Chapter 4

Structures of the Mind-Body-Spirit

Let’s take a look at the various systems in the body and their function within the unified whole of your mind-body-spirit. Your body as a temple is glorious and magnificent indeed—really rather extraordinary.

The Physical Body

Like all physical matter, the body appears on the surface to be dense but is, in fact, almost entirely empty space. The atoms in our cells are like tiny spinning vortices that have density as a byproduct of the energy forces inside them. Essentially, we are made up of space and energy. This energy is also the foundation for biomechanical and electrical processes that allow us to live, which can be helped or hindered by the quality of air, water, nutrients in our food, and energy fields in our environment.

Let’s focus first on the autonomic nervous system, which regulates involuntary bodily processes. It is divided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches. When we are engaged with managing the stresses and strains of the outside world, our sympathetic nervous system is engaged in fight-or-flight; when we are happy and relaxed, our parasympathetic nervous system is engaged in a healing “rest and digest” mode. As long as we keep the toxins down (to help the liver, spleen, and kidneys), ingest plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and move our bodies (to help clear the lymph system and exercise the heart and muscles), our bodies will be happy and work tirelessly for us. That is, unless our energetic circuit (the energy body) becomes blocked, weak, excessive, or stagnant. This is ancient Eastern medicine wisdom which, supported by research, is now spreading across the globe. In due course, I will discuss the role of the energy body as a key to accessing healing for our bodies.

First, let’s look at the phenomenon we call stress, its processes, and its impact on the physical body, using information from Dr Bruce Lipton’s best-selling book, The Biology of Belief. The Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis (HPA Axis) is the system that protects life against external threats from the environment. When the hypothalamus gland in the brain perceives an environmental threat, it sends chemical signals to the master pituitary gland, which in turn launches the body into action.

Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) releases into the blood, signalling fight-or-flight hormones adrenaline and cortisol to be released by the adrenal glands. The autonomic nervous system stress response is switched on, and a cascade of restorative and healthy functioning pathways (the parasympathetic nervous system function) then shut down in order to prime your body for dealing with the perceived external threat. Blood flow is directed away from digestive functions, and instead pumped to the muscles, enabling us to flee from the threat, leaving digestive and excretory organs under-functioning. This is why prolonged stress impacts our stomach and bowel functions.

When this HPA response is triggered, our bodies utilize all the energy available to us rather than generating more energy to top up our reserves, eventually leaving us depleted. The blood flow is directed away from our conscious mind (the information processor, or forebrain), allowing our subconscious hindbrain (which allows for reflex behaviours) to become our primary brain function. This process that can be activated in pressure-driven, high-expectation exams, disabling students from accessing their intelligent, conscious, learnt mind. I have frequently heard my adolescent student clients say “I just couldn’t think”. Clients with chronic ill health or pain have similar complaints, with an inability to access their rational, logical, and intelligent forebrains. This is because they spend an awful lot of time in the stress response, perceiving life and engagement as threatening.

This has become the problem of our Western culture, as survival-oriented stress and one-upmanship have taken a long-term toll on the health of nations. More importance has been placed upon status—jobs, possessions, position in society, wealth, and social success—than on levels of happiness, fulfilment, benevolence, and connection. We are under pressure to be okay (more than okay—our greatest selves) and fearful of losing status, or being perceived to do so. As we respond to demands and attempt to meet expectations, this creates a chronic cascade of stress hormones that has a long-term impact on our physical bodies and often results in illness and disease.

Through my work as a psychologist, I consider financial fear, lack of self-worth, inadequacy, and disconnection or judgement from family, peers, and colleagues to be the primary sources of stress. These are the “tigers” in our lives that are triggering the HPA axis and causing the deterioration of our collective mental and physical health. The belief cards in the Healing InSight method are to remind you that you are already enough; society has made you forget who you are and taught you that you need to be something else, or in some cases, that you are nobody at all. This is painful beyond measure, and addressing these beliefs will bring respite to the autonomic stress response and allow the adrenal glands to rest and the body to heal.

Our immune system does an incredible job fighting foreign invaders and restoring us to health, but it is not supported by being in a constant fight, flight, or freeze response. When it is “in overload” and not meeting the expectations we have put on ourselves, the immune system becomes compromised and the bugs, parasites, and internal invaders have an opportunity to thrive. As soon as we get the opportunity to rest, we feel exhausted because our immune system is working hard to catch up.

The physical body is a manifestation of how the emotional body and mind have engaged with and stored our experiences of life. Put simply, it is a mirror of our internal state. In order to heal, we must address our stress. This means clearing the energetic stories, belief patterns, and associated emotions and fears that cause stress and disease. This was certainly my personal experience of healing my body from its “incurable” disease, and it is what I offer my clients today.

The Emotional Body

I am passionate about the power and expression of emotion, a form of guidance that lets you know how far you are vibrationally from your higher self or soul’s desire. Although physiologically a cascade of chemical and hormonal reactions, I interpret emotion as a nebulous yet tangible vibration within the physical realm that can be seen, felt, and almost tasted.

Many of us are afraid of our emotions, having had them shunted, rejected, ignored, or denied. What is it about emotion that makes people uncomfortable? Negative emotion is essentially an indicator of discord. We must become empowered to be with and work through emotion. As I contemplate the energy and power of emotion, the poet in me stirs:

The great ocean rolls, and the great winds roar.

The great fire burns, and with it comes its path of destruction,

Then rebirth and creation, as the cycles of life continue.

To be free, like an untamed child, breathing the rhythms of the universe.

To be free to howl in pain at the grief of life,

The suffering of men, women, and the animal kingdom.

To cheer in awe at the glory of creation, of life in all its beauty,

To feel the strength and the binding powers of love.

How can we express the richness and fullness of life, of existence,

Without becoming tamed, disconnected, or uncivilized?

For emotion is the felt sense of the universe that rips open our hearts

And renders us both powerless and complete in its path.

As a counselling psychologist, my focus has been on helping clients who have trapped or denied the “felt sense” of their experiences regain emotional expression, but my interest goes back even farther, to my adolescent years. As an empath, I would feel the emotions of others, and find my heart pouring out to theirs, drawn like a magnet to witness their pain and acknowledge their suffering. I would sit with compassion, unknowingly allowing whoever I was sitting with to be felt, seen, and witnessed. Pain needs to be acknowledged.

To deny emotion is to be lifeless. The female archetype desires fullness and connection, whilst the male archetype desires emptiness and freedom. We contain both masculine and feminine aspects and their corresponding expressions and drives. It is the connection and fullness, the riding of these waves of life—and the processing and witnessing of “what is” with a level of consciousness—that enables the clearing, emptiness, and freedom we so desire. Emptiness leads us back to creation, balance, and connection. This is the dance of yin and yang, as written in ancient Asian texts.

Even though emotions can have a profound effect upon our lives and bodies, they do not need to form our identity. Emotion is something we all experience; we may have certain emotions and feelings about events or people, but emotion is just a sensory feedback system. “We” are not angry or happy; “we” are not frustrated or guilty or jealous. By not owning the emotion as part of our identity, it is possible to detach slightly. Emotion is a sensation we sometimes connect with, sometimes disown, and sometimes over-identify with. It’s also beneficial not to attach labels of emotions to other people’s identity, as this will likely skew your perception and experience of them.

See emotion as something you are “doing”, as this allows a level of consciousness and free will in how you experience the emotion. If we ride the waves and proactively “do” anger and frustration, “do” happiness and bliss, “do” guilt and shame, we awaken the conscious mind rather than passively experiencing the subconscious (or unconscious) cascade of biochemical reactions. We can then start to experience emotion more fully, more consciously, and more therapeutically, rather than just re-experiencing patterns of fired chemical responses from our past.

