Louise L Hay | from Science of Mind Magazine

Louise Hay was talking about the body mind connection long before many of the current stars in this field.  She is perhaps most famous for her ground-breaking list of correspondences between emotional patterns and physical conditions or symptoms.  She first published this list in her little blue book titled, Heal Your Body, and then included it in her 1984 book, You Can Heal Your Life.  You Can Heal Your Life has sold almost 40 million copies and no female author has sold that many copies of any one title ever.

That popularity gives you some idea of the brilliance and significance of Ms. Hay’s work.  And it gives you some idea why Science of Mind Magazine has voted Louise L Hay as their Spiritual Hero of 2009 in honor of all that she has done to “spread the message of personal empowerment and the New Thought philosophy.”  I encourage you to learn more about this amazing woman and why she is one of my heroes by reading the full article here.

I am really excited to be able to share with you the transformational philosophy of the body mind connection, using positive affirmations, forgiveness and love that Ms. Hay has brought to the world.  In the next few days I will be announcing the first of my programs for 2010, all designed to help you find that spark of your own Divine Light and live a happy life.

Many blessings,

Sharon

Fireworks | Copyright Zoran Nikolic

It’s the last day of 2009.  What do you want for 2010?  I want a happy life, to reap the harvest of all the good things I’ve set in motion this past year and this past decade.  I want you to have a happy life, to reap the harvest of all the good things you’ve set in motion this past year and this past decade.  How can we make this happen?

I just opened the Hay House Present Moments newsletter for January that was in my email box.  Louise Hay has a list of questions to ask ourselves that I think will help us take a review of where we’re at and how start to New Year’s Day 2010 so that we get what we really want.  Here are the questions:

What shall I now release from my life?
What or who no longer works for me?
What am I holding on to that holds me back?
What thoughts or beliefs belong to the old me?
How am I being unloving to myself?
Am I ready to let go?
What do I believe that really works for me?
What is going on in my life that is terrific and wonderful?
Where am I being very loving to myself?
Where am I most content?
Let me acknowledge myself for all the growth and change.
What do I want to bring to my life?
What do I want to create?
How do I want the next year to be?
Who do I want to bring into my world?
How do I want to look?
What image do I want to project?
How healthy do I want to be?
How prosperous do I want to feel?
How much love am I willing to experience?
What kind of world do I want to live in?
Where do I want my spirituality to go?

Then Louise suggests some wonderful positive affirmations for starting the year off right.  You could even turn saying these affirmations into your New Year’s Resolution:

I know that where I am is the totality of possibilities . . . not just a few possibilities, but the totality of all creation.
I am not limited by statistics, medical opinions, time, or authorities.
I am one with the infinite wisdom and capabilities of the Universe itself.
All good is available to me, right here and right now.
All I have to do is to use the power of my thoughts to create that which I desire. I know that. Now let me live it!

Have fun with these questions and affirmations.  And have fun this evening.  I’m off to spend it with dear friends.  We’ll ring in the New Year together with lots of love, laughter, hope and hugs.

I wish you all the very best of life in 2010, whatever that is for you.

Many blessings,

Sharon

If you would like to subscribe to the Hay House bi-monthly newsletter, click here.

Bok Sanctuary Path

I’ve been dancing to and fro with the call to do emotional healing work with others for several years now.  When I ask myself, “Who am I?  Why am I here?” I know the answer.  I would take a few steps toward it and then something would trip me up again.  Have you ever wanted something so much, knew that it was what you were meant to do, and you still couldn’t get started?

I used to lay a real guilt trip on myself for this.  However, I’ve learned that guilt truly serves no constructive purpose.  When you kick yourself to the ground, it can sometimes take more effort to pick yourself up than it would if someone else had given you the boot.  At least you can take an “I’ll show you” attitude when someone else has a go at you.  Self-forgiveness is not always easy.  If you are able to do it, without the self-judgment holding you back, it’s not so hard to start again.

Life, and the healing process, is a journey.  It’s not always clear where the twists and turns will take you.  As you look at this picture, you will see that the path keeps going although you don’t know where it’s headed or what’s around the next bend.  It used to scare me, the not knowing.  It’s taken me a while to get even a bit comfortable with that.

It used to frustrate me that, with all the studying I have done, I still had trouble getting on with my life.  I knew that what I wanted to share had value.  I knew that my own perspective of that work is helpful.  I could give you a list of qualities that others admire about me.  I could even list what I admire about myself.  And I still couldn’t seem to move forward.  Why?  Because I still focused on and felt guilty about all the ways I wasn’t perfect.  As I said, guilt doesn’t work.  It can paralyze you.  What works is love.  Louise Hay says that loving yourself means never ever criticizing yourself.  That isn’t a cop out.  It’s an honest recognition of your humanity.  This is an act of loving kindness toward yourself.  I went back to the basics of all the inner healing methods I’ve learned and started doing them consistently for myself.  That’s when I found my light.  Love is like a warm glow, a soft light that can brighten up the darkest places, melt the hardest feelings.

