100 Days of Healing
I have decided to create a theme for the time that we are having to be alone and not meet in person, so this can support you in your physical practice and your meditations. If you want to go deeper the practices will be on the Support page.
We are doing 100 DAYS OF HEALING, basing the practice around a different affirmation each week, taken from the wonderful book by Deepak Chopra, The Deeper Wound, Recovering the Soul From Fear and Suffering.
WEEK ONE : My Soul can lead me to healing.
I will become one with my true self. Use this affirmation , let the words find meaning.
WEEK TWO : At this moment my soul is with me. It is as close as my breath.
WEEK THREE: My soul is outside and inside. The light is everywhere.
This is a wonderful way to feel energy when you are in your Asana practice. Imagine, feel the sensation as you breathe in that light is flooding through your body, through your veins and arteries, filling your whole body with healing light; as you breathe out and stay in the pose, with your exhalation, release tensions, tightness, worries or fears. You may want to sigh out through your mouth to let go even more.
WEEK FOUR: My soul is myself. It knows and hears me.
After physical practice , as you sit in the quietness, feel close to your body, close to your breath, feel that you are filled, surrounded by energy and light. Your soul/spirit listens to you, it knows and cares for you; you come home.
WEEK FIVE: My true need is to know myself as my soul knows me.
This is the purpose of healing, when we feel pain, physical or emotional, we feel a sense of helplessness or abandonment. To really begin to heal ourselves, we need to understand ourselves, then we have the energy to move forwards.
WEEK 6: My soul knows me as complete and whole.
Wholeness, the one constant that remains the same, even when everything else is changing. We can use this affirmation in times of crisis and difficulties to know that we have a stillness within which never changes. Your true self sees you this way.
WEEK 7: My soul knows me as gentle.
Gentleness/ compassion for yourself and for others. Giving to ourselves, acting, being our truest self, is acting with compassion, the first Niyama or code of conduct in yoga, AHIMSA. When we bring this to ourselves it becomes easy to gift it to others.
WEEK 8: My soul knows me as peaceful.
Anger is just an energy moving through, take notice, if feelings of anger or frustration arise during the day be aware of them, take some deep breaths, exhale out through the mouth and let them go. Your true nature is one of peace.
WEEK 9: My soul knows me as lacking in nothing.
You are sufficient within yourself to meet any challenges. Be aware of thoughts that create need, possession, anxiety , insecurity. Be aware of these impulses without judgement . You can remind yourself that everything you need is already within you.
The soul lacks nothing and therefore has no anxiety about the outside world: gain is not a need, loss is not a threat.
WEEK 10: My soul knows me as joyful because I am free.
Notice as you move through your day , if you are clinging to certain thoughts or ideas? Is there resistance to change?
Acceptance makes love possible, if you are accepting of yourself, you will always be free.
WEEK 11: I will see everyone else as I see myself.
This affirmation is challenging, it is how we perceive ourselves and others. We judge ourselves for being better/worse, thinner /fatter, backgrounds, religions. Our ego wants to separate us. But we don’t have to be led by our ego, we all have our differences, we don’t have to compare ourselves to others in order to find a state of wholeness and completeness. If you are in a state of completeness and wholeness, then you can allow others to be their true selves too.
WEEK 12: I will nurture every need but one – the need to judge others.
Again, a very challenging concept , judgement creates separation, it comes again from the ego wanted to defend itself. It builds walls around your heart, not allowing spirit to flow freely. By not judging others in any way, you are entering a state of openness with yourself and others.
WEEK 13: I will not resist others.
Can we overcome obstacles? Large or small, the emotional obstacles are the ones that prevent us from remaining open, resistance closes us down.
WEEK 14: I will not resist myself.
Can we accept ourselves where we are? A tricky concept because our ego like to repress and deny our true feelings. Try to remain open to what comes up.
WEEK 15: My true self responds with love.
Impersonal love is everlasting, it needs no other person for validation, it is free from the ego. Everything it sees and encounters can be from a place of love. Being untied from the ego creates great freedom.
WEEK 16: I will see one thing today as if for the first time.
This affirmation is about newness, seeing afresh with new eyes, without ego. How are we conditioned by our past thoughts to make judgements about things we like or dislike? Look at things/people that you perhaps have taken for granted.
WEEK 17: I WILL NOURISH SOMEONE WITH LIGHT
It is possible to send love and light in to the spiritual bank where it is stored, send your thought of light to a person you love already, to anyone in need or maybe out in to the world for healing. It will be felt.
WEEK 18: I WILL LIFT MY JUDGMENT AGAINST SOMEONE.
Forgiveness is about healing, if you have judged or been judged yourself, hold a space of love, think of the wrong you have done or received from another person, take back the words you have spoken or release any unwanted words you have received. Be in a space of love and forgiveness.
WEEK 19: MY EVERY THOUGHT HAS THE POWER EITHER TO WOUND OR TO HEAL
Spiritual thought, prayer, is very powerful energy. You have the power to draw someone close in love or push them away in fear. Hold everyone in light today, it will heal you and them.
WEEK 20: I WILL USE MY THOUGHTS WISELY AND RESPECT THIER POWER.
Taking responsibility for our thoughts and actions, letting go of blaming others. Bring everyone you know into your awareness and hold them in light and healing.
WEEK 21: I ASK THE UNIVERSE TO LISTEN . I NEED TO MATTER.
Reach beyond boundaries, the Universe, God, Divine Mother, Higher Self, whatever your belief system, know that your thoughts and prayers ARE heard. Place your trust in a higher energy that is always with you, everything will manifest if you wish it.
WEEK 22: I CAN FIND MY SOUL HERE AND NOW.
Learn to love and respect the present moment, it IS the only moment. We get caught in reminiscing about the past or worrying what might happen in the future, we then lose ourselves in worry and anxiety. Only in the very present moment will you connect to your soul and the joy that it brings.
I hope the affirmations have been helpful to you in the times of isolation? Contemplation and meditation can be tricky without a focus, so using an affirmation or intention allows you to focus your mind inwardly. The intention of the silent mantra will really resonate. I’m concluding the final part with 2 powerful affirmations:
WEEK 23: I ask myself for rest and peace.
To remove yourself from the sometimes scattered distractions of the mind, you can ask for yourself some space and peace to just rest, to quieten the chatter within your mind, to rest in stillness, even for a few moments it can be very powerful.
WEEK 24: I honour my stillness.
Even within the busiest of times, when you pay attention inwardly, you can find stillness. Let that calmness resonate from your heart space, knowing that the inner stillness always supports you.