In her groundbreaking 1999 book Molecules of Emotion: Why You Feel the Way You Feel, the late neuroscientist Dr Candace Pert offered a fascinating understanding of this process through her research on psychoneuroimmunology, explaining the biochemical processes that occur on a cellular level throughout the entire body as we experience emotion. Her research revealed that emotions are indeed the link between the mind and body, and cause cells to respond in ways that can produce profound changes to the body, creating either sickness or health. Emotions are biochemical waves that flow through your body as molecules (hormones and neuropeptides) arriving at the cell receptors, in turn affecting cell biology.

Health researcher Dawson Church, author of the 2018 book Mind to Matter, documents copious research demonstrating the effects of brainwave states upon our cells. This research shows a clear link between our state of mind and our bodily condition, both through the biochemistry of cells in response to our emotional states and the impact of vibration—specifically different speeds of brainwave states—upon our cells.

High beta frequency waves (associated with cognition, stress, and the production of adrenal hormones) have been documented to show negative effects in the body, including cellular dysfunction, ageing, and reduced ability to grow and repair. Church shows that healing takes place when we engage in positive, mindful, and coherent states of mind. The alpha brainwave state (achieved in relaxed, meditative, daydreaming states) has been shown in research to increase our production of serotonin, the mood-enhancing neurotransmitter (Yu et al. 2011). Aerobic exercise has also been shown to connect us to a more coherent and harmonizing alpha brainwave state (Fumoto et al. 2010). Slowing brainwaves down to theta levels, the dreamy brainwave state we fall into as we drift off to sleep and which healers access when connected to healing vibrations, begins restorative functions in the body. Research has shown that at this frequency, the body can repair cartilage cells, boost antioxidant levels, and increase DNA repair functions (Tekutskaya et al. 2015).

When we step down into delta brainwaves, the slowest waves of all, observed in deep meditation or deep sleep, extraordinary things happen in our bodies. The regeneration of nerve cells is stimulated. Our growth hormone levels increase, aiding cell and neuron regeneration, and we can even reverse ageing (Cosic et al. 2015). In addition to the body’s increased thriving, when we reach slower brainwave states, we feel connected to the great consciousness of All That Is. In meditation experiments, Church reports that changed brainwave patterns actually change the expression of genes. In his book, he writes about scientific studies that demonstrate the regulation of cancer genes through changing the brainwave state, including genes that both suppress tumour growth and eliminate cancerous cells. This is a strong argument for tending to emotional wellbeing.

The spiritual community is becoming increasingly interested in the gamma brainwave state (the highest frequency of all). Research still needs to understand the processes occurring in gamma, as this state surpasses the wavelength of neuronal firing. Accessed through expert-level meditation, gamma brainwave state has been found to be highly active in experiences of universal love, states of expanded consciousness, connectedness, and spiritual emergence. Researchers from Bonn University show that gamma brainwave frequency remains present in these experts, outside of meditation, enabling a different awareness of everyday reality (Fell et al. 2010). I suspect it is a frequency from which we access our multi-dimensional self.

Have you noticed that you tend to experience the same kinds of emotion over and over again? This is because we tend to create strong neural pathways for particular experiences, thoughts, emotions, and feelings. The phrase “Cells that fire together, wire together” was coined by Dr Carla Shatz in 1992 to sum up neuropsychologist Donald Hebb’s 1949 work on associative learning.

Hebbs explains that when we repeat an experience—which we now understand can even be created using the rumination of the mind—the brain triggers the same neural networks and emotional chemical responses. So when we practise the same thoughts frequently, they and their associated emotional responses come to be our default point of experience. This is why we repeat the same patterns in our lives. These strong neural pathways in the brain are easily triggered by associated experiences in our environment.

Healing the mind and our beliefs about ourselves can change this chain of biochemical subconscious emotional reactions. We can loosen (even clear) old, negative associations, and through repetition, develop new neural pathways for good. The more we practise these new neural pathways of thought and good feeling states, the more we experience the neural firing of the new pattern.

Imagine a field (your brain) and you have been walking on the same pathway for 20 or so years. This pathway may represent the belief and feeling states associated with being unlovable, for example—a well-trodden pathway you automatically walk down when you are triggered. If you clear this belief, you create a new pathway in the field that represents “I am lovable”, with its new feeling states. The more you walk on the new pathway and tread it down, so to speak, the more this becomes the favoured pathway and the old pathway grows over. With effective energetic belief change, the old pathway simply does not resonate anymore; it is no longer there for us to walk upon. Refocusing our attention on the new positive belief and emotion associated with it has a correspondingly positive impact on our energy field, and subsequently on the healthy function and repair of the cells in the body.

A lot of information is encoded in the emotional body and its biochemical chain of responses; it is a treasure trove of information, there for us to decode if we wish. In my opinion, the emotional body contains many keys to healing—not just from this lifetime but from the soul’s deepest experiences and traumas. Many emotions, both present and old, including, of course, the ones we have practised experiencing, are present in the emotional body, triggered from memories or “echoes” in the field, something I will discuss towards the end of this chapter. Emotions can also be viscerally felt through the chakras and the energy field of the body. It is as though the aura becomes a book of the emotional stories of our past and present.

This paints a clear picture that negative emotion and stress impact our mind, body, and lives. The body becomes primed for the HPA axis to be triggered if we have been practising feeling bad, guilty, lack, inadequate, shamed, angry, helpless, anxious, depressed, or like a victim (which we know constitutes poor health and a poor life experience). The new field of epigenetics has helped us understand that genes are influenced by our mental, emotional, or physical environment and turn themselves off or on according to this environment. When we are happy, feeling well, and joyful, our genes express health. When we are stressed, upset, and angry, our genes express inflammation and disease. Our emotions and thoughts are largely governed by our beliefs (which we can thankfully change) and by how we perceive and address our experiences, giving us choice and freedom over our wellbeing.

I have the genes for lupus, but by changing the vibration of my body, I have turned off the expression of these genes. This means that I no longer express vibrationally the disease that manifested in my body from my late teens to my early thirties. I do not have lupus and am not worried that it will return because I have changed many beliefs and their associated emotions, and I continue to be mindful of my physical levels of toxicity, as well as the emotional and mental vibrations of my body and mind. Just because a particular cancer may “run in the family” does not mean that it will be expressed, as long as the familial vibrational patterns of emotion and thought that express as cancer are healed and cleared. Bruce Lipton’s The Biology of Belief and Dawson Church’s The Genie in Our Genes offer more insight into this fascinating and insightful field of research.

Tending to emotion and smoothing our vibrations, choosing how we engage with our past and present emotions, and opting to “do” emotion consciously until it is settled and brought into a happier more peaceful state are activities that are not only healing and empowering but also enlightening. I recently read Vishen Lakhiani’s 2016 book The Code of the Extraordinary Mind. I deeply respect his mission and approach and perceive Vishen as an important world changer, someone who, as Gandhi said, is “the change he wishes to see in the world”, leading and inspiring responsibly through his offering, Mindvalley. Lakhiani discusses 10 “unconventional laws to redefine your life and succeed on your own terms”, with reference to living and being extraordinary. I wanted to share with you one that relates to the Healing InSight method.

The concept Vishen calls Blissipline relates to the daily practice and discipline of maintaining a blissful state of being. By clearing our beliefs, we aim to elevate our vibration and connect with our inner joy, truth, and happiness! Blissipline integrates the discipline of engaging in three practices: gratitude, forgiveness, and giving. These sentiments are reflected in the Healing InSight method beliefs in this book.

