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7 Lucky Facts about St. Patrick’s Day

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In honor of St Patrick’s Day, I thought I would share this fun picture explaining 7 Lucky Facts. Last year I explained the story behind St. Patrick and the snakes he drove out of Ireland, encouraging you to drive the snakes/fears out of your own life.

 

Feeling Lucky?

I have an audio that I produced several years ago, to help you experience more luck. It is called, Living the Lucky Life. In honor of St Patrick’s Day and the many blessings that have recently poured into my life, it only seems right to pass good luck along.

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Questions About Hypnotherapy Answered

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hypnotherapy

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Hypnosis Helps With Stress!

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This morning a weight client of mine commented how she had not realized that stress had been such a big factor in her weight gain and just how much hypnosis has helped her with her stress. She went on to further say that so many people she knows are stressed and they don’t know that hypnosis could help them! Wait a moment, she didn’t know that hypnosis could help relieve stress? Obviously from the number of clients I see for smoke cessation and weight management my message is out there. But apparently not the whole message. Hypnosis is a wonderful method to use for cutting down on stress!!!

Did you know there is good stress?

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Everybody Has A Brain

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Happy Friday! Take some time to be kind to your brain this weekend. Here are a few tips to help you be a better brain owner:

Loving Your Brain Tips

  • Take some time to relax, avoid stress as if it were poison, because truth be told it is! Psychiatrist Milton Erickson used to say, ‘if you meet someone who makes you feel bad about yourself – run!’ There are situations that are unavoidable in everyone’s life, however,  we can choose whether or not to sacrifice our happiness for a long-term goal – a uniquely human capacity. Sometimes terrible things happen over which we have no control. Then we have to learn how to manage our painful feelings and accept some changes to our self and world view.
  • Be sure to get enough sleep. You may have noticed that when you don’t get enough good quality sleep, it is harder to concentrate the next day. While you are sleeping, your memories of the day are “filed away” in the brain. People who suffer from sleep disturbances often experience memory problems. So be sure and get those zzz’s!
  • Just as important is getting exercise. Whether you go for a run, go to the gym or participate in an active team sport, move it!  Healthy blood flow in your brain strengthens and maintains your neuronal connections. A National Institute on Aging-funded study this year showed that moderate aerobic exercise can actually increase the size of the area of the brain involved in memory formation.
  • A healthy diet promotes a healthy brain. Eat the rainbow and no, I don’t mean Skittles.  When you eat colorful foods; orange, red, blue, purple, and green foods, these foods are loaded with phytonutrients and antioxidants.  The nutrients are important brain food and the antioxidants are critical for your cell protection. Lean proteins, nuts, berries and complex carbs are all good for your brain. For a more complete list try this WebMD page: Eat Smart For A Healthier Brain. Even better, here is an article 33 Brain Foods to Help You Boost Your Productivity  that has explanations of why these foods are good for the brain!
  • Remember to practice mindfulness. Stop through out the day and just breathe. Notice what you are preoccupied with or any tensions in your body. If it can be addressed, do it! If not, put it away for a time when it can be dealt with. Don’t waste precious brain power with worry!
  • Play games. That’s right, brains love exercise. The exercise of the brain is to be challenged and stimulated.

Be sure to take good care of that brain of yours and it will take good care of you for a long time.

 

 

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When I Close My Eyes I Don’t See A Thing!

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A while back a client of mine told me after a session that when she closed her eyes she didn’t see a thing. That sounded about right to me, except, I had been telling her to picture or to visualize an image. We had been working together for a while and she was having great success and sharing stories of some of her adventures while in the chair that had me riveted. Therefore, it never occurred to me that she was fighting the visualization idea.

This was earlier in my career with hypnosis and I hadn’t fully embraced client centered hypnosis. I still read scripts a bit more than I should have and I relied on whatever limited tools and protocols I had been given in my first classes. Don’t get me wrong, I feel that I was well trained, I just lacked the experience and confidence I now have. So, had I listened to her words better, I might have caught that she was more kinesthetic than visual. But, I hadn’t and she kept trying to picture whatever scenarios we set up.

After she shared that she saw nothing with me, the light dawned, the bells rang and I could feel her pain! That is to say, I understood the need to use her language. Not just in repeating goals, but the types of words as well.  I explained to her that not all people are visual, but, they can imagine. She had a superior imagination (oh how I wish I could have enjoyed the horseback rides into caverns that she had imagined!) it was just more sensory for her. That is when I realized just how important all the senses are in a session. Beyond sight is smell, taste, sound and touch. When I include all the senses now, a client can go deeper into the event and get even more out of it.

So, for all you readers who close your eyes and don’t see a thing, stop worrying that you are doing something wrong. There is no one path into trance, it is varied and wonderful as each and every individual is.

