I woke this morning feeling out of sorts – flat and weary, with a sore lower back. I began writing simply but honestly in my journal. I asked myself, “how could I feel this way when I had just woken from a full night’s sleep?” I asked how yesterday had been, what had been disturbing me, and what I had done when I had felt disturbed. I wrote down exactly how my body felt physically and more generally, I wrote how I felt. As I wrote I had more clarity on my weariness, and felt beyond the sense of flat, to sadness, to a feeling of being a little bereft. I wrote as honestly as I could about the things that had been happening that triggered those feelings.
And then I got up, dressed, and as I usually do, took my dog for a walk.
As I started out I became aware of how snug, secure and warm my body felt – I was wearing my new thermal tights and vest under my walking clothes. I felt the care and nurturing I had given myself in choosing to wear them. And then I noticed how easy and flowing my walking felt.
I enjoyed that feeling of ease and harmony. I then became aware of the weather: it was what many people would call ‘miserable’. It was damp and misty, and almost raining at times. In my warm thermals, protected from any cold, all I could see was the deep beauty and quiet that came with the weather. The shapes of the trees seemed more pronounced against the mist, and the sounds of the birds seemed more distinct and clear.
I remembered Serge Benhayon talking quite a few years ago about how it shouldn’t matter to us what the weather was like, how in truth it shouldn’t dictate or alter how we felt. At the time I had thought the comment fanciful, something that was lovely in theory, but not achievable in practice, but now I found myself fully appreciating that no day was more beautiful than another: that this ‘miserable’ day was equally beautiful to a bright sunny one.
So, here I was, the person who had woken distinctly out of sorts, now walking along feeling the ease, stillness and quiet, and fully appreciating the beauty of the day. The things that had been bothering me on waking were still there, but they were not dictating or affecting how my day would be. They were not engulfing me like they had when I first woke up.
And what had I done? I had simply committed to feeling what I was feeling, to being as honest as I could be about what I felt, and writing it in a journal. They are very simple practical techniques that have been presented at Universal Medicine events, and which, when I commit to them and put them into practice, help me on a day-to-day basis.
By Catherine, England
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
I remember when I used to live in the UK that my moods were determined not only by the weather but the seasons. I loved spring and summer but come autumn and winter, well that was a different story. It was common for many of us to feel gloomy when the sun wouldn’t shine in the winter and even the conversations were circulating of doom and gloom.
Roll on post meeting Serge Benhayon and I realise that seasons are needed just like human’s are birthed, grow, age and die, it’s no different.
I see the weather as mother nature’s way of cleansing that what is not needed. I don’t entertain the weather to determine my moods any more. It is far from perfect as to what determines my mood, but I know one thing, I don’t allow the outside to influence what affects the inside of me like I used to.
Catherine I love how you shared that as you started your walk you allowed yourself to be aware of the lovely things you were feeling – about your body and how warm it was but also with your surroundings and what was on offer there too. We really don’t do this enough – or at least I can speak for myself here. To take a moment, just one moment to clock how I am feeling, can make the difference in how the rest of my day plays out. And I love having this reminder, especially today as I know there is a deeper warmth and loveliness for me to feel and connect to, underneath a surface anxiety that I can feel is also there.
Henrietta it is so true, once your body feels yummy, it doesn’t matter what’s going around you, it doesn’t phase you. Then this reflection allows another to observe that there is another way to live too…
Taking the time to nominate how we are feeling and allowing that to be explored in layers is powerful. We often get deluded into thinking we have to ‘do something’ or ‘fix’ things when in fact sometimes all that is needed is to simply feel with honesty what one is feeling.
Thank you Catherine for this simple and honest yet amazing blog. The power of honesty just cannot be underestimated and how much this can support us to come back to ourselves and feel all there is to feel including the loveliness within.
Beautiful to commit to feeling what you are feeling, and honestly nominating it, ‘I had simply committed to feeling what I was feeling, to being as honest as I could be about what I felt, and writing it in a journal.’
