Stress Management through Fun

by

Cliff Kuhn M.D.

Stress management is a hot topic; stress-related illness and suffering is at an all-time high in America and increasing every year. Cliff Kuhn, M.D.'s work with the powerful natural medicine of humor has uncovered the primary culprit behind your unhealthy stress symptoms, as well as the solution to simple, healthy stress management.

Astronomer-mathematician Ptolemy (85-165) devised a theory of planetary motions that placed the earth at the center of the universe. The sun, moon, and planets revolved around the earth in the Ptolemaic universe. This notion was accepted for approximately 1,500 years. More on this in a moment...

Shelly was in such need of stress management that she was unhappy much of the time. Shortly after she became my patient, I was able to help Shelly see that, just like Ptolemy's theory, she was casting herself as the center of the universe, thereby causing unmanageable stress levels in her life. We began a regimen from my Fun Factor prescription that afforded Shelly proper stress management, reintroduced joy and happiness, and brought her life back into balance.

Shelly's problem was common; I see more and more people each day who suffer from unhealthy levels of stress. Whether it is sleeplessness, weight gain, mood changes, hair loss, worry, agitation, or any other of the myriad symptoms commonly associated with stress, stress-related illness and suffering is at an all-time high in America and increasing every year. Luckily for you, my work with the powerful natural medicine of humor has uncovered the primary culprit behind your unhealthy stress symptoms, as well as the solution to simple, healthy stress management.

My medical practice, involving decades of work with chronically and fatally ill patients, has clearly identified the cause of our painful stress symptoms - seriousness. Seriousness means taking yourself too seriously; seriousness means over-reaching - taking responsibility for things beyond your power, such as the outcomes and results of all your hard work. Consequently, you're positioning yourself incorrectly as the "center of the universe." Seriousness causes so much pressure that effective stress management, which I will teach you in this article, becomes impossible.

The antidote for your seriousness, and your foundation for healthy stress management, is the natural medicine of humor. Humor's incredible power is harnessed to maximum impact through my unique Fun Factor prescription. Based upon my Fun Commandments, which were forged in unison with some incredible patients of mine, my Fun Factor prescription is capable of producing such profound positive change to your health and personal success that you will soon have people whispering, "Is she always this happy?"

In this article, I will explain how my Fun Factor prescription can be directly applied to your stress. You will be amazed at how much lighter and happier you feel, with each passing day, as you put the following Fun Commandments to work in your life. You are about to discover that the natural medicine of humor produces flawless stress management, putting an end to your painful stress symptoms.

The Fun Factor Stress Management Formula

Step One: Laugh with Yourself

My first stress management Fun Commandment is: Laugh with Yourself. This Commandment is not about humiliation or self-denigration, it is the ultimate in self-respect because it teaches you to appreciate your "perfect imperfection" and to find gentle amusement in your foibles. And, when it comes to stress, there is plenty of amusement to be found which will greatly aid your stress management.

Here's the first amusing thing about your stress: you can't live without it, yet too much is bad for your health. Like many of the essential things in life: we need a certain amount of stress to survive, yet too much can kill us. For example, we die if we are without water for more than a few days; but submerge us in water and we die a lot sooner.

It is said that we can die from boredom. I don't think there is any scientific evidence for that theory, but one thing is certain - stress relieves boredom. Ending boredom, indeed, could be considered a form of stress relief. An amusing paradox, no doubt!

Without stress, also, we might not eat. Hunger is a form of stress our body needs occasionally to remind us we need food. Stress causes the adrenal glands to work. Athletes would not perform at their best without stress-induced adrenaline. Every activity causes a certain amount of stress. So does inactivity. In fact, to be completely stress-free we would have to be dead - not a highly recommended stress management technique!

The idea that stress is a killer is exaggerated, which is also humorous. Too much stress can be a killer, and it is against too much stress in our lives that we need to guard. Fortunately we are equipped with the finest possible stress management mechanism: the natural medicine of humor and the ability to laugh with ourselves. Far better and safer than Valium, it is our built-in stress management system.

As you learn to laugh with yourself you will become like an athlete - who can have fun running the mile or the marathon and still turn in peak performance. In fact, since too much seriousness can tighten muscles through negative tension, laughing with yourself may even enhance performance. This Fun Commandment works wonderfully on many levels.

Step Two: Choose To Motivate Yourself With Fun, Not Fear

Step two in my Fun Factor stress management formula is one of my newest Fun Commandments. Motivating yourself with fun rather than fear is a crucial step that allows your commitment to laugh with yourself to fully impact your healthy stress management.

This brings us to the only true choice you have in life. Will you be inspired by fear or by fun? One choice is all we have for our health, wellness, and fitness - fear or fun. It all boils down to that. It is your responsibility to choose one or the other.

The question is, which is the responsible choice? Which of the two is a powerful medicine, which will give you health and motivate you greater success, sustaining you over time? The natural medicine of humor gives us the answer.

There is no doubt that both fear and fun are potent stimulants to behavior over the short run. So the question becomes one of sustainability. Will fear or fun best help us sustain our excellence over time? Which of the two is a powerful alternative medicine that you can learn to use for your greatest health, wellness, and fitness? (That's a trick question, by the way)

Let's Encounter A Man-Eating Bear!

The fear of being eaten alive motivates us to run as fast and as far as we can when chased by a bear. There is little to no fun in that experience. It is purely fearful, but the energy it provides maximizes the possibilities of sustaining life for that moment. For the moment, in such a life-threatening situation, fear seems to be an efficient and productive choice. Though full of stress, it relieves us of the immediate threat!

But let's take it a step further. Having survived my wilderness encounter with the bear, I return to my home in an urban environment. The next morning, as I start out for work, I run desperately for the car, quickly jumping inside and locking the doors.

When I arrive at my workplace, I race into the building. Before I get down to work I suspend my bagged lunch high above my desk, roping it to the light standards. I insist upon all doors being locked and secured. When asked why, I answer, "I'm merely doing what got me through my wilderness experience over the weekend. I don't want to be eaten by a bear."

You'd think I was over-reacting just a wee bit, and you'd be right. You could say that my stress relieves my anxiety, but my anxiety is based on a lie conjured and sustained by my fear! Not exactly the greatest of stress management techniques.

The Three Biggest Dangers Of Our "Run-From-a-Bear" Stress Management Techniques

1. We live our lives as though every day was an emergency; as though a bear is chasing us all the time. 
2. We now know that such a constant state of "wariness" or agitation breaks down our coping mechanisms over time. It is impossible to sustain the fear-based behavior without breaking down or burning out.
3. Of all the stress management techniques, this is the absolute worst to choose because it only increases our stress! It reduces the effectiveness of humor's natural medicine to zilch.

A more pernicious error occurs. We begin to think that the avoidance of whatever we fear is the same as having fun. Joy becomes synonymous with the avoidance of fear. 

The Absence Of One Thing Does Not Indicate The Presence Of Its Opposite

If this sounds ridiculous to you let me put it in more familiar terms that have become acceptable where your health is concerned. With rare exception we have agreed in our society that health is synonymous with absence of symptoms. Do you really believe your health is merely the absence of your symptoms? My Fun Factor prescription teaches you that, not only is the absence of symptoms not synonymous with health, but also that you never have to fall for that lie again.

You never have to settle for second-rate health! You can use your powerful natural medicine of humor to stave off seriousness' debilitating effects.

Therefore the issue becomes balance. Fun balances fear. The ultimate question is not, "Are you without fear?", but "Is your fun in balance with your fear?" If you're not 100% certain of a "yes" response to the later question, then you need to STOP - RIGHT NOW - and take the last step in my Fun Factor stress management formula to ensure that your life is as healthful as it could be.

