Inside Secret Eating

Clearing Clutter

2008-01-02T04:43:00.000-08:00

"There are days when all we can see is clutter. Do know that those are good days, for we cannot change what we cannot see."... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Related SpokenWords, Emotions & MindStates - confusion, ataxia, ballup, chaos, disarray, disorder, huddle, muddle, snarl, topsy-turviness, hash, hugger-mugger, jumble, jungle, litter, mash, mishmash, muddle, rummage, scramble, shuffle, tumble, hodgepodge, macédoine, medley, mélange; disarray, mess, muss, ruck

Even the related words for clutter tend to clutter ! Today I so wanted to write about dreams, but my own personal clutter won out. I even received several emails about clutter.........so clutter it is.

I truly shouldn't be writing this blog entry because my entire office is a mess. For the past week I've been working on a variety of projects, most of which required pulling my filing cabinets apart. As I searched for things I needed, I was struck by how disorganized my files had become. When did this happen? It seems to me that I had re-structured them not all that long ago.........or was it?

Once we begin to notice clutter it tends to turn up everywhere. I walked into my office closet & there it was........every shelf & drawer. Piles of things that I have little recollection of placing there. How is it that I can be with these piles every day, yet not see or remember anything about them?

I noticed that I was actually afraid to look around the rest of my life with my eyes of the day. What if I found this everywhere? Could I possibly be that lost in my life.......AGAIN?

My memories went back to the late 80's when I had a clutter-wake-up. We were living in the Albany, NY area & my husband was re-locating to Oklahoma & I was to stay to market the house & finish up some work projects. Our sons had just left for college & even the dog had run away. Yes....I was alone with myself, something that I preferred not to experience. During those years my bingeing issues were big & unresolved, usually waiting around any corner to take over my life.

To complicate matters, my husband suggested, quite strongly, that I clear out the house. I was stunned by this because to me, the house was just fine. It was clean. I was a good homemaker. We needed all the things that were there & I certainly wasn't about to get rid of the things I'd collected & loved.

I remember the cold & snowy night I returned from Oklahoma, feeling alone & frightened for some reason. As I waited for the house to warm up, I began thinking about what my husband had said. I decided to have a look in one cupboard in the kitchen to see if he could possibly be right. I couldn't believe what happened next. It was like I never, ever truly looked inside that cupboard, yet I was in & out of there at least a dozen times a day. I was especially stunned by the piles of margarine containers that were bent out of shape & yellowed. There must have been 50 or so.......

Why did I own these? I seemed to remember that I collected them for leftovers. Quite honestly, I don't like leftovers & certainly these were the most depressing containers I'd ever seen. I remember tearing... What had happened to me? How widespread was this pattern of disorganization & not-remembering? I opened a few kitchen drawers & realized that they contained things that I didn't even recognize. I had no idea what to do with some of the gadgets that lived there. I began to feel surrealistic, like I was a visitor in my own life. Since I was working in gerontology with Alzheimer's patients at the time, I began fantasizing about perhaps being in the early stages. Not very funny. For some reason my bingeing came to mind.........yes, it was like my entire life & home were on some sort of bender.

By this time I knew I was on to something, intuition perhaps & I had a slight twinge of awareness that this was going to be a very important something. My inner mind suggested that I make some spot visits to other rooms..........no matter where I went, the same was waiting for me. My goodness. Think further.....And if this was the case with my home, what about the other parts of my life? I thought about my work, my hobbies, my goals & my dreams....my relationships. Were they also full of clutter & detachment? What couldn't I see? What was I missing?

Of course, this idea added to my earlier uneasy feelings about being alone & being afraid of myself, but sometimes when fear mounts, it does reach it's peak & thank goodness, that is what happened for me. I reached the top of the fear- mountain & now I could sense the release. I was willing to see & so now I was free to take care of things.

How does one begin when there is so much clutter, confusion & disorganization? Here are some things I did. They may sound a bit excessive, but I needed a plan to set me free.

1. I rented a copy of Ghandi. I knew that he had gotten down to one loin cloth & his glasses. I thought he would be a good mentor for me. I watched it twice !

2. I decided to set up 3 categories to help me evaluate my possessions & those I had ownership over. These included garbage, things I didn't really need or had too much of & had to go & then, group 3....things I needed or truly loved. The last was a tricky category because the binge part of me could say this about anything. For this reason I set up a temporary area in the garage. I could place things there & after a week I could re-evaluate. There is something positive about getting things out of the house. This is the beginning of releasing......

3. I made a folder for each room & listed every area separately, including each drawer, closet, shelf, etc. When I began a room, I had to stay with it until it was finished. Of course, some rooms took me a week or so. The basement took me several weeks. What I mean by staying with it was that I didn't allow myself to do a drawer in the kitchen & then one in the bedroom. I noticed the tremendous desire to do this........it seemed far too related to my troublesome behaviors of the past & so it was disallowed.

4. I made myself actually touch or handle everything I owned. Then I decided it's category. And yes, this was very time-consuming, but as I look back, it was a very important rule. I learned much from this exercise & it translated into changed behaviors that follow me to this day. Rarely do I purchase things I don't really love or need. I used to buy more compulsively & so this was a tremendous benefit for me. I learned to appreciate what I had & of course, realized that I had far too much. I didn't need all of these things to live happily. In fact, they had gotten in my way.

5. I allowed myself one job & two hobbies. One hobbie had to be a physical activity & the other one could be whatever I wanted. The reason for this rule for me was that I had tons of hobbies. I started things, but didn't finish them. I'm a person who is interested in just about everything. I love to knit, sew, embroider, do needlepoint, do beadwork, do crafts, etc., etc. As for work, I had several jobs going, yet I wasn't truly doing what I wanted to do. I came to realize that unless I stopped this binge behavior, I would never come to do what I really wanted to do. In other words, I was pushing my subconscious mind to focus hard. My mind had gotten lazy through the years & so my goals had wandered away.

6. I rewarded myself each day with something non-tangible. I had forgotten how to do this & so for me this was another adventure in getting to know myself better.

It took me about 3 months to complete this task. It was truly a journey to find myself & to get to know myself, perhaps for the very first time in my adulthood. I did end up reviewing my relationships & actually ended a few friendships that truly weren't. I shortened my Christmas card list..... & enhanced my most important relationships.

So, how long did this last? Well, at the beginning of this blog I mentioned that I was surrounded by clutter. Obviously, this is an ongoing process, but it is very rewarding. I do the house thing every year or so........or when it speaks to me. Once you have done the big process, more frequent messages are received.

If you are motivated to do this, don't be surprised if you get some big releases & creative break-throughs ! I'm expecting one once I clear out this closet!

"The true & creative me is located under that pile of clutter. As I come out of hiding & direct my attention to my clutter, I come directly in contact with my true self." ...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Waking Up & Owning Fear

2007-12-29T08:02:00.001-08:00

"Most of us have a tendency towards anxiety or even panic in some area of life. Sometimes we know what it is attached to, but other times it is more generalized, disallowing us to be able to reason with it. However, while you may want to run away in fear, it is indeed possible to wake up & own it. Then you are free to manage both the physiological & emotional aspects of it"...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

We all have beliefs and behavioral patterns that work for us and those that don't. It helps to image them as plants for plants know all seasons and they can, indeed, be helped to grow and change. Some plants have both positive and negative aspects. Others are completely positive and some completely negative. We spend a good part of our day planting and weeding, often not awake for our inner gardening work.

Working the time-line allows you to see where old beliefs were planted, as well as where and how behaviors were developed. Some of these are in the past, but many are actively being planted in the future. Yes, you are planning and planting your future on many different levels. This can be either good for you or not so good! As young children we develop volumes of coping mechanisms and behavioral patterns. Some of them follow us right through life. Some help and some impede. Some we learned from our parents, other mentors or teachers and some came by way of experience.

We often can see our parents in ourselves as we become older and wonder if history has to repeat itself through us. Some of these inner behavioral programs work well for us and can be seen in our successes. There are, however, some that do not work well and often some that hinder. It is important for us to know that we can alter any behavioral program simply through the tools presented here. Interactive Awareness and Interactive Self-Hypnosis give us the means for going into these past files. We can then re-edit or reframe memories and associated programs, so as to make them healthy and useful to us in our present and future life.

Learning to Re-frame

Re-framing beliefs or memories or any mind programs is just like deciding that a particular photograph would look better in a different frame, and then actually changing it; only frames for mind programs are those of perception. You choose to see your mind program differently, through “new eyes.” Suppose that you have a memory or mind program that is framed in anger or distrust. This is how it is stored in your subconscious mind, so whenever you review it consciously, it will come up framed in anger or distrust. In fact, the way the subconscious mind works, every time it comes up the frame will be stronger in perception. Now suppose you have a mind program or memory file about managing an addiction framed in failure. I’m sure you get the idea!

MIND EXERCISE

Now we are spending time assessing and locating areas for concentrated attention later on. Take some time to deeply relax, in fact even deeper than before. Perhaps close your eyes after reading this, knowing that everything shown to you will be useful in your recovery. Each day of your life you are presented with learning experiences. Some appear pleasant and others are not, but all are learning experiences. Significant people may have or currently be demonstrating anxiety, panic, depression, compulsive or obsessive behaviors to you. You may find yourself mirroring these or wanting to, perhaps later in the day. Go to work on your time-line. For example, notice if s anyone demonstrated addictions to you in the past. Addictions and related behaviors travel through families of origin and extended social circles. Also look for specific emotional teaching or patterns that may or may not work for you. All hold importance for now, as well as for your future.

Call in your librarian and spend some time looking through the shelves for any history of anxiety and panic, depression, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, as well as treatment or known triggers. These are very connected to addictions and stress-related issues. Remember the octopus and the tentacles? While there are physiological connections to the aforementioned, there are also triggers and you learned these somewhere and probably from someone. Think of the world as a great big school where you begin your formal schooling at birth, continuing along until death. Every experience you have is an actual learning experience. Every person you meet, or that attracts you in some way becomes a teacher of sorts.

All of these experiences are stored in your subconscious mind and the inner librarian knows where they are. This information will become very useful later on, so take your automatic writing pen and welcome the inner communication. Remember to be patient with the process and if nothing comes off the pen, simply wait a moment and then move on to the next section. You may find yourself receiving this information later on in a different quiet moment.

Inside Recovery

2007-12-28T06:25:00.001-08:00

"Truth be known, we are always in the state of recovery. Sometimes it's quite obvious & other times it's barely discernable, but it is recovery never the less"... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Two weeks ago I fell off the top of my desk while changing a cartridge in my fax......a rather silly thing....OH put down the silly word.... I'm not about to hide behind myself.....it was a rather stupid thing to do. As a result of this extremely bad moment of judgment, my life took quite a few turns, some more major than others. I couldn't walk, I couldn't put weight on my left leg, I couldn't stand, I couldn't sit, I couldn't lie down.

It was quite amazing to have absolutely no where to go to experience even a moments relief. And so, I couldn't go to work, nor cook or do anything else. On a somewhat lesser note, I became "unblogged" which may sound like a small thing, but it was not. Writing my blog is part of my life, perhaps not one that sustains me in any financial way, but it is meaningful never the less.

My life changed in many ways over the past two weeks. I'm a different person now. Accidents change people. Active recovery changes people. Nothing about it is fun, nor would I care to repeat any of it. HOWEVER, it has been an excellent learning experience & in a way, I'm a better person for falling off my desk.

I'm now out of the acute phase & into what is known as recovery.. Recovery is an interesting word. Truth be known, we are always involved in recovery. Either we are recovering actively from something, or we are involved in designing a recovery plan for some part of our work or life. As a nursing administrator I've worked on many potential disaster or recovery committees. As a wife & mother, I do the same at home.

Recovery begins long before any episode that may or may not happen. We have a ongoing mind folder that is labeled disaster plan or recovery plan. Some of us do understand this folder very well, perhaps because we have actually lived through disasters & found the weaknesses in our programs. Those weaknesses became our motivators.....we listened well, accepted our errors & became creative in not only correcting, but making things much better than before. In case you are wondering, I now have a mind folder for changing the ink jet in my fax machine. To be sure, the plan is very different from the one I carried out.

It does help to make mistakes. This is how we get better, but. some lessons are definitely harder than others. The people in who were hit by Katrina & now Rita know plenty about this. When all is said & done, these people will be very different in many ways. Children become adults overnight, seeing & experiencing things that are not meant for their eyes or psyches. Trust is lost, perhaps never to be gained again. Laughter, abandonment & pure joy will be more difficult to find & perhaps feeling wrong for a very long time. This is all part of the grieving process, some of which will never end.

So, what do we do in order to find & accept a new normal? If you have faith in a Higher Power, turn to that for solace, as well as for direction & motivation to get moving again. Take your mountainous problems & break them into smaller, more manageable pieces. For me, it is one baby step at a time.

I must put my old life on a back burner & work towards my new normal, knowing that once I've achieved that, then I'll be ready to go up a few pegs, hopefully nearer to my old normal OR even better. I stop moaning about what I can't do & do what I can. I trust in my body. I've taken good care of it for a very long time & now is the time to reap the benefits of that work. If you are not caring for yourself at optimum levels, begin today. You never know when you might do something stupid without thinking. Work on paying attention to what you do. We are all vulnerable.

Don't let the levies remain weak. I was just listening to the news about the levies in Galveston & I couldn't believe my ears. Some of them are cracked & very vulnerable! How could this have been ignored. Hurricanes happen.........accidents happen! Be prepared. Take good care of yourself & your environment. Fight, fight, fight. Don't be a quiet observer. You may live to regret it. Once you fall off the desk, the rest is history. Lucky for me my levies were in good condition from years of excellent self-maintenance. Yes, I'm injured, but I'm going to recover & hopefully to be much better than before.

Victims usually don't happen overnight. Take time today to check in on yourself. Where are you weak? What do you need to do? What will you do today? Do it now.

Beginning Again....& Then Again

2007-12-25T13:07:00.000-08:00

"Begin. To have commenced is half the deed. Half yet remains; Begin again on this and thou wilt finish all"...Ausonius

Everything is in process. I put things down & I pick things up. I enjoy the act of beginning again. ...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Related SpokenWords, Emotional States & MindSets - resume, continue, pick up, reopen, recommence, renew, reopen, take up

It's the holiday season & not the time when most people want to think about finishing what's been started or starting what needs to be finished. While the New Year is touted for resolution-setting, the idea of making resolutions has lost it's popularity, probably because everyone is sick & tired of hearing about losing weight, exercising, stopping smoking or whatever needs to be addressed. Right now my private practice is very quiet, but come the 1st of the year, many will lift their weary heads from their sleeping pillows & stumble into my office.

Personally, I like beginning again. In fact, I tend to practice "beginning" just about every day. There is really no need for a new resolution. It's more like an ongoing personal cleaning up or clearing out. If I look carefully, underneath the disorder I can sense my desire & willingness to pick up where I left off.

Through the years I've been able to set a gentler, friendlier restart button. Perhaps it's because I avoid the resolution word & hype, so the fear of being criticized for failure or not achieving is less. After all, it's not a resolution or anything. It's simply something that was left unfinished & perhaps no one will even notice that I've restarted whatever it is.

Truth be known, very little gets finished in life.... at least in my life. For me that includes managing my weight, minimizing my pile of magazines, completing my writing assignments, my love for icing, or having my home dust free & the bathrooms completely clean. I'm so glad to know this because then now I can stop efforting & striving over so many things. Perhaps I can even begin enjoying them.

It's easy to see why I had spent a good part of my previous life bogged down, almost to the point of burnout. With my new definition, I am free to simply relax, picking up any challenge where I left it untended, no longer racked by shame or guilt. No need to hide anymore, from myself or the judging eyes of others. What a relief !

As a clinical hypnotherapist & writer, I'm geared to thinking within hypnotic metaphor. Here are some areas in my mind that had something to say to me this morning...

1. It's a good idea to put some things down for awhile. As I mentally walked through the areas of my life, noticing what was left unattended, I couldn't help but notice that some areas were doing better on their own since I left them alone. I'm not surprised, acknowledging that I have a tendency to beat things to death, or smother them with attention if they are not responding in the way I think best. Sometimes I can become breathless in the process, even if there is no aerobic activity involved. Talk about efforting !

2. There are 24 hours in a day & that includes eight that should be dedicated to sleep. No one gets more or less. I'm just like anyone else with owning too much to do. On the days I can't breathe I know I'm in trouble. For some deep & hidden reason, this a big learning curve for me.

I have some ideas about why this is, but what is truly important is waking up to it & getting practical. I don't have to look far to know what has to go. It's vital for me to be ruthless in my clearing & cleaning, not just with my possessions, but with the intangibles as well. This is never easy, but it is incredibly rewarding. Even throwing away socks with holes can seem like a break-through moment.

3. Choosing what is truly important to me can focus my mind. Just like cleaning & clearing is vital, so is deciding on exactly what I want. It's amazing that we can have so much of so many things & still not have what we want. How does this happen? For me, it's always been about not clearly defining what I want. In order to do this, it's necessary to truly slow down, to clear, to be still & then to begin to define. When I work with myself I utilize automatic writing. For my patients, it's easy to go into the workshop of the mind with guided imagery, enter the metaphor, perhaps shopping for the details. In both scenarios, the subconscious mind joins in the creative goal building & then sets a plan of action.

4. I can always be healthier. Eating correctly for my body needs, excercising, managing my addictions & a host of other areas can all benefit from beginning again. Exploring ways to do this always triggers additional areas to present themselves. This morning I was having a look at my nutritional areas when I heard from my skin department. When we become purposefully still, either in meditation, hypnosis or automatic writing, the messages begin to flow, but never in a way of becoming overwhelmed. The subconscious mind understands the need for balance or homeostasis & takes one towards that. If anxiety is in the way, it simply means that you have to release & go deeper down to pass that obstruction.

5. I don't have to be perfect. I just need to be present. Growing up in a critical household, I developed many automatic mind programs about the need for perfection. This was one of many that kept me locked in my personal prison for decades. For me, it is very important to begin the mangement of these automatic programs over & over again. This is how they weaken or diminish. Some of mine that could do with some refreshing or clear eyes include approval seeking & self-doubting. Do I have others? Of course I do. I'm human. But, once again the subconscious mind is kind & prefers balance. When we take the initiative to work in one area, the others will simply follow suit.

So, enjoy all the holidays....a perfect time for reflection & an opportunity to wake-up & enjoy the fresh air that surrounds new beginnings.

FROM THE AUTHOR

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Ordering Disorder

2007-12-23T07:13:00.001-08:00

"The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order." Alfred North Whitehead

Who would say "no" to progress? Truth be known, I know plenty of people who would & who do. Many are private patients of mine & while I might "tut-tut" at that & enjoy some good old finger-pointing, that very finger often turns around, pointing right back at me. As for the life-game of mindSCRABBLE, as I inwardly giggle at my own disorderly behaviors, my subconscious mind is busily mind-etching those even deeper.

If I was paid for cluttering, I'd be quite wealthy. Of course, I deny cluttering & as for hoarding.....well now, certainly not me.

My issues with all of this go back to early childhood. My father died when I was three & I learned to make every attempt to keep what was mine. This was my little attempt at building a secure life. While it does help to know the origin of issues, it certainly doesn't diminish the decades of closet & drawer stuffing. I've become so good at this that I can clutter just about anywhere & with just about anything. Yes....I would be quite wealthy.

I've learned that letting go is a good thing & so I go through emptying & releasing episodes. My main reasoning is that I've come to realize that prosperity doesn't flow into cluttered space, so I must release if I choose to prosper. It also helps to find things. Just the process of clearing is creative & it never surprises me what catalysts sit in that last bulging file.

Ordering disorder is a very emotional experience for me. I truly have issues with letting go & today I decided to write about these, instead of just noticing them. It is true that my things do bring me joy. I love all sorts of things including my scraps of paper. So, is there something wrong with that? After all, I'm basically a good person. Just because I feel connected to scraps of paper, does that make me a loser of sorts. Of course not, I tell myself. Don't be so dramatic.

I do want to be able to let go & release with more ease. I've noticed that whenever I go through periods of cleaning, clearing & letting go, that it does become easier. In fact, it actually begets itself. So, I guess the goal needs to be to practice more often. Is it possible that I might actually become good at this & even learn to like it?

AFFIRMATION FOR TODAY
"I choose to see my disorder clearly & then I choose what to order first."...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Inside My Critical Nature & Being

2007-12-20T03:56:00.001-08:00

"Blessed is the man who can take bricks thrown at him & build a sound foundation"....Tom Pryor

Related SpokenWords, Thoughts & Emotional MindState - captious, carping, caviling, cavillous, censorious, critic, faultfinding, hypercritical, overcritical, discerning, discriminating, penetrating; finicky, fussy, particular; belittling, demeaning, disparaging, humbling, lowering.

Over the past few days I found myself journaling about criticism that tend to initiate conflicts...self-delivered & delivered by others. I learned from one of my patients that Gemini was in retrograde or something like that, meaning that communication is off. Of course this made me feel better immediately, knowing I had little to do with all the criticism floating around me.

Automatic writing or journaling is very helpful for me personally & I often recommend it to my patients as well, even if they balk about writing. The balking is usually fear-related. Yes, writing is committing ink to paper....or at least it was in the past. I still journal with real paper & pen. It helps to slow the mind down, allowing the images or ideas to form.

After so many years of working in this field, I'm still amazed at how the subconscious mind will cooperate with emotional reframing & healing. Sometimes all I really need is a good metaphor to manage my heavy-air days.

As I broached the subject of critical words, here are some things that came off of my pen....delivered directly from my subconscious mind.

1. Criticism can be a good thing, even if the person delivering it does not mean it as such.....myself included. Of course we are our biggest critic. That's no secret. I'm also well aware of constructive vs destructive criticism. However, I often have a problem with accepting the term constructive criticism, especially when it is delivered in what appears to be a destructive way. Or, is this just a matter of Gemini in retrograde?

2. It doesn't really matter if the criticism is constructive or destructive, nor if Gemini is having a problem or not. I can benefit from all of it... & if there is plenty of it around, it follows that I would could have a wealth of benefits, if I just did what I needed to do. Hmmm....

3. The subconscious mind often connects things in strange ways in order to make it's point. I was brought back to my time of nursing in Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center & to the memory of debriding wounds. Wounds cannot heal properly until the dead or infected tissue is removed, often speck by speck. The job of the wound care nurse is to utilize different techniques to achieve this. However, it cannot be done all at once. It is a process, sometimes taking months, depending on the depth or complexity of the wound. The metaphor is forming....

4. Emotional wounds are similar to physical ones. They must also be debrided. Criticism is like pouring acid into certain emotional wounds. Anyone who has experienced this phenomena is certainly familiar with the combination of physical & emotional pain that results. I know that I am....

5. Many of us were born into a very critical environments, thus making us highly sensitive to critical words. Simple words, even if delivered in a constructive way, can be very frightening & debilitating. As a child I had no power & had to develop ways to survive this type of environment, but as an adult I do have power & so it is my responsibility to debride mywounds so I can heal & continue my self-growth.

6. Managing stress is not the same as debriding wounds. While it is very important to eat correctly, meditate, exercise & practice mindfulness, if I truly want to heal & manage my emotions at higher levels, I must be willing to cleanse & debride my wounds.

7. Emotional wounds are debrided through awareness & timely releasing. When criticism is painful, there is a wound that needs to be cleaned. The process is simple, but not always easy. I remember that when treating a patient's wound, I'd often tell them, Yes, it hurts & no, it won't hurt forever. I remember....the patient learns to bring his/her attention to the breath & to ride it, just like riding gentle waves in the sea. The physical pain begins to move to the side & then diminishes. The patient learns to see/sense the wound healing from the bottom up.

8. The same holds true for emotional healing. As the wound heals from the bottom up, the mind will often send fragments of the debris. These may be in the form of old memories or emotions that need to be released. Opening & healing is now in process...

More About Criticism & Connected Conflicts...

There are other things that are helpful for me to remember. First off the bat, conflicts & criticism are inevitable, as long as I'm willing or interested in standing up for what I believe are my rights or beliefs.

It does help to simply the actual word conflict or criticism. The subconscious meaning of words can be so powerful as to disallow any scrutiny because of the attached, automatic mind fear patterns. Conflicts are simply two sets of demands, goals or motives that appear to be incompatible. I must remind myself that I deal with conflicts all day long. Some might be small & I may not even label these as conflicts, but they are nevertheless. This is a very important awareness because as I view them under the conflict or criticism label, I'll come to know that I have been developing excellent resolution skills for a very long time, some actually from early childhood.

Conflicts & accompanying criticisms come in sizes including small, medium & large. Some are more uncomfortable than others. The more uncomfortable tend to be connected to deeper wounds or more sensitive areas in the subconscious mind. Keep in mind that these are very valuable as debriding tools.

The conflicts or critiques I play in the theater of my mind tend to be more frequent & often larger. It's important for me not to forget that these also effect my body physiology & bring more debris to old, deep wounds. Engaging the thought process in awfulizing is a very bad habit & one that can have serious physical & emotional consequences.

This happens to be one of my habits & so I've asked my own subconscious mind to wake me when I'm doing this, so I have the opportunity to break the habit & release the stress. At the same time, I'll take advantage of the self-criticism & do a very more steps to debride any old wounds.

Simple Metaphors for Managing Criticisms...

Here's one I utilize for myself quite often. When someone is critical of me, I change those words in my mind. They are critical of something I've done. This simply means that we have a difference of opinion about this something. That is easier for me to accept & curbs the production of stress chemicals. Remember, I was born into a very critical environment, so I am very sensitive.

Next, in the theater of my mind, I take the "something" & rinse it off under my very beautiful golden faucet. I want to remove the emotional component that was part of the delivery. This way, I am free to examine the "something" & decide if I want to change anything about my part or my beliefs. I may do this immediately, or decide to wait. Then, I might simply thank the other person for bringing this to my attention & to let them know that I'll think about it. This moves me out of a defensive position, into one of maturity & self-control.

Working Through Self-Anxiety

2007-12-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

"You can turn the tide of your life from negative to positive results through your constructive words"...Winston Churchill

Related SpokenWords, Thoughts, Emotions, Mind-States - panic, concern, concernment, disquiet, disquietude, solicitude, unease, uneasiness, worry, doubt, mistrust, dread, uncertainty; distress, misery, suffering; dread;

Oh....where to begin on the subject of anxiety. Why do I feel that I must write about this today? This morning I was doing some automatic journaling for myself & my own anxiety issues came off the end of my pen, completely uninvited, but obviously wanting to roost on my desk. After writing yesterday's blog on the theme of the day, I couldn't help but hope that anxiety was not going to be today's theme.

Since I've been practicing automatic journaling for decades now, I know to trust it & that means to just go with the flow without judging or fear. For those of you who aren't familiar with this type of journaling, I suggest that you give it a whirl. It's quite simple. Open a new journal or notebook that is dedicated to this task only. I use a spiral notebook......I actually have two sizes, one 5 by 8.5 & the other 8.5 by 11. I prefer to write in the larger one because there is more space, but sometimes I like to pop the smaller one in my briefcase & take it on the road with me.

To help you along, here's a sample mp3 of a very popular program that I've written, recorded & produced called Automatic Writing. This will give you a head start in working with your own subconscious mind in many new ways. This particular mp3 or CD has three tracks or sessions. You can order the entire program on my website.

When working daily with Automatic Writing, put a decent amount of time aside for yourself. For me, that means at least 15 minutes & preferably more like 30. Sometimes I'll get to the office a bit early, specifically for this purpose. Next....open the journal & have your pen ready. Don't use the computer for this. The mind will gift more to you if you put the pen to paper. Relax deeply, just for a few minutes. I call this settling in..........& then begin to write.

Don't be concerned about sentence structure, grammar, etc. Just let the pen flow. Write whatever comes. Stay out of judgment. If the mind sends ramblings, so be it. Write them.... & if nothing comes, write that as well. Keep going for the length of time you have decided to write or fill the amount of space you have decided to fill. Keep to the discipline. And once you have finished, put it away.

Here are some journal entries of mine from today - see how many themes you can spot. Look beyond the obvious. Remember, this is coming directly from my own subconscious mind. Also, look for the affirmations; the positive mind programs that were given to me through the end of my pen.

Changes in the wind. Patients leaving. Wondering where this will leave me. Remembering the other big change time after my mother died. I had next to no professional practice. The phones were quiet. My emotions ran away with me...fear...not knowing what to do. I was gifted that time with the idea to design audio programs. That came on the rear of a tear. Here I am once again....but it is not quite the same. Life has not been static. I have things to do & places to go. I'm busy. New patients are coming. I'm satisfied. Book ideas are coming. I'm challenged. It's time for something new. The nail biting book will be ready soon. It appears unfinished, but it isn't. Putting my ducks in a row. Organizing things that don't invite organizing, like relationships & my decision to change my soap. I need something new, perhaps the seminars that came to me while in Spain.............

My first patient arrived. I've been seeing her for over four years. She was only fourteen when she first walked into my office. She sat in the pink chair & hid behind her hands. She only weighed 90 pounds. I've known her at 65 pounds & now, while she is only 102 pounds, she is different. She leaves for college next week. I'll miss her tremendously, just like a daughter. I even tear as I write this.

She's very anxious about so many aspects of college. Her parents are anxious, imaging all the worst. It's been more than four anxiety-filled years for them & they are rightfully frightened. But today she sits before me & we discuss her dorm-room decor & her new room-mate who is coming with the refrigerator. Simple, but important things to a girl who has made such a journey.

Changes & anxiety coupled together. Fear of the known & unknown. Fleeting little thoughts having the power to turn our blood to ice, often not understood by others who might even laugh at our dilemma. Babies....oh grow up ! Feelings of walking alone on new paths, excited but frightened just the same. Our thoughts connecting up with other past experiences, some good & others not so good. What kinds of memories will we be making? Oh, why can't things just stay as they are, even if they aren't very good? At least they are familiar!

Here are some things my young patient & I did today...

1. Anxiety & excitement are very close in their chemical composition. What's important here is the labeling. It only takes 1/200th of a second to change the label from a fear state, to a positive exciting state.

2. You have the choice & the power to diminish all fears & all thoughts that are fear-related. Take out your re-framing tools or use the pie-cutter. The latter is a releasing tool for diminishing a portion of a fear or anxiety that may present itself as too big to manage.

3. Emotions are like children that wear tee-shirts with their names on the front. You are not your emotions, but you are in charge of them. You have the choice & the power to diminish any & all emotions that are not benefiting you & you have the choice & the power to invite in or enhance any & all emotions that do benefit you. Remember to keep your eye on your mind-assets & utilize them to their fullest. Don't let them get rusty from disuse!

4. Managing yourself & your life is fun! The better you get at a task, the better for you in the long-run. This is how champions are made. If you feel the desire to run & hide behind an old, impotent behavior pattern, wake-up & come forward instead. Meet the bully-factor & disassemble it. Observe it losing power as you gain power. Pay attention to the power of your mindWORDS. They are all coated with chemicals that change the outcomes of your entire mind & body. The more positive-task-orientated you are, the more power you will harvest.

AFFIRMATION PLANT

"My thoughts & emotions are things that can be managed. I am not my thoughts, nor my emotions. I have power over the workings of my mind & body". ...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Self-Discipline....Where Art Thou?

2007-12-16T07:12:00.001-08:00

"Life is tons of discipline"...Robert Frost

Related Words, Thoughts, Emotions & Mind-Sets - self-will, self-command, self-control, self-government, self-mastery, self-restraint, willpower

'Tis the season of lost discipline & so this is a good moment to bring the mind back to where it needs to live, that is if we want to reap the rewards of health & high level achieving. It's not just the Christmas cookies or the compulsive shopping or the excess alcohol.....it's the problem of entertaining a weak mind & then finding out that this crazy guest doesn't want to leave.

We all know about self-discipline....or do we? I know we are familiar with the term & probably can even define it, but when it comes to the application, the meaning of self-discipline seems to evade most of us. Some of my patients refuse to acknowledge that they have any self-discipline at all........as if accepting that fact would mean that they should/could have it in any & all areas of their life! Others refuse to mouth the word, as if it were poison or a jailer of life. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Let's review normal for a moment. While it's true that each of us is certainly disciplined in certain areas of life, no one has it across the board. So, why should we care about this? Well, it's actually quite important to realize that if you are disciplined in a particular area of your life, you can utilize that discipline subconsciously by applying it to another area where you may need more of it.

Most people who come to my private practice are seeking magic. In a way, it's so pleasingly child-like to share conversations with them, but on the other hand, one would think that by the time one reaches adult-hood we would be able to separate fantasy from reality. I've come to the conclusion that just about all of us, myself included, hold out hope for the manifestation of our very own wizard.

The most difficult part of my work is to break the magic spell & introduce the truths about self-discipline & wake people up to what they already have in place. I usually have to work quite hard to make this sale to my patients. It's so hard to let go of the wizard. It's sad in a way, because the truth is that self-discipline is actually very enjoyable.

If we weren't disciplined in so many areas, life would be a horrendous daily struggle. Think of some areas of your own life where you are disciplined. How about getting up in the morning, having breakfast, organizing your clothes & papers for work, brushing your teeth, organizing your home, etc. More than likely you have more disciplined areas than non-disciplined ones & this is good news.

Take a moment to think of some areas in your own life that you would like to bring over to the disciplined column. A few of mine include my exercise program, my book writing & weeding the garden. Just identifying these puts the subconscious mind on notice & a motivational plan is already in the works. That's the power of Interactive Awareness & Self-hypnosis.

We tend to plant negative motivational programs quite easily. Sometimes we aren't even aware that we are doing so. Here's an example....For some reason the term self-discipline receives a bad rap & a negative motivational code. Just saying it can scare people into the corner. This is irrational because self-discipline actually makes life easier.

My job as a clinical hypnotherapistis to gently bring my patients out of hiding & onto the particular goal path that needs the discipline. Once in motion, they will see & sense that this path is already lined with all sorts of motivational images & affirmations.

Most people think about self-hypnosis in relation to developing self-discipline to stop smoking or to lose weight. This is like saying that a fork is only used to eat meat or salad. There are actually hundreds of applications for self-hypnosis from medicine to sports to self-development & then some.

You know the old saying, it's all in how you look at something. In the practice of self-hypnosis, Self-discipline is a KEY MINDSET. In actuality it is a MASTER KEY MINDSETto success & high level achievement, as well as high level health. And so, we applaud this MINDSET right from the get-go. In the practice of interactive self-hypnosis we develop a new self-profile of success, as well as a strong sense of purpose.

While words are the tools of the hypnotherapist, the words form images that are emotionally fired. It's rather like relaxing deeply & then walking into the new self-profile & experiencing the many aspects of it. An experienced hypnotherapist can truly design an extraordinary experience that will/can program the subconscious mind in hundreds of ways. And while a picture paints a thousand words, a self-hypnotic image paints a thousand subconsicous mind suggestions.

Here are some self-discipline suggestions I planted today. Some were for patients & others were for myself...

1. Weight Loss - the images that my patient needed to experience were all about ordering her new discipline, as well as being comfortable & happy with this for many calendar months. In the past she had failed simply because of her disorder & lack of discipline.

2. Exercise Program - I visited myself in my mind's eye & positively experienced the full hour on the treadmill. I also experienced increased endurance on my weight circuit. I removed some negative-based emotional states that don't enjoy being in the gym & brought in my fun-self. I also removed the clocks that interfere with my discipline by telling me to hurry-up.

3. Lifestyle Changes - this patient needs to make a series of changes due to a serious medical diagnosis. This includes stopping smoking, losing weight & exercising. This is over-whelming for the patient & adds to the fear around the diagnosis. The images designed for her were very gentle, rather like kindergarten. New beginnings....building the different disciplines easily, playing with their parts. The patient became the student of the disciplines & sensed her own enjoyment at putting them together.
Spend some time thinking about your own issues now & allow your own subconscious mind to send up some suggestions. Just reading this material is enough to stimulate that happening.

PLANT AN AFFIRMATION

"I enjoy building disciplines in my life. I easily see/sense areas that would benefit from this KEY MINDSET & provide it for myself." ...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The Realm of Heightened Creativity

2007-12-14T10:44:00.001-08:00

"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men, and along those fibers as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects"....Herman Melville

It's amazing what a fall or injury can do! For those of you who read my blog, you might remember that I fell off of my desk & injured my back. Last week I wondered if I would walk again. That thought truly bothered me, especially knowing what I know about the power of words, whether they be verbalized or in the form of thoughts. Luckily for me, I knew what to do & took care of it quite rapidly. My life work & passion is to teach others how to do this for themselves.

