My name is Corrie and thank you for joining this morning.
I appreciate you being here.
I am a hypnotherapist and a spiritual teacher and I've been doing that for about 20 years so I'll share some stuff today and also we're going to do a meditation at the end of our group time together.
But I think the overall goal,
The overall goal of being here,
The more time I spend here,
The more people I work with one-on-one as clients,
The more I realize that it's all about finding inner peace,
Like if we can be happy and being happy as much as possible.
That's kind of like the goal,
Don't you agree?
Like there's so many things,
There's so many reasons why we're here but in all of those reasons,
Whether it's relationships,
Inner growth,
Children,
Families,
Whatever.
In all of those different areas of our lives,
It's finding inner peace that's important,
Like finding that source of happiness and being able to maintain it,
That's the thing.
It's maintaining that as much as physically or emotionally possible,
Right?
There's a couple of things that cause us not to have inner peace and most of the time it's when we're living in the past or the future.
So if you think about your thoughts on a daily,
When we go into thoughts from the past,
We normally don't feel at peace.
When we go into thoughts of the future,
We normally are worrying about something and we don't feel at peace.
When we're in that present moment,
Which there's so many spiritual teachings all about,
Right?
But when we're in the present moment,
Yes,
We could be wherever we're at,
Unhappy,
In trauma,
Whatever it is.
We're in that,
We're in that experience in it and that is real life experience right there in that moment,
Right?
So inner peace isn't at the top of the list.
It's whatever we are experiencing that's at the forefront of our receptors in our body,
That whatever it is that we're going through in that moment.
But when the mind takes us into the past,
Not always,
Sometimes we go to happy places,
But most of the time we go into the past because we get stuck on some kind of evidence-based search that we're looking for.
For example,
If I am like,
I'm like Amanda and I'm always pulling myself down,
Then Amanda probably spends a lot of time in the past in her mind,
Finding evidence of reasons to back up what it is that she's saying about herself.
So if I was to say that I'm such a bad person,
Then my mind will go into the past and go through all the vault of memories to find times when I was a bad person so I can reinforce this current thought and belief.
That's like evidence-based negativity,
Basically,
That we do to ourselves a lot.
We go into the past to find something that's similar so that we can attach to it and say,
Yes,
See,
That gives me justification for how I feel about myself.
When we go into the future,
We're normally worrying about something that isn't already so,
And we're coming from a place of the past thinking it may be the same.
So we use the past again to reinforce the worry for the future.
So we spend all of our time or most of our time in the past or in the future,
And that can cause a lack of peace within the mind and the body.
Because we're stressing about shit that is not even real anymore.
It's like the past is the past,
It's gone,
And if we follow the principle of no time and space,
It doesn't even exist anymore.
And when we pull the past back into our memory from collective consciousness,
It's never exactly the same.
So it's slightly different,
Which tells you right there it doesn't exist anymore.
You're just using crumbs of something,
A conversation or an event.
You're using the crumbs that's there that might not even be factual.
And also,
If we go off the way that this works,
Other people involved in that time and place in your memory of the past may see things and their reality completely different.
So if your past involves a memory with your parents and they said something very hurtful,
You can bet that your parents don't remember that event the same.
They're going to remember it and recall it the way that they want,
The way that suits them.
And that's what we do.
So I mean,
Yes,
The past happened,
But it's no longer real.
It's no longer here.
And therefore,
You have a choice.
You have a choice,
If you're searching for more happiness and inner peace,
To let go of as much of your past hurts and memories as you possibly can.
To let them go,
To not feed them so that they're evidence-based thoughts that you keep around in your backpack.
If you can let them go,
Not for the other people involved,
For yourself,
For your own self,
Then your emotional weight will be much lighter.
Your mind will be much lighter.
And it's much easier to find inner peace and happiness in that state of being.
So all these cliche things like let it go,
Live in the moment,
You know,
These sayings that we get all the time in the spiritual community.
And if you're reading spiritual material,
You're going to hear them and get references to them all the time.
