Mind, Body, Soul Journal E-Book

Andrea Hayes

• Herausgeber: Gill Books
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

This timeless journal is an indispensable companion if you want to live a more focused, positive life. A practical workbook designed to help you find more meaning and fulfilment amidst the chaos of daily life, it contains a twelve-step, month-by-month strategy that creates space for introspection and self-discovery so you can gain a renewed sense of freedom and fulfilment. 'Lovely book … a spiritual Filofax.' Patrick Bergin. 'Full of positivity and inspiration, this book is a tonic – I loved it.' Alan Hughes 'This book will make anybody's life journey easy and joyful. I absolutely recommend it. It's a book for everyone to help them on their journey.' Helen Goldin 'The most astonishingly uplifting work I've read all year! This isn't just a book to read, it's a bible to live your best life by.' Claudia Carroll 'This book unleashes the power of you to successfully set goals for a happy and successful life and to reach your true potential through the magic of goal setting. Set a satnav for your life by following this practical journal and unleash the best version of you.' Norah Casey 'Finally! A blueprint for creating the life you want in this powerful and authentic spiritual guidebook. You will pick it up, put it down, and pick it up again and again.' Paul Congdon, editor of Positive Life

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Acknowledgements

A Message from Andrea

How to Use The Mind, Body, Soul Journal

Month 1: Starting Point

Month 2: The Path to Unconditional Self-Acceptance

Month 3: Self-Enquiry through Meditation

Month 4: Awareness of Inner Voices and Big Mind

Month 5: Take Control of Your Wheel of Emotions

Month 6: Connect With Your Creativity

Month 7: Ignite Your Light

Month 8: Your Vibe Attracts Your Tribe

Month 9: Plug In: Grounding, Centring and Rooting

Month 10: Body Talk

Month 11: Soul Signature: Mapping Your Desire

Month 12: Divine Mind

Final Thoughts – Review, Reflect, Revise

About the Author

Praise for Mind, Body, Soul Journal

Copyright

About Gill Books

To Skylar

Acknowledgements

I have been wondering where this book sprang from. I suppose it was a deep yearning to create balance and harmony in my life that led me on a search to find my own unique blend of spirituality. The thoughts and ideas you will read have been composed mostly from trusting that a higher power was guiding me, and also from wonderful learning experiences and teachers who have helped me on my path.

All of those encounters needed to be woven together with creativity and action and that happened because of the patience, grace and guidance of my brilliant editor Sarah Liddy; over many enlightening conversations with Sarah, this journal became a reality. The completion of this book was eased by the support of the stellar team at Gill: there are so many people who work on a book without any applause so I want to wholeheartedly acknowledge Sheila, Tanya, Teresa, Ellen, Seán, Paul, Linda and all the team – you are truly amazing and I am so grateful to you all.

Thank you to the utterly inspiring and brilliant Norah Casey, my great TV3 colleague Alan Hughes, my dearest friends Helen Goldin and Patrick Bergin, the ever-positive Paul Congdon, and – a beautiful person inside and out – author Claudia Carroll for her generous words of support and kindness.

There are so many people who have kept my light bright during this writing journey, particularly Fr Myles O’Reilly and my soul friends in Anamcharadas. I am blessed to have so many ‘radiators’ in my life (you will read about them later in the journal) and it feels almost impossible to mention everyone who has inspired me. So to anyone who has reached out and been a part of my life in any small way or is a lifelong friend – thank you. I am so grateful to my loving family Lavinia, Maria, Brian, mum Marie, Mary and Pat.

I have to give special mention to my squad of cheerleaders: my best pal, mentor and PR queen Valerie Roe; Teresa Murray for the endless advice and keeping the G&Ts flowing; Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin from writing.ie for the hours of writing chats in Whelan’s wine bar; and not forgetting the Jonny Cooper Appreciation Group (you know who you are!).

My biggest supporter is my wonderful husband David Torpey, and together with the love and laughter of my daughters Brooke and Skylar and our dog Dash, life is pretty amazing.

Finally, I want to thank you, the reader. Whoever or wherever you are reading these words, may you be blessed with blessings and abundance as you go in the direction of your true calling in this life.

Live your best life.

‘We should be in harmony with our own consciousness;

OUR MIND, BODY AND SOUL SHOULD BE ONE IN INTEREST AND IN PURPOSE.

And in that unified condition, we can actually express that natural innate love that

WE HAVE FOUND IN OUR OWN LIFE IN EVERYTHING WE DO IN THE WORLD.’

