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Awakening Your Rainbow Body

TAMMI’S STORY

I was raised in a family where my dad worked long hours and drank a lot. He didn’t really have all that much time for us. My mother ran the house, got us off to school, took us to our many events, and kept my dad and us fed. I was alone a lot, and my brother abused me by doing everything he could to scare me.

I was around thirteen or fourteen when I had this experience of “coming into my body.” A lot of people mention “out-of-body experiences” but this experience was me noticing my self coming into my body. I was sitting in the backseat of the car as my parents were driving us all somewhere. It happened in an instant—I felt myself come in and noticed that up until then I must have been off somewhere else. What struck me is that I must have spent a lot of time not in my body. And even though I remember this being a positive experience, in many ways my life got more difficult for a while. I became overly sensitive to the energy around me. I was always aware of what others were thinking and feeling. I felt like a layer of skin had been taken off and I could feel everything more intensely.

As I passed through my teen years I found myself getting more and more sensitive to my surroundings. I began to smoke cigarettes to calm myself down and give me something else to focus on. But nothing soothed me. Somehow I made it through school and into college. However, in college I felt lost and finally got myself into counseling. My therapist recommended I take an Intuitive Development class. And I can say now, without reservation, that what I learned in that class saved my life.

Nothing in my upbringing or formal education told me about my energy body, or how to trust and use my intuition. I learned to listen to my body and soul’s wisdom. I understood why I was so sensitive and what I could do about it. I understood about “being in my body” and how to use my psychic skills. I am in the process of quitting smoking as I share this story with you. I can honestly say that I am more myself now.

—TAMMI, AGE 23

“Your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden itself.”

—OSCAR WILDE, IRISH POET AND DRAMATIST

THE INVISIBLE HUNTER

from Red Earth: Tales of the Micmacs, by Marion Robertson

On the shores of a lake, near the village, lived an Invisible Hunter. Many strange tales were told about him, about his prowess as a hunter and how he looked, but no one ever saw him, no one could prove his tale. Many went to his wigwam and sat by his fire, and ate the food his sister gave them. They saw his moccasins when he drew them from his feet, and his coat when he hung it on a peg in the wigwam; but they never saw him. So many girls begged for a glimpse of him that he at last said he would marry the first one who could see him.

All the girls in the village flocked to his wigwam to try their luck. They were greeted kindly by his sister and invited to sit by the fire. In the evening she asked them to walk with her along the shores of the lake and, as they walked, she asked, “Do you see my brother on the farther shore?”

Some said that they did: others answered truthfully.

Those who said they could see him, she asked, “Of what is my brother’s shoulder strap made?”

Some answered, “It is made from the skin of a young moose.” Others said, “It is a whithe of the willow.” Or, “It is a skin of beaver covered with shining wampum.”

As they answered, she invited them back to the wigwam. When her brother entered the girls saw his moccasins when he dropped them on the floor of the wigwam; but they never saw him.

In the far end of the village lived three sisters who had the care of their father’s wigwam. The two elder sisters were rough with the youngest, especially the eldest, who made her do all the heavy work and often beat her and pushed her into the fire. When they heard that the Invisible Hunter would marry the first girl who could see him, the two elder sisters hurried across the village to his wigwam. In the evening they walked along the shore of the lake, and the sister of the Invisible Hunter asked them, “Do you see my brother?”

The elder sister answered, “I can see him on the farther shore like a dark shadow among the trees.”

The other sister said, “There are only trees on the farther shore.”

The sister of the Invisible Hunter turned to the eldest sister and asked, “Of what is my brother’s shoulder strap made?”

She answered lightly with a toss of her head.

“It is a strap of rawhide.”

“Come then,” said the sister of the Invisible Hunter, “let us hurry to the wigwam and cook food for my brother.”

They hurried to the wigwam, and when the Invisible Hunter entered the sisters saw his moccasins and his hunting pack when he dropped them to the floor; but they could not see him.

The sisters went home pouting and were cross because they could not see the Invisible Hunter. When the youngest sister asked for some of the shells their father had brought to make wampum, the eldest sister slapped her and pushed her into the fire and shouted at her, “Why should any one as ugly and covered with scars and sores as you are want wampum?”

But the middle sister gave her a few shells and she made them into wampum and sewed them on an old pair of her father’s moccasins. Then she went into the woods and gathered pieces of birch bark and made a dress, and with a charred stick she decorated it with the ancient symbols of her people. She made a cap and leggings, and, dressed in these and her father’s moccasins and her dress of bark, she walked across the village to the wigwam of the Invisible Hunter. The Indians laughed and jeered, “Look at scars and sores going to the wigwam of the Invisible Hunter.” But the sister of the Invisible Hunter greeted her kindly and invited her into the wigwam. In the evening she walked with her along the shores of the lake, and asked her as she had asked all the girls, “Do you see my brother?”

