Author: Karen Lang

Counselor/Energy Healer Grief Mentor/Mindfulness teacher/ Author of two books.

Acceptance

by Karen Lang, posted in Letting Go of Anxiety, Letting go of stress, Making a difference, Understanding and Listening to ourselves

“I follow four dictates: face it, accept it, deal with it, then let it go.” ~Sheng Yen

I try to follow the dictates above as I find this process helps me work through the many challenges in my life.  The one I struggle with the most is “Acceptance.”

When I cannot accept myself or the problem that is challenging me, then the next steps of dealing with it and letting it go can not happen.

Accepting and not interfering with the natural essence of nature, you will find it heals itself.  It’s the same with us. When we allow ourself to be, to accept this moment or challenge no matter how hard it seems, we can begin to heal.

We all seem to be happy to identify our thoughts and what the problem is, but rarely do we want to identify or accept what the event reveals about us.  Whenever I was confronted with a challenge in my life, I began to notice that feelings of frustration and anger came to the surface and I wanted to give up immediately.

These are the feelings that we need to face and acknowledge in ourselves because these are what are limiting us from moving forward and discovering our true potential.

When I started to see a pattern, I began to question why I wanted to give up when I felt challenged.  I realised it was fear.  Fear of being vulnerable and exposed and fear of not being good enough.  It takes time to understand ourselves and sometimes we need guidance from others too, so be patient.

Once I accepted this and started to work at changing the limiting beliefs I had about myself, I was able to move forward and change.

Resisting the pain and not facing who we are in the pain, only prolongs our healing.

Become aware of the feelings that surface when life challenges you, because when you identify these patterns and face them, you can begin to practice letting them go.

We all have parts of ourself that we don’t like or don’t want to see and yet, facing those parts of self through meditation, counselling and stillness, you will begin to understand how to work with them rather than against them.

“The greatest challenge in your life is discovering who you are, the second greatest is accepting what you find.” – author unknown

Our relationship with Death

by Karen Lang, posted in Death

“Death’s true purpose is to teach us how to live.” – Molly Friedenfeld

I have been asked to be apart of a Donate Life Forum.  It is a forum that allows the public to ask any questions they have about Organ Donation to Organ Donors, Recipients and Medical Staff.  As our son was an organ donor, I will share my experiences.

This forum is just one way that allows us to explore our questions about death and why we find it so difficult to confront this topic in Western Society.  Death is something that we don’t really want to think about or make decisions about if we don’t have to.  Our fear surrounding death is simply because it’s outside our experience, even though we will all go there.

“Live life fully, as if everyday may be your last.”

Death creates fear because it represents uncertainty and mystery for us, but ignoring it will not help us when Death faces us or a loved one. By not thinking about dying, we assume it won’t happen to us, which seems to bring an innate sense that we will always have more time.  Years pass us by in our busyness and there is so much we put off.  Thinking like this, we run the risk that when we or a loved one is dying, we will regret wasted opportunities.

Death has taught me to live in the present, it has helped me see how precious life is and to appreciate those in my life.  Death allowed me to focus on making responsible decisions and to see the joy in life and not all the seriousness.  It showed me the past and the future are simply reflections of an everlasting now.

We are here to help each other discover our individual uniqueness. So learn to acknowledge, honour and accept death as a natural part of our journey.  In doing that we discover that nothing is permanent and so we begin to understand the circle of life.

“Start living now. Stop saving the good china for that special occasion. Stop withholding your love until that special person materializes.  Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God.”  ~Mary Manin Morrissey

 

Guilt

by Karen Lang, posted in Uncategorized

“We are our choices.”  – Jean-Paul Sartre

One night my 9-year-old son who had just gone to bed, asked me if I would lay with him as he was scared. I was getting ready for a busy day and was tired and said “No, you are fine, go to sleep.”  When he died the following afternoon after being hit by a car, I remembered what he asked me, and the guilt that followed me from that day on, was overwhelming.

“Guilt is a destructive and ultimately pointless emotion” ― Lynn Crilly

Guilt is an emotion that we are all familiar with, that we have all lived with at some time. What we forget is that we do not need to carry this burden around in our life and that guilt as powerful and destroying as it is, serves no purpose.

Guilt beats us up, it makes us replay our mistakes, it wastes enormous amounts of energy re-enacting how we could have done something differently. It makes us feel bad if we don’t feel bad!

“No longer be the victim of your circumstances, let go, forgive and move on.”