– Radhanath Swami

A MESSAGE FROM ANDREA

Have you ever wanted to make changes in your life? Do you want deepen your sense of purpose and find more meaning and fulfilment amidst the chaos of the daily grind?

Deep within, is there a voice gently telling you that there is more for you to do in this life, an untapped potential you need to discover?

Do you feel you are missing your calling?

Have you answered yes to any of the above, but when you try to start making some positive changes in your life, you find yourself too exhausted to even think about it? Or paralysed by fear? Or maybe you just don’t know what to focus on first?

THE POWER OF JOURNALING

A journal is not only a great place to write your innermost feelings and record quotes or sayings that inspire you, but also a wonderful tool to help you analyse and figure out where you are in your life at this present moment, where you want to go and, importantly, what your life purpose truly is.

When embracing change, a journal can be a great place to start. Think of the pages within the Mind, Body, Soul Journal as signposts, pointing you in the right direction. But it’s up to you to be clear about your purpose and to follow a definite path to help you describe and capture your journey. The helpful meditations will be a wonderful tool to guide your progress.

My journaling story started almost 30 years ago, and I have been keeping diaries, notebooks and journals for as long as I can remember. I have always considered the act of writing down my most personal experiences at the end of each day to be a form of therapy, and it has definitely helped me through life’s many ups and downs. But, more importantly, it has really helped me in managing my health challenges, namely a brain disorder, diagnoses of Chiari Malformation 1, Spinal Stenosis, POTS and mild EDS, all of which cause daily chronic pain.

In 2013, a life-changing medical diagnosis inspired me to make some big changes in my life. I took time out from work commitments to become the best version of myself that I could be.

During this time, I made it my intention to prioritise my health and wellness and began to take excellent care of my body. I embraced one of the most powerful lessons from the ancient science of Ayurveda and began to see my body as my temple. I learned how to become an empowered patient and really understand my own body and my ability to live a happy life despite the pain.

Instead of focusing on the constant pain and what my body couldn’t do, I started to become more and more appreciative of what my body was doing for me. I adopted new healthy routines to ensure proper maintenance, regular attention and gentle pacing so my body would be the best it could be. What I learned from this informed my first book, Pain-Free Life: My Journey to Wellness.

Sometimes a book can send your life in a new direction – this certainly happened to me. You might be familiar with the phrase ‘When life hands you lemons, make lemonade’, coined by Norman Vincent Peale, who published his bestselling book, The Power of Positive Thinking, in 1952. It spent over 150 weeks in the bestseller lists and when I read it almost 50 years later, it had a profound effect on me and my life. However, my own journey to wellness went way beyond the power of positive thinking. Because I believed fully in the power of the mind to heal and attract great abundance in our lives, I decided to study clinical hypnotherapy and NLP (neuro-linguistic programming).

As a trained hypnotherapist, I learned all about the potential to achieve greatness within our own minds. Initially, I was only focused on how I could reprogram my mind to help ease my pain and how to create new neural pathways to retrain my brain to feel and interpret pain differently. But this quickly shifted as I realised the immense value in harnessing the power of the brain to help in goal setting and personal achievement.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF-AWARENESS

Many neuroscientists, athletes and world leaders have long supported the theory that understanding your subconscious mind is the key to success. This is why writing down your goals every day, visualising your intended outcome and regularly saying affirmations are so important! I shared these ideas in my second book, My Life Goals Journal, and shared my journey with so many of you who also found success by using the tools outlined.

My path to live a more fulfilling life continued and my search for knowledge never weakened. While studying the mind and the subconscious, I was fascinated by the idea that from the time of birth until eight years old, your mind is one big receptacle for everything you hear, say, see, dream or experience. When a child nears eight years old, the mind separates and organises into the conscious and unconscious mind, and a barrier is formed between the two. The child becomes ‘aware’.

Experts agree that the conscious mind makes up less than 10 per cent of the mind. The subconscious, which is already full of subconscious programs by eight years old, makes up 90 per cent or more of the mind. Much of our behaviour and patterns, despite our conscious wishes, are a result of subconscious programming formed before we reached an age of awareness.

I wanted to really examine my own self-awareness, and discover what subconscious messages and self-limiting beliefs from childhood were hardwired into my consciousness potentially stopping me from being my true authentic limitless self.

I had many questions and this led me on a journey to really explore what past patterns or learned behaviours were blocking my path to being my true self. I began to look at my life through a new lens. I had spent a long time mastering my body and mind but I felt strongly that I needed a deep dive into my soul, my spirit, my self-awareness, my higher consciousness – whatever you want to call it.

