Legacy

Written by: Debbie

What qualities would you like to be remembered for?

Loving, friendly, creative, steadfastness, warm-heartedness, reliability, humor … what is it for you? Practice those qualities now.

Monitor your thoughts and be compassionate with yourself.
Take time each day to feel the gratitude for simple pleasures in life.
Breathe deeply. (Just by practicing deep focused, breathing for 2 minutes daily you will discover your body becomes used to responding in a calmer, more focused manner.)
Exercise daily, it is as good for your head as it is for your body.
Turn off the television, internet or anything else that prevents you from getting good rest at night.
Eat healthy foods, taking time to enjoy the taste, smells and textures of each bite.
Eliminate clutter, it sticks in your head and to your butt!
Forget guilt, it is an after the fact, unnecessary emotion.
Find a reason to smile and laugh.
Find and follow your Spiritual path.

You can evolve into who you aspire to be. What you practice is what younger generations will learn. So, what will your legacy be?

Whenever I meet someone new and they ask what I “do”, I tell them I am a hypnotist. You can imagine the responses that brings. There are those who are truly interested and ask lots of questions about hypnosis. There are those who dismiss me instantly, for a variety of reasons. Hopefully, my breath is not one of them!

There are those who instantly avert their eyes in fear. As if looking into my eyes had that much power. My goodness, if I were that all powerful, my sons would clean up their bedrooms and the toilet seat would always be down! (Especially in the middle of the night, thank you!) I am asked if I can make a partner change a behavior or habit. No, I cannot make anyone do anything, again if I could, that shoe shrine would exist in my house.

Often a nervous first time visitor to my office will joke and ask if they will leave clucking like a chicken. I very sincerely explain that I charge extra for that. In life, I believe, you have to have a sense of humor about yourself. As a blonde, a hypnotist and a mother of two sons, it is a survival tactic.

So today, I post jokes about hypnosis. I know many of my readers are jokers as well. So I am asking you to share the jokes and reactions with me that you have always wanted to share. I just ask that you keep it clean, my dear Mumsy reads this!

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A woman phoned the hypnotist’s office a week after her husband had visited with her. She was concerned that her husband could not remember anything about his visit. “What did you so to him?”

The hypnotist reassured the woman that temporary memory loss of the session was not abnormal and that they had worked on his sadness, as he had already shared with the wife. “I told him while he was under that he would be better and better every day, better and better every way. It is simple enough and I often use direct, positive suggestions like this. Why?”

The wife responded with, “Did you know he was a slightly deaf?” “Yes,” responded the hypnotist, “that wasn’t his reason for sadness.” The wife then responded, “But it does explain his new problem! Since his visit to your office he has lost a ton of money betting every day in every way!”
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OK, not so funny, but a start.
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A local preacher was dissatisfied with the small amount in the collection plates each Sunday. A hypnotist suggested to him that perhaps he might be able to hypnotize the congregation
into giving more. “And just how would I go about doing that?” he asked.

“It is very simple. First you turn up the air conditioner so that the auditorium is warmer than usual. Then you preach in a monotone. Meanwhile, you dangle a watch on a chain and swing it in a slow arc above the lectern and suggest they put 20 dollars in the collection plate.”

So the very next Sunday, the reverend did as suggested, and lo and behold the plates were full of 20 dollar bills. Now, the preacher did not want to take advantage of this technique each and every Sunday. So therefore, he waited for a couple of weeks and then tried his mass hypnosis again.

Just as the last of the congregation was becoming mesmerized, the chain on the watch broke and the watch hit the lectern with a loud thud and springs and parts flew everywhere.

“CRAP!” exclaimed the pastor.

It took them a week to clean up the church.
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Hey, I’m a hypnotist, not a joke teller.
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Worried about their less than exciting sex life, a young wife sent her husband to a therapist who wound up treating him with self-hypnosis. And, to her joy, everything got much better. However, she could not help but notice that each night, early into their lovemaking, the husband would dash out to the bathroom for several minutes. This tormented her until finally, one night, she followed him. There, in front of the mirror, she found him applying this therapeutic technique: “She’s not my wife… She’s not my wife…She’s not my wife…”
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Your turn!

