1) Build Confidence - Identify your abilities and weaknesses together, accept them, build on them and do the best with what you have.

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1 Nine Tips for Mental Health 1) Build Confidence - Identify your abilities and weaknesses together, accept them, build on them and do the best with what you have. 2) Accept Compliments - Many of us have difficulty accepting kindness from others but we all need to remember the positive strokes when times gets tough. 3) Make Time for Family and Friends - These relationships need to be nurtured; if taken for granted they will not be there to share life's joys and sorrows. 4) Give and Accept Support - Friends and family relationships thrive when they are "put to the test". 5) Volunteer - Being involved in community gives a sense of purpose and satisfaction that paid work cannot. 6) Manage Stress - We all have stressors in our lives but learning how to deal with them when they threaten to overwhelm us will maintain our mental health. 7) Find Strength in Numbers - Sharing a problem with others who have had similar experiences may help you find a solution and will make you feel less isolated. 8) Identify and Deal with Moods - We all need to find safe and constructive ways to express our feelings of anger, sadness, joy and fear. 9) Learn To Be At Peace with Yourself - Get to know who you are, what makes you really happy, and learn to balance what you can and cannot change about yourself.

2 Previous Enlightenments Should you wish to receive these weekly enlightenments, please me your details and will gladly add you to my mailing list. ON PASSION: Passion is the love of turning being into action. It fuels the engine of creation. It changes concepts to experience. Never deny passion, for it is to deny Who You Are, and Who You Truly Want to Be. - Neale Donald Walsch - Try to remember this week the things that make you get out of bed every morning what makes your heart beat faster and your life seem lighter. Align and familiarize yourself with who you were destined to become! Your greatness manifests in every day life and often you don t even realize it. ON HAPPINESS Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. - Buddha - May your heart be filled with happiness this week and may you be touched by the abundance of happiness around you. Sorrow, pain or negative thoughts sometimes cloud our ability to see happiness, but know that it s always there searching for you.

3 ON KINDNESS Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. - Leo Buscaglia - You are blessed with a great power and that is the power of kindness. You have the ability to profoundly touch a life, change someone s world and provide hope. See how much kindness you can spread this week and see how much of it will find its way back to your heart. ON CREATING REALITY You do not live each day to discover what it holds for you, but to create it. You are creating your reality every minute, probably without knowing it. You create your reality with your thoughts. Therefore it is important to watch your thoughts and make sure that they are healthy, beneficial and serving your highest good. Don t underestimate the power of positive thinking subconsciously your brain aligns your actions with what you believe about yourself. ON PERSONAL EVOLUTION: The soul is very clear that its purpose is evolution it is not concerned with the achievements of the body or the development of the mind. These are all meaningless to the soul. The soul is also very clear that there is no great tragedy involved in leaving the body. I many ways the tragedy is being in the body. - Neale Donald Walsch Last week one of my patients died and I was deeply saddened by his departure. It made me think of the lessons he learned from life on earth and the pearls of wisdom that he shared with me. I remembered that one is never too old to learn; never too busy to be kind; never too late to love and never too overwhelmed to achieve one s purpose. May your soul be reminded of your purpose to be happy on earth.

4 ON THE LAW OF ATTENTION: If you have a past with which you feel dissatisfied, then forget it, now. Imagine a new story for your life and believe in it. Focus only on the moments when you achieved what you desired, and that strength will help you to get what you want. - Paulo Coelho (The Fifth Mountain) - The Law of Attention states that whatever you give attention to, will manifest. An outcome will manifest to the exact percentage you give it attention. What people don t realize is that the positive has a much more powerful charge than the negative, so watch where you put your thoughts. Focus on, think about and talk about the positive things you want to achieve keep the perfect finished result in your mind. Hold your vision, commit to it, do the necessary work, give it full attention and the Universe will rearrange Itself to bring you what you believe. May you experience the cooperative forces bringing you what you give attention to and believe this week. ON CHALLENGES: When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change. - Paulo Coelho (The Devil and Miss Prym) - Often life presents us with challenges that leave us feeling hopeless and resistant to change. Remember that not even all the darkness in the universe can overpower the light of a single candle. It is impossible to extinguish light with darkness. May the strength of your light, the magnitude of your courage and the abundance of hope be revealed to you when you need it.

