Guided Body Scan Meditation for Sleep, Relaxation & Awareness
Welcome to this *guided body scan meditation**, designed to help you **relax deeply**, **fall asleep peacefully**, and **develop awareness* throughout your body.
You can use this practice at bedtime, after a stressful day, or anytime you want to calm your mind and deepen your awareness.
🌙 *What to expect:*
Calm breathing to center the mind
Progressive body awareness from feet to forehead
Gentle prompts to release tension
Closing reflection with love and gratitude for your body
🧘 Suitable for beginners and experienced meditators alike.
✨ *Find stillness. Let go of the day. Rest deeply.*
—
⏱️ *Chapters*
00:00 – Intro & Breathing
01:41 – Feet
02:15 – Calves
02:43 – Thighs
03:13 – Lower Back
03:50 – Belly
04:23 – Chest
05:05 – Back
05:40 – Shoulders
06:18 – Hands & Fingers
06:48 – Arms
07:22 – Throat, Lips, Nose, Eyes
08:46 – Third Eye
09:28 – Closing Reflection & Gratitude
10:00 – Good Night 🌙
Captions
[Music]
Welcome to this guided body scan meditation. It will help you relax, fall asleep, and deepen your awareness.
To start, sit in a comfortable meditation pose or lay on your back in your bed. Close your eyes.
Now bring your awareness to your breathing and take deep breaths. Inhaling and exhaling through your nose. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. With each inhale, invite awareness. With each exhale, your body relaxes more. Keep breathing gently in and out through your nose, finding a calm rhythm.
[Music]
Keeping this rhythm, shift your awareness to your feet. Feel your toes, the soles of your feet, your heels. Release any tension with every exhale.
Bring your awareness to your calves. Feel the muscles gently releasing as you exhale.
[Music]
[Music]
Slowly bring your attention to your thighs. With every breath, let your muscles relax.
[Music]
[Music]
Bring your awareness to your lower back. Notice if it is tense or relaxed. Let it melt with every exhale.
[Music]
Now slowly shift to your belly. Feel it expand as you inhale and drop as you exhale.
Bring your awareness to your chest. Feel the gentle rhythm of your heart as you inhale. Welcome love and compassion. As you exhale, send that love to the world.
[Music]
Now focus on your back. Notice how your lungs feel with air. With every exhale, your back relaxes and melts.
Bring your awareness to your shoulders, just below your neck. If they are tight, let them loosen with every breath. Release the stress.
[Music]
Allow them to soften and drop.
[Music]
Shift your awareness to your hands and fingers. Notice their temperature. Relax them with every breath.
[Music]
[Music]
Slowly move your awareness gradually from your hands to your forearms, your biceps, all the way up to your shoulders. Notice how each muscle feels and relax them as you exhale.
[Music]
Bring your awareness to your throat. Release and let go of any tension when you exhale.
[Music]
Notice your lips. Then move to your nose. Notice the gentle flow of air in and out.
Now feel your eyes resting peacefully. Bring your awareness to your third eye between your eyebrows. Notice any sensations with each inhale. Feel your awareness deepening. With each exhale, let go of any distractions.
[Music]
Let’s close this meditation by feeling grateful for your body which lets you experience life. Love your body. Love yourself.
[Music]
May you sleep peacefully. Good night.
How to Stay Calm in a Chaotic World
In a world full of chaos, noise, stress, tragedy, hate, and constant uncertainty, how can you stay calm and grounded?
In this video I teach you how to maintain inner peace and self-control, even when the outside world feels overwhelming. We explore practical techniques to manage your thoughts, emotions, and reactions, so you can act and respond consciously instead of reacting impulsively.
You’ll learn:
What it really means to be in control
How to handle thoughts during chaos
The power of awareness and how to cultivate it
How to make awareness a habit
Why avoiding toxic inputs matters
What’s in your circle of control, and what’s not
This is a message for anyone struggling to stay grounded while navigating a chaotic world.
Chapters:
00:57 – What Does It Mean to Be in Control?
02:18 – How Do You Control Your Thoughts?
03:42 – Awareness
04:12 – How Do You Develop Awareness?
04:19 – Practice Meditation
04:33 – Practice Journaling
05:09 – Make Awareness a Habit
05:40 – Practice Body Awareness
06:24 – How Awareness Helps You Control Thoughts and Emotions
07:44 – Avoid Things That Make You Lose Control
13:30 – Consume Things That Are Beneficial
14:32 – Understanding Your Circle of Control
17:08 – Wrap-Up
Captions
These last weeks they have been awful. If you watch the news or if you use social media, probably you have seen all this tragedy that’s taking place in the world. Very bad news. Murder, crime, conflict between people that have different points of view, different ideologies. It’s just a total mess. On top of that, you have to deal with your own stress, with your own personal life. All these things are just creating anxiety and stress for you. In today’s episode, I’m going to be explaining how do you stay in control? How do you stay in calm in a world that’s full of chaos?
[Music]
Hello friends, welcome to a new episode of Inner Wisdom Life Guidance.
So, in a world that’s full of chaos, how do you navigate the chaos? How do you stay calm? And the first thing that I’m going to explain is you have to learn to be in control. That’s the first thing that you want to do. That’s the secret to navigating chaos.
So what does that mean? Being in control means that you do not react to external factors. When something is presented to you, you look at it objectively. You apply your critical thinking. You apply your reason. And based on that, you decide how you are going to act. What are the actions that you’re going to take? The key here is that you are not reacting. You’re looking at something and then you’re deciding what you’re going to do. In other words, you’re consciously deciding what are the actions that you’re going to take, whatever it is the situation that’s being presented to you. That’s what being in control means.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say someone is trying to insult you. It is your decision how you’re going to act. Remember, not react. How you’re going to act, what you’re going to do. And my recommendation would be to just ignore what the person is saying. Ignore what the person is trying to tell you. You can just move on. You don’t take it personally. You don’t engage. You just decide to move on. You ignore it and you move on. That’s a very easy example on how you decide to be in control.
Now, what about thoughts? For thoughts, you’re going to apply the same logic, the same process. If a thought comes to you, you’re going to decide what is it that you’re going to do with this thought. Are you going to act on it? Are you going to do something? Are you going to feed the thought? Or are you going to acknowledge, ignore, and move on? In a previous episode, I talked about thoughts. What are they? Where do they come from? How you can control your thoughts or how you can better control your mind? How you can stop negative thoughts from coming. I highly recommend you watch that episode. And again just remember a thought is nothing. It is you who decides how to deal with it, what action to take and if it’s going to be positive or negative. In the end it’s the action that you take, not the thought itself. So anyways, same process, right? You assess the thought and you decide what you’re going to do with it.
Being in control is like a superpower. It’s like seeing bullets that are coming at you in very slow motion and you’re deciding what you’re going to do with each one of them. In the end, it’s about learning and understanding that it is your decision. The external factors that are presented to you or the thoughts that you have, it is your decision how to act on them. That’s what it means to be in control.
I’m going to share four things that you can do to develop this superpower of being in control.
The first way to develop this superpower is through awareness. Awareness is like having these guardians at the gates of your mind who are going to let you know if there’s something that’s going to trigger you. If there’s something that’s going to disturb you, if there’s something that’s going to make you lose control. So that’s the key. Through awareness, you identify something that might trigger you, something that might make you feel that you’re out of control and stop you right away. That’s what awareness is.
Now, how do you develop awareness? There’s different ways to develop awareness. The first one is through meditation. Meditation is the best way to practice awareness. And you can watch my meditation video where I explain how to meditate and why you should do it. So, that’s the number one way to develop awareness.
The second way is journaling. You can journal every day about how you felt, the things that happened, how you acted or reacted about them. It is this exercise where you are analyzing objectively what happened and how you reacted. It would also help you identify during which circumstances you lost control and why. Once you identify that, the next time that you’re facing a similar situation, you’re going to remember, you’re going to be aware of it and probably you’re going to be able to stop the situation and stay in control.
Another way to develop awareness is by making it a habit. So, constantly you should assess how you dealt with a situation or how you’re dealing with a situation. Not just like on the previous example where you’re journaling at the end of the day, but throughout your day, make it a habit to be aware and be critical about what are the things that you just did. How did you behave? How did you react? How did you act? Were you in control or not? So, make it a habit. Constantly analyze what you’re doing and how you did it.
And the last practice that you can follow to develop awareness is by practicing body awareness. What I mean by this is that throughout the day also or just at the end of the day or at the beginning of the day, you’re going to concentrate and focus on your body, on different parts of your body, and you’re going to pay attention to how you feel. You can pay attention to your heart. You can pay attention to your breathing. You can pay attention to your fingers, your feet, whatever it is. Just focus on your body and see how you feel. What’s going on? And what are you feeling at that moment? That’s a great practice also to fall asleep. At the end of the day, you just go lay on your bed and then you practice body awareness by doing these body scans from your feet to your head and that’s going to relax you and again it’s going to help you be more aware.
Awareness makes your thoughts vanish. When you are aware and you have a negative thought and you are staring at it, the thought is going to stop right away because now you’re just focused on it. You’re observing it. It’s not that you’re feeding it. That’s very different. Feeding it is going to make it worse. It’s going to make it bigger. But when there’s a thought and you’re aware of it and you’re observing it, you just stop the thought. So awareness stops your thoughts.
Awareness also helps you control your emotions. When you are aware of your body, you’re going to stop the emotion that is triggering you. I’m using the example of being angry. If you’re angry and you realize that you’re angry, you’re aware that you’re angry and you’re paying attention to what’s going on in your body, that’s going to stop your anger right away because now you’re focused on these changes that you’re experiencing that you’re feeling in your body.
And also, when you are aware of your actions, you’re aware what is it that you’re doing? And if you’re doing something that is not okay, if you’re doing something that is not helpful, you’re going to know it and you’re going to stop it. And again, you’re going to most likely stop the emotion that was triggered and that led you to take the specific action that you were following.
A second way of developing this skill of being in control is by avoiding things that take you out of control. And this is essential. This is something that you should practice always. Identify which are the things, the habits that make you lose control. And I’ll give you some examples right now. Some of them are very easy. Some of them might surprise you a little bit.
The first one is drugs. Any drugs that you take are going to make you lose control. And let’s specifically talk for example about either alcohol or smoking or vaping or any other type of drug that you either inhale or inject yourself with. The effect of those drugs is to make you lose control and you should avoid them at all cost. It doesn’t matter if you just let’s say you drink and you drink a little bit. If you drink a little bit still you’re going to lose control to some degree. Of course, the more you drink, the more control you lose, but just using alcohol as an example. So, drugs is number one.
Number two is caffeine. And here, I think it could be foods. So, I will say caffeine again is going to make you lose control. You’re in a specific state and then you drink a coffee or a tea and they’re going to boost how you feel. And maybe you think that that’s not bad, but in the end, it’s something that’s making you lose control. So you should avoid them. The same with sugar. And sugar is very interesting because now it is something that has been normalized. Like eating sugar and losing control because of the sugar, it’s okay. Having a sugar rush is okay. A kid having an ice cream and then jumping like crazy is considered to be okay. And that is absolutely wrong. You’re consuming something that is making you lose control. And the more you consume these things, the more difficult it is for you to actually learn to be in control.
Another example, and this is very obvious from the beginning of the video, the news. Stop watching the news. I’ll ask you a question right now. Give me give me one reason of why watching the news is important. And I want you to elaborate. Don’t just tell me that, oh, because it’s good to be informed. No, I want you to just be really authentic and thorough about why it is important. And here’s the thing, you watch the news and there is a tragedy that someone died or someone was murdered, whatever. How is that helpful? How having this information is making you a better person? Let me know in the comments below what you think about this.
Something else that you can avoid is social media and again there is so much garbage in social media. Even if you, I mean, you can curate your feed, right, and you can follow specific people and specific pages that’s going to be good for you. However, the algorithm it’s just pure poison. They’re going to push into your feed things that they want you to watch, things that you want you to consume, and it’s very difficult to control that. So anyways, social media I highly believe is something that you may want to avoid as much as possible.
And the last thing that I’m going to mention that you can avoid is toxic habits. Here you have to be your own judge. For example, gossip. Gossip, it’s a habit or a practice, however you want to call it, that also makes you lose control. When you start talking about someone behind their backs and you’re talking to someone else about this person, then the gossip becomes larger and larger and criticizing more the person and then you move to another person. You’re losing control. You are not aware of what are the things that you are saying. Imagine how that person would feel if they were in your presence, listening to all these things that you’re talking about them. It is not something good. It’s not a good practice for you. So at all cost stop gossip and identify any other things that you do, any other habits that you follow that are actually making you lose control. Again, you have to be very critical. You have to be very precise on identifying what are these things that are impacting your life that are making you lose control.
And not only habits, right? There’s all these other things that you might be consuming. Like if you’re watching a certain show in the TV and it’s making you feel anxious or if you’re playing a video game, the same thing is making you feel stressed. It’s making you feel anxious. Or if you’re watching stuff that’s not for you, like pornography, how that makes you lose control. You have to be again aware and mindful what’s going on through your mind. How is your body reacting? How are you feeling? That’s the key to identify the things that are toxic in your life that are helping you lose control instead of being in control.
A bonus benefit from practicing this is that your meditation is going to improve. Meditation is about learning to be in control. Mastering your mind, training or taming your mind, depending on how you want to look at it. The more that you avoid activities that make you lose control, the easier that you’re going to learn to be in control. And when you meditate, this is going to improve your practice, and you’re going to feel that your meditations are better.
The third thing that you can do is the opposite of what I mentioned as the second one, and it’s be mindful of the things that you consume. What’s the content that you are watching, that you’re reading, what are you listening to? And find things that are positive, things that help you be in control. Whether if it’s a podcast, or if it’s a book, something that’s self-help oriented, anything that will help you develop a good skill, anything that’s going to help you learn to be in control, anything that’s going to help you be more mindful, do that. Instead of watching a movie that’s going to make you feel stressed, watch something that’s going to learn you how to manage stress. Instead of reading a book that’s going to make you feel anxious, read a book that’s helping you on how to deal with anxiety. All these things that you can consume that you feed to your mind are going to help you to learn to be in control. Remember, we are what we think. Our thoughts define our reality.
And the fourth practice that you can follow to develop this skill of being in control is understanding your circle of influence. I think it’s also called circle of concern. It depends. You can read about it. But at a very high level, the very first and basic explanation of the circle of control, that’s another way to call it, is understanding what is it that you control. And that’s going to be at the center of the circle. And what are the things that you don’t control? Everything that’s out of your control, you should not care about it. You should not invest time, resources, energy about it. You should only focus on the things that you can control. And the things that you can control, my friends, are your reason, your logic, your ability to make decisions. That’s the only thing that you control. To some degree I will say you control your mind. You have to learn how to control it. What I explained at the beginning of this episode, analyzing an external factor and then deciding what is it that you’re going to do, that is exactly what the circle of control means. You have to understand if something is in that core of this model, at the center of this model, and if it’s something that you control, take action. Don’t worry about it. Take action. But if it’s something that is outside of your control, don’t worry about it. Don’t do anything about it.
Now, this model has evolved and this is from the Stoic philosophy. What you control, what you don’t control. Being able to determine that is going to help you to be in control. But the recent model from psychology has the things that you control at the center, and then there’s a region that are the things where you have influence, and then the other region, the last circle of this model are things that are out of your control. So what’s in the middle are things that you have influence in. So maybe you can influence a relationship that you have with someone. You can’t control how the other person is going to react, but you have some influence by the things that you say and how you say them. So, that’s important to be aware of. And a good example of something that it’s outside of your control is the weather. You can’t control if it rains or if it’s sunny, but you can control how you decide to act based on this external factor. So anyways, be mindful and be very strict on identifying if it’s something that it’s in your control or not. That’s a key skill, a key practice to follow to learn to be in control.
Thank you so much for watching today’s episode. If you have any questions or any comments, please let me know below. Please remember to like, subscribe, and share this video with other people that might benefit from it. This is going to help the channel grow. If you would like to have a one-on-one appointment with me, you can do it at iwlifeguidance.com. And I’ll see you next week in the next episode. Bye for now.
[Music]
How to Heal Depression Naturally | Physical, Mental & Emotional Healing
In this video, I guide you through how to heal depression from a holistic perspective — physically, mentally, and emotionally.
We cover:
-The role of neurotransmitters in depression
-Natural ways to balance neurotransmitters: exercise, diet, and sleep
-When and how antidepressants may be helpful
-Tools for physical healing, like diet and exercise
-Techniques for mental and emotional healing
-The power of forgiveness and letting go
You’ll also find links to powerful tools and techniques such as meditation, Trataka (a yogic visual concentration method), yoga, and my other videos that support your healing journey.
This is the final episode in my 3-part series about Understanding and Healing Depression. You can watch the playlist here: Understanding and Healing Depression – A 3 part series.
If you are interested in trying holistic methods to help heal depression, this video is for you. 🙏
Chapters:
00:33 – Disclaimer
00:53 – What Are Neurotransmitters?
01:24 – How to Keep Neurotransmitters in Balance
02:23 – When and How Antidepressants Are Helpful
04:01 – Healing Depression
04:06 – Physical Healing
07:12 – Mental Healing
10:19 – Emotional Healing
14:36 – Wrap-Up
Captions
Is it possible to heal depression and how can you do it? Today I’m going to be explaining this in today’s episode.
[Music]
Welcome to a new episode of Inner Wisdom Life Guidance. Today I’m recording from Drumheller, Alberta. And finally, we have reached this third episode of this three-part video series about depression. As I mentioned before the intro, I’m going to be explaining if you can heal depression and how you can do it.
But remember disclaimer, I’m not giving any medical or mental health advice. All I’m sharing is my knowledge, my experience, my wisdom. I’m using a book called When All is Not Well by Om Swami. I’ll share it below so that you can check it out. And if you believe you suffer from depression, please remember to seek professional help.
It is important to understand what neurotransmitters are. And basically they are chemicals that act as messengers in your body.1 There are two kinds of neurotransmitters. There’s ones that keep your brain calm and there’s ones that excite your brain. And they have to be in balance. If you have a neurotransmitter imbalance that’s going to impact your physical and your mental health and this is very relevant for healing depression. They have to be in balance.
How do you keep them in balance? The source of neurotransmitters is your gut. And to have a healthy gut, you need to make sure that you do exercise, you eat well, and you rest, you sleep well. Those are three key things that you must do to make sure you have this balance of neurotransmitters. And of course, this is going to be very impactful on healing depression. You have to get to that balance to that point.
Now, I just said you have to do exercise, you need to eat well, you need to sleep. And maybe you’re wondering, how the hell am I going to do that if I’m suffering from depression? Well, my friends, the answer here is anti-depressants. This is where anti-depressants are very important in helping you with healing depression. But first, it’s important to understand that you are experiencing a level of depression where you actually need anti-depressants.
Let’s talk about anti-depressants. First, I am not a fan of anti-depressants. So, there’s four things that you have to keep in mind when we’re talking about taking anti-depressants. The first one, which I already explained briefly, you need a proper diagnose. In other words, if you don’t need them, please don’t take them. You need a proper diagnose. You need to make sure that you really need them in order to be able to operate to function properly.
Number two, when you take anti-depressants, you are artificially balancing your neurotransmitters. And this is something that should be done by your body in a natural way. What’s going to happen is that you could develop a dependency on anti-depressants. So, you have to be aware of that.