I knew that to create more balance between my mind, body and soul and to achieve the enlightenment and true happiness I desired, I had to keep searching. This brought me on a spiritual journey, into an area of my life I felt was lacking – I wanted to give my spirit the same attention I had given my body and mind in recent years. For the first time, I saw the value in honouring my soul and spirit, as without that, I felt something was out of sync in my life.

Looking back, my longing for a deeper spiritual connection had grown stronger since I had become a mother. A childlike curiosity about all things faith-related can be a good way of getting a fresh perspective on your soul’s journey in life.

I wanted to give my child a solid spiritual foundation on which to build her own future faith choices.

My husband has very different spiritual beliefs to me, so how do you find the middle ground in faith? For me, it is all about core values, which we both thankfully share. So we operate in a home of openness and acceptance. I teach my daughter my Christian values and my husband talks to her about science, evolution and the Big Bang, and together we foster respect for all religious and scientific beliefs.

MY BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT

Over the past two years I have been doing what many parents will relate to – as mothers, we are teachers, and I have been showing my young daughter how to make the sign of the cross before we start our daily prayer. Blessing yourself with the sign of the cross as you pronounce the names of the three Divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity is an ancient practice and prayer. The movement traces a cross over the body, and by using three fingers you represent the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

I hadn’t really noticed that many of us do this subconsciously almost every day or every week at mass, or even when passing a church or graveyard. It was only when I had to explain the practice to my daughter that I started to think more deeply about it. She understood little of the words we pronounced, and she had no awareness of this great mystery of our faith, so to try to make sense of it I explained that, like many other things, God is made up of different parts. She still looked puzzled so we took an apple as an example: it is made up of skin, the flesh inside and the seeds in the core; similarly liquid, vapour and ice are all water. Then, in a final bid to explain, I said that every person is made up of a mind, body and soul, and in many ways this is like God.

Our mind is like the Father, our body is like Jesus the Son and then our soul represents the Holy Spirit. Together, they make a Divine unit, which is our unique self, and that is the same as God our creator. I explained that God is in all of creation, we are all one. She asked me, in her childlike innocence, ‘If God is in everyone then are we God?’

While explaining that we are not God but we are one with God, her comment stuck with me. There is a oneness with all of creation. I started to think more about the concept of a universal consciousness. Could her simplistic, childlike way of looking at it be true? Are we all Divine, with a higher power that is indeed within us? I began to question myself about my connection to God, and why, if I was made perfect in his likeness, didn’t I see myself that way?

The notion stayed with me for a long time and eventually something shifted in how I saw the world. Although I was supposed to be teaching my daughter something, I had a moment of intense clarity and I wondered …

Imagine for a second that we are the Divine – and that is the mystery of our faith: we need to have faith in ourselves. Could humanity and divinity be interconnected? Could knowledge and realisation could be the first step in the manifestation of who we really are? With the embracing of our divinity, could we create our own heaven on earth?

What if we believe anything is possible if we connect truly with our own true divinity? If we begin looking at the world through the lens of unconditional love, as we are told the Divine looks at all creation, what blessings and miracles could we encounter?

I wrote at length in my own journal about this idea and spoke to my spiritual companion about it. A spiritual companion is someone who listens and gently guides you on your own spiritual path. Many people develop some spiritual practices to feed their soul, such as going to church, praying, meditating, yoga, energy healing, tai chi or even journaling. Having a spiritual companion is another of these; he or she is someone who you can talk to about your sense of connection to your soul or a higher power and reflect on its role in your own life. I myself am a trained spiritual companion and Bethany grief minister and I studied for this while writing this journal.

‘THE KINGDOM OF GOD DOES NOT COME

WITH YOUR CAREFUL

OBSERVATION,

NOR WILL PEOPLE SAY, “HERE

IT IS” OR “THERE IT IS,”

BECAUSE THE KINGDOM OF GOD

IS WITHIN YOU.’

– Luke 17:2

In recognition of the diverse ways people think of God, from now on I will talk about the Divine: this can mean a higher power, the creator, a universal consciousness, the universe, an energy or a power greater than ourselves, mother nature, a supreme being or deity, or some conception of God. The meaning of the Divine is for you to decide and it is personal to everyone, so from here on, you can imagine what Divine means to you.

