Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Author: Debra Basham

  • Pre- and Postsurgical Support Extended Play for Use During Surgery

    Heart Chakra Meditation, by Karunesh with healing statements by Joel P. Bowman is for use during surgery or other medical procedure. Ask your medical team for permission, and enlist their support to be sure your volume is set appropriately. If necessary, you can also have someone remove your earbuds for you after your procedure is complete. 

    Heart Chakra Meditation, by Karunesh, is used by permission. Production rights and copyrights 2008 (1992) Karunesh Music, Publishing rights Global Spirit Music KM001

  • Etheric Vitality Plus

    Etheric Vitaliy Plus is a guided-imagery journey developed by Debra Basham for regaining or retaining good health on three levels — our physical body, our emotional and mental body, and our spiritual body.

    In Homage to the Sun: The Wisdom of the Magus of Strovolos, author Kyriacos C. Markides described this exercise as it was led by Kostas, a Greek healer. It was labeled Etheric Vitality by Janet Mentgen, Founder of Healing Touch™, and is included in Healing Touch A Resource for Health Care Professionals, p. 115-116.

    Avoid listening while driving or performing other tasks that require your full attention.

    Christina Beushausen composed the original music using a special algorithm to promote deep relaxation and healing.

  • Self- Full Body Connection

    Self- Full Body Connection is a guided-imagery journey developed by Debra Basham for use when there is a systemic or chronic disease process affecting the entire body. This is the

    technique Debra did (and does) daily to experience freedom from pain due to osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease.

    The Full-Body Connection was created by Janet Mentgen, Founder of Healing Touch™, and combines the concepts of the Chakra Connection (Brugh Joy, 1979), and Chelation, as taught by Roslyn Rruyere (1989) and Barbara Brennan (1987). To chelate means to claw out or to spin out, and this technique combines the hand positions with an intentional spinning motion, pulling out any debris in the energy field. (See Healing Touch A Resource for Health Care Professionals, by Dorothea Hover-Kramer, Janet Mentgen, and Sharon Scandrett-Hibdon.)

    Avoid listening while driving or performing other tasks that require your full attention.

    Christina Beushausen composed the original music using a special algorithm to promote deep relaxation and healing.

  • Learning to Succeed Differently

    Jack and Cindy continue to amaze me with all they are navigating. They wanted to come from Harrison to Bristol, Indiana, where his son and daughter-in-law are seasonal campers at Eby’s Pines Campground. It was Jeff’s birthday and the end-of-season super soup supper event. Jack had been there for that in the past and has lots of friends at the campground. Saturday they made the trip. Over 200 miles. More than three hours.

    We were supposed to drive down to Jeff’s house Saturday evening to visit a while and deliver chocolate chip cookies I baked for them, but by that time Jack was really tired. We agreed to drop off the cookies on our way to New Buffalo where I was guest pastor in New Buffalo Sunday morning.

    Before we left our house, Jack called. “Stay where you are. There is no heat at Jeff’s so we are loading up and heading to you.” When they got here, rather than have Jack get out of the truck, up the steps onto our porch and into the house for such a short visit, John and I shared some memorable moments with them in our driveway. Shortly after nine they left so we could get to church. Heading back home, they planned a stop at Michael’s for Cindy to get craft supplies.

    We got this message from Cindy about 9:15 Sunday night:

    Well, we just got home probably about 20 minutes ago. Jack wanted to stop at Four Winds, so we did.

    Then we had to stop at FireKeepers. Overall, we did pretty good. We ate Chinese at FireKeepers so that was our dinner. We’re having dessert right now — your cookies.

    Sweet dreams we’ll see you when we see you. Love you.

      It was a big weekend as Saturday was also Stacey’s 60th birthday. It does not seem possible that John and I are parents to such a mature woman. She and Doug celebrated by inviting family and friends to join them for Bluegrass Barnside at Arrington Vineyards.Even with so many significant folks unable to attend they had a great group.

      Stacey told us it was like having a living Celebration of Life. We have used those same words about Jack….

