Hypnosis Seattle Blog

BELIEFS

2012-01-30T18:24:00.000-08:00

“A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind.” Elly Roselle

Food and Stress

2012-01-18T00:22:00.000-08:00

From the Women to Women Website:

"Many of us turn to food when we're stressed, but did you know timing your meals and snacks can also help limit stress?

When you let yourself get too hungry, you can experience low blood sugar levels.

This puts additional stress on your body and makes your adrenal glands work even harder -- which may lead to an adrenal imbalance with symptoms like fatigue, weight gain, and irritability.

We recommend the following schedule to help lessen your adrenal burden:

• If possible, eat breakfast by 8:00 AM or within an hour of getting up.

• Try to eat lunch between 11:00 AM and noon.

• Eat a nutritious snack between 2:00 and 3:00 PM to get you through the natural energy dip around 3:00 or 4:00 PM.

• Make an effort to eat dinner around 5:00 or 6:00 PM.

The signs of an adrenal problem include: fatigue, weight gain, bouts of acne, sugar cravings, and intolerance to cold.

People who are chronically stressed may have adrenals that are producing higher levels of cortisol and adrenaline than they can sustain, and eventually become worn down, even exhausted. Without properly functioning adrenals, the body loses its ability to settle down, relax, sleep, and rejuvenate.

What is Adaptisol™?

Formulated to address the most common symptoms of overworked adrenals, and using the latest research on phytotherapy to reduce the negative side effects of stress, Adaptisol is a natural, holistic adrenal-support supplement.

It features standardized extracts of ancient herbs known for their adaptogenic properties:

Astragalus Root — used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years to support the immune system and help protect the body from physical, mental, or emotional stress.

iberian Ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) — prized for its ability to reduce fatigue, increase energy, and enhance mental clarity. Also widely used to boost the immune system and immune system response.

Rhodiola — a medicinal plant used for centuries in Russia and Scandinavia to improve response to physical stress, enhance immune function, and reduce fatigue.

Cordyceps — an East Asian extract used since antiquity to promote overall good health and, more specifically, to replenish immune system function. It also appears to act as an antioxidant in the body, protecting it from free-radical damage.

How will Adaptisol™ help me?

Provides an increase in energy levels, giving you endurance throughout the day.

Helps to bolster the immune system so you stay well.

Aids the body’s natural ability to adapt to stress.

Enhances mental clarity.

What is Serinisol™?

Women to Women’s Serinisol is a completely natural supplement that helps to support reduction of adrenal over activity — specifically the cortisol levels.

Our formula is designed for women who need to “quiet down” over exerted cortisol levels.

How will Serinisol help me?

Aids in the reduction of cortisol.

Assists the body’s natural ability to counter occasional stress.

Improves sleep.

Enhances mental clarity.

Helps reduce sporadic feelings of anxiousness.

Promotes relaxation.

Improves mood."

Here's an exercise to try:

2012-01-12T09:56:00.000-08:00

From: Christie Marie Sheldon
Founder of Love or Above & Unlimited Abundance Program

1. Grab a piece of paper and confess to yourself in writing the factors that keep you afraid of change. For example jealousy, lack, loneliness or failure.

2. Close your eyes and imagine a bright, powerful light engulfing you, lifting all your worries away and clearing your mind of all fear. Feel the warmth of the light surge through you, penetrating every part of your body.

3. Bask in this light for a while, feeling it in every part of your body. Radiate it, expand it out 10, 50, 100 feet around you until it grows bigger than your home, city, state, country and eventually even bigger than the planet.

4. Now recall the thoughts, beliefs and feelings that lead you to a place where you are fearful of change. Let the light overpower and banish all these unwanted elements. Do this as many times as you
need to clear a particular block related to fear of change.

Hypnosis promotes Theta Brainwaves

2012-01-01T20:46:00.000-08:00

Theta Brain Waves Information ( 4 to 8 Hz) :

•4.5 Hz - Brings about Shamanic/Tibetan state of consciousness, Tibetan chants.

•4.9 Hz - Induce relaxation and deeper sleep

•4.9 Hz - Introspection. Relaxation, meditation

•5 Hz - Reduces sleep required. Theta replaces need for extensive dreaming

•5.35 Hz - Allows relaxing breathing, free and efficient

•5.5 Hz - Inner guidance, intuition

•6.5 Hz - Centre of Theta frequency. Activates creative frontal lobe

•7.5 Hz - Activates creative thought for art, invention, music. Problem solving

•7.5 Hz - Ease in overcoming troublesome issues

•7.83 Hz - Schumann earth resonance. Grounding, meditative, Leaves you revitalized

•3 - 8 Hz - Deep relaxation, meditation. Lucid dreaming

•3 - 8 Hz - Increased memory, focus, creativity

•4 - 7 Hz - Profound inner peace, emotional healing. Lowers mental fatigue

•4 - 7 Hz - Deep meditation, near-sleep brainwaves

Let's start 2012 with a playful spirit, intention and focus.

2012-01-01T18:11:00.000-08:00

From my hypnosis colleague, Wendi Friesen:

"What would you like to wake up to every day?

What is the best feeling you will have when you choose your 2012 accomplishments?

What is the one thing you want to add to all the experiences in your life?"

Take your imagination into the future and visualize your life when 5 years has passed and everything has gone as well as it possible could.

Begin today, let the doubts and fears arise, interupt negative memories, thoughts, feelings and behaviors, adjust your course as you go, continue to return to your dream, one step at a time you can create the life you desire.

Focus and create.

A life well lived is based on loving and serving yourself and others.

Hypnosis changes peoples lives for the better.

What is the cause of your weight issue?

2011-12-27T21:15:00.001-08:00

You know so well that if you want to lose weight, you need to address all the issues around it.
Are you willing to change your lifestyle and create a healthy body now!
What is the cause of your weight issue? …

• Poor diet

• Thyroid issues

• Endocrine/Adrenal issues such as high cortisol

• Diabetes/insulin resistance/ hyperglycemia.

• Emotions, belief systems, identities

• Lack of Exercise

• Poor metabolism

• Toxins storing in the adipose tissue/fat

• Poor eliminations

Hypnosis helps you achieve and maintain your ideal healthy weight.

2011-12-22T23:26:00.000-08:00

Hypnosis brings your subconscious into alignment with your goals and desires, and reprograms your unconscious. Put yourself into a state of strong, clear intentions to achieve your goal to incorporate new habits and achieve and maintain being your ideal healthy weight.
Learn to do what works for you. Hypnosis changes your mind so that, of course, you begin to pay more attention, to eat better, healthy food, get healthier and be healthier, and feel full of gratitude.

This weight loss approach is quite different than anything else. It's not about will power or self control or even calories. Hypnosis gives you the suggestions that there are no hunger or food cravings, no feelings of depravation, no depression, no fatigue. When old eating habits are set loose, you have increased energy.

Hypnosis allows you to maintain motivation, change eating habits, and change how you emotionally react to eating. Review, diffuse, and dissolve critical or judgmental thoughts, anxieties, or anything you feel uncertain about. As you normalize your relationship with food, you will eat a normal amount of food and will enjoy a feeling of being totally full and satisfied.

Correcting and rebalancing and resetting your metabolism, feel healthier and maintain your ideal, slim, strong, and healthy weight for your lifetime. Nourish your soul, satisfy your stomach, control your appetite and achieve optimal health.

Hypnosis will empower you to provide for yourself a way of living and eating that nourishes and heals your body at the deepest level. Hypnosis makes connections and allows your brain, your nervous system, hormones, immune system, your gut, your fat cells, and your appetite control system to communicate and work together now.

Imagine yourself at your goal weight. Slim, fit, strong, healthy and so happy. You shed unwanted pounds and maintain that weight loss by replacing negative old eating patterns and old stress patterns with new healthy, slimming eating habits now.

Imagine yourself sometime in the near future having gotten rid of all of the excess weight you no longer want or need and having lifelong healthy eating and living habits.

Hypnosis Improves Weight Loss Results

2011-12-22T23:19:00.001-08:00

In a 9-week study of two weight management groups (one using hypnosis for weight loss and one not using hypnosis), the hypnosis for weight loss group continued to get results in the two-year follow-up, while the non-hypnosis group showed no further results (Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1985).

This study from the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology has proven that hypnosis improves your results both immediately and over the long term. In this study, dieters were divided into two groups, one group using hypnosis, the other not. The group who used hypnosis lost an average of 17 pounds. The group that didn't, lost an average of only 1/2 of a pound in the same time period.

The study found that adding hypnosis to a standard weight loss regime increased weight loss by an average of 97% during the study, but more importantly, hypnosis increased their weight loss effectiveness AFTER treatment by over 146%. (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1996).

Remember that hypnosis for weight loss can be beneficial for both maintaining motivation during your weight loss program and also for producing results that last.

Stuttering Modification Using Hypnosis: A Case Study

2011-11-08T22:43:00.000-08:00

from HypnoGenesis: Magazine For Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy
CLICK here to see this article: by Dr David Oakley and Guy Moss

"The study reported here examines hypnosis as an anxiety-reducing and confidence- building technique for stuttering modification. The fluency of a 29-year-old man with a moderate to severe overt stutter was recorded in controlled conditions over a baseline period, twelve hypnosis sessions and three follow-up sessions, using standardised reading material.
In hypnosis the subject was taught anxiety management and self-hypnosis techniques and used self-guided hypnotic imagery to rehearse coping well in stressful situations. Fluency improved immediately during hypnosis and a steady decrease in stuttering incidents was seen over sessions on the standardised materials when tested without hypnosis.

The subject was able to transfer these marked improvements in speech production from the laboratory to everyday situations. He also reported a considerable improvement in his general mental well-being. These results support the view that hypnosis can be of assistance in the modification of stuttering and should encourage its wider use by speech therapists alongside conventional stuttering therapies.

Introduction.

Hypnosis is a state of focused attention, intense absorption and heightened imagery, usually accompanied by deep physical relaxation. Light hypnotic states, or trances, occur commonly in our everyday lives - not only during relaxation exercises and meditation, but also when we are reading a good book, watching television or listening to music. Clinical hypnosis builds on our capacity to experience these everyday hypnotic trances and uses them to facilitate a variety of psychological therapies (Gibson & Heap, 1991; Kirsch, Montgomery & Sapirstein, 1995).

In clinical hypnosis the patient is able to concentrate on the therapy itself without distracting thoughts or feelings, to achieve physical and mental calm and to experience imagined situations as though they are real. Hypnotized individuals are also more able to accept positive suggestions of well-being and of change. Self-hypnosis is an important part of most clinical hypnosis treatments and is the ability to enter at will into a state of hypnotic trance. It is most commonly taught during hypnosis induced by the therapist, who then encourages the patient to practice self-hypnosis daily between clinic visits.

Individuals vary in their hypnotic susceptibility but the majority of us are able to experience a clinically useful level of hypnosis.

The use of hypnosis in the treatment of stuttering and communication disorders is not new and reports date back to the late 19th century (for a review see Dunnet & Williams, 1988). Hypnotic techniques have been used to establish deep relaxation, with self-hypnosis being taught to enable the stutterer to benefit from the effects of relaxation in the absence of the therapist. It is commonly found that the first time that patients are hypnotized, even before any therapeutic work has been done, their fluency improves significantly, at least for the duration of the trance experience.

An early demonstration of symptom relief of this sort can serve to increase the stutterer's belief in the treatment and strengthen his or her motivation to continue with it.

In addition to relaxation, direct suggestions of well-being, confidence and increased self-esteem (so-called "ego-strengthening" suggestions) may be given. These positive feelings may be linked in hypnosis to a word, an object or a gesture which may later be used by the patient to recreate the feelings when they are needed in everyday situations.

Suggestions given in hypnosis that are intended to promote responses, feelings or behaviours later in non-hypnotized state are usually referred to as post-hypnotic suggestions. Post-hypnotic suggestions may relate to feelings of well-being or confidence in certain situations or may consist of instructions to carry out traditional speech therapy techniques (ie, smooth, calm, slow and prolonged speech) at appropriate times.

Hypnosis can be used with stutterers to assist in stress management and the building of self-esteem where this is the sole means of therapy or alongside formal speech therapy exercises. A study by Lockhart and Robertson (1977) used both approaches. They claimed improvement to the point of fluency with a group of seven stutterers with mild symptoms (less than 6% of words stuttered) using ego-strengthening and anxiety reduction techniques in hypnosis with self-hypnosis taught early in the treatment regime.

A second group of 23 stutterers with more severe symptoms had speech therapy exercises in addition to the hypnotic procedures. At the time of reporting ten of the severe group had achieved fluency with fluency stabilising within 30-40 weeks of the commencement of treatment. On the basis of their study Lockhart & Robertson recommended combined therapy in which clinical hypnosis supplements speech therapy techniques for severe stutterers.

Recognition of the potential usefulness of hypnosis in the context of disorders of communication led in the early 1980's to the foundation of the 'British Society for the Practice of Hypnosis in Speech and Language Therapy', which is recognised by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

A survey of speech therapists using hypnosis in the UK by Macfarlane and Duckworth (1990) suggested that the major use of hypnosis in fluency disorders is as a means of achieving rapid, deep relaxation, reducing physical tension and anxiety and encouraging self-esteem in the patient.

There is a general feeling then that hypnosis may be helpful for mild stutterers in conjunction with stress management and confidence building techniques and coupled with speech therapy techniques for the more severe cases. This view is based primarily on clinical studies and anecdotal reports. There is very little experimental evidence upon which to base a judgment. The present study uses a single case design to investigate the effectiveness of clinical hypnosis in the absence of specialised speech therapy techniques in the modification of fluency in an individual with a moderate to severe stutter.

The Subject:

The subject (S) was a 29-year-old post-doctoral research scientist. He had slightly above average hypnotic susceptibility, a moderate to severe overt stutter characterised by part-word and word repetitions, long prolongations and a very high stress component to his symptoms. S's most feared situations, in which his stutter was particularly severe were: public speaking, talking on the telephone and reading texts aloud.

He was not aware of the age at which he began to stutter. He believed that onset was gradual and was not triggered by any disturbing or distressing life events. He first went to a speech therapist at the age of six. This therapist concluded after a few meetings that S stuttered because he was 'lazy'. S's parents appeared to share that opinion and no therapy took place. At the age of 17 S went for three sessions to a hypnotherapist who attempted to treat him using progressive relaxation techniques. His fluency improved briefly but three week after the final session he suffered a relapse which brought the stutter back to its previous level. At the age of 22 he again visited a hypnotherapist. After one session, which worsened his stutter, he declined to return for further treatment. At the age of 26 he once more visited a speech therapist, whom he saw for several months at regular weekly intervals. The therapy concentrated on breathing and slowed, prolonged speech techniques. S felt that his fluency did not improve as a result of these sessions.

The Procedure:

The experiment was conducted in a sound attenuation chamber to facilitate audio-recording and to standardise test conditions. On the first (pre-baseline) session S read from a prepared text (Text C) consisting of 40 sentences each of ten words. This text was then split into two 20-sentence texts (Texts A and B) matched for their difficulty for S. The next three sessions were baseline sessions on each of which S read Text A once. There followed twelve hypnosis sessions (described in more detail below) on each of which S read the text three times:- once just before, once during and once immediately after hypnosis.

For the first eight hypnosis sessions Text A was used and for the final four, Text B. During the baseline and hypnosis phases sessions took place regularly twice per week. At three, six and twelve weeks after the final hypnosis session there were single follow-up sessions on each of which S read the original Text C before, during and after hypnosis.

Recordings of all readings were analysed and the number of stuttering incidents (repetitions or prolongations) noted. S's feeling towards his stutter and its characteristics were monitored by questionnaires at regular intervals. His self-reports on fluency changes as well as his mental and physical well-being were recorded on each session.

Hypnosis Intervention:

On the first hypnosis session, prior to hypnosis, S was asked to describe a 'special place' in which he would feel at his most calm and relaxed. He was then seated comfortable and closed his eyes. A hypnotic induction involving a standardised muscle relaxation and regular breathing sequence was then carried out followed by a scripted visualisation of the 'special place'. Confidence building (ego-strengthening) suggestions were also given and the positive, relaxed and confident feelings experienced in the 'special place' were linked by suggestion to a short phrase and to a gesture (clenching of the right hand to form a fist).

A post-hypnotic suggestion was given that the phrase and/or gesture could diminish anxiety and bring back the calm, confident feelings in everyday situations. S was then taught to repeat the same procedure for himself in self - hypnosis and was returned to the non-hypnotized state. He was instructed to practice self-hypnosis at least once per day. He was asked to imagine himself in self-hypnosis facing difficult and anxiety-provoking situations and succeeding in coping with them fluently using the hypnotic techniques he had been taught.

He also compiled a list of difficult situations, ones in which he was likely to stutter, and was asked to start with the least difficult one for his self- practice and to work his way through the list as he gained confidence.

The same standardised hypnosis intervention took place in all 12 hypnosis sessions and the three follow-up sessions, each of which lasted approximately one and a half hours including the three readings of the appropriate Text. At the end of the twelfth hypnosis session S was given an audio-cassette containing the hypnosis script. He was instructed to continue his self-hypnosis practice and to combine it with listening to the cassette.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The main results above show the total number of stuttering incidents per text reading with S not hypnotized. Text C revealed an initial level of stuttering of 20% (80 incidents from 400 words). Texts A and B, derived from Text C, had 39 and 41 incidents respectively. The level of stuttering incidents on Text A remained stable across the three baseline sessions and the pre-hypnosis reading on hypnosis session 1. Thereafter there is a steady drop in the number of incidents to session 8. The fact that Text B introduced on hypnosis session 9 immediately showed a considerable improvement compared to its pre-baseline level (taken 42 days previously) indicates that the improvement on Text A was not simply a matter of familiarity with a particular text and that the gain in fluency had become generalised.

There is a further drop in stuttering incidents on text B from session 9 to session 12. The three follow-up sessions were conducted using the combined Text C and it is clear that the gains in fluency have been maintained for at least 12 weeks (on the third follow-up session the level of stuttering on Text C was 0.5% compared to 20% at pre-baseline).

For clarity, measurements taken during and after hypnosis are not shown. However, it is worth commenting that on the first hypnosis session where the number of stuttering incidents before the hypnosis was 26, the number recorded during hypnosis was 6, and after hypnosis it was 7 - all with Text A. As the during-hypnosis reading occurred before any self-practice had been initiated it seems reasonable to conclude that this increase in fluency represents the frequently reported effect of hypnosis alone and that there is a carry-over effect to the immediate post-hypnotic period.

This pattern was repeated on all subsequent hypnosis sessions. The symptomatic improvement on the first hypnotic session provided S with a clear idea of the sort of fluency which was possible for him - in fact he went on to achieve higher levels of fluency even outside hypnosis.

S reported that he found both the gesture and the 'special place' phrase effective in diminishing anxiety and in creating a feeling of calmness and relaxation. He summarised the hypnosis intervention as "a resounding success" and commented further:-

"It has been instilled in me now that nothing I (have to) read or say can be a problem. I know that I can say it - so there is no problem. I found that the fear was soon gone ... using the techniques it had just become easier and easier. Now I don't mind reading things out - like reading people their star signs. I just know that there will be no problem and I have no problems. I am convinced of my improvement. It is working. I see the evidence of that constantly. I find that I can simply relax, use the techniques I have been shown and speak without stuttering. I am impressed with the rate of improvement. There were times when I was shocked by my own fluency - and that's nice. I'm almost home. I feel so much more confident about the future. I know inside that I've got what it takes - everything would be OK. I can do whatever I want to do!".

He also spoke about the situations in which he used the technique, such as giving a seminar in front of a research group:-

"It has always filled me with dread but I wasn't at all concerned this time. For previous seminars I prepared for hours. This time I just wrote a few key words on a piece of paper and just chatted for hours. Previously I used so many overheads - this time I only used one. I used the fist and 'special place' just prior to giving the talk and it was so easy. It just went so well - didn't stutter much at all. I don't think I did. That was excellent. It went really well".

The positive changes in S's feelings about his stutter revealed in the self-reports, such as those quoted above, were also reflected in the questionnaire data.

Despite a history of at least four unsuccessful attempts at therapy over a 23 year period, two of them involving hypnosis, the simple hypnotic intervention described in this experimental setting appears to have produced a stable improvement in fluency which has been extended to non-laboratory situations. Further follow-up sessions are planned at 6 months and one year to assess the longer-term outcome.
Clearly a great deal more experimental work is required to assess the reliability and generality of the findings reported here as well as to explore the role played by hypnosis. Nevertheless the results are consistent with the view that straightforward psychological techniques of anxiety management and confidence building delivered in a hypnotic context are effective in producing a significant and lasting modification in a long-term stuttering problem. Speech therapists and others involved in the treatment of communication disorders should perhaps be encouraged to acquire hypnotic techniques to supplement their existing clinical skills.

Acknowledgements: the authors are grateful to Professor Peter Howell for providing access to the Acoustic Laboratory's sound attenuation chamber at University College London and to S for his willingness to participate in this experiment. Dr Oakley the Director of the Hypnosis Unit at University College London, and a member of the British Society of Experimental & Clinical Hypnosis.

From Nick Ortner

2011-11-04T20:21:00.000-07:00

The Real Deal About Food, Stress, Tapping and more…

"A meal is no longer a meal, it’s packed full of confusion, fear, guilt, stress and more. And whatever you’re actually eating is nothing compared to the poison pill of negative emotions and stress that you’re swallowing. Heavy stuff!
So let’s start with easing that burden a bit with some tapping…

Ready?

(To see tapping points, CLICK HERE)

It’s always important to measure our progress with EFT, so we know where we are and where we’re going, and even though these tapping statements are a bit more “global”, try this to measure it:

Say out loud: "I am relaxed, at peace and full of joy regarding the food I put in my body.
On a 0-10 scale, how true does that feel? 10 being 100% true, 0 being not true at all? Give it a number, it doesn’t have to be exact or perfect, and write it down.

Then let’s getting tapping!

Karate Chop: "Even though I’m really stressed out about what I should and shouldn’t be eating…I deeply and completely accept myself…

Karate Chop: "Even though I can’t stop worrying about what’s “good for me” and “bad for me”…I deeply and completely accept myself…

Karate Chop: "Even though I’ve heard to many different things about food, I’m overwhelmed and don’t know what to do …I choose to relax now…

Eyebrow: "All this stress around food…

Side of the Eye: "Should I eat this?

Under the Eye: "I can’t eat that!

Under Nose: "This is good for me…

Under Mouth: "That’s bad for me…

Collarbone: "Or is it?

Under Arm: "I just don’t know what to eat…

Top of the Head: "So stressed out about eating…

Eyebrow: "I’ve read so many different things

Side of the Eye: "Everyone seems to disagree on what to eat!

Under the Eye: "I’m confused, scared and stressed about food…

Under Nose: "All this stress around food…

Under Mouth: "Releasing all this stress around food…

Collarbone: "All of this anxiety around food…

Under Arm: "I shouldn’t eat this…

Top of the Head: "I shouldn’t eat that…

Eyebrow: "Should, shouldn’t, should, shouldn’t….

Side of the Eye: "So much confusion….

Under the Eye: "Such a burden…

Under Nose: "So much anxiety…

Under Mouth: "So much stress…

Collarbone: "All around food…

Under Arm: "This stress around food…

Top of the Head: "Releasing all this stress around food…

Let’s do some positive tapping (if you’re still feeling strongly negative, or if other things have come up, tap on those specifically before moving on to the positive)

Eyebrow: "I choose to relax around food now…

Side of the Eye: "I choose to feel safe around food now…

Under the Eye: "Food is safe..

Under Nose: "I am safe…

Under Mouth: "I am at peace and easily choose the foods the best nourish me…

Collarbone: "I relax around food, enjoying every bite I eat, regardless of what it is…

Under Arm: "Once I choose to eat something, I relax and release any guilt, fear or anxiety around it…

Top of the Head: "I choose to relax around food…

Eyebrow: "My body knows exactly what it wants and needs…

Side of the Eye: "I attract all the right information to help me choose the best food for me…

Under the Eye: "Food is safe…

Under Nose: "I am safe…

Under Mouth: "I choose to relax now…

Collarbone: "I let go of any fear, guilt or anxiety around food..

Under Arm: "Letting it go..

Top of the Head: "Letting it all go…

Take a deep breath…and let it go…

How ya feeling? Let’s check in.

Say out loud: "I am relaxed, at peace and full of joy regarding the food I put in my body.

How true does that feel? Did the number go up? What else came up when you were doing the tapping?

Remember, when we’re doing “global” tapping like this, we really want to pay attention to “specific” things that come up for us. I can’t instruct you to tap on specific experience you’ve had, because I don’t know what they are!

But you do; so as anything pops up, tap on it and release it. The more specific we get, the more the global tapping will “stick”.

That’s it for now, just a couple of quick rounds to ease the burden a bit, release some stress and help you get more clear around food."

Click here to go to How to Tap Video (Originally Created for the Tapping World Summit)

Paul Scheele "See Your Genius Mind in Action"

2011-10-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

Hypnosis Network Ideal Weight Set

2011-10-30T18:59:00.001-07:00

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
Hypnosis Network Ideal Weight Set

Paul Scheele’s Ideal Weight Paraliminal CD

Ideal Weight can enhance any weight-loss plan or diet. It offers an authentic approach of self-love and clear choices. And if you’re trying to maintain a healthy weight already, you will be able to enjoy great foods without putting on the pounds.

Our bodies give natural signals that say when to start eating, when to stop eating, and which foods to eat.

Ideal Weight helps you develop the awareness to eat when your body needs nourishment and eliminate eating for stress or emotional issues.

