SimplyNumbers

Working with new beginnings (part 2)

By now, you’ve probably been focusing on the resolutions you made for the new year. You may have even backtracked, but it’s okay. You simply need to be willing to keep working at it. You might also look at your resolutions as intentions. Setting an intention to make a positive change can feel dramatically different than making a resolution. But, it’s really about reminding yourself about the life you wish to live.

In order to more fully support yourself and your desired changes, you may wish to hold a ceremony which others can also take part in. The main purpose of this ceremony is to help you release the harmful or unhealthy situations, habits or relationships from your life. You could gather with some close friends and discuss the things you’re willing to let go of. Together, you can guide and support one another throughout the rest of the year, and into the future. Having a supportive group of people behind you can help you to feel connected and honored. This can then help you to have a better chance of following through and sticking to your desired changes and resolutions.

To add a sense of sacredness and specialness to your ceremony you can light candles and have a roaring fire. According to many traditions, fire represents purification and cleansing. With the fireplace, in addition to talking about your issues, you can write them down and safely burn them in the fire. When you have finished, you can say a few words of thanks to the fire, either silently or aloud. Then, you may choose to sit in silent contemplation and allow the fire to burn down.

Placing your issues into the fire represents a deep willingness on your part to do what’s necessary to let go. If letting go of a particular issue feels like a big step, and it might be, then releasing it can be powerfully freeing and healing. Being willing to let go means that you’ll consciously live your life in a way that supports your desired changes. For instance, you might decide to let go of unhealthy eating habits, and this might involve clearing out your cupboards and swapping food with a friend, or donating the foods that no longer support you.

Taking time out to prepare before your ceremony will allow you to more clearly see the emotional issues in your life with the most charge. Don't be afraid to work with these. Have compassion for yourself, and ask for support as you bring your issues to the fire. Know that the fire can clear away and transform your issues. You only need to have an open heart and be willing to let go.

Working with the fire practice can help you to explore your own life and make room for new opportunities and new learning. Your process can be dynamic, transformational and exhilarating. Although you may be learning a lot about yourself, it's not necessarily like taking a class, but about simply finding ways to allow your life to have specialness, deeper meaning and importance, which often comes through listening to your heart.

Utilizing the fire, you can open to your intuition and the true call of your heart. Have you been putting the needs of your heart aside? Now is the time to listen and act. You may find that at the end of the ceremony, you’ve come up with a completely new resolution.

Throughout the year you can find time to regularly light a candle to support the changes you wish to make within your life. Perhaps, You may wish to set aside a special time each day to sit in silence before the candle. You can use this quiet time to reflect and meditate. It can be a chance to deepen your connection to your heart. You can also journal the thoughts and ideas that come to you in silence.

Working with new beginnings (part 1)

As January is the start of a new year, it's an excellent time for new beginnings. What project have you imagined starting, but have held off for one reason or another? Numerologically, now is the time to initiate your projects, especially as they relate to the needs of your heart.

If you're reading this in January, you may also feel compelled to review your life before moving on, or make major life changes. You may feel introspective in light of any intentions or resolutions that you've made. Perhaps, you simply have a few changes that you would like to integrate into your life now.

Reviewing your life is a powerful and healing process to undertake and you may wish to look to your Core Numbers to aid you in this process. They can help you to see where you've been fully listening to your heart, and where you might want to bring focus and energy to. Perhaps, you're not letting the world see where you shine? Perhaps, you can help others to shine! Find a way to work with the areas of your life that you may have neglected in the past, and you can begin to heal your heart. Your life will then begin to unfold in new and exciting ways.

It can also be powerful to work with your dreams, especially when you are pondering changes in your life. 2012 is a great time to tap into your dreams, as the Numerological theme for the year involves understanding the mystery of our lives. Working with dreams really can help you to learn about, and work with, the symbolism and imagery bubbling up from deep within your own heart and psyche.

However, if you haven’t worked with dreams before then the Tarot is a simple, fun and powerful tool to begin working with symbols and images. Utilizing the card that is related to any of your Core Numbers, especially your Life Path, can help you to learn more about your own personal story. The symbolism on each card is stirring, unique and powerful. In the next post, I'll post the cards and the Life Path they correlate to.

As you work with your Life Path Tarot card, the images on the card may reflect ideas you have about changes that you'd like to make, or even parts of dreams that you've been having. Spend enough with the card to learn how it fits into your life. Have fun with it. Draw it. Dance it. Act it out. Do whatever you need to do to express how the card makes you feel. See where the energy, and theme, of the card is in your life.

