Hope you are feeling the support that always surrounds you! As you may remember, two weeks ago was a monumental day… my first book, Spirituality Is for Every Body was released! Yay!! You can order it here.
In case you missed it, my book was featured in a blog post by Commune, an online platform dedicated to wellness that brings together teachers who share their expertise with a global community of students! Click here to read the feature.
Thank you to everyone who has purchased a copy of my book! I appreciate your support more than I could ever express. If you enjoy it, please consider leaving a 5-star review wherever you bought it. To celebrate the release of Spirituality Is for Every Body, this post gives you a peak inside.
So often, people ask me exactly how long they should meditate or how often they should pray to reap the greatest benefit from their spiritual practice. This question is of particular importance to those living with disabilities because many times general instructions regarding how often one should do a particular practice does not take into account the fact that some people with disabilities tire easily and others with disabilities use extra time to complete every day tasks so they have less free time to dedicate to spiritual practice.
I’ve been asked this question so many times that I answer the question at the very beginning of Spirituality Is for Every Body. My answer can be found on pages xvii- xviii in the section titled, “How To Use This Book.” Here’s what I write,
The goal of spiritual practice is to expand your awareness of your connection with God, not push yourself to ill health in the pursuit of the “ideal” way of doing spiritual practices. So determine a schedule that enables you to consistently engage in your practice and stay as healthy as possible for you.
When I started studying A Course in Miracles (ACIM), I read a chapter in the main text and did one workbook exercise every day, based on my teacher’s suggestion. During my second week of study, however, I experienced a sudden and marked increase in the tone in my muscles, which makes them tight and stiff and my movements limited. Although I experience high muscle tone on a regular basis, what I was experiencing then was on a level that I rarely felt. It became so severe that it interfered with my ability to breathe and move from one place to another. This is my body’s way of telling me that I am overextending myself, and I knew that for the sake of my safety (and my sanity), I had to stop studying ACIM. Once my muscle tone returned to normal, I went back to reading a chapter and doing an exercise from the workbook each day. Once again, the tone in my muscles went through the roof. I began to realize that I wouldn’t be able to keep up this schedule and maintain my typical mobility and ability to breathe. Since I’m quite fond of breathing and transferring safely, I decided to read one chapter five days per week and do a workbook exercise three days per week. And guess what? Not only did my muscle tone stay at my normal level while studying ACIM, but I also started experiencing more miracles in my life than when I was studying the book every day!
God knows when you are doing your best, so do what you can, and you will reap the same rewards as someone who may have more energy and who spends more time engaging in spiritual practices. The most important thing is that you do your best and you sincerely intend to develop, or deepen, your relationship with the Divine.
~ Excerpt from Spirituality Is for Every Body
by Allison V. Thompkins, Ph.D.
I hope this explanation helps you along your spiritual path! If you’d like even more guidance about how to create a spiritual practice that is perfect for you and effective, consider buying my book. Have a wonderful two weeks! I’ll see you soon!
Love, blessings and purple,
Allison
Try incorporating this exercise into your week. If you need modifications to the practice, scroll down to the section titled Access Notes.
Affirmation
Everyday this week (or as many times as you can), hop in front of a mirror or an app that reflects your image back to you. Say the following affirmation three times in the morning(or three times at night) while looking into your eyes:
“I am Love! I choose to be who I was created to be!”
The following modifications are intended to create equal access to the spiritual practice above. These modifications are somewhat general to be as useful as possible to as many people as possible. Please feel free to further tweak the exercise as needed so that you can participate as fully as possible while honoring your body’s needs.
1. If you are blind or have low vision, memorize the affirmation or have the affirmation accessible to you. Close your eyes. Place both of your hands over your heart as you say the affirmations aloud.
2. If you are d/Deaf or hard of hearing and communicate via sign language, feel free to sign the affirmation as you look into your eyes.
3. If you are Deafblind and communicate via sign language, memorize the affirmation or have the sentences handy as you do the exercise. Close your eyes and place your hands over your heart. Take three slow, deep breaths. Sign the affirmation three times. Place both hands over your heart and take three more deep breaths.
4. If you are Deafblind and communicate via speaking orally, memorize the affirmation or have the sentences handy to read. Close your eyes. Place both hands over your heart. Say each sentence.
5. If you are non-verbal, nonspeaking or minimally verbal, here are two ways to modify this exercise. If you’re unsure of which method to try, try both and determine which one feels better to you.
a. Instead of verbally saying the sentences, say the affirmation in your mind while you looking into your eyes.
b. Either have your communication device or another person speak the affirmation while you look at your reflection. If you have another person speak the affirmations, ask the person to say your name instead of saying the pronoun ‘I’.
6. If you can speak but saying the affirmation three times is not possible, say the affirmation as many times as is healthy for you.
