I asked “Who am I?” NOTHING. No thoughts! So I asked again a couple times. And got “I am the Soul” “Light” “I Am that I am” “Pure Consciousness.” So I thought dang, I’ve been trained well, c’mon he wanted labels (“Stop it J. you were told not to judge your results!”) and then I got “girl” “daughter.” (no judging J. that’s fine).

So decided to move on to second question. Where does this ‘I’ come from? “God.” That was it. No other answer. Okay.

Alternate back to first question. This time “I Am God.” Felt kinda bold and blasphemous, but is right in line with “I Am That I am” and saying God is in you. So I tried to tell myself there was nothing wrong or bold about it. Particularly since it kept repeating in my head over and over again and I was being flooded with energy. So this is what started coming:

“I AM GOD. That’s not arrogant. You are. God is the Creator and the Source of this Universe. Everything comes from God by definition. That’s why we have the word “God,” to explain the Source of everything. So if God made you and is the only Source (and He has to because he is what made everything. We‘re talking principal source here), then he had to make you out of himself, since there was no other source. Everything has to come from him. Therefore, you are literally God. You are made from God. Forget saying that there is a little spark inside you that is God. EVERY part of you is God. Its all made from his substance. Your little toe is God. That’s the only source and material. That is ALL you are. Every part of you is God. That’s who you are. YOU ARE GOD.

And where does this ‘I’ come from? This I, who is God, comes from God. It’s part of God. Therefore God is also you. You are God and God is you. You are part of him.


Who am I? I am God. God is a part of me. No, that’s not true. God is EVERY part of me. God is all I am. There is nothing else but that. That is my only essence.

I Am God and God is me.

God loves me . And I love God ,who is me and who I Am. Therefore I honestly love ME with all my heart. (And so much love radiated from my heart and filled me that I felt like I was PURE LOVE. So I “And I am love. I AM nothing but love. That‘s all there is. That‘s all I am” started playing in my head because that's what I was feeling. I literally felt like I was love).

I Am God and God is me. The same logic that applies to me, applies to every other person who was also made from the same Source and the same Creator. Therefore God is everyone else too.

So I am God. And God is everyone else. So I Am Everyone. I AM EVERYONE. If I Am God and God is everyone then I am also everyone. (and in my head it was playing like God being inside of me and inside of God was every other person in the world so they were all inside of me. BUT I was actually feeling like every person. Challenging to describe).

I Am my mother. I Am my father. I am all my ancestors. I Am Bush. I Am every homeless child in Haiti. (I went down a random list and FELT being everyone. Every person that's "annoyed" me. And I’ve never felt more pure compassion and understanding in all my life. I burst into sobs that I couldn’t stop as I felt being every person that flashed in my head). I get it. I get it. That's why since childhood I've actually felt pain when I saw anyone else suffer. I understand. They are me. It's me. It's not theoretical, it IS.

And it followed. I love God, who I am, so I love me. And everyone is God, everyone is me, so I genuinely love everyone. (and again the same incredible amount of pure love radiated from my heart and filled every part of me. And the room started spinning, and spinning and I felt like I was floating and there were little bright lights twinkling everywhere). And I finally jumped up to try to write all this down. I guess the human fear of not being able to hold on to that place, crept in and I wanted to make sure it didnt disappear.

Hmm… I’m not quite sure I was able to capture a fraction of that in words, but I tried. All, that for the simple answer that now rests next to the blank "Who Am I?" in my book: "I AM EVERYONE."

And interestingly enough, here is the quote that opened the book, "If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you are coming because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together." Australian, Aboriginal Woman.

A Personal, Powerful Meditation and Exercise From Tonight With Focus on Deserving

I like to share my own personal meditations sometimes when I feel like they are super powerful. Tonight is one of those nights.

As many of you know, I kind of taught myself to meditate on my own when I was younger and tend to still prefer to let myself be guided by God rather than follow certain formal meditations. The result is I'm often led to very powerful exercises.

Lately my focus has been on not blocking my good, on being receptive and feeling worthy. On being able to accept my gifts, blessings, and manifestations when they are given to me, rather than blocking them through feelings of not deserving. On Sunday at Agape, Dr. Michael Beckwith prayed that we would all have the courage and strength to accept our desires and dreams when they are given to us. That pretty much sums up my focus lately. On feeling like I deserve all these wonderful things and eliminating any self-sabotage. So I've been doing work around feeling worthy and deserving, and releasing all guilt.

