So it's been awhile since I have posted and I have really wanted to post a little about my experience with the Gabriel Method.
I literally felt like I was sitting down for coffee with one of my best girlfriends, discussing the power of positive thinking! I have read lots of books and I have never read a book where I felt like the author was sitting right there with me!
Pam Grout is the author of the new book “E-Cubed.” There are 9, very easy to follow, experiments that let you test the power of your mind by positive thinking, manifesting, and the Law of Attraction. (LOA) I have read several books on the power of positive thinking and the LOA. However, I have yet to see an approach quite like Pam Grout’s in “E-Cubed.” As excited as I was to receive “E-Cubed”, I was equally excited to try one of the experiments. The only downfall to reading this book at all is trying to decide which experiment you are going to try first! I had told myself that I would read the entire book first and then re-read it before I attempted any of the experiments. And then it happened, I started to get a cold sore on my upper lip. I had just started reading about “ The Placebo Corollary” (Experiment #8) and I thought, “let’s do this!!!” So, the very next morning, I woke up, poured my “shot” of warm water. I rubbed my hands over it for a minute or two in an effort to put some “energy” into it. I then rubbed the warm, energy water over my upper lip where the cold sore was. With that, I proceeded to slam the remaining warm, energy water as if I had just taken a magic elixir. I did this for 3 days and also visualized a lightning bolt zapping the nasty virus in my lip various times throughout each day. Normally, it takes around 2 weeks before my cold sores are completely healed. My lip gets huge and is very painful. I kid you not, by the end of the 72 hours, the swelling was minimal, the “sore” was barely noticeable and in 1 full week, there is no sign of a cold sore at all!!! I am amazed to say the least. I used nothing at all topically to treat this besides rubbing the warm water on it. (A total of 3 times). Now, on to the next experiment…this is FUN!!!! This book is a must read for anyone interested in the power of positive thinking, manifesting, or the LOA! Even if you are a skeptic, I challenge you to read Pam Grout’s new book, “E-cubed” and try the experiments. What do you have to lose besides “nothing.” I received this book for free from Hay House Publishing for review purposes. The last that I had posted, I was talking about using positive affirmations to lose weight and I had started to write my daily affirmations the way that "The Only Diet There Is", recommended.
I am one who needs constant reinforcement that what I am doing is not only right but will work. I will spend hours upon hours looking for testimonials or articles to back up what it is I am looking into. I think I might be a bit OCD when it comes to this...but oh well! Anyway, in one of my many google searches regarding losing weight through the mind/body connection, I came across a program called the Gabriel Method. I had seen this before, however, I thought it was something that I had already read about some time ago and I didn't click on the link to find out more information. (I think it was the Daniel Diet or something like that). There was a slight nagging just to click on the link and so I did. To make a long story short, after downloading Chapter 1 of Jon Gabriel's book, the Gabriel Method, I remember years ago seeing a special on 20/20 or one of those shows about women who were losing weight just by praying. They showed them at a restaurant enjoying ice cream sundaes and they all had lost weight, some pretty significant amounts. They claimed that they really didn't exercise more and hadn't changed their diets either.