Number three, anti-depressants should help you take action. Remember what we said, if you are at a stage at a level of depression where you can’t do anything, you can’t operate, take them so that you can actually have the discipline and the willpower to do exercise, to make better decisions on what you’re eating, and be able to sleep and of course to feel better. That’s all we want here, right?
And fourth and last one, you want to take them temporarily, just long enough that you could take these other actions that I just mentioned so that you can heal your depression or at least get to a better place where now you don’t need to take them anymore and you can continue with your actions by yourself.
There are three key areas where you want to focus on for healing depression. The first one is physical healing.
And what you want to do here, number one, is focus on your diet. You want to eat nutritious, organic, alkaline foods, foods that are very high in nutrients and in minerals that are going to help you boost your neurotransmitters. And you have to focus on foods that are living foods. What I mean by living foods are basically plant-based foods. Anything that sprouts. I’ll share a list right now of foods that you can include in your diet to help you with your neurotransmitters balance.
[Music]
The second thing that you can do for physical healing is exercise. Practice exercise. And the author of the book, he recommends yoga. But I will say find anything that you like. Yoga is very specific for mental health.2 It’s also a spiritual practice. But try to find anything that you like. Any sport, any physical activity that you really enjoy, do it because that’s going to help again with your neurotransmitters balance.
For yoga specifically, there are several poses that you can do. The first one is sun salutations. The second one is child pose. The third one is shoulder stance and the fourth one is shavasana. And I’ll share videos on how you can do each of them. With that said, my opinion is for you to at least try to do sun salutations, child pose, and shavasana. And you should do this one to three times per day, at least three times per week. It’s very important that you end your practice with shavasana. Shavasana is a pose.3 I’ll explain right now because if I show you a video, this is someone laying on the floor. But what you want to do is clear your mind. It’s basically a type of meditation. You want to have your mind in blank while you’re laying and just relaxing after your yoga session.
If you’re going to incorporate shoulder stance, it’s important that you grow your practice to a point where you can actually do them because it’s not that easy. And if you are pregnant or if you had heart surgery, it’s not recommended for you to do this pose.
Something else that you can incorporate as part of your daily practice is breathing. There are two breathing techniques that you can follow. One is called alternate breathing and the other one is bumblebee breathing. I’m also going to add some videos so that you can see how to do it. Alternate breathing. Basically, you’re breathing through one of your nostrils and you’re covering the other one. So, you inhale, then you switch and you exhale. Now, you inhale through the other one. You switch and you exhale through the other one. And again, I’ll share a video where you can see properly how to do it. And bumblebee breathing, you’re going to block your ears, close your eyes, well, block your eyes with your hands, and then when you exhale, you’re going to make a bumblebee sound.4 I’ll also share a video with that for you.
Let’s talk about mental healing. Now, on a previous episode, I did this bonus episode about thoughts and the importance of thoughts and understanding thoughts. I highly recommend you watch that because that’s going to really help you understand how to work with mental healing, how to do mental healing.
So, for mental healing, there’s different things you can do. The first practice that you can adopt is still gazing. And that’s a yogic practice that is called trataka. What you are going to do is you’re going to light a candle that’s going to be a meter or 3 feet away from you at eye level. It’s going to be in a darker room. You can have like a lamp or something like that. You’re going to sit in a relaxing neutral position and you’re just going to stare at the flame of the candle without blinking. That’s the trick. And this is going to help you with your focus and your concentration. I recommend doing this once per day for 40 days, at least 40 days. And you should do it for, I will say, no more than 10 minutes. At the beginning, it’s going to be very difficult. When you’re trying to do it, you’re probably going to cry. Well, it’s not you’re crying, but there’s tears coming out of your eyes because you can’t blink. You’re not supposed to, and that’s normal. So, again, just listen to your body, see how you feel, and again, try to do it once per day.
The second practice that you can do is witness meditation. You’re going to sit on a meditation pose and I’ll share a link to my video where I explain how to meditate. So, you’re going to sit on a meditation pose and all you’re going to do is witness your thoughts. You’re just going to acknowledge the thoughts that you have and you will let them go. And that’s all you’re going to do. I’ll recommend doing it at least for 10 minutes. I’ll say try to build up to 20 minutes. You want to do that twice per day.
The third practice that you can follow is healing meditation. And I also explained that in a previous episode. I’m also going to share the link. And what you want to do is create a mantra or you can have more than one mantras where you are going to rewire your brain and think that you are healing that you’re getting better. You may want to do this at least once per day. And I will recommend to do it for 10 to 15 minutes.
Important to remember when we talk about mental healing, you are what you think. And this means that you have to be aware of what are the things that you’re consuming that are influencing your thoughts. What are you reading? What are you watching? What are you listening to? You want to avoid anything that’s toxic in your life to help you develop a positive mindset. So be aware of toxic habits that you have, toxic relationships that you have. This is very important and is going to really help you get to a better state. Your thoughts define your reality.
The last area I’m going to talk about for healing is emotional healing. And probably this is the most difficult, most challenging, but also most impactful area that it’s going to help you heal depression.
Let me ask you a question. Which one do you believe it’s the most difficult emotion to practice, to adopt that’s going to help you feel calm, that’s going to make you feel peace in your life? Let me know. Write it down in the comments below.
The answer is forgiveness. When you forgive, you let go. When you forgive, you heal. But it has to be real authentic forgiveness. It’s not just, yeah, I forgive this person because they did something bad to me. No, you really have to fully forgive. You will know it when you fully accept that you have forgiven someone who did something to you. I have explained in previous episodes that trauma usually is based on something that happened to you that someone did to you that creates an imprint in your mind. When you are able to forgive that person, the imprint is going to be erased. This is another way of erasing imprints besides practicing meditation.
You are consciously deciding to forgive someone that will erase that imprint from your mind. There are two practices that you can follow to help you with emotional healing. The first one is a yogic practice where you’re going to again do the whole meditation pose and all the meditation preparation that you can watch in the video that I shared before. And I want you to think about the person that did something to you. You’re going to have the person in your mind. Then you’re going to visualize from your heart that you have this white pure light. That is forgiveness. That is compassion. That is love. And what you’re going to do is that you’re going to project this white light from your heart to the other person’s heart. You can also do that with yourself because maybe something that you did to someone and you have to forgive yourself. So just follow the same practice. Cover yourself with this white light that’s coming from your heart. That’s pure forgiveness. That’s going to help you erase gradually this imprint that you have in your mind because of this trauma that happened previously in your life.
The second practice that you can follow is an intellectual practice and what you’re going to do this traumatic event that happened you’re going to write it down every day and you’re going to repeat it every day and as you do this the brain is very interesting. When there’s repetition, whatever it is that you’re repeating, it loses importance. And the intention of this practice is that you write about the event that happened to a point where it’s not relevant anymore. So every day and writing is an example. You can also talk about it to yourself like you can record yourself and then you can listen to it. And as you do this, you’re going to remember more details. And it’s important that you remember all the details. Where were you? What were you wearing? Because all these elements of that event that happened, they are going to be linked to the trauma that you have. You can also do this by talking to someone that you trust. You can explain to a person, this is what happened to me. And the person should be willing to listen and have empathy. And the more you repeat it, as I said, in theory, the more that you repeat it, the faster that you’re going to heal.
Following this practice might sound a little bit scary because you might think that you’re opening a can of worms. Suddenly, you’re revisiting this traumatic event that happened in your life that you still have to deal with. If you feel that way, you can do this practice with your therapist if you have one. But remember, it’s always going to be difficult, especially if it’s something that you haven’t resolved yet. It’s going to be difficult. But the more that you do it, the easier that’s going to become.
Remember, forgiveness is the key to heal your emotional aspect, your emotional area of your life. Forgive and let go.
Thank you so much for watching today’s episode. If you have any comments, any questions, let me know below. Remember to like, subscribe, and share this with someone who could benefit from the contents of this video. And if you want to book a one-on-one session with me, you can do it at iwlifeguidance.com.
Thanks again. See you next week. Bye for now.
[Music]
How to Stop Negative Thoughts | Control Your Mind & Emotions
Do negative thoughts control your life? In this video, you’ll learn how thoughts are formed, how they affect your emotions, and proven ways to stop harmful thought patterns so you can take back control of your mind.
Negative thinking doesn’t just impact your mood — it shapes your actions, relationships, and even your healing journey. Together, we’ll explore:
-Where thoughts come from
-How to recognize negative thought patterns
-Whether you can truly control your thoughts
-The link between thoughts, trauma, and emotional healing
This is part of a 3 video series about Understanding and Healing Depression. You can watch the playlist here: • Understanding and Healing Depression – A 3…
If you’re curious about understanding your thoughts, this video is for you 💭
Chapters:
00:46 – Disclaimer
01:04 – What Are Thoughts?
01:15 – Where Do Thoughts Come From?
02:44 – Are Thoughts Positive or Negative?
04:16 – How to Deal with Negative Thoughts
05:26 – Can You Control Your Thoughts?
07:02 – How Thoughts Impact Your Actions
08:04 – Dealing with Imprints in Your Mind from Trauma
09:29 – Wrap-Up
Captions
Do you ever wonder what thoughts are? Where do they come from? Can you control them? Are they positive or negative?
Today, I’m going to be answering these questions in today’s episode.
[Music]
Welcome to a new episode of Inner Wisdom Life Guidance. Today I’m filming from Peyto Lake in the Icefields Parkway and we’re hiking the Bow Summit. Today I was supposed to post an episode on healing depression, but instead of that I decided to do this bonus episode about thoughts which I believe is very important and fundamental in order for you to have a better idea on how to heal depression.
Before we start, as usual disclaimer, please remember I’m not giving medical advice. I’m not giving mental health advice. All I’m sharing is my knowledge, my wisdom, my experience, my opinion. If you believe that you suffer from depression or any other mental health issue, please seek professional advice.
What are thoughts? You can’t see them. You can’t touch them. So, what are they? And the answer is that thoughts are a reflection of your mind. That’s what they are.
Now, where do they come from? And there’s two answers for these. Actually, three. The first answer I’ll give is that they come from your mind. They originate in your mind. So it’s something that you are somehow, let’s say in an unconscious way at least at the beginning, you’re creating them.
The other answer is that they come from an external source. And what I mean by this is that our brains, our minds, they are like an antenna and they are tuning on all these different frequencies, I’ll say, and they can catch information external to you and then they become a thought. An example I will give is if you have a partner, usually you might be able to think the same thing that they’re thinking. The other example that I have is that there’s this theory of this knowledge of field that you can tune into to download knowledge. So that’s another source of thoughts that will come to you. And the third one I will say are your, let’s say, guardian angels or spiritual guides, depending what you believe in. People that were close to you that passed away that maybe they’re trying to share a message with you. That’s another external source of information that could manifest as a thought in your mind.
And now the last answer that I have for you on where they come from is that I believe it’s a combination of all of these. There’s thoughts that you are creating yourself. They come from your mind. As I said before, they are a reflection of your state of mind. And also there’s information external to you that you’re capturing and becoming part of your thoughts.
Are thoughts positive or negative? The answer is that they are neutral. And let me explain this with a Buddhist analogy. Let’s say you’re walking a path and you find a stick on the ground. There are two core things that are going to happen. The first thing is that you acknowledge the stick. You see it and you continue walking. You ignore it. You move on. The second thing that could happen is that you decide to take some action with the stick. A positive action will be that you pick it up and you use it as an aid for walking. A negative action will be that you pick it up and you decide to use it as a weapon to hit someone and injure someone. Thoughts are just like the stick. They are neutral. They are not positive. They are not negative. The actions that we decide to take with our thoughts, it’s what define if they are positive or negative.
Now, let’s use an example of a positive action. Let’s say you think about working out and you decide to go ahead and do it. That’s a positive action. You’re deciding to take action based on a thought of doing something that’s good for you.
Now, a negative example. Let’s say that you’re angry, and you remember what triggered that anger. Let’s say you were upset with someone and you decide to continue feeding that thought over and over again, making it larger. That’s a negative action. You decided to feed that negative thought rather than stopping and replacing it with a positive one.
What can you do if you have a negative thought? The first thing that you want to assess is how do you feel? Are you too upset? Are you totally out of control? You have to calm down so that you can take a good action. Once you calm down, you’re going to acknowledge the thought. And what this means is that you’re going to observe the thought. That will stop the thought right away. And the next thing that you want to try to do is replace that thought with a positive thought.
Now, I’ll give you a very simple example on having this reverse clause where the obstacle that you have or the negative thought that you have, you transform it into something positive. Let’s say you are stuck in traffic and you’re going to be late. You can’t do anything about it. But for example, you can start listening to a podcast that you really wanted to listen or now you can enjoy the music that you’re listening to in a better way. So always have that reverse clause. Remember every challenge that you have, every adversity that comes to you is an opportunity to practice a virtue. Just a reminder that on the first episode of the understanding and healing depression series, I explain how to deal with sadness and I go into more detail on what to do if you have negative thoughts. So, make sure that you check out that episode.
The next question that I’m going to answer is, can you control your thoughts? The short answer is no, you can’t. The longer answer is that you have control on what you do, which is what I just explained. What are the actions that you’re going to take based on the thoughts that you have? With that said, you can have influence on your thoughts. What I mean by this is that you can develop your mind to a point and your attitude to a point that you have more positive thoughts and less negative thoughts or no negative thoughts at all. And also you can develop the ability, the skill to ignore these negative thoughts that come to you.
How do you do that? The main way to me, and this sounds like a broken record, is practicing meditation. When you practice meditation, you learn to listen to your mind, acknowledge thoughts, ignore them, and continue with your meditation practice. I think that practicing meditation is a key habit that you may want to develop. The second practice that you can adopt is try to develop this positive mindset by thinking positive things. In that way, whenever you have a negative thought, as I explained just now, you’ll be able to find that reverse clause and think in a positive way instead of a negative way. It’s just a mindset, right? Everyone looks at things from a different perspective. If you’re able to develop this positive mindset, you will be able to always find good where people only see bad.
Let’s talk about the impact that thoughts have in your actions. I would like you to remember this sequence. Thoughts trigger emotions. Emotions trigger actions. What this means is that you have a thought, and let’s talk again about negative thoughts specifically. Well, negative thoughts. Remember in the context of this explanation, I’m just going to simplify it. So, you have a negative thought. You entertain that thought. You feed it. It becomes bigger. That triggers a negative emotion and that’s going to impact the actions that you’re going to take, which most likely are going to be negative actions. That’s why it’s so important, as I explained before, that you develop a positive mindset, that you learn to acknowledge and ignore negative thoughts, and that you nurture your mind to produce more positive thoughts because that’s going to influence you to feel positive emotions and that’s going to influence taking positive actions.
Past tragic events in our lives that had a negative impact, they leave an imprint, and you want to delete that imprint that you have. You want to erase that imprint in your mind. The reason I’m explaining this is because usually these imprints that you have in your mind, which are basically like a scar, they are going to impact the way that you react under certain circumstances. And they’re also going to impact how you see life. As I explained in a previous episode, there’s different levels of depression and severe depression is usually triggered because you have trauma that you haven’t dealt with yet. That’s why it’s so important that you’re able to delete these imprints that you have in your mind.
The best way to delete these imprints is by practicing meditation. I explained this before. I’ll repeat it again. Through meditation, let’s put it this way. These imprints that you have in your mind, the analogy that I’m going to use, they are like garbage floating on a lake. When you meditate, the lake becomes calm and then the garbage that you see at the surface is going to go to the bottom of the lake. That’s how meditation heals those imprints that you have or that’s how meditation deletes those imprints that you have in your mind.
Thank you so much for watching today’s episode. Please remember to like, subscribe, and leave any comments below. If you have any questions, please let me know. Also, I highly encourage you to share this episode with other people that you believe could benefit from it. And I’ll see you next week finally on the third and last episode of the understanding and healing depression series. I’m going to explain how to heal depression.
Thanks again and bye for now.
[Music]
Levels of Depression Explained | Yogic Perspective on the Physical, Subtle & Causal Bodies
In this video, we explore three different levels of depression — from mild depression to major depression and severe depression.
I also share the yogic perspective on depression, through the understanding of the three bodies:
🧍♂️ The Physical Body – your anatomical body
🧠 The Subtle Body – your mind, emotions and energy
💫 The Causal Body – your soul
This video helps you gain a deeper understanding of how depression starts in your mind and then affects your body.
This is the second episode of the 3-part video series Understanding and Healing Depression: • Understanding and Healing Depression – A 3…
👉 If you haven’t seen the first episode, where I explain what depression is, make sure to watch that as well: • Understanding Depression: Symptoms, Sadnes…
Chapters:
00:36 – Disclaimer
01:00 – What Is Mild Depression?
01:38 – Understanding Major Depression
02:43 – Recognizing Severe Depression
03:47 – The Physical Body
04:34 – The Subtle Body
04:59 – The Causal Body
06:09 – Wrap-Up
Captions
In last week’s episode, I was talking about what depression is. I also explained what are the official symptoms of depression as well as how to deal with sadness. Today, I’m going to be talking about the different levels of depression and also I’m going to be sharing with you more about the yogic perspective.
[Music]
Hello everyone, welcome to a new episode of Inner Wisdom Life Guidance. This is the second video of a three-part video series about what depression is. So let’s dive into it.
But before I start, a disclaimer, please remember that I’m not giving any medical advice. I’m not giving mental health advice. All I’m sharing with you is my opinion, my knowledge, my experience, my wisdom. I’m also using a book that is called When All Is Not Well by Swami. And if you suffer from depression or you believe you suffer from depression, please seek professional help.
There are three levels of depression that I’m going to talk about. The first level is mild depression. At this level, what you have is intense sadness, but it’s irrational sadness. It is sadness that stays in your mind for a long time. And usually what happens is that you fall in the spiral of death, as I explained in a previous episode, and you make your sadness stay with you for a long time. And also there’s usually lack of reason, lack of sense, lack of explanation of why you are so sad for so long. People that suffer from mild depression could potentially get over it in a short period of time.
The second level of depression is major depression. This happens usually to people that they get caught off guard. What does that mean? Something suddenly happens in your life that you were not expecting—something that’s tragic—and you can’t believe that that happened to you, and here the spiral starts. So you start with denial: “I can’t believe this happened to me.” “Why is this happening to me?” Right? All this rejection to what just happened, and then after that the spiral turns into fear. Now you fear that this is going to happen to you again. “When is this going to happen to you again?” Remember again, you’re making things worse with every turn of the spiral. And when you get to that part of fear of it happening again, that’s when depression most likely will strike. This type of depression could take months to heal. With that said, the key practice that you have to follow is acceptance. Accepting what happened to you is going to help you heal faster. With that said, I’m going to talk about how to heal depression in the next episode.
The third level of depression is severe depression. And this one is linked to people that experienced traumatic events when they were young. Something very critical, very impactful happened in your life when you were young and you have not been able to overcome that trauma. When you are at this level of depression, you want to end your life. Basically healing this type of depression is the most challenging one and it can take many years for a person to get better.
Remember that when we’re talking about the three levels of depression, we are assuming that you have already been diagnosed with depression, and I explained that on the previous episode. So when I’m talking about mild depression and sadness, you have been already diagnosed with that level of depression or you have been already diagnosed with depression. So please don’t confuse feeling sad for a certain time with having mild depression.
