This section is dedicated to the inspiring insights that Lesley Hannell, M.A., Psychotherapist and Energy Practitioner, has provided in essay form to the City of Waterfalls website. Lesley's site can be seen at www.lesleyhannell.com

Hamilton ~ A New View

Last night (Saturday August 2nd, 2008) on Larry King Live, the topic was “Change Your Mind, Change Your Life”. Guests were from the very popular mind stretching movie of 5 or 6 years ago titled, What the Bleep Do We Know. I first saw this movie at an Energy Psychology Conference in Toronto around 2002. The subtitle on the original movie was “Just How Far Down the Rabbit Hole Do You Want To Go?”

What the Bleep challenged all our old ways of viewing reality and suggested that our thoughts directly and dramatically affect our reality. A pre runner to the currently popular movie and book called The Secret, What the Bleep demonstrated that thoughts are in fact just energy in motion, and emotions are also energy in motion .... e-motion.

The world renowned scientist Dr Candace Pert was a guest of Larry King's last night and was also a participant in What the Bleep. Her research, which has been going on for many years now, describes how neuropeptides in the body create learned and habitual patterns of response, so that we in effect get “hooked” on certain emotions: we become addicted to things like anger, jealousy, fear, anxiety, depression, etc.

In order to change our life and change our world, our reality, we can merely create new neural pathways by practicing new thoughts and new behaviours, till the old patterns no longer have any charge. As such, we are no longer the same, and “coincidentally” neither is our world and our reality changes.

How does all this relate to Waterfalls and Hamilton ....... ?

Hamilton has, for as long as I've been here (43 years) been referred to as “the Steel City”, and when I mention that I come from Hamilton, the look I would often get would be one of pity! All everyone seemed to think of was the industrial part of town and the resulting pollution.

Since amalgamation created the new Regional Municipality, Hamilton has come to embrace a lot of beautiful land, including the Dundas Valley and all the surrounding rural lands. In fact, as we now know, there are, at last count, over 100 waterfalls in the City of Hamilton, making it the only city in the world to have so many waterfalls within its boundaries.

We need to change our perception of Hamilton into “The City of Waterfalls”.

As we know, our thoughts and perceptions are very powerful in changing our reality. As more and more people begin to appreciate things like the waterfalls of Hamilton, and talk or write about the beauty of our city, a consequent shift will begin to occur in consciousness and the whole image of Hamilton will change.

So when I say “I am from Hamilton”, I will no longer get looks of pity, but rather, nods of appreciation and statements like “Wow, the City of Waterfalls ! You are so lucky! ”

by Lesley Hannell, M.A.
Psychotherapist and Energy Practitioner
www.lesleyhannell.com

Wondrous Waters ~ The Power and Peacefulness of Hamilton’s Waterfalls

Breathe in, breathe out. Relax and let go. Feel the cool air coming in through your nose and the warm air leaving through your mouth. Let every breath connect you with the life all around you, the energy. Relax and let go of all your worries, all your tension, all your stress. Relax your muscles, relax your mind, let go of thoughts.

As you breathe in, feel your connection to the earth below you that supports you. As you breathe out, feel yourself letting go of all you don't want and giving it back to the earth. Breathe in, breathe out. Relax and let go.

Feel your feet rooting into the earth and your head reaching for the sky. Imagine a beam of light coming in through the top of your head, bringing fresh life force to your body, healing and soothing every part of your body that it touches. Imagine this light moving down through your body into every cell, every muscle, every organ, every joint, soothing and healing and
re-energizing you. Imagine this light washing away all that you don't want and cleansing you, right through to your bone marrow.

Imagine this light like a waterfall washing over you.....

This is how I feel when I stand by a waterfall....

There are many in the Hamilton area, and I have been making it my project to visit as many as I can. Some are larger and more powerful than others, but all have a certain serenity and cleansing feel to them. Some are easy to locate and get to. But there are others that are more challenging to find and journey to. To stand beneath one of these is truly bliss. The world stops, the noise of the city falls away, and I connect directly with the power and peacefulness of the rushing water.

As I stand at the foot of some of the larger ones, like Tews, Webster’s, Sherman, or Tiffany, they take my breath away. They transport me into awe. They capture the moment. Time stops and all I hear is the rush of the water and feel the power and the beauty of nature. I feel both large and small. Large because I feel totally connected to the nature around me and part of some much larger whole, and small because the waterfall seems so powerful
and looming that it humbles me and I feel my place again in such a beautiful whole. I gaze up while the water splashes on my face, in awe of such a perfection of nature. I feel nothing but respect and gratitude and peace.

I recently became involved in a local group spearheaded by Chris Ecklund, The Hamilton Waterfalls Group. http://www.cityofwaterfalls.ca

Hamilton has within its boundaries the largest number of waterfalls in the world (over 100 at last count), and offers many opportunities to find the powerful serenity of these wondrous waters.

Much is happening now in this group. A book on the waterfalls is being compiled, artists are being sought to create paintings of each of the waterfalls, and songwriters and poets are beginning to add their contributions to further promote Hamilton as The Waterfall Capitol of The World.

If you are interested in becoming involved, visit our website and jump on board under the rushing water of the falls.

By Lesley Hannell, M.A.

Psychotherapist and Energy Practitioner

www.lesleyhannell.com

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