The girl answered, “Yes, I see your brother.”

The sister asked again as she had asked all the others, “What is his shoulder strap made of?”

The girls answered, “His shoulder strap is a rainbow.”

The sister of the Invisible Hunter laughed and drew the youngest sister back to the wigwam. She dressed her in soft skins, rubbed her scars with an oil that left her skin without blemish, and combed her stringy hair until it shone and was long and straight and black.

“Go, now, sit on my brother’s side of the wigwam, nearest the door where the wife of the wigwam sits.”

She who had been ugly and covered with scars sat in the place of the wife of the wigwam; and when the Invisible Hunter came, he sat beside her and made her his bride.

“The rainbow is a sign from Him who is in all things.”

—HOPI SAYING

”It is said that the advanced yogin, or bodhisattva, can leave this reality at will by changing the body’s rate of vibration, transforming it into its subtle component of light and wind, known as the rainbow body.”

—PETER GOLD, AUTHOR OF NAVAJO AND TIBETAN SACRED WISDOM

SEEING THE RAINBOW

Your body is the center of your life. Everything you know and feel comes from it or is experienced through it. So your relationship with your body will greatly determine what your life will be like. If you accept and care for your body, understand its language and energy, seek its wisdom, and feel the beauty that resides in it, you will live your life more fully.

To appreciate and be that attuned to your body you must nurture your Rainbow Body. Your Rainbow Body is part of, but more than, your physical body. It is your awareness of feelings and sensations. It is the intuitive understanding that you bring to those feelings and sensations. And it is the deep sense of your own innate beauty and truth. It is your Rainbow Body that puts you in touch with all the beauty, truth, and wonder around you.

This chapter will help you tap into that inner beauty and truth, that wisdom—through your Rainbow Body. Maybe you have felt like Tammi, detached from your body and confused by its signals. Maybe you can also recall a time when you really felt yourself in your body. Or, like the girl in the Micmac story, perhaps you can see what others cannot see—the Rainbow strap. You may even be the Invisible Hunter, waiting to be seen by your beloved.

Fortunately for all of us, no matter how things appear on the outside or how we may look to others (ugly, bruised, afraid), inside each of us lives great beauty and truth. In Navajo tradition there is a word for beauty: hozhq. It is used to describe the beauty of both men and women. Its meaning includes one’s inner beauty. To be truly beautiful is to be in contact with your inner beauty and your Rainbow Body. Your sense of inner beauty is an important part of your intuitive self.

“The seven colors of the rainbow represent an alternative to our binary black and white consciousness, offering us a world of multiple opportunities. The Rainbow Bridge expresses the diversity of light as it moves from source to manifestation. Its seven colors represent seven vibratory modalities of human existence, related to the seven chakras of Indian yogic tradition—energy centers that exist within each one of us.”

—ANODEA JUDITH, PSYCHOLOGIST, AUTHOR OF EASTERN BODY, WESTERN MIND

A UNIVERSAL SYMBOL

The rainbow is universally seen as a symbol of a bridge between heaven and earth, as well as a place of passage. For many cultures it symbolizes a bridge between the supernatural and the natural worlds. In Genesis, the rainbow is a sign of God’s presence and spiritual protection. The Buddha is said to have returned from heaven on a seven-colored staircase. Certain central African tribes believe that God uses the rainbow to show that s/he is trying to communicate with us. In ancient Greece, Iris, the Goddess of the Rainbow, was considered a messenger of the gods. The Japanese view the rainbow as a “floating bridge to heaven.” In Tibetan Buddhism the Rainbow Body is the state of meditation when the body begins to be turned into pure light.

In so many cultures, rainbows are considered a form of divine speech, a way for us to communicate with heaven or the spirit world. Think of your Rainbow Body as your connection with heaven, with spirit, allowing you to draw upon the higher energies that are available to us all, that are within us all. Your Rainbow Body is your entire body, awakened, conscious, connected to your higher power, your inner beauty, and your strength. It is the physical body and the energy body. To awaken your Rainbow Body means to connect with something beautiful and powerful, within you and outside of you.

“Will you not open your heart to know What rainbows teach, and sunsets show?”

—RALPH WALDO EMERSON, AMERICAN WRITER AND NATURALIST

“Our Being is a brilliant pattern of energies: a spectrum of possibilities. The mystic discovers symbols . . . Symbols are windows through which we can view the Essential Nature of our Being.”