Now let’s talk about the yogic perspective on depression. From a yogic viewpoint, we have three bodies. The first body is the physical body, which is basically your anatomical body. All your body parts, your organs, your cells, everything that you can see and touch, that’s your physical body. When there is a disease in your body, something that you can actually see and feel and perceive, that is linked to something else that you have to address at a deeper level. In other words, our bodies are a messenger that is telling you that there’s something that you need to take care of. There’s something else that you need to be working on. Now, I have questions for you: Are you aware? Are you listening to your body? Are you taking action when there’s something going on in your body? Let me know in the comments below.
The second body is the subtle body. This is an invisible body. You can’t see it. And this is linked to your mind, your consciousness, your emotional energy, your mental energy. And it’s responsible for the flow of energy in your body as well as for the physiology. What that means is that’s responsible for the proper operation, let’s say, or the proper functioning of your body.
And the third body is called the causal body, which is basically your soul. There is a connection between these three bodies. When you take care of your physical body and you take care of your subtle body, you’re going to feel better connected with your soul. As I explained in a previous episode about how to heal yourself, there’s a key mind-body connection. You need a healthy mind in a healthy body and this matches with these yogic teachings.
Depression starts in your subtle body and then it migrates to your physical body. That’s why as I explained on the last episode when we talk about the definition of depression from a yogic perspective is this misalignment between your physical, mental and emotional energies. And these are energies that are stored—the physical in your physical body and the mental emotional energies in your subtle body. Again, my friends, remember: healthy mind in a healthy body. It’s very relevant as part of the healing process that I’m going to explain in the next episode.
Next week, I’m going to talk about the healing process. How to heal depression? Is it possible? What are the steps and practices that you can follow? Remember, this is a three-part video series about depression. I hope that you find this useful. If you have any questions, please let me know below. If you suffer from depression or you know someone who could be suffering from depression, please feel free to share these videos with them. I hope that they find them useful. The idea here is to help a little bit.
Thanks so much for watching this episode. If you want to have a one-on-one session with me, remember that you can book one at iwlifeguidance.com.
Remember to like, subscribe, and I’ll see you next week. Bye for now.
[Music]
Understanding Depression: Symptoms, Sadness & the Yogic Viewpoint
Do you understand what depression really is — and what it isn’t? 🤔 Can it be healed? Is there a cure? 🧐
In this first video of a 3-part series on depression, I break down some facts behind this often misunderstood condition. From clinical definitions to misdiagnosing it as sadness, and even insights from yogic wisdom, this episode is designed to help you understand depression more deeply — especially if you or someone you love is going through it.
Whether you’ve been diagnosed, are trying to support someone else, or simply want to better understand your mental and emotional health — this video is for you. ✨
Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
00:37 – Disclaimer
01:22 – What Is Depression?
01:45 – Depression vs. Physical Health Issues
03:21 – The Poison and the Antidote
04:21 – Depression Symptoms
08:01 – Sadness Is Not Depression
08:55 – How to Deal with Sadness
11:38 – Wrap-Up
Captions
Do you suffer from depression or do you know someone who suffers from it? Do you actually know what depression is and can you heal it?
Today I’m going to be talking about this topic.
[Music]
Welcome to a new episode of Inner Wisdom Life Guidance. Today I’m recording from the Upper Kananaskis Lake in Alberta. It’s a beautiful day for a hike.
Before we start, first a disclaimer as usual. Please remember I’m not giving medical advice. I am not giving mental health advice. If you believe that you suffer from depression, please seek professional help. All I’m sharing is my knowledge, my wisdom, my experience, and also I am using as a reference a book that is called When All Is Not Well by Swami, and it’s a yogic perspective to the topic of depression. I will show you the book in a future episode and my review of it.
What is depression? We can define depression as a disconnect from the world. We can also say that it’s a misalignment of your physical, mental, and spiritual energies, and I will explain that in a future episode. But what’s important to understand is that depression, it’s as impactful and could be as complex, if not more complex, than a physical health condition.
You can’t just get over it. The fact that you can’t see depression, for example, if you compare it to a broken leg, it doesn’t mean that it’s something that the person just has to cheer up. So let’s use the example of a broken leg. You have a broken leg and then a friend comes to you and say, “Hey, dude, let’s go for a run. Let’s go for a walk.” And you say, “Well, I can’t. I have a broken leg.” “Well, just get over it.” Of course, you can’t get over it. You need your leg to heal. And healing means that you need time. You need care, special treatment. You can’t just get over it. With depression it is no different. You need time to heal. You need a special treatment. You need support from your loved ones. You can’t expect someone who suffers from depression to function in the same way as someone who doesn’t. You have to remember when you suffer from depression, you have lost the will to live. You can’t do anything. It’s not possible to just get over it. You need to heal first.
The yogic term used to describe depression is vishada, and that means a toxic state of mind. What this means also is that depression is like a poison. And if it’s a poison, there should be an antidote that you can take. So there’s a cure. In a future episode, I’m going to talk about this cure, about how to heal depression. For now, what I want you to remember and understand is that it is essential for someone who suffers from depression to have the love, the support, and the empathy of their loved ones—people close to them, whether it’s your family, your spouse, your friends. They need your help. And I’ll say it again, that’s an essential aspect of healing depression.
According to the Diagnostics and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, there are officially nine depression symptoms. The first one is a depressed mood. You feel extremely sad all the time. The second one is anhedonia, which means that you lack interest in doing anything and you are unable to find pleasure on doing anything. The third one is eating disorders, with a significant weight loss or weight gain. The fourth one is sleeping disorders. You either sleep too much or you don’t sleep at all, and or you switch your sleeping schedule. So, you’re awake during the evenings and you sleep during the day. The fifth one is extreme fatigue. You’re tired all the time. The sixth one is lack of concentration. The seventh one is psychomotor changes. That means you talk and you move in a very slow way or you have involuntary quick movements. The eighth one is a sense of guilt and worthlessness. You feel guilty all the time. And the ninth one is suicidal thoughts.
Those are the nine official symptoms of depression. Now, the kicker is that to be officially diagnosed with depression, you need to experience five of these symptoms every day during at least two weeks. And out of those five, you must have the first one, which is a depressed mood, and or the second one, which is anhedonia, where you lack interest and pleasure on doing anything. One more thing that I missed. To be officially diagnosed with depression, there has to be a clear, significant negative impact on your ability to perform your daily activities. You have to be impaired.
Basically, my intention of sharing this information with you is for you to have the knowledge and understanding on what depression is based on the official documentation that’s out there. Please do not self-diagnose. That’s not the intention here. If you believe that you have any of these symptoms and you believe that you suffer from depression, please seek professional help. But if you don’t, this gives you the power to identify if you have been misdiagnosed. The last thing that you want is a doctor telling you that you have to take anti-depressants when you do not suffer from depression. That’s not going to help you. It’s going to be bad for your health. It’s not necessary. So, keep that in mind.
This brings us to the last section of today’s episode where I’m going to explain what depression is not. If you’re feeling sad, that’s not depression. You can feel sad because you lost a loved one, you lost your pet, you lost your job. There are different incidents in your life, different events that could make you feel sad. And that’s normal. That’s okay. But that’s not depression. Go through your sadness. Experience the emotion. Don’t store it. Express it. Let it go and move on.
It is important to understand that extreme uncontrolled sadness can trigger a depression episode and you don’t want that in your life. So what can you do if you suffer from sadness? If you’re suffering from sadness, there are a few things that you can do.
The first thing that I would recommend doing is for you to avoid falling into the spiral of death. That’s a saying my wife and I have. And basically what this means, you have a negative thought and you start feeding the thought, making it bigger and worse with every turn of the spiral, making you feel worse instead of better. So you have to catch yourself and you have to stop feeding any negative thoughts that come to your mind. Through awareness, you catch yourself from falling into this spiral of death. And the best way to develop awareness is through meditation. Practice meditation. I’ll drop a link to my meditation video below.
You have to be aware. Awareness is the key. Once you cut yourself on this spiral of negative thoughts, you have to work on replacing the negative thoughts with positive thoughts. That’s a practice. Catch yourself, stop the negative thought, and then replace it with positive thoughts.
Another thing that you can do is to start an activity where you’re helping others. Helping others brings a sense of joy and satisfaction. And remember, helping others is our path to liberation.
One last thing you can do is practice gratitude every day of your life. You should do this regardless if you are sad or not. But every day of your life, practice gratitude. When you practice gratitude, it’s going to give you a sense of perspective on how many things you have in your life that you can be grateful for. This is going to give you perspective compared to other people who are struggling, who have challenges a lot more difficult than the ones that you have. So, practice gratitude. And when you do that, gratitude brings abundance into your life. What I mean by this is not that suddenly you’re going to win the lottery. No, it gives you awareness of all the things that you have and how much abundance you have in your life.
Thanks so much for watching today’s episode. If you have any comments, you have any questions, please let me know in the comments below. Remember, you can book a one-on-one session with me at iwlifeguidance.com, and I’ll see you next week. Remember, this is the first episode of a three series episodes about depression. In the next episode, I’m going to be talking a little more about the different types of depression that you can have, different different levels of depression that you could have. I’m also going to cover the yogic perspective a little bit more. And then the third and last episode, I’m going to be talking about how to heal depression, the antidote to the poison.
Thanks again. Bye for now.
[Music]
Self-Healing Meditation: How to Heal Yourself with the Power of Your Mind
In this episode, I share a self-healing meditation technique, a simple but powerful process to support your physical and mental health. We’ll explore:
✅ How your body can naturally self-heal
✅ The mind-body connection and why the mind is everything
✅ Why the health care industry often overlooks this
✅ A step-by-step guided process to create your own healing mantra and begin your self-healing journey with a simple and effective meditation technique.
Whether you’re dealing with a specific physical health issue or need some help with a mental health challenge such as stress, anxiety, or emotional balance, this meditation can help with your healing process.
Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
00:26 – Disclaimer
01:21 – Key Concepts of Self-Healing
01:32 – Your Body Can Self-Heal!
02:34 – The Mind’s Natural State
03:05 – Mind-Body Connection
03:42 – The Mind Is Everything!
04:05 – Health Care Is a Business
05:13 – Self-Healing Meditation Process
05:18 – Identify Your Health Issue
05:42 – Create Your Healing Mantra
07:31 – Self-Healing Meditation Technique
10:59 – Wrap-Up
Captions
If you want to learn how to heal yourself, today I’m going to share with you a self-healing meditation technique that you can practice for both mental and physical health.
[Music]
Hello friends, welcome to a new episode of Inner Wisdom Life Guidance. I am back after a short break. Before we start, please remember that what I’m going to share with you today is my knowledge, my experience, my wisdom. If you have mental or physical health challenges, I highly recommend for you to go and work with a professional in their respective field. As always, do your own research and make your own conclusions.
The self-healing meditation technique that we’re going to talk about today is not meant to replace any medical treatment that you have. This meditation is going to help you with the healing process itself; it is more like a complement to what you are already doing. With that said, it’s also important to be mindful that sometimes you really don’t need to take medication. Again, that’s something that you have to decide on your own. You have to do your own research and make your own decisions. But yeah, it’s not a replacement for your medications, but also you don’t always need to take medication.
Five Concepts for Understanding Self-Healing
Before I start explaining the meditation technique itself, there are five concepts that I want to share with you, and they are important for you to better understand how self-healing works.
The first concept is that our bodies are able to heal by themselves as long as you give them the right resources. You give them what they need. I’m going to give you two examples. A very simple example is when you cut yourself. You cut yourself, your body is going to seal the wound, and then you’re going to have a scab, and then it’s going to fall off and you’re going to have potentially a scar. Maybe the scar is going to go away also as part of the healing process. All your body needed was time for it to do its thing. And the other thing that it needed is for you to take care of your wound. Of course, if you’re not taking care of your wound and you’re getting it dirty, you might get an infection. It gets worse. But by giving it the right resources, it’s able to heal a cut.
Another example that I believe is very interesting is heart disease. If you have heart disease, it doesn’t matter how much you meditate and how much you practice this technique if you’re not eating properly. Your body needs the right food in order for it to heal by itself.
The second concept is the natural state of our minds is one of peace and mental wellness. But what happens when we come into this world? There are all these external factors, all these things that we learn that basically contaminate our minds, and now we get stressed. We care about what other people think and so on. But internally, at our core, our mind is pure bliss and peace.
The third concept is that there is a key connection between our mind and our body. We have to take care of both in a holistic way. You need a healthy mind in a healthy body. You need a healthy body for your healthy mind. I don’t believe that you can just have one or the other. I believe you must have two. You must work hard to have a healthy mind and a healthy body. Now, I have a question for you: which one do you believe is more important—a healthy mind or a healthy body? Let me know in the comments below, and that’s something I will address in a future video.
The fourth concept is that the mind is everything. What you think, you become. Our thoughts have a direct impact on our health, both in our body and our mental health. Remember what we discussed in a previous episode about the power of the word? This is the power of the word. What you think and what you say are going to influence your health. It’s going to influence your wellness.
The fifth and last concept is that society makes us forget these concepts. These are things that are not taught to you. The dream of the planet, as defined by Don Miguel Ruiz, again going back to The Four Agreements, is one where healthcare is a business. The healthcare industry is a multi-billion dollar business that profits from people being sick, not from healthy people. So please keep that in mind. I think this is very important to understand. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t doctors and healthcare practitioners that care about you. Of course, they do. But in the end, the system is designed for you to be sick, and you take a pill, and then you have a side effect, and then you need another pill for the side effect of the pill that you’re taking, and then you have another side effect of the second pill, and they’re going to give you a third pill to address the side effect of that second pill, and so on. They never address the root cause of the issue. It’s a business where you keep taking something to help you with your disease, but they are not looking at the root cause so that you can fully heal yourself.
The Self-Healing Meditation Technique
Now let’s talk about the meditation technique.
First, I would like you to identify what is the either health issue that you have in your body or the mental health challenge that you want to heal, that you want to address. I’m going to give two examples. Let’s say for your body that you have a headache or you have constant headaches. So that’s one example that we’re going to use. And for the mental health challenge, let’s say that you take things personally.
The next thing that you’re going to do is you’re going to create a mantra. A mantra is a sentence, a phrase that you’re going to repeat over and over again. And when you do that, you’re basically rewiring your brain, and that’s how you’re going to heal.
For the headache example, a good mantra that I would recommend is: “I feel relief. The pain is gone.” Again, here you can use your imagination and write the mantra that you want, but that’s something that I will recommend doing.
Now, for the mental health challenge, we’re talking about taking things personally. The mantra that I would recommend is: “I accept and love myself and my choices.”
Now, important here: when you write the mantra, you have to write it in a positive way, in an active way. What I mean by this is instead of saying, “I do not have a headache,” you should phrase it in a way where you’re showing how you have healed. So that’s why we’re saying “the pain is gone,” “I feel relief,” or “I feel relieved, the pain’s gone.” Our brains, our minds, they work in a way where you first think about what you’re saying and then you understand that’s a negative action. So when you say “I do not have pain,” your mind is thinking about having pain, right? So that’s why it’s important that you shouldn’t use—this is going to sound funny, but you shouldn’t use “I do not” something. Actually phrase it in what is the state that you want to be at. What is it that you want to have? That’s the best way to write a mantra and to repeat it.
Now that you have your mantra, you’re going to sit on a meditation posture. And for this, you can watch my meditation video where I explain how to meditate. And you’re going to do some deep breathing just to bring awareness to your breathing, just to calm, relax your attention to your breathing.
After you have done that for, let’s say, one minute, focusing on your third eye, it’s going to help you manifest that. Okay. So that’s what you’re going to do: you’re going to focus on your third eye after you have done the deep breaths.
The next thing you’re going to do is you’re going to repeat the mantra. Now, there are two ways to do this. You can repeat the mantra just in your mind. You’re not saying it out loud, or you can say it out loud. It’s your decision on what is the best way for you. I recommend either; both work. Again, it’s your decision on what makes you feel the most comfortable. Perhaps if you say it out loud, it’s a little bit more powerful because you are listening to yourself saying it. But again, your decision. If you just do it in your mind, that works as well.
So let’s say you’re going to just think about it and repeat it in your mind. What I want you to do is while you are breathing in, and remember all this time you’re focusing on your third eye, you are going to inhale. And while you’re inhaling, you are repeating just once your mantra. Going back to—let’s use the headache example. You are inhaling and you are saying in your mind, “I feel relief. The pain is gone.” And then you exhale. And when you exhale, you’re manifesting again; you’re thinking, you’re focusing on your third eye. You can do it the other way around as well. You can inhale, and when you exhale, you repeat the mantra in your mind, focusing on your third eye. That’s fine as well.
If you are saying it out loud, you’re going to inhale, and then when you exhale, you’re going to repeat the mantra out loud. Right? So inhale again, you focus on your third eye, and then when you release, you repeat your mantra: “I feel relief. The pain is gone.” And then you do it again.
I would like you to do this twice per day for 15 minutes. You can do it in the morning and you can do it in the evening.
Bonus Tips and Final Reminders
Something else that you can do besides twice a day the meditation: when you’re going to bed, before you’re falling asleep, your mind is at a state where it’s easier to, let’s say, rewire your brain. It’s easy to influence or to program yourself. Okay? So before you’re falling asleep, while you’re laying on your bed, you can repeat the mantra several times and then you fall asleep. Okay? And then when you wake up in the morning, you can do it again. You wake up in the morning, again, your mind is going to be—your brain is going to be in this state where it’s easier to change something like a thought pattern, right? So repeat the mantra again as you’re waking up. That’s just like a bonus thing that you can do that’s going to help you.
To wrap up the episode, first I want you to remember that this meditation technique is something that’s meant to help you. It’s not the solution to whatever challenge that you face in your health today. And you also need to change bad habits that could be impacting your health. So, for example, using the heart disease example that I mentioned before, you can meditate all you want, but if you are not changing your eating habits, most likely this is not going to work. It’s not going to help. So it’s a combination: meditate, but also see which habits you need to change from your life.
Second thing to remember is the power of the word. Your thoughts become your reality. Every cell in your body is listening to what you say and what you think. So remember this at every time. That’s how through this process, because of you repeating a phrase, a healing phrase, a healing mantra, because of you thinking about it, your body is listening to it, and it will make it happen. Our minds are so powerful that if you start thinking, “I have a headache,” you will get a headache. Your body’s listening to you, and you will get the headache that you are asking for. But likewise, if you want the headache gone, your body’s listening to you, and it will happen. Try it.
Thank you so much for watching today’s episode. If you have any questions or if there are any topics that you would like me to address in a future episode, please let me know in the comments below. Remember to subscribe and like. Please share this video with someone that could benefit from it. And as always, if you are interested to have a one-on-one with me, you can book an appointment at iwlifeguidance.com.
Thanks again and see you next week.
[Music]
How I Overcame My Fear of Public Speaking
🎤 Afraid of Public Speaking? You’re Not Alone.
In this episode, I share my journey of how I overcame the fear and anxiety of speaking in front of others. From almost crying, shaking hands and a cracking voice to confidently giving my first presentation, I walk you through the emotional and transformational process that helped me finally break through.
You’ll hear how I discovered the source of my fear, the challenges it caused, and what led me to explore “The Journey” self-healing practice. I also share a powerful meditation and visualization technique that supported my healing and helped me rebuild confidence.
