Part Two By Susan Apollon

Practice Your ABCs

Once you have clarity regarding your intentions, it’s time to practice what Apollon calls “the Art of your ABCs.” Intertwined with the ABCs technique is another one, which she refers to as the “Face, Embrace, and Replace” method. Here’s how it works:

• A is for AWARENESS and ACKNOWLEDGMENT. Become aware of your thoughts and images at the “head” level that do not feel good at the heart or belly level. Here, you’re “Facing” what makes you feel bad.

Put your hand on your heart or belly and ask yourself, Am I feeling good (or okay) or not good at this moment? If your answer is “not good,” put the same hand on your forehead and ask yourself, What is my thought, picture, or image that makes me not feel good?

Now, take time to Acknowledge or “Embrace” the picture or thought. Give yourself permission to really feel the pain associated with your thought or image stored deep within you. Kick, scream, or cry it out—for a few moments, or more, if needed, but not too much more, if possible.

• B is for BREATH and BREATHING OUT YOUR PAIN. Learn to use the Gift of Breath and then use your ability to lift yourself energetically to a higher level of well-being. Take three deep breaths. As you breathe in, visualize yourself breathing in the colorful and magnificent energy of the Universe or God. (Yes, actually give it a color so you can “see” it more readily.) Watch and feel this powerful healing energy coming in and filling your body with amazing warm, relaxing energy, causing you to feel so relaxed and heavy and at the same time . . . so light that you are aware of your body shifting up energetically.

• C is for CHOICE and CHOOSING THOUGHTS AND IMAGES THAT FEEL GOOD or BETTER. Here’s where you “Replace” your negative energy with positive energy. You choose thoughts and images that lighten your vibrations and enable you to allow in those experiences you have viewed as your intentions, hopes, and dreams. Every moment is about choice. Be conscious of how you are feeling, moment by moment, and choose to focus on anything and everything that brings you relief and feels better or good, including your kids, pets, loved ones, or your favorite funny video. (NOTE TO EDITOR: See attached tipsheet for some healing choices.)

“Practice your ABCs and Face, Embrace, and Replace often,” advises Apollon. “They are the tools that lead to healing.”

If you’re thinking it all sounds a bit too touchy-feely for you, don’t. Apollon says these spiritual healing techniques work, even if you’re a cynic. Feeling good is your birthright. Indeed, you’ve probably experienced the essence of spiritual healing at some point in your life—when you’re so immersed in a project that you lose all sense of time and place, for instance, or when you’re with friends or family and feel a surge of joy and gratitude and “rightness.”

“Spiritual healing is often experienced as a state of harmony, balance, greater well-being, and joyfulness,” says Apollon. “Athletes call it ‘the zone.’ It is an awareness that in our being authentic and unconditionally loving, we are in a sense able to connect with all others who are experiencing the same thing. Being at peace and authentic, we can and do align with the same energy of others, drawing this equally balanced energy to us. And that’s when we start to get the life we long for on a deep ‘soul’ level.”

As a psychologist and an author, Susan Apollon empowers and heals the body, mind, and soul; as an educator, she informs; as a speaker, she inspires and touches the heart.

For more than twenty-five years, Susan has been in private practice in Yardley, PA, evaluating and counseling adults, families, and children who are dealing with difficult life situations similar to what she has personally experienced, researched, and written about, including cancer, other health issues, trauma, and grief.

She is an avid researcher of Mind, Consciousness, Intuition, Energy, Prayer, and Healing and brings this expertise to her three published books—Touched by the Extraordinary, Book Two: Healing Stories of Love, Loss & Hope; Touched by the Extraordinary: An Intuitive Psychologist Shares Insights, Lessons, and True Stories of Spirit and Love to Transform and Heal the Soul; and Intuition Is Easy and Fun: The Art and Practice of Developing Your Natural-Born Gift of Intuition (co-authored with Yanni Maniates)—as well as to her audio books, online course, CDs, and MP3s. Susan’s work is scientifically based and enhanced by her ability to trust her own intuitive wisdom.

For PART ONE, read Spring Cleaning for the Spirit