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We are very pleased to welcome Chrissie Blaze to
SoulfulLiving.com as our newest monthly columnist!
Each month, Chrissie will share one of her Eight Steps
to Inner Fitness from her book, "Workout for the Soul."
Step 6 - Building a Bridge to Your Soul
We will now examine the importance of faith in our
lives. Some people find it difficult to have faith in
themselves, in external things or even in a higher
power. These people may pride themselves on being
realists. While realism is a good thing, this word may
be used to hide a fear of reaching beyond what can be
seen and touched. Some so-called realists experience
more obstacles and anxieties than those who have
boundless faith and optimism, because they have a
limited view of reality that can only offer further
limitation.
When people say they have no faith in God, or a
higher power, it is because they cling to transient
things and these form their reality. By its very nature,
confusion and limitation must result. It seems logical
that when one looks upwards at the planets and the
stars; outwards at the beauty of Nature and inwards at
the rich resources of our soul, that there is a creator
and higher power behind it all, very much greater than
we are. Faith is not an empty thing; it is born from
humility, awe and wonder at the perfection of creation;
it is a stage after belief and an essential stage before
wisdom and enlightenment.
Faith requires us to listen to our intuition or to
the wisdom of those whom we trust, such as a proven
teacher. This demands discrimination and study, as well
as open-mindedness on our part. It requires that we
first take the "leap of faith" to which
scientists refer and then, if all the ingredients are
there, glimpses of a higher reality will be shown to
you. One of the aims of this Workout for the Soul is
to strengthen your faith and make you more aware of a
higher reality. The more it is practiced,
the more these glimpses will become a reality and
greater faith will be born.
The benefits of faith are enormous. Unlike doubt,
which erodes and is destructive, faith regenerates. It
is constructive in nature and through faith you can draw
upon your inner strength and power in a balanced way. By
having faith in the divine source within all life, you
can help build strength in others.
For the next 24 hours, practice having faith in the
divinity within. Say only positive things about yourself
as well as about everything and everyone you meet.
Continue this for three days. Watch everything you say
and if you fall into bad habits, note down what you said
and its effects. At the end of the three days, return to
your former ways and watch the results. After several
days of only saying positive things, you may find the
approach you had before now seems negative and
destructive. Try it for yourself! Treat this as an
exercise of discipline for a few days and you may be
surprised at how your perception of "reality"
changes. You may also be surprised when you become more
self-conscious of how much your words affect yourself
and others.
You are all aware of the power and creativity of
positive thinking. You have all heard stories about
people beating unbelievable odds through the sheer power
of their will and positive thinking. This is something
we can all do through the technique of affirmation.
When you affirm negative things you are programming
the subconscious mind in the wrong way. The subconscious
mind governs all bodily functions and if you constantly
tell it that you are getting older and sicker, then it
will obediently carry out your instructions by making
you older and sicker. The sub-conscious mind does not
reason; it just obeys. It is extremely brilliant but it
is not creative in that it just obeys what we tell it to
do.
If you are an anxious type of person it is difficult
to stop worrying. It is extremely difficult to change
your negative thought pattern just by a sheer act of
will, more difficult than stopping an ingrained habit
such as smoking. The best thing is not to try and stop,
but to slowly introduce affirmations into your daily
routine. These will have a ripple effect on your thought
patterns and you will gradually find that the motion of
the affirmation will literally knock your thoughts and
words into better shape.
Many people teach affirmations and you may already be
repeating some. However, remember you should never lie
to yourself and the reason for this is simple. If you
tell yourself a lie, your obedient servant - the
subconscious mind - will try and program the lie; this
will cause confusion and eventually your circuits will
break down! If you are sick, don’t tell yourself you
are healthy. Instead, repeat an affirmation like this
famous one by Emile Coue:
Every day in every way I am getting
better and better and better.
Although very simple, this is a brilliant affirmation
that can be used safely and successfully by every
person. Why? Because by repeating this you will never
lie to yourself. You are not saying "I am
completely well", instead you are informing your
subconscious mind of your positive intentions to become
better and are programming it to carry out this
instruction. You are assisting your body in its natural
healing process. Also, you are working to improve every
part of you– your mental and spiritual aspects as well
as your physical health. Finally, this affirmation has a
dynamic and powerful rhythm that will help to drive it
into your subconscious mind.
Also, you have to work along with your
affirmations. I know people who think that if they are
affirming something then that is the only course of
action they need to take. It would not make sense to
affirm that your financial situation is getting better
if you stopped working and instead went on endless
shopping sprees! Affirmations will work for you; they
will become a part of you, and then it is up to you to
prove that you really mean them, by acting upon what you
are affirming. In other words, we should not be
hypocrites.