Step Three: Tell the Truth

The final step in your Fun Factor stress management formula is the Fun Commandment, Tell the Truth. This Commandment refers more to self-integrity than it does "cash register" honesty. Getting in the habit of telling yourself the truth will cement humor's powerfully positive effect over your stress. Your stress management becomes second nature when you are honest with yourself each day, because you can then immediately, easily, and simply apply steps one and two to your life.

Telling yourself the truth, for our purposes, focuses on knowing when your stress levels are rising. As we noted in step two, everyday activities normally produce a baseline level of stress and this stress is usually alleviated by your daily routines (for example, when you experience the stress of hunger, you eat). Step three in my Fun Factor stress management formula teaches you to recognize the signs of unhealthy stress and take corrective action immediately.

Here are some simple stress management techniques to apply when your self-honesty reveals rising stress levels:

1. Start your day off by singing in the shower at the top of your voice. Make up your own song that incorporates the idea that you are embarking upon a glorious day in which great things are going top happen to you. Can't sing? Good! Can't rhyme? Who cares? The words are for you alone. This is not a contest. Be as off-key as you need to be...unless you are Placido Domingo.

The important thing is to be loud (your inner ear has to hear it), upbeat and convincing. The subconscious believes what it is told. Start your day by telling it that it will be a great day and you will be more than halfway to producing exactly that result. Think of your singing not as singing but as a stress relief game played before stress has a chance to rear its ugly head.

2. Travel to work alone, along the same boring route every day? Make up a game to play as you look out the window of your car, bus or train. For example, how many dogs will you see on the way to work?

Try to guess before you set out and see how close you are when you arrive. Reward yourself every time you guess correctly to within a certain number. Drivers: limit yourself to dogs (or green elephants) you see through the windshield only. This game does not work well in subways; there are no green elephants in subways.

3. Have a routine job? One that you find boring? Does it produce stress symptoms, such as drumming your fingers or tapping your toes? Perhaps you need to introduce fun into your workday.

For example, if your job is to make identical widgets each day, how could you do something different to give variety to what otherwise could become a monotonous task? Could you, for example, place each new widget relative to the others so that together they make a pattern, or spell the name of your sweetheart? How many do you make an hour? Could you make one more than that the next hour, safely and with the same excellent quality? Make a stress-relieving game out of your work and it will feel less like work and more like fun.

4. Smile. You feel stressed? Smile. It is a simple activity, so simple that even infants can do it. Just for kicks, count how many times you smile in an hour. None, you say? Then this stress relief game is even easier for you, and more important than it is for those who smile all the time. (No wonder they don't feel the same degree of stress that you do!)

Your smile doesn't need to be a broad grin that suggests to those around you that they need to call the men in white coats. But it should be more than a mental smirk; your facial muscles should be aware that they are smiling.

It is possible simply to paste a smile on your face without any reason other than you want to smile. After a while, your subconscious will take over, lighten your mood, and the smiles will come easily and naturally.

It's best, if possible, to think of something that can give you a genuine smile, a reason you can talk about if called upon to do so. Each of us, no matter how depressed, has something in life to celebrate.

5. Recognize that stress is a choice. We can accept it and put up with it, and the damage it can cause our bodies. We can avoid it, but that could be a difficult choice; especially if it means quitting the only job we know in a tough job market. That choice might easily create worse stresses. Or we can deal with it and defeat it.

That is not as difficult as it might sound if you make up your mind to use my Fun Factor prescription in everything you do. That doesn't necessarily mean, laughing, joking and playing the village idiot - though all those activities can relieve stress too. You can have fun without ever cracking a single joke.

A game of tickle with the children or grandchildren can be fun and bring energetic screams of delight from them and you. Touch football or, for the less energetic, lawn darts or horseshoes can be fun. For others, it's a walk, socializing with friends, admiring the beauty around us or following a hobby - especially if it is an engrossing one.

Attitude Is Everything

The key is to recognize stress symptoms when they occur, recognize what's causing them, and use my Fun Factor formula for healthy stress management. Since fun is the best natural stress reliever known, it makes good sense to incorporate my Fun Factor stress management formula into your daily life.

But don't get obsessive about it. Don't be stressed by removing stress. Be content with removing some of your stress, and with taking the edge off it so that you function as a healthier, happier and more productive humor being. After all, perfectionism produces stress.

Shelly, by the way, has learned to take herself much more lightly now and she does not suffer nearly as many stress symptoms. The paradox she loves is that taking herself less seriously actually permits her to take her responsibilities more seriously than ever before! The natural medicine of humorr, supercharged by my Fun Factor prescription, has allowed Shelly to easily and simply manage her stress and enjoy a life others have started to envy.

Just as Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus disproved Ptolemy's earth-centered universe in the 16th century, so the natural medicine of humor disproves that you must suffer from being the center of your universe. Remove yourself from the pressure and stress of a life where everything revolves around you...start using my Fun Factor stress management formula, and the rest of my Fun Commandments, today!

About the Author:

Clifford Kuhn, M.D., America's Laugh Doctor, teaches people and organizations to be more healthy and successful through the use of fun and humor. A psychiatrist, and the former associate chairperson of the University of Louisville's renowned Department of Psychiatry, Dr. Kuhn now dispenses his prescription for turbo-charging your health, success, and vitality from http://www.natural-humor-medicine.com/EZA4.  On his website you will find tons of fun, free ways for you to maximize your sense of humor, and enjoy a life others will envy.

Psychic Vampires

According to legend the best way of keeping vampires away is to festoon your room with garlic and make sure you always have a crucifix to hand.  Of course, it is important to believe in the power of the cross - without that belief it has no power over the undead.  It is also said that they cannot enter unless you first invite them in, and then they have the power to enter whenever they wish.  A bit like supernatural bailiffs!

Why am I talking here about vampires?  Do I really believe in them?  My belief or otherwise in the vampires of folklore is not really important, as the subject of this blog is what I refer to as "emotional vampires" or "psychic vampires".

Vampires of folklore and popular fiction drink your blood, making you weak and tired from anaemia.  Eventually you become a vampire yourself.

Psychic vampires also drain you, but of your psychic energy rather than your blood, quite often making you tired and chipping away at your resolve to achieve great things - if you let them.  And just as is the case with the folklore vampires, if they drain away enough of your psychic energy you can become a psychic vampire yourself.

If you think carefully I am sure you can identify some people in your past, or maybe even some around you now, who seem to drain your energy when you are with them.  Maybe you are full of the joys of spring, ready to move onwards and upwards, and then after a long meeting with this person you feel less inclined to action, less positive, perhaps even miserable.  Does this ring any bells?

I am not saying these people are evil.  Nor am I even saying there is anything occult or pseudo-scientific at work here.  Frankly it really doesn't matter why this happens - all that matters is that it does!

So how do you protect yourself against these psychic vampires?

We can take a lesson here from folklore.  Do not invite them in!  They can only have power over you if you allow them to become a part of your life.  This applies to EVERYONE who would turn your optimism into pessimism.  Who would ridicule your attempts to move on and to improve yourself.  If they are holding you back, then let them loose!

Another lesson from folklore is that whatever you are using to repel these creatures will only work if you have a strong belief in it.  Sometimes we cannot avoid negative people, try as we may.  Maybe you have to work with them.  Maybe they are members of your family.  Or maybe part of your "giving back to the universe" is trying to help such people become more positive.  Whatever the reason, in order to ward off the psychic depletion you must believe very strongly in your own power, your own goals, your own projects.  Do not listen to the ridicule of those who would pull you down to their own level.

Be assertive (not aggressive though!).  Believe in yourself.  Know that what you are doing and planning to do is right.  Associate with others who are optimistic and who can help you and encourage you in working towards your own goals.

Do all this and you need never again fear the influence of the psychic vampires around you.  Trust me, they really do exist, but also trust me, they can only harm you if you allow them to do so.

Fearless

Every person has some type of fear or worry inside of them.  You may be worried or scared about performing well at work.  Or you may be afraid that you have developed a serious illness.  These are valid fears but it is the way in which you handle them that counts.