But, I want much more for them.

We each have our own realm of heightened creativity. It's like a special city or place on our map of life. It is here that we can actively move past pain & problems & then into our own passion or desires. For many of us the roads to this city are unknown or completely blocked by old business, low expectations or thoughts of impossibility......negative fiction. But no matter what happened in the past, we can all go there. I know ithis because I've not only experienced it personally, but over the many years that I've been in the practice of medical & personal development hypnosis, I've had the privilege to witness this road opening over & over again.

I went back to work last Tuesday, just for a short day. It didn't take me long to realize that I'd changed in some rather profound way. Let me share a bit of this with you, because it does have importance to the changes I am currently making.

When one practices hypnotherapy, it is always a different experience with each patient, for each patient is different. There may be twenty who want to lose weight or stop smoking, or improve their memory or reduce their stress...and while the problems appear to be quite general, the person behind the problem is always different, thereby making the problem different in each case.

Each of us has traveled a different road, collected different strengths & weaknesses that have etched a special effect on the generalized problem, rather like the problem had been soaked in an original marinade, perhaps for decades.

So Tuesday morning was like any other morning for me....but then a very strong & heightened creative part of me began conversing, not only with my patients, but with me. I don't know how much you as the reader know about hypnotherapy, but suggestions are usually designed "right in the moment" & come from the subconscious mind of the therapist. They are beautifully pin-pointed towards the specialized needs of the patient.

It happened that my Tuesday morning patients were all well-known to me & so I was progressing down their particular road when all of a sudden the focus shifted slightly. I found myself talking about unexpected accidents & the importance of the body & the mind being prepared to take on the healing from the position of an expert healer & not from the position of a victim.

There was more urgency in the suggestions....All victim thoughts needed to be recognized immediately & removed right then & there. There is no time ever for hanging out in victim stuff. The patient I was working with in that moment happens to be over-weight & has been meandering on her path towards wellness. In truth, she is going forward, but rather just drifting along in a slow sing-song rhythm.

As I re-organized her suggestions, I became intensly aware that I also meander in certain areas of my own life & certainly can get into my own victim thing. My writing & the producing of my CD programs is one of those areas. Over the years I've written & produced hundreds of programs in different genres to meet the needs of my patients & students. Whenever I send these out to mainstream publishers, editors or agents, I tend to hide behind rejections as if I'm guilty of something & then make excuses as to why I cannot find a publisher to market my work in bookstores, etc. as if this were the most important thing in my life......a true Sarah Bernhardt.

Unfortunately, or so I've been told, my work is not considered mainstream by many publishers, editors or agents....rather odd because I sell these very successfully from my website, in fact, all over the world.. I've been in my field for over 30 years & each day I communicate with hundreds of people who go to work each day, but suffer in their own silent jails. I have tremendous compassion for them, for while they are seen, they not truly seen or they are judged in a way that is unjust, perhaps even cruel.

Why does this happen & to so many? As I've studied this part of human behavior, I've come to realize that we are all so lost in our own lives, that we simply have no time or even desire to see the obvious in others. It can truly be a lonely world & because of this lonliness, small problems grow into big ones. These problems we can see & not only do we notice them, but we take the position of judge & jury...

We see fat people, anorexic people, compulsive & obsessive people, nail biters, skin pickers, hair pullers, emotionally weak or stressed out people, uncooperative people, alcoholics, smokers, poor performers, shy people, those who appear lazy & tend to sleep-walk through the day. We see people with latent talent who refuse to be motivated. We see frightened people, some who can't leave their homes & others who simply can't stand up & make a presentation at work. This is just a short list of what we can see if we bother to look.

While these problems & their solutions appear obvious to us as judge & jury, it is not as simple as that. There are underlying reasons for all of this & more. Much has to do with simply not knowing how to come out & face the problem, release it & then manage stress in a healthier fashion. These are things that should have been taught in childhod, but most of the time parents did not have the skills themselves & so there was little or nothing to pass on to the infant, child & teen. While sometimes psychotherapy is required, in many instances all that is needed is to uncover the blocks, bring the awareness free of emotion, release & then plant new images.

So, my work is to work as detective along with the problem-owner. Then we are ready to free the guilt & shame & enter the realm of heightened creativity. This is where the good stuff resides.

I've come to understand & accept that the large majority of professionals in the publishing field aren't familiar with exactly what I do because perhaps they have no reason to know this. I hope you don't misinterpret this. It is not an ego thing........it just the way it is.

Back to last Tuesday. Just as my weight management patient needed to take off her heavy shoes that were interfering with the speed of her travels, I realized that I must do the same. Can someone help me untie this knot in my shoelace?

What's It to Be......Yes or No?

2007-12-13T16:54:00.001-08:00

"Quick decisions are unsafe decisions."... Sophocles

Is It a Yes or a No?

For some reason, today is all about decision making, not only in my own life, but in the lives of those I work with & so I've spent a good part of the day thinking about decision making. Since I'm prone, like most of us, to procrastinating, I "decided" to review my patterns, beliefs & behaviors in this area of my life, hoping that my own self-review will help me to find the right words to help my clients & patients. Perhaps my review might help you to make your decision-making easier over the weekend, especially now that we are entering the holiday-stress month.

Here are some questions I have for mySelf.

What kinds of decision-needing thoughts live in my mind bank & how are they organized?
Am I an avoider? Do I push decision-needing thoughts to the back of the mind or jump into "compulsion?"
Are there particular "words" that generate action, or send me running for cover?
How do I view decisions of others?
Am I quick to self-judge or to judge others?
Am I open to learning, or do I just think that I observe from my automatic-pilot, waking-sleep state?

Yesterday a local man made a bad decision that ended his life. He decided to cool off in a local river after cutting the lawn. According to the newspaper, a 1200 pound alligator ate him.

Just the thought of this makes me ill. I'm a northern-suburban girl living in the south. I had no idea that alligators came that big. Also, I can't imagine jumping into any water down here. Even wading in the Gulf of Mexico has proved to be deadly at certain times of the year when the sharks are more aggressive.

I once took care of a young woman, just eighteen years old, who made a bad decision that changed her life forever. She dove into a swimming pool with insufficient water & ended up a quadriplegic. I remember her telling me about the moment before she decided to dive, a voice told her not to do it. In that split second she could have moved away from decision & into deliberation. I believe that voice was her intuition or subconscious mind attempting to guide her. Unfortunately she decided not to pay attention. I was wondering if the man who jumped into the river had a moment of self-communication with his intuition, or was he just driven by the heat & humidity?

Of course, not all decisions are so life-changing as these, but the ability or inability to make decision can certainly change outcomes, both big & small. When someone has a low self-esteem or self-image, or is prone to compulsion, then there can be trouble underfoot.

I need to question my Self again.

What is the state of my own intuition?
What can I do to enhance my inner communication levels?
I've been thinking about how easy it is to do something totally foolish & seemingly small that can impact so greatly. On the other hand, I don't want to live a life on procrastination-hold. Where can I find this balance?

I was remembering the audio CD programs I designed on decision making. Sometimes I'm so busy that I forget about my own self-needs. Sounds like the plumber with a leaky faucet.

Of course.... I need to work on my concentration & focus, remembering to practice moving out of automatic-pilot & into sensory imaging outcomes. My skill level used to be pretty good with these tools, but I've become a bit complacent over the years.

I also remember that there are thousands of decisions to be made each day. Some of them belong on auto-pilot, such as going to the bathroom, eating meals, going to work & going to sleep, to name a few. Other types of decisions just need a little attention, such as what blouse to wear, what shape pasta to cook, etc. No need to spend lots of time with those. It feels good to break the compulsion to suffer through easy decisions, giving myself permission to just ask, "is it a yes or a no." Simple & direct. Saving the more detailed "decision-work", for those that warrant it.

I remember how the sensory imaging also enhanced my levels of creativity, not only in work, but in relationships & in my sports performance. Concentration combined with the right amount of relaxation, both mentally & physically holds the key to enhanced intuition. The subconscious mind is a great safety & guide, as long as the channels open to allow the communication.

The negative aspects of my mind are trying to debate this conversation I'm having with myself. I'm being reminded that I am far too busy for this kind of self-work. I have programs to write, patients to see, classes to organize & teach. I already know that "I can't do everything", so why not just stop this nonsense & do what's sitting on my desk. "Now, that would be a good decision, wouldn't it?"

How many times I've fallen prey to this part of my personal mindSCRABBLE. I see this in my patients & students. Always feverishly tasking. Never giving the Self permission to stop & review, assess, plan & then incorporate action steps into motivation-imagery.

My negative mind-states are not going to win today. And....that is good news for me, as well as for my projects waiting for me on my desk. They will be there when I'm finished taking care of myself.

"I enhance my intuition by building a strong relationship with my subconscious mind librarian. I relax & see outcomes before they happen. I make wise decisions."....
Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

FROM THE AUTHOR

"Tis the season of making even more decisions & so I'd like to offer you a sample mp3 session from a program I've designed for Decision Making. Here's your opportunity to program your mind to locate those decisions that only require a "yes or no" & to make time for those that require more thought. The entire program is available on my websites.

Dealing with Double Whammy Failure Bubbles

2007-12-11T08:20:00.000-08:00

"Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was"...Richard L. Evans

"I wake to my perceived failures & mind-edit them easily. I am aware of my internal weather systems. I stay keenly aware of negative-crayoning & make good choices for myself." ...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Related Words & Thoughts - default, delinquency, dereliction, neglect, oversight, laxity, negligence, remissness, slackness, indifference, unconcern

It's another day....bringing moments to build our self-image & self-esteem or to diminish them. The moments give us all sorts of opportunities, rather like little bubbles, waiting to be impregnanted with our desires & then floating out on their delivery mission. Not only to we have a multitude of opportunities to design & deliver our desires, but we do the same for others.......much of this done through our very words, thoughts & deeds, for we all mentor each other.

What goes into our moment bubbles, what we think or what we entertain is what we get back & the same goes double for failure. Unfortunately failure bubbles or mindsets are a dime a dozen. You don't have to look far to find them floating around.....bubbles set out by others or more importantly, your very own bubbles. It's rather amazing that we succeed at anything, given our usual interior weather. Look closely.. it's usually either raining, storming, blowing, snowing, cloudy or completely parched & drought-ridden.

Thoughtout this blog I've reminded you to look for emotional carriers, especially those that attempt to color your life with negative mind states. Pay attention to the word attempt. No one can do anything without your permission. Mind-underline that for yourself, for most of us tend to forget it. Just because someone in your environment is coloring in a negative fashion, you do not have to breathe it in. It's like second-hand smoke. You do not have to breathe it in. You have choices.

Even though I can't see or hear you, I have a good idea as to what you are thinking right now, the reason being that in the past, I've said most of these things to myself or to others in relation to myself OR I've heard it from others in my work as a clinical hypnotherapist.

So, let me share this with you ...

Changing mindsets is a skill, just like anything else. Think for a moment about how many things you have learned from the time you were just a baby. Take a mind-visit back to your early childhood & find the time when you simply didn't entertain failure. That time is there......so go find it & then sense yourself reconnecting. However you might like to imagine that....do it. Notice that during this time you were also independent of the negative-crayoning of others. Take your time in this area of self-exploration for it is very important & can work to change your life experiences considerably.

In short, you need to know that you can achieve things. You can work through perceived failure. You can recognize negative-emotional crayoning of others & that you can choose not to accept it.

Now about the definition of failure.... I'm sure that you already know that failing at something just means that you haven't figured out how to do it yet. That is all that it is. Now others might have more to say about it, but again, that is their negative crayoning & you already know what to do about that. In case you have forgotten, or haven't read those blog entries....when you don't want to accept negative-crayoning your task is to ...

1. notice or wake-up
2. breathe from center & relax your body
3. release the image or emotion
4. place a new mind program on your mind screen

When you experiencing a perceived failure, it's time to go back to the drawing board. For most of us, we take too big a chunk & so of course, we tend to choke. Now what would you do if you were choking on something? Well, if it were me, I'd do whatever I had to do to get the offender out of my mouth asap.

It's the same with anything else. Break the perceived failure into pieces & study them independently. It's best to do this in deep relaxation. That way, your own subconscious mind will assist you in finding a better way. If you experience mind-confusion when you try to do this.....the chunk is simply too big OR you haven't quieted the mind sufficiently.

Most of you have heard about your intuition or inner knowing. That is your subconscious mind in action. In order to take full advantage of it, you must relax very deeply & then you will be gifted with eureka break-through thoughts or ideas or serendipity. Nothing is free in life. As I tell my patients, the piper must be paid. If you want your own mind to assist you, it is up to you to change your internal weather system.

FROM THE AUTHOR

"Tis the season of over-indulgence & so I'd like to offer you a sample mp3 session from a program I've designed for Compulsive Shopping. Here's your opportunity to program your mind to enjoy your shopping experience, while managing those out of control emotions that tend to take over, especially during this time of year. This program also assists in managing other compulsive behaviors. The entire program is available on my websites.

Measuring Self-Pleasuring

2007-12-09T08:18:00.001-08:00

"Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it."... Thomas Jefferson

"My mind is my most important digestive organ. If I put junk food in my mind, I will be malnourished. I'm willing to let go & to make changes. It's time."....
Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Everything is about choice & that includes how we choose to pleasure ourselves, including how much! The holidays are one of those times when it's not uncommon to pull out all the stops. Unfortunately, be it shopping or any other example of over-pleasuring, the piper will be paid, be it in a larger than life credit card statement, or a larger than life Self on the scale.

Watch out for the hooks...

It's so easy to fall in love.....& with so many choices, one must be careful to look for that hook. As a clinical hypnotherapist, I work all day, removing hooks & healing the wounds. Some people are so in love with a particular brand of hook, that they actually go out to find another one just like the one that was previously removed. This can even happen before the old wounds are healed, as if the new one will help that process along.

While the love-ordained bait may change, one's hook-preference often remains the same. This is very common in the realm of addictions, be they chemical, food-related or even in relationships. Stop smoking & eat sugar. Stop drinking & drink more coffee. Cut out the coffee & increase the soda. Stop buying shoes & hang out in the book store. Divorce an abusive mate & find another one.

People find pleasure in the strangest things. One of my anorexic patients finds her joy in keeping her weight as low as possible. It doesn't seem to matter that her body is suffering & some of the damage she is causing is permanent, or is setting her up for plenty of displeasure down the road. For her, it is unacceptable to change this hook for a healthier one.

Helping this patient to move away from this pleasure-state & into something would be much more difficult without utilizing hypnotherapy. In hypnotic trance the patient's resistance & defensiveness can be lowered. Here is where the power of choice words & metaphor comes into play.

Fear of letting go the hook is always a hypnotherapeutic consideration. It's not uncommon for pleasure-words to cover this particular emotional barrier. The individual can actually set up a belief that the activity or behavior is pleasurable, when subconsciously they are simply frightened of letting go of it.

I have experienced this myself, in relation to a few of my own pleasures. Shopping was one of these. It wasn't until I self-examined my shopping behaviors & habits that I uncovered how truly tense they made me. Certainly that tension increased when my credit card arrived. Working with spending habits often opens the subconscious library for indepth personal development work. What one finds beneath the surface is often quite illuminating.

Why do so many people have unhealthy pleasures? That's a question I've often asked myself & especially when I meet up with such a vast variety of these in my office practice. An answer, or at least a partial answer, to this question can be found in lack of knowledge & practice of stress management. Take a look at how you release your stress on a given day. You will find the patterns there. Check if they are healthy or harmful. Try to be honest.

While stopping for a drink on the way home may not appear to be a big thing, check this behavior for frequency, as well as the level of desire. How would you respond if you couldn't do it anymore? I heard a lady tell her friend that she would absolutely die if she couldn't binge on popcorn in the movie theater. While that might sound like an exaggeration, this is not the first time I've heard words such as these connected to stopping a potentially harmful behavior.

So, check out your pleasures & give them the litmus test. If they need some cleaning up, decide how you will go about doing this for yourself. At the same time, make certain that you are developing new stress management techniques that will grow into healthy pleasures......if you give them a fair shot.

FROM THE AUTHOR

"Tis the season of over-indulgence & so I'd like to offer you a sample mp3 session from a program I've designed for Compulsive Shopping. Here's your opportunity to program your mind to enjoy your shopping experience, while managing those out of control emotions that tend to take over, especially during this time of year. This program also assists in managing other compulsive behaviors. The entire program is available on my websites.

Breaking Through Powerlessness

2007-12-08T10:57:00.001-08:00

Only a strong tree can stand alone...Arnold Glasow

"Yes, like a strong tree with deep roots, I remember that I am a resilient human being. I wake up to ideas of powerlessness & choose to activate my resilient bank account". ...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Related Words & Mind States - helpless, impotent, inactive, inert, passive, supine; decrepit, feeble, infirm, weak, incapable, incompetent, ineffective, unfit

Just sitting here & reading the related words to powerlessness depletes me. It's so easy to notice how powerful language can be & especially when coupled with past experiences & negative suggestions from others. It certainly isn't difficult to become self-paralyzed.

I turn on the television & see the such difficult images coming out of areas devastated by the horrific storms in India. Then I notice those individuals that are showing strength & conviction...some praying, others just waiting patiently, trusting that help will come. As difficult as it is to look at these images, they are truly empowering....I'm reminded that we get our muscle from beliefs that reside inside our selves, as well as from beliefs that reside inside others.

I read my email messages & find them filled with people feeling powerless about this, that or the other. My patient schedule for tomorrow reports the same. I look at my desk, wondering if the projects sitting there will ever be completed. What about the holidays this year. Will they be as difficult as last year? My own brand of powerless- thinking. How easy it is to be lost in this quagmire. Yes, it helps to remind myself that my life is good today. I could be spending the day standing in the heat, waiting for a bottle of water, praying for rice.

This kind of awareness works, but just for the moment.
I need something much more to nibble away at this old automatic pilot thought pattern. I take some time just for me even though my desk looms large in front of me. I've been around long enough to know how deadly powerlessness can be & so I must give the time to the priority of the moment, even though my child-self wants to do other things. Do we have any chocolate ice cream? When do we get to go home? Can we have pizza for dinner? I'll feel better if I take a nap. Can I read that catalog & order something? I don't want to go to school tonight. Perhaps just one cup of coffee?

It's not uncommon to be visited by the addictions or other stress-release mechanisms, most of which are not healthy. But when I notice their arrival, I'm even more certain that it is time to relax deeply & touch base with my inner strengths or core-Self. True, I don't live in the devastated areas, but my mind & body are responding in a sympathetic dance to the images. I can feel my own paralysis, much of which is connected to memories of when I was in very difficult situations that I perceived as helpless & hopeless.

It's no accident that I was remembering an entire decade that I lost to a chronic illness. The images were so vivid AS IF it were happening right now. I was reliving the fear of dying along with the exhaustion of living, just as if I was clinging onto anything that appeared stable. This is how the mind works & this is why it is so very important to wake-up to what's going on & to set things in better order.

One might say that it's normal to react like this. After all, these are terrible tragedies. However, I know it is better to to handle my emotions in a way that releases negative stress chemicals, for there is nothing positive about that. Then, I'm free to move into a position of strength & compassion....set for action.

We all have areas of strength located in the library of our mind. These areas were constructed right from the beginning....birth. If you have ever been witness to an actual birth, I'm sure you would agree that the infant shows incredible power & tenacity as she/he moves through the birth canal. This definitely isn't for wimps! Each & every day the infant becomes more & more resilient, surmounting all sorts of challenges from day one.

It's a good idea to think about your own resilience bank account, paying attention to all of the times you survived your experiences. Of course, all of them weren't huge like my decade long illness or being left without water or food for days on end, but they are survivals never the less & you do have a resilience bank account. This is your equity when powerlessness comes knocking at the door.

As I visit this area in my mind, I physically tune into the accumulated resilience, allowing it to enter my being. In the practice of hypnosis it is very important to foster positive, chemical changes in the body. On occasion, we may foster negative chemical changes, but only for very special reasons & never for a long period of time. For example, I can visit an experience when I made myself sick from over-eating chocolate. I may decide to visit or sense the nausea, just to wake myself up to what will happen if I do the same thing again.

Yes, this is a form of resilience & I'm sure you all have similar memories that you could choose to visit. However, stick to your positive survival power & save the negatives for when you need a shot of motivation that only that negative can provide.

Once you feel your inner strength or resilience, take it back into the moment or future-pace it. It's like a postage stamp. You can take it & place it wherever you might need it. Truly sense it in those moments. This is what people do when faced with tremendous tragedy or difficulty. They go & round up their beliefs & resilience. The affirmations go like this. As you repeat these, truly feel them entering your mind, as well as your body.....I AM. I CAN. I WILL. I DID. I AM.

FROM THE AUTHOR

The holidays can often bring out emotions that are extremely difficult, especially because they are often connected to child experiences & lost dreams. As we learn to transmute or change the more toxic emotions or patterns, the mind opens, offering all sorts of gifts....selfGIFTS. Today I'm going to offer you a sample mp3 from my collection. It's called Affirmations for Enhancing Resilience. It will help you to plant programs to help manage depression & other emotional imbalances, as well as to open your store of creativity & prosperity. I hope you enjoy it. The full program is available on my websites.

The Power of Quiet Assertiveness

2007-12-05T16:14:00.001-08:00

"Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength that will always spring up if thou wilt always look there"... Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

"There is usually no need to yell or stamp your feet. Your personal power lies in quiet assertiveness...not only with others, but within yourself as well."...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Related Emotions - emphatic, forceful, insistent, resounding

I must be developing some sort of blog-obsession. When I wake in the morning I find myself searching for my blog-subject of the day. While this is a bit annoying, I can satisfy my mind quite quickly with a quick decision. And then.....the day officially opens & I find myself changing that easily determined subject idea. I know you don't know me, but I can assure you that I'm not a flip-flopper. It's just that each day seems to have it's own the theme of the day that begs to be addressed & sometimes that need is big. It certainly was today.......& the day isn't over yet!

Usually themes really hang out. When they come to visit, they tend to stay. I'm sure you've noticed this in your own life. The theme may roll in gently OR it may arrive with a bang. This morning it was a bang. I had planned on blogging more on dreams for they are favorite subjects of mine & I've gotten fairly good at programming specific dreams, as well as remembering them in good detail. I just love writing about this part of my work, especially because I know how helpful it can be for healing & enhancing creativity. But that will have to wait for another day.

I opened the computer to begin working & decided to check my email. There it was........the theme. I opened three emails & found it smiling out at me. When you've been working in a field as long as I have, you do know when a theme has knocked at the door. This particular theme had to do with the verbal victimization of adult-children by parents or significant others & those adult-children cowering to it. For me, it is like rubbing salt in a wound.

I had to run some errands & found myself in the presence of adults with young children. There was the theme again.... only this time real children were being verbally victimized by their parents. It was like I was viewing the coming attractions to the adult-lives of the young children I was observing. How easy it is to harm a young mind & how long those programs can play out into adulthood causing all kinds of havoc. Adult-children still cowering, just like the young ones I was watching. I truly felt sick.

I went to the office & met up with a new patient. You guessed it.......the theme again. This particular patient came for weight management, but it became abundantly clear that her food bingeing was all about early verbal abuses that were never addressed & she still was accepting them, as if she didn't have a choice in the matter. While her mother, the original deliverer was deceased, she had a new deliverer, her husband. The messages were almost the same. She never learned along the way that while the doorbell may ring, one doesn't have to answer it. In addition, if there is a deliver, one doesn't have to accept the package ......unless one truly wants it.
In my experience we can all do with some assertiveness training work.

Being assertive does not mean being aggressive, although, I was just very aggressive & assertive on the phone a few minutes ago. Years ago I wouldn't have been able to do that & if I did, I'd probably be telling myself what I terrible person I am & no wonder no one liked me. Think about those mind programs! Not very healthy & certainly not very helpful.

So, this is what I help my office patients & my mp3/CD listeners to program in Interactive Self-Hypnosis...

1. We will work to enhance your ability to be assertive. Framing something as an ability says a lot to the subconscious mind. Becoming assertive is a skill that we get good at by practice. Remember, practice makes perfect....or almost.

2. We will work to enhance your ability to speak up for what you need, to speak up for what you want, to set boundaries, to learn to say now, to see yourself being in charge of the quality of your life in your mind's eye & knowing/believing that you deserve the very best.

3. We will work to enhance your inner programming to expect to receive the very best for you from others & also from yourself....& to give the very best to yourself in each moment.

4. It's important to know that defects in programming begin very early in your life & these defects have been closely tied to the development of your self-image & self-esteem. In other words, how you see yourself & feel/believe about yourself.

5. Early programming defects present false beliefs as truths, disallowing you from seeing yourself as you truly are....a human being with rights, with needs, with desires....a dignified human being harboring the rightful expectation of being treated with respect. Many people may have assisted with placing defective programs in your inner library & often this was not intentional, but actually followed their automatic behaviors that were out of balance in some way. While this isn't an excuse, knowing this can give us the power we need to change these very old programs.

In the practice of Interactive Self-Hypnosis we build new models for representing & caring for ourselves with respect & dignity. We expect this from ourselves & from others. If others miss the mark, we make it clear that this is not acceptable. We don't have to shout or get into our child-self to do this. Actually this is never a position of power. In Interactive Self-Hypnosis we are always in direct communication with the Higher Part or Mature Part of ourselves that takes charge when the going gets rough for the inner-child.

We were born alone & we will die alone. What we achieve & how we achieve it is up to us. We teach people how to treat us & it is never too late to get these lessons straight.

"I respect & honor myself. I teach others to do the same through my healthy beliefs, my healthy actions & by setting healthy boundaries." ...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

FROM THE AUTHOR

This is a very special time of year....an emotional time....& one that invites self-review. Many of us abuse others & even ourSelves without even realizing it. Old patterns seem to rise up easily during the stress of the holidays. I'd like to offer you a sample mp3 from my collection. It's called Affirmations for Becoming Assertive. It will help you to plant programs to help manage stress, as well as to stand up tall. I hope you enjoy it. The full program is available on my websites.

The Art of Self-Tweaking

2007-12-04T04:26:00.001-08:00

"Nothing is static. Everything can be made better by enhancing focus & upgrading desire."... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

It's almost that time of year when we begin to think about the New Year & what we might like to achieve. However, many of the things we want are already in process & in need of a "tweak or two."

Tweak Related Words - adjust pull off, pluck, pick off, fine-tune, pinch, nip, squeeze, tweet, twinge.

Everyone wants to progress.... that's a given, but because we have so many different areas to manage.....all containing a multitude of goals, both big & small, it's a wonder that we do as much as we do. For most areas of life & for most goals, we have a tendency to be lost in very powerful automatic pilot programs.

I was brought to this line of thinking today by a client of mine who is leaving for a trip abroad. When planning her session, I decided to help her install a subconscious mind tweaking program that would benefit the many areas we are working on together. It helps to know that when one leaves home, a large portion of automatic pilot programs get left behind as well.

Even something as mundane as brushing the teeth, takes on a new pattern. Take a moment to think about how many areas will change for my client.....you might be surprised. Those of us who work in the field of focus, flow, concentration & clarity know the value of changing.........even little things. So, when one goes abroad lots of little things will simply change. It's like a gift waiting to happen.

When old patterns are broken, even if just temporarily, creative-opportunity spaces appear. These spaces are very valuable assets & afford a perfect opportunity to revamp different areas of life that might benefit from some re-thinking or re-direction. I call this tweaking. The re-direction or re-editing can be accomplished in large or small areas.

Tweaking can be a conscious or subconscious mind activity. I personally like to explore both avenues. In the past, some of my best break-through ideas came through subconscious mind tweaking, although conscious planning also has tremendous benefits. While this is a big subject for this blog, I can certainly touch on some areas that may actually tweak your desire to learn more.

What areas are best to tweak?

I actually like to program my own subconscious mind to tweak in all major areas of my life, because I never know where the most powerful gifts are coming to come from. This is exactly what I did with my client. Break-through idea may appear small on the surface, but can have big ramifications. This happened to me when I was tweaking my food & beverage intake. I got the idea that I truly could stop drinking caffeinated coffee. While this may not sound like a big thing, trust me it was. I had been addicted to caffeine for over 30 years & so, there wasn't an area of my life that was not affected by the absence of this substance.

It is often difficult to tweak without slowing the brain waves due to mind-turbulance. I also call this run-away brain syndrome. Take a moment to tune into your own thought processes & take notice of their speed. Think of them as traffic & you might be shocked at how fast it is going. Think about catching one of those thoughts & you'll get the idea of how necessary it is to slow the brain waves.

Once the brain waves are slowed, not only can you catch the thought, but there are other benefits as well. Stress chemical production is diminished. It is then possible to access the door to the subconscious mind. This only takes about 1/200th of a second. Now you are ready to program the subconscious mind for a good tweaking session.

Here are some areas my client tweaked....

1. Weight Management - As we entered this area of her subconscious mind programs, we noticed the many different aspects of her self-discipline. Some appeared to be working quite well, others not so well. However, we asked the mind to tweak all areas, the reason being that everything can be made better. We just may not know this consciously. For imagery we utilized a laser light & focused it on food shopping, refrigerator, cupboards, exercise circuit training, walking & swimming programs & her emotional component. The process is as simple as "notice or call attention to, laser light, tweak." The subconscious mind will respond to this by sending suggestions or new action programs.

2. General Health- We separated her general health from her weight management program because we wanted her subconscious mind to highlight that important area. As we walked through her body departments, we simply "noticed, laser light & tweaked." The mind will simply produce improved self-care programs in the different areas. Perhaps some areas won't have any, but most will.

3. Relationship with Self - This is the most important relationship area & often the most ignored. My client needs lots more work in this area including building her self-image & self-esteem. As we located her different object-goals in this area, she "noticed, laser light & tweaked." These included caring for her personal needs, having fun, building interesting work, hobbies, self-thoughts, choosing more emotions that build, etc. Because this was done hypnotically, her subconscious mind will bring forth new ideas, along with the organized plans.

4. Financial - Like all of us, my client certainly needs some tweaking in the area of money management. When we are over-loaded with daily tasks, we often miss out on making corrections or building new opportunities. The subconscious mind is never too busy to work things out for us. All we need to do is ask, so we tweaked her budget, bank account, spending habits & investments. It will be interesting to see what gifts she receives in this department.

5. Home - This is a very easy area to tweak. My client & I visited all the rooms in her home, as well as her car & pool/garden, pointing the laser at all sorts of things. Her subconscious mind will send her a multitude of suggestions for making her life better in these areas. It's so common to stay on automatic pilot in relation to our home environment, for this is where we come to rest & recover from our work & social life. Whenever I tweak my home area, I find myself removing clutter & organizing areas that have been ignored for quite some time.

6. Relationships - My client has many relationships including her family & friends. It's not uncommon to take these for granted, so tweaking will usually improve their quality. My client is ready to think about some additional relationships & so we asked her subconscious mind to make a note of this & bring forth some suggestions. I won't be surprised if she begins to be more open to meeting new people.

6. Future - Tweaking the future is great fun & filled with possibilities of all kinds. This is a great opportunity to let her subconscious mind know what sorts of experiences she would like to have. We simply brought forth images & gave them a super-charged laser tweak. And, we left the following affirmation in this
area......THIS OR BETTER !

I welcome change in all areas of my life. I enjoy it. I'm ready for it. ...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Lost & Found

2007-12-02T04:21:00.000-08:00

Our eyes are not responsible when the mind does the seeing...Publius Syrus

Each of us has our own optical collection. How you us it is up to you....Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, CHt

We see things through the lenses we have collected over the years. Some were given to us by others when we were very young. As we became older we produced additional lenses from our experiences, but these often contained particles or frames from those earlier lenses.

Each day we continue to etch lenses. If we tend to be a follower, those lenses seem to appear automatically in our collection, often without even checking them out. We begin to think like those in our circle, even if this way of being is opposite to our authenic self.

This type of lense conflict often causes great stress in the mind & body, as we are pulled by the opposing forces. This is easily seen in teens & young adults who want to belong to their peer group, no matter what the cost, but still want to be close to family. You can also spot this happening when someone moves to a new job or even to a new neighborhood. It's like they are two completely different people. Pay attention to this tendency in your Self. While we all have it, what's important is the degree. Yes, we want to fit it, but no, we don't want to lose our authentic Self.

I remember looking in the mirror one day & not knowing who was looking back at me. After a moment I realized that I was looking at myself. That moment still stings me. I came to know that I truly had lost touch with me. Somewhere along the line I had grown old & so serious.

A rather peculiar thought entered my mind. When was the last time I played hop-scotch? What ever happened to my pogo-stick? Where were my skates? I don't remember making a conscious choice to rid my life of these things. When was the last time I sang out loud, just for my own enjoyment, without even thinking what other's would think? Where did that part of me go?

So, do we ever know when we are doing something for the last time? Do we take the time to honor these important aspects of our lives? Do we even consider their importance?

These thoughts began some change reaction thinking on my part, some of it a bit un-nerving. The end result was that I realized the level to which I had ignored or lost my authentic Self. Once again, how can someone not recognize their reflection in a mirror?

In my private practice I meet up with lost people every day. As my patients are telling me the complications of their situations, I can actually see the young child who became disengaged, just as I had become. When did the child despair & turn to alcohol? Why did the child stop eating healthy foods that allowed him to run so fast & jump so high? Why wasn't that important anymore? When & why did life get so heavy that the child had to run for cover? Where is the child now & what has to happen to bring the child out of hiding & to integrate with his authentic self?

Working with interactive heightened awareness & interactive self-hypnosis gives us many frames to do just this. As the body & mind relax deeply, it is easier to enter the images of the past & to reclaim the authentic child. In an earlier blog entry we did just this. But taking possession of the child, is just the beginning.

Next we must learn to love & care for our young authentic self at the deepest & most subtle levels. Besides loving & honoring, we must provide the practical things of life, including nutrition, deep relaxation, care of emotions, as well as delivering healthy, detailed images to work towards. We know these as goals. Each goal, big or small, is seen as a gift to be studied & cultivated.

In interactive imagery we can clean up the past. In a previous exercise we removed layers that had been placed by others. Now, as we stay in heightened awareness, we can easily see & sense further details, perhaps habits & behaviors that are like dirt under the fingernails. Not for our authentic self !! The more we become aware, the more power we have & as we release these seemingly small, but important specks of dirt, we are free to look at the detailed goals that we've designed as gifts for ourselves.

I keep my fingernails clean. My goals are gifts that open their details before me.... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

FROM THE AUTHOR

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my blog readers. I'd like to share a very special program with you on this special day..... it's one that will put you in touch with how your beliefs were formed & how you can choose what to keep, as well as which ones to let go.... It's called Being Authentic. The full program is available on my website. I know that many of you are already working with this program, but perhaps haven't listened in awhile. As we get ready for a New Year, this is a great time to choose the paths to follow in 2008.

Thanksgiving - A Time to Wake Up

2007-11-30T08:20:00.001-08:00

"There are 4 steps to getting well….but before climbing, you must be willing to wake up from your deep sleep and to pay close attention".... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Thanksgiving is a time when we give thanks for everything we have received..... and let the eating/stuffing begin. If you could crawl inside your body and experience the stress of over-eating and indulging in poor choices, you might think differently. Yes, Thanksgiving is only one day, but it doesn't take much awareness to know that disorderly eating and other addictions have taken a large toll on all of our lives, for under a microscope, few of us are squeeky clean. So, when you sit down on Thursday and give thanks, remember your own body and think about what you can do, not only during the holidays, but as a permanent lifestyle change. How will you give thanks to yourself?

As my gift to the followers of my blog, here is a track from one of my most popular mp3 programs, Emotional Eating. This program is also part of my Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It book/workbook & CD Series.

When I teach or write about the four steps to getting well, everyone is in a hurry to climb them, and why not. Most of us are sick and tired of our problems and we want to be free of them. Many are heavy, interfering with our life as a whole. Others prove to be an annoyance, perhaps a mystery at the same time. How is it that one can be so successful in one part of life, and be such a complete failure at things that appear so simple on the surface?

Have you ever considered that perhaps these things are not as simple as they appear? Disorderly eating and bingeing fall into this group. Addictions are the same. And to make matters even more different, your problem will not be exactly the same as that of someone else. All problems are colored by personal experience, as well as gained expertise at managing different aspects of them. We talk about our problems “as if” they were singular, but indeed, they are not. They all are all multi-faceted and here sits the reason for failure in most of us. We have a tendency to rush into solutions without first studying the facets or assessing our own strengths and weaknesses. We begin our climb far too soon, while we are still asleep. So now you are beginning to awaken. You can see the steps, but you must be patient if you want to climb well and not fall back.