One of the reasons it is so hard to give up and let go of our guilt is because we feel we need to be punished and believe we deserve to feel this way.  Once we realise we do not need to carry this, we can learn to forgive ourselves and lift the heaviness from our life.  Once you let go of it, you will find the confidence to move forward.

Here is one way you can work through letting go of your guilt no matter how hard it seems.

Find a quiet still place and take some deep breaths. Make sure you feel calm and still.
 Call in the person or people you feel you have let down or have carried guilt for.
See them in front of you.   Ask them for forgiveness.
See them forgiving you.
Now say “I forgive myself and let go of any guilt I am holding, I no longer need to punish or burden myself with this guilt.”
See this guilt lifting from your body and mind.
Take some deep breaths and finish.

You may need to do this a couple of times in your meditation to feel completely free. Don’t allow guilt to have any power in your life and don’t let it stop you from experiencing the fullness of life and the precious time we have with each other.
 

Abundance

by Karen Lang, posted in Uncategorized
http://myawakeninglife.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/abundance.jpg

I have always thought that in order for my life to be abundant I needed to visualise receiving what it was I wanted.  I would say “I deserve to be abundant” or “I allow money to flow freely to me” or “I am abundant in love or peace or happiness” etc.

And then, about a year ago in meditation I was given a vision of myself giving. Giving freely to everyone I met,  like you would if you had everything. I realised it was in giving to others and myself that I would actually find and feel the abundance I was seeking.  When I learnt that it was stepping out and giving freely of myself rather than trying to take what I deserved, abundance followed me.

“Give, give, give. In the oneness, you give to everyone, and as part of the Oneness, you give to you too” – Sa Silvano

I started to visualise in my meditation myself giving to my family, to friends, to others, I saw myself giving money to others, I saw myself giving time to myself.  I saw myself give abundance, love and time to everyone I love and met…..and overtime there was a shift.

Waiting for abundance means you are living in scarcity and fear.  Fear that you may not get what you want whether it’s a house, a family, money or love.  While you wait and live in fear, you block the abundance.

Instead of waiting for abundance to come or a feeling of giving to arise, start acting like you are abundant, start acting like you already have what you need and see how it begins to shift the barrier you have built.

As I learn more in life through my experiences, I realise that life and it’s lessons are often very simple.  We complicate our situations with busy minds and over thought-out solutions.  Giving freely and accepting easily is all you need to do.

A kind smile, a phone call, a compliment, are all ways we can give freely to others, and if we practice that a little more often instead of waiting for it to come to you, you may be surprised how quickly the universe responds back.

“The only difference between you and me are our choices.”

Living in our Heart

by Karen Lang, posted in Uncategorized

“When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”  – Kahlil Gibran

When I was guided by a wonderful teacher to live in my heart, I thought it wouldn’t be too hard to practice.  I was wrong.  It is extremely difficult to live in our heart and try to keep out of the constant chatter of our mind.

Choosing to live from the heart requires that we choose a higher aspect of every experience and make a conscious choice for love, surrender, peace, and joy. These energies are all available to us and they exist within each experience but it is a choice we must make willingly and intentionally everyday.

When I live from my heart I am more in tune.  I am more compassionate and somehow I have less fear and worry, but to live in my heart I have to practice stillness.  Everyday when I meditate I intentionally focus on my heart and breathe into it, I allow my heart to fill with love by thinking about the things that I love or have gratitude for.

When I feel that space, that peace, I know I am there and I try to stay there.  Its takes effort and discipline because your mind will want you to come back to its busyness.  Everyday try a little and see the difference.

Practising this love filling my heart helps me to connect to a different way of thinking and I feel calmer when I go there.  When I live too much in my mind I feel stressed, it creates thoughts I probably don’t need, it creates conversations that I haven’t yet had or it allows fear when no fear is valid.

When you live from your heart you allow your heart’s unlimited potential to expand your reality beyond the limitations of the mind and venture into what has been unknown to you until that moment.

Of course we need to be in our minds for lots of reasons but what you will find is that when you connect more and more to your heart space where love and peace are, your choices will be guided by a higher connection and you will create an easier flow in life.

“Every moment of darkness has a potential for light; every aspect of fear contains a potential for love, and every bit of sadness, pain, despair and powerlessness has the potential for higher aspects when you choose them.”

Living in your heart will energise you and allow you more room to let go and allow your mind to be free from the pain and dialogue of the past.  Find ways through breathing, yoga and meditation to connect and practice, practice, practice.

Go within your heart and find the courage to expand its knowing and embrace your highest potential so you can become this in your life and for the world.