The key here is to recognize the message your worry or fear is giving you and act on that message.  If you are concerned about an illness, see a health professional.  Get checked out to see if you have that illness, and follow medical advice if you have.  But if you don't have it, take advice on the steps you can take to avoid getting it in the first place.  If you are concerned about your job performance, start looking for ways to improve this. Maybe you need to learn a new skill or just have more confidence in what you do.

When you start to feel more confident others will also see you as more confident.  A good way to increase your confidence level is by thinking positively each day.  Try using positive affirmations to help you reach your goals.  Each morning repeat these affirmations until you truly believe them.

Being fearless means that you will not allow any fear to get the better of you or hold you back.  Instead you take steps to learn how to deal with these issues and look for ways to work around them.  Sometimes talking to another person about your fears can be a huge help.  You may discover that they have the same fears, and simply sharing can be helpful.

While everyone loves to be known as fearless there are times when being fearless is not good.  If you begin to act in a reckless manner you could injure yourself or others around you.  There is a fine line between being scared to do something and downright doing something which would be considered foolish.  But that is why I have emphasized the need first to recognize the message that fear is giving you.  As long as you do that and act on it you have done all that is necessary, and now you need to remove the fear.

The best way to conquer any fear is to tackle it slowly, over a period of time.  Try to do things that are a little out of your comfort zone so you can push your limits.  As you achieve each goal then you should feel proud of what you have just accomplished.

If you continue this process you will discover that your fears aren’t as strong as they once were.  Plus your convictions and beliefs will be stronger and this will help you become a more successful person.

There is nothing wrong in having any type of fear.  You just do not want this fear to overtake your life.  Instead set yourself small challenges which will help you overcome your fear and allow you to lead the life you really want to live.

Ramadan: An Infidel's Perspective

My Muslim friends are now celebrating Ramadan and they certainly need no introduction to this important observance, which this year is from 29th June to 28th July.  But for the rest of us who are not of the Muslim faith I thought it might be helpful to throw a little light on Ramadan and look at the personal development benefits of the festival.  I hope any Muslim scholars reading this will not be offended by this commentary by one who is not of the faithful, but which I hope gives both Ramadan and the practice of Islam the greatest respect.

You probably already know that Ramadan lasts approximately one month, during which the faithful do not eat or drink during the day.  It is, though, rather more than simply a period of fasting.

It is very true that eating and drinking is forbidden between sunrise and sunset during Ramadan.  So too are any sexual relations.  Any good deeds performed during Ramadan are considered to create more benefit than at any other time.  This particularly applies to charitable giving, but also to all other good deeds.  During Ramadan the faithful are expected to pay more attention to their spirituality, including reading the entire Quran.

The benefits of fasting are very well documented.  Intermittent fasting has been shown to increase resistance to disease, improve sensitivity to insulin, improve brain function, and extend lifespan.  The studies have mainly focused on alternate day fasting, but the health benefits are likely to be equally applicable to fasting during the day every day.

Self discipline is also a very good practice.  During Ramadan this is particularly focussed on sexual relations, but is also extended to other matters.  For example swearing, or other "wordly" non-spiritual activities.  Why not simply cut out these activities completely, forever, you may ask.  Well, unlike some Christians, most Muslims would not regard sexual intimacy with one's spouse as in any way sinful or impure.  In fact it could be argued that abstaining from sexual intimacy is sinful, as it is depriving one's spouse of pleasure.  But learning to retain more control over one's desires instead of being a slave to the animal within is a good thing when not taken to extreme.  I think restricting this self-denial to the daylight hours for a month is probably a good balance.  My Christian friends may see a parallel here with Lent.  Indeed, those of my friends familiar with the practices of the Salvation Army call Lent "self denial", so the practice has some similarities with Ramadan, although it is nowhere near as thorough or strict.

As for doing good, it could be argued that this should be the case all year round, not just during one month of the year.  The reality is any good Muslim would completely agree.  The idea is not simply to do good during Ramadan and then be evil the other eleven months!  But Islam recognizes human fallibility.  The idea is to try to do good and avoid evil all year round, but to make even greater effort to do this during Ramadan.  When practised properly the additional focus on doing good and being more spiritual during Ramadan should gradually, year by year, make it easier and easier to be more spiritual and a better person throughout the rest of the year too.

I believe those of us who are not Muslim have much to learn from our Muslim friends.  Perhaps we should begin to adopt some of these practices ourselves, whether during Ramadan, Lent, Yom Kippur or some other time of the year.

And may I conclude by wishing my readers of all faiths and none a very happy and spiritual Ramadan!

Limitations

Do you have any limitations?  If so, what are they, where did they come from and are you bothered about them?

I guess you probably answered "yes" to that first question.  We all have limitations of one degree or another.

Some limitations are there for a very good reason.  These are the ones I would call "moral limits".  I have clear moral limits.  Boundaries I will not cross no matter what.  These are limits I have set myself.  Some I "inherited" or learned in early childhood.  Others I have chosen over the years.  I am sure you have moral limits too - I certainly hope so.

Notice, though, I said "these are limits I have set myself".  They are not imposed on me.  I do not allow any organization or any other person to define those limits.  They are my limits.  Maybe they DID originally come from outside, but I have thought about and questioned each one to be certain it belongs.

But what about other limitations?  Not moral limits, but limits that prevent you achieving what you want to achieve in life.  Do you have any of those?

Probably the answer is "yes" again.  But this time you should recognize that these limits do not belong in your life and you do not have to accept them.  As long as you DO accept them they will continue to stop you achieving your goals.  But accepting them is your choice.  And if you wish, you can refuse to accept them any more and remove those barriers to happiness, wealth, freedom, and whatever else it is you desire.

I am not saying this will be easy.  Most things in life worth having require effort.  I am not saying you will immediately see there can be an answer.  For many limitations it seems it is impossible to remove the shackles.  What I AM saying is that if you look for a way to remove them you will eventually find that way.

If you have said "no, I have no limitations", great!  But I suggest you dig deep within and make sure you are not simply hiding the limitations that are really there.  Take some time to sit quietly and you may be surprised what arises.  If you find some, then treat them exactly the way I have indicated above.

We are all children of the Universe, and the Universe is entire within us, in all its power.  Embrace that power and use it to shatter the shackles of unnecessary limitations.  Resolve today to break through and begin achieving your goals!

If You're Happy and You Know It

Did you sing the song "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!" as a child?  I know I did.  Well if I were to follow the words of that song I would be clapping non-stop.  And I would have been for at least the past couple of months.

Or have you seen the app that displays on Facebook your percentage happiness?  I see it coming up all the time for one of my friends showing numbers well below 100%.  I don't have the app myself, and I have no idea whether it has any basis in reality or is just a gimmick, but if it works and if I had it installed on my mobile I would be displaying 100% every day.

On the basis that madness is defined by deviation from normal I guess I should have been put in an asylum months ago.  I am quite sure it cannot be regarded as "normal" to be happy all day every day.  Fortunately the men in white coats haven't spotted me yet!

But why am I happy?  Not ecstatically happy, which would be rather exhausting after a while, but pleasantly happy.  Comfortably happy.  All the time.  Where does this happiness come from?

Perhaps you feel it is because I am wealthy.  Well I am not.  Depending on how you define wealth of course.  I have enough to get by.  Not as much as I would like.  Not enough to allow me to do all the things I would like to do by a long stretch.  I am working on that, but how I am doing it should be the subject of a different blog.  Wealth is relative anyway.  To someone living on the street and who doesn't have enough to feed their children, let alone themselves, a person who has a house, a job, and food in the fridge is wealthy.  By that definition I am wealthy.  But to someone who has a 10 bedroom house, a holiday home on a nice white beach that is warm all year round, and the money and time to flit between the two whenever he likes I am definitely not wealthy.  Again, I am working on it, but that is certainly not me right now.