Find ways to work with what you've learned by working with your Tarot card, Life Path and other numbers to help guide you in any new beginnings that you've been planning. Don't be afraid to ask for help, or even lend a hand to others who are starting their own new beginnings.

Numerology and Inner Healing

The quest for healing can be about seeking out ways to bring about ways to live a simple, healthy, uncomplicated, and comfortable life. However, to truly heal we often must become more aware of ourselves, our actions, and the way in which we lead our lives. Utilizing spiritual tools, like Numerology, we can become more self-aware and begin our own personal healing.

However, there may be roadblocks in your path. You may have to do a lot of examining of your thoughts and your life. How often do we hear negative phrases, or stories, about how bad life is? After a while this information takes on more and more power in your life. Many of us have living and healing that we want to accomplish. If you want to heal, then it’s time take action. Roll up your sleeves and begin the work that you know you want to do, rather than giving a greater percentage of your power to the negativity in life.

True healing can only come from within you. Of course, we need to recognize that important health information can come from our inner voice, yet it can also come from the world around us, or it may come from the loving advice of friends and family. When you come to understand that changes need to take place, you will realize that healing involves doing. Our healing is about attending to our selves and our inner needs. But again, it's not about ignoring the world, it's recognizing that we need to address our own issues if we truly want to effectively be able to be of service to others or the world at large.

Numerology can help you to recognize your strengths and your weaknesses. Unless we embrace ourselves in total, we won't be able to claim our full power and step up to our true potential. Indeed, working with our own Shadow can be one of the most healing things that we'll ever do.

Next, we'll discuss how to work with your Soul Number to find ways to nurture and listen to your inner voice. After all, pushing aside your inner wishes, hopes and dreams can be a source of conflict, stress, and tension, which can prevent you reaching your goals and accomplishing the healing you deserve in your life.

Inspirational People ~ Dr. Dorothea Hover-Kramer

Dr. Dorothea is the author of several books about energy therapies including Healing Touch: a guidebook for practitioners. See her excelent article about staying positive and motivated when the seasonal changes get you down. 

In her article, she mentions some great ideas:

• Track every negative thought and replace it immediately with a positive opposite.
• Treat any negative thought as quickly as possible with a gentle rub to the heart center (or any other place on the body that needs a caring touch) and the reminder phrase, “Even though I get discouraged with …cold wind…rain…a gray day, I deeply and completely love and accept myself and choose to kindle my inner lights and energies.”
• Surround yourself with reminders of your intention to live fully in the season, to enjoy the most out of what is given in the way of external weather.

Healing Family Issues With Ancestral Healing

Within our bodies, hearts and souls we may carry some of the unfinished issues from our ancestors. Your ancestors can be anyone in your family tree. You may be struggling unconsciously with unresolved issues from your parents lives, their parents, or others who came before them. You may also be struggling with larger issues related to the entire family. The regrets, tragedies, pain, and grief that they were unable to deal with may have been unintentionally passed down to you. Ancestral healing work involves finding ways to let go, and look for ways to heal, from these issues.

Psychologically speaking, you may be dealing with issues related to the Shadow, which can relate to familial issues that are forgotten, never addressed or kept hidden. Unfortunately, within many families particular patterns of abuse, such as anger, alcoholism, or deceit, may be passed down from generation to generation. However, the damage that these patterns create can be healed.

Of course, much of what has passed down to you can be valuable and desirable. Your parents, and other elders, may have instilled great qualities within you. It’s important to recognize this, and to have compassion for yourself and your family. Ancestral healing work is not about blaming, pointing fingers or stepping away from responsibility. It is about finding ways to release the hold limiting life patterns, passed down to you, may have on your life.

Simply consider some of the phrases that may have been repeated in your childhood, such as “Money doesn’t grow on trees”, “It’s dangerous out there”, “You’re eating us out of house and home”, “You’ve got to face reality” or “You’re not good enough.” You also may have your own particular phrases that left a sting, and that you still remember.

Numerologically, you can begin to address your familial issues by looking at your Core Numbers, but also the Family Name number. Your Family Name number can help to illustrate the personal patterns, general emotions, attitudes, moods, and personal characteristics that you share with your family. Being aware and conscious of your emotions and how you connect with and relate to your family can help you to mature and grow as an individual. Knowing how you act and feel is important, as is finding a way to develop compassion, acceptance, and tolerance for your parents, yourself and other members of your family.

