The Five-Minute Miracle

by Tara Springett

  Summary

  After two weeks, measure your amount of negative emotion on the scale (take an average of the last three days) and compare the number with the one you had two weeks earlier.

  Ask your higher consciousness for your current life-path imagery and compare it with the one you received two weeks earlier. Ask in the following way: Higher consciousness, can you please show me what I am doing now on my life-path?

  Your life-path imagery will improve according to how you have improved with your problem.

  Try to appreciate sincerely even the smallest improvements.

  Chapter 13

  WORKING WITH COMPLEX PROBLEMS

  IF YOU WANT TO ADDRESS A COMPLEX problem and you know in advance that it has several aspects and layers (like the suffering arising from a divorce), always work first with the negative emotion that causes you the most suffering. For example, ask yourself whether you feel mostly anger, mostly sadness, or mostly fear. As I have pointed out before, it is important to avoid psychoanalyzing yourself to find “deeper aspects” or “unconscious motivations.” It is much more important to pinpoint your most painful emotion clearly and then to dissolve it by using a healing symbol.

  Once your initial negative emotion has been substantially reduced (after two to four weeks), you may find that another negative emotion comes to the foreground. This is a very good sign of progress. Simply ask for another healing symbol to overcome this new aspect of your problem. There are only three main categories of negative emotions: anger, sadness, and anxiety (see chapter 4). We can therefore be assured that there will be no endless succession of negative feelings waiting for us. For example, in the case of a divorce, there may be first a layer of despair (sadness group), then anger (at ourselves or our partner), and finally anxiety about loneliness and financial difficulties. All these emotions can be dissolved, or at least substantially reduced, with higher-consciousness healing. Anne's story illustrates how to do this.

  Anne

  Anne worked with higher-consciousness healing to recover from the devastating results of her recent separation from her husband. When she came to see me, she was in emotional turmoil. Her husband had left her to be with another woman, and it had come as a complete shock to her. She felt anger, grief, longing, sadness, and loneliness, and she was suffering from insomnia. In our first session, I asked her which of all these feelings was giving her the most suffering. Unfortunately, Anne was so upset that she found this question hard to answer. After talking for a while to clarify her feelings, she asked for a healing symbol to overcome her suffering from feeling despair about her divorce. She received a golden broach as her symbol. On her life-path, she saw herself halfway up the mountain, crouching, with her head down, and holding herself around the knees.

  Anne cried a lot during her first two weeks of higher-consciousness healing, but she felt a genuine process of letting go. She still experienced waves of despair, but when she remembered her healing symbol, she got over these difficult emotions more quickly than before. After two weeks, she felt a bit better, but was still quite far from being happy. When she looked at her life-path, she was still crouching down, but she had stopped holding her knees and was now looking up at her higher consciousness. It wasn't a great improvement, but this imagery served as a big encouragement to her.

  I asked Anne what was causing her the greatest suffering out of all her remaining symptoms. She said that although she felt less sad and despairing, she felt terrified at the prospect of living on her own. This time, she asked for a healing symbol to overcome her suffering from feeling frightened of living on her own. She worked painstakingly with her new symbol for another two weeks and her fear diminished considerably. She also started to meet up with a relative and this was a great comfort to her. When she looked at her life-path two weeks later, she was standing up and had made some tentative steps up the mountain. This improved imagery served once again as an encouragement.

  I asked Anne again which of her remaining symptoms was causing her the biggest suffering. After thinking for a while, she said that the emotional hurt of being alone (sadness group) was now the worst for her. After another two weeks, she felt a lot more confident, and on her life-path, she saw that she had made even more steps up the mountain. Once again, she selected the emotion that was causing her the biggest suffering and she asked for a symbol to overcome her suffering from being incredibly angry about the behavior of her husband.

  At the end of these eight weeks of higher-consciousness healing, Anne felt much better. Her suffering from her divorce had dropped from 8 on the scale to 2. Her emotional state still fluctuated sometimes, but, all in all, she was over the worst.

  Each New Problem Needs a Different Symbol

  We should always work with the negative emotion that is causing us the greatest suffering in a very obvious way, just as Anne did. Each new problem and each new negative emotion needs a different healing symbol from our higher consciousness, and we should work with each symbol for a minimum of two weeks. After the first two weeks, we can continue with the same symbol for as long as we feel it is helpful. Alternatively, we can ask for another symbol for another painful emotion.

  Coping with Relapses

  With higher-consciousness healing, our problem will either get better gradually over time, or suddenly and all at once. Only one thing is certain—our problem will return every now and then. Until our new healthy pattern is deeply established, our old negative habit is bound to come back. This is particularly true if we have had a chronic problem. In other words, our problems rarely get better in a straight line but mostly in a zigzag line that gradually bends upward.