Maybe you feel it is because I am in perfect health.  Well I am not.  I was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago.  I have been treated very successfully for it, but once you have had cancer you can never really say it is gone for good.  And the treatment itself left a few side effects.  So I certainly don't have perfect health.  In fact just after I originally wrote this article I suffered a viral throat infection.  Nothing very serious, but it did leave me with a very sore throat, unable to swallow without great difficulty, fever, and lethargy.  I did not ignore the signals my body was giving me.  I visited the doctor to make sure I was doing the right things to deal with the infection, took some paracetamol to deal with the pain, and had plenty of rest.  I have almost recovered now.  I was not pleased to be ill, but I was still happy.  And now I am even happier, knowing the infection has almost gone.

So why on earth am I happy all the time?  And is this something you can copy too?

Firstly, I recognize that happiness comes from within.  It is not something you are given.  It is not something that happens to you because of what is happening around you.  Look at some wealthy people who still seem to be miserable and you will see the truth of this.  Happiness comes from your frame of mind, nowhere else.  As long as you are looking for happiness to come from outside it will always be elusive.

Secondly, I am very grateful for what I have.  It may not be much to a lot of people, but when I look around me and see what some people have to suffer I know I can be very thankful.  Think about your own situation for a few minutes.  I challenge you to tell me that there is absolutely nothing for which you can be thankful.   The mere fact that you have the resources to be able to read this blog means you are in a better position than many people in this world.  Even the mere fact that you are alive! When you practice thankfulness you will soon find it makes you happy too.

Finally, I took a coaching course from a good, reputable company called "Frame of Mind Coaching".  They didn't show me anything radically new, but that is not really surprising.  In fact I guess I would have been worried if they had.  What they got me to focus on were things I already knew, but which perhaps I had forgotten to ensure remained fully grounded in my life.  I am quite sure my permanent change in state is very much down to the way they got me to dig deep into myself and get properly grounded again.  To me, this was what coaching should be all about and it certainly got impressive results.  If you would like to try them out, be my guest.  You can even get some free, no obligation coaching from them so you can see whether or not what they do is right for you.

Here is the link to get those free coaching sessions:

http://journal.frameofmindcoaching.com/assessment/482

Does Creative Visualization Really Work?

My last blog referred to Creative Visualization, and those readers who subscribe to my e-mails also recently received a free invitation to an online Creative Visualization event.

But does Creative Visualization really work?

If you simply do not believe in the power of the mind, nothing I can say here will convince you.  It is simply not possible to demonstrate an irrefutable causal link between a visualization and changes in circumstances that happen after that visualization.  In order to prove it scientifically I would need to demonstrate that the visualization was the simplest explanation for the causation of whatever materialized.  I cannot give you that proof.  In every case I could quote to you, and there are plenty, you could probably find another, simpler explanation.  But for me there is too much evidence that it does work, even though in each individual case I cannot prove it scientifically.

Take the actor Jim Carey, for example.  Did you know that he used Creative Visualization to bring on his Hollywood success?  In 1987 Carey was a struggling actor trying, like so many before and since, to live the Hollywood dream.  He wrote himself a cheque for $10 million, dated it eight years later, and noted on it "for acting services rendered".  In 1994, one year before the date on the cheque, Jim Carey received $10 million for his star role in "Dumb and Dumber".  Coincidence?  Skeptics will say yes.  But Carey doesn't think so.  And nor do I.

Or how about the golfer Tiger Woods?  The way he trained himself to make perfect shots was by consistently visualizing those shots internally.  Before he even picked up the golf club he had made the winning shot.  Not on the course but in his mind.  When he went on the course all he had to do was let that winning shot take over.

And then we have the oncologist (cancer doctor) Dr O Carl Simonton.  Dr Simonton was a very respected cancer specialist who founded a successful cancer treatment centre in Pacific Palisades in the 1980's.  He noticed that different patients with similar cancers and receiving the same treatment had very different outcomes.  Some were cured completely (to the extent that this can be said of any cancer), some died of the cancer, and many fell somewhere in between these two extremes.  The main difference, Dr Simonton found, was that those who had a positive outlook were far more likely to survive.  As a result, he began using lifestyle counselling, including techniques where the patients visualized themselves as fit and healthy, and he found the survival times of his patients doubled and they had greatly improved quality of life.

These could all be coincidences of course.  I do not believe they are but I am not going to argue with you if you believe they are.  It is up to you.

Does Creative Visualization work?  You decide.  Or better still, try it for yourself and see if it works for you.

The Powerful Computer

Imagine you are responsible for a very powerful computer.  A computer that will create anything you want.  Not just design it, but create it.  Lock, stock and barrel.

There are just two little problems.

The first problem is that, because it is a computer, it has no way of knowing what you meant to tell it, only what you actually told it.  Whatever instruction you give it, that is the instruction it will follow – even if what you really meant to say was something different.

The second problem is that this gives you enormous power, so you must be really certain of what it is that you do want.

In order to master this computer, what you have to do therefore is spend some time carefully working out what you want it to create for you, and then spend more time making sure you create very clear instructions so the computer knows exactly what it is you want.

Now read those five paragraphs again, but this time leave out the first word, “imagine”.  You don’t really need that word, because you really are responsible for that very powerful computer.  Some people call it the subconscious.  Some prefer to call it the Universe.  And some will say it is a deity (and that you are not giving it instructions, but praying to it).  Actually it doesn’t matter what you call it, as the principle is the same.  So perhaps we will continue to call it the computer.

In order to achieve what you want in life, whatever that may be, all you have to do is learn to practise those two simple rules:

1. Find out what it is you really want.  That may well be something quite different from what you think you want.  It often is.  Set aside some time to consider this very carefully.  Write down everything that comes into your head, no matter how unrealistic or strange it may seem.  Then study what you have written.  Start to find the pattern that is there.  See what really “clicks” for you.  Meditate on it.  Now write out the main things you know you really want, the things that have real meaning for you. 
2. Visualize yourself having achieved what it is you want.  Picture it so clearly that you know it as a reality.  This is “creative visualization”, and it is the computer language you need in order to give the right instructions to that super computer inside you.

 Most people miss out both these steps, and then wonder why they never achieve what they want to achieve.  Spend time getting them both right and you will see enormous changes in your life.

There are many ways of doing Creative Visualization.  I find it is good to use a mix of methods – as long as each method you use really works.

One method is to create your own “Mind Movie”.  This is a term coined by Natalie Ledwell, who distributes a very ingenious system to let you create it and send the right message to your inner computer.  I use this myself and can assure you it works.  To get access to the Mind Movie system, just go here:

http://www.mindmovies.com/products/order_mindmovies.php?25923

Another method is to use a pre-programmed “Mind Movie” which is already set up and ready to send the message without you having to anything other than to watch and listen to it.  This is called “Mind Movies Matrix”, as it is just like the programming used in the film “The Matrix” to make the hero perform impossible seeming tasks.  “Mind Movie Matrix” includes subliminal messaging and brainwave entrainment.  To find out more about this just go here:

http://www.mindmovies.com/mm_matrix/transform_your_life.php?25923

Finally, you can let an expert take you right through all the steps you need in order to do your Creative Visualization properly.  I have found one of the best on the market is this one:

http://mval.li/?a=84&c=949&p=r&s1=

Now you have no excuse for saying you never get what you need or want.  You have all the tools you need to get everything you ever wanted.  Just use them!

5 Simple Steps For Creating Powerful Affirmations

by

Natalie Ledwell

Do you know what the majority of the world's most successful people have in common? 

Well, besides being wealthy and sometimes famous, many of them actually use affirmations and visualization to bring their dreams and goals to reality! 

One really good example is the story of Jim Carrey. Jim used to go up every night to Mulholland Drive and sit on top of his car, look out at the city, stretch out his arms and say: "Everybody wants to work with me. I'm a really good actor. I have all kinds of great movie offers." 

