Much of the work done in clinical hypnotherapy is clearing roadblocks to health and wellness – our natural state.

Are you or someone you love feeling blocked from health and wellness?  If yes, here are some important factors to consider.

Is the Illness and Pain a Subconscious Connection to a Loved One?

We all naturally seek connection. Connection is one of our deeper needs, and we all have a desire to feel connected to the people in our lives that we look up to and love. One of the ways that people create a feeling of connection is by emulating certain characteristics of the person they wish to feel connected to. This is called “identification with a central figure,” and it usually happens subconsciously.

Occasionally, in order to create a feeling of connection, people will subconsciously emulate negative traits, including illness and pain. If, for example, a parent suffered from migraine headaches, a person may develop migraines as a subconscious means of identifying with the parent. The subconscious creation of real migraine headaches is a way to be like the central figure, and being like them creates connection. This is an example of secondary gain. While the migraines are painful and clearly unwanted, they do provide the person with a positive benefit—a feeling of connection.

In cases like this, I help my clients identify other traits or characteristics of the central figure that are positive or constructive. For instance, if the parent was always very patient with them, the client could focus on developing their own patience with themselves and others.

The key is to become consciously aware of the desire for connection, and then to intentionally fulfill that desire in a healthy way by identifying and emulating positive aspects of the person being identified with. When that happens, the illness and pain have no more positive value, so the subconscious can create health instead.

Let Go of the Suffering Meme

A meme is a unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice, idea, or concept, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples of memes include political views, social customs and religious beliefs. Part of our cultural heritage is the meme that “suffering has value.”

The suffering meme says that through suffering one can absolve oneself of guilt, pay for sins or mistakes, become worthy of good things, purify the mind, or connect with a spiritual being or source. This idea has been around for so long and is so pervasive that it has become a part of our collective unconscious. Whether they are aware of it or not, many people operate on this subconscious belief. And even for those who don’t, it is likely that some of the people who are close to them do.

There is no value in suffering other than the value that we mistakenly attach to it. And there is no outcome achievable through suffering that cannot be more easily, quickly, and comfortably achieved without it. A Course in Miracles says that suffering ends when the one suffering no longer values suffering.

The best way to help a client realize and accept that there is no value in suffering, is to help them have a direct experience of whatever it is they expected to gain, by redirecting the subconscious creative intelligence straight to the outcome. Be it spiritual connection, a return to innocence, or feeling worthy of God’s love, whatever the client is seeking can be experienced directly, now. The skillful use of hypnotherapy techniques makes this possible. Any experience the mind can imagine, the mind has the power to create.

The direct experience of the desired spiritual outcome re-educates the subconscious mind, teaching it that the way to peace and spiritual connection is through positive behaviors such as forgiving, accepting, and being generous with oneself and others. Mistakes can come to be seen as valuable feedback and opportunities for growth instead of sins to be paid for through suffering. Mistakes teach us to improve our thinking and take a better course of action.

When a person sees it is more valuable to improve their quality of thoughts, emotions, and actions, and less valuable to suffer, they just heal better.

Careful with the Organ Language

There are countless expressions in the English language that use body metaphors to describe negative states like frustration, fatigue, betrayal, stress, fear, and sadness. These kinds of expressions are known as organ language, because they frequently refer to a specific part of the body. For example, it’s common to hear people speak of having a “broken heart” or complain that something is a “pain in the neck”.  Perhaps it could be “Responsibility on my shoulders” or my boss “gives me a headache”.

These statements can also act as unintentional autosuggestion and in some cases the subconscious mind will actually begin to create the condition being used in the metaphor.  Here’s a story of a young woman who found herself working at a job that was out of alignment with who she was as a person. And the relationship she was in at the time was also beginning to fall apart. As the overwhelm of these two situations was mounting, she began saying, “I need a break!” Not realizing what a statement like that could create, she repeated it over and over again. After few weeks of this, she broke her hand. Later she was able to look back and see how her subconscious responded to her repeated suggestion. Now she says that the experience was a gift that taught her the power of language and how we all need to learn to speak consciously.