Where we have got it wrong world wide is that we don’t allow ourselves to go to the level of honesty that is needed.
“The things that had been bothering me on waking were still there, but they were not dictating or affecting how my day would be. They were not engulfing me like they had when I first woke up.” The word “engulf” describes so well how emotions and worries can swirl around inside of us and magnify, and how the process of writing or talking to someone can assist us to get perspective and bring new found understanding to the situation.
‘..but now I found myself fully appreciating that no day was more beautiful than another: that this ‘miserable’ day was equally beautiful to a bright sunny one.’ When we are self loving, nurturing and claimed nothing as trivial as the weather conditions can touch it.
Absolutely agree Catherine, a spade is a spade and when we call it as such then we can dig our-selves out of any hole and in doing so we learn to appreciate our origins as a Soul-full being in essence and let go of the human-ness now that’s appreciation.
Greg – I love the simplicity of what you have presented here. We dug the hole that we then stepped in and so we also have the tools and the strength to climb out of the hole ourselves. This is a great achievement. The irony is that we pride ourselves for getting out – which of course is a wonderful thing to have gotten ourselves out of a ‘mess’ so to speak, but we tend to forget that we were the ones that created the very mess we dug ourselves out of. This is actually like a soap opera only we are the actors of our own movie. The real celebration is the day we stop digging holes to go into but focus on what is truly needed.
Attending Universal Medicine courses has shone the light on the importance of the practical, day to day stuff. It is crazy to think that only 3 years ago, the basics were completely missing in my life – from not always brushing my teeth in the morning and living in a messy room, to realising the importance of self care & how that impacts the rest of our day. How did I think i could be a functional human at university/ work if my home life was a mess? Yet, when you are in that place, you don’t consider it at all – you are convinced this is normal and that is how you can live your life and that’s it,. You are blind, deceived and cemented in your views until somebody comes along shows you a different way.
Spot on Viktoria, until we get a True reflection ,normal is the mundane trappings of life, but once we understand we are more than this physical vessel ,then we can appreciate our bodies as the most divine being and set a True foundation of living-Love to the-fullest we can.
Taking ourselves for a walk accompanied by a dog and appreciating nature around us can be a beautiful way to let go of over-thinking things – whatever the weather.
Yes, appreciating nature and ourselves as we enjoy our walk, ‘I found myself fully appreciating that no day was more beautiful than another: that this ‘miserable’ day was equally beautiful to a bright sunny one.’
Absolutely gorgeous how honesty invites everything to be simply felt for what it is and we find ourselves so so so much loved and held by the exquisite beauty that is already here.
Interesting how I came across this blog today after ‘randomly’ picking this month and year of this blog site and just recently starting to write in a daily journal. This shows me how we are so supported and can let our hearts lead the way in making choices that will support us and help in our personal development. Writing in daily journal has helped me stay the observer of my life and others, let go of emotional reactions and just read situations in a way that I can gain more understanding and thus awareness when this is done on a regular basis.
Thank you Michael for your comment, this is exactly what I needed to read because I have to get a handle on emotional reactions and develop observing. I had a period where I wrote very regularly in the Our Cycles App which was very supportive, so that is something I feel I need to get onto again. I liked how journal writing was described in the blog because it kept things very simple, writing about how the body felt and what was there to honestly express – not needing to know anything just honest expression.
I love how writing in your journal has helped you stay the observer of life, this is something I am working on deepening.
Catherine I agree with you when you say
“They are very simple practical techniques that have been presented at Universal Medicine events, and which, when I commit to them and put them into practice, help me on a day-to-day basis.”
I feel I get such a benefit from attending the workshops and healing courses of Universal Medicine, it’s so simple I have been given tools that I have used to change my life completely and I now love my life because I have had the courage to change what wasn’t working into something that absolutely works thanks to the support of Universal Medicine. After years of searching at last I have found something that does truly work.
Everyday whatever the weather gives us an opportunity to learn and grow in our awareness if we stay open to all the possibilities of the day.
