How New Age Thinking Can Ruin Your Life

"Whatever you do, don’t think negative thoughts or you will bring them to life.”
Whenever I read this or hear someone say this I want to scream. First, I stop and question if that is true because, well, I’m human and if it is true, I’m screwed. Then, I let my intuitive and logical mind unite and remind me that, if that was the case, I would have been poisoned, stabbed, suffocated, burned to ashes, drowned, publically flogged or have been locked up in a padded room by now.

And since that hasn’t happened yet, I’m pretty sure that this “fact” can be re-categorized as an urban myth. As a rational minded mental health professional who is equally committed to her spiritually based mindset, this popular belief drives me even more nuts.

When someone tells you not to think negatively, it’s like saying, don’t think of the color red. Whatever you do, don’t do it. Don’t think of the color red. Block it out of your mind. Don’t do it! Are you doing it? Are you thinking of the color red? Why are you thinking of the color red?? I told you not to. Now your whole world is going to look red. And in your effort of making yourself feel better, you instead feel like a failure, beating yourself up because for the life you, you simply can not block red from your thoughts.  Which makes the red feel even brighter and stronger in your mind.

When we experience challenging moments in life, we are going to have negative thoughts. We are going to have sad thoughts and angry thoughts and fear filled thoughts. To tell ourselves we shouldn’t feel that way is a huge disservice and setback to our healing process.

Giving ourselves permission to feel and think how we are feeling in the moment is sooo important in the process of acceptance. To deny ourselves how we really feel is the act of stuffing our emotions down and that’s the kind of stuff that actually gets us in trouble. Those feelings want to come out. In those moments, they are asking to be heard, they want to be accepted and understood. And when we tell them they are wrong because we are uncomfortable with them, they grow even stronger to keep our attention.

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What Exactly is an Energy Healing and Who Needs One?

Years ago when I started dipping into the New Age world and energy therapy (which turns out, is not so new aged) I was very judgmental.  Although I was interested in learning new ways of thinking I also tended to believe anything other than what I already knew was hokey.  And by hokey, I mean I didn’t understand it and because of that, it made me uncomfortable.  I didn’t want to be one of “those” people who lived in what felt like an alternative reality and looked for answers outside of the mainstream way of life…you know, to suffer and push through frustrated and lost,  and become angry at myself for not being able to figure out why I couldn’t get balanced...mainstream.  I was too grounded in my personal reality to look outside of what I could touch and manipulate.  Yet, I was curious and enamored with those who spoke of living in faith and with ease. I really had no idea what those words meant either.  And the truth was, that hokey life kept following me around and had me questioning what it was all about.  So I asked.

And just as the faithful Genie of the Universe always provides us with wishes, the Genie also provides us with answers. Once I was willing to open my mind and release my judgment, my answers came pouring in.  Through various chance events, I was given one example and opportunity after another to learn and discover for myself what energy therapy was all about.  I started to learn through classes and practice and more classes and more practice and now, I know because I feel it and live it.  And from my learned perspective, I pass on my understanding to you.

It’s actually quite simple.  Our world is made of energy, as are we. Although our lives are pretty amazing in their makeup with our ability to transition, adapt and transform, we have many experiences which feel like they set us back along the way. 

For example, you are going along living your life, enjoying the moments that accompany you. Your river of life is flowing downstream at an easy pace and the little rocks and side brooks are interesting blips in your day, but you can typically easily wash over them or redirect yourself back to the main stream.  As your going along, experiences, like sadness from hearing bad news about a friend or family member, or getting lost on your way to someplace new and feeling nervous, anticipating an important meeting that feels like it can impact your career, getting in an argument with someone you love, worrying about your children and their safety, etc. are those little rocks and side streams. Most of us have decent defense mechanisms, skills and game plans to deal with the discomfort, but still, it slows down the flow of the river of life.  