If public speaking scares you or you’re tired of feeling stuck in silence, this video might give you the tools that you need.
Affiliate links:
The Journey by Brandon Bays: https://amzn.to/4cCUYn0
Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
00:53 – How I Discovered My Fear of Public Speaking
02:29 – The Struggles It Caused in My Life
03:26 – My Plan to Try Hypnosis
05:24 – My Journey Experience: What Happened
09:21 – What I Discovered About My Trauma
11:09 – How I Used “The Journey” to Heal My Trauma
14:05 – Meditation and Visualization Excersices That Helped
15:41 – Results: My First Presentation After Healing
20:14 – Wrap-Up
Captions
Do you have a fear of public speaking? I used to and today I’m going to share how I overcame it.
Welcome to a new episode of Inner Wisdom Life Guidance. Today I’m going to be talking about fear of public speaking. Specifically, I’m going to share my own experience on how I overcame the fear that I had of public speaking. This episode is going to be thorough. I want this to be useful for anyone who has this challenge in their lives. And basically, I’m thinking of my past self having access to this video, to this information, and all the details that I’m going to provide.
At any time, feel free to check the chapters of this episode, and you can jump to the section that you prefer to watch. With that, let’s get started. First, let me share my background. What happened to me? When did I realize that I was afraid of public speaking? And this happened when I was 13, maybe 14 years old. We had an assignment at high school where we have to give a presentation. I prepared my notes and before I started presenting,
I started feeling anxious, which was a little bit strange. But anyways, I got up and when I started delivering my speech, when I started giving my presentation, I lost control. My face was red. My eyes were tearing. I was basically crying. My voice was breaking in front of the audience. I felt extreme anxiety. I was shaking. It was awful. But anyways, I finished my presentation and then I sat down. And when I sat down, I was like, “What the hell just happened? How is this possible?”
And the reason that I was so shocked was because before that moment, I was always an excellent public speaker in school. And at the beginning of high school, I was always in charge of reading something in front of all the students, the teachers, the parents. I was always participating in plays in front of larger audiences. I was excellent speaking in front of an audience, zero problems. But something changed and when I was like 14 years old, as I said, when I had that presentation, things were very different and I didn’t know why. From that moment,
I always was afraid of speaking in front of an audience. I never understood why, but I was always trying to avoid participating at high school. And the same happened in university when we had to give a short presentation in front of our class. I will always ask my teammates, my classmates, I can’t do it. Someone else has to do it. Right? The same happened at work. When I started working, I always avoided at all costs being in charge of something that I had to explain to a group of people. It was very difficult, very very difficult. And as you can imagine, if you have not experienced this fear of public speaking, this is something that becomes a big challenge in your career.
Eventually, I decided to research and see what can I do to overcome this fear of public speaking. From everything I investigated back then, the main thing that I was going to try was hypnosis because apparently you can get to a state where you can program your mind to feel comfortable and relaxed when you are speaking in front of an audience. So, I really wanted to try hypnosis.
And around 2009, I found a place where they did hypnosis. So I went and I had a session with a person in charge and I explained, okay, I have this challenge. I have a fear of public speaking. I have always had this since I was 14, 13 years old. And I think that hypnosis is going to help me. And it was very interesting. The session was a little bit more holistic rather than “Oh yes let’s do it and let’s going through hypnosis and you are fine you’re talking in front of an audience you’re speaking in front of audience everything is okay.” Instead of doing that we had a session where the guy was trying to understand better my life and I’ll talk about it another time it was a very interesting story but as part of things that he recommended he said “Okay you do not need hypnosis what we’re going to do is you’re going to read a book” and guess what book he recommended? He recommended “The Journey” from Brandon Bays and I talked about this book in the last episode and as I promised in the last episode I was going to explain how I used the journey to help me overcome my fear of public speaking and then he also gave me a book about presentation skills which I think is really I mean it’s important but the first thing that you have to do is overcome your fear of public speaking and once you’re able to do that then you can polish your skills but first overcome the fear then polish your skills.
So, I read the journey and I’m going to share now what my experience was like when I did the journey. At this point in the episode, if you want to fully understand what the journey is and how it works, I will highly recommend for you to go and watch my previous episode where I talk about the book, I do a review, and I explain the whole process of emotional and physical healing. In a nutshell, the journey is a technique that you can use for physical and emotional healing. It’s a self-healing technique.
So, now I’m going to do the short version of the journey, which is what I did, and it was different. And I’m, as I said in my previous episode, we’re going to call it the adventure instead of the journey. And basically, the journey, what you’re supposed to do, if you have an emotional challenge that you have to heal, you have to focus on the emotion. You have to feel the emotion for 45 seconds. Let’s say 1 minute, 45 seconds. Fully feel the emotion.
Try to locate where in your body you feel that emotion and then see if there’s an event or people related well an event and people related to that emotion that you have you struggle with and then you drop to another layer after you fully experienced the emotion then you go to another layer where you ask yourself okay what else is what else is underneath this emotion and then something else will come up and you do the same you try to see if you find it in your body you’re trying to think if there’s any correlation with an event and people that are linked to this emotion that you have that you struggle with.
So that’s what you do in the journey. Again, this is like extremely high level and once you get to the core and you experience what your true self is, once you experience source is how the author calls it, then you are able to use that to heal that emotional challenge that you have that is linked to an event that took place in your time when you were younger. So for the fear of public speaking, this is what I did.
So first I relaxed. It’s like if you’re trying to meditate and by the way go ahead and check my meditation video. You relax and as you are in this deep state of concentration, you try to bring up the emotion that you struggle with. In this example of pure public speaking is anxiety. So as I was relaxed, I started to think about me giving a presentation in front of an audience and I was trying to remember and feel the anxiety that I always felt when I was in front of an audience. So that’s what I was trying to do and this is something very interesting. I tried this many times and I was never able to trigger the emotion. Why? Okay, this is just my guess.
When I started doing the journey, I already was practicing meditation for several months. And I can only guess that my meditation practice was able to put me at a state in my mind where I was not feeling anxiety. I was not able to trigger emotions. I was at peace. I was still. I was calm. I was relaxed. I was not able to replicate the emotion no matter how many times I try it. That’s just my theory. Okay. So at that point in time I realized I have to do something different. This is not working. At least the journey and how it’s defined is not working for me.
So what I decided to do is again I went through this deep state of concentration. I reach a state of meditation where I’m relaxed, not distracted. And then I start asking myself what happened in my life that triggered this fear of public speaking. And I did this several times and eventually as I was in this state, I was a memory came back to me where I was in high school and I was writing something on a chair, you know, just a silly thing that you will do as a teenager. And the teacher, he saw what I was doing.
He stopped the class. He came to me and he started asking me in a normal voice, “What are you doing?” And then I realized what I was doing that was not okay. And then he changed. Then he started yelling and treating me in this awful way in front of all my classmates. It was so rude. It was so mean, so disrespectful. Imagine you’re 13 years old and you’re being treated like that by an adult in front of all your classmates. It was humiliating. It was horrible. It was horrible.
So, I remember that story and I’m like, “Oh my goodness, this makes total sense. You’re not supposed to be analyzing this when you were doing a journey or an adventure. You’re supposed to pay attention to what’s going on.” But of course, that made sense. I was basically humiliated and ridiculed in front of an audience, which were all my classmates. And that was a event that created a trauma in myself. And I didn’t realize it, but that was the trigger that made me have this fear of public speaking. In fact, as I continue analyzing what happened after that event, when we were in class, I was afraid of my teacher and whenever he was asking for someone to participate,
I was always trying to hide behind people that were in front of me so that he wouldn’t ask me a question, so that I didn’t need to speak. That was the root cause of my issue. So the next thing that I did when I realized this, you have to remember that when you do the journey, you’re working at a higher level of wisdom. You are not emotionally attached to what’s happening. You’re just a witness. And the only emotion that you may have is love, compassion, kindness.
You’re understanding what’s going on. And I look at the situation. You’re looking at the situation from above basically and I realized okay yeah this is the root cause and then I did this exercise where I’m basically talking to my teacher and I’m trying to understand or I’m trying to explain to him what you did created a trauma in my life and for all these years I have not been able to speak in front of an audience it’s because of you and what you did I want to understand why You did it.
Very important. You are not being emotional when you’re having this conversation. You are not blaming anyone. You are having a conversation where you are trying to understand what happened and why. Of course, this is something that you’re trying to analyze, let’s say, at a deeper level. And this inner wisdom that we all have is at work guiding you on why potentially in this case my teacher did the things that he did to me. He treated me in the way that he treated me.
I thought about all these things that could happen to him. Probably he was raised in a very tough environment. Probably his parents always treating him like that. Probably he was always made fun of because he was a very short guy. And I’m sure that that was difficult. Probably he was made fun a lot by his friends and co-workers and classmates and who knows what, right? And most likely as part of this insecurity that he developed, he was trying to be mean to others to show that he was powerful, right? That he was strong. But in reality, he is just reflecting an insecurity that he had and he is projecting that insecurity on the students. In that case, I was the victim of what happened. So I understood that and as part of the process then there’s a forgiveness part where you have once you understand you forgive and this has to be authentic forgiveness. You can’t be fake because if you are this is not going to work so I forgave him for what he did. I understood why he did it. It doesn’t mean that it’s justified what he did, but I understand what was the context that made him behave in the way that he behaved. I understood and I forgave and that and I let that go. Okay? And that was the end of my journey exercise. Then I added some extra steps to make the experience even better. The next action that I decided to take was combine meditation with visualization exercises. So I will sit down. I will start my meditation practice. I will get to a state where I’m relaxed, where I’m calm, where I’m fully concentrated. And then I started visualizing myself delivering a presentation to an audience. And I was doing it in a perfect way. And I did this for 6 months because during those 6 months I didn’t have to give any presentations. So I was just I had a very good meditation practice back then. I was meditating I think once or twice per day and I will combine my normal meditation practice which back then I was chanting a mantra and I’ll talk about it in a different video. It wasn’t the breathing technique that I explained in the video that I recommended earlier.
And then I combine that. Let’s say my morning meditation was a mantra. And then my evening meditation was me doing this visualization exercise where I’m giving this presentation in front of an audience in a perfect way. I could see the audience. I can see everyone paying attention. I could see myself talking with confidence in a calm way. And then I could see everyone clapping at the end feeling grateful for the information that I shared with them. I did that as I said every day for 6 months. Doesn’t mean that that’s how long it’s going to take you but that was my experience right so then when did I realize I overcame this fear of public speaking during those six months towards the end I had to explain something at work to a small group of people we were maybe six and part of the audience were the end customers of the project that we were working on of course I had a big responsibility and I was able to explain my part easily and I realized, oh, this is interesting. It wasn’t really like a big presentation. We’re in a meeting room, but I had to speak in front of all these people and explain what I did and it was fine. But at that point, I didn’t consider that to be like a valid test to see if I was really over my struggle. The real test of fire happened shortly after those six months that I was talking about when I became the leader of a small group of 12 people. I was the team leader of a group at work and there was a meeting with all the team where I was going to introduce myself and I remember we were sitting on the meeting room and I started feeling this anxiety again thinking like oh my goodness I have to talk in front of these people and I don’t know if I’m going to be able to do it I wasn’t sure right so same level maybe less still you experience the anxiety or the excitement as I like to Okay. So, you’re not too focused on I’m anxious. No, I’m excited about delivering this short presentation to the audience. Try to phrase it in a positive way. Do that in your life in general. Try to phrase things in a positive way.
And then it was my turn to introduce myself. I stood up and I perfectly explained who I am, what’s my background, what’s my experience. I’m looking forward to working with you, blah blah blah blah blah. And then I sat down and I was like, “Holy it worked.” This was so amazing because you don’t know. You have this uncertainty if it’s going to work or not. And you only know until you actually try it. But at this point in time, you know, I have I did my best. I did the journey. I was able to identify the root cause of my trauma. I was able to address it and then I did all these meditation visualization exercises where I was kind of reprogramming my brain to be this very good public speaker or at least to do it in a calm way. And it worked and it was amazing. And after that, whenever I had to deliver a presentation now, I knew I can do it. I did it before. I feel fine. And I just know that it’s normal that I’m going to feel excited before I’m going to stand up and speak. I know I’m feeling I’m feeling excited. That’s normal, right? I mean, if you think about it, speaking in front of an audience is actually not something that many people do. It’s not something that it’s considered to be a normal skill. So, it’s normal that when you’re going to do something that you don’t do on a regular basis, you’re going to feel excited or anxious or scared, however you want to say it.
But my experience at least was that every single time I will feel that level of excitement and the moment I need to start talking it’s like a switch goes off and I’m able to explain things in a very good and normal fashion. And that’s my story. That was how I realized that I overcame my fear of public speaking. Thankfully today I have a very successful career where I’m able to deliver presentations in front of small or large audiences and this has been a great help for me to grow in the company where I work for right now. And my hope is that this video is helpful for you and that you can also overcome your fear of public speaking and you can do it in a normal way without worrying without thinking that you can do it and actually being very successful at it. To wrap up the episode, what’s my advice to you if you watch all the way up to here? Thank you again. I hope that this video is useful. Let me know in the comments below if it is. But my advice to you is two things.
One, I will recommend that you read the journey. And I will recommend that you understand what the emotional healing process is and what are the steps when you are following it. Understand that very well. Then you can try it. If it doesn’t work, you can do a mix of what I did on my adventure and try it out and see how it goes. My second advice is practice meditation. And through meditation, you’ll be able to enter this state where you are going to reprogram your brain and you’re able to see yourself giving these presentations in front of audiences with no problems. That’s going to be one of the best things that you can do for yourself. And you can apply this to any other fear that you have or any other emotional challenge that you have. Meditation with visualization exercises are an excellent combination that are going to help you overcome basically any challenges that you have. That’s my opinion and I hope that it works for you. Thanks again for watching. Remember that you can book a one-on-one session with me at iwlifeguidance.com. If you have any questions, any comments, let me know below. If you need help, let me know. I’m happy to respond to any questions about my experience. And if I can help you, I will do it, of course. And I’ll see you in the next episode. Bye for now.
[Music]
The Journey by Brandon Bays: Emotional & Physical Self-Healing Explained
Have you heard of the book The Journey by Brandon Bays? In this episode, I share my review and summary of the book, which I believe it’s a powerful tool for emotional and physical healing.
I give my honest rating, explain the key takeaways, and walk you through the two core techniques in the book:
- The Emotional Journey – a guided process to help you release stored emotional pain
- The Physical Journey – for connecting with the body and uncovering the emotional roots of illness.
At the end of this episode, I share how I personally used this self-healing method and the impact it had on me. If you’re interested in learning a self-healing technique, this video is for you!
Captions
The Journey by Brandon Bays is a book that teaches you a self-healing technique that you can follow. Today, I’m going to share with you how to do it, and I will also do a review of the book. Welcome to a new episode of Inner Wisdom Life Guidance. Today, we’re going to be talking about The Journey by Brandon Bays.
First, a disclaimer: This is not medical advice. This is not mental health advice. If you have any issue, please talk to your respective professional. What we’re going to share is just a summary of the book and how you can use the self-technique to help you. This is a complement to any other practice that you might be following right now.
As I like to start when I talk about a book, I first explain why I recommend it. This year, we started reading *Many Lives, Many Masters*, and in that book, we learn about life, the purpose of life, why we’re here, and so on. Then, we read *The Four Agreements*, and in *The Four Agreements*, we learn how to live life and what some key techniques and practices are that you can adopt to help you better cope with life. Now, *The Journey* is a book that teaches you how to heal. If, as part of your life, you have experienced any emotional or physical issues, *The Journey* is a great tool to help you heal. That’s why I recommend this book.
I read it in 2009, and it’s one of the best books I have read about self-healing. I will give the book a rating of four stars. Usually, I give five stars to all the books I recommend, but I’ll explain why four stars. First, I think the technique is excellent. It’s easy to use if you simplify it, which I’m going to explain a little bit about. I think it’s very straightforward, and I think it’s effective. I use it, and I’ll also explain later how I use it. I also like that it’s a great story in some ways.
With that said, I feel this time that I read the book—probably the third time I read it—I feel that perhaps it could be a little bit marketing-focused because she has this workshop that she offers. As you read the book, it feels like she’s trying to advertise her workshop. There’s nothing wrong with that, but the book feels a little bit marketing-focused in that aspect.
The other thing that happens with this book, depending on what you like to read and how you’re going to take it, is that some specific things she shares might feel too dramatic. There are all these things that she has to face, and maybe it’s a little bit dramatic. I have recommended this book to many people, and I have a friend who read it and felt that the author was perhaps a little bit arrogant. I don’t feel that way, but I also think that you might take it the wrong way if you have certain insecurities as you read the book. Brandon Bays went through a lot of things, was able to cope with them, and got over them, and yeah, it’s remarkable. But if you feel that you have been struggling with things and then you compare yourself with her, you might feel a little bit weird about it. Anyway, I don’t think it’s a big deal. It’s a book that I still recommend everyone should read.
One more thing about my rating of four stars: Her story is a little bit reckless, I think, at the very beginning when she explains what happened to her. I think that’s a bit dangerous because someone can take this book and, again, take it in the wrong way and not go to the doctor or not address a health issue that they have. I feel that’s just a little bit strange. She clarifies that toward the end of the book, but that’s something else that perhaps I feel she could have done a little bit more effort on as she was telling her story, reminding people that that was her journey, her experience, and everyone should really decide what’s best for them. So, that’s just one little detail there.
As I mentioned, I have used this book before, and actually, in 2009, that’s the first time I read it, and I was able to heal something that was happening with me, specifically emotionally. I’ll explain at the end of the video what that was and if it worked or not. Well, it worked—I already tell you that I used it, I read it, and obviously, I wouldn’t be recommending it if it didn’t work. But I’ll explain at the end of the video what that was about.
Now, let’s talk about a summary of the book. What happened to Brandon Bays? Basically, she was working as part of this holistic health type of vibe, and she started having a belly that she was not able to explain because she was healthy, eating fine, and didn’t want to go to the doctor. Eventually, when her belly looked like she was five months pregnant, she decides to go to the doctor, and they find a tumor the size of a basketball. Of course, after—I don’t know for how long she was delaying this—but yeah, after several months of not doing anything, now you have this huge tumor. The doctor explains to her that this is extremely urgent, and she needs to get surgery, but she doesn’t want to. She wants to try and see if she can holistically heal the tumor.
This is where I feel the reckless part comes in. She, of course, can decide to do whatever she wants, but when you have such a big tumor, and you didn’t do anything for several months, and the doctor is telling you you’re going to die if you don’t do something, and she decides to try and heal it by herself, I feel that’s a bit reckless. In the end, it worked out, which is what I’m going to explain how she did it, but I just find that to be a little bit reckless—waiting too long and then, when they tell you that you have something that’s extremely urgent, you’re like, “No, wait a second, but I’m going to try something holistic to heal.” Of course, you should have a limit, which is what she did. She had a window—I can’t remember how many days—to stop some internal bleeding that she was already having and also to try and reduce the size of the tumor.
Well, off she goes. She starts doing all these things, and something that I find fascinating in her story is how she’s guided. There are all these things that she starts doing and experimenting with, and there is this synchronicity in her life to meet the right people that give her the right support and the right tools to be able to heal herself. So, she does a journey with a friend. That was the first journey experience that she had, where she’s able to dive into the tumor and try to understand what’s going on: Why do I have you? Why do I have a tumor? Then, she has these memories of events that she experienced, and she links those events with emotions that were stored in the tumor. When she’s able to release those emotions and forgive people related to that experience, the tumor starts to shrink.
