Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: ImagineHealing.info

  • Everyone Benefits or Everyone Suffers

      Faith.
      It’s all about believing.
      You don’t know how it will happen.
      But you know it will.
      ~ Anonymous (AwakentheGreatnessWithin.com)

    Sometimes I think it could be quite helpful to be an astrologer, or a psychic, or a saint. Especially when life presents challenges.

    Below are three recent journal entries. The “D” stands for Debra, and the “V” stands for what I call The Voice (of the Holy Spirit). I have used XXXX where an individual’s name was recorded in my journal. I think you will agree the messages are for us all.

    D: What would Spirit have XXXX XXXX know in consciousness about her son XXXX? (Autistic and threatened harm to them both.)

    V: It may be time for her to seek a residential program for him. She (all of you) must recognize your limits. You are human. You cannot live every day in such distress. What would happen to him if she died?

    D: We don’t like to think about that. We need to…

    V: Karma helps us see truly. Her staying in a situation that is detrimental to her generates karma for him; generating karma for him generates more karma for her. As she chooses freedom for herself, she is helping him. People are so worried about doing something that is selfish. Sacrificing yourself in the name of love is the most selfish act you can do. Loving (doing the most wholesome thing for) yourself is the most generous. Everyone benefits or everyone suffers.

    Tell all who know. They all know.

    Love,
    Holy Spirit

    V: Yesterday you reminded your friend of ‘the rule of six.’ Can you come up with six options you see you for her husband?

    D:
    1. 24-hour care
    2. 16-hour care
    3. Facility
    4. Bed pan
    5. Catheter
    6. Hospital bed / wheel chair

    V: Notice these all go downhill. Are you able to imagine him having another rally? He has had many. Make sure you don’t turn a rough moment into a rough day or rough period into a rough life.

    D: Thank you for that! I see what you mean.

    V: Tell all who know. They all know.

    Love,
    Holy Spirit

    D: XXXX is so distressed over her daughter-in-law and granddaughter, following the granddaughter’s recent attempt at suicide. What would you have her know?

    V: In many ways, regardless of the conditions, the same message is called for:
    There is nothing to fix. There are only circumstances that require your loving attention. I wonder if XXXX has considered having them live with her? Not that this would be the final decision, but notice how XXXX’s town could be a good social environment for her granddaughter. Andrews University had many people of other countries and many with black skin. When we are willing to do whatever it takes, we are inspired, and what-ever-it-takes expands.

    Tell all who know. YOU all know.

    Love,
    Holy Spirit

    Years ago I wrote about the importance of using our WIT, whatever-it-takes. The phrase “resistance is futile” became prevalent in popular culture. The film Star Trek: First Contact used the phrase as the tagline for the 1996 film.

    The next time life presents a challenge, just try using your wit. Rather than bringing into focus all the things you are not willing to do to improve the situation, let yourself expand all the things you are willing to do. I am so often inspired by recalling the story of the man who got his arm wedged in the rocks while climbing. Using a pocket knife, he cut his arm off and got himself to safety.

    Most likely, none of the circumstances you are currently navigating—regardless of how challenging—require you to cut your arm off.

    Black Elk said it this way, “It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives. Nourish it then, that it may leaf and bloom and fill with singing birds.”

    Let’s all nourish our faith.

    You don’t know how it will happen. Why waste time imagining the worst.

    Even though it won’t happen exactly as you imagine it, imagine a scene that proves beyond a doubt, things have gone even better than you imagined….

    P.S. XXXX’s husband is doing better, and so is XXXX’s son. Join in holding space for XXXX’s granddaughter, too….

  • Spring

    There is a hard truth to be told: before spring becomes beautiful, it is plug ugly, nothing but mud and muck.
    I have walked in the early spring through fields that will suck your boots off,
    a world so wet and woeful it makes you yearn for the return of ice.
    But in that muddy mess, the conditions for rebirth are being created.

    ~ Parker Palmer

    No phrase brings me peace of mind any quicker than “Spring always follows winter.” In Michigan this year, as many other areas of the U.S., this is certainly a welcome thought. Spring is on the way.

    In the Imagine Healing process you use your imagination to generate detailed images of the stages for what you desire: short-term goal, mid-term goal, long-term goal. Although it won’t happen exactly as you imagine it, because you are able to have seen yourself surviving and/or thriving, your body and mind and spirit know how to do that.

    I’m thrilled to say that the digital version of the steps of Imagine Healing for preparing for surgery is available on Kindle for $2.99 (https://www.amazon.com/Imagine-Healing-Guided-Imagery-Help-ebook/dp/B013EYIK3W).

    I’m even more thrilled to say this process is not limited to surgery or even to medical or physical challenges. That is what Parker Palmer’s quotation really inspires in us.

    Because the fields of life (relationships, finances, attitudes, culture) are so wet and woeful, although it almost makes you yearn for the return of ice, the conditions for rebirth are being created by the current circumstances. Our lives—our world—is ready for us to vision the improvement we long for in all areas of our lives.

    Spring always follows winter….

  • The Greatest Gift

    The holiday season is a time when we do a lot of giving and receiving. One gift I received was enjoying lunch out with Jane Foster. Jane had 22 malignant tumors on her liver when her surgeon closed her up in 1999 and told her he could not keep cutting on her. He said she needed to, “Find a holistic healer.” I’ve included a link to a video interview with Jane in 2011 at the end of this post. She lights up my life…

    Jane has discovered she loves horses and I was blessed to gift Jane with one of Amy Midnite Remisoski’s adorable Pine Pony wreaths.