      Sunday’s theme of “Living with Intention, or Living in Tension” was exquisitely expressed through Jack and Cindy and Stacey, along with a host of others we know well and love deeply. The following was copied from FaceBook and seems to speak welcome wisdom to our world:

      I Am Learning to Succeed Differently by Helyn Cornille (Copied from FB)

      There was a time when success meant finishing.
      If I started something, I finished it.
      If there were stairs to climb, I climbed them.
      If there was work to be done, I kept going until it was done.
      I don’t live in that body anymore.
      And one of the hardest things about growing older has been learning that this does not mean I have stopped succeeding.
      Today I may look at a staircase that needs cleaning and know I cannot stand there and clean the whole thing.
      But I can sit on one step.
      I can clean what I can reach.
      Tomorrow, perhaps I can do another.
      The old me might have looked at what remained unfinished.
      I am learning to look at what I did.
      That sounds like such a small distinction.
      It isn’t. Because when our bodies change, we can spend an enormous amount of energy measuring ourselves against the person we used to be.
      What I could lift. How far I could walk. How long I could work.
      How quickly I could finish.
      But perhaps success was never really about any of those things.
      Perhaps success is simply continuing to participate in your own life.
      Finding another way.
      Resting when you need to.
      Starting again when you can.
      Doing something in ten small pieces instead of one heroic effort.
      And refusing to believe that adapting is the same thing as giving up.
      I am still learning this. Some days I am better at it than others. But there is something unexpectedly freeing about no longer asking, “Can I still do what I used to do?” and beginning instead to ask, “What can I do today?”
      There is almost always an answer. And sometimes it is enough.
      I am learning to succeed differently.

    1. Love In The World

      This post is in its entirety a re-post of September 27, 2026 “Loving Reminders” which is now available on the wonderful new website launched by Betty Lue Lieber and Robert Waldon: LoveInTheWorld.org where everything there is absolutely free!

      Please follow the link so you are able to see the sweet format and receive for yourself their generous gifting of Love In The World. If you are new to Betty Lue’s Loving Reminders, while you are there you can sign up to receive them daily.

      May all be blessed!

      Sunday, September 27, 2026

      Harmony

      Give what you want to experience.

      Live at peace within and experience harmony in your life.

      PEACE BEGINS WITHIN.

      GIVE YOUR BEST.

      Affirmations:

      ♡ I give always and only my best.
      ♡ I share the peace I have within me.
      ♡ I trust that all things work together for Good.
      ♡ May my thoughts, words and deeds bring harmony to my world.

      READY FOR HARMONY?

      Yes, it is possible to live together in peace.
      Yes, you can have harmony in your home.
      Yes, partners can have no fighting.
      Yes, you can stay in Love.

      When you believe in fighting, there will be fighting.
      When you expect arguments, there will be arguments.
      When you know families don’t get along, you will be correct.
      Because what you believe, you will receive and achieve.

      What you expect, you will accept.
      What you doubt, will come about.
      What you endure, you will make sure.
      Everything we think will be, we seek to see.

      People want to be “right”, and will fight to prove themselves “right”.
      Even when people want something else, they create what they expect.
      So perhaps it is time for you to undo what you no longer want to be true!
      List what you want to experience in an ideal relationship, home and family.

      Begin with your ideal vision written down and remembered daily.
      I choose to have and give my ideal self to create my ideal relationships.
      Next, let go of every thought, feeling, behavior and memory that interferes.
      I gently and respectfully undo and release all that brings negativity into my life.

      It is your Peace of mind that brings harmony.
      Letting go of stubbornness and needing to be right that creates openness.
      Trust letting go of opinions, advice and listening that brings understanding.
      Respecting others’ thoughts, feelings, behavior and differences gives Peace.

      Give yourself to Love and Love will come to you.
      Honor the call for peace and harmony by being peaceful too!
      Trust in the Love and appreciation that guides your way.
      Remember always to forgive first and listen for how to respond with Love.

      Do what is right and true and Loving.
      Don’t wait for them to do the right thing.
      You are the One to be conscious and willing.
      You know the way. JUST DO IT!

      FREE Relationships Reminders book!
      Everything I do is for you to find peace and harmony in your life.
      Everything I have taught and written is there free for you to use.
      Relationship harmony is essential for your health, happiness and wellbeing.

      We are the same, you and I.
      We are all in this together.
      Now is our time to step up.
      Let us be willing to respond with Goodness and Love.

      Be responsible for your own life and how you live in harmony.

