Category: Uncategorized

Understanding Fear

by Karen Lang, posted in Uncategorized, Understanding Fear

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”

Living without any fear is unrealistic; nevertheless, there are fears that are unnecessary to our emotional life – fears that cause us to be needlessly unhappy.

Letting go of fear simply means replacing fear with trust, acceptance, and peace of mind.   Fearing the possibilities life has in store for us is much more from habit than a reality.

Learning to love and accept ourselves requires that we begin to acknowledge those feelings that we have tried to suppress.  Whether we know so consciously or not, these feelings are meant for us to feel. They are what can free us from our own self-limiting beliefs, and they are what continue to keep us disconnected, and separate from all that we can be.

Notice all the ways you may be separating yourself, and  how many of your motivating emotions fall under the category of fear.  Become aware of how many times you say “no” instead of “yes” out of fear.

“Don’t give in to your fears. If you do, you won’t be able to talk to your heart.” – Paulo Coelho

Changing our fear based habits is difficult.  Who we see ourselves as being versus who we are underneath our fears takes courage and action.  We may find it easier to hold onto destructive ways rather than face change.

When we develop a sense of trust in life as opposed to dwelling on our fears of the unknown, we become more accepting and learn to focus on our creative centre and find ways to be more productive.

Be willing to  question your own mind. Trust there is a reason and purpose for our life. Most of us begin healing when our own life experiences throw us out of line or challenge us to face our fears. It’s during these times of darkness, doubt, and pain when we try to look for answers.

“Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.” – Dorothy Thompson

Learn to trust in yourself and spirit for your answers.  Yoga is a wonderful discipline to train the mind-body and spirit to work through the challenges and fear based blockages within us.  Each time we breathe through these poses, we let go of our fear and pain and work towards wholeness.

Each day, practice re-training your fear based conditioning and work hard at letting it go, so we can embrace life fully.

“Internal and external are ultimately one. When you no longer perceive the world as hostile, there is no more fear, and when there is no more fear, you think, speak and act differently. Love and compassion arise, and they affect the world.” – Eckhart Tolle

Stepping Forward

by Karen Lang, posted in Uncategorized

“Courage doesn’t always roar….Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says…I’ll try again tomorrow.”

My Aunty lost her son to suicide last week.  Our family is greatly saddened by this tragic loss and from losing a beautiful young man too early in life.  The agony for my Aunty is to wake up each day and face the truth and that takes incredible courage.

“For the rest of the day the grief consumed me, the emptiness opening into a deep crevasse, ice walls on each side spreading into my heart.”

Grief, loss, disease, divorce, depression, they come into our life uninvited and yet sometimes we must wake up to face them.   We must find the deep strength and courage that lies within us all, as grief can destroy us or focus us.

“Humanity is now faced with a stark choice: Evolve or die. … If the structures of the human mind remain unchanged, we will always end up re-creating the same world, the same evils, the same dysfunction.” – Eckhart Tolle

Pain makes us aware of this moment.  To cope with our pain, we must live one day at a time as living in the past or in the future is not an option.  Your hope is knowing that others have walked through this and have survived, so never think you are alone.

“The power is in you. The answer is in you. And you are the answer to all your searches: you are the goal. You are the answer. It’s never outside.” – Eckhart Tolle

In our day-to-day lives, the virtue of courage doesn’t receive much attention. Courage is a quality reserved for soldiers, firefighters, and activists but when you see a Mother wake up to the agony of never seeing one of her children again or a cancer victim who has been told they only have two weeks to live….that is courage.

The word courage derives from the Latin cor, which means “heart.” But true courage is more a matter of intellect than of feeling.   In our pain it is a “choice” to live with courage each day.

“Courageous people are still afraid, but they don’t let fear paralyse them”.

Trust that no matter what pain you are given,  physical or emotional, that you will find the courage to walk along this journey.  Walking in courage, you will become aware to the truth of who you are and who you can become.  It is the gift that death and pain give us.

