Genevieve Gerard Wisdom Wednesday blog

Reasons Why to Keep a Journal

Reasons Why to Keep a Journal

Read "Reasons Why to Keep a Journal" blog post by Genevieve Gerard

Journaling is a wonderful tool you can use to help yourself in the process of transformation and growth.

A journal is a way you can share your thoughts and your deepest feelings, knowing there is no judgment.

It can help you understand yourself better and open your awareness to thoughts and feelings that seem to gain clarity when put into words. This is true when you share with a friend, but becomes even truer when you symbolically serve in the role of befriending yourself by keeping a journal.

One of the main reasons why to keep a journal is because your journal can become a way of clarifying what you are experiencing. It becomes a meditative experience, which helps you gain insight and get in touch with the perspective and wisdom of your Higher Self. In this way, writing in your journal becomes a tool for deeper insight and understanding. It becomes a way that you can heal your life.

Over the years that I have kept a journal there were countless times when a problem or issue that was troubling me resolved when I sat down to write because my thoughts and my feelings were clarified and resolved by the process of writing. This happened so frequently and profoundly that I now associate journal writing as a way of transitioning from the perspective of my personality to the wisdom and insight of my Soul. This is why I recommend to my counseling and coaching clients that you keep a journal.

It not only becomes a record of your personal growth and healing, but becomes a way you can look at your life circumstances and situation from the perspective of the detached observer, something I frequently recommend as a tool for insight when you are striving to change your life. By understanding the power of your thoughts being sent out into the universe, you can gain a better perspective.

Understanding that “energy follows thought” helps you look more objectively at the consequences of your thoughts. You then, after seeing your thoughts expressed in black and white, have the opportunity to revise and re-frame your thinking to enhance the result you desire.

At times, I have noted that what I was initially thinking was not only dramatically different from what I wanted to create in my life but also at times upon reflection was actually silly or absurd. The opportunity to consider my thoughts helped to shift my feelings and empowered the technique of reframing.

Journaling also helped me to identify and release limiting beliefs that came to my awareness as I wrote.

The best time to begin keeping a journal is whenever you decide to.
            – Hannah Hinchman

Keeping a journal can be a valuable and comforting experience. That is why I am always amazed when someone drops the simple discipline that regular journaling requires.

I have played with the idea of intermittently recording my thoughts and feelings, but the very intermittency of that sacrifices the primary benefit in keeping a journal, which is to reveal the process of change and transformation you are undergoing.

For that reason, I encourage you to approach journaling with discipline to make an entry daily. Even if that entry is as simple as, “too tired to write tonight,” or “too busy to write today,” those entries become launch points for your next entry.

A journal is really a record of your life over a period of time. Like life itself, some are good, some are difficult. Some are well done and some of it has room for improvement.

As a record of your life for a particular span of time, I recommend that when you decide to start a journal you get a fresh book. Indeed, a new journal is a symbol of a fresh start. At this time in my life, I like to pick a new blank book. There are many beautiful blank books to choose from. The choosing of a new book in which to record my new revelations and my new story has become for me a significant step in the process of keeping a journal. The cover, the design, and any pictures often reflect the place I am in with my consciousness at that time.

You may choose a book with lined or blank pages. Journals are certainly available either way. I like a blank book because that gives me the freedom to make lists, chart things or draw pictures or images along with the words I write.

Many, many years ago, when I first began keeping a journal I did not purchase books with a designed cover. I purchased basic black artist sketchbooks and only the dates within revealed when I wrote in them. However, when I chose a book that had a beautiful cover or image, I found that it enhanced my overall satisfaction and enticed my interest when I went back to read my old entries.

I would now recommend that you choose your book cover by what you are intuitively drawn to as part of the reason you are journaling. It is a special book, almost a sacred book, where you can capture and reveal the promptings of your heart, mind, and Soul. It deserves special attention.

I have always liked to identify a special pen for journaling. My all-time favorite is a fountain pen, although they have over the years become more and more archaic.

Another designation is to choose a particular type of pen or a special color of ink. As strange as that may seem, the shift in ink color has often signaled a shift in my growth and consciousness. It has often surprised me how significant a change in ink color can be, even over a specific period of time.

The rituals of a special book, a special pen and, or ink color, enhance the experience of keeping a journal. When I determine I will start journaling, choosing those things seem to prepare me and commit me to the discipline.

I have also found it beneficial to have a particular time of day to write. Most of my years, it has been early morning upon awakening. In that way, my journal can also serve as a dream journal where I record any significant dreams that I can remember.

I now use that ingrained discipline to do the writing that I share with you in these various articles and books. Still, a journal is different from, and in many ways more special than regular writing.

When I began journaling, I resolved to live each day so that when I looked back upon it when I got older I would smile. Now, no matter what sorrow or loss I may have been experiencing at the time I was writing, when I pick up an old journal to read, I find I do smile.

Although it may be bittersweet, I realize that I have new understanding and compassion for the person I used to be. The love and compassion that the passage of time has granted to others, put everything into perspective.

Journaling Affirmation

I find that journaling allows you to look back and affirm:

I did survive,

I did prevail, and

I have arrived in a different moment of time,

bringing with me the wisdom that those events long ago imparted.

I am able to see the growth and understanding I have achieved.

            – Genevieve Gerard

The very act of journaling has brought magic into my life with the healing way it has brought me through the dark night of many experiences into the light.

Early in my experience of journaling, I began to notice that no matter how unhappy or unsettled I was when I began to write, the process of writing would begin to clarify things. By the conclusion of the writing, my perspective had shifted and I was able to understand life and events with a greater depth and clarity. This aspect is still one of the main reasons and primary benefits of keeping a journal.

The change to a new season, a significant shift in time, such as a New Year, or a new monthly Moon which starts a new lunar cycle are all powerful times to make a commitment to starting a journal. Picking out the book and bringing it to where you can easily reach it, with your special or designated pen helps encourage you.

Whatever your choice of book, I encourage you to write the start date on the title page and when the book is filled, record the end date. This is valuable when you go back to remember specific times and life-transforming events.

For that reason, specifying a book for a special trip is often helpful. By just letting the dates record the start and end of the journey clarifies that those insights or even people who came into your life were unique to that experience.

If you chose to begin journaling now, I would recommend you take the time to choose a special book, identify a pen, and make the choice of those things special. It is too easy to lose random notebooks.

Certainly, in these days of computers, notepads and smart mini computer cell phones, any of those could be used to journal. The advantage I could see to using these new technologies is they tend to be kept with you and easily available. The cloud and new platforms open up a completely new possibility. The ease of accessing your journal from where ever you might be, opens new opportunities and potential.

Another good reason to keep a journal is it is a great way to make valuable use of waiting time. I have found it often a great way to nourish and support myself when eating alone. Keeping a journal gave me the freedom to be alone in many of the places and times that people were with others, without making me stand out of feeling lonely. In the years that I frequently traveled on business and found myself eating in restaurants alone, it also helped me to not feel lonely.

Whatever equipment and whatever platform you choose to use, I would recommend that before you begin to write in your journal you take a few minutes to ground your energy, to center yourself, to open your heart and mind and to consciously choose to be aligned with and receptive to your Higher Self. This can only enhance and magnify the benefits and advantages of journaling.

Check out Grounding Arrow MP3 by Genevieve Gerard

 

Experience how to ground your energy, center yourself, and rebalance yourself to your life force with my Grounding Arrow Guided Meditation MP3 Download.
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Remember, your Higher Self, your Soul is an integral part of you and is always available to you wherever you are.

As I write these words to you, I realize that I would like to add this new technology to my smartphone through Google Docs. I will share my experience of that with you the next time I reach out to you and write about the advantages of keeping a journal.

Whatever tools or techniques you choose to use, I encourage you to make the commitment to yourself to use this way to transform your life and grow. Make a commitment to open your life to the increased awareness and insight the journaling can give you.

This is a gift you can give to yourself, to empower yourself. It is something you can do today to open your life to becoming all that you are meant to be.

Namaste,

   Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All That You Do!

P.S. Do you keep a journal? Why or why not? I’d love to hear your thoughts on journaling in the comments section!

 

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Last updated 1-24-2019

 

Copyright © 2015-2019 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

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Life is a series of spontaneous changes

Life Is A Series of Spontaneous Changes

Invocations and Affirmations for Change

Read "Life is a series of spontaneous changes" blog by Genevieve Gerard

Change…
is a fact of life.

From the moment we are born to the last breathe we take, change is a part of life.

This aspect of living can serve as the seat of all hope and promise, or the fuel for all fears.

This understanding of the nature of life as a never-ending cycle of change leads me to wonder how this can be used to enhance what is experienced in an individual life.

It is important to understand that the life principle that brings change, is neither good nor bad. You can use change to create the life of your dreams when you harness the inevitable and direct it with your positive thoughts and affirmations.

When things are in the flux of changing is an excellent opportunity to look at the events in your life and reconsider them. All too often, there is a tendency in life to accept the status quo, letting life move on without conscious thought or consideration.

These times of change can provide you the opportunity to consciously consider what is working for you in your life and what changes you may want to make or need to make.

I believe it is human nature to have an initial fear response to change. You know deep down that you can handle and cope with what has been, but even if it wasn’t what you wanted or needed, a change takes you into the unknown and untried.

Fortunately, sometimes life conspires to introduce change, not only through conscious decisions and choices but often through life lessons and happenings beyond your control.

Life is a series of spontaneous changes.
        – Lao Tzu

It is at these times in life that it is important to harness your fears and seize the day. When you transmute and transform your fears of change, you opening your life to an unlimited possibility to become the life you have, until now, only dared to dream.

Some Important Steps to Take Advantage of Change

    1. Put the past firmly in the past. What has been before this very moment in time now, without power or influence, except by your invitation.
    2. Realize that what will become the future is just now being formed and created so your positive affirmations and intention can have a powerful energetic influence.
    3. As you consider the events of your past, take a moment to consider them from a different perspective, the perspective of your Higher Self. As you do this reinterpret and reframe them with your new awareness and insight.

One cannot step into the same river twice.
        – Heraclitus

    4. This is a dynamic time to use the techniques of journaling to support you in your transition.
    5. Choose to use the powerful universal principle, that energy follows thought, to bring to your door the conditions that will support the changes you desire.
    6. Release your fears.
    8. Consciously use the tools of affirmation and invocation to take the maximum advantage of this time.

Invocations and Affirmations for Change

  • As the winds of change blow into my life, I open my life and invoke and invite into my life the circumstances and situations that will help me to fulfill the purpose of my life.
  • I call upon my guardian angel and guiding angels to bring to my awareness the opportunities that I may not see in the confusion and chaos that may accompany change.
  • Heavenly Father, Divine Mother I know that as things change your love is eternal and your grace is sufficient to my needs.
  • With full faith and confidence in life, I open my heart to love as new people come into my life. I welcome new friends and companions on the path.
  • I welcome the possibilities and potential that change brings to the present.
  • I call upon my Divine Self for inspiration and my Higher Self for direction, that I may take advantage of the changes that life has sent my way.

It is in times of transition that you can transform and
empower your life.
        – Genevieve Gerard

Some Positive Affirmations to use in times of change

I affirm that:

The seeds for my success are available in each new situation.

Life brings me what I need to grow and to thrive, so I will thrive and grow.

With change comes a new chance to manifest my goals.

Take advantage of the times in life where change comes, often without your plan or desire. Harness these times to bring into your life what you have learned you need to align your life with your life’s purpose, your goals and your dreams.

Whether the changes that are occurring in your life seem to be happenstance or are planned, they present you with new conditions that you can utilize to bring into manifestation conditions that support and encourage your success.

What has always amazed me about the dynamic principle of change is that no matter how sudden or unexpected it might be, it can bring with it, in an instant, opportunities beyond your wildest dreams. So use that awareness to minimize your fears and embrace new possibilities with a sense of excitement and promise.

Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created for something new to emerge.
        – Eckhart Tolle

So whether a change is planned or not, invited or not, use it as a chance to practice the tools and techniques of conscious living.

Calm your mind, open your heart and invite in the wisdom and insight of your Higher Self.

Listen to the quiet promptings of your intuition. Ponder on this.

Remember to, in this moment of time, in the midst of the challenges of life and the chaos of transition and change, align with your life purpose. It is your life and belongs uniquely to you to make of it what you will.

Right now, this very moment, you are free of the past and empowered to be an active and vital force in the creation of a future that is, as yet, unformed.

Today, right now, new possibilities come your way on the wings of change. Harness the power of your mind. Use the tools and techniques of transformation to bring into manifestation the life that you desire.

Namaste,

     Genevieve Gerard

The Blessing of Love On All That You Do!

 

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Last updated 8-08-2018

 

Copyright © 2015-2018 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

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The Truth About Worrying

The Truth About Worrying

– You can’t cross a bridge till you come to it.

Read "The Truth About Worrying" blog post by Genevieve Gerard

One of the truths that I have observed is that most of what I spend my time worrying about never happens.

That means all of that energy of worry was wasted.