She goes back to the doctor, and the doctor says, “Okay, yeah, you’re doing something. I don’t know what is working, but now instead of a basketball, it’s the size of, I don’t know, like a softball, let’s say, or a baseball, or a grapefruit, I think is actually the example that they use.” Still, she’s like, “Well, I still want to try it on my own.” Then, there’s this clash between the doctor and her, where the doctor keeps pushing for surgery: “You need to do something; you can’t just be doing this holistic stuff; you have to get real.” At this point, she realizes that the doctor is never going to support her on this holistic journey, and she decides to walk away, continue doing her thing, just waiting because she already did a healing process through the journey.
Then, she goes to a different doctor, and they do a full scan, and she has nothing. After six weeks, her tumor fully disappeared. She had nothing. That’s amazing. After that, she decided to start doing this journey workshop to help other people realize that you can heal yourself.
Toward the second half and the end of the book, she shares the stories of many different people who have done the journey, what their experiences were like, what they were suffering from, how they healed, and so on. I think there are very good examples that she has that can basically illustrate that almost anything or everything can be healed as long as there is an emotional link to whatever it is that you have. She mentions Deepak Chopra as someone who researched a lot on healing at a cellular level, and that was actually her inspiration to try and see if she could somehow get deep into her body and her cells and try to figure out what was going on.
That’s a theory: You can be physically ill, or you can have a specific issue in your body because you did something. Let’s say you broke your arm—there’s nothing spiritual there; maybe you just fell, tripped, and broke your arm. But something like a tumor, what she explains is that’s the result of memories and emotions that you stored in your cells, in your body somewhere, and you never dealt with them, and then they grew to become a tumor. That’s the emotional aspect of illness: It’s something that happened to you that you didn’t resolve, and you stored it somewhere in your body, and then, eventually, it becomes a problem, an illness, or an issue in your health.
She also shares things that happened to her that triggered all these emotions toward the end of the book. I’m not going to go through them because I don’t want to spoil them, especially if you’re going to read the book. But then, she explains the power of doing an emotional journey, a journey focused on emotions, and how she was able to heal. Again, yes, emotionally, there’s nothing physical at this point; it’s more about trying to deal with what’s happening right away. There is a very good teaching on self-worth and self-love, and she does an excellent job explaining in the book what she believed was important to her and then what she realized at the end was actually important—what was the truth.
Now, let’s talk about the journey. There are two types of journeys: emotional journey and physical journey. The emotional journey is going to focus on an emotional issue that you have. Let’s say you are constantly angry; you get angry very easily. This is the process, and I’m going to do a simplification of what the actual journey is. If you want to fully learn it, read the book and get the book. There are all these steps and processes that you can follow. Even though I believe it’s very effective, I think it might be a little bit complicated. So, I’m going to share with you the simplified version, and instead of calling it the journey, we’re going to call it the adventure. It’s going to be a short adventure.
Here’s the process: You have this emotional issue, so you’re always angry. You get angry very easily. What you’re going to do is sit down and try to get to a state of meditation. You’re going to relax, be in a quiet place where there are no interruptions, and focus on the emotion that you have a problem with—in this case, anger. What you’re going to do is think about something that makes you angry, and when you feel the emotion, you have to locate it in your body. Where do you feel the anger? Once you locate that, you are going to fully experience the anger. That’s the purpose of the exercise: to fully feel the emotion, where it is in your body, and what it is that you feel. This is an exercise of awareness.
You’re going to be deep in the emotion for, let’s say, 30 seconds. After that, you’re going to try and think about what’s beneath anger. When you ask yourself that, another emotion is going to come up. You’re going to do the same thing: Where in your body do you feel it? You’re going to experience it for 30 seconds or so, maybe 45 seconds. Then, you’re going to ask for another emotion underneath it, and you’re going to keep doing that until you get to a point that she calls the source. This source is basically your true self, your inner wisdom, your higher self, the universe, God—however you want to call it. It’s this sensation of vastness: You are everything, and everything is you.
When you go through these emotions, the last thing that’s going to be left is your pure self, this core, this source, as I said. When you do that, you’re going to have this experience of freedom. In a certain way, you’re going to have access to something that’s going to help you heal. After you reach the source—and something that I forgot to mention—when you’re doing the exercise of the different emotions, you’re going to try and see if there is a link to an event that happened to you. So, again, using anger as the example: You feel angry—when did you feel angry for the first time, or what’s the source of this anger that you have in your life? You’re going to ask that to yourself, and you are going to see something that happened and people involved in that event. It’s important to keep track of this as you go through the different layers and then reach the source.
After you reach the source, what you’re going to do with this new tool that you have is a campfire exercise, where basically you’re going to try and sit down with the people who were involved in the event that triggered this issue or the root cause of this issue. You’re going to bring your younger version of yourself, and you’re going to have this open conversation between all the parties. But it’s a conversation that’s going to happen at a higher level, where there’s higher wisdom working. It’s not just an emotional discussion where you’re blaming someone. It’s compassion, wisdom, and understanding that’s going to work here so that you can properly understand at a higher level what happened, why it happened, what they did to you, whatever they did, and so on. Then, it’s going to end with forgiveness. You’re going to forgive the people who did this to you, and it has to be authentic forgiveness. It can’t be something superficial. You truly have to forgive the person who did something to you.
The difference here is that when you do this exercise, you are going to be able to understand what was going on and why the person did the things that they did. Many times, we take things personally, and I highly recommend you go and watch the video of *The Four Agreements*. You’re taking something personally, and in reality, what the person is doing or did to you has nothing to do with you; it’s with them. There’s something in them—whatever happened to them, there’s a root cause as well that is making them behave and do the things that they did to you. There’s a reason. When you understand that and accept that, you’re in a position where it’s easier for you to forgive and let go.
Now, let’s talk about the physical journey. This is going to be a little bit easier than the emotional journey, and the recommendation is for you to experience the emotional journey before you do the physical journey. In the physical journey, you already have experienced the source; you know what the source is, and you know how it feels. For the physical journey, you’re going to first get into this state of relaxation and meditation. You’re going to try to call back that feeling of being in touch with your source, with your core, with your inner wisdom.
Once you do that, you’re going to focus on the physical issue that you have—let’s say a tumor, like in Brandon’s example. You’re going to dive into the tumor and try to see what events and emotions are linked to that tumor. You might see something that happened to you when you were younger and people related to that event that took place. Once you realize that, you’re going to do the campfire exercise that we talked about. It doesn’t have to be that complicated; it can just be as basic as visualizing yourself with these people and asking them, “Why did you do this to me? I felt in this way; it was very difficult. Now I have these problems. I want to understand why you did this to me.” Then, you’re going to let them speak to you about the reasons behind what they did.
Again, just like in the emotional journey, these conversations are at a higher level, with compassion, kindness, tolerance, and understanding. You listen to them and what they have to say. They have to explain to you why that happened. You have to forgive them—that’s the key in the end, forgiveness. Once that’s done, you come back from this deep state that you are in, and that’s the end of the physical journey.
Both the emotional and physical journeys start with awareness and end with forgiveness. You’re aware of what you feel and what emotions you have. You go through the whole process, and then you end the process by forgiving the people related to that problem, challenge, event that happened, or the thing that is making you feel the way that you feel.
To wrap up the episode, how did I use the journey? I used the journey to fix my fear of public speaking. I’ll explain all in a future video because it’s going to be a very interesting story for me to share with you. For today, I just want to thank you for watching. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below. Remember that you can book a one-on-one appointment with me at iwlifeguidance.com, and we will see you in the next episode. Bye for now.
Weight Control: The Mind Approach
Are you tired of trying diet after diet and still struggling to lose weight? Maybe the real solution isn’t just about what you’re eating — it’s about why you’re eating. 🧠🍴
In this episode, I dive deep into the mindset behind weight control (rather than just weight loss) and explore how emotional triggers and trauma shape the way you eat.
We’ll cover:
1. Understanding why you eat matters more than what you eat
2. The connection between trauma, emotions, and food choices
3. How to recognize signs of using food as a coping mechanism
4. How meditation can help you build awareness and self-control
5. A practical three-step framework for lasting change: Understand / Accept / Take Action
If you’re looking for a different and effective approach to weight control and emotional wellness, this episode is for you!
Captions
If you have tried different diets and talked to multiple nutritionists, and you still struggle with losing weight, today I’m going to share a different approach that’s more focused on weight control rather than weight loss.
Hello friends, welcome to a new episode of Inner Wisdom Life Guidance. Today, I’m going to be talking about weight control. Before we start, a disclaimer: please remember that this is not nutritional advice or mental health advice. If you need help, please talk to a professional. What I’m sharing with you is my opinion and my knowledge, and it is you who decides what you want to do.
As I described in the intro, I often see this case with friends, relatives, coworkers, and clients who are trying to lose weight and struggle to do so. They have tried all these diets, searching for a magical diet that’s going to help them. They have talked to multiple nutritionists, but they still are not able to achieve consistent results when it comes to weight loss. This is very common, and I think many people struggle with it. Part of my intention for today’s episode is to look at it from a different perspective.
When you look at a diet, you’re trying to study or understand what you eat and how often you’re eating it. But a diet focuses on what? Instead of that, my approach today is to ask yourself: why do you eat what you eat? What is going on? If you have tried all these diets, it’s likely not the diet itself that’s the root cause of the challenge you’re facing. It’s why you are eating the way you’re eating. In other words, what’s the relationship you have with your food?
As I mentioned in previous episodes, we have talked about beliefs. I have said that what you believe is important, but rather than understanding what you believe in, it is more important to understand why you believe in the things you believe. With diet and food, I think it’s the same. It’s important to know what you eat, but it’s more important to understand why you eat the food you eat and why you perhaps lack self-control when it comes to certain foods. That’s the approach I believe will give you an answer that will finally help you gain back control over your weight.
### Understanding Your Relationship with Food
Besides understanding why you’re eating what you’re eating, it’s good to see when. When I say when, what exactly is happening that triggers you to grab something you really want to eat? What are the conditions or situations driving you to eat something specific? How do you feel when you’re about to do that? This is the analysis you have to do to understand your relationship with food.
When you go down this path, I believe there are two core findings or cases you’ll encounter:
1. **Bad Habits**: You have bad eating habits that you learned from someone else. If this is the case, the solution is easier because you just need to focus on discipline to replace your bad eating habits with good ones.
2. **Trauma or Emotional Coping**: This is more complicated and involves things that happened in your life that were traumatic—events that left an imprint in your mind and are still not properly addressed. As a result, you’re emotionally trying to cope with these issues through food. Food becomes your coping mechanism, not a solution, to address these unresolved issues within you.
### Do You Have a Food Addiction?
Let me ask you something: do you believe you have a food addiction? This is a possibility, and many people suffer from it. When we talk about addiction, people often think of extremes, like someone with a drug addiction who is homeless and injecting themselves. That’s an extreme case, of course. But when we talk about addiction, specifically with food, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re at that extreme. Some people are, but perhaps you have a mild addiction where you’re constantly eating something to feel good, to “kill the pain” or calm the suffering you feel in your life. If you’re eating in a certain way to cope with these feelings, then you do have an addiction, and that’s something you may want to address.
### An Example of Lack of Self-Control
Before I share a few techniques you can follow to understand what’s going on, let me give you an example. A few years ago, I had a coworker who was following a diet. We went into the cafeteria, and there was leftover pizza. When she saw and smelled the pizza, she ran, opened the box, grabbed a slice, and took a bite. As she was chewing, she looked at me and said, “Oh my god, why am I doing this? I can’t be eating this.” Then she put the pizza down, grabbed her food, and ran away. This is a good example of a lack of self-control when exposed to certain foods you really like or use to cope with something happening inside you. The purpose of this example is not to judge but to provide context for a situation you might face when exposed to a food you crave or rely on emotionally.
### Focus on the Mind
The approach I’m sharing today focuses on your mind. Remember, the mind is everything. Potentially, the reason you’ve tried all these diets and worked with nutritionists and still can’t control or lose weight is because you first need to address what’s happening in your mind. The root cause of your inability to control your weight is in your mind. Of course, you’re eating certain things, but why you’re eating those things is what you need to address. This means that instead of working with a nutritionist, you may first need to work with a psychologist to understand if you have trauma in your life, what impact those events had, and how they’re affecting your eating habits and relationship with food today.
### Techniques to Understand Your Relationship with Food
How can you find out if you fall into this category where there’s something in your mind you need to address? Here are a few techniques:
1. **Ask Yourself**: If you’re able to reflect and realize, “Yes, I have an eating disorder, an addiction to certain foods, or a traumatic event from my youth that makes me feel sad, and that’s why I eat in a specific way,” you can determine if this applies to you.
2. **Be Aware**: Be aware of what you’re eating, when you’re eating it, and why. What is the trigger driving you to eat whatever it is you want to eat?
3. **Keep a Journal**: In combination with asking yourself and being aware, use a journal. I recommend journaling what you ate, when you ate it, and how you were feeling before eating. Is there something you’re feeling or experiencing that’s driving you to grab a specific food? How do you feel while eating it? How do you feel after? Later, perhaps you felt good right after eating, but an hour later, do you feel the same or worse than before you ate? Journaling these details will help you identify patterns, such as a specific emotion you need to address. For example, you might be sad and want to feel happy, so you eat something high in sugar. Recognizing this pattern allows you to take action.
4. **Work with a Psychologist**: As mentioned, you can explain that you believe you have or want to understand if you have trauma impacting your eating habits and relationship with food today.
5. **Work with a Mental Health Professional**: This is another option to explore these issues.
6. **Meditate**: If you guessed I was going to say this, good for you! As I’ve explained multiple times in my videos, meditation is the best way to develop awareness, which was the second technique I mentioned. Meditation also helps develop self-control. I’ll drop a link below to my video on how to meditate.
7. **Try the Journey**: I’m currently reading a book called *The Journey* by Brandon Bays, which I mentioned in one of my shorts. It’s a self-healing technique. In the next episode, I’ll review the book and explain how *The Journey* works. I first read it in 2009 and did a journey, and it’s something you can do to identify unresolved issues in your mind that may be affecting your eating habits and dependency on food.
### Three Phases to Address Weight Control
To wrap up the episode, I want to mention three steps or phases you’ll go through when doing this type of analysis:
1. **Understand**: You need to understand if you have a food dependency or eating disorders based on something that happened to you when you were younger.
2. **Accept**: Once you understand and identify, “Yes, I eat this way, and I lack self-control,” you need to accept that you have an issue, potentially a mental health challenge, that needs to be addressed. If you understand but don’t accept it, you won’t move forward or be able to change.
3. **Take Action**: Once you understand, accept, and decide to take action, you’ll start transforming your life. You’ll begin addressing the challenges with how you eat and any imprints in your mind that need work. As part of this phase, you can start working on your diet, but first, you must address any mental health challenges. Once you do, you’ll transform your life, change your relationship with food, better cope with life, and take control back. When you do that, you’ll finally be in control of your weight.
Rather than focusing on losing weight, you’ll learn how to control it. That, my friends, is the end of today’s episode. If you found this episode helpful, please let me know in the comments below. If you have any questions regarding what I explained, let me know in the comments. If you want a one-on-one session with me, you can book it at IWLifeGuidance.com. I’d be more than happy to help you with this topic. We can have a free 20-minute discovery call where you explain the issues you’re facing, and I can tell you if I can help you or not, and you can decide if you want to work with me. Also, let me know if there are any specific topics you want me to cover in a future video.
With that, I’ll see you in the next episode. Bye for now.
Ditch Resolutions - How to Set Goals Easily
Are you tired of setting goals only to lose motivation a few weeks later?
In this episode, I share practical tips to help you set goals in an easy and effective way that actually works! ✨
I dive into why most New Year’s resolutions fail, the power of simpler, change-based goals, the importance of discipline and consistent action, building resilience, and doing what’s best for you. 🙌
If you want to get better at setting and achieving goals, this episode is for you. 💪
Captions
At the time of this recording, we are in April of 2025. Did you have any New Year’s resolutions? If yes, how are they going? Do you find it challenging to set goals? Today, we’re going to talk about how to set goals in an effective and practical way.
Hello, everyone! Welcome to a new episode of Inner Wisdom Life Guidance. Today, we’re going to talk about how to set goals in an easy, practical way. This is the Costa Rica edition episode. I’m recording from the beautiful Playa Flamingo in Guanacaste—an amazing place. If you ever visit Costa Rica, this is one of the top beaches you can come to.
### Getting Started: Setting Goals
Let’s dive into the topic for today: setting goals. First, let’s look at New Year’s resolutions. It’s very interesting to see how many people fail at their New Year’s resolutions, right? I want to start by discussing why this happens. I’m going to use a very simple and popular example of a New Year’s resolution: working out, going to the gym.
It’s the end of the year, the beginning of the new year, and you have a fresh slate, a clean start. You want to start working out, so you commit to going to the gym. Funny enough, if you look at the stats, around 50% of people who join the gym in January only last two weeks. Then, roughly 20% make it until October or so. Overall, it seems that 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail. The question is: why does this happen?
### Why Do New Year’s Resolutions Fail?
One of the main reasons people fail at their New Year’s resolutions is that the goal might be too challenging. For example, going to the gym three or four times per week might be too much for you. When you try to tackle such a goal, you’re likely to fail because it’s not realistic. Another example: we have friends who wanted to start a plant-based diet and decided to do it overnight. They lasted two weeks. This two-week pattern is interesting—it’s a goal that’s too challenging. So, think about whether you have goals or New Year’s resolutions that are too challenging for you. Only you can assess this.
The second reason people fail at New Year’s resolutions or goals in general is that they lack discipline. Discipline is fundamental to accomplishing anything. You might have motivation, but without discipline, you’re not going to get anywhere. Let me give you an example from my own life. I work out three days per week, and I just have to go to the basement downstairs for my workout. I’ve been working out for over 20 years. Honestly, I rarely feel motivated—maybe 1% of the time. Probably 99% of the time, I feel lazy and don’t want to do it, but I do it anyway. Why? Because I’ve developed discipline, and I force myself to go. After about five minutes into my workout, I feel great. I’m happy I did it, and when I’m done, I feel accomplished. So, I don’t have the motivation to work out, but I have the discipline to do it. Keep this in mind: discipline over motivation. Develop your discipline, and you’ll be able to accomplish your goals.
### Defining Goals Differently
Another interesting aspect of setting goals is that people usually define goals based on actions—doing something. Going back to the gym example: “I’m going to go to the gym four times per week.” Instead of doing that, you’re better off defining goals based on a change you want in your life. For instance, instead of saying, “I’m going to go to the gym X days per week,” what if you define a goal like, “I want to be healthier” or “I want to be stronger”? Then, you start defining smaller actions to reach this overall goal. This makes the goal less challenging because you know exactly what you want to accomplish in a more general sense. By having the mindset of something you want to become—stronger, healthier—you can identify changes and habits to adopt in your life and start implementing them. This will be easier than tackling a goal where you have to do something multiple times a week.