He would repeat these affirmations over and over until he convinced himself that he had a couple of movies lined up. But he didn't stop there, he also wrote a check to himself for 10 million dollars, kept it in his wallet and then 6 months later he got this amount as a payment for his work on 'Dumb and Dumber'! Not bad, huh? 

As you can see, affirmations are extremely powerful and the reason is because they directly affect our conscious and subconscious mind. And by consistently repeating them with conviction and passion, they reprogram our thoughts allowing us to not only change our state of mind, but to also materialize our dreams and goals regardless of how big or crazy they may seem. 

So if you'd like to follow the footsteps of some of the most successful people in the world... 

Then follow these 5 simple tips to create powerful affirmations, and start manifesting your dreams right away! 

1. Start with the words, "I Am..." These two words are extremely powerful as your brain knows that you're referring to yourself. Starting your affirmations with these two words will give your subconscious mind clarity and belief that whatever comes after them, IS your reality.

2. Write in the present tense. When you say affirmations in present tense, you're reassuring yourself that you believe whatever is in your affirmation, is factual and real right now. 

Your mind can't tell the difference between past or future, fake or real, this is why when you imagine yourself drinking lemon juice, you start producing saliva. Also, when your words are in the present tense, your mind can visualize the image at the same time. 

3. Keep it positive. Avoid words with negative connotations like 'not to', 'don't, 'can't', 'fear', etc. Our minds focus more on these words instead of avoiding them. For example, if I asked you NOT TO think about a blue elephant, your mind will picture a blue elephant even though I asked you not to think about it. Instead of saying 'I am able to get rid of stage fright', say 'I am enjoying the excitement of speaking on stage'. 

4. Make it short and clear. Remember that the main purpose of an affirmation is for you to be able to picture it and ingrain it into your mind. So when creating an affirmation, make it direct and specific. 

5. Make it exciting. When creating affirmations, you want to create positive, self-affirming, self-empowering statements that uplift and inspire you. So make sure you add fun and exciting words like, 'I am ENJOYING making $100,000 a year.' 

Repeat your affirmations as many times a day as you can, even when you may feel you don't need to. Remember that consistency is key if you really want to make a positive and lasting change in your life. 

Now that you know one of the greatest secrets for creating wealth and success in your life, I want to share with you something that personally helped me achieve the financial success that I had always desired - which was figuring out (and removing) any mental traps that were lingering in my mind! 

To help you, I created a FREE, fun and powerful 30-second quiz. 

Take the quiz here right now << Click me! 

After just a few quick multiple choice questions, you'll get access to a free, revealing video report detailing what mental trap could be blocking you from the financial freedom and success you desire right now, PLUS how to remove it!

About the Author:

Natalie Ledwell is a Law of Attraction expert, bestselling author and speaker. She also hosts an online TV Show, The Inspiration Show, and is a co-founder of the personal development company, Mind Movies, which offers online courses and coaching programs. Natalie is passionate about helping others to achieve their greatest dreams and ambitions through personal transformation.

Find out more about Natalie and Mind Movies by visiting 

http://www.mindmovies.com/index.php?25923.

Reiki- Holistic Healing

by

Nicole Lawler

Reiki is finally on the map of healing modalities!

In its simplest translation, Reiki is universal life energy. It is the life force energy that exists in all things. The practice of Reiki is the art and science of channeling this universal life energy in a particular pattern to heal and harmonize the mental and physical body. It works to heal the whole body, not just any one specific area. Stress, worry, and emotional upset are held in the mental and emotional bodies, blocking your energy source causing aches, pains, and disease to manifest in the physical body. Reiki or "energy work" can clear these blockages and allow life's energy force to freely flow, enhancing your own body's natural healing powers. Reiki treatment is to relieve stress and pain, induce relaxation, release emotional blockages, accelerate natural healing, balance subtle energy bodies' and support other medical modalities including traditional therapies. This is a brief synopsis of the meaning of Reiki.

After many decades of Reiki's validity being disputed and discounted, the holistic energy treatment is gaining an entirely new respect in the medical community. Initially, the very idea of the human body being surrounded by invisible life force energy was labeled absurd. The thought process is that if it is invisible, it cannot be measured by traditional research or scientific instrumentation. William Lee Rand, Founder of the International Center for Reiki Training is changing all of that. In 2005, he created a peer review method for analyzing the current state of scientific studies done on Reiki programs in hospitals, clinics, and hospice facilities throughout the United States, called the Touchstone Process.

William Lee Rand also developed the Reiki in Hospitals Website and list, which is one of the most comprehensive compilations of hospitals in the world now offering Reiki. There have never before been so many studies of Reiki in a single source.

There have been many controlled studies submitted to peer-journals and The Touchstone Process for review. All disorders that had favorable outcomes to Reiki treatments include:

pain in chronically ill patients, depression, stress, cognitive assessment in elderly, related to dementia/Alzheimers, pre-operative relaxation, post-operative pain, migraine relief. It was reported that 83% of the most controlled studies, showed moderate to strong evidence in support of Reiki as a viable, therapeutic healing modality. In a press release dated September 15th, 2008, The American Hospital Association President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock stated, "Complementary and alternative medicine has shown great promise in supporting and stimulating healing. It's one of the many tools hospitals look to as they continue to create optimal healing environments for the patients they serve."

In conclusion, as Reiki continues to be a huge asset for the hospitals, The Touchstone Process reports will continue to help people see that Reiki is an effective healing modality first hand. As a Reiki practitioner, I am very passionate about it because just seeing the client's sense of wellbeing and calm after the pain has dissipated is pretty amazing. It would be fantastic if all of our healthcare systems helped us by helping our bodies facilitate the healing process the way it's supposed to. Maybe it's time to get back to the basics.

Check out some of the Research Reports and Case Studies below:

Case Studies with Fibromyalgia

http://www.reikireport.com/case-studies-with-fibromyalgia/

Case Studies with Cancer

http://www.reikireport.com/case-studies-with-cancer/

About the Author:

My name is Nicole. I've lived and learned much in this lifetime. Having grown up in a home of dysfunction and mental abuse, it took me many years to learn to overcome such bitter imprints that were left in my little mind. This won't soon leave your existence without deep scarring.

Somehow, by the grace of God, I learned how family was supposed to be. I ended up adopting most of my childhood friends' parents and families. All of these families took me in with open arms and showed me how family is supposed to interact. What I found in these families was unconditional love and it saved my life. The most important lesson that I learned in my life growing up, is to love unconditionally, and to appreciate the small victories that happen daily in a world of such heartache!

I learned these lessons early and used all of my knowledge to create a loving family of my own. After marrying my soul-mate and best friend, we had a child. While my son Damian was growing up, not only did I try to mold him into his greatness, but we also adopted some of his friends into our family just like the way my friends families adopted me. We were blessed with many little ones that we could help find their way in life and learn love in this world. We all learned growing up, the joys of helping those who needed us. Although Dave and I only have one biological child, there are many children that I consider my own. We have truly lived and learned what it means to have such blessings and cherish each and every one of them.

In my later years, and with many health issues, I began to see a spiritual healer because the doctors in my life weren't helping me. It was through the Healing that I received that I learned that I am an Empath and have gifts of healing myself. Shortly after, I studied Reiki, and holistic medicine, and for quite a while now and I am following my passion. My calling in life has always been to help people. It just took me about 40 years to figure out how. Funny how things in life are drawn to you!

Alternative Healing Methods

by

Michelle Sigurdson

Is Alternative Healing For You?

Alternative healing methods thrive within the field of holistic healing. Depending on your needs, some holistic health approaches can be used as alternatives to mainstream medicine. A therapy that is used to replace traditional medicine is called "alternative healing."