Right next to that observation was the realization that if something I worried about did happen, the worry did not change the situation. The worry I had invested did not make things better. I had to handle the situation when it happened in the midst of the life circumstance in which it happened.

All worrying had done is sap the strength I needed to cope with things and increase my fear response. It did not improve my ability to handle the situation. It did not decrease my sorrow or frustration one little bit.

What I did realize when I looked back on the events that I had been worried about was the actual facts were very different from my worries.

However, what the time I spent worrying did was diminish my appreciation of what was actually happening in my life.

When I objectively consider the time and the energy I had consumed with worrying, I was able to see that it was a waste.

When I further considered the nature of the worry, it was mostly based on the fear that I would lose something or someone I had in my life in the present, so diminishing my appreciation of what was real in my life at that moment was a significant loss.

The joy of the moment that I sacrificed to worry cannot be recaptured. It led me to understand that worrying is a joy spoiler and a life spoiler.

Worrying brings you out of what is actually happening in your life, in your real life, into a future that may never happen.

Right now in the present moment, the future is unformed and uncreated. As such, what will happen in it is unclear. No matter how hard you try, you cannot know what will happen. You cannot change that.

What is interesting is that no matter how much time or effort you give to worrying in the present, it does not change anything.

When you expand your awareness to consider the principles that energy follows thought and other factors about life, such as the Law of Attraction, you realize that worrying is like praying for what you don’t want.

In the words of folk wisdom.

In the journey of life, you can’t cross a bridge until you come to it.

Having been mostly raised by sage women who were my grandmothers, I recall their different ways of making the same point. One would say,

Never trouble trouble, till trouble troubles you.
        – Mary Fisbeck

The other expressed the same wisdom by advising,

Sufficient unto the day are the problems thereof.
        – Florence Hook

Truly, you can only live your life in the present moment. The past is over almost as quickly as it happens. This is an important fact. Nothing you can do can ever bring the past back.

Each moment brings its own gift and its own experience.
        – Genevieve Gerard

That there is only right now to live in, gives you great freedom.

You are free from any past failures, past problems and mistakes.

Likewise, whatever challenges may be facing you at the moment can be tolerated when you realize it is limited to now. It is not how things will always be. That provides strength and courage to coping in the present.

This fact of living helped me to understand how we can be assured we will never be given more than we can handle.

Staying in present time is very important. The minute your mind offers the lie that “it has always been like this,” or “it will always be like this,” your strength falters.

The minute that you shift your awareness to the realization that the past is past and you are not limited by it or controlled by it in any way, your perspective changes.

Being in the present is of immense importance. Staying aware of now is of great value.

More and more I find I want to be living in a Big Here and a Long Now.
        – Brian Eno

It is significant that this all takes place in your mind. Thankfully, your mind can be under your control.

Indeed, a primary advantage of learning to meditate and practicing meditation is learning to harness the power of your thoughts and your mind.

Indeed the technique of cognitive reframing gives you great power that demonstrates how you can change your life, by changing your mind. Reframing is a way of viewing and experiencing events, ideas, concepts and emotions to find interpretations that are more positive.

To stop worrying, to release your fears and harness the power of your mind allows you to be a force for living a happier, more successful and more empowered life.

An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.
        – Proverbs 12:25

Using the tools and techniques of meditation are a significant step in seeing the truth about worrying. The more you can bring the power of your mind under your conscious control, the more freedom and the more joyful your life can be.

I Am Feeling Free Meditation Download by Genevieve Gerard

Worry is twisted up in your fears, so when you choose not to worry, you are making a conscious step in releasing your fears.

I encourage you to choose to live your life trusting in life to only deliver to you what you can handle in the now and let yourself enjoy and appreciate what is happening today, free from your worries and fears.

Dispelling Worry Meditation

To assist you in finding the truth about worrying, I offer you a little meditation that is straightforward and easy to incorporate into your life.

The first step is to use the power of your mind to choose to stop worrying consciously.

Affirm:
Whatever comes into my life I will handle when it is in my life.

Now take a deep relaxing breath.

Release any fears and consciously commit to considering a problem when it is real. Decide to cross a bridge only when it emerges in your life path.

Certainly, on life’s path, you cannot cross a bridge until you come to it. You may find that just this shift in your thoughts significantly reduces your stress.

Spend 2-3 minutes a day observing the content of your “mind chatter.”

Each time you notice that you are worrying, stop. Take three deep breaths while you bring your attention and awareness into the present moment, into the now.

Then consciously with your mind, replace the negative thought with an affirmation or reframe the just past event that seems to have stimulated your worry or fear response with a positive statement.

You could have at the ready some affirmations that engage the power of your mind in a positive direction. For your convenience, I have written some affirmations that you can incorporate into your life.

Affirm:
I will consider and evaluate each situation in my life based upon what is happening NOW.

Affirm:
Today’s challenges are sufficient for me today.

Affirm:
What is past is powerless over me.
The future awaits creation.
Only right now can I make the right choice.

Finally, live in gratitude for the blessings and abundance you have in your life, right here, right now.

 

I encourage and invite you to free your life from the stress and strain of worrying and stand confidently in the present moment. Trust yourself and trust life to provide bridges for you over troubled waters that you only need to cross when they are right before you.

Namaste,

   Genevieve Gerard

 

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Genevieve - Soulful

 

About the author:
Genevieve Gerard teaches Transformational Consciousness – from first awakening to enlightened Soul awareness. She helps you experience the joy that results from the spontaneous “touch of your soul.”

Read more details…

Genevieve has a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Theology and a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling and for over thirty years has worked one-on-one with people who were recovering from devastating disabilities and chronic pain. Teaching the mastery of the mind-body relationship she was one of the early professionals trained in biofeedback, visualization, imagery, and meditation as essential techniques to help people heal their bodies, heal their emotions, heal their minds, and heal their lives.

Genevieve’s work demonstrates what she knows so well, “It is spiritual connectedness that triggers physical healing and emotional and mental well-being.”  Helping people, like you, tap into your higher-self is the power she wields to guide you to heal and transform your life.

Now, with this understanding, she combines the effective techniques she developed over decades teaching mind-body mastery along with her extensive experience in meditation and spiritual development to create a synthesis of mind-body-spirit that delivers complete healing and opens the door to unlimited personal growth and an encounter with your Soul.

In addition to her current life guidance coaching sessions, and workshops performed around the world, Genevieve has produced more than 20+ guided meditations in the last eight years that are available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and her website.

It is her vision that through your experience with the techniques of awareness, visualization, and meditation, the love of your Soul will touch and transform your life through her writings and products. It is her sincere desire that the potential of a life of joy and celebration that seems to elude so many people can become a reality for you, now and forever.

Browse her life story and read the Touch of the Soul that changed her world. To contact Genevieve, visit her keep in touch page.

 

Last Updated 10-30-2019

 

Copyright © 2015-2019 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

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A Mindful Breath

A Mindful Breath

Read "A Mindful Breath" by Genevieve Gerard

Breath has long been used by those who teach meditation as a portal into consciousness.

Breath integrates your mind-body relationship by helping you to release stress and calm your mind while working with your natural physiology to relax.

To use your breath mindfully and consciously can be a powerful way to empower your life.

Every breath we take, every step we make can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity.
              Thich Nhat Hanh

Today, I will lead you through the technique of mindful breathing. As you sit, you can use this technique as a little consciousness shift in the midst of your day.

You can use this mindful breathing exercise as often as you like, and do it as often as you need. The awareness and stress release it brings will be effective almost immediately.

This technique only involves breathing, which certainly you do all of the time. However, I take this technique one step further to increase your consciousness and your awareness by breathing mindfully.

I suggest that to experience a mindful breath most effectively that you, as much as you are able, set aside 5 minutes or so without distractions or interruptions. If possible mute your phone. If you can, close your door and ask your co-workers or family to give you a few undisturbed minutes.

Let yourself calm your mind and open your heart as you do this simple mindful breath meditation.

To quiet the mind of meaningless chatter, to calm the emotions to peaceful repose and then to receive the Transcendent Love of the Soul is the joy of meditation that is available anytime, anywhere you are, once you learn how to meditate daily.
              – Genevieve Gerard

A Mindful Breath Meditation

To begin, sit up straight, with your spine vertically aligned.

Along your spine, about 2-3 inches behind your physical spine, are energy centers that are called chakras. As you align your physical spine imagine that all of your energy is also aligned.

You might be aware of the sense of being in alignment that results from aligning your spine.

Place your feet on the floor. This helps you relax. It also helps you ground your energy and be mindful of the connection to the flow of the earth’s energy.

Consciously and with intention, let your energy gently come to center in your heart.

Take a deeply relaxing and centering breath and as you do so consciously enter into this present moment. Let the past go into the past where it truly is. Bring your awareness into the NOW. You are right here, right now. It is right now, right here.

Begin, by inhaling another really deep breath, bringing the air in through your nose. Relax your diaphragm and let the mindful breath begin energetically at your solar plexus chakra.

Then, bring the air into your chest and as you do this consciously open the energy of your heart to expand and open.

Then bring the breath into your lungs, all the way to the top of your lungs, letting your lungs expand and letting your whole being expand. Bring the breath in; filling your lungs as fully as you are able, bringing the air into the upper lung until it is just below your shoulders.

When you have filled your lungs as fully as you are able, release the breath through your mouth until you have released all of the air.

This is a relaxing breath. You might already be mindful of how much more relaxed and at peace you feel, having fully experienced a full breath.

With the release of the breath, you can also release any tension or anxiety you may have been holding.

Let your breathing return to normal.

As you breathe normally, be mindful that you are the one breathing in and you are the one breathing out.

Be aware that your body has the wisdom to take in with every breath exactly what you need and to let go of what no longer serves you.

Before you take another deep and relaxing breath, come consciously into the present. Again, consciously put the past behind you and relax. As you pause, appreciate the magnificent power and unlimited potential that is available to you, right here and right now.

When you affirm that the past is truly now behind you, realize that it has no further power over you, or influence over you, except what you choose to give it.

What will be the future is just beginning to be created, as you let yourself relax and reside in the peace and the presence of the eternal NOW.

It is in the eternal NOW that your Higher Self resides. This moment, this peace, this presence is available to you. It responds to your invocation and invitation.

When you are ready, begin to draw in another deep relaxing and healing breath, in through your nose starting at your diaphragm, through your solar plexus. Let the breath clear away any tension or stress you are holding there. As you bring the breath into your chest to your heart chakra, let your heart fill with love as you open your heart to receive love in and give love out.

Then bring the breath to the top of your lungs, drawing in as much air as you can hold.

Then as you release this breath, through your mouth, it may form a sound like a sigh as you let go of any stress or concerns and let yourself relax, releasing with the breath any tension or anxiety you may have been holding, letting it completely drift away.

Observe and be mindful of what you are feeling and experiencing.

Observe that you are the one breathing in and breathing out. You are the one who is experiencing the whole cycle of your breath. Know that you can choose to breathe with control or naturally.

Now, breathe naturally not attempting to control your breath, allowing your breath to direct how much you bring in and how much you let go of that you no longer need. You might notice a calm and peace filling you at this time. You might be aware that you are more present and aware.

Remember, having consciously released the past you have opened to the profound peace and potential of the eternal now. You are now open to the possibility of creating a new future that incorporates more of your purpose in life and fulfills your heart’s desire.

While taking one more really deep relaxing and filling breath with intention, invoke and invite the Presence of your Higher Self.

Imagine a golden Light coming from your Higher Self, infusing the air you are breathing in deeply.

Let this Light circulate through your whole being with your breath through your solar plexus. Let it calm you, releasing your fears and frustrations with its healing Light.

As the breath circulates from your lungs to your heart and from your heart throughout every atom of your body, the healing light balances you, restores and refreshes you.

As it moves from your lungs to your heart and throughout your whole physical body and energy body, accept the healing power and the profound love into your conscious awareness, into your heart and mind.

As you exhale, breathe out and release any negative thoughts or fears.

With each exhale, release any limiting beliefs that keep you from expressing the magnificent and full being that you truly are.

Now sit in silence and receptivity. Use this interlude to listen for the still prompting of your Higher Self.

In this pause you can offer up any issue or concern on which you would like greater insight or understanding from the guidance of your Higher Self.

Let your breathing return to natural. Bring your attention and awareness back to your physical body.

Observe the background sounds that surround you. Become aware of the smells, the quality of the light, and observe how you feel. Let your mind return to this present moment.

You might notice how much more relaxed and centered you feel. You might feel more empowered and aligned in your being.

To finish up, give gratitude to your Higher Self for any insights and clarity you may have received in this mindful breath meditation.

 

               – GG

 

I invite and encourage you to practice this mindful breathing meditation often and let your body and mind relax and your heart be comforted.

Namaste,

  Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All that You Do!

 

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Last updated 8-5-2020

 

Genevieve - Soulful

 

About the author:
Genevieve Gerard teaches Transformational Consciousness – from first awakening to enlightened Soul awareness. She helps you experience the joy that results from the spontaneous “touch of your soul.”

