Subconscious Mind Games

If you've been following along, you know that there are four fundamental Goal-den Bricks, each brick having it's own new StoryBook. Starting "new" is a wonderful opportunity, but often times it is scary & even confusing. Those of us who have been entertaining addiction and/or any form of disorderly eating tend to be disorganized in other areas of life & that includes our thought processes. Our thoughts are often like scrambled eggs, ideas popping up, then hiding or disappearing completely. Although I've been in recovery for decades, I still can have this phenomenon. It's as if my own mind wants to play old, distorted games with me.

These games are very stress-producing & in the past, they were enough to send me straight to the peanut butter jar or ice cream container. It always amazed me how those two particular foods acted like drugs, relaxing me while chasing away the mind monsters of recovery & healing. It was almost like I didn't want to recover, but just stay inside my addiction where I believed I was safe. But, I wasn't safe & will never, ever be safe inside my eating addictions & that's why I've named this book, "How Many Cookies Will It Take to Make Me Happy?" The answer is the same as it is for peanut butter, ice cream, chips or whatever is the presenting addiction of the day...there will never be enough to make me happy, safe, balanced or anything else. There is nothing for me inside my addiction. It's just an empty room with bars on the window, with a sound system laughing at me.

Throughout this book I share stories from my client files, as well as some of my own truths. I never backed away from telling my own stories, because I believe that is the purpose of them...to encapsulate learning experiences to help others. It took me decades to get my head on straight in relation to my eating issues & so, I have plenty to share. And, while sharing is a healthy thing to do, the most important part is "how to" change the multitude of things that need to be changed in any addiction. Addictions are multi-faceted & each facet is actually a Mind Story unto itself. While you can learn & change from listening to my stories & those of my students, the most powerful stories are already present in your own subconscious mind, waiting to be opened. When a story is opened & you visit inside the pages, you will be rewarded with "hidden treasure." Those treasures are the things you need for your own healing. Some of them will be directly related to your weight or eating issues, but others will be indirectly connected, perhaps even presenting themselves as not being connected, but indeed they will be, for everything is connected.

Sometimes we are afraid to go inside & to look. Have you ever seen a shy child, looking at you from behind her hands. This is the very same part of you that is fearful of what you will see inside the book. While you might want to work with a therapist, for most of us, we can move past this by disassociating from the child-state & moving into the powerful states of teacher, parent or healer. There are many different images to utilize for this type of subconscious mind work. For me, I like to take my child-Self by the hand as I sense mySelf inside Higher or Creative/Therapeutic Self, reminding me that the reason I am here on the face of the Earth is to heal & then to bring healing to others. This is a powerful, sensory image & I'll lend to you if you like. Notice that I'm taking my childSelf along for the learning journey. My goal is to help her to mature by releasing those negative, blocking emotions of fear, guilt & shame. I want that inner part of me to transmute the maturity & self-confidence of my Higher Self to the smaller & needy childSelf.

We'll work more with these images, but first I'd like to welcome new readers..

A NOTE TO NEW READERS:

This experiential blog/workshop is based on my new book, "How Many Cookies Will It Take to Make Me Happy?" This book is not published as yet, but you have the opportunity to read it in it's unpublished state. If you are new to my writing, you might want to read the earlier mini-chapters. They are available on FaceBook, The PublishersMarketPlace & at the following link. Remember to scan down to find the earliest chapters & work your way up. http://beyonddisorderlyeating.blogspot.com/
A bit of background.... we are working with creative Interactive Self-Hypnosis imagery, planting suggestions directly into the creative subconscious mind as you read along. What appears like a story is a series of self-hypnotic sessions, designed to bring about desired lifestyle changes. The inner mind is creative & rather child-like, loving to play with images, especially when they are emotionalized. Just like the saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words", well-planted mind images, can be worth hours of therapy. We can actually change or motivate in 1/200th of a second. So come along & look forward to some lifestyle-changing events.

STORY BOOK IMAGES

We need positive StoryBook images inside each Fundamental Goal-den Brick. If we can't find them in our own life, then we have to get them from somewhere else. But, I've already told you that you have all that you need inside your own subconscious mind. The problem with most of us is that we only think consciously, never thinking that the answers we are looking for reside inside what we perceive as our problem issues. We cannot get inside our issues UNTIL we open them & they cannot be opened from the INSIDE. Perhaps this is one of the biggest mistakes we make in our attempts at recovery. In the beginning of my own Therapeutic Journey, I thought I didn't have enough self-image or esteem to stand outside my issues. It was like I didn't have the right to do so. But, I was wrong. My Higher or Creative Self took me by the hand, as I'm taking you.

