Receiving Creative Gifts

Lifestyle changes needed for conquering disorderly eating and managing addictions 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 the last chapter 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 and esteem programming. Now you are going to locate old subconscious mind files, filled with all kinds of gifts to help you manage your addiction issues and your life balance. You are also going to design future mind programs to plant in your gardens.

Interactive Awareness and Self-Hypnosis can be utilized in hundreds of creative ways. Throughout this book you have been working with many of these. Now you will experience some of the more creative ones. Keep in mind that each and 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 and how key it is to change. There are all levels of awareness, each carrying gifts. Some are small and some are big. Awareness requests are set-up subconsciously. We literally request the mind to make us aware of something t 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 your addiction 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 and/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 and benefits. In short, induction is the route you take to get out of your own way, side-stepping all emotions and judgment, stepping into a place where suggestions are readily accepted by the subconscious mind. If you work with a hypnotist or hypnotherapist, you may be taken even deeper into trance where the therapist is able to access the needed information, but in self-hypnosis you are determining the level where you can affect 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 chapter on mental biofeedback and 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 and so it works to your benefit, assisting you in building special containment metaphors for planting inner programs, as well as editing past and future ones. These containments are useful as well for managing emotional states, locating hidden resources and 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.

Exploring the Interactive Self-Hypnosis Workshop

You might like to review this powerful containment at the alpha state. You already know how to reach this slow brain wave state. In the last chapter you began the design of your goal-den path. As you walk down your path and past the gardens, you will see a signpost for your inner workshop. Follow the route and soon you will come upon it. The workshop is a place in your mind where you go to work on yourself. It is a private place and while others are welcome, they only come by your invitation and to work in your behalf. This is especially important for those with addiction who are so used to putting everyone else’s needs first.
Right now see the image of your workshop in your mind’s eye. Build it exactly as you like it. There might be a building or a place in the past that you would like to utilize for this purpose, and that is fine. Sometimes we have a safe place from childhood. For me it is an old barn that sat on the property of my best friend where I could escape the outside world to adventure in my dreams. It was here that I calmed myself while designing my future fantasies. If you don’t have such a place in your memory bank, simply go and build one for yourself right now. You can place it wherever you like, be it at the ocean, high in the mountains, or even in the middle of a city. Whatever meets your fancy is just fine. Choose the structure, color, windows, roof pitch, landscaping, etc. Details, details!

Feel the entrance key in your pocket and open the front door. Look around, noticing the furnishings, floor coverings, windows, collectibles, perhaps plants, books and even toys. Time to lighten up! Walk through the workshop, noticing the details of the different rooms and how comfortable you feel here. In my Workshop I have a big room, a kitchen, a spa bath, several libraries and a board meeting room. You’ll read about these in detail later on.

Look out the window and admire the view. Pay attention to the wild life, the plants, the sky and how the weather is in this moment. Your weather is a great metaphor for your current emotional crayons. Bring in some additional senses. You might tap on the window pane, hearing the tapping sound resonating in your ears. Sit down in one of the chairs, feel the texture of the fabric, how your body positions into the chair and relax deeply. This is a time set aside for you and your work. Enjoy this idea. It’s helpful to bring in some powerful emotional states, especially positive expectancy, wisdom and inner peace. Emotions appear automatically, as well as by request. In this case scenario, do request those that will be skillful in designing inner programming. In the paragraphs below I will be directing you to other parts of your workshop.

Mind Exercise – Accessing Your Wide Screen Television

Everything that you ever experienced is recorded in your subconscious mind in an orderly fashion, but in order to review it you must utilize some sort of a containment or tool. As you become familiar with the workings of Interactive Self-Hypnotic Tools you will be able to call them forward to work in the moment, as well as in deeper trance states. The wide screen television and the VCR are containments for viewing subconscious files. In our work all subconscious files are considered video tapes that are designed for you to readily apply Interactive Awareness and Self-Hypnosis.

On your inner mind screen place an image of your wide screen television. Locate the VCR and the portable hand controls. Notice the shelves holding the tape collections. The shelves on the left are filled with old tapes, including everything you have ever experienced through any of your senses. While these experiences truly happened, they are all recorded in a particular perception. Some perceptions that are not helpful to current goals may benefit from some editing. Old tapes are also great resources for building resilience and power in all types of goals. Resilience is found in past success, as well as in past failures. Interactive self-hypnosis allows you to alter the marinade of any file, often turning it from a de-motivator into a powerful pro-motivator.

The shelves on the right are filled with future video. Some are blank tapes ready for recording. There are also tapes holding new experiences that haven’t happened as yet. Some you have already programmed through the power of expectations, while others are pre-programmed for practicing different possibilities and experiences. Some of your pre-programs may not be based on negative expectation and therefore not in your best interest. It’s very possible that some include expectations of failure in working with your addiction or eating disorder. I’ll be showing you how to locate and edit these for success.

