What do you believe about yourself and the world?

by Natalia Iwanyckyj

We all have core beliefs through which we define ourselves. These are largely established by living life and are in place by time we are seven years old. Once they are set, we seem to attract — sometimes as if by magic, sometimes as if cursed — life experiences that validate them.

Past Dictating Present and Future

Long ago, we integrated both empowering and limiting messages into our very being.

You’re the smart one.
You’re so lazy!
Nothing you do is ever good enough!
We always get by.
There is not enough.

Recognizing how these beliefs influence us, we can decide to be mindful when speaking to and interacting with our children, as they establish their own core beliefs. There is no need to approve of or permit every action. We can notice and love what is good in our children. We can be curious about behaviors that we do not understand.

Before we react to our children’s actions and words, we can decide to consider the possibility that there is a reason for the behavior we are seeing. We can strive to understand. Observing without judgement and with curiosity can be life changing.

I Recognize a Limiting Belief

Earlier this year, I noticed that I have not been meeting my goals for a long time. “I used to be so Type-A,” I lamented to a friend. “I finished everything! Even things I didn’t like.” As I trailed off, a light bulb went off over my head.

A-ha! That was it! Throughout my childhood, adolescence, and early adult life, I had accomplished almost everything I set out to do. The strongest and longest-lasting example is that I persevered (persiverated?) through a college curriculum that perplexed and terrified me. This resulted in a degree in a field that did not interest me. Which led to jobs I did not enjoy.

I finally learned my lesson: Working hard gives me what I don’t want anyway. So, I will not work hard.

Now what?

Once we recognize the repeating patterns in our in lives, we can change them. Processes such as Matrix Reimprinting with EFT offer simple and effective ways to change. (I teach the Core Belief Reimprinting process during my seven week Swan Mothers Circle.)

When I recognized that I believed that hard work gave me what I don’t want, I worked with my Matrix Reimprinting practitioner to find old stories that supported this belief. I began working with the Core Belief Process. And I am learning to work joyfully and consistently at that which matters to me.

Curious what I’m working on? I’m writing a fiction trilogy called The Weaving Gold Chronicles. I’d love to know what you’re up to.

Evolving through Parenting

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Stimming as Spiritual Practice

by Natalia Iwanyckyj

In Autism and the God Connection, William Stillman correlates “autistic repetitious activities — which can increase serotonin production leading to states of altered consciousness — with identical activities deliberately engaged for spiritual gratification by those of religious standing: Gregorian chants, reciting the Rosary, the ecstasies of the whirling Sufi dervishes, shamanic drumming ceremonies, and the rhythmic rituals of certain tribes. It is incongruent that such spiritual repetition equals mantra, but autistic repetition equals stimming.”

Following up on my post from last week, Autism as Meditation, I invite you to view the two videos linked below. Consider how our ideas about what we are seeing and hearing define it as spiritual practice or disorder.

Whirling to Touch the Divine

“Whirling is a way to reconnect with a deeper nature inside ourselves,” announces the speaker in the video linked below.

Sufi Whirling

Autistic Girl Spinning

When autistic children spin, it is “obsessive-compulsive behavior.” An undesirable stim. Just plain weird.

Autistic Girl Spinning Beauty

It’s all how you look at it.

If you are noticing that you have beliefs about your autistic or neurodiverget child that you want to change, here’s how.

1. Make a list of what you believe about your child (or yourself.) You may include items such as:

My life will always be difficult (with this child).
My child does a lot of really weird stuff.
My child will never _______________.
My child always _______________.
I’m a bad parent (because ________________).

2. Give each statement a validity rating on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is not true at all and 10 is very true or very intense.

This is a subjective, internal rating of the intensity of feeling you have about the truth of the statement. When you ask yourself, “How true is this for me?” write down the number that pops into your head.
3. Use the basic EFT recipe to begin shifting the hold these beliefs have on you.

Do a round (or more) of tapping using as many of the following phrases. Modify the statements or add your own to accommodate your own individual feelings.

