The SCIENCE of the Soul

iUniverse, Inc.

Contents

Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................................xviiDisclaimers...................................................................................................................................xixForward.......................................................................................................................................xxiIntroduction..................................................................................................................................xxiiiPART 1. What Do You Want Out of Life? How to be Happy.........................................................................................1Chapter 1. The Mind: Your Attitude-A Few Questions to Answer Honestly.........................................................................3Chapter 2. How Your Attitude Affects Your Personal and Professional Life......................................................................7Chapter 3. Your Body: How Your Attitude Affects Your Physical Well-Being......................................................................10Chapter 4. Your Body: How Your Physical Well-Being Affects Your Personal and Professional Life................................................13Chapter 5. Your Emotions: How Your Attitude and Physical Well-Being Affects Your Emotional Well-Being.........................................15Chapter 6. A Positive Attitude and Physical Well-Being Create Personal and Professional Satisfaction..........................................18Chapter 7. Your Mind/Body/Emotions: Productivity in Your Personal and Professional Life: Listening to Your Heart and Soul.....................19Chapter 8. Reducing Stress and Managing Time..................................................................................................21Chapter 9. Reducing Stress: Some Practical and Basic Techniques for Home and Work.............................................................28Chapter 10. Integration.......................................................................................................................32PART 2. The Spirit and the Soul: The Real "You"?..............................................................................................33Chapter 1. An Emphasis on the "Spiritual" and the Scientific!.................................................................................35Chapter 2. The Human Brain-A Primer: Metaphysics as Science...................................................................................42Chapter 3. The Human Mind: A Metaphysical Therapist's Perspective.............................................................................65Chapter 4. Psychosomatics: Complete Misunderstandings.........................................................................................75Chapter 5. God: Religion, Theology, Philosophy, Spirituality, and Metaphysics—Definitions and Semantics.................................78Chapter 6. Myths Exploded: Hypnosis and Meditation, the Keys to the Mind......................................................................85PART 3. Being The Best You Can Be: More About the "Real" You..................................................................................105Chapter 1. Life is Not a Competition..........................................................................................................107Chapter 2. Am I Really Willing to Grow?.......................................................................................................122Chapter 3. A "Different" Way to Work Through Changes and Traumas..............................................................................125Chapter 4. More "Different" Ways to Work Through Changes and Traumas: Some Definitions........................................................132Chapter 5. Aligning with Heaven...............................................................................................................143Chapter 6. Case Histories.....................................................................................................................149Chapter 7. Being The Best You Can Be Means Being The Best You Can Be..........................................................................159Chapter 8. My Sessions........................................................................................................................161Chapter 9. Worthy or Deserving?...............................................................................................................166PART 4. More Tools............................................................................................................................171Chapter 1. Mind-Treatments: A Clinic..........................................................................................................173Chapter 2. Other Therapies....................................................................................................................181Chapter 3. Review and Maintenance: Your "Self" Holistically-The Body.........................................................................186Chapter 4. Review: Your "Self" Holistically-The Spirit........................................................................................190Chapter 5. Your "Self" Holistically-The Mind..................................................................................................194PART 5. "Affirmative" Techniques for Healing..................................................................................................205Chapter 1. I Am Worthy........................................................................................................................207Chapter 2. Now What?..........................................................................................................................209PART 6. Scientific Prayer, Scientific Treatments, and "Spiritual Laws"........................................................................213Chapter 1. What are Scientific Prayers or Treatments and Spiritual Laws?......................................................................215Chapter 2. Living the Spiritual Laws of the Universe: A "Spiritually-Scientific" Approach to Life.............................................2251. The Law of Cause and Effect................................................................................................................2272. The Law of Magnetic Attraction.............................................................................................................2293. The Law of Wonder..........................................................................................................................2324. The Law of Creatio.........................................................................................................................2355. The Law of Creativity......................................................................................................................2376. The Law of All You Can Be..................................................................................................................2407. The Law of Infinity........................................................................................................................2448. The Law of Prosperity......................................................................................................................2499. The Law of Romantic Love...................................................................................................................25110. The Law of Spiritual Love.................................................................................................................25311. The Law of Abundance......................................................................................................................25512. The Law of Contentment....................................................................................................................25713. The Law of Peace..........................................................................................................................26014. The Law of Joy............................................................................................................................26215. The Law of Compassion.....................................................................................................................26416. The Law of Inquisitiveness................................................................................................................26717. The Law of Righteous Determination........................................................................................................27018. The Law of Release and Receive............................................................................................................27219. The Law of Self-Assurance.................................................................................................................27420. The Law of I Am...........................................................................................................................27721. The Law of Detachment.....................................................................................................................27922. The Law of the Presence/Present...........................................................................................................28123. The Law of Gratitude......................................................................................................................28224. The Law of Denial and Recognition.........................................................................................................8325. The Law of Natural Evolution and Healing..................................................................................................28526. The Law of Acceptance.....................................................................................................................28627. The Law of No-Thingness...................................................................................................................28828. The Law of Perfection.....................................................................................................................29029. The Law of Forgiveness....................................................................................................................29130. The Law of For Me, Not Against Me.........................................................................................................29331-The Law of Good............................................................................................................................29532. The Law of Mind in Action.................................................................................................................29633-The Law of Elimination.....................................................................................................................298PART 7. A Simple Approach to Life.............................................................................................................301Chapter 1. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify.......................................................................................................303Conclusion....................................................................................................................................305About The Author/Illustrator..................................................................................................................307Suggested Reading.............................................................................................................................309

