Healing is all about self love and self acceptance. In the sea of all the course work and workshops I have taken – this one truth rings back at me consistently and repeatedly. Healing is about self love and self acceptance. Look at all the ways in which you restrict that from yourself. I challenge you to look deep… at the landscape of your soul and ask yourself where you find it difficult to love and accept yourself. Find an area which you believe precludes your ability to love and accept yourself and challenge this erroneous idea. No one else can love you more than you can love yourself so why not give that gift to yourself. Why not become your greatest supporter and your fiercest ally? How well do you think your body’s cells would respond to this kind of loving support? I would guess better than you could ever imagine. There is no reason not to love yourself and accept yourself – no reason. This may not feel like a natural action to you if you have never done it before. You may feel like an imposter when you choose to love and accept yourself. I give you full permission to be an imposter. Fake it until it starts to feel real. Over time, it will get easier and become second nature. Make this your full time job to send love and acceptance to your cells all day long then note the positive changes that you begin to feel in your body. You will likely wish you had known to do this from your first day on the earth planet…

I struggled a lot with my body image when I was growing up. I did not love and accept myself because of my body image. I thought my body was flawed and that no one could ever love me because of my body. That was an erroneous belief that I bought into from a young age. I believed that so that became my reality for most of my life… until I decided to challenge this belief. I decided to make a conscious effort to love and accept all of me. I chose to challenge my views on my body’s acceptability factor. About ten years ago, I decided to dream into my world someone that would love my body just the way it was……. and guess what? it worked. It took six years before this person turned up in my life; there was a significant lag time where the universe had to catch up to my present reality of who I was; a lag time before my new belief became my reality. This individual that turned up in my life affirmed that my body was beautiful and never for a moment viewed it as anything flawed or unworthy of love; I could feel the genuine love and acceptance that was behind that proclamation. But I needed to believe the reality of that statement before someone came into my life that would mirror my new belief back to me…

Be aware of the story line you are running. We tell ourselves stories about the way things are in our life. We tell ourselves stories about the childhood we experienced (‘this is the way it was’), the lives we have created (‘this has been my path up until now’)and why things are the way they are (‘this is happening because of that’). We have literally created all these stories because of our previous perceptions, our conditioning, our experiences, our attachments and often in the end to make our stories ‘right’. We have so much invested in the stories of our lives. These stories define our lives, give them shape and definition, give us an identity. But do these stories make us feel good? Do these stories leave us with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside? Probably not. We wear these stories like battle scars. You might think but the wounds run deep… I am here to say that you want to tell yourself a story that feels good to you. It is time to lift the veil off your particular storyline that has defined you for such a long time and see things from a different perspective…only if you are ready to do so. What if the story line you have been running could be changed? The old story likely makes you feel like a victim of your circumstance whereas a new story would allow you to feel empowered and in charge of your life. Letting go of the old story is challenging because in the old story, you were a victim. Other people did things to you that were not okay. To let go of your story nessitates forgiveness (for others and for yourself), compassion and tolerance; in involves opening your heart to the people around you and offering them unconditional love which can be tough when you may have felt hurt by them in your past. But you are only hurting yourself by holding on to old wounds, past regrets, previous greivances…

I challenge you to create a new story that allows you to view your previous story almost from a distance, a detached eye. It is all perspective; if you create a new story about the reason that things happened to you in your past or in your present and it leaves you feeling good then keep the story but if the story line you are running makes you feel angry, victimized, sad, or otherwise not good, then let go of your story. You might have to journal about the story you have written or speak to someone that you trust about the nature of your story to be able to let it go. You might have to get therapy, go for emotional freedom technique sessions, see a psychologist, a psychiatrist, or whatever works for you to make you feel that it is resolved. But if you have the courage to let go of your story (and it takes a lot of courage to face yourself and your story), a new story can be birthed. This new story is the one in which you feel empowered, light, compassionate, loving and grateful for your previous experiences and grateful for the chance to write a new story. This new story is the real you, the authentic you that is more in touch with who you are. This new story involves you in all your radiant glory shining your light as bright as it can be. This new story is the one in which you truly love and accept yourself. This is progress!

At the end of the day we are all seeking to love and be loved. That is our one basic primary need. Everything falls a distant second to this. Love is the greatest healing force known to mankind therefore you should seek it out. What do you love to do? Do more of that. Create a love list. On this list will be all the things that you can think of that you love to do. Make a point of doing something that is on your list more consistently. Do one thing every day that you love to do. This ‘doing what you love’ generates positive healing chemicals like endorphins in your body which means a healthier you in the long run. By doing things that you love, you send the message to all the cells in your body that all is well…

People who are critically ill get this message more than most. Their priorities become really clear really quickly. They get that well being is the most important order of the day…their ego is facing the possibility of its demise and the present day moment becomes the only moment they have so they make the most of it…they love what is…a gift in this otherwise challenging circumstance…

Make a daily habit of sending love to yourself. Every night before you go to sleep, when you are lying in bed, send love to each part of your body starting with your toes, traveling up through your body as slowly as you can, acknowledging each little part that you can remember…sending extra love to any area which you feel needs it more than others, spending extra time there, feeling grateful for each body part that you can put a name to and when you have travelled all through your body ending with the top of your head, give thanks to your body for everything it is doing right. Your body is a self healing organism. You will help your self healing along by sending love to your body. Thank it for the incredible job it is doing every day to keep you alive and thriving. Every inch of your body requires love and you can provide this love just with your intention to do so…You are the most loving ally that you have. Flood your body with as much love as you can when ever you think of it. This will help your body heal…