November 2023 - Deborah King

Worried about the Flu?

Stress can make you more vulnerable.

Tips to keep your immune system hopping!

We are officially entering flu season. And without fail, each season introduces a new reason to panic (such as the recent surge in child pneumonia in China). And while we certainly hope there isn’t going to be another global pandemic, one fact remains inevitable: illness will spread this season.

But there are a few things that you can do to get through this flu season with your health intact.

The number one best preventative measure against the flu is Vitamin D, also called the sunshine vitamin. It protects you from colds and flu and works to boost your immune system. Good quality vitamin D is easily available. I take approximately 5,000 IU of Vitamin D3 a day during the cold and flu season (check with your health care practitioner to see what level is appropriate for you). Our bodies produce vitamin D when we are exposed to the sun, so getting out in the sun every day—always a great prescription—also helps. And some foods, like salmon and sardines, naturally contain vitamin D. Maintaining healthy levels of Vitamin D in your body can also protect against cancer!

Another important factor in maintaining your health and keeping your immune system in fighting mode against infection is to get enough sleep. Go to bed in a totally dark room to ensure melatonin production. Melatonin not only helps you sleep better, but is also a powerful antioxidant—more protection against the flu.

And finally, try to stay emotionally balanced. If you are living in fear of getting the flu or worrying excessively about your health (or anything else), the stress leaves you more vulnerable to infection. Do whatever works best for you to maintain balance—exercise, meditate, journal, get out in nature, do creative projects, and find the inner joy and happiness that will sustain you through the winter months ahead.

Perpetual Thanksgiving

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” –Marcel Proust

It has been a tough few years. You have most likely been affected, to a greater or lesser degree, by powerful forces, including a pandemic, wars, and economic uncertainty sweeping the globe. However difficult this time has been for you, is exactly why it’s so important to reflect on all you still have to be grateful for.

And while we gather for Thanksgiving feasts, it’s important to go beyond the dinner, and go back to the true meaning of Thanksgiving . . . and give thanks.

Gratitude is more than a quick thumbs up for the pumpkin pie; true gratitude is a path to the divine. Henry Ward Beecher, the 19th century clergyman and social reformer who always focused on Christ’s love, said: “The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.”

The ancient root of the word gratitude, gwere, means “to be in contact with the Divine.” Gratitude is a way to unleash a flow of positive energy in and out of your heart, and to open to the love of the universe that is available to fill you. Gratitude can transform your mood, shift you into your Higher Self, and connect you to Spirit.

So what do you have to be grateful for amidst the fears and worries of all that is going on in the world?

Start with your health. It may not be perfect, but you’re alive and breathing. Thank you, thank you for the chance to still be here, to appreciate the stark beauty of a winter sunset, the smile of a happy child, the ability to give praise.

Maybe you’re grateful for having a week or a month or, thank God, a year of sobriety under your belt. Being thankful for one day at a time is a good practice for everyone.

You may have loving pets that provide you true companionship. Their unconditional love (in the case of dogs) and noble tolerance (cats) of your perceived flaws are certainly worthy of thanks (and treats). Being grateful for their safe and non-judgmental love opens your heart effortlessly.

Gratitude is how you make your heart sing. When you are occupied with remembering those who have helped you along the way during this past year, your heart is happy. It’s interesting to note that you can’t be feeling grateful and unhappy at the same time. And as Piglet long ago noticed (thanks to A.A. Milne), “…even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”

I recently reconnected with an old friend and spent an hour doing something utterly frivolous: singing! Seriously, just the two us, singing to each other over Zoom, doing hilarious, impromptu duets, and laughing at our mistakes and off-key moments. It is easier than ever to connect with close friends, even if they are a great distance away. So, let’s all be grateful for Zoom!

Like everything else, there is a spectrum of gratitude, ranging from being thankful the sun is shining to down-on-your-knees, head-bowed gratefulness when your life or that of a loved one is spared. It includes your attempts to be grateful for those who have made your life more difficult; that challenge can humble your ego and give you the opportunity to raise your own vibration.

When you are filled with gratitude, you are connected to everyone and everything in the web of love that sustains the universe. Giving thanks for all that you yourself are, for the people, plants, and animals in your environment, and around the world, brings you into the present moment and into the presence of spirit. In the words of Shakespeare, “O Lord that lends me life, lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.”