    Jennifer Louden’s Self-Care Minder, Year 2, #29
    November 30th, 2001
    SELF-CARE MINDER

    It’s holiday time. Do you know where your soul is?

    Have you asked soul what she wants to do and feel during this month? Can you give her lots of time to respond (a thirty-second check while in line at the bank doesn’t work so well with soul)? And after asking, would you be willing to honor what she has to say?

    Here’s an excerpt from the Self-Care Minder written this time last year:

    This is such a tender, heart-open-wide time of year. Simple things like the blood orange and lime yellow leaves wiggling outside my window and the sound of our heater coming on bring tears to my eyes. A deep yearning to nest, to deeply connect with those I love, to know soul comfort as well as I know the curve of my daughter’s smile, simmer in me.

    A spiritual longing breaks through the surface of my life and catches my heart. It is a radiant song that I can’t quite hear the lyrics to. I want to stop and listen but instead I find myself emptying the dishwasher, sweeping the floor, sorting Aunt Edna’s silver.

    Perhaps the barrier between this longing and our daily lives grows thinner during the holidays. All that is required to cross the border is courage and stillness, and perhaps a friend for support.

    We are entitled to “to feel ourselves beloved on this earth” as the writer Raymond Carver wrote shortly before his death. Yes, dear ones, we are.

    I asked my daughter what she wanted the holidays to look like and she said, “Games like hide-and-seek and sleeping giant and everybody just being together, and you know, I would like just a few presents.”

    How strong and sincere it feels to be living soulfully during these days of darkness and glitter, yearning and connecting. What does that mean specifically? To live soulfully, I am: Stopping and pausing OFTEN to ask, “What do I really want to do?” Questioning every “I have to” especially the ones that seem so IMPORTANT. Watching for bodily sensations of feeling hurried, panicked, or pressed upon, and using these sensations to wake me up to what I’m thinking and doing, and is there another choice I would rather make?

    Basically, I’m learning there is no real reason to be freaking out over when or where to buy the Yuletide tree. Reminding myself the only thing that really can’t be replaced is time with those I love: my 82 year old Dad, my 7 year old daughter, my sister, my mom, my husband and you know, they just want peace, laughter, and a little sleeping giant game once in awhile.

    I’m letting the rest go, gently, gracefully, and with a good guffaw at all my shoulds.

    Fortunately we don’t have to wait for a health crisis to discover what our sweet soul wants. A bit ago I received a text message from Jane. “I want to write a book. Because I’ve been on this journey for 30 plus years, I think I can inspire others.”

    Like Jane’s, my sweet soul wants everyone to Imagine Healing!

  • Tuesday’s Tumble and a Happy Healing

    (If you are signed up to receive blog updates by email, remember to follow the link at the bottom so you can see the photos. These are ones you will not want to miss!)

    I was riding my bike to yoga at the Y on Tuesday when a driver failed to grant me the right-of-way. I ride a lot and am usually sufficiently aware, but this time I took a nasty spill.

    WARNING: graphic photos!

    I am so grateful to the two drivers who saw what happened and stopped, and to “Doctor” Kathy Zerler and fellow students for patching me up and helping me get through class. I was able to ride my bike home and see a client before I knew I needed emergency trauma treatment.

    I had major road rash on my right elbow and wrist, and although I had little visible damage there it was my left elbow that was in excruciating pain. Words cannot express how much I appreciate Leah Ke at Lakeshore Acupuncture for staying at the end of her day and treating me. One needle going in to my right knee to treat my left elbow resulted in a scream that she said could have brought down the roof. “That is the point,” she calmly said, as I sobbed. I was shaking inside from a full adrenaline rush. Leah sent me home with herbs and I fell into bed exhausted from the day. During the night it was difficult to turn over, to get down or up, and I hurt all over. I could not get myself up from the toilet seat, so I just straddled the bowl.

    Wednesday morning I struggled getting dressed with only one arm, could only use my right hand to brush my teeth and hair. I could not get my left hand to my face, and just carrying my arm was a challenge when I went for a walk. Through all of this, waves of compassion for those who have lost an arm or lost the use of an arm would wash over me. My heart felt raw with a sense of the blessing that I had no broken bones and the knowing my bruises and scrapes would heal.

    As I walked along with my left arm in the makeshift sling of my fanny pack, a past-life surged forth in full-blown cellular memory: My father was a senator in ancient Rome. We were in a balcony overlooking a courtyard where below a Christian was being persecuted. I raised my arm and yelled out in protest. My behavior brought shame to my father, so to save face he was unable to prevent my being punished. The punishment? Having my arm crushed!

    Last week I was reminded of a past life where my brother and I physically fought over the inheritance of our father’s kingdom: I cut off his arm and he cut off my head, we both died.

    Instantly, I felt the connection of these events to this current injury. “All time is in all time,” I could hear Angel Gail Konz saying. No past, no present, no future, just this eternal moment. You may have heard the saying everything that ever was is, and everything that will ever be also is. I knew the truth in my core. Karma was being released through this experience.

    Now, this is the most amazing part.

    I slept comfortably Wednesday night and Thursday morning I was able to use my left arm!

    The acupuncture and herbs administered by Leah were a key component to my rapid recovery but I also recognize the trauma that was released when I screamed out during the acupuncture was not just the current trauma. It was ancient….

    Three days after the bike accident, the bruises on my hands are totally dissipated and I have absolutely no residual injury in my left arm.

    The scrapes and the bruises on my knees and legs are still healing. I imagine we are all healing on all levels for all time. I was so blessed we can see that clearly this week.