Welcome, to Health & Wellbeing Magazine's Spirit Keeper monthly column. This is the place where you will discover tips and practices for creating, developing and maintaining a personalised self-care practice.

We are in our 2^nd year of this column, and I am expanding upon different exercises (rituals) which are spirit centred, mind centred and body centred. Each month will also come with a monthly challenge. The idea is to prove to yourself and your own clients' the power of specific exercises (rituals) in integrating mind, body and spirit. After all, for there to be change within the world, we need to be the ones who are embodying it and grounding it.

In this month's column we are focusing on the mind centred practice of intentional healing and reprogramming the mind and its thoughts which impact our feelings.

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

Metaphorical Story Demonstrating the Power of Intentional Healing & Reprogramming

Yasmina was a Gardener in an orchard which had become overgrown and wild. The orchard represented her daily life choices and habits. The orchard was overgrown with grasses, vines and thorny bushes due to a lack of care and knowledge on how to care for the trees and their surrounding environment. The fruit trees barely fruited each season and she felt a great despondency.

The Recognition

One day, Yasmina found herself wishing she could be someone else and not be living her own life. Whilst out walking in a woodland, her mind and body felt deep anguish and she cried out silently into the void, "Help me!". Right at that moment from out of the woodland and onto the path stepped a mother deer and her fawn. Yasmina and the deer stopped and gazed at each other. Both filled with fear and uncertainty of what comes next.

In that quiet and quick moment, Yasmina recognised both she and the deer were in a state of fear. She felt a deep connection and recognition of how fear can take the love and beauty away in each moment and result in the loss of connection for both herself and the deer. As the deer and fawn moved across the path and disappeared into the woodland, Yasmina made a commitment to dive into her inner world and begin the process of knowing, loving, healing and freeing herself.

On returning home she found a quiet space within her environment and said a prayer of protection asking her Soul, guides and angels to be with her as she entered the inner world. Standing on the edge of the thicket created by her mind, Yasmina finally recognized her mind and its thoughts were her "inner orchard" which was also overgrown with grasses, vines and thorny bushes. These plants represented her thoughts and the meaning she had given to particular events and experiences. Many painful woundings in mind, body and spirit had left a tangled knot of deadwood and a thicket in her inner orchard. And this resulted in the choices she made daily whilst tending to her orchard daily.

Yasmina, recognised she rarely visited the inner world of her mind as she found the overgrown inner garden to be overwhelming and leaving her feeling helpless. To avoid the mental anguish and emotional pain, she chose to avoid feeling and thinking deeply. Her focus shifted and she was drawn to the prickly vine winding around a young fruit tree within the inner orchard of her life story. The young fruit tree was representing herself and the prickly vine was called "I Am Not Enough." Its thorns were her daily, nagging self-criticisms.

The Acknowledgment & Confession

In her mind's eye she bent close to the prickly vine and young fruit tree and acknowledged the story it told: "This vine says the fruit here is sour and small, and that I'm too weak to tend this land," she whispered.

Once she had come out of her inner journey, she chose to take the brave step of confessing her fears she had recognised by visiting her inner world. First, she spoke it out loud to herself whilst walking through the woodland in the morning mist. Then, she walked to the cottage of her friend, a wise old Spirit Keeper named Dhrona, a soul who saw her only with unwavering, loving light.

"Dhrona," she said, her voice trembling, "I am lost in a narrative of scarcity. My orchard is very much like my inner life story. Overgrown with trees, vines and thorny bushes which is suffocating the spirit of life within us both. I believe my orchard and my inner world is dying."

Dhrona simply held Yasmina's gaze, a deep, accepting silence surrounding them. "I see your strength, Gardener," he said finally. "The story you tell yourself is just a shadow on the wall. We will tend to the roots and embrace your shadow and tidy up the orchard of your mind so that your inner and outer orchard can flourish."

Reflection & Forgiveness

Yasmina returned to her orchard and sat beneath a willow tree, its leaves reminding her of old memories and stories of her life. She reflected on the prickly vine and young fruit tree which she had seen within her mind's eye. Yasmina recognised how the prickly vine's thorns could also represent the words spoken in fear by others to her and how these words stoked her own fear of feeling "I am not enough".

Looking at her orchard her gaze fell upon the plants which were entwined with her fruit trees. Yasmina saw her own actions of not weeding, watering and tending the orchard were a reflection of how her inner fears had stopped her from tending the orchard so it could flourish. Understanding how her own fears were keeping her chained to limiting perceptions and beliefs she vowed to forgive herself and others.