      With love,
      Betty Lue

    2. Doctor Mickey

      He had Agent Orange. Agent Orange is a powerful chemical weed killer that the U.S. military sprayed over millions of acres in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War to remove dense plant cover. For years his health had been compromised, and he had undergone the best of modern medicine. He needed heart surgery, but was not strong enough to survive that. This was the second weekend he had ended up at the ER and being admitted to the hospital.

      They were both so touched by the presence and kindness of a petite female doctor making rounds on Saturday morning. She had a complex name, so his wife just called her Doctor Mickey.

      He had lost one kidney to cancer, and his remaining kidney had failed and was bleeding. His hemoglobin was so low…. he felt weak and was having difficulty breathing. He needed transfusions. The kidney could not be removed due to the condition of his heart. They were facing the limits of what acute medical care could do. Saturday evening Doctor Mickey came in to talk to them about hospice. She found out he was a Veteran. And they found out Doctor Mickey is the main person from the VA that handles hospice! He was discharged from the hospital that night.

      They knew it was time to have his care managed at home with the VA hospice. A few days later, follow-up visits with his primary physician and oncologist were tearful thank-yous and good-byes. They had been so blessed with excellent medical care. He would still be transported Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to receive dialysis, and any needed transfusions would be done right next door. He would continue to receive the processes that were giving him the best quality of life.

      Now they could do the things they enjoy and spend time with those they love.

      Thank you, Doctor “Mickey” and thank you, Jesus! The way had been prepared. They were being guided and blessed. The Lord had them….

      “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”. ~ Jeremiah 29:11

      (The photo snip is of him sharing this news with his brother using a humorous filter!)

    3. Divine Timing!

      Our grandson, Adam, and (his now wife) Rachel wanted to give the guests at their wedding a memorable experience at Sandestin, a 2,400-acre resort located in Miramar, Florida. I assure you the five-day unfolding was an on-going call (and answer) to prayer.

      At 4:41 pm Thursday, September 10, I received a frantic call from our daughter, Stacey, from Ed Walline Regional Beach in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. She and Doug were there setting up for the rehearsal dinner. She said she had mascara running down her face and needed me to bring her some makeup remover. She said nothing was set up yet! I assumed all of this was because of the rain we were having at the house. During Sunday’s drive back to Tennessee from Florida I learned it never rained on them, but permitted events were not allowed to set up until 5:00 pm. This “formal” rehearsal dinner for 80 people was scheduled to begin at 5:30! People raved about the food and the venue. With weather threatening all around us, the event was gorgeous and so was Stacey and her heart-rendering mother-of-the-groom speech!


      After intense thunder and lightening in the early-morning, the rains stopped just in time for photos on the golf-course.

      Screenshot

      Adam’s wedding band was from his paternal grandfather, George Ross, who passed away five years ago. Following a very meaningful ring warming, the ceremony was rich with articulate and intimate personal vows. Adam’s and Rachel’s marriage ceremony was held as dreamed: outdoors at Eden Gardens State Park beneath the “Wedding Tree” which is estimated to be over 600 years old. Blessed beyond words to be able to officiate for them.

      The perfectly planned wedding reception was a 3-hour dinner cruise aboard Solaris Yacht, kicked off with live saxaphone, punctuated with spectacular speeches by Rachel’s dad and our own grands Christina (Matron of Honor) and Brad (Best Man). Dancing was over the top, and John and I got to take home the leftover cheesecake.

      After several days of rainy and cloudy weather which graciously gave way for our meticulous schedule, Saturday’s beach day was blessed with continuous sunshine. At sunset we were back at the marina for dinner and drinks and cheering UT to a win on the outdoor big screen!

      Sunday Stacey and Doug and John and I were just minutes behind a very serious multi-car accident south of Birmingham. We got through debris on the road as those involved were still on the scene standing stunned awaiting emergency crews. Courtney and Jackson were driving back with Courtney’s dad. We we surprised to hear they were in front of us and shocked to learn they had been mere seconds ahead of the crash. Courtney’s dad saw it in his rearview mirror!

      After four delays on their flight out of Florida, Rachel’s mom and family had a “Hail Mary” 20 minutes between landing time and departure time in Atlanta for their connection home to California. They landed there at their original ETA. So grateful, so grateful, so grateful…. As Stacey often says, “God hasn’t failed us yet.”