In general, your Family Name number can be used to show how you deal with and relate to challenging situations around money, work and relationships. It also describes the drives and tasks that you, as a member of a particular family, will feel compelled to achieve in this lifetime. This is especially true if you have been given the first name of a parent or grandparent. It often falls to children to accomplish those dreams that a parent didn't or couldn't resolve. This number can help you to be more aware of the ways in which external family influences can shape our lives and drive us to succeed in our life challenges.

You may need to seek out a skilled therapist, and/or support group, to begin to address these issues within your life. They can give you the necessary support and guidance to believe in yourself, and the recognition that you can indeed heal and make new choices within your life. They will help you to build a support network for yourself, and you can then look to other tools, therapies and techniques, such as those mentioned here, to help you along your path.

You might also look to other modalities, such as Shamanism, to help process and release your unfinished familiar issues. From a shamanic perspective, the patterns, behaviors and traits that are common within the family can be seen as imprints. A shamanic practitioner could work with you to release these imprints and help you reconnect with parts of yourself that seem missing or lost.

To catch a better glimpse of your particular family patterns, you might look to see:

• Health issues occurring at a certain age in members of your family.
• Patterns of drug abuse, alcoholism or addiction within the family.
• Emotional patterns, such as codependency, within the family.
• Limiting beliefs within the family.
• Patterns of enablement within the family.
• Destructive issues that are never addressed or talked about within the family.

Those of us with these, or other debilitating patterns, may need to find a way to address healing them in order to more deeply enable personal healing. Our families help to shape us, and unless you are willing to challenge those patterns and beliefs that are self limiting, you'll hold them inside. It's up to you and me, to discover a way to release them, heal and begin to more deeply believe in ourselves.

In order to begin now to address your ancestral healing needs you might be to begin to look at whatever feels out of balance in your life. You can then bring the material that arises to your therapist, doctor or support group.

I can work with you by discussing other tools and techniques which may help you in your journey. Together, we can discuss your Family Name number and address how it might impact your life. We can also work with your Numerology chart to take better advantage of the challenges and opportunities that you desire to pursue, but perhaps felt unable to, until now.

Finding Inner Healing with Numerology

The quest for healing can be about seeking out ways to bring about ways to live a simple, healthy, uncomplicated, and comfortable life. However, to truly heal we often must become more aware of ourselves, our actions, and the way in which we lead our lives. Utilizing spiritual tools, such as Numerology, we can become more self-aware and begin our own personal healing.

However, there may be roadblocks in your path. You may have to do a lot of examining of your thoughts, feelings and the way in which you live your life. How often do we hear negative phrases, or stories, about how bad life is? After a while this information takes on more and more power in your life. Many of us have living and healing that we want to accomplish. If you want to heal, then it’s time take action. It's time to roll up your sleeves and begin the work that you know you want to do, rather than giving a greater percentage of your power to the negativity in life.

Deep and lasting healing comes from leading a life that matters, and listening to the voice within. Important health information can come from our inner voice, the world around us, or it may come from the loving advice of friends and family. When you come to understand that changes need to take place, you will realize that healing involves doing. Our healing is about attending to our selves, and our "needs."

You may have been denying your needs for some time. Numerologically, your inner desire (represented by your Soul Number) may be unfulfilled. In any pursuit of greater health, it is important to find ways to nurture and listen to your inner voice. Pushing aside your inner wishes, hopes and dreams can be a source of conflict, stress, and tension.

Also, keeping track of your important Numerological rhythms can be very important. Your rhythms can help you to be aware of the energies that are available to you as you move through your life (Personal Year). They can give you an overall perspective of your life, and your role in it. Being aware can help you to more readily accept change, and avoid or better handle tension/stress causing events.

Today many well-respected medical professionals feel that stress is a major cause of illness. Author and physician, Dr. Andrew Weil, says, "I am convinced that stress is the primary cause or aggravating cause of the majority of illness."

Would it not be prudent to find ways to alleviate stress in our lives? What works for you? For many people, music can offer great healing benefits. Music can be one part of the puzzle in your journey toward leading a healthier life.

Author, Don Campbell (Mozart Effect) states that "by listening to music with longer, slower sounds, one can usually deepen and slow the breath, allowing the mind to calm down...As with breathing rates, a lower heartbeat creates less physical tension and stress, calms the mind, and helps the body heal itself. Music is a natural peacemaker."

According to proponents of Vibrational healing, pollutants, toxins or allergens that enter our body, can alter the normal vibrational patterns of the body. When we have an unbalanced emotional or mental attitude, our normal vibrational patterns are altered as well. When we are unbalanced, sickness or pain can result. When this happens, the body needs help restore itself to its original vibration. This is where the use of vibrational/sound therapy comes in.