Even though my life will always be difficult, I’m still a good person.
Even though my child will never ________, I can love him AND myself anyway.
Even though I’m a bad parent because I _________, I’m doing my best and that’s enough for now.
Even though my child always _________ and it’s so (frustrating, embarrassing, painful), I choose to love her and myself anyway.

4. After a few rounds of tapping, give each statement a validity rating again.

Are your feelings less intense or more? As you tapped, did memories or feelings come up? If yes, you can continue tapping on these new feelings. If the memories or feelings are very intense, breathe deeply, imagining the breath flowing into your heart. Stop tapping if this feels right.

5. If the feelings are less intense, look at the statements again.

Consider how you can begin shifting your beliefs. Start small! Choose something positive and new that you can believe and that you can see relatively quickly. Perhaps you can envision your child putting on one article of clothing without protest or allowing you to place a new food on his plate. If you don’t believe that your child will get dressed easily, can you believe that there is a possibility that she will be more cooperative.

6. Continue to believe a new impossible thing every day.

Need help changing how you see your child?

I offer a support group and coaching that shows you how.

Evolving through Parenting

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Autism as Meditation

by Natalia Iwanyckyj

They gaze into the distance or lose themselves in focusing on some object. Their concentration is intense without being strained. Sometimes, they make strange movements with their hands as they chant the same mantra over and over. We may not understand what we see when we watch monks in deep meditation, yet we are awed. Why then, when our autistic children engage in similar behaviors, do we despair?

Why won’t she look at me?
Why is he doing that thing with his hands?
Can’t she be still for a minute?
Why does he have to repeat the same phrase over and over?
It’s like she’s not even here!

In The Autism Prophecies, William Stillman writes “…if we always presume the competence of the person within, the non-verbal individual with autism exists in a perpetual state of meditation – always pondering, reflecting, considering, processing, and very carefully observing.”

Shifting Our Perspective

We have a strong sense of how things should be in the world. We know how people are supposed to behave. We know how children should develop.

When our children deviate from the shoulds and supposed tos, we hasten to set them back on the worn path that people have walked for millennia. It is human nature to want to fit in. Belonging to a group and demonstrating our usefulness to it was once essential to survival. Rejection from the group meant almost certain death.

Interestingly, as humanity evolved, it was not those who fit in but those who stood out that are remembered.

A Facebook friend recently posted: “Ludwig van Beethoven, Albert Einstein, Emily Dickinson, Thomas Edison, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Isaac Newton, Nikola Tesla, and Vincent Van Gogh were all autistic.”

We can’t posthumously diagnose these people with autism, but one thing is certain: All those who devoted their lives to doing what everyone else did are long forgotten. We remember and venerate individuals who deviated from the norm. In their own times, they were considered odd and eccentric. Their ideas and talents were often scorned. Today, they are recognized for their genius.

As we consider the possibility that our children’s differentness is an asset, our view of them and ourselves begins to change.

If we teach every child to focus on compassion for one hour, once a week, we could end all violence in one generation.

The Dalai Lama

It appears that our autistic and uniquely magnificent children already have this focus. We can learn from them.

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Shame and Guilt in Autism Parenting

by Natalia Iwanyckyj

I didn’t know so many things. I did not know that life could be difficult for a newborn. I did not know that a baby cried to tell me something. I did not know how to nourish a child who gagged from looking at food.

Parenting leaves long trail of pebbles of guilt and shame in its wake. Parenting autistic or challenging children leaves a trail of boulders when we lack knowledge and support for being the parents our children need.

Ignorance is Not Bliss

At one point, one of the most difficult aspects of parenting was feeding Daniel. It started from my first attempts to transition him to solid food. He was happy breastfeeding. Happy sitting in a high-chair at the table. When Ellana was his age, I began feeding her pureed vegetables, carefully introducing one at a time just as the baby books instructed. All went well with her eating.

Daniel, was not intersted in the pureed peas. Or the sweet potato mash. Or the apple sauce.

I decided he just was not ready to eat solids and waited a few weeks and offered some food again. Eventually, he ate small amounts of solids.

As he got older, his food repertoire became smaller instead of increasing. He was not growing along the growth curve the doctor’s office provided, but steadily dropping lower and lower in the percentages. I was scared and worried. What was I doing wrong? Why wouldn’t he eat?