Peppermint and Cayenne Red Pepper Flakes support weight loss

2011-10-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

wThis is from my friend, Michael Lovitch, Co Founder of The Hypnosis Network

"Hello,

When you are trying to shed pounds, it is all about taking in fewer calories.

And, any little tip or trick helps, right?

There are two items that may very well be in your cupboard already...

And the best part is, these are not things that cost a ton of money – these are items you can find at pretty much ANY local store!

Time to Hit The Grocery Store

Peppermint is the first new product you need to pick up!

You can find peppermint oil at a health food store, and it isn’t costly.

Experts are now saying even just the mere smell of the oil will make you eat less.

For a quick fix, take a sniff of some oil before a meal...OR...super easy – just chew some peppermint gum throughout the day.

Experiment & Results

In one study printed in the North American Journal of Psychology in 2007 at Wheeling University in Virginia, 40 volunteers were asked to sniff peppermint every 2 hours for five days.

After that, for another 5 days, they were given a placebo to sniff.

When the researchers compared the results, during the week they sniffed peppermint, on average, they consumed 1,800 fewer calories!(1)

That would be a little over ½ a week just by sniffing peppermint.

Mint is also a mild stimulant...so it might give you that push you need to get to the gym, too
Add Spice To Your Life

The second product is even easier to find, and I bet many of you already use something like this or own it...
Next time you fill your plate, simply add Red Pepper Flakes, (also called Cayenne flakes) to your meal.
Peppers, release capsaicin which fights fat and helps reduce your appetite.

Please note: store-bought hot sauce contains capsaicin too, but can contain sugar and other non-natural ingredients. Try a jalapeno or chilies for a fresh kick of hot, tasty spice, without extra calories or sugar.

Regards,
Michael Lovitch
Co Founder
The Hypnosis Network
817-566-0050

Get healthy to lose weight!

2011-08-30T01:45:00.000-07:00

Founded by Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP, along with former partners Christiane Northrup, MD, Mary Ellen Fenn, MD, and Annie Rafter, RNC, our medical clinic was among the first in the world devoted to health care for women, by women.

“Why am I gaining this weight?”

"We hear this question every day in our medical practice. And no wonder. Despite our best efforts, most women gain weight in perimenopause — especially around our waist and hips — even if we’re dieting.
Why is this happening to us? The answer lies in the remarkable links between hormonal balance and body fat.

Before we explore these links, set aside the basic myth behind most diets — that weight control is just a matter of calorie control. That's untrue and misleading, and has made a lot of women suffer unnecessarily.

Can hormonal imbalance cause excess weight gain?

The first and most basic link is between insulin metabolism and body fat. Most of us eat the conventional low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, with lots of processed foods (pasta, breads, most snacks, beer and wine, etc.). Over time this diet commonly creates a condition known as insulin resistance. When you are insulin resistant your body converts every calorie it can into fat — even if you’re dieting. And it won't let you burn fat when you exercise.

A second basic link is between stress and body fat. Stress hormones block weight loss. This is sometimes called the "famine effect": despite adequate food, the body interprets prolonged stress as a famine, and once again, the body thinks it should store every spare calorie as fat. Which it does very effectively. Most women are under tremendous amounts of stress — much of it prolonged and without let-up — which leads to adrenal fatigue and intractable weight gain.

These two links work together. Many of us combine a high-stress life with a low-fat, high-carb diet. This creates such a powerful hormonal imbalance that weight gain is almost inevitable. Yo-yo dieting — strict dieting followed by a rebound in weight — will only exacerbate the pattern because it stresses the body and damages your metabolism.

High-carb diets also lead to cravings. Because your body can’t readily maintain optimal blood sugar and serotonin levels, you are compelled to have snacks and caffeine to make yourself feel better. But they only exacerbate your insulin resistance and adrenal exhaustion — a vicious circle — while adding body fat.

Note that artificial sweeteners are not a solution; they’re part of the problem. They may lack calorie content, but they mimic sugar so well that the body produces insulin to metabolize them — contributing to insulin resistance. They actually lower your blood sugar level, which is why most contain caffeine to compensate.

The impact of hormonal changes on weight gain:

Another factor in stubborn weight gain is estrogen loss. As the estrogen production of your ovaries falls, your body turns to secondary production sites, one of which is body fat. If your body is struggling to maintain its hormonal balance, body fat becomes more valuable. Of course, if you are stressed and on a low-fat diet, your body is struggling. This is another vicious circle.

Thyroid imbalance is another common contributor. Thyroid hormones have an intimate relationship with the other hormones in your body, including estrogen and progesterone, and an imbalance in one is often associated with an imbalance in another. Because the thyroid plays a major role in orchestrating the body’s metabolism, an underactive thyroid almost always leads to weight gain, no matter how much you diet or exercise.

Heal yourself, and lose the weight:

By thinking only of calorie control, we actually starve our bodies of the nutrients we need to maintain health, while signaling our bodies to put on weight. Neither outcome is desirable! And you end up feeling defeated by the whole process — as though willpower had anything to do with it.

Our philosophy on weight control is based on what has worked in our practice over the last 25 years. We know that you have to get healthy before you can lose weight. You can’t lose weight to get healthy. But if you will heal your body and try to balance your life, you will then find you achieve and maintain your ideal weight."
Please visit the Women to Women website for more information...CLICK HERE

Interconnected

2011-08-22T00:34:00.000-07:00

We are designed to be interdependent and interconnected. There is hope for us to move from chaotic and rigid states to integration, kindness, and peace.

What happens to memory as you age?

2011-07-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

With aging comes some mental decline. And one of the first things to go is the ability of the MTL ( medial temporal lobe ) to recall specifics.

According to Dr. Roberto Cabeza, the lead author of the Duke University study:

“Specific memories don’t last forever, but what ends up lasting are not specific details, but more general or global impressions. Past studies have shown that as normal brains age, they tend to lose the ability to recollect specifics faster than they lose the ability recall impressions. However, patients with Alzheimer’s disease tend to lose both types of memories equally, which may prove to be a tool for early diagnosis.”

Good reason to do everything you can to keep your memory sharp.

Thankfully, there ARE a few things you can do right now to slow – and sometimes even prevent – mental decline as you age:

Walk more – Part of the reason for memory decline as you age, is that the hippocampus shrinks. But a study reported at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that walking just 3 times a week for 40 minutes can expand the size of the hippocampus by almost 2 percent. This alone can have a huge effect on keeping your mind and memory “young.”

Vinpocetine – This extract from the periwinkle plant has been used in Europe for decades to treat and help prevent dementia. It’s so effective, one study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that regular supplementation with vinpocetine helped chronic cerebral dysfunction patients improve significantly and score better on numerous mental tests.

Blueberries – You’ve probably heard that these are great for your heart. But it turns out they’re also good for your brain. One Tufts University study suggests it can even help prevent the loss of short-term memory. You can eat them plain or add them to your favorite cereal or oatmeal.

Folic Acid – This is one I found surprising. It’s already well-known that folic acid is good for pregnant women. But a Dutch study found that supplementing with folic acid can improve your memory. Subjects who took 800mcg daily knocked off 5.5 years their age when it came to their performance on standardized memory tests.

Reduce Stress – This is a big one. The research is clear that higher cortisol levels caused by stress can drastically reduce memory (both short term and long term). Our recommendation of course is to use hypnosis to reduce the effects of stress on your life.

From EXPLORING THE MIND

Always Ask The Greater Question.

2011-06-22T10:02:00.000-07:00

This is from The Silve Life System, lesson #9:

"A student in one of our classes once told the instructor, “I can’t wait to go home and start using these techniques to achieve my goal of mastering the use of a computer for data entry.”

The instructor asked, “Well, why do you want to master using a computer?” The student said that learning this skill would allow her to get a promotion at work.

“Why do you want a promotion,” asked the instructor.

“So I can get a raise” she replied.

Why do you want a raise”, the instructor asked again.

“Because I need the money to buy a larger home”.

“Why?”

“Because I want my mother and sister to move in with me”.

“Why?”

“Because it has been our dream to own a big house together and live together as a family.”

“Good,” said the instructor.

“Now you have identified what you really want. It’s a large house with your family living with you. You don’t really want to learn data-entry. What you want is the house.”

“So when you go back and practice visualization – aim for the greater goal- the house.

Let that goal manifest in any way.

Be open to different ways it could manifest – it may not come through you learning data-entry. You might get another job, in a completely unexpected field.

Be open to all possibilities”.

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it! Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

2011-06-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative, there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and endless plans: That the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it! Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

~ William Hutchinson Murray

Hypnosis promotes positive changes in adults and children.

2011-06-21T00:25:00.000-07:00

"Children are more easily hypnotized than adults, and hypnotherapy as a method responds to the general developmental needs of children by addressing their ability for fantasy and imagination. Hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis are tools with which to assess and develop protective factors, and enhance positive adjustment."

"Hypnosis and NLP use words in a very conscious way to affect the subconscious experience and promote positives changes. There is more harm in NOT understanding how POWERFUL words are, than in avoiding hypnosis and NLP out of fear or simple innocent ignorance."

"What is hypnosis? Hypnosis can be defined as a way to focus attention and communicate ideas in an experiential way that benefits a client. Now, who wouldn’t want to learn how to do that?

Hypnosis is not a therapy and it is not a cure for anything.

Rather, hypnosis is a tool that is designed to facilitate positive changes that a person wishes to make.

There are different schools of thought regarding how direct or indirect one should be in using hypnotic techniques and communications. Some people advocate for specific philosophies, therapeutic models or approaches, but I personally don’t subscribe to anything other than what works for an individual.

The pioneering work of the late psychiatrist Milton H. Erickson is most consistent with how I have intuitively worked with children in therapy. He saw the strengths and resources people had and utilized these in his treatment. It didn’t matter what diagnosis people had, their age, their gender, their intelligence or any other such factors. He respected their individual strengths and found ways to gently introduce new ways to use those strengths in what has come to be called conversational hypnosis. More and more literature is coming out in the domains of mindfulness, relaxation, calming exercises, visualization, and others as well, but the common denominator they all share is an experience that effects positive change in the person through an experiential mechanism not easily defined.

Hypnosis is more often than not a skill that is developed over time. Yes, there are people who experience hypnosis once and make a dramatic change, but it’s not usually the case in working with children.

A person can learn to do this for themselves (self-hypnosis) or have the experience guided by someone else.

The key is in knowing what works for YOU, or your child. If a CD doesn’t work or a therapist doesn’t effect change, don’t blame it on the hypnosis. It means THAT CD didn’t work FOR YOU or that therapist didn’t connect with YOU.

That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. It means you haven’t found the right connection.

Hypnosis isn’t just about talking TO a person; it is about talking WITH a person. That can be done in story form, during a game, playing with toys, using a computer, sitting quietly in a chair or many other ways. There are all kinds of ways to engage a person in perspectives giving rise to meaningful change."

Edited from PsychCentral, Diane Yapko, MA

Successful Hypnosis

2011-05-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

The hypnotic state is an optimum state for making changes in your life. During hypnosis you can set aside limiting beliefs that may have been preventing you from moving toward a more healthy, and happier you.

There are five components necessary for hypnosis to be successful.

•Motivation - You must want to make the changes that create a positive results
AND you must want to be HYPNOTIZED.

•Relaxation - Hypnosis is a state of deep relaxation.

•Concentration - You will use your ability to concentrate.

•Imagination - You will use your imagination.

•Suggestion - You will accept and respond to positive suggestions that enhance your ability to reach your goals and get the results you want in your life.

Can You Be Hypnotized? Learn About Hypnosis and Your Conscious and Subconscious Mind

Can I be hypnotized?

2011-05-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

Take the Quiz from Cindy Locher, BCH at SelfHypnosis.com!

I hear this question a lot, and it really stems from a misunderstanding of what hypnosis is.

We can ALL be hypnotized, it’s a natural brainwave state that we’re all in a few times a day, unintentionally.

Once you understand the characteristics of hypnosis, you’d recognize when you’re in hypnosis.

Take this short quiz and see if YOU are hypnotizable.
(I guarantee you are! CL).

1. Are you able to follow simple instructions?

2. Have you ever daydreamed?

3. Can you imagine the sound of a train whistle blowing?

4. Have you ever been traveling in a car, lost in conversation and the travel time appeared to pass rather quickly, or forget whole sections of the trip?

5. Can you sometimes arise from sleep to get a drink of water, or go to the bathroom, and go right back to sleep?

6. Are you willing to accept new ideas for change?

7. Have you ever ‘rested your eyes’ in front of a television set because you were too comfortable to get up and go to bed?

8. Are you able to meditate or pray?

9. Have you ever been so caught up in reading a good book that you couldn’t put it down?

10. While listening to a favorite song, can you remember where you were, what you were doing and who you were with when you first heard it?

11. Have you ever cried or been frightened while watching a movie?

12. Did you ever lose track of time while engrossed in something enjoyable?

14. Do you shudder at the thought of someone scratching his or her fingernails down the front of a chalkboard?

15. Does your mouth water at the thought of sucking on, or biting into a plump, juicy, sour lemon?

16. Have you ever impulsively purchased a bag of popcorn, cinnamon roll or caramel apple because of the aroma filtering through the air?

17. Do you have a good imagination?

If you answered YES to even a few of the questions posted above…

Congratulations!

You are definitely HYPNOTIZABLE!

You see, hypnosis is really focused imagination paired with emotion.

If you desire a change in your life, feel strongly about making that change (or leaving an undesirable state of being behind), and can imagine your life with that change accomplished, then you can be hypnotized to realize that change in your life!

Your brain functions on a small amount of electricity.

2011-04-25T12:36:00.000-07:00

"Your brain functions on a small amount of electricity, much like a computer.

This electrical current vibrates and pulses, at various speeds.

When you are wide awake your brain vibrates 20 times per second—and this is what scientists call the Beta frequency.

You are probably at this Beta level of mind right now as you read this.

When you go to sleep, your brain frequency slows down, all the way to about half a cycle per second in the deepest levels of natural sleep. This is known as the Delta level.

In between Beta, the waking state, and Delta the deep sleep state, there are two other levels of mental activity.

When you are in a light level of sleep or in meditation you are in the Alpha range, which is 7 to 14 cycles per second. This is the center range and this is what we mean with the term “going to your center”.

Going to the Alpha level or centering is the same as meditating. When someone meditates, scientifically, they are simply reducing their brain wave frequency to Alpha. The Alpha level is the level we use to activate the full potential of our minds.

Theta is a level of deeper relaxation or sleep, when your brain waves are at 4 to 7 cycles per second.

...The brain is more energetic when it is less active. At lower frequencies the brain receives and stores more information...

...People who can remain in the Alpha level while analyzing information have access to more information than those who remain in Beta to do their thinking. Surges of intuition, creative ideas and inspirational thoughts come to people while at this Alpha level.

Going to Alpha is also good for programming your mind. At the Alpha level you can learn to manage all kinds of problems, such as insomnia, tension and migraine headaches, bad habits, and much more.

You can also program your mind to help you achieve your goals and make your dreams come true."

Silva Life System
Jose Silva dedicated his life to awakening the human mind’s hidden potential. After over a decade of research, he released his findings in 1966 and spent the rest of his life perfecting and teaching The Silva Method.

More information on your Thyroid from Women to Women

2011-04-11T14:26:00.000-07:00

Thyroid Health from Women to Women personal health program.
"Your thyroid is one of the most important glands in your body. It controls the way you metabolize food, the way you use energy, lose and gain weight, how well or poorly you sleep, and much, much more. We know that women are more prone to thyroid conditions than men, and that many of these problems first manifest during times of hormonal flux, such as perimenopause and childbearing.

One of the best ways to support the thyroid gland through all of life's important changes is by eating more carefully. As we approach these transitions, perhaps it’s time for everyone to take a look at how the foods we eat can help — or hurt — our thyroid function. You may have heard conflicting information about iodine, soy, or even broccoli. Let’s get the facts straight by looking at how specific foods and supplements influence this master gland, and learn what you can do to support your thyroid health.
...

Some studies have shown that the isoflavones in soybeans inhibit the enzyme responsible for adding iodine to thyroid hormone, thyroid peroxidase (TPO). These and other studies also demonstrate, however, that soy’s effect on the thyroid involves the critical relationship between your iodine status and thyroid function. This means that if you have low iodine in your body, the soy isoflavone could bond to what iodine you do have, leaving you with an inadequate reserve for thyroid hormone production. Evidence suggests that if you have sufficient iodine in your body, eating soy will most likely not be a problem. And I’ve seen soy help so many women with menopausal symptoms that it would be a shame not to consider it as an option. (Just be sure it is not genetically modified soy.)
...

Start with whole food, and supplement as needed. Getting as many pro-thyroid nutrients through wholesome foods is ideal, but I know this isn’t always easy or even possible in our busy lives. Supplementing with a top-quality multivitamin–mineral complex, like the one we offer in our Personal Program, will provide the foundation you need for preventive thyroid health. If you already have thyroid imbalance, talk to your practitioner about using supplements before a prescription. The problem with prescriptions like Synthroid (levothyroxine) is that once you go on them, your thyroid backs down, and it can be difficult to get off of thyroid replacement drugs.

Get tested. I recommend having a full thyroid hormone panel, which is routine for many practitioner visits. But I also recommend testing your iodine, selenium, and vitamin D levels. Together, the results of these various tests should give both you and your practitioner a better sense of underlying conditions and how to begin your treatment.

Too much can be as bad as too little. While all of the micronutrients I’ve discussed above are important, overloading on just one will not help your thyroid or resolve your imbalance! There are many complex interactions between the pro-thyroid nutrients, especially iodine and selenium, so please work with your practitioner to find a gentle balance that is right for you.

Support your adrenals. I’ve so often seen that the underlying problem in a thyroid imbalance is overworked adrenal glands. To learn more about the intimate connection between stress, your thyroid and adrenal glands and how to better support them, see our articles on adrenal health.
...

This is perhaps one of the most overlooked pieces of advice in our modern lives: sit and enjoy your food! As women in today’s world, we are expected to do and be so many things that eating while standing at the kitchen counter, driving, or seated at your computer seems normal. But as you may have read in my article on hypothyroidism in menopause, the thyroid is very sensitive to stress. Give your mind, your body, and your thyroid a break by sitting in a comfortable space while you eat. Enjoy your meals in peace with friends and family, and talk, laugh, and allow the food you consume to nourish your thyroid, too. You deserve this break, and your body will thank you for it!"

Hypnosis changes the expression of your genes.

2011-02-22T11:13:00.000-08:00

This is edited from an article by Deepak Chopra. What he has to say about the benefits of meditaion also applies to hypnosis.

New research shows that brain cells receive genetic signals and grow new connections and heal through the production of proteins and enzymes.

There is a direct path that begins in the mind, with *hypnosis*, meditation, mindfulness, beliefs and emotions. Then the path leads to the genes, where signals are sent that modify the brain cell, which in turn sends its own signals in the form of neurotransmitters to every cell in the body.

Significant changes in the brain happen in the underlying circuitry that connects mind, genes, and brain which operates every second of our lives.

A person's awareness balances and controls almost any bodily process you can name.

You are the author of your own life, capable of change, healing, creativity, and personal transformation.

Who wouldn't want to be free to write the program that runs brain and body?

Say "YES" to lifelong health and happiness!

2011-02-16T10:52:00.000-08:00

Edited from Eat Right America

My goal is to help you say "YES" to lifelong health and happiness.

We need to become aware of our food choices and flip our traditional thinking upside down, and begin eating a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and grains, because that is where the nutrients are.

The more you choose nutrient rich foods, the more you will be satisfied with fewer calories, and the less you will crave fat and high-calorie foods.

When the ratio of nutrients to calories is high, fat melts away, and health is restored.

When you eat healthfully from nutrient-dense food, you can expect your indigestion, reflux, allergies, asthma, arthritis and many other chronic problems to be resolved. As your food addictions disappear, you will begin to actually taste and enjoy the natural flavors in simple foods.

Not everyone is willing to begin to enjoy eating a lot of great tasting food that just happens to be very healthy.

See a list of SUPER FOODS at Eat Right America

2011-02-10T12:20:00.001-08:00

Click here for all POSTS on EFT & Meridian Tapping

2011-02-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

""
Finding a good Tapping video has been a challenge. Rod does a good job of showing the main points, although this is a little different from the sequence I use.

Jack Canfield and the EFT Meridian Tapping World Summit 2011

2011-02-09T09:34:00.000-08:00

Edited from http://www.selfhypnosis.com/ newsletter.

It is amazing how many experts have come out in support of EFT and Merdian Tapping over the last few years.

People like Dr. Joseph Mercola, Bob Proctor, Joe Vitale, Cheryl Richardson, Bruce Lipton, pretty much all of the best and brightest in the personal development world have said they support it.

As Bob Proctor says in the film The Tapping Solution, "People are starting to understand themselves as an energy field and how they can work with it to get the results they want."

And these experts aren't just saying they support EFT, they're saying that they use it on a regular basis and with positive results.

Click on the link below to see a video with Jack Canfield, co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books and featured expert in the film "The Secret" where he talks specifically about EFT:

Tapping World Summit 2011

In the video Jack reveals some really eye opening insights as to why he thinks EFT is so critical to use, especially when working with the Law of Attraction.

He also explains how he has used EFT in his own life and how he recommends you use it to help you get what you want in life.

Just a thought away!

2011-01-25T21:18:00.000-08:00

Edited from Deep Trance Now.

Welcome to the World of the Mind
where everything you desire is just a thought away!

The ultimate purpose of hypnosis and hypnotherapy is to help you dissolve any inner obstacles, so that your innate greatness can freely express through you, enabling you to live a life that is greater and more wonderful than anything you have yet even imagined possible.

Hypnosis is the art and science of creating subjective experience of reality which in turn influences objective experience of reality. It is summed up in expressions "As within, so without", "As above, so below".

The entire universe is mind-like in nature, created out of living, conscious, intelligent energy, including thoughts in your mind, cells in your body, plants, animals, weather, money, planets and galaxies. We live in this Infinite Ocean of Living Intelligent Energy.

Quantum physicists speak of it as quantum reality, spiritual traditions as spiritual reality (God, Tao, etc), and what you need to keep in mind is that it permeates what we call "physical reality", too.

Everything is interconnected - and that is why you already are influencing everything - from your own mental, emotional and physical wellbeing to someone else's - regardless of whether that someone else is physically present or not. Remember? The universe in which we live is mind-like in nature.

The moment you think a thought, you are exerting an influence (energy follows thought). The extent of your influence will depend upon the energy invested in the thought you think, and any other relevant thought.

There is infinite number of ways in which you can play with and alter subjective reality - yours, or someone else's. The secret of successful self-hypnosis is in learning how to play the game of pretending really well. You choose what you want to experience and pretend that it is real for you now.

You will be interested to know that you have been playing this game your entire life - perhaps unconsciously and unknowingly. To be sure, people around you helped - in different ways they influenced how you should think and act and feel - and then you continued to make your choices and created experiences that validated the perception of the world you accepted.

In time you set up a feed-back loop - you think a thought, then look for something in the external world to validate it and confirm it. This in turn, reinforces the original thought, and as the same pattern repeats, you reinforce your chosen beliefs about reality.

Your beliefs then influence your experience of reality automatically. If you don't like what you are experiencing you can begin by changing your thoughts by choosing what you want to experience and taking care and control of your mind.

Our society does not teach us how to be a fearless human being who is fully aware of and capable of using our full mental faculties, who knows that our own thoughts create our reality, so nothing external can control and manipulate us.

If you don't care to take control of your mind, others may do it for you. It begins with your parents who most often do have your best interests at heart, though they can only teach you what they have learned. It then continues with educational institutions whose main interest is in turning you into a socially-productive individual that may leave you feeling slightly anxious, afraid, inadequate, insecure, or helpless. Advertizing, news and TV programs are all hypnotizing people, influencing your thoughts and emotions, by programming your subconscious mind, whether you are aware of it or not.

When you keep on flashing an idea - whether through words, pictures, music, movies or any other form - day in and day out - it becomes so familiar to the people that they accept it as their own.

You can do the same for yourself - by flashing to yourself ideas of the things you desire to experience in your life. Out of the infinite ways in which you can do this here are just a few - choosing the thoughts you think, working with affirmations, using hypnosis recordings, hanging out with people who have accomplished what you desire to accomplish, choosing what you read and what you watch, choosing the songs you listen to, or making treasure maps.

Essentially surrounding yourself with anything that helps you to keep your mind focused on your desired outcome - as if it were already a part of your life now.

Let go of the past and embrace your power to create the life you'd enjoy living now.

The side effects of hypnosis are positive.

2011-01-25T12:19:00.000-08:00

Hypnosis and hypnotherapy is widely regarded as one of the safest ways to make lasting positive changes to your health and wellbeing. You already know how to reach hypnotic states because you have been doing it your entire life, whether you knew it or not.

For example, you reach a state of hypnosis when you daydream, remember an event that happened in the past, drive a car, read a book, watch a good movie, listen to music, lie down to rest, etc. The whole point of hypnosis is for you to achieve greater personal control, a greater sense of well-being, and a more relaxed and peaceful mind and body.

Research has shown few serious side effects to hypnosis. In fact, most of the side effects of hypnosis are positive.

Sleeping better is the number one side effect of working with hypnosis.

Many clients have multiple issues that come up even if they come in with only one problem they want to solve. Hypnosis is able to resolve complex issues on every level, even if you are not consciously aware of them. Some clients discover the cause of one problem and clear it and find that other issues are resolved as well. I call it "extra wellness" when several problems get resolved while you are working on another one.

