Initiation Into Power

"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." - Alice Walker

Several years ago, I had a horrible nightmare. I've never forgotten it. After it was over, I realized that it was much more than a nightmare, it was a profound spiritual teaching.

In the dream, I saw myself standing in front of my spiritual teacher. In front of me, was a dark threatening force that carried a powerful evil energy that was moving rapidly toward me. All I could feel was sheer terror. I had never felt that kind of terror ever in my waking life. In that moment, I looked behind me to see the terror on my teacher’s face, as well. This is a man of great wisdom and knowledge, a man centered in love and peace. I was shocked to see he was having the same reaction as me. I knew I had no choice but to fight this force. I knew it was up to me.

Suddenly, I gathered all my fear, all my rage, all my anger, and with all my power, I put my hands out in front of me and yelled, “Noooooooooo” at the top of my lungs. This was not a "Nooo" from dread or from a pleading place in me. It was a definitive, declarative and absolute "NO". It was a " No" that was not up for debate. This is what I would describe as taking my power back. The dark force then began to dissipate in front of me and disappear into nothingness.

I looked back at my teacher, and he had a look of awe and respect on his face. Just then, the nightmare began all over again, exactly as it had the first time. It was like being in an instant replay except is was twice as fast. I saw the dark force, I looked behind me to see my teacher’s face in terror, I turned once again towards the force with my hands stretched out in front of me, but this time, I simply said, “No” without any fear, without any anger without any rage. I just said "no". The force once again dissipated in front of me and disappeared.

When I woke up, I felt different. I felt as if I had been initiated into another way of being, one that showed me how powerful I really am, and that nothing and no one had any power over me. I was certainly as powerful as my teacher, and I was more powerful than evil. I would never again have to fight against evil in my life, I could just refuse to give it any power over me. I could stand face-to-face with it, and know it was nothing pretending to be something,

I have understood on a deep level that nothing holds any power over us unless we inadvertently, through fear for example, give our power to it. I have practiced this principle for many years now with my clients who come to me with so-called “terminal” illness, having been told that their illness will decide their fate. My job is to remind them of their own power and that their illness holds no power over them. That is the key to healing. That is the key to freedom. That is the key to true empowerment.

Nothing and no one has any power over us. Our government, our leaders, our laws, nothing. Each of us holds a power equivalent to the entire universe and beyond. When we know that, we will no longer feel powerless to events or people. I believe we are here to remember the power that we hold, and to create fearlessly, knowing that nothing is truly against us, except us, and our own misguided beliefs.

We are more powerful than anything we fear. We are infinitely powerful. We must know that. If we want to access this power and demonstrate it, we can't be willy nilly about it. If you're in fear about something for instance, you've already managed to give some of your power away to it, by pretending it has more power than you.

Think about this for a moment. Everything is energy. When anything is reduced to it's most minute level, all that is left is energy, which never dies. It only changes form. So, if we all draw from the same energy source which is within us and all around us, how could someone have more power than you? They can't. All they can have is more belief in that than you. They might have more determination to use it, than you. But they can't actually have more access or more availability to it.

We can create the world we want to live in, by remembering how powerful we are, and by taking our power back from situations or people we have unconsciously given it away to through fear and false beliefs. There is no limit to what we can do with a mind and heart committed to good and a simple “No” to whatever fear or illusion of powerlessness that presents itself. Once you know how truly powerful you are, there will be no need to fight against anything. You will simply get clear about who you are, what you want, and remember who has the final say, you. 

At this time in humanity, I urge all of us not to give our power away to anything, including situations, a diagnosis or people in so-called "authority" or power positions. It is time to stand in assurance that all is possible with an unshakeable belief in your own ultimate power to create. You are the supreme authority in your life, Create whatever you can imagine, through the power of your belief and being undaunted by anything or anyone outside of you.

To The Truth That Sets Us All Free,

Donna Gershman ALSP  

PS. Are you ready to start living the life you deserve but know you must get out of your own way to have it? You don't have to do it alone. Feel free to email me at youwillheal@aol.com or contact my office at (818)904-6840 to set up a free consultation or 20 Minute Tune-UP! All sessions are conducted by telephone and or Skype.

The Spiritual Truth about Ugly Fighting - Part 2 (Practicing the Art of Healthy Detachment)

Picture a fiery cauldron, not the hellish, scary 'fire and brimstone' kind, but rather a beautiful blazing "furnace-like" fire designed to burn off anything that doesn't serve you. Now, picture it sitting right between you and every person you know. It is there to protect you and to absorb any negative projections that may come your way during a conversation, a disagreement, an ugly fight or even from your own negative self talk. It is your best friend. And like a best friend, it's a good idea not to forget it's there.

About 20 years ago, my partner at the time decided to break up with me by telephone. She launched into an hour long monologue in which she painstakingly described to me, one by one, all of my shameful flaws and character defects. I'm just grateful that she eventually ran out of steam or we might still be on the phone right now! There was so much anger and rage coming off of her, frankly I was surprised the phone didn't catch on fire.

