Create a Calm & Meaningful Life
With These 5 Practices
An Introduction to My Framework for
Living by Your Inner Guidance
These practices help you know your deepest self, the source of your inner guidance.
As a highly sensitive person, you have
greater depth and complexity than most people.
You’ve been gifted with considerable insight.
When you combine your insight with your desire for higher consciousness,
you jumpstart your quest for a happier and more peaceful life.
This free course was created by
karen elena james
None of the information provided here is intended to treat or diagnose any health condition.
None of the information provided here is a substitute for medical or psychological diagnosis and treatment.
Copyright karen elena james 2021. All rights reserved. No part of this Course may be reproduced or transmitted by any means or in any form,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system
without express permission in writing by the author.
With These 5 Practices
An Introduction to My Framework for
Living by Your Inner Guidance
These practices help you know your deepest self, the source of your inner guidance.
As a highly sensitive person, you have
greater depth and complexity than most people.
You’ve been gifted with considerable insight.
When you combine your insight with your desire for higher consciousness,
you jumpstart your quest for a happier and more peaceful life.
This free course was created by
karen elena james
None of the information provided here is intended to treat or diagnose any health condition.
None of the information provided here is a substitute for medical or psychological diagnosis and treatment.
Copyright karen elena james 2021. All rights reserved. No part of this Course may be reproduced or transmitted by any means or in any form,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system
without express permission in writing by the author.
Introduction
I created this Course so I could share with you 5 practices that will help you access and understand your deepest self. They offer a path to your hidden motivations, your values, your creativity and your dreams. They are the foundation for creating a life that’s meaningful for you.
You have the power within you to co-create your reality. Who is your co-creator? God, the Universe, Source - whatever term is right for you.
You’ve already been doing this, whether you realize it or not. The question is, have you been creating experiences that you want? And are you interpreting (reacting to) your experiences in the best way possible? Your reactions are creating your reality.
In order to create a healthy reality, you first need to know who you are. You need to distinguish “you” from the outside influences you’ve internalized over the years.
These 5 practices help you stop worrying about, and being subjected to, outside interference – unless it’s helpful. Maybe you already know that “helpful” isn’t always pleasant. I hope that doesn’t scare you, because higher consciousness means you welcome expansion.
And when you understand how fundamentally strong you are, you don’t have to look to others to give you what you need and you don’t have to fear the unknown.
You live what you feel and believe. These 5 practices are the foundation for making changes in your life that will release your feelings and help you create new, healthy beliefs.
When your thoughts are dominated by information you absorbed from others, you’re living by their rules and ideas.
If you haven’t felt seen or respected, these practices will help you recover your strength and confidence. They can help you regain trust in your own judgment and give due value to your needs. You’ll create standards to live by so you can take back control of your life.
I created this Course so I could share with you 5 practices that will help you access and understand your deepest self. They offer a path to your hidden motivations, your values, your creativity and your dreams. They are the foundation for creating a life that’s meaningful for you.
You have the power within you to co-create your reality. Who is your co-creator? God, the Universe, Source - whatever term is right for you.
You’ve already been doing this, whether you realize it or not. The question is, have you been creating experiences that you want? And are you interpreting (reacting to) your experiences in the best way possible? Your reactions are creating your reality.
In order to create a healthy reality, you first need to know who you are. You need to distinguish “you” from the outside influences you’ve internalized over the years.
These 5 practices help you stop worrying about, and being subjected to, outside interference – unless it’s helpful. Maybe you already know that “helpful” isn’t always pleasant. I hope that doesn’t scare you, because higher consciousness means you welcome expansion.
And when you understand how fundamentally strong you are, you don’t have to look to others to give you what you need and you don’t have to fear the unknown.
You live what you feel and believe. These 5 practices are the foundation for making changes in your life that will release your feelings and help you create new, healthy beliefs.
When your thoughts are dominated by information you absorbed from others, you’re living by their rules and ideas.
If you haven’t felt seen or respected, these practices will help you recover your strength and confidence. They can help you regain trust in your own judgment and give due value to your needs. You’ll create standards to live by so you can take back control of your life.
The Practices
I began following these practices in the early years of my healing and personal development.
I still use all of them today. They’re so ingrained in my life and so natural to the way I live, I usually do them without thinking. And now that I’m guiding others, they’re also the foundation for my teachings.