Read more details…

Genevieve has a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Theology and a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling and for over thirty years has worked one-on-one with people who were recovering from devastating disabilities and chronic pain. Teaching the mastery of the mind-body relationship she was one of the early professionals trained in biofeedback, visualization, imagery, and meditation as essential techniques to help people heal their bodies, heal their emotions, heal their minds, and heal their lives.

Genevieve’s work demonstrates what she knows so well, “It is spiritual connectedness that triggers physical healing and emotional and mental well-being.”  Helping people, like you, tap into your higher-self is the power she wields to guide you to heal and transform your life.

Now, with this understanding, she combines the effective techniques she developed over decades teaching mind-body mastery along with her extensive experience in meditation and spiritual development to create a synthesis of mind-body-spirit that delivers complete healing and opens the door to unlimited personal growth and an encounter with your Soul.

In addition to her current life guidance coaching sessions, and workshops performed around the world, Genevieve has produced more than 20+ guided meditations in the last eight years that are available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and her website.

It is her vision that through your experience with the techniques of awareness, visualization, and meditation, the love of your Soul will touch and transform your life through her writings and products. It is her sincere desire that the potential of a life of joy and celebration that seems to elude so many people can become a reality for you, now and forever.

Browse her life story and read the Touch of the Soul that changed her world. To contact Genevieve, visit her keep in touch page.

 

Copyright © 2015-2020 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

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LOVE Is An Action Word

LOVE is an Action Word

Read Love Is An Action Word Wisdom Wednesday Blog by Genevieve Gerard

This post is part of my ongoing series on Love.

As I am sitting in meditation pondering what to write and teach about, I realize that many people in the world do not understand the relationship between loving as a feeling and love that makes life an exciting and amazing exploration of relationship and togetherness.

The phrase “love is an action word” came into my mind attached to a myriad of lessons and impressions about love and loving.

I shall try to unravel and share the wisdom and implications of this revelation with you today, lessons about love.

Love in action takes love from being just the emotions of love, into being a guide for your love relationships.

It supports and encourages your loved ones in coming into the fullness of their being. It supports their journey, even when it goes in a direction you may not personally desire.

Love is, of course, a powerful and dynamic force that has the power to transform your life and fill you with incredible joy and fulfillment.

Certainly “falling in love” is a peak experience in anyone’s life. For some love lasts a lifetime as cherished support that permeates their lives.

However, for others love becomes a source of agony, riddled with pain and sorrow, marked by disappointment and betrayal.

Love is certainly a complex emotional energy-riddled with a great many differing aspects. Although it is perhaps one of the most important issues in life, it is something that everyone assumes you know how to do.

In my experience, and my many years of teaching and coaching people to have a happy and successful life, I have realized that there is much about love that is not easily understood.

My meditations, and I hope my writings, will open you to a new way of considering love.

What It Means To Love

The very word love has so many variations to it that ancient Greeks divided love into multiple words.

Here is what Wikipedia says about these Greek love words:

Agápe means “love: esp. brotherly love, charity; the love of God for man and of man for God.” Agape is used in the biblical passage known as the “love chapter,” 1 Corinthians 13, and is described here and throughout the New Testament as brotherly love, affection, goodwill, love, and benevolence.

Éros means “love, mostly of the sexual passion.” The Modern Greek word “erotas” means “intimate love.” It can also apply to dating relationships as well as marriage. Plato has Socrates argue that eros helps the soul recall knowledge of beauty, and contributes to an understanding of spiritual truth, the ideal “Form” of youthful beauty that leads us, humans, to feel erotic desire – thus suggesting that even that sensually based love aspires to the non-corporeal, spiritual plane of existence; that is, finding its truth, just like finding any truth, leads to transcendence.

Philia means “affectionate regard, friendship,” usually “between equals.” It is a dispassionate virtuous love, a concept developed by Aristotle. Philia is expressed as loyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue, equality, and familiarity.

Storge means “love, affection” and “especially of parents and children.” It is natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring.

Unfortunately, in modern society, we only have one word that is supposed to fit all forms and aspects of love and we have romantic books, films and media products that seem to go out of their way to define love in a way that creates unrealistic expectations about what it means to love.

All too often, this fairy tale fantasy about love leads to the expectation and belief that when you love someone they want exactly what you want, that in some way doing what you need gives them what they need. This fallacy leads to many broken hearts.

As I pondered further about these love issues, the phrase, “Love is an action word” loomed in my consciousness.

To say ‘I love you’ is often easy.
To demonstrate that love in action is much more powerful.
        – Genevieve Gerard

Put Your Love Into Action

What does that mean, put your love into action? How does just considering that concept change how you act with someone you love?

These are all valuable questions to ask yourself. There is no primer for how to love or what it means to really love someone. And, there is a lot of glamors and illusion surrounding love. In fact, in spite of how very important love is in life, there is very little available about how to truly love another.

To love and manifest your love for a beloved in a way that communicates to them that you love them requires action. To act in a loving way in the midst of your needs and their needs often requires sacrifice, clearly involves taking the time and effort to understand what they want that is different from you and what they need that is different from your needs.

Because love is such a vast, multi-dimensional and powerful force in life with so many distinctive and differing forms, it, unfortunately, falls into a category of everyone believing it is something that just comes naturally. However, you only need to consider the number of loves and lives that have crashed and burned, to realize that this is far from true.

This blog post, this concept, is only a drop in a vast ocean of need. Even so, I think “Love is an Action Word” is an important concept and an important way to empower your relationships and your life.

It is important to tell someone that you love them, for to feel loved is a deep longing in the human psyche. To tell someone you love them reinforces a lot of wonderful energies. Moreover, when you back up what you are saying by what you do with them and for them, by supporting and encouraging them, it is powerful indeed.

To make your love into an action word, to behave in a loving way that manifests that love into the world, is a way that can have a profound influence on the success of a loving relationship and the happiness of both you and your beloved. It requires extending beyond your needs to the consideration of who they are and what they need. In this way, you can honor and cherish them.

Immature love says, I love you because I need you.
Mature love says, I need you because I love you.
        – Erich Fromm

To manifest love into action requires stepping outside of yourself, your needs, and your thoughts and take a fresh look at who they are. This honesty with yourself and honest consideration of who they are, and what they want or need that is distinctive and different from what you may want or need, is active loving. It demonstrates the respect that is affirming for them.

Doing this also avoids the senseless sacrifices that are often made in the name of love. All too often people make sacrifices for someone they love without this step.

When sacrifices are made without thought and consideration of what they truly need, or are really asking for, it is possible for you to have made a real sacrifice and find it is not appreciated.

Rather than being hurt or disappointed by this response, consider your sacrifice in the context of whether or not it was what was really needed or being requested.

To demonstrate love in an action that considers who your beloved is, separate from you is potent. It does require stepping outside of your perspective and considering the perspective of someone other than yourself. It also means loving unconditionally. This may not be an easy or natural thing to do, which is why it is so significant. This is why I say, it is putting love in to action.

Unconditional Love Meditation MP3

 

To help you get in touch with your ability to love unconditionally and to be freed by forgiveness I created my Gift of Unconditional Love meditation. This meditation will help heal the hurts in your heart and open you to a source of love and grace that aligns your mind and your emotions with your Soul and invites you into a community of consciousness to help make the world a better place.

 

Sadly, all too often, the giving in a relationship falls into the tragedy of O. Henry’s tragic story “The gift of the Magi.” You may recall that this story of loving sacrifice ends with the irony of lovers both left with less by their great sacrifice for the other.

When you love someone, I recommend considering them,
what they need, what they desire, and
then take the step of demonstrating that love by action.
        – Genevieve Gerard

Think of the little ways you can take action to make the life of your loved one a little better, a little easier. These need not be big things and need not cost money. Little considerations, small kindnesses that honor and support the other are all demonstrations of love.

These little gestures may not even be consciously observed by the one you love, however they will establish an atmosphere of love and support that builds and becomes more tangible with each active expression of your love. To truly understand and acknowledge and honor the person you love as a unique individual, who although they have joined their life circumstances with you, is a dynamic way of demonstrating your love.

It may require forgiving things they have done that you do not understand. Seeing your loved one as who they are, different and separate from you. This differentiation and clarification is the first step in learning to love unconditionally.

This requires thought and consideration. It is all too easy to fall into the pattern of projecting your thoughts and feelings onto your beloved and then expect them to think and feel exactly the way that you do, or to want exactly what you want.

To give your loved one what they want, especially when it is different from what you want may require sacrifice on your part, but if you have taken the time and the effort to consider what they want and need that is truly meeting their needs and wants, you avoid the all too frequent issues of unappreciated sacrifice because what you have given was not really what they wanted or needed.

Taking love from romantic fantasy’s, to the action required by understanding and respecting that your loved one is separate from and different from you, may shift a lot in your relationship that makes it happier, healthier and more supportive and empowering.

…let’s not merely say that we love each other;
let us show the truth by our actions.
        – Bible, John 3:18

So, in this season of love I invite you to explore and consider who your beloved is as a unique person who is different from you; who may want different things and have needs that make no sense to you. Then, act upon that understanding. Make love an action word in your life and in your relationship.

This shift in your behavior, when you express your love, will strengthen and empower your relationship and your expression of love in a dynamic and life-changing way that can increase the happiness and satisfaction of both you and the one you love. Your love will mature and bring you both greater joy and happiness.

Namaste,

   Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All That You Do!

 

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Last updated 7-22-2020

 

Genevieve - Soulful

 

About the author:
Genevieve Gerard teaches Transformational Consciousness – from first awakening to enlightened Soul awareness. She helps you experience the joy that results from the spontaneous “touch of your soul.”

Read more details…

Genevieve has a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Theology and a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling and for over thirty years has worked one-on-one with people who were recovering from devastating disabilities and chronic pain. Teaching the mastery of the mind-body relationship she was one of the early professionals trained in biofeedback, visualization, imagery, and meditation as essential techniques to help people heal their bodies, heal their emotions, heal their minds, and heal their lives.

Genevieve’s work demonstrates what she knows so well, “It is spiritual connectedness that triggers physical healing and emotional and mental well-being.”  Helping people, like you, tap into your higher-self is the power she wields to guide you to heal and transform your life.

Now, with this understanding, she combines the effective techniques she developed over decades teaching mind-body mastery along with her extensive experience in meditation and spiritual development to create a synthesis of mind-body-spirit that delivers complete healing and opens the door to unlimited personal growth and an encounter with your Soul.

In addition to her current life guidance coaching sessions, and workshops performed around the world, Genevieve has produced more than 20+ guided meditations in the last eight years that are available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and her website.

It is her vision that through your experience with the techniques of awareness, visualization, and meditation, the love of your Soul will touch and transform your life through her writings and products. It is her sincere desire that the potential of a life of joy and celebration that seems to elude so many people can become a reality for you, now and forever.

Browse her life story and read the Touch of the Soul that changed her world. To contact Genevieve, visit her keep in touch page.

 

Copyright © 2015-2020 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

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Give Love, Live Love, Be Love

Give Love, Live Love, Be Love

Give Love, Live Love & Be Love Wisdom Wednesday Genevieve Gerard blog post

Love is a powerful force in the world.

To give love and be loved is for many the pinnacle of satisfaction and success. For most people love adds meaning to every action in life.

The giving and receiving of love is a variable in life that may well be the most significant factor in personal happiness and success.

To have love in your life brings joy and a sense of well-being. It is interesting to note that both giving love and receiving love can be deeply satisfying experiences.

Love blesses the life of the giver and the one who receives love. Remember love can take on many forms.

It has long seemed too limiting that in language there is only one word to express a concept that is so complex and manifests in so many different ways.

To give love and live love is much more profound than to simply have a successful romantic relationship. Love can empower all of your relationships in a way that expands and enhances your success and personal gratification.

I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.
        – Arthur Rubinstein

The power of love can also be seen all around you. If you stop and take a minute to observe life and think about what you see in the context of love, the many forms through which love is manifested will most likely amaze you.

Kindness, compassion and consideration are all expressions of love. Little things do so much to influence your day’s experience and the experiences of those around you.

When you begin to see love in the essence of its nature and expand your definitions beyond the limitations of romance, family, and even friendship, you can see the dynamic force of love that can influence and direct your life.

Long ago in my academic days when I studied philosophy, I explored the concept of situation ethics. In so doing, I gave great thought and consideration to evaluating in life a vast array of situations and circumstances the question of how is love best served?

Amazingly, that question is very complex. Love is not always simple and is rarely as simplistic as you might want it to be. So, to give love, live love and ultimately be love, involves principles that can both guide and transform your life.

Relationship interactions influence all areas of your life. And, whereas business relationships, casual relationships, and impersonal relationships may not be considered when you think about love, they clearly have a profound influence and impact upon your success and how pleasant and satisfying your daily experiences are.

This makes your capacity to give love a power that can support and affect your life in a myriad of subtle ways that has a profound result.

The transformation in energy that giving love brings to each and every life situation is empowering. Touching, even the most casual of human encounters, with love may have a profound result that you will never know.

