Recent Articles | DianePetrella.com

Aug

Learning to Love Your Body

If you’re upset with your body, it may be frustrating to hear you need to “love” and “accept” it. You may believe you’ll never stop feeling angry and ashamed.

It doesn’t have to be this way. You can release this struggle and transform your relationship with your body into a loving, respectful partnership. Here are four practices to help you do that.

1. Acknowledge Your Feelings Without Self-Blame

If you “hate” your body or if you are “ashamed” of your body, just accept, without judgement, that this is how you feel today. Be gentle with yourself. Tell yourself, “It’s OK that I feel this way. But I don’t have to act on these feelings.”

Remind yourself that just because you have felt this way for a long time doesn’t mean you’re destined to feel this way in the future. When you allow yourself the space to simply honor your feelings, and not punish yourself for how you feel, you actually become open to releasing them. (more…)

May

Transformation Through Meditation

Diane Petrella

If you could do one thing everyday that promises to bring inner peace, trust and wisdom into your life, would you do it?

It’s easy. And it’s only a breath away.

Meditate.

Meditation offers many physical benefits. Research studies document improvement in heart rate, blood pressure and managing stress. These benefits promote good health and well-being.

And there is so much more.

Meditation strengthens your intuition. It clears out mental clutter so you can hear your inner voice. Your consciousness expands as you become more finely attuned to perceptions beyond the five senses.

We all have thousands of thoughts every day, usually hearing the same ones over and over. This endless chatter can be emotionally disorienting. When you meditate you enter the stillness between your thoughts. It is within this space, or gap, that you connect with your deepest self. This allows intuitive guidance to flow freely. Synchronistic events show up, guiding you along your life path. Your ability to manifest what you want becomes easier. (more…)

Apr

Release Worry Through Trust

Diane Petrella

“God grant me the grace and endurance to bear cheerfully what I cannot change; courage to fight for what I can change; wisdom to know the difference.” ~Reinhold Niebuhr

I admit it.

I’m a worrier. And like all good worriers, I worry most about the things over which I have the least control.

And I teach others how to relax!

Ever since I was a child I’ve had a high strung temperament. I accept it. I’ve worked on lightening up and have made huge strides.

I’m better than I used to be.

In some ways, worry has been a good friend. Worry has taught me how to cover all bases in a situation and to be prepared. It’s helped me to be successful in certain areas of my life. I instinctively anticipate all possible consequences to a situation and make a plan. I take action when necessary.

Everyone has challenges and issues to work on. You may vacillate between living with full trust in the Universe and then become stuck in fears and insecurities.

We all do this.

Your gift to yourself is to acknowledge those fears. Change what you can change. Accept what needs to be accepted. Forgive who needs to be forgiven. And trust that all is as it should be.

This Taoist tale was told to me by a wise friend many years ago. Perhaps you are familiar with it. (more…)

Mar

Release Excess Weight From Your Life

Diane Petrella

One of the simplest things you can do to support your healing journey is to declutter your life. Here’s why:

Everything is energy: our bodies, thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and even the physical objects around us. We are attached to our living space and personal belongings by invisible threads of energy.

Everything is connected.

Our homes are like mirrors reflecting back to us the beliefs we hold of ourselves. When you look at your rooms, closets, cupboards, car, purse, and work space, do you see order or chaos? Do you feel stressed or calm? Do you feel uplifted or depleted?

Do you feel light or heavy?

By releasing objects in your outside world that no longer serve you, you energetically release what no longer serves you on the inside as well. This can help you to remove internal blocks that prevent you from healing and moving forward toward self-growth. (more…)

Mar

Releasing Weight Through Self-Forgiveness

Diane Petrella

To release excess weight and create a healthy, vibrant body, you need a foundation of unconditional self-love. This is so because every cell in our body holds the energy of our thoughts and emotions. Our bodies are then “shaped” by the energy of our cells.

You cannot create health within a body that is filled with the toxic energies of self-contempt. It is almost as if excess weight fastens itself tightly to your body in the same way you hold tightly onto shame-based and guilt-ridden thoughts. By releasing this negativity you allow your body to receive wellness.

A self-forgiving state of mind purifies and cleans those negative energies. Only then will your body accept the changes you are making. Begin to develop the spiritual habit of self-forgiveness and you will surely notice significant changes in your physical health and in your ability to no longer use food for comfort.

We all do the best we can with the level of awareness that we have. Here’s a process to help you expand your awareness and open to the healing power of self-forgiveness: (more…)

Feb

Freedom Through Ho'oponopono

Diane Petrella

I’m sorry.
Please forgive me.
I love you.
Thank you.

