LOUISE HAY: Learning, Teaching,
Enjoying & 81Louise L. Hay is a teacher, lecturer, author of numerous bestselling books, including You Can Heal Your Life , Empowering Women, and I Can Do It! . She is the founder and chairman of Hay House, Inc., a publishing company that disseminates books, audios and videos by many of the top teachers of the day that contribute to the healing of the planet, just as she does. It's hard to imagine or truly gauge how many lives have been changed through her work and that of her publishing company. It's mind-bogling to contemplate. Her book, You Can Heal Your Life , by itself has sold 35 million copies worldwide. Still learning at 81, the always gracious San Diego resident is often seen attending seminars herself discovering what's new and releasing her own patterns.
Her new DVD movie, You Can Heal Your Life, is an important new work that gives insights into her personal journey and shows how her views on self-esteem, abundance and the metaphysical causes behind physical ailments were developed. Also featured in the movie are Wayne Dyer, Christiane Northrop, Jerry and Ester Hicks, (Abraham), Gregg Braden, Doreen Virture, Candace Pert and others. (more on page 18)
In early December, just previous to the release of the DVD, Louise held an interview with representatives from about a dozen publications around the country. What follows is a condensed version of some of the questions asked her or the topics covered, and her responses. The participants in the interview are listed at the end of the article. A wide-range of topics was covered, ranging from Louise's personal history and evolution, her new movie, and her thought process about what's next.
How do work with people who are firmly entrenched with their disease, diagnosis and history, and are reluctant to shake loose from that?
Louise Hay: Well, you can't really, at least I can't. I'm not a salesperson. I'm a teacher and I really work with people who are open to the ideas. Until a person is open, you can't make any changes in their life, so it's challenging. I don't know how you would do that, but the one thing that I would say would be very helpful is if you run the affirmations, like an affirmation tape, on a continuous loop so that they have it as background sound. That can often make some shifts and changes. When they're sleeping or even during the day. The subconscious mind hears it, and the subconscious mind is alert and aware of what we're talking about, even though their conscious mind may not be.
Who were your early and current mentors?
Oh, there are so many, but one of the big ones in the early days of my life was an author named Florence Scovel Shinn, who was very powerful in the 1920's, and she was very much like me. She was very declarative. She knew what she was talking about, and had perfect faith in it. I studied her work for quite a bit. She was a big influence in the early days. She wrote a book called The Game of Life and How to Play It , and it made a lot of sense to me, and it's still in print. In fact, Hay House even does a version of it.
And then today, there are just so many people. I just took a weekend workshop with Tom Stone, who does core energy work. It's all the same thing, but we have different names for it. It's a way of releasing patterns, our old childhood stuff, all that stuff that's stuck back'there. And I love Dr. Christiane Northrup. She's fantastic, particularly for women. Wayne Dyer is a fabulous teacher. There are just so many people out there, and I'm continuously studying, and one of the things I've decided really is that the last week I am on the planet I am going to be taking a new class. ' (Laughter) I'll be there.
What is the medical establishment's response to the idea of healing your life through your thoughts?
Gradually. There are a lot of people that have had my little blue book, Heal Your Body in their desk drawer for many, many years who would pull it out and check things, but they didn't want their colleagues to know. Now there still is a large part of the medical establishment that thinks we're crazy, and that's just the way it is.
I don't really work with medical establishments. I work with people who are very open to this, and just want to know more, rather than trying to break through the barriers, because as I said before, I'm not a salesperson, I'm a teacher, and there's a big difference.
Staying on track in her early days on the path
Well, I did what most people did. I was very judgmental. I was full of resentment, and very frightened, and that was my normal pattern, and then I started to learn about affirmations, and I realized that if I wanted to change my life, I had to make changes, not only in what I said, but in my thinking, and I would start out every day with great intentions, and then somewhere along the line, find out I was either being judgmental, or I was resentful, or I was frightened, so if I caught myself, I'd pull myself back. Sometimes I wouldn't even notice it, and I'd start the next day with great intentions, and I think all of us on the pathway will do that.
We do the best we can, but the old patterns are strong, and it's like if you want to do an exercise plan. We're exercising mental muscles, and how many repetitions are we going to do in a day, or are we just going to do one push up and then just forget it for the rest of the day? The more we practice, the easier it becomes, and the more our life changes.
Allowing and Forcing
We have to learn to allow more than to force—and to have more fun with it. If there isn't a great deal of laughter, we're not learning a lot.
Fun with her Movie
I have had so much fun making this movie. Now I'm well aware that most women in the movie industry at 35 are figured too old to be in films. They can't get parts, and here I am, 81, and I'm making my first movie. And just having a ball doing it. Yes, we must also be very aware that we're never too old. ' I'm a very late bloomer. I did not start in this until I was 50, and here I am, at 81, going very, very strong.