Learn more about the Gift of Love Meditation by Genevieve Gerard

Download your copy of my Gift of Love Meditation MP3 instantly

A smile to a lonely clerk who recently lost their mate may give them the strength to face the lonely night. You can never know and need never know, the pain and sorrow of another, but when in your encounter with them you express love, you can help support and sustain them on untold levels.

Relationships and our inter-relationships with one another fuel so very much on an energetic level that every time and every encounter in your life that you give love, live love and be a source of the energy of love in the world, you are dynamically making the world a better place.

When you are a source for the precious gift of love in the world, even casual contacts through the day sense the energy you bring and are moved to respond to what you request and need.
        – Genevieve Gerard

Amazingly, the more you share the energy of love in the world, the better, more successful and more joyous your life becomes. That awareness seems to be the genesis of the wisdom that it is more blessed to give than receive.”

It is wonderful that by giving, especially when you give freely with no expectation or demand, there is a spontaneous response for people to give back to the giver.

This is an integral part of the Law of Attraction and an integral part of living a conscious life. Consider for a moment that when you smile at someone, really smile and share your energy through the smile, it is almost impossible for him or her not to smile back.

Years ago, when I lived in New York City, I used to try a little experiment on the busy city sidewalks. I would pick a distance, trying different lengths at different times, to make eye contact with someone coming my way and then smile at them. Since New Yorkers are notorious for hustling and bustling without smiles or eye contact, my behavior was a bit of an anomaly.

What I found was that as they drew near, there was most often a softening of their expression and that by the time we passed each other we exchanged a smile.

This little gift of warmth in our interaction helped me feel more joyful in my day. I think it gave them a little less stress, a little less anxiety, as it seemed that within a space of a few feet, I could make a connection of a smile and they would be a bit more relaxed, a little less anxious. That human touch had an impact.

Your influence, your impact on their life need never be known to you. It is a gift you can give freely with no expectation or demand. You have, by the very act of giving already received. Your world is a little better. You are a little happier. You are a bit more empowered to achieve your goals. Your energy is more open and expansive.

The simple instruction to give love, live love and be love
can have a profound impact upon your life.
        – Genevieve Gerard

Try it! You will ignite a magnetic force to draw to you what you need by sharing what you can so easily give, a touch of love, a simple smile, the grace of contact and community.

You can at any moment open your heart and your mind to love. The love that you share will move through you. It can come from Source where Love is an aspect of the Divine and when you let it into your life, your heart, your mind and into your consciousness, you become a limitless source and force for good in the world, for love in the world, and for “right relationships.”

A Holding Love Short Meditation

A simple visualization meditation you might enjoy is to imagine that you can gather Love into your field and as it gathers you hold the Love.

Call upon Love as a viable energetic force from Source. Your call and your intention are to be a conduit for Love into the world. Open first your heart and your mind to the transforming Presence of Love.

As you call forth the energy of Love, realize that the Presence of Love is unconditional, transcendent and transpersonal. It can be given and received, requiring nothing in return. It is, in this form, pure energy that can flow to you and through you to others.

Take a moment to invite and invoke that Presence into your awareness and your field.

Affirm that you are now connected with Source. That the essence of Love and the Presence of Love flows to you as a radiating glowing Light represented as the golden fiery white Light of the Sun, filling your heart, your mind and your Soul with Love.

Let your whole aura be filled with the sensations of peace and joy and well-being that come with a touch of the Presence of Love. This is a gift to you and a gift that you can freely share. Since it comes from Source, there is an endless stream available to you whenever you call upon it or need it.

Open Yourself To Love by reading Give Love, Live Love, Be Love blog post by Genevieve Gerard
Open your arms as wide as you can to embrace and receive that down pouring Love energy. Gather Love into your arms and then taking your hands as receptacles, bring them to your heart and let your heart be filled to overflowing.

As you prepare to leave this visualization and return to your world and activities, realize that you are a dynamic instrument to give love, live love and be a force for Love in the world.

You are more powerful and more amazing than you know. Embrace the full scope of your being. Be an instrument of love in the world, in little ways throughout the day. It will magnetize people to you and draw to you what you need from the Source of universal abundance and the Will to Good.

Namaste,

   Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All That You Do!

 

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Copyright © 2015-2019 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

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When The Pupil Is Ready

When The Pupil is Ready, the Teacher Appears

Read "When The Pupil Is Ready, The Teacher Appears" Wisdom Wednesday post by Genevieve

Or as others have quoted it, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

This phrase is a proverb of how things work that has long been touted in the circles of the consciousness community.

Certainly, it is true that readiness is an important part of learning. After all, life is a series of lessons. From the moment you are born, you begin to learn.

But learning happens on multiple levels because you are a multidimensional being. Much of what you experience requires interpretation. It is in the interpretation that the art of life is demonstrated. Your perspective is of paramount importance. Another popular expression that outlines this truth is:

It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
        – Epictetus

Every situation and circumstance in life involve both the stimulus of the event and your interpretation and response to it. It is in the response that deep learning takes place. It is in understanding how to incorporate the situation into your life, especially in your dominant thoughts and emotions, that guidance and coaching are most useful.

This is why the technique of “reframing” can be such a powerful dynamic. It is a potent tool that can be used when activating the principle that “energy follows thought.”

Life is a magnificent adventure. And there is a direct relationship between what you choose to take from it and what you choose to give. This makes every circumstance and every situation have the possibility to bring you more of what you want in life, or make it harder to achieve.

Living consciously becomes a powerful tool you can wield to create the life of your dreams. There is a multitude of techniques and significant ways that you can use the power of your mind to ignite the Law of Attraction to bring what you want into your life. This is likewise true of wielding the potential of the principle that “energy follows thought.”

What you spend the energy of your thoughts on is an important choice that has far-reaching results. You can choose to let fear limit your life, or you can choose to transcend, transmute and release your fears. You can choose to spend your time dreaming and envisioning the life you desire, or you can spin on the wheel of worry and self-doubt.

These are the choices being offered to you every single day. These are choices that you make minute to minute and day to day. These are the choices that have a significant influence on what you create and what you experience in life.

There are many choices that you may have made in the past that might make choosing harder, but the key to that statement is in the past. Right now is a new opportunity to choose differently. NOW it is possible to take hold of the reigns of your life. Now is the time that you can decide to be the cause, the director of your life. You can choose to release your fears and empower your life.

Thankfully, choosing differently, thinking differently, results in different opportunities and different possibilities emerging in your life.
        – Genevieve Gerard

You don’t have to limit your life with fear. You don’t have to waste your precious resources by worrying. The opportunity to change your life and bring to it what you actually want comes to you with every new moment, every thought and every intention. You can change your life in a split second when you change your mind.

For most people their negative thoughts, their fears, and their worries are just bad habits. And, most importantly can be changed. Limiting beliefs are just that, beliefs. Amazingly, you can change your mind and as a result, change your life. This is a gift of living.

You can re-interpret or re-frame every negative situation, and every experience you have ever had.

You can cling to your past mistakes and failures because they are familiar and what is familiar often becomes comfortable. Or you can grow, you can change, you can decide to live a more fulfilling and fruitful life. You can seize the new possibility that each new dawn brings.

For many to have a teacher or guide is helpful. I too have grown from the insights of my teachers and guides. Now I spend most of my life in that role for many individuals who desire a different life, a better life.

In my 40+ years counseling, coaching and guiding people along the path to more enlightened (Soul) awareness, I have found certain keys that are helpful when you are ready to transform your life.

Here is a list of 10 Keys To Transform Your Life
that you will likely find helpful:

  1. The past is past. The only power it has is the power you give it. You can let it go and move on to live a happy, fulfilling life.
  2. We have all made mistakes in life. What is important to take from a mistake is what you have learned from it. Then, you never need to make that mistake again.
  3. Sometimes it is important to forgive. This means to forgive yourself and to forgive others. Forgiveness helps free you from the limitations and restrictions of the past.
  4. What you think and what you believe is more important than you imagine. “Energy follows thought.” What you think is what you create in your life. Your thoughts have great power.
  5. Nothing is ever too much to bear when you keep it limited to the moment, to the present, to the NOW.
  6. What you say to yourself or think about yourself is especially powerful when it starts with “I Am.” You can choose to use that fact to positively transform your life.
  7. Affirming and clearly stating your intentions is a dynamic way to gain control of your life.
  8. Fear and worry are a colossal waste of time and effort. You can choose to wallow in them and invite bad things into your life. Or you can choose to live your life with intention, affirming and inviting what you want. You need to trust yourself to handle and resolve bad things, if they happen, realizing they are just one more lesson to learn from along the adventure of life. Worrying, as I have said before, is like praying for what you don’t want.
  9. Realize that you are a powerful and dynamic creation that is both a human being and a spark of Divine Light. You are on this planet and in this life to learn and ultimately demonstrate and experience Love. Love is the portal to joy and enlightened Soul awareness.
  10. Your Soul is the intrinsic part of you that connects you with the Divine and integrates your personality, your mind, your emotions, and your physical body. You are an amazing being with incredible promise and the amazing possibility of enlightenment.

Ponder on these!

               – Genevieve Gerard

 

Go forward in this school of life, committed to growing and thriving, being and becoming all that you are meant to be. It’s your life. Live it fully and joyously knowing that when you are ready, your teacher will appear.

Namaste,

   Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All That You Do!

 

P.S. If you are “ready,” you might want to consider life guidance coaching. I offer my services by Skype worldwide, in person or by phone.

Thank you again for your time, talents and mentoring.
It has been priceless and I am grateful for the
gift of your presence in my life.”
        – Licensed Clinical Social Worker in California

Read more about what other people are saying about my Life Guidance Coaching.

 

QUICK FACT: This post has been viewed 1,687 times. Checkout our other related posts below.

 

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Genevieve - Soulful

 

About the author:
Genevieve Gerard teaches Transformational Consciousness – from first awakening to enlightened Soul awareness. She helps you experience the joy that results from the spontaneous “touch of your soul.”

 

Genevieve has a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Theology and a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling and for over thirty years has worked one-on-one with people who were recovering from devastating disabilities and chronic pain. Teaching the mastery of the mind-body relationship she was one of the early professionals trained in biofeedback, visualization, imagery, and meditation as essential techniques to help people heal their bodies, heal their emotions, heal their minds, and heal their lives.

Genevieve’s work demonstrates what she knows so well, “It is spiritual connectedness that triggers physical healing and emotional and mental well-being.”  Helping people, like you, tap into your higher-self is the power she wields to guide you to heal and transform your life.

Now, with this understanding, she combines the effective techniques she developed over decades teaching mind-body mastery along with her extensive experience in meditation and spiritual development to create a synthesis of mind-body-spirit that delivers complete healing and opens the door to unlimited personal growth and an encounter with your Soul.

In addition to her current life guidance coaching sessions, and workshops performed around the world, Genevieve has produced more than 20+ guided meditations in the last eight years that are available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and her website.

It is her vision that through your experience with the techniques of awareness, visualization, and meditation, the love of your Soul will touch and transform your life through her writings and products. It is her sincere desire that the potential of a life of joy and celebration that seems to elude so many people can become a reality for you, now and forever.

Browse her life story and read the Touch of the Soul that changed her world. To contact Genevieve, visit her keep in touch page.

 

Copyright © 2015-2019 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

When The Pupil Is Ready Read More »

Surrender To Slumber

How To Surrender To Slumber

Read "Surrender To Slumber" Wisdom Wednesday Blog by Genevieve Gerard

Sleep is a unique function in life. It is one of the most powerful tools for the body to rest, rejuvenate and heal. To surrender to sleep is a blessing of peace and relaxation.

Unfortunately, for many people it is a challenge to get to sleep and stay asleep.

More than 70 million Americans report they have trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep every night.
        – National Sleep Foundation

The purpose of sleep is not fully known, and it is still studied intensely today. What we do know for sure, though, is that sleeping regularly is essential for survival.

What is especially significant about sleep is that it has an impact on so many different levels of your well-being. In sleep the unity of the body, mind and emotions are all inter-related.

Quote about sleep by Thomas Dekker

 

The peace of sleep and the way that it works with your organs, your glands and your hormones make getting a good night’s sleep very important. While your body rests, balancing, healing and restoration takes place.

 

 

Today I would like to offer you some pitfalls to avoid and some things you can do to help you get the best sleep.

PITFALLS TO AVOID

Sleep Medication

When I think of pitfalls to avoid the very first thought that comes to my mind is using medication to go to sleep.

Since I first released my guided sleep meditation in 2011 to help people get a restful deep sleep, I have observed something that I think is very significant about people when they struggle to sleep. Those who regularly use medications to go to bed are less receptive to a natural way to go to sleep. Although using medication to sleep may not be addictive, it is habituating. In fact, of those who have told me they tried the meditation and were still unable to get to sleep, 100% were regularly using medication.

It is interesting to note that among those who were using medication to sleep, most of them reported that even with the medication they still had a significant problem getting to sleep. Frequently they told me they needed increasing doses. Still, they report that even with medication they fail to have a deep and restful sleep. This shows that the habits you practice to go to sleep can have a significant influence.