  The good news is that the periods when our problem returns will get shorter and the intervals between these periods will get longer. If we know to expect a certain up-and-down pattern, we will feel less frustrated when our problem comes back. Whenever a symptom comes back, just remember your healing symbol and work with it until your relapse is over. You can do that in parallel with any other symbol that you may be working with at the moment.

  How Long Will It Take?

  I used to tell my clients that they should expect to work one month for every year their problem had persisted. For example, if someone had a problem that lasted six years, they should expect to practice higher-consciousness healing for six months. However, as time went by, I realized that in most cases people achieved improvements much faster.

  With regular practice, most people find that their problem either completely disappears or that it decreases to 1 or 2 on the scale of suffering after a few days, several weeks or in some cases several months. Being at 1 or 2 represents only a very small worry—and this can be seen as a reminder that nothing is perfect in the human world.

  Summary

  If you have a complex problem, always start by asking for a healing symbol for the negative emotion that is bothering you the most.

  After you have finished your first two-week period of higher-consciousness healing, you can continue with the same symbol as long as you feel it is helpful.

  Alternatively, you can ask for a new healing symbol for a different problem and work with it for another two-week period.

  Each new problem and each negative emotion needs a new healing symbol.

  Relapses are a normal part of the healing process but they will get less and less with time. In case of a relapse, just go back to your initial symbol and work with it until the relapse is over.

  Most people find that their problem either completely disappears or that it decreases to 1 or 2 on the scale of suffering after a few days, several weeks, or in some cases, several months.

  Chapter 14

  MAKING DECISIONS WITH LIFE-PATH IMAGERY

  WE CAN USE THE IMAGERY of the life-path to help us make decisions. David's story demonstrates how that happens.

  David

  David wanted to change his career and was contemplating three different options. The first was to start his own business; the second was to
return to his old teaching job; the third was to train as a counselor. After discussing the pros and cons of these options with him, I asked David whether he would like to consult his higher consciousness about it.

  David agreed, and after he had relaxed, he asked his higher consciousness to show him his life-path and the place where he was at the moment. He saw himself a third of the way up the mountain on a narrow and steep track, ascending steadily. Then he asked what he would do on his life-path if he started his own business. Immediately, he saw himself moving hectically up and down the path. David felt that this hectic up-and-down movement symbolized the stress he would be under if he started a business, and showed him that he wouldn't make any real progress in moving closer to his higher consciousness.

  Then David asked his higher consciousness what he would do on his life-path if he went back to his old teaching job. Immediately, he got a picture of himself sliding down the mountainside. This answer was clear, as well. If he went back to his old job, he would be moving backward rather than forward. All this made perfect sense to him. His third career option was counseling. When he asked his higher consciousness about this, he saw himself walking up his life-path, but it seemed a rather strenuous climb. This option seemed to be more in harmony with his path, but he felt that he wanted a job that was less strenuous.

  I encouraged David not to trust these images blindly, but to check if they made sense from a commonsense point of view. David explained that they made a great deal of sense to him and that they had shown him that none of his three career options was ideal at the moment. He made the decision not to change his career until he found the type of work that would satisfy him more. Then he left the session with a good feeling.

  • • •

  We can test whether any area of our life is in harmony with our higher consciousness by consulting our life-path. Here is a list of questions we can ask:

  What am I doing on my life-path when I do a certain job?

  What am I doing on my life-path when I am in a certain relationship?

  What am I doing on my life-path when I pursue a certain hobby?

  What am I doing on my life-path when I follow a particular spiritual direction or teacher?

  What am I doing on my life-path when I am in a certain kind of therapy?

  What am I doing on my life-path when I relate to others in a certain way?

  What am I doing on my life-path when I pursue a certain wish?

  What am I doing on my life-path when I move to a certain town/area/house?

  What am I doing on my life-path when I spend my days in a certain way?

  Of course, this list is not exhaustive and you can add whatever questions are relevant to your own life. It is important to understand, however, that we must not take the answers we get to these questions as unshakable truths. Higher-consciousness healing offers us the possibility to improve our intuitive inner wisdom, but we need to be aware that in the beginning, there is the possibility of error. Therefore, always use all your intelligence and common sense to check if your inner images make sense. If you make it a habit to use the life-path imagery frequently, you are likely to develop a new and wonderful certainty about what is good for you.

  Sometimes, people are a bit shocked to discover that what they are doing doesn't seem to be in harmony with their life-paths. If we discover that we have made a mistake, we should not feel depressed. On the contrary, we should celebrate our discovery. Only by recognizing our errors will we be able to take steps that will enable us to develop toward more happiness and fulfillment. Take Karen's case, for instance.

