I Could See Peace Instead of This: How ACIM Healed My Anxiety

Welcome! I’m your Psych Professor today as we discuss anxiety.

Are your palms sweating already?

Ok, everybody bust out their paper bag and listen up. This topic is relative because anxiety has become kind of an epidemic in the world.

Prior to 2020 it was already rampant, but in the aftermath of having our lives kinda blown up by a global pandemic, the (necessary) outing of our systemic racism through the Black Lives Matter movement, next-level divisive political unrest, the Russian invasion of and war on the Ukraine, mass shootings on the rise, and whatever else the ego mind has been freaking us out with – people are more anxious now than ever about everything.

Whether you are a chronic worrier, find yourself sleepless and battling worst-case thoughts at 2 a.m., have straight-up ER-level panic attacks, or one of the other 50 shades, you’re in good company with 40 million others in this country alone.

I see the many faces of it in my coaching practice all the time.

Anxiety is easily the number one thing people come to talk with me about, whether it is specifically expressed that way or couched in the guise of issues with relationship conflict, money and scarcity, the body, not being good enough, etc.

As students of A Course Miracles, we know that fear is fake and this world does not exist except as an illusion in our minds.

But that’s not always our experience.

It can seem real as sh*t, and the catastrophic futurizing version of it that characterizes anxiety is the most commonly diagnosed mental health condition in the US.

I totally get it. I struggled with anxiety myself for many years, before finally healing it with the study and practice of A Course in Miracles.

The reason we have anxiety in the first place is because we are constantly attempting to repress and deny our underlying feelings of unconscious guilt because we believe we separated from our Creator. We feel like we are bad, that we screwed up, we’ve done irreparable harm, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Except that’s not really true, because we do find countless ways to blame other people and situations for our unhappiness all the time – it’s called projection.

The dirty little secret the ego doesn’t want you to know is that not only does it not work – because only love can heal – but blaming others actually makes our guilt and anxiety worse – because now we feel guilty for blaming and attacking them and anxious about retaliation.

The awesome news is that the psychology of A Course in Miracles offers powerful medicine – a framework, tools, and practices that can assist you in healing your experience of anxiety.

One of the Course’s most powerful and helpful teachings around coping with anxiety and retraining the mind to think differently is lesson 34 from the Workbook,

“I could see peace instead of this.”
W-pI.34

This lesson is a balm for the soul, and when actually accepted by the mind, immediately provides relief and returns us to sanity and a sense of calm centeredness.

Hmmm… do you smell a but?

Yep – but “accepted” is the operative term here. The last thing our ego mind wants is for us to see peace or be sane – which are exactly the same thing – because that is a complete threat to its existence.

The ego is only at “peace” when we are not.

So keeping us in a constant, chronic state of anxiety is its jam 24/7.

It’s the way the ego continues to survive and be the boss of us.

When we resist, and allow ourselves to interrupt that inner-monologue of fear, worry and catastrophic thinking by practicing seeing peace instead – it’s a total game-changer.

I Could See Peace Instead of This: How ACIM Healed My Anxiety

Grab the FREE Anxiety Makeover Swag Bag

Access Kelly’s Free Resources Here

Jesus – the GOAT Physician in A Course in Miracles – has given us a prescription for healing our collective anxiety. It’s called the Atonement Principle, which is the full realization that the separation from God never occurred. The Course teaches this principle in different ways on every page and in every workbook lesson.

This Rx worked wonders for me in reclaiming my freedom from the tyranny of anxiety. I wanted to share the love and pay it forward, so I created a kit that combines these ideas and teachings with tools and practices that healed me from this particular form of fear. Here’s the link:

Anxiety Makeover Swag Bag: Transform Worry Lines to Peace Signs!

The toolkit includes:

The mini-ebook You’re Not Good Enough, You’re Perfect: Healing Your Bullshit Beliefs
A podcast – Fear is a Major Buzzkill: Forgiveness is the Elixir – the story of my own journey in healing anxiety
A guided meditation, Dissolving Anxiety in Liquid Light

Thank you so much for being here with me today. I hope you find peace in these gifts – and in practicing “I could see peace instead of this” W -pI.34 whenever you feel anxious.

I LOVE hearing from you, so leave me a comment or send me an email – I read them all. And if you know someone who might benefit from this lesson or from the tools in the Anxiety Makeover Swagbag, please share the post or video.

And remember, whenever you’re ready – as a coach of A Course in Miracles, I teach people to have the love they want in their lives by transforming their relationships with others, themselves, and God.

To explore that, book a free Discovery call with me here.