Friday Silliness

Written by: Debbie

This has been around for a while. It just seems appropriate for me today. It seems I have more blonde moments when my sons are around to point them out. I mean really, how was I supposed to know that the computer monitor works better when it is plugged in? (We had unplugged everything to move stuff around.) Is it my fault that my glasses were on top of my head while I frantically searched for them? Who expects to remember to bring the clothes they’ve packed with them? Well, you get the idea.

But hey, we laugh a lot around here. Just last night, I went on a sunset cruise. The water was rough and the boat was throwing us around. The captain kept slowing down and speeding up, just to hear my laugh. I was hysterical as the water was splashing all over my lovely outfit. It just struck my funny bone and that made everyone else laugh at/with me.

Let It Go……

Written by: Debbie

We are told to “let it go”, to stay in the moment. Everyone and their brother is touting The Secret or The Law Of Attraction or even The Power Of Positive Thinking. So much is said about attracting what we think about, that our circumstances are the result of past thoughts. This advice is everywhere and for many it is almost a punishment, a creator of guilt.

April is National Anxiety Month. My clients, many of them, don’t need just a month to be aware of anxious feelings. They could fill a calendar year with stories of moments that produce those feelings. Just last night, I had a client visit with me who is a big believer in “what you think, you attract”. (We will call her Dorothy for our purposes here.) Dorothy has created dream boards, used affirmations and visualized positive changes in her life. Still, her life has given her an unexpected twist. She was becoming paralyzed in fear. She had an overwhelming sense of doom in regards to this particular situation.

Dorothy asked me, “I know I am supposed to stay in the now, but how?” For most of us, it is a tennis match in our mind. The good thoughts get returned with fear, back and forth. Think a good though, fear creeps in. Try to push fear away, it takes grip. Try harder to push it back, it takes an even stronger hold, all consuming, mind numbing, thought controlling. The fear wins.

Add to the feeling of defeat, guilt and finally shame. After all, we are “supposed” to control our own thoughts, thinking only good thoughts. Fear, guilt, shame, the Hat Trick of negativity.

Dorothy looked at me with all sincerity and said, “How do you remain so positive? How do you prevent feelings of fear?” I laughed and replied, “I don’t”. I have my moments of fear and doubt. I am hardwired, just like everyone else I know to go to the negatives. To play the what if game. I have just learned to recognize when it begins, to notice the triggers and to go into action, creating change.

On numerous times, I have written and spoken about the value of humor in any given situation. It is a great tool to have. Another possibility is to change activities. Exercise is a great
de stressor, thought re arranger. I have solved and resolved many issues when out for a brisk walk or bike ride. The change in scenery allows me to change my perspective, not to mention those feel good brain chemicals that are released through exercise.

I often remind myself to stay in the moment, by taking deep, slow breathes. I ask myself if I am safe in this moment. In this moment, are all my basic needs met? Breathe again. What is right in my life now? What am I grateful for here and now?

I focus on one small change I can make, what would it be? How do I change? How is my perception different in regards to this situation, so that I can allow peace in my life? I know that I am not in control of everything that occurs in my life, nor am I responsible. It is only my perception that I can change, my attitude.

I started writing this early this morning. Life and activities interrupted me and delayed me. I just kept saying, blogging is not my life, it is simply a part of my life. So, while waiting for a client tonight,who was delayed by traffic, I thought I finished what I was meant to post. Thank heavens for heavy traffic. You see, she revealed to me so many miracles and possibilites in my life when she arrived. A dear friend of mine, from 20 years ago, is married to a colleague of hers. I hope to make contact again, with a fabulous, funny individual. Then a former client of mine called with news of changes she was making, that just happen to fit into something I was thinking might be useful in my life. Gee, I wonder if this thought change stuff really works? Do you think I attracted some positive results? Hmmmm…..

Friday Silliness

Written by: Debbie

I know, I know, it is late in the day for me to be posting my Friday silliness. Mea Culpa. Perhaps you will forgive me when you see the following video.

I have said how important humor is to keep your attitude positive. It is also interesting how attitude can accomplish so much. My buddy, Mark Byrne has managed to combine attitude and humor in this production in such a marvelous way. He uses balloons and his tremendous imagination to create laughter and joy everywhere he goes. Trust me, with Mark around, there is no room for stinking thinking. Mark has won several awards and accolades for his work, yet he is the first to reach out and help others. Mark, thanks for being Bad To The Balloon!

