Spiritual Practices to Empower Abuse Survivors

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Abuse survivors may have a hard time believing in God or belonging to organized religion. Yet having a spiritual practice helps survivors heal. Explore practices that bring you a sense of hope and well-being.

1. Yoga. A yoga practice involves the whole body, mind, and spirit. Abuse experiences affect individuals at a cellular level. The yoga movements and positions help the body to heal at a cellular level. Practicing the deep breathing that is taught in yoga enables your whole body to receive a better supply of oxygen. At other times when flashbacks occur, doing deep breathing overcomes feelings of terror and empowers your body to move rather than to become frozen.

2. Praying. For me praying does not necessarily involve words. In fact, some of my most profound periods of praying are resting in the stillness of God's presence. One night when I was too scared to use my own words, and I was experiencing a flashback, I stilled my sense of terror by turning to the sacred presence. At such times, it matters not whether you actually sense the presence of the Holy One, only that you turn your focus there. To my surprise the words to the Lord's Prayer popped into my mind, but there was a difference. Word by word, phrase by phrase, with pauses in between, NEW WORDS, came. Similar experiences continued over a few years. All-in-all there were more than 75 prayers which were given to me by the Holy Spirit. These prayers profoundly influence my spirituality and my inner healing.

3. Meditate on sacred scripture. I find the Bible to be inspirational. I take a small passage and read slowly, several times, paying attention to which words draw my attention. I write the word or phrase in my journal. The following queries you may find helpful in responding to the scripture through writing in your journal: What is the author trying to say? What is the nature of God? What do you experience?

4. Participate in worship services. Do you need to find a worshipping community in which you feel comfortable? where you feel free to worship? Perhaps you will find this in your own faith tradition. Perhaps you need to look elsewhere.

5. Walk a labyrinth. A labyrinth is a winding path that circles into the center. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth has no dead ends. Compose yourself at the entrance to the labyrinth. What is your intention for walking into the sacred center? Do you have a question? a prayer? Do you want to walk, and see what comes to you. In the center, stop and sit down or kneel. Listen to the presence of God. You will know when it is time to leave, then walk out slowly being thankful for blessings. Remember afterwards to write in your journal.

6. Go to a spiritual retreat for survivors. There you will experience community. You will be given opportunities to experience guided meditation, prayer, and self-affirmation.

Abuse survivors who want to be spiritually empowered have many opportunities. In this article, I've only named a few. You will find that having a living spirituality will generate inner healing. I know because I'm an abuse survivor and my spirituality has saved my life.

Judy Brutz is author, spiritual director, retreat leader and speaker. She lives in Idaho with her family, and enjoys nature, knitting for peace, and volunteering. http://www.judybrutz.net

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Union With The Divine

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! Our concepts of God and our relationship with the Divine are not all identical. However, we all tend to share an essential idea that to raise our consciousness and contact with some greater life and light will help us experience greater spiritual Consciousness and through that contact become ourselves transformed and magnified in understanding.

If we entertain strong spiritual faith, it is natural to long for a heightened experience of consciousness in realisation and confirmation of our beliefs. If we are exploring, without any preconceptions, in order to discover spiritual realities, both inside ourselves and outside in the greater world, we look forward to every new sense of awareness of the subtleties of life that our developing sensitivity will permit.

It is an integral part of human nature to aspire to understand and to establish a conscious link with our Source. Some have experienced a supreme spiritual experience spontaneously, often in difficulties and often without any apparent stimulus. However, it is by use of our free will and by direct personal willingness in our attitude towards spiritual expansion that we can consciously direct our being toward the Power and Universal Intelligence of our Maker.

Some of us see the Divine as the Great Creative Fire, and consider ourselves as little sparks of that same element.... and are likely to experience accordingly....

"As from a glowing fire, kindred sparkles come forth thousand-fold,
So from the Eternal, manifold beings are born and return also." Manduka Upanishad

Others conceive God as the Divine Ocean of Life and themselves as a mere droplet of that same element of water, affirming the beautiful merging with that great element....

