There are different kinds of healing - healing of heart, healing of body, healing of spirit. When we are physically ill, we seek the assistance of a medical practitioner. When we hurt emotionally, we seek the help of a pastoral or psychology counselor. But some healing must come from within - healing is a form of spiritual growth. This is the healing we will be working with today.

We will be working with what is called 'spiritual exercises', a form of visualization that helps to improve your spiritual stamina and increase spiritual muscle mass. Much like body builders perform reps to outsize their musculature into a more pleasing form in their eyes, we will be performing spiritual exercises to stretch our horizon and increase our spiritual growth. Not only will this make us more pleasing to ourselves, it will make us see the world in a more pleasant way in general because with growth, comes experience and vice versa. Gear up!

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One of the steps for self-mastery is discipline. Learning how to control our habits and learning how to say 'No" when necessary teaches us to face the very thing we find troubling. Self-discipline improve our self-esteem and raises our confidence level. By training ourselves to change something in ourselves that we do not like, we conquer that obstacle and are able to move on to the next one.

If you want to quit smoking, or lose weight, or drop a habit, self-discipline is the tool to help you achieve your goals.

Exercises for Self-Discipline

1. Writing for Self-Improvement.

Remember back in the day when many an evening ended with these two words - "Dear Diary" ? A diary was a place to bear your soul in intended privacy and always seemed to make you feel better. Why did keeping a diary work? Because we were able to express our problem, bring it out into the physical by writing it down. Once it was out on paper, we were able to face it and move on.

"Dear Diary" still works today, only we don't have to record it in a book to make this method work. All we need to do is type it on our computer and when we are finished, hit 'delete.'

Begin this exercise by writing a paragraph or two about what is bothering you, what it is that you want to change.

Next, write a paragraph or two about the possible ways you can effect this change.

If you are looking to quit smoking, you might write about how smoking gives you a sore throat, or how it leaves you short of breath in your beginning paragraphs. Then in your third and fourth paragraphs, you might list different ways you can quit, substitute things you can do, and perhaps different places you can go to seek help.

If you are having a problem with someone, you might begin by writing down some of the things that the person has done to upset you.

Continue to write for about 15 minutes or more. The more you write, the more you may begin to feel the problem beginning to lift away from you.

You can do this exercise every time something happens that disturbs you, or when there is something you want to change. By performing this exercise you are learning to face your troubles head on.

When you are finished writing, you can just simply hit "delete", or if you have written it on paper, you can tear it up or run it through a paper shredder!

2. Put It In A Basket

When you have about 15 or 20 minute of quiet solitude during the day, or perhaps before you drift off to sleep, visualize a large basket made of tightly woven reeds. As you look in the basket, you notice that it is very deep and also very empty. Go through your emotional storage closet and begin to take out old dusty troubles and place them, one at a time, in the basket.

Remember that silver Honda that cut you off on the freeway last week? Put the Honda and its driver in the basket. How about your Great Aunt Betty's dog who chewed up your favorite purse. Put the dog into the basket. And, your son's mother in law who thinks you can never do anything right for her daughter ... oh my, in the basket she goes with her unpleasant attitude.

I think you get the idea. Remove your old hurts and angers from emotional storage and place them into the basket. When you think the basket is full, peek inside and visually see all your troubles. Wave good bye and close the basket.

This basket is set to automatically flush as soon as the lid is closed, and it will be empty and ready for your next emotional storage cleaning.

3. The Beautiful Brick Garden Wall

In this exercise you will be using visualization to change your troubling problems from dark, frightening obstacles to a beautiful garden wall designed perfectly to your liking.

Visualize your troubles and problems are cobblestones stacked haphazardly into an obstacle with no way over the top other than a very hard and difficult climb. You are going to imagine yourself organizing these cobblestones into a practical garden wall by taking each cobblestone and moving them into neat rows, one on top of each other Fill in between each row with compost and soil so all the stones fit neatly. Visualize a beautiful garden gate made of wooden planks held in place with a planks nailed in a 'Z' formation. Add your favorite plants, perhaps trailing ivy, wisteria, honeysuckle vine, rambling rose, strawberries. This is your garden wall, add whatever makes you happy.

This exercise is to help you grasp that not all problems are ugly, horrible, distasteful things that cause hurt and pain in our lives. Rather, each problem is a building block that helps us grow. When we organize our cobblestones (problems) into a functional garden wall, we are using our problems, rather than them using us. Our problems don't control us, we control them.

Have a new trouble or problem surface? No worries, just add a new row of cobblestones to your wall and decorate it. Don't hide your troubles, show them off in your visualization. You are teaching yourself to love even the troubling times in your life

You can go to this garden wall anytime you want. Its been said that when life gives you lemons, go make lemonade. Well, you can have that glass of tasty lemonade sitting on a bench in front of your beautiful garden wall.

Problem Solving

1. The Dinner Guests

One of the best times to solve problems is when we are at rest; our mind and heart is free to think and review. You can use this time to discuss your problems with your inner guides, your angels, Jesus or whomever it is you feel most close to in your life.

Visualize yourself sitting at a beautiful table with a linen table cloth, a floral arrangement in the center, a pitcher of ice water, china place settings, silverware, crystal goblets - a dinner table ready for guests.