Catherine there is a simple science to your blog that a lot of the world have forgotten, and that is when we are honest with how we are truly feeling we then allow healing to begin.
Writing a journal is an opportunity to be completely honest with yourself, without a story, simply describing or translating the relationship with the body.
“And what had I done? I had simply committed to feeling what I was feeling, to being as honest as I could be about what I felt, and writing it in a journal. “I love this. Writing down our feelings gets them out into the open. If there is no one to share them with – and maybe prefer not to – we can be honest with ourselves in a journal. Then the more honest we are the deeper we can go to uncover what’s at the root of how we feel on a particular day and why.
I really enjoy not allowing my mood to be controlled by the weather. The fact is it is my choice if I allow any aspect of my environment to influence how I feel or not. This includes the weather, situations and other people.
Yes it is the reaction to how we are feeling that affects us so much more than the feelings we have itself do. For instance we can be sad and if we just feel it we can go about our day but when we don’t want to feel it and react to feeling it we might be fighting the sadness all day and end up very grumpy and tired.
The weather need not dictate how we feel as long as we look after our body and see to it that we are just right, neither cold nor hot, damp or wet. Connection to the body and its needs is stronger than any external circumstances.
This is a simple and powerful truth to connect to and then live, Gabriele…”Connection to the body and its needs is stronger than any external circumstances.”
I love your reminder Catherine of how important it is to allow ourselves to feel. I get myself into some sticky situations because I often do not trust what I feel and I also void being honest about how I feel. This is such an awesome blog to read. Thank you.
What a beautiful recipe to change your day, with the essential ingredients being; writing in your diary – with honesty – to deciding to go for a walk, dressed warmly with love and consideration for your body. I too have come to understand that when I am feeling rather ‘flat’ and maybe down, a walk where I consciously make the choice to change the way I move is the best, and day-changing, medicine.
I haven’t been walking much lately and I know this is the best medicine for when I am feeling flat, a bit down and agitated. Once I am already feeling off it can be pretty difficult to come back to myself at that moment especially if I ignore how I am feeling. So, being honest about how I feel means I am more likely to seek support to come back to myself. Also, you reminded me, Ingrid, to be proactive about consistently supporting myself to stay connected and be me.
I do so know those moments “when I am feeling, a bit down and agitated”, and it often feels like I can’t make my way out of the emotional hole I seemed to have fallen into. But these days I know that walking in absolute awareness to every move I make can eventually change the way I feel. This has been one of the most simple, but very powerful, moment-changing tools presented to humanity by Serge Benhayon.
Catherine, your blog is a beautiful reminder of how we can turn any situation around when we simply connect to ourselves and change our movements. I have always found walking a very supportive way to bring me back if I am feeling out of sorts or tense in anyway.
Honesty is the gateway to living truth and it is only when we live with truth that we are truly liberated from existing in the reductionism of emotions and imprisonment lies.
Thank you Catherine for reminding me how simple it is to connect to ourselves and honestly express how we feel, and the huge impact this can have. I have recently added stop moments to my day so if I feel off or notice any change in or around me that doesn’t feel true I offer myself space to just feel and express honestly to myself. It’s been very supportive. I’ve also realised just how many amazing things are happening each day and writing them in my journal, they may be realisations, events, or a situation that I feel is from the Magic of God, etc. It has felt lovely to value these and record them.
There really are so many things to note each day when you are present in your body. Moments of magic, little miracles, moments of unease and tension. Our body clocks them all and I am realising that if we don’t acknowledge them, even if we don’t know what to do with the feeling, when we simply acknowledging them our body releases some of the tension or embraces an ease ready for the next moment of communication.
I always love reading this blog Catherine, it’s like the combination of commitment and honesty together is a rocketship back to where we should be – and they are the fundamental blocks we need to build our day on.
I also love this blog and the utter simplicity shared here; there is nothing simpler than connecting to the body, attending to its needs and the movement of this quality.
Yes, what is shared is like a simple recipe that could support all of us.
We may be conveyed a truth. Yet, allowing in and accepting it for what it is requires a way of connecting to ourselves which allows this to happen.
