I heard the news of Louise Hay’s passing yesterday via a post on a friend’s Facebook page.  Social media is my main source of news these days, but I always verify the authenticity.  Sadly, this news was true & I have seen many tribute posts on my newsfeed since.

Here’s an excerpt from the official press release:

Our beloved friend and founder Louise Hay transitioned this morning, August 30, 2017 of natural causes at age 90. She passed peacefully in her sleep.

 

Louise was an incredible visionary and advocate. Everyone who had the privilege to meet her, either in person or through her words, felt her passion for serving others.

 

Considered a founder of the self-help movement, Louise was dubbed “the closest thing to a living saint.” She published her first book, Heal Your Body, in 1976 (at age 50) long before it was fashionable to discuss the connection between the mind and body.

 

Louise was able to put her philosophies into practice when she was diagnosed with cancer. She considered the alternatives to surgery and drugs, and instead developed an intensive program of affirmations, visualization, nutritional cleansing, and psychotherapy. Within six months, she was completely healed of cancer.

 

In 1980, Louise began putting her workshop methods on paper. In 1984, her second book, You Can Heal Your Life, was published. In it, Louise explained how our beliefs and ideas about ourselves are often the cause of our emotional problems and physical maladies and how, by using certain tools, we can change our thinking and our lives for the better.

 

You Can Heal Your Life became a New York Times bestseller and spent 16 weeks on the list. More than 50 million copies of You Can Heal Your Life have been sold throughout the world.

 

In 1985, Louise began her famous support group, “The Hayride,” with six men diagnosed with AIDS. By 1988, the group had grown to a weekly gathering of 800 people and had moved to an auditorium in West Hollywood. Once again, Louise had started a movement of love and support long before people began to wear red ribbons on their lapels.

 

In 1987, what began as a small venture in the living room of her home turned into Hay House, Inc.: a successful publishing company that has sold millions of books and products worldwide and now has offices in California, New York, London, Sydney, Johannesburg, and New Delhi.

 

“Meeting Louise changed the direction of my life,” said Reid Tracy, President and CEO of Hay House, Inc.

 

“Her passion for serving others translated into everything she did. Simply by working alongside her, an analytical accountant like me transformed into someone who became aware of the power of affirmations and self-love. Being able to learn from her has been one of my life’s greatest blessings. The beauty of Louise was that you didn’t have to work alongside her to learn from her, you felt like you were there with her with every word you read or heard.”

 

Louise Hay’s estate, as well as all future royalties, will be donated to The Hay Foundation, a nonprofit organization established by Louise that financially supports diverse organizations supplying food, shelter, counseling, hospice care, and funds to those in need.

As Louise was 90 years old, her passing was not unfathomable, yet people of her stature seem to have this air of invincibility about them, as though they will always be present in our lives – just think back to 2015 where we were shocked to hear about the passing of another celebrity from our childhood/youth at least every month.  Louise Hay was not a rock star, nor a movie idol but she undoubtably touched the lives of millions of people around the world, either in person or via her writing.

I still remember the first time I bought her book, ‘You Can Heal Your Life‘.  I was in my teens, already aware of the limitations of modern medicine & becoming increasingly interested in natural healing.  There was this book people were talking about, a book with a beautiful rainbow heart splashed across the front cover, its pages promising healing & empowerment.  It was my introduction to the concept of affirmations and the mind-body connection to healing.  It is a book that still takes pride of place on the shelf, amongst others sorted by the colour of their spines to form a rainbow.

When I started Unity Wellness several months ago, I was looking for others to align with who shared my philosophy around health & wellbeing.  I came across Louise’s company, Hay House & discovered that she had published works by some other amazing people I’d admired for years such as Dr Christiane Northrup & Dr Wayne Dyer (also one of those people we lost in 2015).  It was a no-brainer to share their messages with my readers.

At that time, I also signed up for the Hay House newsletter to keep up-to-date with news & new releases.  One of the newsletters was promoting a summit they were running which brought together some of the top people in mind-body-spirit healing, but also featured ‘You Can Heal Your Life: The Movie‘ about Louise Hay’s life & how she became an accidental guru. It was truly inspiring & humbling to watch her story & how she helped those people that others wouldn’t or couldn’t.  I highly recommend watching it.

Even though she is no longer of this Earth, her legacy will live on for generations to come.  In many ways she was ahead of her time, yet her message is timeless.

Vale Louise Hay.

Thank you for doing your bit to advance humanity & reminding us all that we carry within us both what we need to remain sick and the power to be well.  The choice is ours.

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