Whatever you are giving your attention to already has a vibration of itsown, and as you give your attention to it, you include its vibration inyour vibration...and then your point of attraction is affected.
                                                                                                                                                                -- Abraham

Fran Menley shares from the Daily OM:  As the Earth Allows the Rain - Sitting with Feelings

Taking the time now to sit with your feelings and acknowledge them will save you much distress down the road.  It can take great courage to really sit with our feelings, allowing ourselves to surrender to their powerful energies. All too often we set our feelings aside, thinking we will deal with them later. If we don’t deal with them, we end up storing them in our minds and bodies and this is when anxiety and other health issues can arise. Denying what our bodies want to feel can lead to trouble now or down the line, which is why being in the thick of our feelings, no matter how scary it seems, is really the best thing we can do for ourselves.

One of the reasons we tend to hide or push aside our feelings is that we live in a culture that has not traditionally supported emotional awareness. However, as the connection between mind and body--our emotions and our physical health-- becomes clearer, awareness of the importance of feeling our feelings has grown. There are many books, classes, workshops and retreats that can help us on our way to emotional intelligence. We can also trust in our own ability to process what comes up when it comes up. If sadness arises, we can notice its presence and welcome it, noting where in our bodies we feel it, and allowing ourselves to express it through tears or a quiet turning inward.

When we simply allow ourselves to fully feel our feelings as they come, we tend to let them go easily. This is all we are required to do; our feelings simply want to be felt. We often complicate the situation by applying mental energy in the form of analysis, when all we really need is to allow, as the earth allows the rain to fall upon it. As the rain falls, the earth responds in a multitude of ways, sometimes emptying out to form a great canyon, sometimes soaking it up to nourish an infinitude of plants. In the same way, the deeper purpose of our feelings is to transform the terrain of our inner world, sometimes creating space for more feelings to flow, sometimes providing sustenance for growth. All we need to do is allow the process by relaxing, opening, and receiving the bounty of our emotions.



My reflections on the question:
Q: “How do I use affirmations / intentions when I am physically /mentally not feeling well?”

The answer, in my opinion and from my experience so far, begins with an understanding of the duality of our third dimensional presence.  It is in the answer to the question: “Why as a Spiritual Being, do we choose to come into this human experience?” 

What if we, as Spiritual Beings, agree to come into this human experience to practice and have the full spectrum of positive and negative?  The opposites allow the full experience of both.

Basic science shows us that everything in this physical experience is made up of both positive and negative – this creates the duality of the experience so that we can have experiences.   It is actually impossible to not be both.  Balance comes by allowing both to be experienced.  Allowing the feelings and not becoming them.

Many people, who have had death experiences, share storied of the feeling of “nirvana” once they have passed.  They share they no longer have the lower emotions to allow the experience of the higher emotions; it becomes “all good” but lacks the “juice” of this human expression.  The duality of the experience which allows the experience is gone. 

Therefore it makes sense that our power here, in the human experience, is in our perspective or perception of what is available to us – which translates to the choice of how we choose to experience the experience.  Denial on any level is dysfunctional – it is not about being positive all the time.

Remembering, with our Essence Self (Higher Self), that all experiences are created for good, (the good or bad is merely our judgment of them and is part of the experience) while allowing the human feelings to be expressed in a healthy way (our gift in this experience) from a core place of trust, curiosity and “Knowing”  allows us to “move or dance” with what is our Higher Self’s chosen path, karma or the bigger gift that is before us. 

Remember two basic laws of the Universe – what we focus on expands and what we resist persists.  Understanding our power lies in our perception allows us to move through or get stuck in a current experience.  Are you focusing on what you desire for your experience or what you do not desire?  Do you talk about what you desire or do you only identify with what you do not desire?  Are you resisting the pain or allowing it and its healing?  There is a very fine line that is described here.  Admittedly, when pain is being experienced it takes great trust to allow the discomfort and also allow the wholeness and healing.  It is a personal journey and I believe different for each person.

Understanding this bigger duality and accepting that life may be orchestrated from both a higher realm and also by our human perception / perspective gives us a better understanding of how to have the best experience.   Our power is in the choice of how we “dance with life” – what we identify with and create with our focus.    Examining if our focus is on what we do not want or are we actively creating what we do want by looking for what matches our desires and celebrating and expanding on that.