5 ON THE AS-IF-PRINCIPLE Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being. - Goethe - When we treat people as if they are lovable, trustable, worthwhile, or any other quality (whether good or bad), that person will subconsciously start believing it and align his or her behaviour with how they are treated. People believe the feedback that they get from those around them and actions (behaviour and how they are treated) are more trustworthy than words. This as if principle facilitates and assists people in finding the beauty that you believe in, inside themselves. May you be aware of how your thoughts and behaviour towards others can enhance their lives. You are beautiful and you have the power to awaken beauty in others. ON INNER BEAUTY: People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross It is often life challenges that bring out our inner beauty. It helps us to explore our strengths, discard limitations and discover the light within. When we start looking at challenges in this way, not only will the challenge most probably be resolved for the highest good of everyone, but we ll also discover our inner beauty that will shine brighter with every new challenge. May your light not only illuminate your challenge, but also enhance your inner beauty.

6 ON THE FULFILLMENT OF YOUR DIVINE SELF: Do not waste the precious moments of this, your present reality, seeking to unveil all of life s secrets. Those secrets are secret for a reason. Grant the Universe the benefit of the doubt. Use your Now Moment for the Highest Purpose the creation and the expression of Who You Really Are. Decide Who You Are Who you want to be and then do everything in your power to be that. - Neale Donald Walsch - I have come to realize that we limit ourselves by the way we think about ourselves. It s hard to sometimes recognize the beauty and power within ourselves, but it s much easier to see it in someone else. What we don t realize is that in order to recognize something, you must know it. So if you recognize it, you must know it because it s part of you. So often we project our own admirable traits onto others. Next time someone warms your heart with a specific characteristic, stop and realize that you have that quality within yourself (otherwise you would not have recognized it.) You are capable of much more than you can ever imagine and you have more beauty, warmth, love and kindness than you give yourself credit for. It s when we bring what s within out into the world that miracles happen. May your week be filled with great qualities and beautiful miracles.

7 ON DREAMING: Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born. - Dr Dale Turner - A dream is a mighty vision, driven by hope, sustained by faith and realized by expanded comfort zones and focused effort. Don t let the world s criticism or cynicism hamper you from achieving your full potential. Dreams are the precursor to greatness. May you aspire to the great and the glorious remember your dreams and achieve greatness. ON MANIFESTING YOUR DESIRES: By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired. - Nikos Kazantzakis - Under the Law of Attraction, you attract things that are aligned with your beliefs. You broadcast your thoughts and beliefs on a frequency (like a radio station) and people (and things) that are tuned into that frequency will be attracted to you. So by changing what you broadcast (think) you can change what you attract. You get what you think about whether you want it or not. You become what you think. Become more aware of the negative things you tell yourself about yourself (and your situations) and try and replace them with thoughts that will be aligned with what you desire. You can manifest what you desire by changing your thoughts. May this week be filled with the things you most desire.

8 ON FINDING LOVE He who comes to do good knocks at the gate; he who loves finds the gate open. - Rabindranath Tagore - Love is one of those qualities that make life beautiful. How can one attain a higher level of love in one s life? As I have stated before, according to the Law of Attraction, we get what we are aligned with. When you think about not having enough love, you attract more of what you think about, thus attracting more of what s missing. These thoughts can be replaced with the knowledge of receiving love. You originated from a place of Spirit that s defined by love. Stop focusing on the lack of love, and start focusing on what you already are. You are love. And you have an abundance of love available to you. Align your thoughts with the love you are. Love is one of our most valuable qualities. May you be reminded of your true value this week for you are love. ON PROSPERITY Your desire to attract prosperity represents a highly spiritual request. It s perfectly attuned to the law of abundance from which you originated. Your imbalances are energies in the form of thoughts that you mistakenly believe will bring about the desired prosperity. - Dr. Wayne W. Dyer - We all originated from a Source of abundance and love. And as a spiritual being having a human experience, the Universe wants us to experience prosperity. The first step towards this experience is to realize that there is enough good to go around for everyone. If we came from unlimited abundance, then we must be what we came from. Be grateful for, but refuse to dwell on past mistakes and deficiencies instead focus on aligning your thoughts with your desires (for you will attract what you think about.) May your week be prosperous and meaningful.

