You Can Heal Your Life Companion Book

[Guest guest]

You Can Heal Your Life: Companion Book$17.95 ~ ISBN: 1-56170-878-Xhttp://www.hayhouse.com/lifestyles/juvenate/878x_2.htmLouise L. Hay, the internationally renowned author and lecturer, brings youthe companion book to her landmark bestseller, "You Can Heal Your Life."Here, Louise applies techniques of self-love and positive thinking to awide range of topics that affect us all on a daily basis, including:health, fearful emotions, addictions, money and prosperity, sexuality,aging, love and intimacy, work, and more.As Louise says, "These exercises will give you new information aboutyourself that will enable you to make new choices. If you're willing, thenyou can definitely create the kind of life you want."Louise says: "Life Is

Really Very Simple. What We Give Out, We Get Back.What we think about ourselves becomes the truth for us. I believe thateveryone, myself included, is responsible for everything in our lives, thebest and the worst. Every thought we think is creating our future. Each oneof us creates our experiences by our thoughts and our feelings. Thethoughts we think and the words we speak create our experiences."*********ContentsPART I: INTRODUCTIONBasic TechniquesBeliefsPART II: THE PROCESSHealthFearful EmotionsCritical ThinkingAddictionsForgivenessWorkMoney and ProsperityFriendsSexualityLove and IntimacyAgingPART III: YOUR NEW LIFEYour New PictureRecommended ReadingSelf-Help ResourcesAbout the AuthorExcerpt: Chapter Four Fearful Emotions~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"Fears are merely thoughts, and thoughts can be released."Fearful

Emotions ChecklistI'm anxious all the time.Nothing works for me.Growing older frightens me.I'm afraid of flying.People scare me.What if I become homeless?I have difficulty expressing my feelings.My temper is out of control.I can't focus on anything.Everyone is against me.I feel like a failure.What if I have to endure a painful death?I'm scared of being alone.In any given situation, I believe that we have a choice between love andfear. We experience fear of change, fear of not changing, fear of thefuture, and fear of taking a chance. We fear intimacy, and we fear beingalone. We fear letting people know what we need and who we are, and we fearletting go of the past.At the other end of the spectrum, we have love. Love is the miracle we'reall looking for. Loving ourselves works miracles in our lives. I'm nottalking about vanity or arrogance, because that's not love. That's

fear.I'm talking about having great respect for ourselves, and gratitude for themiracle of our body and mind.Remind yourself when you're frightened that you're not loving and trustingyourself. Not feeling "good enough" interferes with the decision-makingprocess. How can you make a good decision when you're not sure aboutyourself? Jeffers, in her marvelous book Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, statesthat "if everybody feels fear when approaching something totally new inlife, yet so many are out there 'doing it' despite the fear, then we mustconclude that fear is not the problem." She goes on to say that the realissue is not the fear, but how we hold the fear. We can approach it from aposition of power or a position of helplessness. The fact that we have thefear becomes irrelevant.We see what we think the problem is, and then we find out what the realproblem is. Not feeling "good enough" and lacking

self-love are the realproblems.Emotional problems are among the most painful of all. Occasionally we mayfeel angry, sad, lonely, guilty, anxious, or frightened. When thesefeelings take over and become predominant, our lives can become emotionalbattlegrounds.What we do with our feelings is important. Are we going to act-out in someway? Will we punish others or force our will upon them? Will we somehowabuse ourselves?The belief that we're not good enough is often at the root of theseproblems. Good mental health begins with loving the self. When we love andapprove of ourselves completely - the good and the so-called bad - we canbegin to change.Part of self-acceptance is releasing other people's opinions. Many of thethings that we've chosen to believe about ourselves have absolutely nobasis in truth.For example, a young man named was a client of mine several years agowhen I was seeing

people privately. He was devastatingly handsome and madea good living as a model. He told me how difficult it was for him to go tothe gym because he felt ugly.As we worked together, he recalled that a neighborhood bully from hischildhood used to call him "ugly." This person would also beat him up andconstantly threaten him. In order to be left alone and feel safe, began to hide. He bought into the fact that he wasn't good enough. In hismind, he was ugly.Through mirror work, self-love, and positive affirmations, hasimproved tremendously. His feelings of anxiety may come and go, but now hehas some tools to work with.Remember, feelings of inadequacy start with negative thoughts that we haveabout ourselves. However, these thoughts have no power over us unless weact upon them. Thoughts are only words strung together. They have nomeaning whatsoever. Only we give meaning to them, and we do so by

focusingon the negative messages over and over again in our minds. We believe theworst about ourselves. And we choose what kind of meaning we give to them.Whatever pain we might be in, let's choose thoughts that nourish andsupport us.We're always perfect, always beautiful, and ever-changing. We're doing thebest we can with the understanding, knowledge, and awareness that we have.As we grow and change more and more, our "best" will only get better andbetter.EXERCISE: Letting Go~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~As you read this exercise, take a deep breath, and as you exhale, allow thetension to leave your body. Let your scalp, forehead, and face relax. Yourhead need not be tense in order for you to read. Let your tongue, throat,and shoulders relax. You can hold a book with relaxed arms and hands. Dothat now. Let your back, abdomen, and pelvis relax. Let your breathing beat peace as you relax your legs and

feet.Can you feel a noticeable change in your body since you started reading theprevious paragraph? In this relaxed, comfortable position, say to yourself,"I am willing to let go. I release. I let go. I release all tension. Irelease all fear. I release all anger. I release all guilt. I release allsadness. I let go of old limitations. I let go, and I am at peace. I am atpeace with myself. I am at peace with the process of life. I am safe."Go over this exercise two or three times. Repeat it whenever thoughts ofdifficulty come up. It takes a little practice for the routine to become apart of you. Once you're familiar with this exercise, you can do itanywhere at any time. You will be able to relax completely in anysituation.EXERCISE: Fears and Affirmations~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~After each category listed below, write down your greatest fear. Then,think of a positive affirmation that would

correspond to it.CAREERSample Fear: I'm afraid that no one will ever see my value.Sample Affirmation: Everybody at work appreciates me.Your Fear:Your Affirmation:LIVING SITUATIONSample Fear: I'll never have a place of my own.Sample Affirmation: There's a perfect home for me, and I accept it now.Your Fear:Your Affirmation:FAMILY RELATIONSSample Fear: My parents won't accept me the way I am.Sample Affirmation: I accept my parents, and they, in turn, accept and loveme.Your Fear:Your Affirmation:MONEYSample Fear: I'm afraid of being poor.Sample Affirmation: I trust that all my needs will be taken care of.Your Fear:Your Affirmation:PHYSICAL APPEARANCESample Fear: I think I'm fat and unattractive.Sample Affirmation: I release the need to criticize my body.Your Fear:Your Affirmation:EXERCISE: Positive

AffirmationsChoose an area of fear from the last exercise that's most pertinent andpressing for you. Using visualization, see yourself going through the fearwith a positive outcome. See yourself feeling free and being at peace.On the lines below, write down a positive affirmation 25 times. Rememberthe power you're tapping into! http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AffirmationstoDe-Stress A positive thinking, positive affirmations support group, that empowers us with ways to sail through daily life

stress. Come aboard! PJ and Gang