A possible cause of reports of negative side effects usually comes from misuse of “direct suggestion”, which I rarely use. My approach is very adaptogenic. For instance, instead of saying, for example, “you will now stop feeling angry”, I use wording that is more open so your unconscious can adapt it in the most beneficial way without negative effects, such as “you will maintain your goal of being completely free of all old responses, emotions, habits, beliefs and behaviors ….creating a healthy body and mind…”

Some patients have experienced mild feelings of fatigue or disorientation following their hypnosis session. Please be sure to report such feelings to me because they can easily be resolved.

Also, research has shown that events recalled during hypnosis are neither more nor less likely to be accurate than those recalled in a usual waking state of consciousness, although recollections are sometimes experienced more vividly.

And please note that if hypnosis is used for decreasing pain perception, medical consultation and referral from your doctor may be required.

At no time will the use of hypnosis involve any attempt to provide medical or mental health therapy. Always follow the advice of your doctor or other professional medical practitioner. Hypnosis is not meant as a substitute for standard medical, psychological or psychiatric treatment and consulting hypnotists are required to advise you to seek your doctor's approval for any medically or psychologically diagnosed conditions or disorders. Hypnosis techniques are adjunct to symptoms and are a complementary alternative for self-healing, self-help, and behavior modification. Results are ultimately achieved through the client's own personal efforts at applying these techniques over time.

Report on Thyroid and Autoimmune Disease

2011-01-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

Thyroid Deficiency
Preventing a Metabolic Meltdown
By Raphael Kellman, MD

Autoimmune Thyroid Disease

Low progesterone in women between the ages of 30 and 50 may lead to autoimmune hypothyroiditis, or Hashimoto’s disease, as a consequence of immune stimulation by the dominant estrogen.

In this condition, the body’s immune system develops antibodies to thyroid cell components, resulting in self-destruction of the thyroid gland; specifically, antibodies to thyroid peroxidase and thyroglobulin are generated pathologically.

Twenty-five percent of such cases may also result from a genetic predisposition.

This attack by the immune system on the thyroid results in damage to the cellular mitochondria, the energy producers in the cytoplasm, and the progressive destruction of the thyroid itself.

Stress can also provoke this mitochondrial response, which in turn can result in other types of inflammation and allergies.

To improve mitochondrial function, we use N-acetylcysteine (a precursor to glutathione), coenzyme Q10, and alpha lipoic acid, an antioxidant for liver and nerve health that also works to regenerate coenzyme Q10.37

This treatment also improves cholesterol and fat levels in the liver, and helps the gall bladder.

Looking for the Cause

In addition to treating both symptoms and organic dysfunction, it is important to identify and eliminate all other possible causative factors. These may include:

Iodine deficiencies.
Iodine is an important component of T4 and T3. Although dietary iodine deficiencies are now almost nonexistent in the US, some people need to supplement their iodine intake with kelp, seaweed, or iodine tablets. Iodine is also found in dietary supplements such as Thyroid &; L-Tyrosine Complex™ capsules, which contain other trace minerals needed for optimal endocrine function—such as iodine, magnesium, zinc, copper, and manganese—as well as tyrosine, the precursor to thyroid hormone.

Toxicity/heavy metals.
Metal toxicity, determined by hair analysis, can be addressed with chelation, both intravenous and oral. Selenium supplementation can also help remove heavy metals by working in conjunction with glutathione peroxidase, a compound found in asparagus, garlic, and mushrooms. A blood test can determine if selenium supplementation is needed; if so, there are several options, including Se-methylselenocysteine caps.

Candida.
Candida is detected using stool testing for overgrowth of yeast and yeast antibodies. Eliminating yeast, sugar, and wheat from the diet helps to starve out candida. People suffering from this disorder should eliminate even honey and fruit sugars from their diet at first, and then slowly reintroduce them into the diet later. Twinlab Yeast Fighters include biotin, fiber, acidophilus, and herbs to support a healthy intestinal environment.

Environmental radiation.
Radiation can cause free-radical damage to the thyroid, as has happened in Ukraine as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster. The cell mitochondria are also prone to free radical damage. I recommend turning off cell phones and unplugging bedside electronic and electrical devices (including the telephone) at night, even though these devices produce relatively low levels of radiation. Because electromagnetic radiation in food can also be problematic, eating organic food whenever possible is also recommended.

Treating Hypothyroidism
Conventional treatment calls for patients to take an oral, synthetic form of T4. Synthroid®, the most popular such medication, is used by about 8 million Americans. Especially in older people for whom the side effects can be more problematic, it is important to advance the dosage slowly until TSH blood levels return to normal. This medication usually must be taken for life.

Dr. Kellman has discovered that many people respond better to Armour® Thyroid, which is desiccated porcine thyroid.

A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine claimed greater improvements in mood and brain function with Armour® Thyroid than with Synthroid®.

Dr. Kellman recommends starting treatment with a dose of 60-120 mg of Armour® desiccated thyroid, and then retesting in a month.

One patient, a woman in her early forties, complained of fatigue along with dry scalp and hair loss. She had gained 10 pounds and had irregular periods of depression. Because her blood test results were in the “normal” range, she went from doctor to doctor, until one physician prescribed birth control pills and Prozac®. Dr. Kellman noticed that her TSH level was 3 mµ/ml; this score, though considered to be within the normal range, may indicate low thyroid. Dr. Kellman treated her empirically with Armour® Thyroid. Dr. Kellman also tested her adrenals and found that they were hypofunctioning, and thus prescribed ashwagandha and Panax ginseng.42,43 Two weeks after treatment, the woman regained her energy and told me, “I have my life back!” The weight also disappeared—she dropped 10 pounds in eight weeks, her skin returned to normal, and her mood lifted."

BodyTalk, How To Balance Your Brain

2011-01-18T23:32:00.001-08:00

BodyTalk, Balancing the Cortices

CORTICES is the plural of cortex which is the outer layer of the brain called the cerebrum (the cerebral cortex), composed of folded gray matter and playing an important role in consciousness.

"One of the very important things about balancing the cortices is that it helps to shift the body and mind out of ‘fight or flight’ (sympathetic) and into ‘growth and healing‘ (parasympathetic).

We often get stuck in flight or flight which causes great stress to the body, and breaks down those communication pathways in the body. It’s like too many plugs are plugged in and our circuits ‘blow’. This causes us to get stuck in a stressful state, and from this place, everything is more difficult - including healing.

Balancing the cortices also balanced the right/left brain which is fundamental for a healthy body and mind.

The right brain is the more intuitive side, imagination and it can work holistically - looking at the big picture. It is responsible for our creativity and and artistic abilities.

The left brain is responsible for our reasoning, logic and thought. It looks at the details and works in a linear way therefor it is slower. It is our knowledge and our learned behaviors.

What we would like is to have both sides of the brain working together to provide us with the ability to connect to the big pictures whilst knowing the details, have logic AND intuition, be able to be aware of where we’re going at the same time as knowing the steps to take.

Balancing the cortices daily starts to bring the body and brain back to a state of health where we can naturally move between different events without getting stuck in fight or flight and start to live using our whole brain.

I highly recommend balancing your cortices in the morning when you wake up, before you go to sleep, and if you have any kind of shock or trauma. If you have an accident, a headache, cut yourself, are stressed out, or receive some bad news.

Tap out your cortices and watch how you relax and return to a place where the body can start healing."

Why is our thinking focused on the past when we're depressed?

2011-01-18T22:26:00.000-08:00

From Dr. Suzanne LaCombe's article
"How to Define Depression?"

"It has to do with state-dependent memory. Memories are encoded together with the state of the mind-body at the time they're first laid down. When we feel depressed, this state is tapping into the memory of previous times we experienced this depressed state.

To fully appreciate this idea it's helpful to understand how the brain organizes itself.

The success of our species has depended on our ability to 'put two and two together'. In other words, we notice associations between ideas and we profit from it--we can connect the dots. The brain is designed and organized to make these associations, and the more connections there are between neuropathways, the more associations there will be for us to make.

A consequence of this interconnectivity within the brain is that specific memories get associated with the mind-body state at the time the memory was acquired. So if I feel angry right now, it will be easier to remember the last time I felt angry. If I feel agitated it's easier to recall the last time I felt that way.

Some experts suggest that some depressive states might well be associated with memories formed during infancy. This might explain why there is no identified memory, because the hippocampal memory for facts, names, etc. doesn't come online until about age two."

Conscious Femininity by Marion Woodman

2011-01-09T00:10:00.000-08:00

The work of Jungian analyst and writer, Marion Woodman. One of my favorite authors. She has taught me well.

Quotes from Conscious Femininity:

I am learning how to move into the conflict and hold the opposites and create a new path.

I am learning how to communicate my own experience of myself without blaming, attacking, or betraying you or me.

Learn to separate what is real from what is unreal, what stays and what goes.

I am learning to identify my preferences and communicate in a neutral way so you can receive them and not be threatened, hurt or betrayed.

What is your ATTACHMENT style?

2010-12-24T00:24:00.000-08:00

Scientific American Mind
January/February 2011
Get Attached

Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love by Levine & Heller

Attachment theory designates three main styles in which individuals perceive and respond to intimacy in romantic relationships, which parallel those found in children.

Attachment is an integral part of human behavior throughout their entire life span.

Adults can be divided into attachment categories according ot the way they recall their relationship with their caregivers, which in turn influences their parental behavior.

Patterns of Attachment
Anxious
Avoident
Secure

Basically, secure people find it easy to get close to others, feel comfortable with intimacy and are usually warm and loving.

Anxious people crave intimacy, are often preoccupied with their relationships and tend to worry about their partner's ability to love them back or to stay with them.

Avoidant people equate intimacy with a loss of independence and constantly try to minimize closeness.

Attachment principles teach us that most people are only as needy as their unmet needs.

When their emotional needs are met, they usually turn their attention outward.

This result is sometimes referred to as the "dependency paradox", the more effectively dependent people are on one another, the more independent and creative they become.

Unfortunaltely the significance of adult attachment goes unappreciated. Among adults, the prevailing notion is still that too much dependence in a relationship is a bad thing.

The opposite is true. Our ability to step into the world on our own often stems from the knowledge that there is someone beside us on whom we can rely.

If you want to take the road to independence and happiness, first find the right person to depend on and then travel down it together.

How can you tell what attachment style a person has?

Does the other person show a sincere wish to understand your needs and put your well-being first?

Do they brush aside your concerns or make you feel inadequate, foolish or self-indulgent?

Do you spell out your needs so it is easy for your partner to meet them?

Do you make your partner guess whether something is wrong and then make them guess what that something is?

Begin by determining your own and your partners attachment style to find more security in your relationship.

Take the ATTACHMENT STYLE QUIZ

The Top 10 Health Benefits of Kissing

2010-12-10T00:33:00.000-08:00

From BEST KISSES

The health benefits of kissing have been documented in medical studies offering amazing advantages for a long and healthy life.

1.Those who kiss their partner goodbye each morning live five years longer than those who don’t.

2.Kissing is great for self-esteem. It makes you feel appreciated and helps your state of mind.

3.Kissing burns calories, 2-3 calories a minute and can double your metabolic rate. Research claims that three passionate kisses a day (at least lasting 20 seconds each) will cause you to loose an entire extra pound! It's time to start that kissing diet!

4.Kissing is a known stress-reliever. Passionate kissing relieves tension, reduces negative energy and produces a sense of well being, lowering your cortisol ‘stress’ hormone.

5.Kissing uses 30 facial muscles and it helps keep the facial muscles tight, preventing baggy cheeks! The tension in the muscles caused by a passionate kiss helps smooth the skin and increases the circulation.

6.Kissing is good for the heart, as it creates an adrenaline which causes your heart to pump more blood around your body. Frequent kissing has scientifically been proven to stabilize cardiovascular activity, decrease blood pressure and cholesterol.

7.Those who kiss quite frequently are less likely to suffer from stomach, bladder and blood infections.

8.During a kiss, natural antibiotics are secreted in the saliva. Also, the saliva contains a type of anesthetic that helps relieve pain.

9.Kissing reduces anxiety and stops the 'noise' in your mind. It increases the levels of oxytocin, an extremely calming hormone that produces a feeling of peace.

10.The endorphins produced by kissing are 200 times more powerful than morphine.

Enjoy some kisses to reduce stress.

2010-12-09T00:04:00.000-08:00

Reducing stress in your life will support your weight loss goals.

Use hypnosis relaxation techniques including deep breathing, guided imagery visualization, and regularly accessing the positive feelings you will have when you achieve the results you want.

Get a massage. Massage is an excellent way to reduce muscle tension, lower stress hormone and boost immunity.

Regular acupuncture treatments lower cortisol as well as raise endorphins, our body¹s natural pain-reducing hormone.

Practice yoga and meditation.

Exercise programs such as cardiovascular activities, as well as weight training, reduce stress hormones if performed properly. Avoid over doing it, which will only create more stress!

Enjoy some kisses. Studies have shown that kissing actually lowers stress hormones.

Winners win in advance.

2010-11-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

Have you heard the term Mental Toughness?

Mental toughness refers to training your mind to focus on positive thoughts about your performance and success.

Any negative reactions, thoughts, memories, feelings, ideas, beliefs, behaviors, habits, or limitations of any kind, are immediately identified and interrupted and replaced with a new focus on creating the most beneficial outcome possible in each situation that may arise.

Easily overcome and avoid stress by releasing any and all negative thoughts in the first place and replacing them with positive feeling thoughts that bring relief and satisfaction.

Hypnosis connects you to your unconscious mind on your own, so you begin getting the best results possible.

"Mental toughness comes from repeatedly and consistently recovering from stress and adversity by being determined, focused, confident, resilient, and in control under pressure.

When the going gets tough and you want to quit, have a set, prepared, thought process ready to go.

Thoughts lead to emotions.

Emotions lead to behaviors and performance.

Performance = Potential - Interference.

You can have all the head knowledge in the world but it isn't worth much if it doesn't get into your body ... your cellular structure.

Ways to do that: Experience, Imagination, Emotion."

(The above comments about Mental Toughness come from my colleague, Craig Sigl.)

Mental toughness is about not being affected by anything but what’s going on in the game or competition or any area of your life, no matter what is happening or what other people are doing. It’s being able to block out what’s not important.

Quickly get over making any mistakes. Be able to move past mistakes or failures and reach your goal.

Relax and focus in the midst of hectic surroundings.

Begin to "program" your mind to achieve the results you want.

Find and access the strength and resources you already have, while releasing anything that does not support you in getting the results you want.

Easily reaching your goals.

Keep going even if things get tough.

Bounce back, refocus, and make your goals a reality.
Quickly noticing if you do lose focus.

Easily be able to refocus quickly and get back to your best performance.

Stay positive, let go of distractions or tension, becoming more and more resilient.

What if you no longer allow the stresses involved to become larger than the joy and pleasures of playing the game or accomplishing the task.

Use the power of imagination. If the human mind is capable of imagining something, it's capable of making it happen.

Calmly repeating your success, in your mind's eye, over and over...

Release any worry of comparing yourself to others or matching up in a particular way.

Learning and improving with every effort.

Any mistakes are now easily released. Be easy on yourself during any setbacks and pick yourself up.

The only true failure is to give up, so congratulate yourself on your effort, regroup, and begin again.

Feeling calm and centered, no matter what is about to happen.

No longer allow life’s uncertainties, or any situation that may lead to uneasiness or inner tension, to can stand in the way of our best efforts.

Easily overcome and avoid stress by releasing any and all negative thoughts in the first place and replacing them with positive feeling thoughts that bring relief and satisfaction.

Freeing unconscious potentials from the limitations of consciousness.

2010-11-08T11:46:00.000-08:00

Edited from:
Hypnotic Realities: The Induction of Clinical Hypnosis and Forms of Indirect Suggestion
by
Milton H. Erickson, Ernest L Rossi, and Sheila I. Rossi

"Famous Doctor and Hypnotherapist, Milton Erickson likes to emphasize that hypnotic suggestion can evoke and utilize potentials that already exist within clients, but it cannot impose something totally against their essential nature.

The effective hypnotherapist learns to use words, intonations, gestures, and other things that evoke the client's own mental mechanisms and behavioral processes.

Hypnotic suggestion is not a kind of verbal magic that can be imposed on clients to make them do anything.

Hypnotic suggestions are effective only to the degree that they can activate, block, or alter the functioning of natural mental mechanisms and associations already existing within the client.

These hypnotic forms are communication devices that facilitate the evocation and utilization of the patient's own associations, potentials, and natural mental mechanisms in ways that are usually experienced as involuntary by the patient.

Ordinary, everyday, nonhypnotic suggestions are acted upon because we have evaluated them with our usual conscious attitudes and found them to be an acceptable guide for our behavior, and we carry them out in a voluntary manner.

Hypnotic suggestion, by contrast, is different in that the patient is surprised to find that experience and behavior are altered in a seemingly autonomous manner; experience seems to be outside one's usual sense of control and self-direction.

A successful hypnotic experience is one in which trance alters habitual attitudes and modes of functioning so that carefully formulated hypnotic suggestions can evoke and utilize other patterns of associations and potentials within the client to implement certain therapeutic goals."

When you are in the moment, you are in your right brain.

2010-10-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

Edited from Dr. Suzanne LaCombe, Ed.D, R. Psych.
Head Shrink and Editor,
MyShrink.com - Changing the way we see therapy!

"One of the fastest ways--possibly the only way--to engage the brain in changing any behavior or emotion is to stay in the present moment. Being present means being fully engaged in the moment with all your senses attuned to the here and now.

You are neither dreaming of the future nor regretting the past. You are in the moment.

You've probably had a "moment" in your life. You know, a moment of awareness, of being totally in the here and now. Well, you were in your right brain.

Our present moments are right brain based. That's because all our sensory information comes through the right brain.

Right brain-based therapy focuses on emotions and creativity. Left brain-based counseling, better known as "talk therapy" can be enhanced by bringing the emotions and body sensations into play. To optimize results, work from both the left and right sides of the brain.

It's the right brain that gives us that sense of being connected to one another. It's called the relational right brain for a good reason. The right brain regulates or influences many aspects of our behavior, often those aspects that we would like to change.

We use the terms "left brain" and "right brain" to refer to the two basic ways the brain processes information. Thus, when we say that someone is "in their right brain" it simply means that they are processing their experience in a holistic, "big picture" way.

There is no such thing as a right brain, separate and independent of a left one. They are not in conflict, nor is one "superior" to the other. For example, when you're having a conversation, your left brain will focus on the meaning of the words exchanged, while your right brain will observe whether the other person gets what you're saying.

Those things often have to do with our relations and connections with others:
• Self-awareness
• Empathy
• Identification with others
• Trust
• Emotion
• Non-conscious communication
• Attachment
• Recognition of emotions

Other right brain functioning includes visual-spatial recognition (imagery), autobiographical memory, stress modulation and holistic thinking.

The right side of the brain also has an integrative map of the body.

It is often useful to understand the role that the right brain plays. Because it's the center for processing emotion and of our sense of identity, it has a huge influence on how we feel about ourselves and how we manage our relationships.

Modifying the habitual patterns of feeling and behavior that are "encoded" in the right brain is the primary goal of all therapies, although many don't say this explicitly.

We use the term "right brain" to refer in a general way to those brain systems responsible for regulating our ability to interpret, navigate and thrive in the world.

In particular, these systems also determine the quality of our relationships with others, including the ability to form secure emotional attachments.

Technically speaking, the right brain encodes the implicit procedural memories which accumulated in the earliest years of life, well before the analytical left brain came online.

Not all areas of the brain are online when we are born.

What's significant is that areas in the right hemisphere become active in the first two years of life, whereas the left hemisphere doesn't come online fully until 18 months to two years.

Although the right brain develops first before any verbal or conceptual ability appears, an intense amount of learning happens in those first years.

We learn about ourselves and the world through direct experience, not through words.

Our experiences, especially with our caregivers, will be encoded in procedural memories that form the basis of our emotional life.

The right hemisphere is dominant in the first three years of life; it's the first to mature, before the left brain. Emotional experiences, especially those involving caregivers, are unconsciously stored and processed in the right brain during those first years.

What gets encoded is an ability to handle social relationships as well as knowledge and expectations about how others will react to our efforts to communicate and connect.

Perhaps the most important characteristic of procedural memories is their non-conscious operation.

Analysis, thought, and language are all conscious operations of the mind and are characteristic of "left brain" abilities, whereas the influence of the right brain occurs largely outside of our awareness.

The procedural memories that fundamentally condition our emotional lives are laid down long before the rational mind appears and are unaffected by intellectual efforts to change them."

Procedural Memory

2010-10-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

"Changing or replacing procedural memory is the key to changing your behaviors.

The procedural memory system stores the instructions for our habitual responses. It patterns how we do things. More profoundly, it is about who we are. Procedural memory is the basis of our character, those aspects of ourselves that make us unique.

When we learn a behavior or an emotional response it becomes part of our procedural memory. Once it's been "programmed" into the procedural memory system we don't need to decide how to respond to a specific situation because it has now become automatic--after all, that's the whole point.

You see these "over learned" patterns are the "behind the scenes" kind of memory that frees up our attention for more important tasks.

For instance, I can drive my car and carry on a conversation at the same time. The 'driving' behavior is encoded in procedural memory. Since I've over learned the skills needed for driving I don't need to be conscious of every detail in order to keep my car on the road.

This kind of memory is called "procedural" because it pre-determines how we will react in a given situation. Once established in the nervous system, it is non-conscious and automatic."

Dr. Suzanne LaCombe, Ed.D, R. Psych.
Head Shrink and Editor,
MyShrink.com - Changing the way we see therapy!

THRIVING

2010-10-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

Hypnosis promotes thriving, not merely surviving, and arriving at our fullest potential, as we create the most beneficial outcome possible in all situations.

Clinical Research and Development Background For The IBS Child's Program

2010-10-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

From HelpforIBS.com

Michael Mahoney is one of the United Kingdom's leading Clinical Hypnotherapists in the treatment of IBS.

The hypnotherapy sessions in this program are unique to clinical hypnotherapist Michael Mahoney, who developed and used the protocol with many children with IBS over the years.

The at-home IBS audio program grew out of his clinical practice treatments of children with IBS. The program's initial formal clinical research began with in-person IBS treatments, involving 16 children (10 girls and 6 boys, ages 8 to 13). The children received IBS hypnotherapy sessions at the Guardian Medical Centre, Warrington, Cheshire. The children also listened to recordings of their sessions in their own home, under the supervision of their parents where applicable.

An initial consultation and evaluation was given to each child to determine the nature and their perception of their condition. Parents were interviewed separately and apprised of the treatment protocol and their need for involvement.

Each child was asked to rate their IBS symptoms and emotional/social areas of concern on a scale of 0 to 10 (10 being very severe and 0 being non-existent). They were also asked to rate their general happiness from 0 to 10. This was done to get a baseline of their condition, so that it could be evaluated with their rankings after the completion of the program.

For Parents
Parents were put at ease and given a private introductory session fully explaining the nature of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Functional Abdominal Pain, and related symptoms and emotional concerns. They were told how the clinical hypnotherapy sessions would help their child reduce or alleviate IBS symptoms. It was fully expected that the parent would take part in their child's therapy sessions by explaining any further questions, providing reassurance, and ensuring compliance in listening to the sessions. Each live session was recorded for the child to listen to, according to a specific schedule at home, until the next scheduled appointment for the subsequent live session. All live sessions were recorded in this way.

Parents were apprised that IBS is still a major concern for doctors, that it is a complex disorder, and there are still many more questions than answers. IBS may start with what seems a simple stomachache, but so often leads to the disruption of many parts of the child's life, and the lives of those around them. This adult session empathizes with the parents' experience of cancelled trips to school, their child curled up in pain, and refusing to move or go out. Often this has a social impact as well. The child may drop out of clubs, after school activities, and even lose contact with friends.

Despair is felt, and confidence and self-esteem are reduced as all attempts at reassurance falter. The parents are informed that once trust has been gained, the majority of children and teens are excellent to work with. They listen, they are honest, and they are willing to put in the time and effort to help themselves.

Further information is given on the frustrations of both child and parent, and how they can work together to help the situation not only on the level of obvious symptoms, but the emotional aspects as well.

For The Child
Each child was given a first introductory session that was not hypnotherapy, but that explained the nature of their treatment, asked them questions about their pain and other symptoms, explained the brain-gut connection underlying IBS in simple terms, and made them feel comfortable and cared for.

The second session with the child was also introductory in nature and provided simple exercises for defining pain and thinking about it from a different perspective. The child was encouraged to think about their symptoms and problems in a new way, and to take ownership of them, as well as to know that they would be given the tools to do so in an easy, structured way.

The following six sessions for the child were completed over several weeks, and consisted of gut-specific hypnotherapy:

1. The first hypnotherapy session helps the child learn to relax and become accustomed to the hypnotherapy process, and to feel good about themselves taking time to get better.

2. The second hypnotherapy session used a combination of gentle imagery as well as the child's own answers to questions asked in the introduction to help address the child's symptoms. They learn to let go of those things no longer needed, like the worry about their stomach, and any worries about going out or going to school, visiting people or doing new things, or any other areas of concern for the child.

3. The third hypnotherapy session assists the child in looking forward to the future without symptoms, feeling well and able to move forward in a whole and healthy way.

4. The child's fourth hypnotherapy session uses further gentle imagery to address concerns with digestive motility, so that the child uses their own natural abilities to balance the digestive system and reduce or eliminate unwanted digestive symptoms of IBS.

5. In the fifth hypnotherapy session the child learns to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. Processes and imagery are provided for the child to move even further into the future, removing any remaining areas of pain. They learn to look forward to taking part in life without worry or fear of any situation at home or school. They learn to see themselves in everyday life living it as they want to free of IBS.