With that said, I'll just cut and paste from my journal entry tonight (kinda still floating in the air and feeling slightly lazy/ungrounded right now). (*Note this blog focuses on the process once you are already in a relaxed/meditative state. If you need help getting to that state check out http://myspiritualstudies.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html.)

JOURNAL ENTRY-

Meditation Conclusion:

"You deserve and are worthy of every gift and blessing you have because God chose to give them to you. If you didn’t deserve them, He wouldn’t have given them to you. But since he chose to give those blessings to you, He clearly thinks u deserve them. So embrace them & never feel guilty due to the blessings you receive."


Process:

The emphasis tonight was on deserving and being worthy.

So I kept saying “I’m a worthy child of my Father, Source, and Creator- God, and I deserve _____. I now gratefully and graciously completely accept and receive ______.” For everything (happiness, prosperity, success, etc). And the conclusion quoted above came into my consciousness as I was repeating this mantra. If God is giving it to me, then I really do deserve it. He thinks so, so why wouldn’t I think so too?? Who am I to argue with God?

It was an amazing meditation. I was completely filled with beautiful energy the whole time. But the culmination was what was really on another level.

I randomly started saying, “I am worthy of love. I am worthy of love. I deserve love. I deserve love.” Over and over again.

Then I started saying, “I deserve my mother’s love and so she loves me. I now accept ALL her love.” And suddenly felt any blocks to my mom's love that I’d placed with negative thoughts/emotions/my own insecurities, LIFT and allow all this love to flood in. Then I did the same thing for my father and all my family members. One by one. Letting go of all the "If I dont do this then she wont love me" hidden beliefs that had caused me to block love at one point or another due to my own projections or insecurities.

Then I did it for every ex-boyfriend and every guy I’ve ever dated or talked to. Even the ones I never took seriously. Even the ones who’s love I don’t feel like I really want because I don't want them in my life or want anything to do with them.

I said, “I deserve ______'s love and so he loved me. I now accept all his love.”

And went one by one. Even the guys I disqualified myself for whatever reason after a date or two. Because for some reason I had chosen to not allow them to love me. I went through the guys I never took seriously or allowed myself to get emotionally involved with because of their lifestyle or because they were "famous" (despite their many assurances).... Of course it hit me that I thought they couldn’t genuinely love me like that because they had so many other things…. But who was I to decide that? I deserve their love as much as I deserve the next person’s love. I’m worthy of GOD’S love, so why in the world wouldn’t I be worthy of theirs?? I had been worthy, but I blocked it with my own thoughts...... And so I allowed ALL the love I had blocked through my past insecurities and past feelings of not enoughness, to flood all through me. I went through EVERY guy I’ve ever had a physical relationship with and then every guy I've ever had a date with, one by one. And with EACH guy, I was flooded with waves and waves of love. By the end I felt like I was about to burst because the energy didnt fit anymore! It felt like I was floating in the air above my bed. It was absolutely amazing. Amazing. Amazing... Who would of thought I had blocked so much love throughout my life?"

I hope some of you all try it out and find it as powerful as I did.

How To Forgive Others and Take Back Your Power

I've blogged about forgiving before, but it's been about a year and it's such an important topic... I recently wrote a more thorough article listing more free resources and so I'd like to share those resources with my blog readers:


Forgiving is crucial to happiness. Until you forgive someone, they retain control over your emotions, your life, and even your physical health. That's too much power to give anyone, particularly someone you don't like to begin with. Medical studies show the detrimental effects that anger and stress can have on your physical health, so any anger you are harboring affects YOU much more than it affects the person you are angry or resentful towards. This article will show you how to forgive in order to set yourself free from the past, and from the control of others. Following the steps below will help you forgive, even in the most difficult situations.

Steps for Forgiving:

1) Make a list of anyone you feel you need to forgive, or anyone you are holding anger or resentment towards- whether or not you feel ready to forgive them.