Diagnosis, Not Solutions

Somewhere along the way, we realized he was autistic and obtained a diagnosis. This provided a piece of information, but not peace of mind. I continued to worry about his food intake.

At three and four years old, he would look at the plate of food I set before him and immediately begin gagging. When he refused to eat the foods before him, I would wrap my left arm around both of his arms and torso and use my right hand to shove food into his mouth. I hated doing this and was terrified that if I did not, he would starve. Sometimes, once he accepted that first bite of food that I forcibly held in his mouth, he happily ate all that was on his plate. This made me think I had to continue feeding him this way.

Finding a Better Way

Eventually, I learned how to feed him in a way that felt good for him and me. Read how in When Your Child Won’t Eat: Help for Resistant Eaters.

Even though I now recognize that this was part of our journey, part of learning and growing together, I wish I had known then, what I know now. I wish I knew now, what I will know in a decade.

I share this story to encourage you to seek out options in difficult situations. There is a way to manage that is kinder to your child and less heart-wrenching for you.

Be gentle with your child. And be gentle with yourself.

Need help for escaping the yucky feelings? We work on that in the Loving Life with Uniquely Magnificent Children teleseminar.

Clearing Guilt Over a Situation or Behavior

Two days after I published the above, I came across this wonderful method by Lilia Birem. I am adding it here with Lilia’s permission. Please check out her blog.

Did you do or say something that you regret and feel guilty about? Something you wish you could go back in time to undo, cancel, change?

1) Locate in your body the vibration of guilt, along with the picture of the situation stuck in your head that you wish to cancel, forgive, and transmute.

2) Pull that vibration and picture out of you and p…ut it all into a bubble.

3) Place your hands close to the bubble and start infusing it with the energy of Compassion. What color is compassion for you?

4) Continue to infuse your bubble with Compassion while repeating the name of God over and over again (pick the word(s) that resonates best with you).

5) Continue until the bubble pops! All is now vanished.

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What I Focus on Expands

by Natalia Iwanyckyj

Close your eyes and think of an animal. Any animal. Real or imaginary. Except for a pink elephant. Don’t think, “Largest land animal on Earth.” Don’t think about that curly tail linked to another elephant. Don’t think about the long trunk spraying water. Do not think about its big, floppy ears. Keep your focus on any animal. But do not think about a pink elephant.

Perhaps someone has played this little game with you. I first heard it as a young child and was completely amazed that, try as I might, an enormous pink elephant suddenly occupied my whole mind. I had never thought of a pink elephant before, but as soon as I was told not to think about it, I could think of nothing else.

Don’t For Children

When children hear our words, “don’t” vanishes. We say, “Don’t play with your food.” They hear, “Play with your food.” Even if they realize that the instruction is not to do so, suddenly, this idea becomes irresistible.

It is more helpful to say what we mean clearly. For example, “Please put your fork down after you take a bite.” Or, “Please put your hands in your lap while you are chewing.”

Changing to the Positive

Consider these options and choose those that feel good to you.

Don’t run!…………………………….. Walk please!

You’re going to fall!………………… I see that you have really good balance!

Don’t hit your sister!………………. Come here and hold my hands to help you feel better.

Don’t for Parents

Just as it is easier to say “don’t” to our children than to find a supportive angle, it is easier to recognize what we don’t want than to determine what we desire. It is helpful to notice where our focus is. “I can’t wait for this day to be over.” “This really stinks.” “More dishes. More laundry. Can’t anyone in this family pee in the toilet?”

We notice how miserable we are being tired and out-of-shape, how long it has been since we’ve had a vacation, how little money and free-time we have. We become so enmeshed noticing lack, that when asked what we do want, we are unable to answer. We forget that we can desire something.

The Gift of Contrast

Noticing what we don’t want is a step. Be grateful for the signs that show you what you don’t want, then consider: Do you want the opposite of this thing that you have? Do you want something else?

“Desire is the movement of life that carries us where we yearn to be.”

Jennifer Louden in the Life Organizer: A Woman’s Guide to a Mindful Year.