Yes there is great power in being honest and commit to living in and with what our body is communicating. I know for myself I always woke up feeling flat and weary by the idea of commencing a new day. I’ve realised how this was a ‘comfortable’ habit, better said an addiction and with observing without any judgement or beating up of myself I just claim that’s not me and it starts to change. Of course I can be tired but I can be equally joyful at the same time in caring and nurturing myself.
So true, we can clock how our body feels, bring honesty to why and then we are given the tools to support ourselves to do what needs to be done, without dishonoring the communication from the body.
Committing to being honest, truthful and to feeling what one is feeling is a sound foundation from which to live.
Catherine what you write is spot on, we just need to give ourselves the space to truly feel what and how we are feeling the rest is then dealt with upon a foundation of healing.
Giving ourselves the space – this is key Sam. It is always so easy to brush things away on account of the difficult feelings that come up. Distracting myself away is a good clue to realise I am trying to avoid feeling deeper into a situation.
I find it amazing that I can wake up out of sorts including a headache, go to work and have a walk and by 7am I am almost fully or fully recovered, yet it has happened a number of times.
Exactly .. when we are offered the truth and have felt it deep in our hearts – it is for us to take it out and share it with the world — by moving..
If we focus on what is outside of us we will always be disappointed as life never lives up to the pictures we create.
Well said Fiona – nothing in this world can confirm or live up to the truth of who we Soulfully and divinely in essence. The power, the truth of all that we are and are part of is found and as such known within us.
The weather is very interesting. We can feel behind the weather why it comes the way it is.
If we allow our moods to be dictated by external factors such as the weather or the moods of other people then we are signing ourselves up for a rollercoaster ride of life.
I was definitely one who rode that roller coaster regularly, and had lots of company doing so; in fact the ride was always very full. These days the weather, or anyone or anything outside of me, no long dictates how I feel as how I feel is my choice. and my choice alone. The blame game has finally been consigned to the scrap heap.
Its interesting what we do when we are feeling out of sorts. Normally we would continue travelling through our day in that way, perhaps even looking to blame a situation or circumstance or another person. But all that is needed is what was done in this example. Acknowledge how you are feeling and then using tools to return awareness to the body. So simple.
To become honest about how we feel and look where it comes from is a beautiful way to deepen the relationship with ourselves and others.
Yes I recognize that. Writing things in a diary with honesty is good way of nominating and the clearing the energy that we let in our bodies that is disturbing us.
Honesty is our keyway to heaven – love, love in our hearts and love in our lives. When we become honest and see that we have missed living love, our world starts to open up and the possibilities are directly there for us to change our past around by connecting to our love in our present time.
Simple honesty about how we are feeling, with nothing to fix, breaks the hold those feeling have over us, and allows us to come back to what is true in the love that we are.
I have never really been able to keep up with journal writing and feel this is something I could consider as a support for myself as a self-reflection exercise. We focus so much on the negative and rarely appreciate the magic that happens in our lives all the time.
Catherine I love what you present here, when we honour what we feel we make life uncomplicated and super simple.
Everyday has its own quality of beauty, whether we recognise that or not is dependent upon our state of being.
Yes, we can choose to be aware or not of what is all around us as we can equally choose our state of being, we are no victims whatsoever.
Being honest with one self can see the truth and then have the opportunity address what needs to be addressed, if we are not truthful we cannot do this.
I know for myself that when I am honest all the complications that came with the dishonesty disappear, whilst it may not be a nice feeling at first after a period of time in that honesty the clarity that comes is more than worth it. It’s great to see how walking and talking and being honest supports us.
There are moments when truth feels like a fanciful fiction, but our body knows it so well that it always finds its way back, eventually.
I love to write down my soulfull dreams.
This way I feel the Message from my soul deeper And sometimes I share with others which brings even more clarity to it.
