Lisa’s Story:
For most of my life, I have been studying and teaching various spiritual practices, but never have I found as much healing and growth than from simply listening to the voice of Love inside my heart. Since I found a Love practice, everything from my behavior to my relationships changed and my ability to deal with challenges and difficult people dramatically shifted.
I
now find myself a deeply compassionate and accepting person not only
for others but of myself. My life has turned around because more
and more I allow myself and everyone else to be as they are; to honor
what is true in any given moment and refrain from judging anything or
anyone. I do not profess to be perfect at this, but I do know I have
the power to choose and, when I forget, I gently accept that and try,
try again.
Through
my meditations over the years, I was summoned by this voice of Love. At
first I deemed it God or the Spirit, but I came to call it Love because, well,
that’s what the Greater Spirit is after all. Just Love.
When I was
thirty, I became a psychotherapist. I was trained in the Adlerian method of
psychology, which generally holds a philosophy opposite of Freud. Adlerian
theory purports that our beliefs and perceptions about events shape our experience
and what we attract in life. By changing “mistaken beliefs,” we
can actually change our feelings and our lives.
About the
same time, I faced a serious health crisis of a rare form of arthritis. I
encountered daily physical pain and eventually I could hardly walk or stand
for long periods. I had been practicing yoga and had to stop so I took
an intensive eight-week course in Mindfulness Meditation. Mindfulness
is based in Buddhist philosophy where one becomes completely aware and conscious
of each moment and experience without judgment. I began to meditate daily
because I could not do much of anything else and the practice drastically changed
my life.
Eventually,
I began to incorporate my meditative practice with my psychology practice and
started becoming very aware of the inner voices that drove me to stress, anxiety
and anger. It was then that my meditations began to grow into hearing
this voice of Love and I wrote down everything I heard. Over time, I
developed a workbook, What would Love Say? which I self publish.
About
four years ago, I started writing a spiritual novel, God
for President (which is being published June 2008 by Conari
Press!) I was angry and wanted to save America from the Religious Right.
I wanted to show people the way! At first my words were
angry and full of preaching. But, as I remembered to listen to
Love and get my ego out of the way, the whole essence of the writings
changed and Love proceeded to show me the way! The way that does
not preach, but holds and accepts all that is. It was an amazing
process and a year I will never forget.