9 Helping you to relax: Breathing and Muscle relaxation exercises Deep breathing exercises Many people have a tendency to breathe faster than normal when they are anxious. Sometimes this can make you feel a little dizzy, which makes you more anxious and breathe even faster, which can make you more anxious, etc. If you practice 'deep breathing' when you are relaxed, you should be able to do this when you feel tense or anxious to help you to relax. Try the following for 2-3 minutes. Practice this every day until you can do it routinely in any stressful situation. 1. Breathe slowly and deeply in through your nose, and out through your mouth in a steady rhythm. Try to make your breath out twice as long as your breath in. To do this you may find it helpful to count slowly "one" as you breathe in, and "two, three" as you breathe out. 2. Mainly use your diaphragm (lower chest muscle) to breathe. Your diaphragm is the big muscle under the lungs. It pulls the lungs downwards which expands the airways to allow air to flow in. When we become anxious we tend to forget to use this muscle and often use the muscles at the top of the chest and our shoulders instead. Each breath is more shallow if you use these upper chest muscles. So, you tend to breathe faster, and feel more breathless and anxious, if you use your upper chest muscles rather than your diaphragm. You can check if you are using your diaphragm by feeling just below your breastbone (sternum) at the top of your abdomen. If you give a little cough, you can feel the diaphragm push out here. If you hold your hand here you should feel it move in and out as you breathe. 3. Try to relax your shoulders and upper chest muscles when you breathe. With each breath out, try to consciously relax those muscles until you are mainly using your diaphragm to breathe.

10 Muscular relaxation Find a quiet warm place where you won't be disturbed. Choose a time of day when you do not feel pressured to do anything else. Lie down on your back, or sit in a well supported chair if you are not able to lie down. Try to get comfortable and close your eyes. Perhaps lie on a firm bed of some cushions. The routine is to then work on each of your muscle groups. With each group of muscles, firstly tense the muscles as much as you can, then relax them fully. Breathe in when you tense the muscles, and breathe out when you relax. To start with, concentrate on your breathing for a few minutes. Breathe slowly and calmly. Each time you breathe out say words to yourself such as "peace" or "relax". Then start the muscle exercises working around the different muscle groups in your body. Hands - clench one hand tightly for a few seconds as you breathe in. You should feel your forearm muscles tense. Then relax as you breathe out. Repeat with the other hand. Arms - bend an elbow and tense all the muscles in the arm for a few seconds as you breathe in. Then relax as you breathe out. Repeat the same with the other arm. Neck - press your head back as hard as is comfortable and roll it slowly from from side to side. Then relax. Face - try to frown and lower your eyebrows as hard as you can for a few seconds, then relax. Then raise your eyebrows (as if you were startled) as hard as you can, then relax. Then clench your jaw for a few seconds, then relax. Chest - take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds, then relax and go back to normal breathing. Stomach - tense the stomach muscles as tight as possible, then relax. Buttocks - squeeze the buttocks together as much as possible, then relax. Legs - with your legs flat on the floor, bend your feet and toes towards your face as hard as you can, then relax. Then bend them away from your face for a few seconds, then relax. Then repeat the whole routine 3-4 times. Each time you relax a group of muscles, note the difference of how they feel when relaxed compared to when they are tense. Some people find it eases their general level of 'tension' if they get into a daily routine of doing these exercises.

11 Everyday life Obviously you cannot do all the above when 'out and about'. However, the principle of full tension followed by relaxation of a group of muscles can help to ease anxiety in everyday situations. Therefore, in situations when you feel tension or anxiety rising: try twisting your neck around each way as far as it is comfortable, and then relax, or try fully tensing your shoulder and back muscles for several seconds, and then relax.