Above all, dear student, my heart is full of gratitude for you, for generously sharing your spiritual journey with me. We are one in Spirit, and I am grateful for your companionship and support as, together, we walk toward home.

7 Reasons to Embrace Gratitude

Thanksgiving is, quite literally, a holiday of giving thanks, so most people have some tradition of gratitude. Whether it is making a list of the things you’ve been grateful for this year, or sitting down at the family table piled with turkey and all the fixin’s with each person expressing thanks for one thing in their life, you probably consider gratitude as important a part of the Thanksgiving festivities as the turkey and pumpkin pie. But what about practicing gratitude the rest of the year?

Gratitude Is Not Just for Thanksgiving

Study after study has shown that gratitude is good for your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health, so the more often you do it, the better you’ll feel! Gratitude has been shown to have numerous benefits, from increased life satisfaction and happiness to more compassion to better rest. And in energy healing, gratitude goes a long way toward keeping your chakras clear and balanced.

The best way to practice gratitude is to add it to your spiritual routine. Just as you set time aside each day for meditation, set time aside each day for a gratitude session. Journaling right before bed about what you are thankful for is ideal, but any time of the day will work, and if you would prefer to speak your list, that’s fine, too. The most important thing is to keep it up. Here’s why:

Gratitude can help you through tough times

Listing what you are grateful for seems like a small thing, but it carries so much weight. It’s so easy to forget how lucky you are, how much there is to appreciate even when things are rough. Think about how often someone who goes through a trauma comes out the other side with a new zest for life—this is the power of gratitude in action. When you are aware of and thankful for the small joys of being a body on this planet as well as a soul born out of light, you create a reserve of happiness that boosts you through tough times.

Gratitude is a natural sleep aid

If you’re worried and anxious as you drift off—or toss and turn trying to drift off—the level of stress hormones in your body wreak havoc with your sleep quality, which results in you waking up feeling like you need another night of sleep. And a worried mind is restless, making it difficult to drift off. Gratitude improves your sleep quality and duration by keeping you calmer and less stressed, and having a positive attitude when you get into bed helps you fall asleep faster.

It lowers your stress

Stress is responsible for so much damage to your mind, body, and soul that you should do whatever you can to help combat its negative effects. Just as energy healing is a natural stress buster, so is gratitude. When you are being thankful, you are in a positive frame of mind and you are focusing not on your troubles, but on a little piece of happiness. This moment of respite increases your ability to cope with the stressors in your life.

Gratitude deepens your relationships

As part of your nightly gratitude list, try recognizing the qualities and behaviors of the people you are thankful for. Maybe your best friend always sends you birthday flowers or your partner makes you coffee before you get up each morning. Being thankful for the little things your family and friends do makes you appreciate them more, and improves your interactions with them. This shift in focus also helps train you to see the best in people, and the best in yourself, which makes you warmer, kinder, and better liked, because you are a better friend, spouse, sibling, etc.

It speeds up your spiritual progress

In my healing courses I often talk about the importance of service to others. It’s one of the best ways to increase your chances of an initiation by providing a solid base for the new energy. Gratitude makes you more compassionate and empathetic to others, which means you are more likely to engage in random acts of kindness and help others in need. Thinking of others also brings you out of thinking about yourself, which makes you happier and speeds up the process of processing old wounds and traumas, an essential part of energy medicine.

Gratitude helps you live longer

Grateful people are usually more optimistic, and optimism has been linked to longer life spans, greater immune function, and lowered blood pressure. Studies have shown that people who are grateful and optimistic are also more likely to exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight. Being thankful for all the small things makes you feel inspired, which turns into a desire to take better care of yourself, which can add years to your life.

Gratitude begets gratitude

When you begin to notice all the little things there are to be grateful for each day: the unconditional love of a pet, your health, the sun in the sky, a thoughtful email from a friend, the smell of freshly brewed coffee—whatever small and large things make you smile—you begin to feel even more grateful to be alive and experiencing all this world has to offer. Your happiness makes you more appreciative, which makes you happier and kinder to others, which then rubs off and makes them grateful and happier. Gratitude is a win-win, a vital part of increasing the love on this planet.