The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to.
        – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Not Letting Go

I often wonder what it is about sleep that is so difficult. After frequent consideration on the matter, it seems that one factor is that to fall asleep involves a letting go, or surrender to sleep. Even the common phrase to “fall asleep” implies a letting go.

Being multi-dimensional in nature, in order to go to sleep you must let go on different levels, your physical body, your emotional body and your mind. These layers of release must all take place to achieve a truly deep and restful night’s sleep. Perhaps this is a clue to ponder.

Then into the mix goes the nature of your dreams which are often a way that your Higher Self tries to guide you while you sleep.

Fear

As with so many experiences in life, fear seems to play a part in the problem with sleep. Some fear their dreams or the possibility of a nightmare. Many seem to fear the fact that when you are asleep, you are not in control.

I believe that it is an illusion that you are in control during your waking hours; however, this illusion seems to contribute to the resistance to sleep. You will sleep best if you let yourself relax your body. There are a number of ways to relax your body before you go to sleep.

Since regular rituals or habits seem to enhance the transition from waking to sleep, it is often helpful to incorporate some regular activities into your pre-sleep time. For the ease of consideration, these can fall naturally into focusing on the different parts of achieving a good night’s sleep.

THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP

Here are some practical things you can do to incorporate into your nighttime pre-sleep rituals that can help you surrender to slumber.

Breathe

Your breath is a part of a complex interrelated system that is run by the autonomic parts of your nervous system. Therefore, you can use your breath and this integration of the body, mind, and emotions to help you relax sufficiently to enter into sleep seamlessly.

Breathing in through your nose and filling your lungs fully, dropping the diaphragm and filling the lungs from the bottom up to the very top lobes of the lungs and then releasing the whole breath through your slightly pursed lips, is known as a deep and relaxing breath.

These kinds of breaths signal your autonomic nervous system that you are safe and not threatened. This kind of breath, especially when repeated induces a relaxation response that can prepare you for sleep.

When you find it difficult to relax, repeating deep relaxing breaths can be beneficial. Sometimes it helps to count the breaths. For most a repetition of 10 deep breaths put you into a state of preparation for sleep. In fact, you might just naturally drift off to sleep before you have finished the count.

Put The Day Behind You

When you lay asleep it often helps to consciously create an endpoint for the day. If you consciously release the demands of the day that have been met or have been left unfinished and enter into the present moment in your mind, you are making an important step in preparing to rest while you sleep.

The past is now over. It has no more power over you. You can let it go. Between the past and the future is the peace of the present and you can use that peace to let yourself surrender to sleep.

Tomorrows tasks, tomorrows challenges, will all be there waiting for you when the new day dawns. The promise and potential of tomorrow are part of the miracle of life because that future is uncreated and not yet formed.

By putting the past behind you, you are opening to the power and the promise of a new day unfettered by the limitations of the past. You can, as you let go of the old day, be assured that anything left undone can be incorporated into the tasks of tomorrow if they are important.

Prayer

Perhaps because many of us prayed before sleep as children, or as a way to surrender the cares and concerns for which you desire help, praying to a higher power (God) before sleep is an effective ritual.

I have often recommended a gratitude prayer before sleep which in the words of the old song recommends counting your blessings instead of sheep. This focuses your mind on what is good and positive in your life, and the gratitude stimulates and activates the Law of Attraction to bring into your life more of what you want.

Meditation

A meditation, guided or self-directed, can be a dynamic tool for transitioning from your waking state to a sleep state where your Soul and Higher Self are accessible. It allows you to breathe, focus in the moment and relax. There is between waking and sleeping a fertile time when you can open your being to the impressions and guidance of your Soul.


Checkout Sleep In Heavenly Peace CD by Genevieve GerardBecause sleep is such a difficult issue for so many people, and the failure to get a restful and restorative sleep has such far reaching implications in life, sleep was one of the very first challenges I addressed when I started publishing my guided meditations. My Sleep In Heavenly Peace meditation CD remains one of my most successful, widely distributed, and reviewed products I have ever created. Click learn more here to check out this MP3 download and glide effortlessly into sleep.


Warm Bath

Take a warm bath before you get ready for bed relaxes the body and gives you the opportunity for reflective time before you get in bed. Combining the warm bath with a relaxing meditation can be very helpful.

Affirmation

Affirmations are powerful tools that speak to your creative mind to direct the life that you desire. Using a positive affirmation before you sleep sets the creative power of your mind toward what you envision for your life.

Ultimately, let it be. What filled today is enough for today. What will come is still evolving and being created. It is enough to release the day and take the time to rest, to relax and restore yourself with the healing blessing of sleep.

Sweet dreams!

Namaste,

Genevieve

 

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Last Updated 11-13-2018

 

Copyright © 2015-2018 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

Surrender To Slumber Read More »

Love is the Antidote

Love is the Antidote to Criticism and Judgment

Love is the Perfect Antidote by Genevieve Gerard

 

Criticism and judgment may well be one of the most damaging ways you hurt the ones you love.

Sadly, it is one of the most common ways that couples destroy the love that should be the greatest blessing and joy in their lives.

It is a trap of inter-relationship, which has seeds in the psychological concept of projection, but more importantly in the dynamics of how people often “fall in love. Unfortunately, our media manufactures unrealistic perceptions of what it means to love another.

PROJECTION

During that special magical time of falling in love, it is human nature to project all that is good and wonderful onto your beloved. Just as later in the relationship, it is human nature to project your own faults and failures onto your beloved.

Both of these experiences are illusions and neither of these has anything to do with love. Although, if you consider any of your failed relationships, beginning middle and end, you will most likely recognize this pattern.

Too truly love accepts the other as who they are, supporting and honoring them in their unique life journey, although it may well be different from yours.
                  – Genevieve Gerard

At the beginning of a relationship, you may have been drawn to your beloved, from the impulse of your Soul (whose nature is love) or your karma with the person. When you meet that someone, you may feel a connection that is special. This may even have to do with a bond of love that has been forged in eternity.

You may feel understood in a way you do not feel in most of your daily relationships. You could feel a sense of unity with the other, a coming together in a way that transcends the mundane. You know and acknowledge that this relationship is different. With your beloved, you are more alive, more real, more fully in touch with your full being than you normally are when you are alone.

You feel connected, content, and joyful. You may even feel more connected and in tune with your Soul, your higher self. Since most of us do not always feel connected, content and joyful, it is easy to assume that these feelings come from the other and the process of projection begins. You say to the other “you are wonderful.” The other says to you, “no, no, you are the one who is wonderful.” Feeling validated, appreciated and loved, you both feel wonderful.

This process of feeling wonderful, supported, validated, appreciated and even complete provides a hint to the aspects that compose a positive and successful relationship. Ponder on this!

This positive and supportive relationship can then grow and expand into the declaration of love for each other. This unconditional understanding and acceptance is what you long for and expect from love. This is what we have grown to expect of “falling in love.”

The two keys in this concept are unconditional and acceptance. To receive life-affirming love and acceptance are powerful and life-affirming. It gives you the impetus to be the best that we can be. In addition, when you are willing and able to give your beloved unconditional love and acceptance that brings you together, you move forward in life to have the true strength and joy that comes from a loving union.

Thankfully, you can use this illusory period of projection to truly let love blossom and mature into true love. Armed with the blessing and the strength of love you are then able to move forth in life to be and become all that you can be, knowing and trusting in the benevolence of that love.

CRITICISM and JUDGMENT

Sadly, for many loving unconditionally is too much. Forgiving the little hurts and the real or imagined slights that could sustain the love is just too hard. Unfortunately, what follows next in the pattern of relationships demonstrates why learning to forgive is such an essential part of love.

The unforgiven slights and hurts build up and become criticisms and judgments. No longer do you say to your beloved, “you are wonderful and I love you.” Rather, the message becomes, “you have failed,” “you are wrong.” “You are less than you could be, ought to be or should be.”

No longer does the confidence and faith in yourself that came from being loved and understood give you the strength and courage to go forth in the world to be all that you can be. No longer do you feel strengthened and supported. Sadly, what has disguised itself as love now has become harmful, limiting and demeaning.

Having the one who says that they love you, or who has vowed to love you, be critical and judgmental can be very confusing. Often this transition starts a pattern of criticism and judgment that ultimately destroys the love that was once created. It may take a lifetime to destroy because love is a powerful positive force.

Receiving, in return for your love, criticism, and judgment, from the one you love and from whom you once received love, is devastating. It creates pain and often undermines your self-confidence. You cannot understand how you can love someone and receive back the toxic criticism and judgment where you once received love and acceptance.

The harm of criticism and judgment is immediate. You may feel betrayed by life and love itself. The ability to trust in your love is in some way fatally damaged. The lack of trust and the betrayal it brings may take years to destroy the relationship because the criticism and judgment is often interwoven with loving and positive messages.

It is important to realize a truth I first read in the seed thoughts of “A Course on Miracles.

judgment is the opposite of love

Judgment fails the life direction of harmlessness because I can imagine little that you can do to another that is more harmful than judgment. It undermines confidence; it destroys the celebration and self-assurance that could come with every success by holding it up to an impossible and imaginary standard of perfectionism. It is a toxic poison in relationships, especially and most importantly in relationships that are presented as loving relationships.

Unfortunately, judgment and criticism are all too often the results of your own feelings of failure. The very projection that was so active at the beginning of the relationship, of declaring the beloved to be so wonderful, is now in full manifestation of a constant process of faultfinding or blame.

Also sadly, on some level you probably realize that the process of projecting feelings of failure on your beloved is damaging. This increases your feelings of failure. When you are actually trying to be loving and supportive, being the critic results in more self-criticism and self-loathing. On a very deep level, you know you are failing to love and are hurting the one that you love. This failure to demonstrate love only escalates this cycle of judgment and criticism. It is easier to blame the person you love than to take stock of yourself and face yourself with truth.

Recognition of how you have failed to love, by being critical and judgmental, is important. Asking for forgiveness, and/or repenting are all important parts of forgiving.

Committing to break the behavior habit of criticism and judgment is significant. Watching and evaluating what you say, with the consideration of harmlessness and right speech in future communication with the beloved, can help rebuild and re-establish the environment in which love can thrive.

THE FORGIVENESS PROCESS

Learning to forgive is of course the answer. Forgiving yourself, not only for your failure to love unconditionally but also for all of the little ways you have failed and fallen short of your own self-critical expectations of perfection or success is important. This is a very important step in stopping the toxic treadmill of criticizing others.

Self-forgiveness can open the door to loving yourself because loving yourself is essential to you truly loving another. Forgiveness is a way to heal your past. It can wipe the slate clean, and open before you all of the possibility, hope and promise that you have ever dreamed of. Self-forgiveness in your failure to love, and asking for forgiveness from your beloved, are key parts of rebuilding and reestablishing the promise of love you gave.

To forgive yourself you must open yourself to your Soul, which both now and always has loved you unconditionally. You do this by calling upon your Soul to help you with this awesome task.

Your Soul knows and understands all of the reasons you have failed to love. It knows what challenges resulted not only in your failures to love but also in all your failures in life. When you sincerely call upon its help, it can and will reveal to you clarity about your life and your choices that may be painful to observe. This often strips you bare of all of the excuses and justifications you have used.

Check out How To Forgive Yourself: Let Go Of The Past and Release Your Pain and Sorrow guided meditation by GG

 

Learn to forgive with my, 4.8/5.0-star reviewed,
“How To Forgive Yourself” Guided Meditation.
Available immediately as a MP3 download on
iTunes, Amazon or here on my website for only $8.88 US.

 

As you invite the higher vibratory energy of your Soul Light in, it moves through your consciousness and you are, by its revelation, able to know forgiveness and the higher nature of real love. Most important with insights from your Soul comes a clarity that shatters the behaviors of the past and opens up an unformed future that now lays before you, free from what has been.

The tears and horror of what you have done may need to be released, but the grace and peace of truly forgiving yourself are so powerful that you can now look at your old behavior patterns with compassion. You can emerge from this a new and much better person.

You realize that when you have forgiven yourself, you can now honestly ask for the forgiveness of the person you have failed to love unconditionally. You can stop criticizing or judging. Instead, you can give true love from the depths of your body and Soul. You can give unconditional love!

This journey to the Soul, to the self and too forgiving yourself may well be the most powerful and transforming decision you have ever made. In the act of self-forgiveness, you can silence the voice of self-criticism and judgment that you projected on your beloved and miraculously change your behavior.

Without forgiveness and love, you will live with resentment, bitterness, malice, and strife which result in more pain. You can never love without forgiving. Forgiveness deepens your ability to love and frees you from pain.
                  ― Kemi Sogunle

The final step in this forgiveness process and returning love to your life is to ask for the forgiveness of your beloved. Forgiving the hurts and slights, that happened along life’s way is important. It is an essential ingredient in any loving relationship. Without it, love cannot be sustained and thrive. Amazingly, forgiveness is so powerful that it can restore the blessing of love in a relationship. It can renew both your hope and your joy.

It is never too late. Forgiveness and love both live in the “Now” and so can be restored in the moment. Such is the unlimited power of forgiveness, the promise of living in the presence and the miracle of love.