—NGAKPA CHOGYAM, AUTHOR OF RAINBOW OF LIBERATED ENERGY

“Although we earth-surface walkers cannot travel on spider web-like bridges of rainbows and sunbeams from one plane to the next, or appear and disappear at will in our world, as do the Holy People, Navajo philosophers and Chanters tell us that we can achieve their empowered state through our own efforts. We can develop our imperfect body minds to their potential state of beauty and everlasting life because we are of the same stuff as the Holy People. We are all emanations (to use a Buddhist term) of that oneness and power of Beauty permeating the feet, legs, body, mind and speech of the earth.”

—PETER GOLD, AUTHOR OF NAVAJO AND TIBETAN SACRED WISDOM: THE CIRCLE OF THE SPIRIT

So no matter who you are, you too have a Rainbow Body. You too are made up of the same stuff as the Holy People.

“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

—T. S. ELIOT, POET

”I know I walk in and out of several worlds every day.”

—JAY HARJO, CREE INDIAN POET

AWAKENING YOUR RAINBOW BODY

Many things in this culture can separate you from your Rainbow Body. Physical and emotional abuse, too many “numbing out” activities, addiction to relationships, alcohol and drug abuse, too much focus on doing things rather than being, and worrying too much about how we appear to others—all of these things disconnect you from your Rainbow Body.

Waking up your Rainbow Body will result in many changes: You will:

• notice more about the people and things around you
• experience natural and positive “highs” (altered states)
• be more conscious, more aware, more present
• recognize more of your emotions
• be able to call upon positive and powerful emotional states
• be more creative and focused
• feel more independent and strong
• feel an increased sense of wellbeing over time

I want to remind you that these exercises and states of consciousness—this awakening of the Rainbow Body, the Beauty Way (as it is called by the Navajo), are what the ancients taught all their young people. In fact, much of the wisdom within this book is a collection of practices borrowed from ancient cultures including Tibetan and Indian Buddhism, Japanese Zen Buddhism, Jewish mysticism, ancient Hinduism, Native American medicine, African tribal traditions, and ancient Toltec practice. This information is intended for you. It has always been intended for you.

Start with the Spine

The spine is the main highway of our energy. It is also in the spine that we will tend to develop blockages that prevent energy movement. That is why in many meditation practices we hold our spines comfortably upright, so this highway can be a straight and clear path for the energy to flow. In fact, we cannot successfully meditate, imagine, or think in a slouching position.

Try this once. Slouch over when you are trying to think, and notice how you feel in your body. What attitudes come along with this body posture? What feelings? How is your breathing in this posture? Now, sit upright, alert but not stiff. How does this feel in your body? What attitude accompanies this posture? How does it feel to sit upright? What is your breathing like? Not only do these postures affect your feelings, but they also send out a message to others. Thus, in all the meditations and exercises in the book (unless otherwise mentioned), sit in an upright, alert position, so the channel of your energy flow will be clear.

“The colors of the heart center’s rainbow light are the same colors as those of the cloth of (Tibetan) prayer flags and of the five primal elements of the cosmos (earth, water, fire, wind, and ether) out of which arise the body minds of all sentient beings.”

—PETER GOLD, FROM NAVAJO AND TIBETAN SACRED WISDOM

Grounding Meditation

For any of these exercises to work you must be “grounded” in your body. You must be able to have a conversation with your body and its energy. The following grounding meditation was taught to me by my psychic and spiritual teacher, Colleen Brenzy, and it is the foundation for all the other exercises in this book.

I recommend that you practice this grounding meditation everyday. Doing this meditation regularly will bring you more consciously into your body and it will begin awakening your Rainbow Body. After you have practiced it a few times, it will only take a minute or so to get grounded every day.

“When I was little I made a painting of a tree. It was going to be a landscape but I lost interest and now somewhere in the folio of my childhood drawings is one of a completed tree surrounded by white watercolor paper. I had completely forgotten the whole business.
  “Then this morning I caught myself gazing at the tree I had once before ‘seen’ and painted, only now it was growing beside the driveway.”

—LAWRENCE KUSHER, SPIRITUAL LEADER, AUTHOR OF HONEY FROM THE ROCK: AN INTRODUCTION TO JEWISH MYSTICISM

Sit in a chair, with your feet uncrossed and touching the floor. Gently close your eyes and bring your awareness to your breathing. Simply notice how your body feels without judgment; allow yourself to breathe naturally. Breathe . . . and notice the physical sensation of breath within your body, how it moves in and out and rises and falls in the belly. Continue to breathe while bringing your awareness down to the bottoms of your feet.