Do you see how gratitude affects all areas of your life and builds on itself? Thankfulness is an upward spiral. Being grateful makes you happier, which makes you kinder and more compassionate, which means others respond to you with more compassion and kindness, which makes you even more grateful. As an energy healer and spiritual teacher who has seen the power of gratitude, I’d love for Thanksgiving to be a springboard for you to begin your daily routine of giving thanks. Try it for a year, and I guarantee that next Thanksgiving, gratitude is what you’ll be most thankful for.

Right now, we are giving thanks to our community by offering some of the steepest discounts we’ve offered on our bestselling courses, workshops, and seminars during our biggest savings event of the year. Pick the course that’s right for you in your current stage of life, and begin taking the next step towards your personal transformation. See what’s available by clicking here >>

3 Gratitude Tips That Will Change Your Life

Expressing gratitude is one of the easiest ways I’ve found of living in the light. Gratitude is like manna for the soul. It nourishes you in both obvious and untold ways as it reverberates through your energy field and out into the world. Like no other tool so easily within your reach, it can transform and transmute anything that ails you. In my work as an energy healer and spiritual teacher, I’ve come to understand the immense power of gratitude when you make it the cornerstone of your life.

Being in a state of sincere appreciation is also the single most important way to create everything you want in life. Start with your feelings of gratitude for things you already have. Then begin practicing thankfulness as a positive affirmation of things to come. Envision what you want in positive and present words—as though it already exists—and then be grateful for it as though it has already been received. You’ll be connecting to the emotion that you would feel when you realize your desired result. Feeling grateful activates your powerful, unseen ability to manifest from the abundance of the universe.

To truly establish your attitude of gratitude, you’ll need to practice it on a regular basis until it becomes a habit—until it becomes the place where your thoughts naturally go as you move through your day, including when you face adversity.

Each day, take just a few minutes to make a mental list of everything you’re grateful for and, if possible, say your list out loud. For example, “Tonight, I am so grateful for my good health, another successful day at work, and the kind words from the man I met on the elevator. I’m grateful that I was kind back to him, that my favorite TV show is on tonight, that I learned a valuable lesson in my difficult interaction with my boss,” and so on. You want to give thanks for the many things, large and small, that you’re appreciative of—both the good things and those important learning experiences that enabled you to grow. When you make this a habit every day, you’ll soon find yourself constantly thinking this way and quickly see your life change for the better.

How to build your personal gratitude practice:

Keep a gratitude journal. Matthew McConaughey started journaling when he was 14 years old. Every day he writes down the things he is grateful for. He says that he has experienced “it’s a scientific fact that gratitude reciprocates.”

Share your attitude of gratitude. Don’t keep the gratitude you feel toward friends, family, colleagues, service providers, or even strangers a secret. Tell those you love and work with and interact with that you are grateful for their presence in your life and their kindness, their attention. Thanking people is a blessing for them, too, because it invites them to feel good about themselves.

Walk about and notice the goodness. Take some time to walk around in the world—in a park, in your neighborhood, or in a natural setting you love. Dedicate the time spent on your walk to really seeing and appreciating the world. Look for things to be grateful for—from the leaves on the trees, the songs of the birds, the colors of the plants around you. Notice the air you are breathing, the sun on your face, and even your feet that carry you through the world. The more you look for blessings, the more you realize how much there is to be grateful for.

Gratitude is an expression of love, the essence of who you are, and your connection to Spirit. Practice being delighted with all that you can find to love and appreciate in your world. It won’t be long before you’ll need more pages for your gratitude journal and a new pen, too!

To discover more ways to apply energy healing to all areas of your life, start by joining our flagship LifeForce Energy Healing^® Level I Certification program. It is the ideal first step in beginning your healing journey. A journey you’ll be grateful for taking!

There’s a lovely song running through my head today. Have you heard Art Garfunkel sing “Grateful,” John Bucchino’s beautiful tune about feeling blessed? If so, you’ll recognize the lines—“Grateful, grateful…Truly blessed and duly grateful”—because they take up residence in your heart. The song is short and simple, but it says everything we need to know and feel about our connection to Spirit. We are blessed and the more we give thanks for our blessings, the more deeply we feel them.

Search..

Deborah King