I’m no different from you. I woke up many years ago, and as the days pass, I wake even more. I know what it is to binge. I know what it is to have disorderly eating & to live a life of disorder. I know what it is to feel anxiety and depression. I know what it is to have & live an addiction. I also know what it feels like to be free of all of these and what has to happen on a daily basis to earn this freedom. I also know why I have these problems and I do know that it is not my fault. And while I have no guilt or shame, I do accept that I am totally self-responsible for keeping myself healthy, at optimum health and high performance levels. I like it this way and you will as well.

Disorderly eating, addictions & binge behaviors are pervasive in our country and most other industrialized nations, so we are far from alone in having these issues. We wake up from our preoccupation with these disorders at different times of our lives. I was a long sleeper. As the decades passed, I often thought I was awake, but I wasn’t. Something always seemed to be tripping me, keeping me out of balance. I wanted to feel whole, but the brass ring on the merry go round seemed out of reach. I would wake up with good intentions, but before sunset I would take two steps backward. I remained the optimist; hopeful that I would live long enough to experience what is called optimum health and performance. One day I would be my healthy weight. One day I would be free of anxiety & panic attacks. One day I would sense my pure creativity from morning to night and know that it was mine to keep, but as the years passed, I came to doubt this would ever happen.

I was invited to my very first emotional binge eating experience at the age of 3. My father had died in an automobile accident. It was my birthday. In those years the deceased were waked or viewed from the home, and so I found my father “asleep” in the living room. I still remember everyone screaming to take me away. Whenever I asked “why he didn’t go up to bed”, someone gave me a cookie and sat me in the garden by myself to watch the birds. I don’t know how many cookies I ate that day, but this was my first remembered association of great-tasting cookies with sadness and being alone. There are times when I still can connect with that very early negative food experience.

Once an emotional food pattern is placed, the subconscious mind will look to find more opportunities for releasing stress, often choosing particular foods. These then take on the job as binge trigger foods. As years pass and more stressful situations present themselves, one can understand how very easy it is to become a disorderly or binge eater. As the child becomes become older, other addictions join in. Some children start smoking, drinking and experimenting with drugs in elementary school. In addition, children often follow the habits, behaviors or addictions of the parents. If the parents cannot teach the child to release emotions in a healthy fashion, the child is left with few options for managing their internal stress other than the addiction of choice. The purpose of the addiction is to help the child feel safe and to release the stress.

My addiction of choice was food-related, especially junk and sugar in just about any form. Regular meals held little interest for me. Healthy foods were not my first choice. To make matters worse, the more sugar I ingested, the less healthy foods I would eat. My taste buds were now programmed towards sugar and salt. My mother was busy with the many trials and tribulations of widow-hood and being a single parent in a society that, at that time, did not support this. And so, I became invisible, free to keep my disorderly eating, as long as there was still some cake for my brothers.. As the years moved along, I graduated to caffeine and smoking, then exploring diet pills with my nursing student colleagues. It was normal to skip breakfast, have a liquid diet lunch and then binge at dinner. No one thought anything about it, nor what might be happening inside our bodies and our minds. There was never a thought of a consequence, short or long term. We were totally invincible. As long as there was enough money for donuts and beer, it was a great time, or so I thought then.

My first wake-up call came in my senior year when I fainted in class. I was sent home to recover, but no one knew what I was supposed to be recovering from, not even the family physician. Stress, sugar addiction or disorderly eating was not part of the medical vocabulary.. No one ever questioned my nutritional intake, or if I was taking drugs or smoking. Looking back, I can certainly appreciate my body and mind trying to get my attention, but it would be many decades before that would come to pass. I had no idea that my body was over-producing insulin and building insulin resistance, the precursors to the major killers. I was already on the road to diabetes, heart disease and circulatory disease. I was building tendencies towards other chronic medical conditions and a compulsive personality that would come to plague me for years to come. Yet, I believed I was having a good time.

We meet helping angels along the way. Mine came in the form of my husband-to-be who insisted that I stop smoking. Although resisting every step of the way, I did so, but replaced that release mechanism with more sugar, junk and caffeine. Remember, I had never learned to release my emotions in a healthy way and so my addictions were all I had. My body was busy responding to my lack of nutrition and other negatives that were ingested everyday. The body is like a bank, busy recording and responding to both positives and negatives. In those days there was mainly a negative balance. Keep in mind that we do not sense all of these, some only presenting themselves when it is too late to change. Of course, I wasn’t awake for that gem of knowledge during those years. To quote an old saying, but appropriate nevertheless, I always wonder how different life would have been if I knew then what I know now.

Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, President & Program Designer for Sarasota Medical & Sports Hypnosis Institute located in Sarasota, FL & online at http://www.hypnosis-audio.com& http://www.sugar-addiction.com She is the author of Sugar....the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It & Beyond Disorderly Eating...The Truth About Sugar, Bingeing & How to Stop. She has also written & produced +350 audio CD's & mp3's. The websites include moderated discussion groups, ezines, library & a host of other educational tools for learning Interactive Self-Hypnosis.

Negative Speak

2007-11-29T03:59:00.001-08:00

"It's much easier to study & pick apart someone else, than oneSelf."....Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The desire to rehabilitate yourself can be very powerful & it can open doors to areas of creativity that were always there, but simply sleeping. Calls to rehabilitation can come from health concerns or an actual disease diagnosis as in the case of Deanna. Other times it can be a lack of focus, relationship problems, work issues, or a host of other areas. It can also be the final realization that what you are doing isn't working, so something has to change. You may not know what that thing is, perhaps leaving you with a feeling of frustration, despair or even fear. Do know that "something" is a big gift, even though it may be wrapped in that unapplealing or frightening gift wrap.

As the writer & deliverer of the spokenWORDS, it's important for me to remember that everyone in the Workshop came from a different direction, even if their reasons for coming appear to be the same, such as in an addiction. This is why it's so important for me to provide the words, metaphors, images & other mindWORK that will allow each individual to work independently, even though the words may be the same. Right now I'm appreciatingInteractive Self-Hypnosis because it works so well in rehabilitation.

Clarissa speaks out. "I'm overwhelmed with everything in my life & the idea that so many parts of me need to be fixed is causing physical sensations of panic."

Feeling & even being overwhelmed is a common fear that appears in this moment of awakening or pre-awakening. I'm noticing that the Workshop participants are not relaxed into their seats, looking rather like they are waiting for the opportunity to dart out of the room.

It's like each one has a large plate of pasta on their laps, the strands representing the areas of their lives, all tangled around each other. However, with pasta, no one procrastinates for long. One just digs in, usually not stopping until the plate is empty. However, when life is seen as one big plate full, it's not uncommon for the owner to freeze in fear, then to stay frozen in procrastination. It is this dangerous place that you will find a large percentage of our population. It's good to know that it is possible to break this dangerous behavior pattern & we will be doing that here.

Right now I tell the Workshop participants that they are the writers, directors & producers of their individual lives & now it's time to re-write the script.

LISTEN....

Relax into your chairs, as if they were gently holding you, like a gentle, warm parent of sorts. Snuggle down.

We all have a tendency to live on automatic pilot programs. Many of these mind programs do not reflect what we truly want, but yet most of us keep doing the same over & over. The Workshop is about breaking out of automatic pilot & then stopping to make an assessment. This is our beginning detective work.

Becoming aware, or breaking out of automatic pilot helps us to break the habit of compulsion, clearing the mind for reviewing, taking us to the area where we can choose what is best. From this position it is easier to motivate yourselves into the needed action plan for success. This can become a tall order, consideering all the areas in life that have need of rehabilitation. So, in order to accomplish this objective, you will need a very detailed program design or gestalt, formulated on living images of what you truly want to experience. You will also need an excellent action plan & most importantly, you will need a very special coach to consistently provide both inner & outer motivation.

Now, where do you find this?

Right here in the Workshop. This program is designed to provide all the tools you need for managing your life & taking it to higher planes. You are already learning these, but you are still at the beginning. Soon you will know how to wake up to small moments, to edit them & plant new directives "right in the moment."

When should you begin?

I suggest with your very next breath. I'd like you to recognize that you are on the merry-go-round of life where you are free to choose your own mindSET, just as if it were a hat sitting on your head. Take off any mindSET hat that isn't working to your benefit. Stay attentive for mindSET hats that keep you in a negative or victim frame of mind. Once you are awake with a new mindSET hat on your head, you are ready to move on to collecting the kinds of tools that you will need for daily work. This work will take you to a healthier you, both physically & emotionally. As you settle into this position, hat in place, you are ready to program your own subconscius mind for what you want. You are ready to go & get these things.

Most of you have been to the beginning goal-choice area of the Life University & perhaps have experimented with different goal facets or choices. Some of you needed help to move bigger blocks that were disallowing you from focusing on possibilities. Now, you are all ready to go back to that area. Always check your mindSET hats before working "forward." It's amazing how small, negative moodHATS can block your ability to see & sense creative possibilities.

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many ways to foster your own self-rehabilitation. There is ALWAYS room to grow. Remember, we all utilize only a fraction of our possibilities. What would your life be like IF you made the decision, right now, to utilize & to break through old barriers?

Here is a complimentary mp3 for you to experience. This is a program for moving through "resistance." I have several "resistance-breaking" programs, but for my writer friends, I'd like to share a track from Overcoming Writer's Block. This is a two-part program... You can order it on my websites.

If you would like my help in choosing the best program for you, please contact me directly.

Surviving the Teen Years

2007-11-28T04:33:00.000-08:00

"Teen years are times for hormones, growth & change, so it's not uncommon to find many disorderly eaters still locked in the emotions & behaviors found in this area of their memory bank. One doesn't have to look far to find these. As you visit your inner time line, notice if you can recognize any part of your self that has been carried over to your current adult!"... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The workshop I presented last night was quite interesting in this regard. I asked Jennifer to attend because she has been working so diligently with interactive self-hypnosis & automatic journaling to uncover her earlier childhood patterns. I wanted to give her progress a boost by helping her explore some of her teen experiences. As I've come to know more of her childhood drama, I felt fairly certain that she would uncover the source of her rebellious nature in her teen years. This would be very important for her because it is that very rebellion that is getting in her way to better manage her compulsive & emotional eating issues.

MIND EXERCISE

I'd like you to relax deeply into the moment. You are all familiar with this exercise, but this time I'd like you to deepen your relaxation a bit further. Close your eyes lightly at the lids & move your eyes to the right..... to the left.....up slightly.....& now down slightly.....& back to the slightly up position. Leave them in this comfortable slightly up position, as you sense magnets pulling you down gently into the chair. Locate your mind screen & place a golden frame around it.

Notice you are in the library of your mind. Your subconscious mind librarian is over there & you are visiting the pre-teen & teen areas of your library shelves. Notice that there are many books & video programs here, all available to you for past-editing & future-pacing. Notice how relaxed you are about working in this particular area.

Now take your teen health book off the library shelf & open to the early teen pages. Begin reviewing your history as in your childhood book. Revisit your body through mental biofeedback. Notice you stay in your adult mature Self while visiting your teen body & mind. Look at the complete you. Without judging, choose to pay close attention to the details of the complete you. If you find this difficult, you might like to encircle the complete you with compassion for your Self. Lots of self-image & self-esteem issues can live here, in fact many originating here. Keep in mind that you are the non-judging, adult-mature visitor who's sole purpose is to nurture & assist this part of yourSelf to heal beliefs or behaviors that are getting in your way.

You might like to open these files & relax into them before editing.. I suggest you take a few moments to re-introduce yourself to the teen Self on the screen. No need to rush.. Remember, it's been a long time since your last visit. Your teen Self has much to share with you & will be willing to do so as long as you are non-judgmental. Indicate that you care deeply about helping & making things better. While you are on a fact-finding mission, if you feel that the time is right, gently point out what your mature-adult Self would like to change & why. Invite your subconscious librarian to gift you with further information. You can work with your automatic writing journal or self-speak your interview.

JENNIFER'S INPUT

I can understand that my behaviors could be carried forward, but what about my food choices during those years. Are they responsible in any way for my out of control desire to eat sugar & junk foods?

Whenever we eat something our body responds to it. Food preferences definitely have emotionalized memories attached. Even the way something is prepared can change our inner programming & either desire or dislike. Think about hot dogs at a baseball game, hot chocolate after ice skating, milk shakes at the corner hangout, etc. These memories are not just about the food. In fact, you might not even like those foods anymore or perhaps you didn't like them then, but it was the whole experience.

In stress-eating, we are often trying to get back those feelings & to feel those times again. When doing your assessment work, observe that you can revisit your “memory feelings”. Your memories have chemical codes on them & when you recall a memory, you also recall the chemical code. Later on you will learn about how these codes connect to your perception, & how you can change them to benefit yourself. So, you will be able to dissect the chemical code for the milkshake experience without the calories. As you master interactive self-hypnosis, you can even attach that chemical code to a healthier choice.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR INNER-TEEN SELF

Take some time to go over these questions, preferably through automatic writing. Allow you pen just to flow on the page as you get out of your own judgemental way.

What was your perception of yourself when you were a teen? Did it remain the same through your teen years, or was there a change somewhere?
Looking at it from where you stand now, was your perception based on true facts or was it a false image?
What messages or beliefs were fed to you by others?
Were you involved in any addictions such as smoking or drinking?

Notice if there are any meaningful doctor visits or surgery & if so, spend some time relaxing into those files to see if any messages come forward from your subconscious mind. If you are a woman, look at the information concerning your menses. Did you have any difficulties such as PMS or irregular periods?

Now, go to visit the nutritional areas including regular meals, school eating, social eating & family preferences, as well as behaviors at meal times. Spend some time studying the details of the pictures, one by one.

Were you over-weight or did you believe you were?
Were you involved in bingeing or any other compulsive or emotional disorderly eating?
Any secret eating?
What were your favorite foods?
What about beverages? Have a look at sweetened drinks such as soda, also keeping your eyes out for artificial sweeteners.
Did you participate in meal planning or cooking?
Did your family eat together at a table, or did you eat alone or in front of the television?
Were mealtimes happy or stressed?
Did you use food as a stress-releaser?
Were there any rituals around this such as hidden or middle of the night eating?

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

As you self-explore different areas on your time-line, you will find specific knowledge to take forward into your current & future life. Here's a few of these....

Aside from emotional programming, there is the physiological responses. We get immediate feed-back to foods & beverages that can be positive or negative. Then there is habit building & the related outcomes. If you ate poorly for months at a time, of course the body will have specific outcomes related to that. This is seen clearly in yo-yo weight gain. You may not gain the weight over-night, but you do gain it. There are also other changes besides this that are happening. Chronic diseases do not happen over night. This is another example of long-term outcomes, so important to understand that your daily actions do matter.

This blog is the workshop for thoughtWARE Books. The series includes Help.....My Life is Killing Me - Lifestyle Change Made Easy, Beyond Disorderly Eating & Bingeing, Holistic Weight Loss , Sugar....the Hidden Addiction, Nail Biting & Skin Picking & Small Change - The Power of Interactive Self-Hypnosis. At the present time I am seeking an agent and/or publisher.
FROM THE AUTHOR

Here is a complimentary mp3 for you to experience. The name of the program is Serious Goal Building. It is Part 1 of a 4 Part Program that is available on my websites.

Plan...Organize...Activate...Motivate

2007-11-26T07:45:00.001-08:00

"We learn best by our willingness to look deeply into the subject at hand & then asking questions about one facet or another. As an answer comes forward, be willing to entertain it, once again looking deeply into it's core, for that is where the magic is located. And then, be open to questioning the answer"...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Self-hypnosis Audio Programs help to you to program your own mind quickly & effectively. They also give you the opportunity to work with inner-questioning of your own subconscious mind. I'm happy to share some complimentary mp3 downloads with you. Each is a full interactive self-hypnosis session. Current ones include...

Serious Goal Building &
Inner Organization
Goal Achieving with Affirmations

DESIGNING & WORKING INSIDE THE MINDBODY HEALTH GARDEN

The health of trees depends on the quality of the roots. These are fed & cared for over a period of years, often decades & even centuries. This is a good metaphor for our own mind & body & so the next area we will enter is the Mind & Body Health Goal Garden. This is the biggest garden on the path & rightly so. Health & proper care & consideration for each body department is connected to high level health, performance & goal achievement in all other areas in life. In other words, your health is everything.

What's fascinating to me is how little people know or even think about the many different body departments, unless there is one that is screaming out for some reason. Most people sit back & take the different departments for granted & never considering that a part of the body may be suffering in some way & perhaps getting ready for a break-down. Keep in mind, that break-downs can be very serious, taking one down the path towards becoming a "statistic."

There are only two directions to travel in this life. One goes towards illness & death & the other towards wellness & health. Keep in mind that even when one has a chronic or life-threatening disease, one can go towards the highest level of wellness while still managing that disease. It is your self-responsibility to perform the highest level of care to each body department & in so doing, you will be assisting those departments that are fighting any disease. As long as you are alive & willing to be an active participant in your own life, there is possibility for healing.

Over-arching Goal Umbrella

You already know that it is important to design an over-arching goal for each separate garden on your goal-den path. Keep in mind that the mind & body health garden is the most important garden. It contains plants representing each separate body part, as well as departments or system groups. For example, the stomach is a part of the digestive system. It needs to be cared for as a singular organ BUT it interplays continually with it's SYSTEM buddies including the small & large intestines, the esophagus, gallbladder, etc. The pancreas is a separate part BUT interplays with the gastrointestinal system & it's own endocrine SYSTEM.

It helps to impress on yourself that all body part & system plants are connected by an underground root system. This is a self-hypnotic suggestion & each time you think in this way, a matching thought or image will appear & then etch on your mind screen. Simple images such as this can be very effective in motivating change. Another powerful subconscious mind suggestion is that the stronger support the weaker, so if there is a break-down in any part or system, it is very important to pay extra-ordinary attention & care to ALL parts.

Think logically for a moment. Suppose you are in a weakened condition & NEED help from stronger allies. Would you, or would you not make certain that your allies had everything they needed so they would be able to tend to your needs? The body is no different.

The body parts/systems need high level nutrition that is specifically designed to meet your specific mind & body needs. This includes understanding your family & personal medical history, knowing the size of your lean body mass, while taking into careful consideration your exercise, activity & emotional/physical stress levels. Besides the nutritional component, your body parts & departments also need a powerful stress management program that turns off the production of stress chemicals while producing healing chemicals. You will also benefit from resetting your "normal stress level" & your internal system that announces the arrival of stress that places the body & mind at risk. Truth be known, most of us don't pay attention to body signals alerting us to trouble & so we need to correct that. You will learn to do this with interactive self-hypnosis.

SETTING OVER-ARCHING GOALS

Setting over-arching goals is not difficult once you get the hang of it. I like to pretend that I'm writing a short, but detailed letter to my-SELF, describing how things are going. I may point to some specific goals, but not all of them. The umbrella is like an over-all "flavor." It is always positive & affirming. No negatives or weeds are ever found in this area.

Here's an example of my over-arching goal umbrella goal for my mind & body health garden. I start by labeling the garden & drawing or thinking an active image or mind-video that represents this area. This focus tool or containment helps my subconscious mind to center & to work along with me. I then write a letter to my Self, describing my ideal mind & body state, just as if I already had everything I could possible want. The subconscious mind works backwards. As these word-images are etched deeper & deeper into the mind, the ways for achieving these will be forthcoming. As I re-read my letter to my-SELF each day, the suggestions will further etch & my inner mind will bring forth new suggestions & actions automatically. These will point me in the direction that I have outlined. I will begin to receive, as well as find things in my daily experiences that MATCH or support my goal images. My subconscious mind will also scan my inner files & present supporting files from the past that will also assist me.

Dear Self,

I'm happy to report how well I'm doing with managing my body & also my mind. I now understand how everything is connected. I'm eating correctly for the needs of my body. The little mistakes I had been making have been corrected & now I understand how connected these were to my physical & emotional well-being. You can see from my photo that I am at my ideal body fat percentage & have lots of energy. I have fun each day doing the things I need to do to stay at this high level of health & performance. I'm happy & in charge of my life & outcomes. I love being in charge!! I am the writer, director & producer of my life. I uncover new ways to make things even better. I love being free of medication & having positive thoughts & conversations with myself. My creativity is showing itself more frequently. Everything has come together for me.

Looking underneath the umbrella - Once the umbrella has been designed, it is time to set individual goals. You will also want to, identify emotions & old patterns that may be interfering with what you want. You also have emotions & old patterns that can be helpful. It's rather like cleaning the attic. While you have these things available, you may not be aware, especially of the helpful ones. In fact, you might be seeing everything through a negative lens. If this is so, you will be programming your mind for what you don't want. It's much easier to understand now how heightened awareness & label-pinpointing are KEY to your positive mind programming.

SELF-DISCUSSION & JOURNALING WORK

Here are some of my goals in this garden. I suggest that you follow my outline below & utilizing your journal for setting up your individual goals in this very important area.

A. Individual Goals

Improve daily nutritional intake & choices to counter-act boredom.
Remove caffeine completely.
Drink 8+ glasses of water.
Introduce green tea & research it's benefits.
Hypnotically "contain" favorite food choices - once per week.
Remove alcohol completely.
Add more green vegetables to dinner.
Teeth - professional cleaning every 3 months.
Floss after meals.
Exercise 4 times per week - mornings.
Meditate each morning & "bank meditation" during day.
Practice emotional management daily.
Place new affirmations in this area by way of my journal.
Reward myself daily in some small, but meaningful way.

Remember, I'm the writer, director & producer of my life.

Your work...................

B. Positive Emotions & Patterns to Enhance:
These are some positive emotions that I already have in mind-storage that will add great fertilizer to this area.

Hot desire
Confidence
Wisdom
Knowledge
Peace
Forgiveness
Compassion
Release & letting go
Gratitude

Your work...................

C. Beliefs to Enhance
Here are a few beliefs to plant here. These are affirmations that I already have in mind-storage. When planting affirmations, relax deeply into the moment, tilt your eyes up gently, see & sense an emotionalized image that matches the words.

I'm the writer, director & producer of my life.
Moments count & add up !
I'm in charge.
I am.

Your work...................

In the next blog/workshop I'll be addressing negative emotions & patterns that need diminishing in this particular area of my life. It is tremendously beneficial to get to know your dark side & the emotions you tend to go towards. Remember that you can only change what you can see.

FROM THE AUTHOR

Here is a complimentary mp3 for you to experience. The name of the program is Serious Goal Building. It is Part 1 of a 4 Part Program that is available on my websites.

Nutrition - The Early Years

2007-11-25T04:12:00.000-08:00

"The number of individuals with disorderly eating issues is staggering. While there are statistics for anorexia & bulimia, there are none for the myraid of eating disorder patterns that lead to adult onset diabetes & other killer diseases, as well as to addictions.

And while it's not just about food or beverage consumption, it is much easier to locate the disorderly eating patterns that connect to addictions, be it smoking, alcohol, drugs, caffeine, sugar or high carbohydrate intake. My years of research show that many of these originated in childhood & so this is where they need to be addressed".... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

I'm currently working with Jennifer who has a stress-related compulsive & emotional eating disorder that is interfering with her current health & emotional well-being. She is also a secret eater & has hidden her involvement with these behaviors since she was a child. So besides her health issues, this is also playing havoc with her self-image & self-esteem.

Earlier on, Jennifer came to understand that in order for her to change her many destructive patterns, it was best for her to return to her childhood source.......traveling as a mature adult with the express desire to understand & then to gift healing & power to her child-Self. She went prepared with a list of questions for her subconscious mind...

Here's Jennifers first experience with this type of self-exploration...

In the past my mind was always too busy to focus in this way. I've always felt obstructed by my guilt & shame, especially around my food issues. Just knowing how to stay in my mature adult position was empowering & rewarding to me. I loved the way that felt. As I sat quietly & watched the pictures of my younger self on my mind screen, I could feel compassion, not only for myself, but for the situation in general. I was so little & had no power over what was going on. My father had died when I was three, leaving my mother to raise my two brothers & myself. The household was happy on the surface, but it appeared as if we were play-acting. My mother worked & when at home she was very busy. This was when my bingeing & secret eating began. No one really paid attention to what I was doing & so I had my own secret life that served as a haven for my lonliness & powerlessness. I can appreciate that I needed that then, but I realize that I don't need it anymore. I also understand that I can edit those early memories & bring closure to some of the pain my child suffered, simply by self-mothering her. I look forward to doing this.

Just like a puzzle has many pieces, emotional & compulsive eating behaviors have many facets that need to be addressed by relaxing deeply & then asking the right questions. Self-hypnosis allows us to do this while staying in our mature, adult Self position. This is called detachment. While some individuals prefer to do this exploration with a therapist, especially if there is deep abuse, the majority of us can do this level of inner work quite easily & with no negative repercussions. In fact, for most the results are just the opposite, just as in the case of Jennifer who felt empowered in situations that she had uncomfortably repressed for so long.

JENNIFER CONTINUES HER INNER WORK...

I'd like you to open your subconscious mind book to the nutritional area. This is where all of your early eating behaviors are noted. For those of you who are reading, you might like to read this paragraph first & then go deeper down into relaxation before inner exploring with Jennifer. Notice if you were breast- fed or bottle fed. Once you were weaned look at the following areas in ascending years of your life. Notice your family at dinner & the kinds of foods you were offered. See this as a toddler, & then early childhood to middle & late childhood. If nothing comes forward simply relax deeper into the picture. You may get the answers now, or later, but they will come. When we bring a picture up on our mind screen & then relax into it, the subconscious mind will add more detail. You may be surprised at what is served to you!

Also look to notice the ongoing attitudes during meal times.
Were they quiet or noisy?
Was the atmosphere friendly, loving or stress-filled? What else can you see or intuit here?
What were your favorite meal- time foods?
Can you taste them now?
How about snacks?
Were there lots of starches & sugars?
Were snacks controlled or did you have the open cupboard policy?
What sorts of beverages were offered?
Be sure to visit many different years in your life to get a good over-view.

If there were major stress events such as divorce, illness, deaths, view these separately. This will give you good insight as to how your family handled food in relation to stress. You might see where some of your early stressful eating was born. Once this is clear, you can edit these subconscious programs later on with interactive self-hypnosis.

If you were the Producer/Director of any of these memories or mind- scenes you are exploring, is there anything you would change? How would you edit it? Be very specific. Mind-editing is a positive experience. Even through you remember something happening in a particular way, remember this only a perception & therefore it can be changed.

Even if you are quite sure that it happened in the way you remember, you mind files will still benefit from editing. The reason for this is that memory files are coded with chemical emotion & if the chemical emotions do not work in your behalf, mind-editing gives you the opportunity to change this coding. What a great gift to yourself!

Practice with one memory. Just as if you were looking a page in your file that holds this memory, go ahead & re-write it. Perhaps you will diminish some of the emotions, or see your baby as very strong….. super baby! Even though you are planting fiction, & in this instance very humorous fiction, the subconscious mind will love it & the re-editing will be successful. This particular memory now has a healthier emotional code.

JENNIFER...

I'd like to give myself some new memories, especially when I was about seven. For some reason my disorderly eating accelerated in those years. While I'd like to find out more about that, right now I'd like to gift that particular child.

Jennifer can relax deeply into the moment & return to her mature, adult self. On the mind screen she can bring forth her seven year old child & image her opening presents chosen to heal & empower the child in some way. I'm going to suggest that Jennifer give her pictures of her mature, adult self, letting the child know that "everything turned out just right." Perhaps another gift could be an audio tape of soothing affirmations in the voice of her mature, adult self. Notice the child relaxing & practicing healthy eating behaviors. Remember, the subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between what is real & what is made up.

This blog is the workshop for thoughtWARE Books. The series includes Help.....My Life is Killing Me - Lifestyle Change Made Easy, Beyond Disorderly Eating & Bingeing, Holistic Weight Loss , Sugar....the Hidden Addiction, Nail Biting & Skin Picking & Small Change - The Power of Interactive Self-Hypnosis. At the present time I am seeking an agent and/or publisher.

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds.

Here is a complimentary mp3 for you to experience. The name of the program is Inviting Change. This is one full session from a 3 part program that is available on my websites. If you would like me to help you choose a program to meet your specific needs, please write to me.

The Subconscious Mind Assistants

2007-11-24T12:26:00.001-08:00

Automatic programming is continually taking place, & so we need to call on "inner mind assistants" to help us through this very important work... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Help.....My Life is Killing Me! is a practical how to book focused on healing & managing the huge number of out of control lives that are rapidly going towards chronic & killer diseases, as well as emotional breakdown. Follow along as I write this book, based on my decades of work with patients, employees, employers, as well as clients in my office & workshops....

MIND EXERCISE

Here we are working with specific mind images for inner organization, emotional & thought management. Relax into the moment....taking your time to do so. Remember you don't have to be in deep trance to work hypnotically, but the more relaxed you are the better, especially in the beginning. As you practice more & more, it will be easier to enter the subconscious mind quickly. Competitive athletes are good examples of individuals who do this all the time. It's called the "mind game."

After reading this, I'd like you to close your eyes gently, tilting them up about 20 degrees. There is your mind screen. And now, I'd like you to develop an image of your subconscious mind librarian or inner assistant. Both are great images & work very well here in the thoughtWARE workshop, as well as in active life. This assistant will be your first line of command in asking for what you want & need in any given moment.

LISTEN CAREFULLY...

Thoughts, mind pictures & inner radio that play continually form directives or orders in your conscious mind. In hypnosis these are called suggestions. Some of these are useful to you & others are not. Some are related to current work & others are not. Your inner assistant will help to keep inner order based on your specific requests. Keep in mind that your subconscious filing cabinet is huge. Besides your automatic programs, you have an unlimited number of choices that may be better suited to meeting your needs in any particular situation. Your assistant can bring these to your attention if you give directives for that. In your work here, you will learn how to wake up, assess what’s playing & make a program switch if appropriate.

As you learn your way around your “inner filing cabinet & subconscious library” you will find many different kinds of files that can be utilized to meet your needs. Here among other things you will find past experience files, as well as future files that haven't even happened yet. With a little practice will be able to see how these connect with your belief systems & effect current daily health patterns.

Once again, you may find some to be helpful, but others may actually be blocking current goals. This holds true for past experiences or beliefs, as well as those you may have already placed in future files. This is called future pacing & can work for you or against you. Later on in the thoughtWARE Workshop, you will find an entire chapter dedicated to working with your past & future time-line.

The subconscious mind library is vast & filled with tremendous resources, ready for you to access when you know how to do so. As you are well aware, everything is not positive, but do know that everything is useful. Interactive self-hypnosis will help you to disassociate & to enter your editing mind-set. You are now ready to become the writer, director & producer of your life. As you become better & better at becoming aware, locating areas for re-programming & having your desires designed in the special image & emotional format that is clearly understood by your subconscious mind, you are ready to change course, right in the moment.

LEARNING WITH OTHERS...

I invite you to look over my shoulder, as I help workshop participants & clients in my office. This will give you an opportunity to see the above learning in action.

John: I think I understand what is past & what is not. I'm quite clear about what I don't want. Why doesn’t my subconscious mind know the difference & respect this?

Remember the earlier Workshop entries on Brain Cloud? John doesn't seem to be aware of his responsibility in forming his Brain Cloud from the images he plays in his mind. He is also not aware of the personal power he has in respect to what he is currently experiencing in his life.

The subconscious mind does not judge & simply takes the most current mind pictures as the goal.. Like radar, it attracts like experiences from the outside world & also from the subconscious mind library. This is goal reinforcement. The more frequently you play a particular mind program, whether you want it or not, the stronger the mind etching. This is how habits & fully-designed negative mind programs are constructed.

Let's go ahead & design an automatic mind program that will pre-instruct your subconscious mind to diminish a negative thought & replace it with a positive- goal-orientated program. This will all be orchestrated under the direction of your Inner Assistant or Coach.

Relax deeply into the moment....take your time. Locate your mind screen & place an image of something you don't want on the screen. Now dim it, just as if you turned the lights off. You can also diminish it........shrink it way back until it completely disappears. The mind screen is clear now, waiting for an active image of what you do want. Make it truly great & infuse it with positive excitement & expectation. Notice your "inner assistant" is making notes about this re-programming. Ask your "assistant" to find any & all similar programs & do the same.

John's mind programs are quite negative & have come to readily infect other areas of his life. A good example is his problem with boredom. He was actually surprised to identify this negative mind-state , because his job has some exciting aspects. But not all aspects were exciting. There is no job that I know about that is completely free of drudgery. As John investigated his work-related-boredom on his mind-screen, from the position of an "interested observer", he admitted through a veil of shame that he was also bored with fathering, being a husband, a neighbor & even sometimes being a friend. He feels so bad that in his own words, he feels like running away.

John needs to work within these images....diminishing what he doesn't want & editing-in what he prefers, even though these things are not happening right now. Remember, the subconscious mind does not know the difference between imagination & reality & so it will take the new "emotionalized images" & develop an action plan for bringing them to John's reality. John will also ask his "inner assistants" to keep him aware of old behaviors & patterns, so he can bring them to his mind-screen & then edit them.

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds.

Here is a complimentary mp3 for you to experience. The name of the program is Inviting Change. This is one full session from a 3 part program that is available on my websites. If you would like me to help you choose a program to meet your specific needs, please write to me.

Preparing for Change

2007-11-22T13:50:00.001-08:00

"We all want everything yesterday, but champions are not made like that. Every moment in a championship performance contains thousands of knowledge-gathering & practice moments. It's the same for lifestyle change & self-rehabilitation. Short-cuts simply don't make a champion".... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

What is it about not wanting to do the work necessary to achieve? Yesterday I met Jane, a 30-something professional with a rather serious alcohol problem. It didn't take long for her to get into denial, despite the fact she sought my help. While this may sound incongruous, it's quite common. The belief goes something like this.... "If I seek help & it doesn't work, then at least I tried." This is a door-knob or escape technique, taking the individual back to addiction "jail."

It's seems so much easier to stick one's head in the sand & ignore reality. Yes, it does take work to change lifestyle behaviors & to break old patterns that take one down roads that are potentially dangerous. My take on this, is "either you do or you don't & no matter what you do or don't do, you will be getting outcomes.

The severity of the outcomes will depend on where you've been, where you are & where you have chosen to go. For Jane, the outcomes are going to be quite severe unless she chooses to awaken. For some reason, younger adults seem to think they can wait to employ change. This is a very dangerous belief & sets the stage for all kinds of trouble. For Jane, this could mean severe damage to many different organs in her body. Jane's reaction to this was "it's just wine." Just another attempt to deny & grab the door-knob.

SO WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO?

For Jane, this is about much more than putting down the bottle. Careful observation told me that her wine drinking was connected to a low self-esteem, self-image & lack of maturity. She was totally disconnected to her authentic self, therefore not allowing her to manage incoming stress in a healthy fashion. Work with Jane is going to involve rescue & rehabilitation of her true Self.....not a journey for weaklings.

The basic tool Jane & I will utilize is called Interactive Heightened Awareness. It involves becoming very aware of specific behaviors & the emotions that are coloring them. Jane cannot change what she isn't willing to see, or what she can't see at all. Many of her behaviors & emotional reactions are very ingrained, although she may know them as part of her personality or "just the way she is". These behaviors may or may not be perfectly fine. Rule of thumb.....if they are interfering with quality of life experience & health, they need to go or to be changed.

Most of us are bogged down with behaviors & emotions that work against us. Some are hidden & some we hide from because it just seems easier to do that. You don't have to look far to know how true this is. It's easier to see this in others, so try to notice what you criticize in others. More than likely this is your own short-fall.

GETTING TO KNOW YOURSELF - THE POWER OF PERSONAL ASSESSMENT

Take a moment to deeply relax & just as if you were looking in a big filing cabinet, find the folder that contains your current lifestyle patterns. As your mind scans the material, notice that some appear familiar, but others may not be quite so clear. While you think you know yourself & how you spend your time, you are about to find out that you know less about yourself than you thought. That is because a good part of your day is spent in a very limited conscious state known as low-level awareness, or automatic pilot I call this is day-sleep walking, a form of automatic self-hypnosis.

It is difficult to honestly see oneself & even more difficult when one doesn't know what to look for when looking in the self-disclosure-mirror. This is where the power of personal assessment comes to help & guide you.

