Hello, this is Louise Hay, and I would like to discuss a few ideas with you for people who are concerned with their health and would like to take an active part in assisting their own healing or in maintaining their health. It doesn't matter what your disease is; if you choose to work with these ideas, your health is sure to improve. I once heard a definition of health that made a lot of sense to me: "Good health," it said, "is having no fatigue, having a good appetite, going to sleep and awakening easily, having a good memory, having good humor, and having precision in thought and action; not being klutzy, being honest, humble, grateful, and loving.
" How healthy are you? I do not heal anyone. The work I do is to help people understand how their own mental patterns are constantly creating their own life experiences—all of them, the good experiences and the so-called bad experiences—and also how these same mental patterns are contributing to the ease and dis-ease in their bodies.
We do not want to be ill, and yet we need every disease we have. It is the body's way of telling us that we have a false idea in consciousness; our body is telling us we are on the wrong track and need to change the way we think. Every illness is a lesson for us to learn.
Please do not just complain, "I want to get rid of this condition. " It will not create the healing you want, nor will you learn the lesson you need to learn. This is not a time for condemnation or for creating more guilt.
We are just looking at what needs to be released; this is a time for healing, for making our lives and our bodies whole. I know you have within you all that you need to accomplish this. Once we begin to understand this process, we are able to take conscious control of the changes we wish to make in our lives.
This is a very exciting process and becomes one of the most important adventures in our lives. I believe there is a center of wisdom within each one of us, and when we are ready to make positive changes in our lives, we attract whatever we need to help us. Something inside of you has shifted, and the healing process has already begun.
You might even say that to yourself now: "I have already begun the healing process. " The body, like everything else in life, is a mirror of our inner thoughts and beliefs. The body is always talking to us if we will only take the time to listen.
Every cell responds to every single thought you think and every word you speak. Continuous modes of thinking and speaking produce body behaviors and postures and ease or dis-ease. A person who has a permanently scowling face did not produce that by having joyous loving thoughts.
Older people's faces and bodies show so clearly a lifetime of inner dialogue. How will you look when you are elderly? You see, it is my belief that it is our birthright to be totally healthy and totally fulfilled in every area of our lives.
I want to help you claim this birthright now. Some of the things I will suggest to you may sound very simplistic; however, these ideas have been tried many times with great success. They really do work.
Please use these suggestions in addition to the work you may be doing with a doctor or other health professional; it will be helpful to both of you. Take a nice deep breath, and if possible, allow yourself to be in a comfortable position. Just let these ideas wash over you.
Only those ideas that are right for you will be accepted by you. It doesn't matter whether you understand them all or not, or if they make sense to you right now; your subconscious mind will hear and record whatever you need. I believe that all illness is self-created—not that we say, "I want to have this illness," but we create a mental atmosphere where this dis-ease can grow and flourish.
Our internal mental dialogue reacts in every cell in the body. I heard a physician say recently that if the surgeon operates on a patient without doing something to help them change the cause of the disease, then all the doctor is doing is prolonging the life of the patient until the patient can create another dis-ease. You see, we need to do more than just treat the symptom; we need to eliminate the cause of the dis-ease, and for that, we need to go within ourselves, where the process of illness began.
It is my belief that we are each responsible for every experience in our lives, the best and the worst. We all create our experiences by the thoughts we think and the words we speak. The universe totally supports our internal dialogue; our subconscious mind accepts as truth whatever we choose to believe.
You can say it either way—they both mean that what I believe about myself and about life becomes true for me. What you choose to think about yourself and about life becomes true for you, and we have unlimited choices about what we can think. When we are very little, we learn how to feel about ourselves and about life by the reactions of the adults around us.
Now, if you lived with frightened people or with people who were very unhappy, then you learned a lot of negative things about yourself and about life. You may still believe them; however, this is not to blame our parents, for we are all victims of victims, and they could not possibly have taught us anything they did not know. If your mother did not know how to love herself or your father did not know how to be gentle and kind, then it would be.
. . It is impossible for them to teach you to love yourself or to be gentle and kind.
Your parents were doing the best they could with what they had been taught as children. I also believe that we choose our parents; each one of us decides to incarnate upon this planet at particular points in time and space. I believe we do this because we have chosen to come here to learn a particular lesson that will advance us upon our spiritual evolutionary pathway.
We choose our sex, our color, our country, and then we look around for the particular set of parents who will mirror the pattern we are bringing in to work on in this lifetime. Often, when we grow up, we point our fingers accusingly at our parents and whimper, "You did it to me! " But really, we chose them because they were perfect for what we wanted to work on overcoming.
As very little children, we learn our belief systems, and then we move through life creating experiences to match our beliefs. Look back in your own life and notice how often you have gone through the same experience. Well, I believe that you created those experiences over and over because they mirrored something that you believed was true about yourself.
It really doesn't matter how long we have had a problem, how big it is, or how life-threatening it is. The point of power is always in the present moment. This means that what you have experienced during your life and up to this moment, you have created by your own thoughts and beliefs of the past.