But then I heard my inner voice say to me, "This isn't about you! Just give her the space to talk and be heard. Don't get in the middle of it." She proceeded to call me every name in the book, and I just listened with a sort of healthy sense of detachment, while holding a space of unconditional love for both of us. Everything vile that came out of her mouth, I imagined going into a fiery cauldron and burning off before it could ever touch me. I literally said almost nothing for a full hour as she continued her rant. I just kept hearing my inner voice say to me, "It's not about you! Be there for her right now. Be Available!"

It was an amazing experience. I never got defensive. I never attacked back. I didn't make her wrong. I just listened and didn't take any of it personally. Then suddenly she was done. There was silence on the phone for just a minute when she burst into tears. She said "Oh my God, I am so sorry!!! I have no idea where any of that came from. Oh my God, Oh my God, please forgive me!" She sobbed uncontrollably for several minutes.

Since she had the space to vent without my reacting, she was able to process what she was saying and take responsibility for it. She too realized that it wasn't about me. It was old unhealed wounds of hers that got triggered in our relationship. If I had gotten defensive and made it all about my feelings suddenly, it would have just resulted in more chaos, and misaligned thoughts being met by more misaligned thoughts. I am absolutely sure that both the conversation and relationship would have ended a completely different way had I allowed myself to get in the middle of it and been unavailable to her.

We both ended up telling eachother how much we loved each other and drawing closer than we had been for a long time. We decided to end the relationship, but we did so with mutual respect, love and appreciation. We both recognized that it had simply come to it's natural completion.

I learned a few important lessons that day. 1) Listening is healing. 2) Other people's blaming is more about them than you, but it will always present an opportunity for you to grow in compassion and to be your best self. 3) Know who you really are! Otherwise, you'll feel the need to defend against stuff that isn't even yours. It's a waste of your good time and accomplishes nothing.  

Lastly, being truly emotionally available for someone, requires you to listen without taking anything personally...to maintain a healthy detachment so there's a clear space for them to have their feelings and be heard. This is where real healing can take place.

And, if worse comes to worst...get your best friend the fiery cauldron out to protect you, so other people's projections don't bring the fire out in you. This is the one time when "fighting" fire with fire is a good thing!

To The Truth That Sets Us All Free,


Donna Gershman ALSP


PS. You can heal, and you don't have to do it alone! if you or someone you know needs support in healing any issue, whether it be physical, emotional, mental or spiritual, feel free to email me at youwillheal@aol.com, or contact my office at (818)904-6840 for a free telephone consultation. All sessions are conducted by telephone or Skype.

The Spiritual Truth about Ugly Fighting - Part 1 (Practicing the Art of Being Wrong)

Twenty-five years ago, a friend of mine sat me down on a curb and said the ugliest thing she could ever possibly say to me. At least, that’s how I felt about it at the time. It was heinous really, horribly painful and yes…. I took it deeply personally.  I couldn’t believe anyone who claimed to love me, would ever say something like that…especially to my face! I mean, couldn’t she have the common decency to keep her feelings to herself? Better yet, why wasn’t she like the other people in my life who just distanced themselves from me quietly,  and then disappeared out of my life forever leaving me to wonder why? I was used to that. What I wasn’t used to was having someone tell me to my face how they felt…to tell me their truth, no matter how ugly it sounded, no matter how I would feel or react. When I think about it now, it was a pure act of bravery on her part.

That day, that conversation changed me. It hurt so badly I could hardly breathe, but in the midst of my pain I heard something. I heard that there was a gift in this for me….and if I could hear what she was saying just beyond the blame and judgment, (my own and hers) I would find it.

Then, the gift was made apparent: She was telling me the truth….Yikes.

I am no shrinking flower. You should know that about me. I don’t take things lying down normally. If I feel scorned you will know about it, especially back in those days. So, this is what she was up against. She had to look me in the eye, knowing this conversation was probably not going to go well, and tell me anyway.  

To this day, I will always appreciate the fact that instead of giving up on me, she fought for me. She gave me the benefit of the doubt, believed I was worth it, and risked everything to tell me her truth in the face of serious backlash.

I learned that day that sometimes you have to be willing to be wrong to be ultimately happy. I could have defended my position, made her wrong, fought back just to be “right” and to feel better temporarily, but something inside me decided to yield instead, to take in what she said however clumsily articulated, and to hear the truth of it.

After many years of practicing, I am now proud to tell you I am mastering the art of being wrong! And I am a much better person for it.

To The Truth That Sets Us All Free,

Donna Gershman ALSP

PS. You can heal, and you don't have to do it alone! If you or someone you know needs support in healing any issue, whether it be physical, emotional, mental or spiritual, please feel free to email me at youwillheal@aol.com, or contact my office at (818)904-6840 for a free telephone consultation.