I have had plenty of help along my journey and I’m so grateful for that.  Many people have loved me and been more generous with me than I have often been with myself.  Without that mercy, I don’t know where I’d be.  There also came a time when I had to decide that, mostly, it was all up to me.  No matter what help was being offered, I had to choose to receive it.  No matter what guidance was being given, I had to choose to listen and act.  No matter how much love was being offered, I had to choose to wrap it around me and let it sink in.  Whenever I do, life is really good.

I’ve forgiven myself for all the past self-doubt, all the false starts, all of the resistance to living not up to but into who I am.  I’ve forgiven myself for not having all the answers.  I realized that no one does (if they tell you they do, run the other way).  I’m still on my journey (because I’m still alive).  Every time I have a hurt or a fear or an obstacle, if I’m willing to really look honestly at it, it’s an opportunity to heal, a blessed chance to discover another part of me that hasn’t come fully out of the dark and doesn’t feel my connection to the Divine Light.

That’s the work I’ve been doing for myself over the last several months.  Once I declared that I was ready to step forward and commit to working with others, I had more resistance pop up than at any other time in my life.  I know that it happened because I was on the verge of a breakthrough.  My Higher Self was telling me that it’s time for me get on with it and I had better get a few more things cleared up before I do.  It’s taken some patience with myself and I’ve given lots of hugs and kisses to my scared inner child selves to get through it.  And I let the people around me love me.  I believe them when they say it’s time for me, because I let me love myself.

2010 is almost upon us.  I’m working hard to put a solid foundation in place to make it easier for me to do what I was born to do.  It is going to be a bright, shiny new year for me and anyone else who wants it.  Are you ready to let yourself be loved?  Are you ready to love yourself?  Are you ready to come out of the dark and walk along the glittering path that the Divine has laid out for you?  I sure am.  If you are, say “YES!”  Then join the conversation here.  I would be honored to show you how I found my way, how I discovered where my light had been hiding.  Watch for new blog posts and for programs coming in January 2010.

Many blessings, and lots of love,

Sharon

Looking Away - Copyright Brian McEntire

There really is nothing wrong with being unhappy.  You just don’t want to get stuck there – that can lead to stress and depression and wreck your health.  When I’m not happy, I really let myself feel it, for just awhile (usually).  It really is normal to have feelings of pain, fear, disappointment, discomfort, heartbreak and sadness.  That is part of our human condition.  If we listen to the messages that our feelings are sending, if we let them get through instead of blocking them, we have the clues for how to get happy.

When I pay attention, I find myself grateful for the self-awareness, the realization that something is taking me out of my natural connection to the Divine.  It is the perfect opportunity to do a bit of digging to find out more about who I am and what would make me happy.  As nutty as it sounds, when you are allowing yourself to feel your deepest pain, you are just as alive and healthy as when you are feeling your greatest joy.

E-motions are energy in motion.  We are beings of energy and when any of our emotions are flowing through us we experience what it is to be alive.  If you can allow yourself to be a witness and get curious about what is at the root of your unhappiness, your world of opportunity expands.  When you try to ignore or suppress your pain, you block your energy.  When you are numb it is like being dead.  Your whole world, and your health, starts to shrink.

I’ve experienced that numbness.  Sometimes I tell myself that I just need a bit of a break so I can keep moving and get through whatever needs to be done.  When I let myself avoid my pain for too long, things really start to unravel.  I get stressed out easily, I start to get sick, opportunities dry up, I hide out, unfortunate “coincidences” happen.  My Higher Self gives me nudges to get on with it and deal with where I’ve gotten out of whack with who I really am.  Then I muster up a bit of courage and try to figure out why I’m so unhappy.  When I get to the bottom of it, I feel my sense of power returning, my light brightens again.  I see options opening up for me and gratitude flows through me.  Joy returns.

Feel all your emotions, listen to what they are trying to tell you, face them and follow where they are leading you.  Because all roads lead to who you really are.  The next time you feel unhappy, give yourself the gift of just being with that feeling.  Ask it what it wants you to know.  Ask, “Who Am I?  What do I want?  What could I do differently?”  Receive the blessing of self-awareness being offered.  Use the knowledge you gain to change your course.  Your light will shine again, until the next time something comes along to upset you.  Then you receive that gift and see what else you can find out about yourself.  This really is the secret of a happy life—using your unhappiness to lead you back to happiness again.

