By Word of Soul

How to Use Journaling for Personal Healing, Power & Success

LB Lacey, MA.

By Word of Soul How to Use Journaling for Personal Healing, Power & Success Nonfiction / Self-Help All Rights Reserved Copyright 2008 LB Lacey, MA. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author. This publication is designed to provide competent and reliable resources and information regarding the subject matter covered. It is, however, sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged via this publication in rendering legal, financial or other professional advice. Individuals experiencing particular or severe medical, emotional/psychological or spiritual crisis are strongly urged to seek proper professional assistance immediately. If psychological, legal, financial, spiritual or other expert assistance is required, the author and publisher specifically disclaim any liability that is incurred from the use, misuse or misunderstanding of the contents of this book.

ISBN-10: X-XXXXXX-XX-X ISBN-13: 978-X-XXXXX-XXX-X

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude." Maya Angelou

ID LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU

Hello. My name is LB Lacey and Id like to introduce you to a very powerful and effective tool that ordinary people can use to help them increase their awareness, find inner strength and peace and make sense of the world around them. Its really quite amazing. This simple yet powerful little tool can help you to achieve success, maintain a sense of well-being and it can even enhance the healing process for you. Id like to introduce you to journalingtherapeutic journaling to be exact. Journaling will empower you to get to know yourself better. It will empower you to more effectively deal with people and the world around you. You see, the answers to many of your most perplexing challenges lie deep within you. Journaling helps you to go within and put thoughts, feelings, tiny inklings, etc. into words. It taps into your heart and soul and gives your inner self a voice. By expressing this inner voice via what I like to refer to as, words of the soul, you can heal, balance your emotions and gain greater success and happiness in your life. By simply getting in touch with your true self and allowing your true self to express itself, you will likely experience a level of personal power that you may have never before realized was possible. Journaling can change your life. Some people find that hard to believe, but it is true. We often expect powerful change in our lives to be allusive, intrusive, expensive or barely accessible. Often times, though, your most poignant and life affirming realizations may be inspired by very simple means. Your truth, your answers, your good health may be as close as your fingertips. This little book is going to help you to tap into your inner power and use that power to change your life. No person or force outside of yourself is more powerful that your inner self when it comes to transforming your life. The power

to change your life literally is in your hands. Oft times people hesitate or are worried about begin a therapeutic journaling process. Do worries or fears around journaling? Are you afraid of failing at journaling? Theres nothing to fear. Some people are afraid that journaling can be helpful, but they think that they just cant do it right. Actually, as long as you do it, you cant do it wrong. Journaling is easy. There is not really a wrong way to journal, as journaling cant fail to be useful at least in some way and to some degree for most people. There are, however, ways to optimize the benefits of journaling in order to make it even more effective and therapeutic for you. Breathe easy. I am about to show you how to journal to get the most of it. The length of this powerful little book should suggest how easy learning how to journal is. You will be ready to go in no time so dont you worry about a thing. Your feelings are the most important part of any journaling process and progress. Your feelings, tapping into and writing out your feelings make journaling work for you. Who cares how well you spell? Who cares about sentence structure? Who cares if anything you write makes one iota of sense to anyone other than yourself? No one cares! Your writing is not for other people. Its for you and you alone. Journaling is not as much about reading as it is about writing about and expressing yourself in a way that connects you with the awareness of your emotions. Journaling is miraculous! Whatever you write in your journal is private. It is for your eyes alone and keeping it that way will make the writing you do more cathartic for you. Do you live with nosey family members or friends? Buy a nice journal with a lock on it. If you have absolutely no privacy at all, I advise you to get a spiral notebook and tear out the pages of your journal and destroy them after you write them. Thats right! Your journaling process is just about you using the act of writing therapeutically. You or anyone else need not ever read your writing. Just write. The writing is where the miracles are. Your journal is more than a mere diary chronicling the events of your life; it concretizes or makes solid your feelings

about the events of your life. Your journal is a conduit between you and your inner self. Journaling takes wisps of thoughts, feelings, fears, and desires that you may not even know that you have and it brings them out before your eyes for you to see. Journaling empowers you through awareness. Just the act of expressing your feelings via writing is like medicine for the soul. Im serious! I challenge you to write at least one sentence a day in the morning when you wake up or at night before you go to sleep. Invariably, many people will end up writing much more than one sentence. Thats fine. There may even be those who can at times only manage a two-word sentence. Thats fine as well. As long as you do it, your miracle is on its way. So, welcome to By Word of Soul, your introduction to therapeutic journaling and the tremendous power you have to heal and empower yourself.

WHERE IS WISDOM?
Wisdom is nothing more than healed pain. Robert Gary Lee

Did anyone ever tell you that everything you need to be wise, powerful and gorgeous is already within you? Well, it is. Its deep down in your soul. No one here gave it to you. No one here may take it. The truth of your unique wisdom and power lies inside you. The Creator placed authentic wisdom within you before the very foundation of this world was set in place. Some of us are intuitively aware of our inherent source of wisdom. Others of us need revelation. Despite our varying levels of awareness, limitless power and wisdom are ours. Wisdom and power are inexhaustible. Life itself has called each of us to reconnect with our internal wisdom, access it and use it. As you seek wisdom you will surely find it within yourself where it has always been. As you tap into it and journal the revelations your internal wisdom will show you, you will soon see that the Truth truly does lie within you. You will begin a very powerful healing process. You will see yourself and the world from a new perspective. This revelation is the beginning of true wisdom.
Reconnecting with your inner self can help you to escape memories of the past. It will help you to stop wasting today daydreaming about tomorrow. True wisdom is active and in the moment. To fully integrate power and wisdom, we must become fully aware of who we are--right here and right now. We must emerge from the past. Yesterday is not real. Tomorrow never comes. Now is all there is. We have individual and collective rights and responsibilities to be all that we might be. Yes, we may need to heal some old wounds. Our bodies may need some attention. Our minds may need soothing and our spirits may require some ministering to. By Word of Soul, was born out of the desire to enhance our

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awareness of our inner abilities to harness and use healing, power and wisdom via therapeutic journaling.