It is always better to affirm positive changes within
yourself rather than requesting that positive things
happen to you involving others. The main thing in life
is not that we have this relationship or another; it is
not that we have this job or that college education. The
main thing for each of us is that we unfold our own
unique destiny in the way that is right for us. When we
achieve this all the right experiences, all the good
things and people that are meant to come into our life
will come in the way they are meant to come in order to
give us the experiences we need.
If you want to select only one affirmation to use
in your life, then I would suggest the following. It is
totally true and totally spiritual. It is the most
positive thing you could possibly affirm and will bring
you growth, advancement and expansion.
"I am the Divine Presence which is creating
perfection throughout my whole life."
This really is the ultimate affirmation and one of
the best times to use it, apart from during your Workout
for the Soul, is when you are lying in bed at night
at that point just before you drop off to sleep.
Although your conscious mind rests while you sleep, your
subconscious mind never rests. This wonderful aspect of
mind continues to perform its magic.
The benefits of positive thinking are widely
known. Like faith, this brings hope, optimism,
confidence, joy, enthusiasm and all those positive,
constructive qualities that are indications of inner
fitness and spiritual growth. Why is this so?
It is because thought has tremendous power. While
light travels at 186,000 miles per second, thought
travels instantaneously. Thought is very fine in nature
but is extremely powerful. It can transform us or bring
us down. Every time we think, our thought impulses are
conveyed to the cells of our body and every time we
suffer doubt, confusion or negativity our cells become
weaker. This is why in eastern philosophy it is said
that our physical body is an outer manifestation of our
thoughts.
Once we understand how deeply our own thought
patterns affect us, the next step is to learn to control
them. As we have learned in this series, we can clarify
and focus them through concentration; give them
direction through use of our will; purify them through
affirmation; uplift them through samyama, noble thinking
and the study of truth. Then our thoughts become clear
and forceful and our greatest friends; slowly but surely
the soul, or higher mind, will gain control of our
thoughts and our lives. Then, we will no longer be blown
like feathers in the winds of change; we will no longer
be distracted by the whims of others; by our own doubts
and confusion. Then we will be reborn and the butterfly
will emerge from the chrysalis of our former self.
It is at the point where our thoughts are noble, born
from the higher mind, that character is built. All the
people throughout our past and present history, who have
moved and inspired us, had character. It shone through
their personality as strength, conviction, honor and
integrity. Character is the determining factor in
victory. Once character is born then we can add to our
noble thoughts, noble acts of kindness, courtesy and
consideration to others. Then charm is added to
character and this magical combination will attract to
itself all the tools it needs on the journey to our
destiny.
Read
Chrissie's Introductory Article, "Workout for the Soul."
Read
the Introduction, "The Eternal Quest."
Read
Step 1 - "Preparing Your Temple."
Read
Step 2 - "Refreshing the Soul."
Read
Step 3 - "Harmonizing with the Breath of Life."
Read
Step 4 - "Awakening Your Creative Powers."
Read
Step 5 - "The Mystic Practices of the Ancients"
© Copyright Chrissie Blaze.
Excerpted from "Workout for the Soul: 8 Steps to
Inner Fitness," published by AsLan
Publishing, Inc., November 2001.
| "It is
not necessary for man to fear man, or country to fear
country. If there were one single country upon
this Earth today which strictly adhered to the teachings
of Jesus, Buddha, Sri Krishna, or to any other true
Cosmic teachings which have been given to Earth, that
country would not only stand alone, would not only
outshine every country in the world, but could be
completely fearless in its dealings with every other
country throughout the Earth." – Dr. George King ©
2002 The Aetherius Society. Excerpted from The Nine
Freedoms by Dr. George King, published by The
Aetherius Press, Los Angeles. All
rights reserved. No publication in whole or part can be
done without written permission from The Aetherius
Society.For further information, contact The Aetherius
Society, www.aetherius.org
or telephone (323) 465 9652. For a brief biography of
Dr. George King visit www.chrissieblaze.com. |
Chrissie Blaze, a teacher, author, astrologer,
media personality and senior Aetherius Church minister
was a close student of Dr. George King (Yoga Master and
founder of The Aetherius Society) for 25 years. Chrissie
Blaze has written books including Workout for the
Soul: Eight Steps to Inner Fitness, AsLan
Publishing, Inc., November, 2001, Mercury Retrograde:
Your Survival Guide to Astrology’s Most Precarious
Times of the Year, Warner Books, Inc., April, 2002,
and The Baby’s Astrologer: Your Guide to Good
Parenting Is In the Stars, Warner Books, Inc., 2003
publication. For further information and details of
classes and workshops in the Los Angeles area, please
visit www.chrissieblaze.com.
Tel: (323) 252 6391 (voicemail) or (323) 465 9652.
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