Master your fears & phobias

Isn't it nice to know - with hypnosis you can easily overcome fears and phobias. Hypnosis is extremely effective helping people with common and not so common anxieties. From fears of spiders, heights, elevators, closed spaces, to bigger things like panic attacks driving over bridges, driving your car, speaking in front of people - you name it, someone out there is afraid of it. The good news is... the opposite of anxiety is relaxation. Teaching the mind how to relax and learning how to respond to fearful stimulations in a more productive and calm manor... you can naturally see how this will change your life, can you not?

Repeat.

Things to remember and ponder:
1. Anything that is reinforced is likely to occur again. (do I say that too often? Good! Remember it! More information on this in earlier posts)
2. Neurons that fire together, wire together. Everytime you think a thought and get a particular reaction...you strengthen that neural connection. You think it, you have a reaction. Think/reaction. Think/reaction. So, pretty soon you don't-even-have-to think-it, and you are doing a behavior. But, in actuality, you did think it. It happened so fast because it is 'wired' together. For example if you had anxiety one day while crossing a bridge and then the next time, you thought..."well, last time I crossed that bridge I had anxiety" which, reminded you and you developed feelings of anxiety again. Then the next time, you do it again... think it, create it. Pretty soon, you don't have to think it, just looking at a bridge gives you that anxious feeling. How many times have you said, "I wasn't thinking anything... I just had this feeling of anxiousness and it was for no reason!" Your thoughts are wired together. The beauty of this is... we have BILLIONS of neurons. Add a new reaction, even in imagination, and you can change your behavior.
Think a thought, see a new & wanted reaction, repeat.

Using hypnosis as an adjunct to Cancer treatment

Let me share this. Here is an article on how Hypnosis enhances the quality of life for people with cancer. Helping them to keep focused on the goal, feeling that healing energy, relieving pain & stress. Stress in and of itself acts like a dis-ease. Letting go of burdens, concentrate on healing, focus on getting better, moving the thoughts to a more productive space; taking advantage of the mind & body connection to allow healing to take place. Here it is (enjoy): www.triroc.com/sunnen/topics/cancer.hypnosis.htm

Solutions for the New Year

Join me on January 10th, 2 p.m. - Calistoga Spa Conference Room, Downtown Calistoga.

New Year resolutions are one of the most common ways people try to change their behavior. Starting off the New Year with good intentions, only to slip back into our old, unwanted behavior, before the end of January! This year, let us make solutions. Learn how to implement these solutions and achieve your goals in life.

This talk will be on how the brain works and how you can use this knowledge to achieve the goals you want to achieve. This hour will be a gift to yourself: motivate you, excite you, and quite possibly…change your life.

See you there.

Circle of Influence

Who is your circle of influence?
If you want to make changes in your life to benefit yourself and those closest to you...it's important to look at those people who spend the better part of a day with you.
This is a known: Influence is inevitable simply by your being there.
This means...it changes/alters your behavior if only one other person is in your presence.
Who is an influence in your life?

It also means...you can change/alter another person's behavior just by being in their presence.
How do you use that influence? Responsibly?
Make it a plan to spread goodness.... to those around you.
Surround yourself with what you want. Be it...books, people, lifestyle, sounds, smells, etc.... all play a part in influencing you.
Be aware of influence.

Goals & Challenges

I wouldn't call myself a couch potato. I mean, I'm fairly active - I might be considered a french fry. ~grin. I am not so active as to volunteer to jog for pleasure (what?) or go on long hikes. It hasn't really been my thing. My thing has always been more mental health and nutritional health. This new move into muscular health is much needed.

One great hypnosis session and I was motivated to wallow in the depths of my closet to find some workout clothes (bought years ago with good intentions).

My new goal: a 10k or half marathon.

~The people who know me are still having a hard time fitting the word 'running' with my name.~

After some great advice - I traveled to the local Fleet Feet, had them assess my feet, recommend a shoe, and some moisture wicking socks. (Extra expense spent on good shoes saves money later with less injuries)

I started looking for books that would be in line with my goals of getting fit. The lastest educational book find is: The thrive diet. Great for people who want to exercise and eat the right things to have maximum recovery.

Also, I was clued into a wonderful training schedule (even for the couch potato) at runnersworld.com. I printed off a copy of it and posted it in my kitchen. I'm marking off the days as I do them.