Not only do we all experience the little rocks and side streams, but many of us bump into larger rocks and bigger streams which split our easy flow.  Choosing which direction to go is not always easy and sometimes we let our waters rest in a pool until we decide which way we want to move.  Life experiences like verbal abuse (both giving and receiving), consistent worrisome, depressive and hopeless thoughts and feelings of being stuck and not knowing which direction to go are all examples of these larger rocks, secondary streams and pools that really slow down our flow and our ability to move freely.  At times, our flow becomes so slow that it may even start to naturally create its own barriers and dams because we become so stagnant and unfiltered. 

This flow, our river of life, is our energy and its ability to move easily is essential in our everyday physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health.  When it becomes stuck we can experience feelings and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and anger.  Along with those emotional triggers come accompanying physical aches and pains and various ailments. If we don’t find ways to unblock our flow, we begin to stop living a life of comfort and ease and the quality of our lives diminish.

Of course, the goal is not to react when our flow becomes stuck, but to notice when it starts to slow down and we intuitively sense a need to change what we are doing or that we could use some help to get our feelings and emotions back into a comfortable balance. This is where energy therapy comes in.  Energy therapy, in whatever form it’s practiced, is meant to help open up the flow and get our groove back.

The healing modality I practice is Integrated Energy Therapy, using the vibration of angelic energy.  During a healing therapy session, I channel (allow the energy from the angels go through me to someone else) the energy flow to my client.  We then pull out old, stagnant energy that gets stuck or slowed in the energy field and integrate positive, empowerment energy back in to the energy field to get ourselves moving and kicking again.  I also read (sense and feel) the energy field for blocks and areas that need some attention and am very eager to tell my clients exactly what they may want to tweak to step out of the old thought and behavior patterns that have been created over time.  This is where my skills as a counselor come in to play the most because I have a great deal of experience and understanding in where these blocks come from (and probably too many suggestions on how to get through them).

We also tap into the soul star (our soul, higher self, inner world, etc) and re-energize the connection we have to ourselves. Once we clear the energy field, it’s so much easier to reconnect with ourselves and so very important!  It often gives us a clearer picture of who we are and why we are here living this life. 

(Click Here for a more in depth description of what Integrated Energy Therapy provides)

At the end of the session, the recipient feels relaxed, peaceful, clear headed and with an awareness that is either a reminder or a brand new way of looking at life and their patterns. Its then up to the client as to what they want to do with this information and awareness.  It’s actually quite awesome how good it feels to clear out our stuck energy and let the good stuff flow. So refreshing, invigorating and empowering!

Healing therapy sessions can be conducted in person or remotely over the phone and are typically an hour in length. The only thing you need to do is be ready to relax. That’s it. I actually love doing them remotely because then the client gets to be in their comfy clothes, in their own environment and without having to drive with a relaxed energy buzz afterwards! In truth, they don’t even have to be done over the phone, they can be done while we are doing other things, but there’s something to be said about taking the time to stop and relax and take care of ourselves while listening to someone tell us what is going on with us and our life, who sometimes haven’t even met us before! 

So who needs an energy healing? Anyone made up of energy! (Yes, even those you don't think are...)

There are many, many energy clearing/healing modalities out there. Many! So when you know it’s time to clear out the muck and get yourself flowing again, ask the Genie for some help and follow the direction it takes you. If you have more questions or would like more information, you can contact me at lynn@livingwithserendipity.com. Happy Healing!

Skeptic Turned Believer

As a young child, I watched way too many horror movies. Way too many. I was obsessed with scaring the crap out of myself.  I played on Ouji boards, followed my horoscope, attempted to do séances with friends and did reports on Witches, until I was so freaked out I couldn’t read anymore.  I remember reading once in my horoscope that I lost a parent at a relatively young age and that I liked the occult. Creepy and disturbingly true.

How did the stars seem to know so much about me?

My mother’s mental illness had her looking for solace anywhere and I was one of those objects of solace.  She would tell me of her deep sadness and I would say positive, encouraging things to her often. Most of the time, I had no idea what I was even talking about. I was in elementary school, I hadn’t learned too much about the world. Yet, she would always say I knew exactly what to say and when she asked how I knew, I would reply, without hesitation, that God told me to say it. Ain’t no big thang.

