Admittedly, I am a hippie. A yoga practicing, Birkenstock wearing, tree hugging, vegetarian, peace, love and happiness hippie. I’d rather go the holistic route than any other because that’s what works for me. I don’t want or even try to impose my ideas on others, I don’t want the responsibility for one thing and who am I to tell anyone what to believe or how to live. All I do is offer my views when asked for them and sometimes when not asked for them and share my experiences. Here’s one of the things I have learned. Mind is over matter. Don’t believe it? That’s ok you don’t have to. But here’s the thing. It’s easier, I think, to allow something to happen if you first believe, BELIEVE, it can actually happen. If it could happen then it just may actually happen. The mind has to be open and accept the ‘thing’ for it to happen though. If someone said to me that I would get a million dollars next June I would be like, ‘yeah right’. My mind can’t accept that, it won’t although I wish it would! I think you have to start with something you actually believe. I believe I can get well, I believe I can find love, I believe I can be successful, I believe I can make that move. My mind finally became willing to accept that my path, my gift was that of an artist and you know what? I started selling my art. I went from painting and stacking my work against the wall to gallery shows where my art sold for 500.00! A piece! Just because my mind believed it could happen and gave me the courage to approach galleries and show my work. I think with life and all it’s clutter it’s easy to go through the motions and tread water but what if you carved out just 10 minutes a day, just 10! and started to meditate. I’m not talking about sitting in a twisted yoga pose on the floor in silence, that’s ok for some but for me the best meditation is outdoors by the frog pond or out walking or getting lost in music. Meditation isn’t meant to stress you out by trying to do it. The toes twitch, the nose itches, the phone rings and meditation becomes an unwelcome chore rather than a spirit booster. So don’t stress over meditation do something you enjoy and let the meditation happen. I used to teach relaxation and meditation at a wellness school for massage therapy students. I would guide them through meditation relaxing the body limb by limb and guiding them toward enlightenment for lack of a better word. Pictures would unfold differently for all of them but show them little insights and nuances they were too bogged down to notice. When the mind slows down and focuses only on the here and now and actually allows the mind to open and show images like a movie on a screen they’ll see all they need to know. Maybe it won’t even be images it just be a knowing, a feeling that runs through you, head to toe and leaves you not, but spurs you on till next time. I had a student who suffered from migraines and would sometimes get an attack in class. She would stop, focus, acknowledge the pain she felt so she could focus on letting it go. Breathing in and out, letting the body relax and release and allow the mind to accept healing. It would subside and she would feel better and better. If she hadn’t first believed it would work, it wouldn’t have. The mind needs to believe it can happen, it is true, it is feasible. Convincing the mind is half the battle. If you are in chemo or on a dating site or thinking of new career or going back to school or writing that novel, then make sure your mind believes it all can happen, own your truth and believe your treatment will work, believe you love is out there, believe you can have the job you want, believe you can start school again, believe you do have a novel in you. You already have the answers, you already have the healing, you already have the love…you just need to accept it, allow the heart and the mind to accept it as truth and watch the magic happen. Don’t be afraid to get your hopes up, hope is a lot to grow on, yes I meant grow on, because hope gives us something to hold onto when all else seems to be slipping. Hope is like roots that lets belief grow and bloom into the ‘thing’ we hoped for. See how that works?! I think that’s where God is, He is in the hope, it’s his gift to us. I think he left us with all we needed…the earth, it’s trees, it’s herbs it’s beauty and love and the hope and each other. When we, body mind and spirit, are open and ready to see, believe and accept then the sky is the limit! I believe, do you? Peace & Hugs y’all 🙂 zetasatticart.blogspot.com