Starting with the understanding that we begin with nothing and we leave with nothing, then we have nothing to lose or fear by striving to follow our dreams and live the life we truly desire. Maybe in order to align with our innate calling in this world and our own inner wisdom we need to find our true divinity, and a true union of the mind, body and soul that will indeed bring the spiritual freedom we crave and that pure, unconditional, loving relationship with the self, the universe and the Divine, as we are all one, all connected.

When we learn how to create harmony between our mind, body and soul, we not only feel in balance, but also feel that our lives have colour, passion and a sense of belonging: that’s when we are truly living our life’s purpose.

Andrea Hayes

‘The world rewards you for what is in your mind,

THE UNIVERSE REWARDS YOU FOR WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART,

and the Heavens reward you for what is in your soul.’

– Matshona Dhliwayo

How to Use the Mind, Body, Soul Journal

Each month is themed. You will be encouraged to make time for your own sacred space to follow the prompts and exercises in each chapter and answer the relevant soul questions to help you on your journey. This is a time to review what you have learned at the end of each theme.

It is also important to do separate journaling and use the meditations provided on my website (www.andreahayes.ie) written specifically for the themes of each month. I would recommend that you get a separate journal from this one to write at length about your experiences. Writing is very personal: some people like to write a lot, others just need to write a word or sentence to prompt them, and some are more comfortable writing in a digital format. Whatever works for you is what is best for you to do. The location where you write in it is just as unique as you, but I would recommend you have a separate place to write in this journal. You can mark it months 1 to 12 and follow the guidance on the pages that follow, and use it as an addition to the space left for writing in this book.

While I was on this journey, I used three separate journals – one for my mind, body and soul insights, one as a daily gratitude journal, and one as a dream journal.

‘A personal journal is an ideal environment in which to “become”. It is a perfect place for you to think, feel, discover, expand, remember, and dream.’

– Brad Wilcox

JOURNALING

Journaling is a life-long practice of mine, and it has inspired some of the most powerful insights into my own evolution and spiritual growth. In the following pages I will share snippets from my own one-year transformational journal experience. I cannot explain the phenomenon of my journal experience except to say this: it works for me, and I believe it can work for you too. Through using the Mind, Body, Soul Journal, you will see yourself grow into your true, authentic self, living on purpose with intention and unconditional love.

The Mind, Body, Soul Journal will prompt you to explore what your true calling is and help you look at life through a new lens so you can express all that you hold within your mind, body and soul to help discover your Divine purpose in life.

Each chapter will help you to reignite your inner light, to transform your life so you are consciously living on purpose. Through a process of introspection and self-discovery you will attract more balance, freedom and fulfilment so you can truly shine and reach your full potential.

The simple practice of writing forces you to reflect on your life, and writing down your thoughts can be a cathartic process that helps you to clarify exactly what it is you want, who you truly are and where it is you are going in life.

Making changes in life is not about one-off actions: it is about forming new habits to transform your life. Start today and discover how to live and how to shape your life with a commanding sense of purpose, divinity and meaning.

Following the simple prompts in this book can help you to discover the happiness that unfolds from realising your full potential. Each section has powerful tools and exercises for unlocking the vast potential of your mind, body and soul to help you achieve your best life imaginable.

‘MEDITATION

is the sharp tool to dig out the great treasure hidden within everybody’s inner personality.’

– Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

MEDITATION

There is mounting evidence to support the role of the mind in goal setting, healing, sport psychology and living a healthier life. I truly believe everyone can have success with hypnosis and meditation if they can harness the mind, body and spirit connection.

I was fuelled by my faith in myself to heal, my positive expectation that I would have success and my desire to keep going. Like any form of training, it requires commitment – I flexed my mental healing muscles every day until I could really see, and most importantly feel, the benefits! I have now adapted my hypnosis relaxations and use them in all areas of my life and they are the foundation of all the wonderful abundance I experience. As a trained hypnotherapist I have created my own relaxing meditations to accompany each chapter of the journal.

Each specially devised meditation is used as an extra tool to support each month’s theme, and if you use them daily, I believe you will achieve great success. They are available on www.andreahayes.ie/media. It is important to commit to the daily practice of checking in with your inner navigation system and subconscious mind – the practice is to believe it, follow its lead and have faith that the upcoming year will be the best of your life. A daily habit of meditation with a focus on mindfulness is essential as you enter a new year because the present moment is always where life is unfolding.

If you are new to this and haven’t read My Life Goals Journal, you can read full details on how to use the daily audio on my website and also access all the audio links.