"The dewdrop slips into the shining sea...." Light of Asia - Sir Edwin Arnold

Some people consider themselves as part of all life which is manifest. To live in perfect harmony in the outwardly manifested natural world is their wish.

Others cherish the thought of spiritual brotherhood with all other human beings and long to experience unity of spirit in a sense of associated group identity.

Those who believe that the Divine is Supreme Love may yearn to identify themselves with this Greater love. In devotion they may seek to free themselves from the limitations of personal emotion to find a new identity as part of the eternal heartbeat of Divine and Infinite Love pervading all natural life.

We must give to others what we claim for ourselves - respect for spiritual matters and the essential privacy that is attendant to an individual's approach to this most important and sacred relationship with our Creator. We may differ in our chosen manner of spiritual communing, whether we choose to meditate alone or in group meditation, prayer, church service, or in religious rituals.

By whatever way we choose, meditation and prayer are inherent, helping us to arrive at a state of stillness and receptivity of both the body and the mind when we will be reminded that it is by an expansion of our Love that allows us to experience union of any kind, whether with fellow humans, with nature around us, or with the Divine.

Sally Janssen is a writer, and Yoga teacher well known both in Australia and abroad for her skill in demonstration of the Hatha Yoga practices and her wisdom in applying the principles of Raja Yoga -the study of the mind and consciousness. More details at http://www.essence-of-yoga.net
Her book "Mental Fitness: A Complete Self-help Guide" explains the principles of mental fitness that can be applied by us all. The book may be found here: http://www.mentalhealthandfitness.com/blog.

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Opportunities Are Boundless in the Physical and Spiritual World

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It would be fair to say that this message will apply to all of you, yet we already know that for those who need it the most, denial and resistance will be your mode of mentality. God created a universe with all the tools necessary for every person to feel radiant love. Opportunities are boundless. Love descends from all around, giving you a chance to feel absorbed in the very essence of His love for you.

That said, people will almost always fight their destiny. It is the hardest way to live a physical life. We say this because it leaves you sending a message of distrust to the Divine powers. You are saying that you would much rather stay in what feels comfortable to you, rather than to embrace and explore the newness of grandeur that Spirit wants to give you. Those who deny us are the ones who continue to stay entrenched in limiting patterns of behavior. You are held back by a fear of love and happiness, instead of motivating yourself to accept that some other way of living might be better then the current path you are following. Ultimately, you end up hurting yourself the most, but you also leave a wake of broken souls along the way. That sentence is not meant to make you feel guilty, but to get you to understand the truth within your own buried subconscious ideas and actions.

Spirit is your parachute to safe landings. Do you think we would send promising choices to you without staying around to help you through the uncomfortable times that your new journey might bring? Of course not! Like the invisible spring zephyrs that gently make the new flowers dance without trying, we also are doing our best to make your heart and soul dance. It is you who needs to step away from your overly analytical ways. Enjoy the life that others can instill in you. It is alright to make changes when you know you are not in a place you want to be. Let the Trinity be your tourist guide. At least give us the chance to show you how wonderful new things and people can be. Check your worries and fears at the door of God. Let us be the ones to take the burden from you.

You will always have choices in life. It is part of the human process; part of the Creation. Spirit only wants you to be honest with yourself in very deep levels. This is the way that you can absorb the miraculous feeling of being with someone or doing things that make you feel like you are in an enchanted storybook version of your own life. Stray away from all the excuses of why you cannot break the bonds that hold you back! If you were not meant to explore more of life, then new possibilities would not present themselves to you. Seek contentment as though it is warm robe made of angelic kisses. These are The Spoken Words of Spirit.