Looking back as an adult, with skeptical and questioning logic, I would say, “well, of course it was comforting. She was as depressed as it gets and I was young, hopefuland positive spewing whatever desperate ray of sunshine I could muster.”   But the truth is, I was far from hopeful and positive and not full of sunshine. I wrote one poem after another of darkness and misery, of sadness and anger, of living in a dark hole.  So what if, maybe, just maybe, God really was speaking through me to offer my desperate mother some sense of hope?  

My interest in the occult ended somewhere in adolescence after my mother died and was replaced with booze and numbing out any uncomfortable emotion.  If God had any chance of speaking through me, it was going to have to get through the layer of toxins I’d put in my body.

Somewhere in college, my beloved grandmother started talking to me about the afterlife and her spiritual beliefs and because I loved her so dearly and respected her so much, I jumped on board to the New Age train.  We traded books, talked of God, spirits, energy and strange, serendipitous events.  It was so fascinating and the more I learned, the more peaceful I felt.  Like the missing puzzle pieces were being handed directly to me.

The busyness of full time work, marriage and children distracted me from furthering my spiritual side and instead left me with lots and lots of anxiety.  Although I loved being married and being a mother and greatly enjoyed the work I did as a counselor, the pressure I put on myself to do even more was huge and the voids I felt were large and looming.  There were many whispers and opportunities for me to change my attitude and shake things up, but I tuned many of them out. After all, change is scary!

In the winter of 2013, I was in the darkest place of my life.  My marriage was ending and life as I knew it and dreamed it would be would never be the same.  Yet the entire time, I heard those whispers of support, encouragement of which direction to take and distinct ways to take care of myself. I began to meditate daily, withdrew from my everyday worries and spent months healing with my long time best friend I once married. It was both incredibly painful and incredibly rewarding. I began to understand myself and who I was and appreciate all I had to offer. I allowed my nonstop chatty mind to slow down so I could actually hear my inner thoughts and not just the babble that rambled all day. 

In the early Spring of 2013, I approached the hardest part of my new reality…the physical separation of my family. I dreaded it immensely and questioned myself daily.  It was at this point I was introduced to Integrated Energy Therapy, quite randomly I would add, at a holistic health fair I wasn’t even sure I’d go to.  But I was drawn to the table and the description of what the modality offered.  One empowerment session later and the warmth of the amazing woman who’d eventually be my teacher, and I was hooked. In my typical inquisitive fashion, I skipped receiving a full healing and chose to learn IET instead.  I was intrigued how this stuff worked! The first class was incredible, but wasn’t sure I needed to continue. In my also typical fashion, I questioned everything. Maybe I just needed a flavor…yet I continued to be intrigued.  I took the Intermediate class two weeks later. The class that changed my life.

A week before the classI was in court to officially announce my dissolving marriage. The following week my best friend purchased a house and moved out.  The night before the class I sobbed for hours. The morning of the class, I remember standing in the shower willing myself to move. I don’t recall ever being so depressed. I just kept telling myself I had to get there. I forced myself to go.

I can’t say there was an exact moment or a lightening bolt or anything, but the healings I gave and received that day altered me forever.  My natural skeptic wanted to believe there was something to this energy stuff, but I couldn’t see it, I couldn’t rationalize it, I just had to hope it was true. I knew it made me feel good, but could that be enough?  I could tell you how I physically pulled an energy block out of my friend’s third eye (with lots of angelic help) or how I received “messages” that were loud and clear for me to share. But what made me a believer from that day forward was how I felt, right down to my soul. By the end of the class, my despondent self was long gone and an excited, energized over the top happy me talked my friend’s ear off the entire hour ride home. We still laugh at how I was seemingly on speed!

I have since been trained to become a Master Instructor with lots of fun angelic energy tricks and am able to teach the modality I’ve come to love and immensely respect.  I know, with the utmost confidence that we all benefit from opening ourselves up and allowing ourselves to heal.  And with that healing and trust, our lives can and will change for not the better, but the best! 

Looking back, I do believe that God, the Universe, the Angels, my guides, whatever you want to call that Divine help, played a role in helping me help my mother and every other person who comes to me for help.  I feel so fortunate, so grateful, so blessed to be able to share my gifts.  After all, they are meant to be shared!