Six Sensational Benefits of Alternative Healing

• Some alternative health methods can be very gentle. Because of this, they can help manage extreme pain and be beneficial for patients in pre and post surgery.
• Alternative therapies may transcend some of the limits of modern medicine.
• Alternative treatments can bring new hope for healing stubborn ailments.
• There are no side effects with many alternative natural healing methods.
• With some healing approaches like energy healing, you may be able to feel some immediate benefits.
• Some healing therapy can be done on the self. (And self healing can be learned.)

Four Popular Alternative Healing Methods:

Energy Healing: Reiki, Healing Touch, and Pranic Healing are all energy healing methods. The field of energy medicine is growing - healthfully! This alternative healing method works using the idea that we are we are ultimately made up of quantum energy. Your energy can be influenced by universal energy and other energetic biofields (or auras). The goal is to restore balance to your energy centers and strengthen them.

Body Work: massage therapy,the Rosen Method, and Craniosacral therapy fall into this category. Massage by itself can be deeply soothing, which can help the body heal. Also, one of the theories behind body work is that memory is stored in our muscle tissue and that it can be released and healed with body work. This can lead to emotional, mental and physical healing.

Chinese Medicine: can help with pain management, depression, stress and insomnia. Some of the main methods of treatment include: acupuncture, acupressure, herbal medicine, diet therapy, and qigong (a form of meditative exercise). Acupuncture works by having a doctor insert fine disposable needles at key meridians or energy points along your body. This may help dissolve energy blocks and help your body heal itself.

Ayurvedic Medicine: treats the whole person through a holistic assessment. In Ayurveda, your treatment is based on which "dosha" or body type you are. Once you have been assessed, purification and rebalancing of your specific dosha is recommended. Changes in diet, fitness and sleeping habits tailored to your particular body type may be recommended with this ancient East Indian medical practice.

The healing methods featured here may also be used as complementary therapies that work alongside mainstream medicine. (In this way they can also be called: "complementary" healing methods.)

Alternative and complementary healing methods may offer you hope where there wasn't hope before. Explore your options and listen to your divine body. Alternative healing methods can help you radiate your ultimate health.

Explore the magic of alternative healing methods, including an in-depth look at the definition of holistic health and alternative medicine at: http://www.lumia-holistic-healing.com/definition-of-holistic-health.html

About the Author:

Michelle Sigurdson has a background in Communications and is an energy healer. She loves all things holistic and is the creator of Lumia-Holistic-Healing.com. At Lumia she shares wellness resources, information and inspiration.

As a writer and nature enthusiast, she is passionate about the beauty of the planet and her people! She brings this enthusiasm and devotion to her web, print and audio creations. Join her on a journey that explores all facets of holistic healing... Discover! Explore! Be Nurtured!

Reiki Symbol Sei He Ki

by

Gogu Bobu

Reiki symbols are basically words from Japanese language that play an important role in Reiki practice. These symbols are used by advanced Reiki practitioners and can help in focusing or channeling the Reiki energies. The symbols can be activated either by visualizing them mentally, drawing the symbol with the palm of your hand, speaking the name of the symbol out loud, or simply invoking it in your mind. The three primary symbols used in traditional Reiki are Cho Ku Rei (power symbol), Sei He Ki (mental or emotional healing symbol) and Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen (distance healing symbol).

Meaning of Sei He Ki or the Reiki mental / emotional healing symbol

The name Sei He Ki means The earth and sky meet or God and Man become one.

This symbol acts on a person's conscious mind (the mental body) and subconscious mind (emotional body), and is used primarily for emotional and mental healing, clearing, purification, protection and balancing. Sometimes it's also called the Protection Symbol, because of the role it plays in providing protection.

Most of our ailments are caused by mental and emotional imbalance in our bodies. The use of the emotional healing symbol helps in bringing the problem to the surface and liberates emotional and mental issues that cause the problem. This symbol also aids in balancing the left and right side of the brain and promotes peace and harmony. It can be used to draw gentle and subtle energies required to ease the feelings of sorrow or suffering.

How to use the Reiki emotional / mental symbol

Different practitioners use this symbol in different ways. For example, the practitioner draws the Cho Ku Rei (the power symbol) to create a connection with the Reiki energy source. Sei He Ki is then drawn over the troubled area where the Reiki energies are required. The energies are sealed by drawing the power symbol or Cho Ku Rei again. This sustains the effect of Sei He Ki for a longer time.

Improve memory power

Sei He Ki is beneficial in improving your memory. Drawing this Reiki symbol on pages of your book, can help you memorize the content while reading or studying. Visualizing the symbol on top of your head can help you remember things that you might have forgotten; such as your keys, the name of a person, and an answer for the test, or just about anything else.

This works because of the connections this symbol makes in and between the two hemispheres of the brain.

Get rid of bad habits

The mental and emotional symbol aids in restoring emotional and psychological balance in a person's body and promotes deep healing. The use of this Reiki symbol helps in eliminating unwanted or bad habits such alcoholism, smoking cigarettes or overeating. Visualizing or drawing this Reiki symbol around you helps in changing your negative beliefs, negative parental or social conditioning and makes you a more positive person.

Improve relationships

Drawing Sei He Ki around your surroundings and the people involved in a troubled relationship can bring about the wisdom and strength to sort out problems amicably. Using this Reiki symbol will help bring relationship problems to the surface and make you tackle them successfully.

Empowers your affirmations

Affirmations are powerful tools that can play a vital role in helping you to achieve your goal successfully. The mental symbol works in the subconscious mind, repeating the name of this symbol mentally can help in empowerment of your affirmations and help you accomplish your goal. If you write down affirmations, draw the symbol on the paper as well.

Personal bodyguard

Drawing Sei He Ki around you helps protecting you from the negative vibrations and allowing only the positive energies to reach you. As mentioned, it is otherwise called the protection symbol, and can also be used as protective shield during purification ceremonies to help in removing negative energy from the physical body or from the aura.

In medical settings, this symbol tends to work as an "antiseptic ointment", when used before, during or after an operation or surgery.

Dissipates headaches

Sei He Ki is used to heal emotional issues that can cause physical problems too. By using this Reiki symbol, you can find a way to heal your headaches caused due any mental or emotional instability. It can be a good solution to help you cure your headaches naturally, without having to take any kind of medications (remember to drink a lot of water too, as many headaches are caused by dehydration).

Helps to find lost objects

Drawing the Reiki mental and emotional symbol in the front of you and asking for assistance to locate lost objects will help you either find the objects or give you ability to think and remember the location at which you kept it in the first place.

Harmony

This symbol teaches us about the synchronization or harmony of things in nature. It teaches subconsciously about the rhythmic cycle of nature, the need of adaptability towards changes and understanding the importance of non attachment. It helps making an individual gain more positive outlook of life and helping them stay happy throughout their life.

Is it wrong to want to be wealthier?

As a researcher into the many different forms of personal development I frequently come across books, coaching programmes etc which promise to help their purchasers become wealthier.  I find many of these long on promises but short on results, and those go no further than my desk.  But some are genuine.  Recently I have come across several genuine such systems based around the Law of Attraction, which I know works as long as it is used properly, and I have been recommending some of these to members of my exclusive subscription list.

What I have found enlightening, though, is that many people who rely on me to conduct this kind of research tell me they are not interested in becoming wealthier.  Some even seem to object to the whole idea, as though it is morally abhorrent in some way.  So I thought this would be a good time to look at whether wanting to be wealthier really is, in some way, a bad thing.

Let me begin by telling you a story about two brothers.  We will call them Luke and John.  They were born into a family that, whilst not outright poor, nevertheless had little spare money left once all the essential bills were paid.  Both brothers wanted their lives to really mean something, to help others who were less fortunate.  But they also needed to earn a living, and as with most of us this really took up most of their time.  They began their working lives as junior managers in a big international company.  Luke stayed there, and managed each month to put aside $500 for charity.  This was as much as he could afford.

