27: Miracle Worker Tools For Coronavirus Anxiety

Anxiety surrounding coronavirus is presenting us with an opportunity for deep spiritual growth. Just as my intense anxiety catapulted me into finding peace, our fears of coronavirus can be repurposed and transformed into a means of awakening to the eternal love that we are made of. In this episode, I share three tools that have truly helped me ground into love during this current pandemic.

Please note: This audio is ripped from a video blog.

Transcript

Hey everyone,

Welcome to this episode of From Anxiety to Love Radio.

I'm excited to be doing a video podcast today which of course you can still listen to the audio version on Apple podcasts.

So I'm going to be sharing a lot today and if you want the transcript of this episode please go over to the show notes to find that link which you can find at fromanxietytolove.

Com forward slash 27.

So I felt guided to share some insights and some tools that have been helpful to me in dealing with this current COVID-19 situation.

Now I used to say that if you've ever had a panic attack you know how hard it is to convey the depth of the fear to someone who's never had a panic attack.

I felt like it was hard for your average person to really understand what anxiety can do,

How it can make you feel,

And coronavirus has leveled this playing field.

I can no longer say that.

I feel like because of coronavirus I think the vast majority of people now have an understanding of what really intense overwhelming anxiety feels like,

How it can just bring you to your knees.

And I feel like the world has been having a collective panic attack,

We've been having a collective trauma,

And it sucks.

But as my first panic attacks and my anxiety disorders changed my life in an incredible way,

These experiences ultimately led me to a spiritual pathway.

These experiences shaped my career first as a therapist,

Then a professor,

And now a student and teacher of A Course in Miracles and an author.

And so I'm so grateful for my experience with anxiety that I wouldn't change it.

And now of course we can think of ways that we'd love to change this current situation,

But in a similar way that we can have let's say post-traumatic growth surrounding coronavirus,

This whole experience can open doors to a new beginning.

Now what other people are going to do with this experience is up to them,

But my question for you is will you let your coronavirus fears transform you to a new state of being?

Or will you simply revert back to normal when things calm down,

Which eventually they will,

We don't know when,

But they will eventually.

So what I want to speak to you today is the opportunity,

The incredible opportunity you have when you are experiencing intense anxiety that you don't usually have when everything seems fine.

There's a poet from the 15th century,

His name is Kabir,

And he says in one of his poems,

Don't let a chance like this go by.

So in the same manner your anxiety that you're feeling,

Your fear that you're feeling,

Can propel you into a new state of awareness and being.

So don't miss this opportunity.

I have three tools that I want to share with you today that you can use to evolve because of this pandemic.

Now before I get to those three tools I want to share just a few personal thoughts just about gratitude and also about doubt.

So to start off with gratitude I'd like to begin by just saying how incredibly grateful I am for the pathway of A Course in Miracles.

To be completely honest with you,

If it weren't for the course,

If I didn't have A Course in Miracles in my life,

Right now I would be a pile on the floor overwhelmingly fear-stricken,

I'd be immobilized.

Back in 2009 when the H1N1 swine flu pandemic happened,

Which is nothing like this,

My anxiety levels were through the roof.

I was absolutely petrified at that time and although I've experienced some fear spikes in this situation,

Especially initially when we were all figuring out what the heck was happening,

I am much different this time around and so I really encourage you to get into gratitude and to stay there.

Do you have a roof over your head?

Can you be grateful for that?

Can you be grateful for a rainy day?

Can you be grateful for a sunny day?

Can you be grateful,

Just think about all the things that you can be grateful for because as A Course in Miracles says,

There's a course quote,

It says,

Love cannot be far behind a grateful heart and a thankful mind and I just love that quote.

So tap into gratitude as much as you can.

I'd also like to say a few words about doubt surrounding your spiritual practice.

I know in my spiritual pathway I've had doubt arise at times and A Course in Miracles even says that doubt along the way will come and go and go to come again and yet is the ending certain and yet is the ending sure.