Now, continuing to breathe, imagine roots coming out from the bottoms of your feet. Visualize the roots reaching down through the floor and through the layers of the earth. Imagine this without forcing it . . . continue to breathe as the roots reach down deep into the earth, to its core. Now imagine the roots pulling up core earth energy, and that earth energy moving up through the roots. Still breathing, bring the earth energy up through the roots, into the bottoms of your feet, up through your legs, and into your abdomen, until it reaches your solar plexus, which is the area behind and around your belly button (also called the third chakra—see chapter 3). Fill this area up entirely with this core earth energy. Then imagine this energy moving back down and through the roots, into the earth. Envision this continual circle of earth energy coming in and going out. Sit for a few minutes in this grounded energy. Remember to breathe and to do this meditation with as little effort as possible. Trying to force our visualizations only generates more stress. No need to force and push; just imagine and breathe . . .

If you ever find yourself scattered, afraid, or overwhelmed, grounding yourself will help. After practicing for a while you will find you can even become grounded with your eyes open (perhaps sitting in a classroom while the teacher is passing out the final exam!). Make certain to breathe, because your visualizations and meditations rely on your breathing. We tend to hold our breath or take shallow breaths when we are scared, and this just makes us more frozen in this negative fear energy. So, as the teacher is passing out the papers, instead of focusing on your worries, you can ground yourself—relax, focus, and breathe.

“Grounding provides a connection that makes us feel safe, alive, centered in ourselves, and rooted in our environment.”

—ANODEA JUDITH, PSYCHOLOGIST, AUTHOR OF EASTERN BODY, WESTERN MIND

“You are in this universe and this universe is in you.”

—JAY HARJO, MUSKOGEE TRIBE POET AND MUSICIAN

A Beauty Chant for Your Rainbow Body

Chanting and breathing were commonly used by the ancients to stimulate their well-being and awaken their spiritual natures. This chant is borrowed from the Navajo tradition. Similar chants or prayers are found in many other indigenous cultures. This chant can be a great daily morning prayer. Its simple yet powerful words will assist you in becoming stronger and more present in your body. It can also be sung or stated any time of the day as a reminder of the beauty that surrounds us all and is within each of us, all the time. I use it when I am feeling negative or “seeing” negativity all around me. It helps lift me up and gently brings me back to a more positive and strong place.

Beauty before me.
Beauty behind me.
Beauty below me.
Beauty above me.
Beauty beside me.
Beauty within me
I see beauty all around.
In beauty may I walk.
In beauty may I see.
In beauty may we all be.

Lindy was a teen client of mine who was recovering from anorexia. She recited this chant every day for nearly a year. She describes its effect on her life: “The power of this chant reminded me of the truth about myself rather than the lies I had believed. You really can be beautiful just as you are. You don’t have to change something to feel your beauty or potential.” Having recovered from the anorexia and depression that she suffered in her teen years, Lindy has gone on to get a master’s degree in yoga therapy. She is well and beautiful.

All chants have a similar intention—to connect us with our intuition and our energy body. Chanting and singing are said to massage the soul. That is why people in ancient cultures used chanting and singing to connect with the spirit world and with their own true nature. Chanting also encourages the chanter to breathe, and our body and soul love to breathe.

Chanting or saying empowering statements such as the Beauty Chant out loud as you focus on their meaning will help awaken your Rainbow Body. This is because they help you remember the truth about yourself. When you remind yourself that you have beauty and strength and wisdom inside, you connect your Rainbow Body to that positive energy, just like plugging an electrical appliance into an outlet.

“When you are nervous, disoriented, or emotionally fragile, chanting or reciting a mantra inspiringly can change the state of your mind completely, by transforming its energy and atmosphere.”

—SOGYAL RINPOCHE, TIBETAN LAMA, AUTHOR OF TIBETAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING

Remember that the word beauty in this chant refers to inner beauty and applies to men as well as women. A young man named Jared decided to change the word beauty to strength. He found that saying this prayer before he went to bed at night helped him sleep: “It seemed to help protect me from the nightmares I had all the time. Before I learned the chant I felt a real dark presence enter my dreams. It was real creepy. Now, the chant seems to keep him away.”

”The prophecies say that they would return as a rainbow people in bodies of different colors: red, white, yellow, and black. The old ones said that they would return and unite to help restore the balance to the earth.”

—SUN BEAR, ELDER OF THE BEAR TRIBE

Sufi Breathing

Sufism is an ancient form of spiritual practice often thought of as the mystical arm of Islam, and it may be older than Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Its main tenet is that God wants only for each of us to express our own true nature. According to Sufi belief, this true nature is always beautiful, and connected somehow to God. Although we may express it in many, many forms—as an artist, bus driver, teacher, musician—our true nature is always exquisite.