Evidence is plentiful that the practice of Gratitude raises our level of wellbeing and happiness. I used to struggle with practising gratitude. I realized at some point in my development that it was difficult for me to access because, as a child, I was frequently told that I was selfish or ungrateful. I am the least selfish person I know, perhaps after Rob, but I had a belief that I was selfish and ungrateful, and so couldn’t resonate with the feeling of gratitude. Having cleared that belief, I can step fully into appreciating what I have; a key to abundance, which feels better than not being able to resonate with being thankful. Gratitude allows us to say “thank you” and fully receive. We can all find things to be grateful for. It does take discipline, but when I have a client who is stuck in the vibration of loss or lack, I will recommend a dose of gratitude practice, which often helps lift their mood and move things forward. Try immersing yourself in the feeling of gratitude twice a day.

The second practice is that of Forgiveness. Many people struggle with forgiveness and either don’t want to forgive or just don’t know how. Forgiveness is a gift to self that can free us from the lower vibrations of hurt, anger, and pain. In his time at a programme called 40 Years of Zen, Vishen and others were wired up to high-quality bio-feedback equipment to experience therapeutic processes focused upon forgiveness, with the intention of observing and raising their levels of alpha, theta, and possibly delta brainwaves.

The deep practice of transforming forgiveness into love and compassion and the understanding gained from the bigger picture of these experiences boosted their alpha brainwaves (associated with love, compassion, forgiveness, insight, and creativity) to the extent that the brainwaves could be considered reflective of someone who had spent 21–40 years practising Zen meditation.

Forgiving each of the people who had bullied or denied me in my process of healing was hugely liberating, and this experience shared by Vishen helps me to see why. I have developed a forgiveness Healing InSight protocol in the Resources worksheets in the Appendices to aid in letting go of the pains from toxic or painful past relationships. Remember that forgiveness is a gift to self, as well as a gift to the person or situation that has triggered your distress, because it frees you from the painful emotions caught up in your attachment to them. Ultimately, when we hold on, we are holding onto our pain and unresolved past stories. Our past may shape us, but it does not need to define us. Our “now” creates our future.

The third practice in the Blissipline system is Giving. Many of you reading this may give abundantly, and are perhaps tipping the scales of balance with respect to also allowing yourself to receive. Giving to yourself abundantly helps address this, and when the universe reflects the giving to others back to you, be sure to receive it with thanks. Plenty of research within the “happiness” literature and research shows that happiness increases through the act of giving. Giving adds meaning to our lives. It also reminds us of our gifts, skills, or ability to be kind and loving.

I once engaged in the practice of offering a weekly session to a client who was unable to pay for her therapy. In exchange for my kindness, I suggested she perform a number of acts of kindness to people she encountered in her daily life. The result was heart-warming. I could give freely, knowing that the ripples of kindness would make their way back to me in the universal flow, and this lady delighted in letting me know of the exchanges she had in the week, from smiles with people in the supermarket to discreet acts of generosity. It was clear to me that the statement “Happiness breeds happiness” is in fact true. To see kindness extended into the world was a beautiful gift that felt good for all of us. Being of service to others in any small way (without, of course, sacrificing ourselves and our own resources and needs) is both humbling and rewarding for all involved.

I have a sign on my wall in the hallway that reads “Happiness Is an Inside Job”. It is important to recognize that we can, and do, impact our own levels of happiness from within. Suspending or projecting your happiness to somewhere over in the future on completion of a goal never brings happiness to you in the here and now. Recognize what feels good, and focus on that now.

I am not advocating pushing down or ignoring pain and suffering. Our emotions are key to giving us insight into our psyche, our soul’s stories and traumas, which we may be vibrationally playing out throughout this lifetime; however, using my technique in Chapter 7 to follow emotion back to its beliefs and clear them using the Healing InSight method is the best way I know of to clear the emotional stories and perpetual discharge of the past. When not working on yourself, change your filter and focus on the good. The more you practise this, you more you begin to fire new neurons for happiness and even bliss. I like the practice of Blissipline a lot; like an exercise routine that brings health to the physical body, it is a daily practice of boosting happy hormones and creating a happy vibration for an extraordinary life.

The Energy Body

Science is now beginning to measure the “energy body”, confirming what has been previously known, shared, and recorded among healers and mystics across the globe since before Christ. Just because we cannot tangibly see energy, this does not mean that it does not exist. I read recently that gravity cannot be quantifiably measured, yet we know and understand its energetic force in the quantum field. For those who do feel and perhaps see it, to deny the existence of the energy body is to deny the essence of life itself. If I could grant one wish for humanity, it would be for each individual to have a spiritual experience and recognize the energetic life force that exists inside and outside of us; there is so much more to human beings and our reality than we can see and comprehend.

When I run my qigong classes it is a delight to see people who were perhaps unaware of their own energy begin to sense and notice it through the practice. Moving the Earth and Heaven energies through the energy channels in the body is such a gift to the self. Energy of this kind can truly help people to feel connected to themselves and the universe. I cannot recommend qigong enough as an all-round health promoter for giving energy to oneself, moving energy, stilling the mind, and harnessing the deep resource within. A deep spiritual connection to who we are, in essence our soul self, can emerge with qigong practice. I will always leave a class feeling more peaceful, more resourced, alive, grounded, and ready to engage with my day. Through the path of surrender in basic qigong teaching, you can begin to experience yourself as an energy being and feel the energy field around you and others, and in this way, begin to take care, at a fundamental level, of your own qi, or energy.

Healing traditions from China, Tibet, Japan, and India utilize the ancient wisdom and tradition of working with energy through the channels, known as meridians or nadis, and energy vortices known as the chakras. Healing wisdom was passed down to students of healers and sages when they were deemed competent and worthy of such teachings. Presently, it is widely acknowledged that life is vibrational and that energy flows through these nadis, meridians, or channels in our bodies—either satisfactorily (maintaining health) or unsatisfactorily (causing ill health). The meridians feed energy to our vital organs, so you can begin to see why the healthy flow of vital life force is important for physical health. The meridian pathways are thought to receive energy from the chakra system, which is explained in more detail in the next chapter. For now, it is useful to know that the chakras are like the energy storehouses throughout our body, providing energy for different functions of our human experience.

For a deep look and insight into the meridians, I recommend Donna Eden’s 2008 book Energy Medicine. Donna also recovered from an autoimmune disease and has developed practical ways to help bring back energy flow to the meridians and energy pathways around the body, mostly through touch. She has daily routines to help maintain or bring health to the energy body. Acupuncture also works by restoring healthy flow through the acupuncture points to meridian energy lines.

There are 12 main organ meridians, six yin and and six yang, that serve the health of the organs, plus eight superhighway meridians. Of those eight, four important ones constitute the Belt meridian, or Dai Mai, which runs like a hula hoop around the centre of the body; the Central channel, or Penetrating or Shushumna channel, through which kundalini energy will travel from the base of the spine to the crown for the opening of our upper chakras and higher awareness; the Governing channel, or Du Mai, which runs up the back and over the head to the roof of the mouth; and the Conception channel, or Ren Mai, which runs between the perineum and the roof of the mouth. It is these superhighway meridians that are worked with in qigong practice, to feed the organ meridians with the health and vitality of the body.

The first study postulating the existence of meridians was conducted in the 1960s by Dr Bong-Han Kim, a North Korean scientist. Further research by Korean researchers at Seoul National University, using hightech CT scanning equipment and dye injections into acupuncture points, has confirmed the existence of the meridians. The system has been renamed in the literature as the primo vascular system, referring to the channels and nodes as “primo-vessels” and “primo nodes”. More than 50 articles offer some explanation of what these channels are and how they conduct energy. Researches have shown that meridians generate light when observed with a camera capturing biophotons in the frequency of 200-800 nanometers (Schlebusch et al. 2005). The channels demonstrating these light waves follow the meridians as we have understood them through history.