So, it's no secret if you know me that I have some weight to lose....or a lot. :) Anyway, I have tried just about every diet over the sun and I just keep losing the same 20 lbs. I have had several friends that have opted to have gastric bypass surgery and they have had pretty good success with it. Well, as far as losing the extra "weight". I have also seen the flip side, losing hair, being anemic, body out of proportion, stomachaches, but more importantly, the mental and emotional side of it. Overeating is an addiction and from what I could see, all of these people who had opted for the procedure were now just diverting their food addiction to a different addiction. I am surprised that therapy is not the base of this whole procedure. I know, they do have to have an evaluation and some therapy prior to having the surgery, however, there really isn't a lot of post surgery support therapy. It's like a child with a toy. If you don't teach the child to share, he/she will just "find another toy." You can't just take an addiction away and expect the person to be successful long term. Now that I am off the gastric bypass rant, because this is really not about the surgery as a whole, it's about what I feel will work for me. I know that my food addiction is deeply rooted and in order to have successful long term weight loss, I have to heal what is going on inside. I started using Plexus about 6 months ago. Before anyone gets too excited... it's not a magic pill... I KNOW! I have lost about 15 lbs and over 17 inches, which is by no means, MAGIC!! However, I do feel that it has been and will continue to be an important tool in my weight loss arsenal. This is a big war I am fighting and I need all the allies I can get. (No, I am not endorsing Plexus... just sharing my story) So, after reading Louise Hay's book "The Power is Within You", I purchased a book that she recommended by Sondra Ray called "The Only Diet There Is". OK, I am not even going to lie to you, it involves a lot of writing. The writing itself doesn't bother me, if I am not writing the same thing over and over!!! Which in this case, you will be doing as you have to rewrite positive affirmations. Painful? Maybe, but not quite as painful and sweaty as working out. So, I am on day 3 of writing these positive affirmations. I have never done anything like this in an attempt to lose weight so this is a good thing! What's the saying? "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting different results"... or something like that. So, on my spiritual path, I am intrigued with the mind/body connection for healing and overall health. I have studied the Law of Attraction and when I really think about it, why would it not be possible that my past and current thoughts have a big impact on my weight problem? Could it be that this was how the women on 20/20 lost their weight? Prayer is positive thinking and it is also the Law of Attraction all in one. We are supposed to ask and it shall be given. Believe that you have already received it. I wish that I had the opportunity to speak to these women and see just what they did exactly, but I don't so, for now, I will continue with the positive affirmations and meditation/prayer and let's all see where this takes me!!! I have decided not to post my "random" thoughts on Facebook any more as it seems to stir up quite a bit of controversy so I will use my blog to do that!!
A Christian is supposed to be "Like Christ." I think that we would all agree on that. What I don't understand is, being "like someone" is not actually "being" that someone. It's kind of like the child that desires to be "like their favorite athlete." You can aim and you can come close, but you will never "be THAT athlete." It's just not possible. So, my question is, how is a Christian able to take on the role of Christ when they are not Christ and never will be in Christ? How can a "brother" or "sister" in Christ ever be qualified to point out the obvious shortcomings of another when they have their own? We were not sent here to be everyone's savior. If you are a Christian, you believe that Jesus was sent here to be our Savior. If you are doing this, it would appear to me as if you were not trying to be "like" the savior but rather that you are trying to "be the savior." I'm not really sure where I am at with that. I have done what I had read to do, made a list of people that I wanted to forgive. Wrote down all of the things, like a personal letter, that I wanted to say to each person and then I burnt them. The whole ritual part felt pretty good and freeing, even though my house was full of smoke. Note to self, do not do this in the house again or at least do it when all the windows can be open. December in Wisconsin is probably not the best month for that. Anyway, two of the people on my A-list managed to shake me up a bit on Christmas Day. Forgiveness is about the past, it makes it difficult when people keep doing things to you in the now, guess I might be on a continual forgiveness path with these two.