6. The sixth and final hypnotherapy session encapsulates the previous sessions, embedding them further and helping to maintain the progress made through the program. This session provides a means to continue with improvements beyond the duration of the active sessions.

Participation for the child simply comprised attending the live sessions, then listening to the recording of that session according to a specific schedule in their own home until the next scheduled session.

Upon completion of the final session the child was again asked to rank their progress by rating the 27 symptoms and emotional/social areas of concern. They were again also asked to rate their general happiness. Improvement was shown on all levels.

In order to determine maintenance and continued improvement, additional rankings were provided by the children at several times in the year following their completion of the hypnotherapy program. These subsequent rankings indicated even further progress.

In addition to improvements ranked, further feedback indicated secondary outcomes. Parents became closer to their children, and the children received validation for their condition, which, in turn, further helped their progress. The children indicated that the sessions were pleasant and easy to do, and they were pleased that they were feeling better - and as indicated by feedback - much happier overall.

Could you answer these questions for me?

2010-10-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

I recently was asked to answer questions for a young student's Health and Wellness class project.

His E-mail said, "I am supposed to ask an expert about hypnosis. Could you answer these questions for me?"

What is hypnosis?

The function of the brain is to set and fulfill goals. The brain is a goal setting mechanism. Safe and effective, hypnosis creates a special psychological state which allows you to make positive change happen quickly and easily. Hypnosis helps you gain control of responses that are normally controlled by unconscious mechanisms. With hypnosis you easily access the creative part of yourself at an unconscious level where learning and change take place.

The hypnotic state is very pleasant and has no harmful side effects. You already know how to reach hypnotic states because you have been doing it your entire life whether you knew it or not. For example, you reach a state of hypnosis, or trance state, when you daydream, remember an event that happened in the past, drive a car, read a book, watch a good movie, listen to music, or lie down to rest.

Stage hypnosis is for fun and entertainment. Hypnosis used for hypno-therapy involves a deliberate choice to enter this state of consciousness for a goal, focus your concentration, and use suggestion to make changes in your life or to promote healing. Whenever a suggestion is received in this state of suggestibility it tends to go deep into our subconscious and have a powerful effect on our behavior. Once the subconscious mind accepts an idea, it goes to work on making it come true.

Hypnosis may not feel any different than your normal waking state of awareness. During hypnosis, your conscious mind may remain focused on my words, or it may drift off, so you do not track what I am saying.

Hypnosis has many levels that range from light to deep. Depth is just a metaphor used when speaking about hypnosis, as in the suggestion to go "deeper and deeper" into hypnosis. Some people prefer the metaphor of drifting higher and higher. Hypnotic states are part of a continuum of regular consciousness, so you may reach many different hypnotic states during your session.

Some of the work I do with my clients is in an active trance state, engaged in guided imagery, where the client is accessing the Alpha and Theta brain wave states of trance AND is fully awake and aware.

The person in a hypnotic trance is always in control, just as someone who is daydreaming can decide to go on, or stop, at any time.

In my work, I tell my clients that it doesn’t matter what your conscious mind is doing during hypnosis, because your unconscious will be listening to everything I say and you can trust that you will go to the level of trance that is appropriate for you.

After your hypnosis session, you will feel calm, relaxed, refreshed, and ready to bring your full attention to the rest of your day.

Can everyone be hypnotized?

Everyone can be hypnotized, and most people go into a trance multiple times a day. The only difference with hypnosis/hypnotherapy is that you go into a trance state for the purpose of helping you achieve your goals.

What is it used for?

Hypnosis can be helpful in all areas of one’s life. Although it would be impossible for anyone to make a comprehensive list of what hypnosis is good for, here is a list of some of the most common problems that have successfully been addressed with hypnosis/hypnotherapy.

ACCOMPLISH GOALS
STOP SMOKING
LOSE WEIGHT
OVERCOME FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
STOP BITING FINGERNAILS
IMPROVE SPORTS PERFORMANCE
IMPROVE MOTIVATION, MEMORY AND LEARNING
MANAGE AND REDUCE PAIN
IMPROVE SLEEP
ACCELERATE HEALING
GET RID OF OLD HABITS, BEHAVIORS, FEARS, and PHOBIAS
MAKE POSITIVE CHANGES
REDUCE STRESS and ANXIETY
STRENGTHEN YOUR SELF-ESTEEM
RESOLVE GRIEF
STOP REPETITIVE THOUGHTS
GET THE RESULTS YOU WANT
CREATE POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS
ENHANCE PERSONAL GROWTH
RELEASE EMOTIONAL BLOCKS
BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE
HEAL YOUR EMOTIONS
Diagnosed Medical Conditions require a referral from a doctor.

What is your training? How long did it take?

The credentials to look for when choosing a hypnotherapist would be that the hypnosis training is certified and recognized by the major hypnosis organizations. The State of Washington requires all hypnotherapists to be registered but has no requirements or practice standards.

My master practitioner level work was done in 2001 through a private university specializing in Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Bennett Stellar University, which is recognized by the Professional Board of Hypnotherapy, the National Guild of Hypnotists, and the Society of Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Training can take between 100 and 300 hours or more.

When choosing a hypnotherapist, be sure they have training in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) because that provides a critical level of expertise in both verbal and non-verbal communication.

On a regular basis, usually each month, I attend continuing education seminars and presentations provided by professional hypnosis trainers and other experts in the fields of energy medicine, natural health, accelerated learning and personal growth.

What are concerns people have about hypnosis?

Since hypnosis requires your full cooperation, you can never be compelled to do anything that violates your ethical standards, spiritual beliefs, sense of good taste, or personal preferences.
Will I Lose Control In Hypnosis? NO
Will I Get Stuck In A Trance? NO
Can You Make Me Do Something Against My Will? NO

How popular is it?

The use of hypnosis as a viable therapeutic method is becoming more accepted today than ever before. Hypnosis has been clinically proven to provide medical and therapeutic benefits.

How long does it take to help with a problem like smoking?

Most of my clients see improvement after one or two sessions. Although when there are more complex factors involved, it may take more sessions to address what comes up for each individual.

Three sessions are recommended to become a non-smoker for life. You become a "non-smoker" after the first session. You will become aware of your subconscious triggers to smoke before they become a conscious feeling. If you do run into a situation where you have the desire to smoke, we will use it to do specific work on that particular situation where you were "triggered". The follow up sessions work on dissolving the habits attached to smoking to be sure the emotional and physical "triggers" for smoking are all gone. Results are ultimately achieved through the client's own personal efforts at applying these techniques over time.

Do you have a story of someone who was helped by hypnosis?

At Hypnosis Seattle, I have helped hundreds of people solve their problems and achieve their goals. Because of privacy laws I cannot give you a specific example, but I can give you an example from a public testimonial.

“I did not think that giving up smoking could be so easy. One session was all that was needed. I would never have thought that this was possible, especially with me. I had smoked cigarettes for 20 years. I started when I was really young and did not really think hypnosis would work, but I had a new girlfriend that didn't like it that I smoked, so I really wanted to quit. My first hypnosis session was on a Friday afternoon. That weekend, I went out to all the places I usually smoke and it was amazing. I did not have to struggle not to smoke, I just didn't even want to."

Robin Shapiro

2010-10-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

"Intimate relationship is the best source of resilience and growth and hope for the future."

Trauma & Attachment Therapy BLOG
Robin Shapiro's musing about trauma, attachment, and affect-based therapies,
and her book: Trauma Treatment Handbook: Protocols Across the Spectrum

Robin shares notes from UCLA conference speaker Daniel Siegel: A System's View of Disintegration & Integration

P.A.R.T.T.T.T
when fully
Present we can
Attune to the client or others and
Resonate with others and develop
Trust which is important because it activates the smart ventral vagus so the social engagement system turns on so that we can
Track what's going on in moment to moment experience which allows the
Truth to come out and creates
Transformation/healing.

We help clients become open systems: self-organized: chaotic moving toward complexity, flexibility and adaptable: energized and coherent.

Coherence comes from integration.

When not integrated we move toward rigidity (avoidance), chaos (flooding) or both. It's all about the mind regulating the energy and information flow.

Calming exercise: Put one hand on your heart, the other on your abdomen. Hold them there for a while. Try switching hands to see if you prefer one over the other. Most people do.

"There's a distinction between awareness and mental activity: Awareness is the infinite possibility of neural firings."

In trauma, mental activies get locked into rigidity and chaos and pull humans into limited possibility. With unresolved trauma, rigidity and chaos imprison the person's possibilities. Good therapy transforms the brain of the the client to totally shift their center of attention and stay present to the self and watch self and make sense of it. The labeling of the internal state downregulates the limbic system. The client knows that "this" is not "that". Integration is the capacity to sit with core awareness and sit with anything that comes in.

You can use mindfulness practice to help people distinguish between mental activity and true awareness. Ventral integration--being touch with the bodily state: Track it and you transform. Supress it and it screws you up.

We are designed to be interdependent and interconnected. There's hope for we as humans to move from chaotic & rigid states to integration, kindness, and peace.

Your eyes are an extension of your brain.

2010-09-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

Vision has a straight line into the brain, like a keyboard connected to a computer. If someone were to open up your skull and remove your brain (carefully, please), your eyes would come with it. That's because your eyes are hardwired to a lobe at the back of the head responsible for sight information.

Exploring The Mind!, blog by Michael Lovitch of the Hypnosos Network

Adapt and thrive by knowing how.

2010-09-12T23:20:00.000-07:00

Breathing and imagery are powerful tools allowing you to adapt to stress and change, using ancient truths and cutting edge research on the function of the brain.

Begin to understand the secret to remaining well amid the stress and chaos of the modern world. Adapt and thrive by knowing how to regain calmness and equanimity.

Begin by breathing deeply as often as you can. Send your awareness deep into your lower belly, allowing your body to expand as you inhale, through your solar plexus, filling your lungs from the bottom up, all the way up to your collarbone. Hold for a moment and then exhale, releasing your collarbone first in a big sigh of release, relief and relaxation, allowing a sense of well-being to wash through your entire body, from the top of your head, all the way down to the tips of our toes.

This slow exhale resets the body’s balance. Changes in body chemistry associated with anxiety, chronic pain, and many other functional problems may come from lack of deep breathing.

During the inhale think the word “love”. Universal love and consciousness is called “shen” in ancient Chinese Five Elements Medicine. “Shen” resides in the Heart. Visualize the heart and see the word “shen” within your heart as you breathe deeply and slowly and naturally.

On the exhale, think one of the following words: happiness, joy, love, or calmness, changing the words with each exhale.

This technique is powerful so practice it often.

Seeking the competitive edge?

2010-08-21T17:33:00.000-07:00

Hypnosis and the Power of Suggestion

The positive effects of hypnosis are not just to achieve maximum effort during competition, but to improve all of the qualities necessary to make a champion athlete.

Hypnosis helps athletes perform at their best because actual neural growth occurs as a result of mental imagery. Hypnosis creates the mental state where they are able to perform at or near their peak.

There are two basic types of imagery rehearsal; process and result. Process imagery is imagining the various physical steps that must be undertaken in order to accomplish a specific task. Then the athlete might imagine the precise outcome they want and then imagine the feeling of elation or success that would accompany winning. This is result imagery. Teaching athletes self-hypnosis is perhaps the best way to have them perform mental rehearsals before their activity.

Because hypnosis is a process of focused attention, it can enhance concentration on a physical activity. First, it is important to eliminate distractions in nearly every sport, reducing the effect of sound, sight and physical distractions which surround an event and can thus impede concentration and performance. By preventing distraction, athletes perform at a higher optimal level.

Affective control, as it relates to athletic performance, is the control of anxiety and emotion. With low emotional engagement, performance tends not to be very good. As motivation becomes greater, performance improves. Yet, performance begins to fall as too high a level of tension interferes with the execution of the task. Anxiety often occurs as a result of stress.

When hypnosis is used to help control anxiety, it allows for individual differences as well as the situational demands in the sport performance. The goal is to have the excitement and anticipation of competence and competition create just the right amount of energy and engaged focus for each athlete to achieve their best performance.

Mental relaxation affects greater mental alertness. This type of mental alertness is a positive feature, and it produces better physical and mental reactions as well as better physical coordination.

Relaxation techniques can be used for cognitive restructuring, for mental practice and for visual motor behavioral rehearsal. Since physical tension is counter-productive to athletic performance, relaxation becomes an important goal.

Specific, reasonable and realistic goals are improved with the use of hypnosis. Reasonable and realistic goals are the result of using mental training or hypnosis over time. The best results are achieved when mental training and hypnotic induction accompany regular physical workouts and practice.

Dr. Andrew Weil recommends hypnotherapy for a wide variety of conditions

2010-08-21T17:05:00.000-07:00

Dr. Andrew Weil recommends hypnotherapy to alleviate pain, lessen the side effects of chemotherapy, alleviate symptoms of autoimmune disease, counter-act anxiety and sleep disorders.

"First, I’d like to dispel some common misconceptions about this therapy. For some people who have never tried it, the idea of going into a hypnotic trance may seem weird or scary. But the fact is that we’ve all experienced trance states in everyday life--whether daydreaming, watching a movie, driving home on autopilot, or practicing meditation or other relaxation techniques. Essentially, trance is an altered state of consciousness marked by decreased scope and increased intensity of awareness. What distinguishes hypnotherapy is that it involves a deliberate choice to enter this state of consciousness for a goal beyond relaxation: to focus your concentration and use suggestion to promote healing. It can be done in person with a hypnotherapist or you can do it yourself, called self-hypnosis.

Parlor tricks and stage shows aside, a clinical hypnotherapist will not make you quack like a duck or sing like Elvis. The person in a hypnotic trance is always in control, just as someone who is daydreaming can decide to go on or stop at any time. While the practitioner serves as a teacher or guide, the only person who can hypnotize you is you, since trance is a latent potential of your own mind. Therefore, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis.

Some people use it to ease their aching backs. Others find it relieves eczema. Even one of the hot-air balloonists who broke world records by flying around the globe admits he relied on it to steady his nerves and catch some sleep while at the mercy of the jet stream. Hypnotherapy, or trance work, is a group of techniques that allow practitioners and patients to take advantage of the mind-body connection to foster healing."

Tranceformation Works at the University of Arizona’s Integrative Medicine Clinic

The "Dangers" of Hypnosis

2010-08-12T00:31:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from an article by Will Thornton
of the Alchemy Institute of Hypnosis

"Learn to recognize when you are being hypnotized.

The state of hypnosis, after all, is not something very unusual. It is simply a state of relaxation, openness and trust.

Whenever we receive a suggestion in this state of suggestibility it tends to go deep into our subconscious and have a powerful effect on our behavior.

If you find that you are easily swayed by other people or you have difficulty sticking to decisions you make for your self-improvement, you may be experiencing the negative effects of hypnosis in your life.

Some of the suggestions that are currently influencing you may be years old which were received from well-meaning parents or other authority figures.

It happens much more frequently than you imagine. When you find yourself giving in against your best judgment to emotional appeals from people, or when you find yourself singing some advertising jingle as you walk through the supermarket, Guess what? You've been hypnotized!

The best way to learn to control these negative suggestions is to learn to enter a hypnotic state consciously under the direction of a responsible hypnotherapist.

Once you learn to recognize the state of hypnosis and become familiar with the contents of your own subconscious, you will be able to change the old hypnotic programming that is making it difficult for you to achieve your goals.
...
The hypnotic state is very pleasant and has no harmful side effects when performed by a certified and ethical hypnotherapist.

It facilitates a feeling of physical well-being which can help eliminate stress and can allow the body to recover more quickly from a variety of illnesses.
...
Something which is so pleasant and so powerful is obviously much too "dangerous" to remain ignorant of. But once you learn about hypnosis it won't be dangerous anymore. Then it can allow you to preserve your personal integrity under any circumstances. And it can give you the power to achieve a high level of wellness, to change your own behavior,..."

and to get the results you want in your life ... right now!

How Does NLP Work?

2010-08-02T00:24:00.000-07:00

NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming, a name that encompasses the three most influential components involved in producing human experience: neurology, language and programming.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming describes the fundamental dynamics between mind (neuro) and language (linguistic) and how their interplay effects our body and behavior (programming).

Our neurological system regulates how our bodies function.

Language determines how we interface, interact and communicate with other people.

And our programming determines the kinds of models of the world we create; how we organize our experiences in our mind.

NLP is the practice of understanding how people organize their thinking, feeling, language and behavior to produce the results they get.

NLP was developed as a way to understand the secrets of outstanding performances achieved by geniuses and leaders in their field.

By using NLP strategies, you will be able to observe your world and reflect on how to revise the way you interact with others to promote positive outcomes in all aspects of your life. Imagine being able to reduce conflict and improve your ability to communicate.

Change your mind set with NLP principles such as Anchoring, Getting out of stuck states, Parts Integration, Changing a negative belief, Clarifying your goals, Change habits, Modeling Excellence, Clarifying what others are saying, Effective Language in Communication, Instant Rapport, Strategies in Communication. Develop visualization techniques to ensure you are totally confident in any situation. Learn and understand the importance of paraphrasing and matching/mirroring people to improve your relationships.

We can change our outlook on life just by changing what we choose to focus on. By learning how to relate to people, using hypnosis and visualization to change things in your unconscious mind, you will truly increase your happiness as you go about your everyday life!

Keith Livingston of Hypnosis 101 says:

"Here’s one way of looking at it. NLP techniques sometimes use a fair amount of conscious participation to work with the unconscious. Let’s look at an NLP visual swish pattern as an example.

With a visual swish, we might first find an image that is triggering a “bad” feeling in a client.

The client is unlikely to be consciously aware of that image before we get them to recognize it. We then take them consciously through the steps of the swish, having them create a resource image, shrink it down, swish etc. We do this until whenever the client thinks about the situation that’s been bothering them, they automatically get the new image and a new feeling to go along with it!

So, we’ve used conscious participation to get at and change an unconscious pattern. We can do this with a swish pattern because we understand the mechanics of the way pictures affect feelings."

See Hypnosis 101 for more informaiton.

Natural Breathing

2010-08-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

Authentic Breathing® Resources LLC
Natural Breathing For Health, Well-Being, Longevity, and Self-Transformation

"The process of breathing is a living metaphor for understanding how to expand our sense of ourselves and be present not just to the miraculous energies of life that are both in and around us but also to the deep silence and spaciousness out of which these energies arise.

By checking in on your breathing, by noticing all the inner and outer movements of your breath as they take place, you are actually getting in touch with a deeper, more-conscious dimension of your own being.

Allowing your breath to take you deeper inside yourself, however, takes practice.

So check in on your breathing right now.

Allow all the sensations of your breath, all the internal and external movements related to how you are breathing now, to enter your awareness.

See if you can discover a quiet, non-judgmental place in yourself.

Just be aware, without any attempt to manipulate your breathing, of what your breath feels like and how this awareness influences your sensation of yourself.

Breath is life and movement. Let your breath engage and fill every part of your body, especially your belly, back, spine, and chest.

Inhale and exhale through your nose.

To transform your breathing, start with your exhalation, with “letting go.”

Be sure your belly stays relaxed. Let it expand as you inhale and retract as you exhale. Your belly is the foundation of your breath.

A long, slow exhalation helps harmonize your diaphragm and turns on your “relaxation response.”

Sense the natural pause after exhalation; let yourself rest there for a moment.

Let your inhalation arise by itself, when it’s ready.

Remember, you are a breathing being, alive right now and here. Let yourself feel the mystery and the miracle of your breath and your life as often as you can.

How do you feel right now?

One of the simplest, safest, and most powerful breathing practices you can undertake on your own behalf is to consciously follow your breathing in the many circumstances of your life.

As you inhale, simply be aware that you are inhaling. As you exhale, simply be aware that you are exhaling. Try this practice for 10 minutes or so at a time at least three times a day. It will help free you from your automatic thoughts and emotional reactions and thus enable you to wake up in your daily life more often, to live with more receptivity and clarity in the present moment.

You may find this practice especially useful at moments when you are anxious or angry. With roots in Buddhism and the other great spiritual traditions, this is a wonderful practice for both beginners and advanced practitioners.

Natural breathing involves the harmonious interplay of the lungs, diaphragm, belly, chest, back, and other parts of the human body. In natural breathing, the depth and speed of the breath is appropriate to the actual demands of the moment, as long as those demands are not being conditioned by unnecessary tensions, contractions, or restrictions in the body.

During inhalation, the diaphragm moves downward massaging, either directly or indirectly, all the organs, and the energetic wave of breath moves upward through entire body, opening the belly, chest, back, and lungs.

During exhalation, the diaphragm moves upward massaging the heart, and the wave of breath moves downward closing the lungs, chest, back, and belly.

In human beings, natural breathing occurs mainly through the nose. This not only ensures the natural filtering, warming, and moisturizing of the air, but it also helps ensure that we don't release carbon dioxide too quickly.

The word “deep” in the expression “deep breathing” does not (or at least should not) refer to the volume of air in any given time period but rather to the depth that the diaphragm is able to move downward and upward on inhalation and exhalation.

The farther the diaphragm can move downward on inhalation and upward on exhalation, the deeper the breath. Except for those with severe pulmonary problems, a person who breathes more deeply most often breathes more slowly as well.

Deep breathing depends on the ability of the diaphragm, belly, lower ribs, and spine all to participate in the breathing process. If there is too much stress or tension in and around these areas, deep breathing will not be possible.

“Shallow breathing” means, or at least should mean, that the diaphragm moves down and up very little during breathing. In fact, many people are shallow breathers, not because their lives dictate shallow breathing, but rather because of weakness and tension in their breathing muscles, or a lack of good coordination.

Instead of using their diaphragms effectively, they try to use the secondary breathing muscles of their chest. Many people who try to do deep breathing without being able to or understanding how, end up simply tensing their secondary breathing muscles and lifting their shoulders and upper chest to try to take in more air. In such cases, their diaphragms move very little, and they lose the many benefits of diaphragmatic breathing, which include an internal massage of all the inner organs, aiding venous blood flow and lymphatic flow, and much more.

Many of us, without knowing it, habitually "hyperventilate"—that is, we take quick, shallow breaths from the top of our chest. These quick, shallow breaths sharply reduce the level of carbon dioxide in our blood. This reduced level of carbon dioxide causes the arteries, including the carotid artery going to the brain, to constrict, thus reducing the flow of blood throughout the body. When this occurs, no matter how much oxygen we may breathe into our lungs, our brain and body will experience a shortage of oxygen.

The lack of sufficient oxygen switches on the sympathetic nervous system—our "fight or flight" reflex—which makes us tense, anxious, and irritable. It also reduces our ability to think clearly, and tends to put us at the mercy of obsessive thoughts and images. Some researchers believe that hyperventilation can actually magnify our psychological problems and conflicts, and that chronic hyperventilation is intimately bound up with our anxieties, apprehensions, and fears.

To breathe naturally and authentically, our belly needs to be supple. It needs to be able to expand on inhalation and retract on exhalation. This bellows-like movement of the belly supports the downward and upward movements of the diaphragm.

When the belly expands on inhalation, the diaphragm can move farther downward into the abdomen, allowing the lungs to expand more fully.

When the belly retracts on exhalation, the diaphragm can move further upward, helping the lungs to expel gases more fully.

The increased downward and upward movements of the diaphragm, along with the outward and inward movements of the belly, not only help to slow down our breath rate and to take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide more efficiently, but they also help to massage all our internal organs, including the heart.

This "internal massage" has a healthful impact on digestion, elimination, blood flow, the immune system, and the nervous system. People who are shallow breathers either by habit or by design lose these many benefits of deep breathing.

Learning how to breathe more naturally and efficiently, the way our bodies were designed to breathe, can have a powerful influence on our metabolism and overall sense of well-being.

Healthy, natural breathing makes us feel better physically, emotionally, and mentally, and this has a beneficial influence on the quantity and quality of our exercise, the way we look at and feel about ourselves, the kinds and quantities of food we eat, the amount of energy we have.

Among other benefits, healthy breathing helps us achieve the right balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in our cells, which has a beneficial influence on our metabolism.

Our breath is an incredible gift, a fundamental force that has subtle interrelationships with all the different sides of ourselves--body, mind, emotions, and spirit."

Anatomy of the lymph system

2010-08-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

by Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP of the Women to Women Clinic:

"The first thing to understand about your lymph system is its vast extent. Like the circulatory system that supplies blood, the network of lymph vessels serves almost every cell in your body.

Strung along the lymph vessels like pearls knotted on a string, the lymph nodes serve as a series of cleaning filters. Lymphatic fluid percolates through the nodes, being purified and immunologically boosted at every stage.

The lymph vessels and nodes are made of lymph tissue, but so are many other parts of the body. One crucial function of lymph tissue is generating and storing white blood cells, the blood cells that fight infection. Besides the lymph nodes, principal lymph organs include the bone marrow (where white blood cells called B-lymphocytes are made), the spleen, tonsils and the thymus gland (where T-lymphocytes are made). Lymphoma is a group of related cancers of the lymphocytes.

The largest concentration of lymph tissue in the body surrounds the intestines. Called gut-associated lymphatic tissue, or GALT, this tissue is the guardian of this largest gateway through the body’s defenses, and it actively separates desirable nutrients from undesirable pathogens, and helps mount a defense whenever needed.

And importantly, the organs of elimination (skin, kidney, liver, bladder, small and large intestines) need to be doing their jobs well so that the lymph does not get overwhelmed with waste products.

Amazingly, the lymphatic system has no central pump but depends on muscle contraction and manual manipulation to move fluid. Deep breathing is another essential way we can enhance movement of lymph through our bodies."