Let's practice some self-exploration. You already know that most of your mind programs are automatic & well-woven into the fabric of your life. The subconscious mind is available to help you wake up, but you are going to need to know how to communicate very specifically concerning what you truly want & for this you will need special data collection. Once you have the information or data, then you will be free to examine it carefully without judgment & then to decide if you would like to change or mind-edit this information before returning it to your subconscious mind library.

Even though you may think that you know everything you need to know to make changes in your lifestyle behaviors, most likely you do not. Like the octopus, the head of the behavior may be above water, but the tentacles or roots of the behavior are below the surface. We sense these as blocks, resistance or procrastination. We want to change & know what needs to change, or so we think & then we simply can't move, just as if our feet were sitting in tar or cement.

So you will be needing additional information that may not be in your current memory bank, but waiting for you in your subconscious mind library & you will have to ask directly for this information. Some of these things will pertain to your family of origin, as well as from your own health, emotional & behavioral history starting from the time you were an infant & up through this very moment.

You will also be reclaiming memory files about your beliefs, how you got them & whether or not they are blocking your current progress. Beliefs are like coats, many of which were placed on you when you were a child or perhaps unaware as an adult. Some may have been forced on you by someone who appeared stronger than you in that moment. But that was then & now is now. You are taking back your personal power & ownership of only the beliefs you choose to wear at this moment in time.

You will be guiding yourself with images of what you do want. That is why we must spend time in thinking about this. It's important to review your life & notice the areas, both big & small that do not reflect what you want & also to notice areas that do reflect those positive aspects. They need to be divided, just as if you were cleaning & clearing your home. When you have accomplished this, you can enter any area of your Inner Library & start inner exploring. The lights will go on & it will easier to see in the corners of your belief closet & the past experiences that are connected to these.

When your Inner Librarian or Coach spots something that may be of interest for a self-review, you will find yourself receiving the message. This is rather like having a wonderful personal assistant who is completely attuned with you.

The library of your mind is vast. You began collecting subconscious experiences & corresponding belief coats in the beginning of your life, even though you cannot consciously remember these. All coats & experiences, old or new, big or small can hold important information & keys to your success, as well as reasons for past failures. You may have a desire or tendency to rush through this kind of self-detective work. Perhaps you even recognize this as a past behavioral trait of yours. This is a good example of Heightened Awareness. You may have uncovered an unhealthy source that leads to procrastinating or self-blocking. When you spot these tendencies, pretend that they are colored child-blocks, labeled with their name. Place them in a pile over there.

While it's just fine to read through the thoughtWARE Book material to become familiar, don't fall into the trap of hurrying & not doing the detailed detective work. You will be cheating yourself & taking away from the quality of what you are capable of doing, perhaps even taking you down past roads of failure.

There is no easy road when looking to achieve high level health & optimum performance. If it were, more people would be experiencing it. thoughtWARE Books offer you the opportunity to see & address your short & long falls, as well as your potential. As you build your commitment to this self-development work, you probably will want to review this area more than once so as to build on the already presented memories.

You probably know plenty of people who want to change something, but simply can’t figure out how or when to get started. Somehow it never seems to be the right time. Excuses abound that keep them engaged in procrastination. Perhaps you have had this personal experience & are wondering right in this moment if you can do this. This is another colored child-block called "doubt". It usually accompanies "lack of self-confidence."

Do know that this time it will be different than before, because I’m going to help you get started & find your balance. In fact, you are already in the process because you are reading this workshop blog. It’s said that when a rubber band is stretched, it never returns to it’s original position, & so with reading material such as this. The actual process of reading engages your right brain, or subconscious mind & so inner motivators are already etching. Notice if you can sense them.

Throughout this inner detective work you will be activating the different areas with a light application of Interactive Self-Hypnosis. Managing health issues, addictions or getting to the heart of any problem involves the act of beginning. You must commit & step onto the merry-go-round of life. Life does not stand & still & wait for you. So reach out & grab on to the golden ring.

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds.

Here is a complimentary mp3 for you to experience. The name of the program is Inviting Change. This is one full session from a 3 part program that is available on my websites.

The Creative Body Connection

2007-11-20T06:55:00.001-08:00

"No matter what it is you that want to change, be it physical, emotional or outside goal-related, you need to know where you are "currently" in relation to your body. In creative constructive hypnosis we come to understand the power of the physical body, it's emotional energy & how it can be transmuted, not only to heal, but to completely transform a seemingly unrelated goal".....Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Help.....My Life is Killing Me! is a practical how to book focused on healing & managing out of control lives that are rapidly going towards chronic & killer diseases, as well as emotional breakdown. Follow along as I write this book, based on my decades of work with patients, employees, employers, as well as clients in my office & workshops....

Today I'm working with Jennifer who has been a compulsive & emotional eater since childhood. Because of this, her self-esteem is low, disallowing her to even imagine her life-goals. As far as Jennifer is concerned, her life is all about trying to manage her compulsions.

In addition, Jennifer is totally out of touch with her body sensations. I ask her about her hunger levels & she tells me that she never feels hungry....eating just out of habit or in response to some emotion. When I enquire about the emotions, she simply tells me she is stressed-out. This lack of definition smacks of blocking or denial.

Jennifer's problems could also stem from a lack of knowledge & so my job will be to design some specific imagery to help her identify her patterns & emotions without feeling judged by me or by herself. This type of imagery cuts down on the time Jennifer will have to spend in therapy. If she were reading the book I'm writing, more than likely she would be able to help herself at this juncture because of the type of explanation & exercises I'll be presenting.

LET'S BEGIN TO SET THIS UP FOR HER...

Jennifer, the skills you will be building here include mental biofeedback, body scanning & of course the major tools for inner exploration, that of interactive self-hypnosis. Later on you will be reading more about these tools in their specific chapters, but for now you can work at the level where you are currently.

MIND EXERCISE

Starting at the top of your head slowly scan down your body, just as if you had one of those airport hand scanners. You might inwardly view your head as one unit, simply noticing your eyes, nose, ears, skin, mouth & certainly your teeth & gums. Going further down mentally visit your neck, go inward to your voice box & down into your lungs both right & left. Your only work is to mentally notice these areas & simply observe that they are there.

Mentally locate your esophagus, the long tube that travels to your stomach, enter that area & include your gallbladder, liver, pancreas & down into your intestinal tracts to your rectum. If you don’t know where some of these parts reside in your body, it’s a good idea to find out. This is quite easy to do in the local library or online.

Take some time to renew your friendship with your heart & circulatory system, as well as your reproductive, skeletal, urinary, endocrine systems & total skin areas.

Just as you would review a used car before purchasing, be honest in your self-appraisal. This honesty will re-pay you handsome dividends in the future. Make some notes on your current physical status. You will be setting goals in all these areas later on, but if your subconscious mind has something to say right now, do pay attention. Make some notes about what your body has to communicate to you, right now in this moment in time.

Jennifer, now I'd like you to locate your mind-screen & to place an image of you looking very healthy & relaxed. Pay attention to the details. How are you standing or sitting? Look at the position your arms & legs. Focus on your eyes & facial structure. All relaxed & healthy. Now place a gold frame around this image. You are now placing a new mind program into your subconscious mind. This image will instruct your mind to take you towards this body & mind state.

Eating disorders, faulty nutrition & sugar addiction in particular cause quite a bit of food stress in both the mind & body. You may have already received messages from particular body departments. Some common ones include gastrointestinal ailments, headaches, fatigue, etc.

But other areas also carry the burden of food stress. As you renew your communication with them through Interactive Self-Hypnosis, you will be able to spot where your food stress areas are located.

You will be working with mental biofeedback & body scanning throughout this entire program. Each day you will be spotting & releasing tension areas both consciously & subconsciously. Don't be surprised if someone tells you how relaxed you appear to be, even if you haven't noticed anything in particular yourself.

JENNIFER'S COMMENTS

I've never thought about my body in this way. I only pay attention to body sensations when they scream at me....mostly pain or tightness in my neck & shoulders. It never occurred to me that the way I eat, or don't eat, could effect the way my body feels. Of course, I understand indigestion, but that is directly related to my intake. As I scanned my body I could feel tension in just about every area. In a way this frightened me. Why couldn't I feel this before? Am I so lost in my automatic pilot programs that my body can't get my attention? That is certainly something I want to change.

The body scan has opened Jennifer's eyes to some very important areas that do need to be changed. The more she practices this, the more stress she will be able to release. After awhile, her mind & body connection will do this automatically, resulting in a higher level of energy.

Release is a powerful tool, leaving energy that can be applied to other life goals. It is a major key to high level health & achievement & one that few people utilize.

This blog is the workshop for thoughtWARE Books. The series includes Help.....My Life is Killing Me - Lifestyle Change Made Easy, Beyond Disorderly Eating & Bingeing, Holistic Weight Loss , Sugar....the Hidden Addiction, Nail Biting & Skin Picking & Small Change - The Power of Interactive Self-Hypnosis. At the present time I am seeking an agent and/or publisher.
FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds. We tend to utilize less than 2% of our potential, so why not delve into your "inner bank account?"

Here is a complimentary mp3 for you to experience. The name of the program is Affirmations for Inner Winning. This is one full self-hypnosis session from a CD/mp3 that includes 3 separate sessions. You can order this at my website.

Life Issues & Leaving the Pram

2007-11-18T04:20:00.001-08:00

"You don't have to look far to notice what a stressed out lives we lead. No wonder we prefer to hide out in some addiction or to just stay in the pram with our beads".... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Solving problems means being willing to have a good look & then to make changes. So where does all this stress originate? Some believe it is all about work. Others stick the blame on relationships or financial matters. For others, all would be well if the kids grew up & left home. All of these beliefs are correct, simply because they are believed, but they aren't the whole answer. Stress is accumulated throughout the day, even on a good day. It travels along with us, reaching out & touching every part of life & experience, attaching to every relationship & desired goal. A close look finds it connected to addictions, child & spousal abuse & a whole lot more. And yes, .....did I mention.....it can kill you.

If this is the case, then is there any hope for a decent quality of life & survival even if stress is high? Yes indeed, for well managed stress is connected to enhanced health, self-image, self-esteem, healthy relationships, prosperity, creativity & all of the good things of life. Now who wouldn't want that?

GET ME THE GOOD LIFE

Every client who visits my office or who attends a workshop wants to be saved from something. This is what I heard over & over again. "Oh what I wouldn't give for a fresh start!" Well, the good news is that fresh starts are available to us in each & every moment. While most of us don't need quite so many, they are there if we need them & there is no reason, whatsoever, not to take advantage of these wonderful opportunities.

In the practice of Interactive Self-Hypnosis we work with planting new beliefs, as well as active imagery that programs the subconscious mind for change. While some of this work appears simple on the surface, it is anything but that. I explain it to my clients like this. Suppose you were driving a car & saw something in the middle of the road. If you just move the steering wheel a half turn to the right, you won't hit it. If you don't turn the wheel, you will hit it. So is the half turn a small thing?

Here are some simple, but powerful new beliefs that help to change directions & outcomes. When practicing with simple affirmations such as these, relax deeply & see them on your mind screen.

I am always free to choose to stop doing what I am doing.

I am always free to choose to break old habits & patterns.

I am always free to chose to change anything & everything.

I am the writer, the producer & the director of my life.

BEGINNING SELF-EXPLORATION

If you truly want to manage stress at high levels & get the good things of life, you have to not only be willing to work at it, but you truly need to want it........that's called "hot desire."

Let's explore this a bit. Since all we have to do is to have the desire & then to act on our desire, why do many of us tend to ignore this gigantic opportunity? Why don't we turn the wheel of the care?

Take just a moment & let that question settle in your own subconscious mind. When you are ready, I'll give you some additional insights, but please don't rush your own personal work. As you begin to work with your own inner self, you will find that more answers coming to your own mind that will be very specific for you.

Here are some things I've noticed. Perhaps you have noticed them as well.

Most of us have excuses living on our tongues & for those of us who are tired of the excuse-life, it is often difficult to decide what to do instead of what we are doing & then how to actually begin.

We think about starting tomorrow, but tomorrow comes & goes & we find ourselves in the same old place.

We might wake up with good intentions, but then "life interrupts us" & despite our intentions, we fall back into old emotional patterns, beliefs, activities, choices, as if these were the only place to go.

Before we know it, we are at the end of the day & still "window shopping" in our mind, desiring things that we simply cannot grasp or for some reason , cannot hold on to for long, if at all.

And so, we tend to live in the land of good intentions & excuses, spending incredible energy on defending ourselves, our positions of inactivity or perceived failure & blaming others for stepping on our toes & our dreams. Most of this constitutes garbage.

Basically, we are all the same. We all have histories & baggage, desires & dreams. If you read or work with my programs, you will be doing many things differently from now on. Some of those things will be obvious & other's not so obvious. You will be consciously aware of some changes, but other changes will simply happen, as if they had a life of their own. You will find yourself replacing old emotional patterns, beliefs, activities & choices. Much of this will be effortless. You will no longer just window shop in life. You will actively choose what you want & act in accordance to make it yours.

I ask you to work with a Journal & a 3 ring binder. You can certainly download this blog or other areas on my websites that are designed for my clients & students. Remember all of my material is copyrighted & so you cannot reproduce it, but certainly you can copy this for you own benefit. Go through each part & highlight areas that speak out to you.

I'll be showing you how to work with these parts through a self-hypnotic tool called automatic writing. This will allow you to explore areas that interest you with your own subconscious mind inner coach. I'll also be providing you with self-development work based on different chapters of my books & also be suggesting CD/Audio programs that can assist you in working quicker & at higher levels, should you choose to do that.

I'll often introduce you to clients of mine & invite you to look over my shoulder as we work together to turn the wheel of the car.

MEET DONNA

I'm 38 years old & work in television production with a major network. I am over-weight & completely stressed out. I bite my nails & pull at my hair when I'm nervous. I've tried artificial nails, but I pick those off as well & so I spend quite a bit of energy hiding my hands as they are a true embarrassment to me, especially in my profession. Why can't I stop this? I know that I drink too much coffee, have a terrible diet & on weekends I find myself drinking too much.

I've thought about this & think it is because I'm trying to fit in all of my fun & relaxation on the weekend. I do feel entitled to this because I don't have a minute to myself during the week. I am married & have two school-age children who are already over-extended in activities, making my life even worse because of time constraints, but what's a Mom to do?

Here is the frightening part. I truly don't feel well physically. I'm fatigued just about all the time & have frequent headaches. I truly do not remember the last time I felt well. I had a medical check-up & the doctor told me that I am fine. I am not fine & not even near to fine. This frightens me even more than having a diagnosis of something. Is that strange or what? I went to counseling & found it useless because, despite everything, I'm a fairly happy & successful person. I have a good marriage & two great children. I'm just not well.

I don't know how to start or where to start. I'm like a "messy desk" that I don't seem to have time to straighten out because people, including myself, keep putting more things on it. I'm truly frightened that I will die from all of this stress & yet I can't seem to motivate myself out of this. My doctor offered me medications & I turned them down. I truly don't think that they will solve any of this. I see this as something I absolutely must do myself. I have many other aspects of myself to share, but don't know what it is that you need to know from me. Just know that I'm ready.

GET ME HOT DESIRE

As I look at Donna, it seems to me that her body is burning out from not getting what it needs. I'm impressed that despite being so busy & fatigued at the same time, she is willing to go right ahead with this work. This says MUCH about her & tells me that SHE WILL experience success, if her desire is "gut-felt" which I believe it is. Sometimes we need to truly get sick & tired before we are willing to become seriously involved with our own rehabilitation & self-growth.

This is usually my first important assessment factor when meeting a new patient/client in my office. I want to see & sense the desire. I want to sense if they want me to do the work OR if they are wanting to do the work themselves. In my experience, those who have HOT desire & truly want to do their own work, despite any & all obstacles, will be huge winners.

Those that are not willing usually have very different outcomes. So it is important for everyone working with me, assess themselves in their desire & in their willingness to do their own work & to do so consistently. This is not a magic fix, but true self-development work. It is like training for an Olympic Medal, only this is for winning your life back & keeping yourself out of trouble medically & emotionally.

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds. We tend to utilize less than 2% of our potential, so why not delve into your "inner bank account?"

Here is a complimentary mp3 for you to experience. The name of the program is Affirmations for Inner Winning. This is one full self-hypnosis session from a CD/mp3 that includes 3 separate sessions. You can order this at my website.

Truth Telling Time

2007-11-16T16:21:00.001-08:00

"Living in disorder or addiction is like existing in a room without air or light. It's time to change things"...
Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The workshop is crowded despite the heavy, early fall rains. I'm always surprised at how motivated people can be at this level. I know it's because they secretly hope the answers they seek will be found within a different set of walls. As I look around the room it is obvious who has a weight issue, but there are others here as well......most likely compulsive or emotional eaters, probably wondering if there will ever be any answer for them as their lives have been crazy from the very beginning.

I take a centering breath & look forward to telling the truth...

The knowledge you will receive here tonight will help you to understand why you couldn't lose weight or manage your compulsions in the past. It will assist you to healthy weight management & high level health from now on forward...

It doesn't matter how many times you have failed in the past or how bad things seem on the surface...

You hold the power to succeed if you are willing to apply this knowledge consistently...

You hold the power to manage your emotions if you choose to do so...

Your motivation will increase as you offer hot desire images to your own subconscious mind...

As you practice these things on a daily basis all facets of your life can change. Everything & anything is possible...

OPENING THE MIND FOR CLEANING & CLEARING

Most of us live in the state of self-imposed hypnosis or auto-pilot. Thoughts speed through the mind programming the moments, taking us towards goals that we might not even want. Beliefs are etched & then re-etched. Some are helpful, but others are not, the latter acting as negative reinforcers.

My workshop group is only vaguely familiar with what I'm sharing with them. I decide to take them to the alpha state where it will be easier to clean out old programs & then plant new learning. It's easy to deeply relax, especially when someone else is directing the action. This is accomplished through the sound of my voice & specialized images. It feels good & everyone follows easily.

Enjoy a deep yawn breath through the bottom of your feet.... inviting it to travel slowly through your body....no need to hurry or rush.....& when the breath finds the inside of your mouth....hold it there for the count of four..... & when four arrives allow the breath to exit through the valves on the ends of your fingers.......deflating just like a balloon at the end of a party. And now.....let's draw some circles around parts of your body......any color you like.......& as you do this, the body cells will float apart from each other.......like little islands making more space for beautiful blue water to surround them. Circle around your head.......neck.....shoulders right & left.....connected arms......leaving good space for your fingers to wiggle.......& now your chest.....lower abdomen......legs right & left.......room for your toes ..... upper back....lower back.

Now place a large golden egg shape around you.....relax into this.....knowing this is your private place on the face of the earth. Tilt your eyes up about twenty degrees......locate your mind-screen..... ready now to clean & clear your mind.

The group begins sharing the things they are cleaning. I've heard them all before, but they are flavored differently because the owners are different. Secret eating behaviors, places to binge, lack of self-care, signs of depression, anxiety, fear of failure....so much failure.. bad relationships, abuse from others, abuse from Self. Uncomfortable memories, some originating in childhood, others a part of more recent experiences. Plenty of pain, both physical & emotional.

Noticing.....cleaning....sweeping out. A good time for some light regression. Notice that magnets are pulling you deeper into the chair........only as deep as you like.....sense & enjoy the deepness. Attention to your mind screen. Noticing that you can go back in time.....take it by decades.......nothing major....just some weeds to pull & areas to clean & clear.

Now we have available space to program new changes. Most participants need a new or full discipline for managing lifestyle behaviors. I will include the food related areas including choice of foods & beverages, planning, preparing, timing of meals & portion sizes. The exercise area is over there, next to the stress release area. Motivators are abundant....some positive & some negative. Both work well. Participants can choose what their subconscious mind seems to prefer.

There is the "knowledge center" where I'll mentor hypnotically on why it is necessary to pay attention to all of these details. Here they will learn about reactive hypoglycemia & hyperinsulinemia.... big words that tell of the dangers of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer, obesity & other chronic diseases. I'll introduce them to the chronic disease area that includes GERD, irritable bowel, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, osteoporosis & a host of others.

Hypnosis gives us the opportunity to travel far in a short amount of time, clearing the mind of debris & programming for what we want. After the break we'll go into the discipline center, try some experiences on for size & then meet up with our "emotional-child-self."

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds. We tend to utilize less than 2% of our potential, so why not delve into your "inner bank account?"

Here is a complimentary mp3 for you to experience. The name of the program is Affirmations & Imagery for Decision Making. This is one full self-hypnosis session from a CD/mp3 that includes 3 separate sessions. You can order it at any of my websites.

If you would like my assistance in choosing the best program for you, please contact me.

Thoughts & Other Connects

2007-11-14T10:47:00.001-08:00

"Whether you realize it or not, you are always working on something in your life. Your thoughts & emotions color those experiences in the intensity they are applied & then act as radar….bringing more of the same in your direction, often increasing the original intensity level. So it is vital to stay aware & in control of your emotions, thoughts & attitudes, as well as the outcomes you prefer. If not, you are sure to receive whatever your mind & emotions dictate"... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Suggested Books, CD's & mp3's

Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It
The Authentic Self
Enhancing Creativity

This blog is the workshop for thoughtWARE Books. The series includes Help.....My Life is Killing Me - Lifestyle Change Made Easy, Beyond Disorderly Eating & Bingeing, Holistic Weight Loss , Sugar....the Hidden Eating Disorder, Nail Biting & Skin Picking & Small Change - The Power of Interactive Self-Hypnosis. At the present time I am seeking an agent and/or publisher.

FOCUS SUGAR & DISORDERLY EATING

I just finished a workshop on sugar addiction & disorderly eating & while I've been writing about this for many years, working with group hypnosis is always fascinating because of the subconscious mind multiplication effect that comes about when one mind encounters the others in a creative environment, especially when those people are addicted as this group was.

It's very exciting to work with people who have disorderly eating issues. They tend to be very different than those with eating disorders, such as anorexia & bulimia. Disorderly eaters & sugar addicts tend to fall through the cracks of researchers, especially when the individual is not obese. Physicans rarely check on the nutritional state of slender people or those who appear to be at normal weight. Even if the patient is over-weight or obese, the medical & emotional history taken by the physician is usually lacking.

Interest mounts when the killer diseases such as diabetes, heart disease & circulatory diseases are diagnosed. The opportunity to prevent the onset of these diseases & many more chronic diseases is sadly missed. Think about how much personal anguish could have been allievated if the disorderly eater or sugar addict truly understood where their momentary actions were heading & how they could be curtailed by managing their thoughts & emotions.

It's not that we don't know how many disorderly eaters abound. The statistics of disease tell us quite loudly. For example, 15.7 million Americans have diabetes. 5.4 million of these are not aware that they have the disease. About 798,000 people will be diagnosed this year. Think about this; 5.3 million of Americans between 6 & 17 are overweight. There are more than 11 million alcoholics in the USA alone. And this is just a small fraction of the statistics that connect to disorderly eating and/or addictions.

Obviously serious medical issues do not develop overnight, but are the outcomes of the moment to moment actions of the disorderly eaters & sugar addicts. You can find these people shopping in every supermarket & eating in every fast food restaurant. Perhaps they work with you or sit next to you in church. They are simply everywhere & all are in the process of developing a life threatening disease. It's a good idea to look in the mirror to make certain that one is not looking back at you.

INSIDE THE DISORDERLY EATER

Questions are vital to outing the disorderly eater & addict. The types of questions must be carefully designed so as to target the underlying problems. Then they can be removed hypnotically with hot desire motivational imagery designed for positive lifestyle change. The same can be accomplished through writing, keeping in mind that the book is not just a book, but a therapeutic tool for the reader. thoughtWARE books are written to achieve this, not just in the exercises, but in the flow of the writing.

ABOUT SUGGESTIONS

Participants expect a hypnotherapist to have the answers they seek & preferably a magic wand to save them any work. This really isn't about laziness, but life disorder, for the disorder in eating issues is pervasive in all areas of life. An examination of the thoughts tell us that just about everything is difficult for these people. That can even include very small areas that need change such as eating vegetables or drinking water. This is one of the reasons why physicians don't get involved with helping in this regard. It's rather like dealing with an obstinate child who simply sets up roadblocks every inch of the way.

Most disorderly eaters need a multitude of lifestyle changes, but these must be addressed at the core & not on the surface. This means looking inward at the beliefs that are seen in the thoughts & corresponding emotions. The easiest & most economical way to get a handle on this huge problem is by integrating new knowledge & change utilizing the medical tool of interactive self-hypnosis. It is possible for a large percentage of the population to change through this type of approach.

WORKING THE INTERACTIVE PROGRAM

The four steps of this program are equally important, but the order of progression is also important. Disorderly eating is like any other disorder or mess, and we get out of this in the same way. First we wake up, and then we bring organization to all of the facets.

As mentioned earlier, disorderly eating rarely lives alone. When one area of a life is in disarray, you won’t have to look far to find another. Disorder and stress go hand in hand, bringing imbalance to the mind and body. Addictions become the easy answer for managing the discomfort. We can grow to like, even love them, and like other bad relationships, they can consume us. It is important to understand that while we may have genetic tendencies towards addictions, we do have choices in the matter. We can choose to stop.

Changing disorderly life patterns and addictions means giving up those dangerous relationships while managing stress in new ways. This is where most people make their mistake when looking to stop smoking, drinking, bingeing, etc. First order of business is to have a very good stress management program in place, one that includes the four steps of this program.

Managing emotions is key to managing addictions and disorder. From the time you were born, you have been developing your own brand of emotional-patterning. Some of the patterns have been heavily etched and are super-automatic. You may have mentored some of these from others, especially when you were very young and more sponge-like. At that time of life you absorbed everything, even if you didn't like it or agree to it. A good exercise is to become aware of what you dislike, or what annoys you about your parents or siblings, then look for those in yourself. You can do the same exercise with your significant other relationship, or your relationship with your children. Try the same mind game with your work relationships. They will be there as well. It's not uncommon to be blind to one's own patterns, as well as to the emotional states that automatically attach to them.

Once a negative pattern has been self-embedded, it must to be removed subconsciously. If not, the pattern will have a tendency to adhere to other experiences "in the moment" or even to future experiences.. Suppose you are thinking about meeting someone you know. You have a history of being annoyed with this person's idiosyncrasies. In your present thoughts, your emotional state crayons are already engaged, coloring your expectations. Even if that person isn't demonstrating the irksome traits in the real-time meeting, you will probably find yourself in your old programmed mind-state anyway, responding “as if” there were.

Let's work with a different future-paced example. Suppose you are going on vacation. On the last vacation you had difficulty adjusting to a non-working relaxed state, finding the vacation finished before you really began enjoying yourself. Even though your current vacation is not for some time, you are already anticipating this, probably playing it in the theater of your mind.

This is a special kind of mind program called a negative expectation. If you play this over and over, you will actually pre-program enhanced mind and body tension. Other negative emotions may choose to join in with their negative color crayons. The chances of an enjoyable vacation is becoming slimmer with each negative mind-etching.
FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds. We tend to utilize less than 2% of our potential, so why not delve into your "inner bank account?"

Here is a complimentary mp3 for you to experience. The name of the program is Enhancing Creativity. This is one session of a three part program. You can order it at any of my websites.

If you would like my assistance in choosing the best program for you, please contact me.

Creative Links Part 2

2007-11-13T16:30:00.001-08:00

"You are more powerful than you believe you are. Your level of creativity is higher than you think it is. You can achieve more than you think you can. It’s all a matter of what you believe & you can change whatever you believe"…. Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Suggested Books, CD's & mp3's

Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It
The Authentic Self
Enhancing Creativity

It is important to develop a strong belief in your ability to carry out the plan towards your goal. Sometimes you are not even aware that you don't have this belief, so let's go ahead & do some inner checking.

Focus on your breath for a minute & gently allow the following question to arise. "Can I achieve this goal?" The answer will come before the question is even completely out of your mouth...the mind works very fast! If you get a resounding "YES" just smile knowingly. If, however, you get a weak little "yes maybe" or a resounding "NO", you have some additional work to do. These answers were returned to you from your subconscious mind based on past experiences & beliefs. This does not mean that they are correct, nor does it mean that these beliefs cannot be changed. These needs will form some of your focus work for today.

It is important to start growing some plans for persisting & final goal expectation.. Your inner plans should be organized from start to finish. Don't worry if they appear weak or impractical in the beginning, because as you become involved in the unfolding of the goal, the plans will become stronger & more perfected. Plan to spend some time each day perfecting your organized plans. As you do this exercise, your willpower will increase, as will your ability to persist. If you notice difficulties in evolving a plan of action, have another look at the goal, making certain you really desire it & that there is some definite purpose for the work you are proposing.

The act of organized planning leads to the development of habit & persistence is the direct result of habit. Your mind will become absorbed by the daily experiences on which it feeds, & since these are directly related to your goal achievement, you will continue to move closer & closer. On occasion you will hit a stumbling block....just notice it & step right over it. Some blocks are small & some are much bigger....it really doesn't matter to the person in pursuit of the goal. Stumbling blocks are a signal to move past or over. If you notice the arrival of the emotion called "fear", just label it & refocus on your breath & your goal. You will certainly be doing more work with emotional visitors in days to come.

MIND EXERCISE.

Take time to enter your alpha brain wave state & go deeper down than before. If you are reading any of our books or working with our CD or mp3 programs, you have already learned many deepening exercises & it's always a good idea to review them, keeping them active in practice. After you read this exercise, close your eyes & begin the work. Enter your inner or subconscious library & notice that your Inner Coach is standing next to your subconscious librarian fingering some of your organized goal plans. Go ahead over & pick up the plans. Notice that your goal areas are written on the top of each plan. Begin to review them one by one. After reviewing each one, open your eyes & make some notes of important findings.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

Notice that affirmations have already organized themselves on the inner screen of your mind. This time they brought their own action images, some even with sound. Take your time, working with each one separately. If you don’t have time now, make an appointment to follow through with this. Just reading words is not sufficient for planting working affirmations in your subconscious mind. In addition, you may think the following are simplistic, therefore not valuable. Keep in mind that simple affirmations work best, especially when accompanied by inner imagery, visualization & emotional blasting.

·I work on my organized planning daily.
·I review my plans & they are clear to me.
·Details of my plans magically appear on my mind screen.
·My plans are alive & speak volumes to me.

MIND EXERCISE.

It would be a good idea to relax deeply before reading this work. A light alpha state would be great and allow the images to truly etch in your subconscious mind. Read this as if I were writing you a letter about things I've noticed about you.

I want you to place a picture of yourself with your new belief in a circle of white. See yourself/emotionally sense yourself achieving your goal & especially notice how easy it was to do this. You might even see & hear yourself repeating, "This is so easy. I had no idea this would be so easy."

You might see yourself organizing your plans to achieve your goal. Notice how relaxed you are, as well as how focused you are in your intent to organize the plans. The plans come easy to you. The pictures are clear. You even see the list of plans in the white circle. Maybe you can't read them from where you are sitting, so just reach forward, taking the organized plan list in your hand, placing it on your lap.

When you are finished with this exercise, pick up the list & read it. Do this exercise even if you have a strong belief about your ability to carry out the organized plans to reach your goals. You can all use all the determination you can muster. This is a great opportunity to build strength in this self-development department.
As you see your belief in the white circle, what stands out? ________________________
________________________

Add these affirmation plants. They play out like little television programs. Remember to allow your subconscious mind to fill in the details.

·My beliefs are clear.
·I can see my plans developing.
·I enjoy doing this work for myself.

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds. We tend to utilize less than 2% of our potential, so why not delve into your "inner bank account?"

Here is a complimentary mp3 for you to experience. The name of the program is Enhancing Creativity. This is one session of a three part program. You can order it at any of my websites.

If you would like my assistance in choosing the best program for you, please contact me.

Exploring Creative Links - Part 1

2007-11-11T12:39:00.000-08:00

"Your thoughts, emotions & body sensations are major keys to opening your mind & body. They are always present & available to you, opening all doors to high level health & performance."....Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Book, CD & mp3 Suggestions

Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It
Making Decisions
Managing Emotions
The Board Meeting

Lifestyle changes needed for high level health & performance are like taking a journey. First comes the decision, the commitment to the journey, followed by the planning. Next comes the unfolding of experiences. We enjoy some parts, detest others, sit in amazement as the unexpected takes on a life of it’s own.

As we look with soft eyes, it is clear that each experience carries with it, the gift of knowledge. We tend to be asleep more than awake. If we practice waking up more frequently, the number of experiences will mount. Since each experience carries the gift of knowledge, our goal is to stay awake as much as possible, working to unraveling our past experiences along with the new. Of course, looking for the gifts, for they are there in the vault of the subconscious mind.

In an earlier article in the thoughtWARE series, you set up gardens on your goal-den path. You met up with your Master Gardener, your Higher Self, learned something about weeds, your early belief systems, along with ways to change past self-image & esteem programming. Now you are going to locate old subconscious mind files, filled with all kinds of gifts to help you manage your life balance, a most necessary step in attaining high level health & performance. You are also going to design future mind programs to plant in your metaphorical gardens.

Interactive Awareness & Self-Hypnosis can be utilized in hundreds of creative ways. The thoughtWARE articles have given you the opportunity to work with some of these. Now you will experience some of the more creative ones. Keep in mind that each & every moment holds opportunities for practice, including re-programming your subconscious mind. As you begin to truly wake up to this extraordinary power that you have in place, you can become overwhelmed. Therefore it’s a good idea to set some goals for building skill levels, for programming awareness, also for etching new subconscious mind programs.

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

You already know the power of awareness & how key it is to change. There are all levels of awareness, each carrying gifts. Some are small & some are big. Awareness requests are set-up subconsciously. We literally request the mind to make us aware of something we know will benefit us. For example, you might request the subconscious librarian to make you aware of low-level emotions, thoughts or behaviors that connect to a particular addiction, habit or disorderly eating.

Your subconscious mind will consciously "key" you into these, where you will be able to diminish them right in the moment, then move to re-program your inner files related to these behaviors. You are learning to stop something before it gets out of control for you. Pre-behaviors or prodromals are very important in changing habits, behaviors, as well as automatic pilot programs.

If you have any particular triggers, you might want to request changing your inner files in reference to these. For instance, if your reactions to certain people's behaviors tend to make you tense, you might want to be more aware of these, then work with diminishing &/or re-programming. One does not need to be in a deep trance state to do this work. You can do all of it "right in the moment" if you like.

Knowledge Hook - Induction

Induction is nothing more than slowing the brain waves in increments by using a particular deepening system, such as counting backwards, or choosing images that do the same. There are many levels of trance or deep relaxation, each having their own ease of execution & benefits. In short, induction is the route you take to get out of your own way, side-stepping all emotions & judgment, stepping into a place where suggestions are readily accepted by the subconscious mind.

If you work with a hypnotist, hypnotherapist, or our mp3 or CD programs you may be taken even deeper into trance where you will be able to access the needed information. In the independent practice of self-hypnosis you are determining the level where you can effect your own work. If you work with audio it is a bit easier to go deeper down, because even if you fall asleep, your subconscious mind will pick up the suggestions from the recorded program.

You might like to review the thoughtWARE article on mental biofeedback & practice inducing self-hypnosis with body communication skills. This is particularly effective as a stress-releaser, preparing the mind for the acceptance of suggestion. Whatever the route you choose, do know you are on your way to the tools below.

Knowledge Hook

After inducing a self-hypnotic state, you are ready to begin planting subconscious mind programs, also called suggestions. The subconscious mind enjoys organization & so it works to your benefit, assisting you in building special containment metaphors for planting inner programs, as well as editing past & future ones. These containments are useful as well for managing emotional states, locating hidden resources & building resilience. All containments are “user-friendly”. As you welcome them into your consciousness, don’t be surprised if you find them appearing automatically to help manage your life needs.

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds. We tend to utilize less than 2% of our potential, so why not delve into your "inner bank account?"

Here is a complimentary mp3 for you to experience. The name of the program is The Board Meeting Workshop. This very original program will assist you in both developing & working with your already present inner strengths. The download is session one. There are two full sessions on this program. You can order it at any of my websites.

If you would like my assistance in choosing the best program for you, please contact me.

Conjuring Positive Mind States

2007-11-10T11:47:00.001-08:00

"Conjuring positive mind-states at will is key to heightened creativity, high level performance and health."....Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Suggested Books, CD's & mp3's

Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It - Book/Workbook & CD Series
Building Consistency
The Board Meeting Workshop ( complimentary download session link below.)