‘TO BE NOBODY BUT YOURSELF IN A WORLD WHICH IS DOING ITS BEST DAY AND NIGHT TO MAKE YOU LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE MEANS TO FIGHT THE HARDEST BATTLE WHICH ANY HUMAN BEING CAN FIGHT AND NEVER STOP FIGHTING.’

– E. E. Cummings

MONTH 1

Starting Point

‘Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.’

– Christian D. Larson

Are you ready to begin your journey? The fact that you found this book is a starting point: imagine this moment as a gateway to something greater. Now is the time to reconnect with what really matters and find out who you truly are. Are you ready to slow down, become aware and sit with the inner stillness of your mind, body and soul so you can truly discover happiness, peace and fulfilment in each moment?

For the next few months, I invite you to begin following your own path to a greater you! Each chapter will act as a guide, while your inner journey will allow you to arrive at the profound realisation that what you seek is already available to you once you connect with your distinctive soul signature. This is your unique essence, your true identity and the foundation of your life mission. Then all the wisdom you require to make life changes and reveal your true purpose will become effortless.

We are all seeking greater meaning. However, we live in a world that largely focuses on the physical side of wellness, which, in this day and age, includes healthy eating, a fit body and how attractive we look. While this is important, it’s working from the outside and I feel we need to begin from the inside out.

The busier we become, the harder it is to achieve balance between mental and spiritual wellbeing. I believe a combination of mental, physical and spiritual wellness is undeniably essential to each person in order to find our true, authentic self, a deeper love or that vibrant health and happiness we all crave. As the mind, body and soul are so intrinsically intertwined, I feel it is essential to maintain equilibrium between each to achieve true peace. Learning to honour each part of my being has lead me on a transformational journey of self-discovery and freedom.

Trust me: this is your starting point to finding your true self. Allow yourself to escape while reading the ideas shared here and allow the journal prompts and exercises to guide you as you discover and reconnect with the deepest part of your mind, body and soul – your Divine self.

You will be led to a place where you will experience balance, wellness, spiritual awakening, emotional awareness and greater physical health, vitality and direction in life – the part of you that exists on a higher level: the higher self.

‘We do not build or create A SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS; we merely get rid of all that OBSCURES OUR PURE VISION.’

– Roy Davis

I followed my own path to self-discovery and transformation and I believe you can too. If you follow the steps, journaling prompts, exercises and meditations on my website, www.andreahayes.ie/media, you will have the tools to reconnect with the deepest part of yourself and access the profound wisdom within you to help you unlock your potential and create and live the life that is right for you.

It can appear challenging at first, but every challenge in life provides an opportunity to discover a deeper meaning to your life. So even making a decision to live a more balanced life, to find a better path, to get to know what your mind, body and soul are craving for now is a momentous start in itself.

AN ‘INSIDE-OUT’ PLAN

If you’re seeking a more fulfilling way forward, the only place to start is with you. You can’t expect great change to manifest from the outside, as it has to happen within you.

For years I believed there was some sort of universal power that could shift energy to align events to bring me the outcome I desired, or that certain healers possessed some kind of magic to carry out my decisions, ambitions and goals just the way I wanted. The truth is, there was a way to attract what I wanted in life, and I did discover a magic formula, but to my amazement – the magic was within me. It was my commitment to align my energy, values and heartfelt vision of the perfect me that manifested the life I wanted and the person I am today.

Believe in your dream for yourself, but remember that a dream must be envisaged and then built from a solid foundation. The building blocks for your dream are motivation, commitment, persistence, self-discovery and discipline, and, most important, the cement that holds it all together is unconditional love. These are the magic ingredients that have changed my life and I believe they can change your life too.

I am a great believer in setting goals; it has worked for me in the past. I have identified goals I wanted to achieve and I believed they would bring me closer to a more balanced life. But I discovered that when I achieved the goal there was something still lacking inside – I didn’t feel fulfilled. However, following the mind, body, soul journaling journey helped me to achieve the bliss and contentment I was craving.

Some people carry a goal with them like a heavy load for years and years – it weighs them down. Often people have a goal they’re pursuing, yet years later this goal might remain in the distance. I don’t think this is a bad thing – maybe the goal wasn’t aligned with their true desire.

Unknowingly, we build our expectations on how we measure up to everyone else. We see people on social media having better lives than us: they seem happier, more successful, fitter, thinner, richer, funnier, more creative and everything about their lives makes us feel worse about ours, but that’s where we are going wrong! The minute you mark your place in life by measuring it against anyone else, you are engaging in a losing battle.