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DOES JOURNALING HELP?

We classify disease as error, which nothing but Truth or Mind can heal.
Mary Baker Eddy

The use of visualization, body-centered awareness, journaling, expressive arts and sensory imaging has helped many people to access traumatic experiences, release painful emotions and reverse the ill effects of stress, disease and other damaging maladies. I want to reveal enough of what I know to you about therapeutic journaling and how the Body, Mind & Spirit connection works, to empower you to change your life. The purpose of this section of By Word of Soul is to help you understand how journaling can spark the power of healing, wisdom and transformation in your life. I recently heard Oprah Winfrey remark on her show that many people say, "Diets just don't work for me." She smiled as she reminded us all that the reason a particular diet does not work is because we stop dieting. It's the same with therapeutic journaling. If you stay with the process, it will work for you. It cant fail to workif you do your work a.k.a. journaling. Get ready to wake up! Therapeutic journaling upsets your inner status quo and begins to shift your internal paradigms. It changes old patterns of thought. The old and false way of thinking states that you arrive in this world and the world imposes itself upon you. Old modes of thought claim that you are powerless. It says that you cannot change the external world. They state that you are no more than a slave to external forces, individuals, situations and happenstance. Your powerlessness is an illusion. Learned helplessness is
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responsible for the loss of a vast amount of human potential. Vow now to put off any self-limiting beliefs. You create your reality as a co-creator with and through God. "They" do not want you to know this. A person who is ignorant of her or his own power and freedom to change his or her life is not blissful. (S)he is pitiful. In this benighted state a person cannot even begin to conceive of the fact that (s)he has the power not only to change her or himself, but the world. Wake up! Journaling in a 'mindful' way empowers you. The world would rather you not know who you really are because an ignorant, unaware and complacent person is easier to control. There may be many people, forces and influences that have tried or are currently trying to undermine you. People may bombard you with attempts to judge or "fix" you ostensibly for your own good. You may feel powerless to defend your sense of self. God, however, made YOU. No one here can fix you because no one here created you. The power to transform your life, by God the Creator, is yours. Everything you need to succeed is within you. You have been divinely equipped with the ability to be everything that you were intended to become. It is within you. The impression or notion that you do not have control of your life may be a major source of feelings of helplessness, confusion and conflict in your life. You may not be able to put your finger on it, but this feeling of being powerless and out of control may be at the core of your medical, mental and emotional struggles. Powerlessness, however, is but a feeling. It's a perception. Perceptions are subject to change. Remember; as you think so shall you be. Healing is in your hands--literally. You possess intuitive wisdom and power, but you may feel cut off from the source of your wisdom and power. This may be due to past or current physical, mental or spiritual trauma. Psychologist, James W. Pennebaker, a leading authority on the effectiveness of
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expressive therapies, proved that when people used therapeutic journaling to express their feelings regarding trauma, painful memories and illness, their heart rates slowed, their immune systems were strengthened and remarkably many people reported that they felt better. Individuals who journal experience marked improvements physically and emotionally. This is good news for countless people interested in using journaling as a means of healing and self-empowerment. Again, power is in your hands. Use it. You will feel better. (Pennybaker 249)

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JOURNALING IN ACTION

There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotion.
Carl Gustav Jung

When I began seeing clients at an agency that helped people in crisis, many of my clients were suffering from a fractured sense of self. This fractured sense of self, lies at the core of many symptoms that rear their ugly heads in a person's life. Often people enter therapy with gross feelings of inadequacy, self-loathing, disempowerment and confusion. The feelings that cause a person to decide to finally do something to help herself often range from the very subtle to the extremely intense. Painful emotions are often great motivators for positive change in ones life. Whatever the case, emotion or situation, it is always a good thing when a person decides to take ownership of her or his own state of being. Is taking ownership of your life a choice that you have made? Perhaps you find yourself at an impasse. You are not alone. Just the fact that you are reading this book reveals how powerful you really are. Some people are not yet in a place where they can even take that first step toward real healing and self-awareness. It all starts with a decision. You have made your choice. You are stepping into your greatness. You shall be greatly rewarded my friend. When you begin journaling the power of transformation will dynamically be unleashed in your life. And thats a fact!