The following meditation uses the breath as a tool to connect with earth energy and to reach an altered state of consciousness. During this meditation you will be visualizing one thing as you breathe in, and something else as you breathe out. It will be helpful for you to read through the exercise a few times before you actually practice it. Or, you may want to record it or have it read out loud slowly by a friend or meditation teacher.

Begin by lying flat on your back on the earth (or on the floor), head to one side, ear flat to the ground (or supported by a pillow, as needed). As you inhale, imagine your umbilical cord extending down into the earth from your belly button. Draw up energy from the earth through this cord, and let it enter your heart and heart chakra (see chapter 3). As your heart fills, allow the energy to spill over, filling your entire energetic Rainbow Body from head to toe. On the exhale, imagine all the negative energy—stress, negative thoughts, illness—flowing out your fingertips and toes back down into the earth, where it gets cleansed and recycled.

Visualize that on the inhale your heart and body fill up with earth energy, and on the exhale your body empties of all negativity. Let the exercise be as effortless as possible.

Make your breaths deeper and longer, with no gap between the in breath and the out breath. You will be breathing without pausing between the inhale and the exhale. This kind of breathing helps loosen up the negativity and send it out while at the same time making room for the more positive, mother earth energy to enter. (Earth energy in most spiritual traditions is considered regenerative; therefore, we can send our negativity into the earth to be recycled into positive energy.)

Repeat this breathing cycle ten times or for two minutes, synchronizing the bringing in of earth energy on the in breath and the releasing of all negative energy on the out breath. Remember not to pause between the in breath and the out breath.

You may feel a little “high” when you are finished. Enjoy this energy by giving yourself a couple of minutes to remain lying down. Bring your attention to the feelings and sensations within and around your body. Can you feel the Rainbow Body inside and outside your physical body? Do you notice how the sensations extend out past your physical body? This is your energy body.

“The energetic body is bigger than our physical body, which means that it includes parts that we normally do not see, such as the energy surrounding the physical body, which is known as the aura; feelings, and the dreaming body. Ultimately, the energetic body is the one that feels, the one that connects itself with what is out there.”

—VICTOR SANCHEZ, AUTHOR OF THE TOLTEC PATH OF RECAPITULATION

Body Awareness Meditation

The following meditation is borrowed from Buddhist mindfulness meditation practice. This meditation brings your awareness to the many sensations alive within your body. Typically, we move through a day oblivious to our body unless it is hungry or in pain. Chances are that there are parts of your body that go completely unnoticed until you purposefully bring your attention to them. It takes time and willingness to focus your attention, but the results are well worth it. I can remember doing this meditation and feeling my energy body for days afterward.

This meditation can take up to twenty minutes.

Have somebody read the following instructions out loud for you, or make a recording of them and play it when you’re ready to meditate. Allow yourself plenty of time and a quiet place. This is a great meditation to do in a group.

Sit in a meditative posture, with your back in an upright, alert position. You can be sitting in a chair with your feet on the floor, or on a meditation cushion. Just sit for a few breaths, in this body, bringing your awareness to the breathing, sitting body . . . Keep your awareness gently focused on the breathing body . . . Notice where you feel the breath in your body, letting the breath happen by itself.

Now bring your awareness down to your right foot and lower leg, and simply notice what sensations may be rising and falling there. Just notice, without judgment or preference . . . notice the sensations there . . . just breathe, and notice . . . breathe, and notice. Bring your attention now to your right thigh, noticing all the sensations that are rising and falling there . . . try not to react to these sensations (by scratching or shifting)—instead, just notice these physical sensations . . . and how they come and go in the body. Just notice . . .

Now bring your awareness to your left foot and lower leg, and notice what physical sensations are there . . . When you notice your awareness has moved elsewhere (to a thought), gently return your awareness back to the physical sensations in your left foot and leg . . . Just breathe, and notice . . . now moving your awareness up to your left thigh, notice the sensations that are there . . . notice what you feel in the front and back of your left thigh . . . breathing and keeping your awareness on the body . . .

Take your awareness now to your buttocks . . . notice the sensations there, perhaps the pressure of the cushion or chair against you . . . notice the sensations within your body there, below the skin . . .

Bring your awareness now to your sexual and reproductive organs, simply noticing what physical sensations are there . . . breathing and keeping your awareness on your sexual and reproductive organs . . . now moving your awareness to your midsection, the front and back and inside of your stomach and lower back . . . breathing in awareness of the sensations there . . . the tightening or loosening, the coldness or warmth that may be rising and falling there . . . feeling the breath making the belly rise and fall, rise and fall . . .

“The inherent Buddhanature is said to be like a diamond, indestructible, pure and empty in itself, but luminous in reflecting the manifestation of energies as rainbow light.”