Chapter One

We all want to be happy, and we think that fulfillment in our personal and professional lives will help us get there. But happiness does not come from fulfillment in your personal or professional life; you achieve fulfillment in your personal and professional life by being happy first!

Sure, we feel happy when we meet and marry that special someone; sure, we feel happy when we get that promotion in our job; of course, we feel happy when we can afford that new car, or buy that special house, but I propose that in order to get those other things, you must first feel whole and complete inside! You must first be happy with yourself, stopping to be "in the moment" of all you are, and all you have, and all that you are already achieving.

Think about it: just when you felt great about being single, didn't a new relationship suddenly come along? Just when you felt comfortable in your job, didn't a new job or position come to your attention? Just when you've felt really content and happy, you felt more motivated to exercise more, take supplements, or pursue a new hobby, or even pursue a new career!

The More Passion and Happiness We feel, The More Passion and Happiness We Attract

This is really all about our mental attitude.

If we feel good about life in general, and specifically about our own life, we are more "open" or receptive to bringing in other happy and fulfilled people. Just notice on the days when you feel a bit blue, most of the people you have encountered appear sad or even miserable and angry! On days when you're feeling "on top of the world", more people seem to smile at you, or things seem to go more "your way"! This has everything to do with the "vibe" you're unconsciously sending out: everyone on some level or another can feel if you're happy or sad, even if your facial expression doesn't show it. That's why on days when you feel sad and try to cover this up by smiling at others, you won't get a smile back. It's alright to feel great, it's alright to feel not so great. The key is to be aware of how you feel and to deal with it. When you walk into a room, it either feels "right", or not. That person you just met either feels "right" or doesn't. Just as you can sense those things, so can others, and everyone is just trying to do their best.

Questions to Answer Honestly

Give yourself this quiz to better understand your attitude and the reasons for it. In this way you will also be able to self-assess you level of happiness, and have some sort of starting-point.

Do I look forward to waking up every morning? Can I get out of bed easily most mornings? Do I look forward to my day most mornings? How do I feel on my drive/walk to work? Do I look forward to my workday, or do I dread my workday? How do I feel after my workday is done? Do I feel fulfilled and happy most days? After my workday is done, do I look forward to my "me" time? Do I feel like I want more hobbies? After my work day is done, do I look forward to seeing my spouse or partner? Do I feel generally good about my health? Do I feel that I am generally getting enough proper nutrition? Do I feel that I am active enough, exercise-wise? Do I feel that I am active enough socially? Do I feel that I am active enough in giving back to society either monetarily or in good deeds? How do I feel about my physical body? Am I generally happy with it? Do I feel that I have "enough" in general, in other words do I feel I have abundance in food, clothing, adequate shelter, finances, time? How do I feel, generally, emotionally? Mostly happy, or not? Do I feel like I have some sort of basic spiritual support-system/faith in something greater than myself? Do I believe that life simply happens, like the roll of dice? Do I feel like I have a real say in my life? Do I feel, generally, that good things are happening, or are going to happen to me and/or to others? Do I generally feel like others like me, and that I'm generally accepted into a variety of clubs or social groups? Do I feel like I'm using my brain enough, either at work, or during "down-time"/"me-time"?