  Karen

  Karen decided to check whether any of her relationships were out of alignment with her higher consciousness by checking her life-path imagery. It shocked her a bit to discover that one of her closest friendships was actually causing her to go backward on her life-path.

  Karen thought about this picture carefully and finally admitted to herself that she had felt more and more uncomfortable with this friendship for the past two years. She realized that she had tried to ignore these negative feelings, because she was quite attached to her friend. Now she was confronted, through her life-path imagery, with a truth she had successfully blocked out. However, once she was over her initial shock, she knew that the answer from her higher consciousness was right. Therefore, she decided to ask for a healing symbol to overcome her suffering from feeling irritation in the relationship with her friend. Through this practice, she gained more inner distance and felt much better. She still loves her friend, but she doesn't feel as unhealthily attached to her as before.

  Summary

  You can use the life-path imagery to receive intuitive guidance to make decisions and to check if any area of your life is out of alignment with your higher consciousness.

  Don't trust any intuitive messages blindly. Use all your intelligence and common sense to check if they make sense.

  Chapter 15

  MAINTAINING WELL-BEING IN OUR LIFE

  THERE IS A LOT MORE we can do with higher-consciousness healing to help us live a happy and contented life. In addition to our major personal problems, we all experience little irritations—occasional tiredness, stress, or performance anxiety. We all suffer from time to time from these issues, because they are an unavoidable by-product of being human. Luckily, with higher-consciousness healing, we can do something about most of these small problems without any great effort. The following case study shows how Robert used higher-consciousness healing for a very small problem.

  Robert

  Robert was offered a lift to a party. He was pleased with this, because it meant that he could have a drink. On the other hand, he knew that sitting in the backseat of a car always made him feel sick. Robert is an enthusiastic user of higher-consciousness healing, so he at once asked for a healing symbol to overcome his suffering from feeling sick in the backseat of cars. He didn't even relax when he did this; he just asked for it shortly before he went out. He said it made a big difference and was very happy with one more success in his “self-therapy.”

  Standard Symbols

  The following list shows issues that many people experience from time to time in a mild way. If any of these problems bothers you in a small way, you can ask for a healing symbol for it and only use it at the times when you experience this negative state of mind. These symbols are called standard symbols and you don't need to work with them for two weeks.

  Tiredness

  Stress

  Physical pain

  Nervousness or mild anxiety

  Small irritations and fears in relationships

  Feeling uninspired and dull

  My own standard symbols are a golden hand for pain and a sparkling candle for tiredness. It is really nice to have these little helps at hand when I need them. It makes the unavoidable ups and downs of life seem more like smooth sailing.

  Improving Our Relationships

  Higher-consciousness healing is a wonderful tool to improve all our relationships and particularly those with close family members. For example, by sending love to our partner on a daily basis, it is possible to transform a “good enough marriage” into an excellent one. It is likely that we will have to sit down with our partner to discuss all our conflicts, but these conversations will be much more successful if we are armed with the tools described in this book. In the same way, we can improve the relationships with our children and loved ones.

  Higher-consciousness healing can also be used to ease tensions in our everyday encounters with other people. While going about their daily activities, most people experience some awkward situations with others—tensions arising in everyday conversations or other small disruptions in their interactions with the people around them. In all these cases, we can simply visualize (or think of) the inner image of two bubbles of loving joyful light that surround us and the other person. These two bubbles may touch, but should never overlap or merge. While you are talking to the other person, travel along the boundaries of th
ese two bubbles in your mind; this will make you feel much more secure and in control. In many cases, the effects of this short visualization are immediate and tangible. The tricky moment of the conversation is likely to pass without causing an argument; the embarrassment may subside or the feeling of being dominated may disappear. We can work in exactly the same way if we feel tormented by compulsive thoughts of difficult interactions with others. In these cases, it is often beneficial to visualize the bubble of the other person as a tiny speck on the horizon.

  If your problem with the other person persists despite this short visualization, ask for a healing symbol and practice in a more concentrated way for a two-week period.

  Clearing and Harmonizing Our Chakras

  According to Tibetan Buddhism, we have 72,000 energy channels in our bodies, as well as five main energy centers called chakras. These chakras are located in the lower abdomen, the solar plexus, the heart, the throat, and the brain. With every thought we think, with every feeling we feel, and with every physical movement we make, energy moves through our energy channels and our chakras. If we have an emotional or physical problem, we have a disharmony in one of our chakras as well.

  One way to maintain our overall well-being is to create harmony in our energy system, because it will, in turn, harmonize our mind, body, and emotions. Many people who want to work with their energy system use practices like T'ai Chi, chakra meditation, or yoga. Higher-consciousness healing offers another way of clearing, balancing, and harmonizing our main energy centers, the chakras.