—TERRY CLIFFORD, AUTHOR OF TIBETAN BUDDHIST MEDICINE AND PSYCHIATRY

Now, moving your awareness to your chest and upper back, what sensations are there? . . . Notice how they change in intensity or shape . . . rising and falling, . . . coming and going . . . Now bring your awareness to your right hand and lower arm, noticing what sensations are there, as subtle as they may be or as intense as they may be . . . breathe and be aware of your body . . . Move up your right arm, bringing your awareness to your upper right arm and shoulder . . . breathe, noticing the physical sensations there . . . breathe and notice without judgment or reaction . . . just pure awareness . . . Now bring that awareness to your left hand and lower arm, noticing the physical sensations there . . . just breathe and notice . . . Now bring your awareness to your upper left arm and shoulder, sitting in pure awareness of this area of your body . . . just breathing in awareness . . . Now bring your awareness to your neck and throat area . . . breathing in and breathing out . . . with your gentle awareness lighting on the sensations that you feel in your neck and throat . . . breathing and maintaining an alert body . . . Now bring this awareness to your head, your ears, and the back and top of your head, and notice whatever sensations may be there . . . however strong or subtle they may be, noticing at times how they change . . . breathe and sit in this body . . . Now bring your awareness to your face, and all the muscles around your eyes and nose and mouth, noticing all the sensations on and inside your face . . . breathe and notice without judgment, just pure awareness . . .

Now sit in awareness of your breathing body . . . just pure and gentle awareness of your body sitting and breathing, . . . sitting and breathing . . . sitting and breathing . . .

Open your eyes slowly and take the time to notice what it feels like in this body that has been showered with so much awareness. You may want to share your experiences with the group or write them down in your journal. What does your body feel like now? What parts of your body did you visit for the first time? Were you able to notice some of your body’s sensations without judgment? What was it like for you to bring so much pure, nonjudgmental awareness to your body?

HEALING THE ABUSED RAINBOW BODY

For some of you, being so present in your body may have been very emotional. This is often true for those of you who have experienced abuse or neglect. Neglect can come in many forms. Sometimes our families do not see who we truly are, or they are involved too much in their own lives to give us much attention. For some, neglect is the experience of not ever really being touched or loved.

Abuse also comes in many forms, which include emotional, psychological, psychic, and physical or sexual abuse. When someone belittles you or attempts to control or manipulate you, that is psychological abuse. Psychic abuse occurs when someone claims to know you better than you know yourself, and deliberately interferes with your thought process. Psychic abuse also happens on an energetic level when others invade your private space.

“Each of us is surrounded by our own individual rainbow of colors.”

—KENNETH MEADOWS, SHAMANIC HEALER AND AUTHOR OF EARTH MEDICINE

“All suffering is caused by the illusion of separateness, which generates fear and self-hatred, which eventually causes illness.”

—BARBARA ANN BRENNAN, PSYCHIC HEALER, AUTHOR OF HANDS OF LIGHT: A GUIDE TO HEALING THROUGH THE HUMAN ENERGY FIELD

Our intuition speaks our truth, while abuse is motivated by lies. Most abusers justify their behavior by trying to find a way to somehow blame it on the abused. This justification is a lie. Nothing anyone does ever justifies abusing that person. If you have been abused, whatever the circumstances may have been, the abuse is not your fault. However, if you have been abused, it is up to you to heal from the abuse, to not let what someone else did to you destroy you. Each of us has the ability to rise up out of the most damaging situations. And it is during your teen and young adult years that you can begin this process of becoming free.

“In the dark time, the eye begins to see.”

—THEODORE ROETHKE, AMERICAN POET AND NATURALIST

Neglect and abuse of the body can actually ignite our intuition. Tammi believed that “the abuses seemed to turn up my intuition. I had to trust something and that something was me. I realized that my ‘sensitivity’ was in many ways a response to the abuse.” In the Indian story, the youngest girl was mistreated by her older sisters, and she was the one best able to see. When we are being “lied to” by the abuses of others (being told you are worthless is always a lie), we come to rely on a deeper, internal truth that we later discover is our intuition.

In addition to causing obvious physical and emotional damage, abuse and neglect cause energetic bruises and scars in your Rainbow Body. This harm to your energy body usually goes unnoticed, since most people in our culture aren’t aware of this energy body even in its healthy state. The remaining exercises in this chapter can help your energy body heal from the harm that may have been done in the past. The wonderful thing is, when we heal the energy body, this results in emotional and physical healing as well. This is because our energy body is part of our physical body. (Note: If you are in a dangerous or abusive situation now, you can use the Psychic Protection exercises in chapter 5 to protect your Rainbow Body as you work to remove yourself from the abusive situation.)