According to Vibrational therapy, when you focus sound vibrations to a problem area, balance to that area can be temporarily restored. When there is balance, the body is more effective in eliminating toxins.

Pythagoras, founder of the study of Numerology, is said to have revealed the musical and numerical nature of our universe. The Pythagoreans even went so far as to develop something called "musical medicine," which were songs accompanied by an ancient Grecian instrument known as the lyre.

The lyre was considered to be the mystical symbol representing the human constitution. The body of the lyre represented our physical form. The strings represented our nerves or nervous system. The musician himself represented the spirit. The Pythagoreans were known for their aptitude to cure many physical and spiritual afflictions through the use of this music.

Music has been used for healing for thousands of years in many cultures, including the early teachings of the Greeks, Chinese, East Indians, Tibetans, Egyptians, American Indians, Mayas, and the Aztecs. Music seems so incorporated in Chinese medicine that in their writing, Music and Happiness share the same character. Also, part of the Chinese character for Medicine is the same as the character for Music.

Continuing research on incorporating music into our lives is being done today. There are many avenues that are available for learning about healing through sound. Tuning forks and Vibrational Healing are two of the most popular. However, Finding a quiet place, and just listening to music that you enjoy can help you to learn about yourself, and alleviate overall stress and begin the job of addressing certain issues that you may have.

As you listen to your music, you may wish to close your eyes and imagine a particular color swirling around your body. There are many authors who can expound on the subject of color healing. The basic application of color and music in your life can be to develop desired personal traits/qualities in yourself. By understanding the meaning of the numbers in your personality you can begin to apply sound, color, and music as a personal growth tool in your life.

I think that finding yourself a good set of tuning forks, or music bowl can help you to learn more about attuning to the particular music notes. The chart below provides a basic correlation of colors and notes to numbers. Many different systems of healing relate these same colors and notes to the Chakras.

#	Note/Chord	Color	Helps with:
1	C	Red	Physical strength, Emotions, Energy
2	D	Orange	Rigidity, Stress, Self Confidence, Fear
3	E	Yellow	Nervous System, Emotions, Digestion
4	F	Green	General Healing, Heart
5	G	Blue	Cleansing (for the skin), Calming
6	A	Indigo	Clearing (for ears, eyes, nasal passages), Motivation
7	B	Violet	Cramps, Kidney problems, Spiritual growth, Dedication
8	High C	Rose	Opening up, Sharing
9	Middle C/D	Gold	Understanding, Movement, Acceptance

An interesting side note is the prominence of 7 and 12 in music and time. There are seven whole notes in the octave and 12 half steps in the octave. We also see the prominence of these same numbers in our time divisions - 12 hours each of day and night, 7 days in a week, 12 months in the year.

Another tool that you can use in your quest for better health is breathwork. Many disciplines can work well when you begin to understand the power of your mind. Breathwork is one of these disciplines. It is about reconnecting and integrating all aspects of ourselves. This process, while difficult at times, can be tremendously healing. This involves dealing with unresolved feelings, issues and events (recent, younger/childhood events, etc.) which we have kept buried and which can have significant impact on our overall health. If you wish to heal, or develop certain qualities, then perhaps breathwork can be your bridge to get there.

Element	Numbers involved	Helps with:
Earth	4	Groundedness, Stability, Strong Foundations
Air	7,9	Intellect, Judgement, Thought, Decision
Fire	1,3,8	Creative abilities, Potential, Power
Water	2,5,6	Intuition, Emotion, Inner Wisdom, Understanding
Ether	1,5	Insight, Understanding, Expansion

Pursuing the process of healing and transformation using these techniques can be an enormously rewarding process. However, it must be said that it can be difficult, rewarding, frustrating, and invigorating at different times in your search.

Also, know that your mind's ability to trigger the body's ability to heal is so common that doctors factor it (placebo effect) into every medical experiment. Healing then must be a matter of stimulating whatever natural processes that reside within yourself.

There are many ways to tap into healing in your life. Find out what 'works' for you. Any system that works for me, may not work for you, or work for you in the way that it does for me. Spirit is important in any kind of healing. Determination, grit, persistence, willpower, stamina, inspiration and drive all play a vital role.

This ability to heal ourselves lies within each of us. It is just a matter of learning to tap into this incredible resource, to make the Mind/Body connection, to reach within ourselves and discover how much power we have over our bodies and ourselves. This is what will ultimately lead us all to a higher quality of life, true health, and wellness.