However, what you are choosing to think, believe, and say today, right here and right now, is creating your future. Your current internal dialogue is creating tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, etc. Notice what you are thinking at this moment.
Do you want this thought to be creating your future? Is it negative or positive? Just notice and be aware.
I'm not trying to create guilt for anyone nor to make anyone wrong. I am making us aware of what is going on inside of us. Many of us who create illness and dis-ease are, in fact, totally out of touch with what is going on in our minds and in our bodies.
We only notice our bodies when we become ill or are in pain. If we do not know what is going on inside of us, how can we ever change? No matter what the problem is, the only thing we are ever dealing with is a thought, and a thought can be changed.
All our experiences are just outer effects of our inner dialogue. Even self-hatred is only hating a thought you have about yourself. You may have a thought that says, "I'm a bad person.
" This thought produces a feeling, and you accept the feeling as true. However, if you eliminate the thought, you won't have the feeling. Thoughts can be changed; change the thought, and the feeling must go.
Believe it or not, we do choose our thoughts. We may habitually think the same thought over and over so often that it does not seem that we are choosing the thought, but we did make the original choice. We can refuse to think certain thoughts.
Look how often you have refused to think a positive thought about yourself. Well, you can also refuse to think a negative thought about yourself. It seems to me that everyone on this planet that I know or have worked with is suffering from self-hatred and guilt to one degree or another.
The more self-hatred and guilt we have, the less our life works. We find we have an inability to speak up for ourselves, and we're always trying to please others, or we may be angry and explosive all the time. The less self-hatred and guilt we have, the better our lives work on all levels; this includes the health of the body, too.
It has been my experience that the very bottom line for everyone I have worked with is always, "I'm not good enough," and we often add to this, "I don't do enough," or "I don't deserve. " Does this sound like you? Always saying or implying or feeling that you are not good enough?
But for whom, and according to whose standards? Now, if these negative beliefs are very strong in you, then how can you possibly create a loving, joyous, prosperous, healthy life? Somehow, your subconscious beliefs would always be contradicting you and making sure you do not obtain your goals.
I find that resentment, criticism, guilt, and fear cause more problems in our bodies and in our experiences than anything else. These feelings come from blaming others and not taking responsibility for our own lives. You see, if we are all responsible for everything that happens in our lives, then there is really no one to blame.
Whatever is happening out there is only a mirror of our own inner thinking. I am not condoning other people's poor behavior, but we must realize it is our beliefs that attract to us people who will treat us in that way. If you find yourself saying, "Everyone always does such and such to me, criticizes me, ignores me, takes advantage of me, or abuses me," then this is your pattern.
There is some thought in you that attracts this behavior. On some internal level, you believe you deserve to be treated this way, or you treat other people this way, and it is just coming back to you. Whatever we give out—mental, physical, or verbal—will always come back to us.
When we no longer think or behave in this way, the other people will change their behavior, or they will go and do that to someone else who believes they deserve it. You will no longer be attracting the experiences you say you do not want. Whether we want to.
. . Change a life experience or a physical problem.
The place to begin is to say so. Literally say, "I am willing to release the pattern within me that is creating this experience or this condition. " You can say this to yourself over and over.
Every time you think of your illness, say this with me now: "I am willing to release the pattern in me that has created this condition. " The minute you say this affirmation, you are stepping out of the victim role. You are no longer helpless; you are acknowledging your own power.
You are saying, "I may not quite understand it, but somehow I'm beginning to understand that I contributed to creating this problem, and now I take my own power back, and I am releasing it and letting it go. " What a powerful statement to have your subconscious mind supporting! As I have said, resentment of others, criticism of ourselves, guilt over the past, and fear of the future are the most damaging mental thought patterns we can have.
This kind of internal dialogue creates and maintains dis-ease in the body. These thoughts can destroy the body. Fear can contribute to baldness, ulcers, colon problems, and even painful feet, among other things.
Criticism is a permanent habit that can often lead to arthritis in the body. Resentment, long held, eats away at the body and becomes the dis-ease we call cancer. Guilt always looks for punishment and creates pain.
Fear comes from not trusting the process of life to be there for us. You know, the most precious thing in our life is our breath. If you did not take another breath, you would not last three minutes.
Yet you have such faith that your next breath will be there that you don't even think about it when you exhale. Now, if the power that created us has given us enough breath to last for as long as we shall live, can we not begin to trust that the rest will also be provided for us? The next time you are frightened, think about the abundance of air and say, "I trust the process of life to take care of me.
" Whenever someone is in pain, I know they have created a lot of guilt for themselves. Chronic pain comes from unrelenting guilt, often so buried that we're not even consciously aware of it anymore. This guilt must be dissolved before the pain can be eliminated.
Guilt is a totally useless emotion; it never makes anyone feel better, nor does it change a situation. Your sentence is now over; let yourself out of prison. Anger combined with guilt often contributes to accidents.