The highest courage is to dare to appear to be what one is. – John Lancaster Spalding

 

Release Anger

by Karen Lang, posted in Uncategorized

“A moment of anger can destroy a lifetime of work, whereas a moment of love can break barriers that took a lifetime to build.” –  unknown

If we look at the roots of anger, it’s an emotional reaction to what is. It’s a huge resistance to something, a refusal to accept something.

There are plenty of times each day when anger can take hold of us and there are always plenty of people to be annoyed at, but what if I told you that “anger attracts anger.”  When you look closely at people who are always upset at how others are treating them, you will find they too are angry and unhappy.

If anger is deep within us, it is usually based on fear and of not accepting and loving ourselves.  People believe that anger empowers them to take action, when in fact, anger is a “reaction” from a need to feed our ego.

“Angry people want you to see how powerful they are… loving people want you to see how powerful You are.”  – Chief Red Eagle

Next time you are angry, I want you to try this approach. Take a deep breath. Try to keep your heart open and spacious, no matter how tempting it is to shut down and protect. Once you feel a little calmer, ask yourself “what can I be grateful for in this  moment?”

If you can think of just one thing to be thankful for, you can shift your mind completely and help release your anger.  When we are angry, we are living in our “ego mind”. When we are grateful, we are living in our heart.

“Whenever anger comes up, take out a mirror and look at yourself. When you are angry, you are not very beautiful”.  – Thich Nhat Hanh

When we acknowledge the anger and fear within us, we can face the shadows of self and allow them to come to the surface and heal.  Learn to nourish yourself using attitudes of love and acceptance.

The choice each day to be grateful instead of angry, will  propel us forward into a peaceful and joyful life.

“Forget yesterday – it has already forgotten you. Don’t sweat tomorrow – you haven’t even met. Instead, open your eyes and your heart to a truly precious gift – today.”  – Steve Maraboli

Slow Down

by Karen Lang, posted in Uncategorized

This is a poem written by a teenager with cancer….she reminds us life is short…..slow down and make it wide….

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.

Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You’d better slow down

Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,”Hi”
You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift…..
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower

Hear the music

Before the song is over.

Receiving

by Karen Lang, posted in Uncategorized

There is a secret about human love that is commonly overlooked: Receiving it is much more scary and threatening than giving it. How many times in your life have you been unable to let in someone’s love or even pushed it away? Much as we proclaim the wish to be truly loved, we are often afraid of that, and so find it difficult to open to love or let it all the way in. – John Welwood

Giving is easier than receiving.  We pretend to ourselves that we are open to receiving, when  in fact, we have built a fortress around our hearts protecting it from the pain of being hurt or rejected.

Eckhart Tolle says if we don’t face the pain of why we do not receive,  if we don’t bring the light of our consciousness into the pain, we will be forced to relive it again and again.

I have always struggled with receiving.  I blocked my ability to receive from past fear and low self-worth and as I released my old patterns of belief, I allowed my heart-space to grow and began to receive the love and abundance that was waiting for me.

We may believe it is easier to protect ourselves from receiving than to open the wounds of our past and let go, but what happens is that we miss out on the fullness and abundance of life and the gift of trusting in life’s purpose for us.

“We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.”  – Dalai Lama

Resist all forms of negativity or doubt and replace them with simply knowing that you and your Spirit or source are one and the same.

Make the choice to let go of that lifetime of beliefs, and begin activating thoughts right now that allow yourself to feel good and to know your dreams are achievable.

The supply is unlimited. The more you partake of the universal generosity, the more you’ll have to share with others and receive for yourself.

Don’t stop the flow of abundant energy by hoarding or owning what you receive. Keep it moving. Use your prosperity in the service of others, and for causes greater than your ego. The more you practice detachment, the more you will stay in harmony with life.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ you are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. You were born to manifest the glory of God that is within you. This is not a description of privilege but of responsibility.” – Marianne Williamson

Once we understand we are responsible for the flow or block of abundance to receive love, money, success or achievement, then you can become conscious of why you are not receiving this abundance.  We have to learn to trust again and believe we are worthy.  Practice becoming grateful each day for all that you have, even if what you desire hasn’t arrived yet.

“Fear melts when you take action towards a goal you really want”. – Robert G Alle