The new sciences—quantum physics, in particular—is narrowing the gap between science and spirituality. As a result, Newtonian physics, upon which our medical model is based, is having to reconcile with spiritual traditions that are thousands of years old, a different world view. We still have some way to go, though, for there are some things that are not yet conceivable to the human mind.

For the purpose of the Healing InSight method, it is useful to know that these primary transportation systems of qi (energy) run into, through, and out of the body; so when we are standing in our empty and open qigong posture, ready to align with new beliefs, the body is primed for being able to move energy distortions through the energy body’s chakras, meridians, and superhighway meridians.

The aura is an energetic field surrounding our bodies, a little like Earth has an atmosphere. I see the aura as a reflection of our internal world. The auras of people who are fully open and giving love to the world can be warmly felt. People who carry a lot of hurt and are very closed or depleted will often draw their aura towards them. It acts like a buffer from the energetic world around us, both giving and receiving information, inside and outside of ourselves.

If the aura is drawn in and weakened, we can feel hypersensitive to external stimuli. When our energy is strong, our aura is strong, and we feel impenetrable; when our aura is weak, we feel vulnerable to external energies. It is possible for us to draw in our aura or extend it with our intention, giving us more space or protection, should we need it. The Small Heavenly Circuit, or Microcosmic Orbit, meditation in the Qigong Practices in the Appendices helps energize and make coherent the energy body and strengthens the auric field.

Changing our thoughts and beliefs can also help the auric field to smooth and expand. An amazing number of people I have worked with suddenly describe themselves as feeling taller—and indeed, they do look visibly more open, clearer and six feet tall, just from the act of changing their beliefs and clearing the negative associated emotions; the aura suddenly expands from the previous contracted state that it was in. We can smooth other people’s auras by using soothing strokes across the auric field, which helps them if they feel prickly or fragmented. By using the Infinity Harmonizing movement in the Healing InSight method, you will bring balance and harmony to your own auric field.

Wearing a happy aura is like wearing the best jacket in town—it gets noticed and makes people smile; it is an emanation from your biofield, which enables you to walk around with a warm glow, spreading love to others. Our natural state is one of joy. The most fundamental lesson to learn with energy healing is that energy wishes to move; it wishes to express itself, and given the opportunity and correct conditions, it will harmonize and balance itself optimally.

Consciousness in Mind

The workings of the mind are quite extraordinary, and I have drawn down my awareness to share it with you here in a vision I had that I named the Inner Multiverse: a plethora of inner and outer interconnected realities that exist within human awareness and the wider universe.

The unconscious mind is often compared to the submerged part of an iceberg; more is hidden below the surface than seen above it. In my depiction, it is the earth beneath the mountain. Though invisible, it is a vital and necessary part of the whole, containing buried treasures of awareness, just as crystals and precious metals may be found in the earth. The unconscious is also the shared, or collective, consciousness that fuels our drives for survival; our individual desires, and understanding of what is needed to co-exist. This informs the subconscious mind, the main body of the mountain, with its many well-worn pathways and predictable but intricate face. It is so vast that it remains largely undiscovered territory—until, of course, we reach the top of the mountain and see where we have been and what else is possible.

The Inner Multiverse

I came to see the conscious mind as the pinnacle of the mountain, representing full awareness of all that underpins it, the paths it has trodden, and the immense foundation of the unknown (unconscious) upon which it rests. There is a feeling of freedom and clarity from this bird’s-eye view; a spacious awareness of what is real “here and now”. Have you noticed how being present offers you greater awareness? The conscious mind is aware, in the “now”, of whatever may come to its attention. We may be softly or intently focused, but we are detached from any state of doing, habit, or control.

It is thought that we only remain conscious around 5 percent of the time and operate from our subconscious mind the rest of the time (Szegedy-Maszak 2005). It is awesome to be at the top of the mountain—and collectively, we are awakening and becoming more conscious—but the main body of the mountain, the pathways, routes, and maps of the subconscious mind start to call to us in our unconscious drive for food, shelter, recognition, warmth, healing, resolution, and so on.

The point of consciousness at the top of the mountain offers connection to a wealth of information and the superconscious, and a whole new world becomes visible and within reach. When we make contact with the mystical realms, this intangible field becomes tangible. Like coming home, we connect with our soul self, which is a part of All That Is, and enter higher states of consciousness, connection, love, wisdom, and possibility.

As you can see, this Inner Multiverse has many layers of influence, function, interaction, and awareness within the self and the wider field of All That Is. Let’s take a look at the subconscious mind now, for it is here that we live out the beliefs that impact our lives, whether they serve us or not. It is here that we facilitate change with the Healing InSight method, steering us along easier paths towards the conscious and the superconscious minds.

The Subconscious Mind

Cell biologist Bruce Lipton’s 2005 book, The Biology of Belief, is the foundation for the whole energy psychology movement, which focuses on changing beliefs to heal body and mind. Dr. Lipton’s work and passion for communicating his message have facilitated a quantum shift in healing for many people. Dr. Lipton views the subconcious mind as akin to a tape-recorder that records, stores, and plays back the decisions we have made about ourselves, others, and the world. At any one time, the subconscious mind is more than a million times more powerful at processing data than the conscious mind. Once data has been processed and understood by the conscious mind, it quickly gets stored for reuse by the subconscious mind, freeing up the conscious mind for new things.

Just like learning to tie your shoe laces, these behaviours become habitual. The subconscious mind helps us drive a car whilst our thoughts ruminate on something else. Have you ever safely driven 10 minutes down the road and been unable to recall the experience? Have you ever tried slowly writing your signature? When attempting this consciously, you may even “forget” how to write the signature you have easily written for decades! The subconscious mind largely drives our thoughts, interactions, expectations, behaviours, and life. When we experience a situation in our daily lives, we make a snap perception of that event and our brain will pattern-match this experience to those in our past, so that it can prompt us in how to respond. Dr Lipton explains that 95 percent of our behavioural responses are habitual, programmed from past experiences, decisions, and beliefs about ourselves and the world.

For example, yesterday, I told my husband to use up some leftover food, but he misunderstood which food I was talking about, so the food was wasted. This triggered in me an old subconscious pattern of thought: “I am not listened to. I am unimportant”. I know from experience that, left unchecked, this can snowball into feelings of insignificance. In the past, these feelings and unconscious patterns could escalate as far as the belief “There is no point to my existence”. Yesterday, I got as far as “If he can’t hear me, then who is going to be interested in reading my book?” My subconscious mind was pattern-matching this experience with the beliefs developed in childhood. Clearly, I have more unwinding to do!

Mental processing is always associated with the emotional and energy body. As Dr Candace Pert noted, for each pattern of thought triggered, neurons fire, hormones and neuropeptides release throughout the body, and a whole cascade of vibrational, energetic responses are felt. It is literally a trigger: a cue in our environment that begins a chain of biochemical and energetic responses. Something happens and all of a sudden we are left feeling bad, pulled away from our higher, soul self into a usually untrue story. As you become aware of the subconscious mind and its stories, you perceive experiences more accurately. Your painful past experiences need no longer be straitjackets when you know how to rewrite the stored programmes with expansive and loving beliefs.

We know that the subconscious mind is susceptible to suggestion when we are in alpha brainwave state, that is, we are more likely to programme information if the brainwaves slow down (Dispenza 2017). As we move from beta to alpha brainwave states, we are less able to consciously analyze information—this is why we are receptive to hypnotic suggestion when relaxed. We also enter this state when emotionally aroused, when experiencing a trauma or deep hurt. When our analytical mind is disengaged, we are both reactive and suggestible. Hurtful words then imprint on our brains as truth, even if they are not true according to our higher wisdom, and become imprinted in the subconscious.

