Belly Buttons Upside Down: Separating the Wisdom from the Lint and Getting What YOU Want

By Christine Bajorek

We are masters at being critical of ourselves and others, when all we really wish to do is feel better.

This book presents numerous opportunities to feel better more often by directing your attention to the beauty residing inside. Recognize it, nurture it, and watch all phases of your life blossom. YOU decide where and when to direct your journey.

This playful workbook has plenty of exercises and room to write.​ Chapters suggest simple ways to increase intuition, worthiness, self-love, and harmony--all in the safety of your home, with a best friend, or in your favorite book club.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christine Bajorek
• Release date: Nov 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310386343

Christine Bajorek

Christine C. Bajorek is a Spiritual Life Coach and Naturalist who has worked with clients in the United States, Europe, and Australia. She leads workshops, provides self-empowerment tools, and is the founder and principal of LovingByNature.com.

Book preview

Introduction

Hey Chris, wake up. Let’s go swimming. I want to show you I can swim the whole pool!

From the time Lynn could talk, I loved how she called me Chris instead of Aunt Chris. It removed any distance or formality between us, and we could be equals as well as friends. She reached out to me often. The first time was one August while we vacationed together in the Wallowa Mountains of Oregon. She was four or five.

Please, Chris.

Lynn, sweetie, it’s six-thirty in the morning. Are you sure you want to do this?

Oh yeah, I’ve been practicing all summer to show you.

All right. Let’s quietly check with your mom and make sure it’s okay. Everyone else in the cabin is still asleep.

Sue was fine with it, and we both helped Lynn with her suit, flip-flops, goggles, and towel. I barely found my own suit and towel, as I did my best to wake up and focus.

The screen door slammed behind us as we headed to the indoor pool a hundred yards away. Lynn skipped ahead while I huddled under my towel, my feet chilling in the wet dew. She was oblivious to our white puffs of breath.

When I caught up to Lynn inside, she had thrown her towel and sandals on the lounge chair, and was headed for the vacant pool. She jumped into the shallow end and adjusted her goggles. I just stood there for a moment contemplating the water temperature and why I had agreed to this burst of cold so early.

Come on Chris! I’m ready to go!

I chuckled. Lynn’s enthusiasm was irresistible. She pushed her wet hair out of her eyes and pulled down her goggles—goggles closer to the size of a snorkeling mask on her tiny face.

I waded into the shallow end of the pool. Lynn completed her adjustments.

This is what I want to do. I know I can swim the whole length, but I’m afraid of the deep end. So you hold this arm—she swung her right arm to me—while I’m swimming, so I’ll be safe. Okay?

Lynn, honey, are you sure you want me to hold your arm? It will be harder for you.

Yes, I’m sure. Now, come on!

Dubious, I gently grabbed hold of her outstretched right arm with my left hand, and glided beside her. I wanted her to feel my presence, yet create the least amount of drag backward or pull forward. She proceeded to bury her head in the water, stroke furiously with her left arm in a modified Australian crawl, and kick. Her determination was fierce; she did not take another breath.

Awe, amusement, and amazement washed over me as we emerged on the other end of the pool safely past the deepest water.

Lynn touched the far wall and sprung out like a dolphin.

I did it! I did it!

Yes, sweet girl. You did it! You were wonderful!

Jubilation kissed us both as she leapt into my arms.

And honey, you could have done it without me.

Oh, no…. Well, maybe after I practice more this summer.

If you can, imagine yourself full of eagerness, excitement, and expectation. Just like Lynn, you already have everything you need to succeed with this program. Still, you might wish for a little camaraderie or a guiding hand as you journey toward self-discovery.

Welcome. The program I’m sharing with you has been available for millennia. Its only requirements are a commitment to feeling better and an open mind. That’s all you need to be on your way.

As for me, I rediscovered this gift after decades of searching the world—certainly not as any guru, but more as a bumbling detective who stumbled upon answers while I thought I was looking for something else. Maybe I was guided toward it, but I wasn’t conscious of any higher power guiding me, or frankly, any discovery as my goal. (That came later).

I just wanted to feel better.

My dream since the third grade was to be an attorney. However, as I started to practice law, my deepest queries began to surface. Why was I here? What was my larger purpose? Certainly, law school and the practice of law had kept me busy, yet not entirely fulfilled.

Maybe it was because my vocational dream came true, or maybe it was because being a lawyer was different than what I had envisioned as an eight year-old. Maybe it was just another part of my experience. It didn’t matter. Despite having achieved a lifelong goal, I was restless.

Already a voracious reader, I started in my comfort zone and began devouring dozens of books on spirituality, psychology, and the paranormal. I researched various religions and visited sacred places. I delved into cultures as varied as our own Native Americans, who hold the earth and all creatures in reverence; to ninth-century pilgrims, who sought absolution as they walked the Camino de Santiago across Spain; to the Maasai warriors of Tanzania, Africa, who valiantly attempt to keep their ancient customs in contemporary times.

What at first glance may have appeared as primitive ways, I soon saw as profoundly insightful. My journey confirmed for me that what had been rankling inside me was true: no matter who we are, or where we live, we are meant to be euphoric, playful, vibrant beings. We arrive in this world equipped with all we need to experience life this way. Nothing