•Affirmations and Appreciations Recommended Spiritual Reading Resources:
•Meditation and Prayers
•Food for Thought: Quotes and Stories
•Recommended Spiritual Reading List
Affirmations and Appreciations
Affirmations are statements you make to yourself. They are the thoughts you think during the day or the statements you make out loud . Affirmations can promote spiritual and emotional health or they can block your spiritual and emotional growth. Affirmations can become part of your daily routine. They were formed as part of your daily routine and you can change them the same way. Repeating affirmations over and over again when you are getting dressed, when you work out or exercise, or when you are stressed, helps to lay a foundation for growth and change in your life. Repetition and belief in them are the keys to having them become a part of your reality. What you believe, you become. So start believing in yourself and repeating these new affirmations to yourself throughout the day.
The best place to start for creating your own affirmation is with two verbs - the verb "to be" and the verb "to have". Coincidentally, these are the same two verbs you first learn when you learn a foreign language. They are where you begin to create a spiritual language for yourself. Since affirmations may be foreign to you, these two verbs will launch you into describing yourself as spiritual being and portraying your spiritual essence.
Other verbs to consider using are "to receive", "to give", "to speak", "to see", "to be able", "to believe" and "to know". Once you get started, you will see that creating your own affirmations will become second nature to you and they will begin to replace any statements you think to yourself or say out loud that create limitations to your growth.
So, anytime you catch yourself thinking or saying something that is not supporting you as a spiritual being, say an affirmation.
Here are some sample affirmations: Click here.
Appreciations are thoughts expressing gratitude and thankfulness for what you are seeing, experiencing and feeling. Throughout the day, it is a good practice to look for whatever is good, pure, uplifting and positive and to say "I am appreciative of ..." or "I am grateful for ....", or "I am thankful for ..." Then, keep track of these thoughts and statements. Reviewing them when you aren't feeling appreciative, grateful or thankful is a wonderful way to turn it around.
Meditation and Prayer
Meditation is taking time to quiet your mind. During this process, you sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor and focus on your breathing. You think about your breath, as it flows in and as it flows out.
You can quiet your thoughts in any number of ways. Some helpful things I have found to keep in my mind when breathing in and out is to think about these statements:
•I breathe in love, I breathe out all fears.
•I breathe in peace, I breathe out all doubts.
•I breathe in acceptance, I breathe our all limitations.
Prayer is talking to whatever you hold to be the Divine or the Source. Prayer is deeply personal because it our spirit having a conversation with the Divine. Some people will recite portions of their Holy Book, others will recite poetry that speaks to their soul, some murmur words filled with heartfelt pleas. It matters not what you use as long as it is coming from a place deep within you. There is no right or wrong way to pray. What is essential is that you make prayer a part of your daily life.
I have included some classic prayers and inspirations texts to get you started. Click here.
•The Prayer of Mother Teresa. Click here.
•The Lord's Prayer. Click here.
•In the Silence of One's Own Being. Click here.
•Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi. Click here.
•The Anthem of Humanity by Kahlil Gabran. Click here.
•Except from The Tavern by Rumi. Click here.
Food for Thought: Quotes and Stories
Sometimes just hearing a witty saying or quote can lead you to think about your world differently. Stories also have the same effect on us.
•Inspirational Quotes. Click here.
Here are links to Inspirational Stories. Click here.
Many people have asked me about where they can get a book on metaphysical laws. I explain that it is like being on a scavenger hunt except you don't have the list. Experience is your teacher and you pick up the information along the way.
Here are some books I have found helpful in my journey:
•Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
•Sermon on the Mount According to the Vedanta by Swami Prabhavananda
•The Secret Doctrine by H.P. Blavatsky
•Science of the Mind by Ernest Holmes
•The Secret of the Ages by Robert Collier
•Power Through Constructive Thinking by Emmet Fox
•Creative Visualization by Shaki Gawain
•Your Erroneous Zones by Dr. Wayne Dyer
•Love Yourself, Heal Your Life by Louise Hay
•Warrior of Light - A Manual by Paulo Coelho
•Gospels of Jesus
•Tibetan Book of the Dead
•Poetry of Rumi
•The Prophet by Kahlil Gabran