My years in practice have taught me that understanding these painful exchanges, shifting perspective, and using supportive words or affirmations are not enough to prevent these negative imprints from steering our lives. Our scars and their associated stories and beliefs must be pulled into consciousness and cleared on an energetic level; otherwise, we end up with confusing dual beliefs, such as “I am listened to”/“I am not listened to”, and may still be triggered into either experience.

The Superconscious Mind

I see the higher mind (or superconscious mind) as the higher self, the non-physical part of you that has an elevated perspective—wisdom from outside of our usual awareness. When we feel blindsided or confused, we may sense that there is a higher perspective but be unable to perceive it. Psychics and mediums are often called on to help with this, but the knowledge is within us, slightly out of reach.

As suggested by Bruce Lipton’s work, our ability to receive depends on how well we are attuned to our higher selves; as with a radio, we may need to adjust our frequency to access the knowledge we are seeking. Once attuned (not an easy task at first), we gain a higher perspective and answers come easily, whereas, if others interpret for us, messages from higher wisdom may be distorted, like a game of Chinese Whispers.

The idea of “tuning in” and “receiving” information still makes it sound as though the wisdom is outside us, when, in fact, it is at the core of our being. Life as a human being causes us to collect layers of beliefs that tune out our higher knowing. Tuning back into higher knowing is a natural process; it feels like home. For some people, releasing resistant beliefs can be challenging, especially if the conditioning is deep, but the more we practise and surrender our analysis, the easier it gets.

Our higher self (or soul) is too large to be fully embodied by our physical body. It exists beyond our concepts of space and time, containing the experiences of this and other lifetimes. We are, in fact, multi-dimensional beings. Your soul essence is part of you, beautiful and loving; it loves the physical incarnation of you dearly, unconditionally. It is conscious, intelligent, and will guide and support you along your path. It is your barometer for truth and is always present, whether you can feel it or not. It is not separate, but is and always will be a part of you.

With the Inner Multiverse, as I see it, although the mountain represents the soul’s current incarnation (in this lifetime), the rest of the soul is not separate. Connected to and surrounding the top of the mountain is a stairway that leads to the higher aspects of the soul’s expression.

Your higher self, a spark of divine consciousness, will be present when you are working with the Healing InSight method. It is always willing you into your highest vibration and directing you towards the best outcome for yourself. It is this aspect that we acknowledge when we muscle-test the body with the permission statements before engaging in the belief change process. I never recommend that you act against the guidance of your higher self. I have noticed that when the superconscious prevents us from going ahead, simply asking why can suddenly fill us with insight. Very often, once we have this insight, the superconscious will allow us to continue with the process of change. We understand very little about what lies beyond the veil of our everyday consciousness. Somewhat mystical in nature and akin to the magical possibilities portrayed in Disney films, a great wisdom, knowing, and expanse is experienced here.

The Unconscious Mind

The unconscious mind is the other intangible phenomenon that has interested me since I was a child. This is the realm of the psyche, defined in the Oxford Dictionary as “the human soul, mind or spirit”, known to the Greeks as the essence of life, and understood by the world of psychology as the mind or self (Reber 1985). The phenomenology of the psyche takes on new meaning through Sigmund Freud’s theory of the personality and its components: the unconscious id, ego, and superego (McLeod 2018). Further understanding arises when we take a look at Carl Jung’s writings in The Undiscovered Self (1958) and his collection On the Nature of the Psyche (1969), where Jung describes his remarkable theory of the “collective unconscious” and his understanding of how the unconscious relates to the conscious mind and their discourse through dreams.

These scholarly theories have shaped both psychology and psychotherapy immeasurably, revealing our search for the soul (true self ) through the unconscious conflicts of the id, ego, and superego. We seek to resolve these unconscious conflicts as they become expressed in the face of our relationships with others and the world around us.

All aspects of the id, ego, and superego are found in the mind, part of the inner child developed in our earlier years. The id represents the desires and instinctual drives for pleasure and existence, the ego strategizes how to satisfactorily meet these drives through behaviour whilst remaining in good favour with others, and the superego, like the parental voice on our shoulder, reminds us of the “oughts” and “shoulds” of the larger collective conscious that we live by. If we are to have any hope of discovering our individual or soul self, we must separate from these aspects of our human self or at least become conscious of the roles they play in our lives.

Psychology, particularly psychoanalysis, teaches a great deal about the unconscious, as it largely involves the study of the complex human psyche. People have sat for hours exploring the musings of the mind, and the subject of dreams is an interesting gateway between the unconscious and other aspects of consciousness. The intention in therapy is often to make conscious the unconscious conflicts so that fragments of the self can be recognized, understood, and integrated as we seek to become a unified whole.

I’d like to illustrate this point here with an example, as for me, it is a fundamental aspect of deep transformational healing.

I work with clients using various healing modalities, particularly reiki, and because I am an empath, I attach to the problem. I will feel other people’s pain in a particular chakra in my body. I am blessed that I have no qualms about diving deep into other people’s pain, trauma, and suffering. I have dealt with my own and know the route to clearing it is being with it, understanding it, and bringing the compassionate light of the universe to heal it.

I allow the process to unfold, and the energy guides and informs me. My job is to trust that and get my ego out of the way. When a person comes to me for healing and my intention is to heal, we do what is needed by going within, listening, allowing and taking it from there. My mind’s eye shows me pictures and stories of where this energy was created. It is all stored there under the person’s conscious awareness—everything we need to know in order to heal!

I experience people’s pain or trauma as a moment in time, floating out in the ether, away from the connection to the heart and embodied soul. It is of course not separate, because it is present, but it feels disconnected, unresolved, and is calling out, playing through the person’s life as pain/suffering/anger, together with a feeling of being lost and alone with this. When I tap into these unconscious experiences of the soul and bring them into awareness, or consciousness, the person usually experiences a huge release of emotion. There is a coming into one’s truth, a knowing that was buried just under the surface of awareness that was driving their repeated experiences and seeking resolution. The soul fragment is calling to come home, to be loved, accepted, and welcomed into the being that exists here and now. This is a fundamental process of becoming whole.

The unconscious mind is the deep storage tank for all of our potential knowing of our human self, our various identities (both congruous and conflictual), and our attachments to relational or extraneous aspects of life. The archetypal attributes of the self may hide within, or be expressions of, the unconscious mind. It seems to me to be the human self in its unknown, fragmented form, working internally to discover the truth and acceptance of its own identity and expression, both harmoniously and agonizingly as it seeks to evolve into its multi-dimensional consciousness. I agree with Jung and many of today’s forward thinkers: if we are to discover ourselves, we must detach from collective conditioning. We must find the courage to find and speak our truth, regardless of whether it can be validated by others, and engage in enquiry that leads us to our larger universal truth.

When you are working with the Healing InSight method to align with a new belief, it may be that early memories from your unconscious mind, painful or otherwise, will come into your inner vision. This is good. See them, and welcome this hurt, fragmented aspect of yourself with love. They need to know that the belief you are aligning with is true for them, so stay with the process and lovingly show them that they are perfection and can reside in your heart. Our fears, when faced, become our soul’s growth as we seek to evolve into our true perfection and become whole. (Here, we return to the rainbow metaphor, whose multifaceted aspects together form the white light.)

Morphic Fields

As receivers and interpreters of vibration, the human self can resonate with particular frequencies from the quantum field. You may have connected with expanded consciousness during meditation or through a mystical or spiritual experience. Many of us now have had spiritual experiences from which it is impossible to return to our previous states of questioning and doubting that something more exists. There is much that our limited minds cannot comprehend, but the veil that surrounds our usual perceptions can be lifted by slowing down our brainwaves and opening to something greater.