John, on the other hand, decided that this was not enough.  But he was on around the same salary as Luke, so he couldn’t really afford more than this.  What John decided to do instead was set up his own business, giving him the chance of creating more wealth, which he could then use for charitable purposes.  Luke was unhappy about his brother’s decision, saying he had sold his soul to the devil by wanting to build his fortune, but John took no notice.

For the first few years John could only afford to donate to charity a fraction of what his brother was donating.  But then his business grew and grew, as John was successfully practising Law of Attraction techniques.  After only 5 years John owned a multi-million dollar business.  The business itself helped a number of charities, and John personally donated $5,000 a month to charity as well as living a much wealthier lifestyle than his brother Luke.

My question here is who was doing the greater good – Luke or John?  You may correctly answer we don’t have enough information, as we don’t know what each brother was like in his day to day life.  How each treated the people they met etc.  But if we assume they both retained their original loving personalities I think you will agree John must be doing the greater good – as he has much greater resources to do so.

You see, wealth itself is certainly not evil.  It all depends on what you do with that wealth.  If you are selfish and try to hold on to it all and not use any of it to help others, then this is clearly not a good thing.  But someone who is like that may be just as selfish whether they have $1 or $1,000,000 spare.  What is wrong is not the money but the attitude of the person who owns it.  You could compare money with a natural force like electricity - it is neither good nor bad, but neutral.  If you use it to light your house and read a good book which ends up making you a better person, then that is good.  But if you use it to electrocute someone and kill them that is clearly bad.

If you see the acquisition of wealth as a means to an end, and the end is good, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be wealthier – obviously provided you use ethical means to acquire that wealth.

Some of my Christian readers may say that the Bible says money is the root of all evil, but it does not say this at all.  So many people misquote the passage from 1 Timothy 6:10.  What St Paul actually said in this passage was:

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”

The love of money, rather than the love of the good you will be able to do if you acquire it in the right way.  That is very true.  If you love just the money itself you will want to try and hold on to it and end up not using it for good – and that is wrong.  But it is certainly not wrong to want to acquire money to have a better lifestyle if you are also going to use some of your wealth to improve the lot of others.

So, is it wrong to want to be wealthier?  My answer as a personal development researcher is a resounding “No!”  Go for it!  Use the Law of Attraction properly to become wealthier, and then see what good uses you can make of that wealth as you begin to acquire it!

Reprogramming Your Subconscious Mind

by

Timothy Connolly

In this very important article on the human condition, we briefly discuss the subconscious mind and how its inner workings influence our lives in significant ways both positively and negatively. As well as this, we discuss and layout some practical steps to employ for reprogramming it, as to profoundly improve our lives and that of those around us. Through examining the role this mysterious part of our mind plays in shaping our very makeup, we can better understand why we respond in certain ways at any given moment.

Along with the basics of examining many powerful influences our subconscious mind exerts on our individual worldviews and actions, we will also offer some valuable systematic steps and process to begin modifying the subconscious in order to improve any areas of our lives. With better knowledge of the inner workings of our subconscious, and through tweaking its influence, we will be better equipped to rise above mediocrity and into a life filled with more awe and splendor. Let us be clear- awareness always coincides with an awakening event that catapults the individual into new, uncharted realities of perception. And it is no different when attempting alter ingrained, subconscious responses to life which can limit that which we ultimately perceive at any given moment. Truly, awareness is the starting mechanism that drives the proverbial "wake-up call".

I am of the persuasion that a great conscious awakening that is virtually void of the ego's influence is the essence of our current world paradigm shift occurring now. One could say the ongoing planetary zeitgeist we are now playing out is a coalescing of the human psyche' multiple facets that have been generated by our collective responses to life as a whole. We now appear to be blending divided minds, the soul, and ego along with our spiritual selves into a more "complete" and unhindered, fully expressed human. If we can agree on that basic premise, then we must also consider our subconscious mind's influential role that drives our thought process and actions that can provide fuel to another influential aspect of self- the ego.

While we are fragile humans indeed, we need not demonize the ego's role and importance in our lives; rather, recognize the subconscious is a primary fuel source helping in part by breathing life into the ego. In the context of psychology, an understanding exists that our personal identities are intimately linked with our egos and thus, without knowledge of this subconscious interdependency connection, life is often automatically in many ways driven solely by our ego and not primarily by our eternal, higher selves or true spiritual nature. Within this paradox, a disconnection from a more expansive interconnectedness view of all life can be rather easy to unknowingly fall prey to. This is one fair explanation of the false appearance of separation and or disconnection from others.

Life can sometimes be a confusing matrix of influential energies and thought forms- conscious/subconscious, egoic, higher/lower selves etc. which appear to merge in a chaotic dance, some leading and some following each other while the music of life plays on. Fortunately, now the music is becoming clearer, more synchronistic, and harmonious with each passing day making the choice for personal improvements more easily recognizable and individually adaptable.

Just what is the Subconscious Mind?

Simply stated, the mind is divided or segregated into two distinct regions- conscious and subconscious. Your mind's conscious portion is now active in its primary operation as you read these very words helping you to assimilate their meaning. On the other hand, in a simultaneous fashion and "below the radar", another portion of your mind, your subconscious is likewise absorbing and collecting this same information and forming its own conclusions based on historical references stored within a personalized, perception or awareness repository.

While going about its pre-programmed business working tireless behind the scenes under your conscious awareness, this amazing and immensely powerful part of our makeup is responsible in many ways for how we respond to all aspects of life. Each life event is continuously and automatically logged categorically into the subconscious without fail just as a dry sponge can absorb liquid. It rejects nothing. An amazing fact is, all this information collection begins at the earliest time in our lives- at infancy and never ceases. For example- ever wonder why children are so impressionable? Guess no more. A child's subconscious mind is nearly empty due to limited life experiences from which to gain a point of reference and ultimately influence the decision-making conscious mind.

The same can be true about individuals that for whatever reason have minimal experiences with life altering events or exposure to thought provoking intellectual concepts. One of the main reasons for this unique attribute is because it operates much like a cruise control or an autopilot hidden deep within the mind. Because of this collection and assimilation process, the subconscious mind quickly and continuously fills a repository gaining strength and influence by offering responses to current activity generated by the conscious or awakened portion of the mind. This cross collaboration of mental activity between the two minds is a completely natural activity and in normal mental conditions, is indicative of a healthy mind.

The subconscious portion of the mind appears at first to be an elusive part of our personal makeup. Moreover, as we have just read, the reason it seems elusive and inaccessible is in part, derived primarily through its method of operation. As life experience builds, so does the influential power of the subconscious mind in directing our lives without us fully able to comprehend its existence or influential role in life. Many do not recognize any of its actions and as a result, have difficulty acknowledging the importance or the value our subconscious mind offers because we generally have an inability to access this special place within our mind. Alternatively, with the lack of awareness, we do not possess the tools or knowledge required that could generate any desired changes to its contents.

Since the subconscious mind influences our thoughts and actions automatically, by the programming instructions or language from which it operates provided through our repository of collected beliefs, life experiences, and perceptions of the world around us, we can through specialized practice, consciously re-write our subconscious thoughts gaining more control over our lives.

Why Re-Program the Subconscious?

In consideration and appreciation of this vast, influential, and powerful component of our mind, most of us would prefer a life that continuously expands in a positive way, benefiting us individually and as a natural by-product, the well being of others. Once realizing this noble desire in a practical sense, the implications for enhancing all of life will eventually be profound, as we will become less unconsciously relational to one another.

By connecting the two minds cohesively in a meaningful way and acknowledging their interactions, we can begin the process to re-program portions of our subconscious mind that are responsible for self-sabotaging our best, highest intentions and desires. In the normal, daily course of life we occasionally encounter repetitive yet seemingly hidden symptoms stored in our subconscious that hinder experiencing our highest purpose usually displayed as more joy, productivity, success and balanced living. It is at this point when awareness arises and we begin to recognize something is affecting our actions and with the best intentions determine to resolve these conflicts within us.

