Workbook Day 13 - Thoughts & Etchings

The ancestor of every action is a thought."......Ralph Waldo Emerson

Working with though processes is a major part of our work. The tools for this include both body scanning, awareness and active meditation. You read about these earlier in this book. It is important to work with the tools and to wake up to the fact that they are always available on your tool belt. Living in awareness is like driving a bus. Thoughts and emotions are street signs. They let you know when you are on the right road, as well as when you are not. You will come to learn that being on the right road does not mean that you don't steer the bus and look to avoid potholes. Awareness also helps us to understand that being on the wrong road is not a crime and that there are important lessons to learn including where you made the wrong turn.

For this work you will be utilizing the visual and auditory metaphors of the internal radio station. Right now begin to listen to the chatter in your mind. This has been playing as background music continually. Unless you purposefully turn this radio off, or change the station, it will continue to play. Not even a chance the batteries will wear out!

It is most important that you take time to give the radio a rest, as well as to evaluate the quality of programs you are playing. You will be doing this through awareness and meditative work. Earlier in the book you learned some basic techniques. In your work with the Inner Coach, you will be experiencing some different applications that are built on the basic techniques. This will give you more flexibility as you go through life.

When I began my practice in stress management and optimum mindbody functioning, I found some students balked at the words meditation and self-hypnosis. I started addressing these tools as the "M" work and the "H" word. Even today I find myself having to educate on the benefits of meditation and self-hypnosis. You learned some of these earlier in this book. These wonderful tools help us to direct our body physiology, as well as our emotions and thoughts. Perhaps this is a new experience for you. As you come to work more and more with these tools you will see how they benefit your life in so many ways. They are key to managing sugar addiction and eating disorder, but you will come to find that they are so much more.

As you practice begin to notice you are paying much more attention to our mind and body functioning. Perhaps you are beginning to notice your body sensations at much lower levels than before. This is real progress. The earlier you notice the body sensation, the easier it is to release it and to free your body from the production of stress chemicals. As you begin to notice thoughts and emotions at much lower levels you will become aware of the triggers to the body sensations. A familiar example is saying that someone pushes your buttons. While that can be true, what is important is not only how you push your own buttons, but the level of sensitivity of those buttons. This work will allow you to notice and adjust this sensitivity.

MIND EXERCISE.

For many years I taught nursing students the management of psychiatric patients. They learned to look for the prodromals, those triggers of behavior that preceded the patient's outburst. You can utilize those same ideas for yourself. . As you observe your body sensations, start to work backwards. What emotion has been hanging around you? Now go back even further..........what types of thoughts have been playing on your radio station? Think way back in your day. What were you thinking about upon awakening.? What was the very first thing you noticed on your mind? How about in the shower, or when you were brushing your teeth? How about at breakfast? What type of conversations did you have with family? What about your thoughts in the car, etc.? You get the idea.

You are continually writing happenings in your book of the day. The happenings are colored with emotional crayons. These become memories and connect up with past books and future books. Past books reinforce beliefs about your experiences and future books spell out expectations that are also colored and reinforced. Slow your brain waves now and ask your Inner Coach to bring you the book you are writing about today. Remember, you are the writer/producer/director of all your happenings. Open this book and review the following.
Some thought patterns I experienced today and the emotional crayons I utilized to color them.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

NUTRITIONAL INSIGHTS:

Many people in our country eat a very poor breakfast, some do not eating. stating loud and clear, " I hate breakfast." "I have no time for breakfast." "I am nauseated in the morning." "I'm not even awake." "I find the whole idea revolting." It's not uncommon for sugar addicted people to have a coke and a donut. When I ask these same people what time do they eat first in the day, most will have something after arriving at the office, usually coffee and whatever is available in the kitchen. Certainly there is no nutritional plan in place here and the day is now set up for major sugar addiction issues. But since you are reading this book the assumption is that you are hanging up your old behaviors for healthy change.
The nutritional plan is absolutely necessary for recovery and certainly without it there can be no thought of high level functioning. Your mind and body need this nutrition to function. It also sets the discipline for your internal machinery. Make no mistake, if you do not give your body what it needs throughout the day, it will continue to let you know about it, even to goes far as to interfere with your sleep process! I have had many students who complained of sleep disorders. Once their nutritional intake was corrected sleep was not a problem.

