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Boy, do I remember chronic pain! 

For almost seven years, I felt like I had the flu on most days.

The pain would move around my body but was pretty consistent in my legs. At the time, I was never offered exercises to make myself feel better with my mind. Instead, I was advised to “manage my pain with pills” and get used to being in chronic pain and disabled the rest of my life.

Luckily, life shifted and I wound up not only healing myself of all pain and disease in three weeks, but it opened up my passion for helping others also overcome the limits we have experienced in our minds, bodies, and lives.

We are always experiencing thoughts, which create emotion, then generate energy that contributes to our well-being. Most of these thoughts are unconscious, are usually not empowering, and are like a scrambled signal.

When you consciously decide to set the frequency and send out a steady signal of well-being, your energy can begin to shift and create new experiences. I have used this knowledge not only to heal myself physically but to attract the love of my life and to help hundreds of clients create their own experiences. This is not rocket science and is available to each and every person on this planet.

I love energy and the knowledge that we truly can influence our lives in such profound ways. We have been told that lasting change has to be challenging, so I have made it my mission to find easier and easier tools for myself and others. We don’t all have the luxury, wherewithal, time, or stamina to maintain a daily meditation practice. But, we all can take some short windows of time daily to tune in and create a healing environment for our body, mind, and soul.

This time can be any time—in the shower, when you first wake up, and before bed are the most powerful as there are other healing aspects there. Before bed and in the morning your subconscious is more on alert and these practices can go deeper. In the shower, you have the healing element of water to support your practice. You can also choose a few times during the day where you turn all distractions off and give yourself five minutes to tune into your body and spirit.

There is no wrong way to do these exercises and anytime you do even one of these, you are sending a powerful message of self-love, self-worth, and healing to yourself. “Why, yes I do choose to consciously take this time for me—thank you, self.”

I would love for you to try the following exercises and let me know how they work for you!

Gratitude for Your Body

We expect our bodies to perform like well-oiled machines consistently managing countless systems. Often, we don’t even pay attention to our bodies until they hurt or feel “off.” I know I didn’t. I was a dancer almost my whole life, and when my legs started to present with extreme pain where I could not walk some days, I certainly was not sending love or gratitude to them.

It is more common for us to become accusatory of the body and of ourselves, blaming our body, our minds, or someone else for creating this stress and pain. None of this is healing. We would not expect any person to do half the work our body does for us daily without some recognition or gratitude. Luckily, this is such an easy thing to switch up and only takes a few minutes.

Exercise #1: 

Take a few seconds to sit or lie down comfortably and intend for your body to relax, and slow your breath. You can alternatively do this in the shower standing up, using the water as a conduit for the healing. Decide what part of your body you would like to give thanks to today or choose to thank your whole body and all the miraculous systems it runs. On one day, one body part might call to you, the next a different one, or you might feel guided to send energy to your whole body. This is where you get to use your intuition and you might even want to tune in and ask your body, “Hey, what part of you can use some love today?”

Think of times when this body part or your body showed up for you. Maybe you had 20 years of your legs feeling great, but lately, they haven’t been feeling so good. Give gratitude and heartfelt thanks to this body part or your body for all the ways it has shown up for you as long as you have been on this planet. Show thanks for all the systems it runs and how you don’t even have to think “okay breathe,” or “okay heart, time to get pumping” for your body to do these and so many more tasks for you.

Sink into that gratitude for a few moments, and if you like, you can even give yourself an inner hug to end this time.

Switching Attention

Pain is attention-getting and distracting. It takes conscious effort not to grasp onto that pain and focus all your energy on it. You do have the power at least for a few moments to change where you are putting your focus.

I remember when I woke up in the morning, the first thing I did was go to the pain in my legs and lament at how badly they hurt. Not only that, but it was followed up by angst and questions to myself such as, “Will I have to crawl down the stairs today?” and “Is it safe to drive my kids somewhere today?”

Since our body is always creating new cells, this does not give the body any alternative but to feel that focused energy and create more “sick” cells. We have the power to create happy, healthy cells, and once again, gratitude comes into play as the superpower to help.

Exercise #2:

Take some time to find one part of your body that does not hurt. It could be a little finger, your hair, your nose, a little toe. Focus your energy on it and give gratitude for that part having healthy cells. If you like, get silly with it. The more childlike we become, the more flowing and easy the energy. Pretend there are happy faces on your cells, imagine Smurfs (remember them?) or little elves going in and creating healthy cells. The sillier and the more you can encourage joy and gratitude the better. Take a few moments doing this and then assess how you are feeling. Thank yourself for taking this time.