2) If there are people you believe are not worthy of your forgiveness or who did "unforgivable" things, realize that forgiving doesn't mean you now have to be best friends with that person or that you have to hang out with them. It just means you are letting go of the anger and making a choice to no longer be emotionally tied to that person and to take back the power they are currently holding over you. Remember you are doing yourself a favor rather than doing the other person a favor. When you are indifferent towards someone, they will no longer have power over you. When you intellectually understand forgiveness, it makes it easier to forgive on an emotional level. That's what this step is about.

3) Decide which person you would like to work on forgiving first. You should work on one person at a time. Set an intention to forgive the first person. For example, "I am willing to forgive _________ and I WILL forgive __________ and set myself free." You are now more than halfway there.

4) The internet has many free resources for those wishing to forgive. Visit The Work website and download the free "Judge Your Neighbor" Worksheet along with the "Instructions for Doing the Work" Worksheet. Follow the directions and genuinely do the exercises. The Work is very popular in the healing/counseling community for its effectiveness. Once on the site just scroll down to the "Downloads" section on the side. Link to the site: http://www.thework.com/resources.asp

5) Radical Forgiveness is another popular program that has free resources on its site for those working on forgiveness. This site has recently started requiring users to register in order to access their worksheets, but the registration only takes a minute and is fully worth the free resources you will then be able to access. Once you are logged in, click on "New Radical Forgiveness Worksheet" and then click on the "Open" link next to the worksheet. Honestly complete this worksheet, which is known to bring dramatic results. Link to the site: http://www.radicalforgiveness.com/contentnew/downloads.asp

6) Practice Meditation Twin Hearts (also known as the Planetary Meditation for Peace) regularly. This meditation helps you subconsciously forgive everyone you need to forgive, so it's a great tool for those that don't feel like they're quite ready to forgive. This is an easy tool because all you need to do is press play and relax. The meditation is under 30 minutes and brings the added benefits that meditation brings such as filling you with peace, increasing your emotional stability, and improving your physical health. You should aim to do it 3 times a week while working on forgiveness. Link to the free meditation: http://www.ppmaudiostream.org/planetarypeace.htm

7) Wear a Rose Quartz pendant, or a green crystal pendant if you are a man and wearing pink isn't your thing. The energy emitted by a Rose Quartz promotes compassion and forgiveness. Wearing a Rose Quartz over your heart can accelerate the speed of forgiveness and fill you with peaceful energy. Green crystals emit green energy, which disintegrates negative emotions, like anger. Here is the link to my crystal website and to the Rose Quartz in particular. Definitely feel free to contact me if you have any questions: http://powertreasuresonline.com/index.php/crystalpendants/rosequartz.html


8) Visualization. Visualize the person you are forgiving directly in front of you. Look them in the eye and say, "We all make mistakes and we're all growing. You did the best you could with where you were at personally in your life. I now forgive you and set myself free." Visualize a cord going from their solar plexus (soft spot between your ribs) to yours. Karate chop it 3 times with conviction while saying "Cut, cut, cut!" Then say, "You are now released and no longer have any power over me or my happiness." This is a variation of a Pranic Healing technique.

9) Before the speech in step 8, if you feel there is stuff you really need to get off your chest, then say it to them while you are visualizing them before you. Then proceed, to the rest of the instructions in step 8.

10) Once you have forgiven the person, check them off, and move on to the next person on your list and start again. The more you forgive, the easier it becomes.

You will know you have fully forgiven someone when you are genuinely indifferent toward them. You may find forgiveness before reaching the 10th step. Every experience and every person is different. This is meant to be a comprehensive list. Explore these techniques and find which one works best for you. And at all times remember to be patient with yourself. Forgiving can be a challenging process. Just focus on progress and you will eventually reach your goal and take back your power.

MY MIRACLE SOLUTION FOR STRESS- And Just About Everything Else

Medical studies show that stress can kill you. I’m a lawyer by trade. I attended one of the most, if not the most, competitive law schools in the world. I've worked at a corporate law firm that represents the big entertainment corporations. I know stress quite well.

Awhile back I realized I had a gift for healing people through energy. That realization sent me on an extensive exploration of the often obscure world of energy healing. I spent months exploring different healing modalities, enrolled in class after class, and read every book I could get my hands on.

I’d now like to report back the best stress relieving tool I've come across while exploring the different secrets of many schools. Salt-water and coffee baths. Ta Da! Please hold any judgment until you try it. It’s the kind of thing that once you try it, you’re sold. I have not had one client who hasn’t loved it or who hasn’t continued to use these baths as part of their personal routine. I personally use them twice a week.