### Taking Constant and Frequent Actions
Another key practice when setting goals is taking constant and frequent actions. This is part of discipline, but basically, you’re taking baby steps rather than defining a major activity. When you break down the “becoming” goal we’re talking about into small, constant actions, it makes a big difference because it doesn’t feel as challenging. These baby steps have to be frequent and consistent—you can’t do something once a week and then stop. Small actions give you a sense of accomplishment because you did something, and you should celebrate that. It doesn’t matter if it wasn’t a huge action—it’s the fact that you’re doing things consistently, little by little.
A great example is meditation. You know I’m a believer in meditation—I sound like a broken record, talking about it in almost every episode of this channel. Meditation requires daily practice, even if just a little bit. This constant, frequent action—this discipline of practicing meditation daily—helps you achieve great results in transforming how you look at life and address challenges. Sitting down for 10 minutes every day, at least once per day, is a baby step. It doesn’t matter if your meditation wasn’t great—that’s normal. But you did it, you practiced, and the more you practice, the better you get.
### Don’t Give Up
One other thing to keep in mind as you work toward your goals is to not give up. If you fall, get up and keep going. Even if you set goals that aren’t too challenging, you should still push yourself. Unexpected things will happen that make achieving your goal more difficult. Don’t give up. If you were trying to do something three days a week and only did it twice, that’s okay. Next week, try for three. Don’t stop—keep going. This constant, frequent progression will help you reach the top of the mountain. Be resilient, keep trying, and don’t give up.
### Final Thoughts
To wrap up today’s episode, here are some key points to remember:
1. **Set Realistic Goals**: Don’t set goals that are too challenging, as they can lead to frustration and giving up. Ensure your goal is something you can actually achieve. Avoid goals that are too broad or huge—go step by step with baby steps.
2. **Focus on Becoming**: Base your goals on an overall change you want in your life, rather than action-oriented habits you have to do daily. For example, “I want to be healthier.” Then, define small actions to work toward that, like starting to work out, how often, when, and what kind of workout—step by step.
3. **Develop Discipline**: Motivation is great, but discipline is key. My example: I don’t have much motivation to work out, but I’ve been doing it for over 20 years because of discipline.
4. **Do What Feels Right for You**: Don’t copy someone else’s goals or actions. Everyone is different, and you need to define your own path. Challenge yourself, but make it your own journey. Use others as role models or references, but don’t try to copy them. Define your own plans, goals, and actions.
With that, my friends, we’re going to finish for today. Thanks so much for watching! If you have any questions about setting goals or want to share your New Year’s resolutions, you can do so in the comments below. If you want a one-on-one session with me, you can book it at IWLifeGuidance.com. Remember to like, subscribe, and I’ll see you in the next episode. Thank you! Bye for now.
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz | My Review and How This Book Can Transform Your Life
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is one of the most impactful books on personal growth and awareness. In this episode, I share my review, explain why I highly recommend it, and how it connects to the sequence of books that have read so far this year.
I break down each of the Four Agreements, share my thoughts on their deeper meaning, and highlight the importance of awareness. I also discuss how mindfulness practices like meditation can help develop the awareness needed to integrate these teachings.
Captions
In today’s episode, we’re going to be talking about *The Four Agreements* by Don Miguel Ruiz. Welcome to a new episode of Inner Wisdom Life Guidance! Today, I’m going to be doing a review of *The Four Agreements* by Don Miguel Ruiz, which is the book that we have been reading this month. It’s, I’ll say, an amazing book. Before I dive into it and the key concepts that it covers, I’ll first discuss why I decided to read this book.
The first book that we read was *Many Lives, Many Masters* by Dr. Brian Weiss. That book covers concepts on spirituality, explaining why we are here in this world, what happens when we die, and so forth. It’s very spiritual, perhaps written from a more cosmic level, if that makes sense—a higher point of view of our lives, the universe, and whatnot. This book, on the other hand, is also spiritual but, I’ll say, more practical. It shows practices you can follow to live a better life. So, the first book is about spirituality and understanding why we’re here; this second book is about how to live our life. That’s why I recommended this book as the second book to read in the sequence that we’re going to follow throughout the year.
The sequence I’m sharing with you is, I think, a good way to help you grow in your life, whether you think about spirituality or just want more knowledge on how to live your life. That’s the intention, and that’s what we’re doing right now by reading this book. I will give it five stars out of five. I think it’s just phenomenal—the level of wisdom and the amount of knowledge in such a small book is just amazing. The concepts are so easy to understand. Don Miguel Ruiz does an excellent job explaining these key concepts and best practices that you can follow. There are only four agreements, which we’re going to talk about in a minute. It’s super easy to read, very small—the book is only, what, like 110 or 120 pages? Yeah, it’s very easy to read.
That said, I would recommend that you read this at a slow pace. That’s why we were doing one agreement per week because of all the knowledge and information it contains. I thought it was going to be easy to take slowly. The first chapter of the book covers the domestication of humans. Basically, what Don Miguel Ruiz is explaining is that when we come into this world, there is this “dream of the planet” that we become part of. This dream of the planet is a belief system based on lies and fear. This is what everyone believes in—what our parents believed in, our relatives, our friends—and what they believe in is what they teach us. We learn to accept all these fear-based beliefs, and this becomes our “book of law.”
Now, the dream of the planet becomes our dream, where we live our lives ruled by this book of law, these principles, these beliefs that we agreed to accept. Keep in mind, when we come into this world, when we are born, we are innocent. We don’t know anything, so we learn based on what people explain to us. When that happens, we naturally accept these beliefs, agree to them, and start writing our book of law that contains all these beliefs that, in reality, are lies. Now you’re living your life, dreaming the dream of the planet, which is more like a nightmare instead of a nice dream. Why a nightmare? Because the dream of the planet, he explains, is like hell—a dream where there is suffering, pain, and judgment.
He closes the introduction by explaining that we can stop being part of this dream of the planet and create our own dream. The way we do this is by replacing these agreements, these beliefs that we have, and creating new agreements—basically, getting rid of fear-based agreements and creating new love-based agreements.
### The First Agreement: Be Impeccable with Your Word
Here, I’m going to explain a few things that I believe are extremely important for you to understand. What the author explains is that this is the most important agreement. With our word, we create, but we can also destroy. What we say and what we think will become our reality and impact the reality of other people. An analogy to better understand this is that every cell in our body, every atom that we have, is listening to what you’re saying and thinking.
What’s important to understand about this agreement is that being impeccable with your word is not only about what you speak but also what you think. The first thing you should be aware of is what you say and think about yourself. This is so important because that’s what’s going to start changing how you feel about yourself. You should use the word—remember, when we say “word,” it’s what you say and think—to express love for yourself, be kind to yourself, and accept who you are: your strengths, your weaknesses, the things you need to work on, the things you still need to improve, your body. You love yourself and talk and think about yourself in a kind and loving way. That will transform your reality right away. This is why this first agreement is the most important of the four agreements.
The second step, I will say, is to remember that what you say to others matters. The author explains that you can cast a spell or put a spell on someone else. You can say something hurtful, and that person might start believing what you said. That’s why, when we are young and learning all these beliefs and agreeing to accept them, it’s so critical to be surrounded by good people and have good teachers in your life. If they say something and you agree to accept it, it becomes part of your book of law, and you start living your life ruled by this new belief. So, when you say something to someone, you could be saying something that they might start believing, and it becomes an agreement in their book of law. That’s why it is so important to be mindful and aware of what you’re saying to other people. You should use the word to create, to help others, to love not only yourself but others as well.
One last thought on this first agreement: there’s a quote from Buddha that says, “What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create.” That’s the power of the word.
### The Second Agreement: Don’t Take Anything Personally
This agreement is also very important, and many people are not aware of it. Don Miguel Ruiz says don’t take anything personally, whether something said to you is negative or positive—it doesn’t matter. Do not take it personally. What he’s trying to explain is that you should know yourself, understand who you are, and what kind of person you are. If someone tells you something negative, like, “Hey, you’re dumb,” for example, you should know that you’re not. If they’re saying something that is not true, it doesn’t matter—it’s not true. You know that you’re very smart. Likewise, if someone comes to you and says, “Hey, you’re so smart,” you say, “Yes, I know that, right?” So, it doesn’t matter that they’re telling you; you’re aware of it, and you don’t take it personally.
What happens today in society—and this has been happening for many years, but it’s very obvious now—is that we have these battles of ideologies, and everyone has their own beliefs. The book also explains that you protect your beliefs, even if they’re wrong, because it’s your nature to protect what you believe in. When someone says something that challenges or attacks your belief, you’re going to react because you believe in it and want to protect it. You might have an identification or bond with the beliefs you hold. So, when someone says something that offends or triggers you, it’s not what the person is saying—it’s what you believe that is causing the trigger. It’s how you decide to take what is said to you that triggers you; it’s your interpretation of what is said. No one has the power to get into your brain and make you feel a specific way. It is your decision, based on how you process what has been said to you.
That’s why you shouldn’t take anything personally. You should listen to what people say, but it’s your decision, your choice, on how you’re going to react to it—if you’re going to react. Rather than a reaction, it’s an action because you’re being aware and conscious of what you’re going to do. So, don’t take anything personally. Anytime you feel triggered or offended, it’s because you have decided to take something personally. You are accepting what the person told you, and that creates a reaction in you because you decided to take it personally. It’s your decision; it’s in your control.
### The Third Agreement: Don’t Make Assumptions
There is an interesting chain of events that takes place when you make an assumption. You hear something, decide to accept it as the truth, start believing in it, take it personally, and then the drama starts. All the drama we have in our lives is because of communication and assuming things. We have learned not to ask questions; we are afraid of asking questions, clarifying things, or facing potential confrontation with someone. Instead of asking, “Why are you saying this? Why is this happening?” you assume, “Oh, this person is saying this because they have something against me.” Now you’re assuming it’s true, assuming it’s against you because you’re taking it personally, and then you start having all this emotional poison inside yourself. You start creating a spiral of drama, thinking and thinking, making it worse, bigger, and larger. You’re imagining all these things based on something you heard that you decided to accept as the truth, believed in, and made the situation worse in your mind.
What’s very important about this agreement is to always ask for clarification and strive to be clear in your communication. This is part of being impeccable with your word. When you’re impeccable with your word, you’re going to be excellent at communicating. When you don’t make assumptions, you avoid drama. When you don’t take things personally, you don’t create drama. If someone says something to you or does something you find strange or don’t like, without taking it personally, you just clarify: “Hey, why are you saying that to me? What’s going on?” Then you have a conversation, and you’ll be surprised—most likely, there’s a misunderstanding, and that’s why the person said something, while you were thinking something else. So, always strive for clarity in your communications.
### The Fourth Agreement: Always Do Your Best
This is my favorite agreement. You have to keep in mind that your best is not always going to be the same, depending on how you feel, your energy level, and the circumstances you’re in. Your best is going to be different. For example, if you’re trying to do something early in the morning when you have higher energy and feel better, versus late at night when you’re tired and about to go to sleep, your best will vary. It’s important to be aware of this and be kind to yourself, accepting that you’re not always going to have the same level of performance.
I used to have a message on my whiteboard that said, “Be the best.” I believed that for years, always trying to be the best. Then I realized—and this was before I read *The Four Agreements*, which is why this agreement is my favorite—that trying to be the best demands a lot of energy. You have all this anxiety because you’re always comparing yourself to other people. If you’re trying to be the best, you’re comparing what you’re doing to what others are doing, and that’s a source of anxiety and stress. I realized I should try to do my best, and this is exactly what Don Miguel Ruiz is trying to explain here.
Do your best. As long as you do your best, you’re going to be focused on the task or activity you’re doing, you’ll be in the present moment, and you’ll have a high level of satisfaction knowing that you did your best. It doesn’t matter if things were perfect or if you were able to finish what you were trying to accomplish. What’s important is that you did your best—that’s all you control. That’s why doing your best is all you need to do. As you keep practicing, you’ll get better and better, and eventually, you might become the best.
Keep in mind that the previous agreements will only work if you do your best. So, keep trying, keep doing your best, keep practicing, and little by little, you’re going to transform your life.
### The Toltec Path to Freedom and Heaven on Earth
The book ends with two very interesting chapters: “The Toltec Path to Freedom” and “Heaven on Earth.” The author explains how you can break old agreements, create new agreements, and create your own dream. The first thing to keep in mind is awareness. The only way to be free is to be aware of what’s going on. If you don’t realize that you’re not free, you’re never going to try to be free. So, awareness is extremely important. You have to understand what’s going on, identify the agreements and beliefs you have that are blocking you from being free and being who you are.
This might be scary for some people because you’re going to challenge what you believe. You need to have the strength to take a deep look at what’s going on in your life and what you believe in. It’s not so much about what you believe in but why you believe in it. When you analyze an agreement or belief—for example, let’s say you believe you’re a bad singer, that you can’t sing—ask yourself: Why do you believe that? What happened in your life that led you to believe you’re not a good singer or can’t learn how to sing? As you go deep into that analysis, you’ll find the root cause of why you have that belief, and then you can start changing it and replacing it with a better agreement.
The intention of following *The Four Agreements* and doing this analysis is to be free. You have all these layers of beliefs, and you’re trying to peel them away to go back to the core and start creating your own beliefs. There are three masteries that are important:
1. **Mastery of Awareness**: Being able to identify who you really are, understand what beliefs you have in your belief system.
2. **Mastery of Transformation**: Understanding how to change and transform these beliefs, getting rid of fear-based beliefs and creating new love-based beliefs.
3. **Mastery of Intent**: This is what makes transformation possible—love, God, the universe. It’s what helps you take action and better cope with life.
The belief system we have is referred to as the “parasite.” It’s not only the belief system but also the “book of law” with all these fear-based beliefs that are lies. Then you have the “judge,” which is yourself. Whenever you break one of those beliefs, you judge yourself and are hard on yourself because you weren’t able to accomplish something based on those beliefs. Then you have the “victim,” which is also yourself—you judge and punish yourself. That’s called the parasite, and it’s in your mind. The idea is to kill this parasite, and there are three ways explained in the book to do so:
1. **Analyze Your Beliefs**: Take a look at your beliefs one by one, understand why you believe in them, and assess their impact on your life. Replace old fear-based beliefs with new love-based beliefs that will transform your life and make you feel free.
2. **Control Your Emotions**: Develop awareness to identify what you’re feeling. When a situation might trigger a negative reaction, you’ll be able to detect it early and choose how to react. You’re not suppressing emotions—you’re expressing them in the right way and at the right time. Think of emotions like a bomb: you let it explode, but in a safe place where no one gets hurt.
3. **Embrace the Initiation of the Dead**: Remind yourself that you can die at any moment. When you realize this, you understand that the only thing you have is the present. The past doesn’t matter—it’s gone. The future doesn’t exist yet. While you’re alive, the present moment is all that matters, transforming how you look at life, behave, and interact with others.
### Wrapping Up
Awareness is the key. It lets you understand what beliefs you have and why you believe in them. It helps you identify how you’re reacting to what people say and how you’re expressing yourself. Awareness is a superpower that you have to develop, and the best way to do so is through meditation. I’m going to put a link to my episode on how to meditate and why you should do it. Other ways to develop awareness include activities that encourage you to be in the present moment, like art. For example, when you’re coloring, you’re focused on the present moment.
When you want to create your own dream, be free, and be happy, it’s a choice you have. Once you understand the concepts explained in today’s episode and in the book, you have to accept that you have the power to choose what you want to believe in. You are building your own book of law with your own beliefs. You are in control, and you have to always remember this when you’re in a situation where you can make a choice. As I said in a previous episode, powerful people make powerful choices; wise people make wise choices. The only way to do this is to be aware of what’s going on.
Your thoughts and actions create your reality, and that’s how you can create your own dream. Practice these four agreements every day: be impeccable with your word, don’t take anything personally, don’t make assumptions, and always do your best. It’s not easy, but you can do it, and you’ll get better. Little by little, you’ll destroy beliefs that are locking you and making you feel miserable, and you’ll create new beliefs that transform your life. You’ll start to dream the dream of heaven on Earth rather than hell on Earth.
Thank you very much for watching today’s episode. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below. Remember to like, subscribe, and if you want an appointment with me, you can go to IWLifeGuides.com. Thanks again for watching, and we’ll see you in the next episode. Bye for now!
Smarter Retirement: Take Control of Your Future
Do you have a plan for retirement? Do you know how and when you’ll retire? Are you planning to retire at 65?
Think again! 👴 In this episode, I challenge the traditional idea of retirement and why it might not be the best thing to do. I’ll share the challenges of retiring at 65, why pension plans may not be enough (or may not be an option 😬), and how I’m planning for early retirement & financial freedom.
I also introduce the concept of Active Retirement—a way to stay engaged, productive, and fulfilled without losing purpose in life. If you want to take control of your financial future, this episode is for you!
Captions
### Introduction to Retirement Planning
Welcome to a new episode of *Inner Wisdom Life Guidance*! Today, we’re diving into the topic of **retirement**. When you hear the word “retirement,” what comes to mind? Do you have a plan to retire? At what age do you want to retire? Do you have a financial goal to make retirement possible? These are the questions we’ll explore today.
**Disclaimer**: The ideas I share may challenge your beliefs, and you might feel triggered. If that happens, my intention is not to upset you but to encourage reflection. As discussed in *The Four Agreements*, feeling triggered often means a belief is being challenged. Ask yourself: *What belief is this? Why do I feel this way? Why do I hold this belief?* Use this as an opportunity to examine and possibly reshape your perspective.
—
## The Traditional Retirement Promise
The conventional narrative of retirement goes like this:
– Go to school and earn a degree.
– Get a job and work until age **65**.
– Save money during your career, often through a **pension fund** or investments (e.g., in the stock market).
– Retire at 65, live off your pension and savings, and enjoy your “golden years” by liquidating assets for income.
This is the promise sold to many, but it comes with challenges. Let’s explore **four cases** that highlight the flaws in this model.
### Case 1: The “Travel and Drink” Retirement
– **Expectation**: At 65, you retire with savings and spend your time traveling, drinking, and relaxing (e.g., watching TV).
– **Reality**: This lifestyle gets old quickly. Without a **purpose**, life can lose meaning. Constant leisure doesn’t equate to fulfillment.
– **Reflection**: Are you truly *living* if your days revolve around travel, drinking, and TV? A meaningful life requires **purpose** and **productivity**.
### Case 2: Health or Loss Derails Plans
– **Expectation**: You and your spouse plan to retire and pursue dreams (e.g., travel, hobbies).
– **Reality**: Health issues or the loss of a spouse can disrupt these plans. Mobility limitations or grief may prevent you from enjoying retirement as envisioned.
– **Reflection**: This is a sad reality for many. Banking your happiness on a future that’s not guaranteed can lead to disappointment.
### Case 3: Work Becomes Your Identity
– **Expectation**: You reach retirement age with savings and can retire.
– **Reality**: You don’t retire because work defines your life. Without hobbies or activities outside work, you fear retirement due to a lack of purpose.
– **Reflection**: If work is your only identity, retirement feels daunting. Cultivating interests beyond work is essential.
### Case 4: Insufficient Funds
– **Expectation**: You retire with enough savings to live comfortably.
– **Reality**: You lack the funds to do anything meaningful, so you spend your days eating, watching TV, or running errands. Life lacks purpose or joy.
– **Reflection**: Without financial security or meaningful activities, the quality of your retirement years suffers.