Mind Exercise – Programming Your Inner DVD

Take a few moments and slow your brain waves. Tilt your eyes up about twenty degrees imaging your wide screen television. Even through the image slips on and off your mind screen, your subconscious mind is aware of what you are doing. Begin by choosing an old DVD, perhaps one that has to do with your disorderly eating, bingeing or addiction. Maybe it is an old eating behavior, or a scene where you are with friends and having a difficult time in making healthy choices. Once you locate the video go deeper down into your relaxed state to help enhance your focus. With your eyes tilted up begin to review the tape on your mind screen. See yourself, noticing if you are alone or with others. Listen to the sound track. Observe the happenings, noticing you can focus in on specific areas, as well as slow down the action.

You are the writer, director and producer of each of your productions. Each video in your collection is a production of yours! In Interactive Self-Hypnosis you can stop any and all productions, be they past, future or present, and change them to benefit your desired outcomes.

You may be wondering how you could possibility benefit from something that has already happened. Keep in mind that everything is recorded through perceptions, and all perceptions can be changed to benefit you. For example, every failure can be seen through new eyes, or a change in perception. Let’s say that you are reviewing the experience of a negative eating behavior. You can edit this quite simply by indicating that you were practicing behaviors that you do not want. You can then bring in new actors to demonstrate what you do want, having them work side by side. Make certain that the correct signs are hanging over each actor’s performance! You can take this a step further by making the undesired behavior a black and white boring affair. Paint the desired behavior in bright colors, moving the stage forward into clear view. You have now successfully edited an old mind program and programmed a new, corresponding behavior that is seen as your preferred choice.

It’s just as easy to work with future video programs. In the last section of this book you will have many opportunities to apply these tools in different ways, but for now choose a blank future tape, placing it in the DVD slot. Relax deeply, tilt your eyes up and locate your inner mind screen. Notice you are coming down the path, looking absolutely great. It’s quite obvious that you are healthy, energetic and relaxed. As you notice your details, turn up the sound. You are about to hear yourself speaking to yourself. Listen to all of the wonderful things that have happened since you began managing your addiction several months ago. Perhaps there are things about your health, your relationships, work and even your prosperity. Notice someone else is coming down the path. This individual is somewhat older, but certainly just as healthy and energetic. This is your self from five years in the future, also looking forward to sharing even more wonderful things that have happened since sticking to your new program and lifestyle changes. You can even future pace this further by having another future you appearing on the scene. Later on in this book you will be working more with Interactive Self-Hypnosis Future Pacing Tools.

If you have pre-programmed future outcomes and would like to edit them, follow the same system as you did for past programming. Remember, your subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference. Simply direct and produce the outcomes that you desire just as if you already had them in the palm of your hand because that will become your reality.

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.


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

Mind Magic

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.

LIFE CONTAINMENT


We need an over-arching image that will encompass all areas of your life. This is a major containment. I like to utilize an image of a goal-den path, with separate gardens for each major life area. I’ve presented an image below that represents my inner over-arching image. I teach this image to my patients and students. It seems to work quite well. Once this major containment is in place, the next step is to fill in the details “as if” you already had all of these present in your life. This is called future-pacing and is a major subconscious mind program. The more specific you can be, the better your outcomes will be for the mind will have more to work with. Remember, this is a work in progress. You will continually be adding to it.
Here is a drawing of my goal-den path. You can see the positioning of the separate goal gardens. Notice how the major garden sits on it’s own. This is not just important when managing addictions. It is crucial for high level health and optimum performance in any area of life.

The bricks are twenty-four carat gold, sparkling their value. Beautiful gardens emerge on each side of the path, each having a signpost. The gardens extend back to the horizon, filled with flowers of every conceivable variety and color. The plants are healthy, the colors vibrant. These plants represent my achievements, my resilience, as well as my new desired goals. I image my feet standing on the path, sensing them tingle from the sparkling gold. I look up at the sky, noticing a few clouds moving slowly, feeling the heat of the sun touching my face gently, coupled with the coolness of a slight breeze. I enjoy allowing my body to fill with feelings of happiness, expectation of good things to come, including the total management of any specific addictions or disorderly behaviors I may have in my life.

I then sit quietly, allowing all of this to settle inside of me. Each time I repeat this in the theater of my mind, my subconscious mind programs the changes. It doesn’t matter what my current reality is. The mind will prefer the newly designed images and will work to bring those into my life. That’s why positive details are so very important, even if they sound ridiculous.

Remember, mind imagery or sensing is different from actual experiences, but your subconscious mind will follow what you present “as being true.” Be as detailed as you can, knowing that each time you do, these very programs will be etched further into your subconscious mind. Do not worry if you feel awkward or feel like nothing is happening. Be patient with the process and you will receive the benefits. I like to use my journal for this purpose. Writing the details down, further etch them into the subconscious mind.

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.


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