"I forgive those whose words and actions have made me feel I am not enough and worthy. I forgive myself for reacting to others with words and actions which diminished them in some way. I choose to release all desire to hurt myself and others," Yasmina vowed.

This forgiveness ritual was like a cool, cleansing rain which loosened the soil around the stubborn roots of fear and limitation.

Setting the Intention & Reprogramming

Now came the work of true change. Yasmina once again found a quiet space within her home environment and entered her inner world by creating the workshop of the mind. She relaxed her mind and body into the alpha brainwave frequency.

Using visualisation techniques, she imagined the thicket of her mind and used the prickly vine to represent her feelings of anger, shame and fear. Wearing gloves and using secateurs, she cut away the prickly vine from the young fruit tree. Putting the cuttings as a mulch at the base of the young fruit tree, she was able to recognise her fears were the fertiliser of love lessons to be mastered. With a deep breath, she imagined the emotional charge of her anger, shame and fear as a heavy, dark liquid fertilizer which she could pour out onto the earth around her young fruit tree and which would enable it to grow and thrive.

"I release this charge," she declared, "and I set the intention to cultivate a garden of abundant light and harvest."

After completing this releasing ritual within the workshop of her mind, she kept her eyes closed and began to visualise her inner orchard transformed which led to better habits and care in the orchard she tended to daily. She saw the vine of "I Am Not Enough" gone from around the young fruit tree which represented herself. Freeing it up to grow into a wonderfully strong and healthy fruit tree. Looking for a spot within her inner orchard, she planted a magnificent, towering oak tree named "I Am Whole." She saw its branches laden with luminous acorns, each acorn being the fruit of new thinking and new ways of being.

Releasing & Repeating

When the visualisation was complete, Yasmina opened her eyes and felt a deep sense of lightness and inner peace. She had done the work. Now, she placed her mental shears down.

"I release and let go," she murmured, gazing up at the sky. "I have planted the seed. The nurturing is now in the hands of the Great Gardener (God). I trust the process."

This wasn't a one-time effort. Every week, Yasmina returned to her inner orchard within the workshop of the mind in order to weed, mulch and fertilise. Each week her awareness expanded and she began to recognise her own beauty and how knowing, loving and healing herself started within the workshop of her mind. Yasmina grew in understanding and wisdom. She knew she had to demonstrate to the thicket of her mind and to her own hands and heart, that her Soul was willing to move beyond the limiting shadows.

Slowly, the inner landscape transformed within. The tangled thicket of the mind began to thin out and allow new growth for suffocated trees. The oak tree of "I Am Whole" grew stronger daily. Yasmina's new mindset led to new actions: she started sharing her knowledge with others which further opened her gates of inner knowledge and wisdom. As the light of new insights and understandings flooded her mind and body, she discovered she had been cultivating her mind, body and spirit to become the vibrant change she wished to see in the world. Her orchard on Mother Earth thrived under her care and attention as she gained knowledge on how to be a guardian and care taker of the orchard's environment. The fruit trees bore fruit which fed her family, neighbours and nature's other creatures. Her orchard became the metaphorical representation of her life story. It became a testament to the quiet, fierce power of intentional healing.

What is Intention?

Mindful intention is the conscious, deliberate focusing of your attention and will toward a specific desired outcome, maintained with non-judgmental awareness of the present moment. It bridges the gap between passive wishing and active creation.

Defining Mindful Intention:

Mindful intention has two core components:

1. Intention (The "What"): This is the clear goal or aim—the specific state of being, action, or outcome you want to manifest (e.g., "I intend to respond with patience," or "I intend to heal this old wound"). It is a proactive statement of purpose.

2. Mindfulness (The "How"): This is the non-reactive, open awareness of your current thoughts, feelings, and sensations as you pursue that intention. It ensures you remain grounded in the present, recognizing when old habits or distractions pull you away from your goal.

In practice, a mindful intention is often framed as a present-tense affirmation or goal, such as: "I am actively cultivating peace and self-compassion, noticing my resistance without judgment."

Benefits of Intentional Healing:

When applied to healing, mindful intention provides a powerful framework that transforms the journey from a passive hope into an active, self-directed process.

Emotional Regulation: Mindful intention allows you to feel and release the emotional charge associated with past pain without becoming overwhelmed by it. The intention to heal creates a safe container for processing difficult emotions.

Focus and Clarity: Mindful intention provides a direction for the body and mind, preventing the energy of healing from being scattered by worries or fear. Healing is no longer about avoiding pain, but about moving toward a defined state of wellness.

