I was chatting with a client today and realized something I wanted to share with you.  Sometimes in our self-healing, we are hoping that a treatment we are using will help us heal, without having to become too personally involved. That’s what we are used to when we take allopathic medications. It can happen with other treatments. But if we leave it all up to the treatments, we are missing our opportunity. And the process may be slower than we would like.

Healing is a journey to your self-awareness. If you aren’t using it as an opportunity to discover your true nature, abilities and spiritual talents, you are missing out on its potential gift.

We think of healing as a nuisance, keeping us away from what we really want to do. But what if healing is the thing our subconscious mind/higher self wants us to do? What if the healing is the doorway to our self-realization? Then we are missing out, aren’t we? In my experience, getting involved is when the real healing started happening. That’s why I talk about a person’s spiritual gifts when I do a healing reading. I know you need to be deeply involved, discovering the power of who you really are as well as your true potential as a human being.

Many of us struggle when we engage our energetic healing gifts for our own healing. We come up against perceived barriers or limits, where our beliefs seem to stop us.

Part of you may believe you really can influence your healing. Perhaps another part of you isn’t so sure. Here’s something you can do to encourage yourself through any doubts.

Imagine a time in your life when you wanted to learn something new, and you did in fact succeed. A part of you was probably scared and wondered if you could really do it. Perhaps another part of you was really excited about the potential.

Allow yourself to remember how you coached yourself to keep going. What did it feel like when you finally succeeded? I remember the first time I put snow skis on. There were kids zipping by me on the bunny-hill, while I was still trying to figure out how to remain upright. I was nervous, embarrassed, wondered if I would ever learn how to do it, and almost gave up a couple of times.

But I told myself if the kids could learn how to do it, so could I, and it looked like so much darned fun. I would just have to live with my embarrassment and get on with it. I persevered until I got it and glided blissfully down the slope. The challenge with healing some parts of our bodies is that we can’t see what is going on.

It truly requires faith to know that what you have intended is actually happening. In a sense, you have to decide your dedicated practice is making progress in your healing. Here’s the deal. It’s happening, the same way I learned to ski. Healing is happening as I’m learning how to do it. In the same way skiing was happening as I was learning how to do it.

If you aren’t used to using your spiritual gifts, it is going to take some practice and lots of repetition. Some days you’ll heal more than others, just like some days I spent more time upright on my skis than others. Yet, each day I experienced even a little success, I felt great.

May I suggest that you find a story from your past—one in which you learned something new and succeeded. Before you use a Sound Healing CD, do Reiki, begin doing your light work or taking your herbs, remember your success story and FEEL the success.

Then tell the cells of your body that’s what you and they are doing together—feeling the success of a body that is completely well. Then practice away!

This question came from one of our readers, and I think it is a really significant question to be asking. Limiting beliefs are often hidden from our view, so how are you supposed to do something about them if you don’t know what they are and how to find them.

Before you go looking for your limiting beliefs, let’s consider why they exist in the first place. In order to experience life on earth, we have to do so within limits. Without limits, you wouldn’t know if you are a human or a tree. There are great mystical experiences in which you can transcend those limits, remembering that we are one with everything. While those mystical moments are wonderful, so are the experiences of our limits.

Limits create definition so that we can interact with each other. That can be great fun. For example it feels really good to kiss someone. It can also be painful. It can really hurt when you bump into someone. Limits in and of themselves aren’t good or bad. They are simply necessary for experiencing life on earth. In fact, limits can help you to feel safe and that is how many limits are created.

For example, when you were a child you were probably taught that when you cross major intersections on foot, you should do so with the lights. That limit was set so that you would be safe, and it is probably ingrained in your conscious and subconscious mind.

Now let’s say that your daughter or granddaughter just ran out into the street against traffic. I would bet that you aren’t going to think very hard about whether or not you should run out into the street to get her. You might run out to get her without stopping, looking for cars, or even thinking about it. You might very well break through your own limit of restraint and cross against the lights in order to protect her.

However, except in an emergency, you might find that your conditioning to cross with the lights is so strong that you have to consciously break that childhood limit. Let’s say the street is blocked off so you can cross at any time, with or against the lights. You might find it challenging to “break the law that is in your mind.”

When we get stuck because of a limit, some part of us knows we are going to have to go against what may have been keeping us safe in some way. Now the limit creates more danger than safety and we have to recondition ourselves. There can be a lot of internal resistance to that new conditioning, so a part of our subconscious mind keeps the belief hidden.

If you really want to get to those limiting beliefs to set them free, here are some of my suggestions:

1)    Know that the limits were once set for a reason and it may have been a very good one—even a way to protect you;
2)    Be willing to dive into your subconscious realms where those beliefs live;
3)    Be willing to acknowledge that the belief might still serve you in the right time and places; and
4)    Know that changing old beliefs requires risk, and consider if you are willing to give new (reframed) beliefs a real chance.

In my book, The Root of All Healing, I talk about some different ways to help you get to your deepest beliefs, feelings and truths—where those limits live. If you don’t have a copy, you can get one here.

I recommend reading Chapter One where you learn how to become a deeper observer of your own life. You’ll discover how to look at your reactions from a broader perspective. You’ll also read some stories about how quieting your mind can help you uncover your subconscious motivators and limiting beliefs.

In Chapter Three, we explore creativity. Creative activity helps your subconscious perspectives rise to the surface where they can be noticed and interpreted in terms of your life, motivators and choices.

Chapter Five focuses on getting to those deeper truths by learning how to ask questions that will get you there. I especially recommend pages 78-79, where I specifically address limiting beliefs and the problems with over-riding them rather than address them.

In Chapter Four on pages 48-50 I share a personal story in which I used my feelings as a doorway to greater self-understanding. Like me, your feelings are doorways to your subconscious mind and deserve your respect in your healing process.

In Chapter Two on page 24-25, I talk about how trance states can play a significant role in helping you accept new beliefs about your healing. What I don’t mention in the book that is also true is that trance states can also help you get to what you really believe and recognize the limits that may be causing you harm now.

In addition to the book, I recommend downloading a copy of my free report: Beating the Odds: 10 Beliefs That Can Short-Circuit Your Healing. Something there just might trigger an insight for you.

You can bring your limiting beliefs into view. If you are willing to meet them with your compassion and understanding, they are more likely to rise to the surface of your consciousness and allow you to reframe them in ways that will be more helpful to you in your self-healing journey.