Affirmations; why they don't always work.

The concept of affirmations have been around for some time now and there are many proponents of them saying you can change your life using them; that thought creates form.  To a certain extent I agree and I have used creative visualisation to manifest some amazing things in my life.

However, using affirmations isn't as simple as it sounds.

Firstly you have to follow a set of rules that guide you to building the right sentence.
** The sentence has to be worded in the now: "I am" as opposed to "I will"
** The sentence has to be positive: "I am attracting wealth" as opposed to "I am no longer poor"

With this we can create affirmations such as "I am loved", "I have all I need" or "I am happy".

It sounds simple doesn't it?  Unfortunately this is not the case.


I discovered this when I was working in an office with a person that clearly didn't like me.  I recorded the affirmation "I am loved, I am loving, I am love" and repeated it over and over on my way to work.  By the time I got there I was so distressed I walked into work a complete mess.  It was time for me to look at what was going on.

What I realised was; inside we have an internal saboteur that will hear these statements and argue against them.  As we state "I am amazing" the silent voice says "no I'm not" and this creates internal conflict.  As we keep repeating the phrase the inner saboteur gets louder and louder and overrides our attempts to change our thought patterns.

This shows that affirmations are more complex than first thought.

When forming an affirmation we have to listen to our inner voice, if "I am loved" triggers "no I am not" then we have to take a step backwards and reword the sentence maybe to "I am open to being loved".  This in itself might trigger a new response that we need to consider, maybe we realise we aren't open to being loved.  On reflection we may find we don't believe we deserve love.

We would think that in this case an affirmation of "I love myself" would work, but in reality that is likely to trigger "no I don't".  Another step backwards and we find ourselves with "I am learning to love myself"... aaaah, that feels better, no voice arguing. We work with that one for a while and then test the "I love myself" to see how we are doing.  In changing the affirmation we can grow gently and with self care until we can boldly state "I AM LOVED"

Affirmations are great and they can bring about great change, but we have to work with them on a deep level, listening to our inner voices until we find the right one for us.

Visit my website to learn about my healing practice  

http://www.crystaloak.moonfruit.co.uk/

The magic of magic

I saw this picture on facebook today and it reminded me of something I saw on tv a couple of months ago where members of the public were asked if they believed in magic and witchcraft.

Of course, most people said they didn't believe in such things and thought it was silly.  After that they were given a knife and a photograph of a member of their family and were asked to stab the photograph with the knife.  Amazingly very few people could do it.  They were asked why not and many said they felt that in doing so harm would come to their families.

When magic is something ethereal that we cannot relate to it is easy to joke about it, but deep down there is something inside that tells us it is real.  If the photo on the right said "Every time you share this cat one of your friend dies" would you share it?

What is the difference?  It is important to bear in mind that part of us deep down that believes something we prefer to ignore next time we hit that "share" button.

Of course, if we believe that in stabbing a photo of a friend might cause them harm, it is equally as plausible that sending loving thoughts to a photo can bring healing to them, which is just what distance healing is.

Instead of posting photos that have such a negative effect, how about sharing ones that can heal?

Visit my website to learn about my healing practice  

http://www.crystaloak.moonfruit.co.uk/

Which crystal should I use? Intellect or intuition?

I am often asked which crystal is right for which situation and I thought I would post a little about my philosophy on this.

 When working with crystals, or many other complementary therapies for that matter, it is important to turn the intellect off and turn the intuition on.

The whole human system of mind, body and spirit is complex and our brains don't hold all the information; there is much that goes on in our body that we are not aware of.  How often have people found that they did not know they were ill until they were VERY ill?  Surely if our brains knew what we needed to make us well we would know at the very first instance when something started to go wrong.

However, while our brains are blissfully unaware something is sending antibodies to deal with the problem.  People who are paralysed from the neck down still have organs that function despite the connection to the brain being severed. 

All this means there is a part of us outside the brain that knows what is going on and what we need.  This is what we tap into when we work with complementary therapies.

So how does this connect to picking a crystal?

If the brain doesn't know what we need to make us well there is no point in storing vast quantities of information so that we choose the right crystal on an intellectual level.  Instead, we have to quiet the brain and tune in to something more innate, the quiet voice that speaks to us when we we take control away from the brain.

It all sounds quite difficult but in reality we are given clues all the time.  We can get cravings for a certain foods and when we look into it we find that there is some nutrient in that food that our body needs.  We change our mind when we are traveling and find that if we had continued on that path something terrible would have happened.  These things aren't luck, this is us listening to our intuition.

So, when you want to work with a crystal and you have a purpose in mind, don't reach for the books; don't try and remember what you were told.  Simple look at the crystals with the work you would like to do held in your mind and see which one catches your eye.  Don't question it, don't doubt it, just go with it.

As with anything we try to learn, the more we listen to this little voice the better we hear it and the easier it gets for us to know just what we need in any given moment.

Of course, once you have learnt to trust your intuition there is nothing stopping you looking the crystal you have chosen up in a book to see what insight you can glean from your choice.  It is important though to not discard the choice if you don't like what you read, trust it was for the best and all may become clear later.

Enjoy connecting to your stone spirits and working with your intuition.

Visit my website to learn about my healing practice  

http://www.crystaloak.moonfruit.co.uk/

Olive - the recovery remedy

Has Christmas worn you out; entertaining, cooking, cleaning, dealing with families? 

Maybe you are weary of working hard in the cold and dark weather and feel you have no energy left as we go into the coldest part of the year.

Bach Remedy Olive is for exhaustion, whether that be mental, physical, emotional or "all of the above". 

Dr Bach wrote that Olive was for "Those who have suffered much mentally or physically and are so exhausted and weary that they feel they have no more strength to make any effort. Daily life is hard work for them, without pleasure." 

 A couple of drops of this remedy could make all the difference. 

Bach remedies can be taken with other medications and have no negative side effects . 

Visit my website to learn about my healing practice  

http://www.crystaloak.moonfruit.co.uk/