Here we are working with "Claire" & her disorderly issues. As the paragraphs unfold, don't be surprised if the camera appears focused on you, for many of Claire's issues are Universal. If you have not read the earlier blog entry, please do. If you have been following along, you already know that addictions & disorderly eating issues tend to flourish in messy lives & in order to continually go towards health, a better level of Self-organization needs to be put in place. Claire has been living an unhealthy life for at least a decade, probably more. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon. In fact, there are many people who have never lived a healthy life, not even realizing that their daily life habits are actually leading them towards the "killer diseases" & early death. To make matters worse, they are teaching their children the same unhealthy behaviors & we don't have to look far to know that this is so. Childhood obesity is on the rise, as is adult onset diabetes, high cholesterol & even elevated blood pressure in children.
When Claire introduced herself, it was easy to see her level of confusion & inability to look beneath her symptoms. In fact, she didn't even see the large majority of her symptoms, the reason being that she was so detached from her body & mind. Most of her symptom reporting was superficial. Just from her words it is obvious that she is walking a tight-rope & unfortunately, she wasn't awake "yet." Therefore, the first order of business would be to wake her up. This is often the roughest part of the journey, especially for someone like Claire who borders on burn-out. The reality could possibly make her want to run & hide. But, the practice of imaginology or interactive self-hypnosis is a light & playful way to assist someone in being willing to climb out of their dark hole of existence.
NOTE TO NEW READERS:
This experiential blog/workshop is based on my new book, "How Many Cookies Will It Take to Make Me Happy?" 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.
TOOL BOX REVIEW
You already know about these tools & accompanying techniques. However, since they are new to you, it's always a good idea to have an asset list available.
HIGHER POWER OR SELF * THERAPEUTIC SELF * COOPERATIVE UNBALANCED SELF * EMOTIONAL MANAGEMENT * MINDBODY HEALTH GARDEN * HEALTHY EATING TABLE * THEATER OF THE MIND * GOLDEN EGG * CIRCUS OF THE WORLD * THOUGHT MANAGEMENT* REGRESSION & FUTURE PACING * SCHOOL HOUSE LEARNINGS * WORKSHOP LEARNINGS
HELPING CLAIRE PUT OUT THE FIRE
Claire works in a very quick moving environment & part of her emotional make-up is to want things completed & off of her desk. Most likely, this is why she has procrastinated for so long, truly not wanting to take on this multi-faceted lifestyle change. She had lots of underlying fear, perhaps because she had failed in the past & now she feels so sick. What will happen if this doesn't work? When Claire came to my office she wanted to pass her problems over to me & have me fix them....& as soon as possible. What Claire doesn't realize....yet....is that no one can do this for her & that everything she needs is right within herself. The actual changes she has to make truly aren't that big & nothing that is beyond her capabilities. She also doesn't realize, because of her lack of experience in this genre of her life, that as soon as she starts to get her "ducks in a row", she will begin feeling so much better, both physically & emotionally. She will be breaking her hopeless-helpless cycle & taking control of her own life. She will be the writer, director & producer & that will energize her forward on her path to wellness.
I'll begin by having Claire relax deeply. Tense people relax quicker than mellow people & so Claire will benefit greatly from the feeling of true deep relaxation. I'm going to do this with some simple breathing from the abdomen, having her close her eyes gently & then introducing the "golden egg shape." Since change cannot happen through a tense mindBody, this is where we get on the merry-go-round. I'm going to allow Claire to enjoy this experience, also because I want to break her need to rush through her life. In the work we are doing here, rushing is not on the menu. Claire will be surprised to know that we're not going to visit the problems she brought into my office. Instead, we're going to explore some new venues. Being inside the "golden egg shape" is perhaps the most important venue for her first session. When we live hectic lives, we need to have somewhere to go that is ours & ours alone. Inside the egg will be that place for Claire.
While I do want her to notice the "circus of the world", we'll not go there today. Instead, it will be off to the Golden Path, stopping by at the MindBody Health Garden. I want her to meet up with her "body system plants." Claire has lost touch with herSelf, both physically & emotionally. She lives a "treadmill existence." The true Claire doesn't exist, only the Claire that serves others is out there every day. She doesn't even feed herSelf. She has lost connection with the purpose of her body systems & pays little to no attention to the yells & screams from those inner departments. As smart & talented as she is about her "TV career track", she is just the opposite when it comes to the running of her body & mind, almost clueless to the diseases & disorders she is inviting in. So, without any criticizing, we'll just have the body parts present themselves to her & open her eyes to what will happen if she continues along the same old paths & on the other hand, what she can expect when she changes her old habits. You'll notice that I've left no room for discussion here. Claire WILL CHANGE her old habits. That's a given.
( continued in next blog/workshop)
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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.hypnosis-audio.com
http://www.sugar-addiction.com
http://www.international-medical-health-writers.com