Many blessings,

Sharon

Beautiful Attitude

I’ve been aware of Louise Hay’s brilliant philosophy on the body mind connection for many years.  When I accepted my calling to resume this work (only this time to do it as my main work), I was a bit challenged by the word “heal” in the title of Louise’s book, You Can Heal Your Life.  My belief is that we are all perfect, whole and complete, just the way we are.  That means that there is absolutely nothing to “heal.”  To me, if you thought you had to heal something, that meant that you were starting with the premise that something about you was broken or not right or sufficient.  This did not fit for me and I really wanted to avoid any implications that there was something not quite right with those I would be guiding.

The dictionary definition of heal is “to make whole and healthy; to cure [a method of medical treatment]; to remedy, repair.”  I certainly don’t want to get into any tangles with the medical establishment that I’m treading in their territory.  And I certainly don’t want to look at any individual and define them by any condition that they may have.  Everyone is already whole.  Then I was led to a definition that resonates so strongly for me that I actually put the word healing in the name of my practice—Lightn-ing Bug Healing.

“To heal is to make happy.” ~ A Course In Miracles

Looked at through this lens, I now read the title of Louise’s book in my mind as “You Can Have a Happy Life.”  And that, of course, is precisely what Louise’s philosophy is all about.  Anything that appears to not be working in our lives is a result of covering over our perfection by adopting beliefs that make us unhappy and cause us stress.  This mental and emotional stress then becomes physical stress.  We’re not stepping on anyone’s toes here.  Any doctor will tell you that emotional stress negatively affects your health—at least when it comes to things like heart disease and cancer.  Most haven’t yet leaped as far as to see a connection between emotional stress and all dis-ease.  There are, however, many researchers and doctors who are now coming to understand the broad implications of the body and mind connection.

There are doctors who will now suggest to their patients that, along with their medical treatment, they try things like meditation, deep breathing exercises and yoga to calm their mind and reduce stress.  These can be very effective coping mechanisms, but they may not get to the root of the stress very quickly or at all.  That’s what I love about the work that I do.  Each of the modalities I work with have their own approach to helping clients be happy, to “find their light.”

I’ll be writing about what I’ve learned from the You Can Heal Your Life philosophy and finding lasting happiness for yourself.

I’m going to be sharing with you how Rebirthing Breathwork can bring joy and light to your life.  I’ll also share with you spiritual purification techniques as taught by Leonard Orr, the founder of the rebirthing movement.

I will also post some of the shamanic teachings brought from the Inka people to the West by Alberto Villoldo.  More light and happiness for you.

Whenever I’m prompted by my guides, I’ll make random posts.  My particular guides like to go on about what really matters in life and how to get happy.

Given the definition of healing as “to make happy,” not all healing will result in a full remission of physical symptoms (although I still hold to the possibility of that outcome).  Some illnesses may persist, but the person experiencing that condition can come to terms with it and live their life fully and in complete joy.  Others may make their transition and pass from this world—but their healing is to do it in peace and feeling totally loved.  We will never know another soul’s journey.  Very often, we don’t even know our own.  What counts is that we live in love, in peace, in happiness.  That is authentic healing, and what I wish for you:  love, joy and living your own true and happylife.

Many blessings,

Sharon

There’s a light inside me,
always there, shining bright.
It keeps me safe and warm,
even when it’s dark as night.

I breathe in Divine Light
and it keeps me glowing.
I see the Truth of me,
and feel an inner knowing.

I am Light, I am Love,
shining for all to see.
I spread my wings and fly.
I am blessed and I am Free.

WELCOME

Hello, I’m Sharon L Horstead, your Lightn-ing Bug. This blog is for you, providing ways for you to find your inner and Divine Spark. There are those who are committed to convincing you that these are dark and trying times.  But, I’m here to remind you of your Light.  If you can find that, if you can shine it, not only will you be able to light your own path, but your inner glow will remind others of their own.

SPARKED BY YOUR OWN DIVINE LIGHT

Spirit created us as beings of light. It can be easy for us to forget that in this 3D world. Actually, life is set up so that we do forget and our journey, the game we came to play, is to remember who we really are. If your light has dimmed, or even if you never knew it was there, you can find it inside. Your light never goes out, although you might benefit from a bit of help to expand it.

That’s what happened for me. I’ve had some amazing teachers and guides who have helped me rekindle my fire. They got me back on track when I couldn’t see where I was going. I feel priviledged to be able to share with you what has helped me.  We all deserve to know our divinity, our Truth, and feel free to fly wherever we want to go.

THE BLOG

Upcoming posts will expand on spiritual and healing concepts to help you find your light.  You will also learn more about the services I offer in Rebirthing Breathwork, Body Mind Healing workshops and coaching, and shamanic initiations. Call me at 403.827.3978 should you or your group like a little bit of help to to find the light.

In the meantime, close your eyes, take a few deep, slow breaths, and see if you can find your light. It’s there. I promise.

Many blessings,

Sharon