Years ago I worked in a resource center for domestic

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violence survivors. Many of the people would sit and go on and on about how an ex-husband or boyfriend had abused them or cheated on them with a best friend or relative. They would cry and curse from grimaced faces. Some would meticulously go through each and every detail of who said this, who said that and who did the other. This kind of repetitious negative expression was seldom very cathartic for them. It would often just make them angrier or increase their already painful emotional states. They could not really hear or see their own process while trapped behind a wall made of their own words. They did not yet realize that saying things like, I hate myself for...I want to kill him...I hate her...I want to just die, etc. was just making everything worse. They did not understand that simply repeating the details of their life's drama was merely the superficial layer of a much deeper process. It was my job to show them how to use the power of words and expression for healing. It was an honor for me to be able to witness the breakthroughs that many people experienced by learning how to express themselves therapeutically with journaling, positive affirmations and creative visualization. Journaling is a secret weapon for healing that I was very eager to share with them. (Just as I am thrilled now to be able to share with you!) It has worked in my own life and I have seen it work in the lives of others. It will work for you too. Without mindfulness many of the people I saw were often actually speaking life and energy into all that they stated they wanted to escape. They were affirming the negativity instead of affirming the positive in their lives. What you express and speak to you give life to. You see, while it is helpful to express yourself when you experience pain, betrayal, loss or trauma, how you express it is just as important as the fact that you express it at all. When I was able to persuade my clients to use therapeutic methods to connect with how they felt about situations in their lives, they became mindful and aware of what was happening in their lives. They could really see how they may have contributed to their own pain and what
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they could do to contribute to their own healing and sense of personal power. When my clients became aware of their own process their personal breakthroughs began. As these once hopeless people started to express their negative feelings in a positive way, positive changes began to take place. The despair faded from their eyes. Hope returned to their voices when they spoke. Hopelessness was replace by personal power. They appeared to come to life. As soon as a person begins to write about his or her experiences and validate her or his emotions by mindfully giving them expression, a light from deep within that person begins to glow more brightly. One of my most vivid memories is of one of my very first clients. She was in her mid thirties. She was an attractive young person with a very painful look in her eyes. She tried to cover it at first with forced smiles. You could see her pain quite clearly though. Her husband had cheated on her and gotten her best friend pregnant. She had three children with him, a high school education and a very low paying job. He and his new girlfriend had begun threatening her and she had to get a restraining order on him. When she came to me she was so rattled and frazzled that she could barely express a complete thought. I began with expressive art exercises for her in order to help her get in touch with her innermost feelings. After a couple of weeks we moved into therapeutic journaling. One day I asked her if she was willing to share some of her experiences with the journaling process. She smiled and said that she would. As she went through her writing she had a sudden epiphany. She began reading a line over and over. It had nothing to do with her husband or her friend. "I feel like I don't even love myself," she read, "I don't love myself...I don't love myself...I don't love myself... Suddenly she began to cry like a baby. It was a bittersweet mixture of pain and the relief of sudden revelation. She got it. She had touched upon the core of her own truth as a person. Everything else in her life was merely a symptom of her lack of self-love. After she cleansed
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her emotional palette with a good cry, we continued with our work. Over the course of the following few weeks this once tortured soul, blossomed like a flower before me. She went back to school. She organized hers and her children's lives. Counseling for her children was arranged. She got legal help for the situation with her husband and decided to divorce him. This phenomenal young woman had tapped into her own internal wisdom. She no longer looked for me or anyone else to tell her what to do. She got it. Her process was a blessing to behold. She vowed to continue to use journaling to gain insight and perspective in her life from that point on.

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HOW JOURNALING WILL HELP YOU

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. Buddha

What is key here is that you re-frame and express personal past experiences in order to process any internal pain, loss, confusion, anger etc., put it all into proper perspective and move on with your life. If unfortunate things happened to you in the past, they do not have to be allowed to hurt you now and into the future. After all, many things were likely not within your power to change in the past. They are, however, subject to your power today. You create your life. You have the power to choose to sit idly by and be an inactive participant in the unfolding of your reality. Even if you decide to do nothing, you are still creating your life. Remember, sadly, many of life's most important choices are made by people simply failing to choose at all. Take hold of your personal power! Truly powerful people choose to choose because the inner core of their soul tells them that those who fail to choose, choose to fail.

Journaling will help you by allowing you space and time to contemplate your own experiences and express them, thus a dynamic process of transformation will be activated. You will be reconciled to your inner strength, the essential beauty of your spirit, boundless joy and deep wisdom, which are every person's birthright. To re-claim your birthright you must go within. You must delve into the inner workings of your body, mind and soul. During this process you are encouraged to go deep within and dig out all your "stuff." Address it, inspect it, respect it, express it and learn from it. Then you must resolve to leave all that "stuff" in the past. You cannot move forward
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while fixating on what is behind you. Failure to let go of the past is one of the main causes of pain for most people who are suffering today. Again, learn from and leave your past in the past where it belongs. Isnt it enough that whatever or whomever hurt you in the past, hurt you in the past? Are you going to let them, it or whatever hurt you in the present too? Journaling will help you to get the past out of the presents way. Journaling will help you to reconnect with your own inner storehouse of healing, power and wisdom. Journaling is used in holistic based therapies to encourage body, mind, spirit integration or re-connection. Therapeutic journaling enables you to go inside and take feelings, thoughts and perspectives from mindlessness to mindfulness. To be mindful means that you have been awakened to a heightened state of awareness and attentiveness. This awareness brings you from the foolishness of childhood illusions into the full awareness of a self-actualized person. As you go begin to use journaling on a regular basis, you will begin to discover who you really are from a deeper and more meaningful perspective. Holistic (simply meaning "whole") perspective reveals to us that we are complete. We are made of unified parts that form the whole, which is greater than the sum of all the parts. That may sound a little bit confusing if this is your first time considering your identity from a complete perspective. It will become clearer and clearer to you as we move forward. Please just be mindful of this: You are Body, but you are more than that. You are Mind and more than that. You are Spirit and yet more than that as well. What is the more aspect of who you are? It is who you are as Body, Mind and Spirit; three separate, whole parts combined in one dynamic consciousness. The Truth of that will become more and more clear for you as you continue to journal. When you are able to see yourself as a Whole, well-balanced being who has everything (s)he needs to build a happy, successful, love-filled life, regardless of what others do or fail to do to you, for you or because of you, you will then be able to live fully and freely in the world.
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THE BODY/MIND/SPIRIT CONNECTION