What makes a good breakfast? Please go back to your "blueprint" , reviewing the suggestions made for you. It's also a good idea to look at breakfast creatively. What are some protein foods you enjoy and would consider eating in the AM? Remember, you don't have to wolf this down the minute you wake up! Many people prepare breakfast the evening before, micro-waving it at work.

MIND EXERCISE.

Perhaps you would like the help of your Inner Coach or inner librarian. Go ahead and induce a visit to your alpha state. You know how to get there. Envision your Inner Coach coming forward, chatting along the way with your inner librarian, perhaps about foods you enjoyed as a child or when on vacation. Ask for the book all about creative ideas for breakfast. Notice you are walking through the supermarket and are taking new choices off the shelves, of course reading the labels. Take yourself into that wonderful little restaurant over there. Sit down and read the menu, inwardly knowing that you can prepare these things for yourself. Take some mental notes from this creative book and follow through with some notes below to further etch this important program into your subconscious mind.
Some creative ideas for breakfast include:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Since you are planting and etching, go ahead and plant these.

• I care for myself at high levels.
• I always eat breakfast.
• I respect the needs of my body and mind.
• I care for my body and mind and they reward me!

MINDBODY WORK.....

Lets go back to your garden. A few days ago you were planting some powerful seeds. You planted your desires, sense of purpose, clear sensory goals, the all important planning and organizing seeds, as well as patience and perseverance. Do a mind check now and notice if you are developing a certain ease and willingness to acquire new learning and skills. Adults learn differently from children and this book is written to meet those needs. I hope you are also developing a positive relationship with your Inner Coach and that you are brining a sense of play and pleasure in relation to your work. Perhaps you might like to draw a little picture of your garden plan and place it where you can admire it during the day.

All gardens need nutrition or fertilizer of some sort, mulch to keep down the weeds, as well as a good supply of light and water. There are certain thoughts and emotions that appear as weeds in your beautiful garden. You want to be on the lookout for these. The weed you are going to look out for today is a cluttered mind, one where the thoughts just keep zooming through, like taxicabs on a busy New York street. Take a moment to stop now and observe the activity of your thought processes.........are they zooming? Don't get in any of these cabs, just observe them.

MIND EXERCISE:

Today I would like you to practice noticing the appearance of this cluttered mind state. Every time you catch it being present, simply notice and follow this noticing by bringing your attention to your belly breath. Ride the breathe for a minute or so. This is a letting go or release application. Know that it only takes 1/200th of a second to pluck these weeds. Once you begin to wake up to them, the brain will start to be re-trained to help you with this work. The focused mind state is a very powerful ally in reaching your ultimate goals and creative thinking.

When visiting your subconscious library, ask your Inner Coach for the book about weeds. Open it and spend some time in this area. Take a moment now and locate some of your common weeds. Remember, the more you notice the better your outcomes. You cannot release what you cannot see or feel. Make some mental notes as well as some written notes to etch these ideas.

Common weeds I'm aware of include: ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Take a moment to place some affirmation plants in the areas where you just weeded.

• I can see many weeds in my garden and I know their names.
• I'm becoming an expert gardener.
• I plant affirmations in place of weeds.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR...

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
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Workbook Day 12 - Seeds or Weeds?

"The beginning of a habit is like an invisible thread, but every time you repeat the act you strengthen the strand, add to it another filament, until it becomes a great cable and binds us irrevocably, thought and act".....Orison Swett Marden

Through this work discipline you are beginning to form your personal goal quilt. Every one who reads this book and works with their Inner Coach has different goals. Even if the goals appear similar on the surface, such as sugar addiction or eating disorder management, weight loss, accelerated learning, improved memory and concentration, etc., the goal will take on the shape of the person, just as new shoes take on the shape of the foot as they are worn.

