“If you want to understand your parents more, get them to talk about
their own childhoods; and if you listen with compassion, you will learn
where their fears and rigid patterns come from.”
“They will often tell me they can’t love themselves because they are so
fat, or as one girl put it, ‘too round at the edges.’ I explain that they are
fat because they don’t love themselves. When we begin to love and
approve of ourselves, it’s amazing how weight just disappears from our
bodies.”
“Be grateful for what you do have, and you will find that it increases. I
like to bless with love all that is in my life right now—my home, the
heat, water, light, telephone, furniture, plumbing, appliances, clothing,
transportation, jobs—the money I do have, friends, my ability to see
and feel and taste and touch and walk and to enjoy this incredible
planet.”



You Can Heal Your Life is the message of a person who has crawled out
of victimhood, and this aspect of it has had enormous appeal, particularly
to women with similar histories. The essence of Hay’s teaching is love of
the self and evaporation of guilt, a process she believes makes us mentally
free and physically healthy, as the study of psycho-immunology attests.
All the familiar self-help messages are given attention, including
breaking free of limiting thoughts, replacing fear with faith, forgiveness,
and understanding that thoughts really do create experiences.
Some of the main points are:


❖ Disease (or “dis-ease,” as Hay calls it) is the product of states of mind.
She believes that the inability to forgive is the root cause of all illness.
❖ Healing requires us to release the pattern of thought that has led to
our present condition. The “problem” is rarely the real issue. The
superficial things that we don’t like about ourselves mask a deeper
belief that we are “not good enough.” Genuinely loving the self (but
not in a narcissistic way) is the basis for all self-healing. Chapter 15
lists just about every illness and its likely corresponding mental
“blockage.” Skeptics may find the list remarkably accurate if they
open their minds a little.
❖ Affirmations are about remembering our true self and utilizing its
power. Therefore, trust in the power of affirmations to manifest
what you want. They must always be positive and in the present
tense; for example, “I am totally healthy” or “Marvelous work
opportunities are coming to me.” The book contains many affirmations
to choose from.
❖ “Whatever we concentrate on increases, so don’t concentrate on
your bills.” You will only create more of them. Gratefulness for
what you do have makes it more abundant. Become aware of the
limitless supply of the universe—observe nature! Your income is
only a channel of prosperity, not its source.
❖ “Your security is not your job, or your bank account, or your
investments, or your spouse, or parents. Your security is your ability

to connect with the cosmic power that creates all things.” If you
have the ability to still your mind and invoke feelings of peace by
realizing you are not alone, you can never really feel insecure again.
❖ One of the first things Hay says to people who come to see her is
“Stop criticizing yourself!” We may have spent a lifetime doing this,
but the beginning of real self-love—one of the main ingredients in
healing your life—happens when we decide to give ourselves a break.