And that's because they're valid.
That's because if you can live by them,
They are really,
Really helpful tools.
One of the things that allows us to have peace that I've talked about on here before,
And you guys might have been with me,
But it's all about acceptance.
Understanding is one thing that allows us to have inner peace.
If we can go through something that happened and gain some kind of understanding about a situation.
Understanding brings a sense of relief.
Understanding brings a sense of safety.
Understanding eliminates confusion.
Can you see?
Understanding eliminates the unknown.
Confusion,
The unknown,
A sense of unease,
A sense of like being unsettled in our thoughts can all affect our inner peace,
Right?
We can't find inner peace when we're in those states of confusion or feeling unsafe or unsettled.
So understanding a situation that we have been through can aid and ease so much within our thoughts and our thinking system.
It takes away the confusion because understanding gives you clarity.
And clarity brings a sense of,
You know,
When you feel like you know about something,
You can relax a little bit,
Right?
You can,
Okay,
I get it.
That can create inner peace within us.
Acceptance is the other one.
Being able to accept things for what they are and having a choice of whether that's good enough for you,
Whether you can keep that in your life or you need to let it go.
At the end of the day,
It comes down to acceptance.
Without acceptance,
Again,
There is a letting go.
There's a letting go of the fight within us that makes us uneasy.
It's that internal turmoil,
The internal struggle of a situation that creates a sense of unease.
If we can accept something,
For example,
You have a friend that you enjoy their company,
But a lot of the time they talk about themselves.
And sometimes you get quite drained when you're around this friend.
Maybe sometimes it's just tiring because you don't get fed very much in the relationship.
You just get to feed them in the relationship.
This could bring you a sense of discomfort.
It could bring you a sense of unease.
Eventually,
If you stay friends with this person and they keep taking and taking and taking and taking and never giving,
You could feel used.
Eventually,
You could feel resentful.
Eventually,
If you're in this situation,
They're probably triggering your wounds from childhood because you probably have a tendency to be used and abused.
Maybe to not speak up for yourself,
To be a people pleaser.
All of the reasons why you're in a situation with a friend right now because the universe sent you this friend.
So eventually you will learn to speak up for yourself and say,
No,
No,
This isn't cool.
This is an equal friendship and I'd appreciate it if you asked me how I was doing or,
You know,
Taught to me about my life a little bit more.
Or I've decided that I don't want to be friends with this person and therefore move along.
But you probably found yourself in this situation because you need to learn a lesson from it.
But,
But my point is,
If you have acceptance about this friend and you accept that that's the type of that they are,
Then you know going into the friendship that these are the terms of the friendship.
So there's understanding.
You know not to expect.
There's understanding,
Right?
Acceptance.
Then that friendship won't bother you at all.
Maybe you just have her in small doses or have him in small doses.
Maybe you choose some boundaries around it so that it suits you just fine and you only see them on your positive happy days or whatever.
But you have chosen to accept the situation and if you accept it then there's a relief.
And within that relief you'll be happier about the relationship and you'll have more inner peace.
Because you understood and you accepted.
And if you can't or don't choose to or don't want to accept that kind of situation,
Then you have the choice to do something about it.
Either way you will find inner peace by doing something about it or accepting it.
And when we find inner peace,
How do we maintain it?
Well you know that's the difficult question because you're here on earth in a reality that has lots of different feelings and emotions.
We're human beings and we go through an array of feelings and emotions moment to moment.
And within those moments we'll have maybe,
Oh gosh,
So many different feelings.
So many different thoughts that we think in our mind that create an emotion in the body.
Sometimes there is emotion or a feeling in the body that stirs up a memory or a thought in the mind.
But normally they're connected.
Our thoughts and our feelings are always connected.
We don't have feelings without thoughts and we don't have thoughts without feelings.
So we're constantly going to be going through an array of different feelings and emotions because of our thoughts.
And if that's the case then maintaining inner peace is a challenge.
It's a challenge for all of us and that's a reality.