On Working with People in Transition
I don't do it now, but'in the ‘80s, I did six and a half years in the trenches with AIDS in the early days, and I did innumerable funerals, and hospital visits, and helping people leave the planet in the most comfortable way possible. I'm not part of that right now, but I've been thinking recently that one of the things that I really must do before I leave the planet is help people, teach people who to die joyously instead of all this fear, and pain, and stuff that they do, because it's not necessary, and exactly how I will do it I'm not sure, but it's in the'offing.
Her Daily Practice
Yes, but daily practices change from time to time. I don't necessarily do the things I did ten or fifteen years ago, but I am much more conscious of affirmations, and I try to think in positive affirmations. It's one thing to say positive affirmations. It's another one to think constantly and when I have nothing else to do mentally, I will do little things like,'“I really love myself and all is well in my world,” and I'll just repeat that a few times. “I really love myself and all is well my world,” because that covers a lot, and it smoothes out the edges, and I have another one that I use a lot.
If a problem comes up, I have one that I say, “All is well. Everything is working out for my highest good, and out of this experience, only good will come, and I am safe,” and I will babble that several times, so that I get my own nerves out of the way and allow the universe to find the solution to the problem. “All is well, everything is working out for my highest good, and out of this experience, only good will come, and I am safe.” You can use that too.
Advice for people on the journey
Look in the mirror and say, “I love you. I really, really love you.” It's the most powerful statement we can make, and when we look in our own eyes and do it, we connect with that inner child, and what the inner child in us really, really wants is to be loved, and to feel safe, and when you do that, it's like miracles happen in your life. All the pieces fall into place, so do it at least two, three times a day. Just say, “I love you, I really, really love you.” It's simple, but powerful.
Getting away from addictive thinking
Well, the image that has just come into my mind is taking a glass of water, and pouring it over one's head to shock you into, “Look, you're really doing the wrong thing.” No, I haven't done it to myself, but it sounds like a great idea—but remember, it's like a diet, or it's like an exercise plan. You know what's good for you. You know what's the best for your body, but you don't always do it, but you just get back on track as quickly as you can.'It's the best thing to do, and there's nothing magical. It's all simple and straightforward.
Keeping it simple
The simplistic techniques always work the best, because that's where life is. Life is supposed to be easy. Life is supposed to be smooth. We make these soap operas and dramas around us, but they're not necessarily. The simple affirmations and just understanding that on a deep level, you're really a wonderful person, and yes, you may have learned some nonsense along the way, but that doesn't mean you're a bad person, it just means you have a few things to unlearn, and we need to know that we're really wonderful, divine, magnificent beings doing the best we can.
[When working with people] you have to point out to them what they're saying. You just have to point it out. It's like you ask people, “Well, so what do you want in life,” and they give you a long list of what they don't want, and they don't realize that they really need to allow themselves to express what they want in life. It is that simple.
What you want
The universe has to hear what you want.
“I don't want this job and I don't want this relationship.” Well, that doesn't give the universe any clues as to what you do want. We just have to simply declare what we want, and then face also simple things like, “I deserve it. I'm worthy of having this. I'm worthy of being loved,” because so many of us really have learned in childhood that we didn't deserve anything good, so we have to unlearn that.
Dealing with skeptics
Somebody will always try to rain on your parade, and I often say to myself, “Well, that may be true for you, but it's not true for me.””And so they can think whatever they want, but it has nothing to do with my truth, and what I know, so just don't listen to them, and you can say to them, “That may work for you, but it doesn't work for me.”
How do you give back to yourself?
Well, one of the things I love doing is gardening, and I grow a lot of vegetables because I like to feed myself really good, healthy food, and I have lovely friends who we break bread with, and I fulfill myself that way, and I'm always studying and learning more, because the more I learn, the more I can share. It's a lovely cycle.
Dealing with those who think aging is slowing down
Well, I can't relate to those people at all. It's interesting. Most of my friends are much younger than I am. That's where the aliveness is.'And I'm very healthy. I have good energy, and I want to keep it that way, so I do all the things I need to do to keep it that way.
With affirmations, what about the ideas that the mind doesn't hear the word “don't?”
Yes, I've heard many times that the subconscious mind does not understand the word, no, and so,'“Don't,” comes under that category. You never want to make jokes about yourself, because the subconscious mind really has no sense of humor, and takes everything you say literally. I think if you have a general tone of all is well, and life is good, and I'm a wonderful person; that you'll go through life very well. We don't have to get too nit-picky about the exact words. It's the tone and the feeling that goes with them.
When you first get exposed to this knowledge, ideally you apply it to yourself, and then you, . . .
Well, I don't think so. I think most people apply it to their friends immediately. “Well, that sounds great. I know who needs that. Jim needs that. I've gotta tell him immediately.” I think we're the last person that we apply it to in the beginning. We apply it to all of our friends. It's a common thing, but hopefully we hang around long enough to work on ourselves with it.
Her thoughts on forgiving without including the other person
The only person we ever really forgive is ourselves. We think we're forgiving things out there, but we're really forgiving ourselves, and what we're forgiving ourselves, really, is for having believed these lies. The truth of our being is that we're wonderful people, and everybody's doing the best with what they can, and the more you love yourself, the'easier your life gets.