In order to succeed at high levels it is necessary to develop powerful mind-state assets. Here we are going to call upon persistence & consistency. It's important to realize on a deep level that these are not just words. They are mind-body states. That means that when you produce these states through creative mind & body work as you are doing here, you are effecting changes in all systems of your body, as well as accessing like states stored in your subconscious mind. All of this is now available to attach to your goal or moment of choice, be it managing addiction, disorderly eating, pain, stress, self-esteem or creative thinking.

Let's do some inner detective work & at the same time let your subconcious mind know that you are working in this particular department. Plug into casual conversation of yours or others, or into your own thought processes, noticing how often these mind states present themselves. What if I told you that you could access these at will, in any moment whatsoever? Would you be willing to raise your hand for this?

Don’t be surprised if a negative nay-sayer emotion comes to block or set up resistance. The reason for this sits in past subconscious mind programming. This is simply fear connected to old experiences. It could also be laziness, sensing that whatever might need seems far too big to tackle & so it’s easier to believe that this isn’t possible for “someone like you". How interesting that we have this tendency to join others in our behavior-choice fantasies. However, you are here now & you are not going to do that anymore.

Learning to obtain persistence & consistency begins in the same way as with your other tools. Each builds on the other. This is not a complicated process, but one that takes diligence. You will become aware of the little moments when you can effect a change of some sort. You might remember your earlier subconscious mind change work when I asked you to notice small changes that you had made & told you of their importance. Here they are again.

There are many opportunities to build persistence & consistency. These opportunities are in the moments, but before anything can change, you must be aware & then you can acknowledge the power state of choice. What you are learning here could be called the anatomy & physiology of change. Just as your body has an anatomy & a physiology, so do many things & change is one of those things. As you begin to look into change & into the moments, you will become a creative thinker & one who runs the race to perfection.

MIND EXERCISE.

Take a moment to prepare yourself for inner work. Always be certain you will not be disturbed & have your journal h&y. Remember that writing ideas that may float up will etch them further into both your conscious & subconscious mind. Once you are ready continue to read along.

Some people have trouble with persisting, because they don't have sufficient desire. If you find yourself weak in the persistence department, look with your trusty magnifying glass at the area where you want to apply these power mind states, noticing where you are having difficulty & then ask yourself the following questions:

· "Do I really desire this?"
· "How much to I desire this?"
· "Do all parts of me really desire this?"
· "Can I feel the desire in my gut?"

Many times you think you want something, when the reality is that you don't really care that much. Once you know that you really want whatever it is, you can utilize organized planning & the power of visualization & suggestion to motivate ourselves, even through tremendous difficulties. More about this later.

Look into your mind memory bank & retrieve instances when you truly desired something, those times when NO ONE could possibly stop you. While you are looking, be sure to notice the "little desires." They can be utilized to fire other desires. Make notes of those now:______________________________________________
________________________________________________________

This is a powerful time to add some affirmation plants. Notice if any emotional visitor arrives telling you not to stop to do this, perhaps telling you that you can do this later, or it is better to read ahead & then come back. Keep an eye out for these emotional states. They are usually related to procrastination & immediate gratification. You want to learn to catch & diminish these. Go ahead now & tilt up your eyes locating your inner movie screen. Take each affirmation separately. Don't rush. Allow your mind to form images around the words & sense yourself entering those images, feeling the emotions that are present there. Connect with them. Ask your body to enhance the sensations connected to these emotions. This is key to a good subconscious mind plant!

·I recognize persistence & congratulate myself on practicing this skill.
·I am aware of many times when I persisted.
·I review my memory bank & applaud my pictures of consistency & persistence.
·I recognize desire. I can feel desire in my mind/body whenever I choose to!

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds. We tend to utilize less than 2% of our potential, so why not delve into your "inner bank account?"

Here is a complimentary mp3 for you to experience. The name of the program is The Board Meeting Workshop. This very original program will assist you in both developing & working with your already present inner strengths. The download is session one. There are two full sessions on this program. You can order it at any of my websites.

If you would like my assistance in choosing the best program for you, please contact me.

Breaking the Habit of Self-Judging

2007-11-08T10:31:00.000-08:00

"We all go at our own pace. We all know the story of the turtle & the hare, but knowing a story & then translating it to our own actions is quite another matter. So what’s an A-type personality to do?"….. Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Suggested Books, CD's & mp3's

Sugar....the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It
Managing Thoughts
Enhancing Self-Image
Managing Emotions

Before beginning the mind exercise for today, I'd like to explain a bit about our thoughtWARE series of books & CD programs. The excerpts that you are reading here are taken from several different titles including those dealing with high level performance, accelerated learning, lifestyle change for disorderly eating & sugar & other addictions, as well as learning our original tools of Interactive Self-Hypnosis. I am also inviting you to listen to our complimentary mp3 downloads. These are complete Interactive Self-Hypnosis sessions taken from my work archives.

In all of my books & programs, managing stress with healthy coping patterns is key. And so, pacing change is vital to all of them. Many people suffer from the need for immediate gratification that I call hurry-up disease. If you have this disease, focus on it. This will allow you to see the tendency towards compulsiveness right under the surface of the hurry up mind state. Usually this is not new for most of us, especially in sugar addicted individuals or those suffering with eating disorder.

These mind states present themselves in a variety of inner programs and as you become more proficient at examining your current subconscious programs, you will find clues to their existence in the different areas of both inner and outer life. As you work to become more aware and then to edit these emotions that interfere with pacing, you will find yourself reaching even more goals, perhaps some you haven't even thought about for awhile. The subconscious mind librarian will simply pick them up off the table in the inner library and do them for you.

Most of us don't have to look far to locate the inner and outer judge aspects of ourselves. They usually hang around and whisper critical messages into our ears. As you improve the observations of your thought patterns, listening to your verbal conversations you will find this emotional crayon literally coloring overtime.

Today's work is engaging the process of waking up to judgmental mind-talk, the little voice in the head that judges this and that. Notice that some of the judgments are aimed at you and some at others or situations. Self-judgment and that of others is very much a part of the addicted personality pattern, but this is not an excuse for keeping it as is. As thought awareness improves you will begin to notice the crayon coloring your verbal conversations, things you say even without thinking. The work today is to only engage the seeing process, not to change anything dramatically.

Just the seeing will enforce a change and as you continue with this work the judgmental crayon will stay in the box more often.

You might take a mental scratch pad and make a check mark every time you notice your judgmental crayon. Make one column for self-judging, another for the judging of others or situations. This is inner "detective work". You are focusing on awareness of thoughts, your body connections to these thoughts and the emotional crayons as they come to color the experiences.

MIND EXERCISE:

Just as if you had a picture in your wallet of your judgmental emotional state holding it's little crayon, go ahead and describe it , just as if it were a little child wearing a tee shirt with the word "JUDGMENT" on the front. Listen carefully so you can hear the mind and verbal chatter. Notice it is separate from you and that you are the observer. This is a powerful exercise in disassociation. When something is separate from you the act of control is easier. The emotional child is outside of you where it can be contained and educated.

_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Inner pictures with affirmation direction enhance new mind programs. Remember to tilt your eyes up 20 degrees and place your inner movie screen up and out before planting. It also helps to see a detailed picture with the accompanying words. In this exercise notice the building of the earlier blueprint. The inner mind is being directed to join this work together. This will enhance outcomes.

1. I notice my judgmental emotional visitor and smile at it when it visits me. Truly get into your mind screen and stand directly in front of your "visitor." This is very powerful. In the beginning you may find it difficult to face your Self in this way, but simply breathe & go for it. You won't be sorry. It's all about breaking that fear deadlock.

2. My judgmental visitor is outside of myself. I can notice it easily. When I notice it being present, I smile inwardly and then notice my breath. Here you are reaffirming that you are not your emotion. This mind-action of disassociation will allow you to move into a position of personal power. From here you will also be able to diminish the emotion, seeing it for what it is. It is no longer your inner resident.

3.I make changes in small increments. Here you have the opportunity to place a small, but powerful subconscious mind program in place. This type of program gives you the opportunity to truly change your automatic pilot programs, even if you are an A-type personality.

4. I examine my blueprint many times a day. I am excited about my plans. I enjoy change. When these short, emotionally charged affirmations are placed in your subconscious mind, you will begin to sense the power of your own inner mind.

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds. We tend to utilize less than 2% of our potential, so why not delve into your "inner bank account?"

Here is a complimentary mp3 for you to experience. The name of the program is Managing Thoughts. The full mp3 offers 3 sessions. This is track 1. This is an extremely important program for managing your mind & body connection, as well as in any area of goal achievement.

If you would like my assistance in choosing the best program for you, please contact me.

Mental Biofeedback

2007-11-07T06:43:00.000-08:00

"Concentration can open any door. As you remain aware of body sensations with their related emotions & thoughts, you can diminish what you don't want while enhancing what you do want"... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Suggested Book/CD & mp3 Programs

Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It
The Self-Hypnosis Workshop
Mental Biofeedback/Body Scanning

A strange as it sounds, we only have a vague idea of what we look like on the outside. Many of us can’t bear looking at self-photographs and work hard to keep cameras away. Of course not everyone is the same. Even if we like the way we look, and view photographs of ourselves, what we get to see is only a momentary image caught by the lens, now seen through our own perception and inner judging program. For certain, we do remain a mystery, both outside and inside!

A very large percentage of what resides inside of us, physical or emotional, tends to remain mysterious for most of our lives, mainly because we’re not attentive to the clues sent up by the body departments. Sometimes we awaken if the body part screams loud enough, but even then, little is done about the underlying cause. We may turn to medication to obliterate the symptom, or to another substance to mask the truths. If the family history pulls towards addiction, these symptoms then become the hooks, and an unhealthy pattern of behavior is etched into the subconscious mind.

KNOWLEDGE HOOK – WORKING WITH MOMENTS

The practice of interactive awareness helps us to work where the action is, right in the middle of the moment. It will be important to have a working image tool, representative of an actual moment. The reason for this is that moments are difficult to catch, especially in the beginning of your mind-body work. Most of us tend to auto-pilot through life. As you learn to catch moments, you will be practicing the techniques of releasing or letting go. Then, you will be able to add subconscious mind re-programming for managing the many facets of all problems or issues.

In my practice, students and patients work with dry lentils, keeping a jar of them on their desk. I suggest you do the same. Some patients have two jars, one symbolizing moments that are left in life, the other representing those that were missed because of inattentiveness. Of course, we cannot catch all moments. It is ridiculous to think that we would even want to, but we certainly do want to catch the key moments. Those will be different for everyone, but as you learn to work with the tools of interactive awareness and self-hypnosis, you will become aware of the areas where you need to wake up, then change. Your subconscious mind librarian will assist you.

Lynn: I’ve noticed that when I am eating lots of sugar foods or involved in disorderly eating, my body is filled with tension. I’m a runner and areas of old injury hurt more on these days. Perhaps the most frightening part is that I have an underlying anxiety that doesn’t seem to be connected to anything that is going on in my life. I just feel awful. I would like to understand what is happening and why. Knowledge is definitely motivational for me.

In this chapter you will begin to understand more about listening to your body communications. Lynn is ahead of the game. She has already noticed that her body speaks a different language when her diet is inferior. More than likely, the underling general anxiety represents reactive hypoglycemia. In Chapter One you learned how food stress changes your biochemistry. Now you will begin to see those Knowledge Hooks as they appear in your own body and mind. Remember that it is not enough just to know something. You must go the next step, joining in the action.

KNOWLEDGE HOOK –MENTAL BIOFEEDBACK AND BODY SCANNING

Most of us are familiar with the term "biofeedback". Individuals are hooked up to a special machine, then taught relaxation techniques that help the body to maintain a healthy blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, etc. The person can see the special screen that shows their progress. This type of training can be very empowering, as the mind and body connection is personally experienced. This is especially important for individuals caught up in stress reaction that can be dangerous to health outcomes.

Body scanning is mental biofeedback. There is no need to be hooked up to a machine to change the way your body functions. This mind-tool holds a big advantage because in any moment in time, the person practicing mental biofeedback can change a mind or body outcome. There are also other advantages. As one learns to observe the momentary body sensations over a period of time, the body sensation patterns become clear. One can see how they are attached to particular emotional states, or perhaps other triggers such as situations or even relationships. Another advantage is the feeling of self-confidence in being able to change an unpleasant or frightening sensation, right there in the moment, whether it be peaking or just beginning to build. As one becomes more practiced in the skills of mental biofeedback, it becomes easier to catch the body sensations at earlier moments, when it is much easier to diminish or release them. This is extremely empowering. Later on you will learn many applications for doing this.

CONTAINMENTS AND RELEASE

Containments are invaluable because they allows us to work in big areas of our lives without feeling overwhelmed. Body sensations can be overwhelming, especially if they are not contained or released. In that circumstance, the body and mind will produce even more sensations to deal with. A good example of this is anxiety and panic disorder. Anyone experiencing this problem can certainly attest to this. It’s simple to set up a mind-container. Let me show you how. Take a moment to relax deeply. On your mind screen label a special container for body sensations. Later on you may decide to have several containers for different kinds of sensations, but for now we will work with one container. Notice a particular sensation in your body. Focus or pay special attention to that sensation. Now move it into the mind container. Pay attention. Keep the focus. You can now change the sensation. Practice diminishing it; making it smaller. Dim it, just with the power of your mind. Change the color to one that is pale or uninteresting.

We all have tons of body sensations, but sense very few of them, as they build through our daily physical, mental and emotional stress. The stressors do not have to be big. Low level or chronic stress is responsible for much of our illness. If you are addicted to sugar, practice disorderly eating, or partake in other addictions, you will tend to have even higher levels.

Through body scanning you will have a glimpse at more of them. Just this small peak will act like the lens of your camera. The sensation will be caught and now you can change it through the mind and body communication system provided by Interactive Self-Hypnosis tools.

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds. We tend to utilize less than 2% of our potential, so why not delve into your "inner bank account?"

Here is a complimentary mp3 for you to experience. The name of the program is Managing Thoughts. The full mp3 offers 3 sessions. This is track 1. This is an extremely important program for managing your mind & body connection, as well as in any area of goal achievement.

If you would like my assistance in choosing the best program for you, please contact me.

The World of Inner Quiet

2007-11-05T07:31:00.000-08:00

"Whether you are looking to practice meditation or self-hypnosis, it is absolutely vital to develop an inner quiet place in the theater of your mind."....Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The Online Workshop is based on my books/programs that are "subject specific." Here we are working with the techniques for change....waking up, planning & then moving forward.

Suggested Book/CD & mp3 Programs

Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It
The Self-Hypnosis Workshop
Deep Relaxation
Dream Making

As you work to detail this personal place, it will become an automatic catalyst for releasing both mind & body tension & balancing the body systems. You will learn more about this as you read more articles in this area.

The inner theater is also known as your creative resource center where goal work is planned, activated & motivated hypnotically. It's a favorite place for managing any & all emotions, their automatic mind programs, including special gifts that may or may not have been shared in the past. It's a place for editing past happenings, making these useful & positive helpers for present & future-paced work.

As you become more practiced in entering your inner theater, you will be able to do so just about anywhere & at any time. This means that you can ultimately run your awake life from this inner place, surrounded by your choice of powerful, positive-helper emotions & self-management tools. This is interactive self-hypnosis practiced at a high level.

When I began meditating over 30 years ago, I found it very difficult to become quiet. As I began to be aware of my life , as it was then, it was easy to understand why becoming quiet was such an issue for me. There was literally no quiet in my life. I woke up to noise, first in my mind & then the clock radio. There were several television sets in our home & I even had a radio in the shower. Noise literally followed me everywhere I went. As a family we ate breakfast chatting or arguing while listening to the news or morning magazine show. My drive to work was accompanied by the car radio or audio program. Upon entering my office, I plugged into the background music.

I had sold myself the idea that I had integrated relaxation with my work & lifestyle & that, indeed, I was utilizing my time well. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Looking back, obviously I had no knowledge about what true deep relaxation was, nor how to get there. I was actually burning out without even knowing it. Unbeknown to me, I was losing creative opportunities that would never be regained, for moments flee, taking with them the experiences gleaned in that momentary space in time.

Working Steps

1. We begin with intending to become quiet. This means that we decide to practice & to be actively interested in doing so. This may sound obvious, but it is not. This work is not something we fit in between other things. We set aside a special time for this practice & view it as a most important appointment that we keep with ourselves. In other words, we respect our practice.

2. We make certain that we will not be interrupted, unless the emergency is so big that it is life threatening. This means educating others about your seriousness to practice. While you don't have to share all the details, it is important to educate others about your seriousness in regard to interruptions. Even young children can be taught about respecting you in this regard. When my children were young I placed a baseball cap on the doorknob to my office. This meant that they were to leave me be & also to keep noise away from the door. I still do this in my current office.

If you have young babies, you will have to plan your time in accordance with their schedule or appoint a helper if that is safe & possible. As for animals, please keep them out of the room. While dogs & cats love to be with someone who is meditating, this is your practice time & it is an alone task. As mentioned above, you will be able to bring this practice to daily life, but each day we do dedicate special practice time.

3. Choose the same chair if possible. A good chair is one where your feet reach the floor & you can sit up straight. Do not practice lying down. If you can & like to sit in the lotus position, that is fine, but it is not necessary. The chair will become a catalyst for deepening. I actually have a meditation chair that I utilize at home & one in my office.

4. We begin by settling in. Remember that your mind & body have been on auto-pilot up until now & so just like a child who has been told to settle down by her parents or teacher, it is the same for your adult-self. I like to make myself very comfortable & usually close my eyes at this point, so I can pay quiet attention to my body needs. A meditative teacher once told me to "become the chair" & I think this is a powerful metaphor for settling in. Next, I bring in a sense of silence. We all know what silence "sounds" like & so we can plug into this sound. In the beginning it often helps to image a peaceful color or shape surrounding your body sitting in the chair. Be patient with this, especially if you have never done this before.

It takes the "child" awhile to become accustomed to the process. Keep in mind that the image or color will float in & out, as your mind keeps up the thoughts, etc. Each time you notice that you are not with the current image or color representing the sound or sensation of silence, simply bring it back. I usually take about 2 minutes to do this, especially if my mind is very busy & if the body is filled with sensations.

5. Now we are ready to begin the formal part of our practice. I always practice with my eyes closed, gently glued at the lids & eyeballs tilted up about 20 degrees, just as if you were sitting in the second row of a private movie theater. In front of you is your programming screen. We will utilize that later in our practice, but for now you will need a focal point or focus. There are many ways to do this. For now, I will suggest the belly breath or a mantra. Mantras can be as simple as a word sound or specific word. When I practiced TM, my mantra was phonetically "here-em". I have no idea what it means, if anything. I still utilize it on occasion, but most of the time I simply focus on my lower belly breath, observing it going up & down. I usually place my fingertips on the lower belly & image my fingers riding on it.

There are tremendous benefits to utilizing the breath. To begin with, we always have the breath with us & as you practice your meditative discipline, your breathing will become more relaxed both in & out of meditation. You can trigger it at any time & ride the breath to the inner theater. In addition to this reading work, I suggest your download one of my complimentary mp3 programs. The link to those is listed in the right hand column.

6. As you sit observing your breath, your mind will wander. This is part of the meditative practice. You will meet your interrupters including thoughts, body sensations & emotions. They are like a parade going by. You, the person practicing meditation, are standing on the curb simply "observing." When you notice that your mind has transferred from your belly breath to the interrupter, simply "notice" that fact & then return to your belly breath. You may be caught up in the thought or body sensation for quite awhile, especially if you are new or having a heavy-laden day, but do know that this is part of the process. Just as soon as you are aware that you are "in the parade" & not an "observer on the curb", please return to the curb. In this case scenario, the belly breath. Each time you do so, you can allow your self to go deeper down. Later I will teach you deepening techniques, but for now you can just image magnets under your buttocks, pulling you gently down. Continue along for 3-5 minutes. No need to look at a clock. Just estimate & when you have finished, gently open your eyes & give yourself a few moments to re-acclimate.

This is sufficient for now. You are busy preparing your Inner Theater & learning the art of inner quiet. If you are wondering where the quiet is, it is when you are with your belly breath. This is a powerful place & space. Later on we will work with other methods of focus, as well as learn to work with emotions, body sensations & thought processes.

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds. We tend to utilize less than 2% of our potential, so why not delve into your "inner bank account?"

Here is a complimentary session for you to experience, the focus being your early teachers & the formation of your beliefs. It is part of a three session series called Authentic Self. Follow the link to the download.

If you would like my assistance in choosing the best program for you, please contact me.

Beginning the Personal Journey

2007-11-03T16:42:00.001-07:00

Your journey is just beginning. Your only limits are those of your inner vision. The more you can image, the more you can imagine, the more you can visualize, the more you can dream….the more you can do!… Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Achieving a major lifestyle change is like a good old fashioned rope tug . While a piece of rope doesn't look hold much interest for most of us, rock climbers would certainly disagree. It is their life-line. The rope is an excellent metaphor for the steps you doing here, and I'm sure you'll agree that it does take a lot of personal power to pull lifestyle change permanently into your life.. .

I’d like to share something with you. Part of me has always fantasized about having my own private coach, someone who would tell me exactly what I should do to achieve my goals, motivate me, taking me down the Goal-den path to high achievement of some sort. The kind, loving coach was part of a multitude of glorious images, of course always including everything I desired at the end of the rainbow. Somewhere in the distance sounds could be heard, "Be careful what you wish for....." my Mother's always far too realistic way of breaking my fantasy.

I got my wish when I was about fifteen. I joined the roller skating club and Phil Pinto was assigned to be my coach. He was nothing I imagined and there were no rainbows, at least not then. His job was to take my focus away from my bruised knees in order to keep me skating when I really wanted to give up and go home. It was years before I really liked him, much less admired him. I don't think I fully appreciated his attempts at teaching me self-discipline until I was an adult.

As life would have it, I now find myself being a coach and mentor to hundreds of people. . Nursing is just another form of coaching, getting patients to follow doctors orders and to be self-responsible in their health practices. In my work as a lifestyle change educator and medical hypnotist, I work with people who want to experience functioning at their optimum levels. Many are managing sugar addiction or disorderly eating, in addition to working on other goals. Often as not, the sugar addiction has been blocking their path to these goals, sometimes for years on end., for it is very difficult to have what it takes to reach goals when blood sugars are dipping and rising like roller coasters in a giant theme park.

Any lifestyle change and especially sugar addiction management needs a super-coach, someone who is highly attentive, motivated and understands how to get into the moments and open them up. In my experience, the only coach up to this job is the "Inner Coach". That Coach resides inside our selves, in the subconscious mind. Our job here is to contact that part of us and begin the learning process. In this special work you will begin the process of re-communicating with your Inner Coach on a regular basis. The Coach will help you in disciplining all parts of yourself to turn towards what you really want on your goal-den path and to move past what you don't want. You will be keeping up the energy with a plan designed specifically to meet your specific needs and desires.

Your "Inner Coach" has tremendous advantages in assisting you towards optimum performance. First, this coach knows you best and there is no hiding behind fantasy of any sort. You already know that you live most of your waking hours on automatic pilot or lost in fantasy. Individuals lost in thought either hang out in the past, or future-paced, usually involved in replaying old negative tapes, or fantasy adventures of the future that have little to do with planned goals.

Being able to face the truth is a vital force in licking sugar addiction and optimum performance. Your Coach will be asking you to be willing to see the negatives as well as the positives. For many of us this is the most difficult part of our work because we simply do not want to see it and most certainly do not want to feel it. One of the reasons for this is that we tend to lack the knowledge that negatives are simply doorways to improved outcomes. They are like flags waving for attention. "Look over here! Correct this and find a better way."

Lucky for us our Inner Coach is ever present. No need for meetings, conferences, cell phones or emails. Your Coach is not only ready at less than a moments notice, but has access to all the inner resources you have been accumulating since birth, making those available at any time. Your Coach will be showing you how to reframe them, making them even more useful and powerful.

Your Inner Coach is aware of self-imposed roadblocks, old stale beliefs, thought patterns and automated emotional responses that keep you side-lined and off the goal-den path. The Coach knows all about how many times you've failed at nutritional change, how imbalanced your emotions can be and how many of your goals have been left sitting on the table of the subconscious mind library for so long. Once it's clear that that you are ready to move through those blocks, your Coach will present doable plans for this part of your work, while placing you right in the middle of the needed action. Wow!

Most of us have been very out of touch with this part of ourselves. You will probably need some up front time for re-communicating, designing clear cut goals and giving the Coach what's needed for his part of the job. Like any other Coach or servo-mechanism, it needs care and attention. The next mini-chapters will remind you of those things forgotten, or perhaps introduce you to them for the first time. As you work through these daily exercises, you will begin to notice the path is not as difficult as you thought it would be. Don't be surprised if you feel a kind hand on your shoulder, motivating and urging you towards all you can be. The hand will belong to your deepest and Highest Self, known here as your Inner Coach.

Day 1

"Most of the time we do not know how long it will take to accomplish our goals or our journey, the reason being that most of the time we have never been there before. So sit back & decide to enjoy the ride. You'll be surprised how easy things become from this position of power...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

It is time to begin. Each day I will be introducing you to different ways to utilize the tools you were given earlier. These new applications will allow you to practice "exceptional living." as well as sugar addiction management. You now have the opportunity to make the tools truly yours and in so doing you will create and experience excellence throughout your life.

In this particular program you are learning to manage your lifestyle behaviors & emotions through the practice awareness and interactive self-hypnosis "in the moment." Some readers may have eating disorders, phobias, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorders, chronic disease or a life-threatening diagnosis. Others will be managing the regular stressors of life; looking to reach your goals or aspirations. I do hope you have utilized your Assessments, having outlined some of the first changes you plan to make as you grow towards your personal goals.

Remember that your goals are multi-dimensional. While you are managing issues, you are also self-developing in the direction of many different goals.

You are designing blueprints for future growth. Each and every time you work with the tools and techniques of this program you are etching new neurological tracks for programming your mind and body. Each and every time you place your goal pictures into your subconscious mind following Awareness Meditation Banking or regular practice, the etching becomes deeper. Your outcomes will be speeded along by frequent review of "the blueprint" with creative visualization techniques. There are times when you may feel overwhelmed by the number of changes needed, but do not despair.

Your focus is on your daily work. You already know to recognize and diminish unhelpful emotional states. As you continue to do this "in the moment" your positive changes will be quick and permanent. Lasting changes are best made in small increments. While your basic plan will present much work, keep in mind that you will be mastering your blueprint brick by brick. You will continually return to the drafting table, observing and delighting in the end goals. You do know that modifications will most certainly occur as different levels of the project take on a life of their own. You also know and accept that the end project may look very different indeed from the original blueprint. Do not be put off by this, but instead, celebrate the unfolding of the process while enjoying each step of the way.

Writing goal descriptions is one of the most powerful exercises you can do. Perhaps you will begin a special journal for this work. As you read earlier in this book, it is a good idea to divide your life up into separate goal gardens and choose one important goal for each area.

MIND EXERCISE:

Just as if you had a picture of one of your end goals sitting on your desk, go ahead and describe it in detail. Make it vivid and as complete as possible. Be sure to allow your emotions to arise that connect to this wonderful end goal photograph: ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

Let's go ahead and place this goal into the subconscious mind library. Take a deep yawn breath and allow your body to deepen. You already learned this work in the Awareness area, so utilize whatever images or sensations work best for you. Now tilt your eyes up 20 degrees and see your end goal picture as it plays on the movie screen. Spend some time with this. Allow it to play out in all it's detail. Bring in emotional states that benefit the goal, perhaps confidence, joy, focus and discipline. You might go back to your emotional crayon area and review the list of possibilities.

Programming Lifestyle Behavior Changes

2007-11-01T02:25:00.001-07:00

"All lifestyle change begins inside the subconscious mind library. It is here that all review & decision for change takes place. So let's not spend another moment just talking about it, for what is talk without action."....Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The Online Workshop is based on my books/programs that are "subject specific." Here we are working with the techniques for change....waking up, planning & then moving forward.

Suggested Book/CD & mp3 Programs

Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It
The Self-Hypnosis Workshop
Authentic Self-Managing Belief Systems

I'm going to present this material to you in Interactive Self-Hypnotic Imagery. It's easy to this. Simply decide to relax deeply into the chair where you are sitting. Pretend that magnets are gently pulling you down. Now image a big golden egg around you & your chair. You are now separate from anything & everything else. You are in your own private place on the face of the earth & it is from this place that you will begin to explore & change what calls to be changed. Now go ahead & continue reading.........taking your time.

The library of your mind is vast. You began collecting subconscious experiences & corresponding belief coats in the beginning of your life, even though you cannot consciously remember these. All coats & experiences, old or new, big or small can hold important information & keys to your success, as well as reasons for past failures.

You may have a desire or tendency to rush through this kind of self-detective work. Perhaps you even recognize this as a past behavioral trait of yours. This is a good example of Heightened Awareness. You may have uncovered an unhealthy source that leads to procrastinating or self-blocking. When you spot these tendencies, pretend that they are colored child-blocks, labeled with their name. Place them in a pile over there.

While it's just fine to scan through the workshop material to become familiar, don't fall into the trap of hurrying & not doing the detailed detective work. You will be cheating yourself & taking away from the quality of what you are capable of doing & perhaps even taking you down past roads of failure.

There is no easy road when looking to achieve high level health & optimum performance. If it were, more people would be experiencing it. This program offers you the opportunity to see & address your short & long falls, as well as your potential. As you build your commitment to this self-development work, you probably will want to review this area more than once so as to build on the already presented memories.

You probably know plenty of people who want to change something, but simply can’t figure out how or when to get started. Somehow it never seems to be the right time. Excuses abound that keep them engaged in procrastination. Perhaps you have had this personal experience & are wondering right in this moment if you can do this. This is another colored child-block called "doubt". It usually accompanies "lack of self-confidence." Do know that this time it will be different than before, because I’m going to help you get started & find your balance. In fact, you are already in the process because you are reading this.

It’s said that when a rubber band is stretched, it never returns to it’s original position, & so with reading material such as this. The actual process of reading engages your right brain, or subconscious mind & so inner motivators are already etching. Notice if you can sense them.

Throughout this inner detective work you will be activating the different areas with a light application of Interactive Self-Hypnosis. Managing health issues, addictions or getting to the heart of any problem involves the act of beginning. You must commit & step onto the merry-go-round of life. Life does not stand still & wait for you. So reach out & grab on to the golden ring. The ring is the catalyst for moving you out of procrastination & into the action of the merry-go-round of life. That's all you have to do.

Take a moment to relax deeper than before..... & just as if you were looking in a big filing cabinet, find the folder that contains your current lifestyle patterns. As your mind scans the material, notice that some appear familiar, but others may not be quite so clear. While you think you know yourself & how you spend your time, you are about to find out that you know less about yourself than you thought. That is because a good part of your day is spent in a very limited conscious state known as low-level awareness, or automatic pilot I call this is day-sleep walking, a form of automatic self-hypnosis.

There are many areas of lifestyle behaviors that are on automatic pilot. The areas in the box represent only a few. Perhaps you never thought about your behaviors or emotions in this way, but only by doing so is it possible to examine the behavioral tangents & then to ask the subconscious mind for help in changing these.

As you follow what I suggest, allow the images to form in your mind's eye. For example, it helps to imagine that each automatic pilot area has a separate folder in your subconscious mind. As you work with your personal assessment, you will be opening these folders & researching the many aspect of the automatic pilot programming. Some aspects may need to be deleted, changed or mind-edited in some way. Other parts may appear to be fine, but it's a good idea to review these anyway. Your subconscious librarian or inner coach may have suggestions to make these even better than before.

We all tend to think within certain boundaries & unfortunately when we do so, our innate creativity can be curtailed. Practice allowing your mind to open & flow. Each time you encourage creative thinking, your subconscious mind will apply this to other areas of your life. Very soon you will find yourself doing so on automatic pilot & this is a great creative self-gift.

While automatic pilot has some benefits, it also has drawbacks. When you are not fully awake you give up your rights to observe, assess & manage your choices. Instead, you are automatic programming in relationship to the goal in your mind, for whatever is in your mind is indeed a goal. For example, brushing your teeth is an automatic mind program. Most of the time you don't pay attention to where the brush is going & how well it is doing it's job. Suppose that you have a tendency to over-brush & injure your gums. This type of continuous abrasion can lead to some serious gum problems, so it becomes important for you to be be very awake during this self-care activity.

You are currently in the process of reviewing & perhaps editing lifestyle behaviors. Some of you may be managing addictions including sugar & its nicotine & alcohol partners. You may have disorderly eating patterns or other chronic stressors. Some of your automatic programs may be blocking your goals for a healthy life now & in the future, actually locking you in failure.

You may be wearing a belief coat that no longer fits or one that you never wanted in the first place. Perhaps it was given to you by someone who truly didn't want to succeed & imposed this on you. Keep in mind the Inner Mind Screen & Brain Cloud. Each time you reinforce any failure program, your subconscious mind sees this failure as your goal & the next time you will find it even easier to fail.

This personal assessment helps you self-organize both consciously & subconsciously. You will be evaluating your needs, both present & future, as well as viewing your weaknesses with the tool of detachment, allowing you to see without self-judgment, shame, blame & guilt. Here you will be uncovering the obvious, as well as your hidden resources known as resilience. You will be learning how to utilize these as stepping-stones for health, growth & development. Through the detachment tools you will be re-examining your past successful inner motivation programs, preparing them for current use.

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds. We tend to utilize less than 2% of our potential, so why not delve into your "inner bank account?"

Here is a complimentary session for you to experience, the focus being your early teachers & the formation of your beliefs. It is part of a three session series called Authentic Self. Follow the link to the download.

If you would like my assistance in choosing the best program for you, please contact me.

Early Life Teachers - Taking Back Your Power

2007-10-31T08:36:00.000-07:00

"No one would register for an educational course without checking out the teaching staff. You would certainly want to know who was teaching the course & their background in the subject matter. Yet our "life teachers" didn't have to meet any of criteria or scrutiny. As children, as teens & even into adulthood most of us took everything we were told or taught at face-value, carrying these beliefs through life as truths, formulating a permanent lens to continually view ourselves, as well as others, often robbing creativity & quality of life"... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

CD/mp3 Suggestions

Interactive Self-Hypnosis Workshop
Your Authentic Self
Experiencing Regression

All programs are available through my websites, as well as on major audioBOOK sites.

LOOKING INWARD...

Who were your early teachers & what were their credentials? This was a question I asked my class last night. Some of the answers were rather brow-lifting. This was not an attempt to criticize or show disrespect to any family member or other caregiver. We all have imperfections & while most of our early teachers did they best they could, what they provided may not have been what we needed nor what we need now. For most of us it's time to wake up & that charge.

I've introduced some of the group participants including Claire, Jennifer, Susan & Tim. Claire's parents divorced with she was ten years old. She lived with her father who worked as an engineer. He was strict, but loving. Her daily care came from her paternal grandmother & older sister by four years. This was her early core teaching group. The grandmother was overwhelmed with having two young girls in her care & while taking care of the practical aspects of daily life, she rarely talked to them about anything personal or their feelings. Claire grew up non-verbalizing her needs, desires & feelings. Her binge behaviors began at age eight, before the divorce.

Jennifer's core teaching group included her alcoholic mother & father. She has two older brothers who formed a bond to each other, leaving her out on her own. They often "tortured" her by tickling & doing something called Indian rub burns. When she cried or complained, her mother would scream at her & send her to her room to await the arrival of her father.... the disciplinarian. Jennifer learned to accept punishment without complaining & began bingeing at the age of four.

Tim grew up in a different kind of core family. His parents were both well-educated & successful in their own careers. He has an older sister & brother who excelled in sports & academics. This was a busy family with little time for personal attention. As Tim explains, it was like being on my own train with no conductor. Each night his parents had cocktails before a hastly put together dinner. After dinner everyone went to their own space until bedtime. Tim never learned what it took to succeed at life. It was as if those chapters of the book of life were never read to him. Tim grew up thinking that life was easy, without complications, so when his life became complicated, he turned to junk food & alcohol..........just like his parents.

Susan grew up as the child-caregiver to both the children & adults in her life. Her father died when she was three & she remembers promising her mother to be "a good girl" & to keep everyone happy. Quite a job description for a young child. She missed out on her childhood & so has little idea about providing one to her own children. She is a high level achiever, perfectionist & poor delegator. She started bingeing at the age of four & continues to hide & binge eat daily.