Scientist Rupert Sheldrake’s important 2009 research on morphic fields showed that information is carried through the ether to the masses. I remember first discovering his work at a conference, interested to hear about the phenomenon of blue tits tapping into the cardboard top of milk cartons to drink the cream from the morning delivery. At first, a few milk cartons were being invaded, then a whole town, and almost simultaneously, birds all over the country were tapping into milk carton tops to drink the cream. Blue tits as a species do not travel more than four to five miles away from their home. This information had thus become part of the collective field of consciousness (or morphic field) of the birds. So much so that some 30 years later, birds in Holland were observed behaving in exactly the same way. They could not have learnt by imitating the behaviour of their species, given milk deliveries had been suspended for nearly 10 years there and the birds’ lifespan is only two to three years.

“‘Morphic field’ is a term that includes all kinds of fields that have an inherent memory given by morphic resonance from previous similar systems,” wrote Rupert Sheldrake in the 2011 revised edition of his 1995 book The Presence of the Past: Morphic Resonance and the Memory of Nature, as if the echo of systems from the past become recreated in form, experience, or behaviour in the present.

The morphic field carries an imprint about the whole. Each living entity has a field, and within each field exist many others: behavioural fields, thought fields, emotional fields, and even fields for particular diseases. The body has its own morphic field, as does the liver, stomach, and spleen. It is understood that like attracts like. In a 1987 journal article listed in Semantics Scholar, Sheldrake notes that a segment of oak tree or earthworm, for example, can re-create the whole life form from its morphic field, almost like a memory imprint.

This has practical relevance in healing work concerned with changing the energetic imprints (or morphic fields) of thoughts, behaviours, and health in our own bodies. We know the cells in our bodies are constantly renewing, and though we are not left with an entirely new body every 10 years, our cells regenerate in accordance with the morphic field of the organs. If this theory is true, and the information for cell renewal is encoded in the morphic field, then by vibrationally influencing our fields we can create positive change for our cells, and thus our whole body.

I worked with one lady using the Healing InSight method who was delighted to tell me that her latest thyroid blood test showed no antibodies for Graves’, or Hashimoto’s disease, prompting her to discuss with her doctor the possibility of stopping the thyroid medication she was on. Changing one’s vibration for health makes the Healing InSight method a potentially powerful tool for healing.

It has been postulated in scientific literature that memory may exist within the field, as no evidence to date has found memory to be stored in the brain. In his research, Dr Bruce Lipton recognizes the self, all the way to the cellular level, as being a receptor, or receiver, of information in the field. There are stories told of heart transplant patients who, having received a new organ from a donor, inexplicably adopt aspects of the donor’s personality and life (for example, food preferences). In one case described by Paul Pearsall in his 1998 book The Heart’s Code, after experiencing nightmares of the donor’s death, a heart recipient was able to identify the donor’s murderer, who was captured as a result.

In The Biology of Belief, Dr Lipton offers evidence that human leukocytic antigens, or self-receptors, are crucial to what makes us who we are. They apparently receive information from our non-physical counterpart. Without these self-receptors, receiving our individual data from the field or stream of consciousness from All That Is, we would merely be a generic human cell. Not only do we download our soul identity from the field, which interacts with and influences the physical body, but the physical and energetic environment also affects the local and wider field. Dr Lipton’s 2005 documentary As Above—So Below: An Introduction to Fractal Evolution explains how reconnecting with our spiritual self enables us to tap into a wealth of information about the self.

This makes sense to me as a spiritual healer. When I tune into a highly charged point in a person’s auric field, it feels as if I begin to stream, or download, information from a person’s past. I can open to receive information about them—both in this and other existences—in which remain the energetic, emotional imprints, unresolved traumas, and unmet needs (although note that my intention when I connect is to heal wounds). This information appears at first to be in the person’s energy field, but the stream of consciousness I receive is from afar, a tangible, felt experience—usually for the person on the table, too.

We are complex beings, part of a bigger picture than we might currently comprehend. We carry vibrational, cellular information from both our maternal and paternal ancestral past, and also from the individual identity of the soul’s many lifetimes and experiences (McFetridge 2004). We are affected by not only our experiences in this lifetime but also those of our ancestors and our soul’s journey. Knowing this may help you to surrender to the Healing InSight method, which gives you a means of self-discovery beyond the conscious mind.

The most beautiful lesson I have learnt comes from the work of Dr. Bruce Lipton: we are all different streams of consciousness from the whole, God, or All That Is, analogous to a rainbow spectrum of light. As our souls seek to know themselves more fully and return to the light, we must be our own unique, individual colour or light. If I am “yellow”, for example, but I’m trying to be more like my “blue” friend, partner, or boss, then I never get to shine my unique light, and my yellow becomes lost. Thus, we lose the potential to shine as the complete spectrum of white light. Similarly, if I am “yellow” and believe that my “blue” counterpart should be more “yellow”, then I am denying them their own unique identity, and again, the white light is lost. We must unite, celebrate each other’s differences, and allow ourselves to truly connect with who we are. The Healing InSight method was created with this in mind: a celebration of our individuation together with the vision of a unified whole.

The Power of Attention and Intention

Dr Rupert Sheldrake and journalist Lynne McTaggart have both written extensively about the powerful effects of “attention and intention”. In his 2004 book, The Sense of Being Stared At, Dr Sheldrake wrote about how our minds extend beyond the brain and how we can affect someone through space by looking at or thinking about them. I am sure that we have all had the experience of thinking about someone, only to find they then telephone you. This frequently happens to me. I will become aware that I am the focus of someone’s attention and then they will telephone or send an email. Sometimes, someone can be thinking about contacting me, and they will keep coming into my attention all day. I have a few times been moved to message somebody to see how they are, and they will tell me that they have been thinking about getting in touch all day! If I am quiet, I can intuit more information—sometimes their state of mind or being. This is an example of how we are vibrationally connected. In essence: we are drawn towards each other by our focus, a kind of energetic broadcasting.

In her 2008 book, The Intention Experiment, Lynne McTaggart researched whether we can use our power of intention to create wellbeing, peace, and success. McTaggart defines intention as directed, focused thought, and has concluded from her research that thoughts are an actual, physical energy, capable of affecting and transforming life—from plants to complex human beings—when focused in a particular way.

For example, Dr Gary Schwartz of the University of Arizona worked with McTaggart to research intention and its effects on light emitted from leaves. Two groups of leaves were grown in the same biological conditions; one group was subject to the researchers’ intention for them to be luminous, and another was not. The leaves that were given the intention to be luminous were, as measured by a special camera, indeed found to be more luminous. This experiment was repeated across the globe by thousands of participants via the Internet; this time with four different groups of seeds. Participants chose which group of seeds to send intention to without revealing their choices to researchers and sent the intention for their chosen group of seeds to grow rapidly. This experiment was repeated six times. Each time, a statistically significant result showed that the group of seeds subjected to intention did indeed grow faster than the control groups.

This exciting work demonstrates people methodologically utilizing the power of their own intention for good, but also, the magnifying power of a collective in directing their intention. In her 2015 documentary, The Abundance Factor, McTaggart reported all sorts of incredible healings, including subjects going from ill health to complete wellbeing with repeated group intention. The power of positive, focused thought to heal, from reversing human disease to encouraging skin growth or healing bone structure, is phenomenal. The focused thoughts of one person or a group can permanently affect the physical structure of another human body.

Importantly, the conditions for optimal intention, as described in The Intention Experiment, involve focusing the mind and using all five senses and a focused heart state to bring awareness to the specific intention. This means imagining the person or situation being healed in every way; to see them as healed, and to hear, feel, touch, and taste that they are.

