Using your 'mind sight.' - five steps for releasing negative energy stored within

USING YOUR `MIND SIGHT'

When we truly begin to recognize the power that lies locked in our minds and accept responsibility for all our thoughts, words and actions, our lives will improve and expand in dramatic ways.

What a simple principle. But, amazingly, many people have trouble adhering to it, seeking instead to place the blame for their misery on everyone and everything but themselves. I see this syndrome often in my work as a spiritual counselor in the Yoruba culture in Philadelphia.

ONE WOMAN'S STORY

Linda was a lovely woman who came to me several years ago, asking if I could help her heal her many ailments. One look at her told me that Linda was suffering. Despite a pretty face, she was overweight, her hair was dull and thin, circles darkened her eyes, and she complained of stomach pain. As I listened to Linda list her physical symptoms, I knew her maladies weren't simply physiological but were linked to her mental attitude. "What's going on in your life?" I asked her. She took a deep breath before beginning.

She explained that barely out of her teens she had fallen in love with and married a very handsome but illiterate man. She had figured he could learn to read and write. But after their children were born and she began to work, things changed. Perhaps because he couldn't read or write, her husband ridiculed her own attempts to better herself. Soon he started going out with other women. She wanted to leave him but felt guilty because he seemed so dependent on her. She was also afraid of hurting the children.

Soon she met a man she found wonderful - educated, ambitious and refined. They began an affair, even though both were married. She longed to be with him but felt terrible anytime she thought about leaving her husband. It was at about that time that her physical problems began. First she couldn't sleep; then her hair started falling out in clumps. When describing her situation to me, she said she was sure that everything would work out and that she'd feel better if she could just get away from her husband.

After I had absorbed what she had told me, I explained to her, "You know, Linda, your husband is really only a part of the problem. In fact, your thoughts are making you sick."

We must remember that physical manifestations are reflections of our joy, happiness, anger, fear, pain and confusion. To attain physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health, we must begin loving ourselves, cleansing our minds and releasing the negative energy we have stored within us.

If we can release negativity, we'll be able to move forward out of whatever situation we find ourselves stuck in. Linda changed her life when she followed the steps below. You can, too. 1. Admit your faults. There is jealousy, envy, greed, selfishness and confusion in us all. Those of us who own up to our faults can begin healing. 2. See yourself as you want to be. As Black women, many of us have never learned to dream. But we must begin to see situations the way we want them to be. Learning to visualize the success, peace and happiness we want in our lives enables us to fulfill our vision. 3. Pray and affirm. We should think of our minds as gardens that have become overgrown with weeds that are choking all the roses planted there. Prayers and affirmations are the gigantic rakes that can restore the beauty of our mental gardens. We must ask the Creator for guidance and flood our minds with positive expressions. 4. Make time for mental housecleaning. Stale relationships, dead-end jobs, abusive friendships - these are things that clutter our minds and weigh us down. Every time we get rid of something negative, we create room for something better. 5. Learn to forgive. When we hold grudges against others, we hurt ourselves because we are blocking spiritual progress. As long as Linda blamed her illiterate husband for her misery, she didn't have to deal with the qualities in her that attracted that kind of situation. Once she admitted that she was holding on to an abusive relationship because she was afraid of being alone, she could move on.

Eventually Linda owned up to her faults and embraced a new definition of herself. When she truly began believing that she deserved the best, both her abusive husband and the married man became intolerable. The last time I saw her she was living alone, peacefully, with her children. Her hair had grown back, and she was working on her M.B.A.

Iyanla Vanzant, a Yoruba priestess and practicing lawyer, wrote this article with Bebe Moore Campbell. Vanzant's story of her own spiritual awakening appeared in the October 1989 issue of ESSENCE.

COPYRIGHT 1990 Essence Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group