      The conditions invited us to be purposeful in our practice of prayer and if it was possible to choose just one scripture for this amazing start to Adam’s and Rachel’s married life it might be:

      “For I know the plans I have for you…
      plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
      plans to give you hope and a future.”
      ~ Jeremiah 29:11

    4. Change is Full of Opportunity

      She told her sister she had been awake and did a therapy writing after having gotten a call from a precious friend. That friend was in the hospital, again, with fewer and fewer medical options seeming to exist. She also shared an attribution line “developed and produced by so-and-so” mentioning her former business partner had not gotten posted because of a 600 character limit when the guided imagery audios they had done together posted on Spotify.

      Her sister gave her a set of Nature Meditation cards. She drew from the deck and read these words:

      Change is Opportunity

      Change can cause suffering. We suffer when our plans don’t come together as we expected, when a relationship ends, when we have to uproot our lives for one reason or another. But in the midst of the pain, there is also so much potential for joy and opportunity. When you feel your heart resisting inevitable change, visualize a tree moving through the seasons – turning red and golden autumn, shedding its leaves in winter, growing new buds in spring, and showing its glorious greenery in summer. Consider how you can move through the ebbs and flows of the seasons in your own life with the grace of a tree, and repeat this affirmation: Change is full of opportunity.

      Shortly after she got home from visiting her friend at the hospital, she received news that her former business partner had passed some time after midnight. She shuffled, shuffled, shuffled and drew that same card again!

      Three nights later, she was again awake following a middle-of-the-night text message from her sister-in-love. Her beloved brother-in-law had been taken to the hospital by ambulance, likely having a heart attack. This coming just after their receiving information that surgery on his heart was not likely an option due to his many other medical complications.

      As dawn began breaking, she shuffled, shuffled, shuffled — even spreading the cards out face down on the bed and stirring them over and over — and then she drew that same card again!

      Change is full of opportunity….

      “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, is a famous Bible verse found in Jeremiah 29:11.

    5. September 2, 2026

      Doctors are trained to see death as the ultimate failure. Their role ends when the body stops. We’re taught to fight the one thing guaranteed to happen to every single one of us.

      From my journal Wednesday, September 2, 2026
      Dear Holy Spirit,
      It is 4:10 am and I have been awake since 2:30; I am not sure what that is about but Jane called me about noon updating me that she was in the hospital with some kind of infection. Her husband is flying to Las Vegas so I will go to the hospital to be with her. (Inner writing below “D” is for Debra and “V” is for what I call inner voice.)

      D: What would you have Jane know about the fear of death?

      V: All fear is FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL.

      D: How does she let go of that emotion?

      V: When you see the sunshine the sun is no more real than in the middle of the darkest night.

      D: The words in the song “I believe in the sun even when its not shining” come to my mind.

      V: Yes, you believe in the sun even when its not shining because that is the truth. Knowing that your essence (your soul, your spirit) lives on even when you are not in body is just like believing in the sun even when its not shining. Jane was before she was in this body. Jane’s essence was not born and cannot die.

      When I was awake and could not get back to sleep I listened to two of my usual fall-asleep guided audios, made warm almond milk, and read. Finally I did the draw-and-write therapy process I learned from a colleague. It was all about death and Jane’s desire to not be afraid. I sent her the words from Jarem Sawatsky’s Dancing with the Elephants: “Be not afraid…. I am not entitled to life without death. I embrace sacred life. I embrace sacred life. I embrace the growing and crumbling in between”.

      I had gone to St. Joseph hospital in the morning to discover that Jane was in Niles! Jane’s grandson arrived before we had much chance to share. His mom was with him but could not come up (limit 2 visitors in ICU) so I offered to leave. Driving home I heard the inner voice telling me I did not need to worry about not having shared the therapy drawing and words with Jane, I needed it for myself.

      Therapy writing words:
      Be not afraid.
      People do leave their bodies, but they do not leave their loved ones.
      I believe in the sun even when its not shining.
      Death is only a doorway.
      Love is Eternal.
      Unborn, undying, unafraid.
      J-just
      A-another
      N-new
      E-experience

      When I stopped to see my sister on the way to visit Jane, I told Janis I had been awake and did the therapy writing. I also shared an attribution line “developed and produced by Debra Basham and Joel P. Bowman” did not get posted because of a 600 character limit when my guided imagery audios got posted on Spotify.