The degree of physical damage lets us know how severely we felt we needed to be punished, and how long the sentence. Where this pain occurs in the body gives us a clue to which area of life we feel guilty about. Critical people often attract a lot of criticism because it is their pattern to criticize.
They are often cursed with perfectionism—the need to be perfect at all times in every situation. Do you know of anyone on this planet who is perfect? I do not.
Why do we set up standards that say we have to be a super person in order to be barely acceptable? That is such a heavy burden to carry. When I was a little girl, I had a very difficult childhood.
My parents divorced when I was 18 months. I was raped when I was five. I became a battered child and grew up in the depression.
My mother was very much a victim, and my stepfather constantly expressed his own brutalized childhood. I grew up having a lot of resentment. I had to create cancer in my own body before I was willing to begin to release that resentment.
I am certainly not condoning the behavior of any of the people who mistreated me; however, for me to spend a lifetime just running the old movie, feeling blame, anger, and resentment is not doing me any good in the present moment. I learned that resentment only eats away at me, and it did in my case. Holding on to old blame and feeling resentment for all that they did to me helped to create my disease.
Releasing, forgiving, and letting go helped me to heal myself. The past is over and done; we cannot change that now. We can change our attitude toward the past and our thoughts about the past.
How foolish it is for us to punish ourselves in the present moment because someone else hurt us in the long-ago past? It's not worth it! I often say to people who have deep resentment patterns: "Please begin to dissolve the resentment now, when it is relatively easy.
Don't wait until you're under the threat of a surgeon's knife and you have to cope with panic, too. " It is vital that we release foolish, outmoded, or negative ideas and beliefs that do not support us and nourish us. Our concepts of ourselves, of life, and of God must support us, not negate us.
No matter what our disease, if we choose to believe that we are helpless victims and that it is all hopeless, then the universe will support us in that belief and we will just go down the drain. When people come to me with a problem, I don't care what it is—poor health, lack of money, unfulfilling relationships, or stifled creativity. There is only one thing I ever work on, and that is loving the self.
I have found that when we really love, accept, and approve of ourselves exactly as we are, then everything in life flows. It's like little miracles are everywhere. Our health improves, we attract more money, we have better relationships, and we begin to express ourselves in creatively fulfilling ways.
I often ask people to look in the mirror and say, "I love. . .
" we wait until we have more money before we love ourselves, we will be waiting for a very long time. The time to love ourselves is always now. We are worthy of love and acceptance just as we are.
It is essential to recognize that we do not need external circumstances to change in order to feel good about ourselves. We can cultivate self-love and self-acceptance in the present moment, regardless of our situations. Embrace your imperfections and understand that they are part of being human.
The journey to self-acceptance is not about being perfect; it is about recognizing the beauty in our flaws and celebrating our individuality. By letting go of self-criticism and judgment, we open the door to healing, growth, and happiness. Take a moment to reflect on the positive aspects of yourself; focus on what you love and appreciate about who you are.
Allow this appreciation to fill your heart and mind. Remember that self-love is not selfish; it is necessary for our well-being and for our ability to give love to others. As we learn to accept ourselves, we also become better equipped to accept those around us, fostering healthier relationships and a more compassionate world.
So, let go of the past, release your limiting beliefs, and embrace the present. You have the power to change your thoughts, and in doing so, you can change your life. We wait until someone else loves us before we love ourselves; then we are denying our existence right now.
If we wait until we become perfect before we love ourselves, we waste our lives. We are already the perfect outer expression of our inner understanding, and we will change. But the changes we make when we love and accept ourselves are always positive—always.
So let's release the anger and all those negative beliefs about ourselves and about life, and begin the process of accepting and approving who and what we are in the here and now. We are always unfolding in the best way we can. The knowledge and understanding that you are already incorporating from this tape will help you to change your life and dissolve the negative patterns.
No negative condition can remain in our lives when we truly love and accept ourselves. Love is the healing power; love dissolves anger, love gets rid of guilt, and love fades away fear. Love for ourselves is the power that heals us on a physical level.
I would suggest that, in addition to whatever program your doctor may have created for you, you also seek the services of a good nutritionist. You could go to the health food store and seek advice, or go to the library and read a book on nutrition, or talk to a friend who understands the importance of good food in your diet and how it can help rebuild your body. There are many things you can do to assist in your own healing.
Body, mind, and spirit must be balanced. It sounds more overwhelming than it is; just begin where you are, doing what you can. It's like cleaning a house; it doesn't matter in what room you begin.
If you keep going, eventually the whole house becomes clean. Let me repeat: I believe it is our birthright to be totally healthy and totally fulfilled in every area of our lives. Let us claim and accept that birthright right now.
We are going to experience a deep relaxation with a guided meditation to help you create new thought patterns that you can use to dissolve disease in your body and to build perfect vibrant health. Express the growing love you have for yourself by lovingly taking care of the miracle you call your body, and you get to feel good in the process, too.
