On Ho’oponopono and You are magic

A piece I wrote in early October and published on Medium on October 3.

I’ve been a little too stressed out and downhearted lately, and dealing with recurring negative thoughts, so I tried to find ways to cheer myself up.

Exercise would have been the easy answer, but I’ve been having trouble with my right shoulder and lower back, so even though I could have still exercised, I didn’t feel excited enough to do it. I only did some stretching and standing knee raises.

BUT I felt excited enough to look for other ways to improve my mien, and I found a Hawaiian healing practice called Ho’oponopono.

Ho’oponopono

The word means “to make right” and “to correct,” and this ancient healing practice helps to clear away negative energy and toxic thinking patterns.

Contemporary psychologists, starting with Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, have distilled its essence to four statements:

I am sorry

Please forgive me

Thank you

I love you

You direct those phrases at a divine power or the universe as well as at your own subconscious.

This four-phrase meditation has helped me a lot! I rewrote the above sentences into something more elaborate before using it, and I asked AI if my statements work well within the Ho’oponopono frame. AI said, in its usual encouraging manner, “Yes, this beautiful adaptation absolutely works within the Ho’oponopono framework.”

Here’s what I wrote:

I’m sorry for the negative emotions and refrains in my life

(AI explained that it’s important to take complete ownership of the negativity in your mind if you want to clean “your personal reality.”)

Please forgive me as I wash them away with the help of divine forces

(AI explained that this imagery of a “washing tide” in an appeal to the Divine “mirrors the Hawaiian concept of cleansing (ho’omāma).”)

I thank you for the healing tide

and

I love you in this quiet grace — because I still feel lucky and blessed, even though I’m also stressed out and running negative refrains in my head now and then.

(AI said that it’s important to embrace a dual state while healing, and be mindful of your stress rather than fight it.)

So yes, I’ve been beset with some negative intrusive thoughts from becoming more sensitive to everything emotional in this troubled world we live in, and also because, just like many of my friends, I’m struggling with health issues and other problems.

Okay. So this Ho’oponopono-based practice helped quite quickly, in a very surprising fashion — possibly because those words really spoke to me. I was already writing various things and musing about the power of “I’m sorry” and “Please forgive me,” and then “Thank you” and “I love you” were also part of my gratitude routine, not quite in this simple form, but centered on those phrases.

So focusing on these words that were so powerful helped. After about a week, I experienced less intrusive negative thoughts.

You are magic

As I’ve been writing on health and wellness for fourteen years now, I also kept thinking, during my time of need for more positive emotions, how amazing our body is — a body that can heal almost miraculously at times, for instance. A body that develops its incredible functions with only about sixty chemical elements, water, and breath, and with a DNA that’s entirely built on only five chemical elements: Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Phosphorus.

I felt I should create something based on my feeling of wonder about all this.

After some mulling over the words I wanted to use, one day I quickly found a starry sky image for my design and set to work. The image I started this piece with is the result of that creative session.

As you can see there, what I chose to bring out to the surface and then back into the heart was this:

You are stardust — because you are made of the same chemical elements as celestial bodies and nebulae

You are water — because you carry between 50% and 75% water in your body, based on gender and age (men more, women less; infants more, elderly adults less)

You are breath — because God endowed you with a soul

You are magic — because stardust, water, and breath are each of them magical in themselves, and they function together in a miraculous way

Funnily, as I designed this, I inspired myself. My own writing and design tends to do that rather often, whether or not it inspires others as well, which is why, for better or worse, I’m drawn to this type of work. Yes, it does feel better if it’s also successful to some extent, but there is value in writing and designing for oneself as well!

That said, I also created various products on Zazzle with this design — from a postcard to a flexible fridge magnet, mugs, and T-shirts (Zazzle affiliate links) — , hoping to help other people who struggle with negative thoughts and emotions.

I hope it will motivate some of you, too, to look for ways to feel better in your own hearts and minds.

Thank you for reading this, and please do share healing practices that have worked for you!

Disclosure: This blog post contains some affiliate links. If you click on (any of) them and make a purchase, they generate revenue for this blog (at no extra cost to you!). I am a Zazzle Associate and designer, and I earn commissions when you buy products through my referral links. All affiliate links on this blog are identified as such. Here’s my Full Disclosure.

To a happier, healthier life,

Mira

P.S. And now my Zazzle products. Enjoy! 🧡

Thank you for being here! Have a Happy Holiday Season!

🧡🍀Mira