The 5 practices are: Awareness - Self-Expression - Reflection & Meditation - Gratitude - Guidance
Together, they offer you a new way of life.
Suggestion: You may want to keep a journal as you go through this course. It’s good to put your thoughts and feelings someplace where you an refer to them later, without relying on your memory. And hopefully, you’ll feel motivated to explore.
I began following these practices in the early years of my healing and personal development.
I still use all of them today. They’re so ingrained in my life and so natural to the way I live, I usually do them without thinking. And now that I’m guiding others, they’re also the foundation for my teachings.
The 5 practices are: Awareness - Self-Expression - Reflection & Meditation - Gratitude - Guidance
Together, they offer you a new way of life.
Suggestion: You may want to keep a journal as you go through this course. It’s good to put your thoughts and feelings someplace where you an refer to them later, without relying on your memory. And hopefully, you’ll feel motivated to explore.
Awareness
Awareness is how you experience your life, both internally and externally. It’s your knowledge and perception of yourself, the outer world and how they interact.
Let me begin with a few questions:
How do you feel when you read these questions? You’ll have another opportunity to answer at the end of this section.
Your answers will reflect a basic rule. It’s based in science and you can see examples of it everywhere in your life when you know what to look for. That’s because dissatisfaction with your job, relationships, society – anywhere things aren’t working in your life - comes from within you.
Those people and circumstances that irritate you have a purpose beyond irritation. They can motivate you to change! Your greatest chance for having a calmer and more satisfying life comes from making changes within you.
Remember this: your outer life reflects your inner life.
The more awareness you have of the powers governing your inner self, the greater your ability to harness those powers to create the reality you want to live with.
Being highly sensitive - and at least partially an introvert - is advantageous because you already have heightened physical, emotional and intuitive awareness. You have more capacity to know the subtleties of life.
If you don’t believe that your strong feelings are a benefit, it’s likely due to interference from subconscious fears you absorbed from other people. Those fears created programming which is blocking a more possibility-filled vision of life for you.
In order to determine which of those beliefs need to be adjusted or removed to fit the life you want to have now, you’ve got to move them from your subconscious mind to your conscious mind. Even though they’re deeply buried, they can be accessed with some persistence on your part.
This is the benefit of awareness, of being “awake.” You will always have patterns that influence your life, so you want to be governed by patterns that promote good health – emotionally, mentally and physically.
Awareness is also your connection to Source energy. When you increase your awareness, you open your connection to a web that includes not only the deeper parts of yourself but also the energy of everything around you.
We’re all exchanging energy all the time. With higher awareness, you’ll have greater knowledge and understanding of those energetic relationships. And that, in turn, leads to your making more conscious choices about your life.
Journal prompt:
What’s missing from your life? What would you like to be different?
Do you believe other people or situations – from your past or currently - are holding you back?
How do you feel about change? Does it excite or scare you, seem easy or difficult?
Awareness is how you experience your life, both internally and externally. It’s your knowledge and perception of yourself, the outer world and how they interact.
Let me begin with a few questions:
- Do you know why you make certain choices rather than others?
- Do you know what holds you back and what moves you forward?
- Do you know what makes you happy?
- What scares you or makes you uncomfortable, what do you avoid?
How do you feel when you read these questions? You’ll have another opportunity to answer at the end of this section.
Your answers will reflect a basic rule. It’s based in science and you can see examples of it everywhere in your life when you know what to look for. That’s because dissatisfaction with your job, relationships, society – anywhere things aren’t working in your life - comes from within you.
Those people and circumstances that irritate you have a purpose beyond irritation. They can motivate you to change! Your greatest chance for having a calmer and more satisfying life comes from making changes within you.
Remember this: your outer life reflects your inner life.
The more awareness you have of the powers governing your inner self, the greater your ability to harness those powers to create the reality you want to live with.
Being highly sensitive - and at least partially an introvert - is advantageous because you already have heightened physical, emotional and intuitive awareness. You have more capacity to know the subtleties of life.
If you don’t believe that your strong feelings are a benefit, it’s likely due to interference from subconscious fears you absorbed from other people. Those fears created programming which is blocking a more possibility-filled vision of life for you.
In order to determine which of those beliefs need to be adjusted or removed to fit the life you want to have now, you’ve got to move them from your subconscious mind to your conscious mind. Even though they’re deeply buried, they can be accessed with some persistence on your part.