Body
You are Body. You likely have a basic awareness of your body as head, belly, arms, legs, etc. Let's however, move into a deeper awareness wherein true growth may be facilitated. We tend to think of body as the corporal self, the physical form. Our physical body is a living, cellular map of everything that has happened to us since birth. Good and bad experiences are stored in and affect the body constantly. The hypothalamus, for instance, is a major "body control center" as it regulates bodily functions. When a person has unresolved emotions and fears trapped inside the body, this triggers the hypothalamus to respond in ways that it "thinks" will regulate the body. Surprise, love, heartbreak and fear are only a small list of emotions that have impacted who we are and how we are today. If one leads a stressful life, physical manifestations may be seen as headaches, insomnia, ulcers, general fatigue, cancer, etc. It is of paramount importance to balance all the different aspects of life so that dis-ease or ultimately disease is not created in the body. By journaling your emotions, thoughts and experiences, you bring them out of your internal landscape where left unexpressed they can become stuck, fixed and begin show up as actual illnesses in the body. Think of your body as a canvas and yourself as the artist. You are creating a lovely work of art. This work of art is not created by what happens to you but by how you choose to perceive, process, express and respond to what happens to you. By choosing to use holistic and expressive techniques such as journaling, you grab the brush, so to speak. You take control as the artist and author of your own life. You create your own body from moment to moment.
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Mind
You are Mind. The brain is usually the focal point when we mention the mind. The mind, however, is more magnificent than we imagine. It is not limited solely to the brain. The mind permeates every cell of the body. The body is symbiotically connected to every thought. Each thought builds the body. The mind has an uncanny ability to determine the actions and reactions of the body. Psychoneuroimmunology is a complex word used to explain the simple idea of mind over matter. The mind directly influences the body. Thoughts of love, prayerfulness, hope, and positivism all effect who we are mentally and physically. Conversely, thoughts of hate, fear, anger and negativity affect our resultant selves. Amazing findings by Japanese researcher, Dr. Masaru Emoto, (Emoto, Masaru. The Hidden Messages in Water) have provided dramatic proof that thoughts, words and emotional vibrations directly affect physical reality. Dr. Emoto's study of the molecular structure of water has shown that water exposed to various written words, spoken words, and types of music respond directly to the nature of the words, music or intention it is exposed to. Every word you speak has an effect on you and others. Be mindful. (Emoto 160)

Spirit
You are Spirit. The spirit is the nucleus of our essential self. Spirit is the part of the "trilogy of self" that manifests the eternal uniqueness of an individual. Your spirit is the aspect of yourself that transforms knowledge into wisdom. Your spirit animates the body. Your spirit activates the mind on its path of thought. The mind asks, "What is the meaning of my life?" The spirit answers. Your spirit is the part of yourself that no one
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can touch without your consent. In one of the most poignant and life changing books I have ever read, Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl, he offers profound insight into the indelible nature of the spirit. In essence, he said that during his imprisonment in the Nazi death camps, he realized an ultimate truth. He came to know with certainty that while the Nazis could starve and torture his body, while they could humiliate him and cause him severe mental agony, they could not touch his essential self unless he allowed them to. He disallowed hatred and evil entrance into his soul. This is true power. Years ago I used journaling to record my experience around reading that book and a deep awareness of my own identity began to emerge. I began to become more aware of who I was created and sent here to be. Through Frankl's book, I came to see my own incorruptible, indestructible human nature. I experienced a level of revelation that has stayed with me ever since. Remember, the body may be victimized. The mind too may be vulnerable. Your spirit, however, belongs to you. Not even God, the Creator of the universe will act upon your spirit without your consent. Your soul is your domain and you have the power to choose who or what you allow inor out. You define your own essential state of being. You create your life. (Frankl et al, 1959)

You Are Whole

Body. Mind. Spirit. Put them all together and you have YOU. If you find yourself in a state of imbalance or disempowerment it simply means that it is time to do what our Sister-Teacher, Iyanla VanZant calls "housecleaning". In her powerful book, In the Meantime, Iyanla wisely instructs people to "clean out their heads." Through this cleaning-out process, a person prepares herself for true growth and for love. (VanZant et al, 1999) At the core of any therapeutic journaling process is
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the intention to reconnect with self. Pain, grief and trauma cause many people to disconnect or even disassociate from themselves. Journaling can start a reversal of this disconnection. Through journaling a person can begin to form authentic connections with the world around herself or himself, other people and ultimately with her or his own spirituality. This gives meaning to a person's life. The process of this book is about finding yourself and giving yourself--your soul, the power of expression of expression through therapeutic journaling. As a holistic counselor, I endeavor to share and teach people effective modes of expression and communication that will allow us to live more fully in the world. Before I began my training in holistic counseling, I really had not seen or understood how truly powerful hands on, experiential modalities of healing worked. I have seen personally and with clients how expressive arts and journaling can liberate a person once trapped in the confines of his or her own diminishment. When a person really gets that she is the co-creator of her own life...watch out. (S)he cannot be stopped. No one can beat such a persons body down. No system of thought or external authority can oppress or subjugate this person. No malevolent influence can possess such a persons soul. When a person connects with her or his own essence (s)he becomes aware of the connection to the Creator, to others, to nature and to the universe. Yes, that's when a person starts to live full-force! Are you ready to live your life full-force? Lets go!

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HOW TO JOURNAL
Do you want to be a power in the world? Then be yourself. Ralph Waldo Trine