The journey this life is all about how much we learn.
It's all about self-awareness and it's all about how quickly we can return to inner peace.
That's the nugget right there.
Think about it guys.
Through all the years,
The 20 years of me,
Well it's more than that because I,
It's 23.
It's 2023,
Yeah.
It's 22 years of me working on myself,
Of discovering the world of hypnotherapy,
Of discovering the world of spirituality,
Of discovering that I am more than just this physical person.
Discovering that I have a soul and a spirit and there's a whole other non-material aspect to who I am.
That's 22 years ago right?
And within those 22 years I have done so many sessions.
I don't care to count.
I've done so much in inner work,
So much,
Different types of therapy and modality,
Different trainings.
And I think the answer,
My humble opinion,
Just take it with a pinch of salt,
But I think the answer to this whole game here on earth is about finding happiness and how quickly we can get back to it when we lose it.
Because most of the things that I've worked on didn't go away.
They changed and then sometimes like 10 years later they popped up again and I was like shit,
I thought I worked on this.
You know,
What the heck?
I thought I've been there and done that and I'm cool with self-love or whatever it was that I was working on.
Self-esteem or working on my anger issues,
Working on my relationships,
Whatever.
It goes around and comes around and things come back and when they come back,
They come back because I have been through so many lifetimes in between in those 10 years that now the same lesson,
Maybe I can see it differently.
Maybe I can respond to it differently.
Maybe I can be a different person in that situation.
So if someone comes and stirs me the wrong way and I worked on my anger issues,
Instead of just biting like a badger,
Like I would have done 10 years ago,
Maybe now there's a pause of like,
Oh what's going on here?
How do I feel?
This person is having a bad day or where are they coming from with this?
Or okay,
No,
They've definitely pissed me off and I'm gonna be angry and then however I choose to react,
It's very quickly afterwards that I say,
You know,
I got angry there,
I apologize for that,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah.
Or you know,
What you said was really hurtful,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah.
My point is I'm able to process things quicker through all the work that I've done.
I don't not have problems and I don't live in a constant state of bliss and inner peace.
But I can get back to a good place quicker because of all the work.
Does that make sense to people?
Do you find that for yourself also?
I don't think we get to a point where we become unhuman and we become like such a perfect person or a perfect angel.
It's not what this is all about.
That's not what self-love work is all about.
That's not what any of it,
Self-improvement,
Working on yourself,
Trying to grow,
Evolve,
Change,
All of those things,
They're not for us to become this perfect cookie-cut person.
At the end of the day,
I think it's so that we can be more knowledgeable about ourselves and the world and we can accept and understand quicker and find ourselves coming back to a place of inner peace quicker.
What I'm going to share with you today is what I like to call like a life circle,
Like a life check-in.
I'm going to share it with you.
It's something that I do with my clients,
Work that I do,
But the idea of it is that you do it once a month.
So at the beginning of the month,
You check in with yourself with this particular little exercise and it gives you intention.
It gives you an intention of where it is that you need to find inner peace this month.
Where do you need to work on your happiness level?
So this is probably where you would use your pen and your notebook.
If you have one,
If you don't,
Go ahead and get one.
So I've drawn a circle.
Within that circle,
There is different areas of your life and you can have as many areas as you want.
You could have as many sections to the circle as you want.
You could add them different ones,
But these are the basics.
So there's health,
Six,
I've got six.
So if you want to draw six sections,
Health and body is in one section.
Family is in another section.
Goals is in one.
Goals and spirituality,
You know,
Your faith kind of thing.
Money is in one.
Career,
Relationships,
Intimate.
Health and body,
Family,
Goals and spirituality,
Money,
Career,
Relationships.
Family generally includes kids,
Parents,
Like people in your life that you have relationships with.
Relationship is intimate.
Relationship is your partner,
If you have a partner or lack of.
So the idea is the first of the month or around the beginning of the month,
You open your journal and you draw your little circle.
You take one of the sections.
So let's start with relationships,
Intimate relationships.