Energy Bathing

I have been known to call myself an “energy junkie” and honestly never get tired of the feeling of energy in my body. Our energy body runs through our bodies, around our bodies, and goes out into the world around us. We all have the ability to tap into this energy, and it is not hard to do so. There are many techniques and I will list a couple here, but the next step is the same. Once you feel that energy, you can place your hands wherever needs some love.

Exercise #3:

To feel energy: you can rub your hands palms facing together for 30-60 seconds. Alternatively, you can hold your hands in fists, thumbs together, and rub your knuckles together for 30-60 seconds. There is no right or wrong, and if you don’t feel energy, you can either rub your hands/knuckles together longer or just trust that you have gotten the energy flowing.

You can then hold your hands a few inches apart and pull them together and apart to recognize where you feel energy strongest. As you do this, again, remain childlike, like, “Whoa, isn’t this coooool?” 

I have been practicing energy work for 15 years and I still get a surge of excitement each and every time I feel energy! When you feel the energy or you have “played” for a few moments, place your hands on a part of your body that could use some love. If you are having a hard time emotionally or are feeling anxious or the need to relax, you can place your hands on your heart. Imagine that energy from your hands going into that body part.

If you want to go deeper, you can also add to this exercise by imagining a ball of energy and moving that ball of energy up, down, and around your body. You can see it as a clear ball, white light, a colored ball, or however feels fun and easy for you. This is a power we all have, and the more you practice the more you will be able to simply put up your hands and feel energy. This is a relaxing way to bring in calm, peace, and to send your body some loving energy. Thank yourself for taking this time.

Love

When we feel love, it is the opposite of fear and pain. So many times when we are in overwhelm mode, whether it be our health or a circumstance in our life causing the challenge, we do not invite in love. We get stuck and that energy grows and we can forget that life can be easier and more joyful. Inviting in love is a beautiful way to remind ourselves everything is truly okay. It might not feel like it some of the time, but we can choose to invite in love, which does transmute, transform, and heal. We often have no trouble reliving our most challenging moments but rarely give ourselves time to revisit the best moments of our lives.

Exercise #4: 

Put aside 5-10 minutes and tell yourself you are taking these few moments for yourself. Close your eyes and get into a comfy position. (Yes, this can be done in the shower too, but please, not while driving.)

Put your hands on your heart if that is comfortable for you. Ask yourself to bring in a happy memory. This can be a significant event such as a wedding or birth of a child or graduation. This can also be a seemingly simple event like a moment where you felt connected to nature, were snuggling and connecting with a pet, or were laughing with someone. This also can be a moment you had with someone who has passed where you felt a whole lot of love.

When I say bring it in, I mean bring it in. Get all senses involved. What did the memory look like? Were there other people there? Were there smells involved? Were there sounds involved? What emotions other than love did this moment evoke—peace? Freedom? Joy? Sit in each of those emotions for a few seconds each. The more you bring it in, the more you are taken to that happy space where everything was truly okay.

Smile as you recall this memory and remind yourself you felt this much love once and you will feel it again. Thank yourself and notice it is a whole lot more fun to bring in these happy moments and note that you would like to do this again.

Breath

Our breath truly holds so much power for the health of our bodies. Often, we are breathing rapidly or, if you are like me, you are holding your breath and don’t even recognize it. There are so many different breathing techniques and it truly is about finding ones that feel good for you. It is also about taking a few moments during the day to just tune in and see how you are breathing. The most successful breathing technique I have found to transmute stress and pain is the Box Breathing Technique. Given to Navy Seals for them to relax, it truly can change your state of mind and being in a few minutes.

Exercise #5: 

Give yourself a few moments for this exercise. Get comfy. Take a breath in to a count of 4, hold for 4, exhale for a count of 4, and hold for 4. Repeat at least two more times. Doing this simply three times can bring in a whole new sense of peace, but if you have the time, I recommend doing it for a few minutes. The 4-4-4-4 count can be at a pace that is comfy for you. You might find that as you do it, you can go longer for each round of the 4-count.

This should not feel like pressure but a way to feel into your breathing and bring yourself to deep relaxation. Stress makes pain worse. Relaxing and deep breathing can truly bring you into a state of peace and ease. Thank yourself for taking time to pay attention to your breath.

Above all, please be kind to yourself if you are facing any kind of health or emotional challenge. We have all been in it the last few years and we are all doing the best we can.

If you need help, seek help. But also know you are a powerful creator and where you put your attention and focus can truly make a difference in how you feel. 

I love offering easy tools so we can bring more peace, joy, gratitude, flow, and love into our lives.

Sending much love your way!

~