Forgiveness & What happens in the body
I think you have to talk to Candice Pert about that, and her theory of neopeptides, because I don't understand the chemical part of it, or the scientific part of it at all. I just know my thought is that the door to the heart opens inwards, and it opens through forgiveness. You can't really open your heart until you have forgiven, so I see it in images like that, and that when you forgive—and basically you are forgiving yourself for having held the resentment for all that long time—the heart just opens. And when the heart opens, life flows . . . the doorway to the heart is through forgiveness.
On the fear of getting cancer again
Whatever lesson you were meant to learn with this, it sounds to me like you've learned it, so you don't have to live in fear. That's behind you. I know that I will never, ever have cancer again. I did that. I came out of it, and it's through, and there may be other lessons to learn, but I've done that one, and so have you. Eat well, love yourself a lot, and think as many positive thoughts as you possibly can, and you will be fine.
Underlying All Disease
We keep making new diseases. It's like we don't have enough, but I've learned over time that the underlying issue for almost all disease is anger and resentment; and love and forgiveness is the healer, and it really doesn't matter what it is, those things.
Put Your Parent in Your Heart
The thing about putting your parents in your heart as small children is often we totally forget that they were small children. They were born as babies. They were absolutely pure and innocent, and what on earth happened in their childhood that would make them be the sort of people that were so mean to us? Something happened there, and if we could go back to that place, and forgive them, and realize that they need love, and they need healing too, it works wonders, and it doesn't mean that we condone their behavior later on. The behavior was not good, but the reasons, how they got there is very important to understand.
Disease can be the Path
We all come to the planet in our own way, and we all leave in our own way, and sometimes people are just ready to go, and you can't stop them. My thought is always just know that everybody is peaceful, and calm, and at ease, and doing what they need to do in a way they need to do it. What you may see as something wrong, or bad, or not good may be absolutely, perfectly right and true for them, something on their pathway that they've chosen to do. There's so much more to life than we realize. We try to put everything into boxes and should's, and it doesn't always work that way.
Her attraction to these ideas
A friend of mine called me up and said, “I hear there's a really good lecture at noon someplace. I don't want to go by myself. Will you go with me,” and I said,”“Okay,” so I went and he never showed up. I heard somebody say if you're willing to change your thinking, you can change your life, and it was like, “Really? I didn't know that,” and it's like a penny dropped in my mind, and from that moment on, I was on a pathway of searching, and learning, and wanting to find out is this true, and then what is it, and then how do I do it, and, and, and.
Is Nature her healer?
Yes, it is. It's very important to me, and I love —wherever I live—to have a long view, so I can see nature out in front of me, and where I live now is on a park, and I live in a high rise, but I look out over this large, large park, and it's just beautiful. I think we're all part of nature. We're one of the little critters that trot around the planet.
It's a pity we do so much damage, but those of us who don't, we try to make it a better place. If I have a garden, all I do is build soil. I make the soil richer, and fuller, and more nutritious, and then anything you plant there will overgrow because it's so happy. Life is simple. It's really simple.
What's Next?
I don't know. Maybe more of what we're doing right now. I see this [movie] conversation as being enormously powerful for people. I mean you're all part of it. This is about life. We accept so much and now we want to go further. Where do we go next, and what is it we're supposed to learn next? Well, we are doing it. You want everybody to do it, but we're not going to get everybody to do it.
I think we just have to watch and see how is this going to change things. What's going to happen? We'll just see what happens, because it will. It will unfold. This is going out more and more, and I seem to be a catalyst for getting it to the world.
In the twenty years it has been around, my book You Can Heal Your Life , has sold 35 million copies worldwide, and I feel like I've had nothing to do with it. But life has said,'“This book must go out.” So let's see what life does with this movie. See, I never have goals. I just wake up in the morning and say, “What's today?”
Enjoy
Just enjoy life. Life is meant to be fun, and keep that in mind. You're wonderful, and you deserve only the best, and just accept it. Allow it. We don't have to force things, just allow them to happen. Life loves us. The other thing I would suggest you do, you go online, www.juniorattractors .com, and under there, they have something called The Gratitude Dance, and turn The Gratitude Dance on, and do it, and then do it every morning of your life.
Moderating the interview was Jacqui Clark of Hay House. Participants included Edie Moser of Wisdom Magazine , Judith from New Spirit Journal , Shivaraj of the Wellness Networker , Carol Bedrosian, Spirit of Change Magazine, Melissa Leath from DreamWeaver, Rose Jenkins from Pathfinder , Bo Wise from Balanced Living Magazine, Michael Husband from Emerging Journey, Cynde Meyer from Spirit Seeker Magazine, and Gerri Magee from phenomeNEWS.
Louise Hay will be introducing a screening of her movie, You Can Heal Your Life, at The Unity Center in San Diego Wednesday, Jan. 9, at 7pm. Call 858/689-6500, www.theunitycenter.net. On Friday, Jan. 11 at 7pm she will also introduce her movie at Seaside Center for Spiritual Living in Encinitas. 760/753-5786 x848, or www.seasidechurch.org