This is the benefit of awareness, of being “awake.” You will always have patterns that influence your life, so you want to be governed by patterns that promote good health – emotionally, mentally and physically.
Awareness is also your connection to Source energy. When you increase your awareness, you open your connection to a web that includes not only the deeper parts of yourself but also the energy of everything around you.
We’re all exchanging energy all the time. With higher awareness, you’ll have greater knowledge and understanding of those energetic relationships. And that, in turn, leads to your making more conscious choices about your life.
Journal prompt:
What’s missing from your life? What would you like to be different?
Do you believe other people or situations – from your past or currently - are holding you back?
How do you feel about change? Does it excite or scare you, seem easy or difficult?
Self – Expression
Your emotions
Oftentimes, highly sensitive introverts try to repress your emotions and hide your reactions from other people. Your strong emotions and preference for privacy can make it embarrassing to display your feelings around non-sensitives. Crying is an example. It’s considered inappropriate socially and professionally in a lot of cultures, especially in public and especially for men.
Sometimes you’ll have great difficulty trying to control your emotions regardless of your surroundings. But know that others may have the same reaction as you.
When I was on jury duty, we heard from a witness who had been permanently brain-damaged by a vicious attack. Everyone on the jury was trying extremely hard – and with little success – to avoid crying as we listened to the victim’s story of life before and after the attack. No one could hold back their tears.
Other times, having control of your emotions is more important. Anger is a good example. There’s a difference between feeling and expressing. If your reaction is going to put you or someone else in danger, you’ll want to have enough self-control so you can decide how to react safely.
On the other hand, sometimes you may have too much control. You’ve repressed your emotions because past relationships and experiences taught you that you couldn’t express anything. In order to cope, you shut down and your emotions were buried. The thing is, they may pop out at inappropriate times when the pressure becomes too great.
Regardless of the situation, keeping your emotions inside for too long can have negative effects on your health – emotionally, mentally and physically. I can’t tell you how to handle the variety of situations you’ll find yourself in. But if you decide to express what’s in your heart more often, your secret will be out - you’re a sensitive soul who experiences life deeply and intensely.
Your personality
The other part of self-expression is showing your true self.
When you feel free to let people see the real you, you open natural channels of communication. Your creativity is released. The real “you” is given space to emerge – your interests, your opinions, your dreams – the list goes on.
We all reveal different aspects of ourselves to different people at different times depending on what’s appropriate and how comfortable – and safe - we are. But beyond that, when we’ve kept parts of our personality locked away because we didn’t want to be judged or labeled as “different,” we haven’t been living our own life.
Whatever your life path is, it’s up to you to explore and to express who you are in ways that are right for you at the time.
Your emotions
Oftentimes, highly sensitive introverts try to repress your emotions and hide your reactions from other people. Your strong emotions and preference for privacy can make it embarrassing to display your feelings around non-sensitives. Crying is an example. It’s considered inappropriate socially and professionally in a lot of cultures, especially in public and especially for men.
Sometimes you’ll have great difficulty trying to control your emotions regardless of your surroundings. But know that others may have the same reaction as you.
When I was on jury duty, we heard from a witness who had been permanently brain-damaged by a vicious attack. Everyone on the jury was trying extremely hard – and with little success – to avoid crying as we listened to the victim’s story of life before and after the attack. No one could hold back their tears.
Other times, having control of your emotions is more important. Anger is a good example. There’s a difference between feeling and expressing. If your reaction is going to put you or someone else in danger, you’ll want to have enough self-control so you can decide how to react safely.
On the other hand, sometimes you may have too much control. You’ve repressed your emotions because past relationships and experiences taught you that you couldn’t express anything. In order to cope, you shut down and your emotions were buried. The thing is, they may pop out at inappropriate times when the pressure becomes too great.
Regardless of the situation, keeping your emotions inside for too long can have negative effects on your health – emotionally, mentally and physically. I can’t tell you how to handle the variety of situations you’ll find yourself in. But if you decide to express what’s in your heart more often, your secret will be out - you’re a sensitive soul who experiences life deeply and intensely.
Your personality
The other part of self-expression is showing your true self.
When you feel free to let people see the real you, you open natural channels of communication. Your creativity is released. The real “you” is given space to emerge – your interests, your opinions, your dreams – the list goes on.