Notice what you desire. Notice what you want. Surround yourself with words and images that show the things or situations or experiences that make your heart sing. Let yourself consider the possibility that you can have what you desire and tell me about it in the comment box below.

Getting to Yes! for Children and Parents

In the lovely book, Joyful Child, Peggy Jenkins includes a number of songs for increasing joy, gratitude, and awareness. One of my favorites follows. It helps children (and parents) remember that they are in control of their lives.

What I Focus on Expands

To the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”

What I focus on expands

My life is in my own hands

My thoughts and feelings they create

So I choose a joyful state

What I focus on expands

My life is in my own hands.

Power Shot for Expanding Focus

I like to sing the above song while doing the Cross Crawl. This movement (described below) facilitates the crossover of energy between the brain’s right and left hemispheres. I will help you and your child to:

1. Feel more balanced and energized

2. Think Clearly

3. Improve coordination

Here’s how to do the Cross Crawl:

· March in place.

· Touch the right hand to the left.

· Then, touch the left hand to the right knee.

· Continue, changing sides with each step.

· You can also touch the (opposite) knee to elbow, touch the (opposite) foot behind the back.

· Continue for three minutes.

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Finding the Easy Way to Parent Difficult Children

by Natalia Iwanyckyj

When there is no time or money for a vacation, when formal practices like meditation seem too arduous to embrace, I go on a mini-retreat by reading a good book.

The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant. It is a story of cowardly actions and disloyalty, shame and redemption.

As a young boy, Amir writes his first story and reads it to Hassan:

A poor man found a magic cup. He discovered that if he wept into the cup, his tears turned into pearls. But even though he had always been poor, he was a happy man and rarely shed a tear. So he found ways to make himself sad so that his tears could make him rich.

As the pearls piled, his greed grew. The story ends with the man sitting on a mountain of pearls, knife in hand weeping helplessly into the cup with his beloved wife’s slain body in his arms.

Upon hearing the story, Hassan applauds and compliments Amir. Then, he asks permission to ask a question. Hassan says, “Why did he ever have to feel sad to shed tears? Couldn’t he have just smelled an onion?”

The Stories We Tell

Most of our beliefs about ourselves and how the world works/how we will be treated are established by the time we are seven years old. Our early experiences teach us that the world is a safe place – or that it is not. Our parents, teachers, and friends validate our early learning by encouraging us or tearing us down.

As we grow, we continue to learn about how things should be. We learn words and associate meanings with them. We determine what it means to be a mother. We decide how our children are supposed to be.

But what if everything we learned is wrong? What if we do not have to cause ourselves grief, but just smell an onion, and pearls will show up in our lives?

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Super-Easy Homeopathy to Stop the Flu in Its Tracks

by Natalia Iwanyckyj

One of the trees in my front yard has already dropped all of its leaves. Others are still green. The burning bush shrubs are turning red. The nights are cool. The days are crisp. Autumn, my favorite season, has arrived.

For many people, autumn is also the start of cold and flu season. Already, I have heard of whole families affected by strep throat, vomiting, colds, and other malaise.

No one likes to be sick. When our autistic and neurodivergent children get sick, they may be particularly upset by the change in routine. They might fall behind in school work and miss therapy sessions. And mothers certainly don’t have time to be sick. Both parents and children want to be healthy and feel good.

Homeopathy for Stopping the Flu Before It Starts

Homeopathic remedies, taken at the first sign of the flu or sickness are extremely effective. The sooner you take them, the sooner you will feel well. Plan ahead and purchase the remedies you will need.

What to Buy

Aconite in the 200c potency.

Oscillococcinum 200.

Prevention is the Best Medicine

Common Sense for Staying Healthy

1. Wash hands with soap and water when coming home from school, work, or shopping.

Do not rely on sanitizers. Sanitizers kill germs – but then you rub the dead bacteria and viruses into your skin. The ethyl alcohol in the sanitizer enhances absorption. This means that anything mixed with it will move through the skin and into the bloodstream more easily. (Everyone say “Eewe!” and head to the sink.)

