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Psychology and Spirituality

I’ve been thinking a lot about the intersection of psychology and spirituality. I know the field of psychology has many facets, branches, and offshoots, so I’m not speaking about all of psychology, merely the approach with which I am most familiar. You probably know that I was raised by a psychologist and spent a lot of my youth in therapy. I appreciate greatly the help I received from the field of psychology and from psychologists. In fact, I’m considering studying psychology at a graduate level. And yet, when it comes to healing, I felt there was no talk or exploration, at least in my experience, of the aspect of my journey which healed me most of all – that of connecting to God and a spiritual...

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Home is in the Heart

As a storm prepares to hit my hometown, I’m reminded that home is not outside of us, but within us. When everything was taken away after Katrina, a storm my family survived but in which we lost much, I learned that lesson in the extreme. Never before had I been so grateful for my friends and family. Never before had I felt so close to all the people I had known growing up there, people I normally took for granted. Eventually, things evened back out, but obviously occurrences like these are not always predictable. Our world is full of unpredictable events such as wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and more. We can’t always know how our world will look tomorrow, but it if we are able to...

Reflections: Patience

Having patience can be so hard in healing, and so important. Trust that your time will come, and that your healing will come. Whatever it is that you’re waiting for, let yourself sit with it. Don’t distract yourself with substances and chemicals and shows and Twitter – let yourself sit and be. Whatever it is that you’re waiting for will come. If you could see from above, you would see how everything is interconnected and happening at the right time. I’ve had to learn to be patient, and when I could not see how things would ever work out, somehow they worked out just perfectly, eventually. Wishing you patience today.  ...

Reflections: Healing from the Center

Whether you are just beginning to heal, or are continuing on this journey, try to center yourself in your heart as much as possible. As I began healing, I did not know left from right or up from down. I did not know who I was or why I was here. It was important then, as always, for me to center myself in my heart, and to lead myself from there. It was the only truth in a world of untruths and unholy moments. Center yourself in your heart and you will be led to yourself. Center yourself in whatever urge you feel arising from your heart, and you will eventually find love. You were born to do this. You are beyond capable of healing....

Letting Yourself Change

When undertaking to follow your heart, you may feel called to change the outward circumstances of your life. You might be called to change a relationship or a job, or even where you live. You might feel compelled to change some friendships. It can seem hard to your mind to start showing up in a different way in the world, but if it is what your heart and soul is truly asking you for, making these changes will only result in more joy for you in the end. Some of the things I’ve felt compelled to change since beginning this journey include my occupation, my orientation to work, my relationships, and where I live. These changes have happened in varying ways over the years. When I...

Healing the Heart

Healing your heart starts with getting still and centered. Healing your heart is the path to the self and to joy. To heal the heart, begin by bringing awareness to your heart center. You will feel it with some attention and patience. There is your connection to God, and there you can feel great love once you’ve cleared the debris of your wounds. I used to have a great deal of anger and sadness in my heart center. At first, I was unaware that it was even there. But once I began healing in earnest, I focused my energy on trying to feel my heart. I knew at a base level that it was covered up with something. I felt my heart to be somewhat detached...

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Staying Present

My childhood trauma, my angry parents, and our dissociated society in general taught me as a young child that life was easier if I could protect myself. For me, that meant learning how to emotionally, mentally, and spiritually detach myself from the people and places around me. I began dissociating, removing myself and my consciousness from the world around me. Of course, no one except the very smart healers could see that I was living away from my body and acting out my daily life as if my body were a puppet. I felt very far away from it all. It made me feel safe and helped me get through my daily life. When I began to truly heal, I needed to learn how to...

Forgiving Small Slights

The people around us are only human. We are also only human! From time to time, people may say or do something hurtful, such as saying a harsh comment, forgetting to invite you to something, or any number of things. It’s ok to forgive them. In fact, it’s excellent to forgive them. Jesus said we should forgive others “70 times 7 times,” a symbolic number meaning endlessly. For much of my life I’ve been a silent grudge-holder, remembering many slights from others and secretly replaying them in my mind. That doesn’t lead anyone to love or peace or friendship, and only left me exhausted. Now, I’m working on just letting it go. I let it go because I love myself, and I am learning that nothing...

Doing What Makes You Happy

Move towards those things that bring you happiness. What brings a smile to your face? What brings you genuine joy in your heart? Find what makes you happy and do it. It doesn’t have to be amazing, big, or impressive. It can be something small. And while I believe it’s possible to create happiness within before you do anything outside of yourself, I also believe that certain things in your outer world will be a match for your heart, and will light you up in a way that feels uniquely happy to you. Growing into adulthood, I often judged the things that made me feel happiness, as if they weren’t important enough. I also didn’t value happiness or joy as something that mattered. I thought it...

Finding Joy Within

True joy cannot be found outside of yourself. You may find some happiness there, in the people or things around you, but it will not be lasting. People will change, things will go away, and you will be left again with yourself. For real, true joy, you must go within. Get still and awaken the flame in your heart. There joy is.  I used to put a lot of stock into how successful I could be. I thought if I made good grades and built a great resume, then I could be happy. I was always making plans for myself in a vain attempt to find happiness. Of course, I could not be happy that way. I still had healing to do. I learned to go...