Archive for Highly Sensitive
Gifts from My Mentors
Posted by: | CommentsFrom Thanksgiving to Christmas, I like to acknowledge the people who have enriched my life during the past year.
This includes, of course, my personal friends and colleagues. But you don’t know them. You can know and benefit from some of my “virtual mentors,” and those are the ones I want to tell you about.
As I reflected on those whose work has enriched either my spirit, soul, mind or body through sharing their expertise, several people came to mind.
Spirit. The most influential–and healing–approach I have ever come across is the Immanuel Approach, developed by Dr. Karl Lehman, a psychiatrist and the author of Outsmarting Yourself and The Immanuel Approach (which we Immanuel Prayer ministers, and he, refer to as “the big lion book” because it’s exhaustive at 759 pages!). From Outsmarting Yourself, I learned about “implicit memory” and how we get triggered, and how to calm body and mind. Dr. Karl Lehman’s work is all about how to let God come in and be with you in the pain, and thus heal it.
I was trained by Margaret Webb and Jessie Handy from Alive and Well in Immanuel Prayer, and continued with training from Dr. Karl Lehman through his Advanced Training seminar and monthly meetings in which local prayer ministers gather to watch and discuss a video of Dr. Lehman facilitating someone in Immanuel Approach. I also meet every other week with other prayer ministers to give and receive Immanuel Prayer.
What has healed me the most, and creates the bedrock of my spiritual life, are my direct interactions with the Lord through these prayer sessions. What has healed my clients the most are the times we use Immanuel Prayer in a Coach-Guided Healing Code. More on that, including videos of my facilitating and receiving Immanuel Prayer, and links to more information, can be found here.
I want to honor Dr. Karl Lehman and Alive and Well for their excellent work. There is no healing like the healing you get when Immanuel–“God with us”– directly intervenes into your issue.
If you’re not sure CEN is part of your experience, take this assessment to find out and learn more about her excellent work.
Mind (and body and soul). I wasn’t sure where to put Julie Bjelland and what I’ve been learning from her about living well with Sensory Processing Sensitivity (otherwise known as being a Highly Sensitive Person or HSP), because it’s all-encompassing.
I have learned brain-training techniques, breathing techniques, how to calm my nervous system, how to track my stress levels, and so much more from Julie’s course and from her Sensitive Empowerment group. I have also received much validation about the unique experiences of being an HSP, through the Sensitive Empowerment community. And, since most of my clients are HSPs, I have been able to pass on a lot of what I’ve learned to them. Many express how life-changing it has been to learn about this inborn trait, which about 20% of at least 100 species possess, and how to thrive with it.
Thank you, Julie, and my fellow HSPs in the Sensitive Empowerment community!
Body. This has been The Year of the Summits, and I’m a bit tired out from it all. But one teaching stands out.
That would be Ari Whitten’s Energy Blueprint. Ari’s information is science-backed–he really takes the time to do the research, which I appreciate. (Julie Bjelland also keeps her guidance rooted in science.) I am learning (since I’m still working through the course) about circadian rhythms and mitochondria, and how they affect our energy and health at the most basic level. (Remember, I’m all about “healing AT the source,” the only way true healing happens.) While “heart issues” are at the source of so many of our problems, including physical, there is a dynamic interplay between our environment and our physical well-being as well. These days, so many things in our environment work against the way God designed our bodies to work. Ari Whitten is helping me understand how we are made, what environmental factors put extra stress on our bodies (especially true for HSPs, by the way), and what lifestyle changes we can make to mitigate the negatives and foster our own body’s balance and energy system.
You can take his extensive, free Energy Blueprint Masterclass by signing up here. Click here or on the picture link to get his free eblook on science-backed supplements for energy enhancement.
Relationships. I’ve already mentioned Dr. Jonice Webb. Her second book, Running on Empty No More, talks about how CEN affects relationships. If you grew up with CEN, or your partner did, please read this book as well as Running on Empty.
You can take the Love Styles quiz to find out how you learned to relate to people based on your family background. I highly recommend it and ask my clients to take this before our session, as it gives a better context for our work together.
There you have it–my current mentors for spirit, soul, mind and body, carefully curated for you. Check them out as you feel led. You can find the assessments for CEN, Love Styles, and High Sensitivity here.
Settling into the Energy of “Enough”
Posted by: | CommentsMy daughter asked me the other day, “What can I get for you for Christmas and your birthday?” (which happen to be one and the same day). It was Cyber Monday, you see, and she wanted to shop online.
She had asked me the same question on Black Friday. As I thought then, and the other day, about what I needed, I was coming up blank.