“It always comes down to the same necessity; go deep enough and there is a bedrock of truth, however hard.”

—MAY SARTON, AMERICAN POET

“You are not responsible for his treating you like trash, but you are responsible for feeling like your life is ruined and having lived as though it is.”

—VICTOR SANCHEZ, MEXICAN HEALER, AUTHOR OF THE TOLTEC PATH OF RECAPITULATION

Truths That Heal

To begin healing your Rainbow Body, you need to remember two truths:

• The world is a medley of possibilities for you.
• Each of us is born for a reason.

Believe and hold on to these truths about the world and yourself. If they don’t feel true, it’s only because you have been lied to for too long.

“In my senior year I attended a Seniors’ Rites of Passage group. Before that I had no idea what I was going to do after I graduated. I was scared and stuck. I was an addict and was fighting to give up drugs. I didn’t want to end up like my dad and uncle. They both smoked pot and worked in jobs they hated. Before this group it was hard to even imagine life beyond this place I grew up in. After doing a spiral meditation walk (see pages 164–169), a vision quest, and working with my dreams, I found a way out of this place. ‘This place’ was mostly inside me. I now know that life isn’t against me . . . that even with a war going on, even with my dad stoned and unhappy, even with my mom afraid of me leaving, . . . there is a big world out there for me to discover. I have plans now. Plans that include moving away and living with some friends and attending a technical college. Plans that include something big—even though I am not entirely sure what that is.”

—HENRY, AGE 18

How can such beliefs help you heal your energy body? Because what we believe to be possible—the thoughts we hold about ourselves and about the world—hold great power. Remember, thoughts are energy. As Steven Levine reminds us, “[T]he same energy that moves the clouds across the sky, moves our thoughts across our mind.” The thoughts that I am referring to here are the ones that we hear in our heads repeatedly—the thoughts that we hold on to or that seem to hold on to us. Our habitual thoughts are really beliefs. These beliefs are much like prayers—a message that we send out to the universe, awaiting a response. The energetic messages we send out about ourselves and about the world tend to match up with like energy (similar energy) and then come back to us with even greater force.

For example, when someone sends out energy that says, “My life is shit, and there’s no point . . .,” you can imagine what he or she might get back. (Frankly, more shit.) Letting negative thoughts dominate your life can block out the positive things that are available to you. It is like going outside and looking up into the big blue sky and seeing one small gray cloud—and going back inside because you figure it’s going to rain. If you have had bad luck and difficult circumstances for much of your life, it’s natural to feel, to believe, that it will always be that way. However, when you hold on to such negativity, it is really difficult to actually see the possibilities when they do enter your life. And the fact is good things are always trying to get into your life!

The truth of that statement is illustrated by an experience I had when I was nineteen. I had applied for admission to the University of Wisconsin in Madison and I was not accepted. The woman at the admissions office said that my application was rejected because I didn’t have enough algebra credits on my high school transcript. I left the building very upset and confused. Up until that point I had believed that I was meant to go to college, that I was meant to become a social worker and maybe even write a book some day. Now what was I going to do?

“When I step out, the world assembles itself around me like my awareness of being who I am, like my belief in the Divine.”

—MODERN PRAYER FROM THE BRIDGE OF STARS, EDITED BY MARCUS BRAYBROOKE

I left the admissions office discouraged but not hopeless. I sent out a prayer to Spirit. “What now?” I asked. I walked over to a local drugstore that had one of the last remaining soda fountains and ordered a Coke. As I sat at the counter, worried but also trying to consider my options, someone took the seat next to me.

And who do you think it was?

It was my high school algebra teacher! I told him about my situation, and he said that he would write a letter and set it straight with the university that I had taken enough algebra credits. Later that month I began my journey into higher education, ultimately going to graduate school and writing several books.

   A Precious Human Life

“Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to have woken up.
I am alive, I have a precious Human Life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to achieve Enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.
I am going to have kind thoughts towards others. I am not going to get angry, or think badly about others as much as I can.”

—PRAYER BY HIS HOLINESS THE 14TH DALAI LAMA

What if I had just gone home and given up? What if I was so bummed out that I didn’t even look up from my Coke? And what if I had felt too hopeless to tell my algebra teacher what had just happened? You might say that, at that challenging time, I was able to see the “Rainbow strap”—and seize the moment. You might say that my not giving up helped Spirit put my algebra teacher on my path that day. You might say that, for each of us, good things are meant to be.