I love Catherine how you show through a few simple moves, such as writing in your journal and being honest with yourself you were able to change the way you felt upon waking. Appreciation is the key. When we walk with appreciation as you did there is no room for negative thoughts to come in and if they do it is much easier to spot them and say no to them.
Yes, being responsible and appreciating ourselves when we are, those are amazing recovery tools.
Without honesty we stay stuck in old pattern and momentums, when we commit to being honest with ourselves and nominating how we are feeling this is a powerful movement that supports us in every way.
The techniques presented by Universal Medicine are very practical and when practiced bring about amazing, and often unimagined, changes in one’s life and way of living that are truly remarkable.
It is only when we are not true to the love that we are that we allow the clouds to mask the eternal warmth of the Soul’s glow.
Feeling what we are feeling and not fighting it can make all the difference we need.
Such a simple, yet true, remedy.
Whether we have what we consider a good day or a bad day we always have the opportunity to learn equally from either.
I love the simplicity of what you have shared here Catherine “I had simply committed to feeling what I was feeling, to being as honest as I could be about what I felt, and writing it in a journal” I find there are times when I can do this and let it go but there are other times when I go into fix it mode and then of course everything is amplified and i feel the heaviness of it all.
There are so many simple things we can choose to support ourselves on a daily basis however even just one will do if we are consistent in putting it into practice.
When we walk in connection to ourselves and our surroundings we affect how we feel by the way we move.
Our movements are a true source of delight… the only one.
Eduardo that is beautiful. There is such an innocence and joy in your delight.
Our honesty is our key — our golden key to heal the past and to prepare ourselves for the future by being in the present. It is so profound to share more openly, by writing it down for example, what we go through, what we feel and see in our lives and around us and what mechanisms we have actually established to play down our sensitivity and love. Good to catch! And this is by honesty.
How more we are just ourselves, very simple, just open and transparent it does not matter what is going on we can feel the joy of each moment.
This is gorgeous Catherine, the key is being honest and open about how we feel. I know when I have been denying and avoiding how I feel, the tension and intensity of what I was feeling just get buried and can build up. This could lead to a potential eruption if I do not deal with it by stopping to feel and to heal.
Connect, appreciate and walk in all you are. Great remedy to come back and be all the love we are.
Everyday we live, we write a page in the journal of life, but do we expresss with all of our heart? Do we consider ourselves a part of the universe? It seems to me we are the authors of the life we lead, and the story we illustrate is purely down to us, our ideals and beliefs. Life needn’t be a drama or science fiction – but a true love story if we just consider the bigger picture. We after all are just characters in God’s stageplay. Thank you Catherine for this reminder of the power of writing.
When we are honest with ourselves about what does not feel true, we expose the energy that is not of love, allowing us to move forward embracing greater love in our bodies, as such creating space for us to magnify love through our movements.
Honesty is key in coming to the truth of who we are and why we feel as we feel and with that any judgement disappears. There will be only understanding and a new foundation to evolve from.
Something else that stands out for me is how the body is left to be itself in this sharing. We tend to treat our body with such disdaine when we choose a behaviour that doesn’t feel lovely in it, when it is never the body at fault, but the choice we made in how to live in it.
I love how this article doesn’t try to fix what has happened or how the body feels, that instead it is acknowledged accepted and left, with the day ahead to be lived with the grace of fully loving the body, no matter the experiences of the previous day.
From honesty comes truth and with that harmony.
Such a great sharing Catherine and it can be on the smallest or biggest thing that is going on in our lives when we go for the honesty and at times this can be difficult what we are left with when we do go for it is clarity and space to feel more of who we are.
Agreed Natalie and beautifully said. Space is never empty as it is either occupied with the spaciousness of love or the density of all that is not of love, the difference of which is always felt in the body.
Honesty in our daily lives takes us from being a cork in a sea of life and all it brings, to being resourceful and equipped for whatever comes our way.
Catherine I love the power that writing with honesty and truth brings, it stops all the confusion, all the games that we can play in our head and allows us to grow, evolve and move forward with our life. It helps us make sense of the world by expressing the truth of what is going on. Of course we can also abuse writing and list off lies and “convenient truths”.