And you write that at the top of your journal with the date and you point yourself,
Zero being terrible,
The bottom,
And then 10 being really good in your life.
So zero to 10,
Where are you at with your intimate relationship?
Currently,
Right now.
This is the thing where you sit and you ask yourself,
Does my intimate relationship need any action?
Action is the key word.
What do I need to do in my relationship?
Depending on what you gave yourself,
Anything below a six needs work.
Seven is kind of a bit of a cop out,
But it's okay.
So anything below you give yourself means this area of my life needs a little bit of attention.
It needs some work.
Action,
It needs action.
So then you write down action plan.
Okay.
And action plan is what am I going to do?
Am I going to have like a once a week sit down with my partner where we have a deeper conversation?
Am I going to have a date night?
Do we need to ash out something?
What is it that's going to be on your action plan that you need in your relationship,
Your intimate relationship?
And if it's seven or above,
Write down what's working at the moment,
Like a little subtitle.
What action do I need to take is for the less than sevens,
But also what's working at the moment.
And just write down a few points that have made it so that your intimate relationships working and flowing good right now.
Maybe we're talking a lot more.
Maybe we're doing activities together that bring us closer.
You see my point?
So do that action,
Action plan,
What's working.
And you do that with your health and your body.
You do that with family.
You do that with goals and your spiritual life.
You do that with money and you do that with work.
So you go through the circle,
You mark yourself from zero to 10 on where you're at with it.
And you get an overview of what your life looks like for the month ahead.
What are you going to focus on?
What's going to bring me the most inner peace?
This exercise is all about self-awareness.
It's about becoming more aware and actually facing the reality of what your little world looks like.
Because most people just get really overwhelmed or confused or they're just unhappy and they don't know why.
It's not very much you can do about it is there when you don't know what the problem is or you don't know what it is that you're feeling heavy about or sad about or uncomfortable about.
This brings some light on to where you're at in your world.
It brings some light into your reality so that you can see.
And when you see,
You can gain some understanding.
And with understanding,
We get a sense of ease,
Right?
Because now you're looking at it and you're going,
Oh,
Okay,
This is my action plan.
I'm going to try and do something about it.
Or that looks great right now.
I can leave it where it is and I can just keep going with what I'm doing in that area because it's working.
If you guys want to write this down.
Is there something in my life that destroys my inner peace that's still in my life?
A person or a job or an action that I'm doing to myself?
Is there something that destroys my inner peace?
And if there is,
What am I going to do about it?
Is it a situation where understanding and acceptance needs to take place?
Is it a situation where I need to work on boundaries?
Is it something that needs to be completely removed from my life?
If it's something that needs to be removed but can't be removed because it's family or something like that,
Then how am I going to accept the situation so that it no longer has power over me?
How am I going to,
For my own inner peace,
Come to a solution or an acceptance of this is just the way it is and my choices,
My reactions,
The way that I think,
The way that I feel,
Are the only thing that I have power over.
So I'm going to choose to do blah blah blah so that this person doesn't affect me negatively anymore.
Can that be a solution?
What isn't a solution is just ignoring a situation.
Because when we ignore things,
They tend to manifest in other areas.
Meaning if I ignore something that's bringing me down and making me unhappy all the time and it comes in the form of another person and I'm ignoring it and I'm ignoring it and just not doing anything about it,
I'm living with it and stressing over it,
Then eventually the stress could manifest into something in my body,
Stomach ulcer,
Irritable bowel,
Headaches,
Depression.
Because the snowball of it will just keep growing bigger and bigger and bigger if it's just avoided or ignored.
The message will get louder and louder for you to hear it so that you do something about it.
So it's probably best to address it before it starts to hurt your body or take you down in depression or something like that.
I'll leave you with this question to meditate over.
I wish you the best of luck with it and hopefully if you need to,
You'll remember this talk and come back to it so that you can refresh or just use the tools that I've shared with you,
The exercise I've shared with you.
Until then,
Namaste my friend.
You