Parents & siblings are only a few of our early caregivers. When self-examining this area of one's life, it's important to have a look at other mentors or teachers. Look to other relatives, neighbors, church, clubs, sports coaches, teachers, friends, non-friends & other people one may have been fascinated with, even if they weren't actively involved in one's daily life. Remember that we learn from all of our intake senses.

If early teachers or mentors weren't helpful in teaching healthy stress-release & emotional management, chances are that the student or Self never matured properly & may continue with elevating other life-teachers to positions well above the Self. This often happens in marriage when the Self moves from the early mentors or teachers to the home of the husband-mentor. It's not surprising to find this type of history in those with disorderly eating or addictions.

I'd like to take the group into some of these areas, so they can begin to learn how to move out of the problem & the self-judgement & onto the path of positive change. It's easy to stay in the problem, acting as the victim. No one is going to argue that the above teachers were deficient in some way or in many ways. No discussion there. However, there is little to be gained if anything from staying the victim.

So, let's begin to outline some of this work...

FAMILY ADDICTION HISTORY

It's important to know that even when you were a toddler, your earliest teachers may have been placing potential addictive programs. If addictions were present in your early environment, you were also learning how to manage stress with these substances. I'm going to address certain addictions first & then go into some food issues.

What did your mentors teach you?
Were there members of your family or social circle who smoked or consumed alcohol?
Was coffee a regular a beverage of choice?
Did you have soft drinks available?
We you offered any of these substances?
Were you offered water as a beverage or was it not considered a beverage?
Are there any areas that need editing here?

Simply relax deeply into the moment and bring up the images you would like to change. Even though they really happened, you can still change the scenes in some way. Perhaps you would like to stand next to your child as an adult mentor and point out that one can love or like someone even if they participate in dangerous habits. Let the child know that it is not healthy to smoke at all.

There are some people who can enjoy a drink of alcohol on occasion, but it truly isn't a good idea to get used to it. Coffee is not a healthy drink and should be avoided, as well as other drinks that have sugar and caffeine. Take the opportunity to share a glass of cool, refreshing water with your child-self and tell the child all about the rewards for participating in healthy behaviors.

Addressing your child-self, gently point out what would be good to change and why. Invite your subconscious librarian to gift you with further information.

VISITING YOUR CAREGIVERS

Go back inside again and take some time to notice how you caregivers took care of yourself nutritionally and then how you took care of yourself. Pay special attention to your feelings about these memories.

Visit breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.
Who made the decisions in regard to your lifestyle behavior choices?
How did peer pressure play out in relation to foods and stress?
If this were a book you were writing, is there anything you would change?
How would you edit it? Be very specific.

Sometimes the subconscious mind will send up material about areas you have already “ mind-researched.” This is like remembering where your keys are located after you stopped looking for them. Has any additional information been provided that would apply to your earlier years? If so, go back and make additional notes in the area above. Teen years often hold some important areas in relation to the development of eating disorders and certainly sugar addiction.

CLAIRE

It has really helped me to visit my transition from teen to young adult. I can understand how much pressure I put on myself and how much I pretended to be mature. This was very stressful and also set the stage for the years that followed. I truly lost my essence here in this very place. Now I'm looking forward and have a question. Every woman in my family became obese in middle age. Are you telling me that I have a chance to have different outcomes?

While you have family genetic wallpaper, you also have the ability to make better choices in how you care for yourself. More than likely the other women in your family did not have this information available to them, but you do. Keep in mind that everything you do has a consequence, and so if you keep doing the same things as they did, you will have the same consequences, but if on the other hand you choose to change, so will your outcomes.

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds. We tend to utilize less than 2% of our potential, so why not delve into your "inner bank account?"

Here is a complimentary session for you to experience, the focus being your early teachers & the formation of your beliefs. It is part of a three session series called Authentic Self. Follow the link to the download.

If you would like my assistance in choosing the best program for you, please contact me.

Library of the Mind - Part 1

2007-10-30T03:51:00.001-07:00

"When you are disordered on the outside, your inner landscape is also disordered. Get ready to see & experience things differently. It’s time to become great at advanced life lessons."... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The Workshop Group is ready to practice Interactive Self-Hypnosis. Today the focus is on deepening trance states. This will allow us to relax deeply, exit the meyhem of disorderly thinking & to enter the library of the mind.

CD/mp3 Suggestions

Deepening Workshop
Interactive Self-Hypnosis Workshop
Tools of Visualization & Imagery

These are available on my websites, as well as on other major audioBOOK websites.

ELIZ: You began your life walk with your very own unique first step. While this may have been your first walking step, every experience in your entire life had a first step as well, and you have many more first steps to experience.

Tune into the world and you will hear lots of moaning and groaning about having to begin all over again. If you take a moment to dissect these complaints, you will find the errors in these thought patterns, for every experiential moment on the path of life begins in a different place. A failure experience is simply a step in a different direction. Later as we explore the subject of failure, you will come to find that it really isn’t a bad thing, but instead a good one. We are surrounded with a multitude of teachers on these subjects.

Take toddlers for example. We can learn quite a bit from them. Observe what happens when they fall down. They may cry or not, but then they get up, center themselves, look around at their immediate environment, then movetowards where they want to go.
Your own breath is your teacher in residence. As you learn to observe it, you will begin to find that each inhalation and exhalation is different from the one before. Therefore we do know how to live with ongoing change. This realization can help you to shift out of the fear surrounding change, right into action.

KNOWLEDGE HOOK - DEEPENING

The tools you have learned so far are multi-faceted. They work to reduce your stress chemical production just by their sheer presence. The slowing of your brain waves is called deepening trance. You already know how to reach the alpha brain wave state right in the moment, even when others are around. When the brain waves are slowed, the body becomes balanced. This is called homeostasis. Your blood pressure normalizes, as does your heart and hormone production. This act of mental shifting begins changes within every cell, delivering you to the door of your subconscious mind that is located at the alpha brain wave level.

You can slow the brain waves even more, going to a deeper level of trance. Many people have the idea that it is necessary to be at much lower levels in order to practice effective hypnosis. Some believe they must be asleep in order for suggestions to be planted. Nothing could be further than the truth. We tend to be in self-hypnotic states all day long, but unfortunately most of these are negative mind programs, going towards negative goals instead of positive ones.. In purposeful self-hypnosis, you will be waking from these, releasing them and then programming your mind for what you want.

There are times when you might like to go to a deeper level, perhaps during a dental appointment or medical procedure. Deepening is also beneficial for releasing high stress levels, either in the moment or in time put aside for this purpose. There are many ways to experience deepening. While all of these can be applied in the moment, it is best to practice them in a solitary environment, without time pressure.

MIND EXERCISE – MAGNETS

A simple exercise for deepening is the utilization of mind magnets. Most of us are familiar with the sensation of magnetic pull. For example, if you have flown in a plane you do know the feeling of being pulled down and back into the seat.

Start this exercise with a deep yawn breath, holding it in your mouth for the count of four, letting it out slowly. Settle into the chair, tilting your eyes up slightly. When practicing you might like to close your eyes, but you can practice this with them opened or closed. Allow your buttocks to be pulled gently down, sensing your spine sinking into the back of the chair. You can work with an imaginary dial. Notice that as you turn it to the right, the magnetic sensation enhances. A turn to the left allows you to experience a decrease in magnetic sensation. This imagery gives you full control of your depth of trance or level of relaxation.

This exercise is very easily adaptable to any situation in the real world. For example, if you find yourself becoming anxious in the moment, simply turn your dial to the right. You will be turning off your stress chemical production, slowing your brain waves, and going right to the door of your subconscious mind where you can request information or plant suggestions. As you tilt your eyes up just slightly, your programming screen will be available for subconscious mind communication. You can also release emotional cravings in the same way. Of course, physiological cravings need to be managed with the food connection.

MIND EXERCISE – MAGIC NUMBERS

This exercise appears a bit more cumbersome, but each part of it can be utilized as a separate mind program in the moment. Sit upright and allow your body to sink into the chair. Take in a very deep yawn breath, holding it in your mouth for the count of four, allow it to exit slowly as if you were a balloon at the end of a party. After reading this exercise, close your eyes and tilt them up about twenty degrees, just as if you were sitting in the second row of a movie theater. Notice the placement of the mind screen and the number four slowly coming in from the distance. Remember imaging is different than seeing with normal sight. It’s more of a felt sense. Allow the number to touch and enter your forehead and begin to feel it absorbing down throughout your body.

Bring your eyes back to the screen and notice the number three is coming in and now entering the center of your chest, finding the door to your heart and now pumping throughout your body taking it further down. The number two is coming towards you now, entering your belly button door and disseminating down into your lower abdomen and both legs. Allow yourself time to feel the joining of the numbers, as they take you deeper. The number one is coming forward in the form of a paint brush coated in white sparkling paint and outlining your entire body. Notice you can take the outline off and place it back on. Each time you do so you go deeper down. You can utilize this portable outline at any moment, as it is now programmed. Once you are inside your outline, you are separated or disassociated from the action of the moment and in the powerful position of the observer.

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

In a strange paradox, the release of the high stress states actually opens the subconscious library door, readying the mind for programming. Your creative power is right where you want it. Each and every time you wake up to an aspect of your disorderly eating, addiction or any other stressor, choose to release it. Now program your mind for what you want. See or sense it on the mind screen “as if” you already achieved this. You could also choose to edit the inner scene that is playing out, especially if it is related to your addictions. Pretend that you are the writer, producer, director of this production and change whatever you want. Then observe as it goes forward with your new programming.

Your subconscious mind loves inner organization. To oblige, you will be building some working metaphors or inner structure that will encompass your entire life. This will make it easy for you to build multiple goals in different areas of your life, as well as manage the emotional children that either help or hinder. While this work may appear like a child’s game, make no mistake. Your subconscious mind loves pictures, especially stories that are both humorous and imaginative. You are in the process of engaging your mind to assist you in managing your specific problems, but you can utilize this to organize other areas of your life as well. Remember, everything is connected. Your disorders do not exist unto themselves.

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds. We tend to utilize less than 2% of our potential, so why not delve into your "inner bank account?"

Here is a complimentary session for you to experience. The name of the program is Inviting Change Utilizing Interactive Self-Hypnosis. This particular program offers 3 sessions. You can download it by clicking on the link. Here's a short description:

Inner Organization #4005

This program is designed to assist the listener in utilizing powerful imagery & affirmations for developing a new improved mindset of inner & outer organization. We have many possessions & collections. Some are tangible, those we can touch & hold, & those intangibles, such as moments in time. As you learn to work with this particular mindset of organization you will clearly image these valuable collections. You will also become aware of the dis-organizers, the "collection value snatchers." As you learn to spot their arrival you have the choice to diminish them.

Imaginology - Part 2

2007-10-29T06:46:00.000-07:00

"Imagination is like a wild horse that has been led into the corral, waiting to be directed. Of course, you can open the gates & let it go, but why not give both of you the gifts of self-discipline?"....Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Suggested CD/mp3's

Visualization & Imagery Workshop
Self-Hypnosis Workshop
Managing Thoughts

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

In hypnosis we alter our internal world. By utilizing our imagination in special ways we stir feelings and alter behavior and attitudes. When you change how you think, visualize and imagine things to be, your feelings and behaviors begin to change. You not only see what is possible, but the subconscious mind will send up other suggestions for your approval, perhaps things you never even considered that will take you even closer to your goal, or enhance it in some way. The mind works backwards. When it sees the ideal goal picture clearly in great definition, it makes the action plan. Changes just seem to occur, as if the goal took on it’s own life. Things that were difficult in the past often become simple, and one is left wondering what the commotion was all about.

Our subconscious mind stores all memories, anything and everything we have experienced through our entire life. This includes memories of each and very sense, including taste, touch, sight, hearing and emotion. It’s all there filed in an orderly fashion. This means that you have a wealth of resources on which to draw as you focus on your future. Most of us never utilize these assets and continue to see everything as a struggle. If one continues to see things in this way, everything will be a struggle for one always gets what one asks for in the mind’s eye.

As you learn to relax, to let go, and ask for the appropriate resources from the inner bank vault, you can change with a new level of comfort. When you are tense the subconscious mind cannot get your attention, and so you cannot share the bounty. As you learn to relax during actual stress, the stressors will work as catalysts, opening the door of the subconscious mind, and freeing you to work with this powerful part of yourself.

MIND EXERCISE

Working with subconscious mind programs will make your management of disorderly eating and addictions much easier. You already know about containments, and since you are more skilled than you were earlier on in this book, this is a good moment to build a few.

Simply relax deeply, tilt your eyes up about twenty degrees. Place a mind movie, perhaps seeing yourself in your containment area and placing an appropriate label on a facet of your disorderly eating. Your inner librarian will take care of the rest. Take an extra moment to study the contents. What does your disorder or addiction look like? Notice some of the VCR programs that you play in relation to this issue. Are they worn out from over-playing? Have you already made some corrections and celebrated them? Always be sure to celebrate both big and small accomplishments. Remember small ones tend to pile up and become very big ones!!

Have a look at your emotional children, noticing they crayons that they are applying to this special containment. Remember, your subconscious mind does not judge. What you play is what you get. This will be subconsciously enhanced for you. When working with your subconscious mind in this way, you can make changes right in the moment if you choose. If there are any emotional visitors or crayons you would like to remove from this containment, please go ahead and do so. Just image yourself completing the action. Your librarian will take care of the rest. You may wonder what you are actually doing. The right brain is very creative and sees this as a re-programming. Whenever the subconscious mind finds your actions in real life being incongruent with subconscious mind programming, the inner programming will win out. You will instantaneously be pulled into heightened awareness and find yourself going towards the behaviors connected to the inner program.

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

The art of working with mind images is often called imagery or visualization. My word for this is imaginology. I define this as the study of your own imagination or mind creativity. This speaks to the special work you are doing here.

In the practice of imaginology, you see with your mind’s eye. This is very different than seeing with normal sight. Sometimes people report that they can’t see images and become discouraged in working hypnotically. This is simply a matter of communication and understanding of how the tools work and what to expect. Each and every person reading my words is working with imagery.

Whenever you notice an idea or a thought flowing through your mind, this is imagery. Whenever you hear someone telling a story and you form pictures in your mind about it, this is imagery. The reason one has less problems with those examples is that there is little to no efforting. When someone tells you a story they don’t say, “now I want you to see images in your mind as I tell you what happened to me on the way to work.” Images just naturally come to mind. Your job here is to take the efforting out of the process of imagery and imaginology, allowing free flow. It helps to practice, and so in this chapter you will be presented with some skill building exercises. There is no right or wrong way to do this work. It is simply the doing that is important. Your work is to get out of your own way, allowing your subconscious mind to simply take the ball and run with it.

MIND EXERCISE

Let’s practice. As your eyes read these words, if you choose, you can easily see your bedroom in your mind. You don’t have to elicit the relaxation response to do that, do you? The image just came forward. Now notice you can see yourself going to that bed and turning back the covers. You can also “mind experience” this and sense your body walking towards your bed and feeling the covers as you turn them back. In another instant you can be in your car, driving down any street. Go ahead and practice seeing yourself driving, and then actually driving. Feel the steering wheel, the seat beneath you, and touch the rear view mirror.

You can then transfer to your office and look for some files, or see yourself doing that. Those are two different kinds of imaginolgy. Next, be in the supermarket choosing all your favorite foods. Feel them as you take them off the shelves. Notice they all feel differently. Now practice seeing yourself participating in an entire supermarket excursion in a few seconds. Don’t you wish it could be like that in real life?

Let’s practice some regression. Take yourself back into your past, replaying anything you choose. You don’t have to go back very far to find your past. It is just on the other side of “now.” Of course, you can go way back if you choose, and in a later chapter you will be working on your time line, going back as well as going forward.

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

A frequent question is “what is the difference between meditation and visualization?” Meditation clears and concentrates the mind, while visualization or imagery puts an image in it. Both are great change agents and complement each other. Visualization or imaginology refers to our inner movies or VCR tapes. These are at the heart of our mind bio-computer. The human brain programs and self-programs through its images. All skills, and all achievements are acquired through this image-making process. Interactive Awareness and Interactive Self-Hypnosis are high-level consciousness tools that allow stress release, emotional management, subconscious mind re-editing and programming right in the moment.

Building these skills can assist us at all levels of our training and performance whether it be managing sugar addiction or winning at tennis.. Many people feel they are making up the images, rather than seeing them and this is perfectly fine. The mind accepts what is presented to it as truth, so as long as the images are healthy and positive, go with your own creative thoughts.

MIND EXERCISE

Here is another skill builder that will enhance your toolbox. Take any simple object, a pen, pencil, cup or similar item will do. Look directly at it until you feel you are quite familiar with it. Close your eyes and imagine you are still looking at it. Open your eyes and look at the object again, and compare it with your mind image. Now close your eyes and do the same. Next, move the object out from where you are observing it, and scan it with your eyes as if it were an external image. Often people expect the inner image to be exactly like the outer image, and judge themselves as being a "poor imager." This is just the ego getting in the way, and the emotional visitors coloring the visualization experience for you. Release them, and go back to your practice knowing that however you image or visualize is absolutely correct. There is no right or wrong. The more you practice, the more understanding you will have of the whole experience and the more real your images will become.

FROM THE AUTHOR

At the bottom of Imaginology - Part 1, you will find the links to the complimentary mp3 download for this part of the Online Workshop.

Imaginology Part 1

2007-10-28T11:34:00.000-07:00

"Your subconscious mind programs are valuable assets that can be edited, so truth be known, you are not stuck with what you have stored in the recesses of your mind. Right now, in this very moment, you have this opportunity.".....Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Suggested CD/mp3's

Visualization & Imagery Workshop
Self-Hypnosis Workshop
Managing Thoughts

It's time for the Workshop participants to dissect their own mind images while learning how to build new ones for planting.

ELIZ: As your perceptions change, so will your outcomes. You are learning to observe your inner mind programming, noticing what is helpful and what is not. You are learning to choose to make changes in small moment fragments, even those these appear small on the surface, for they are also taking you towards your goals. Every thought, every emotion, every expectation is like buying a bus ticket to go there. Heightened awareness is on your tool belt. You are getting better at observing the facets of your larger patterns. You are now seeing the auto-pilot responses you play without thinking, as well as how they are connected to your particular emotions, or those of others in your relationships.

Earlier in this book you had the opportunity to build your personal assessment & so you now have a plan in your pocket telling you where you are, where you want to go, and what you need to get there. If you look at your tool belt, you will notice that you have room for more tools. You can see the nutritional tools, and perhaps you are surprised at how many there are, but feeling confident that you truly understand the directions that accompanied them. You might have already noticed changes already in place, as if someone else was holding the reins. This is the power of interactive self-hypnosis. You can also see your tools for mental biofeedback, emotional management and crayon awareness.

In this section of the book you will receive many advanced mind management tools to help open your subconscious mind, as well as place even more detailed programs into your inner file cabinet. Like all tools, these are meant to be utilized, not to be left on the shelf to get rusty. You already know it's not enough to read about things, simply expecting them to happen. You must take appropriate action, while managing your mind and body connection in order to etch new programs into place. The more skilled you become, the better your outcomes.

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

Mind tools have been utilized in the practice of medicine for thousands of years and continue to be utilized in top universities of the world. There is even a special area of medicine called psycho-neuro-immunology, PNI for short, that encompasses research in the area of mind and body medicine.

Amy: I have been working with noticing my emotions and especially those that appear during my emotional craving times for sugar. I have improved my food and so the body cravings are much improved. I notice when I get bored or overwhelmed with work I think about eating junk. This is also a problem for me in the evenings when I’m finally finished with cleaning up and the children are in bed. I find it amazing how the same emotions come to find me at the same time every day. Will this ever change?

Interactive awareness allows us to see tremendous detail in the moment. The more you stay in the position of producer/director, the more you will see. You can even ask for the scene to be replayed in slow motion. Relax deeply before doing this, so your focus will enhance at a lower brain wave speed. Even though you are looking to change things, don’t allow your compulsive desires to push you around in this important moment. The deeper you go into your observation mode, the more powerful the change program will be once you place it. Be patient. Everything you need to know is coming to you, but in small spoonfuls. This is the way to the knowledge hooks.

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

Imagery, or the thoughts you play in your mind are everything. They are the crux of how you experience your body, your environment, your relationship to yourself , your relationship to others, as well as your spiritual life. You image continually like a VCR that is never turned off. Unfortunately, the most common imagery consists of negative, non-trusting, insecure, failure-orientated, worrisome, highly judgmental inner radio and visuals. These images are often followed by behaviors that match the program blueprints, thereby reinforcing the negative mind programs. You are now in the processes of exploring change and transforming your own existing images into ones that form the basis for managing your disorderly eating, your addiction, or any other problems and taking you away from optimum health and performance.

MIND EXERCISE

Take a mini-mind break, allowing your body to sink into the chair where you are resting, perhaps yawning deeply, allowing a blue mist to encircle you, encouraging all stress and the need to rush through this material to exit the ends of your fingers. See yourself on your mind screen taking in small spoonfuls on powerful information designed to change your life in so many ways. Observe the words you have just read sinking into the library of your mind, like rain being absorbed into a road surface on a hot summer day. Allow your body to enjoy the blue mist for another moment and then continue with the next hook.

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

Until recently hypnosis has been viewed by the general public as a mysterious technique performed by people with strange skills and special powers. The truth of the matter is that there is nothing mystical or magical about hypnosis. It is simply a state of very deep relaxation and quiet focus. Emotions are put to sleep and awareness is heightened. It is a state of consciousness that we enter naturally, commonly known as automatic-pilot or daydreaming.

Hypnosis is not something someone does to you. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. In this book you have already practiced various levels of deepening or trance for specific purposes or mind exercises. You have been programming your mind for change from the first page forward.

Interactive self-hypnosis is a health tool, perfect for changing lifestyle behaviors, managing addiction, disorderly eating, bringing any and all performance to the highest levels. It allows the healing of both mind and body from the stresses of life while inviting acceleration of learning and goal achievement beyond usual expectation.

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

Your subconscious mind is a like a vast library with an infinite number of selections stored. It has an instant retrieval system and an endlessly cross-referenced subject catalog. You might like to image it as your personal VCR, knowing whatever tapes you place there, becomes your goal, and your subconscious mind librarian will go to find any and all cross-references to assist you in achieving this goal. This is great if you are playing a positive goal image, but what about if you are playing a negative goal image? You’ve already had some practice with identifying these in the chapters on Interactive Awareness and Emotional Management exercises, but now it is time to get even better at subconscious mind programming.

Visualizing negative outcomes or memories can stir up anxiety or depression. Besides the images or visualization, it is not uncommon to speak internally to yourself in quite critical ways. During the “practice” of putting oneself down, the individual is essentially in a light trance state, preoccupied and internally focused. You guessed it! A negative self-hypnotic program is busy being etched right into the subconscious mind and becoming a goal.

Later on you will be learning that during the programming of the subconscious mind for success, you can request the inner librarian to make you aware of any unproductive emotional states and corresponding behaviors, so you can change them right in the moment. It’s like being on a bus going towards your goal when all of a sudden you realize that you are on the wrong bus. Of course you are going to want to change right then and there, and not an hour later!

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds. We tend to utilize less than 2% of our potential, so why not delve into your "inner bank account?"

Here is a complimentary session for you to experience. The name of the program is Inviting Change Utilizing Interactive Self-Hypnosis. This particular program offers 3 sessions. You can download it by clicking on the link. Here's a short description:

Inner Organization #4005

This program is designed to assist the listener in utilizing powerful imagery & affirmations for developing a new improved mindset of inner & outer organization. We have many possessions & collections. Some are tangible, those we can touch & hold, & those intangibles, such as moments in time. As you learn to work with this particular mindset of organization you will clearly image these valuable collections. You will also become aware of the dis-organizers, the "collection value snatchers." As you learn to spot their arrival you have the choice to diminish them.

Working with Mind Pods

2007-10-27T12:52:00.001-07:00

"The more detailed your self-discipline, the higher your level of success. Appreciate that you are totally responsible for your level of inner & outer organization & so the best idea is for you to begin to fall in love with it."...… Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The Workshop Participants have questions about moving into "change" on a daily basis & how to move past procrastination.

CD/mp3 Suggestions

Moving Out of Procrastination
The Life University Part 1 & 2
Inner Organization - Imagery
Inner Organization - Affirmations

ELIZ: Each morning you wake up to your daily life. Most of your activities will be on automatic pilot. You might not even remember doing some things, such as brushing your teeth, drinking your coffee or driving to work. Automatic pilot is a trance state that can be very useful for what is considered the habitual activities of life. After all, it would be exhausting to be aware of each and every moment that transpires.

As one goes through life many new activities are placed on automatic pilot as their level of proficiency is raised. Learning to drive a car is a good example. In the beginning the student driver is hyper-aware of all aspects of driving. Once experience sets in, the driver may not be aware of driving from point A to point B. Of course, the subconscious mind is programmed to awaken the individual if danger is noted, or if the journey becomes rough for some reason. Perhaps new information or direction is needed.

Sometimes we forget to review habits, leaving them in their original automatic pilot mind file. It is a good idea to review these files, even before wake-up calls. This is a form of prevention, keeping free of many complications. Not paying attention to automatic pilot files can get you into trouble, especially if new information is needed or if the direction is off-course. Keep in mind that habits are re-etched in the subconscious mind each and every time they are performed. Some are very deeply ingrained, perhaps originating in early childhood. Some habits are triggered by emotional crayons, often as stress releasers, even if they are unhealthy. Smoking, sugar, food addiction, bingeing and alcohol fall into this habit category. If you think about how others manage stress, you will find things such as compulsive gambling and shopping to name a few.

It is especially important to review habits, especially those that are related to health outcomes. Once you begin to look in a focused way, many will come to your attention. Some may appear innocent, even silly, but that is an illusion. Take flossing your teeth for example. If a person does not pay attention to consistently flossing well, not only can teeth be lost, but the ongoing, often sub-clinical infections can lead to serious and even life-threatening diseases.

There is an additional benefit to paying attention to already formulated automatic pilot programs. They have self-discipline already ingrained through the continuous etching or repeating of the habit. Ingrained self-discipline is like gold waiting to be discovered, asking to be utilized in a creative way. You are now ready to capture this gold through the use of Pods. Pods are very special interactive self-hypnotic images that encourage the subconscious mind to participate in your life self-discipline.

Pods are like rooms that hold the particular discipline or activity. These can be automatic pilot activities or those that are especially important for initiating a lifestyle change, or for enhancing health and performance. They are particularly important for the management of disorderly eating and addictions. Health and performance Pods can include breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, teeth care, exercise, water, meditation. When you set and work with a Pod, the subconscious mind sees this as a very important focus and will work in a creative manner within the Pod. The inner mind will help program the mind for change, bringing forth details that might have slipped through the cracks. The subconscious will also make creative suggestions, some of which can be very serendipitous.

When Pods are properly set up for daily discipline, other areas of life will become disciplined as well, just as if the Pods were acting as role-models or active mentors for these other areas. Other activities seem to jump in between the daily discipline Pods, appearing to organize themselves in the same way as the neighboring Pods.

It is important to understand that the day is only "so long." The number of hours dedicated to awake activity are also limited. Most people build high levels of stress because they have too much scheduled, their "to-do list" is not properly constructed or both. It's not uncommon for someone to sit down with the daily to-do list and then to begin major procrastination. Some people read their list with an unfocused mind. Their eyes do the seeing, but the mind is simply not in residence at the same time. Goals that are not clearly defined or actively motivated seem to stay on shelves forever, leaving many wonderful and prosperous opportunities sitting lost in the shelf-dust. However, once the daily self-discipline Pods get going, they can dust off those lost gifts, working to bring them forward in new ways.

MIND & JOURNALING EXERCISE

While everyone's Pods will be different, I highly suggest that you place your most important lifestyle needs in place on a time-line. Some of those suggestions are listed above. While self-hypnosis is known as “mind work”, it is also reinforced by written work, such as journaling, list making or the drawing of simple images. Relax deeply into the chair where you are sitting with your journal in front of you. Draw a straight line & place some pod-like structures on that line, representing the different areas of your life. I suggest you color them so they a better defined for your subconscious mind..

Once the Pods are in place, it's important to know how to work with them in order to creatively activate the subconscious mind. Place some affirmations such as “the day is only this long”…”I sit in stillness before entering my pod”….”I program my pods from my mind screen…”

MIND EXERCISE

Take a moment to relax deeply. Remember, you want to slow your brain waves, turning off and releasing all stress chemicals. This is centering, making yourself ready for new mind programming.

Outside each Pod is a chair. I ask you to sit in the chair, inviting stillness to enter your mind and body. There are many ways to do this. A simple technique is to breathe from your lower belly, just as if it contained a balloon of any color you desire. I like to sense my body being gently pulled down by magnets. It is perfectly fine to be standing instead of sitting. The chair is simply a metaphor for centering before entering the Pod Room. I also like to enhance my centering by imaging a golden egg surrounding my entire body. As I tilt my eyes up about twenty degrees, I locate my mind screen. This is where I will communicate with my Inner Coach.

There are many different ways for me to communicate. I can choose images or place words or simply think word-thoughts or combine both. I can ask questions or ask for what I would like or need. I always communicate "as if " I already had what I wanted ", perhaps want to know more about it or how I obtained it. When working with daily self-discipline Pods, I might ask my subconscious mind how to make these better or how to highly motivate them. This works especially well when looking to re-program behaviors that are highly etched, such as disorderly eating or addictions.

Think of each Pod as a separate room that is only about the specific activity of choice. Everything in that room is related. While you will be familiar with many of the things in the Pod Room, there will be other things that are new to you, some of which you may not even be able to see clearly right now. You can also enter Pod Rooms just in the theater of your mind. This is especially useful when looking to highly create or to rehabilitate in a particular area that has been problematic in the past. Simply take some time to wander about, investigating whatever interests you. Allow your intuition to play out.

FROM THE AUTHOR

There are many mp3/CD programs to help you organize & activate your life. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives you the opportunity to "tweak" your own mind & to move forward at faster speeds. We tend to utilize less than 2% of our potential, so why not delve into your "inner bank account?"

Here is a complimentary session for you to experience. The name of the program is Inviting Change Utilizing Interactive Self-Hypnosis. This particular program offers 3 sessions. You can download it by clicking on the link. Here's a short description:

Inner Organization #4005

This program is designed to assist the listener in utilizing powerful imagery & affirmations for developing a new improved mindset of inner & outer organization. We have many possessions & collections. Some are tangible, those we can touch & hold, & those intangibles, such as moments in time. As you learn to work with this particular mindset of organization you will clearly image these valuable collections. You will also become aware of the dis-organizers, the "collection value snatchers." As you learn to spot their arrival you have the choice to diminish them.

Parading Priorities

2007-10-26T08:39:00.001-07:00

My successful living lies in my ability to put first things first. I do not place second things first. My priorities are numbered in my mind's eye and present themselves as such.... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The Workshop group is working with affirmation clusters, similar to those found in my books & CD/mp3 programs. These mini-mind programs can be planted and then etched in the moment. Even though the programs are small, they deal with big, everyday issues.

SUGGESTIONS FOR CD/mp3 Programs

Affirmations for Inner Organization
Affirmations for Time Management
Affirmations for Enhancing Self-Image
Affirmations for Enhancing Decision Making

Our mp3 programs are available on our websites, as well as from other major mp3 bookstores around the world. To locate these, simply search for mp3 titles by Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht.

ELIZ: Today I've been thinking about different aspects of time management including keeping priorities in the the forefront and keeping them moving. I've always been interested in priorities and why some of us set them, and others don't bother. In my private practice, I've noticed that priorities tend to be vague, lacking definition and therefore motivation. Clients describe them as lurkers or background noise, almost bothersome. It's like they carry guilt, because people find it difficult to stay with for any length of time. In fact, when I work to set priorities with my clients before placing them hypnotically, they often balk.

Time management and priority setting is crucial, not only for success, but for health. When there is a lack of internal order, stress levels rise. Daily pressures are responsible for 60-90% of disease-states. Relationships, both with significant others, including children, are often marred by negative stress. Even the dog suffers. Actually, there is nothing good to be said for it.

Here are some frequent questions.... Even if we could stick with our priorities, what about the rest of our life tasks...the things that aren't really priorities, like cleaning closets. After all, life is a busy place where we're continually chased by our to-do lists. And what about creativity? When is this supposed to happen? Is there truly any way to win without being killed by life itself?

Affirmation clusters can help here. Mind programs are like having an internal coach or assistant who is always present, keeping you on course, making suggestions for going towards programmed goals. Priorities work best as programmed goals. As I design and record my CD's, mp3's and books, I like to plant active affirmations such as these. Readers and listeners are often surprised as to how easy it is to change their mind programs. Interactive self-hypnosis is much more like play than work.

PLANTING AN ACTIVE AFFIRMATION

We always begin by reading the affirmational cluster out loud or slowly to ourselves. Prepare to spend some "real time" with yourself. Planting on the fly is not the way to go.

My successful living lies in my ability to put first things first. I do not place second things first. My priorities are numbered in my mind's eye and present themselves as such....

Remember, before planting affirmations, it is important to decide what it is that you want. Today it's about your priorities. These may change day by day, so keep that it mind. If you don't know what your priorities are, or if you not used to thinking this way, then this is a good time to start.

We always begin by relaxing deeply into the moment and quieting the thoughts. Take a deep yawn breath in from the bottom of your feet, holding it in your mouth for the count of four. When four arrives, allow the breath to exit the valves located on the end of your fingers. Sense your body sinking into the chair where you are resting. After you read this, then close your eyes gently, tilting them up about twenty degrees. Your mind screen is located behind your closed lids. This is where you will be programming your mind for what you want. Not to worry if you have difficulty visualizing. Simply think clearly and your subconscious mind will activate the programs for you.

I'm going to give you a general metaphor for the affirmation cluster. If your mind would like to utilize a different one, that is absolutely fine. When I'm prioritizing I like the image of a parade. This image lends itself to organization and order. The subconscious mind is now programmed for this. Next, if you have decided on your priorities, see/think them as groups of marchers and line them up in the order of importance. If this is not clear to you, ask your subconscious mind to help you. Sometimes we cannot commit to a priority because there are mind-blocks.

For example, I was working with a new client who obviously was over-weight. However, weight loss was not a priority for her, the reason being that she doesn't want to give up eating junk and prefers not to exercise because it's boring. When her subconscious mind was asked to order her parade groups, much to her chagrin, the need to lose weight group came right to the front!

Once the priorities are in parade formation, the drum major will blow the whistle and forward march. All parts of each priority are organized, motivated and going forward with positive energy. You might even hear the music playing in the background. The mind program is now in place.

As you go through your day, the parade will be present in the back of your mind, leading your thoughts and actions. You now know what you are about, as well as what comes first and what comes second.

If you enjoy working in this particular area, you might like to order any of the affirmation or imagery programs that focus on innr organization or time management.

The past issues of this blog can be found below. Other segments are stored in the following separate blog. For those of you who would like to practice Interactive Self-Hypnosis, there is always a complimentary mp3 sitting on my website.

mindART - FULL BLOG

The Art of Progressing

2007-10-25T05:57:00.001-07:00

Progress begins one step at a time, each step being motivated by the step before it & then motivating the step behind it… Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

CD/mp3 Suggestions

Motivation for Weight Loss
Enhancing Self-Discipline
Becoming Aware

Inside the Online Workshop the participants are having a discussion about staying with a healthy lifestyle change program. There are many concerns, especially because there as been lots of failure. While the focus here is weight management, the specific awareness & techniques apply to all areas of life. What's also interesting, when working with the tools of Interactive Self-Hypnosis, a change in one area is carried over to other areas. For example, when lifestyle changes are applied to the nutritional areas of life, it's much easier to make changes in relationships & even habits, such as nail biting, that seemed impossible to change in the past.

Here's a snapshot of the focus & self-hypnotic approach...

When learning to manage weight, either for loss or maintenance, the very first step is spend sufficient time in fully understanding & believing in the specific eating discipline you have decided to follow. This means going beyond just reading a book or following someone else's lead. Keep in mind that everyone is different & comes to their current moment of awakening from a different family & personal medical history & from different life experiences.

Along the way we have developed both talents & negative programs. We all have specific strengths & weaknesses, as well as beliefs about ourselves. And so, we live in a completely different world from our office mates & even from our family members. While it may appear that we are much the same, this is only a surface view & a far cry from what is our true nature & reality. Of course we can listen & learn from others, but it is important to learn to trust one's own intuition & inner guidance system.