To multiply this intention, participants unite in a group, holding hands, centring the breath with this shared, focused intention. Lynne McTaggart’s 2017 book, The Power of Eight, explains how joining intention with eight people or more (eight being a vertical infinity symbol) brings significantly greater results to intention experiments. There is power in our shared intention for good. The ongoing work has expanded to now include experiments to bring peace to violent places in the world, with apparently great success to date. For example, in the American town of Fairfield, Connecticut, rates of violent and property crime were on the increase compared with the previous year. McTaggart conducted an experiment where the specific focus of intention for one week was to lower violent crime by 10 percent. Over the next six months, there was actually a 46 percent reduction in violent crime in Fairfield. More experiments are needed in order to substantiate the theory, but already the results are compelling: we can unite to share a positive intention that impacts the behavioural choices of others. If a shared focus can do this for other people, just imagine what our thought and focused attention does to influence our own reality!

It appears that intention as a focused, loving thought for good is the key to healing, so we must be aware of the meaning behind our intentions, as this is what determines the outcome. Words spoken without purposeful and meaningful thought are not effective in creating change; it is the intention behind our words that appears to carry the strongest vibration and is felt by another. We have all experienced this when someone is paying lip service—saying one thing but meaning another; it is the vibration, intent, and feeling that is felt as truth. We know when someone is not fully on board with what they are telling us.

Our subconscious mind can interfere with our best intentions, too, preventing a full coherent resonance with our intent. To have a clear intention in the conscious mind and heart is wonderful, but we must stop the subconscious mind from emitting its own limiting broadcast and having a hand in creating an unwanted reality. When we use intention to create change in our lives, it’s essential to bring the subconscious mind on board by aligning our beliefs with the intention. This disables the subconscious mind from replaying thoughts of limitation and fear while we are not deliberately engaged in manifesting positive intentions for our health, wellbeing, and prosperity.

An interesting side effect from the peace intention experiments is the so-called “mirror effect”, which is also described in the Law of Attraction as “like attracting like”. All participants who sent good intentions during the experiments reported a positive change in their own personal lives. People reported that not only did they feel increased harmony but also positive shifts and reconnections occurred in their personal relationships. Focusing their intentions on peace and harmonious relationships also increased these states in their own lives. It is also worth remembering that the act of giving to others adds meaning to our lives and increases our levels of happiness and wellbeing.

The Universal Law of Attraction

As we begin to understand ourselves as vibrational beings, sensitive to our world and having an effect upon it, we can begin to see how we attract to us the essence of what we put out. Our vibrational state of being is where we attract our experiences and is created by our beliefs, and our perception and interpretation of experiences, emotional states, and associated thoughts. We are energy beings, and our vibration attracts, like a magnet, experiences from the field that match its frequency.

If we don’t change our thoughts and vibration, we simply receive more of the same experiences. What we focus upon and pay attention to becomes the essence of our reality. If we are focusing upon illness and pain, we vibrationally tune into—and thus receive—a reality where we experience more illness and pain. If we place our attention upon abundance, we attune to a reality that includes the possibility of wealth and prosperity. If we focus upon lack, we have more experiences that feel lacking. (Many of Esther and Jerry Hicks’ teachings on the Law of Attraction can be found on their website—see the Resources section.)

It is important to be mindful about where we focus our attention, as this will be the essence of what is drawn to us. Abraham teachings channelled through Esther Hicks (Hicks & Hicks 2005) tell us that worrying does not serve us, as it is a focus on the thing we do not want, potentially drawing that towards us. When I work with clients I may refer to this, challenging them not to think of a pink elephant in a tutu dancing across a high wire. It is, of course, an impossible task: all of the detail is there in all of its glory. It is challenging in real life to actively put something out of our minds. This is why people have such a problem with positive thinking, as they are mostly trying not to think about being chronically ill, or to avoid being fearful of lack. Going over the details just perpetuates the current state of feeling, vibration, and ultimately the issue itself.

It is in our interest to focus on feeling good, vibrant, and healthy, rather than feeling sad or helpless about our poor health. If moving in the direction of vibrant health feels too much of a stretch, we can at least move towards feeling more peaceful. When working with belief, it is important to clearly state our intended alignment with “having [our healthy desired intention]”, as opposed to desiring “not to have the problem any more”.

Applying the principles of the law of attraction is difficult when, at the same time, our biological drives are working hard to protect us from repeating previous painful experiences and warning us about a poverty mindset or ill health. This leads our biology to repeat the biochemical pattern, firing neurons that result in us experiencing the same old emotions about the same old issues. We have to focus differently, and one way is to install new beliefs, which in turn changes our perception, our interpretation of events, and our emotional responses and thoughts.

This is how I came to publish this book. I aligned vibrationally with being a “successful, published author” using the advanced Healing InSight method. I uncovered and cleared the beliefs that were unconsciously blocking me from resonating with this belief (and reality), aligned with the truth of this belief fully, visualized it (resonated at length with the vibration of the new belief/reality), acted upon my new instincts and behaviour, and received it graciously from the universe with much excitement and gratitude!

The Power of Belief and Visualization

The thought manifests as the word;

The word manifests as the deed;

The deed develops into habit;

And habit hardens into character.

So watch the thought and its ways with care,

And let it spring from love

Born out of concern for all beings.

The originator of this quote is unknown, although similar sentiments have been found in the Buddhist scripture Dhammapada, a Chinese proverb, and late 19th-century Christianity. A version of it is often attributed to Gandhi. Ancient spiritual wisdom teaches us that in order to experience an enriching life, we must build our character with love, honesty, and compassion, cultivating a mind free of troublesome thought, belief, and emotion.

The original reiki principles formulated by Dr Mikao Usui, who died in 1926, were translated by Japanese Reiki Master Toshitaka Mochizuki in 2000 and teach these same sentiments:

The secret art of inviting happiness

The miraculous medicine of all diseases

Just for today, do not anger

Do not worry and be filled with gratitude

Devote yourself to your work. Be kind to people.

Every morning and evening, join your hands in prayer.

Pray these words to your heart and chant these words with your mouth.

— DR MIKAO USUI, Reiki Treatment for the Improvement of Body and Mind

Our belief is hugely powerful, especially when it is informed by an expert in authority. This is the placebo effect, which can be seen, for example, when a group of patients participate in a study, unknowingly acting as the control group. They may be told they are receiving a treatment, but actually receive a placebo (a non-treatment; for example, a sugar pill). Participants in this group tend to experience improvements because they believed that they would, after having been told that the drug/surgery/intervention would help, even though in reality it was a fake intervention.

The placebo effect is a version of a self-fulfilling prophecy, and there are countless studies that document its efficacy. One such study by Mosely and his team in 1996 that involved two groups of people who underwent knee surgery, cites this effect. All ten participants in this trial recovered from their osteoarthritic symptoms after knee surgery. All were prepared for the surgery, had the anaesthesia, and the surgery incision; however, half of the people (the control group) were given no actual surgery to the knee. After waking, they were all told that the surgery had gone very well.

The people in the control group subsequently experienced just as much relief from the fake surgery as did those who had the actual surgery. The gains in health came from the belief that the surgery was a complete success. Astounded by these results, Mosely and his team repeated the study with 180 people in 2002. It again demonstrated the same gains in the osteoarthritic knee condition, regardless of whether the operation they had was real or fake, with recovery gains still documented two years later.

The nocebo effect is the opposite—a negative belief that produces a negative result. Six years on from the first study, subjects were told that they had been part of an experiment. The arthritic knee condition returned in all but one of the subjects, who didn’t believe that it was true, believing instead that their identity must have been mixed up with someone else. When a patient is given six months to live by an oncologist, they may often live up to this expectation. In my time, I have had to unpick many a belief for my clients after the authoritative diagnosis given by an “expert” doctor.