We all reveal different aspects of ourselves to different people at different times depending on what’s appropriate and how comfortable – and safe - we are. But beyond that, when we’ve kept parts of our personality locked away because we didn’t want to be judged or labeled as “different,” we haven’t been living our own life.
Whatever your life path is, it’s up to you to explore and to express who you are in ways that are right for you at the time.
Reflection & Meditation
At the beginning of this course, I wrote about awareness being your connection to your higher self and to Source. Reflection and meditation are methods of gaining that awareness. They are the tools for accessing what you cannot see. If you allow them to, they’ll lead you to the roots of your distress and your joy.
If these practices are new to you, they may seem mysterious or difficult, requiring special or time-consuming techniques.
That’s not true. Meditation has become popular in modern western culture and you can make it as simple or complex as you like. It’s even being taught to young children in school. Reflection is an informal practice that requires only your time and attention.
These practices can lead you out of anxiety and discontent and into peace and fulfillment.
If you use these practices regularly, they can reduce the level of your anxiety. And when you do get stressed, you should be able to calm yourself more easily. They enable you to exert more control over your mind so you aren’t at the mercy of negative and repetitive thoughts so often.
Reflection and meditation are the gateway to your inner self. This is where you align your head and your heart, because you need both in order to manifest the life you want to lead.
When you go within, you reach not only the essence of your own existence but also your connection to the greater consciousness. You uncover what’s stored in your subconscious and learn how to communicate with it.
For highly sensitive introverts, these processes are a natural progression from your innate intuition because you’re already at home with depth. All you need to do is to experiment with the different ways of reaching the relaxed states where you practice meditation or reflection.
At the beginning of this course, I wrote about awareness being your connection to your higher self and to Source. Reflection and meditation are methods of gaining that awareness. They are the tools for accessing what you cannot see. If you allow them to, they’ll lead you to the roots of your distress and your joy.
If these practices are new to you, they may seem mysterious or difficult, requiring special or time-consuming techniques.
That’s not true. Meditation has become popular in modern western culture and you can make it as simple or complex as you like. It’s even being taught to young children in school. Reflection is an informal practice that requires only your time and attention.
These practices can lead you out of anxiety and discontent and into peace and fulfillment.
If you use these practices regularly, they can reduce the level of your anxiety. And when you do get stressed, you should be able to calm yourself more easily. They enable you to exert more control over your mind so you aren’t at the mercy of negative and repetitive thoughts so often.
Reflection and meditation are the gateway to your inner self. This is where you align your head and your heart, because you need both in order to manifest the life you want to lead.
When you go within, you reach not only the essence of your own existence but also your connection to the greater consciousness. You uncover what’s stored in your subconscious and learn how to communicate with it.
For highly sensitive introverts, these processes are a natural progression from your innate intuition because you’re already at home with depth. All you need to do is to experiment with the different ways of reaching the relaxed states where you practice meditation or reflection.
Gratitude
This practice is crucial for living a contented life because it keeps your focus on what you have rather than what you lack.
Gratitude is an acknowledgement of all you have in your life from the smallest details up to and including the Universe. By thanking Source for all it offers, you’re recognizing the magnitude of everything that’s available to you.
Gratitude sets in motion a healthy pattern of welcoming stimulating events and people into your life.
If you’ve felt misunderstood and experienced ill treatment by others, or if the stress of an uncertain future is weighing heavily on you, you may feel that life is hopelessly difficult. Modern life, especially during times of transition such as we’re experiencing now – is giving everyone greater challenges to our peace of mind.
If you don’t feel as though your attempts to reduce stress and anxiety are making a difference, this practice can help. When you’re frustrated or unhappy, it’s natural to focus on what’s wrong in your life.
By developing and faithfully following a gratitude practice, you can change your perception of life to one of optimism and possibility.
Gratitude is ultimately about energy. What you focus on, increases.
By reaching to see what you have and including it in your awareness, you bring more abundance into your reality. So - do you want more difficulty or do you want more ease?
Don’t get the wrong idea - problems won’t disappear when you change your focus to optimism. But you’ll be able to see them as challenges that are a natural part of life. And that will make them less stressful and more manageable.
This practice is crucial for living a contented life because it keeps your focus on what you have rather than what you lack.