Vitamin D3

2010-07-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

Dr. Dale's Vitamin D3

"Supplemental vitamin D comes in two forms:
ergocalciferol (vitamin D2)
and
cholecalciferol (vitamin D3)
and the active form of vitamin D is
1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3]

Vitamin D3 is one of the most useful nutritional tools we have at our disposal for improving overall health. This vitamin is unique because cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3) is a vitamin derived from 7-dehyrocholesterol; however, Vitamin D3 acquires hormone-like actions when cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3) is converted to 1,25-dihydroxy Vitamin D3 (Calcitriol) by the liver and kidneys. As a hormone, Calcitriol controls phosphorus, calcium, and bone metabolism and neuromuscular function.

Vitamin D3 is the only vitamin the body can manufacture from sunlight (UVB). We just don't get outdoors enough today due to our adaption to indoor living. We also use extensive amounts of sunscreens due to concern about skin cancer, therefore, we are now a society with millions of individuals deficient in life-sustaining bone building and immune modulating 1,25-dihydroxy Vitamin D3.

Without vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle, soft, or misshapen. Vitamin D prevents rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults, which are skeletal diseases that result in defects that weaken bones.

Vitamin D3 is structurally similar to steroids such as testosterone, cholesterol, and cortisol (though vitamin D3 itself is a secosteroid).

Vitamin D is an important immune system regulator. The active form of vitamin D has been shown to inhibit the development of autoimmune diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)."

For more information click here.

HOW CAN RELAXATION HELP?

2010-06-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

"During and following relaxation, individuals typically report experiencing less rapid thinking and an increased ability to focus thoughts and maintain concentration.

The quality of thought is also reported to be calm and restful in nature. Herbert Benson, MD, an accomplished researcher of the healthy effects of relaxation, describes the thinking state of relaxation as a "passive attitude," perceived as a peaceful willingness to just let thoughts flow in a natural, non-directed or non-controlled manner.

Relaxation produces a particular pattern of bioelectrical brain activity as recorded in the electroencephalogram (EEG). The EEG of non-relaxed individuals shows relatively low voltage high frequency brain activity that is not synchronized.

When deeply relaxed, the dominant frequency of brain nerve firings slows, portions of the brain appear to fire in a synchronized fashion, and a high voltage slow
frequency pattern can be recorded.

When relaxed, there are two changes in muscular activity.

First, relaxed people are very still. If they move at all, they do so slowly and gently.

Second, muscle tone is greatly diminished when people relax. Muscle tone is the background level of muscle tightness in between overt muscle movements. Many of us get sore, aching muscles in our lower backs and shoulders or develop muscle tension headaches when muscle tone is too high for too long.

The third system that changes with relaxation is the autonomic nervous system. This is the part of the nervous system outside of our brain and spinal cord that controls digestion, blood circulation, and other our basic biological processes.

This "automatic" nervous system controls parts of our body that we do not normally have to attend to, like when our heart beats or the level of activity of our gastrointestinal system.

This autonomic nervous system has two branches, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

The sympathetic and parasympathetic systems activate different parts of the body in different ways, but they tend to act like the two sides of an old-fashioned scale -- when the sympathetic system is activated, the parasympathetic system is less activated and vice-versa.

Generally, the sympathetic nervous system is activated when you are challenged, stressed, or faced with a dangerous situation. When we are anxious, frightened, or in pain, we know that our heart beats more forcefully and races, our palms sweat, and we suddenly feel very awake and alert. By contrast, we tend to be more parasympathetically activated when out of danger and environmental demands are low.

Under parasympathetic activation, the organs take care of functions such as digesting meals, converting blood sugars for long-term storage, and moving nutrients to cells while moving waste away.

Breathing is an interesting physiological process as it is controlled voluntarily and by the autonomic nervous system, such as when we sleep, lose consciousness, or do not need to voluntarily regulate our breathing for activities such as speaking.

Research studies suggest that many parts of the autonomic nervous system tend to follow the activity of breathing. Under sympathetic activation, breathing tends to
be rapid, shallow, and less rhythmic.

During relaxation and parasympathetic activation, breathing is slow, deep, and has a regular rhythm. Because one can voluntarily change breathing patterns and because the autonomic nervous system tends to mimic what is going on with breathing, a relaxed breathing pattern can be a successful way to gain control over automatic physiological processes.

These three systems, the brain/cognition, the muscles, and the autonomic nervous system, are integrated by brain centers including:
the limbic system (governing emotions),
the hypothalamus (controlling basic biological/behavioral processes),
and the reticular activating system (regulating arousal).

The three systems tend to work in a coordinated fashion. When an individual changes the pattern of responding in one system, this affects the other systems.

KEY ELEMENTS IN LEARNING TO RELAX:
Like any skilled act, relaxation skills are developed through practice. For a patient to show any lasting benefit from relaxation training, research has indicated that a minimum of four training/therapy sessions is critical.

Regular practice of relaxation appears to be critical in learning how to become deeply relaxed and producing health benefits from relaxation.

Researchers have repeatedly found that any systematic program of relaxation appears to produce positive changes in physiologic and psychological states for most people."

Edited from:
USING RELAXATION:
COPING WITH FUNCTIONAL GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDERS
Kenneth R. Jones, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor of Medicine/Clinical Psychologist
Steve Heymen, MS
Instructor of Medicine/Certified Biofeedback Therapist

WEIGHT, sounds like WAIT

2010-06-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

"It is all about your inner mental communication. The "conscious talk" you have with yourself! It's so great when we start to understand the inner message of the language we use in the things we focus on in our lives.

Like WEIGHT, sounds like WAIT, right?

Sometimes we create unrealistic expectations of ourselves, just because we do not accept who we are.

So, what are you waiting for in life?

Why do you wait to see the real you and accept yourself?

Why are you waiting to give and receive happiness in life?

Are you gonna wait your whole life immersing yourself in this struggle with weight?"

Is Losing Weight Fast the Secret to Long Term Weight Loss?

"We all have reservoirs of life to draw upon, of which we do not dream!"

2010-06-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

"May each day witness the discovery of more dimensions and potentials within yourself and awaken you to the potentials latent within us all!"
Joel and Michelle Levey
title quote by William James

Five Key Steps in Goal Setting

2010-06-15T22:53:00.000-07:00

"Once the subconscious mind accepts an idea, it goes to work on making it come true.

When you learn to communicate directly with the subconscious mind you can begin to discover your personal power, the ability to choose your goals and to create your reality for the better.

The key language of the subconscious mind is pictures and feelings. When we learn to choose verbal language that creates pictures and feelings of our positive goals our performance begins to move in the positive goal direction that we choose.

We use Goal Setting to choose our focus areas, and then we wire this into our brain through practice, lots of repetition, to move it from our working memory to our subconscious memory.

We supplement this with Visualization and Imagery, which we control, this allows us to reflect, edit and improve our performance. It continues the wiring process and strengthens the wiring.

Work with this, week by week you will begin to create the positive results that you desire."

"The first step in goal setting is to choose what you want.

This is the seed that you plant in the subconscious mind.

This is central to Mental Training.

When we select the goal (the seed) we submit it to the subconcious mind and then we release the goal so that the brain can go to work on fulfilling it.

The function of the brain is to set and fulfill goals. The brain is a goal setting mechanism.

That is not to say that we are a mechanism, we are the spirit behind the mechanism, choosing how and when we use it, we use the mind for this.

Goal Setting is a reflection of the brain, it uses the creativity and problem solving of the right side of the brain and the structure and analytical skills of the left brain to break down our goal into easily achievable steps.

Setting Goals is essential to success, it is the mind choosing a focal point for the brain to orientate itself to."

"There are Five Key Steps in Goal Setting

1. Specificity
Your Goal must be specific and clearly defined.

Know what you want. Write it out in one sentence.

2. Measurable
Your goal needs to have a measure attached to it, this lets you know when you have achieved it and whether you are on track with it.

Having a measure allows you to break the goal down into steps.

3. Achievable
Is the goal achievable and realistic to your level of development.

The goal needs to be challenging without being so far out of your reach that you will become discouraged when you don't achieve it.

4. Record
Keep a journal or log book of your progress, this allows you to reflect on your progress and growth.

You can begin to see your habits, good and bad, to see where you are on track and off track with your goals and then make the adjustments.

5. Time Frame
Put a time frame on your goals, this gives them a context and helps you to focus.

It allows you to take an idea and bring it from seed form into reality, you break it down week after week to goal completion."

From Mental Training

2010-06-03T10:41:00.000-07:00

"Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself. To expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, I am going to have kind thoughts toward others, I am not going to get angry, or think badly about others, I am going to benefit others as much as I can."

The Dalai Lama

Seek your doctor's approval for any medically or psychologically diagnosed conditions or disorders

2010-05-27T10:24:00.000-07:00

Hypnosis is not meant as a substitute for standard medical, psychological or psychiatric treatment and consulting hypnotists / hypnotherapists are required to advise you to seek your doctor's approval for any medically or psychologically diagnosed conditions or disorders. Hypnosis techniques are a complementary alternative for self-healing, self-help, and behavior modification. Results are ultimately achieved through the client's own personal efforts at applying these techniques over time.

Hypnosis will treat completely what is treatable with trance and guided imagery, often triggering the physiology of the client in the proper direction and towards the appropriate action. Hypnosis may reveal problems that must be treated differently; a structural, mechanical problem would be referred to a chiropractor,and a nutritional deficiency needs proper input of nutrients, not energy medicine.

Pre-tox before you party to stay healthy.

2010-05-21T17:24:00.000-07:00

From the Women to Women website, Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP.

"Sugary treats are almost always available at parties and special events, as well as other celebratory hazards that can disrupt even the healthiest lifestyle. If you’re planning to celebrate, there are some simple steps to take before you indulge to help pre-tox your system, and keep you feeling energetic and healthy.

The Favorite Four — Marcelle’s “pre-tox” tips:

1.Don’t skip meals — especially breakfast — if you starve yourself for hours before a big dinner or event, you might end up eating even more when you finally sit down at the table.

This type of fasting and feasting is a vicious cycle: it causes fatigue, digestive problems, blood sugar/ insulin complications, and fuels cravings.

To compensate, plan to eat regular meals, full of nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, along with adequate lean protein to give you the energy you need.

I always advise cutting back on wheat/gluten intake or completely eliminating these symptom-causing culprits.

Make sure you’re taking a high-quality multivitamin every day before, during, and after special events or parties.

If you do eat sweets, pair them with some protein to tone down the surge in blood sugar. If you follow a healthy diet plan most of the time, you can still splurge on a treat here and there but you’ll be less likely to binge.

More about healthy eating...

2.Exercise — I know you’re busy and have a million things to do, but physical activity helps give you energy, strength, and stamina so you can really enjoy the festivities.

Exercise — even just a brisk 20-minute walk — stimulates your blood circulation, which is a key element in healthy detoxification.

Good circulation keeps toxins moving along detox pathways and out of your body.

Regular exercise also enhances mental clarity and helps you sleep better so try to make time for it.

3.Support liver function — Your liver is your “detoxification specialist,” working continually to neutralize and remove alcohol, toxins, pathogens, and other substances that can make you feel sluggish, fatigued — even sick.

Your liver is also in charge of breaking down most of the ingredients in the food you eat.

Party treats that contain excess sugar and fat can make your liver work extra hard. Help support this hard-working organ by eating lots of fruits and vegetables (again!) and choosing sulfur-rich foods (eggs, cruciferous veggies) that help support the detox process.

Try to take in enough fiber — it helps maintain a healthy balance of gut flora.

And consider using milk thistle or charcoal capsules — both available in many pharmacies — to help counteract any excess alcohol.

More about detox, liver function, and helpful supplements...

4.Bolster your immune system — Holidays or celebrations may be fun, but they still can take a toll on your immune system.

Late nights keep you from getting enough sleep. Get as much sleep as possible; a pre-party nap can do wonders.

Too many sugary, high-carb foods don’t provide the nutritious fuel necessary to support your body’s organ systems. You can fuel a healthy immune system by eating right as often as you can.

Take care to get enough vitamin D every day — your immune system depends on it — and 250–500 mg of vitamin C as well. You can also add probiotics on a regular basis because they promote digestive balance — most of your immune system is located in your gut.

More about immune support...

It may be tempting for women who feel they have a problem with sugar to simply cut out all carbohydrates. But an all-or-nothing approach just isn’t healthy — it takes all four food groups to regulate insulin and quell sugar cravings."

WHAT IS EPIGENETICS?

2010-05-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

"The new field of "epigenetics" is rapidly revealing how people may start with a certain genetic code at conception, but the choice of which genes are "expressed," or activated, is strongly affected by environmental influences.

Epigenetics refers to DNA and chromatin modifications that persist from one cell division to the next despite a lack of change in the underlying DNA sequence. Some epigenetic changes can be passed from one generation to the next. The expression of genes can change quite rapidly over time.

WHAT IS EPIGENETICS?
Within our DNA, the development and maintenance of our body is orchestrated by a set of chemical reactions that switch parts of the genome OFF and ON at strategic times and locations. Epigenetics is the study of these reactions and the factors that influence them.

They can be influenced by external factors. We are more than just the sum of our genes, and biological complexity depends less on gene number, and more on how those genes are used (expressed), which is largely due to epigenetic mechanisms.

EPIGENETICS & THE ENVIRONMENT
The genome dynamically responds to the environment. Stress, diet, behavior, toxins and other factors activate chemical switches that regulate gene expression.

EPIGENETICS AND THE HUMAN BRAIN
Throughout our lives, the brain remains flexible and responsive to the outside world. In addition to receiving signals from the outside world, the brain allows us to form memories and learn from our experiences. Many brain functions are accompanied at the cellular level by changes in gene expression. Epigenetic mechanisms such as histone modification and DNA methylation stabilize gene expression, which is important for long-term storage of information.

NUTRITION AND THE EPIGENOME
Unlike behavior or stress, diet is one of the more easily studied, and therefore better understood, environmental factors in epigenetic change.

The nutrients we extract from food enter metabolic pathways where they are manipulated, modified and molded into molecules the body can use. One such pathway is responsible for making methyl groups - important epigenetic tags that silence genes.

Familiar nutrients like folic acid, B vitamins and SAM-e (S-Adenosyl methionine, a popular over-the-counter supplement) are key components of this methyl-making pathway. Diets high in these methyl-donating nutrients can rapidly alter gene expression, especially during early development when the epigenome is first being established."

This is edited from the "Learn Genetics" website of the University of Utah

What is Alopecia Areata?

2010-05-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

This is from an article, Natural Remedies for Alopecia Areata (severe hair loss) from Alternative Medicine.com.

"What is Alopecia Areata?
Alopecia areata is a hair loss condition that causes the rapid onset of round patches of baldness. The cause of alopecia areata is unknown, although in some cases, alopecia areata has been associated with autoimmune diseases."

"A preliminary study explored the use of hypnosis on hair growth and well-being in people with alopecia. The study involved 28 people with extensive alopecia areata, alopecia totalis, or alopecia universalis who did not respond to previous conventional treatments.

After treatment with hypnosis, all patients had a significantly lower score for anxiety and depression. Hair regrowth of 75% to 100% was seen in 12 people after 3 to 8 sessions of hypnotherapy. Total regrowth occurred in 9 of these 12 people. In 5 people, a significant relapse occurred.

There were major limitations to this study, however, including the small size of the study, the lack of a placebo group, and the fact that the study was not double-blind. Larger, well-designed studies are needed."

Your Wish Is Your Command!

2010-05-06T10:30:00.001-07:00

Indirect Suggestion Hypnosis

2010-04-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

This information is from author, and leading hypnosis trainer, Keith Livingston.

Please click here to visit his website, HYPNOSIS 101, for more information about hypnosis.

"Most hypnotherapists do direct suggestion hypnosis. Period. But there's a whole other world put there--indirect suggestion hypnosis.

Indirect suggestion hypnosis covers a lot of ground so let's define it and see if we can get our heads wrapped around the idea. Indirect hypnosis is giving suggestions that are not obvious or direct instructions.

An oft-used example is the request "Can you get the door?" It's not in the form of an order like a direct suggestion would be ("Get the door.") The suggestion is implied rather than direct.

But indirect suggestion is so much more than couching suggestions in easier to swallow forms. Indirect suggestion also may include the framework of the session, metaphor, embedded suggestions, and a lot more.

But before we can explore how to use indirect suggestion hypnosis, it's useful to know how it works.

Conscious vs. Unconscious Processing

The unconscious however, is in charge of behaviors that are already well learned, body processes and emotion. The unconscious also has a wonderful ability to pick up patterns and categorizes events based on themes and emotions.

That's why, when you dream, there may not be a lot of logic in the dreams. Dreams often have themes and patterns and involve emotions. They may be difficult for us to understand consciously.

So, when you're communicating with the unconscious mind, it makes sense to package your communication in a way the unconscious already recognizes. Using metaphor, patterns, themes and emotions are powerful ways to drive suggestions deep into the mind.

Back to indirect suggestion.

How does it work?

Embedded Suggestions

Embedded suggestions are simply suggestions that are buried inside other communications as coded messages. The conscious mind focuses on the surface message and your unconscious picks up the messages hidden inside.

So, embedded suggestions use the unconscious mind's ability to notice patterns that may escape the conscious mind.

Metaphor

Metaphor uses the unconscious mind's ability to recognize themes and then apply them to the subject's own situation. You might use metaphor to tell a story that is similar in some way to your subject's situation but that involves a solution. If done well, the person being hypnotized will, without conscious interference, apply the solution delivered in the metaphor.

So, how does indirect suggestion hypnosis work? It works by packaging suggestions in the form that the unconscious already uses."

Please click here to visit Keith's website, HYPNOSIS 101, for more information about hypnosis.

no pressure

2010-04-24T11:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when you have had a problem for a long time, it may seem hard to balance the complexity of accepting it, while at the same time pursuing a solution and getting your hopes up.

Hypnosis is very positive and gentle, with no pressure to force you to make any changes that do not support you completely. Trust your intuition as to when the timing is right for you.

Your thyroid, your voice

2010-04-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

This information is from the Women to Women Program:

In Eastern medical paradigms, the thyroid is associated with “sacred voice.” As a component of the fifth chakra, thyroid issues are linked with difficulty speaking our truth, following our dreams, or fully expressing ourselves.

Anatomically, the thyroid sits right over the voice box, and one of the symptoms of thyroid dysfunction is a gravelly or “muted” voice. When the thyroid is underactive, it doesn’t hurt to step back and evaluate how well you’re expressing your individual needs, wants, and opinions to those around you.

Find ways to diminish stress and speak your truth. Speak up, share your opinions, explore the things that make your life meaningful. Don’t feel guilty about asking for, and receiving, more support.

Remember that your voice doesn’t serve to merely communicate — it is connected to your whole being. Likewise, your thyroid doesn’t simply produce thyroid hormone. It is connected to every cell in your body and subject to both physical and psychological influence. My advice is to look at the whole picture when it comes to your thyroid, and you will find the dynamic balance your body is naturally seeking.

Support your thyroid by supporting your adrenals.

As the great balancer of more than 50 hormones in the body, the adrenal glands have a broad impact on your health and energy. The adrenals are primarily responsible for activating your stress (“fight or flight”) response, shifting energy away from restorative processes like digestion and toward the organs of action — your heart and skeletal muscles — by pumping adrenaline and cortisol into your bloodstream.

“If you feel happy and well, have steady energy and emotions, sleep soundly seven to nine hours a night, wake up feeling rested, recover well from stress, and maintain a healthy weight without dieting, then your adrenals are probably doing just fine!”

If, on the other hand, your energy lags during the day, you feel emotionally off-kilter much of the time, you sleep poorly or less than seven hours a night, you can’t shed excess weight even while dieting, and you rely on caffeine or carbohydrates as “pick-me-ups” — these are all red flags indicating adrenal imbalance.

If this is the only thing you do… this will benefit your health on many levels. Not only will supporting your adrenals lighten the burden on your thyroid, it will also help restore your energy levels and overall well-being.

Astragalus root (A. membranaceus). Astragalus aids in the body’s natural ability to adapt to stress, bolstering the immune system so you stay well while helping to regulate normal blood sugar levels and alleviate insulin resistance.

Cordyceps (C. sinensis). Cordyceps is a prized antioxidant fungus that can slow aging and take a load off the adrenals by supporting the immune system, balancing the inflammatory response, and helping to stabilize blood sugar.

Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus, formerly called Siberian ginseng). Eleuthero is an adaptogenic herb that can help protect us against the negative effects of stress, while decreasing fatigue, enhancing mental clarity, helping to balance blood sugar, and even perhaps supporting bone remodeling as well.

Rhodiola rosea (“golden root”). Rhodiola is another adaptogenic herb that protects against stress-related fatigue and “burnout;” increases mental clarity; and offers immune and blood sugar support. An added benefit of Rhodiola is its antidepressant and antianxiety effects.

Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra). Well known for supporting adrenal balance, licorice root aids in increasing energy and endurance. Though many of the above herbs can be used relatively freely of restrictions, certain forms of licorice can increase blood pressure and lower potassium and thus, licorice should be used with care and guidance. Adrenal fatigue, in many instances, is accompanied by low blood pressure, so licorice taken at the appropriate times and dosages can be of benefit in those cases. However, this herb is best taken under the care of an herbalist or a functional medicine practitioner.

Take a pharmaceutical-grade multivitamin–mineral complex. Ensuring a rich foundation of nutrients for the daily production and activity of thyroid hormones may be all you need to get yourself back on track.

Phosphatidylserine (fos-fuh-tie-dul-SEHR-een)(PS) is a phospholipid that is vital to your brain cells and helps reduce high cortisol levels. Cortisol is elevated in response to stress. If your adrenal glands are producing too much cortisol, you may develop conditions such as weight gain, especially around the abdomen, depressed immune function with all of the consequences, accelerated aging and stomach ulcers. If you have too little cortisol, you may suffer from fatigue, chronic fatigue, or exhaustion.

Also consider supplementing with selenium and iodine. Ask your practitioner to test your iodine levels, and talk about boosting your iodine and selenium levels in addition to your multivitamin.

You can do this through the foods you eat or with supplements, but if you do use selenium or iodine supplements, please work with a professional healthcare provider to monitor your levels appropriately… do not recommend taking more than 200 mcg/day.

Nutrient-rich foods to replenish thyroid health:

Iodine (I): seaweed (e.g., nori), clams, shrimp, haddock, oysters, salmon, sardines, pineapple, eggs.

Selenium (Se): smoked herring, smelt, wheat germ, Brazil nuts (just one nut provides ~139 mcg), apple cider vinegar, scallops, barley, lobster.

Zinc (Zn): fresh oysters, ginger root, pecans, dry split peas, Brazil nuts, egg yolk, whole wheat, rye, oats, peanuts.

Vitamin E: wheat germ oil, olive oil, sunflower seeds, almonds, peanuts.

Vitamin A: dark green leafy veggies, liver, winter squash, cantaloupe, stone fruits, papaya, and cod liver oil.

B vitamin complex: brewer’s yeast, wild rice, brown rice, whole wheat, beans, peanuts.

Vitamin C: Red chili, guava, parsley, dark green leafy veggies, strawberries, papaya, citrus fruits.

Remember to work with a professional healthcare provider to monitor your health and any supplements appropriately. See a doctor who specializes in functional medicine, a naturopathic practitioner, or a wholistic nutritionist for a program that best fits your personal needs — dosage, timing, blood pressure, cortisol levels, and other factors should be taken in to consideration.

Creative Imagination

2010-04-20T21:55:00.001-07:00

"I can't believe that!" said Alice.

"Can't you?" the Queen said in a pitying tone. "Try again, draw a long breath, and shut your eyes."

Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said. "One can't believe impossible things."

"I dare say you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

From "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll

Don't worry if you don’t feel hypnotized.

2010-03-08T20:07:00.001-08:00

Don't worry if you don’t feel hypnotized.

Hypnosis may not feel any different than your normal waking state of awareness or any other relaxed states you may have experienced.

During hypnosis, your conscious mind may remain focused on my words or it may drift off, so you do not track what I am saying.

It doesn’t matter what your conscious mind is doing during hypnosis, because your unconscious will be listening to everything.

So, whether you are listening to my voice or not, and whether you are visualizing what I am saying or not, you can trust that you will go to the level of trance that is appropriate for you.

There is no pressure to perform, because all you have to do is relax.

What we say to ourselves has a lot to do with whether we succeed or not, because it determines how we think, what we feel, and what we picture in our mind. Those pictures affect our behavior and can either lead us to what we want, or what we don’t want.

In hypnosis we use positive language to keep us moving in the direction of success.

It’s like we are training our mind and behavior with our own thoughts. I’d much rather be successful, so I focus my thoughts and feelings on the results I want to experience in my life. Take time to really feel what it will feel like to acheive the results you want.

It’s important to remember that we do have a choice about how we respond to what happens in our life. We have a choice about the words we use, both inside our heads, and what we say outloud as well.

We can choose to focus on how we want to feel as we begin to make changes that bring new results.

Thank you Dr. Seuss!

2010-02-18T09:34:00.000-08:00

"You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go!"
~Dr. Seuss

Slow down your brain to improve test performance and get better grades.

2010-02-13T11:37:00.000-08:00

"Use hypnosis to slow down your brain waves to the alpha level which is the brain frequency associated with meditation. One of the many benefits of slowing down and entering the alpha brain wave state is to help you to get better grades in school, college, licensing exams, or any kind of test situation.

Using an hypnosis technique called an "anchor", you can use the benefits of thinking at the alpha level. That is, it will allow you to enter the alpha level with your eyes open. This technique is especially useful in recalling information, increasing focus and concentration, and increasing creativity.