This is the turning point filled with great opportunity! The best examples of these deeply hidden symptoms generated by the subconscious are those having a "memory signature" of significant emotional power. One such stored example is feeling rejection from someone you care for or love. At the next situation involving a perceived potential for rejection, our conscious mind will quickly receive an embedded conclusion from the subconscious to justify why rejection will happen. Even though this is a false assumption, you may unknowingly be the one rejecting in advance, any possibility to experience full acceptance that another person or situation may offer. The same goes for high, emotionally charged low self-esteem conflicts that where created every time you experienced the feelings of inadequacy, assumed failure or when someone implied or called you ignorant, worthless, lazy or worse!

All these negative connotations exude very powerful imagery that unless countered or removed entirely from your subconscious makeup, will lead to a lifelong cycle of struggle in many areas of your life. Reprogramming your subconscious to counteract the negatively charged embedded responses is not that difficult if you are willing to apply a few simple procedures that over time, will greatly improve your mental balance and outward response to life as a whole.

The How To

Fortunately for those who wish to venture into changing themselves for the better, a few established approaches are available to successfully re-program your subconscious mind. These methods overwrite unwanted responses by replacing them with a different or more positive oriented influences within the mental construct deep in the mind.

Your subconscious programming did not evolve overnight- it was solidified and strengthened each time a matching response was warranted and offered up in response to a conscious thought created in waking life. In consideration of this fact, a fundamental key to remember is these methods exponentially become more effective and produce rapid results through their consistent application. Below are five effective (and advanced) methods to begin the reprogramming process.

• Visualization

The subconscious responds very well to visual stimuli. Viewing images that create pleasing and emotionally uplifting thoughts of appreciation, joy, and gratitude will plant positive imagery within the subconscious exactly as if you physically experienced them. The subconscious cannot differentiate real from the imaginary being as it is influenced by emotions only. Collect together pleasing imagery from any sources that you view to induce positive feelings. Repetition of viewing these images provide for an eventuality whereby the physical images are not necessary and at will, can be recalled anywhere anytime within the mind's eye.

• Affirmations

There is no simpler way to inject positive messages into the subconscious. Create simple statements crafted in the present tense NOT future sense. For example- "I am" rather than "I will". There is no future sense only the present moment for the subconscious. This is a very important distinction. Match the words with corresponding feelings and images associated with the affirmative statement. Repetitive replay is the key to success using well-crafted affirmations so you can verbally or internally express them anytime, anywhere. These are very powerful when done correctly.

• Environmental Influence

Some say we are a reflection of the company or environment we keep. It's true- everyone lives the reality they expect. External interactions with people, places, or events have the potential to exert mental impressions into the subconscious mind equally positive or negative. Your best guidance is to balance with the conscious mind and heart, an appropriate emotional response given the external influence regardless of the initial emotional response you feel. For example, when confronted with potentially unwanted experiences, filter your response by seeking out something about the event that is positive. Remain focused on any positive aspects to neutralize a negative response or unwanted influence from being placed into the subconscious.

• Hypnosis

Here is a scientifically proven method which has withstood the test of time, and within a proper setting has immense potential to offer help. Under a trained practitioner, hypnosis can jumpstart subconscious reprogramming by effectively bypassing the conscious, filtering portion of our mind. This time saving, short-cut method is very effective for many since it quickly alters behavior through implantation of specific modification or belief statements into the subconscious. Typically one seeks out a well qualified expert in the field of hypnosis to facilitate personalized sessions to effect results.

• Brain Entrainment

Another very popular method with similar effects to hypnosis without the need of a hypnotist is entrainment of the mind. Think- self-hypnosis. Modern science has revealed unique, variable frequencies our minds exhibit while in various mental states. If one were to induce via virtually inaudible influential statements or positive affirmations while you are in one of these specific brain frequencies states such as those present while in deep meditation, alterations to the subconscious can be quickly realized. Again, repetition of use is very important while employing this method. Many good sources of brain entrainment audios are widely available with most designed to target a focused, specific change within the subconscious. Equally important, some entrainment audios are well designed in that they are co-mingled with pleasing soundtracks.

Reprogramming Checkup List

Here are 17 points of light to remember, contemplate and apply habitually while inducing desired changes to your subconscious. Really, this is a lifestyle and noble undertaking which produces rich rewards both personally and in the greater world around you. So, below are some well know and lesser known, easily applied thoughts and actions to help you along facilitating a new, improved you! Find what resonates with you and notice what those feeling are (no matter positive or negative) when reviewing the list. This feeling-based response will provide you with valuable emotionally directed insights of those items which will improve your life the quickest when applied. Your higher-self is always your best guidance. That still, small voice never misleads you. Acknowledge this higher, unbiased guidance and reap phenomenal improvements in all areas of your life. Like they say- It's good to take a checkup from the neck up regularly.

• First and foremost, believe in yourself.
• Understand what is holding you back so you can overcome it.
• Spend time in quiet self-reflection, prayer, or meditation at least once a day.
• Guard everything that enters and leaves your mind.
• Know what you want in very specific terms.
• Remove all sources of negativity from your life.
• Surround yourself with positive, success-minded people.
• Create a realistic plan to attain your deepest desires.
• Take positive steps each day toward what you want to attract.
• Focus on the present - as if you have already attracted the things you want.
• Create visual reminders of your goals and intentions.
• Make a recording of your favorite affirmations or buy a self-hypnosis CD.
• Avoid conflicting messages by matching your feelings with your desires.
• Write a newspaper report about your success as if it has already happened.
• Be an advocate for yourself, allowing praise and compliments.
• Choose to carry a positive attitude at all times. œ Have an attitude of gratitude.

The Conscious Mind's Role

In closing, let us not vanquish the conscious mind in all this. It too has a valuable role in reshaping our sometimes-illusive subconscious mind. One of the best and note-worthy attributes of an awakened state is that of becoming aware of both our own thoughts and reactions to daily life with all its apparent distractions. We could easily imagine the conscious portion of our mind as the proverbial gatekeeper.

While as simplistic as this may seem, really for those of us who desire more joy in life, simplicity has great value and is not to be discarded in this valiant endeavor. Utilize and enlist the help of the left, analytical portion of your brain while at the same time, not ignoring the right brain's intuitive influence. By doing so, you have a powerful, to-the-point vigilant ally readily available to monitor and assist as you progress along.

Allow the conscious mind's gentle reminders of your thoughts and responses even actions you take among daily activities. By deliberately fine tuning your thoughts as the happen, is an important key that ultimately delivers the type of results you are looking for. Through just a few practical, conscious applications of what you have learned here will in very little time, become second nature and open doors of higher-consciousness that flood the subconscious with a more positive, redirection of thoughts. In short order, actual improvements and related changes will be visually observable to both you and those around you.

First and foremost acknowledge and thank yourself for reading this far as this is a testament of willpower and a desire to be a more awake human. We are all on this journey together so be easy with all of this and be easy on yourself. Avoid a mental self-beating that sometimes accompanies any threat to unwanted predisposed responses generated by the subconscious through the ego.

Remind yourself this whole process is not that complicated and some stubborn personal attributes you wish to modify will take time to permeate and alter your subconscious for the better. Just decide to willingly participate and begin the process. And not to be forgotten- that too is good as we have eternity to gain perfection!

About the Author:

Tim's writing expertise and intuition for understanding arcane, non-mainstream subject matter including esoteric topics begun at the age of 14. It is through his expansive career in finance which affords Tim a unique ability to apply a professional, down-to-earth approach when writing about the science of spirituality.

Please visit- http://www.shiftoftheage.com for additional articles complete with accompanying pictures and any embedded video offering you more wisdom during these chaotic, transitional times we face.

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