I have been a participant this year in a program called Your Year of Miracles led by NY Times best-selling author Marci Shimoff and success expert Debra Poneman. The program has had some of the most notable inspirational teachers, thought leaders and authors as weekly guest speakers and we have been taught some of the best tools available for making life changes.
Many people in the group, including myself, have experienced shifts in consciousness, a quickening of changes, synchronicities, unique opportunities and the manifestation of long-held dreams. There is a power of being part of an intentional group that appears to create an intensified field of possibilities.
Perhaps it is just a change in mindset, the perceived support of being held in a group with like-minded people or the use of new skills and tools that uplift your thinking, but something seems to be going on here.
I’d like to offer three tools we have discussed that can uplift your consciousness and perhaps help you create more miracles in your life, too.
But first, you might be wondering what exactly is a miracle? This may be somewhat a matter of personal opinion, but the Oxford dictionary calls a miracle, “a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.”
Since in many cases there is some connection between how we think and what happens in our lives, the tools I am going to discuss are basically ways in which you may create the mindset that allows more miracles to appear in your life.
The three tools listed below are deep practices that can take time to master. Sometimes it can be helpful to have a facilitator help you in the beginning. Please understand that this is merely an introductory view of systems that deserve more in-depth study if you feel interested in using them.
- A Course in Miracles
Last week our guest speaker was the best-selling author and renowned teacher of A Course in Miracles, Marianne Williamson. If you are unfamiliar with A Course in Miracles, in a nutshell, it is a self-study program that teaches a psycho-spiritual thought system to increase love and peace of mind. It was written over a seven year period and is deeply profound, widely quoted and respected.
Marianne spoke about creating miracles from the perspective of A Course in Miracles. In the Course, a miracle is considered a shift in perception from fear-based thinking to love. A miracle is not necessarily considered an unexpected event, but a change in one’s thinking.
At first this may sound disappointing. It doesn’t come with all the bells and whistles of some amazing unexpected event happening. However, if you think about it, being able to shift one’s thoughts when in pain about something is a miracle. Think of a time that you may have ruined a relationship or an experience because you could not let go of a grudge or forgive someone, and you may be able to see the miracle waiting to happen.
One of the ways I use this approach with my clients is to ask them to talk about an upsetting situation from the voice of fear, then the voice of love. You then get to choose which interpretation feels better.
- The Work of Byron Katie
This process is another that is more about shifting one’s thoughts than making things happen. However as we shift our thoughts we are creating the openness of our heart to create the conditions for miracles to happen whether the miracle be an unexpected event or a change in thinking.
Byron Katie describes herself as someone who was depressed for 10 years and one day realized the reason she was depressed was that she believed her own negative thoughts. She began to do a process that she called self-inquiry in which she would identify a negative thought she was having, and then ask herself four questions.
- Is it really true?
- Can you be absolutely certain it is true?
- How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?
- Who would you be without the thought?
The final step is to create a turnaround for the original negative thought. In other words, a beginning thought may be, “My husband should treat me better.” The turnaround may be, “I should treat my husband better.”
I use this process quite frequently with my clients and see profound changes rather quickly. I don’t know the exact science, but I believe this actually rewires the brain and breaks the grip of deeply ingrained negative neuro-pathways in the brain.
- Ho’oponopono
Ho’oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian practice of healing based on forgiveness. The basic concept is that it restores relationships between family members, and people in general, by getting to the root of the problem through a process of confession, repentance and forgiveness.
Dr. Joe Vitale has written a recent book about this ancient practice and gives it an updated interpretation. He says the core of Ho’oponopono is love, forgiveness and personal responsibility and that we are all 100% responsible for what we experience. By changing our inner thoughts and perceptions, we can then change our outer experience. This is done through the four core phrases that create a type of prayer or petition one can say to oneself or another person. The four phrases are:
- I’m sorry.
- Please forgive me.
- Thank you.
- I love you.
By repeating this petition, we are clearing our limiting beliefs, coming more fully into the present moment and able to meet the current experience with an open heart, clean slate or clear vision. This basically unlocks grace and allows miracles to occur.
The common theme among these three practices is that to change your thoughts and beliefs, you can change your life and your world.
Choose one and give it a try. May you create some miracles in your life and perhaps the lives of those you touch.
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