Author: Karen Lang

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

Allowing and Being yourself

by Karen Lang, posted in Uncategorized

“Don’t search outside yourself for answers, for they are always within.”

I have just finished an amazing book that was given to me by a friend called, “Dying to be me” by Anita Moorjani.  I highly recommend it to everyone.

It is an inspiring story of her journey from cancer, to a near death experience, to a true healing.  I couldn’t put it down and it has inspired me to live life fully, by loving and accepting myself exactly as I am!

She explains how the external world mirrors what we feel about ourselves and so we attract only what we believe.  This can be challenging for us, as we often don’t want to believe that those around us or the circumstances we are in, are the result of what we believe about ourselves.

‘There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom”.  ~Anaïs Nin

By letting go of any negative self-judgement, we allow our world to transform; and as it does so, we will be able to feel greater and trust more.  The more we are able to trust, the more we are able to let go of trying to control the outcomes in our life.

When we stop judging ourselves, we will also stop criticising and judging others.  Our attitude stems from how you feel about yourself and what we tell ourselves everyday.

Seeking approval from others and doing things out of fear was exactly how the author was living her life before her near death experience and healing.  When we become aware how important the approval of others is in our daily decisions, we can become conscious of changing that belief, of letting it go and ‘become happy being ourselves.’

She encourages us in the book to believe how magnificent we truly are and how we limit our potential when we cannot believe this truth.

Life is always changing and so can we, when we allow new thoughts and beliefs to come in.  Staying in the ‘comfy’ zone of life will never challenge us to grow and move forward into our true potential.

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to accept and love yourself exactly as you are now.  Don’t resist the flow of life.  Trust that you will always be looked after when you ‘allow’ instead of control. 

Challenge yourself to read and do things that you find difficult, or you may never acquire deeper insights into what you believe.  I have found the things most worth reading or doing are precisely those that have challenged my convictions.

Be true to yourself and allow that truth to be seen by others! We are all searching for love and acceptance… but it must begin with YOU.

In Pursuit of Happiness

by Karen Lang, posted in Uncategorized

“People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.”  – Abraham Lincoln

If you want to envision happiness, imagine one foot rooted in the present with mindful appreciation of what one has – and another foot reaching toward the future for yet-to-be uncovered sources of meaning and joy.

This of  course is easier said than done!  What blocks this process is our fear, control and lack of motivation to believe and trust we deserve happiness.

“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” – Dalai Lama XIV

So in order to find happiness, we need to motivate ourselves and take action towards our goals.  Overall, I have found the people who are the happiest tend to be superior at sacrificing short-term pleasures when there is good opportunity to make progress toward what they aspire to become in life.

Making advances towards achieving our dreams and goals not only causes us to feel more engaged, it helps us tolerate any negative feelings that arise along the journey.  Most importantly be true to yourself.  Make sure that the dream you are following is really what you want and not what you believe others want for you.

“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence” – Aristotle

Below are some suggestions that can help bring contentment and happiness into your life.  When you take responsibility and action to change your attitude and thought process, no matter what your circumstances are, you will find life gets easier.  Remember that life is always a matter of choice not chance.  We always have the choice to react negatively or positively.

  1. Build close relationships in which you can share your personal feelings and reveal your authentic self.
  2. Volunteer or care for others on a consistent basis.
  3. Engage in a healthy, active lifestyle that promotes physical vitality.
  4. Find spiritual engagement and meaning through meditation, prayer, yoga, or spiritual exploration.
  5. Practice mindfulness and positive thinking like optimism and gratitude everyday.
  6. Find an activity or hobby that you can become deeply involved in on a regular basis.
  7. Identify your unique strengths and use them for a purpose that is greater than yourself.

“Faith is moving forward even when things don’t make sense, trusting that in hindsight…that everything will become clear and things will be exactly as they should be.” – Mandy Hale

 

 

See the bigger picture

by Karen Lang, posted in Uncategorized

“What we see depends mainly on what we look for.”  – John Lubbock

We all share a passion for finding the bigger picture in smaller moments, for looking beyond the mundane to find the sacred and profound, for being able to keep sight of what really matters to us and those we love.

When stress, control and fear come into our lives we often lose sight of those passions and we forget to look past what is happening right now and see the bigger picture unfolding for us.

So often I have been worried about situations that often are short-lived and that is because I do not trust in the bigger picture and that my situation can shift at any moment.  I have found it is always my attitude towards this process that determines whether it will be a positive or negative outcome.

