Once my eyes were opened to other healing paths, so many books seemed to pop into my consciousness. One of the first was Louise Hay’s book, You Can Heal Your Life, published in 1999. Louise was a counselor who began to see connections between her patients’ thought processes and their health. From there, she developed affirmations to assist her clients in changing their thoughts and consequently changing their health.
Louise Hay’s theory is that our thoughts influence our bodies and they respond accordingly. Loving ourselves is the foundation of her teaching and something that is not always easy to do. She was a pioneer when she proposed these theories and based upon her life experience, she developed positive, loving affirmations specific to each ailment.
From her autobiographical notes, she used these affirmations to love and heal herself as well. Her first book of affirmations, was self published and she went on to found her own publishing house called, Hay House Publishing (hayhouse.com). Her latest book, Loving Yourself to Great Health, is amazing. She collaborated with two ladies specializing in holistic nutrition and optimal living, Ahlea Khadro and Heather Dane. Together they produced a bible for happy, healthy living.
During the last few years, I was plagued with several strange physical issues. Last year, after consulting with many doctors with minimal positive results, I began seeing a nutritionist, Ann Marie DiGregorio. After keeping a diary of what I was eating, she pointed out that I needed more nutrition and was possibly on the verge of an autoimmune disease. She suggested that I take certain supplements, de-stress, eat organic food and ease up on sugar and wheat.
Within weeks of following her advice, all my irritating symptoms disappeared. I was pleasantly surprised to find Ann Marie’s advice almost mirrored Louise’s in the book, Loving Yourself to Great Health. I was excited to find out Ann Marie is not only a nutritionist, she is a life coach. She also helped me identify emotional issues that were contributing to my physical problems.
One delicious suggestion from both Ann Marie and Louise, was to drink bone broth. It is grass fed or free range bones that are simmered for 24-36 hours to extract the collagen and nutrition from the bones. It is part of Louise’s daily regimen and one of the secrets to her good health, youthful appearance and great skin. Guess what is bubbling in my slow cooker! It is also available at natural food stores, such as Cornucopia in Sayville.
After several visits with Ann Marie, reading Louise’s book and reigniting my practice of using affirmations, I began to feel healthier, fearless and excited. A few of Louise’s affirmations that are my favorite are, “I see with love and joy”, “my loving thoughts begin my healing journey” and “I am safe and at peace with life.” Whenever I say these, I immediately feel my shoulders loosen, my mouth smile and my stomach relax. Louise is 90 years young, healthy, still excited and engaged in life. I certainly want some of that!
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