Interrupting Negative Looped Thinking: By maintaining mindfulness, you can immediately recognize when a limiting belief (the "old story") arises. The mindful intention acts as an anchor, allowing you to choose a new response instead of defaulting to the old, painful reaction.

Neuroplasticity and Reprogramming: Setting a mindful intention is a powerful act of mental rehearsal that utilizes the brain's neuroplasticity. By repeatedly focusing on a new reality (e.g., peace, health, self-forgiveness), you begin to reprogram neural pathways, making the desired state the new default.

Self-Efficacy and Empowerment: The conscious choice to set a mindful intention shifts your perception from being a victim of circumstance to being an agent of change. This restores a sense of control and self-efficacy, which is crucial for deep, sustainable healing.

In essence, mindful intention provides the roadmap and the focus, ensuring that every action – from deep breath to visualisation to forgiving oneself – is consciously aligned with the ultimate goal of holistic healing.

What is Re-Programming?

The concept of reprogramming the mind refers to the intentional process of identifying, challenging, and replacing old, often limiting or negative, subconscious beliefs and habitual thought patterns with new, empowering, and constructive ones.

It is rooted in the scientific principle of neuroplasticity, which is the brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Essentially, you are intentionally "rewiring" your brain.

Key Components of Mind Reprogramming

The process focuses primarily on the subconscious mind because it is the "operating system" which governs your automatic reactions, habits, and self-perceptions (often controlling about 95% of your daily actions and decisions).

Here is a breakdown of what the term means in practice:

1. Identifying the Old Program (Limiting Beliefs)

This first step involves becoming mindful of the negative "scripts" or core beliefs that hold you back. These beliefs often originate from childhood experiences, past trauma, or societal conditioning.

Examples: "I am not worthy of success," "I will always fail at relationships," or "Money is difficult to earn."

2. Creating the New Program (Empowering Beliefs)

Once a limiting belief is identified, you deliberately choose a new, positive belief to install. This is the intention component.

Examples: Replacing the old beliefs with "I am worthy of all good things," "I attract loving and healthy relationships," or "I am a magnet for financial abundance."

3. Installation & Reinforcement (The Techniques)

The core of reprogramming involves using repetition and focused concentration to bypass the conscious, critical mind and integrate the new beliefs directly into the subconscious. This is where various techniques come into play:

• Relaxed States (Alpha/Theta): The mind is considered most receptive to new information when it is in a deeply relaxed state, such as the alpha brainwave frequency mentioned in your original process, or the deeper Theta state. Techniques like meditation, deep breathing, or hypnosis are used to achieve this receptivity.
• Visualisation: Creating vivid mental imagery of your desired reality forces the brain to form new neural pathways as if the experience is already happening.
• Emotional Charge: Linking a strong positive emotion (joy, gratitude, peace) to the new belief makes the programming stick faster and more effectively.
• Affirmations and NLP: Using specific, positive, present-tense language ("I am successful," not "I will be successful") helps to solidify the new program.
• Repetition: The subconscious learns through consistency. Repeating new thoughts, affirmations, or visualisations multiple times is crucial.

The Outcome

The goal of reprogramming the mind is to shift your internal landscape so that your automatic thoughts, emotional reactions, and behavioural choices are consistently aligned with your highest values and goals leading to intentional healing and a life guided by conscious choice rather than old, unconscious patterns.

Image created on Canva

Summary & Conclusion

The Spirit Keeper is aware that evolution (growth) of awareness is very much like tending a garden. The mind is the garden and the resulting feelings, emotional states and actions (behaviours) are the things which need weeding, pruning, mulching and fertilising in order to create order out of chaos. There is beauty in the wildness of the wild as much as there is beauty in the manicured garden. As a Spirit Keeper is one who utilises the workshop of the mind along with tools which promote reflection, releasing, forgiveness, gratitude and reprogramming as a way of living, not just when one is in crisis.

Monthly Challenge

If you are an active practising healing practitioner, I would recommend using intentional healing and the workshop of the mind by creating an internal clinic or healing room into which you invite your clients weekly. Using their own issues as teachers and guides for what you need to forgive and release in your own mind and body, carry out the inner work within yourself and visualise yourself having mastered the love lessons contained within shame, fear, anger etc.

And then observe the feedback from your clients / patients when you remember to do the weekly inner work versus when you didn't and life got in the way.

Next month …

In next month's column we will be focusing on the mind centred practice of reading and studying as a way of improving awareness and divine connection.

Until next month. From one kindred spirit to another – be safe, be well, be authentically you.

In gratitude

Kathleen