You all love to observe people who are high achievers. This observation helps to break down the walls of impossibility. You think, "If he or she did it, there is hope for me." Sometimes however, you say it consciously, but the subconscious is right there with a negative judgmental jibe, "You'll never succeed. Who do you think you are?!"

You are going to utilize role modeling at a different level of consciousness, a level where the judgment visitor cannot reach. You are going to plant seeds right into the subconscious mind where they will be nurtured, growing into beautiful prize-winning flowers, but first you must go off to the seed store to choose the seeds.

One seed you will be looking for is "a strong sense of purpose." This should sound familiar by now. You saw that seed when you were looking at persistence under the magnifying glass. Next you want a "sensory rich vision." This means that the goal is very clear to all your senses. You can see it, feel it, touch it, smell it and taste it! Image the picture of your goal and enhance the picture with as much emotion you can muster from all departments. This is sensory rich visioning. Another seed on your shopping list is "a strong belief in yourself." Also pick out the seed labeled "ability to plan and organize." Remember that one? Now choose "patience" and "perseverance." Add to the pile the "ease and willingness to acquire new learning and skills," "positive mentors or coaches,", and "a sense of play and pleasure in relation to work."

MIND EXERCISE.

Later today take some time to go deeper down. Go to the area of your Goal-den path, stopping at several of your gardens, planting the seeds you acquired. It's a good idea to write the names of the seeds on an index card. Simply open your eyes at the garden, see yourself planting, watering and fertilizing those seeds. During the day, observe your breath, go directly to the garden, weed if necessary, water and fertilize those seeds.

Take some time now to do this inner work. Check which of your seeds need the most care and make notes of these.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

And now some great affirmation fertilizer! Emotionalize these and place them in color and high action. While the words may be simple, the outcomes may be very complex.
• I care for my garden.
• I am focused on my seeds of self-discipline.
• I am growing patience and persistence.
• I like gardening in the mind.

NUTRITIONAL INSIGHTS.....

If you have been following your new nutritional guidelines that you designed, you are already noticing both big and small changes. Perhaps you notice how your hunger patterns are changing. Is it easier to get through the morning without looking for a "quick fix?" If you are a smoker, you may be finding less desire to light up. This is not a coincidence. As you get the insulin in balance, you have fewer hypoglycemic dips and therefore you feel less stressed out. Many people smoke when they feel the body sensations that accompany these insulin imbalances, or use cigarettes to quell hunger. Now this is no longer necessary.

You may also find yourself getting more creative with your meal planning. This planning doesn't need to involve great cooking escapades. Of course, if you enjoy cooking, certainly go ahead, but if this is not your forte, you may still be thinking about your meals in new ways. Perhaps you have reintroduced shrimp, lobster, veal, pork or filet mignon into a noon time treat to accompany your fresh watercress or arugula salad. Eating like a king or queen. So many wonderful foods and so easy to prepare.

MIND EXERCISE.

Go to your alpha state and take the deepening ride a bit further down. Mini self-hypnosis journeys release stress and provide the opportunity to program the mind for change right in the moment. Once you have arrived at the level you prefer, ask your Inner Coach to come forward with some suggestions of foods to add to you meals. Perhaps take a mind journey through the supermarket or to some specialty stores in your town. Notice how many foods you haven't eaten in awhile even though you already like them. Place these in the supermarket cart in your mind. You might also etch these finding further by writing some notes to yourself.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

You are in a good brain wave place to plant, so please go ahead.

• I'm waking up nutritionally.
• My nutrition forms the basis for my mindbody functioning.
• I function at high levels.
• I enjoy planning my meals.
• I think a lot about myself and my nutrition.
• I'm becoming an expert at meal planning for me.
• My body celebrates my meals with the promise of good health.
• My meals hold deep meaning.
• I communicate with my body through my food choices and I am rewarded.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR...

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