Results

If you answered "yes" to 15-22 of any of the questions, consider yourself balanced, healthy, and whole; you don't necessarily need to read this book! Give it to a friend who might need it. Perhaps you can use this book to "tweak" or fine-tune your life.

If you answered "yes" to 8-14 of any of the questions, it's time to re-evaluate your attitude about yourself, your lifestyle, and your job. You definitely could use this book to work through the things in your life that you're not happy with.

If you answered "yes" to 1-7 of any of the questions, again, you definitely could use this book to address the heart of why you're not happy with any of the aspects of your life, and to work through it all.

Chapter Two

We're going to assume in this chapter, and in the rest of this book, that you've answered "yes" to 1-14 of any of the questions in the previous quiz.

Logic

Logic would dictate that if you're miserable much of the time, that is to say, mostly angry, resentful, defensive, envious, and with a generally cynical or pessimistic outlook towards life, the only kinds of friends you're going to attract will be of a similar attitude: complainers, "poor me"-ers, and "it's those people's fault"-ers. You, and those that you surround yourself with, are what I describe as in "poverty" or "lack" mentality: You never have enough of this or that, and what you do have, isn't good enough, or there isn't enough of it, whatever it is. Of course, others are always to blame for this, you and your "support-group" believe.

Change Your "Support Group" First

This "support group" is far from that; they are merely perpetuating these beliefs that you all have in common. In other words, rather than coming up with viable solutions, you are merely digging yourself deeper into this hole of anger and despair.

If you are truly wanting to "jump off the merry-go-round" and improve your life, then changing the people you socialize with is a great first step, even if that means saying "no" to them when they call you to hang out. They will not understand your new attitude, maybe even test you out and/or get angry, but you only owe yourself a living. You owe nothing to anyone except yourself!

Eventually they will give up. It's far better to spend quality time alone, then negative, potentially destructive time with others so as not to feel alone.

Your Job

You may be in a career or job that reflects your attitude: unfulfilling, "dead-end" jobs only mean you don't feel as good about yourself as you could, therefore you merely accept or tolerate a low-paying position. Perhaps you're unemployed for the same reason: you don't feel good enough or qualified enough to even get a job. Perhaps you feel your resume (if any) needs updating but you can't do it, or don't know how to. Again, this is a "hole" you keep yourself in because deep down you don't feel worthy, or capable of good things. Worse, you may have a great job or career, but not feel that this is so, because you may have actually outgrown it. Ask yourself if this job is really so bad, or is it your attitude about it!

Your job, and the people that surround you in your job are mirrors of how you truly feel about yourself deep down. If this is true, and your job depresses you, or you dread it, first be grateful for it.

Gratitude

Going into the feeling of gratitude and appreciation for this job will almost immediately help wrench you out of feelings of compromising yourself and lack of fulfillment. One example of the use of gratitude is illustrated further on in a story I tell of the woman who initially complained about her cane, eventually seeing it as a necessary blessing.

Once you shift your attitude to gratitude, you will begin to feel some happiness, which in turn will help you to gain an accurate perspective. Gratitude is the ladder to help you climb out of your self-made hole and look out onto a bright, new future. You might even realize that the job isn't so bad and that many other people are without jobs. At the very least, shifting from despair, anger, and resentment to gratitude will be the key to changing your perspective, and ultimately your life. The "attitude of gratitude" is an essential key for all of your situations, good or bad.