I coach my clients to become aware of their use of organ language. Is their job killing them? Are their children giving them an ulcer? Maybe. Or maybe it’s just their subconscious creative intelligence responding perfectly to their clear instructions.

I teach my clients to listen to their emotions..to do the ‘tummy test’.  Unfortunately, we haven’t been taught to do this – our culture, our society does not teach us to listen to our emotions.  In fact, we do just the opposite.

Brandon Bays said as soon as we become aware of an uneasy emotion, we want to tune out of it. And we use anything this world offers to tune out.

Unfortunately, as we tune out we tune into dis-ease. If you are in a hurry then write this decree down and read it aloud once a day. I believe it can help you to tune into health when you listen to your emotions.

Debbie Ford:

Emotions can be trusted
Emotions are good
Emotions are safe
Emotions can take you somewhere
Emotions are beneficial

As I said: We tune out of our emotional radio stations. As soon as we feel the emotion becoming louder….we try to escape and we turn the volume down or we tune into another station.

How do we tune out?

We open the fridge and eat, a few minutes later we open the fridge and eat again..

We go on Facebook and a few minutes later we are at Facebook again and again….

We have a glass or wine or two and another and another …

We take a pill for this and that and soon we become ……??

We watch a movie and then another..

We have sex and more sex…

We go to the doctor and he takes out organs or give us pills that tune us out..

Ever noticed that the tune-outs are all external escapes?  Of course it’s absolutely OK to be enjoying that glass of wine every so often.  It becomes a problem though, when we wake up one evening and find we can’t live without it!

What really surprises me is when we get dis-eased; overweight, sick, or whatever, and we cannot believe it. “How can this happen to me.” It’s then when we feel dis-ease, we seek solutions in quick diets and in medical doctors. We go from one to the other elaborate escape.

What is the solution?

The solution is not external. The solution is within. Each of us has our power within – all we need to do is tune in and tap into it.

So how do we tune in?

We become quiet and listen.. We feel, taste, smell and hear; we work at being aware and sensitive or conscious in the moment.

I recommend spending at least 3-5 minutes daily, first thing in the morning just listening to the breath.  The In breath and the Out breath.

Just focus and…listen.

You allow your Internal Radio Station guide you..

Does it work? You won’t know unless you give it a try..so go ahead, do that – just give it a try.

Also, go ahead, dump the diet and work on the under lying emotion causing you to open and stuff your mouth.

Much of the work done in Clinical Hypnotherapy is clearing roadblocks to health and wellness – our natural state.

Are you or someone you love feeling blocked from health and wellness? If yes, here are some important factors to consider.

Is the Illness and Pain a Subconscious Connection to a Loved One?

We all naturally seek connection. Connection is one of our deeper needs, and we all have a desire to feel connected to the people in our lives that we look up to and love. One of the ways that people create a feeling of connection is by emulating certain characteristics of the person they wish to feel connected to. This is called “identification with a central figure,” and it usually happens subconsciously.

Occasionally, in order to create a feeling of connection, people will subconsciously emulate negative traits, including illness and pain. If, for example, a parent suffered from migraine headaches, a person may develop migraines as a subconscious means of identifying with the parent. The subconscious creation of real migraine headaches is a way to be like the central figure, and being like them creates connection. This is an example of secondary gain. While the migraines are painful and clearly unwanted, they do provide the person with a positive benefit—a feeling of connection.

In cases like this, I help my clients identify other traits or characteristics of the central figure that are positive or constructive. For instance, if the parent was always very patient with them, the client could focus on developing their own patience with themselves and others.

The key is to become consciously aware of the desire for connection, and then to intentionally fulfill that desire in a healthy way by identifying and emulating positive aspects of the person being identified with. When that happens, the illness and pain have no more positive value, so the subconscious can create health instead.

Let Go of the Suffering Meme

A meme is a unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice, idea, or concept, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples of memes include political views, social customs and religious beliefs. Part of our cultural heritage is the meme that “suffering has value.”

