Year in Review – Louise L. Hay
There are few people we meet in our lifetime whose presence and effervescent spirit fills us instantly with an abundance of energy and love. Louise Hay is one of those rare people who radiates peace and seems to make time stand still. And when the prospect of a movie about her life and her work came to fruition, the unanimous response from all who have been touched by Louise’s caring nature and generous desire to help others was—“It’s about time!”
(for the full article and multimedia experience, click here: OM-Times July 2010 Edition)
It all started more than 30 years ago when Louise saw how people let illness and hurtful circumstances control their lives. She vowed to help them see that the root of their pain stemmed from their own negative thoughts. So, she sat down and wrote a little blue pamphlet where she described how our mental patterns and beliefs can actually contribute to illness in our body. She even listed various medical conditions, explained what thoughts correlated with them, and showed us that the way to heal our lives was just a positive thought away.
Louise had a simple message that she wanted to share: “The body, like everything else in life, is a mirror of our inner thoughts and beliefs. Every cell within your body responds to every single thought you think and every word you speak.”
Louise started what would become her life’s work in New York City in 1970. She attended meetings at the Church of Religious Science and began training in the ministerial program. She became a popular speaker at the church, and soon found herself counseling clients. This work quickly blossomed into a full-time career. After several years, Louise compiled a reference guide detailing the mental causes of physical ailments, and developed positive thought patterns for reversing illness and creating health. Little did she know that this tiny blue book, which she incorporated into her second book You Can Heal Your Life would change the world and its way of thinking. You Can Heal Your Life, published in 1984, has been translated into 29 different languages, is available in more than 35 countries, and to date has sold more than 35 million copies around the world.
Louise was able to put her philosophies into practice when she was diagnosed with cancer. She considered the alternatives to surgery and drugs, and instead developed an intensive program of affirmations, visualization, nutritional cleansing, and psychotherapy. Within six months, she was completely healed of cancer.
In 1980, Louise moved back to her native Southern California, and it was here that she began putting her workshop methods on paper. In 1984, her new book, You Can Heal Your Life, was published. In it, Louise explains how our beliefs and ideas about ourselves are often the cause of our emotional problems and physical maladies and how, by using certain tools, we can change our thinking and our lives for the better.