This all began June 1st.

My report: I have a new favorite smoothie straight from the Thrive Diet book. Lemon juice, blueberries, ground flax, and ingredients that create a refreshing lemonade feel. Yummy!

Also, if I add sprouted or soaked nuts, grains, or seeds to my morning smoothie it really boosts my energy for the day!

It's been three weeks. I look better, I feel great, I haven't missed a day of training, and...I have lost 8 lbs.

I will keep you posted on how LONG my motivation lasts.

One more step toward practicing what I preach.

Hypnosis...changes lives.

The key to lasting change

Areas where hypnotherapy has helped someone - this month...
Self-Confidence, Motivation, Self-Image, Stress, Anger, Frustration, Worry, Guilt, Forgiveness, Anxiety, Assertiveness, Change Habits, Exam Anxiety, Relationship enhancement, Performance Anxiety, Perfectionism, Lack of Initiative, Self-Expression, Fears, Phobias, Insomnia, Pain Management, Assist Healing, Sexual Problems, Relaxation, Bed Wetting, Inhibition, Fear of Flying, Self-Defeating behaviors, Self-Criticism, Self-Awareness, Aggression, Self-Esteem, Lack of Direction, Exercise, Fear of Failure, Self-Hypnosis, Relaxation, Breathing, and my favorite... the finding of misplaced keys.
We all have something we would like to work on. What would you like to change in your life?

Interesting, even if hard to grasp!

I was watching a seminar today and came across a bit of interesting information. Needed information - for I was frustrated with the behavior of someone that I know. What this lady said in this seminar was this: ALL behavior comes from good intentions. What? I was like... that is rediculous, how can that be? But, the more I roll it around and think about it - it does make sense. People do things that solve something for themselves. From the nicest kind gesture to that of a terrorist. So, when I look back on the behavior of this person who is behaving badly - it is good to remember that what they are doing is solving something for themselves. My question now is: What? What are they solving? When I say solving... it may be a bit more in depth like 'it releaves a need in them'. From their own paradigm - a need to escape, a need to be noticed, wanted, loved, or a belief they have. It is all very interesting and it makes me understand other people better (even if I do not agree with them).

Lemonade for a hot day!

I do not know what the temperature is in your neck of the woods - but over here in North Cali. it is 104 degrees on my deck! So.... I thought I would share with you a great drink for those hot days as well as a great way to get rid of nasty toxins in your body (so drink these on the not so hot days as well!).

Juice one lemon (in Juicer)

A squeeze of raw honey

Water to taste.

Other things I like to throw in the juicer with the lemon (pick one or use any combination - heck...use them all for added benefit!):

a slim slice of ginger

a carton of raspberries

an entire cantalope (peeled)

slices of watermelon (peeled)

a carton of blueberries

Almond Milk!!

Earlier I posted about Soy milk and my eminent switch to Almond milk. It has been a month now and I am pleased to say - I can feel the difference. It is great! Also, almond milk does not have that goop that is sometimes at the end of the soy milk carton. Which, is gross to say the least. Normally, I only use these liquids in my smoothies and on the occasional cereal in the morning (crumble and raw oatmeal) and although vanilla or plain almond milk are not to my liking yet, they will be. I decided to start with Chocolate Unsweetened almond milk. The beauty of this is that I can not taste the chocolate, it doesn't really taste like anything. I do not see a significant taste change from the vanilla or original soy milk to the choc. unsweetened almond milk and that is why I decided to use choc almond milk. I didn't really want to suffer the taste change; who does?

No, No, Soy?

It has come to my attention that soy isn't all that it is 'advertised' to be. It is an interesting turn of events for me, since... I switched my entire family from nasty milk products (a few years back) to soy.