      Visualize a tree moving through the seasons — turning red and gold in autumn, shedding its leaves in winter, growing new buds in spring, and showing its glorious greenery in summer. Change is opportunity…. This is the Nature Meditation cards we drew from the deck she had just gotten for me.

      Shortly after I got home I received news that Joel had passed some time after midnight. I shuffle, shuffle, shuffle and draw that same card again!

      I write on the flip side of my therapy drawing.

      J-just
      O-one
      E-energy
      L-LOVE

      R.I.P.

      12-4-1942 to 9-2-2026

      FYI – I did R.I.P. with periods because it stands for a Latin phrase (requiescat in pace). Joel was a university professor and he would appreciate that.

      So many lives made better because of our having shared this life!

    6. Everlasting Peace

      The sharing time following meditation yesterday including emotional pain in the aftermath of the utter devastation from the flooding in Napal. Comments then became sincere urging to contact elected officials demanding responsible attention to the environmental crisis. Listening with attentive care, bearing witness to the deep emotions, I felt my own core being pulled to express. Admitting the difficulty in speaking skillfully so as to not wrong-make the measures being urged, I articulated what is reality for me: Without denial of the dangerous impact of humans in our modern day, I spoke of global climate changes historically. Before world-wide political corruption and before Round-up (neither of which I experience as wholesome). I spoke candidly of my intention to take action from as clear a space as possible, intending not to add fuel to the fires of anger and the floods of fear.

      “What the World Needs Now Is Love” was originally recorded and made popular by Jackie DeShannon in 1965. Sixty-one years later, this has possibly never been more true.

      One women told of having taken a taxi from the airport in Mexico when her usual choice of Uber was not available. She had a nice conversation with the young man driving the cab, but she realized he was not taking her directly to her destination, and the charge upon arrival was about 4 times what an Uber would have been!

      Friends she was visiting enlightened her: the cabs were mafia-run. She had been scammed! Since she had the driver’s name and number (she could not pay with her credit card because there was no internet so she had to transfer money from her account), she pulled together her case and made the call demanding her overcharge be returned. A four-hour call which began with hostility and threats ended with him emotionally confessing to his terror at being hostage in this mafia-mess. He agreed he would give back his part of the overcharge. She told him he had to quit this dishonesty, urged him to get an honest job, and spoke of the importance of going back to school.Three days later, he called to say he had! They are staying in touch….

      Another woman told of recently having sung “Rain Down” with her choir following the loss of 400 homes in her community due to wildfires in western Canada. Hours after, they had rain! She had previously shared with me the choir having sung “I Believe” by Mark Miller. The words resonate profoundly.

      I believe in the sun
      Even when, even when it’s not shining

      I believe in love
      Even when, even when I don’t feel it

      I believe in God
      Even when, even when God is silent

      As I prepared for bed, I read from the Daily Word:

      There were times when I wanted something so desperately that when it didn’t happen, I sank into bitter disappointment. I told myself stories that left me stuck and resentful: It wasn’t fair. It was a mistake. I missed my last chance.

      I have come to look at those episodes in a different way. Now, when faced with an unwanted outcome, I resist self-pity and let go and let God. I release my rigid expectations and use my imagination to envision all kinds of possibilities. Freed of the need to control, I trust Divine order and Divine timing.

      Letting go and letting God is my way of living my faith, welcoming grace, and believing the best and highest outcomes are unfolding. I let go, let God, and know peace.

      Yesterday, a dream came true for me. Grandson, Brad, got ALL of my guided imagery audios online in digital format where they are available for free! Right now they are only on Spotify, but we intend to also have them on YouTube and Apple Music. I told him he made my decade!

      “Everlasting Peace” now on Spotify is for anyone desiring more peace of mind. The meaning of life is to be found in its stages. If you or someone you know is currently experiencing a challenging time “Everlasting Peace” is designed by Debra Basham to allow for a more peaceful time of things in any circumstances. The use of guided imagery and creative visualization is appropriate at all times and is especially significant to reduce pain and anxiety in times of transition.

      The calming background music, Pachelbel: Three Meditative Variations with Ocean, Liv & Let Liv, is used by permission.