When you ask for forgiveness, let the truth that the Soul’s Light reveals guide you. Forgiveness comes from Love and Grace. It is a gift of your Soul.

As Church traditions teach, there is a powerful impact of contrition and making amends. These do much to solidify and manifest the changes in your life that self-forgiveness desires. In forgiving yourself, you seek the capacity to transform both yourself and your life in a dynamic and substantial way. This is available to you. You are not limited by your past.

Forgiveness is the handmaiden of Love. By forgiving, you express and manifest Love. Love is more than a romantic excursion but a momentous guiding force in your life. Learning to Love and learning to forgive are supporting pillars of a spiritual life. Through these two important acts, you can increase your peace of mind, find satisfaction and lasting happiness. These are the keys to a life of joy and serenity.

Namaste,

   Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on all that you do!

 

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Genevieve - Soulful

 

About the author:
Genevieve Gerard teaches Transformational Consciousness – from first awakening to enlightened Soul awareness. She helps you experience the joy that results from the spontaneous “touch of your soul.”

Read more details…

Genevieve has a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Theology and a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling and for over thirty years has worked one-on-one with people who were recovering from devastating disabilities and chronic pain. Teaching the mastery of the mind-body relationship she was one of the early professionals trained in biofeedback, visualization, imagery, and meditation as essential techniques to help people heal their bodies, heal their emotions, heal their minds, and heal their lives.

Genevieve’s work demonstrates what she knows so well, “It is spiritual connectedness that triggers physical healing and emotional and mental well-being.”  Helping people, like you, tap into your higher-self is the power she wields to guide you to heal and transform your life.

Now, with this understanding, she combines the effective techniques she developed over decades teaching mind-body mastery along with her extensive experience in meditation and spiritual development to create a synthesis of mind-body-spirit that delivers complete healing and opens the door to unlimited personal growth and an encounter with your Soul.

In addition to her current life guidance coaching sessions, and workshops performed around the world, Genevieve has produced more than 20+ guided meditations in the last eight years that are available on Apple Music (iTunes), Amazon, CDBaby, and her website.

It is her vision that through your experience with the techniques of awareness, visualization, and meditation, the love of your Soul will touch and transform your life through her writings and products. It is her sincere desire that the potential of a life of joy and celebration that seems to elude so many people can become a reality for you, now and forever.

Browse her life story and read the Touch of the Soul that changed her world. To contact Genevieve, visit her keep in touch page.

 

Last updated 2-12-2020

 

Copyright © 2015-2020 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

Love is the Antidote Read More »

How Do You Measure Success

How Do You Measure Success?

How Do You Measure Success - Wisdom Wednesday blog by Genevieve Gerard

There are many signposts you can use to measure what success means to you.

It is valuable to consider what is important to you in life when you are striving to be successful.

It is all too easy to sacrifice things that enhance your happiness and give joy by focusing only on material “stuff” and let the gathering of toys become a priority to the exclusion of what is really important to you.

We have all met miserable and bitter people who upon achieving great wealth realize that money could not buy them happiness. So, clearly success is about more than money.

Defining success is unique to you. As you embark upon life’s journey it is valuable to consider what is important to you and your life. Along the way, you will be presented with many choices and decisions that you must make. Understanding your desires and values will be a great asset in making those choices.

I encourage you to take some time to consider what you want from this adventure of life. Knowing what you want is the best way to assure that you achieve success. Many profound energy laws and dynamic principles are activated by your desires and your intentions. Learning to harness them and use them to your advantage is an important life lesson.

In order to accomplish and experience what you truly desire, it is important to know what you want. How do you measure success in your life? The amazing thing about life is there are many byways you can take to get to your ultimate destination, so it is helpful to focus on what you wish to achieve. This is a part of being successful, for without that you could fail to recognize success, or its value, once you have accomplished it.

Now, before you go any further down the path of life, is the perfect time to take the time to consciously consider these issues and questions. Taking the time to focus and clarify your values and desires will help you create the life you wish to live. Now is the time to make the choices and goals that will bring you happiness and satisfaction.

I recommend that as you ponder these questions you look at them from the perspective of fulfilling your life’s purpose, your Soul purpose. I suggest you ponder on and meditate upon what success means to you. By doing so you can give your intention the attention it needs to fulfill your dreams and manifest what you desire.

I suggest that you take 10-15 minutes a day to meditate upon what you want in order to clarify it. During or just after that meditative time, while you are calm, open and receptive, record your thoughts and impressions in a special journal that you use for that purpose. This will support you in living a more conscious and purpose directed life.

You can then choose to make use of the many techniques and tools available to enhance and bring into your life the success and experiences you choose and desire. There are several categories that are worthy of being considered. Among these are:

Relationships

All people live in relationship with others. How you choose to be in a relationship with others is a key element to evaluating what you experience as a success, or conversely failure. For some, intimacy, marriage or family are essential to feeling successful. Certainly being in positive and supportive relationships with others influences one’s personal happiness. These may mean marriage and family or friendships and working liaisons. Consider what you consider success in this vital life area. Then nurture and develop those relationships.

Satisfaction

In life most of us attach meaning to how something makes us feel. We don’t really just want a house, we want the feelings the house can give us, a sense of protection over the elements, a place for family to gather, the enjoyment of seeing what we have manifested and accomplished.

Reflect on what you want to experience. What makes you happy? What are you passionate about? For me, finding ways to live in joy is one of the things that really excites me and makes me feel successful when I have reached this state of being in joy. More importantly, is my connection with my Soul, and the oneness I feel when joined with the universal presence of source. Ultimately, I find great satisfaction by being of service and supporting others on their journey.

Career or Life Purpose

Identifying what you want to generate and create in your life is a primary psychological developmental task in life. Psychologist Erik Erikson lists generativity vs. stagnation (whether you produce anything in your life or don’t) as one of the eight essential life stages that determine success in life. According to his paradigm, failure to address this issue can result in despair at the “end of life” stage. Choosing what you wish to create in life is an important part of becoming successful.

It is my observation that the more aligned with your Life Purpose and your Soul purpose you are in what you choose to experience and create in your life, the greater the sense of personal satisfaction, and happiness. For many, that is the definition of success. It gives your life a sense of meaning and purpose that empowers and supports you.

What Do You Want Your Legacy To Be?

Each of us in any individual life leaves behind a legacy of memories and significance in those whose lives we touch. Considering what you wish your legacy to be, how you wish to be remembered when your life is over, is a powerful way to get in touch with what you consider being a success. This is a time-honored way that you can let your ultimate death serve as an advisor for your life. Ponder on this as you determine what success means to you.

Once you have determined what you consider success to be, you can draw from the vast array of tools and techniques to help you achieve it.

Among these are using the power of your mind to achieve success, using affirmations to focus your intention, igniting the Law of Attraction in your life and understanding the power of appreciation in co-creation of your life.

You Must Take Action

Success in addition to intentions and direction requires action. So once you have thought, meditated and reflected on what you consider to be the measure of success for you in your life, it is time to put your plans into action.

Then the dynamic principle that “energy follows thought” can be activated as you make plans and set the goals to achieve the life and success that you desire. Let your thoughts become a roadmap for achieving what you want. Then you can plan your work and work your plan using the active creative power of your mind.

Dare To Do

It is equally important to dare to do, as it is to dare to dream. Deciding and doing is required. There is a guidance phrase from the Ageless Wisdom that advises, “to dare, to do and to keep silent.” Once you have decided what to do you need only go about the doing of it, not dissipate your energy talking about it. There is a hint in this advice.

It is also essential that you not waste your energy in the process of only researching and deciding what to do. It is a trap to be so caught up in overthinking and over evaluating how to do something that you end up not really doing anything except thinking about it, instead of accomplishing it. It is important to avoid this glamor of being busy.

Edison is quoted as saying,

Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends, there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.
      – Thomas A. Edison

Action is essential to manifesting. It is my experience that in the process of actually doing something, the “how-to” often is clarified. Therefore, I caution you on your quest for success to remember that, “not to decide is a decision,” a decision that can stand firmly in the way of your success.

Most of the time, that you decide and move forward in dynamic action is much more important than what you decide. It is easy for your fears to disguise themselves as thoughtful consideration, but they are really just the fear of making a mistake. Making mistakes is a part of life and most certainly a part of the creative process of achieving success. In business and in your personal life it is ok if you fail forward.

The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.
      – Theodore Roosevelt

Once you know what you wish to achieve, as the saying goes, “just do it.”

Be bold; be true to yourself and the purpose of your life. Dare to dream, dare to do and celebrate your success with gratitude. It is your life. You have the power to create and experience what you want. Shed your fears. Seize the moment, which is right here and right now.

Namaste,

   Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All That You Do!

 

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About the author:
Genevieve Gerard teaches Transformational Consciousness – from first awakening to enlightened Soul awareness. She helps you experience the joy that results from the spontaneous “touch of your soul.”

Read more details…

Genevieve has a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Theology and a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling and for over thirty years has worked one-on-one with people who were recovering from devastating disabilities and chronic pain. Teaching the mastery of the mind-body relationship she was one of the early professionals trained in biofeedback, visualization, imagery, and meditation as essential techniques to help people heal their bodies, heal their emotions, heal their minds, and heal their lives.

Genevieve’s work demonstrates what she knows so well, “It is spiritual connectedness that triggers physical healing and emotional and mental well-being.”  Helping people, like you, tap into your higher-self is the power she wields to guide you to heal and transform your life.

Now, with this understanding, she combines the effective techniques she developed over decades teaching mind-body mastery along with her extensive experience in meditation and spiritual development to create a synthesis of mind-body-spirit that delivers complete healing and opens the door to unlimited personal growth and an encounter with your Soul.

In addition to her current life guidance coaching sessions, and workshops performed around the world, Genevieve has produced more than 20+ guided meditations in the last eight years that are available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and her website.

It is her vision that through your experience with the techniques of awareness, visualization, and meditation, the love of your Soul will touch and transform your life through her writings and products. It is her sincere desire that the potential of a life of joy and celebration that seems to elude so many people can become a reality for you, now and forever.

Browse her life story and read the Touch of the Soul that changed her world. To contact Genevieve, visit her keep in touch page.

 

Last Updated 8-29-2019

 

Copyright © 2015-2019 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

How Do You Measure Success Read More »

Dare To Dream

Dare to Dream

Read Dare To Dream by Genevieve Gerard a Wisdom Wednesday blog

A key element of being successful is that you dare to dream.

Ultimately, you can only achieve what you have dared to dream.

Now is a good time to spend some conscious thought on what you want in your life. Then let your mind free as you dream the details.

Dreaming is an important part of creating success in your life because as Napoleon Hill wrote long ago,

Whatever the mind can conceive, it can achieve.

That makes dreaming not idle fantasy but an integral part of the creative process.

Imagining is a powerful tool in achieving. Imagination reveals things that you may just sense intuitively that are often integral to your success.

Dreaming and imagining open the consciousness to your Higher Mind and ultimately, your Higher Self, your Soul. Therefore, I encourage you to dare to dream and to dream in as much detail as you can.

As you do this, it is a good time to journal so that when you are dreaming, thoughts and impressions of how to create the life you desire, you can write the details as they emerge and have the ideas to develop consciously.

Dreaming and imagining, followed by conscious consideration of what actions help bring your dreams into manifestation is powerful. Napoleon Hill also said that, “Goals are dreams with deadlines.”

Achieving what you want in life is empowered by an integration of the forces of your desire and your intention. It involves planning and then putting your plans into action. When aligned with your life’s purpose you are not only manifesting your dreams, but you are also fulfilling your destiny. You have available to you, not only the power of your mind but, the wisdom and guidance of your Soul.

Success, when aligned with your Soul purpose, is spiritual work.
      – Genevieve Gerard

As you strive to bring your dreams into manifestation, you may notice thoughts, or encounter beliefs, that limit you or work against your success. It is in facing these challenges that the practice of meditation can be of great value. Meditation is a practice that belongs in the midst of life to help and support you in living a life of success and joy. It is not just for bringing calm to your mind and body. It can be an active force to help you grow into the full integration and the full glory of being both human and a spark of the Divine Plan of Evolution.

Meditation uses many techniques to help you live a conscious life. The more you are aligned with your Higher Self and are living with conscious attention and intention, the more successful and empowered you become. Meditation can influence your perspective in ways that bring greater joy and freedom from much of the negative self-talk that carries emotional pain and often result in dis-ease.

If you have followed my previous writings, or explored my meditation products, you will notice some very significant interwoven themes that are available to give you ways to live in joy. I hope these writings help you have a better life, a more joyful successful life.

Life is both an amazing gift from God and an amazing adventure in being and becoming all that you are meant to be. Being happy and successful are a part of the very best of what life can offer.

Meditation is Integral to Success

For me, meditation is integral to success on multiple levels. That is why I have created guided meditations to help you deal with a wide variety of life challenges. It has become a bit of an inside joke among my friends and family that when someone is expressing a life problem I often respond by saying “I have a meditation for that.” I think that is because I have used meditation in my personal journey to resolve most of the challenges limiting my success and happiness, a practice I continue to this day.