Findings: Soy - is the top mucus producer of any plant.
That alone is huge. There are millions of people who suffer from allergies who do not NEED or WANT extra mucus. So, if we can eliminate it - why wouldn't we?
I am researching it like crazy and my research is not showing glowing reports on soy.
All the good press on "those healthy Japanese who live on soy" - they don't eat nearly the amount that is being reported. From what I can tell they are not eating any of the soy products the Americans consume in bucket loads. No. They eat soy in its natural, unprocessed state called edamame pods and very small amounts of tofu and miso soup.
This finding is not the end of the world - but it does change a few things in my life. Starting with my fruit smoothie in the morning (of which I like to put soy milk in).
My plan is to do an experiment; remove soy from my diet for 30 days - and since I do have the occasional allergies and they are hitting right now as everything is blooming - it should be easy to see if the removal of soy decreases the amount of mucus allergies cause. I do not do dairy (the TOP mucus maker) nor do I do a great deal of wheat (I tend to avoid bread except for the occasional tortilla shell). I will let you know of any more soy findings (good or bad) and later I will talk about my findings on this experiment.
I would love to hear from anyone who may or may not know more about this topic.

UPDATE: It has come to my attention that a certain amount of soy can decrease prostate cancer risk for men. Seek more information.

Pain Reduction - a plan that works!

Here are some articles that talk about how hypnosis really works for pain reduction.

In an article for Kaiser Permanente: "Hypnosis is suitable for patients with the following medical conditions: chronic headache, chronic back pain, psychogenic weakness or paralysis, chronic constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, panic attacks and phobias." http://xnet.kp.org/permanentejournal/Fall01/hypnosis.html



http://health.discovery.com/centers/althealth/pain/painmgt.html

http://www.hypnosisseattle.com/acute_pain.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050326100346.htm

One bite of chocolate cake, please?

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why am I so consumed with the thoughts of food?”
When you go on a diet, do you realize that the biggest difference isn’t what you are eating…but what you are thinking? It is as if the word ‘diet’ is the key word that triggers your mind to think of food 5 times more than you normally would; and your normal amount of thinking about food was already on overload.

You go on a diet and you tell yourself, “that chocolate cake is bad for me”, “I want to lose weight so I need to avoid that cake”, etc. Your unconscious mind is saying, “What is the harm? Define bad? It hasn’t hurt me before…and one bite isn’t what is making me overweight. I can have just one bite!”
Here is a good rule of thumb in psychology; “ANYTHING that is reinforced is likely to occur again.” This little rule, although very powerful and can be a great thing for changing behavior…it also works against us and we have to be diligent to notice when those times are.
Let us think about this. If every time we have taken a bite of chocolate cake, it gives us pleasure, isn’t that a reinforcement? YES. What is the rule for reinforcements? ANYTHING that is reinforced is likely to occur again.
You have had a lifetime of reinforcing bad eating habits.
Fortunately, we can change those eating patterns; replace them with healthy ones by accessing the area of mind where these habits have been stored. Hypnosis is a powerful tool for change. By using hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming – self-sabotage and bad eating habits can start being replaced with a healthy outlook on life, an increased desire for exercise and a boost in self-esteem and confidence. While in hypnosis you can reinforce healthy life choices and what is the rule? Anything that is reinforced is likely to occur again.
With your determination and commitment, hypnosis makes it easier to reach your goals.

2 steps toward change - can start today.

One: If you notice that your internal dialog is speaking in the negative – start to notice this and change it to the positive.
EXAMPLE: If you say, “I want to lose weight” or “I want to lower my cholesterol” this needs to be changed to “I want to be healthy” (which is a positive statement).
The reason for changing how we word our thoughts and how we talk to others, is because our mind does not take in negative suggestions. A great example of this is, if I were to tell you – “Do NOT think of a purple elephant.”
>okay I am giving you a second to NOT think of that<
What did you do? I told you not to do it and yet… you did. So, by telling yourself “I want to lose weight” your focus is on your weight – where it should not be. Your focus should be on the positive ways to make you healthy. IE: start reading books that promote health (check favorites list), start adding one or two new staple foods to your diet (check list), drink enough water, etc.
Two: Start writing 21 affirmations at night, in cursive, right before you go to bed. An affirmation is something you would like to see for yourself in the future, something you want to see as already true. Do this for 21 days. Tell me about your progress!
If it is a weight or health issue – a good affirmation is “I love myself and I make time everyday to explore how to be good to my body with healthy food decisions.”

