Here we go again…It is the setting of resolutions in the form of intentions and then waiting for us to “mess up” and beating ourselves up again for buying into the belief that we could succeed at the intentions we had set for ourselves. My gift to you this New Year is helping you recognize how amazing and powerful you are and that you can manifest any intention you create for 2010.

For starters, when you set your intention or make your resolution or two, you are actually hoping to create a mini or maxi miracle, something you passionately want, something that makes your heart smile each time you picture yourself fulfilling it. Making miracles is easier than you realize.

Making miracles or manifesting your intentions has everything to do with three major gifts (sometimes referred to as tools) with which you were born. Yes, you were born with them and they are an inherent part of your very being. They are part of your power and enable you to be and accomplish the extraordinary.

I have been teaching how to be aware of and harness these gifts to my patients for decades. I know, both personally and professionally, that when you learn to harness (through practice) these gifts, your life changes, and you recognize how much more joy, peace, satisfaction and unconditional love you experience. Keep in mind that the key to creating miracles is loving yourself unconditionally, joyfully and gently. I use these three gifts to help heal my patients by enabling them to use these tools to heal themselves!

As I see it, these three gifts are the gift of your Imagination, the gift of your Intuitive Wisdom and the gift of Breath. Einstein stated: “Imagination is more important the knowledge.” I encourage my patients to create in their mind’ eye an image or vision of what they  are dreaming about and hoping for and to get really excited and enthused about what they are imagining. I have used this in my own life and have taught it so that those dealing with life-threatening illnesses and even loss can expedite their healing. Your cells (you have 60 trillion of them) experience the high vibrational energy of your enthusiasm which then contributes to your body’s production of the cells needed for a healthy immune system.

When you practice breathing by visualizing warm, healing, soothing energy entering you on your inhalation (through your nostrils) and moving down through your body, bringing peace to your cells, and then, in your mind’s eye, see and feel on your exhalation that you are breathing out through your mouth (lips parted slightly) anything tense or worrisome, your body experiences a sense of warmth, heaviness and relaxation.

Focusing on your in-breath and out-breath several times creates a sense of quiet and stillness. It also shifts you energetically to a higher vibration which enhances your ability to be aware of your third gift, your Intuitive Wisdom or Higher Guidance. Focusing on your breath is essentially meditation – for those of you who shy away from the thought of “meditation.”

When you are breathing deeply, in a quiet, meditative place and feeling relaxed, you find yourself going within and become aware of the ways you receive wisdom or guidance from your intuition. (Sometimes you may see a sudden picture, or in your mind’s ear, hear a tune, a word or more. You might also feel a sudden pain in your body.) This is you getting in touch with you.  Sudden insights or “aha” moments can occur in these times.

Practicing these three gifts enables you to harness and make the most of them. By choosing to take a few minutes daily to simply breathe deeply, go within and experience your own inner stillness, you meet the world of both your Imagination and your Intuition. Thus, your three gifts provide you with what you need to change your perspective, “see” things differently which, in turn, can create the miracle of fulfilling your intention. This is extremely empowering!

More to come!

“Creating your intention is not as powerfully transformative as is your awareness of how you are managing the journey.”…Susan Barbara Apollon

Susan Barbara Apollon

Author of “Touched By The Extraordinary”
& Intuition Is Easy & Fun

©2010 Susan Barbara Apollon

Have you noticed that when you are in need of a feel-good experience, and you find something or someone that fills you with inspiration, you suddenly feel so much better  – even bliss and joy? And, you may even feel a sense of intuitive wisdom or purpose rising up within you.

Awareness of what inspires you can be a key to your happiness, bliss, experiencing healing and even living with a sense of purpose. Just consider the beautiful, heartwarming story of Susan Boyle, which, thanks to the internet, has spread around the globe.

Personally, listening to the newest internet sensation, Susan Boyle, became my most recent source of inspiration. I click to listen, knowing that I will cry and be moved to tears as I listen to the gift of her unexpected magnificent voice.. Quite a paradox, if you stop and think about it.

An international sensation taking the world by surprise, Susan Boyle, in the video of her performance on Britain’s Got Talent, has touched hearts everywhere. No one, that I can recall, has inspired so many people throughout the world just by singing one song, amazing as that song is.

Seeing and hearing Susan sing I Dream a Dream from the Broadway show, Les Miserables, brings tears to just about everyone who experiences her. Is it because a dowdy 47 year-old woman surprises us with an unbelievable voice? Are we moved by the stunned looks and words of the three judges, some of whom are known for being rather nasty and sharp tongued with contestants who resemble Susan, an older gal, from a little village in Scotland, dressed plainly and with little or no makeup? Is it that the music is extraordinary? Or is it because, perhaps, we see ourselves in Susan, each of us holding a dream – a vision -, which we are able to make a reality before we come to the end of our life, as she does with this moving, superb and incredible performance?

And why is it that we like to listen to Susan sing I Dream a Dream as often as we do? Perhaps, it is because she inspires us. Yes, she represents hope that we, too, may be able to bring our dreams to fulfillment. When I hear Susan sing, I am inspired; that is, I am infused with the spirit of Hope, Joy, Enthusiasm, Possibility and Love. I feel good hearing her magnificent voice. She is a symbol of hope for me and for all of us that we need to hold onto vision– that anything and everything is possible.

