Welcome to Lesson 1 of the Flow Healing System ™ – The Language of Freedom. Today we will begin to lay the groundwork, and recreate what is possible starting at the foundation. How language creates our world Ways you’ve been using words to create pain What “Freedom” means Short cuts to discover your own blocks Proven Tools to help you break free & Thrive Ready? Let’s Go! ACTION STEPS 1. WORKSHEETS. These are lifted from the Flow into Joy Journeybook that I recently created for use with clients. Try the Presence Tracking Worksheet for a few days - A beautiful way to track thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. Click here to get it. 2. Begin to tune into your CUE words to get more clarity around your stories. I AM I HAVE I HAVE TO…. (Almost always a story) When these words arise there is a story to tune into, whether it be empowering or disempowering. Listen carefully. A few others… I FEEL LIKE (This is a thought masquerading as a feeling) Any absolutes, like ALWAYS, NEVER, FOREVER. (replace with often, sometimes, for a while) BUT… (But always negates what came before it). Instead, try AND, as in the classic example IT IS RAINING BUT I WANT TO GO OUTSIDE… vs. IT IS RAINING AND I WANT TO GO OUTSIDE.

1. Flow Healing System
Lesson 1: The Language of Freedom
Steven Budden, HHWP, MFA
• How language creates our world
• Ways you’ve been using words to create pain
• What “Freedom” means!
• Short cuts to discover your own blocks
• Proven Tools to help you break free & Thrive
What you’ll learn:

2. How Stories Shape your Life
• Trace back to childhood and BEYOND
• Intense experiences anchor them in our body/mind
• We regress into these stories at certain “triggers”
A human being is a constellation of stories
2 Kinds of Stories that can cause pain!
2. Origin Story
• Someone told us a story and we accepted it
• Often from childhood, sometimes from adulthood
• These stories run in our unconscious as “truth”
1. Adopted Story
We carry stories about our past, our present,
our future, our religion, our soul. Even our name
and origin is a story that we have created / adopted.

3. Excavating Stories
The first stage in this process is the DISCOVERY stage.!
!
Try these KEY questions:
• Some of them are on the surface for all to see
• Others are deep in shadow
• Some we are ashamed of
• Others we are proud of and will defend
(sometimes to the death)
• “I AM…”
• “I HAVE…”
• “I HAVE TO…”
How do we discover our our own stories?
Keep in Mind:

4. What Freedom Means
When I use the word “Freedom” I mean
• Freedom from meaningless ritual
• Freedom from limitations
• Freedom from our negative thoughts
• Freedom from painful patterns
• Freedom from automatic responses
Ways we hold onto our stories
• Physiologically- They are Wired in our Bodies
• Progressive thought loops
• Energetically / Spiritually / Karmically
Language Effects
• Body
• Mind
• Spirit
“You have freedom when you're easy in your harness.”
Robert Frost
Language is at the ROOT of our BEING.

5. Why do we hold onto stories?
Especially when they continue to hurt us?
• Our ego associates our sense of “self” with it
• It meets our needs to feel “Unique and significant”
• Paradoxically, it also meets our need for connection (for
instance, my mother had this ailment, so me having it is a way to
connect with her)
• We feel we deserve punishment (unconsciously)
We fear the unknown, and a story makes something “known”
Example: A mysterious health condition appears. We research it online
and find a label that fits. Even though the ailment or dis-ease may be
terrible, it meets our need for knowing and also for connection
(when we discover that other people “have” the same dis-ease too).
We have adopted a story. LIFE has CHANGED.

6. Language and Disease
Language can actually “anchor” dis-ease into our bodies
Let’s go back to the Key statements and think of some ways you use it.
Examples: “I have…” • Terrible Vision
• Bad Knees
• Flat feet
• Poor digestion
• Poor posture
• Psoriasis
• Anxiety
• Depression
• ADD
• Bulimia
• Cancer
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Parkinson’s
• Celiac’s Disease
Whenever you repeat one of these statements, it
becomes a part of your identity, and your cells
receive the message to keep perpetuating it.
!
As Barbara Hoberman Levine puts it:
“Your Body Believes Every Word you Say”

7. We are meaning makers
We go through life looking for labels and stories that apply.
Be careful about committing to a story or a dis-ease.
!
Certain diagnoses, such as Cancer, are very difficult to undo.
When a doctor tells us we have 5 years to live, for instance, and we
believe them, we have adopted a story which has shifted the course
of our lives dramatically. Our entire physiology will often adapt to fit
into that paradigm.
Tip:
When we don’t consciously choose our stories, others choose them for us.
These stories come to us in various guises. Think of SONGS, MOVIES,
VIDEOS, SOCIAL MEDIA, etc.
What are you choosing right NOW?

8. Do Words Heal?
Can a simple language shift change our lives?
Practical Applications:
• We think in language
• Shifting language shifts thoughts
• Thoughts are the seeds of all creation
Instead of I HAVE arthritis, consider saying “at certain moments I
notice a pain in my elbow.” or “I am noticing a burning in my
wrist.”
!
There are certain moments that the joints don’t hurt. The story
oversimplifies and overshadows the painless moments.
!
Do you see how this creates SPACE for healing?

9. More Examples
Instead of “I AM allergic to X”, try:
!
“In the past I’ve noticed a rash when I eat X, so I choose not to eat it at this
moment.”
!
Instead of “I have bad knees”, consider:
!
“In the past I’ve noticed (sensation) during certain activities.”
!
Stories lock us into the PAST.
We want to embrace the PRESENT.
So we can create the FUTURE.
!
Sensations are continually arising and passing away. In some sense,
all “labels” oversimplify.
!
So if you’re going to oversimplify, make it empowering.

10. When stories drop away
There are moments when stories drop away and we are
able to meet the present moment with our full self
I call this being in “Flow”.
Stories enter in the realm of THOUGHT.
!
And life happens in the realm of EXPERIENCE.
“There are no authentic stories.” Byron Katie

11. Action Steps
• Complete the worksheets below.
• Use your cue words to notice subtle shifts in STORY.
• Begin to consciously catch yourself and rewrite your stories
• Share your experience in the comments and help others
grow
Welcome to FLOW
I will see you soon in Lesson 2: Lightening the Dark
Thoughts