For the past few months, I have been “editing my life” by eliminating things that were not truly essential or important to me. This arose from a feeling of chronic overwhelm, which I was working on healing. I realized part of the answer to overwhelm lay in subtracting clutter of all kinds that had somehow accumulated when I wasn’t paying attention.
So when my daughter asked me what I wanted or needed, my first thoughts were of things that you can’t find in a store or online, things you can’t wrap and put under a tree. A greater sense of margin in my life. Hope that the future will be better, for myself and the world, despite many signs that things are going in the opposite direction.
I realized as I pondered what my daughter could joyfully give me, and I could joyfully receive (for gift giving is my primary “love language“), that I already have all I need. Anything she or anyone could give me would just be icing on the already-sweet cake that was my life.
I have a wonderful husband, two amazing, loving adult children who are on their own and who enjoy being with each other and their parents. I have a home that, while it could use some updating by the world’s standards, suits us very well. I have plenty of clothes (still getting rid of some), I know how to cook wonderful and healthy food. I have a reliable car (which I seldom need to drive because I work from home). I have work I love, many people I love, and I’m (finally) part of a caring community, both in my church and a smaller, more informal group that loves to connect with Immanuel and grow in grace.
I am in the process of understanding and healing the wounds of my past, and I have amazing tools that help me get and stay healthy. I am also coming to better understand my (and my husband’s and son’s) trait of High Sensitivity, and am learning to thrive as an HSP and help others to do so as well (a huge percentage of my clients are Highly Sensitive People, and The Healing Codes are particularly well suited to the deep healing HSPs need).
Is my life perfect? No, not by a long stretch. There are secret sorrows as well as the frustrations most people face in this modern world. However, when I dwell on the things that matter that I mention above, the “less than ideal” aspects fade into the background of gratitude.
CC BY by kevin dooley
What do I need, what do I want? All I need was given by the One whose coming I celebrate on December 25, the One whose birth was announced by angels with a song about “peace on earth, good will toward humankind.”
Settling into the energy of “enough,” I’m finding great peace.
One of the “Truth Focus Statements” I like to use when working on healing my “not enough” issues is: “I am enough. I have enough. I do enough. I know enough. There is enough.” I have added this to the Truth Focus Statements that are available here for free.
What Happens When You Hit Your Sixties
Posted by: | CommentsI wish someone had warned me about this. It would have made life easier for me when it happened.
That’s why I’m warning you now. I really didn’t want to write this post. (What woman wants to reveal her age?) Yet I felt compelled to, because it’s really important.
Something happens when you hit your sixties.
If you’re in your sixties (or beyond), you will probably nod your head and feel validated. I’ve talked to many of my friends and clients in this age group and they all say, “Yes! That’s how it is.”
If you’re younger, you will have been warned, as I wish someone had warned me. I’m hoping you’ll take to heart what I’m about to say, because it will make your sixties much easier when you do get there. The rumblings do start earlier–late forties and fifties.
So what it is that happens when you hit your sixties?
Simply this: All your prior coping mechanisms quit working.
Whatever you were doing that made life work for you suddenly–doesn’t.work.anymore.
For instance, if you depended on multitasking to get things done–you find you can’t multitask anymore.
If you dealt with emotions by pushing them down and moving on–that won’t work anymore either.
If you skimped on sleep and got by–you can’t do that anymore. Your body will start malfunctioning one way or another (sleep affects so much).
If you got along fine without God or religion, OR if you were comfortable in your spiritual practices and religious beliefs–suddenly you may find yourself either adrift, or questioning the very beliefs that heretofore held your life together.
If you feel like your body starts to fall apart in your sixties, I offer this thought: maybe that’s just an outward manifestation of what’s happening inwardly . . . the coping mechanisms fall apart, then the body follows suit.
What is actually happening, I believe, is that in one’s sixties, ANY unprocessed “heart issues” surface, in any number of forms, including physical ailments.
Not only that, but even the heart issues you thought you healed, if not healed entirely, will resurface and demand to be healed at a deeper level.
This may especially apply to Highly Sensitive People, who possess the traits of depth of processing (the pain and trauma go deep), and also emotional reactivity (the original emotions were strong). Unless a heart issue is healed completely, I can almost guarantee it will pop up again in your sixties.
And then, you will have to find a new way to deal with it, if you’ve just been coping rather than truly healing it.
I think it’s actually the spirit/body’s wisdom that makes all this happen. Your spirit and body want you to be healthy, to heal. The body knows that unless all the heart issues are thoroughly processed, that negative energy will compromise the body.
And Body does not want that at all. Body will send you messages. Body will prevent Soul’s former coping mechanisms from continuing to work.