To be a hundred percent honest with you,

I've had times that I've wondered if I'm completely deluding myself with A Course in Miracles and with my spiritual pathway and I'm wondering if you can relate to this.

Yet here we are,

Where it seems like the rug has just been collectively yanked out from underneath us,

Our whole world feels like it's flipped upside down and by the way the world is upside down and we have a chance to start functioning right side up.

As we all have to sort of come to grips with what is happening and how unstable the world is,

It's right here in this space that I know A Course in Miracles is not a bogus pathway because of the transformation that I've seen in myself.

My trust in love has grown and if you're called to be a student of the course,

This pathway it works.

I feel like my healing from anxiety is proof of that and if you want more proof please tune in to some of my other podcasts.

In episode 22 I have a really great episode with Natasha Black.

In episode 3 I have a wonderful episode with Fiona Williams where she talks about how she healed vertigo through A Course in Miracles.

So healing is real,

This pathway works.

So let's move into my three tools that can help you shift out of fear and into love and I definitely had fear spikes initially when this all started happening with coronavirus and these three tools have made all the difference for me.

This is how I still feel so grounded.

By the way this first tool is actually a quote from my mom.

So tool number one,

It's time to stop being only willing.

It is time to use your will.

I love this,

It's time to stop being only willing,

It is time to use your will.

So in my book From Anxiety to Love and in A Course in Miracles,

Which is what my book is based on,

We speak a lot about the importance of willingness.

Willingness is the precursor to all change.

To experience miracles which are expressions of love and shifts in perception from fear to love.

We have to first be willing,

We have to first be willing to experience change.

We have to be willing to see differently,

We have to be willing to extend love,

We have to be willing to heal and our willingness is everything in our spiritual journey.

So the next step of course is to offer our willingness to spirit and to ask for that miracle instead,

But we can't stop there.

So again it's time to stop being only willing,

Now we have to actively use our will and this has really come so clear to me with this coronavirus situation.

Well okay let's start first,

What is your will?

Let's start with what your will is not,

But this is what we typically think our will is.

So we're used to exercising our will as a small s self.

This small s self is my identity as Corinne.

The small s self is your identity as your name.

In our ego identity we use our small self will all the time.

So to give you some examples of our small self will,

These examples are things like I decide what everything means,

I decide how things should be,

I decide who's right,

Who's wrong,

I see separation and bodies everywhere,

I hold others guilty,

I point the finger,

I decide what makes me happy,

What makes me sad,

I might decide how to manipulate a situation to get what I want,

I decide that the world is my home.

These are things that you seem to do when you use your small s self will,

But these are not examples of your will.

These are not examples of your capital S self will.

So let's talk about that.

What is your capital S self will?

Your will,

Your capital S self will is to know the truth beyond appearances.

Your will is to know the blazing love that we all are.

Your will is to know our complete safety,

Our complete innocence that you share with everything.

Your will is to know eternity.

Your will is to be happy,

To be indescribably happy and at peace.

Your will is to create and to extend and to know the oneness that you share with every living thing.

That's your will.

And guess what?

This is what God wills too.

So your will and God's will are the same.

You can't be in conflict because your will and God's will are the same.

This is from lesson 74 in A Course in Miracles.

So here's my challenge to you in this first tool.

Rather than willing for things to be different out there in the world,

Will to know the truth instead.

Will to know the love that we all are.

This is a shift when you find yourself getting caught in wishing things were different out there.

Remind yourself to say instead I will to know the truth.

Willing to know the truth is healing.

It's healing for you.

It's healing for the world.

And you can say things like,

Spirit help me know my will.

Or you can say I will to know the truth.

These are just some self-talk suggestions.

There's actually a really fantastic quote from A Course in Miracles that says,

The miracle prayer is,

If you will tell me what to do,

I will to do it.

It says this prayer is the door that leads out of the desert forever.

Isn't that gorgeous?

I also love lesson 73,

74,

And 75 in A Course in Miracles.

There's so many other ones but these are ones that I've worked with recently that really help you to get in touch with your will and recognizing that your true will is the same as God's will.

Lesson 73 is,

I will there be light.