For anyone looking for a fun event, visit his website at:

Balloon Guy

Humorous Parenting

Written by: Debbie

Many years ago, when my children were very young, my husband and I had dinner with a couple whom we adore. They had two older sons and a much younger daughter. They are bright, both professionals , with a wonderful sense of humor. The conversation turned around to parenting issues (as it often will with parents of little ones). The husband, Lloyd told us about how he loved to tease in a playful way his sons. He would do things that were silly to get a laugh. Sometimes he would pull a trick on them, nothing harmful.

What we loved about his philosophy was that he believed we all end up in Freud’s office eventually, blaming our parents for whatever foibles we have. He decided to address that right up front and give his kids reasons to complain. He coined this, “the revenge method of parenting”. We loved it! I have always said that a mother’s job is to embarrass her children, this seemed to fit right in with that. Therefore, we too, adopted the revenge method of parenting.

Over the years, we refer to it, when laughing with our boys. Last night was a great example of this. It seems that recently my youngest son enters the room at the oddest parts of any given conversation. We may be discussing broccoli, but he walks in as we make a comment that would infer a thousand other topics. He has walked into the living room when the television was on, with a commercial for a show on cable we might never watch, but still, the ad is racy. He will then act mortified, that we are watching such trash. This continued through the night last night, so we decided to have fun with it. Every time we heard his foot steps, we would change the conversation to something totally gross. We accused the dog of all kinds of bodily functions. We would start whispering and giggling or engage in a tremendous lip lock. The poor kid was begging us to get a door that locked into the room, to let him move away, something, anything!

I share this with you, not to garner sympathy for my son. I share this, because I wanted to give you an idea of how easy it is to enjoy laughter. We all laughed all night long, my son shared the world’s worst jokes with us and the night flew by. Here is a link to a fun blog I have recently encountered. They use the English language as a tool for humor, in a clean way! Idiocrasies of the English Language.

Oh, and by the way, Thanks Dr. Lloyd Tabb for giving us this great method and the happiness it has brought over the years!

Stress and DNA

Written by: Debbie

Scientists have confirmed what the overwhelmed have already known. Stress increases aging. Want proof? Just look at the aging that occurs in our presidents after four years in office. Increasing scientific evidence suggests that prolonged stress takes its toll on the body, in other words there is no separation between mind and body. According to a study done at UCSF, our bodies respond to our psychological environment. It was further reported that chronic stress may modulate the rate of cellular aging by affecting molecules believed to play a key role in the weakening of the immune function.

Our DNA is affected by stress. Researchers examined structures inside cells called telomeres, the caps at the ends of chromosomes. These are the molecules that carry genes. In a study at UCSF with two control groups, the findings reported that the telomeres of women with the highest perceived psychological stress showed the effects of the equivalent of approximately 10 years of accelerated aging. This was compared with the women across both groups who had the lowest perception of being stressed.

I have a dear friend who last year went through tremendous stress in her life. She dealt with the difficult illness and eventual death of a friend/mentor. Her teaching career, which had always been her passion, became more about numbers than the sharing of information with a new regime taking over the college. Her family dealt with an upheaval and her health is challenged by a chronic illness. Those of us who love her, became concerned.

She was fortunate, she was able to retire and move to the mountains for 6 months of the year. She spent time hiking and reflecting. She took time to heal. Upon her return, I could not believe it was the same friend. She looks ten years younger and is more like herself once again.

We don’t all have the good fortune of retiring and moving away like that. However, imagine making the choice to change the stress in your life today. Reduce stress by 10% at first and then continue to reduce stress 10% at a time until it is manageable. Begin with deep breathing. It is a physiological impossibility to feel stress and breathe deeply in through the nose and out through the mouth.

Humor is our friend. Through humor we are able to re-frame a situation and quiet the inner critic. This allows you to gain perspective and release endorphins, the feel good chemicals of the brain. Personally, I remind my son every morning on his way to school to find a reason to smile and laugh. I ask him after school, did anything happen today that made you smile?

Hypnosis is an awesome opportunity for stress relief. Picture and imagine sitting someplace safe and allowing your thoughts wander to comfort and serenity. Allow your muscles to relax, releasing tensions and tightness. Then just imagine that everything in your world is right. After all, in this moment, it is. I think I will go relax into a hypnotic state myself now……..