Relax in the moment....deeply. Go to your fourth Brick & meet up with your Creative Self & when you are engaged, travel over to the StoryBook you are writing. Enter & go to the Table of Contents. There you will find the entry for your eating issues or addiction. You may enter this area & find yourSelf on the Path of these issues. You are walking with your Creative Self & sense your state of relax & power. You are welcome here & the different aspects of your issues are happy to see you, as if they were waiting for you. Each aspect is separate & has it's own garden. Notice that you have tools on your belt & you enter one of the aspects. Weeds dominate. Go ahead & begin to clear. You must always clear before receiving the gifts. Once you have cleared, sit down on the rock or bench...your aspect is sitting with you, facing you...how easy it is to be with this part of you, not like in the past when you were blocked from each other...now, go ahead & ask any questions you may have...or..ask for your questions to come down the path..or present an image of what you truly want from this aspect. Make it very clear...very definite...kind, but firm.

In the next blog I'll invite you to observe as one of my students works with one of her "aspects."

Copyright 2009 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht
May not be copied or reproduced without permission of the author.

Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht is author of Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It. She is also the writer/producer of over 350 mp3/CD programs in the areas of medicine, health, prevention, addictions, self-development & sports for adults & children.

http://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.bohorquez
http://www.twitter.com/elizRN

http://www.hypnosis-audio.com
http://www.sugar-addiction.com
http://www.international-medical-health-writers

Time-Quickening

We're in the process of "mind painting" in the food-related StoryBook utilizing the "paint jar of time". If you haven't read the first blog on making peace with time, I suggest you do that first. If you have, then you already know that our perception of "time" can either make or break our level of success, even our health & so the paint that we apply to our mind-images need to be properly "time-mood adjusted." It's important to remember that the subconscious mind does not differentiate between reality or thoughts. Everything is real & therefore will alter the body/mind physiology. If you are feeling time pressure or just think you are or are future-pacing it, the body/mind will be responding in the exact moment.

There are many areas in the StoryBook of food management that regularly entertain time-pressure. Some include planning, shopping, food preparation & the actual cooking, even eating of a meal or set of meals. When time-pressure is present, it's common to find tension, as well as procrastination or blocking. The blocking may be very emotionally-charged, sometimes with arrows flying in all directions. Often, the real culprit isn't even identified as the emotionally-charged arrows carry different blame labels.

Let's paint a StoryBoard representing this common dilemma. Emma, one of my patients, is very emotionally challenged in the time area of life balance. She knows that the reason she is over-weight is because of her poor food choices, but she continually makes excuses about not having sufficient time to plan, shop & prepare. One night she grabs some fast-food on her way home from work, subconsciously hating herSelf for her perceived inadequate abilities. Her family sits down to dinner & the complaints begin to fly about what's being served. Emma gets her arrows & shoots them at each family member, blaming them for all sorts of things that have nothing whatsoever to do with what's really the issue here. She screams out about not having time, thereby engraving this belief in her own mind bank. Everyone leaves the table mending their hurts & Emma slips back into reinforcing her inability to have a healthy relationship with "time."'

Emma has a lifetime of complaints regarding time. She's never had "enough" & in her mind, that is why she is obese. Time is her enemy & so that must change. This relationship work begins with learning to identify her vocalization & thoughts related to her negative relationship, relaxing deeply to open them "in the moment." Opening is necessary in order to release & then program for change. In other words, Emma must first see the issue, then be willing to open it so it can be changed. In the example above, once the time issue is opened, she can choose to either slow down certain aspects, or even speed them up. I suggested that she do both "in concert", first slowing & then quickening. I want her to be able to view the entire StoryBoard in slow motion. Seeing the activities she needs to accomplish with an image of a clock up on the wall, indicating the exact amount of time needed, will allow her to let go of her old automatic mind stories & see the truth. From this position, her mind will also show her some shortcuts that she already knows, but wasn't willing to accept BECAUSE she wanted to stay in her "victim" position. Remember the arrows? Blaming time allowed Emma to attack other issues that have been buried, perhaps for a very long time. It's important for her to see this truth & also to know that these are areas she needs to address in new ways.