Lesson 74 is,

There is no will but God's.

And again through this lesson we come to see that our will and God's will are the same.

And lesson 75 is,

The light has come.

So these are really great lessons for you to review.

Sickness,

Suffering,

And separation are not your will.

Your will is to manifest love and light and joy for every living thing.

This is what makes you happy.

So just to recap tool number one,

It is time to stop being only willing.

It is time to use your will.

So it's time to align yourself with spirit and direct your will towards remembering truth and love and lights and God.

So my second tool is to use your will to see the light beyond the form.

Now A Course in Miracles is training us to see past appearances to the blazing truth beyond.

Our body's eyes cannot perceive this light but there's a spiritual eye in you that can see this light.

It's just a different way of seeing.

I kind of feel like it's more of a knowing in my heart and I actually have an exercise to help you experience what I'm describing.

So this exercise is inspired by the singer-songwriter,

Her name is Christine DiMarco,

And her song It Is Well.

I will share a link to this song on the show notes page but I just want to share some of the lyrics with you right now.

Some of her lyrics are Through it all,

Through it all,

My eyes are on you.

So through it all,

Through coronavirus,

Through anxiety,

Through whatever crisis or whatever situation you might be facing,

My eyes are on you.

We keep our eyes focused on God,

On spirit,

And on truth.

I keep my mind focused on Jesus because he's just very relatable to me but you can use whoever you feel most connected to.

So through it all,

Through it all,

My eyes are on you.

The song goes on to say,

It is well so let go my soul and trust in him.

Here I feel like we're talking to ourselves,

Reminding ourselves that it's safe to trust,

And then the song goes on to say,

And it is well with my soul.

So I want you to really feel into these words.

It is well with your soul.

No matter what's happening on the level of form,

It is well with your soul.

A Course in Miracles teaches us that we have not left God.

We are safe at home in God,

In love,

Wholly innocent,

Guiltless.

We've not separated.

And this is cause for joy.

So it is well with your soul.

You need be troubled over nothing.

Now what I want you to do after you're done watching or listening to this podcast is go to Christine's Song in the show notes.

Again you can find that link at fromanxietytolove.

Com forward slash 27.

And I want you to listen to the song and really feel the meaning behind the words.

Deeply listen to the lyrics.

Maybe play the song a number of times to really let those lyrics,

The meaning of the lyrics,

Sink in so you can feel how it is well with your soul.

When you can feel that it is well with your soul,

Despite all appearances on this level of form,

When you can feel that you are touching the part of your mind that has not left God.

And the more you focus on this,

The more you dig in to the truth of it is well with your soul,

The more you will be aware of your connection with spirit.

And then you can then look out from this place.

You can look out into the world from this loving place within.

In lesson 75 in A Course in Miracles,

Which I mentioned earlier,

It actually says,

From this time forth you will see differently.

How gorgeous is that?

As you connect with the truth that it is well with your soul and you look out from that space into the world,

You can recognize that it is well with other souls too.

And that awakens them which in turn awakens you.

And what an incredible healing opportunity that is.

So again to recap,

My second tool is to use your will to see the light beyond the form.

This means touching on the truth that it is well with your soul and it is well with others souls because we've not left God.

We've not separated from our source.

This begins to open our spiritual eye so we can stay connected to truth despite appearances.

Finally tool number three,

Your task is to master love not fear.

I was listening to a talk recently by Eckhart Tolle and was inspired to share the same Bible passage that he shared in his talk.

This is a parable stated by Jesus and it's in the book of Matthew.

It's called The Wise and Foolish Builders.

This parable reads,

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

The rain came down,

The streams rose,

And the winds blew and beat against that house.

Yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock.

But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

The rain came down,

The streams rose,

And the winds blew and beat against that house.

And it fell with a great crash.

So building your house on sand is like trying to find safety in the world.

The world is quicksand.

You can't put a foundation in shifting sands.

The world appears to be solid and welcoming and soft like in the summertime on the beach but in an instant we know it can all just go to hell.