When I identify a difficult problem in my own life, or in the life of someone I am coaching or a friend, I ponder upon it and usually create a meditation to help bring greater perspective and understanding to how it can be approached differently, or reframed to eliminate the obstacle. Over the years, this has resulted in a wide range of meditations that help with all kinds of specific life challenges.

Involving my Higher Self, my Soul, in an active role has led to an integration of my body, emotions, mind and personality that incorporates the best of me, with the rest of me, resulting in a full and joyful life.

It is my dream and my life’s purpose to take the challenges, difficulties and even sorrows and pains and produce from them what can help others along their path. When I write and share my thoughts, my insights and solutions then it reframes my experiences into a service to help make life better for others. It is my Soul purpose and my joy to share with you the techniques and tools that come from my lifetime study of meditation and the Ageless Wisdom; to provide a practical application in life of the gifts of the spirit into integration to empower the experience of life.

Many obstacles along the journey can help or hinder your success. How you deal with these obstacles, the growth, and mastery you achieve, are all a part of conscious living and fulfilling your purpose in life. Using meditation to enlighten you and grant you the wisdom of your Higher Self, by learning to cope with life’s many challenges, is a way that you can direct and control your destiny.

Achieving success requires an integration of many aspects and elements. It is best achieved through the full integration of your whole body & being, for taking action is essential. Emotion and desire can fuel the fires of achievement, and your mind can be your most effective power as energy follows thought. When you add to this strong influence the dynamic guidance of your Higher Self, you have a winning synergy. Ponder on this.

Daring to Dream is a significant step in living the life you have envisioned. It is, however, only one step. Many have found their dreams shattered or never even started because of the limitation of letting your fears control your life. Learning to transmute, transcend and transform your fears so they are not a barrier to your success and happiness is a significant part of a spiritual path. Conquering your fears and overcoming your limiting beliefs is a task that requires discipline and vigilance. It is one of the best uses for meditation; it is one of the most transforming and empowering gifts that meditation can give.

Fundamental aspects of creating the life you envision include being successful in a variety of life’s trials. Some of these are basic. However, when you gain mastery over these challenges, life can be happier and healthier. Some may come easily to you; others may provide a greater challenge. It is in the integration and mastery of these life issues that growth and progress are demonstrated.

On my website, in my many articles, blogs and among my guided meditations, are a variety of spiritual tools that are available to help and empower you along your path. Dare to try something new.

To help you more easily find the articles and products from my body of work, type in any topic you are looking for into the Search Site bar on the top right-hand side of most of my web pages. It is my profound hope that these results will provide you with ways to move forward to accomplish your goals.

If you find a gap or have a need that I have not covered, I always welcome feedback and requests. I also work with a small number of individuals as a Coach by Zoom, Skype or telephone as well as personally. In this relationship, I can create custom prescriptive meditations to address your personal life challenges.

Results from doing a search on my website will direct you to articles, blogs and guided meditations, many which are offered for free, some are available for a modest fee. Most products are available on my website or through Amazon or iTunes.

It is my deepest hope that these articles and meditations will give you ways to move forward on your path to accomplish your goals. As always, I welcome your comments and your sharing with your friends and family. We are all on this adventure together, learning, growing, developing and becoming. Dare to Dream!

Namaste,

     Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All That You Do!

 

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Last updated 2-18-2023

 

Genevieve - Soulful

About the author:
Genevieve Gerard teaches Transformational Consciousness – from first awakening to enlightened Soul awareness. She helps you experience the joy that results from the spontaneous “touch of your soul.”

Read more details…

Genevieve has a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Theology and a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling and for over thirty years has worked one-on-one with people who were recovering from devastating disabilities and chronic pain. Teaching the mastery of the mind-body relationship she was one of the early professionals trained in biofeedback, visualization, imagery, and meditation as essential techniques to help people heal their bodies, heal their emotions, heal their minds, and heal their lives.

Genevieve’s work demonstrates what she knows so well, “It is spiritual connectedness that triggers physical healing and emotional and mental well-being.”  Helping people, like you, tap into your higher-self is the power she wields to guide you to heal and transform your life.

Now, with this understanding, she combines the effective techniques she developed over decades teaching mind-body mastery along with her extensive experience in meditation and spiritual development to create a synthesis of mind-body-spirit that delivers complete healing and opens the door to unlimited personal growth and an encounter with your Soul.

In addition to her current life guidance coaching sessions, and workshops performed around the world, Genevieve has produced more than 20+ guided meditations in the last ten years that are available on iTunes, Amazon, and her website.

It is her vision that through your experience with the techniques of awareness, visualization, and meditation, the love of your Soul will touch and transform your life through her writings and products. It is her sincere desire that the potential of a life of joy and celebration that seems to elude so many people can become a reality for you, now and forever.

Browse her life story and read the Touch of the Soul that changed her world. To contact Genevieve, visit her keep in touch page.

 

Copyright © 2015-2023 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

Dare To Dream Read More »

Two Secrets To Ignite the Law of Attraction

Two Secrets To Ignite the Law of Attraction

Appreciation & Gratitude to Ignite The Law of Attraction

There are a number of secrets in what is known as the Law of Attraction. It is by incorporating them into your life that you will gain mastery and abundance.

The Law of Attraction, like many of the universal principles that govern life, is stimulated and empowered by what you do.

As with all of these universal laws and principles, the more consciously you employ them, have appreciation in the moment and then take action, the more effective they are. This is the far-reaching benefit of living a conscious life.

Living a conscious life means having the willingness, curiosity, and courage to stay present to your thoughts and feelings, to the meeting point of body, emotion, mind, and spirit.

It means staying present to the impact you have on others and your environment, as well as the choices available to you. To live a conscious life—to be awake and aware—is to be gloriously alive!”
      – Dr. Jennifer Howard,
          Host of the weekly radio talk show, A Conscious Life

1. Living A Conscious Life

Living consciously involves understanding and incorporating many of the tools and techniques that are available from the Ageless Wisdom.

Conscious living is an underlying theme in most of the Wisdom Wednesday blogs I write because it is a key element in living a happy and successful life in which the choices you make have a direct impact on your experience of joy and life.

Revealing and encouraging you to use these ageless tools and techniques and to learn to live an integrated life where you can express and enjoy your life purpose and your Soul purpose, is what this Wisdom Wednesday blog series is all about and what fuels all of my meditation products.

You may have noticed that Abundance is a theme that I address repetitively because it is a challenge in so many lives.

To assist you, I have a free download on the home page of my website called Invocation of Magnetic Attraction. It is available for you today along with a downloadable PDF of the Invocation that you can print and use. In addition, two of my most successful products, “Awaken to Success” and “Soaring to Success,” offer affirmations for abundance. You will find that this is an area of life that responds to the conscious focus of the technique of affirming what you are striving to achieve and has the added benefit of increasing your enjoyment of life’s adventure.

Appreciation and gratitude signal your mind that this is something good, this is something you want, this is something that you desire. Therefore, the act of conscious appreciation works as a powerful magnet to bring to you more of what you enjoy.
      – Genevieve Gerard

2. Gratitude and Appreciation

The very act of appreciation works in many ways.

First, it focuses your attention on what you already have in a positive and dynamic way. This unleashes the subtle power of the Law of Attraction. Immediately upon noticing what you have that you appreciate you are affirming your abilities. When your attention is upon what you have accomplished in life and have already received, you are naturally stimulated to consider creative solutions to current goals and desires.

This starts a chain reaction that leads to even greater success. Your creativity is stimulated with new ideas. Solutions to issues you have held in the background of your mind open up to you. This is a subtle alchemy that influences your life.

It is no surprise that people are more open, receptive and generous to those who express their gratitude. This is a significant factor in successful relationships, both personal and business. Appreciation is a powerful stimulant to do more and give more of what is appreciated. That is a subtle dynamic of how the Law of Attraction works that is both logical and easy to understand.

This energetic principle also utilizes the dynamic principle that “energy follows thought.” These combined forces make a powerful tonic for creating success in your life. To use these tools to enhance your success just makes sense.

Just as thoughts, send out vibrations to which there is a creative and attractive power, gratitude stimulates the field of etheric energy that surrounds you on a subtle level to bring into your life more of what brings you joy.
      – Genevieve Gerard

The Law of attraction and the dynamic principle that Energy Follows Thought are at work in the world whether you use them or not. They can be used consciously for your advantage or denied and ignored completely. Whether they are used or not, they are still at work. That is the nature of universal laws and principles. They are amazingly impersonal. Yet, by consciously using these laws and principles in your life, you have at your command ways to impact and influence your life for good, for success, for joy.

Expressing your appreciation works by energetically magnetizing to you more of what you appreciate. When your appreciation is expressed to someone else, everybody in the situation feels good. That seems like a pretty great result by doing something that is easy to do.

Appreciation is a wonderful thing: it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”
      – Voltaire

Consider your life today. As the year is winding down into the oblivion of the past and a shiny new year is ahead, it is a good time to take stock of and consider the many ways you have been blessed. I suggest you use this period to try an experiment.

Create an Appreciation List

Make a list of 10 things in your life, which you truly appreciate about your life. As you move through your days leading up to the New Year, express your appreciation for those things.

If there is someone who enhances your life, let them know you appreciate them.

As often as you can throughout the day, remember what is on your list and express your appreciation for it, even if it is only in your mind, silently. Let yourself be filled and strengthened by the satisfaction and happiness that expressing your appreciation brings.

It is helpful to review your “appreciation list” every morning. You can make a copy of the list to post on your mirror or copy it into your mobile phone. Make it available and accessible, easy to consider, easy to remember, easy to express.

So much of our thinking is habitual. If you make it your habit to appreciate what you already have you are incorporating one of the most effective techniques of conscious living.

In the weeks before the New Year, consciously observe what opportunities and circumstances reveal themselves to you around the items on your “appreciation list.” I think you will be delightfully surprised.

Igniting the Law of Attraction in your life can have far-reaching impact. Using the powerful principle of appreciation as a magnetic force for what you wish to attract can enhance your effectiveness.

I suggest you experiment and then observe your life on a variety of levels.

At the end of this posts are some related links that you may find helpful and supportive. I invite you to share your impressions either in the Transformation Stories page of my website or as a comment at the end of this post.

Choose to take this fertile time and open up to the new possibilities and promise of a New Year. Through appreciation and gratitude, you will be taking an important step in creating the life that you desire.

Namaste,

Genevieve

The Blessing of Love On All That You Do!

 

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Copyright © 2014 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul. All rights reserved.

 

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Principles of Goodwill

Principles of Goodwill:

Start With Harmlessness and Right Speech

Read Harmlessness and Right Speech blog post by Genevieve Gerard

Goodwill has been called, a saving force in the midst of world need.

Its keynote is liberation of the human spirit, releasing consciousness into more creative livingness.

The Ageless Wisdom teaches that there are some essential principles to guide the actions of men and women of Goodwill.

They are Harmlessness and Right Speech.

It is significant to note that even before considering doing good in the world, is the instruction to do no harm. This principle of Harmlessness has far-reaching implications.

In order to live by this principle you must consider the consequences of your actions. Those consequences are often far-reaching and can be unintended. In order to live without doing harm, it is necessary to be conscious of both yourself and others.

Perhaps that is why the masters of old instructed by emphasizing this principle. It is significant that in the ancient teachings this principle is paired with the important concept of Right Speech. It is interesting that the principle of Harmlessness requires that you consider not only what you say but often what you leave unsaid.

Words are powerful. They are alchemical aspects of the process of creation. Right Speech is a basic tenant of the similar principles of Right Action and Right Relationship. These are wise guidelines for conscious living.

Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain – and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving…

 

Let’s try to figure out why they do what they do. That’s a lot more profitable and intriguing than criticism; and it breeds sympathy, tolerance, and kindness.”
      – Dale Carnegie

It is certainly easier to avoid damage than to heal or repair it. I have often thought that this fact is the greatest significance of this guidance. The awareness that focusing on these two principles requires accomplishes a great deal in creating a happy life with successful relationships.

As I write these words, I am reminded of Dale Carnegie’s famous teachings in his bookHow to Win Friends and Influence People.” His book was one of the first best-selling self-help books, selling over 15 million copies and was certainly an important guideline for success. It not only focused on business success but personal right relationships with others. Check out a free pdf copy of the book using the link at the end of this post.

Fill your mind with thoughts of peace, courage, health and hope.”
      – Dale Carnegie

Being successful in life is a key to manifesting your life purpose. Being in right relationship with others and successful and mutually supportive and having loving relationships is a cornerstone to that happiness. Note: Being aware of the factors of harmlessness as you observe and consider your behavior can be a powerful guideline for you.

These are active and dynamic principles. When you add your scrutiny of the factors of your behavior and consider Harmlessness and Right Speech as the desired standard by which you live, a myriad of pitfalls and possible future problems will be avoided. I think everyone would agree that it is easier to prevent a problem than to have to fix it later. This is one of the benefits of applying these principles of consciousness to your life.

