Ho'oponopono, Joe Vitale and Healing

I've been on a real downward spiral lately. Nothing seemed to be working out, with my finances and health in particular. I've suddenly found new inspiration partly from Joe Vitale's new book Zero Limits which talks about his investigations into the Hawaiian healing technique known as Ho'oponopono.

Since living in Sedona for the past year and a half, I find it a very intense place to be energetically. Some people come here and say they can feel the energy of the place and also there is a huge tourist interest in the local "vortexes". Generally the energy for someone arriving in Sedona feels really good. Many people are drawn to live here, perhaps because of how they feel when they visit, as with what happened to me. But after living here for a while that energy can be intense in not so wonderful ways. Ultimately, if one is to survive Sedona, you have to see all this as a purification process. This process is acclimating us to greater spiritual lessons and reality. At least, that's how I see it. This belief system allows me to continue on in Sedona.

Our thoughts are very important and really help to create our outer reality. There are a great many people in Sedona who believe this and live accordingly. Sometimes we can't help our thoughts as emotions and thoughts can arise from our subconscious, sometimes time and time again. It seems the burden of past experiences demand to come out and be purified sometimes so profusely that we can only assume these come from somewhere other than ourselves, perhaps past lives. When this happens I think that I can't carry on any longer. The pain is too great. It is a point of loss of all hope. As our physical reality reflects our thoughts and feelings, a vibrational match to what is inside us, our outer world begins to reflect this inner experience. For me recently it was so bad that I found myself having chest pains that urged me to seek emergency medical care.

I was able to take a short vacation to Florida to visit with my family. I felt a little better upon my return. But the return to work and Sedona was cause for more pain and anxiety. That week I began to feel less panic and more acceptance of the discomfort. That weekend we were blessed with beautiful sunny weather on both Saturday and Sunday. I used this time to go for a little hike in the Canyon on Saturday with my friend and neighbor, Linda. She guided me to a ravine that overlooked a stream. There was a place with nice rocks for sitting. She left me alone there while she went up ahead. I sensed that the quiet peace of nature and radiant sunshine was exactly what I needed. I got comfortable and focused my mind on my latest affirmations.

Since I was having chest pains and was concerned about my heart, I was advised by my sister in Florida through an email that week to say an affirmation from Louise Hay, the author of You Can Heal Your Life. It is specifically for heart health. That affirmation is:

I lovingly allow joy to flow through
my mind and body and experience.

Additionally, since I had been given a copy of Joe Vitale's new book Zero Limits I decided to adopt the phrases used in that book as part of the Ho'oponopono technique. Why not? Since I had heard for a while now about this technique being used by a psychologist to heal an entire ward of criminally insane patients in Hawaii, without ever seeing the patients. I also like this technique because it emphasizes that the healing is done 100% inside the person doing the healing. Those basic phrases are:

I love you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.

So there I am sitting on the cliff side earnestly saying my newly adopted phrases. I had completely abandoned my old affirmations weeks ago including money and other material abundance due to the shock of my pain and health concerns. Those affirmations seemed trivial now as I realized the importance of affirming wellness, joy and love in my life. Did I want to live and be well and happy? This seemed to be the question. I sat with the vision of wellness and health as the nature sounds, spaciousness of the canyon, blue sky and sunlight absorbed my being. Healing comes.

The Sedona energies are intense. Getting some clarity about how one thinks and feels does affect reality, and how our apparent external world presents itself. I was starting to feel better and I looked over to a big rock and saw a small rectangular hole on its side. The hole was covered with a flat piece of red rock. Through an opening at the bottom I could see that there was something there unnatural, man made. So, I investigated to find inside an ordinary cash register receipt. It was for some unknown item purchased for about $5.71. But at the top of the receipt it said, "YOUR RECEIPT. THANK YOU. PLEASE COME AGAIN." Of course it was just an oddity that someone put that there, but to me in that moment it was funny and ironic. It was as if the universe or God had heard my prayers and sent me a receipt. I laughed and told several friends about it and they laughed too.

I have fared much better this subsequent week. The pain I was feeling is significantly less. While it appears that I have some more healing or purification to do, I have also made substantial progress. As I re-focus my thoughts on the new affirmations and the Ho'ponopono healing technique, I make choices in my life which affirm well being and new inspiration is arriving. I'm able to let go of the fear-based plans that consume me and create a clearing for growth, health and wellness. I look forward to finish reading Zero Limits and learning more about this technique. I get a sense of the necessity of focus and diligence of thought. This may mark an important shift in my awareness as I begin to first seek joy, love and wellbeing above all else. If one has these things, then not much else could be missing, I don't think. And when we clear ourselves of erroneous thinking, reaching a relieving void or zero point within us, we are then open to inspiration, the source of life and creation. At least this is the teaching of Ho'oponopono. The results seem good so far, along with the added spiritual benefits of being in Sedona, I look forward to learning and experiencing more.