—
## The Risks of Traditional Retirement Savings
The traditional model often involves saving in pension funds (e.g., RRSP in Canada, 401(k) in the US) with the promise of accessing these funds in retirement. However, there are risks to consider:
1. **Taxes**: Even if your investments grow, you’ll be taxed upon withdrawal. Future tax rates are unpredictable, which could reduce your funds.
2. **Access to Funds**: Economic changes could limit access to your savings. For younger people, there’s a risk that governments might restrict withdrawals, delay retirement age, or reduce pension benefits due to economic pressures.
3. **Uncertainty**: No one can guarantee that your savings will be available or sufficient when you retire. Historical examples exist in other countries where pension funds were inaccessible or devalued.
**Action**: Research these risks yourself. Has this happened in other countries? What’s the likelihood of economic changes affecting your retirement funds?
—
## My Vision: Active Retirement and Financial Freedom
My approach to retirement rejects the traditional model. Instead, I aim for **financial freedom**, defined as:
– Owning **assets** (e.g., real estate, businesses, investments) that generate **passive income** sufficient to support my desired lifestyle.
– No longer relying on a job, freeing up time to pursue **hobbies**, spend time with **family**, and engage in meaningful activities.
### Key Principles of Active Retirement
1. **Mindful Lifestyle**:
– The more expensive your desired lifestyle, the more income you need. Be mindful of what you **need** versus what you **want** (see my previous episode on mastering finances for more).
– A simpler lifestyle requires less income, allowing you to retire earlier with fewer assets.
2. **Purpose and Productivity**:
– Retirement isn’t about sitting idly, traveling, or drinking. It’s about **active retirement**—staying productive and purposeful.
– Examples: Managing investments, running a business, maintaining real estate, helping others, or pursuing hobbies.
3. **Time Freedom**:
– Financial freedom gives you control over your time. Without a job, you can focus on what you love, whether it’s family, hobbies, or community service.
### Why This Matters
The traditional model ties you to a job for decades, delaying fulfillment until 65. By building passive income streams, you can retire **earlier** and live a **meaningful life** sooner. For example:
– If you need less income due to a modest lifestyle, you can retire with fewer assets.
– Active retirement ensures you stay engaged and fulfilled, avoiding the emptiness of a leisure-only life.
—
## Personal Reflection and Lessons Learned
I wish I had retired **4–5 years ago**, but I started learning about finances and investments later in life. If I had invested more time in understanding these topics earlier, I believe I could have retired **7 years ago**. Here’s what I’ve learned:
– The traditional path (degree, job, retire at 65) consumes your time and delays freedom.
– Early education in **finances** and **investments** is critical to achieving financial freedom sooner.
If you’re young (e.g., in university or early in your career), start now:
– Learn about **finances** and **investments**.
– Define your **retirement vision**: What does it look like? At what age? What activities will you pursue?
– Create a plan to build passive income through assets.
*Note*: Being “young” or “old” is a state of mind. No matter your age, you can start planning for financial freedom today.
—
## Action Steps
1. **Define Your Retirement Vision**:
– What does retirement mean to you? Is it traveling, pursuing hobbies, helping others, or managing investments?
– At what age do you want to retire? As soon as possible, or at a specific age?
– What activities will give your life purpose in retirement?
2. **Start Building Hobbies**:
– If you don’t have hobbies, explore what you love. What activities excite you? What would you do with free time?
– In a future episode, we’ll do an exercise to identify hobbies, but start thinking about this now.
3. **Create a Financial Plan**:
– Watch my previous episode on **mastering your finances** to learn budgeting and prioritizing needs over wants.
– Research **investments** that align with your goals (e.g., real estate, stocks, businesses).
– Aim for **passive income** to achieve financial freedom earlier than 65.
4. **Share Your Plan**:
– In the comments, share your retirement vision. What does it look like? What steps are you taking to get there? I’ll provide feedback and answer questions.
—
## Closing Thoughts
Ret**Retirement is not about waiting until 65 to live—it’s about creating a life of purpose, freedom, and fulfillment as soon as possible.** Challenge the traditional narrative, build passive income, and embrace **active retirement** to live meaningfully now and in the future.
If you found this episode helpful, please **like** the video. If you have questions or comments, leave them below—I’d love to hear your retirement plans! For personalized guidance, book a **60- or 90-minute appointment** at **iwguidance.com** to discuss your financial journey.
Thank you for watching! **Subscribe**, share this video, and I’ll see you in the next episode. Bye for now!
How to Create a Budget & Build a Wealth Mindset | Master Your Finances
Are you mindful of your spending habits? Are you in control, or are they controlling you? Could they be holding you back from financial success? 🤔
In this episode, I dive into what a Wealth Mindset is and teach you how to create a budget in a practical and simple way. I break down the three categories of expenses—needs, wants, and investments— and share strategies to help you shift your mindset to take control of your finances. But here’s the key: money alone won’t solve financial problems— having a Wealth Mindset will. That’s why I challenge you to take action:
✅ Create your budget
✅ Do a self-assessment
✅ Define your financial goals & a plan
Captions
### Introduction to Budgeting for Financial Wellness
Welcome to a new episode of *Inner Wisdom Life Guidance*! This is my **first financial wellness episode**, and today, I’m excited to share how my wife and I have successfully managed our finances for over **10 years** using a simple budgeting strategy. Budgeting is a **key skill** for financial management, and I’ll walk you through how to create your own budget.
If this is your first time here, this channel covers **financial wellness**, **mental health**, and **mindful eating**. If these topics interest you, please subscribe!
Before we dive in, I have a question: **If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?** Pause this video, think about it, and write down **three things** you’d do. I’ll explain why this matters after the intro.
—
### The Lottery Question: Understanding Your Money Mindset
Your answer to the lottery question reveals your **money mindset**, which shapes how you handle finances. Here are the **three core mindsets**:
1. **Kind Mindset**: If you’d use the money to help others (e.g., donate to charity or support family), you have a kind mindset. You’re an amazing person, and the world needs more people like you!
2. **Wealth Mindset**: If you’d invest the money in assets that generate income (e.g., real estate, a business, or a farm), you have a wealth mindset. This is the mindset to cultivate for long-term financial success.
3. **Consumerism Mindset**: If you’d buy things like a new car, a vacation property, or a luxury watch, you have a consumerism mindset. While it’s okay to enjoy your money, focusing too much on acquiring things can lead to irresponsible spending, living beyond your means, or debt.
**Action step**: In the comments, share your three lottery choices and which mindset they reflect. This isn’t about judgment—it’s about self-assessment to understand where you are and how to develop a **wealth mindset**. If you lean toward consumerism, this video will help you shift to a more responsible, wealth-focused approach.
### My Recommended Approach
To achieve financial wellness, prioritize these steps:
1. **Develop a Wealth Mindset**: Focus on investing in income-generating assets.
2. **Cultivate a Kind Mindset**: Use your wealth to help others.
3. **Enjoy Responsibly**: Spend on things you love as a reward for your achievements, but do so within your means.
**Pro tip**: Practicing **meditation** can help you stay in control of your finances by fostering discipline and mindfulness. Check out my previous video on meditation (linked above) for more.
—
## Creating Your Budget: The 50/30/20 Framework
My wife and I use a **simple budgeting spreadsheet** to manage our expenses, and I’m sharing a simplified version with you. This template has transformed our financial life, and it can do the same for you if applied consistently.
### Spreadsheet Overview
The spreadsheet is divided into **four sections**:
1. **Month and Income**: Tracks your monthly income.
2. **Needs (50%)**: Essential expenses you must pay.
3. **Wants (30%)**: Non-essential expenses you enjoy.
4. **Investments (20%)**: Money allocated to income-generating assets.
### Step-by-Step Guide
1. **Calculate Net Income**:
– List your monthly payments (e.g., salary). For example, two payments of $5,000 each.
– Subtract deductions (e.g., taxes, $400 per payment).
– Example: $5,000 + $5,000 – $400 – $400 = **$9,200 net income**.
2. **Allocate Percentages**:
– **Needs (50%)**: $4,600 (50% of $9,200).
– **Wants (30%)**: $2,760 (30% of $9,200).
– **Investments (20%)**: $1,840 (20% of $9,200).
*Note*: The **50/30/20 rule** is a starting point. You can adjust these percentages based on your goals (more on this later).
3. **Categorize Expenses**:
– **Needs**: Essential, non-negotiable expenses you must pay.
– Examples: Mortgage/rent, car payment, home/car/life insurance, property taxes, utilities (electricity, gas, internet, cell phone), bank/credit card fees, groceries, gas, and contractual obligations (e.g., loans or debts).
– Key: Include only what you’re contractually bound to pay or absolutely need (e.g., food for cooking at home).
– **Wants**: Non-essential expenses that enhance your lifestyle.
– Examples: Streaming services (Netflix, Spotify), dining out, takeout, movies, new shoes, a watch, pizza delivery, beer/soft drinks, ice cream, gym membership.
– Key: These are things you enjoy but don’t need. For example, you need food (groceries = need), but pizza delivery or beer is a want because you could cook at home or drink water.
– **Investments**: Money used to acquire assets that generate income or appreciate over time.
– Examples: Real estate, stocks, a business, precious metals, cryptocurrencies.
– Key: Investments grow your wealth, unlike savings, which sit idle in a bank.
### Why This Matters
Categorizing expenses transforms how you view spending. A **wealth mindset** prioritizes **needs** and **investments** over **wants**. For example:
– **Groceries** (cooking at home) are a need, but **takeout** is a want.
– **Water** is a need, but **beer or soda** is a want.
– **Exercise** is important, but a **gym membership** is a want—you can walk, run, or workout at home for free.
By reducing wants, you free up money for investments, accelerating your path to financial goals like **early retirement** or **financial freedom** (passive income from assets).
—
## Customizing Your Budget
### Assess Your Current Spending
**Homework**: Create your own budget by:
1. Listing last month’s **needs**, **wants**, and **investments**.
2. Calculating what percentage of your net income each category represents.
3. Comparing your percentages to the **50/30/20 ideal**.
You may be surprised at how much you spend on **wants**. This exercise reveals where your money goes and helps you shift toward a wealth mindset.
### Adjust Your Targets
The 50/30/20 rule is a starting point. Customize it based on your **financial goals** and life stage:
– **Aggressive investing**: Reduce wants (e.g., to 10%) and increase investments (e.g., to 40%) to reach goals faster.
– **High needs**: If needs exceed 50% (e.g., due to a large mortgage or debt), prioritize reducing them (see below).
– **Age matters**: In your 20s, you can invest aggressively for long-term growth. In your 60s, you may need more liquid savings for retirement.
### Strategies to Optimize Your Budget
1. **Reduce Needs**:
– Move to a more affordable home if your mortgage/rent is too high.
– Switch to a cheaper cell phone or internet plan.
– Trade in an expensive car for a more affordable one or use public transportation.
– Drive less to save on gas.
2. **Cut Wants**:
– Cook at home instead of ordering takeout or dining out.
– Drink water instead of buying soda, beer, or juice.
– Cancel non-essential subscriptions (e.g., streaming services).
– Exercise for free (e.g., walking, running, bodyweight workouts) instead of paying for a gym.
3. **Eliminate Debt**:
– Debt (especially high-interest credit card debt) is a major obstacle. Pay it off as quickly as possible.
– Mortgages are “good debt” if affordable, but ensure your home aligns with your income.
– Stay debt-free to maximize money for investments.
4. **Increase Investments**:
– The more you invest, the faster you’ll achieve financial freedom.
– Example: Allocate 50% to needs, 0% to wants, and 50% to investments for rapid progress (extreme but effective).
### Choosing Investments
Invest in assets that align with your **values** and goals:
– **Stock market**: Choose sectors you believe in (e.g., oil and gas, renewable energy).
– **Real estate**: Buy properties that generate rental income or appreciate.
– **Alternative assets**: Consider precious metals or cryptocurrencies (e.g., Bitcoin) for diversification, especially given potential shifts in the global financial system. Research thoroughly!
**Pro tip**: If you’re curious about precious metals or Bitcoin, do your own research to stay ahead of financial trends.
—
### Final Thoughts
**Money alone won’t solve your financial problems—a wealth mindset will.** Knowing how to manage and leverage your current income is the key to getting ahead. For example, many lottery winners end up worse off because they lack financial discipline.
**Your homework**:
1. Create a budget using the 50/30/20 framework.
2. Assess your current spending (needs, wants, investments).
3. Define your **financial goals** (e.g., early retirement, financial freedom).
4. Make a plan to adjust your spending and increase investments.
**Disclaimer**: This is **not financial advice**. I’m sharing knowledge for educational and entertainment purposes. Always do your own research and consult a financial advisor before making decisions.
If you have questions or need help categorizing expenses, leave a comment below. For personalized guidance, visit my website at **iwguidance.com** to book a session where I can walk you through this process.
Thank you for watching! Like, subscribe, and share this video with someone who could benefit. I’ll see you in the next episode—bye for now!
3-Day Water Fast Journey | Ketosis, Autophagy & My Protocol
In this episode, I dive deep into my 3-day water fast. 💧
I share my full experience, the protocol I followed, the differences between autophagy and ketosis, how to enter each metabolic state, their importance, benefits, and the science behind them. I also review LMNT electrolytes, explore the mindfulness aspect of fasting, and share many more details! I even show you how to make coffee in the traditional Costa Rican way! ☕
Whether you’re curious about fasting, or just interested in the health benefits of ketosis and autophagy, this video has got you covered.
Captions
### Introduction to My 3-Day Water Fast
Hello friends, welcome to a new episode of *Inner Wisdom Life Guidance*! Today, I’m excited to walk you through my **3-day water fast**. That’s right—for three days, I’ll be drinking only water with added electrolytes (and a bit of salt) and consuming nothing else. If this is your first time here, this channel focuses on **mental health**, **financial wellness**, and **mindful eating**. If these topics interest you, please consider subscribing!
### What is Water Fasting?
Water fasting involves abstaining from all food and consuming only water, often supplemented with electrolytes like salt to maintain mineral balance. I’ll be using **electrolyte packets** for this fast, which I’ll explain in detail as we go. Today is **Day Zero**, and I just had my last meal. My next meal will be in three days.
### Important Disclaimer
Before we dive in, a crucial note: Everything I share is based on my personal experience and knowledge. Water fasting can be intense, and I strongly encourage you to **do your own research** and consult a doctor before trying it. I made mistakes during my first fast, which I’ll share to help you avoid them, but please make informed decisions based on your health and needs.
### Why I’m Doing This Fast
My goal is to enter **ketosis** and, more importantly, **autophagy**—two metabolic states with unique benefits:
– **Ketosis**: Your body burns fat for energy instead of carbs, producing ketones.
– **Autophagy**: Your body recycles and removes damaged cells, promoting cellular cleanup and rejuvenation, including the generation of new white blood cells for immune system health.
I’ll explain these concepts further as we progress, but my primary focus is achieving autophagy for its long-term health benefits.
—
## Day Zero: Preparation
### Tools You’ll Need
For this fast, I’m using **ketone urine strips** to monitor ketosis. These strips measure ketone levels in your urine, indicating whether you’re in ketosis. The goal is to reach ketone levels between **1.5 and 3 mmol/L** (closer to 4 is ideal). Here’s how they work:
1. Dip the strip into a urine sample.
2. Wait 40 seconds.
3. Compare the strip’s color to the chart on the bottle.
I tested my urine on Day Zero, and as expected, it showed **negative** for ketones since I’m not yet in ketosis.
### My Protocol Overview
Here’s a quick look at the 3-day plan:
– **Day 1**: Prepare electrolyte water, exercise (60–90 minutes of cardio), drink coffee with coconut oil at noon, and stay hydrated.
– **Day 2**: Same as Day 1, but exercise is optional. Switch to tea instead of coffee.
– **Day 3**: Similar to Day 2, with tea instead of coffee. Reduce water intake slightly as you prepare to break the fast in the evening.
I’ll share tips and adjustments as we go, including what I’ve learned from past fasts.
—
## Day 1: Starting the Fast
### Electrolytes: Why They’re Critical
When fasting, your body loses minerals through urine, so **electrolytes** are essential to prevent adverse effects like dizziness or weakness. Without them, you could face serious health risks (please research this!). I’m using **LMNT electrolyte packets**, which are sugar-free, gluten-free, vegan, and keto-friendly. They come in flavors like orange, raspberry, and watermelon, making them a tastier alternative to the Himalayan salt water I used in past fasts.
**How much water?**
– I aim for **1–2 liters per day**, but the key is to stay hydrated without overdoing it.
– Check your urine color:
– **Too clear**: You’re drinking too much water, flushing out minerals.
– **Too yellow**: You’re not drinking enough and risk dehydration.
For Day 1, I mixed one LMNT orange packet into a 900 mL bottle of water. The flavor is excellent—way better than plain salt water!
### Morning Exercise
To enter ketosis quickly, I do **60–90 minutes of cardio** (e.g., brisk walking or yoga) on Day 1. Exercise depletes glycogen stores, prompting your body to burn fat and produce ketones. I avoid heavy weightlifting and stick to light, active cardio.
**Tip**: Don’t fast in winter—it’s too cold, and your body will already feel chilly during the fast. Warmer seasons are ideal.
### Electrolyte Dosage
I initially planned to take **two LMNT packets** (2,000 mg sodium) per day but adjusted to **four packets** (4,000 mg sodium) after researching. Recommended sodium intake during fasting is **2,000–4,000 mg/day**, but always check your body’s signals. If you feel weak or dizzy, you may need more electrolytes.
**Funny story**: During my first fast, I followed bad advice to drink 10 liters of water daily without electrolytes. By Day 2, I was dizzy and lightheaded because I was flushing out all my minerals. After researching, I made an emergency drink with apple cider vinegar and baking soda, which fixed me almost instantly. Moral: **Do your own research** and don’t blindly follow advice!
### Midday Coffee
For “lunch,” I brewed **Costa Rican-style coffee** using a traditional dripper (chorreador) with **1.5 tablespoons of ground coffee** and **0.5 teaspoon of coconut oil**. The coconut oil provides **MCTs** (medium-chain triglycerides), which support ketone production and enhance ketosis.
**Coffee tips**:
– Boil water to **94°C** (not 100°C) to avoid burning the coffee.
– If you don’t have a fancy kettle, boil water, let it sit for 2 minutes, then brew.
**Why coffee?**
– **Caffeine** boosts energy and reduces hunger.
– Coffee compounds support ketosis and autophagy.
However, I later realized coconut oil adds calories, which could interfere with autophagy (more on this in Day 2).
—
## Day 2: Deepening Ketosis
### Ketosis Check
Great news! My urine test last night (end of Day 1) showed I was already in **ketosis**, and this morning’s test confirmed I’m even deeper in ketosis. This fast is working!
### Ketosis vs. Autophagy Explained
– **Ketosis**: Achieved by eliminating carbs. Your body burns fat, producing ketones for energy.
– **Autophagy**: Achieved by restricting calories entirely. Your body recycles damaged cells, promoting cellular health.
Since fasting eliminates all food, you enter both states, but autophagy is stricter. My goal is autophagy, with ketosis as a helpful marker.
### Midday Tea
Today, I switched to **green tea** instead of coffee, skipping the coconut oil. **Why tea?**
– Caffeine supports energy and reduces hunger.
– Tea compounds enhance ketosis and autophagy.