On the positive side, I was able to witness first hand how people can literally affect your health. Among the one house guest and the surprise phone call on Christmas Day, my stomach was beyond sick. Simple indigestion and knots don't even begin to describe it. Within an hour of the guest leaving and my decision to "not respond" to the phone call, I was fine. I had drank a Canada Dry at that time, but had not taken any medicine or anything. I could feel the anxiety leaving my stomach area and peace coming over my entire body. I can no longer allow people to affect me that way. I have spent a lifetime living in this sea of sickness and anxiety, allowing the emotions and negativity of other people affect me. I am trying to learn ways to protect myself. The book Angel Therapy was recommended to me as a useful tool. Had a girls day with my best girl friend yesterday and low and behold, I ended up at Barnes and Noble. First of all, it was never my intention to go to the book store, but I ended up there, none the less. Anyway, I saw an older gentleman standing in the aisle by the Spirituality section and I started to make conversation. It turns out that he lost his young daughter in a car accident and since that had happened, he has started to question his Catholic and Methodist beliefs and religion in general. He informed me that he really just wanted to make contact with his daughter if that was possible and that he has even considered joining her, but realized that is not really an option since visiting does not involve coming back. (At this time anyway). We talked for awhile and when it was all said and done, he left with a hardcover book by Teresa Caputo, Long Island Medium. As we walked to the front of the store to purchase our books, he shook my hand, thanked me and informed me that there must have been a reason that we met at Barnes and Noble that day. I assured him that I don't have a doubt that our meeting was divine intervention. I wished him luck in his quest and I said a prayer for him that God would give him the answers that he was seeking. A perfect stranger in the book store and yet, it was as if we were "old friends." What an awesome experience!! So, I need to work on forgiving. We all need to forgive in order to get to a good place. That is my goal for this week of Christmas 2014. At least to start working on some techniques that I have recently learned. I think there is probably something behind this for a few reasons but one mainly. I have had the same dreams recently, the same in that they have the same theme, but different in that the people are different. In the dream I am very angry with the people that I am yelling at, however, I can not get the words to come out. It is as if I am on my last breath. The words are there, but they won't come out and what I am able to get out is faint. I feel as though this is a theme in my life. Everyone in my life has just always said what they feel like saying. Never mind that they might hurt someone's feelings, including mine. However, it always seems that when I speak my mind, I become the bad guy. It's like I feel like I have no voice. I am not allowed to voice my opinion and when I do, people can't handle it. This is going to be a pretty big hurdle for me since I am like a grudge keeper. Do me wrong and I will remember it for like 50 years. I guess that might be OK though. It's ok to remember, but it's the part of holding on to the wrong and letting it fester inside, the unforgiveness part that makes us sick. I would love to reach a point in my life where I don't let people's actions and words affect me. So, I just wrote my forgiveness letters, told the people what I thought, released the negative emotions that I carry for them and then burnt the letters. I actually feel a bit freer. Note to self: do not burn paper inside, as your entire house will smell of burnt paper. Other than the smoke filled room, I think this was a good place to start on forgiveness.
So I feel I am what I would call in a spiritual awakening. I think that I have been for several years but just didn't realize what was going on. I had started to question a lot of things and one of them was my religion and what I was basically raised to believe. I have always kind of been the one who went against the grain so it really is no surprise that my beliefs wouldn't be the exception.
Because I have so many unanswered questions about religion and the truth…something has been stirring in me for awhile. I have so many unanswered questions regarding my beliefs that I really started to question. I also felt that as a Christian, I was so conflicted between right and wrong, being a hypocrite and not. One of my first realizations was when I had a desire to see the Dali Lama. I had watched a documentary on him and I was just so amazed by the love that just seemed to emanate from him. At my husband's Christmas party one year, I had expressed that one of the items on my bucket list was to see/meet the Dali Lama. The couple that I had expressed that too were from the church that we attended at that time. He had a look of somewhat disbelief and horror all in one. As surprised as I was at the look on his face, I was even more surprised at his words that followed. He informed me that the Dali Lama was the Anti-Christ! Wow, I was absolutely confused by the comment and felt like a cross between the kid that just found out that Santa isn't real and one that was told her dreams would never come true with a little bit of shame mixed in. How could I, a Christian possibly want to meet the Dali Lama? Shame on me for having such an evil desire as to want to meet the Dali Lama. I would say that that night was a major turning point in my life as far as making me question is it possible that someone outside of Christianity could have God in their hearts. I mean, can other people of other belief systems, possibly be "Godly"? Or are they just "wolves dressed in sheep's clothing?" As the Bible warned us? I realized while meditating that I can't be of true service to others until, as the airline stewardess says, I put my own oxygen mask on, I know this is the time that I am supposed to get healthy. |