So your lower back hurts? Could this be because you have a fear of money? Of course! Well, here’s something to do about it. Repeat several times throughout the day:
“I trust the process of life. All I need is always taken care of. I am safe.”
But maybe it’s not the lower back. Could there be some other joint that’s bothering you? Joints signify changes in direction, after all. So if it’s some other joint that’s bumming you out, simply repeat:
“I easily flow with change. My life is divinely guided and I am always going in the right direction.”
Healing affirmations such as the ones above can be found in Louise L Hay’s fascinating book “Heal Your Body.” It’s a small but mighty dictionary of sorts. All you do is alphabetically look up your physical, emotional or psychological ailment (there are so many) and Hay has a concise, interesting take on a possible deeper source of the problem. She also has an affirmation to resolve it. Wow! From backaches to knee breaks, allergies to ovaries. 1, 2, 3 – Blissphemy!
Problem solved.
Now, you may be thinking this is all hogwash. But the concept of affirmations as effective tools in healing is an ancient phenomenon. Instructions on how to create positive thought processes are general precepts throughout many ancient spiritual texts. For example, China’s text of the “Tao Te Ching” of around 400 BCE, Chapter 56:
“Stop talking, meditate in silence, blunt your sharpness, release your worries, harmonize your inner light …”
And if you’re more of a science geek, well, there’s something here for you, too. Popular scientific studies in neuro-linguistic programming of the 1970s and 1980s used affirmations to reprogram the mind into healthier ways of being. These scientific studies continue today in further affirming the power of affirmations. Social work and numerous forms of psychotherapies have long considered affirmations effective therapeutic tools in healing an assortment of personal traumas.
Now back to Hay’s book. My neck happens to be hurting from an auto accident a few months ago. Chiropractic care, physical therapy, yoga and deep tissue massage all have been working wonders for my longer-than-expected healing journey, but let’s look up Hay’s take on this physical concern. Maybe she’ll have the key to speed this process up a bit.
Aha! Here it is, “Neck Problems” – alphabetized between “Near Sightedness” and “Nephritis.”
“Refusing to see other sides of the problem. Stubbornness, inflexibility.”
Hmmm … and I thought it was just the other car ramming into me. But, no, there’s so much more. Here’s my affirmation to work with:
“It is with flexibility and ease that I see all sides of an issue. There are endless ways of seeing things and doing things. I am safe.”
I’m on it!
If only I had started this affirmation before the other car came out of nowhere.
• Joan Budilovsky can be reached at editorial@kcchronicle.com or her Yoyoga.com website.