Author promotes power of light, laughter, prayer

Pat Livingston speaks in a tornado of parables. One moment, she's breathlessly describing the Florida sunset outside her window; the next, she's recalling a family member's struggle with mental illness.

Under the surface of both descriptions are lessons about looking for the positive in life and focusing less on the negative. Mrs. Livingston, a renowned author and speaker, will bring the same energy to her day-long presentation at the upcoming Complementary Therapies Conference in Albany. The theme is "Letting in the Light: Becoming Beacons in the Mystery of Darkness."

"It won't all be serious. There will be humor and stories!" she promised.

Dark and light

Mrs. Livingston said that many people aren't even aware of the "darkness" in their own lives "in the sense of it being part of the rhythm of life."

People see negative developments as personal failings or feel they're being singled out, she said, rather than accepting that every life has difficulties. That attitude, she believes, actually increases the darkness in their lives.

Mrs. Livingston cited scientific studies in which tears of grief or rage were found to have a different chemical makeup than tears of joy, since positive emotions cause different chemical reactions in the human body than negative ones.

"The physical research and spiritual wisdom are saying the same thing," she concluded: Focus on gratitude, and that gratitude "photosynthesizes into trust."

Negative power

The author pointed out that it takes 20 compliments to overcome the effect of one criticism, citing one of her own recent experiences. After she waited patiently for a parking space for several minutes, the driver finally backed out of the space, but another driver quickly pulled into it before Mrs. Livingston could react.

"It really did affect me for the next half-hour!" she exclaimed, adding: "The things that trigger you negatively have enormous power."

To counteract that power, Mrs. Livingston suggests using laughter. She recalled a friend with cancer who was given just a few months to live and initially weakened, but then watched several comedy DVDs and found the strength to venture outdoors again.

Prayer also positively affects those who use it -- although the speaker cautioned that some people tend to use prayer styles that don't suit them. A friend with Attention-Deficit Disorder who tried to attend silent retreats was miserable, she explained, until he decided that more active prayer was a better fit for him.

Light-time

In her presentation, Mrs. Livingston will offer many examples of "letting in the light."

"No skill we ever learn is more important than throwing open every door and window in our hearts and minds and souls to...grace: embracing all the ways we can of letting in the light," she writes in her book, "Letting in the Light: Facing the Hard Stuff with Hope."

That focus on the positive is really another form of complementary therapy, like the healing touch and reiki many of her audience members have used or experienced.

"It's another way of healing," she said.

(Pat Livingston is excited at the prospect of revisiting the Albany Diocese, where she has previously led parish missions and clergy convocations. She called her audience of mainly complementary therapies practitioners "heroes of the healing world. You wouldn't be drawn to this [ministry] unless you had a strong sense of compassion," she noted. "You're bringing an energy from inside yourself to impact the energies of the other people." The March 26 conference, co-sponsored by the Center for Complementary Therapies at St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam and the hospital's auxiliary, will have the theme of "Letting in the Light: Becoming Beacons in the Mystery of Darkness." It will be held at the Turf Inn in Albany. For information, call Sister Rita Jean DuBrey, 841-7146, by March 21.)

(3/15/07) [[In-content Ad]]