2. Drink plenty of water.

3. Eat nourishing foods such as home-made soups and stews.

4. Relax when stressed. Remember to take cell salts and to use EFT to keep stress levels low.

5. Sleep when tired.

Preventing Flu with Homeopathic Remedies

Before Exposure

Take one dose of oscillococcinum 200 per week during flu season.

Even though the vials say to take the whole vial, I do not find this necessary. One tube should yield at least four doses and could easily be many more. Simply pour a few pellets into the mouth without touching the vial to the mouth OR pour a few pellets into a teaspoon and then place them in the mouth

Take all remedies in a clean mouth. Do not eat, drink, smoke or brush teeth 15 minutes before or after taking remedies.

Known Exposure to Flu, No Symptoms

Take one dose of oscillococcinum 200 by pouring a few pellets into the mouth without touching the vial to the mouth.

First Sign of Feeling Ill

As soon as you feel the chill or scratchy throat that is your sign that you are getting sick, put a few aconite pellets in the cap and toss them in your mouth. Carry your vial of aconite 200 with you so that you can take it (or give it to your children) at the very first sign of sickness.

Repeat every 30 minutes for up to four doses. Stop taking the remedy as soon as symptoms improve.

If you still feel ill or as if you are becoming ill after four doses, take a dose of oscillococcinum and follow the suggestions below.

Supportive Remedies and Actions

1. If at all possible, go home and go to bed as soon as you start to feel sick. The remedies are very powerful but it is also important to listen to your body. When the body says, “Rest!” obey.

Mothers: This is the time to enlist the help of grandmothers, electronic babysitters, and whomever and whatever else can help. By resting early, you will heal more quickly and be able to return to full mommy-power quickly.

2. Keep children home from school. Teachers, classmates and parents will be grateful that you did not share your flu. Your child will enjoy some special attention. Most importantly, you will demonstrate the importance of listening to his or her own body and honoring its needs.

3. Drink water, herbal teas, and bone broths to stay hydrated and to nourish your body.

4. Swallow or eat raw garlic. Garlic has anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. Consuming raw garlic is very helpful when your throat feels raw and sore.

5. Take immune boosting herbs such as echinacea and astragulus. My favorite brand is Herbs for Kids. Their herbs are sweet and pleasant to take.

6. Support your body with cell salts. Take cell salts three times per day for a least one week after the first sign of flu or cold.

Wishing you a healthy winter.

In matters of health and healing, be fanatical about self-responsibility. Cell Salts and homeopathic remedies enable you to participate actively in your own healing. At the same time, you should continue to see your doctor for examinations, advice and treatment. Nothing on this site is intended as a substitute for medical advice.

Reference

Bill Cosby on Oscillococcinum

” .. A secret ingredient to his recovery is Oscillococcinum… his wife turned him on to alternative health when they moved to Los Angeles in the mid- 1960s… But he says he’s trying to spread the gospel on Oscillococcinum.

I’ve learned to pronounce Oscillococcinum because so many people don’t know anything about it,’…If you call people and they say, ‘Oh, man, I’m coming down with…,’ you tell them ‘Go to the drug store and get that box. It’s the only medicine with a lot of S’s and a lot of C;s in the first word….

They call back. ‘Did you get it?’ ‘No I haven’t gone yet.; They’re wheezing and sneezing and have a headache. ‘Here, hang up the phone and go.’ And they still don’t go. Why? ‘Because I don’t know how to pronounce it.’ So it becomes very, very funny and you get frustrated because you know it’s going to work.”

“Bill Cosby on colds: Not so funny; Comedian swears by French formula,” by Bruce Fessier, The Desert Sun, Palm Springs, CA, February 11, 2010

Homeopathy & Cell Salts Tips for Helping Yourself

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Super-Easy Homeopathy for Sore Throats

by Natalia Iwanyckyj

Ask and it is given. Alyssa wrote on the Blessed by (Autism) Uniquely Magnificent Children Facebook wall: “I love your stuff! Have you written anything on strep throat? Just wondering how to keep Maddy from getting it again.”

Cell Salts for Healthy Throats

If you have never heard of cell salts (also called biochemic cell salts and tissue salts) or need directions for how to use them, please read Cell Salts 101.