This is such a simple practice that I know has supported me on many a morning when I’ve let the previous day’s choices run into my day. Just accepting how I am feeling and reconnecting with myself with out admonishment but an openness of observation I can go for a walk, or drive the car to work and just be with me and come back to feeling a steadiness that I can keep choosing through out my day.
Often I have to say no to the thoughts that want me to give myself a hard time and know their justifying themselves are not valid. So they will say that by giving myself a hard time will mean I will not do it again. It is rather like the angry parent shouting at the child but not understanding why the child did what they did and leaving those reasons intact. So, no matter how hard the punishment, the child repeats their behaviour or subjugates it into something else instead of being supported to heal.
The beauty of this life at this time is that connection is on-tap! By being connected to ourselves and cultivating a deep relationship with our body we do not become victims of the external factors in this world, even the weather.
The simplicity of this blog and its message is profound. Honesty works.
It’s true Catherine, you really benefit continually committing to holding your connection in the sturdiest manner.
Walking, whilst connected with ourselves, feeling our body and appreciating our qualities we bring can really help change our energy to one that feels quite gorgeous no matter our start point.
I find that the levels of honesty in how I have been in the day come to me when I stop for a walk at the end of the day, or during my lunch break. A moment to stop and take stock of how I have been travelling and clocking the choices that I have been making that have either been harming or supporting me throughout the day.
There is nothing more empowering than to discover that we are not our emotions, and that movement, when made in a gesture towards truth, which includes starting with the honesty of what can be felt, is one that re-establishes a connection with a greater flow in life. A beautiful illustration of this thank you Catherine…
Yes, everything in this blog seemed very simple yet the power that came from it is a blue print for space within our bodies to be able to understand ourselves and life. Honesty with ourselves has to be at the foundation of any true and lasting change.
To be honest with what we are feeling, to nominate it, changes the energy, a great example Catherine.
By nominating what hurts us, we no longer allow it to own us. Thus, in this state we are free to walk unencumbered by the imposition we had brought upon ourselves that had no place within us and sought to make us feel so burdened and become so dense.
Simple and sweet really, ” I had simply committed to feeling what I was feeling, to being as honest as I could be about what I felt, and writing it in a journal.” There is something about writing in a journal or recording like this that supports us deeper. I know when I have done this and read back over things as apposed to trying to just remember there is a huge difference. It’s like you remember it one way but when it’s recorded the real goings on are shown. I guess like even writing this comment is a record in the same way, a true record of what I was feeling at this point.
When we are, and feel really comfortable, in our body no outer circumstance can disturb this. And this is something everybody should learn and know.
I have been amazed how much I could recover during the day from waking up tired or (in the past) exhausted. It is as if living in a certain way during the day actually gives you energy.
In connection to our body and from our beingness, it matters not whether it rains or shines.
I moved from England and lived abroad for 3 years citing the bad weather here as one of the reasons. It didn’t take long to realise that with wall to wall sunshine for months on end, I still had the same issues. Now back in England, I rarely moan about the weather and actually love the seasons and even the rain.
This is wonderful to read. I feel that honesty delivers us back to truth, to ourselves, so no matter what energies we’ve taken up we can let them go with this honesty. I also am appreciating how weather isn’t dictating how I am feeling as it once did. Days of non-stop rain I am not a fan of because it’s not so nice for walks but there are always others things like swimming to enjoy.
Yes, lies have difficulty sustaining themselves in the face of honesty. It seems too simple but it is very powerful.
‘I had simply committed to feeling what I was feeling, to being as honest as I could be about what I felt, and writing it in a journal’. – This is so practical and supportive Catherine. There is an honouring that has taken place in these 3 reflective activities and commitment. From the time we are young we live with a constant message that we are not ok and so a foundation is formed that reflects to us everything we feel, and everything we are is wrong. Taking a moment to truly feel, accept and honour our truth is re-connecting to that inner divinity that we truly are and a healing/shift plays out changing our moment/our day/our life.