TED Talk - Simon Lewis: Don't take consciousness for granted

Who Are You?

Occasionally, I will hear from someone with an interest in Numerology, but thinks that an intuitive reading they received doesn't fully represent them. This may be for a variety of reasons. Some of your reasons may seem valid, but whether you’re reading for yourself or having someone else read for you, you first have to be willing to be vulnerable. Readings may bring insights that are not ego enhancing.

Some of the information that a reading can bring up may be difficult or painful. Accepting the reading for what it is, is one of the first hurdles to get over. But, accepting the reading doesn’t mean that you’re a bad person. It does mean that you’re willing to constructively work with the information that resonates or strikes a chord for you.

Something in the reading might stand out, good or bad, that you keep coming back to. When something stands out, it’s healthy to be curious and wonder why, rather than dismissing it. You might be upset that the reading seems to highlight abilities, but you don’t feel you possess them. If you don’t feel capable or interested in a certain talent or ability, then what do you feel capable of?

Numerology, provides insights in your inner most talents and abilities. Connecting with your own talents is a way to connect with your heart. It’s really about reflecting on what DOES matter to you. What is your heart calling for you to do? What does your heart want to say and express to the world?

It might be of some benefit to you to spend some in reflection, especially if you’re having trouble connecting to the deeper message. Some questions that might help your reflection are:

• How do you feel about the reading?
• Do you feel like the reading expresses the needs of your heart?
• Why do you feel this way?
• Do you feel limited by your reading in any way?
• How does the reading reflect the real you?

Take your time in answering the questions. You may want to come back to them over a period of time. As you reflect on them you may begin to get glimpses of the person within that the reading is talking about. You can be that person, or you can strive for something even better!

Try to find a way to use your insights to develop a deeper connection with your heart.

ScienceNews: The Impact of Gossip

Psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett of Northeastern University in Boston recently undertook a study that illustrates that disapproving gossip quickly gets associated with a matching face, but that this connection operates outside our everyday conscious awareness.

“Encountering negative gossip about someone makes it easier to register that person’s face than neutral or positive gossip does.” ~ Lisa Feldman Barrett.

TV Question: How do I escape my troubles?

I was watching the season finale of “Private Practice” and I was struck by a question that Addison asked her doctor on the show. She asked, “When is my life going to change?” Her doctor says, “When you make it happen.” I believe that this answer really doesn't fully answer the question. And, I think it only focuses on the desirable parts of our lives. On the show quite a lot is happening in Addison's life. She has recently ended a relationship, wants a baby, her best friend is moving away and the office is under investigation. For me, the question sounds like "When is my life going to get better?" or "How can I escape and get to the good stuff?"

There are later scenes where she introduces herself to a new man and attempts to leave for a trip to Fiji with him, at least partly to escape all of the trouble and trauma happening at the office. Then while at the airport she realizes that what she is doing might be a mistake, and she turns back to confront her problems.

Recently, I’ve been rereading “When Things Fall Apart” by Pema Chodron. I think it addresses some of the issues that this show tries to address. I first read the book in December of 2001. The practices in the book helped me to look at pain, change and trauma in new ways. At the time, I understood the importance of having a personal practice that incorporated regular meditation, but this book really helped to solidify why it’s so vital. The book encourages you to look within yourself at your own mindfulness. In the book, Pema writes that “the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.”

Pema really encourages us to find a way to accept our fear, rather than hiding from it.  She elaborates by saying, “When things are shaky and nothing is working, we might realize that we are on the verge of something. We might realize that this is a very vulnerable and tender place, and that tenderness can go either way. We can shut down and feel resentful or we can touch in on that throbbing quality. There is definitely something tender and throbbing about groundlessness.”

Ultimately, It’s a book about accepting life as it is, and not trying to escape or discover the perfect solution. By letting go of the need for control, we can free ourselves to face our difficulties and fears. In other words, it’s about living life in the moment and finding the space to address your doubts and embracing life at the same time. Pema writes, “Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the trust is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. They they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for misery, for joy.”

Like Addison, you can find ways to lean into your life. Rather than trying to fly off with a new friend, which was extremely enticing for Addison, she understood that she needed to face her life. We see the recognition on her face as people, some of whom she knows, zoom by her to new potential. Her accepting the problems, especially those at the office, requires some big changes, but she accepts that. Of course, her work and yours is not magic.

Living your life mindfully and with compassion requires real dedication and honesty on your part. Once you recognize that you don't have to escape, the payoff comes in not feeling exhausted from continuously trying to flee from your doubt and worry, but instead honoring them.