Now Emma is ready to quicken some aspects of her activities. Remember, the subconscious mind does not know the difference between what's truly happening in the moment & a thought. Emma will see & interact with images of herSelf shopping very quickly, emotionally experiencing in the theater of her mind how efficient & effective she is as she whips through the aisles, creative ideas lightening her way. She then moves to another image, perhaps one where she is preparing the food for her family, enjoying these moments of focused relaxation, even including something special to meet her own needs. In the past, Emma believed that she had NO TIME to take care of herSelf, but now she can not only see, but feel intuitively that she has more than enough time & can even enjoy doing this. She senses her love & respect for herSelf. This StoryBoard image was both slowed & quickened, allowing Emma to taste the joy & creativity of her cooking, as well as move it along. In the past, there was a dragging quality to cooking & preparing, but all of that is over.

We'll work more with Time, but before we get further into the paint, I'd like to welcome new readers..

A NOTE TO NEW READERS:

This experiential blog/workshop is based on my new book, "How Many Cookies Will It Take to Make Me Happy?" This book is not published as yet, but you have the opportunity to read it in it's unpublished state. If you are new to my writing, you might want to read the earlier mini-chapters. They are available on FaceBook, The PublishersMarketPlace & at the following link. Remember to scan down to find the earliest chapters & work your way up. http://beyonddisorderlyeating.blogspot.com/
A bit of background.... we are working with creative Interactive Self-Hypnosis imagery, planting suggestions directly into the creative subconscious mind as you read along. What appears like a story is a series of self-hypnotic sessions, designed to bring about desired lifestyle changes. The inner mind is creative & rather child-like, loving to play with images, especially when they are emotionalized. Just like the saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words", well-planted mind images, can be worth hours of therapy. We can actually change or motivate in 1/200th of a second. So come along & look forward to some lifestyle-changing events.

"TIME" IN A PAINT JAR

Obviously we can't pay attention to all of our thoughts, but if you ask your subconscious mind to cue or notify you when you are in an automatic pilot state of time-stress, it will do that. You may be surprised at how many times you are cued in this regard. Most of us have no idea as to what we are playing on automatic pilot & time issues are so major, that just waking up for these will give you a good opportunity to change many other aspects that aren't working in your life, because all are connected. Some emotional elements you might find attached include anger, guilt, shame, indecision, impatience, intolerance, anxiety, panic, fears of all sorts & poor self-image/esteem. Remember, your subconscious mind takes these thoughts as "truth" & so you do want to open them with deep relax when they are presented to you, then replacing them with positive, healthy images.

We'll paint some of those in the next blog.

Copyright 2009 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht
May not be copied or reproduced without permission of the author.

Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht is author of Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It. She is also the writer/producer of over 350 mp3/CD programs in the areas of medicine, health, prevention, addictions, self-development & sports for adults & children.

http://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.bohorquez
http://www.twitter.com/elizRN

http://www.hypnosis-audio.com
http://www.sugar-addiction.com
http://www.international-medical-health-writers

ClockWork - Making Peace with Time

Working inside our first StoryBook, we are designing images with our CreativeSelf utilizing our artistic tools. In the practice of self-hypnosis, we are able to work with a wide variety of metaphorical paints. Here we'll dip our brush into the very important "paint jar of time." We'll be using this particular jar throughout our work in this book, because our perception of "time" can either make or break our level of success, even our health. We can all relate to time-stress, knowing how sick we can become from this type of pressure. Often, even without thinking, we name & blame "time" as the reason for our failures, not only to finish or complete something, but also for our inability to get started. We call this procrastination. Time heads just about every list of excuse-making.

On the other hand, time can be a very valuable friend, not only because it is Key in helping us to achieve our goals, but it can also be a catalyst for change in many areas of our lives. In order to reach this level of mind-work, it's necessary to become aware of old, automatic programs that keep "time" in the enemy column & then dip the artistic brush in the "paint jar of time", applying a new, healthy perception in our new StoryBook Images. All paint, whether real or imaginary, has elements or components. Here are some reflective in the "paint jar of time."