Can you carry with you some hope, even when life appears to be hopeless? Can you remain open to the very real opportunities that will show up on your path today and tomorrow? Can you be like the younger sister in “The Invisible Hunter”? Even though she was treated harshly by her family and her village, she followed her heart and believed in the possibility that something good could come into her life. If you can believe in possibilities, your Rainbow Body will help you to see them.

Sometimes I go about pitying myself,
But all the while
I am being carried by great winds
across the sky . . .

—OJIBWE SONG

Ten Days That Can Change Your Life

When I wake up in the morning I begin the day with opening my heart and mind. Some days this is easy to do; on others days it can be a challenge. Before beginning my meditation and yoga practice, I remind myself of these truths: that today holds many possibilities and that there IS a reason for me to be alive, today. I suggest you try this for ten days. Before getting out of bed in the morning, say to yourself:

Today is full of possibilities for me. I am meant to be alive today—there is a greater purpose to my life.

Let the statements fill up your entire being. Imagine them as true. What might your life look like, feel like? What good might happen today? How would Spirit intervene in your life, right now, to help you out? How might your difficulty be changed into an opportunity? How would this change take place, what would it look like? Even though others may be discouraging or even abusing you, what can you choose to believe in anyway? Consider writing your responses to these questions in your journal.

If you notice that you have difficulty feeling these statements as real, keep to it for ten days. If you have been given the message over and over that things won’t work out for you, you have been “programmed” to feel discouraged. If you have not been given concrete and real examples of the wonderful possibilities waiting for you, then it will be hard for you to imagine them. It can take a while to change this negative tape—this lie—to a truth. But give it time. If you miss a day, try starting over until you can do the statements for ten days in a row.

Remember to imagine these beliefs to be true when you say them in the morning. Send out that thought, that prayer, to the universe for ten days. Mark the ten days on a calendar and notice what internal and external changes occur in your life as you begin each day with these affirmations. What good has come into your life during these ten days? If you’d like to, e-mail me at Jewelhrt8@aol.com and tell me what has changed in your life.

Telling Your Story

A powerful tool that the ancients used to heal and strengthen the Rainbow Body was to tell their story to the elders in their community. Sharing your story with a therapist, trusted healer, or elder can help you heal from abuse. Have you ever noticed how sharing something painful with a trusted friend just feels better? Telling your story helps move any negative energy out of your Rainbow Body, so it is no longer carrying your secret and your pain.

The healing power of story includes the ability to help the one hearing the story as well. You will find that certain stories in this book have a healing effect on you. Notice the ones that resonate with you. In what ways are they like your own story? What gets stirred up as you read the stories of other teens? Which ancient stories feel as if they were written for you? Answering these questions can help you tell your own story.

Write It Out

Sometimes, writing it out is a way to release the pain from your body. The physical and emotional process of writing through your pain moves the negative energy out from the Rainbow Body, so you don’t have to carry it inside you. To write out your thoughts and feelings is also a way for you to discover your truth, to be honest with yourself. Remember to write for yourself, not for someone else’s approval.

You may want to begin by answering some of the following questions in your journal.

“. . . Facts can obscure the truth.”

—MAYA ANGELOU, POET, PLAYWRIGHT, AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST

“The world is made up of stories, not of atoms.”

–MURIEL RUKEYSER, POET AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST

1. Which characters in “The Invisible Hunter” do you identify with?

Often we will identify with more than one character. I identify with both the Invisible Hunter and the middle sister. Like the hunter, I felt invisible because my family never acknowledged my “beauty.” I was also honest like the middle sister (she said she didn’t see the Invisible Hunter). I believe my honesty is one of my better qualities. Later in my life, I became like the youngest sister, recovering from the bruises and scars of my childhood and able to “see” the rainbow in myself and in others. Now, I consider myself the sister of the Invisible Hunter, helping young men and women find their own true nature. Who you identify with is likely to change with time as well.

“We have been taught to believe that negative equals realistic and positive equals unrealistic.”

—SUSAN JEFFERS, PSYCHOLOGIST AND AUTHOR

“The future enters into us in order to transform us, long before it happens.”

—RAINER MARIA RILKE, GERMAN POET

2. What exercises in this chapter helped you feel your Rainbow Body? What did it feel like?

“I could feel my energy go out from my body—I could feel myself extend out past my skin. The breathing exercise is way powerful.”

—ANNE, AGE 17

3. What belief, if any, has changed for you as a result of reading this far into the book and practicing some of the exercises?

Your Rainbow Body is waking up, Now you are ready to move on to the next chapter and learn about the body’s energy centers, the chakras.

I thank you God for this most amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes.

—E. E. CUMMINGS, AMERICAN POET

 

“You are not inside your body, your body is inside you.”

—W. BRUGH JOY, M.D., SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION TEACHER