It's simply not enough to know that you must lose weight or even to want to lose weight. You must truly believe this in the core of your being. It's important to know that one's convictions & hot desire to achieve is the primary inner motivator that takes one through any & all obstacles go hand in hand. Without deep belief & hot desire in place, the self is easily persuaded to wander off track & to look elsewhere.....window shopping in the world of weight loss & management, like roaming the mall of life.

This is twirling behavior & it is easily observed in our culture. Twirling is a compulsive behavior & is actually part of disordered eating. Twirlers move from one program to another, looking for the problems to be solved easily & outwardly. There is usually lack of total engagement, often right from the beginning & excuses are easy to come by. The time spent in the new program closely follows those of the past. Some twirlers simply purchase the program & never engage at all, as if the program was going to do something all by itself to bring forth the needed change.

I find twirlers in my private hypnosis practice. They present themselves by resisting to take part in the process. They believe that all they have to do is to close their eyes & go to sleep. All changes will be in place as they open their eyes. Wow ! Now while that might sound good, it truly isn't good at all for all disordered eaters have underlying issues that are best brought forward & self-managed. This is the self-esteem connection & the actual eating issues become catalysts for major change in all areas. Think about what would be missed if I were a hypnotic magician?

Once you have planted your beliefs & convictions, it's time to get on with the specifics of your eating discipline program. I suggest that you read & underline all pertinent information in whatever material you are utilizing & then work it into a very specific plan before beginning to weave it into the fabric of your life.

Be simplistic here. Write it down. Know exactly what you will be eating & when you will be eating it. Also be clear about what you will not be doing. This is the time to get very specific, but do stick to the bigger problematic issues. If night eating is big for you, be sure to address it, but if it only happens occasionally, let it go for now. Even if you fall into that hole, you'll still be right with the major parts of your program.

Now you are ready to begin some etching. It's quite easy to do this. Take some time for yourself, making certain you will not be interrupted.

Have your writing work on your lap. Relax deeply & enjoy just be still, both inside & out. Now close your eyes gently & tilt them up about twenty degrees. Right in front of you is your programming mind screen. Just as if you were playing a movie, take yourself slowly through your day as you observe yourself implement the changes that you have outlined.

The programming mind screen enables you to see, hear & feel the scenes as they play out. Practice noticing what it's like as you wake up in the morning & review your day with the new changes. Keep an eye out for any resistance or inner child negative thought remarks. Don't turn your back on these! These are gifts from your subconscious mind who is showing you clear obstructions that need to be tamed & re-programmed.

Take your time as you explore your new changes in different scenes....... the more you review, the better your mind programs will be etched.

Image yourself as the writer, director, producer of this "day in your life" program. Design it as you want it to be & energize it with hot desire. Truly see it & sense it. A good way to do this is to pretend that you are telling someone about this great moment in time. Tell your story with great enthusiasm & excitement. This is true inner motivation & very powerful. As you become better at defining your inner thoughts & pictures, you will be able to greatly enhance the levels of your beliefs & plug into high energy..

Next, write down exactly what you have to do to activate your new plan & when you will do these. Confirm a date for the launching. You are now ready to plant both the program & the detailed planning very deeply into the subconscious mind. The goal is to etch it very deeply into the inner library, so it will play on cue like a powerful inner CD.

As before, take quiet time for yourself & have your written work on your lap. Breathe deeply & allow your body to sink into the chair where you are resting & bring the mind screen into place behind your closed & slightly tilted eyelids. Actively image yourself experiencing the plans AS IF they had been in place for a good period of time.

In other words, they are not imaged as being awkwardly new, with rough spots . Instead, they are an already formed, smooth pattern. This is not to say that you will not notice resistance, because you might. Once again, these are gifts & so go ahead as the writer, director & producer & work out the kinks here.

Take yourself through the variety of plans even if they involve activities that occur on different days such as shopping, picking up the kids, bridge games, etc. These are all part of the major plan for long term success.

It's not uncommon for many people to miss these first steps & by doing so to set themselves up for failure either right in the beginning or somewhere down the road. When you know what needs to be done & you can examine it subconsciously, the answers will present themselves to you. There is little, if any struggle.

Remember that even when following one of the popular weight loss programs, it's simply not enough to read the book. Books are filled with details that need to be implemented over a long period of time. These details need to be introduced & then organized into the current "programmed" lifestyle. Old habits & behaviors may need to be revised or even deleted.

Keep in mind that some of the changes will effect other family members, some in ways that aren't even clear because they are harbored down in the subconscious mind. So it truly helpful to work out some of these snags before they occur. This will allow for smoother transitions & hopefully avoid triggering other snags. Good etching provides the gateway to long term success.

The reasons for this are many. For a start, human beings tend to gravitate towards immediate gratification, and of course in weight loss this is not only unrealistic, but is an unhealthy goal to be planting. Remember, we are planting goals in our subconscious mind continuously. Each thought constitutes an inner goal program.

As we learn to look at these thought goals more frequently in our practice of Awareness Meditation and Thought Management, we can see how we actually work against ourselves in so many moments. An interesting exercise is to observe your free-flowing thoughts for five minutes or so. For each thought that is helpful or skillful to your weight management program, tap your right knee. For each thought that is unhelpful or unskillful, tap your left knee. This simple awareness practice wakes us up to how we are utilizing the power of our mind in relation to this particular goal area.

We know from our earlier work in the Workshop that everything is useful to us. This holds true with each and every thought that scurries through the mind vault. Our job is to observe or catch the thoughts. Once caught, just like a fish, they are ours to prepare in whatever way we choose.

In active, or awake Interactive Self-Hypnosis we have many options. Unskillful, or negative thoughts can be particularly useful. They hold lots of information that can help us on our journey. It is all there for the asking. I like to work with mine just as soon as I spot them if at all possible. If not, I like to make a note in my daytimer.

Into the Mind Screen

2007-10-22T06:46:00.000-07:00

We are involved in the BlogAlong Workshop that is based on my work of the past thirty years in nursing education & clinical hypnotherapeutic practice, as well as in research. Many of you who are following this workshop have known me for awhile & are working with my books, CD's & mp3 programs.

Others of you are new to me & also to this type of work, a combination of Active Awareness, Emotional & Thought Management & Original Interactive Self-Hypnosis. For further introductory information, please read the bottom paragraphs of this blog entry. This keeps me from having to repeat it for those who are in process.

Today we return to the mind screen located in your special "egg" or in the theater of your mind. I hope you have been practicing the deep relaxation ritual that allows you to enter at this slow brain, or alpha level. This is where subconscious mind programs are best planted. They are also easier to etch here. It's also where we work on removing or mind editing old programs or facets of programs that arent' working for us.

There have been some interesting conversations in the yahoogroups that are following this workshop. Yesterday we were discussing the observation of negative programs on the mind screen & what to do with them. I suggested that you just leave them alone for now. The fact that you are awake & aware to them is excellent in itself.

At this stage of our work, my goal is to have you relax & find your mind screen...or find a way to image it for yourself. Remember Harlan who simply views it as the screen in his local movie theater. Whatever you notice popping up on it for now is simply a bonus. It really doesn't matter if it's negative or positive, for we are going to benefit from everything we think or sense in some way. Here's the crux. The more we awaken, the more progress we can make by clearing our clutter & the more creative programs we can design & plant.

Here's a comment from TARA, one of my office patients. Right now my mind screen doesn't have much to offer. As you suggested, I watched a movie about my usual day. The frame was dark & dirty. The pictures were sort of blurred & uninteresting. I could image myself, but found it unpleasant. I seemed tired, bored, unattractive & unkept. This is not how I see myself when I look in a real mirror, although I must confess that I don't have a very high opinion of myself.

ELIZ - Tara is observing some of her inner beliefs, many of which are more than likely more honest than her conscious mirror look. Most of us live behind a mask in order to protect ourselves. I've known Tara for awhile & find this true about her. She is a very talented writer, but doesn't produce very much, spending much time procrastinating & finding other things that she allows to pull her away from what she really wants to accomplish. She's filled with excuses & as she continues to work with her mind screen, she will be able to change her inner dialog, as well as to clean & clear the areas that are dampening her self-esteem & self-image.

JOANNE - What are some of the things we'll do with the mind screen image? I'm a member of two groups.... self-hypnosis & phobias. Can I work with both areas at the same time?

ELIZ- Yes, of course. Watching the mind-screen is like being an observer of your own life. Of course, we only observe it part of the time, either when we are practicing, or we remember, or we have a special desire & decide to visit & work with it. Other times we are in the workshop of the world, wandering about with everyone else. Keep in mind that the world is like a big school. When we practice Heightened Awareness we are able to see & examine more than when we are sleep-walking on automatic pilot.

In the future you will be able to see the many facets of your phobias or fears. You will actually be able to utilize the mind screen to see the scenes that play out BEFORE the phobias present themselves. You'll begin to notice the prodromals, the causative factors, the connecting emotions & you will be able to intercede at any juncture, thereby stalling or completely dismissing the phobia completely. After all, it doesn't benefit you life, does it? Is it something that you want to keep? I doubt it. It simply takes up time that you could utilize for your true creative talents that would love to emerge on that clear & bright mind screen of yours.

Here are some of the areas we will be addressing on the mind-screen. I don't think I have space for all of them, so I'll continue in the next BlogAlong entry.

ADDICTIONS & EATING DISORDERS - Motivators, patterns of bingeing, emotions, compulsions, history, medical issues, new behaviors, other life goals, etc.

ACCELERATED LEARNING/CREATIVITY - Opening creative channels, deep mind excavating, utilizing other learning modes, emotional clutter, beliefs, etc.

PHOBIAS & DISTRUCTIVE HABITS - Opening patterns, exploring needs for habits such as nail biting, skin picking, family & personal medical history, re-programming facets, seeing oneself complete & in charge of body functions, etc.

PREGNANCY, BIRTHING, PARENTING - Relaxing, giving birth through the mind screen, releasing discomfort, balancing hormones, releasing stress, building energy, managing sleep loss or interruption, etc.

SELF-HYPNOSIS - Deepening, accessing the inner library, regressing, editing mind programs, designing metaphors for change, building & moving goals, choosing attitudes & attributes, future pacing, etc.

DISEASE MANAGEMENT - Locating the authentic self, managing body sensations, pain points, relaxing, releasing stress, building meaningful life experiences, etc.

HEATH MANAGEMENT - Building & motivating healthy lifestyle behaviors, exercise, high level nutrition, emotional management, thought management, etc.

SPORTS - Building skill, managing the mind game, building confidence, correcting in the moment, etc.

MP3'S AVAILABLE - Complimentary programs at my website.

NEW MEMBER INFORMATION

Welcome back to the BlogAlong Self-Development Workshop. This online workshop follows my books/programs including Sugar....the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It, Beyond Disorderly Eating, the Mind & Body Fitness Boot Camp, Stop Nail Biting Now: 4 Steps to Success, as well as many of my CD/mp3 programs. If you are new to the Workshop, please read the early entries because this is like any other workshop you might attend. If you are late, there are things you have missed that will interfere with your understanding of the process for the attainment of high level health & performance.

The BlogAlong workshop is both didactic & interactive. The latter includes active discussions, mp3 downloads from my available library, as well as some designed specifically for this workshop. To participate in the discussions you will need to join one of my email yahoogroups. There are ten of them, located on my website or you can email me for an invitation. I suggest you work with a three ring binder &/or a journal. This will reinfoce your subconscious mind programs.

Failure Speak

2007-10-18T03:49:00.001-07:00

"What we think or what we entertain is what we get & the same goes double for failure thoughts or beliefs."....Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

CD/mp3 Suggestions -
1. Diminishing or Enhancing Emotions
2. Managing Thoughts

Unfortunately failure mindsets are a dime a dozen. You don't have to look far to find them...in others or more importantly, in ourselves. It's rather amazing that we succeed at anything, given our usual interior weather. Look closely; it's usually either raining, storming, blowing, snowing, cloudy or completely parched & drought-ridden.

Thoughtout this blog I've reminded you to look for emotional carriers, especially those that attempt to color your life with negative mind states. Pay attention to the word attempt. No one can do anything without your permission. Mind-underline that for yourself, for most of us tend to forget it. Just because someone in your environment is coloring in a negative fashion, you do not have to breathe it in. It's like second-hand smoke. You do not have to breathe it in. You have choices.

Even though I can't see or hear you, I have a good idea as to what you are thinking right now, the reason being that in the past, I've said most of those things to myself or to others in relation to myself OR I've heard it from others in my work as a clinical hypnotherapist.

So, let me tell you this...

Changing mindsets is a skill, just like anything else. Think for a moment about how many things you have learned from the time you were just a baby. Take a mind-visit back to your early childhood, finding a time when you simply didn't entertain failure. That time is there......so go find it & then sense yourself reconnecting. However you might like to imagine that....do it. Notice that during this time you were also independent of the negative crayoning of others. Take your time in this area of self-exploration for it is very important & can work to change your life experiences considerably.

In short, you need to know that you can achieve things. You can work through perceived failure. You can recognize negative-emotional crayoning of others & that you can choose not to accept it.

Now about the definition of failure.... I'm sure that you already know that failing at something just means that you haven't figured out how to do it yet. That is all that it is. Now others might have more to say about it, but again, that is their negative crayoning. You already know what to do about that. In case you have forgotten, or haven't read those blog entries....when you don't want to accept negative crayoning your task is to ...

1. notice or wake-up
2. breathe from center & relax your body
3. release the image or emotion
4. place a new mind program on your mind screen

When you experiencing a perceived failure, it's time to go back to the drawing board. For most of us, we take too big a chunk & so of course, we tend to choke. Now what would you do if you were choking on something? Well, if it were me, I'd do whatever I had to do to get the offender out of my mouth asap.

It's the same with anything else. Break the perceived failure into pieces & study them independently. It's best to do this in deep relaxation. That way, your own subconscious mind will assist you in finding a better way. If you experience mind-confusion when you try to do this.....the chunk is simply too big OR you haven't quieted the mind sufficiently.

Most of you have heard about your intuition or inner knowing. That is your subconscious mind in action. In order to take full advantage of it, you must relax very deeply. Then you will be gifted with eureka break-through thoughts or ideas or serendipity. Nothing is free in life. As I tell my patients, the piper must be paid. If you want your own mind to assist you, it is up to you to change your internal weather system.

AFFIRMATION PLANTING

"I wake to my perceived failures & mind-edit them easily. I am aware of my internal weather systems. I stay keenly aware of negative-crayoning & make good choices for myself". ...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

FROM THE AUTHOR

If you haven't experienced the practice of self-hypnosis before, here is a very special Interactive Self-Hypnosis audioBOOK session called "High Level Nutrition." The full program is available on my website. Here's a brief introduction....

Practicing High Level Nutrition #1015

"Pinpointing your current location of your life path is important when deciding to change course. Most of us have little idea as to where we are "path-wise" in relation to the chronic disease door, nor have we evaluated how fast we are walking towards it. Moments do count. Everything you put in your mouth counts. Think of your body departments as being bank accounts. What is your balance?"........Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The American diet leaves much to be desired, & while many would choose to change their dietary habits, they find it difficult to be persistent. This audio program presents the issues to the subconscious mind & designs a plan for positive change with little effort. As the nutrition improves, the mind & body all function at a higher level. Listeners learn to program the correct amount of protein needed by the lean body mass, a desire to eat lower glycemic vegetables to enable fat-burning & balanced blood sugar levels, as well as balancing those foods that are related to compulsive & emotional eating.

This audio includes deep relaxation, entry tools to the subconscious mind, imagery designed specifically for emotional & thought management related to maintaining healthy nutritional practices, inner motivation & lifestyle change, as well as Interactive Self-hypnosis © practice.

The past issues of this blog can be found below. Other segments are stored in the following separate blog. For those of you who would like to practice Interactive Self-Hypnosis, there is always a complimentary mp3 sitting on my website.

mindART - FULL BLOG

What the Scale Doesn't Know.... Part 2

2007-10-17T04:17:00.001-07:00

'What you don't know....could kill you."......Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The amount of faulty information regarding weight loss & management is staggering. One would think that improved communication systems, as well as the regular use of the internet increase, things would change for the better, but unfortunately this is not so.

Every day I have yet another email that is filled with inaccuracies & false beliefs. What makes this so troubling is that mistakes in this vista of life can lead to illness & death. Now, if the body & mind were a car engine, it's more likely that the information & care would be more on target.

For those of you who are following "What the Scale Doesn't Know".....here is the second part of that blog entry. Following that is a conversation I had this morning with Edna.... one of the Workshop participants.

12. Dinner is the time for a balanced meal. It should contain healthy protein & fat, low-glycemic carbohydrates & a balance of healthy high-glycemics. When the body fat percentage is too high, it's a good idea to eat at least two cups of low-glycemics to help hold the blood sugars. I'm not in favor of eating refined sugars at this meal, but sometimes it takes awhile before an individual can wean themselves. I always suggest that my office patients stay away from binge choices. If one "must have" a cookie or something sweet, choose one that is "ok" but "not to die for."

Once again, the serving sizes at dinner depend on the needs of the body including the lean body mass, exercise & stress levels. When a person eats correctly, after a short while, the physiological appetite levels usually balance themselves. Emotional & compulsive eating are separate issues & need to managed in a different way. The body is very intelligent & knows what to do when it is provided with what it needs. Of course, in rare instances there are other medical problems, but for the large majority of people the problems are nothing more than lack of desire, lack of knowledge, lack of planning, lack of exercise, lack of stress management, lack of follow-through & self-disorder.

Diets don't work. One needs to know how to eat for what the body needs & then to learn how to eat those other foods that the mind wants. In "interactive self-hypnosis" we learn to "contain" those foods. We can have everything we desire, but not all the time or when the urge presents itself to us. As we learn to work with our mind-body connection, our emotional child-self, our compulsive nature & old patterns, we can break through the dangerous habits of the past & re-edit these with new facets & desire for healthy outcomes.

CONVERSATIONS WITH EDNA

EDNA: I have been hypnotized before and am very susceptible. I am interested to know at what level do you go? How far under can I expect?

ELIZ: The depth of trance is determined by the participant & so you can go as deeply as you like. The suggestions are all in place on the programs. In addition, each time you repeat a program, the suggestion is there to go "deeper & deeper."

EDNA: I realize this is different from client to client, but I am looking for some strong suggestions regarding weight. I am a compulsive overeater. I eat for stress, boredom, and just because I think of food constantly. It would be wonderful to replace those thoughts with drinking water, then I would be the weight I need to be.

ELIZ: I have a problem with discussing "scale weight"........for it does not tell the proper story. Healthy weight is all about the ratio of lean body mass to the body fat percentage. There is a proper way to eat in order to get to that healthy lean body mass & then to maintain it. When the lean body mass is where it needs to be, the body will burn fat easily. It is well known that when the body fat percentage is too high, the individual is going towards insulin resistance......the precursor of diabetes, heart & circulatory disease, to name just a few of the connected issues.

Over-eating can be both physiological & emotional......in order to solve the problem once & for all, both need to be attended to. This is the way ALL of my eating programs are designed. Of course, one can look to drinking water IF the food is in proper order & the insulin is being regulated with the needed nutrition, BUT if the food isn't in order, then it would be wrong to have the water in place of it.

As for the weight you need to be, it isn't possible to know that UNLESS you know your lean body mass & body fat percentage, as well as your activity level. For example, I am 5'4". When my lean body mass was too small, my scale weight was 119 pounds. Now, my lean body mass is right where it needs to be & I weigh 150 pounds & I wear the same size. That is because muscle is dense. Do know that this is not my idea, but is based on scientific/health fact & can be researched on the internet.

EDNA: I abuse sugar and carbs because I work at night from my home doing computer work. I abuse carbs and sugar to keep me going. So I am looking for some pretty strong suggestions.

ELIZ: Once again, if you are not eating correctly during the day, then the sugar/carb issues can surface at night. In addition, I'm sure you have a compulsive habit.....from what you are saying. All of this can be managed hypnotically, but the approach has to be both physiological & emotional in order to solve the problem.

EDNA: I have tried some other cd’s for hypnosis but have found most deal with eating healthy, which is not that much of a problem for me.

ELIZ: I'm not convinced that you are eating in a healthy fashion for the needs of your body. I would need to see some food logs, etc. Also, timing of meals is so very important & if you are grazing, even on healthy food, then there is still going to be an insulin issue. This also reinforces the night eating behavior & perhaps the triggers. All of this needs to be re-set.

EDNA: I just don’t know when to quit eating, the reason being that I had a gastric bypass several years ago and I never feel hungry, so I just don’t know when to stop. I also constantly think about what to eat next. Can your programs help me?

ELIZ: It sounds to me that you need to manage thoughts & emotions that are related to compulsive/emotional eating issues, as well as to resolve the triggers & to get the physiology in proper management. And yes, my programs are designed to do all of these things....

FROM THE AUTHOR

If you haven't experienced the practice of self-hypnosis before, here is a very special Interactive Self-Hypnosis audioBOOK session called "High Level Nutrition." The full program is available on my website. Here's a brief introduction....

Practicing High Level Nutrition #1015

"Pinpointing your current location of your life path is important when deciding to change course. Most of us have little idea as to where we are "path-wise" in relation to the chronic disease door, nor have we evaluated how fast we are walking towards it. Moments do count. Everything you put in your mouth counts. Think of your body departments as being bank accounts. What is your balance?"........Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The American diet leaves much to be desired, & while many would choose to change their dietary habits, they find it difficult to be persistent. This audio program presents the issues to the subconscious mind & designs a plan for positive change with little effort. As the nutrition improves, the mind & body all function at a higher level. Listeners learn to program the correct amount of protein needed by the lean body mass, a desire to eat lower glycemic vegetables to enable fat-burning & balanced blood sugar levels, as well as balancing those foods that are related to compulsive & emotional eating.

This audio includes deep relaxation, entry tools to the subconscious mind, imagery designed specifically for emotional & thought management related to maintaining healthy nutritional practices, inner motivation & lifestyle change, as well as Interactive Self-hypnosis © practice.

The past issues of this blog can be found below. Other segments are stored in the following separate blog. For those of you who would like to practice Interactive Self-Hypnosis, there is always a complimentary mp3 sitting on my website.

mindART - FULL BLOG

What the Scale Doesn't Know

2007-10-16T04:21:00.001-07:00

When it comes to healthy weight, what's important is not so much the scale, but the percentage of lean body mass & body fat percentage. Do you know where you stand in this regard?... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

No matter where you look, it appears that everyone seems to have weight issues. There are those who want to lose pounds & others not wanting to gain pounds. It's not uncommon to live one's emotional life in relation to the dial on the bathroom or supermarket scale.

Truth be known, the scale is not the best determining factor of what is going on weight-wise. The scale only reports the total weight, not the lean body mass nor body fat percentage. In addition, there are people who do not appear over-weight, but do have an unhealthy body fat percentage & a low-weight lean body mass. For one reason or another theyare not burning fat & more than likely, they are building insulin resistance on their cell borders, leading down the path to the killer diseases. Keep in mind that here are also individuals who have a dense lean body mass & lower body fat percentage who will weigh more than they appear as muscle weighs more than fat. Athletes often fall into this category.

Here are some keys to attaining a healthy lean body mass,body fat percentage & weight:

1. FIRST....you must have a HOT DESIRE to not only REACH your goal but to ATTEND to it FOREVER !! It needs to be fed each & every day with powerful affirmations, loaded with positive emotion. All negative mind states that present themselves MUST BE diminished as soon as they are noticed. Then, you must re-educate those emotional states, not only with new behaviors, but with HOT DESIRE.

2. Next, it's important to take stock of where you are RIGHT NOW in regard to your lean body mass & body fat percentage. You scale weight is actually a secondary issue at this time. There are websites that will help you to figure this out & also give you an idea of a healthy body fat percentage for your age & level of health. If you would like to write to me, I will be happy to help you as well.

3. Once you know your lean body mass, you will need to find out how much protein your body needs in a total day in order to burn fat. Again, check the web or write to me. Depending on your body fat percentage, body weight & exercise levels, you may need even more. You will also need to know how to divide your required protein throughout your day. Protein is calculated in grams or units. 7 grams equals one protein unit, so if you are measuring tofu or nuts as a protein choice, be sure to estimate your serving. Don't eat out of the package. Place your serving on a plate. An ounce of meat or poultry, one ounce of cheese & 1.5 ounces of fish constitutes a protein unit. There is usually no need to measure, but one certainly needs to "eyeball" serving sizes. Do know that when the meals are properly designed, hunger levels will normalize. That means that "I could eat the wallpaper off the wall" hunger levels will be gone forever.

4. Meals must be scheduled every 3.5 to 4 hours to avoid "big bridges" that interfere with healthy blood sugar levels. "Walk-by" & "thought-less" eating patterns also need to be broken to preserve this healthy fat-burning physiological state. These negative eating habits over-produce insulin & since insulin stores fat, you can guess the outcome. Heightened awareness & interactive self-hypnosis will help with this. If "break-through" hunger occurs, the previous meals need to be reviewed. In most instances one will find insufficient nutrition or hidden insulin triggers. Common ones include coffee, caffeinated tea, diet soda, artificial sweeteners, gum or breath mints. Insufficient water causing dehydration is also a possibility.

5. Its important to learn the difference between low, SLOW & high glycemic carbohydrates. Certain high glycemics, such as refined foods containing white flour & high fructose sugars tend break down very rapidly,causing the hormone insulin to be over-produced. Although we need insulin to survive, when it is over-produced it leads to excess fat storing, as well as to a condition known as insulin resistance, the precursor to the killer diseases. In addition, if a person smokes or has alcohol dependency, cravings increase.

6. Low-glycemic carbohydrates include all varieties of lettuce, sprouts, cucumbers, peppers, radish, artichoke, kale, zucchini, snow peas, asparagus, brussel sprouts, okra, arugula, broccoli, endive, spinach, green beans, cabbage, mushrooms, eggplant, yellow squash, turnips, to name a few. Tomatoes can be acceptable in smaller amounts as they are actually a fruit. These vegetables help to balance the blood sugars, as well as containing lots of vitamins & minerals. You can eat them raw or cooked.

Most obese individuals under-eat low-glycemic vegetables & over-eat high-glycemics, especially the refined choices. They have a strong tendency towards disorderly eating, eating too little of what their body needs to burn fat & compensating with larger portions or overly-frequent eating of foods that raise their insulin levels & place their body into food stress. When the needed meals are not properly balanced & delivered when they are needed, the pancreas WILL over-produce insulin & the body will store fat. Keep in mind that the body NEEDS proper nutrition & cannot go & get it for itself. Believe me, if it could it would !! The body looks for homeostasis or balance & so if the nutrition is not DELIVERED, the body will break down the lean body mass & store it as fat.

7. High-glycemic vegetables include acorn squash, butternut, corn, lima beans, refried beans, artichokes, beets, kidney beans, parsnips, peas, white & sweet potatoes, chickpeas, lentils, carrots to name a few. All grains are high-glycemic carbohydrates. Choose whole grains & stay away from refined ones. Read the labels. Choose breads that are dense & have no sugar or sweeteners of any sort added to the dough. If you suspect a sensitivity to yeast, choose a yeast-free product. If you suspect a sensitivity to a particular grain, check it out & if necessary take it out & try a different grain. Other grains include rice, both white & brown, barley, quinoa, millet, rye, buckwheat & oats. Bulgur & couscous are both wheat.

8. All fruits are high-glycemic & need to managed properly. Stay away from juices & pretend juices. They stimulate insulin production & very quickly. As for whole fruits, much will depend on your already present level of insulin resistance & how sensitive you are to the particular fruit. If your body fat percentage is high, you may need to limit fruits & to choose those that have less tendency to drive the blood sugar up. Those include blueberries, blackberries, raspberries & strawberries. Dried fruits, bananas, guava, mangos, papayas & dates are very glycemic & should be avoided unless there is some very good reason to include them.

Most people I see in my office tend to over-eat fruit. They see it as a healthy food & therefore interpret that as an "ok" to eat it whenever they like & as often as they like. I have one patient who nibbles grapes throughout the day. Think about that for a moment. She is actually asking her pancreas to produce insulin each & every time she pops one into her mouth!

9. Breakfast should consist of protein, healthy fat & a slow or dense carbohydrate. The portions depend on the needs of the body in the front part of the day. Fruits are usually not a good choice here, especially if the body fat percentage is high. They are often responsible for break-through hunger in the middle of the morning, or in the early afternoon. Depending upon the time one starts the day, there may be a need for two small breakfasts. I find this occurring in nurses who wake up at 5 AM & start their work shift at 7 AM. They may not be scheduled for lunch until 12 or 1 PM. It's important to work with "the bridges" so as to manage the blood sugars properly. All caffeinated beverages stimulate insulin production !! One is still paying for 8 ounces of coffee ten hours later !

10. Lunch is time for protein, healthy fat & lots of low-glycemics. By lots I mean at least 3 cups. Depending on the individual, a serving of grain may also be needed here. When one is looking to lose body fat percentage, the amount of food needed during this time is often higher.

Obese individuals usually over-eat at lunch OR starve. Once again, disorderly eating is a big problem here. Those who are disorganized find themselves dealing with lack of planning & looking for the easy way out that usually means joining the "let's order out" group in the office. For those who are home, it's easy to join the children or to just open the refrigerator & let the hands do the walking instead of the head. Water is the beverage of choice. Decaffeinated green tea is acceptable. I'm not talking about the bottled variety, but that make from loose tea or a tea bag.

11. Mid afternoon is low blood sugar time for most people & an afternoon snack is often a must. Once again, count those hours & watch out for "big bridges." The size of the snack depends on the body needs. The choices fall into the categories of protein, healthy fat & low-glycemics. These foods balance out the blood sugars & form a healthy bridge to dinner.

To be continued....

Addressing the Therapeutic Self

2007-10-15T04:06:00.000-07:00

"We think we want to do things, but that simply isn't enough, for without emotional motivation, the thought won't go anywhere. It's like a car without gas."....Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

As writers we have many, many unique opportunities to help our readers or listeners towards change, but that won't happen unless the written or spokenWord is well-marinated in hot-desire emotional images that speak directly to the therapeutic part of our audience's mature self. It's also not going to happen if we are not taking good care of ourselves, both physically & emotionally. This is especially important for those of us who write in the field of self-help & self-development, although well-written fiction has placed many a person on the road to change because the subconscious mind doesn't know the difference between truth or fiction.

MEET THE THERAPEUTIC SELF

Inside each of us is something called the therapeutic self. In the practice of nursing, this is a key element in designing the nursing care plan for the patient. In writing, I find this just as important. When someone says "your writing or your audio really speaks to me," you know that you have reached the door of the therapeutic self.

The concept of the therapeutic self plays a major role in the development of a positive attitudinal approach, both for the writer & the reader/listener. What you do, what you say, as well as what you think & feel make you unique & your uniqueness is the key to deep caring. The depth of the caring will impact on the ability to bring change. To achieve positive change, each of us, writer & reader/listener must be invited & then to be motivated to look at ourselves & to examine our assets & liabilities.

Without the knowledge gained from an honest appraisal of the personal self, the therapeutic self can be in jeopardy of being ineffective as a change agent. So yes, as writers, we have our own self-work to do, if we want to bring this depth to our audience.

To be therapeutic, you must be yourself. And so, you need to recognize your personal strengths, as well as your weaknesses & to work with them, bringing them to their highest levels. In the practice of Interactive Self-Hypnosis, this is accomplished with the help of the subconscious mind. Here's an inner working example:

Invite yourself to relax deeply into the moment. This is as simple as finding a quiet place, utilizing a few cleansing breaths & intending to bring this experience to yourself. Once settled in, tilt your closed eyes up about twenty degrees & view the mind-screen. If you are not a visual person, just pretend that you are sitting in the second row of a movie theater & put your limitations aside. On the screen place your mature or therapeutic self, perhaps sitting on a comfortable chair. On the right are chairs for your assets & on the left sit the chairs for your liabilities. Image them as children coming in & taking their appropriate places. Notice there is no voice of judgment.

Once everyone is settled down, notice the light filtering in through a big window & entering both the assets & the liabilities. Black drops exit the fingertips, transmuting into gold dust as they touch the floor. Notice the assets are becoming bigger & stronger; the liabilities smaller & less intensive. The gold dust is now presented to your therapeutic self to bring back to the workshop of your daily world.

Here you are being genuine, honest, open & flexible. There is no voice of judgment. Nothing here speaks to errors or mistakes or any other negatives. Here, the self-esteem grows strong. In allowing yourself to just be, you share feelings, as opposed to trying to mask or cover them. Sharing is a very meaningful part of honest & open communication, but before you can have it with others, you must be able to have it with yourSelf. This is the practice of being human & is the essence of professionalism, both with yourSelf & with your audience. This is mature growth.

POWER OF POSITIVE ATTITUDES

The therapeutic self needs specific positive attitudes for living at healthy levels. This is so for both writer & audience & so when writing, we come from our own therapeutic position & speak to the mutually mature aspect of our audience. Here are some powerful additudes to entertain, as well as to deliver in your writing:

Personal Worth: This is the viewpoint your hold about yourself & others. For example, staying aware & understanding such things as cultureal & social differences, respect for humanity, tolerance & patience towards human fraility. This is especially key when writing for addiction or other self-help areas. Whether it be the spokenWord or written word, the writer should demonstrate a conviction that dignity, individuality & equality of people must be protected.

Personal Integrity: I believe strongly that we must all maintain a sense of honesty towards ourselves & with others. We communicate on so many different levels & if we are living a dishonest life, then this will come through as well....not the type of delivery we want.

Open-Mindedness: We can model a willingness & ability to change, for it sits within all of us. As we practice, this will find itself in the work we deliver to our audience.

Hopefulness: As writers, we must practice looking at our own life situations from the bright side. This will then allow us to easily convey brightness to our audience, keeping in mind that we cannot give what we do not have to give.

So writing is not just about getting the words on paper, or the sounds on the disk. It's not just about deadlines & struggling with mental blocks. Writing is also about how we care for ourselves & the attitudes we hang around with, for like it or not, they are a part of what we share, consciously or subconsciously.
If you are new to hypnosis, do know that anyone can work hypnotically. In actual fact, we tend to be in self-imposed hypnosis all day long. In therapeutic hypnosis, we work to de-hypnotize ourselves and then transcend into the mind-state and image of what we want, instead of what we don't want. If you haven't experienced this before, here is a very special Interactive Self-Hypnosis audioBOOK session called "High Level Nutrition." The full program is available on my website. Here's a brief introduction....

Practicing High Level Nutrition #1015

"Pinpointing your current location of your life path is important when deciding to change course. Most of us have little idea as to where we are "path-wise" in relation to the chronic disease door, nor have we evaluated how fast we are walking towards it. Moments do count. Everything you put in your mouth counts. Think of your body departments as being bank accounts. What is your balance?"........Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The American diet leaves much to be desired, & while many would choose to change their dietary habits, they find it difficult to be persistent. This audio program presents the issues to the subconscious mind & designs a plan for positive change with little effort. As the nutrition improves, the mind & body all function at a higher level. Listeners learn to program the correct amount of protein needed by the lean body mass, a desire to eat lower glycemic vegetables to enable fat-burning & balanced blood sugar levels, as well as balancing those foods that are related to compulsive & emotional eating.

This audio includes deep relaxation, entry tools to the subconscious mind, imagery designed specifically for emotional & thought management related to maintaining healthy nutritional practices, inner motivation & lifestyle change, as well as Interactive Self-hypnosis © practice.
The past issues of this blog can be found below. Other segments are stored in the following separate blog. For those of you who would like to practice Interactive Self-Hypnosis, there is always a complimentary mp3 sitting on my website.

mindART - FULL BLOG

Addressing the Therapeutic Self

2007-10-14T05:16:00.000-07:00

Owning the Master Key

2007-10-13T04:44:00.001-07:00

"What you need most has been right in front of you all along."....Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

This workshop is reviewing several of my books & CD/mp3 programs. The focus of my work has always been high level health & performance. This goes back decades into those years when I was the director of staff development in a large hospital setting. My "theme" was & still remains that no one gets away free. This includes hospital patients, as well as staff.

If you are working with my books or programs, you do know that no matter what you are choosing to accomplish, I'll always be taking you to the major area or garden on your goal-den path, called the mindbody health garden. This is where your body parts live. Sometimes, especially very left-brained people, find this type of wording or description "bothersome" or "child-like." However, in the practice of self-hypnosis we work with active imagery & affirmations. These are programs that speak directly to the subconscious mind which is the "child-mind" & so we need to get over this hurdle.