The suffering meme says that through suffering one can absolve oneself of guilt, pay for sins or mistakes, become worthy of good things, purify the mind, or connect with a spiritual being or source. This idea has been around for so long and is so pervasive that it has become a part of our collective unconscious. Whether they are aware of it or not, many people operate on this subconscious belief. And even for those who don’t, it is likely that some of the people who are close to them do.

There is no value in suffering other than the value that we mistakenly attach to it. And there is no outcome achievable through suffering that cannot be more easily, quickly, and comfortably achieved without it. A Course in Miracles says that suffering ends when the one suffering no longer values suffering.

The best way to help a client realize and accept that there is no value in suffering, is to help them have a direct experience of whatever it is they expected to gain, by redirecting the subconscious creative intelligence straight to the outcome. Be it spiritual connection, a return to innocence, or feeling worthy of God’s love, whatever the client is seeking can be experienced directly, now. The skillful use of hypnotherapy techniques makes this possible. Any experience the mind can imagine, the mind has the power to create.

The direct experience of the desired spiritual outcome re-educates the subconscious mind, teaching it that the way to peace and spiritual connection is through positive behaviors such as forgiving, accepting, and being generous with oneself and others. Mistakes can come to be seen as valuable feedback and opportunities for growth instead of sins to be paid for through suffering. Mistakes teach us to improve our thinking and take a better course of action.

When a person sees it is more valuable to improve their quality of thoughts, emotions, and actions, and less valuable to suffer, they just heal better.

Careful with the Organ Language

There are countless expressions in the English language that use body metaphors to describe negative states like frustration, fatigue, betrayal, stress, fear, and sadness. These kinds of expressions are known as organ language, because they frequently refer to a specific part of the body. For example, it’s common to hear people speak of having a “broken heart” or complain that something is a “pain in the neck”. Perhaps it could be “Responsibility on my shoulders” or my boss “gives me a headache”.

These statements can also act as unintentional autosuggestion and in some cases the subconscious mind will actually begin to create the condition being used in the metaphor. Here’s a story of a young woman who found herself working at a job that was out of alignment with who she was as a person. And the relationship she was in at the time was also beginning to fall apart. As the overwhelm of these two situations was mounting, she began saying, “I need a break!” Not realizing what a statement like that could create, she repeated it over and over again. After few weeks of this, she broke her hand. Later she was able to look back and see how her subconscious responded to her repeated suggestion. Now she says that the experience was a gift that taught her the power of language and how we all need to learn to speak consciously.

I coach my clients to become aware of their use of organ language. Is their job killing them? Are their children giving them an ulcer? Maybe. Or maybe it’s just their subconscious creative intelligence responding perfectly to their clear instructions.

People who cannot express negative emotions may engage in passive-aggressive behaviours that provide a means of redirecting their feelings.

Many of us are taught from a young age to suppress feelings commonly regarded as negative and unsupportive – anger, resentment, fear, shame, sadness. Those who cannot or will not express these emotions tend to engage in passive-aggressive behaviours that provide them with a means of redirecting their feelings.

Passive aggression can take many forms: People who feel guilty saying “no” may continually break their promises because they couldn’t say no when they meant it. Others will substitute snide praise for a slur to distance themselves from the intense emotions they feel. More often than not, such behaviour is a cry for help uttered by those in need of compassion and gentle guidance.

When we recognize passive-aggressive patterns in the behaviour of others, we should never allow ourselves to be drawn into a struggle for power. Passive aggression is most often wielded by those who feel powerless in the face of what they perceive as negative emotions because they hope to avoid confronting their true feelings. They feel they are in control because they do not display overt emotion and often cannot understand how they have alienated their peers. If someone close to us shows signs of frustration or annoyance but claims nothing is amiss, we can point out that their tone of voice or gestures are communicating a different message and invite them to confide in us.