Years ago I learned about a psychologist who healed an entire forensic ward of mentally ill criminals in a Hawaii state hospital. What was remarkable about this was that the psychologist and Director of the unit, Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, never worked directly with any of his patients. What was his magic…?

He used the powerful Hawaiian healing process called Ho’oponopono.

I had to learn more. (more…)

Jan

My Favorite Work-Out Buddy!

Diane Petrella

I feel fortunate to have discovered running while in my early twenties. I had exercised sporadically at health clubs, but this was different. I loved how my body felt after a run, so invigorated and alive. It was a meditative and creative time too, solutions to problems magically appearing during those runs. I was passionate about it, running road races and eventually challenging myself to run marathons.

I was a bit obsessed.

But after several decades of running, I wanted a more gentle approach. I never developed any running related injuries and I didn’t want to push my luck. So, I decided to use the cardio machines at my health club. Boring! It just didn’t compare to being outdoors, moving my body along the tree lined running path near my home. But I knew it probably was better for my body at that point, so I resigned myself to being bored.

I normally don’t watch television, but with an attached TV screen on the cardio machines, it certainly makes exercise more entertaining. I’d listen to the news, or watch a cooking show. But nothing really took the edge off the boredom.

It was a slow thirty minutes.

But then, I found my secret weapon: (more…)

Jan

5 Ways to Honor Your Body

Diane Petrella

As you begin this new year, commit to a respectful and loving relationship with your body. Here are five ways to release negativity and help you develop body confidence and respect.

1) Ask Your Body for Forgiveness

Your body wants to serve you. By apologizing to your body for ways you may have neglected or abused it, you communicate to your body genuine affection.

Your body has a consciousness of its own. And you have a relationship with it in the same way you have a relationship with a person. You can expand your body’s consciousness in positive ways by writing a letter of apology to it for ways you may have hurt it.

In the same way a heartfelt apology from a friend repairs a hurt and strengthens your relationship, apologies strengthen the relationship with your body too. And it’s not about inducing guilt. It’s about freedom from guilt and taking responsibility. When you take responsibility in this way, it becomes easier to feel connected with your body in the same way feel connected with a best friend.

2) Bless Your Food

Honor your body by honoring your food. Take time before meals to mindfully bless the food you eat. When you bless your food, you infuse it with uplifting spiritual energy. At the family dinner table, an abundant buffet, or before eating your take-out sandwich, simply say silently, “I bless this food for nourishing my body” or, “I bless this food for bringing me pleasure.”

As you do this mindfully and with positive intent, you will notice a subtle calming inside of you. This honors your relationship with food, your body, and yourself. (more…)

Nov

The Gift of Self-Love

Diane Petrella

Do you say yes when you really mean no?
Do you break promises to yourself or neglect your self-care?
Is it hard to put yourself first?

If so, it’s time to give yourself the best gift ever:

Self-Love

If you had a painful or traumatic childhood, you may harbor feelings of worthlessness, shame or self-hatred. Your outer world mirrors your inner world. Before others can love and respect you, you need to love and respect yourself

You may make decisions out of guilt, a need to please, or to avoid conflict. When you do this you neglect yourself and overvalue the needs of others. This communicates to the Universe that you will accept very little. And through the laws of energy, you unintentionally draw to yourself depriving and stressful experiences that match your inner belief. (more…)

Nov

The Gift of Gratitude

Diane Petrella

“A single grateful thought raised to heaven …is the most perfect prayer.” – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

If you don’t have what you want in your life, or if you want more of what you do have, here’s the key: Be grateful. Gratitude is healing to the emotions. If you are upset or feeling down, stop and give thanks for the good things in your life. An attitude of appreciation raises your energetic vibration. Since your vibration magnetizes to you your experiences, giving thanks brings you more to be thankful for. Your perspective changes.

Try this. Take an easy, gentle breath. Now, close your eyes and think of someone or something in your life that you love and appreciate.

Did your mood shift? Did you feel a sense of relaxation? Are you calmer?

This is the gift of gratitude.

Saying “thank you” to the Universe opens a pathway to receive more. Think of when you give something to someone and they don’t acknowledge or thank you for your gesture. Now think of someone who is appreciative and grateful. You want to keep giving. It’s the same with the Universe. Lack of appreciation is like turning your back on a loving, giving friend. Being grateful honors your connection. It is an invitation to the Universe to increase your supply. (more…)