While under hypnosis, you instruct your subconscious mind to create a simple post hypnostic signal by bringing together your thumb and the first two fingers of either hand, or both, so you can easily comunicate with your own subconscious mind whenever you choose. Now, any time you touch your thumb and the first two fingers of either hand, or both, you will easily enter the alpha state. One of the best uses of this special "OK" signal is for students who are preparing to take a test.

Better results can be achieved using the special "OK" signal, if you program yourself with a specific intention. If you want to have better retention while attending a lecture, program yourself during hypnosis, in the alpha brain wave state, before the lecture and tell yourself that when you make the special "OK" sign with your three fingers during the lecture, you will enter the alpha level and be better able to focus and listen attentively to the lecturer. You can do the same thing before reading a book that contains information that is important to you and that you would like to be able to easily recall at a later time.

For example, if you're going to study for an exam, enter the alpha level and tell yourself that you're going to count from one to three, at which point you will open your eyes and read the textbook in front of you, allowing you to process the information with imorived concentration and understanding. Remember to mention the name of the textbook that you're about to read, the subject matter, and the author. When you're done reading the text, enter the alpha level once again and tell yourself that whenever you put together your thumb and the first two fingers of either hand, you will have perfect recall of the text that you just read. During the test you put your thumb and the first two fingers of either hand together and proceed to answer your test questions.

In addition there are relaxation exercises that will help you to reduce any "test anxiety" and will help you to remain relaxed while studying for the test and while taking the actual exam. Also, repeating positive affirmations and using creative visualization to "see" yourself doing well on the test are both beneficial and will help you to do better on your exams."

Edited from article about the Silva Life System

Hypnosis has many levels.

2010-02-13T00:21:00.000-08:00

Hypnosis has many levels that range from light to deep. We say that during hypnosis you will go "deeper and deeper" into trance. Hypnotic states are part of a continuum.

Using descriptive words about "depth" is a metaphor that we can use to speak about hypnosis. Another way to talk about hypnosis is to refer to brain wave states, such as alhpa and theta, where hypnotic suggestions can have powerful effects. You may experience a range of awareness and reach many different hypnotic states during your session.

Hypnosis may feel different to each person. Regardless of the level of trance you reach, trust that you will go to the level that is appropriate for you. There is no pressure to perform because all you have to do is relax.

Your unconscious will be listening, no matter what your conscious mind is doing. All you need to do is to allow yourself to open your mind to the hypnotherapist’s suggestions to acheive the results you want in your life. You are in complete control as you work together with the hypnotherapist, using your own mind to make the changes that allow you to reach your goal.

You already know how to easily reach hypnotic states because you have been doing it your entire life whether you knew it or not. For example, you reach a state of hypnosis when you recall a memory, listen to music, daydream, drive a car, read a book, play a sport while in the "zone", watch a good movie, draw or paint, meditate, and drift off to sleep.

Many people are curious about hypnosis and may not have problems to resolve, but they suspect that they have potential which is not being used. Hypnosis is an effective technique to tap into new levels of creativity and intelligence.

Hypnosis helps you change your beliefs which will then improve your life. As you take on new beliefs, your thoughts, feelings, and behavior change. Old negative patterns that may have been controlling your behavior are released and replaced with more positive ones.

The subconscious takes over and any suggestions made in the hypnotic state will be accepted as reality. The subconscious does not differentiate between reality and imagination; it simply accepts as real that which is repeated until it becomes a habit. The suggestion takes root in the subconscious and becomes a reality.

Hypnosis is an effective way to release emotional blocks and create positive changes in your subconscious mind.

Walk this world with hearts on fire.

2010-02-07T22:25:00.000-08:00

"May we open, may we flower,
may we deepen our desire,
May we walk this world with eyes wide open,
May we walk with hearts on fire."

"Within every human breast shine two mystic hearts, one hid subtly within the other.

The outer one loves and desires the beauties of the world, and in obtaining them is led into happiness and song; and in losing them, to grief and lamentation.

But the inner heart is a secret heart, its form adamantine. It gazes with unbroken rapture into the Great Mystery of the soul's desire.

There, in the domain of neither gaining nor losing, all things are perceived truly and there is face-to-face seeing into the deepest nature of things.

The light of singularity abounds in full gladness, like coming upon a light in thick darkness, like receiving a treasure in poverty; and existence is delivered from all limitations."

by Michael Green

Adamantine

"Adamantine particles are fundamental particles of matter and energy. Adamantine particles are crystal-like particles of infinity, which contain stored potential to manifest any original substance or element. It can also be said that adamantine particles are encoded with a kind of “universal DNA” that allows them to form any possible type of atom.

Adamantine particles require “power” to build the other particles and atoms. There is, however, only one type of energy (not energy generated by friction as we know in 3D) that is compatible with them. This energy is the magnetic power of Love, which pervades the Universe in the form of Universal Life Force.

Love is not only the most beautiful feeling, it also is the power which ignites and directs adamantine particles into manifestation.

We can also call Love and its magnetic power, Potential; pure and infinite potential to command the adamantine particles to form infinite numbers of forms of expression of such potential.

Love is the ultimate force in the Universe; it holds every galaxy, star and planet in its place.

In the presence of Love, patterns of beauty, perfection, harmony and efficiency manifest spontaneously."

2010-02-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

"In her new book, How to Rule the World from Your Couch, Laura Day teaches you or your company how to create success in any area by using your brain in unique and compel-ling ways so that your innate intuition can propel you ahead to successful solutions.

The step-by-step exercises included — many of which can (and should!) be done from the comfort of your couch — will show you how you can:
• Find and secure your dream job
• Maintain solid relationships, even at a distance
• Lose weight by reclaiming the body you were meant to have
• Know how to spot your perfect mate
• Make better investments and business decisions
• Negotiate differences in the workplace
• Have an understanding relationship with your child
• Identify which opportunities will pan out
• Project a desirable image for yourself or your product
• Anticipate and resolve difficult conflict before you walk into a situation

Laura’s work has helped demystify intuition and demonstrate its practical, verifiable uses in the fields of business, science, medicine, and personal growth. Her list of clients and students includes doctors, financial investors, scientists, engineers, and celebrities. Day has shown that 98 percent of success is planning and that you, therefore, have the power to transform your life."

Please check out Laura's book and website for more information, How to Rule the World from Your Couch, Laura Day

Breathing with Intent

2009-12-31T19:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a simple technique to begin experiencing your own internal power. As you breathe allow yourself to begin to experience a deep state of relaxation and healing.

1. Inhale slowly and deeply to a count of 4.

Inhale, filling your lower belly on the count of one (1),
then your diaphragm for the count of two (2),
next, fill your lungs on the count of three (3),
and finally your collar bone lifts with the last part of your inhale on the count of four (4).

2. Hold the breath for 4 counts.

3. Exhale slowly and gently, through your mouth, reversing the order of the inhale.

Release your collar bone and shoulders first with the beginning of the exhale (1),
then lungs (2),
diaphragm (3),
and belly (4).

Make a gentle “ha-a-a-a” sound, releasing all your muscles in a big sigh.

4. Hold the exhaled breath for 4 counts, as you experience how the energy in your body seemingly slows down while you exhale.

5. Repeat 1-4 at least three times.

6. Now, bring your attention to the area of your heart, pretend your breathing is flowing in and out through your heart in a relaxed way….now, breathing just a little deeper than usual…

Begin breathing in love and appreciation, …step into the feelings as they arise …. really feel how you would feel…. breathing them in and filling your whole body with every breath you take …allowing you to feel better in every way….

7. Inhale slowly, and send your awareness high above your head… as if you have sprouted wings and now can fly far out into the universe … until you discover a great bright light … symbolizing your own Renewable Source of Creation…

Now … imagine you follow a ray of light back and allow yourself to be filled with this beautiful light through the top of your head … and let the light fill your whole body completely … filling every cell of your body with warm, healing light …right to the center of your own DNA.

8. Exhale slowly, through the mouth with a “ha-a-a-a” sound releasing all your muscles in a big sigh and hold again for the count of four.

9. Now, as you inhale slowly, send your awareness deep down into the Earth below you, as if you have grown roots, down to the center of the Earth. Allow the power and resources you find there to travel up your roots. Allow this energy to enter through the bottom of your feet, easily moving up through your legs; up through your tailbone, filling your belly, moving through your heart, up through your throat, filling your whole head.

Take a moment to imagine every cell of your body completely filled with this energy, opening and receiving.

10. Again, exhaling through the mouth with a “ha-a-a-a” and hold again for the count of four.

11. Repeat steps 7 – 10 as many times as you like.

Center in your heart, breath in love and appreciation, send your awareness up to Source, back down through the top of your head, through your body, then down into the center of the Earth, back up through the bottom of your feet, filling your whole body completely, back to centering in your heart and then send your appreciation out into your entire life.

You will learn that very quickly, this simple exercise can help you relax, help you focus, and slow you down.

The Cycle Tool

2009-12-29T23:50:00.000-08:00

More Emotional Brain Training

The Cycle Tool for Brain State 4

"State the facts about your upset.
No feelings. Just the facts.
Keep it short, however, long enough to arouse strong emotions in your body.

Then launch into the Natural Flow of Feelings
I feel angry that . . .
I feel sad that . . .
I feel afraid that . . .
I feel guilty that . . .
Express short choppy sentences to express your feelings.
Your stress will begin to quiet down, and you will be in the portal of your emotional brain.

At that point, you can use deductive reasoning to identify your Unreasonable Expectation.

Then find a Reasonable Expectation — the opposite of the unreasonable one — which squashes the wiring of that old unreasonable expectation.

In a flash you will go into a stress response, which is why we use Encouraging Words, a short statement of support to keep you thinking about the reasonable expectation.

The most powerful part of The Cycle is to identify the Essential Pain, the change, loss, upset, reality to face, and grow from, in order to switch your brain to joy, and feel the joy response.

The Essential Pain is the truth about the human condition or my life that I must face in order to follow through with this new reasonable expectation, in a state of balance and joy.

The Earned Reward is your reason for following through with that reasonable expectation, and if that reward is not more pleasurable than the Essential Pain then the expectation needs some tweaking. It’s not reasonable.

Last, as you return to Brain State 1, ask What do I need? (including need for support from others).

If you like, check to see if there is a circuit you want to break that was revealed by the Cycle. That’s your positive affirmation or Grind In. Repeat it 10 times, 1 to 3 times per day to help break that old neural circuit and build a new one that leads to joy.

Here’s a demonstration of The Cycle Tool by the founder of Emotional Brain Training, Laurel Mellin, MA, RD, Associate Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine and Pediatrics at UCSF.

Our unconscious emotional expectations hold us in a stress response.

Use the Cycle Tool to nab that unconscious unreasonable expectation, bring it to a conscious level and rewire it.

Just the Facts:
My shoulder hurts from playing golf, my brother is in the hospital after open heart surgery, I am going to visit a friend tomorrow morning in LA, and see her daughter’s wedding reception, and I am missing my mother, who passed away a little more than two years ago.

Natural Flow of Feelings
I feel angry that my shoulder hurts. I hate it that my mother is gone . . .
I feel sad that my brother is sick. I feel sad that my shoulder hurts.
I feel afraid that I will keep having losses, my mother . . . more . . .
I feel guilty that I feel bad.

My Unreasonable Expectation is that I shouldn’t feel bad when I am in the midst of loss.

My Reasonable Expectation? I expect myself to feel as bad as I need to feel for as long as I need to feel it.

Encouraging Words? I can do that!

The Essential Pain is that: Life can be difficult. I will have pain.

The Earned Reward (of accepting that): I can see myself. I can honor myself.

Now, I can feel a sense of sanctuary within. I am at Brain State 1.

Now that I have switched my brain from stress to joy, what do I need (including what do I need from others)?

What do I need? To enjoy my life. To appreciate how much love I feel for my mother, my brother, my family. I need to call the hospital and find out how my brother is doing (it’s still a “no visitor” day as he is in intensive care and in discomfort).

Grind In: I feel full of love and gratitude right now, just as I am.
Repeat your affirmation 10 times, 1 to 3 times per day, to help break that old neural circuit and build a new one that leads to joy.

The Cycle Tool gives us the power to rewire our unconscious memory systems, and using it simply as in the example or in ways that target healing of our early trauma and most challenging situation, such as with addictions, rejections, and survival needs. It guides us through the natural processing of stress through the brain, sending that electrical and chemical energy through stress and back to joy."

Emotional Housecleaning

2009-12-29T23:29:00.000-08:00

More from the Emotional Brain Training website and blog.

Emotional Housecleaning for Brain State 3
Express four negative feelings (anger, sadness, fear and guilt) and four positive ones (their opposites — grateful, happy, secure and proud), in that order.

I feel angry about.......
I feel sad about.......
I feel afraid of.......
I feel guilty about.......

I feel grateful for .......
I feel happy that .......
I feel secure about .......
I feel proud about .......

Expressing feelings decreases stress. You start with the negative feelings, because the brain has to clear away the negative ones to reduce stress to the point that we can feel the positive ones.

STIMULATE YOUR LIFE ENERGY & VITALITY

2009-12-29T22:49:00.000-08:00

1) Thump K-27 Points
These are the end points of the kidney meridians, the pathways of energy that begin under the ball of each foot, travel up the inside of the leg, up the front of the body, and end at the collarbone. The K-27 points are just under the clavicle, or collarbone. To find them, place your fingertips on the U-shaped notch at the top of the breastbone, right about where a man knots his tie. Then move your fingers out to each side and down about an inch. Most people have small depressions there. Stimulating these points clears reversals, which is important before beginning any energy intervention. It gets the energy flowing in a forward direction and jump-starts the energy system so we feel more alert and energetic.

Crossing your hands while thumping on the K-27 points has the added benefit of emulating the body's energies crossing at the neck. Keep thumping the K-27 points while taking three deep breaths (in through the nose and out through the mouth).

2) Thump the Thymus Gland
According to Dr. John Diamond, author of Life Energy, the thymus gland controls the life energy of the body. The Greek word thymos actually means "life energy!" This gland lies just beneath the upper part of the breastbone in the middle of the chest, and it plays a vital role in the body's immune system. Think of all the energy Tarzan had after he thumped his chest!

Repeat the affirmation "My life energy is high. I am full of love," while thumping the thymus gland and taking three deep breaths.

3) Thump the Spleen Neurolymphatic Points
These points are part of the lymph system, which aids the immune system by removing toxins from the body.

The spleen neurolymphatic points are the depression between the 7th and 8th rib, just below the level of the breastbone (sternum). Find the points by moving your hand beneath your breasts, straight under the nipples, then move them down over the next rib. (These points are not under the ribcage, that's going down too far).

Thumping the Spleen Neurolymphatic Reflex Points removes toxins, fights infection, modulates blood chemistry and hormones, counters dizziness and stress, and helps metabolize food.

If these points are really sore, stimulate them by rubbing and the soreness should disappear in a few days. These points can be stimulates while taking three deep breaths, and even longer --- for two or three minutes at a time.

This is from Gwenn Bonnell's website Tap Into Heaven.

What is Emotional Brain Training?

2009-12-29T21:44:00.000-08:00

The following information of edited from the Emotional Brain Training website.

Emotional Brain Training is a method of rewiring the brain to promote optimal processing of stress. The method is based on six tools, one to identify the level of stress or “brain state” on a 5-point scale. For each level there is a different pathway in the brain that most effectively eases stress and promotes positive emotions.

One way of thinking about the brain is in different layers of function. The most primitive is the lower part of the brain and its core. The limbic system is the next layer of the human brain and is the seat of emotions, relationships, spirituality and reward. The newest layer is the neocortical brain, the seat of consciousness, planning and decision-making.

Each of these brain areas has different strengths and it is how the whole brain works together — neural integration — that supports our survival. The neocortex enables us to think magnificent thoughts, the limbic system to love and feel loved, and the primitive brain responds to stressors with amazing speed, adjusting bodily processes to offer the best chances of survival.

When the brain perceives a survival level threat, it shifts the flow of energy toward the more primitive areas, creating the quickest response and fulfilling our first purpose which is to survive. When our minds think that our survival is in danger and decides to shut off our ability to be creative or sense others emotions and instead just focus on making very quick instinctive decisions.

When this happens, both the limbic system and the neocortex stop working and our ability to process emotions and our ability to rationally think stops because we are not using that part of our brains.

The initial stress activates memories formed during other periods of stress. Memories or wires are “state specific”, that is, we are more likely to arouse other memories that were stored in that state, even though they don’t “match” the current situation.

The secondary stress, the arousal of wires or connections that amplify the stress experienced, is not experienced as a memory. There is no “source attribution” or feeling of remembering something.

For example when you experience rejection, the wiring from being rejected by other loves, or being bullied as school, or being criticized by a teacher, or negative experiences with mom, dad and siblings is aroused. Again, we don’t sense that we are remembering, but nonetheless, the wires cause us to overreact. Even if we didn’t like that old lover that much anyway, but you’d never know it. We plummet to Brain State 5, and it feels as if our life is on the line.

In Brain State 5, it is perfectly normal and universal either to be hyper-aroused or blank out. Thinking is irrational. We are confused. Emotions are extreme or strangely absent. Intimacy is impossible to find. We tend to merge or distance. Our behaviors are extreme, and tend to be addictive.

When the brain is working as it should, the limbic brain flows input from all the senses, from the body, emotional memories, unconscious expectations and thoughts. In an ongoing flow of functionality it sizes up all the potential threats and rewards, prioritizes them, then settles on an emotion. That emotion is the message to the neocortical brain and directs us to meet our most important need. The strongest emotion points to the most important need.

The brain is in one of five states at all times, ranging from stress to joy. For each brain state there is a specific pathway that most effectively processes stress back to well-being. Learn how to switch your brain from stress to joy. Rewire the brain for lasting results and change the brain’s set point toward well-being.

Laurel Mellin, MA, RD is an Associate Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine and Pediatrics at UCSF. She is the founder of Emotional Brain Training (EBT), a method of treating obesity and stress symptoms that equips individuals with tools based on an integration of neuroscience and attachment theory to decrease the frequency and duration of the stress response and to favor high-level well-being.

Depression, stress, and Emotional Brain Training

2009-12-27T00:16:00.000-08:00

Research is beginning to show that the a major cause of depression is not genetics, but stress. It was thought that a particular serotonin transporter gene was responsible for most cases of depression, as some previous studies have implied.

Emotional Brain Training (EBT) uses the Natural Flow of Feelings technique when at Brain State 4 to unravel depression, and identify what is triggering the cortisol cascade.

These feelings are: angry, sad, afraid and guilty.

Often in people who slip into depression, the “I feel angry . . ” skill needs strengthening.

A simple, “I feel angry that . . . ” and really feel it. come up with at least 20 "I feel angry..." and not allowing words to pass your lips until you feel FIRE in the belly.

Notice how depression cools, as you begin to feel better.

What is Intuitive Eating?

2009-12-26T22:42:00.000-08:00

Here is a summary of the 10 principles of Intuitive Eating, from the book, Intuitive Eating, 2nd ed, 2003.

"Intuitive eating is an approach that teaches you how to create a healthy relationship with your food, mind, and body--where you ultimately become the expert of your own body. You learn how to distinguish between physical and emotional feelings, and gain a sense of body wisdom. It's also a process of making peace with food, so that you no longer have constant "food worry" thoughts. It's knowing that your health and your worth as a person does not change because you ate a so-called "bad" or "fattening" food.

On the surface this may sound simplistic, but it is rather complex. For example one of the basic principles of Intuitive Eating is the ability to respond to inner body cues, “Eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full”, which may sound like a no-brainer. But when you have history of chronic dieting or rigid “healthy” rules about eating it's quite difficult because a number of things need to be in place, including the ability to trust yourself! Intuitive Eating Principles

1. Reject the Diet Mentality

Throw out the diet books and magazine articles that offer you false hope of losing weight quickly, easily, and permanently. Get angry at the lies that have led you to feel as if you were a failure every time a new diet stopped working and you gained back all of the weight. If you allow even one small hope to linger that a new and better diet might be lurking around the corner, it will prevent you from being free to rediscover Intuitive Eating.

2. Honor Your Hunger

Keep your body biologically fed with adequate energy and carbohydrates. Otherwise you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage for re-building trust with yourself and food.

3. Make Peace with Food

Call a truce, stop the food fight! Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. If you tell yourself that you can't or shouldn't have a particular food, it can lead to intense feelings of deprivation that build into uncontrollable cravings and, often, bingeing When you finally “give-in” to your forbidden food, eating will be experienced with such intensity, it usually results in Last Supper overeating, and overwhelming guilt.

4. Challenge the Food Police

Scream a loud "NO" to thoughts in your head that declare you're "good" for eating under 1000 calories or "bad" because you ate a piece of chocolate cake. The Food Police monitor the unreasonable rules that dieting has created . The police station is housed deep in your psyche, and its loud speaker shouts negative barbs, hopeless phrases, and guilt-provoking indictments. Chasing the Food Police away is a critical step in returning to Intuitive Eating.

5. Respect Your Fullness

Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry. Observe the signs that show that you're comfortably full. Pause in the middle of a meal or food and ask yourself how the food tastes, and what is your current fullness level?

6. Discover the Satisfaction

Factor The Japanese have the wisdom to promote pleasure as one of their goals of healthy living In our fury to be thin and healthy, we often overlook one of the most basic gifts of existence--the pleasure and satisfaction that can be found in the eating experience. When you eat what you really want, in an environment that is inviting and conducive, the pleasure you derive will be a powerful force in helping you feel satisfied and content. By providing this experience for yourself, you will find that it takes much less food to decide you've had "enough".

7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food

Find ways to comfort , nurture, distract, and resolve your issues without using food. Anxiety, loneliness, boredom, anger are emotions we all experience throughout life. Each has its own trigger, and each has its own appeasement. Food won't fix any of these feelings. It may comfort for the short term, distract from the pain, or even numb you into a food hangover. But food won't solve the problem. If anything, eating for an emotional hunger will only make you feel worse in the long run. You'll ultimately have to deal with the source of the emotion, as well as the discomfort of overeating.

8. Respect Your Body

Accept your genetic blueprint. Just as a person with a shoe size of eight would not expect to realistically squeeze into a size six, it is equally as futile (and uncomfortable) to have the same expectation with body size. But mostly, respect your body, so you can feel better about who you are. It's hard to reject the diet mentality if you are unrealistic and overly critical about your body shape.

9. Exercise--Feel the Difference

Forget militant exercise. Just get active and feel the difference. Shift your focus to how it feels to move your body, rather than the calorie burning effect of exercise. If you focus on how you feel from working out, such as energized, it can make the difference between rolling out of bed for a brisk morning walk or hitting the snooze alarm. If when you wake up, your only goal is to lose weight, it's usually not a motivating factor in that moment of time.

10 Honor Your Health--Gentle Nutrition

Make food choices that honor your health and tastebuds while making you feel well. Remember that you don't have to eat a perfect diet to be healthy. You will not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or gain weight from one snack, one meal, or one day of eating. It's what you eat consistently over time that matters, progress not perfection is what counts.

Intuitive Eating, by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD and Elyse Resch, MS, RD, FADA.

Seven Keys to Success

2009-12-26T18:07:00.000-08:00

BE AWARE

BE FREE

BE FOCUSED

BE HERE

BE HAPPY

BE CONFIDENT

BE POSITIVE

Weight loss is more than just physical.

2009-12-26T12:42:00.000-08:00

Exerpts from Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via LEF:

"Losing weight and keeping it off might be as much about the psychological as the physical changes.

"Some people say losing weight is in the mind," said Judith Horvath, director of the psychotherapy training program at Texas Tech's Health Sciences Center.

"The HSC psychiatrist said giving yourself a mental workout can complement healthful eating and exercise regimens.

"I think they need to go hand-in-hand," she said.

"Food can be used as emotional nourishment and to calm anxieties," she said.

"If you look at the laundry list of failed diets that can't have a positive impact on someone's psyche."

"We are empowering people to take back their lives."

"It's about exchanging the reward of food for the reward of achieving their goals."

Please CLICK HERE to find more articles about weight loss and supplements at the Life Extension Foundation web site.

I love FRACTALS

2009-12-02T23:20:00.000-08:00

Polar Dragons by Wynn Schaible

FRACTALS are beautiful, complex mathematical functions with hidden order

created from quantum physics chaos theory.

These intricate geometric patterns

are the result of positive feedback loops within the equation.

The basic shape repeats itself on every level to infinity.

Fractal equations are extremely sensitive

and any tiny change will produce greatly different results.

The closer you look the more detail you see.

Many Hypnotherapists use EFT

2009-11-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

Karen Nauman C.Ht., P.Nlp - EFT Practitioner - Certified Hypnotherapist - Emotional Freedom and Law of Attraction Coach

Karen explains each EFT tapping point, what it releases, what it allows and which Meridian each point is connected to.

Hand Point
♦ ♦ KC (1) Karate Chop Point - The Karate Chop point is mainly used for; the EFT setup statement, psychological reversals and simple tapping techniques (STT). It is an alternative for the sore spot EFT point.

The karate chop point is located on the soft fleshy part of the non-dominant hand, between the base of the pinky finger and the wrist. We would use this is the part of the hand break a board... 'karate chop' style.

Releases: psychological reversal (feeling stuck or frozen), inability to let go, resistance to change, sorrow, feeling vulnerable, worry, obsession, compulsive behavior.

Allows: Ability to move forward, letting go of the old, healing from grief, finding happiness in and connecting to the present moment. (Small Intestine Meridian)

Head, Face and Body Tapping Points
♦ ♦ TH (2) Top of Head Point - This point (set of points) is located at the top of the head and was added several years ago at an EFT conference. Since then, it has been widely accepted by Gary Craig and many of the others in the EFT community.