**Protocol change**: I decided to eliminate coconut oil entirely, even on Day 1, because its calories might hinder autophagy. The LMNT electrolytes also have minimal calories due to flavoring, so I’ll monitor their impact. My focus is maximizing autophagy over ketosis.
—
## Day 3: Breaking the Fast
### Final Thoughts
We made it! Day 3 is my favorite part because I get to eat again. Fasting makes you deeply appreciate food and its role in your life. Here are some final insights:
– **Immune system rejuvenation**: Autophagy stimulates new white blood cell production, boosting immunity.
– **Mindfulness**: Fasting heightens gratitude for food. My first fast years ago was emotional—I nearly cried from joy when I ate again. The flavors were intense, and I savored every bite.
### How to Break Your Fast Mindfully
Breaking a fast is a special moment. Here’s how to do it mindfully:
– **Appreciate the food**: Notice its colors, smells, and textures. Savor each bite.
– **Be grateful**: Reflect on those who lack access to food or have dietary restrictions.
– **Eat slowly**: Avoid distractions like your phone. Focus on the experience.
**Breaking the fast**:
– **Option 1**: Eat whatever you want.
– **Option 2 (recommended)**: Avoid mixing carbs and fat to prevent rapid fat storage. For example, eat fruit 30–45 minutes before a meal, or choose a meal with just carbs, protein, or fat.
I broke my fast with a **bean burger** (with onion, mustard, ketchup, pickles, and arugula), **homemade sweet potato fries**, and a pickle with ketchup and mayo. I didn’t mind mixing carbs and fat this time—the flavors were incredible!
### Electrolyte Review
This was my **fifth water fast**, and it felt the best, largely due to the **LMNT electrolytes**. Unlike Himalayan salt water or apple cider vinegar (which made me gag by the end), LMNT’s flavors were a game-changer. I used **three packets per day** (3,000 mg sodium), which kept me hydrated and energized.
**Controversy note**: LMNT faced criticism for underreporting maltodextrin content (claimed 2 mg, but it’s 250–500 mg). Some in the keto community worry this kicks you out of ketosis, but my tests showed I stayed in ketosis throughout. However, LMNT’s recommendation of **4–6 g sodium daily** seems high, as excessive sodium can raise blood pressure or contribute to heart disease. For fasting or intense exercise, LMNT is great, but I wouldn’t use it daily. Research sodium limits (typically **1,500–2,300 mg/day**) and adjust based on your diet.
### Final Protocol Summary
Here’s the updated 3-day water fast protocol based on my experience:
– **Day 1**:
– Prepare 1–2 liters of water with electrolytes (3–4 LMNT packets, ~3,000–4,000 mg sodium).
– Do 60–90 minutes of light cardio (e.g., brisk walking).
– Drink coffee with caffeine (no coconut oil to maximize autophagy).
– Monitor hydration via urine color.
– **Day 2**:
– Same as Day 1, but exercise is optional.
– Switch to tea (no coconut oil).
– **Day 3**:
– Same as Day 2, with tea.
– Reduce water intake slightly as you prepare to break the fast.
– Break the fast mindfully, ideally avoiding carb-fat combos.
—
### Closing Thoughts
Fasting is a powerful tool for physical and mental health, but it’s not for everyone. Always research, consult a doctor, and listen to your body. If you’ve fasted or have tips, share them in the comments—I’d love to learn from you! For more on **financial wellness**, **mindful eating**, and **mental health**, visit my website at **iwguidance.com** to book an appointment.
Thank you for joining me on this journey. Like, subscribe, and share this video with someone who might benefit. See you in the next episode!
Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian Weiss | My Review & Key Spiritual Teachings
In this episode, I review Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian Weiss. 📖🔥
I give my honest rating of the book, explain why I recommend it, and dive into its powerful spiritual teachings. Dr. Weiss shares his journey with a patient who, through hypnosis, recalls past lives—unlocking wisdom about spirituality, reincarnation, and the purpose of life. This book offers profound insights that can change the way you see the world.
Beyond the review, I explore how you can apply these teachings to your own life. I explain how your actions build your reality and define your future, and how to embrace spiritual growth.
Captions
We have been reading Many Lives Many Masters by Dr Brian Weise and today I’ll do a review of the book. Welcome to a new episode of Inner Wisdom Life Guidance. Today we’re going to be talking about Many Lives Many Masters from Dr Brian Weiss. This is the book that we have been reading this month of January.
I’m assuming that you already read the book. I’m not going to go over all the details on what happens. I’ll share why I like it, I’ll give it a rating and then I’ll talk about the key concepts that the book has that I believe are very important.
If you’re watching for the first time in this channel we talk about Mental Health, financial wellness and mindful eating. You can go ahead and subscribe if this is something that interests you.
All right, so now let’s talk about the book Many Lives Many Masters. First, like a very high level recap on what happens. So you have Dr Weiss, he is a prominent psychiatrist. He has crazy credentials, basically he is amazing and he has this client, this patient Catherine who suffers from phobias and anxiety and other mental health issues that she has.
Dr Weiss treats her like for 18 months, nothing changes. They do hypnosis and they’re able to go back when she was little and they recognize a few traumatic experiences, nothing changes. And then after that in a different session she has a past life regression and Dr Weiss is extremely shocked at what’s going on. He doesn’t understand and then that starts this beautiful process where Katherine shares her experiences in past lives that are linked to her trauma but also between lives when she’s in the spirit realm. Let’s say she’s able to pass down these messages from Master spirits to Dr Wise.
And yeah I find the knowledge and the wisdom, the messages to be just wonderful. So if I well before I do the rating why I like the book or why I think it’s such a great book to read and that’s why and why I chose this book as the first book that we’re going to read this year here and the first book in my channel actually.
I think it has all these core principles on spirituality that are communicated in such a good way, very clear, very easy to understand and the story itself is just fascinating. If you think about this you have Dr Wise who is a scientist and when all this is happening he is constantly questioning what is this, I don’t understand it or I don’t believe it right. He is applying this scientific approach to everything that is going on but he keeps an open mind and this is so important and it’s one of the perhaps core messages that I believe is worth remembering.
He keeps an open mind. As a result of that he’s able to document, analyze, look at the evidence, see if there’s any correlations and based on that he changes his beliefs and he starts adopting this new knowledge or these new beliefs that transform his life. And he waited for years between the last session and when he started writing the book and it shows you how much he was doubting from doing this because of course a scientist, a psychiatrist publishing something about past lives and spirit and stuff like that it wasn’t going to go well because of how in society this is not let’s say accepted right but he did it and it’s been amazing.
I think this book deserves five stars out of five that will be the rating that I have and I have something funny to show you. The first time I read this book was in Spanish when I was a teenager. Here’s the version, it’s pretty old like the pages are even yellow and yeah I think again it to me, for me it kind of brought this knowledge that I couldn’t find in religion.
I was born and raised a Catholic and usually I had a lot of conflicts with religion and things that were explain I didn’t agree with them or they didn’t make sense to me and this book totally fills that gap and yeah that’s why I really like it and that’s why I have recommended this book to many people as the first book that you should read when you start your spiritual journey.
Now let’s look at some of the key concepts that the book has. I think the first one that I’m going to touch on is the fact that what are we – we are Spirit. We are not our bodies, our bodies are just a vehicle for us to learn but we are spirit and that makes us Immortal. We are Eternal and we incarnate on different lives and we come into this world into this realm with the purpose of learning. We come into this world to learn, that’s the reason why we are here.
Why we do it in physical form is because through physical form we are able to experience things and we’re able to learn in a way that you can’t in a spirit form and that learning is very important for our growth as Spirits. We can also learn and that’s explained in the book and you learn faster however it’s different right. You need your body, you need your physical experience to properly learn the lessons related to being in a physical body.
Our Spirits we come from God but the way I like to say it is that we are God and many books explain this. We are God, God is in everything, we’re interconnected, we are one right. So our spirits come from God and the other thing that I explain very well in the book that I really like is that at our core we are pure, we are perfect. We’re like a diamond so everyone is the same. The difference is that well we’re growing right, everyone is growing at different stages in their lives but at the core we are the same and the analogy they use is that of a diamond with different faces let’s say.
And the way this works when you come into this world there’s certain faces of the diamond that you already developed or you’re already let’s say revealed, they’re exposed and those are usually your strengths. Perhaps you’re very kind or perhaps you are I don’t know you’re good at math, I don’t know there’s all these different aspects that you have. Maybe you’re very good at art or music or whatever right, everyone you can see it very early in stages kids are very good at different things.
And as you come into this world you develop the other faces of the diamond basically what you’re doing is removing let’s say layers that are obstructing or covering those other faces and as we go through different lives you clean and expose all the faces of the diamond.
The other thing that I want to add here that I believe is very important is that when we come into this world and we are this pure child the diamond it starts getting covered by all these layers of beliefs and conditioning that we have in society and part of our process more than learning or besides learning new things part of the process that we have to go through is to unlearn and question the beliefs that we have that our layers that are covering our core our diamond and expose these other faces or these other sides of the diamond itself.
So it’s something very important to remember two key things: you’re learning new things but also you have to question things that you have learned and beliefs that you have so that you can properly grow. A key question that I want you to ask yourself and this is for everything that you know or everything that you believe is why do you believe the things that you believe in. It’s not what you believe in that’s important, it is important okay I Believe In A B C or D but more than that is understanding why do you believe in those things and when you do that analysis you’re going to go to the core of potentially this conditioning that has been um I don’t know like forced upon you and you never had the chance to question it.
And that’s something that happens with religion a lot. You believe in a religion or you start practicing a religion but that’s what it was given to you. You couldn’t choose, you were forced to go to church for example and pray but you never had the option right. So that’s something just to keep in mind there’s many more in society and the culture depending on where you have where you were born these things that you believe that you believe in these beliefs that you have you have to question them and try to better understand if it’s something that actually you know makes sense to you or not.
Now the concept of Karma – the actions that we take are going to result in our future. The actions that we take Define our future. Okay so if you do good things and you’re a good person and you take good actions then good things will come to you in the future. If you don’t then bad things will come to you in the future.
If we take this concept and we look at it at the reincarnation and multiple lives perspective what’s happening is you live your life you die and after you die you’re the one who does an assessment of your past life. What things did you do well, what things you didn’t, what things you learn in which things you failed in which things you have to grow what experiences you’re lacking. It’s you, it’s us we are the ones who assess ourselves after we die and then in Guidance with Master spirits who are basically more evolved beings let’s say or more evolved Spirits or more evolved Souls however you want to call them we Define what are the experiences that we need in this next life. We are the ones deciding that.
So when you are in this super conscious State let’s say which is basically your inner wisdom which is what I’ve been talking about through my different videos and on my website when you are in touch with this when you are in this state after you die you have this massive wisdom to understand what was done right and what wasn’t what things you’re lacking what things you have to go through again because you still need to learn.
In essence the life that you have today is a result of your past choices and actions and you decided this is what I need to go through because this is what I still need to learn. This is so I will say in a certain way liberating but also it gives you this sense of accountability. You don’t it’s not this I don’t know like magical being that is sending this challenges to you it’s us we are the ones to Define this when we come into this world.
And what I would like you to do when you think about a challenge that you’re facing or things that happen in your life I would like you to remember that or I would like you to have a different perspective rather than thinking as a victim try to think about the learning opportunity that you have because of this experience of this challenge that you’re facing and see what can you learn from it what should you learn from it how is this going to make you a better person.
That’s going to totally change your perspective in life and whenever you have a challenge you’re going to see it in a very different way. The suffering that you might have from The Challenge is probably going to go away because now you’re going to go through it but you’re going to be conscious and aware that you are learning from it. It’s a gift the challenges that you have are a gift for you to learn and grow remember that is so important.
Throughout this life and throughout this process we are Guided by other spirits and these are our Spirit guides or these Master spirits that we have been talking about in the book that Dr Weiss talks about in the book. We have in a way guarding Angels if that’s how you want to call them. We have spirits that are with us Spirit guides that are with us helping us we can’t see them but they are there and there’s different ways in which they can manifest their presence and we’re not going to get into it there’s different things that could happen in your life.
But the main thing that I believe is important to mention is that you want to be aware and you want to listen to your intuition because when you do that it will be easier for you to catch if there’s a message being sent to you and what could that be maybe there is an opportunity that’s coming to you and what that opportunity is and when you’re aware and it comes to you take advantage of it but be aware and follow your intuition.
I think that’s very important to remember and part of these Spirit guides that might be in your life be part of your life are perhaps people that were close to you your relatives or friends that were very close to you and they come back to help you to guide you in spirit form so remember that people that pass away they’re still with us they’re somehow helping us and guiding us and once we die we will see them again right and then after we die and we see them again we decide again okay what are we going to do next life.
And when you think about your family specifically I think this is so important we decide who our is going to be that’s something that it’s an agreement that happens in this Spirit realm before we incarnate into this world. We also decide based on this again concept of Karma we also decide where we’re going to be born in which country which city which region there is a shared Karma that you have with other people and that’s why you are born in specific place.
And then you also decide what’s your gender you also decide what’s your body like what do you look like you decide all these things because all these things are the parameters let’s say that are going to Define what’s the experience that you’re going to have in this life in this world and what you’re going to learn. This is so important very important to remember you decide this and now you have to it’s like a video game if you want to put in that way you build your character and then you go into whichever world you’re going to be playing saying and you have all these tools or all these weapons all these skills you decided all that before you came into this world you have all these allies and then you go and live the adventure of life okay when instead of video game we do it in real life so it’s a I think it’s a very good analogy I hope you like it.
The other thing that’s very important that I want to mention is that everything comes at the right time maybe not everything that’s something that Dr Weiss says in his book. I’ll say things certain things come at the right time and we have to be patient for them and I guess a very good example that I like to use is your spouse in society depending on where you’re from in society usually you have this pressure to be with someone to have a partner and if you don’t there’s a problem with you how come you don’t have a partner what’s going on right and there’s all this pressure.
And you have to remember that everyone is living their lives in their own timeline and things are going to come to you at the right time. Now with that said it doesn’t mean that if there is a partner that you made a contract with before you come into the before before you came into this world and you’re going to be together it doesn’t mean that you’re going to hide in a basement and magically your partner is going to show up I don’t believe that that makes sense but you need to leave your life to the fullest you need to do the things that you love and then at the right time your partner is going to come to you and you will know it.
And I for those who know me personally I usually tell the story or when we talk about these kind of topics I share the story on how I met my wife and it’s just crazy how all these things lined up so that we could meet each other and start having a relationship she’s from Canada and I’m from Costa Rica it was just wonderful all these coincidences.
And I would like you to think and analyze if this is something that has happened in your life look at something as meeting your partner and how you met your partner and realize are there coincidences here are there things that seem too good to be true and that will everyone is different of course we all have we are we are all going to have a different experience on how we meet our partner but you’re going to probably realize that there’s things that had to line up in a very specific way so that that could happen and to me that’s a good example at least in my life is a very good example on how I can tell that things were decided it was we were meant to be together.
I believe that I ain’t seen it that’s what I have learned and that’s part of the knowledge that I’m sharing with you based on the knowledge from the book. The fact that things come at the right time it doesn’t mean that you don’t take action as I said before with a with a spouse or your partner example you have to leave your life to the fullest you have to do the things that you like you have to do the things that you love you have to do the things that you enjoy do it and through through that experience you’re going to be exposed to situations where eventually you’re going to meet your partner so that’s my point of view here it’s not that you don’t do anything and things come to you no you have to live your life and and the things that are meant to come to you they will.
Another concept another key concept that I want to mention here is knowledge as I said before we come into this life to learn that’s the purpose knowledge is what help us be Godlike the more we know the more we grow the more we know the more we grow the more we know the more wisdom we develop the wiser we are the wiser the choices that we make and the better choices or wiser choices that you make the better your life is going to be.
Going back somewhat to the karma concept the karma principle and all these multiple lives and how you learn and how you decide what are the experiences that you’re going to go through there’s a saying that goes powerful people make powerful choices. I prefer to or I can add or say in a different way wiser people make wise choices and these choices these decisions these actions are going to shape your future but before that what you decide today is going to shape your reality your present.
So your thoughts your actions are going to shape your world and that’s going to also manifest in the future so remember that and when I say actions it’s not only what you do it’s also what you think that’s why it’s so important important to make sure that you have healthy good thoughts that you focus on good positive thoughts because that’s going to that’s going to influence your present moment that’s going to influence your life right now it’s going to help you as I said before make better decisions and that’s going to have a key impact on your future.
Remember that to wrap up the episode there’s a key practice that I would like you to follow moving forward since we are here to learn I would like you to start having this learning mindset in your life with everything that happens to you and right away do an assessment on how well you did evaluate yourself right away don’t wait until what I’m trying to say is in the process that I explain that’s explained the book we die and then we look back and we say okay this was good this was not and then in our next life I’m going to do ABC and D to grow to be better right.
What I’m telling you is do this every day every day sit down and think today what did I do in a right way which things I didn’t do in in a good way and I can be better at you don’t want to do it every day do it once a week and there’s different tools that you can use to do this like journaling sit down meditate on your actions meditate on your decisions.
If you got angry at someone think about why you were angry what what happened what triggered you that’s something inside of you what’s what what is it inside of you what belief do you have that triggers anger where do you learn that why is that happening how can you overcome that what help do I need what actions can I take so do this assessment on what are things that you’re doing well what are things that you can still improve on and Define key actions that you can take to be better and do this regularly.
The more you do this the better your life will be and I can guarantee this because you are basically in this life In This Moment you’re doing that self assessment that you do at the end of your life but you’re coming back and doing it in the present moment and you’re trying to see how you can get better and better every day.
So that’s I will say one of my main messages or one of my main recommendations after reading the book doing the self assessment constantly and trying to see how you can be more virtuous how can you be better what are values that you should develop in yourself what practices and habits you need to cultivate so that it they help you with your growth right now in this life.
With that my friends thank you for watching if you like the book let me know in the comments below if you don’t understand certain things ask away and I will help you with my knowledge and will provide the answers to the best of my abilities and remember to like And subscribe if you think someone else could benefit from this video you can share with them and as usual if you want to have a one-on-one session with me you can book an appointment at IWlifeguidance.com. We will read another book in February I will share that in my other social media channels and I’ll see you in the next episode bye for now.
Why and How to Meditate: A Simple Breathing Technique
In this episode, I talk about meditation covering two topics:
1. Why meditation is important ✨ I share my point of view about it’s importance based on my experience. I started my meditation journey in 2008!
2. How you can start today with a simple breathing technique 🧘♀️ I walk you through one my favorite meditation techniques where you focus on your breath.
Meditation has been a transformational practice for me, benefiting both my health and my mind. It’s a powerful tool for facing life’s challenges and gaining a better perspective on life by tapping into your Inner Wisdom.
Captions
Welcome to Inner Wisdom Life Guidance | My Mission, Story, and How I Can Guide You
Welcome to Inner Wisdom Life Guidance! In this first episode, I introduce myself, and share my mission behind starting this project. I mention the core topics we’ll be focusing on which are:
✨ Mental Health
💰 Financial Wellness
🥗 Mindful Eating I dive into:
1. My personal background
2. Why I decided to start Inner Wisdom Life Guidance
3. The meaning behind the name “Inner Wisdom Life Guidance”
4. How I can guide you on your life’s journey toward wellness and success
5. How to book a 1:1 guidance session with me