Back to the mindbody health garden now.......& to the body parts. If we take the time to think about it, even if we tend to be a very serious, left-brained person, it is quite obvious that if we don't take care of the body machine, it will not work correctly. How is it that we can understand about computers, cars, DVD's, cell phones, etc., but we have such difficulty in applying our intelligence & creativity to our body? Why are we so complacent? Why do we think that we can do whatever we want with our body & get away with it? Why is it so difficult to understand that wear & tear applies to body parts, as well as to cars & other machines?

The most horrendous stress to the body & to the mind is food stress. When the body & mind are under this kind of stress, the effect of other stressors, both inner & outer are greatly enhanced, sometimes leading to complete break-down of one or several systems. We see this in a body reaction called reactive hypoglycemia or hyperinsulinemia. People can die from these reactions, as well as be responsible for deaths of others if they are driving or operating equipment.

While many of us understand that what we eat & drink can harm our body, few of us care in the moment that we are indulging in whatever it is. The common thread is "I'll change tomorrow, or better still, "I really have to stop doing this." There is no thought to the internal damage that accumulates, almost as if the body had no true response in any shape or form to eating the donut, skipping breakfast, sipping sugared caffeine during the day, eating fast food or those two gigantic glasses of wine on the way home from work. Add the ice cream while watcing tv, just to relax before hitting the pillow. I was telling a patient today that if the body had a calculator that could be easily read, I wonder if we would act differently. Probably not....... we are simply children at heart who are interested in the world of "right now."

If this weren't enough, there is usually little thought or care to the effect of all of this on the mind, not in the present nor in the future. There have been some interesting studies on the effect of food stress related to depression, anxiety, panic, cognitive functioning & even creativity. Unfortunately, these studies rarely, if ever, reach the public. I wonder if you can guess why this is? Feel free to write to me if you think you know or send an email to your discussion group that is following this workshop.

OH WHAT TO DO ....

Yes, it is difficult to change things that we don't want to change & that is why we need motivators, both positive & negative. Some motivators come to us personally delivered, like the doctor saying that one has cancer of the lung, or that one is a heart attack waiting to happen. I had a patient like that this week. He was the most motivated person I ever met. Yes, he could & would move mountains if I told him to do so. However, my very next patient, a woman who was more than 200 pounds over-weight continued to argue about her night eating habits & diet soda consumption. She was unable to even consider that she could change.

We tend to see ourselves as victims or weaklings. Big, serious motivators allow us to jump through the hoops, but without one of those, we are artisans of excuses, dilly-dallying or even liking living the victim life. We can't see or feel our personal power, almost as if we didn't want to. It's like no one ever showed it to us & perhaps that is true, especially if we were brought up with parents who simply didn't know better or who were abusive. However, we all have oodles of personal power. We were born with it. That is called our authentic self. In this workshop we will get back in touch with that part through the mind screen. If you are working with my mp3 or CD called the Authentic Self, you are already well on your way.

Now a question for you. Suppose I had met the man with the potential for the heart attack before he visited his physician & heard the magic words. Do you think his motivation would have been different? Based on my experience, I tend to think it would have been. So, do we need to hear the worst case scenario before we can change? For some of us, perhaps. But, there are other ways to effect change.

Here are some points of awareness for the mind screen. Right now we're talking about food stress. This also includes beverages, so alcohol, soda & coffee drinkers .... pay attention here. Locate your mind screen & place the following....

If it enters my mouth, it will have an effect on my body & my mind. The effect will either help or hinder me, now & in the future.( Feel that now)

I have to become educated about foods & beverages & know what they do inside my body, not just in general, but to specific parts as well. In other words, I must remove my head from the sand. I do not have special permission to get past the gate-keeper that guards my mind & body. I will pay the piper.( Feel that now.)

I have to become honest with to myself. If not, I will pay the consequences. ( feel that now.)

You need to change through the development of self-discipline. Some of us were never taught these skills & so we know nothing about it. Others of us were brought up in rigid environments & so we've become rebellious. Both need awareness & change.( Feel that now.)

I am capable of much more than I think. It is not too late, or any other excuse my child-mind would like to share with me in this moment. It's all rubbish & dangerous rubbish at that. (Feel that now.)

I believe that I deserve the best that life has to offer, no matter what anyone else has told me. This includes my health, prosperity in my work, relationships & my level of creativity. Only I can deliver this to myself & so the choices from here on forward are up to me. I get to build your own life bank account. Any moments I choose to lose, could have been gains. ( Feel that now.)

If you are new to hypnosis, do know that anyone can work hypnotically. In actual fact, we tend to be in self-imposed hypnosis all day long. In therapeutic hypnosis, we work to de-hypnotize ourselves and then transcend into the mind-state and image of what we want, instead of what we don't want. If you haven't experienced this before, here is a very special Interactive Self-Hypnosis audioBOOK session called "High Level Nutrition." The full program is available on my website. Here's a brief introduction....

Practicing High Level Nutrition #1015

"Pinpointing your current location of your life path is important when deciding to change course. Most of us have little idea as to where we are "path-wise" in relation to the chronic disease door, nor have we evaluated how fast we are walking towards it. Moments do count. Everything you put in your mouth counts. Think of your body departments as being bank accounts. What is your balance?"........Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The American diet leaves much to be desired, & while many would choose to change their dietary habits, they find it difficult to be persistent. This audio program presents the issues to the subconscious mind & designs a plan for positive change with little effort. As the nutrition improves, the mind & body all function at a higher level. Listeners learn to program the correct amount of protein needed by the lean body mass, a desire to eat lower glycemic vegetables to enable fat-burning & balanced blood sugar levels, as well as balancing those foods that are related to compulsive & emotional eating.

This audio includes deep relaxation, entry tools to the subconscious mind, imagery designed specifically for emotional & thought management related to maintaining healthy nutritional practices, inner motivation & lifestyle change, as well as Interactive Self-hypnosis © practice.
The past issues of this blog can be found below. Other segments are stored in the following separate blog. For those of you who would like to practice Interactive Self-Hypnosis, there is always a complimentary mp3 sitting on my website.

mindART - FULL BLOG

Forward Thinking

2007-10-12T04:05:00.001-07:00

It's easy to talk about change, but when it comes to the doing, it's often a different matter. If we utilized as much creativity in the design & implementation of our goals as we do in making excuses, we'd have no problem with procrastination. Interactive Self-Hypnosis gives us the opportunity, not only to utilize our creativity, but to reap the benefits of having a profound Inner Coach....Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The Inner Coach is a part of us that is already present, but needs to be activated. This is easily accomplished through my CD's & mp3 downloads....all in Interactive Self-Hypnosis. If you've not experienced this type of mind-work, I invite you to do so. Those links can be found below.

CREATING DETAILED SUGGESTIONS FOR CHANGE

In an earlier post I listed some things to incorporate in your "relationship with yourSelf" mind garden. Mind gardens are containments...containers of sorts. Places to put things. The subconscious mind is an organized mind & when you place suggestions, they are there for the taking. The best suggestions are detailed & so I'd like to take the same list & make these into more powerful suggestions. This is where your imagination, thought design & emotional dexterity come into play.

It's time to work on paying attention to your words or phases, especially those that are directly related to yourSelf. Positive words or phrases, like those below, are waiting to be firmly etched into your subconscious mind. Each time you think about yourSelf with positive vision, the subconscious mind accepts this as "your reality." However, in the same vein, if you are using negative-self-talk, your subconscious mind is etching these, busily forming new belief patterns.

Let's work with the positive words or phrases in the list. When doing mind-work such as this, be willing to spend some time. Look at it as an investment in yourSelf, for indeed it is. Relax into the moment & now begin with Forward Thinking. Stay with that phrase for a moment. Focus & hold on to it. Ask yourSelf some "opening questions." What does it mean to be a "forward thinker?" Bring in a mind-model for "forward thinking." Perhaps you know someone who could fill in here, but if not, design a model in your mind's eye.

Listen....to how this "forward thinker" speaks. Pay careful attention to detail & now........notice how this individual looks. Notice posture, level of relaxation, level of focus & anything else that your subconscious mind brings to your attention. Perhaps you would like to observe this model "in action" with others or in scenarios you have experienced in the past, or may experience in the future. When you have completed studying this model, invite him into your Relationship with YourSelf Garden." You have now saved this asset for yourSelf. In the future, you can call on this model & simply step inside for your own personal experience of "forward thinking."

"Forward Acting" is closely related to "forward thinking", with just a shade of difference. This is an assertive Self model. Personally, I like the two of them to work in unison. I like a model who can think through things effectively & efficiently & then switch into action, bypassing fear & other emotions tied to procrastination. Spend some time designing this model for your self-garden. Repeat the process above, being sure to relax deeply before beginning the process. This will allow for deeper etching & the development of more details.

"Taking Charge" is a powerful model, of course connected to healthy, not blind leadership. Leaders know where they are going & so the two earlier models can be invited to form a "trio" with this aspect of your development. Take a moment to relax deeply & begin to assess this model, once again, paying attention to details. Spend some time & open the corral. Your subconscious mind will know what you mean by this "metaphor." Be sure to sense/see the horse as educated, balanced & wise. This is not a wild horse. It's one that is relaxed, focused & with sound purpose. Sense what it feels like to be such a horse .... a horse that is now free to take his creativity & explore the horizons fully.

Once the above are carefully detailed & emotionalized, the subconscious mind will play them out in this format. You can always go back & edit them. It's common to be mind-frugal in relation to goal design because most of us tend to exist under clouds of lower expectations & so the mind plays to this. If you find this is so for you, touch base with your horse.... open the gate & invite him to be free.

KEEPING GOALS FLUID

As before, goal drawings, inner imagery & mind video are always fluid or open to change. While it is important to draw on your values for stability, you may find your subconscious mind sending you insights or new ideas that literally bounce off of already placed mind work. If, in the past, your relationship with your subconscious mind has been somewhat stilted, it might be a good idea to send self-hypnotic suggestions to your subconscious, encouraging the breaking of that pattern, allowing you to explore a higher level of productivity & creativity.

If you are new to hypnosis, do know that anyone can work hypnotically. In actual fact, we tend to be in self-imposed hypnosis all day long. In therapeutic hypnosis, we work to de-hypnotize ourselves and then transcend into the mind-state and image of what we want, instead of what we don't want. If you haven't experienced this before, here is a very special program called "The Spa"

This audio takes the practitioner of self-hypnosis to the Inner Crystal Mountain Spa where ultimate self-care & healing takes place. These metaphors are transferred to lifestyle behaviors on a conscious level & there is an enhancement of desire & action towards self-care. Love of Self, as well as self-forgiveness & self-compassion are enhanced, allowing for positive growth in all areas of life including relationships with Self & others, prosperity, work goals, home, spirituality & future mind programming.

Few of us understand the supreme importance of self-care. Without giving to ourselves in this way, we cannot give to others. This is an ideal program for those who have suffered abuse or who are in abusive relationships, either with others or with themselves.

FROM THE AUTHOR

I'd like to provide you with an Interactive Self-Hypnosis Session for this part of the Online Workshop. You can find it at the following link. This is the first session of my audioBOOK for breaking the habit of Procrastination. The full program is available on my websites.

My goal, as the originator of Interactive Self-Hypnosis & the Workshop, is to show you how to become an exceptional strategist in your life, be it a battle or not. Here you will be empowered to take responsibility for your own health, your well-being & your level of performance. This Workshop is a unique road map leading you, the participant, into a world of optimum health, positive expectation & gently paced action....the true beginning of permanent lifestyle change.

The past issues of this blog can be found below. Other segments are stored in the following separate blog. For those of you who would like to practice Interactive Self-Hypnosis, there is always a complimentary mp3 sitting on my website.

mindART - FULL BLOG

Writing for the Addicted Listener

2007-10-11T04:43:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I forget that I'm a writer because I spend a good part of my day designing & delivering self-hypnosis metaphor & suggestion "in the moment" for my patients/clients. Then it's off to recording CD's & mp3's. Over the years I must have written & recorded over 1,000 programs. So, whether it be mind-writing or typing onto the computer screen, it's quite a bit of writing.

For me, mind-writing is the most challenging. I never work with scripts in my office, the reason being that I want to communicate with the patient or client hypnotically & so I had to come to trust the process. Rarely do I know how I will word things or even what metaphor may come to mind. It may be one that I've designed before, but most of the time it is highly original & very patient/client specific. It's in moments like these, when I'm able to touch that depth of creativity, that the heart beats a bit faster. Sometimes I sense a shudder or feel like laughing as these inner images jump out, seemingly having a life of their own. It's a time of true disassociation from mySelf. I'm out of my own way & now able to be free with the process.

Some people aren't familiar with what goes on in a project such as this. Here are some things to consider. When working with the SpokenWord, the vocal delivery is as important as the image itself. The famous quote, "timing is everything", also goes along with this genre of delivery. And then there are the facets of the tonality, including the emotional marinade. So, writing & delivering the SpokenWord is a bit complex, but when one is tuned into the subconscious, everything seems to take care of itself.

MEET THE FOOD & SUGAR ADDICTED LISTENER

The writer of SpokenWords writes & delivers to a listener, so the writing needs to take this into consideration. If one were to look at my physical writing, it might appear quite different from that written for someone who is reading the work. In my case, I write for listeners who have specific issues or needs. In this blog entry I've chosen to address listeners with very specific addictions....those having to do with disorderly eating, sugar & food addiction.

Addictive listeners, no matter what their addiction, often have short attention spans. Focus & concentration levels are often lacking. Much of this has to do with body & mind physiology of addiction. That is why those harboring addiction do so well with the SpokenWord being presented in Self-Hypnosis . In the case of my work, I deliver it in a special format I've designed called "Interactive Self-Hypnosis. This is especially palatable for the food addicted individual, as they are drawn into the actual images & get to play in the playground of their own minds. What could be better? There is no judging or co-dependency. They are calm & relaxed, detached from their thoughts & emotions, with an invitation to a special event where they get to pick & choose & to participate inside the images or metaphors that they willingly accept.

Disorderly eating listeners respond to a full plate of carefully crafted images to meet their specific needs. These need to be delivered at just the right time.....not too early & not too late. Those with food or sugar addiction, or other disorderly eating patterns are usually restless & disorganized in their thought processes. Their emotions run high, forcing the stress chemicals to be produced at very high levels. This usually means lots of physical & mental tension & while that may sound like a negative, it is actually a positive for work presented in the Self-Hypnotic SpokenWord format.

The body & mind of the listener DO WANT to slow down & relax deeply. The body & mind are eager to enter a state called homeostasis or balance & all that is needed is to get the listener "out of his own way." In the practice of medical hypnosis, it's common for an emergency room patient to go into a positive, self-hypnotic trance quite easily, simply because the body & mind do want to go to that place of balance. Blood pressure normalizes; heart beat normalizes; blood flow slows. It's quite remarkable to observe the power of the SpokenWord under these critical circumstances.

Once the listener is brought to deep relaxation, the creative work can begin. When writing & recording for the general public, the writing specialist needs to turn to generalizations about the subject matter. However, while sugar or food addicted individuals have many things in common, it's important for the writer to remember that each listener is a separate individual, with different life experiences & different needs. There is also the consideration of the amount of audio time & just as in writing books, editing is an important part of the process.

When dealing with this particular group of listeners, over-worked subject matter, such as food choices, meal planning, portion sizes, meal timing, etc., tend to get glazed over in book format, but not so in Interactive Self-Hypnotic Imagery. The right side of the brain, the subconscious or child-mind, can be brought to this Interactive exercise with new excitement. Here everything is possible. One can fall in love with the process of getting all of this organized & in place. It's fun again. Yes, it is possible to have a fresh start & to walk a healthy path.... the reason being that the listener is actually doing it & accompanied by positive & affirming emotions.

There are so many different images & metaphors for working through the food aspect of sugar & food addiction. All of them are "tasty." But, this listener needs to travel to other areas & also has quite a bit of clean-up to do. While this might sound "distasteful", it is not. In fact, it is more fun & games.

MEET THE EMOTIONS

Managing emotions is key for everyone. Sugar & food addicted listeners have their fair share of negative emotional states, many of them very old indeed, perhaps going way back to early childhood. It could take decades to take care of these in regular therapy, but with the power of the Self-Hypnotic SpokenWord, the listener can begin to tackle them right in the moment. The key is bringing the individual into the "identification center" & coming to understand the concept that he/she is NOT his or her emotions.

This technique of disassociation is made so much easier "in the moment". Through the power of SpokenImagery, the listener is now empowered to manage past failure, fear of failure, guilt, shame, powerlessness, anxiety, etc. & to bring forward, or actively entertain confidence, self-respect, self-forgiveness, self-love, creativity & a whole host of others, most of whom probably haven't been around through most of the individual's life.

Thoughts are now known as real "things"....that can be managed, thereby empowering the listener. Yes, it is a new day & life experiences will play on a different stage from now on.

CLEARING THE PAST EXPERIENCES

Creative metaphor gives the listener the opportunity to clean the attic & the basement & then all the other rooms in the house. One only keeps what one wants or needs. Making this abundantly clear to the now "past-addicted listener", invites in not only a new self-power, but a freedom to grow, create & achieve. Individuals in this category often have junk piled up that goes way back & for many reasons, these things have remained stock-piled. Presenting simple, but well-defined metaphors & bringing the listener into the action, can clear things up, often quicker & with less efforting.

This area of metaphor development is a joyful writing experience. My own mind feeds me one healthy image after the other. Road blocks move to the side & the way is clear.

FUTURE PACING METAPHORS

In this particular program, the metaphors for the future are all related to specifics for high level health. The listener participates "as if" this were all happening right now. The choice of words & descriptions become very important because one wants the listener to self-design & motivate his or her own program. This is key for long-term lifestyle change & it's most important to make it as complete & enticing as possible.

OTHER ASPECTS

I believe in teaching the listener the basics of Interactive Self-Hypnosis "in the moment" & have included these techniques on this program, as well as in every program I write & record. This is the nursing me who knows that the patient or listener, must be made to be independent of the professional & so it is with this SpokenWord writing project. What does this mean? Well, it means knowing how to identify & release emotions & their thoughts in the moment & to re-program the mind for the positive images that are presented on the program OR those that their own subconscious mind has developed for them, for the creative mind now knows the direction & will want to participate as well.

My goal, as the originator of Interactive Self-Hypnosis & the Workshop, is to show you how to become an exceptional strategist in your life, be it a battle or not. Here you will be empowered to take responsibility for your own health, your well-being & your level of performance. This Workshop is a unique road map leading you, the participant, into a world of optimum health, positive expectation & gently paced action....the true beginning of permanent lifestyle change.
If you are new to hypnosis, do know that anyone can work hypnotically. In actual fact, we tend to be in self-imposed hypnosis all day long. In therapeutic hypnosis, we work to de-hypnotize ourselves and then transcend into the mind-state and image of what we want, instead of what we don't want. If you haven't experienced this before, here is a very special program called "The Spa"

This audio takes the practitioner of self-hypnosis to the Inner Crystal Mountain Spa

Foot to the Pedal

2007-10-10T08:25:00.001-07:00

For those who have requested this....here is a book clip from thoughtWARE - 101 Inner Mind Programs for Designing, Planning & Reaching Your Goals. This is also available in audioBOOK mp3

Book Clip - Foot to the Pedal Now...

This series is taking you on a step by step adventure from choosing a goal to high level end goal results. If you have been working with the series you are already seeing changes happening all around you. Some have to do with the goals at hand, but other changes are subconscious mind spin-offs. This is how the mind works. Once we begin the wheels rolling, activity can be seen in all areas of our life.

I hope you are working with pen & journal, as well as goal folders. The better your inner & outer organization, the faster your goals will mature!

Planning, planning, planning. If you have not been a planner in the past, you may balk at this practice, but the more you plan, the more successes you will have & the more you will love planning. Do make certain you have a good pocket calendar & a journal for this work.

Develop a plan of organization. Work to bring organization to as many parts of your life as possible. All organization & planning carry over to your goal or goals. Have a place for everything & keep all things in their place. Avoid having "to do" notes in many places. This is what the pocket calendar is for.

Simplify your life. Most of us live a life of both inner & outer clutter. Make this the year to empty both. Get rid of things you don't use & need. Stay aware of how little you actually need to live comfortably. Also stay aware of what really makes you happy & at peace. The more you begin to know yourself, the more powerful you will become.

Be aware of what causes you stress & work to diminish it. All stress reaction is inner, meaning all stress is our personal reaction to what we perceive or see as OUR TRUTH. Change your perception & change your stress levels. When the body is free, the mind is free. You will go effortlessly towards your goal. If you are not practicing Awareness Meditative work, please consider doing so. This is the basic work of optimum performance & high achievement.

Learn to make quick decisions when appropriate. In actuality most decisions can be made quickly. Some of those include "what's for dinner", " or what should I wear." Our days have hundreds of these types of decisions. Begin to notice how many times you have to decide something. Begin to speed these up. You will save lots of time & also decrease your stress levels immeasurably. Once this practice is in place, other decisions will also speed up automatically. Your subconscious mind has a new benchmark in the area of decision making.

Be aware of ruminating. Staying lost in the past, or in unskillful future thoughts based on the past, are not only time-wasters in the general sense, but steal time away from positive programming. For most of us it is an automatic-pilot behavior & we must learn to wake up to it's arrival.

Schedule problem solving time. Just as you have learned to put aside planning time each day, also set aside separate time for problem solving. Begin to see this activity as a challenge & not a chore. This change of perspective will excite the subconscious mind into providing bonus solutions. You might also like to utilize your Board of Directors in this activity.
Learn to live in current reality. Develop skills to keep you in the moment, instead of the past & future. Awareness in the moment will give you the opportunity to assess, release & make choices.

Watch your attitude. Become the Director & CEO of your own life. See yourself in this position in your mind's eye. Take a good look at yourself & admire the person who is you. You are a unique being. There is no one else like you, nor will there ever be. As your CEO, choose attitudes to benefit your goals. Be aware of automatic pilot behaviors & look to change them if needed. You are in charge. Celebrate this.

Hang around with positive goal achievers. Emotional states are contagious. As you begin to become more aware about who you are, you will become more aware of those around you.

Experiential Self-Development

1.List three things you learned from this article that will help you personally or in your work.

2.Visit the planning link in the first paragraph of this article & organize your folders. Which area needs the most planning. Notice if you placed it on top of the pile or last. Remember to eat the crust FIRST. Organize your folders with the least pleasant on top!

3. Notice the time of day or activity that brings you to auto-pilot. Which is second? Relax deeply & bring forth your Board of Directors. Present the problem & request "wake-up" calls during auto-pilot times.

4.Take one of your goals & mentally place it on the table in front of you. Relax deeply & now look at the attitudes surrounding it. If there are unskillful attitudes remove them. Notice you have a bag filled with helpful attitudes right next to you. Take one or two of them & place them on the table with your goal. Notice if the goal has any comments.

5. In your mind's eye scan your family, colleagues & friends. Notice the emotional states that surround them. Now notice your emotional states in response to theirs. Check out the stress status in these relationships. Be sure to practice Awareness Meditation to keep your relationship moments at low-stress & high productivity.

http://thoughtwareprograms.blogspot.com/

If you would like to read our blog based on our book, It's Time to Stop Nail Biting & Skin Picking - 4 Steps to Success - An Innovative Program for Adults & Children, here is the link...
http://stopnailbiting.blogspot.com/

If you are new to hypnosis, do know that anyone can work hypnotically. In actual fact, we tend to be in self-imposed hypnosis all day long. In therapeutic hypnosis, we work to de-hypnotize ourselves and then transcend into the mind-state and image of what we want, instead of what we don't want. If you haven't experienced this before, here is a very special program called "The Spa"

This audio takes the practitioner of self-hypnosis to the Inner Crystal Mountain Spa where ultimate self-care & healing takes place. These metaphors are transferred to lifestyle behaviors on a conscious level & there is an enhancement of desire & action towards self-care. Love of Self, as well as self-forgiveness & self-compassion are enhanced, allowing for positive growth in all areas of life including relationships with Self & others, prosperity, work goals, home, spirituality & future mind programming.

Few of us understand the supreme importance of self-care. Without giving to ourselves in this way, we cannot give to others. This is an ideal program for those who have suffered abuse or who are in abusive relationships, either with others or with themselves.

FROM THE AUTHOR

I'd like to provide you with an Interactive Self-Hypnosis Session for this part of the Online Workshop. You can find it at the following link. This is the first session of my audioBOOK for breaking the habit of Procrastination. The full program is available on my websites.

My goal, as the originator of Interactive Self-Hypnosis & the Workshop, is to show you how to become an exceptional strategist in your life, be it a battle or not. Here you will be empowered to take responsibility for your own health, your well-being & your level of performance. This Workshop is a unique road map leading you, the participant, into a world of optimum health, positive expectation & gently paced action....the true beginning of permanent lifestyle change.

The past issues of this blog can be found below. Other segments are stored in the following separate blog. For those of you who would like to practice Interactive Self-Hypnosis, there is always a complimentary mp3 sitting on my website.

mindART - FULL BLOG

Good-Bye Procrastination

2007-10-09T10:22:00.000-07:00

"Being stuck is simply a state of mind that can be changed with your next thought."........Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Moving out of procrastination & into action is a major part of all of the books & CD programs I design. Follow along as I work with one of my students...

Claire: I can get really excited about doing something, and then for no reason at all I lose interest. When I try to talk myself into going back and doing it, my mind won’t let me even think about it. This happens with everything and not just sugar issues.

Any and all behaviors can be changed if you truly desire to do so. You can choose to push through resistance, or you can work with Interactive Self-Hypnosis tools and allow your subconscious mind to help you. Let’s have a look at some inner resources that are waiting for you.

Let’s have a look at your motivational history. We’ll enter your memory bank & look for your motivating power. Then we can engage it & attach it to any goal whatsoever, including the management of sugar addiction or disorderly eating…

In the past what made you…

Do things you wanted to do?
Do things you didn’t want to do?
Move out of a negative emotion?
Move out of procrastination?
In other words, what moves you?

Yes, ask your subconscious mind what makes you do things? As we look to current and past patterns, we can utilize this information to enhance future programming. Pick out some mind pictures where your early children are involved in doing things. Choose something the child likes, as well as something the child doesn't like. Now interview the child in your mind's eye, finding out what made him/her spur to action.

While the adolescent is just an older child, the motivator system can remain the same, change entirely, or be edited in some way. Ask for two experiences, one where the teen wanted the experience and another where it was not one of choice. Interview the teen and ask about the motivators and what he would have changed if given the choice.

Even though we have more personal control in adulthood, we still have to do things we don't want and also get to do things we do want to do. Spend some time visiting some experiences in both genres and interview yourself. See what you can find out.

Even though we should know ourselves better than before, we don't always put our best foot forward. Locate something you don't want to do and hone in on the motivators you either used or will use. Then go to the happier side of the street and find an experience of something you look forward to and spot the motivator.

The following exploration questions will serve to tweak your subconscious mind and prepare it for the work ahead!

· What would you do if you knew you could not fail? This question is tantamount to a gift, because your subconscious mind will take it as such. Just locating and defining it is a mind program!

· How do you expect your life to change with this work? Another gift!! Positive expectations slip right into the subconscious mind. The more time you take in defining what you expect to happen, the better the outcomes will be.

· What are you learning from the behaviors you want to change? While this question may not look like a gift from the wrappings, do know that it is. All behaviors that get in the way of success have flags. The lessons are embroidered on the flags. These are your behavioral teachers. Take some time to notice them and read a flag or two.

· What would you like to save from the way you are now? Despite the fact you probably need some changes, there are lots of great things going on with you right now in this very moment. Let your subconscious mind know that you do know what they are!

· Anything else? Sometimes the subconscious mind is just egging for a particular question to be asked. So here is your opportunity to ask and answer...

FROM THE AUTHOR

I'd like to provide you with an Interactive Self-Hypnosis Session for this part of the Online Workshop. You can find it at the following link. This is the first session of my audioBOOK for breaking the habit of Procrastination. The full program is available on my websites.

My goal, as the originator of Interactive Self-Hypnosis & the Workshop, is to show you how to become an exceptional strategist in your life, be it a battle or not. Here you will be empowered to take responsibility for your own health, your well-being & your level of performance. This Workshop is a unique road map leading you, the participant, into a world of optimum health, positive expectation & gently paced action....the true beginning of permanent lifestyle change.

The past issues of this blog can be found below. Other segments are stored in the following separate blog. For those of you who would like to practice Interactive Self-Hypnosis, there is always a complimentary mp3 sitting on my website.

mindART - FULL BLOG

Inside Mind Editing

2007-10-08T16:27:00.000-07:00

"Your treasure is hidden inside. Here's the shovel."......Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

In all of my books & audioBOOKS, readers regress hypnotically, exploring their meaningful history in their subconscious mind memory bank.

Here are some questions they ask themselves as they venture inwards…

What did I enjoy doing?
What was I good at?
What made me happy?
What did I succeed at?
What obstacles did I overcome?
What made me feel great?
What stands out as supporting me?

This is a very powerful area in your subconscious mind and one worth mining. Once located, these will become motivators to keep you on course with managing your disorderly eating, addictions, as well as other goals. As you continue in this work, additional memories will come forward. Be sure to compile these mind gifts in your journal for easy access. Later on you will learn how to utilize these “in the moment.

Begin your meaningful experience memory collection in childhood. Locate at least one or two meaningful experiences and make a few notes about them. If negative memories come out, notice that you did survive these. Honor the memory and wash off any negatives in the theater of your mind. Your strengths will remain clean and clear. Go into your adolescent years and do the same.

If you are currently in your early adulthood or older, locate some memories for your collection. There are all kinds of things to look at. Some may be small, but very powerful nevertheless. The other day I was able to leave the supermarket with not one item of junk in my cart. That may appear small, but believe me, it was not.

What is going on in your life now that is meaningful? Take a moment to review your life as it is currently unfolding and look for some appropriate entries. Remember to place these in your journal. Your subconscious mind will note these as important, allowing you to attach them to other memories, moments or future happenings.

This TIME-LINE work will benefit you, so do take the time to explore and also be sure to add the additional mind gifts that will come to your attention as you work with this program. Take time to get to know yourself intimately. What were you like as a child? Practice some easy regression here and go back through the picture album of your mind to the time you were a child. Pick any age you prefer and describe what you see and feel from viewing this inner photograph.

The adolescent years are great areas to find individuality and success. Some things that you find here many only feel successful to the adolescent! Some may be family disrupters! Pick the first three that wave to you. Early adulthood is an area where personal balance can be located. Keep in mind that balance, like other self-assets are found on a spectrum. Sometimes things are small, but they are still representative of the asset. Success comes in all flavors. Some are personal, others may be family or business related. Take a moment to review the mind pictures, choosing those that have higher ratings for you personally.

Review your current life including today and locate some flags. They are all over the place, in all areas of your life. Some are small and some bigger. The size doesn't indicate the value, so inwardly smiling, choose the three you like the best.

FROM THE AUTHOR

I'd like to provide you with an Interactive Self-Hypnosis Session for this part of the Online Workshop. You can find it at the following link. It's a regression session, called The Train Ride. The second part of this mp3 program is about future-pacing.

My goal, as the originator of Interactive Self-Hypnosis & the Workshop, is to show you how to become an exceptional strategist in your life, be it a battle or not. Here you will be empowered to take responsibility for your own health, your well-being & your level of performance. This Workshop is a unique road map leading you, the participant, into a world of optimum health, positive expectation & gently paced action....the true beginning of permanent lifestyle change.

The past issues of this blog can be found below. Other segments are stored in the following separate blog. For those of you who would like to practice Interactive Self-Hypnosis, there is always a complimentary mp3 sitting on my website. The program that is there presently is a full session called The Life University. This is part of a 2-CD/mp3 program for re-structuring goals & implementing them in all parts of life. I'm sure you will join others who have enjoyed working with this program. I'll be changing this in a few days, so you might want to take advantage of it while it is still posted.
mindART - FULL BLOG

Owning the Binge

2007-10-07T12:17:00.001-07:00

"Most of us binge in some area of life. What's important is to wake up & own it. Then one is free to manage it"....Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

We all have beliefs and behavioral patterns that work for us and those that don't. It helps to image them as plants for plants know all seasons and they can, indeed, be helped to grow and change. Some plants have both positive and negative aspects. Others are completely positive and some completely negative. We spend a good part of our day planting and weeding, often not awake for our inner gardening work.

Working the time-line allows you to see where old beliefs were planted, as well as where and how behaviors were developed. Some of these are in the past, but many are actively being planted in the future. Yes, you are planning and planting your future on many different levels. This can be either good for you or not so good! As young children we develop volumes of coping mechanisms and behavioral patterns. Some of them follow us right through life. Some help and some impede. Some we learned from our parents, other mentors or teachers and some came by way of experience.

We often can see our parents in ourselves as we become older and wonder if history has to repeat itself through us. Some of these inner behavioral programs work well for us and can be seen in our successes. There are, however, some that do not work well and often some that hinder. It is important for us to know that we can alter any behavioral program simply through the tools presented here. Interactive Awareness and Interactive Self-Hypnosis give us the means for going into these past files. We can then re-edit or reframe memories and associated programs, so as to make them healthy and useful to us in our present and future life.

Learning to Re-frame

Re-framing beliefs or memories or any mind programs is just like deciding that a particular photograph would look better in a different frame, and then actually changing it; only frames for mind programs are those of perception. You choose to see your mind program differently, through “new eyes.” Suppose that you have a memory or mind program that is framed in anger or distrust. This is how it is stored in your subconscious mind, so whenever you review it consciously, it will come up framed in anger or distrust. In fact, the way the subconscious mind works, every time it comes up the frame will be stronger in perception. Now suppose you have a mind program or memory file about managing an addiction framed in failure. I’m sure you get the idea!

MIND EXERCISE

Now we are spending time assessing and locating areas for concentrated attention later on. Take some time to deeply relax, in fact even deeper than before. Perhaps close your eyes after reading this, knowing that everything shown to you will be useful in your recovery. Each day of your life you are presented with learning experiences. Some appear pleasant and others are not, but all are learning experiences. Significant people may have or currently be demonstrating anxiety, panic, depression, compulsive or obsessive behaviors to you. You may find yourself mirroring these or wanting to, perhaps later in the day. Go to work on your time-line. For example, notice if s anyone demonstrated addictions to you in the past. Addictions and related behaviors travel through families of origin and extended social circles. Also look for specific emotional teaching or patterns that may or may not work for you. All hold importance for now, as well as for your future.

Call in your librarian and spend some time looking through the shelves for any history of anxiety and panic, depression, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, as well as treatment or known triggers. These are very connected to addictions and stress-related issues. Remember the octopus and the tentacles? While there are physiological connections to the aforementioned, there are also triggers and you learned these somewhere and probably from someone. Think of the world as a great big school where you begin your formal schooling at birth, continuing along until death. Every experience you have is an actual learning experience. Every person you meet, or that attracts you in some way becomes a teacher of sorts.

All of these experiences are stored in your subconscious mind and the inner librarian knows where they are. This information will become very useful later on, so take your automatic writing pen and welcome the inner communication. Remember to be patient with the process and if nothing comes off the pen, simply wait a moment and then move on to the next section. You may find yourself receiving this information later on in a different quiet moment.

Interactive Self-Hypnosis can help you to change. It is important to become aware in a relaxed state and to see the scenes of the past being played out as separate from you. You might like to read the chapter on emotional crayons and practice some of those exercises, then apply them to this area of your Assessment. Throughout the book you will be coming back to this area, as you will have things to add as your heightened awareness grows.

FROM THE AUTHOR

I'd like to provide you with an Interactive Self-Hypnosis Session for this part of the Online Workshop. You can find it at the following link. It's a regression session, called The Train Ride. The second part of this mp3 program is about future-pacing.

My goal, as the originator of Interactive Self-Hypnosis & the Workshop, is to show you how to become an exceptional strategist in your life, be it a battle or not. Here you will be empowered to take responsibility for your own health, your well-being & your level of performance. This Workshop is a unique road map leading you, the participant, into a world of optimum health, positive expectation & gently paced action....the true beginning of permanent lifestyle change.

The past issues of this blog can be found below. Other segments are stored in the following separate blog. For those of you who would like to practice Interactive Self-Hypnosis, there is always a complimentary mp3 sitting on my website. The program that is there presently is a full session called The Life University. This is part of a 2-CD/mp3 program for re-structuring goals & implementing them in all parts of life. I'm sure you will join others who have enjoyed working with this program. I'll be changing this in a few days, so you might want to take advantage of it while it is still posted.
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