This is an important energy center since many meridians meet at the top of the head. It is also in the area of the 7th. or Crown Chakra, which is a spiritual energy center. Some say that stimulating this area wakes up the entire energy system and encourages the body-mind to pay attention to what we are about to address. This point is highly sensitive and its important to be very gentle when tapping!

Releases: Inner critic, 'gerbil wheel' thinking, lack of focus.

Allows: Spiritual connection, insight, intuition, focus, wisdom, spiritual discernment, clarity. ('Hundred Meeting Points' Meridian)

♦ ♦ EB (3) Eyebrow Point - This point is located on the dominant side at the beginning of the eyebrow, just up and over from the bridge of the nose.

Releases: Trauma, hurt, sadness, restlessness, frustration, impatience, restlessness and dread.

Allows: Peace and emotional healing. (Bladder Meridian)

♦ ♦ SE (4) Side of Eye Point - Located on the dominant side at the end of the eyebrow, this point falls on the boney protrusion at the leading edge of the temple.

Releases: Rage, anger, resentment, fear of change and muddled thinking.

Allows: Clarity and compassion. (Gall Bladder Meridian)

♦ ♦ UE (5) Under Eye Point - Located on the bone underneath the eye, directly under the pupil.

Releases: Fear, anxiety, emptiness, worry, nervousness and disappointment.

Allows: Contentment, calmness, and feeling safe. "All is well'. (Stomach Meridian)

♦ ♦ UN (6) Under Nose Point - Located under the nose, in the little crevice above the upper lip.

Releases: Embarrassment, powerlessness, shame, guilt, grief, fear of ridicule, fear of failure and psychological reversals.

Allows: Self-acceptance, self-empowerment, and compassion for self and others. (Governing Meridian)

♦ ♦ CH (7) Chin Point - Located just under the bottom lip, in the depression between the lip and the chin.

Releases: Confusion, uncertainty, shame, embarrassment and second guessing decisions.

Allows: Clarity, certainty, confidence, and self-acceptance. (Central Meridian)

♦ ♦ CB (8) Collar Bone Point - Just below the knob of the collarbone and next to the depression below the Adam 's apple

Releases: Psychological reversal, feeling stuck, indecision, worry, and general stress.

Allows: Ease in moving forward, confidence, and clarity. (Kidney Meridian - Adrenal Gland Function)

♦ ♦ UA (9) Under Arm Point - About six inches directly below the arm pit (on the bra strap for the women).

Releases: Guilt, worry, obsessing, hopelessness, insecurity, and poor self esteem.

Allows: Clarity, confidence, relaxation, and compassion for self and others. (Spleen Meridian)

NOTE: For full instructions on how to do EFT,
go to: LEARN EFT.

Energy Overcharge

2009-10-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

HYPER? OVER-EXCITED? BATTERIES OVER-CHARGED?
"It's wonderful to feel high on life, but if you're so super-charged that you feel disorganized, scattered or out of control, you'll probably function better if you "get it together!"

Try "Cook's Hook-up" from Donna Eden's Energy Medicine and taught in Barbara Mallory's book, Feeling Free! (to see it illustrated CLICK HERE) It feels great! For frequent hyper-arousal, do it many times a day!

OVER-ENERGY CORRECTION
Cook's Hook-up with Energy Imagery

1. Sit supported comfortably in a chair, or you may do this exercise effectively lying on your back with knees comfortably up to relax your back.

2. Cross your left ankle over right. You might think of this as an Earth Lock.

3. Cross your right hand over left at the wrist. Reach down toward the earth (or toward your feet if lying down). Imagine reaching way, way down to the center of the earth. Clasp the sacred energy radiating from the earth's glowing core. Now lock in your connection to the radiant Heart of Mother Earth.

4. Slowly draw your clasped hands up, drawing radiant earth energy up to your body. As your elbows start to bend, tuck your clasped hands under and up.

5. Draw Mother Earth's radiant energy slowly up through the center core of your body to your mid-upper chest. This thymus area is known as the High Heart or Soul Seat. (If you are familiar with the chakra system of energy centers, sense yourself drawing this glowing cord of sacred earth energy up through root and sacral chakras, through solar and heart chakras, all the way to the High Heart.)

6. Rest your clasped hands quietly over the High Heart, creating a Heart Lock.

7. Then mentally draw the glowing energy line straight upward from High Heart through your throat, brow and crown-of-head energy centers, and even farther, far beyond your crown, all the way to your Divine Source, wherever that is for you. There you might visualize a Sky or Heaven Lock.

8. Notice now, the energy connection you have created - a secure and radiant cord from the glowing Heart of Mother Earth up through your own radiant High Heart and all the way to the Universal Source or Heart of Heaven.

9. For your breathing pattern, inhale slowly through your nose, tongue to the roof of your mouth, collecting energy (qi or ch'i or prana), and draw that energy down through your glowing center core, all the way down to Mother Earth.

10. Exhale through your mouth, tongue down, surrendering all the ch'i or prana your energy system no longer needs, releasing it to the Earth for recycling.

11. Now, gently, quietly hold this position, and continue breathing slowly and deeply, for 30 seconds to 2 minutes, or until you feel centered, calm and clear.

The Over-Energy Correction (Cook's Hook-up) can serve as an effective and peaceful preparation for meditation. Just relax your hands and slip easily into your usual meditation procedure, benefiting from your present calm and clarity.

Hypnotherapy can help support the treatment of eating disorders.

2009-10-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hypnotherapy can work as an effective way to support the treatment of eating disorders because it helps people feel better about who they are, helping them stop using food as way to cope with emotional problems, as they start to treat their body in better ways.

The results of hypnotherapy depend on the person’s emotional state, ability to be hypnotized, personality, and willingness to overcome the eating disorder. Many personal, family, and emotional factors affect the potential hypnotherapy has as a successful treatment for eating disorders. Ultimately, establishing a healthy relationship with food is the goal.

Hypnosis is not meant as a substitute for standard medical, psychological or psychiatric treatment and consulting hypnotists are required to advise you to seek your doctor's approval for any medically or psychologically diagnosed conditions or disorders. Hypnosis techniques are a complementary alternative for self-healing, self-help, and behavior modification.

direct and indirect suggestions

2009-10-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

Direct suggestions are supposed to appeal directly to the conscious mind. The direct approach lets the client feel directly and consciously involved in the process.

The direct approach can help the client understand what's happening so in future they can help themselves. The difference seems to be between solving a problem and learning how to solve problems.

With the direct approach, the client shares with the hypnotherapist the responsibility for any results. The direct approach gives the the receiver of the communication a greater degree of control over the outcome.

Indirect suggestion has the power to appeal to the unconscious mind. It leads to greater use of the unconscious mind's experiences and learning in one's own behalf; it largely avoids the issue of resistance, defensiveness, and intellectualizing.

The client can participate more creatively and actively in the process. It allows for the client to project meaning into the communication and allows him to find his own way to apply it. Allowing us to use the complex and extraordinary powers and richness of the unconscious mind.

The unconscious contains the key to your world view and self-image. It has greater power to facilitate change or the direction of the outcome you want. The direct approach may increase the likelihood of arousing resistance, which by implication the indirect approach is less likely to do.

There is less opportunity for the hypnotherapist to impose personal values and beliefs, demonstrating greater respect for the individual's integrity.

Clients are allowed to give their own unique interpretation to the suggestions that are given during a session, more easily bypassing any resistance. Creating more and more flexibility for the client, so symptoms may be viewed as a metaphor for the person's experience.

With indirect communication greater responsibility rests with the hypnotherapist to obtain successful outcomes.

A good hypnotherapist will always be aware when they are engaging in direct or indirect communication. They will be flexible, varying their style as they adapt to the needs of the client and won't be direct or indirect all the time. If a client is going to follow the hypnotherapist's suggestions, then the indirect mode is unnecessary. The more a client is unwilling to listen, the greater the need for indirect suggestion.

From Advances in Consciousness.

Don't worry if you don’t feel hypnotized.

2009-10-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

Don't worry if you don’t feel hypnotized. Remember that hypnosis is a natural state of being. It doesn’t necessarily feel any different than other relaxed states you have experienced. If you want to bring about change, then keep practicing and the benefits of hypnosis will come.

What we say to ourselves determines when we succeed and when we fail, because it also determines how we think, what we feel, and what we picture in our mind. Those pictures affect our behavior and can either lead us to what we want, or what we don’t want.

In hypnosis we use positive language to the same effect. It’s like we are programming our mind and behavior with our thoughts. I’d much rather program myself to be successful, so I think of what I want to achieve. And I really feel what it will feel like when I acheive the results I want.

It’s important to remember that we do have a choice. We have a choice about what happens in our life. We have a choice about the words we use inside and outside as well. We can choose how we want to feel. We have a choice to be positive.

Changes begin to take place in our life.

Emotions, health and stress.

2009-10-08T22:36:00.000-07:00

Don’t ever feel guilty about scheduling time in for relaxation — it’s fundamental to balance, whether that’s in your stress hormones or your life as a whole!

Taking steps today to reduce stress in your life has implications even greater than finding happiness and peace — it means you are preventing disease and preserving your health and longevity.

With the incidence of stress-related illness and lost years of lives increasing every decade, we absolutely have to take stress seriously. Stress may be a reality in our lives, but we don’t have to let it overpower us or prevent us from being our true selves.

Untying the knots at the root of chronic stress offers us long-lasting physical and psychological benefits.

In 1998, groundbreaking research known as the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) study, verified that our childhood experiences remain inside the body and can affect our lifelong health.

The acronym NUTS stands for Novelty, Unpredictability, Threat to the ego, and Sense of loss of control.

Each of these situations lead to physical stress in the body, and the more of them you encounter, the more hyperactivated your body’s stress response becomes. But you can learn (or be taught) to recognize when you’re responding to one or any combination of these “ingredients,” redirect yourself, and stop yourself from “going NUTS.” This acronym works for both short-term stress and long-term stress, real threats or perceived ones.

This info is from the Women to Women webite article,
Stress and your health — it’s not just about being happier.

Past-Life Decision Therapy by Susan Barber

2009-10-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

This is excerpted from:
Past-Life Decision Therapy by Susan Barber

"Have we lived before?

When people in hypnosis seem to remember past lives, are they deluding themselves?

And here's another question nobody is asking:
Does it really matter?

Here are some stories to help understand how reincarnational memory can help us in this life — whether it's real or not! ...

Reincarnational Memory: Is It ''Real''?

... people who come to a hypnotherapist for past-life regression do not necessarily believe in reincarnation.

If you are on the borderline with this concept, or if you have friends who perhaps scoff at your interest in past lives, there is another way of looking at the subject that makes perfect sense, even to the most devout believer in a mechanical universe.

As a hypnotist for nearly 30 years, and a member of many professional organizations during this time, I have never personally run across or even heard of a client — mine or anyone else's — who could not come up with an appropriate ''costume drama'' when asked to go to the past-life source of some current situation.

The dramas that arise ... are totally, awesomely, amazingly apt. They are like icons on our desktop that, when clicked, burst into a full audio-video presentation of a huge and complex program.And when people access these programs and ''debug'' what went wrong — change the coding, in other words — they invariably experience almost miraculous transformations in their lives.

What If I'm Just Imagining This?

This question comes up for many people in doing past-life regressions:
Is this real?
Did I really live ''before''?
Did this experience I just had in hypnosis really happen?

My answer is always the same:
Who cares?
What if it's not real (whatever ''real'' means)?

What if, purposely or not, everybody simply makes up these incredibly detailed past-life stories, these thrilling costume dramas.

What matters is that these stories always explain, with absolute perfection, the psychological underpinnings of current emotional problems and life patterns — and enable us to release them.

Consider this:
How do we know that our past memories of this life are real?
What if something totally awful happened to us when we were four years old, and all the people involved in it are dead except ourselves. Did it ''really'' happen? We can't prove that it did. Perhaps we just imagined it.

And consider this: What is ''imagination,'' anyway? It's a word we use a lot, but what does it really mean? No one has ever answered this question to anyone else's satisfaction.

I think it's enough to know that everybody has these costume dramas in their heads, and that by examining and changing the programming contained within them, we can ''debug'' what's not working in our lives. That much is most definitely ''real.''[1]

In a computer program, when the coding arrives at a ''choice point'' in processing, various criteria are used to make a ''decision'' as to which subroutine the program will now use to continue processing.

The two stories that follow illustrate how decisions in past-life circumstances have created choice points in present programming — and how we can change them. They illustrate that reincarnation is a living, working idea, not just a theory that makes no difference in our lives.

Reprogramming Past-Life Decisions: Two Cases

Case No. 1: The Man Who Hated Women

When I was studying hypnotherapy in school, our teacher, John Kappas, did not believe that past-life regression had any therapeutic value. It was something we did for fun, because it was fascinating. But we were not to take it seriously.

Meanwhile, Dr. Kappas was working with a client who had come into therapy in order to release an illogical hatred of women. Weeks and weeks of positive post-hypnotic suggestions were having no effect. The man still felt an unreasoned hatred for women. Then Dr. Kappas began regressing him, first year by year, then month by month, trying to find some trauma, some incident that could explain the man's attitude. Nothing.

Not knowing what else to do, Dr. Kappas began regressing his client ''beyond birth.'' They went back one life at a time. And in each one, the man hated women! Finally, Dr. Kappas simply told the man, ''Go to a period of time immediately preceeding the beginning of your hatred of women.'' And without further ado, the man went directly to a lifetime as a slave during the Roman Empire. ... So this slave gave himself a ''survival suggestion''[2] to fill himself with overwhelming antipathy toward all women. And because it was related to his own survival, and accompanied by such strong emotions, this suggestion had followed him through all his lifetimes ever since.

Dr. Kappas then asked the man, in hypnosis,
''Do you still need this suggestion?'' No.
''Would you like to have a new suggestion now?'' Yes.

So together they searched for a new way of looking at love and hatred and men and women, a way of looking that the man in his current lifetime could accept, opening him up to harmony, love, and compassion for the opposite sex.

When they were both satisfied, Dr. Kappas gave the suggestion that from now on this new way of looking would replace the man's previous decision to hate women.

Further, Dr. Kappas suggested to him in hypnosis that all memory of that past life and its horrors would disappear. Nothing that happened in that lifetime would ever affect this man again, he suggested, except for whatever positive learnings had been gained.

And that was that. After going through the hypnotic ''awakening'' ritual, the man had no memory of the session. And he no longer had negative feelings toward women.
(His wife was ecstatic.)

Case No. 2: The Witch Who Wasn't
My own introduction to reincarnational therapy began early one Monday morning in 1978, when my student Claudia (not her real name) made an emergency appointment to visit my office. ...

... we used hypnosis, and I asked Claudia to ''Go to the point immediately preceeding this feeling of being closed in and not belonging here.'' I was expecting to find a childhood trauma. I'd never before done reincarnational regression in a therapeutic setting, and hadn't intended to do so this time.

But Claudia went straight to a scenario in Salem during the time of the witchcraft trials. ...
Unmaking that decision was pretty easy, and having done so, Claudia's fear and dissociation came to an immediate end. ... The most remarkable thing about this story is that, after the past-life decision was rescinded and Claudia stopped dissociating, she never had another episode.

How Decisions Create Problems

In order to live in the spirit of Oneness, we need to rise above polarity, ''me versus thee,'' ''us versus them,'' ''man versus the elements.'' But in order to have a world, polarity is required!

Polarity is simply a limitation that is applied, at first by choice, to that which is in its essential nature limitless. So how, then, can we resolve this seeming paradox.We do this by being ''in'' but not ''of'' the polarized situation. And we actually do this every day, in some way or another.

For example, when reading a book, we can immerse ourselves in the characters and feel what they feel, live what they live, experience the beauty or terror or whatever the characters are going through. But we can also set the book down and go on with our lives. We can get ''into'' the book without being ''of'' it. We can thoroughly enjoy Wuthering Heights without seeing Heathcliff in every man we meet.

Another instance in which we experience harmless polarity in daily life is in the games we play. A golf course, for example, without the ''rules of golf,'' is just acres and acres of beautiful real estate. There is no universal rule that we must bring our golf clubs along when all we want to do is walk the course's verdant hills and fairways. But when we want the rules to be there, we can accept them. So in one reality — one set of polarities — we can pick up that little white ball and drop it into the hole if that's where we want it to be. And in another reality — totally by choice — we have to hit it with a golf club. If we touch it, we will be accused of cheating and no one will play with us.

In both cases — the book and the game — there are two realities side by side. The limitations, or polarities, of one do not necessarily apply to the other. And we can be ''in but not of'' either one of them, if we see that this choice exists.Sometimes actors get caught up in their roles. They accept the polarities defined by the drama, and no longer relate to the wider context of their own lives. But no matter how caught up an actor may be in playing Hamlet, if the theater starts to burn down in the middle of a performance he has no trouble stepping ''out of character.''

Yet here in physical reality, most of us have forgotten the larger context. We are so caught up in our roles that we step out of them only by dying. If the theater starts burning, we burn right along with it, playing Hamlet to the bitter end.

And every decision that we make from this vantage point becomes a new rule in the game of our life, creating unnecessary and usually inappropriate limitations. For example, going back to the golf analogy: Many golfers play golf as though sand traps exert a magnetic attraction over golfballs. Somewhere along the way, when they didn't know how to hit the ball very well yet, they ''decided'' that when there's a sandtrap, their ball will usually go into it. And so it usually does! (Arnold Palmer apparently never made that decision.)

So decisions become rules, they become how reality operates. And when survival is in question, and there is strong negative emotion present, these rules create a new reality. They operate as ''the nature of things.'' To change the reality, we must change the ''decision.''

Falling Out of Love
From my experience, strong, self-destructive attraction to a romantic relationship is the most difficult feeling to overcome. We try to extricate ourselves from these negative situations, but when we try to put new behavior into effect, even if we succeed, it is with gritted teeth and inward grieving. And inevitably, this behavior modification fails us, as we find ourselves in yet another, probably more destructive, relationship of the same kind. Or else, in no relationship at all. Because we still have not dealt with the lessons of the first one.

Trying to change behavior without changing the ''decision'' that motivates that behavior simply doesn't work.

David (not his real name) came to me seeking help with a relationship that was destroying not only his personal life but his business. ... Now, he quite reasonably thought that he was going crazy.I recognized the symptoms of a past-life decision and decided to ''go for the cause'' right away.

But since this was going to involve doing reincarnational regression, I first had David do some practice runs with remembering past lives. He came up with various images, but no cohesive ''drama'' emerged. I told him that was fine, we were just practicing, and that between appointments his mind would prepare him for the next step and it would be easy.

David didn't believe in reincarnation, so I also told him what I have said earlier in this article: ''It doesn't matter. Belief is not required.''

In the next session, David gradually began to see himself as a rich man named Petrus who lived on a huge estate on the seacoast of France during the early Middle Ages. .... In this lifetime, David had the strength to accept this woman who was wrecking his business and his life. Subconsciously, he was still seeing DJ as Serafina, a wronged woman, totally dependent upon him, a woman who deserved his love and protection. ''If I could, I would take care of her.'' Well, now he could. And he did.

In hypnosis, David allowed that his decision to take care of Serafina ''if I could'' had nothing to do with DJ and his current situation. He felt that he was free to act in a way that would support his other employees and his own life. ... David chose that now. Afterward, he calmly, kindly, but firmly gave DJ two weeks' notice, helped her find a place of her own, and went on with his life.

He loved, but he was no longer ''in love.'' He was free.

It's Not About Emotional Release

People often feel that past-life memory is all about ''accessing'' the traumatic feelings that underlie some current behavior pattern. They think they have to find the trauma and ''go through it'' in order to get results.

I and many of my colleagues have hundreds of case histories to prove that this just isn't true.

In fact, it doesn't work. If going through something once is traumatic, going through it twice or ten times simply locks us even further into the drama.

Emotional release work is therapeutic whenever we have been forced to repress emotion for some reason (e.g. an adult who was told as a child, ''If you don't stop crying, you little brat, I'm going to make you wish you were never born''). If such a repressed person can be coaxed into raging, crying, and screaming in front of a group of people who encourage this release, that person then finds out that the world does not end because we express how we feel. This is healing. It enables people to become free to allow their own emotions.

But emotional release only works at first. After one or two releases, the group are now training each other to bring up negative feelings and act them out. People who keep on doing emotional release work are actually being rewarded for feeling bad and for expressing it. They now have a new program: Don't get ulcers, give them! Perhaps that's an improvement, but only a slight one, ...

It's not really about all the emotionalism, all the drama, all the big and impressive stories we uncover as we ''go for cause.''

It's about the decisions we made at that time, decisions which became cemented in place by pain and fear, decisions which we need to ''unmake'' in order to move into the Light and move on.

The only ''decision'' I have ever found that really works in the long, long haul is: ''I am a Conscious Co-Creator with God.''And we don't need pain and fear to remake our decisions. All we need are a loving space, an understanding heart, and a willingness to change.

Then Why Remember Past Lives?

Rather than providing emotional release, these ''reincarnational dramas'' enable us to see our issues in full relief.

They help us understand why we are feeling what we are feeling.

They show us, in exaggerated form, the patterns we are replaying over and over like a song.

But when we access a past-life scenario, it's a no-brainer for us to realize that we are no longer that person — to realize that the dire consequences our subconscious mind is trying to warn us about are not actually part of the here and now.

I particularly remember one lady of medium height who weighed over 220 pounds. When we regressed her, she went to an experience of drowning in a past life. She had been a very skinny five-year-old who could not swim, she remembered, but had nevertheless gone out in a rowboat without adult supervision. The boat tipped over, and you know the rest.

How could drowning relate to a weight problem? Well, as the little boy was sinking for the last time, he remembered that his grandmother had always told him, ''Eat, eat, that's why you can't swim, you need some fat on your bones so you can float.''

This story points up an interesting aspect of the kinds of self-serving decisions we make, in past lives and in this one. We make many of our ''decisions'' in an attempt to exonerate ourselves for what is happening, rather than taking responsibility.

A sensible ''decision'' in this little boy's circumstance would have been something like: ''If I had it to do over again, I would not go out in a boat alone unless I knew how to swim.'' Instead, my client's past-life child decided, ''If I had it to do over again, I would eat, eat, like my grandmother always told me, so I'd have some fat on my bones and I could float.''

He/she now ''had it to do over again,'' and boy, could she float!

Can I Do This At Home?

Some of the people, some of the time, can access past decisions and remake them in the light of present knowledge and understanding. But even those few people who may have a few successes are probably going to fail when it comes to their larger issues.

There are two reasons for this.The first reason that ''decision therapy'' is tough to do alone is that we need to get deeply into right-hemisphere functioning. And when we do that, most of us just drift into sleep or associative thinking. With no guide there to keep us on track, our minds tend to wander away.

A good therapist is like someone who is driving the car for us and knows the way. As passengers, we are free to focus on the scenery.The second reason for obtaining help is that our biggest decisions are what we are looking with. That makes it literally impossible to look at them. A good therapist can see the assumptions that we have hidden from ourselves, and bring them into the Light.

But whether we have a therapist or are attempting to remake past-life decisions on our own, none of it works if we get all caught up in the dramas. ''I am like this because I was buried alive in Ancient Egypt'' is probably more interesting than, ''I am like this because I didn't have a normal home.''

But we all have to experience everything in this reality. And normalcy in the home is no guarantee of a ''normal'' life. Whether we blame other people, the government, past lives, or Karma itself, we are not taking responsibility.

We begin the process of creating our own reality when we realize: ''It's not what happened to me that matters. It's what I thought it meant.'' By changing the meaning, we can change our lives.

Footnotes:
We can ignore the folks who claim that past lives can't be valid because everybody remembers being Jesus Christ or Napoleon. That's just not true. People almost never remember being anyone we've ever heard of. Paranoid schizophrenics often think that they are famous and powerful historical characters, but reincarnational memory usually involves lifetimes as slaves and peasants and householders and soldiers — just folks, living in another time and faced with the same poverty and cruelty and repression and rejection that has characterized life on Earth since the beginning of recorded history.

I use the word ''suggestion'' here instead of ''decision,'' because that was how Dr. Kappas looked at these things. I later became deeply influenced by the work of Thomas Szasz, M.D., and his book The Myth of Mental Illness (Rev. ed. September 1984, HarperCollins, paper; ISBN: 0060911514). Szasz found in his research that all psychotic behavior was preceded by a moment of decision. However brief and subconscious, the decision was there. But truly, a life-changing decision is very much like a hypnotic suggestion — except that many types of hypnotic suggestion will eventually wear off. The types that reflect decisions never wear off. We have to consciously ''unmake'' them."

This is excerpted from:
Past-Life Decision Therapy by Susan Barber

The Magic of Suggestibility

2009-10-08T09:54:00.000-07:00

This is excerpted from an article by Susan Barber, CHT:

"In all scientific laboratory tests done during the past 30 years, the conclusion has been that it is suggestibility, not trance, that creates the ''hypnotic'' effect. And suggestibility has to do with how the inner mind responds to words.

... we have such amazing powers, that we simply cannot believe we can do the things we can do. We need to think that some outside power is doing it. But there's no outside power. It's just ourselves, using our minds in a more powerful way than we have known before.

How to Make Suggestibility Work for You

By languaging something, and accepting what we have said or heard, we create that thing in physical reality. Words plus acceptance make it real. This, not trance, is the basis of the hypnotic effect. And the key word here is ''acceptance.''