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Counting Up From Trance

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I had an interesting question posed the other day. The person wondered as they had watched a hypnosis video, if there would be a problem for the individual who was being hypnotized as the count into hypnosis was 1 – 10 and the count up was only 1 – 5. They wondered if that might cause a problem as it was only half way or was it intentional in order to make a behavior change. Well, great question, but the truth is, it is neither dangerous nor is it for the sake of change.

Trance is a natural state that we all go through during the day. The ritual we call hypnosis is just an accepted way of achieving that trance state with intentions for change. I utilize as many different ways of inducing the state of hypnosis as I have clients. The obvious ones include some suggestions for relaxation, as many of my clients are stressed. However, there are some who prefer a rapid induction; they want to get to the work. Then there are those who begin the work as soon as they hit the chair and no formal induction is ever performed, they seem to naturally slip into the state.

Emerging has the same number of variations.  There are people who like hearing a count; it is a familiar signal to them that time is up. I had a client who would shake her head no if I tried counting, she liked the relaxed state and wanted to slowly find her way back. It is important that your hypnotherapist understands your personality and style. It allows for a better experience when the communication is clear and comfortable for you.

This question led to other similar questions, such as, what happens if one is not taken out of trance?  The client, if comfortable (as in my recliners) could simply fall off to sleep and then awaken as normal. This happens with people who fall asleep to one of my audios. I have received anxious calls from someone who was afraid they might not get the desired benefit because they fell asleep. As the last thing that they heard was a suggestion for change as they drifted off to sleep, the benefit can still be there. Another possible response is that the individual notices that there is no more patter and things seem unusually quiet, so they emerge themselves. Still, another possible outcome is that just as in self -hypnosis, the mind determines that the work is complete and it is time to return to the everyday happenings.

As I have previously stated, trance is a natural and safe state. Although it might feel mystical and magical, it is really quite normal. So, my suggestion is to just relax and enjoy!

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Clearing Those Negative Thoughts

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There seems to be a common theme in my clients recently, regardless of the presenting issue, they all have this incredible ability to predict the future. Now, the prediction isn’t accurate, but still they believe the garbage they think. For instance, one client took a leap that went from eating a cookie to becoming a homeless bag lady. How, you ask? Well, she is looking for another job as she knows that her company is about to be acquired by a bigger corporation. We have been working together on her weight issues. As a stress eater, she gave in to the siren call of a cookie, so now she knows she will never drop the weight and no one will ever hire her as a result of her perception of her appearance. (A skewed perception I might add as she is lovely.) Another client announced in our first visit that his life was doomed to be loveless as he and his wife were stuck in a rut and he had no way of recovering the love they once shared. Still another shared with me her prediction of divorce because her husband still smoked after she quit! So many negative thoughts!

The litany of doomsday projections goes on and on. To be truthful, I have done the same thing. I saw one particular health symptom as the evidence I needed to prove that something much darker was going on in my body. Fortunately, I took action and visited the appropriate health professional to find out that wikapedia is not my best friend! I fell into the same trap as my clients and went as fast as I could down the negative expressway.

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Coping With Bad News

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“Into each life some rain must fall.” A famous quote by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and yet, there are times it seems more like a monsoon. We have all been given bad news, whether it is the loss of a job, a lover or a negative health prognosis. The news can leave us with our heads spinning while anxiety, fear and dread take over. However you put it, bad news is exactly what it is: stressful, unpleasant and consuming.

We can’t make bad news go away. It is a fact of life that bad things happen, even to good people and so, stress occurs in our lives. Acknowledging this can be empowering providing you use the information in the right way. By being mindful, we help ourselves to stay steady, learn something new while remaining in the now. We can appreciate the now. So how does one begin coping with bad news?

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How Effective Is Hypnosis?

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People often ask me if hypnosis works. They want to know how effective hypnosis is.

effective hypnosis

Do I really need to say anything more?

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Waiting To Be Happy

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A girlfriend of mine told me when she got a divorce that she would be happy when she finally found her soul mate. Well, that was eleven years ago and she is still searching. Funny thing, she still tells me the same thing. That makes me sad, after all, that is eleven years of not being happy! Many of my clients tell me when they reach a goal they will be able to be happy. I am in favor of them working towards those stated goals; I help many people along the journey of change they desire. Still, why must people wait to be happy?

By waiting for a future of happiness, we are living in a state of future thought, missing out on the now. How can one be mindful if they are always living in a fantasy of future times? It seems to me that happiness shouldn’t be something dangling out there in tomorrow or someday. It isn’t a feeling to experience once something else happens. Happiness is to be experienced now, in this moment. When our focus is on the future and we connect happiness to future events we can miss out on any immediate opportunities for joy and fulfillment.

You will find that happiness is more powerful when experienced as an immediate emotion instead of a carrot to be sought after. Ironically, people often discover that when they place future conditions on happiness, when those conditions are met, the pleasure is not what they had expected. The key is to learn how to release the unknown future and the past and allow the goodness of the moment to fill you with inner peace. The present moment is all that we have. It is when you find meaning and satisfaction in the present; you’ll discover that your future will take care of itself.

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