I had a young client called Grace, 20 years of age and full of potential. She had suffered with anxiety and depression since her childhood and was told at 14 by her psychiatrist that she would have “generalized anxiety disorder” and depression for the rest of her life, which she would need to take medication for. Grace had seen several counsellors before she came to see me, declaring me her last hope.

A highly sensitive young woman, she was open to energy psychology and healing methods. She worked through anxiety-inducing events from her past and addressed many unhelpful and limiting beliefs, including the specific belief taught by the psychiatrist that she would have this diagnosis for life and would always need medication. By the end of her sessions, Grace was transformed. Her beauty radiates, and she no longer considers herself a victim. She is off all medication and mostly free from anxiety feelings. When it does show up, she can cope; she addresses her feelings and thoughts and the experience is short lived, no longer impeding her life.

Teachers have a lot of power in influencing how children perceive themselves and their capabilities. If, as a child, our teacher believes in us, we also believe in ourselves and will often do well. If a teacher tells us we’re a waste of time, we can often internalize this belief, wasting our time and, as a result, not doing so well. We may find ourselves living out what our authority figures have told us is true. When we are hurt, it imprints.

Those recovering from ill health and “incurable” disease must abandon the belief that they are to live with disease until they die. Many reports, studies, and books have been written about the total recovery of people from serious disease. My lupus specialist called my recovery a “spontaneous remission”. Believe me, there was nothing spontaneous about it! It would be wonderful if doctors could give temporary diagnoses. Perhaps then, people may choose to opt in for self-healing and recovery.

Remission is actually a common occurrence. I have read reports of cancerous tumours disappearing within a matter of weeks or months after a significant healing, change of perspective, and use of visualization. In 1993, researchers from the Institute of Noetic Science found over 3,000 cases of medical reports of spontaneous remission from cancer in the medical literature (O’Regan et al. 1993). David Seidler, the actor who won an Oscar for best original screenplay for The King’s Speech, reported a spontaneous remission through visualizing his bladder cancer away. He worked on his mental state, actively practising visualizing during the two weeks prior to having the surgery that was supposed to remove it. When David had the operation, there was no sign of the tumour! (Edition CNN 2011)

Visualization, as a method of guided, focused meditation, is a powerful tool for changing our reality. The Healing InSight method uses a type of visualization at the end of each belief realignment process to help you to create your new reality. If we look at observations from experts in the field, we can appreciate that the benefits of visualization make it worth taking time to practise.

In his 2008 book How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body, former pharmaceutical scientist Dr David R Hamilton cites many cases where people have healed health conditions (including cancer and autoimmune disease) by visualizing themselves well. One technique, the “mind movie”, envisions one’s future in an imaginary videography process. It was conceived by Australians Natalie and Glen Ledwell and became a huge success—exactly in line with the visions they had created for the release of the method. Leading mind-body researcher Dr. Joe Dispenza uses this process in his workshops.

It helps to be specific about one’s goals. Settling into an observing rather than analytical place also helps, as the subconscious mind is more suggestible and open. My experience of using visualization with clients also tells me that visualizing using your own imagination is preferable and more effective than following suggestions from others. In allowing our unconscious wisdom to surface, our minds will often show a vision that is helpful and meaningful to us.

I worked with one lady who was addressing the healing of a longstanding cancer naturally who, in a meditation, visualized her white blood cells as wolves who would mop up the cancer. She returned one week later to tell me that the wolves were full of apathy, which represented her feelings. In visualization, she was able to commune with the wolves, understand their plight, and allow her vision to give insight into her white blood cells. Without forcing things, but observing the image, she was able to tune into the damaged white cells that had been subject to chemotherapy and to see them renewing. As she acknowledged the tiredness of her immune system, new sprightly wolves appeared in her mind’s eye, so she agreed with the old wolf that he could step down and allow the new, more dynamic wolves to take over the search and destruction of the cancer cells in her body.

It can be difficult to imagine something that is inconceivable to us, so in order to use visualization effectively, we have to bring our whole self into the experience. Our spiritual nature, the part of us that knows that all is possible, can offer its guidance when we intend to step into a better or healthier future. Observing our intuition as part of the visualization by accessing the heart connection in a meditative state allows all aspects of the whole to be present. This is not searching outside of ourselves but observing what comes to mind by tuning into the body with respect to the issue.

Meditation is a skill that can be learnt—a little like flexing a muscle, but with more benefits to the body, mind, and spirit than one could dream of. A good meditation is like plugging into the grid, being focused outside time and space. It is both a journey and a destination that can leave you with a sense of connection, peace, and wellbeing for the rest of the day. See the Healing InSight website for my guide to meditation.

The joy of the Healing InSight method is that standing in the Wuji pose, the “empty” standing posture in qigong practice, also plugs you into this grid, so during the visualization stage we can more easily perceive the new belief’s resonance in the body and its vibrational possibilities.

Frequently, without trying to create one, a vision representing the new vibration comes to mind, reflecting the shift in consciousness that has occurred. Your job is to allow and be curious about the vision, perhaps expanding it, but not attempting to manipulate it for the best outcome. Your higher self will work with you, offering you visions that mean something to you. However abstract they may be to others, they often represent the new you, together with your new possibilities. This makes it easy to embody the visualization and feel it in every cell and pore of your body, creating a huge broadcast to the universe that this is the reality you are choosing to align with and receive!

The Healing InSight method is unique in that it clears other layers of beliefs that vibrationally oppose your desired belief or goal. This makes visualization a lot easier, removing the doubts that can be found when we attempt to draw an energy towards us that is different to our subconscious programming.

The manifestation process in the method brings the head, heart, and gut into alignment with the belief, so that all aspects of the body are congruent. This enables a coherent visualization and therefore, the opportunity to manifest this new broadcast more easily. Visualizing something outside a congruent field is difficult and lacks coherence. Align first and then use visualization to focus and amplify the newly aligned belief.

A positive vibration is much stronger than a mixed one. Be mindful in your everyday life not to fall into imagining bad things that could happen; steer your thoughts away before they gain momentum. You may use the phrase “stop” or “cancel that” to help you escape the train of thought. Find your positive shoes again, and be your own therapist or your own best friend. Cheerlead and envision yourself all the way to your heart’s desires!

Practical steps that are needed are:

1. A body-mind-heart connection. Breathe into your body, settle, and then focus on your heart and centre.
2. A quiet, focused mind by practising meditation.
3. A connection to the awareness of All That Is. Notice the space around, below, and above you. Feel your feet connected and grounded to the floor. (Some may say that we do not need this higher connection in order to visualize. I say “try it and see”.)
4. With closed eyes, letting your awareness “sit” in the back of your brain, observe through all of your felt senses and third-eye perceptions the pictures, visions, feelings, sounds, smells, even tastes of what you are choosing to create. Be creative and allow your heart’s desire to unfold in your imagination.
5. Continue in this state of positive emotions for at least a minute. Abraham (as channelled by Esther Hicks) says that 68 seconds of pure thought can build a momentum of energy strong enough to change your point of attraction.

Making a vision board (collecting images and written words) to focus your attention on what it is that you want to create is a worthwhile activity. Take the time to visualize what you want, especially as you fall asleep and move into alpha and possibly theta brainwaves; this an effective way to turn your dreams into destiny.

Some of us struggle to see what we want in our mind’s eye. If this is the case, be guided by your other senses—you may be kinaesthetic and feel the new vibration, or you may hear new words and statements in your head. All methods of communication with your inner self are fine. I would suggest taking the time to use each of your senses as there may be information there for you. The more you open to it, the more your inner-tuition grows!