Our world is shifting. Some of us have felt the tremors deep within our core. I, for one, have been pushed out of my comfort zone. I felt that my choices were to either find a rudder to steer the course or, abandon ship thrashing and struggling to stay afloat. Fortunately, the struggle to survive is innate in all of us. So I found the rudder. What is that “special something” that makes someone transform a “negative situation” into a positive experience? The old John Lennon quote, “Life happens to us while we’re making plans” reverberates loud and clear throughout our lifetime. If we can weather the storm when we find ourselves swimming through a sudden rip tide, then we are certainly ahead of the game.

The first 40 years of my life, I didn’t have a clue about “spiritual survival skills.”
I dealt with problems any way I could and, fingers crossed, hoped for the best. I made choices which led me towards a certain direction and I had to deal with the consequences. My life was filled with fear. I deferred power to my husband and others. I didn’t know I had a voice. Finally, after 18 years of marriage and a divorce that lasted 4 years in court, I was determined to find easier ways to deal with life.

I was looking for opportunities to spread my wings. What better way to start than with “fire walking.” Tony Robbins provided a somewhat safe, super-charged experience of walking on 2000 degrees of hot coals, anchoring me with a powerful metaphor for life. Imagine what else you could do after such an experience.

After 18 firewalks (corresponding with 18 years of marriage, I decided to fulfill a deep desire to drive a race car. Tony’s metaphor, “If you can’t, you Must, if you Must, you Will!!” became my own. And I did “Take Action”. And as a result I become a professional stunt car driver for 8 years filming TV shows and commercials all over the country. Spinning and sliding cars, doing 180’s and 360’s on cue, elevated my confidence. But my inner emotional Spirit quietly awaited more lessons to come.

While I could perform feats of courage, I was still experiencing internal fears. A long-standing water phobia began to surface as the majority of my self improvement training took place in Hawaii. Here I was learning how to help people overcome past traumas when I knew I had to conquer my own. In addition to Hypnosis, Past Life Regression, Neuro Linguistics and Psychic channeling, I was introduced to an ancient Hawaiian healing process called Huna (secret).

The core of this work is “forgiveness.” Ho’oponopono is the official Hawaiian name which means to make amends inside ourselves twice. You forgive yourself for holding on to the perceptions of the past that destroy your body. For example, anger releases a chemical that bruises the heart muscle drawing a parallel to the medical fact that heart attacks are the leading cause of death in this country. Fear and sadness are known to reduce the immune systems ability to heal itself. Often these symptoms are simply called “depression” and pills are prescribed.

Being sensitive to drugs, I always looked for an alternative way to heal myself. As I started to practice the forgiveness process, learning the Hawaiian chants and other Huna secrets over the next 3 years, I began to feel lighter and better about myself.

Nevertheless, I was still keeping up a heavy schedule and pushing my body like an adrenaline junkie. Then I collapsed. My body would no longer support me because I was not listening to it. After an MRI, the doctors said I would not walk again without back surgery. Riddled with nerve damage, sciatica, herniated discs, and paralysis on my left side, I had no choice but to finally listen to my body. I knew by this time that lower back issues related to the material concerns of money, power, blame and guilt. Sure enough, those issues raged inside me. When I listened to my real internal dialogue, I was unconsciously saying to myself “I can’t be supported”. We know that the Unconscious Mind is a computer running our body via our thoughts. Consequently, my “computer” was gradually destroying my spine with my verbal permission. Instead of surgery, I decided to apply what I had learned about Huna. Before I could help other people I had to prove that I could heal myself. Could these techniques really work? “Physician…
heal thyself.”

Once I was conscious of this, I could then change the dialogue. I began to literally “thank” my back for supporting me, despite my fears. I cleansed myself with Ho’oponopono and allowed my unconscious to bring up the buried memories that were stuck in my lower back. Deep, conscious “Ha” breathing helps to bring up the memories. It is a deep breath to the top of the head where the Higher Self lives, and then an exhale with a “Ha” breath. The ancient Hawaiians practiced this Ha breathing in sets of 4, sometimes for hours. This breath connects us with our Higher Self which can heal anything and lead us to Higher Consciousness.

Once I cleared my memories, I began to see myself “climbing trees”. You have to have a strong back to do this. The emotional part of us, ruled by the Unconscious Mind, has a direct connection to the Higher Self. My Unconscious got very excited about the prospect of climbing trees again and sent these “seeds” to my Higher Self. After 4 days of practicing this exercise, my back completely healed ---even the scoliosis that I was born with, went away. My doctors were shocked but could not deny the reversal of symptoms.

It’s one thing to heal from an illness which happened 15 years ago. But when a sudden emotional storm comes out of nowhere, as it did for me recently, do these spiritual survival skills still apply? My only son Brian passed away suddenly last year after he graduated from college and became a Sergeant First Class in the Army Reserves. Nothing in life prepares you for losing a child. My grief was beyond comprehension and emotions still rise and fall within me like a raging tide.

Then a few months later, all my income was wiped out in a bad investment. I felt completely powerless. Still not over the death of my son, it took me several weeks to face the reality of having my income cut off. I started to sell what I had just to live. Thankfully, I am still healthy and grateful that for my daughter, grandson, and son-in-law who took me in. I always knew that money never defined me. I would find peace of mind thanks to my decision “to let go” and count the abundant blessings I did have. I also had to clean and forgive myself every day for the feelings of guilt, sadness, fear and anger that accompany such a loss. Thank God for Ho’oponopono, the forgiveness process.

The act of letting go played itself out years ago when I was learning how to swim in Hawaii. Being rather confident, one day I swam too far out and started to panic as I drifted further from shore. I called for help and suddenly a giant turtle appeared along side of me. I could hear the turtle say “Stop struggling and do what I do”.

Immediately I relaxed and moved my arms back and forth like the turtle. With penetrating eye contact, the turtle led me gently over the current that I had been fighting and safely onto the rocks. Then he disappeared. The turtle saved my life. Again and again I thank the turtle for teaching me how to “let go” and flow over the current.

When I lost my money I let go of the worry and began to take stock of what I could do to thrive. In a miraculous way, the money that was lost came back to me from a different source. Dissolving our perceptions everyday keeps us in the present time so we can be open to receive without the entanglement of negative thoughts.

Having gone to the depths of suffering we can rise like the Phoenix seeing the world through different eyes. I am grateful everyday for the forgiveness process and the ability to”let go”, my main “spiritual survival tools” that have brought me full circle to the present time. Letting go of the interpretations of the past is the key that will open the door to peace of mind despite what goes on in the world.


Belinda Farrell is a Certified Master Hypnotherapist, Neuro-Linguistics Practitioner, and certified Huna Practitioner of ancient Hawaiian healing. She holds a B.A. degree in English and Spanish from the University of California at Berkeley and a Life Time Elementary Teaching Credential. Belinda teaches 4 Levels of Huna as well as conducts Personal Breakthrough Sessions on the phone or in person in Santa Cruz, CA. Her 3 internationally acclaimed CD’s incorporate the Forgiveness process together with the ancient Hawaiian chants to call your Spirit back.
Website: www.hunahealing.com