"It doesn't take much to change, but it must be presented consistently."...Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht
THE OCTOPUS EFFECT
While most of us can recognize & name our surface problems, it is usually a big challenge to hareness these & to manage them successfully. Claire, who is very representative of other people I work with, presents a good example of this phenomenon. She is aware of engaging in poor nutrition. It's easy for her to know that her weight is problematic, that she has fatigue & other stress-related symptoms. Her MD has told her that nothing is really wrong, but Claire knows from past memories, that something is not on the right track. It just isn't showing up on the laboratory tests.
She also bites her nails, has a tendency towards moderate to high alcohol weekends & intuitively knows that she is not working up to her potential. On the surface, one would think that these are simple things to change. Claire might be judged by some as being lazy & unfocused, suggesting she grow up & pull her act together. She might even think so herself, then end up punishing herself to abate the guilt & shame.
Making changes, such as Claire's, is easier said than done, but with the help of heightened awareness & interactive self-hypnosis, progress will be swifter, as well as easier.
Let's use the image of an octopus representing Claire's problem of disorderly eating or poor nutrition "by choice." It's not enough to see the head of the octopus sticking out of the sea. Claire must locate the tentacles that lie under the surface. The origins of some tentacles of poor nutrition are buried deep in the ocean of the subconscious mind. Although hidden from sight, they send up emotional messages that connect to current life experiences, making it difficult to solve this one particular issue. When parts of a problem are not identified, or come to awareness, it's often impossible to make a good plan for rehabilitation, nor to find ways to implement it.
Even when problems & it's parts are identified, there is still the matter of staying motivated, as well as persisting through daily obstacles. Programming the mind for lifestyle change takes consistent persistence!!
JOURNALING WORK
1. Go over the earlier Workshop sessions & highlight those areas that speak to you personally. This is your own subconscious mind telling you that this is important for you to be able to make changes. It's the beginning of heightened awareness. Each time you scan-read these areas, you will further etch them into your subconscious mind. Remember to relax deeply when doing Workshop exercises, or even just reading. Take some time out, slow your brain waves, dispelling any brain cloud that might be lingering. Invite quiet & stillness into your body. Imagine a dial that you can turn to the left that will take you deeper down into the chair in which you are resting. You might choose to clos your eyes gently & to tilt them up about twenty degrees, locating & admiring your mind screen. Open your eyes now & proceed with your own self-investigation.
2. Your mind screen is where you program your mind for what you want, as if you already had it. Some of us have a keen visual sense, visualizing with no difficulty. If you have difficulty, "simply think" in your normal way. The results will be the same. As the subconscious mind sees & senses what you truly want, the tentacles of the octopus will be revealed. The inner mind understands that these must be taken care of in order for you to have what you want. What you are accomplishing here is "moving a mind-block." It doesn't matter how deep down it is, nor how securely fastened it is to the ocean floor. Once it is identified in deep relax, it will surface for care.
FROM THE AUTHOR
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. The next program will be on goal achievement.
mindART - FULL BLOG