Calc Sulph

Cell salt practitioners have found that calc sulph is a powerful blood purifier. When a person is deficient in calc sulph, diseases of the body membranes, catarrh and skin are likely to result. If you have an insufficient amount of calc sulph, your liver may become overloaded with worn-out red blood cells. (Your liver and gall bladder do their best work between 11:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. Be asleep.)

Calc sulph heals by building tissues. It supports rejuvenation by attracting other vital cell constituents.

When given at the first sign of sore throats and colds, it will support the body and may prevent these illnesses from developing.

Other Cell Salts for Sore Throat

If the throat is hot, red, inflamed, and painful, consider ferrum phos and nat mur.

If swallowing is very difficult, give kali mur and mag phos.

Calc phos is a common children’s remedy for sore throats.

Several other cell salts may be indicated for sore throats. Review the charts in Cell Salts 101 and Restoring Balance with cell salts to see if the mental and emotional symptoms indicated can help you choose the best cell salt for supporting healing. To learn much more, read the reference books suggested at the end of this article.

Prevention

Don’t wait for your child to get sick. If your child is prone to sore throats, note the cell salts discussed above and click the links to read more about them. If the picture matches your child, give the indicated cell salt three times per day for two weeks. Note any changes in behavior, digestions, and well-being.

Sickness is a sign that something in the body is out of balance. Notice symptoms and signs from your body to choose a cell salt and correct imbalances and maintain health.

Homeopathic Remedies for Sore Throats

There are scores of homeopathic remedies that may be indicated for your child’s sore throat. Homeopathic treatment requires that all signs and symptoms of the illness be considered. A homeopath will ask what hurts and where, what makes the symptoms better or worse, how is the patient acting, how the pain feels, and more.

To give you an idea of what this means, I will briefly describe the pictures of two remedies that may be used in supporting the healing of strep throat.

Arsenicum Album

People who need arsenicum look pale and anxious and feel cold to the touch. When sick, they are very weak and exhausted. They feel better lying down, yet, despite this, will be very restless and anxious.

Arsenicum Album’s sore throat looks/feels like this:

The pains are burning. There may be ulcers in the throat. They feel better drinking something hot and worse drinking something cold and when swallowing.

Belladonna

Belladonna illness comes on suddenly and strongly. Belladonna types catch colds easily if their heads get cold. They feel worst at 3:00 p.m. and sometimes also at 3:00 a.m. When sick, they want to lie in a quiet, darkened room. The face is very pale with very red cheeks and the eyes are glassy or shining. Pupils are enlarged.

Belladonna’s sore throat looks/feels like this: constricted, irritated, raw. The glands are swollen and the pains are severe and stitching. Their neck is tender to touch and talking is difficult. Pain may radiate to the right ear.

I am happy to write in response to your questions and concerns. Please keep in mind that I am not a doctor and that this information is provided so that you can consider ways to naturally support your health and well-being. Nothing in these pages is a substitute for the care and advice provided by your doctor. Continue to see your doctor for medical advice.

Common Sense Measures for Staying Healthy

Most people know the secrets of staying healthy. Yet almost everyone forgets or ignores these principles at times. I know I do.

If you or your children have been sick multiple times this winter, begin by reviewing this list and putting it into action.

1. Sleep

We grow and heal while we sleep. Your body (particularly your adrenal system) does a majority of its recharging between the hours of 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. In addition, your gallbladder dumps toxins during this same period. If you are awake, the toxins back up into your liver, which can further disrupt your health. (Read more about sleep. Trouble falling asleep? Try the cell salt combination, Sleep Tissue A.)

2. Diet

Nourishing foods feed our cells and organs and support all body functions. Three easy ways to improve nutritional intake, acceptable even to most picky and resistant eaters, are juicing fresh fruits and vegetables, drinking healthy teas and infusions, and drinking bone broths.

3. Exercise

Move a little – or a lot! – every day. Stretch. Get your heart rate up. Have fun.

4. Quiet Time

Parents and children need quiet time to allow their bodies to relax. ake time each day for meditation, reading, or cuddling. Find what works for you and give yourself the gift of peace.

