Sad Tales Can Have Happy Endings

I always wanted to be happy. I don't really know anyone who doesn't. Do you?

But I was sad for much of my life. Actually I wasn't aware of feeling that way for the first 25 to 30 years. I played the clown, was the life and soul of the party ... but it was to make others happy, to cheer them up, to help them out of their sadness and depression. I guess looking back, deep down it was really so that I wouldn't be rejected or so that I would be accepted although I wasn't really aware of that at the time.

There was no sense of self. Being so focused on others I had forgotten about me.

But then came a 'crunch' point. My body gave me a signal I couldn't ignore and I developed Chronic fatigue, or ME as it is usually called. And I found myself starting to face a deep and dark emptiness inside. I had lost touch with who I really was. I had been only what other people saw me as... no wonder I felt a crushing defeat whenever anybody didn't like me. My self worth had been invested in other people.

From this moment on the healing process began and so did the tears. All my inner emptiness and loneliness, grief, carrying the family shame and much more just flooded out, wave after wave. I cried every day for over 7 years and sometimes didn't even know what I was crying for. My body cried out in pain after pain. Ache and exhaustion was the order of the day. My body wasn't going to let up until I heard what it was trying to say. I listened. The pain started to lessen. My body began to relax and be well. I began to spontaneously smile.

During all of this time I used the practice of mindfulness and dynamic meditation and inner journey work. I started to become stronger from within. I found my 'inner child' and nurtured her. She was afraid to be excited and joyful. As if it wasn't allowed... maybe she would be punished for taking delight in herself and her surroundings. Maybe the family would think she was being disloyal by not grieving like they were.

I found a way to let go of carrying this burden of family sadness and shame. Using energy therapy and inner guided visualisation 'journeys' I found myself opening into A NEW WAY OF BEING and I started to be really, truly and consistently happy for the first time in my life. I started to enjoy the wonderful beauty of nature, the beautiful colours of autumn, the earthy smells of grass and other foliage, breathtakingly beautiful pure blue skies. The exquisite delicate soft white petals of a newly opened flower. The palpable warmth of love and support coming towards me from the people I love... a body that could dance and glide to the sound of uplifting music.

And as I opened into this higher natural vibration the happiness spread, like a magnificent yet very soft and fine wave of gratitude, lifting up my heart in appreciation of so many things, small and large in my daily life and interactions.I have now come home to true happiness and it wells up from inside, overflowing naturally outwards without fear and with a feeling of pure and abundant joy.

Of course I still sometimes fall into old patterns and have a tear or two now and again but I have the tools to deal with it whenever it arises. The ground of my being is very definitely rooted in the Abundance of God which I now realise is always here, always has been, always will be ... and which just needed me to strip away the dark layers that had been covering it up all those years

... which made the reunion all the more sweet and delightful.

Joy Idries is an internationally acclaimed Self Growth Expert and Spiritual Awareness and Wellness Coach. See her preview Video, the first of a full series that makes use of the Law of Attraction, energy healing, dynamic meditation, creative visualisation, laughter therapy and inner Journey work to help you clear your blocks and work through physical AND emotional pain, to claim a life of pure fun and joy. Go to http://www.instantnaturalpainrelief.com

Back Pain: What Does it Mean?

There's more to back pain than meets the eye.The key to its cure may lie more in dealing with the underlying meaning of pain than simply dealing with its physical manifestation and symptoms.

I was a young woman abroad, travelling around and teaching to pay my way. It had begun as a very enjoyable adventure, exploring and interacting with the many different cultures, people and places I cam across as I savoured the sense of freedom and play that being abroad seemed to bring.

Then one day I got up in the morning to go and deliver my class as usual and felt a nagging and persistent pain in my back It came across as a deep, tired ache. Bending backwards was a real problem for me. It was the ability to bend forwards that led the doctor to say I was fine and should go to work. By the look in his eye it was obvious what my backache meant to him –that I was playing a 'fast one' to get out of a day's teaching!

To me it meant:

* suffer silently, ignore the problem and pop the pills as I go to work so I don’t lose my job

* not being able to deliver my teaching well through lack of concentration and energy

* that when I need help no-one listens as often happened in childhood

* feeling unsupported and alone - that no-one cares or understands, or even wants to

* feeling like a victim - 'why me?'

* that my efforts to be happy are usually sabotaged by unexpected events

* remembering the car accident a few years before, during a traumatic kidnap attempt where my back took the brunt of the impact

* being burdened with yet another challenge and having to make the best of it

* a drain on my energy turning a natural zest for life into an act of suffering and 'bearing up' under the strain

I think the conclusion of all of this is that back pain is not as straightforward and simple a condition as it sounds. We need to look at what MEANING it has for the person who is experiencing it and understand that all of these thoughts, memories and accompanying emotions can act as additional stressors to aggravate or even cause the condition in the first place. So any treatment of the pain needs to include an investigation into what meaning it has for the patient and a way needs to be provided to work through or let go of these stressors which otherwise can get in the way of our body's natural healing processes

We could explore what 'new meanings' might be assigned to the experience to enhance and encourage restoration and wellness.

* seeing the pain as a 'wake-up' call, a message that something needs to be done. Being the ‘victim’ is just one way of seeing it. I can make a more empowering choice for myself and see the pain as a simple and supportive message from the body that 'something needs to be addressed'

* It is an opportunity to take a nurturing attitude towards myself. I can experiment with laughter or EFT for example, since it is well known that these techniques are very good for pain relief and wellness

Understanding the effects that 'meanings attached to pain' can have gives us the choice and opportunity to address the underlying factors and come up with a cure instead of just 'putting up' with the pain or popping pills that can often do more harm than good

And you can make a fast start in that direction right now by getting hold of my free video at
www.instantnaturalpainrelief.com