Relaxing
Slowing
Hastening
Knowing
Trusting
Accepting
Enjoying

In my mind, the most important element is that of relaxation. As I review my past experiences, time never seemed to be on my side. My words & thoughts were filled with tension-filled stories, all blaming time for just about anything & everything. I don't think I ever went through an hour without one of my time-complaints. It seemed like I was never happy. If time were a real person, it would never have chosen to be my friend. Not only was I super-critical of it, I simply couldn't stand it's presence, despite the fact that I needed it.

In my work with "disorderly eating", the discussion of "time" comes up right from the get-go. Everyone is in a hurry to move out of the problems & who can blame them. Most people with negative eating issues have carried them around for years & simply want them "gone"....better still...."gone now." The most common question I get from patients or readers of my work is "How long will all of this take?" Because I'm a Clinical Hypnotherapist, I tend to see lots of living images & one that always appears for me is an image of "time" sitting next to the individual, usually wearing a little smile, already knowing that this individual is like a sleeping child who is about to be awakened, perhaps rudely. Then, it will be my job to move them from reality into a state of relaxation, as time gets to do some very important life lessons.

We'll work more with Time, but before we get further into the paint, I'd like to welcome new readers..

A NOTE TO NEW READERS:

This experiential blog/workshop is based on my new book, "How Many Cookies Will It Take to Make Me Happy?" This book is not published as yet, but you have the opportunity to read it in it's unpublished state. If you are new to my writing, you might want to read the earlier mini-chapters. They are available on FaceBook, The PublishersMarketPlace & at the following link. Remember to scan down to find the earliest chapters & work your way up. http://beyonddisorderlyeating.blogspot.com/
A bit of background.... we are working with creative Interactive Self-Hypnosis imagery, planting suggestions directly into the creative subconscious mind as you read along. What appears like a story is a series of self-hypnotic sessions, designed to bring about desired lifestyle changes. The inner mind is creative & rather child-like, loving to play with images, especially when they are emotionalized. Just like the saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words", well-planted mind images, can be worth hours of therapy. We can actually change or motivate in 1/200th of a second. So come along & look forward to some lifestyle-changing events.

"TIME" IN A PAINT JAR

As we awaken to our mental & emotional battering of "time", we have the opportunity to recognize the mindBody state of deep relax & begin painting in a new way. We have all the time in the world to get our disorderly eating corrected & can choose to do it as fast or as slow as we prefer. Knowing that we have a choice in how we utilize time is very freeing. It's not up to anyone else but yourSelf. I remember stopping some of my negative eating behaviors immediately, while others went slowly. I determined all of this. I therefore owned all of this. Bad-mouthing time will only deliver more stress to the mindBody, actually making it more difficult to move through resistance. So, practice catching your thoughts, as well as your spoken words, then transmuting or changing them with a deep relaxing breath. Here's a helpful affirmation...simple..."I'm in charge of how I utilize my time. I can go fast or slow, as I choose."

Slowing down is so important. If you tend towards compulsive behavior, you will be able to easily identify your relationship with time speeding along, even pushing you. People with disorderly or addictive eating tend to live in a compulsive world of their own making. I know this world well, because it is my world & while it is still my world, I'm now in charge of it, not the other way around. This makes a big difference. If I'm pressured or anxious about getting something accomplished, or solving my personal multitude of problems, I'm very kind to "time" & purposely slow it down. I like to utilize an image of a clock that allows me to turn a dial, making time go at a slower pace. Try that... it's a simple image that works very well. You can add an affirmation if you like. "I have all the time I need. Time goes slower for me & I like it this way." When we are recovering from addictive or disorderly eating, we agree or pretend that we have all the time in the world. The recovery path is a learning path & if we try to go too fast, we tend to miss the learning along the way. "Be still my friend & walk the path, noticing what appears to you along the route. These are your gifts for traveling this way."

We'll continue dabbling in this paint jar in the next blog entry.

Copyright 2009 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht
May not be copied or reproduced without permission of the author.

Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht is author of Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It. She is also the writer/producer of over 350 mp3/CD programs in the areas of medicine, health, prevention, addictions, self-development & sports for adults & children.

http://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.bohorquez
http://www.twitter.com/elizRN

http://www.hypnosis-audio.com
http://www.sugar-addiction.com
http://www.international-medical-health-writers