However, salt water/coffee baths are more than just my best stress relief tool, they’re more like my miracle “cure all." Like Robitussin or Ginger Ale for some moms (or maybe "Vivaporu" if you’re Latino). Salt water/coffee baths are effective for just about everything.

If I had a prescription pad, I would “prescribe” salt-water/coffee baths in the same manner campus clinics dispense antibiotics. You had a stressful day in court- salt water/coffee bath. If you're mad at your husband and want to argue with him- take a salt water/coffee bath first before you argue. It saves a lot of drama. If you just had an argument where someone unloaded all kinds of emotional garbage and negative energy on you- salt water/coffee bath. Depression, cramps, anger, worries, trauma- salt water/coffee baths. And they are absolutely amazing for physical ailments as well. I’ve seen miraculous healings from sports injuries, hot flashes, cysts, and even swine flu. They are particularly wonderful for anyone dealing with arthritis since it tends to pull the pain right out. My grandmother found them so effective, she is currently trying to negotiate with her landlord to see if he would be willing to install a bathtub in her current “shower-only” bathroom.

Why do they work so well?

I ran into this miracle solution in Pranic Healing, an ancient Chinese energy medicine modality. We were told about these baths as a way to clear out negative energy from our body- the negative energy our own body produces in the form of negative emotions and illnesses, and the negative energy we absorb (or have thrust upon us) from others. As healers, we often absorb the negative energy of others and negative energy eventually leads to disease. Salt disintegrates negative energy and water absorbs it, hence why the ocean is such a great healer. Coffee has orange prana (i.e. orange energy) and orange energy expels negative energy out of your body. Thus the combination of salt water and coffee culminates in the negative energy in your body being disintegrated, expelled, and absorbed by the salt water. Negative emotions, including stress, are basically negative energy. So while soaking in this bath your stress energy is literally being extracted from your body. Pain and things like cysts are also comprised of negative energy, which explains why salt water baths are also so effective for physical ailments. Plus negative energy left unchecked in your body for long periods can turn into serious physical ailments, so as the negative energy (the source of the illness) is extracted, you also experience the relief of physical symptoms.

Sure as a healer I have many different tricks in my bag to relieve stress. I can always do an energy healing session on myself and pull stress right out. But at the end of a long day, a salt water bath is the easiest option. Also, it’s a trick anyone can employ effectively without being a healer.

So how do you try one of these baths?

You dump in about 26 ounces of salt (a full container)into warm water. Just regular table salt or sea salt will do. Epsom salt is not recommended because it has different properties. After pouring the salt, drop in a 2-3 individual packets of instant coffee. Folgers makes them. The kind that look like tea bags. Then you just soak for 20 minutes. Do not stay in the bath longer than 20 minutes because the bath is so strong that after 20 minutes it starts removing some of your positive energy as well. After 20 minutes, proceed to take your regular shower.

That’s all. Nothing spectacular about the process, only the results. The first time I tried it I was expecting a mess, but there was none.

If you would like to make your baths even more effective, you can set an intention beforehand stating that you intend to release any negative energy, stress energy, and negative emotions in your body into the salt water bath. You can also visualize the energy leaving your body if you like or you can just lay there and let the salt, water, and coffee do their thing.

These baths are by no means a secret. Master Stephen Co openly speaks of them in his Pranic Healing courses and most Pranic Healers recommend these baths. However, much of the general public hasn’t heard of or tried this wonderful tool/remedy and that’s a shame. These baths not only improve your mental and emotional health, but they can add years to your life. They also do wonders for your skin since we all know how much stress ages us.

As people’s stress level continues to rise, and as a result more people become seriously ill, stress reduction techniques are becoming more important. I wanted to do my part to spread one of the most valuable techniques in my toolbox.


*Please note that these baths are not intended to replace conventional medicine, but rather complement it. Individuals with serious physical or psychological conditions should consult licensed health care professionals. If any discomfort or adverse effect is experienced during the bath, you are advised to stop the bath immediately and consult a doctor (had to add this because I had one client make the water too hot and stay in there too long, which led to blood pressure dropping and the person almost fainting).