The Journey to Self Discovery

This topic of spiritual abuse has echoed in my heart and mind for years, and lately, I've seen a rise in conversations on it through emails and social media. So many people share stories that sound familiar to my own, and I felt it was time to address it openly once again. Spiritual abuse is real, and if you’ve experienced it, know that you’re not alone. I lived under the heavy weight of spiritual abuse for 26 years. It scarred me and left me skeptical of churches or ministries that use intimidation and manipulation as tools of control. In my experience, spiritual abuse can involve a variety of tactics meant to silence, control, or manipulate followers. Here are just a few examples that I’ve personally encountered: Pressure to Stay Despite Burnout : A minister once told me that even though I was physically and emotionally burned out, leaving the ministry would mean losing all of my God-given gifts. Exclusive Teachings : A church I was involved in claimed that it alone had the “true...

Child abuse. Warfare. Domestic Violence.  Assault. A devastating accident. Loss. Divorce. If you have endured one or more life-threatening events, you may be more likely to make destructive money decisions. Researchers discovered that post-traumatic stress  alters the way a person thinks  and reacts to situations, including financial behavior.  If you are making negative money choices, especially those hurling you into arrears, and you believe it might be due to past trauma, there are ways you can change course. Trauma’s neurological impact Traumatic events can lead to compulsive and destructive economic behaviors. The root of this phenomenon, he says, is the impact that trauma has on the brain. According to Psychology Today, these are not conscious, deliberate actions. Traumatic experiences cause our brain to overreact. They force us into a stress mode where we are compelled to take action as a protective measure. In my work as Life Development Coach...

If you’re feeling empty, you’re not alone. Many of us feel empty in different ways. For instance, you might feel empty because something is missing in your life, This might be emptiness from a loved one moving or passing away. You're stuck in a vicious cycle. You're down, depressed (not necessarily clinically). Because of that, you constantly feel unmotivated, tired, lethargic. You don't have the energy to get out there and try new things. Staying home doing nothing just makes your mood worse and worse. You need to find a way to break the cycle. You have to recognize that if you don't make a very serious effort then things are just going to get worse. The good news is I think that you already realize this. You know that you have a problem. You're looking for help. The other key is that you have to know beyond a doubt that you (and you alone) have the power to make things better. Or the emptiness might stem from slowly abandoning ourselves, not listening...

Because I'd like to give you 3 truly helpful exercises to "let go" today. Let me ask you: [+] Has something been weighing down on you that you  can’t seem to let go? [+] Do any tough experiences from the past -- or the  limiting beliefs  and  debilitating emotions they  left --  keep you  from manifesting the transformations you want in life? If so, you’re not the only one!  And: there are effective ways to deal with them.   (Read on...) Despite our wish to feel positive, happy and inspired… negative emotions regularly come back to haunt us, as they keep being triggered by memories of past events: Traumatic experiences... emotionally-tough periods... regretted past decisions... hurtful interactions... unsatisfied strong desires, etc. -- they can all keep us stuck in a place that we’d rather break free from. This way, unprocessed experiences often adversely affect the way we show up in life. And this can ...

It’s always possible for a higher level of consciousness to infuse our experience in any moment. Say that you’re disappointed by something that someone says or does. You can stew in the story of what happened, or you can bring kindness to the pain you feel. Stewing in the story keeps you stuck and separate. And being kind to your emotions is more spacious and less stressful. You’re letting consciousness in by being aware of your in-the-moment experience—instead of being lost in the story. I’ve noticed a lot of people complaining recently, and it strikes me that they are totally caught in their stories. Someone was complaining about getting parking tickets, and I thought to myself, “This suffering is so unnecessary.” Read the signs and follow the rules, and like magic, you’ve freed yourself from getting tickets and the need to complain about them. And there’s no more room for enjoyment, presence, and peace. This is everyday awakening. In any moment, we can re...

  We have the ability to create our own reality. For the most part, we can look at a situation and see the good or we can look at the same situation and choose to see the bad. Often times the lens we use to view what’s happening is filtered by our thoughts. Positive thoughts create more positive circumstances. Alternatively, negative thoughts contribute to feelings of dissatisfaction and disappointment. Therefore, changing our negative thoughts is essential to achieve happiness and peace. The following are the most common negative thinking behaviors. Becoming aware of these is essential to transforming negative thoughts into positive beliefs. Stay away from “all-or-nothing” thinking. When we slip into “all-or-nothing” thinking we see our circumstances as either black or white with not much in between. By shifting to someplace in the gray, a fresh perspective is created that helps us to realize more options do exist. To lead an emotionally healthy life we need to have ba...