Applying the principles of consciousness to your life can have far-reaching implications as it affects the life you create for yourself. The principle of energy follows thought is woven into these profound consequences. Managing your expectations of yourself and others can have a profound impact on your personal happiness and success. Conscious living can be its own reward.

So many of the tools that can enhance your life are found in striving for an understanding of the fullness of your life. Being a happy and successful human being is empowered by increasing your awareness of all that you can bring to your life by the integration of your body, your mind, your emotions and ultimately, your Soul.

It is this intention to live consciously that considering the principles of Harmlessness and Right Speech empowers. There are many ways you can influence your life and gain and maintain a happier and more prosperous life that are included in the teachings of the Ageless Wisdom. There are meditation tools and techniques that can help you transcend your fears. In fact, there are practices in meditation to resolve most of the challenges of living. Learning to use them and apply them in a variety of situations and circumstances can give you a real advantage over life.

Key issues of successful living can benefit and be brought into mastery through meditation. The range is as vast as life itself. I believe that life does not create challenges that cannot be resolved. The very fact that you are facing a particular issue or challenge is a sign that there is a lesson, method, practice or technique that can be applied to bring you to a definite solution. This goes for even some of the most difficult issues.

Life is a school, and the curriculum is custom designed to
teach what I need to know exactly when I need to learn it.
      – Genevieve Gerard

Miraculously, each lesson builds on what I have learned before. I am given the opportunity to demonstrate what I have learned and to avoid mistakes I have made previously. This is a dynamic, ongoing process. Ponder on this!

I have found along the way that some of the life’s lessons are simple, once they have been learned. Even if they are simple, does not make them easy. Simple and easy seem to be two very different things. To apply what I have learned and then integrate it into action and relationships makes it real.

Not surprisingly, I have found that my personal struggles, issues, and challenges are also the struggles, issues, and challenges of others. Therefore, what I have learned through trial and error can be provided to help others gain mastery and success. This motivates me to create, write and teach on an ongoing basis. When what I have produced in my body of work helps you and serves others, it gives me a sense of great satisfaction and joy.

Joy, delight, and fulfilling the purpose of your Soul are a significant part of why the adventure of life was created. It seems that we are each on a quest to enlightened awareness. Although it is a personal journey, we travel it together for our mutual success and advantage.

That makes these principles of Harmlessness and Right Speech of paramount importance. It makes forgiveness, of others and as important forgiveness of ourselves essential. It makes releasing unrealistic expectations significant.

It makes eliminating negative criticism of others and oneself important. It focuses us on issues of Right Relationship and all that it entails crucial. It makes it essential that we understand the implications of how what we do affects others paramount.

In the human experience, a fellowship is available for mutual support and mutual benefit. That is the source of many of the greatest challenges and the greatest successes. It is in the awareness of our unity and common humanity that we can fulfill both our personal destiny and our group destiny as humanity.

Harmlessness and Right Speech are just rules of the road to help you live a happy and successful life. Therefore I suggest that you consider your actions and your speech in light of these principles and then observe how much happier and more successful you become.

Plato is said to have recommended this test to consider before you speak.

Is it true? Is it kind? Is it beneficial?

Apply this standard and incorporate these principles of Right Speech and Harmlessness as a test to what you say and do.

The supply of goodwill in the world today is limited only by the minds of human beings. According to the Ancient Teachings as shared by Alice A. Bailey, part of the Plan for this cycle is goodwill for all people, and through all people, goodwill.

The energy of the Will of God serves to awaken the latent Will-to-Good in the souls of all men and women. When dynamically awakened, this Will-to-Good will stimulate the expression of goodwill in all receptive hearts and minds.

Living consciously and incorporating these ancient wise principles can be cornerstones of your success and happiness. Please don’t forget that Goodwill is contagious, and once set in motion it will permeate the world consciousness so that right human relations can be more rapidly established.

Namaste,

 Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All That You Do!

 

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Genevieve - Soulful

 

About the author:
Genevieve Gerard teaches Transformational Consciousness – from first awakening to enlightened Soul awareness. She helps you experience the joy that results from the spontaneous “touch of your soul.”

Read more details…

Genevieve has a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Theology and a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling and for over thirty years has worked one-on-one with people who were recovering from devastating disabilities and chronic pain. Teaching the mastery of the mind-body relationship she was one of the early professionals trained in biofeedback, visualization, imagery, and meditation as essential techniques to help people heal their bodies, heal their emotions, heal their minds, and heal their lives.

Genevieve’s work demonstrates what she knows so well, “It is spiritual connectedness that triggers physical healing and emotional and mental well-being.”  Helping people, like you, tap into your higher-self is the power she wields to guide you to heal and transform your life.

Now, with this understanding, she combines the effective techniques she developed over decades teaching mind-body mastery along with her extensive experience in meditation and spiritual development to create a synthesis of mind-body-spirit that delivers complete healing and opens the door to unlimited personal growth and an encounter with your Soul.

In addition to her current life guidance coaching sessions, and workshops performed around the world, Genevieve has produced more than 20+ guided meditations in the last eight years that are available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and her website.

It is her vision that through your experience with the techniques of awareness, visualization, and meditation, the love of your Soul will touch and transform your life through her writings and products. It is her sincere desire that the potential of a life of joy and celebration that seems to elude so many people can become a reality for you, now and forever.

Browse her life story and read the Touch of the Soul that changed her world. To contact Genevieve, visit her keep in touch page.

 

Last updated 8-19-2020

 

Copyright © 2014-2020 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

Principles of Goodwill Read More »

Discover How To Love Yourself

Discover How To Love Yourself

Read Discover How To Love Yourself by Genevieve Gerard

What does it mean to love yourself?

Discovering how to love yourself is an essential part of good mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Loving yourself is also demonstrated by the ways you take care of your body, by eating well, sleeping well and giving yourself the things you need to thrive, to grow and to be successful and happy.

Loving your self is one of the first and important steps to a successful loving relationship.

It might seem that to love yourself is so basic that it is easy and natural. However, in my many years as a counselor and a coach, I have found that for many people this is a challenge.

There is a lot of glamour and illusion about what it means to love. That is true when it comes to relationships and especially true when it comes to loving yourself. Loving yourself, honoring yourself and respecting yourself are foundations of a loving and healthy relationship.

It is said, that before you can love someone else you must first love yourself. So ask yourself what you can do to learn to demonstrate self-love if you realize it lacks in your life. Take the very first step to understanding and acknowledge that you are worthy of being loved, exactly as you are. In one of my previous articles “The Greatest Love”, there are eight affirmations you might find helpful in this process. (I have provided a link to that article at the bottom of this article.)

Relationships with others, especially romantic relationships, all too often fail to result in the fantasy of “happily ever after.” To sustain a real relationship you need to establish realistic boundaries of what you are willing to give in a relationship and what is not acceptable in a relationship. Knowing yourself, respecting yourself and being true to yourself in a relationship is vital.

Shakespeare said it well in Hamlet with Polonius’s advice to his son.

To thine own self be true. And it shall follow as the night to the day, thou can’st not be false to any man.

Being true to yourself and honest in your agreement’s with loved ones are critical.

My grandmother once gave me the sage advice:

Don’t put up with the first day in a relationship behavior you are not willing to accept for the rest of your life.

When I think of the times and ways that I failed to heed that advice, I see many of my life’s mistakes that could have been avoided in friendships, in romances and even in business relationships.

How To Love Yourself

Integral to my grandmothers advice is to both know and respect yourself, and honor and love yourself, as someone who is both deserving of love and who loves themselves.

It is wise to honor yourself, know yourself and then, in any new relationship consider what is acceptable to you. In this way, you are true to yourself, and you are beginning a new relationship open to a future built on honesty and mutual respect. This establishes a context in which you can learn to love one another, grow and thrive together.

A part of learning to love yourself is letting yourself both accept and receive the love that is all around you. There are so many ways that you can demonstrate your love and so many ways that love can enrich your life. Love is something that spans all of your relationships. It guides your relationships with friends, with family, and lovers. It is integral to your relationship with the Divine.

Love is available for you. Open your life to it. Love is all around you. Let yourself accept the love that is coming to you, from relations and God. Your Soul is an unlimited source for loving yourself. I have found you can open yourself to that love and receive that love directly through meditation.

Love truly makes the world go around and is fundamental and reflected in all of your relationships. Loving yourself is a guideline you can use in all of your relationships.

Accepting and appreciating Divine Love affirms that you are a spark of Divine Light, and you are worthy of receiving love. Using the love of God and the love that your Soul brings to you, demonstrates to you what it means to love.

Having received love, you are also a source for love in the world.
        – Genevieve Gerard

An essential element of your ability to love is also your ability to love yourself. In the love that you give, you can be a blessing to others. Ponder on this.

When you love someone, you value and appreciate who they are and accept them. The same is true about loving yourself. You are unique and special. Appreciate, accept and enjoy who you are.

You are not perfect, but there is no reason you should be. Treat yourself with the compassion you would show to another. You have made mistakes in your life. Forgive yourself. There are faults and issues you are striving to resolve. Be gentle with yourself.

You are in an ongoing process of growing, transforming and becoming more and more of the person you are meant to be. Support that in yourself, for yourself.

Life is all about learning lessons. No mistake is meaningless if you have learned from it and grown from it. When you show patience and compassion for yourself, it becomes easier to show patience and compassion to others.

By forgiving yourself, you become a more forgiving person. The compassion and grace that you open up to become available in all of your relationships. As you learn to accept and respect yourself, you are also learning how to accept and respect others.

Learning to love yourself is an ongoing lesson in how to love, that makes you a better person. By loving yourself, you are demonstrating the skills and behaviors that are needed to demonstrate your love to others.

Ultimately, you know love because God loves you unconditionally and this love is shown to you with unlimited forgiveness, profound grace, and acceptance. When you let yourself accept and receive this love you are empowered to be a force for love in the world. You become a better person, a happier person and a more successful person.

You can be love, give love, demonstrate love with respect and honor for both yourself and others. The more you love, the more joy that comes into your life and the happier you become.

Namaste,

   Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on all that you do!

 

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Last updated 2-28-2019

 

Copyright © 2014-2019 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC, All Rights Reserved.

 

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The Parable of the Cup of Tea

The Parable of the Cup of Tea

The Parable of the Cup of Tea - Genevieve Gerard

There exists in the stories of those who desire enlightenment, an ancient parable of a wealthy and powerful man who heard of a great spiritual teacher who lived on a mountaintop.

This wealthy and powerful man was used to the best of everything and was used to getting whatever he wanted in life.

One day he resolved that he should have the best, not only in life but also in his spiritual teaching. Having made this determination, he journeyed to the mountaintop to seek out the most famous wise man and engage him as his teacher.

When the man finally arrived at the mountaintop, he was dismayed by the rustic and simple nature of the teacher’s home. The guest quarters were not up to his standards. He found himself rethinking his decision to seek enlightenment from this man. Surely, the best teacher would have a better house. Certainly, the place for those who come to study should have more comforts and more amenities. Finally, full of judgments and disapproval, he decided to stay and see what this wise man had to offer.

The man’s frustration began to increase daily as he was told that the master could not see him yet and he would have to wait. He did not like this at all. After all, he was a prominent and successful man. Didn’t the foolish people who served the master know how valuable his time was? Maybe the disorganized and disrespectful way they ran the business of managing the master’s engagements was why they could not afford a better house for the master, and better quarters for their quests. He resolved to provide the master with this insight as soon as he saw him.

As the days passed, the man found himself growing increasingly impatient and angry. He resolved that if he did not see the master the next day and start to get the instruction he had come for, he was going to leave and look elsewhere for his instruction. After all, this was not the only master on the mountain. He had only come here because he had heard this master was the best. He was certainly reconsidering that opinion.

The next morning a messenger came to tell the man that the master could see him. “About time,” he thought, but now that the time was here, he resolved to meet with the master to accomplish his purpose of beginning his enlightenment instruction.

He was delighted that he was served a steaming hot cup of tea. When the master entered, he sat before the man, took up the teapot, and said, “Let me serve you some tea.” He then began to pour. As the teacup began to overflow, the man cried out. “Stop, can’t you see it is overflowing, you fool.”

The master calmly stopped, looked at the man and said,

I cannot teach you. You, like the teacup, are too full.
You are filled with your own opinions and sense of importance.
You must first empty yourself out, to be able to
receive real knowledge or understanding.
      – Tea Cup Parable

Ponder on this.

When you decide to grow, to change and transform your life, it is important to open your mind to new ideas and concepts. A part of growth is letting go of old ideas or ways of being, to make room for new concepts that will serve you better.

The journey through life is an adventure. To grow, you must expand your awareness to new thoughts that will serve you as the person you are becoming.

All that is past, both your failures and your successes, are resolved as you open yourself to the power of the present. Open your life to the promise and potential that is unfolding and being created in the miracle and magnificence of an open mind and an open heart as you explore all of the ways you can awaken to the new opportunities and the successes and joys that are in the process of being created for you by life today.

Embrace the possibility of transforming your life as you shed the old and open to new opportunities right here, right now, today.

Namaste,

   Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All That You Do!

 

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Last updated 9-19-2018

 

Copyright © 2011-2018 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

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