“There are no wrong turnings. Only paths we had not known we were meant to walk.”   Guy Gavriel Kay

We do not have to follow negative thoughts that come to us while we are working towards our goals. We can watch them arise and see them fall away.  Only keep thoughts that are worthy of your dreams.  Through my meditation practice, I am able to control my thoughts.

“Dream as if you will live forever.  Live as if you will die today.”

If you are always expecting a negative outcome, or you find it hard to believe you deserve the bigger picture of your dreams, then find the original point of the seed that allowed you to believe this and forgive that situation and let it go.

There is always going to be change around us, eg.  financially, mentally, physically and environmentally and we sometimes have no choice but to change.  This of course doesn’t have to be a negative situation.  It will always depend on how we view it.

“What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude toward it. Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity.”   – J Sidlow Baxter

In every challenge that confronts you, try to look beyond what at first seems impossible.  There are infinite possibilities around us, there are miracles everyday.  Open your mind to receive and practise stillness, as this will help you rise above every situation.

Become Disciplined

by Karen Lang, posted in Uncategorized

“Discipline provides a constancy which is independent of what kind of day you had yesterday and what kind of day you anticipate today. “ – Jon Kabat-Zinn

Everywhere you go, you see people trying to get motivated to do something or to make a change.  They read an article on a new diet,  or work out a new way to get rich or attend a seminar on positive thinking or watch a show that moves them.

The trouble is that although we come away from these situations highly motivated, it often  doesn’t move us into action or the discipline we need to complete our goals.

Discipline doesn’t just “happen.” It’s an intentional act and it needs to be repeated every single day.

There are several stages of discipline, the first being to accept that change is needed in some area of our life.  We then need to make the decision to take action and commit to a program that will keep us focused towards our goals.

“Self-discipline is the ability to get yourself to take action regardless of your emotional state”.

It is the assertion of willpower over more basic desires and the ability to push through each day with self-control, that will help you to have discipline.  Each of us has different levels of self-discipline, depending on our personality and our upbringing.  Once you know what it is that needs change, you need to work on getting out of your comfort zone and become responsible in your choices each day.

Change is difficult but as you move through the initial stages of discomfort, you will begin to see progress and this will increase your feelings of self-worth and confidence.

Being disciplined gives you the strength to withstand hardships and difficulties, whether physical, emotional or mental.  It allows forgoing immediate satisfaction, in order to gain something bigger and better, but which will require effort, time and patience.

The positive effects of discipline will always out-way the lessons we face.  As you work through each phase of your journey, take small steps.  At first, our goals may seem overwhelming and not possible to complete and so we need to approach each day as a new beginning.

Allow time for stillness, meditation and yoga as part of your daily discipline, as this will keep you focused and remind you why you started.

Be patient for change and give yourself permission to take time out and nurture yourself when needed.  The journey is long and yet we only have this moment, so embrace your life and be thankful for all that you have and are able to achieve today.

“Self-respect is the root of discipline: The sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself.” – Abraham Joshua Heschel

 

Mindfulness

by Karen Lang, posted in Uncategorized

“Being mindful means simply letting our thoughts come and then go – without reacting to them, without allowing the circus of meaningless mental activity to persuade us that it is more real than we are.”

The healing benefits of mindfulness is the reduction of stress.  It is being focused on the here and now, rather than being distracted by the unrealities of what might come to be, or what might have been.

Being mindful does not happen overnight.  Daily practising of meditation and yoga has helped me understand the many layers of mindfulness.  Mindfulness is an understanding that when we let go of conditioned mind patterns and detach from thoughts that do not serve us, we are free to live in the moment

Stress is the root cause of human unhappiness, and most of us believe that stress is caused by the events that happen outside ourselves, when in fact it is caused by our minds and that often ends up in our bodies, manifesting as pain and disease.

There is plenty of scientific evidence that proves that mindfulness practice has many health benefits including blood pressure and helping depression and healing diseases such as cancer and chronic illness.

The choice between mindfulness and mindlessness is up to us each day in our choices.

“Stress comes from how we perceive events, rather than from the events themselves.”

Ultimately we are responsible for our health and how we react in our daily life.  Mindfulness can help restore our vitality for life and embrace life fully.  When we let go of our cluttered thoughts that steer us into to the illusion of the world, we are able to see life from a higher perspective and understand that we don’t always have to react in the same way.

“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Become aware and mindful of your thoughts and your reactions. When you react differently to the stress of life, you will begin to see how life reacts differently to you and you will understand the power of mindfulness

“Respond; don’t react.  Listen; don’t talk. Think; don’t assume.” – Raji Lukkoor