Also, this is your spirit calling you to a much deeper level of being. It is your True Self calling. She/he may have been trying to get through all these years prior, but you were too busy to listen.
Too busy learning how life works and, perhaps, figuring out how to survive in a dysfunctional situation (growing up years).
Too busy figuring out who you were, what you were going to be when you grew up (adolescence).
Too busy building a career, raising a family (adult years until middle age).
Too busy ignoring the rumblings of your spirit and the messages from your body–and the disappointment of dashed dreams (we all have them by middle age).
Now, you’re in your sixties, and your body is screaming, your spirit is screaming: IT’S TIME!
This time you have to listen.
It’s literally a life or death matter. If you don’t listen NOW, two things will happen.
Your spirit will quietly sigh, and slowly withdraw. (Is this what aging really is?)
When the spirit withdraws, your body will give up. It is the spirit that gives life.
If you’re in your sixties, likely you know what I’m talking about. If you’re not yet there, look within. Can you honestly say you haven’t heard the rumblings of spirit and/or body, trying to send you messages?
Listen to what Body is saying; it will send clues. Example: for months I’ve had an itch in the middle of my back. The dermatologist said it was not a skin issue, but a neurological issue. A kinesiologist said my body didn’t agree with the doctor.
A business coach said that a sign you’re being called to something bigger is when you get the ITCH–when part of you just knows it’s time to go deeper.
My spirit lit up with the AHA when I heard that. My body sighed in relief. “She finally got the message.” That ITCH was about my calling to a new plane of spiritual healing and direction. When I recognized that–the itch went away!
What messages are your body and spirit attempting to give to you? Pay attention. Turn up the volume and really listen.
You are being called to finally shed the blocks to your true destiny. May you heed the call. Preferably NOW. Whatever your age, it will shorten the time spent avoiding, and lengthen the time living out, your destiny.
And if you would like help identifying what your spirit/body is trying to tell you, coaching will really help! HealingCodesCoaching.com
Train Your Brain Away from Pain
Posted by: | CommentsPosture and movement specialist Sukie Baxter was interviewed by Julie Bjelland for Julie’s Sensitive Empowerment group, and I thought what Sukie said about pain was fascinating.
Sukie said if you are not in touch with your body and attuned to its signals, your nervous system can develop a sort of tunnel vision that begins to only recognize pain signals. That then pulls you into a negative loop, where the pain activates the Sympathetic Nervous System (fight/flight/freeze) response), which then makes the pain more pronounced, so that you focus even more on the pain–and so the negative loop goes.
What is the way out? Read More→
3 Lessons from Clients from All Over the World
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Tonight I met with my first client from China to do a Coach-Guided Healing Code.
It got me to thinking about the hundreds of clients I’ve worked with over the past 9 years of being a certified Healing Codes Coach-Practitioner, and what I’ve learned and observed.
First, I have the most wonderful clients in the world. Surprisingly, the vast majority of my clients are also Highly Sensitive. It’s surprising only because Highly Sensitive People only make up around 20% of the population, yet they comprise at least 80% of my clients. Perhaps it’s because The Healing Codes are so attractive to HSPs. It is a gentle process that involves meditation–an approach well-suited to HSPs.
With only one exception (more on that below), all of my clients are remarkably motivated to heal. Many of them have had overwhelming obstacles to overcome–abuse of all kinds, tremendous health challenges, financial hardships, and difficult relationship issues.
Yet they are not giving up! They are not victims. And, because of their commitment to their own healing, they do overcome. Many have dramatic breakthroughs.
These clients bolster my faith in the human spirit. Most people do want to be healthy and happy. God put that desire into us, and I believe he works with us to bring that about. With that commitment and help from God, it’s amazing how much people can overcome.
The one exception? A client with ALS whose doctor brought him to me as a last resort. The doctor warned me that she had little hope of his recovering, and soon I learned why. The man was completely devoid of love for anyone, including himself. I think we got through two sessions. I doubt he ever did his custom codes. He died of his illness within a few weeks of when I talked to him. His doctor said she wasn’t surprised, but had hoped that something could break through to him. Without his commitment to himself, however, no help could get through. Read More→
Your Personal Trainer for the Brain
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I recently attended Julie Bjelland’s class, “7 Steps to Embody the Gifts of Your Sensitivity” and I have to say, it has caused some major positive shifts in me.
Rarely has anything had this kind of effect on me so quickly. Putting into practice just a couple of Julie’s suggestions has also helped my husband (who is also Highly Sensitive). So I just have to tell you about this.