Next, visualize your guest or guests arriving. Jesus enters and takes a seat, your inner guide enters and sits down, your grandmother, favorite aunt, best friend - this is your gathering and you may add whomever you feel comfortable.

Once your guests are seating, thank them all for accepting your invitation and proceed to tell them why you invited them -- to help you work out a problem you are having. Explain your problem in as good a detail as you can and when you are done, ask your guests how you can make your problem go from wrong to right.

Try to visualize your problem in three dimensions and ask your guests to help you look at it from every angle, top, sides, bottom. Talk it over and continue to ask questions. Eventually, it will become clear to you what it is that you need to do to make this problem go from wrong to right.. Listen to what you guests have to say. It may come to you in the form of a thought or even a voice ... but be still and listen.

When you are done discussing your problem. Thank you guests for coming and walk them to the door.

2. Are You The Pigeon Or The Statue?

In this visualization, you are in a park and see a tall statue on which a large number of pigeons have decided to roost upon. The statue is covered in pigeon doo, white and gray streaks dripping down in small dried rivulets. You sit on a bench across from the statue and look closer at the statue. Its face looks familiar, even behind the pigeon doo. You can make out the shape of the nose, the eyes, the curve of the chin and realize you are looking at a statue of yourself!

Puzzled, you look around and notice a man pushing a sanitation cart in your direction. You ask him if you can use some of his tools to clean the statue, and he graciously leaves the cart for your use.

You get out a large brush, gently shoo the pigeons away, and with some soapy water in the bucket, you begin to scrub away the pigeon doo. As you scrub, the statue begins to take on a new look, clean and refreshed. You notice that the more you scrub, the more the features on the statue resemble you! And, soon the statue begins to smile. You scrub harder, dipping the brush into the soapy water and with a little effort, all the pigeon doo is gone and you are looking at a beautiful, brand new YOU!

You look down from the statue pedestal and you see the man pushing the sanitation cart down the path away from you. With a little jump, you come down off the pedestal and walk quietly out of the park feeling wonderful.

In this visualization, the pigeons represent any number of problems we have created for ourselves. The doo left by the pigeons are the spin off problems made by the original problem. When we are coated in trouble, we are like statues, unable to move. By chasing away the pigeon and cleaning off all their doo, we are recreating a trouble free life for ourselves. Yes, the pigeons may come back, and yes when they return, so does their 'doo', but .. it may not be the same exact pigeons, and now .. we know how to get rid of them!

3. Let's Play Chess

Visualize a life size chess board. Imagine yourself looking at this life sized chess board from above, like you were hovering over it from space.

Now, imagine people, places, things -- situations in your life -- on the board. From this viewpoint, you can either move people around, put them farther away from you or closer to you. Or, you can move yourself away from them, if you choose.

You can do the same thing with problems, or situations. You can rearrange them around on the chess board until you see them as being in a spot that is comfortable for you. And you can move yourself away from things that you find disturbing or dysfunctional.

Use this exercise to help effect positive change in your life.

Exercises for Healing

1. The Light Orb

This is an exercise you can do when you are at rest, lying down or sitting, if you prefer. Choose a quite spot away from the noise of the day, if you can.

Imagine an orb of orange light pulsating above you. Look at its glow and feel its warmth as it sends pulsating healing waves across your body. Direct this pulsating, glowing orange orb to any area of your body that is hurting , diseased or afflicted in anyway. Feel the warmth as its pulsates the pain or disease out and away from you. Continue to direct this healing orange light at your troubled area for 10-15 minutes.

Then, visualize a soothing blue-white orb with a violet aura glowing above you. Now, direct this glowing blue-white-violet orb over and around that part of your body that was healed by the orange orb. This blue-white orb with a violet aura is a spiritual cleanser, soothing and calming to your spirit. You may direct this orb to the area above the eyes in the center of the forehead - your spiritual third eye - where it will soothe and calm your inner self. Do this for about 5 - 10 minutes

2. Ride the Rainbow Wave

In this exercise, you visualize a giant wave of pastel colors, white, gold, pink, green, blue, lavender, yellow - every color of the rainbow. You see this giant rainbow wave of color pulsating above you. A door opens up and a golden stairway descends down to your level.

You climb up the golden stairwell to the top and take a seat high on top of this giant, radiating rainbow.

Gently, you see and feel each pulsating wave as it reaches a crest and gently slopes down again. As you ride the rainbow wave, you are surrounded by healing light in all the colors of the rainbow. With each crest of the wave, you can feel any pain, soreness, tiredness, sadness, and disease slowly ebbing away. Continue to ride the pastel rainbow wave for 15 - 20 minutes.

Repeat as often as needed until you feel all the pain and disease has melted away from your body leaving you feeling refreshed and healed.

Please note: None of the above spiritual exercises are intended to cure or treat any dis-ease, although if you suffer from a serious health problem, these healing exercises will help put your mind at ease so you are better able to accept your chosen scientific or complimentary treatments. Use these exercises in compliment with love.

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Resources: Harold Klemp ©1993
©2006-2007 Barbara Delozier