When you choose to focus on someone or something which inspires you, you feel wonderful, full of hope, motivation and joy, enabling you to experience an energetic higher quality of life. A word or two of advice: If you want to feel good, make it a point to become more aware of what it is that inspires and infuses you with life-giving energy, joy and purpose. You will have a win-win situation! (To be continued…)

Susan Barbara Apollon

Author of “Touched By The Extraordinary”
& Intuition Is Easy & Fun

©2009 Susan Barbara Apollon

“In order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.” David Ben Gurion

When you choose to open the door to your heart and begin to allow in various extraordinary events, you open yourself up to a whole world of new and meaningful experiences, all of which have the capacity to take you to a deeper part of you, perhaps, even to the level of your soul. It is the beginning of you connecting with you, something that is so powerful that you know you are undergoing a transformation.

As you open to receiving a variety of messages and synchronicities, you will find yourself becoming conscious in a way you have never before experienced. Your consciousness will begin to allow you to experience even more moments of joy, inspiration and peace.

What follows is one of my favorite exercises which I use in seminars and with my patients to help nurture an awareness of the healing power of the extraordinary in one’s life. I borrow this from Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, who so beautifully describes it in The Will to Live and Other Mysteries (available on CD).

Take a few moments each evening and reflect on your day. First, take a few deep breaths, relax, and consider the question, What surprised me today? Then write about that for a few moments. Second, do the same thing with the question, What touched and/or moved me today? And third, again, do the same thing with the question, What inspired me today? I find these questions to be powerfully healing in that they connect you with a Higher Power and in this connection there is healing. The whole exercise should take no more than fifteen minutes. Do it for at least 10 to 14 days, and you will likely begin to notice a sense of feeling better, if not joy and peace.

A word of advice: if you are in need of working with a physician, be sure to align yourself with a physician who recognizes that to heal the body, you must heal the body and the soul. Trust your intuitive wisdom when you meet with your doctor. Your intuition or Higher Wisdom will let you know if this individual is one you should choose to allow into your life. If he or she listens when you speak of your intuition or what you sense is going on in your body, then you are probably with the right person.

As an example, I have had many patients share with me that during their treatment for their cancer, they began to have uncomfortable feelings regarding their physician. This led them to leave the doctor who was treating them and find another with whom to continue treatment. They believe that by being open to the extraordinary and listening to their inner voice, they have been able to experience success and healing in their lives. As always, the choice is yours as to how far you choose to open the door of your heart to the extraordinary.

Susan Barbara Apollon
Author of “Touched By The Extraordinary”

©Copyright 2008 Susan Barbara Apollon

Lisa, a delightful and interesting woman who had called my office to offer complements regarding Touched by the Extraordinary, shared the following true story with me.

She explained that when she had lived in Yardley, PA, more than a decade before, she recalled a very nice family that lived across the street from her.. According to Lisa, the parents had two sons, one of whom had Leukemia and who had eventually died. Lisa was deeply affected by this and empathetically felt the family’s pain.

Feeling great compassion for the parents, Lisa was drawn to their situation. On her daily walks, she would often find herself focusing on their home, wondering how they were managing. After the death of the one son, at the time of the Jewish holiday, Passover, Lisa’s attention was caught by something unusual.

It was the evening of the first of the two Seders that are a part of the Passover tradition. Lisa, in her mind’s eye, had seen a young man enter the house, along with an elderly gentleman. She described the elderly man as portly and wearing a very, very crumbled suit, as though it had been intentionally crumbled.

Louise said that when she met Ann, a few days after the first Seder, she asked how things had gone with her company. Ann was surprised by Lisa’s question and replied that they had not had visitors for the holiday. Lisa quickly noted what she had seen; when finished with her description of the older man, Ann’s jaw dropped in astonishment.

“That is my father, this person you describe,” Ann said with certainty. She continued: “ He was born in France and he died many years ago. How could you have known this? I never discussed it with you.” Lisa explained that she had, indeed, seen the two individuals enter the house. However, she had seen them in her mind’s eye, rather than with her physical eyes. Ann was truly amazed, though not surprised

In fact, Ann told Lisa that she had actually felt the presence of others at the Seder table. This gift was the validation of her sense that it had been her son and her father who were present and sharing the holiday with them. This touched and comforted her so very much.

When I questioned Lisa about her ability to do this, she replied that it only happens when she feels a genuine sense of affection for the individual. In other words, your intuition is rooted in a foundation of compassionate love; it is the power of love that reinforces and enhances your intuitive powers.

It all starts with love! And, we are all capable of knowing and sensing what Lisa experienced. It takes practice and the intent to relax, go into the silent stillness deep within you, stay in the Now, fill your heart with love and focus this on another being with the intention of receiving whatever you need to receive on their behalf. Take time to play with this and before you know it, you will be seeing with your mind’s eye, just as Lisa does.

Susan Barbara Apollon
Author of “Touched By The Extraordinary”