Julie calls herself a “personal trainer for the brain,” and it’s refreshing to see her science-based approach. In the first class, Julie explained how the HSP’s brain is different (more activity in amygdala and insula, which is why we process things so deeply, feel and perceive everything), and how to activate the calming centers in the brain.
She gave us very specific but easy things to do to “drain the container” of all we take in–which is much more than non-HSPs. She explained why we need to process our experiences, how to do that–and what will happen if we don’t. Read More→
Pivotal Memories
Posted by: | CommentsPeople often ask me what kinds of memories to start with to get the fastest, deepest healing.
I always look for the “fractal memories”–those memories in which the core beliefs/feelings will repeat themselves and branch out to affect your life in all kinds of ways afterward. Heal these, and the ripple effects of healing begin effortlessly to penetrate into all the areas of life affected by that memory.
In another post I talked about foundational memories. They are one kind of important fractal memory.
Another kind of fractal memory is what I call a pivotal memory. This would be a memory, usually conscious, that changed the course of your life. Something happened and you came to believe something about yourself that forever after influenced your life. Such memories can form your identity–for better or worse.
On the “better side,” pivotal memories can be quite positive. One important pivotal memory that shaped my entire future happened in college, when I fell in love with publishing. I was always a bibliophile and a writer, and the field fascinated me, so I decided I would major in English, but not teach. I would make a career in publishing.
Everyone told me, “It’s practically impossible to break into publishing.” Especially since I didn’t know anyone, even by the time I was a senior in college. Also, this was at a time when people with PhDs in English were driving taxi cabs. Read More→
Find and Heal “The Keywords to Your Heart”
Posted by: | CommentsIn my coaching, as I listen to clients tell me what’s bothering them most (the starting point for finding heart issues), I want to find the deepest issue their heart is ready to heal at this point in their healing journey.
I’m listening for what I think of as “the keywords to the heart.” These are words that have the most energy, that seem to encapsulate the essence of the heart issue.
When you put these “keywords” into your prayer of intention, your heart, like a search engine, will come up with the memories that need to be healed.
Your “keywords to your heart” could be one or more feelings. Or a phrase (see below for an example).
It could include one or more beliefs. Or a relationship. Or a harmful action–something they’re doing to numb the pain.
Or–all 4! In fact, I call these four areas the 4-part program: feelings, beliefs, relational context, and harmful actions. Most issues have at least three of these elements (not all issues have the Harmful Actions component).
If you want to speed your healing: Read More→
THE Key to Healing Code Results
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If there is ONE THING I can point to that will make the most difference in healing, it’s this: consistency.
I often say, doing Healing Codes or practicing healing prayer (the two approaches I’ve found to be most effective for healing) is more like taking vitamins than taking an antibiotic.
An antibiotic is specific to addressing one kind of ailment–infection–and it can knock the infection out in usually 14 days. Then you don’t have to take it anymore.
Vitamins you need every day, because every day your body uses them up.
You need to address heart issues daily because of . . .
The Stockpile Effect
Heart issues don’t just add up, one on top of another. When you’ve experienced a trauma, your body, soul and spirit record it. (Note: a trauma could be anything from the famous “Popsicle memories” mentioned in The Healing Code, to childhood emotional neglect and the absence of nurturing, to outright abuse.)
That’s not the end of it, though. Whenever something happens to you that’s like the original trauma, the negativity of the memory is intensified and compounded.
Thus you go through life, stockpiling, magnifying and compounding the pain of the original memory–often unconsciously.
When you interrupt that process with The Healing Codes or healing prayer, that’s a good start. But if you spent the better part of your life building on these negative memories, it’s going to take consistent, persistent effort to heal it all the way down.
You will be peeling an onion, layer after layer.
Surprising Results
The beautiful thing about the process, though, is results don’t come only when you have peeled all the layers of that onion. No, results often come quickly, often in surprising and unexpected ways. Read More→
How to Heal and Process an Emotion
Posted by: | CommentsHave you ever wondered what emotions are good for, anyway?
And what happens when you refuse to deal with an emotion?
Let’s say you feel sad about something, now. Growing up, if you showed sadness or cried, it made your parents feel uncomfortable. Feeling sad made you bad for making them feel uncomfortable. (You can substitute any other feeling you “weren’t allowed” to feel.)
If you were male and you cried, you may have been told, one way or another, to toughen up.
If you grew up this way, what are you likely to do with that present sad feeling?
If you let yourself feel it, you might find guilt being added to it (because when you felt sad in childhood and other people didn’t like it, you came to believe your feeling sad made someone else feel bad). Or shame (“I’m bad for feeling sad and causing a problem for someone else”). Read More→