When we feel slighted by a backhanded compliment, it is important that we calmly explain how the jibe made us feel and why. And when an individual continually breaks their promises, we can help them understand that they are free to say no if they are unwilling to be of service.

As you learn to detect passive aggression, you may be surprised to see a hint of it in yourself.  Coping with the natural human tendency to veil intense emotions can be as simple as reminding yourself that expressing your true feelings is healthy. The emotions typically regarded as negative will frequently be those that inspire you to change yourself and your life for the better, whereas passive-aggressive behaviour is a means of avoiding change. When you deal constructively with your feelings, you can put them behind you and move forward unencumbered by unexplored emotion.

Our lives are constantly in motion energetically so naturally, change is a constant element of our existence.

Energy is dynamic, yet, it is not random in nature—the shifts in energy that are constantly happening are the result of our choices. The formulation of intention, a change in perspective, or the creation of a goal can transform our lives in a flash. We think positive thoughts and the world becomes a brighter place. With each passing moment, we are given numerous opportunities to create change using nothing more than our awareness.

In the span of a single second, our lives can change immeasurably because energy moves at a pace more rapid than anything we can consciously fathom. Though we may not at first be sensitive to the vibrational shifts taking place, our choices are ultimately at the heart of these transformations. We can typically recognize the consequences of key decisions because we anticipate the resultant energetic shifts.  Many of the choices we make daily are a product of instantaneous reactions, and these still have a significant impact on the energy of our existence. That’s why it is so important we learn to control these shifts. If we bear in mind that all we think and all we do will shape the existence we know, we can deliberately direct the energetic motion of our lives.

Each day, you make an infinite array of decisions that cause energy shifts in the world around you. In many cases, these transitions are almost imperceptible, while in others the change that takes place is palpable not only to you but also to those in your sphere of influence. Your awareness of the immediate energetic consequences of your thoughts and actions can guide you as you endeavour to make the most of the autonomy that defines you as an individual. The myriad choices you make from moment to moment, however inconsequential they may seem, represent your personal power, which sanctions you to transform the energetic tide of your existence with nothing more than your will.

Holding onto regret is like dragging the weight of the past with us everywhere we go. It drains our energy – our very lifeforce, leaving less available for living in the NOW.

Holding onto regret is like dragging the weight of the past with us everywhere we go. It drains our energy, leaving less available for life in the present because we are constantly feeding an old issue. This attachment can cause illness the same way watering a dead plant creates decay. We know that something new and beautiful can grow in its place if we only prepare the soil and plant the right seeds.

We create our lives from our thoughts, so dwelling on the past may actually recreate a situation in our lives where we are forced to make the choice again and again. We can choose to move on right now by applying what we have learned, from past situations, to the present. We could transform this energy into something that is constructive and creative for ourselves and others.

Keeping this acronym in mind may be beneficial.  TFAR: Thoughts : Feelings : Actions : Results

THOUGHTS (I don’t like my job) leads >> to
FEELINGS (I feel fear and anxiety in my body) leads >> to
ACTIONS (Skip work today) leads >> to
RESULTS (Fired from job) leads >> to

this Vicious Cycle starting all over again!!

Forgiveness is the soothing balm that can heal regret.

In meditation, we can imagine discussing the issue with the self of our past and offering our forgiveness for the choice. In return, we can ask for our Self’s forgiveness for keeping them locked in that space of judgment for so long.

We may also want to ask forgiveness from anyone else who may have been affected and perhaps offer our forgiveness.

By replaying the event in our minds, we can choose a new ending using all that we now know. Imagine that you have actually gone back into the past and made this change, and then say goodbye to it. Release your former self with a hug and bring the forgiveness and love back with you to the present. Since we are usually our harshest critics, it is amazing how powerfully healing it can be to offer ourselves love.

Keeping our thoughts and subsequently our energy fully in the present allows us to fuel our physical and emotional healing and well-being today. This action frees our energy to create the dreams we dream and achieve our goals. By taking responsibility and action in the present, we can release our hold on the past.