Jim Fargiano can be reached on Facebook and Twitter, but most easily through his website at: http://www.Jimfargiano.com. He is a widely recognized leader in spirituality and posts messages he receives from the other side almost everyday. Short quotes will be on the fan page for The Spoken Words of Spirit on Facebook, as well as on his home page. Longer messages can be read at http://www.jimfargiano.blogspot.com. If you are serious about improving your outlook on life, then take advantage of the opportunities Jim provides.

Life is best lived when we share insights to inspiring words and deeds with each other.

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The Secret of the Universe - The Law of Attraction and a Power Greater Than Myself

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It took me about half of my life, until I was 50 years old, to really understand that there is a power greater than myself. I believe I always knew that our world our universe does have a definite purpose. That their is something or someone that has a master plan for all living beings. I can feel this power when I make it to the top of a mountain after a strenuous climb, while standing on my skis in 2 feet of fresh powder watching the snow crystals twinkle through the trees in the sunlight, and when I'm in the surf feeling the power of the crashing waves. I am typically full of adrenaline from the physical activity that put me in these places. My mind is clear due to my concentration and the view is amazing, an ah-ha moment. At this moment I can feel the power of the universe, I know that there is a power greater than myself.

I believe my clarity came to me from my ongoing study of personal development. Many of the authors I have read and the speakers I have listened to talk about this power. Is it a secret like the movie The Secret wants us to believe? I don't think so. There are no great secrets, merely just a belief that there are. So what else is there? Being of a scientific background, I like to believe in what Wallace D. Wattles, in the Science of Getting RICH refers to as the "thinking STUFF." Simply put, there is this stuff that fills all the space of the universe and when we put a thought into the universe the thinking stuff produces what we have thought. This makes complete sense if you understand quantum mechanics and the theory of quantum physics.

Napoleon Hill in his book Think and Grow Rich talks about a money making secret in his thirteen chapters on the subject. Both Wattles and Hill keep coming back to the way you think. Not just thinking any old thoughts and hoping they come true, but thinking in a certain way. What does this "thinking in a certain way" really mean? I believe it is something everyone has the capability to do, however, it takes a conscious effort to be successful at it. In others words we can train our subconscious mind to think in a certain way and when we are faced with a choice (like every moment of our life) we will make the choice that will bring us closer to what we think we want (subconscious or conscious thought). Thinking in a certain way is just merely understanding that we are always faced with choices and by regularly making the right choices we become closer to what we want and envision for ourselves. This is much easier said than done. Our subconscious mind regularly will take over and we fall into conditioned or learned behavior.

One of my favorite authors on the subject of the power of the universe, thinking in a certain way, and the law of attraction is Eckhart Tolle. He does a brilliant job of discussing and understanding our spirituality in his book The Power of NOW: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. He really helped me grasp a better understanding of the ah-ha moments I mentioned earlier. At those moments our minds have slowed down and have allowed us to experience the power of the universe now. Living in the now is all that matters. There is nothing we can do about the past so stop thinking and worrying about it. If there is someone we need to forgive then do it right now. Pick up the phone and call them, forgive them or ask for their forgiveness, and then stop thinking and worrying about it. I particularly enjoy his view of organized religion and highly recommend this book to people struggling with their spirituality.

Finally, I would like to conclude by writing that I am the absolute supreme authority over my life. That I alone am 100% responsible for how I experience my life. That I am continually faced with choices and that I am responsible for the actions I take right now on the choices I make.

I am a true entrepreneur at heart. At the end of 2006, my wife found the current business we now own and operate. It is a personal development business that focuses on positive media rather than the CNN (constant negative news) that bombards us. Our mission is to educate serious entrepreneurs to reach their full potential and obtain the wealth and lifestyle they envision is possible. We have a passion for assisting individuals that have lost control of their lives and are seeking a way to take action and move themselves forward in a positive direction. I invite you to join our community of successful business owners.

http://www.EmptyNesterBiz.com/

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Caring For the Gardens of the Heart

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Thalia, Melpomene and Spirituality

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Do You Know the Truth When You See and When You Hear It? Ask Yourself What is it That You Recognize

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