Through an understanding of how your own, individual mind accepts and responds to words, you can customize healing processes to get the best results ... by understanding the suggestibility of the individual who sits before us, hypnotherapists use them in a different way than other therapists. We change the processes in subtle ways to suit our clients and ourselves...

Understanding Differential Suggestibility

The effectiveness of any suggestion is wholly personal. Some suggestion formats work very well with some people and not at all with others. Intuitively, we are already aware of this.

For example, if you say to some people, ''Close the door,'' they will just get up and close it and think nothing about it. They may not even remember doing it.

Say that to a person who rejects literal suggestions, however, and she will very likely ask you ''Why?'', tell you to do it yourself, or pretend not to hear you.

If, however, you say something like, ''Boy, there's a real draft coming in that door,'' she is the one who will most likely get up and close the door, while the first, literal person agrees with you and does nothing!

We have all had these kinds of experiences with people.

This difference in how we need to communicate with and respond to each other translates directly to the field of energetic healing. Whatever kinds of processes we use, it is often what we say to our clients that affects them, and not what we do.

People who reject literal suggestions will reject many self-help processes. People who cannot visualize will reject many more. So in order to make sure a process will work for ourselves or our clients, we need to change the ''patter'' until it fits the unique mind that is listening. We especially need to remove any suggestions that this individual mind cannot accept, because the mind tends to throw out the baby along with the bath -- in rejecting one suggestion, it will reject the whole process.

Example: What if you cannot visualize, and a process tells you to, ''See yourself walking through a beautiful forest''? Right away, your mind throws up a block, because you can't do this. Everything that comes after this command to ''see'' something is rejected.

What About Group Processes?

The average therapist speaks to people using his own ''reference system'' -- that is, he puts out what he, himself, understands.

So a visual therapist may say, ''See yourself walking through a beautiful forest and picture the tall trees with sunlight filtering through. Notice a stream bubbling over rocks.''

And a kinesthetic speaker might say, ''Imagine that you are walking through a forest. Feel the leaves crunching under your feet. Feel the warmth of filtered sunlight. Hear the babbling sounds of a nearby stream.''

In both cases, the idea is to locate ourselves in a forest of the mind. We can tell whether we are more visual or more kinesthetic by whether the first or the second set of words works best in making the forest ''real.''

But as group speakers, how can we tailor our delivery to meet all of these criteria at once? By being aware of the audience, and finding a way of languaging our process so that it reaches each one of them.

What works best is to say, for example, ''See or feel or imagine yourself walking through a forest. There's a stream off to your left. Picture it, or become aware of the sound as it bubbles over the rocks.'' If we always give listeners the option to ''visualize, feel, or imagine,'' then they will automatically select the mode that works.

If you are in this audience, or working with a therapist, and you are being told to visualize something you can't see, or feel something you can't feel, simply ignore the ''reference system'' and do what you do best.

If the speaker says, ''Okay, now, see a rose right in front of you,'' and you don't visualize, you can just say to yourself, ''What would it be like if there were a rose right in front of me?'' And you'll feel it. You'll remember how roses smell. And you'll be able to answer questions about the rose, even though you can't ''see'' it. You'll know what color it is, for example. And doing this, you'll be cooperating with your therapist to achieve optimum results.

Another variable that group processes must take into account in order to be effective is whether audience members respond best to literal or indirect suggestions. If we are working one-on-one we can figure this out for ourselves or our client. In a group, this can be tricky, but there's an equally tricky solution: Give all of your literal suggestions before you do the process, and don't give any literal suggestions during it.

So, for example, before the eyes-closed portion, you might say,
''This detraumatizing process will totally change your life. After doing this process, you will no longer be afraid of whatever the item is that you've chosen to focus on. The fear will be gone forever. And it doesn't matter how well you do the process. You won't be able to stop it from working. Even if you try not to have it work, it will still work.''

People with indirect suggestibility will not know how to reject these suggestions because they don't know that you are giving them suggestions. They function on inferences, and so they will ''infer'' that the process does not start until they close their eyes. As long as you don't say anything literal after that point, they will be empowered to achieve the desired results.

The Importance of Studying Hypnotic Techniques

In actuality, the only difference between a hypnotherapist and any other healing professional is that the hypnotherapist knows, beyond any doubt, that every word counts.

As individuals, we can start to become aware of how we learn, and adapt all self-help processes to suit our own unique suggestibility.

As healers, from the time we speak to clients on the phone until they walk out the door, we can be aware that we are putting out subtle energy in our words. Whether that energy helps our client or not depends, not only upon our healing abilities, but perhaps even more upon the skill with which we talk to them.

In a sense, we and our clients are already ''in hypnosis.'' We have made decisions about the nature of reality. Decisions about what we can and cannot do.... Decisions about what to expect from loved ones and society in general. And these decisions have become our ''hypnotic'' reality.

But these decisions exist in words, and are powered by the emotions that were present when we made them. By accessing these emotions and changing the words, we can change our entire experience of life.

By understanding suggestibility, we can help ourselves to awaken into the light of our own powerful consciousness, make better choices and decisions, and release the creative abilities..."

Hypnosis, Wellness and the Law Of Attraction Mind

2009-09-30T00:21:00.000-07:00

You have a healthy mindset when you engage in thoughts, attitudes, habits, choices, and behaviors that enhance your overall well-being. Attitude is everything! Being optimistic, hopeful and having a positive attitude is scientifically proven to influence our body, life and general well-being.

Because the Universal Law of Attraction responds to the vibration of your thoughts, it is more beneficial to focus on health and wellness than it is to think only of healing the problem.

Turn your thoughts towards what you want and away from the lack of it. Give as much thought as possible to the wonderful way that you want to feel. Imagine yourself well and notice the changes in your thoughts. Never underestimate this power.

If you will simply take the time to give your attention to everything that is working perfectly inside of you, Law of Attraction will respond with more positive thoughts and circumstances.

A new perspective helps you to see ways to appreciate your life. Through your appreciation you allow the Law of Attraction to manifest the perfect health that you desire.

A major issue in terms of application of the Law Of Attraction is the subject of "letting go" which means not being attached to the outcome of our desires.

Clients that "get it" make quantum leaps in their growth, successes and achievements. It is where the key to freedom lies, mentally. physically, financially, and spiritually.

If you do not get the results you want, it could be because of self limiting subconscious thoughts and beliefs in your subconscious mind. These negative beliefs are programed into our subconscious mind and most of the time we do not even know that they are there sabotaging us. These thoughts then become our beliefs, habits and automatic behavior.

To change your end results, you need to overwrite the negative programing and instill new positive programing into your subconscious mind. If you are getting more of the same or negative results in your life such as not being able to attract more wealth, good health or the body shape you desire, then you have probably been unconsciously running old negative programs and reinforcing them with daily negative thought patterns.

Hypnosis can help you get rid of negative programing and your self limiting negative thoughts in your subconscious mind and re-program new positive thoughts into it.

What is Energy Psychology?

2009-09-27T00:56:00.000-07:00

I have been a fan of Donna Eden's work for many years and had the great pleasure of seeing her in person recently at East West Bookstore.

Here is some information from her website:
www.innersource.net/energy_medicine/principles_em.htm

Donna Eden is among the world's most sought, most joyous, and most authoritative spokespersons for energy medicine.

Energy medicine utilizes techniques from healing traditions such as acupuncture, yoga, kinesiology, and qi gong. Flow, balance, and harmony can be non-invasively restored and maintained within an energy system by tapping, massaging, pinching, twisting, or connecting specific energy points (acupoints) on the skin; by tracing or swirling the hand over the skin along specific energy pathways; through exercises or postures designed for specific energetic effects; by focused use of the mind to move specific energies; and/or by surrounding an area with healing energies (one person’s energies impacts another’s).

"Energy psychology addresses the relationship of energy systems to emotion, cognition, behavior and health. These systems include electrical activity of the nervous system and heart, meridians, biophotons, biofields, etc.

Although psychological functioning involves thought, emotions, chemistry, neurology, genetics and environmental aspects, at an essential level bioenergy is also involved. Just as an audiotape or computer hard drive contain information in electromagnetic fields, similarly our brain and body operate electromagnetically. Energy psychology is applicable to a wide range of areas including psychotherapy, counseling, education, vocational guidance, physical health, pain management, sports and peak performance."
Fred P. Gallo, PhD

THE NINE PRIMARY ENERGY SYSTEMS

People who "see energy" can describe with some precision the anatomy of the energy body, and their descriptions tend to corroborate one another. These descriptions are now backed by electromagnetic measurements, and they also correlate with descriptions of subtle energies found throughout the world, understood in each culture’s own terms and concepts.

The meridians, chakras, and aura are three terms that have entered our language, but other energy systems have been identified as well. One of the individuals known for being able to "see" or clairvoyantly read the body’s energies, Donna Eden, describes nine energy systems that impact body and mind.

The nine systems include:
1) Meridians 2) Chakras 3) Aura 4) Electrics 5) Celtic weave6) The Five Rhythms 7) Triple Warmer 8) Radiant Circuits 9) Basic Grid

1) The Meridians:
In the way an artery transports blood, a meridian transports energy. As the body's energy bloodstream, the meridian system carries the life force, adjusts metabolism, removes blockages, and even determines the speed and form of cellular change. The flow of the meridian energy pathways is as critical as the flow of blood. No energy, no life. Meridians affect every organ and every physiological system, including the immune, nervous, endocrine, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, skeletal, muscular, and lymphatic systems.

Each system is fed by at least one meridian. If a meridian's energy is obstructed or unregulated, the system it feeds is jeopardized. The meridians include fourteen tangible channels that carry energy into, through, and out of your body. Your meridian pathways also connect hundreds of tiny, electromagnetically distinct points along the surface of the skin. These are known as acupuncture points. They have less electrical resistance than other areas of the skin, and they can be stimulated with needles or physical pressure to release or redistribute energy along the meridian pathway.

2) The Chakras:
The word chakra translates from the Sanskrit as disk, vortex, or wheel. The chakras are concentrated centers of energy. Each major chakra in the human body is a center of swirling energy positioned at one of seven points, from the base of your spine to the top of your head. Whereas the meridians deliver their energy to the organs, the chakras bathe the organs in their energies. Each chakra supplies energy to specific organs, corresponds to a distinct aspect of your personality, and resonates (respectively, from the bottom to the top chakra) with one of seven universal principles having to do with survival, creativity, identity, love, expression, comprehension, or transcendence.

Your chakra energies encrypt your experiences in much the way your neurons code your memories. An imprint of every emotionally significant event you have experienced is recorded in your chakra energies. A sensitive practitioner's hand held over a chakra may resonate with pain in a related organ, congestion in a lymph node, subtle abnormalities in heat or pulsing, areas of emotional turmoil, or even tune into a stored memory that might be addressed as part of the healing process.

3) The Aura:
Your aura (or biofield, the term used by scientists who have been studying it) is a multi-layered shell of energy that emanates from your body and interacts with the energies of your environment. It is itself a protective atmosphere that surrounds you, filtering out many of the energies you encounter and drawing in others that you need. Like a space suit, your aura protects you from harmful energies. Like a radio antenna, on the other hand, it brings in energies with which it resonates. The aura is a conduit, a two-way antenna that brings in energy from the environment to your chakras and that sends energy from your chakras outward.

When you feel happy, attractive, and spirited, your aura may fill an entire room. When you are sad, despondent, and somber, your aura crashes in on you, forming an energetic shell that isolates you from the world. Some people’s auras seem to reach out and embrace you. You know such people, and if you could see their auras, you would find that their aura energies do indeed reach toward your own. You also know people whose auras are so tightly bound and protective that they keep you out like an electric fence. A study conducted by Valerie Hunt, a neurophysiologist at UCLA's Energy Fields Laboratory, correlated "aura readings" with physiological measures. The auras seen by eight practitioners not only corresponded with one another, they correlated with wave patterns picked up by electrodes on the skin at the spot that was being observed.

4) The Electrics:
The electrics are an energy that seems to emerge from the electrical dimension of the other energy systems. They are not an independent energy system like the meridians, chakras, or aura, but they are rather intimately related to all the major energy systems: separate from each but also an aspect of each, something like the way liquid is separate from yet part of each of your organs. The electrics serve as a bridge that connects all the energy systems at the basic level of the body’s electricity. I usually have no idea what will occur when I first hold a person’s electric points. The energy goes where it is needed. There are reports of scar tissue being healed during an electrics session, heart ataxia eliminated, a knee replacement operation avoided, and all manner of emotional trauma overcome. But most important in terms of whole body healing is the way the electrics connect all the systems. If energy fields such as the aura and chakras align the organs and other energies by surrounding them, the electrics move right through them, connecting and coordinating them at the tangible dimension of their electrical nature.

5) The Celtic Weave:
The body’s energies spin, spiral, curve, twist, crisscross, and weave themselves into patterns of magnificent beauty. The equilibrium of this kaleidoscope of colors and shapes is maintained by an energy system known by different names to energy healers throughout the world. In the East, it has been called the "Tibetan energy ring."

In yoga tradition, it is represented by two curved lines that cross seven times, symbolically encasing the seven chakras.

In the West, it is seen in the caduceus, the intertwined serpents on a staff—also crossing seven times—associated initially with the Greek god Hermes, messenger for the gods, and later used as a symbol in alchemy and then medicine.

I use the term Celtic weave not only because I have a personal affinity with Celtic healing, but also because the pattern looks to me like the old Celtic drawings of a dynamic, spiraling infinity sign, never beginning and never ending and sometimes forming a triple spiral.

Like invisible threads that keep all the energy systems functioning as a single unit, the Celtic Weave networks throughout and around the body in spiraling figure-eight patterns. It is a living system, continually weaving new cross-overs, ever expanding and contracting.

The double helix of DNA is this pattern in microcosm. The left hemisphere’s control of the right side of the body and the right hemisphere’s control of the left side is this pattern writ large. These crisscrossing energies permeating your body are the "connective tissue" of your energy system.

6) The Five Rhythms:
Your meridians, chakras, aura, and other essential energies are influenced by a more pervasive energy system. I do not see it as a separate energy but rather as a rhythm that runs through all the others, leaving its vibratory imprint on physical attributes, health patterns, and personality traits.

Mapped long ago in traditional Chinese medicine, all of life was categorized into five "elements," "movements," or "seasons" (there is no perfect translation–all three terms have been used, suggesting qualities of being substantial, dynamic, and cyclical). These energies were considered the building blocks of the universe, providing a basis for understanding how the world works, how societies organize themselves, and what the human body needs to maintain health.

Metaphors for describing these five distinct rhythms have drawn from concrete, observable elements of nature (water, wood, fire, earth, and metal) and from the seasons (winter, spring, summer, Indian summer, and autumn). Like the background music during a movie, the person's primary rhythm, in combination with the changing rhythms of life's seasons, directs the tone and mood of the entire energy system and sets the atmosphere of the life being lived.

7) The Triple Warmer:
Triple warmer is the meridian that networks the energies of the immune system to attack an invader, and it mobilizes the body’s energies in an emergency for the fight, flight, or freeze response. It operates in ways that are so beyond the range of any other meridian that it must be considered a system unto itself. Its energies work in conjunction with the hypothalamus gland, which is the body’s thermostat and also the instigator of the body’s emergency response. Like an army, triple warmer mobilizes during threat or perceived threat, coordinating all the other energy systems to activate the immune response, govern the fight/flight/freeze mechanism, and establish and maintain habitual responses to threat.

8) The Radiant Circuits:
Whereas the meridians are tied to fixed pathways and specific organs, the radiant energies operate as fluid fields, embodying a distinct spontaneous intelligence. Like hyperlinks on a website, they jump instantly to wherever they are needed, bringing revitalization, joy, and spiritual connection.

If triple warmer mobilizes your inner militia, the radiant circuits mobilize your inner mom, showering you with healing energy, providing life-sustaining resources, and lifting your morale. The radiant circuits function to ensure that all the other energy systems are working for the common good. They redistribute energies to where they are most needed, responding to any health challenge the body might encounter.

In terms of evolution, the radiant circuits have been around longer than the meridians. Primitive organisms such as insects move their energies via the radiant circuits rather than through a meridian system, and the radiant circuits can be seen in the embryo before the meridians develop. As in the way that riverbeds are formed, it is as if radiant energies that habitually followed the same course became meridians.

9) The Basic Grid:
The basic grid is your body’s foundational energy. Like the chassis of a car, all the other energy systems ride on the energy of the basic grid. For instance, when you are lying down, it would appear to a person who sees subtle energies that each of your chakras sits upon this foundational energy.

Grid energy is sturdy and fundamental. But severe trauma can damage your foundation, and when this occurs, it does not usually repair itself spontaneously. Rather, the other energy systems adjust themselves to the damaged grid, much as a personality may be formed around early traumatic experiences.

Repairing a person’s basic grid is one of the most advanced and intense forms of energy medicine. If a grid’s structure or a car’s chassis is sound, you never notice it is there; if it is damaged, nothing else is quite right.

"Energy medicine is the future of all medicine."
~ C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Founding President, American Holistic Medical Association

Everyone uses their senses to learn.

2009-09-26T23:55:00.000-07:00

Everyone uses their senses to learn. Most people have an unconscious successful strategy for learning that is triggered when the information is presented in a preferred way.
The more senses you use the stronger the memory you will create. Try using words from only one sense at a time and then all three.

Visual
See
Look
View
Appear
Show
Dawn
Reveal
Envision
illuminate
twinkle
clear
foggy
focused
hazy
sparkling
crystal clear
flash
imagine
picture
visualise

An eyeful
Appears to me
Beyond a shadow of a doubt
Birds-eye view
Catch a glimpse of
Clear cut
Dim view
Eye to eye
Flashed on
Get a perspective on
Get a scope on
Hazy idea
In light of
In person
In view of
Looks like
Make a scene
Mental images
Mental picture
Mind's eye
Paint a picture
Photographic -memory
Plainly see
Pretty as a picture
See to it
Short-sighted
Showing off
Sight for sore eyes
Take a peak
Tunnel vision
Up front
Under your nose

Auditory
Hear
Listen
Sound(s)
Make music
Harmonise
Tune in/out
Be all ears
Rings a bell
Silence
Be heard
Resonate
Deaf
Mellifluous
Dissonance
Attune
Overtones
Unhearing
Question
Tone
Click
Tell
Timbre
Resonance

Afterthought
Blabbermouth
Clear as a bell
Clearly expressed
Call on
Describe in detail
Earful
Express yourself
Give an account of
Give me your ear
Grant an audience
Heard voicesHidden message
Hold your tongue
Idle talk inquire into
Keynote speaker
Loud and clear
Manner of speaking
Pay attention to
Power of speech
Purrs like a kitten
Outspoken
Rap session
Rings a bell
State your purpose
Tattle tale
To tell the truth
Tongue tied
Tuned in/out
Unheard of
Utterly
Word for word
Within hearing range

Kinaesthetic
Feel
Touch
Grasp
Get hold of
Slip through
catch on
tap into
make contact
throw out
turn around
hard
unfeeling
concrete
scrape
unbudging
get a handle on
solid
suffer

All washed up
Boils down to it
Chip of the old block
Come to grips with
Control yourself
Cool/calm/collected
Firm foundations
Floating on thin air
Get a handle on this
Get in touch with
Get the drift of
Get your goat
Hand in hand
Hang in there
Heated argument
Hold it!
Hold on!
Hot-headed
Keep your shirt on!
Know -how
Lay cards on table
Light-headed
Moment of panic
Not following you
Pain in the neck
Pull some strings
Sharp as a tack
Slipped my mind
Smooth operator
So-so
Start from scratch
Stiff upper lip
Stuffed shirt
Topsy-turvy

Unspecified
Sense
Experience
Understand
Think
Learn
Imagine
Process
Decide
Motivate
Consider
Change
Perceive
Insensitive
Distinct
Conceive
Be conscious
Know
Explore

Think creatively!

2009-09-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

Think creatively, always looking for the benefits, opportunities and gifts, in every problem.
May you get the most beneficial outcome possible for each experience in your life.

Future Pacing with NLP

2009-09-18T09:52:00.000-07:00

NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) Future Pacing

Future Pacing allows you to look into the future and see yourself already having achieved the desired change.

Future pacing is a technique of "embedding" change into the future - to give you an experience of dealing positively with a situation before you get into the same situation again.

This is based on visualization: the mind cannot tell the difference between a scenario which is real and one which has been clearly visualized.

The idea is that, having visualized success, when they are again in the real-life situation, the previous hypnotic experience will give them the confidence they need to smoothly sail through the actual situation.

More from Steve G. Jones, M.Ed. who is a board certified Clinical Hypnotherapist. http://www.betterlivingwithhypnosis.com/

NaturalNews.com: Role of Hypnosis in Surgical Recovery for Patients with Head and Neck Cancer

2009-09-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

Researchers found that those who received hypnotherapy had a much shorter hospital stay than the control group who received standard care.

Researchers also found some differences among the group that received hypnosis. Those who were more highly hypnotizable experienced fewer complications after the surgery. Also, the researchers found that those who were more hypnotizable also had less blood loss during the surgery.

The study concluded that hypnosis can help prevent postoperative complications. A reduction in complications after surgery also reduces the length of hospital stay after the operation. Fewer complications also suggest a quicker recovery time. A shorter hospital stay means lower medical bills.Patients going through cancer treatment already experience a high level of stress and anxiety with rehabilitation. Hypnotherapy ensures that the healing time and treatment period is shorter and more easily dealt with.

The procedure may not only show physical improvements, but emotional ones as well. By taking such a small step, doctors can now further help improve the lives of their patients. Financial, physical, and emotional strains may be lifted with the help of hypnotherapy.

Source: Rapkin, D.A., Straubing, M. and Holroyd, J.C. (1991). Guided Imagery, Hypnosis and Recovery from Head and Neck Cancer Surgery: An Exploratory Study. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 39(4). 215-226.

About the author:
Steve G. Jones, M.Ed. has been practicing hypnotherapy since the 1980s. He is the author of 22 books on Hypnotherapy. Steve is a member of the National Guild of Hypnotists, American Board of Hypnotherapy, president of the American Alliance of Hypnotists, on the board of directors of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Lung Association, and director of the Steve G. Jones School of Clinical Hypnotherapy.Steve G. Jones, M.Ed. is a board certified Clinical Hypnotherapist. He has a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Florida (1994), a master's degree in education from Armstrong Atlantic State University (2007), and is currently working on a doctorate in education, Ed.D., at Georgia Southern University.

Learn more at: http://www.betterlivingwithhypnosis.com/

Weight Loss Research

2009-08-05T23:37:00.000-07:00

The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH) is the largest U.S. organization for health and mental health care professionals using clinical hypnosis. Founded in 1957, ASCH's members are psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, medical doctors, master's level nurses and dentists. Their efforts to support research and set standards for ethical practices of hypnotherapy are respected world-wide.

The following information is from the ASCH.

In a 9-week study of two weight management groups (one using hypnosis for weight loss and one not using hypnosis), the hypnosis for weight loss group continued to get results in the two-year follow-up, while the non-hypnosis group showed no further results (Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1985).

In a study of 60 women separated into hypnosis versus non-hypnosis groups, the groups using hypnosis lost an average of 17 pounds, while the non-hypnosis group lost an average of only .5 pounds (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1986).

In a comparison of the results of adding hypnosis to weight loss treatment across multiple studies showed that adding hypnosis increased weight loss by an average of 97% during treatment, and even more importantly increased the effectiveness POST TREATMENT by over 146%. This shows that hypnosis works even better over time (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1996).

Controversial HCG injections.

2009-08-03T23:16:00.000-07:00

HCG therapy is an area that is largely controversial and not fully understood by many people. You need to be under medical supervision to do this diet, as its the only way to get HCG. It has a very specific protcol for the HCG to burn the fat you carry with no loss of muscle.

Dr. Maples explains in a post about HCG on Joe Vitale's web-site:

I think it’s controversial because of it’s use of “pregnancy hormone”, in conjunction with an extremely low calorie diet, both of these by themselves being controversial …. so many don’t agree with it.

Maybe I can shed some light on the subject for your readers?

In a nutshell – the HCG therapy is used to stabilize/re-establish the HPA axis (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis) and to prevent muscle wasting.

“HPA axis, a major part of the neuro-endocrine system that controls reactions to stress and regulates many body processes, including digestion, the immune system, mood and emotions, sexuality, and energy storage and expenditure. A wide variety of species, from the most ancient organisms to humans, share components of the HPA axis. It is the common mechanism for interactions among glands, hormones, and parts of the midbrain that mediate the general adaptation syndrome (GAS)”.

When this system (HPA) is interrupted, it can affect almost any function in the body – like a domino effect. One of the key issues in regards to weight loss is it’s regulation of hunger is altered, and hormone imbalance creates weight issues (obviously).

This hormonal / endocrine communication system can be shut down by many things that are prevalent in our typical American lives: stress and chemicals. For example, MSG and all of it’s derivatives shunt the hypothalamus and disrupts the neuroendocrine system.

I always ask people about their weight history, and almost always there is an emotionally or physically stressful situation that preceeded the weight issues.

Many chemicals in our daily lives are endocrine disruptors / xenohormones messing with this system and other hormonal communications. They are rampant in our foods, drinks, body care, laundry and cleaning products, perfumes, and the list goes on…(there is more on my Emotion Potions website about this for anyone who wants to learn more).

Here’s the best part: the big controversy, as I said before, is administering “pregnancy hormone (even to men…) and the extremely low 500 calorie diet.

What many don’t know is that there are completely safe, natural ways to restore the HPA axis to its normal healthy communication level without injecting the HCG.

Combined with proper diet and exercise techniques to re-establish a healthy metabolism, and simple emotional clearing products, many people get the same results. "

Read more at Joe Vitale's post about HCG.