Gratitude is an acknowledgement of all you have in your life from the smallest details up to and including the Universe. By thanking Source for all it offers, you’re recognizing the magnitude of everything that’s available to you.
Gratitude sets in motion a healthy pattern of welcoming stimulating events and people into your life.
If you’ve felt misunderstood and experienced ill treatment by others, or if the stress of an uncertain future is weighing heavily on you, you may feel that life is hopelessly difficult. Modern life, especially during times of transition such as we’re experiencing now – is giving everyone greater challenges to our peace of mind.
If you don’t feel as though your attempts to reduce stress and anxiety are making a difference, this practice can help. When you’re frustrated or unhappy, it’s natural to focus on what’s wrong in your life.
By developing and faithfully following a gratitude practice, you can change your perception of life to one of optimism and possibility.
Gratitude is ultimately about energy. What you focus on, increases.
By reaching to see what you have and including it in your awareness, you bring more abundance into your reality. So - do you want more difficulty or do you want more ease?
Don’t get the wrong idea - problems won’t disappear when you change your focus to optimism. But you’ll be able to see them as challenges that are a natural part of life. And that will make them less stressful and more manageable.
Guidance
Guidance is a practice of communicating with your higher self and the Universe. It involves asking for information, watching for messages and then acting on what you receive.
While my 5 practices work together, you’ll benefit most from guidance if you’ve already begun using the first 4 practices. That’s because guidance works best if:
When you believe in the unseen world and your ability to tap into its power, you open your life to all kinds of possibilities. On the contrary, if you resist or automatically reject it, ask yourself if you’re in an old, fear-based pattern.
Communication from your inner self and Source is usually more subtle than communications you get through your 5 senses.
As a highly sensitive introvert, you’re built for that subtlety and communication from within. When you trust the messages of your inner guidance and take action based on what you’ve received, you can open yourself to the future you’re meant to have.
Guidance is a practice of communicating with your higher self and the Universe. It involves asking for information, watching for messages and then acting on what you receive.
While my 5 practices work together, you’ll benefit most from guidance if you’ve already begun using the first 4 practices. That’s because guidance works best if:
- Your heart and mind are open to receive
- You’re ready to accept messages in a variety of ways
- You believe in synchronicity
- You believe that change is desirable and necessary
- You believe that with persistence and belief, you have the power to co-create your reality
- You’re willing to work to improve your life
- You’re willing to be patient to see results
When you believe in the unseen world and your ability to tap into its power, you open your life to all kinds of possibilities. On the contrary, if you resist or automatically reject it, ask yourself if you’re in an old, fear-based pattern.
Communication from your inner self and Source is usually more subtle than communications you get through your 5 senses.
As a highly sensitive introvert, you’re built for that subtlety and communication from within. When you trust the messages of your inner guidance and take action based on what you’ve received, you can open yourself to the future you’re meant to have.
Summary
These practices are the foundation for a way of life. That way of life revolves around your openness to the life energy within and that surrounds you. It’s a life based on harmony and flow.
As you use these practices and build your relationship with your higher self, your finely-tuned nature as a sensitive person will help you. Your emotional depth and intuition will help you attract and emit the energy that will create a life with meaning for you.
The world of energy isn’t limited like the physical world that we experience. Energy attracts and repels and transforms. It can take different shapes. When you believe in its existence as more than a scientific phenomenon, you open up all kinds of possibilities.
For example, you’ve surely experienced coincidences. What if you could request them?
I know that it’s possible because I do it myself. What’s required is belief and open channels of communication.
If you allow yourself to believe, you’ll discover that you have powers that you probably couldn’t have imagined a short time ago.
These practices are the foundation for a way of life. That way of life revolves around your openness to the life energy within and that surrounds you. It’s a life based on harmony and flow.
As you use these practices and build your relationship with your higher self, your finely-tuned nature as a sensitive person will help you. Your emotional depth and intuition will help you attract and emit the energy that will create a life with meaning for you.
The world of energy isn’t limited like the physical world that we experience. Energy attracts and repels and transforms. It can take different shapes. When you believe in its existence as more than a scientific phenomenon, you open up all kinds of possibilities.
For example, you’ve surely experienced coincidences. What if you could request them?
I know that it’s possible because I do it myself. What’s required is belief and open channels of communication.
If you allow yourself to believe, you’ll discover that you have powers that you probably couldn’t have imagined a short time ago.