Gratitude List

Make a list of everything you're grateful for in your job! Make a list of why you're grateful for the people in your life, your lifestyle, etc. regardless of whether it's really good or not.

This is a tool that will help you to shift your attitude, and free your mind up so that you can start to attract more positive people and situations in your life in general. Keep up the snowball effect by maintaining gratitude no matter what.

Chapter Three

How you feel about yourself affects whether or not (and to what degree and consistency) you maintain the health of your physical body. (Masters, 1989) Your moods and emotions also have a physiological affect on your health. This is already a scientifically-proven fact. (Holmes, 1998) Again, some of this is pure logic.

"Loser" or "Winner"?

Look in the mirror (if you can) on days when you feel somewhat blue, or like a "loser".

I'm willing to bet that you appear awful to yourself; you're more aware of blemishes, wrinkles; any minor shortcomings appear a lot worse. Your shoulders and posture might reflect this, even how fast or slowly you move. On days when you feel good, like a "winner", look in the mirror and notice your posture, your hair, your skin. You feel great about your appearance on these days, but you might take it for granted and be more self-critical on those other days. Just take advantage of the days when you think you look great to get a lot done. If you follow the advice and techniques in this book, in time you'll have more "great days" than not.

There's a condition referred-to by some psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists as "Body-Issues": essentially dissatisfaction with the appearance of one's physical body. It is important to evaluate with the help of a professional, if this is a condition relevant to you in order to work through it.

The deeper reasons why you don't like what you see in the mirror, especially if you have more days like that than the other, must be addressed. Likely you were told from infancy that you're not good enough or not handsome or pretty enough, or smart enough. All of this will affect your sense of worth and self-esteem, and will shape your attitude about yourself, your life, and your attitude of others.

Long-Range Forecast

The long-range forecast for your physical health, if you continue with these negative beliefs, is not good. You'll make yourself physically sick, because deep down you don't believe you're worthy of being healthy. You might even self-sabotage your health by doing unhealthy activities, eating unhealthy foods, or even ignoring your physical health altogether.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (which is tens of thousands of years old) and its methods treat (among many other things) the person's organs, which in theory store various negative attitudes/beliefs, and energies. (Williams, 2003)

For example, it is believed in Traditional Chinese Medicine that fear affects the kidneys, where it is stored; the liver absorbs anger, the spleen, worry; the heart, agitation, and the lungs, grief. Qi Gong and Tai Chi Chuan, both extentions of the Traditional Chinese Medicine system, purport to cleanse, and therefore heal the body of these negative emotions. Western medicine has proven that we get a "nervous stomach" and even ulcers from worry! At the very least, extreme worry and anxiety affect our concentration and ability to perform. There is no doubt that the unconscious mind somehow affects the function and health of our physical bodies. Worry and anxiety also stresses your body, causing it to slowly break down. This is the basis to "Holistic Health". The mind affects the body which affects the spirit, (emotional well-being) the spirit affects the mind which affects the body, and the body affects the mind which affects the spirit, and so on. Another way to say this is that we are "Psycho-Physical Units", (Illustration 6) that the mind is the key to health on all levels! Much more on this later.

Scientists have proven time and again that relaxation therapies like meditation will slow down your mind-chatter, relaxing you enough to lower your heart-rate and even lower your blood-pressure. Meditating daily (much more on this later) is just as effective in maintaining your mental, emotional, and physical health, as physical exercise is! Scientists from the NASA space-program took their visualization program to the Olympics, to help athletes reach peak performance. It has been scientifically proven that our physical body cannot tell the difference between physical reality, and a "reality" seen/created in the mind: the Olympic athletes' bodies would perspire and their muscles tense up when they ran the race in their mind, so they were able to just as effectively physically train by using their mind, in addition to their actual physical training. In fact, combining the psychological advantage of mentally visualizing themselves winning during the mental training, a sort of self-hypnotically-induced belief of being a winner, gave them the edge every time over the athletes that only physically trained. (Byrnes, 2006)

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The SCIENCE of the Soulby Michael H. Likey Copyright © 2011 by Dr. Michael H. Likey, Ph.D., D.D., H.Dip.. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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