Therapeutic journaling is a proven method of expression that fosters healing and catharsis for individuals who use it therapeutically. All journaling is usually helpful, however, it is not all necessarily therapeutic in nature. The difference between therapeutic journaling and writing a diary is subtle, but very important to understand if you want to get maximum benefit from the journaling process. Heres an example of a typical diary entry: "Dear Diary: Today I got a letter from my boyfriend. In it he said that he wanted to take a break from our relationship. I tore the letter up, called him crying and cussed him out. He hung up on me. When I tried to call back my calls went straight to voice mail." That is an example of a person who is just writing out the events and recounting the details. This does not necessarily help a person to process the experience or express emotions in a way that validates or alleviates pain. It also fails to help the person to gain a deeper awareness of what is going on internally which is where true insight and wisdom begins. The following is an example of the same experience written in a therapeutic way: "I feel sad, lonely and rejected today because my boyfriend just sent me a letter saying he wanted to take a break from our relationship. Saying something like that in
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a letter felt impersonal and disrespectful to me. I felt anger build up in my belly and grow larger and larger until I decided to just call him. Before I knew what hit me, words of anger and contempt for him just starting flowing from my mouth. It felt like a dam of pent up hurt and pain had broken inside of me. I did not feel love for myself or for him. Then when he just hung up on me it felt like a slap in the face. Every time I called back and just got his voice mail it was like another slap after another. I feel so lost, alone, scared and very angry! This does not feel right. This is not my idea of what love should feel like. I do not want this feel this way anymore." The second example of journaling is an example of connecting with one's emotions and thoughts in a therapeutic way. It shows a person connecting to her sense of self. This is how emotions are processed instead of repressed. This sparks growth. When a person expresses thoughts and feelings on paper where (s)he can see them, the process of awareness and healing begins. It jars the senses. It jolts one into getting real when the thoughts and emotions flow from her or his head, down his or her arm and out through the fingertips onto a once blank page. (S)he sees himself or herself. The evidence of her or his pain and suffering may be a bit difficult for a person to view at first, but it empowers the person to recognize that (s)he is empowered to change what (s)he sees. All (s)he must do is decide. This brings about clarity, revelation and understanding. Journaling therapeutically will bring you into a loving and meaningful relationship with yourself. My initial intrigue with the power of journaling began when my professor, Barbara Ganim, explained to us that in one study individuals with arthritis experienced a decrease in pain, stiffness and reduction in joint swelling after using therapeutic journaling. This was amazing. The concept of joints actually shrinking in direct response to therapeutic journaling had a
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very profound effect on me. I wanted to know all I could learn about therapies that offered measurable results. I have come to respect therapeutic journaling as one of the most effective and easily accessible therapies that offers notable improvement in physical and emotional states of being. Journaling allows a person to take an active role in her own process. (S)he no longer sits as an inactive victim of her or his own circumstances. (S)he no longer sits waiting for a rescuer. (S)he rescues his or her own self by words from her or his own soul. The activity of self-expression marks the beginning of selfactualization for many people. It wakes us up. It heals, empowers and enriches us on all levels of being. As you go through this journaling journey, powerful innerintuition will lovingly speak wisdom into your body--however broken, your mind--however troubled and your soul--however weary. Each day you are invited to journal your thoughts and insights as you contemplate the wisdom, the insight and healing you experience. You will also been provided with Words for the Soul Affirmations" that you are strongly advised to repeat throughout the day. These affirmations are provided to help propel you along your path of empowerment, healing and revelation. You are asked to merely repeat the affirmation(s) of your choice throughout each day in order to activate positive energy in your life. Remember, you create your life. Affirmations are extremely powerful tools for the creative process of life. As you journal you will experience the joyous and the challenging. Some things may make you laugh. Others may bring you to tears. You may experience many emotions as all of the aspects of your life come together to increase you in wisdom, stature and power as a person. The most painful experiences of your life oft times bring with them the gift of great wisdom. So do not be afraid. The development of yourself as a person is your highest call. This call moves you out of your comfort zone. It stretches and challenges you. Fear
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not. We are all in the process of trying to live a better life. We go through it simultaneously. We follow the paths of those who have gone before us and we pave the way for those who follow in our footsteps. The path may get a bit rocky and winding as times, but stay with it. You are loved. You are supported. Again, just stay with the process...especially when it seems most difficult. The difficulty holds your greatest lesson and your greatest opportunity for growth and transcendence.

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READ JOURNAL - AFFIRM

When you can, be sure to read the inspirational writing and success stories of some of the most powerful, creative, dynamic and wise people of the world. They shall speak pure greatness into your body, mind and spirit. The larger portion of the expression, however, must come from you. Each word you write, think and affirm within the context of this exercise is an injection of physical, emotional and spiritual "medicine" into the core of your being. Well being. Life. Power. Freedom. Jubilation. The loving and meaningful power of all these words and more are yours. You are encouraged to journal your thoughts on a regular basis. Affirmations will also be provided in this book to enhance your journaling process. When you journal, express how some of the affirmations makes you feel. What memories arise and how do they affect you? Express your thoughts and feelings as you move through the process. The important thing is that you read, journal your thoughts/feelings and repeat the affirmations everyday. Read. Journal. Affirm. Your life will change!
"Turn your wounds into wisdom." Oprah Winfrey

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USING AFFIRMATIONS TO ENHANCE YOUR JOURNALING PROCESS

The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth." Albert Einstein

Basically affirmations are stating what you desire to be as if it already is...and it is very powerful. What do you want? What would the perfect life look like for you? Can you imagine it? If you can imagine it, you can create it. Affirmations help you to manifest the life you desire if you know how to use them. Using affirmations is simple. Everything in your life today was brought into being through your personal power, magnetism, thoughts, words and imaginings. You may or may not have been consciously aware of the process, but you have already created your own reality. You can re-create it too. Years ago, affirmations, unbeknownst to me, were destined to play a rather significant role in my life. Over a decade ago the devastation of a heart shattering betrayal leading to a painful divorce had left me feeling alone, depressed and utterly dis-empowered. I honestly wanted to give up. I had three young children, however, who needed me to be stronger than I actually was. Their father had abandoned our family and I could not let them down on top of it all. Their well-being was vastly more important to me than my own personal pain and deep sense of loss. I struggled through each day. I was unaware of it at the time, but the Creator's hand was on my life. Through my pain, I still felt the need to become a whole, happy, successful human being. I knew that my life was meant for so much more. I wanted to live up to my full potentialbut
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I didnt know how to really do that. Many powerful, talented and wise people find themselves caught between what others tell them they should be and what they really want to be. I love how Iyanla advises us not to allow other people to should all over us. Shes 100% right about that! The challenge is for each person to grow into the awareness of what (s)he already is. The Creator has made you exactly what you should be or you would be something else. Affirmations are immeasurably beneficial in enhancing a person's God given power to become all that (s)he might be instead of flailing about trying to please people and force ones self to do or to be what others think one should do or be. Other people have their own lives to live. Leave them to live it and leave you to live yours. You have a right to live your life free from anyone elses projections. Its your life. What do you want from your life? Many years ago, I allowed negative statements, thoughts and fears to damage my resolve. I allowed other people to tell me who I was and what I "should" do in order to become who they believed I ought to be. What an awful way to live when God, the Creator has created us all perfectly. We have been given access to Divine Wisdom and the power to transform our lives free from popular culture's projections and the opinions of other people. When we allow ourselves to feed off of negative self-talk or aspersions cast by others, it always harms us. It negates our worth. Affirmations validate our worth. They affirm our GREATNESS. Fortunately, I did not allow the screaming voice of negativity to wholly cancel out the true Voice of my soul. The true Voice is that of the Creator whispering and straining to be heard. When you utter positive affirmations, you echo the very Voice of the Creator. This Voice creates. Your voice creates. Affirmations inspire, motivate & excite you because as you speak them something within your body, your mind and your spirit tells you that they are as TRUE as you will allow them to be. As you state your affirmations, negative voices fade in the
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distance. Affirmations propel you toward the manifestation of greatness, abundance, joy and successif you use them.