I encourage you to try this and see the physical weight simply shed…

The Hypnosis World Summit is a 10-day FREE international virtual conference (audio online event) beginning May 4, 2010. The Summit features the world’s leading inspirational experts and teachers of self-hypnosis and power of the mind.

Their purpose is to help thousands of people around the world understand how to connect, through the POWER of SELF-HYPNOSIS, with the wealth, health and inspired life they deserve. Over 20 of these top inspirational leaders have joined forces to awaken thousands to their transformational systems and presentations.

The Hypnosis World Summit is an online audio event that you can ATTEND FOR FREE while it is live for a 24 hour period. For ten days, the attendees are introduced to a self-hypnosis presentation and techniques dealing with specific goals including . . .

• Getting RELIEF from PHYSICAL PAIN and discomfort
• Controlling ADDICTIONS – ALCOHOL, DRUGS, GAMBLING and more
• Use Self Hypnosis for PAIN MANAGEMENT
• END UNHEALTHY EATING patterns
• REMOVE FEARS that have stalled your life
• How to open the door to ATTRACT ABUNDANCE including MONEY
• How color can influence your life and how to use it to
• your advantage
• How to IMPROVE STUDY SKILLS and ACADEMIC RESULTS
• Ways to manage your life more easily and relieve tension and stress
• And much more…

This link will open you up to a whole new way of life -

http://www.hypnosisworldsummit.com/cmd.php?af=1185503

Make it a great day, especially with these great resources.

PS: presentations will be available at NO COST for only the first 24 hours after each event so get on to it right away!

http://www.hypnosisworldsummit.com/cmd.php?af=1185503

Yes, we have too much stuff – paper, mementos, hand-me-downs, heirlooms, and things we just HAD to have or can’t bear to part with! If this is you, then think about how many times you’ve thought.

I’ll have time to pursue that dream once I get this place organized.

I’ll start this weekend and go through all this paper until it’s done, then
I will have more time for my goals.

I can’t ever get this organized and I can’t start anything else until I do.

Clutter is the physical manifestation of SELF-SABOTAGE! Yes, those insidious thoughts that we have about not being good enough, not being capable, smart enough, talented enough, deserving or worthy enough to achieve success and experience joy, fulfillment, and love manifest as clutter and disorganization.

We know we WANT to be organized. We imagine that our life will be so much easier and fulfilling when we finally get organized. However, we don’t know HOW to make this happen. Most people want to set aside an entire weekend or even a month to once and for all ‘get organized’.  This method may be successful for some, although I don’t know anyone that it’s worked for personally.

The folks I know that say, “I have to do it all at once and I need an entire week” will say this for years and years before finding that magic week. And, even if we DO make that kind of time, we go right back to our pack-rat, disorganized habits and within two weeks we notice the piles beginning to stack up again. Very quickly, we NEED another magic week!

In an ideal world, having a substantial amount of time all at once to de-clutter or get organized would be perfect.  However, if that’s not happening, then I say we have to be willing to do it perfectly imperfect. From my perspective, there’s an integrated approach that can once and for all defeat the clutter demon and allow YOU to start pursuing your dreams now.

1) Chunk it down and slowly but persistently organize daily. 15 minutes a day will do it!

2) Make peace with what is, let it go, and at times, step over the clutter with graceful self-love.

While I’m an ardent advocate of creating a supportive environment,  including being organized and clutter-free, I also know  that all automatic behaviors have an underlying positive intent.
By recognizing and acknowledging that positive intent, we can better negotiate what’s going to motivate us to do what must be one.

We are addicted to being disorganized because we feel that when we make time for organizing something else has to be sacrificed. We may know we need and want to de-clutter and get organized, but in this moment it feels better to take a nap, make a call to a friend, attend to our loved ones, or simply do something else that has a greater, more obvious ROI (return on investment.) Can you see the
positive short-term intent behind procrastinating? If today I spend time organizing, I don’t get to play with my children, connect with friends, make that business call, etc.