So we want to build our house on a solid,

Unchanging,

Welcoming,

Certain,

Secure foundation.

And this is a foundation that cannot be found here in this world because everything in this world changes.

Everything.

Even the plates of the Earth's crust are shifting right now beneath our feet even though it's too small for us to notice.

I have another course quote for you.

This is from lesson 50 and this quote reads,

Put not your faith in illusions.

They will fail you.

Put all your faith in the love of God within you.

Eternal,

Changeless,

And forever unfailing.

This is the answer to whatever confronts you today.

The love of God within you is the foundation you want because this is the only foundation there really is.

And it's from this foundation that we can learn to master love.

Now here's another course quote that I want to share pertaining to this third tool and it's one of my favorite quotes.

I know it from memory.

It is,

Attempting the mastery of fear is useless.

In fact,

It asserts the power of fear by the very assumption that it need be mastered.

The true resolution rests entirely on mastery through love.

So how do we master love?

Well first we have to take responsibility for our fear because we made it by believing that we're a separate self.

And another favorite course quote that I've talked about a lot,

I also talk about it in my book and from Anxiety to Love.

This is a great prayer for taking responsibility for fear and for how it is that we're feeling.

This is on page 90 of the Foundation for Inner Peace edition of the course.

This prayer begins,

I must have decided wrongly because I am not at peace.

I made the decision myself but I can also decide otherwise.

And then the prayer goes on to say I want to decide otherwise because I want to be at peace.

And it says I do not feel guilty because the Holy Spirit will undo all the consequences of my wrong decision if I will let him.

And then it finishes by saying I choose to let him by allowing him to decide for God for me.

I'll put this full prayer on the show notes page because it's really worth reading and reading slowly so you can absorb the meaning of the words because this prayer leads us out of fear and back into love.

It has us take responsibility for how we are feeling,

Turning it over,

Not feeling guilty,

And letting Holy Spirit choose for love for us because we don't know how.

So let's go back to my question.

How do we master love?

How do we do that?

Well mastering love is what A Course in Miracles is all about.

Mastering love is what my entire book is about and I've spoken about specific tools throughout my book,

Throughout my podcast,

But of course I want to recap some of those tools for you now.

So to master love not fear we have to practice handing everything over to spirit,

Getting quiet,

Listening for guidance,

Giving love to everyone you meet,

Seeing past appearances to the love beyond the form.

We have to practice releasing grievances.

We have to forgive everything.

So we master love by practicing all of these things.

This is the practice itself and when you do all of these things you bring your mind back into alignment with love,

With truth,

With spirit.

That is how we master love and it is part of our ongoing spiritual practice.

So let's go ahead and sum things up.

I opened this podcast by speaking about the incredible opportunity that we have right now that you can utilize to let your anxiety,

Your fear about coronavirus propel you into a new awareness,

A new state of being.

Don't miss this opportunity.

So when the fear comes up first notice it,

Which honestly I'm sure you're having no problem with that right now because it's really easy to notice the fear because it's big,

It's smack in our faces.

Remember rather than wanting things to be different or to go back to normal,

Number one direct your will to want to know the truth beyond appearances.

Number two use your will to connect with the love beyond the form.

Use your will to connect with this idea of it is well with my soul and look out from that knowing.

Look out to the world,

To your brothers.

This helps you connect with the truth beyond the form.

And number three focus on love instead of trying to overcome the fear.

So if you want further support I always highly recommend if you don't already have A Course in Miracles get the book,

Get a copy of From Anxiety to Love.

Whatever pathway you might be on do the work.

Dive in as if your life depended on it because you deserve happiness.

Everyone you meet deserves to know the light in them through your love for them.

There is a network of miracle workers in the world and you are part of it and I am absolutely thrilled to be walking the path home with you.

I know I shared a lot in this episode so please go to the show notes page to get the link to the transcript.

I will also post the quotes that I shared from this episode and you can find all that on the show notes page at fromanxietytolove.

Com I love you with my whole heart.

The light in you is too bright to fail.

Thank you for your dedication to remembering the truth.