Questions to Ask Yourself

To successfully begin practicing positive affirmation and creative visualization, you are encouraged to use the following simple yet very important questions and guidelines in planning your practice: 1.) What do I want? You may want to pray, meditate and think seriously about this before moving forward. Be careful with what you speak or affirm in your life because you will get it. Clearly and firmly create the vision of what you want within your heart, mind and soul. Select affirmations to support your vision. Visualize. Affirm. Let go of what you want. Yes, if you really want it...let it go. This may seem somewhat contradicting but you must realize that obsessing or clinging to anything repels it. When you use affirmations you are changing your energetic patterns to attract what your want. Attraction is passive and remarkably powerful. 2.) When do I want it? Now. You must state everything you want as if you already have it right now. Set your intention. Choose an affirmation that positively states what you desire as if you absolutely already possess it. Remember, it is very important to state what you DO want and NEVER to state what you DO NOT want. For instance, say "I am beautiful." Do not say, "I want to be beautiful." "I will be beautiful" or "I am not ugly!" The key to using affirmations successfully is to state everything positively. 3.) Why do I want what I want? Write out the purpose of
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your affirmation practice. Know why you want whatever you desire. Why is it so important to you? Why should God, the Creator and the Universe support your having it? It is important for the energy of your practice for you to be clear on your "why". Purpose fuels your process. 4.) How do I AFFIRM what I want? Engage all of your senses in your creative visualization practice. See, feel, hear, taste and even smell the reality of having what you want in your life. The more you engage your senses in the process the more real your affirmations become...literally. 5.) Where will I practice? Your affirmation practice will ultimately become a part of everything you do everywhere. At first you will need to find deliberately set times and places when and where you know you will state your affirmation(s). Soon after you begin to mindfully begin to state your affirmations throughout the day, they will become a natural part of your daily experience. Your words will change. The thoughts in your mind will change....and your life will change. Honestly, the world will change! 6.) When will I practice? It is good to repeat your affirmations for 5-10 minutes at night before you go to bed, and for 5-10 minutes in the morning just after you wake up. It is optimal if you can find a space and time in the middle of your day for your practice as well. It is very good if you can mindfully say your affirmations at least to yourself all throughout your day. Saying them while driving, showering, putting on your make-up, walking your dog, exercising, etc. is good. Your affirmations need to be always on the tip of your tongue. This will help them to gather the energy from you to make them manifest everything you desire. 7.) Who will be affected by it? In order to be successful your affirmation practice, you must seek to harm no one. This is of
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vital importance for the Divine Law of Reciprocity is always in place. So, affirm goodness, Love and Light in order to receive the same. For instance, when you visualize yourself with the man of your dreams, this must not entail stealing another person's spouse or establishing any relationship based on betrayal or deceit. Deceitful, harmful intentions and selfishness negate the powerful positive energy of affirmations. Also when you visualize yourself getting a promotion or new job, it must not include someone else being fired. Compose your affirmations and create your visualization to support the optimal result and blessings for everyone. Rest assured that there is such Abundance in the Universe that you and everyone else on the planet can be blessed many times over without anyone being alone, deprived or in lack of anything. Lack is an illusion. Affirm Abundance. Abundance, blessings, love and Light are yours!

Affirmations for a Powerful Start

Powerful affirmations have been provided for you below. Read each one and see which words resonate with you. Feel free to change, adjust or add to any affirmation to suit you. Remember to journal daily, visualize and affirm. And get ready. Your life is about to change!

1 Affirmation I draw strength from generations of grace, greatness, and courage to live my life with wisdom, power, and boundless joy.

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2 Affirmation The positive transformation of my entire life begins with the decision I choose to make today. 3 Affirmation
I expect my special gifts to manifest God, the Creators glory and greatness in all areas of my life.

4 Affirmation The divine seed of my blessed destiny has already been planted within me and it grows larger and brighter with every sunrise and rainfall. 5 Affirmation I now embrace all gifts of Creativity and Power from God, the Creator to me in order to share these gifts with the planet. 6 Affirmation I have the faith, the power, and the courage to face and conquer the challenges of my life. 7 Affirmation I recognize, realize, and actualize the fact that I define my own Greatness in this world.

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8 Affirmation As I embrace thoughts of power, abundance, love, and wisdom, they are profoundly manifested in my life. 10 Affirmation Today I will listen for the Lessons of my life, I will learn them as they come, and I will grow beyond myself with each new day.

11 Affirmation I embrace each obstacle in my life as an opportunity for increased growth and enhanced empowerment.

12 Affirmation I am doing all things through the Love and Light of God, the Creator with an inner peace that passes all understanding. 13 Affirmation Today, I celebrate my power to choose to change for the better physically, in my emotionally and my spiritually. 14 Affirmation I am a person of unlimited power, unequivocal talent, and undeniable wisdom enabling me to accomplish
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great works in the world. 15 Affirmation I dynamically shine my Light so that others will know that they are empowered to shine their Light as well. 16 Affirmation I am leaving the pain behind to claim the joyous, triumphant, peaceful life that God, the Creator wants me to enjoy. 17 Affirmation I make wise decisions that optimize my health-physically, mentally and spiritually. 18 Affirmation All is full of Love and Light as I release all fears of loneliness, abandonment, and rejection with the awareness that I am truly never alone. 19 Affirmation My attitude, mood, and gratitude attract positive people, productive projects and loving relationships into my life. 20 Affirmation I reach out of my past, from my present and into the future of my boundless potentiality.
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21 Affirmation I fully accept my true eternal significance in a world that tries daily to convince me of my false unimportance. 22 Affirmation I bless and edify my Body, my Mind, and my Spirit with everything I think, speak, and do.