However, we also know that when we allow the piles to go unchecked, we are sacrificing our long-term success and comfort for short-term needs. We want to consider HOW we are going to re-negotiate these short-term needs. For example, we want to clean up our office but we also need a nap. We may want to get organized but we also want to spend time with our honeys. Thus, when you start to CHUNK it down into ‘organized installments’ it’s easier to say to ourselves, I can afford 15 minutes. This small amount of time will not interfere with my need to attend to my family or other business.

We must learn to make PEACE with what is. Constantly beating up on ourselves for our clutter and mess only serves to postpone our potential fulfillment. Every time we emotionally berate ourselves for being ‘a disorganized failure’ without also setting up a solution for consistent and manageable change, we sabotage our confidence. Sabotaged confidence manifests as missed opportunities, doubts, fears, and the corresponding physical equivalents such as failure, setbacks, and more obstacles.  Yuck!!! Therefore, make a decision to CHOOSE to love and accept yourself in spite of disorganization and clutter. Of course, don’t let ‘peace’ become a reason for apathy and non-action, but love yourself enough to make peace with what is while setting up a consistent routine for courageously doing what must be done (get organized one bite at a time) with zest and enthusiasm.

Here are a couple of affirmations that may help…

- My room/house/office is clean, creatively organized, and stays that way because I stay on top of everything.

- I have a place for everything and everything is in its place.

Love should feel good. Relationships that leave you feeling depleted, sad and making excuses are not based in love.

Often in our lives, we fall prey to the idea of a thing rather than actually experiencing the thing itself. We see this at play in our love lives and in the love lives of our friends, our family, and even fictional characters. The conceptualizing, depiction, and pursuit of true love are multimillion-dollar industries in the modern world. However, very little of what is offered actually leads us to an authentic experience of love. Moreover, as we grasp for what we think we want and fail to find it, we may suffer and bring suffering to others. When this is the case, when we suffer more than we feel healed, we can be fairly certain that what we have found is not love but something else.

When we feel anxious, excited, nervous, and thrilled, we are probably experiencing romance, not love. Romance can be a lot of fun as long as we do not try to make too much of it. If we try to make more of it than it is, the romance then becomes painful. Romance may lead to love, but it may also fade without blossoming into anything more than a flirtation. If we cling to it and try to make it more, we might find ourselves pining for a fantasy, or worse, stuck in a relationship that was never meant to last.

Real love is identifiable by the way it makes us feel. Love should feel good. There is a peaceful quality to an authentic experience of love that penetrates to our core, touching a part of ourselves that has always been there. True love activates this inner being, filling us with warmth and light. An authentic experience of love does not ask us to look a certain way, drive a certain car, or have a certain job. It takes us as we are, no changes required. When people truly love us, their love for us awakens our love for ourselves. They remind us that what we seek outside of ourselves is a mirror image of the lover within. In this way, true love never makes us feel needy or lacking or anxious. Instead, true love empowers us with its implicit message that we are, always have been, and always will be, made of love.

It is no secret that the best athletes of the world abide by a strict regime of grueling physical practice to be at their optimum. It is the sole belief in knowing that they have done everything to stand above the competition, even if it means digging a little deeper into the subconscious.

The best athletes often find themselves in situations requiring sustained periods of intense mental concentration and visualization. Tiger Woods is credited widely for using self-hypnotic triggers to instantly put himself into a fully concentrated state during his games. Dr. Brunza the world famous psychologist who has worked with Tiger on refining the mental aspects of his game may be the sole reason Tiger has “mesmerized” us over the years. Time will only tell if we see some of these similar techniques as Tiger overcomes his recent personal problems and returns to the Athletic spotlight April 8 in the upcoming 2010 Masters Tournament.

Personal turmoil and judgments aside, Tiger has made the conscious choice to improve his given circumstance. Haven’t we all made the decision at some point to better ourselves only to “fall off the wagon” weeks or even days later? Whether it is as simple as losing a few pounds, or kicking a nicotine habit, Hypnosis can help individuals find positive goal sets to achieve those ever-illusive results we strive for.

See you at the Masters…