Direction of your motivation

There are two directions of motivation. Either toward what we want in our life or away from what we do not want. Which direction your motivation runs can greatly affect your life. Both directions can be useful as well as hazardous – depending on the situation.
We can all understand the importance of moving away from something when it is dangerous or negative. OR when we notice all those great places we could go or the nice people we could meet or be around, it is understandable how wanting these things could motivate us to make it happen.
In a sense, we are either motivated away from pain and failure or we are motivated toward our own images of pleasure and success. What is your motivation direction?
Are you feeling sick – and you are motivated to make healthier choices so that you do not get worse? OR…did you notice the next door neighbor who looks great and you are motivated to look as good or better? Can you imagine yourself looking great? Could this motivate you to clean out your cupboards of all sugars and toxins?
Many times if you are only using one form of motivational direction it can hinder your success. One example is when people are motivated to eat healthy because they are sick, and then tend to slide back into old habits when they feel better. If they KNOW they are motivated to eat healthy because they are moving away from sickness they can then consciously start utilizing the motivational direction of moving toward being healthy because it looks and feels good.
Think about it and try to find out what motivates you. I will talk more about this topic later.

Exciting News… weightloss/health

I have been in talks with a local fitness club and it looks like we may get the ‘green light’ to do a 90 days to health workshop!
What this would entail is having a set amount of people sign up who are willing to use hypnosis to achieve their goals - as well as attend a few classes that will reinforce a new way of thinking about health and talk about the issues that will come up during our 90 days to health.
When I get the complete ‘green’ light - I will document daily and keep track of what is working and what needs to be tweaked. It will be a great amount of fun - so put this on your favorites list and keep checking back.
If you would like to be a part of 90 days to health via this blog - just email me and let me know you are interested. Depending on the response of how many people want to take part via ‘webland’ will give me a heads up on how much information to put on this blog!! For bloggers - I will make available a self-hypnosis guide with step by step instructions.
How EXCITING. I can’t wait. If we can get this up and running by the middle of March - it will be just in time to have healthier bodies for SPRING time weather! That is the best!!

Almost Raw

The best part of change is the journey. As a disclaimer (I am laughing) I must point out that most of my recipes or advice on eating healthy comes from my own paradigm. I have made drastic changes in my life and in my health. If you see a recipe that I post and you notice that it might have one or two things in it that, although healthy, are not raw - just remember - I am ALMOST Raw.>grin<
One might ask… why have I not hypnotized myself to be a raw foodist, since that would help with my transition. There are a few reasons. The first and most important is - I am not completely convinced it IS the way I want to eat. I do know that a ‘mainly’ raw foods diet does eliminate many ailments a person may have. However, I also know that once you give up certain foods your body isn’t keen on allowing them back in (ie: dairy). I personally dislike all dairy (I have researched dairy and I find it to be nasty and the mucus a person gets from eating and drinking dairy simply isn’t worth the trouble) so that isn’t a problem. But it brings to light that if there is one food… there may be more. I simply do not know enough to make an informed decision to be completely ‘raw’ for life. I do know eating a diet that is loaded with fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds - will with no doubt, help a person improve their health. I also know that not only would a person improve their health on a Cooked Vegan/Raw diet they would also improve the environment. I currently enjoy a Cooked Vegan 20/Raw 80 diet.
Bottom line: Until I know more (by researching it and experimentation) I am happy being ALMOST Raw.

Change is not (r)a(w)ll or nothing!

After a few emails, it has come to my attention that some people are grouchy that I am advocating mixing fruit juice into my ‘raw’ green juice. I just want to point out - many people FAIL at eating healthy because they take too big of steps. This isn’t all or nothing. A person does not have to go crazy and switch their eating habits over night. If a person is capable of doing that - great! From my experience, however, many people find it difficult to stick with the healthy plan because they take too big of steps. So, I say…keep the yummy juice in the mix. When a person gets good at drinking a green smoothie every day… by all means, cut back on the amount of juice and try making it as healthy as possible. I am not a raw foodist. I strive to be healthy and advocate making changes that may benefit people. I may, one day, change my diet to be all Raw - I feel good when I do it. At this time, I am mostly vegan with my eye on Raw. Small steps… many times, make the biggest improvements.

New Year, New You, New Food Plan!

It only makes sense that if I deal with behavior - nutrition is not going to be far from my rantings and ravings. Food alters behavior.
Let’s start out the year by checking ingredients.Ingredients that human bodies should not eat:
Artificial color and flavors - why, because they are toxins to a body and there is a list a mile long on the problems they cause. Too long to list here - look it up!
Sugar (and all of its ‘__tose’ names) - why, because sugar is poison. >did I just say that??<>