References

Nature’s 12 Magic Healers: Using Homeopathic Cell Salts to Protect or Restore Health

Natural Healing with Cell Salts

The Complete Homeopathy Handbook: Safe and Effective Ways to Treat Fevers, Coughs, Colds and Sore Throats, Childhood Ailments, Food Poisoning, Flu, and a Wide Range of Everyday Complaints

Homeopathy & Cell Salts Making Children More Comfortable

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Accepting Love

by Natalia Iwanyckyj

I want to be loved by you ♫♫♫♫♫ I know the signs by which I expect you to show your love. I hope you know them, too.

It’s lovely if we truly know our children, partners, parents, and friends and are able to love they way they want to be loved. It’s nice if they know us well enough, and have the capacity to, love us as we want to be loved. But it doesn’t always work like that.

My father loves me by preparing beautiful meals for my family. My son cuddles me in an amazingly loving way, but only when he so chooses. Lots of people hug me.

I could tell the huggers, “I don’t like to be hugged by you,” but I suspect they would be hurt by such words. I could ask my son to do something for me, but he wouldn’t do it. I could say to my father, “I appreciate the food, but I’d like to hear about your childhood,” but he would walk away.

I can notice all the ways I’m not getting what I desire, or I can appreciate the love that is freely given, when and how it is presented to me.

I choose to accept and experience love in its many expressions. I choose to notice and appreciate the goodness in my life. I choose to embrace the adventure of living.

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Can you let it all go?

by Natalia Iwanyckyj

Here you are, Natalia: in the promised land.

Look — and watch autumn paint leaves. Listen — and hear the sound of clothes washing themselves. Taste — and savor the salt, sugar, chocolate and almond flavors mingling on your tongue. Feel — and sense the love that surrounds you.

But it is NOT ENOUGH. Not nearly enough. Magnificence and glory await. Joy, indescribable and unimaginable, evident in a momentary tingle in your body, in a flash of almost-seen ultraviolet light, in an expansiveness that constricts as soon as it’s perceived.

Beauty . . . Sweetness . . . Love . . .
Exhaustion . . . Despair . . . Pain . . .
bind you . . . . constrict you . . . restrict you . . .

Can you let it all go?

“I can’t let go of my children!” I hear your shout. Have you so little faith in them? Have you forgotten that they are Masters?

Comfort . . . Familiarity . . . Ease . . .
Uncertainty . . . Lies . . . Deceit . . .
Promises . . . Dreams . . . Goals . . .

Can you let them all go

And allow Great Mystery?

I wrote this on October 25, 2013. I could be writing it today. Wondering why I so often feel Life is wonderful, but it’s not enough. It’s not enough.

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Discovering Ourselves through Parenting

I Recognize a Limiting Belief

Now what?

Whirling to Touch the Divine

Autistic Girl Spinning

It’s all how you look at it.

Need help changing how you see your child?

If we teach every child to focus on compassion for one hour, once a week, we could end all violence in one generation.

Ignorance is Not Bliss

Diagnosis, Not Solutions

Finding a Better Way

Be gentle with your child. And be gentle with yourself.

Clearing Guilt Over a Situation or Behavior

Don’t For Children

Changing to the Positive

Don’t for Parents

The Gift of Contrast

“Desire is the movement of life that carries us where we yearn to be.”

Getting to Yes! for Children and Parents

What I Focus on Expands

Power Shot for Expanding Focus

Here’s how to do the Cross Crawl:

The Stories We Tell

But what if everything we learned is wrong? What if we do not have to cause ourselves grief, but just smell an onion, and pearls will show up in our lives?

Homeopathy for Stopping the Flu Before It Starts

What to Buy

Prevention is the Best Medicine

Common Sense for Staying Healthy

Preventing Flu with Homeopathic Remedies

Before Exposure

Known Exposure to Flu, No Symptoms

First Sign of Feeling Ill

Supportive Remedies and Actions

Bill Cosby on Oscillococcinum

Cell Salts for Healthy Throats

Other Cell Salts for Sore Throat

Prevention

Homeopathic Remedies for Sore Throats

Common Sense Measures for Staying Healthy

1. Sleep

2. Diet

3. Exercise

4. Quiet Time

References

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