23 Affirmation I arrive in this day wrapped in the finery of faith, beauty, wisdom, and power. 24 Affirmation Through self-love, self-esteem and inner truth I am propelled to higher and higher states of greatness. 25 Affirmation I diligently guard my thoughts and what I allow to enter my life on a day-to-day basis.

26 Affirmation I now accept the powerful, creative, joyful, wise and successful ME as God, the Creator created me to be.
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27 Affirmation I fully embrace the power to be who, how, what, and where I want to be. 28 Affirmation I am the embodiment of goodness, strength, confidence, intuition, humility, grace and wisdom today and everyday. 29 Affirmation My Voice resonates with the transformative power of authenticity, truth authority, and wisdom. 30 Affirmation I am now free from all hurtful, harmful or unhealthy people, habits and situations. 31 Affirmation I choose to radiate peace, Light and confidence from within while in the presence of others.

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By Word of Soul One-on-One Coaching Program With Dynamic Life Coach and Author, LB Lacey, MA.
This Dynamic Life Coaching program is based on LB Laceys books By Word of Soul and 100 Words of Wisdom for Women a 31-Day Exercise in Empowerment and The Balancing Book for Women. This program includes wisdom enhancement, development and life coaching from CEO of SOULutions for Dynamic Living, LB Lacey, MA. The one on one format will allow you to work with LB Lacey in a safe, confidential setting where you feel free to go within, bring out your "stuff" and work toward your vision of your ultimate and empowered self. This program will help to keep you focused on progressive personal transformation, which will affect all areas of your life. Since we are only as effective in all areas of our life as we are living as a successful and balanced individual, this program will support your efforts to progress personally and professionally. WHAT IS COACHING? According to the International Coaching Federation, the following are definitions of coaching: Coaching subscribes to common philosophies and common objectives. Coaching helps individuals and organizations to develop more rapidly and produce more satisfying results. Coaching focuses on the goals the client chooses. Coaching is tailored to the individual needs of the client. Coaching is interactive. Coaching elicits solutions and strategies from the client. Coaching provides a fresh perspective. Coaching helps clients to build on their natural strengths.
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 Coaching is based in the belief that the client is creative and resourceful. Coaching is based in the belief that the client is responsible for doing the work to achieve the results he or she wants. Coaching looks at how all the parts of a persons life work together. The power of coaching comes from the strength of the bond between coach and client. The International Coaching Federation further explains that, Professional coaching is an ongoing partnership that helps clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. Through the process of coaching, clients deepen their learning, improve their performance, and enhance their quality of life. In each meeting, the client chooses the focus of the conversation, while the coach listens and contributes observations and questions. This interaction creates clarity and moves the client into action. Coaching accelerates the clients progress by providing greater focus and awareness of choice. Coaching concentrates on where clients are today and what they are willing to do to get where they want to be tomorrow.

Is This for You? This is definitely for you if you are a person who has reached a point in life where you recognize the need reconnect with yourself. If you have been wondering why certain situations keep repeating themselves in your life despite your best efforts to get over and get on with your life, you will benefit from this program. If you want to leave the past behind to claim your healthy, joyful and meaningful life coaching is most definitely a gift you deserve to give to yourself.

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How Will It Help? Dynamic Life Coaching will provide support and guidance as you go into the process of re-connection with some possibly painful emotions. It will provide you with a customized plan of action. You will be supported with proven methods of therapeutic journaling and expressive arts that help restore balance within you. You will find your own Voice and learn how to express it powerfully in the world. The work you do will enhance and positively affect all other areas of your life. What Areas will We Focus On? Who Are You? We will discuss your physical, emotional and spiritual state of being and how you can work toward synthesizing all aspects of yourself. We will discuss your particular vision or desired outcomes for your program. The Body/Mind Connection We will discuss the influence of the body on mental states, and vice versa. We will explore ways of actively allowing you to decide where you want to be physically and mentally and what you will do to achieve the optimal physical and mental health that you desire. Finding Power Within the Mind/Emotion Connection We will explore the influence of your desires, imagination and dreams on your life. You will learn how to wield the transformative power of creativity to deepen your awareness of
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the vital connection that your mind and emotion has with your physical existence, what you are able to manifest or accomplish in life and how you can enjoy a feeling of deep peace, wisdom and satisfaction as a result of living your life authentically. Creating a Life of Spiritual Wisdom, Power and Meaning We will explore the deep connection between your physical and mental health as they empower you to develop a sense of personal meaning as well as connectedness to a higher purpose. This higher purpose is the call of all people to wisdom, power and spiritual authority through God, the Creator. Here we will define and outline your unique vision for fulfilling your quest for wisdom, meaning and purpose in life. Where Will We Hold Our Sessions? LB Lacey will work with you personally via weekly telephone sessions and via unlimited e-mail communication for your entire program. You will receive personal attention from a qualified holistic practitioner, customized coaching and advising and Gestalt-centered strategies designed to nurture your inner Voice and Awareness. This experience will enhance your endeavor to free yourself from limiting and negative selftalk, feelings, thoughts and influences so that you manifest more success, abundance and joy in your life. You will also receive 3 FREE gift certificates for a 30 minute By Word of Soul Coaching Session for 3 of your closest friends or family members.