A friend of my daughters recently was in a horrible car accident.  She was in the back seat of the car, her seat buckle was on and the car was traveling at the appropriate speed, in good order.  A drunk driver hit the car from behind.  Her left side of her face smashed and disfigured; her eyeball was no longer in a socket and her cheek crushed into little pieces.  She shared with me that as she was lying in her hospital bed, awaiting news from the doctors she realized that no matter what she did – good or bad – sometimes “bad things” could happen to her.  Her story and continued journey towards healing gave me clarity as to the choices we are each given with our choice of perception and perspective. 

She has the choice of exploring, accepting, allowing her feelings, learning and growing from what happened or she can get stuck in the part of the experience that can be seen as being a victim, letting it become her life’s focus. 

There are many stories like this where people have extraordinary lives after what appears to be extraordinary tragedy because they refuse to accept being a victim – they allow what happened but do not become it.  They refuse to be identified by the event, injury or circumstance.  They understand that in life things happen (which may offer an opportunity and may have been a choice at some higher level of consciousness).  They can choose what the experience is for them.

Intentions and affirmations are just one tool in this process. Both are only as good as our ability to first feel genuine continued gratitude.  Again, the basic law of what is focused on expands.  The realization and feeling of gratitude is accomplished by going within and  hearing our inner and outer words (what is story you are constantly declaring?), owning our feelings (what is your motivator for the story?), our mind chatter (what are your beliefs about your current situation and your story?) and finding a way to shift to a focus (vibration) of gratitude with all these expressions on a continued basis; one that is truly genuine and real for you.

A good measure to use to understand your current focus and vibration is to look at your current reality.  Whatever your reality continues to be gives you a hint of what your focus has been.  The shift that is required is both simple and profound.  It is subtle and huge – again a duality.   It is personal for each person and may require many tools to accomplish.

The desired shift, in my experience, will always come from within – not from outer forces – you cannot wait to feel the gratitude until after an outer thing changes – you cannot use “I will feel gratitude when…”  You must feel gratitude and then things shift.  It will come from deep inside – it involves trust, allowing and getting out of one’s own way.

Because we are complex humans, with wonderful ego’s that twists and distort our perception and perspective to support perceived survival we may need to “play” a little to get out of our own way.  Some suggestions that were shared in tonight discussion at the Intenders Circle were:

Use humor – be able to laugh at yourself and the situation you find yourself in.

Accept 100% responsibility for the current experience and use the Ho’oponopono’s prayer to cleanse and unite with the Divine / God / Good.   Read more about how this prayer works in last week’s topic on the blog or listen to Joe Vitale explain it on  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh1EqqDchbA&feature=related or any of the other Ho'oponopono posts on Youtube. 

Use Afformations (create questions to set forth your problem solver instincts): Why am I attracted to things that help me to trust in my ability to feel better?  Why am I able to notice glimpses of ease and joy?  Why am I feeling better?  Why am I able to allow myself to heal? Why is it okay to love myself?  Why am I easily allowing myself to feel and get better?

Use What If questions (again, sets forth your problem solver instincts):  What if I start to feel better?  What if I allow myself to trust that I can feel better?  What if I attract the exact thing I need to feel better? 

Use If (same idea as the two above):  If this current feeling has purpose, what is it?  If I manifested this experience, what am I gaining from it?  If this is part of my chosen path, how am I better because of it and how can I use it to be on Purpose? 

Practice observering yourself – step outside of yourself and observe; what are your motivators for your self-talk, stories and behaviors.  Ask yourself honestly, how is your current situation working for you?  How is it good for you?  How is it serving you?  This takes tremendous honesty and self reflection and can offer a great breakthrough.  We are all doing what we believe to be what is best for us.  Using humor and being gentle is recommended.  Laughing at oneself lovingly – we are funny creatures!  Asking these questions in the mirror is very powerful – then listen.

“No one does anything they do not want to do. You always have a reason--and usually, a pretty good one--for doing what you are doing and choosing what you are choosing. Be careful not to convince yourself that you are doing something against your will. Such a thing is impossible. Therefore,  be honest with yourself as to why you are choosing to do a particular thing. Then, do it gladly, knowing that you are always  getting to do what you want. The statement "I have no choice" is a  lie. You can choose. You simply do not prefer the alternatives available to you, for whatever reason. So you select the outcome that you most prefer.  Isn't that power?”  ~Neal Donald Walsch