When Can We Get Started? You can register TODAY and secure your space with LB Lacey. The value of a program of this nature with a holistic
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practitioner is worth over $799, but we are offering an introductory special with the release By Word of Soul. Option One: Only $599.00 for FOUR 60 minute phone sessions (thats only $149.75 per session). One coaching session with LB Lacey, MA. is usually $200.00, so thats saving you about $50.00 per session for a total $200.00 SAVINGS! Option Two: Only $199.00 ONE 60 minute By Word of Soul Dynamic Life Coaching Session Option Three: Monthly Sessions: 4 - 30 min. sessions/month: $300 3 - 30 min. sessions/month: $225 2 - 30 min. sessions/month: $150 1 - 55 min. sessions/month: $150

To schedule your sessions please call 248-341-3863 or email:

DynamicLifeCoach@SOULutionsForDynamicLiving.com
For more information and resources please visit us on the web:

www.SOULutionsForDynamicLiving.com

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References Emoto, Masaru. The Hidden Messages in Water. Hillsboro: Beyond Words Publishing, Inc., 2004. Frankl , V. (1959). Man's search for meaning. New York: Washington Square Press. Pennebaker, PhD., J. (1997). Opening up: the healing power of expressing emotions. new York, NY: The Guilford Press. VanZant, I. (1999). In the meantime: finding yourself and the love you want. 1 ed. New York: Fireside.

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You may also enjoy reading the phenomenal new book by LB Lacey, MA and Dara DeCando, MA:

The Balancing Book for Women

How to Lose Weight By Gaining of Balance Body, Mind & Spirit READ EXCERPT BELOW:
Oft times diets require women to get weighed, get measured, calculate body fat, count calories, and reduce healthy living to numbers. A basic tenet of most diets is; Take in less than you expend. This might cause a woman to say, Gee, thanks. Thats witty. Last time I checked, I didnt even like numbers and quite frankly, the totality of my existence has never been quite that one dimensional or simpleever! Of course then out of desperation she may buy the book, watch the tape and accept the misadvised suggestions only to end up right back where she started. A trained monkey can work the numbers but then the pounds creep back on and you feel like a failure for not being able to do the job of a trained monkey HMM failure, depression, guilt, more pounds and round and round we go! Now is the time to get it all together. Get balanced. Become Whole. The Body is enmeshed and intertwined with the mind and spirit. To eat differently, you need to think differently. To think differently, you need to act differently. To act differently, you need to be introduced to new ideas, effective techniques and healthy habits that can actually fit into the life of a real woman. This is what Balancing Book for Women has been designed for. It is of the utmost importance for you to be supported in achieving this new perspective. This book gives real life tools to gain new perspective of yourself and the world around you while you lose not only physical pounds, but emotional weight as well. The Balancing Book for Women will help develop your personal awareness of the Body/ Mind /Spirit connection. The relationship between Body/Mind/Spirit is symbiotic in nature, a mutually beneficial relationship, and ultimately it benefits the Whole person. Understanding the relationship between your Body/Mind/Spirit connections will help you to create a Whole New You both inside [ 37 ]

and out. The techniques, strategies and exercises presented to you in this book are based on holistic principles. As Dynamic Life Coaches and Masters level Holistic Counselors we are trained to balance the Body, Mind and Spirit. Life coaching is based on the idea that you as a human being are naturally creative, resourceful and whole. You hold the answers already within you. Holistic counseling is based on Gestalt therapy, which is defined as: A set of elements such as a persons thoughts and experiences considered as a whole and regarded as amounting to more than the sum of its parts...Behavior and perception are an integrated whole and not simply the sum of individual stimuli and responses. Basically, you are more than the sum of your parts. Life is about being in the moment; acknowledging the past and focusing on the future that you want to have. What sounds simple isnt always easy. This is a process. We help transform your thinking from judgmental to caring, from hating to loving, from eager to patient, from imposing to kind, from frightened to forgiven. The world is our mirror. We reflect our inner feelings out into the worldand we get back from the universe what we put into it. It is all about choosing and creating what you really want. Decide who you really want to be. Imagine looking at your self on a stage. As Elvis asks in his hit tune, Are You Lonesome Tonight?" Act 1 is a stage and everybody plays a part. Life is an awful lit like a stage and a grand production. What part do you want to play in it? Choose a life and live your way into it! If you want to be a happy person, BE a happy person. If you want to be a patient person, BE a patient person. If you want to be a loving person, BE a loving person. We dont think ourselves into acting differently; we act ourselves into thinking differently. Why do we consistently keep a so-called love in our lives that we would not find acceptable for our own daughter? Why do we wind up having the same argument over and over and over again with the ones we love? Why do we endure relationships that we know are toxic to us? Why do we should all over ourselves? Why do we stay in a job that kills the Soul? Most of these reoccurring, cycling issues are major stumbling blocks in our ability to grow. We tend to give up trying to change because we never learned the proper way to handle the issues in the first place. We hear time and time again: No matter what I do, its always [ 38 ]

the same. We are all guilty of doing this from time to time, sure, but it is no longer insignificant when poor communication fosters perpetually poor habits with our selves and others. Lacking effective communication skills as an adult is like being a little pre-schooler who has been given a picture to cut out without a pair of scissors. The best you can do, being given no tools, is rip along the edges leaving rough, torn outlines. Due to the fact that you dont know what you dont know, its the best you THINK you can do. If you have never been offered scissors; you dont even know they exist. As time goes by, poor skills impact all areas of life; you are left with your own torn outlines. Slowly you become imbalanced. Because we are only as effective as we are living effectively in the world, lack or dysfunction in any area of our lives often manifests itself in other areas of our lives. Imagine a spinning top for a moment. When in balance, it rotates so effortlessly it appears to be a stationary object. However, the slightest force can cause imbalance, making an awkward warble, which results in a fall. Our lives, in a sense, are no different. It is the Body/Mind/Spirit connection that needs balance. Communication is the most effective tool to achieve balance with our selves and the world around us. It is the difference between surviving and thriving. By balancing your inner self, you will by osmosis achieve a healthy, balance body weight along with a host of other phenomenal benefits. END OF EXCERPT FROM The Balancing Book for Women How to Lose Weight By Gaining of Balance Body, Mind & Spirit All Rights Reserved Copyright 2008 Lisa Bartley-Lacey, MA & Dara DeCando, MA $19.95

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