Our Changing Times - Our Amazing Times

It is Saturday 6/20/2009 and it’s raining…
It has been raining now for three straight weeks in a row and it feels like three months in a row. I feel like a moldy wet rag and I can’t wait to see blue sky and the sun again.

My wife is at work and I have the house to myself.
I have been struggling with a two-month-old writers block, but I have recently been feeling the urge (need) to write.

So here I sit, at my kitchen, looking out into the wet, grey sky. Feeling blah…

I have my laptop on the table, open to my book,
“Spiritual Evolution- A Journey from Atheism to Spirituality”…
I notice that for whatever reason, I am distracted.
I have the TV on CNN and I am engrossed by what I am seeing.

Iran… What had been the “Axis of Evil” ...our enemy…
Is in the midst of another revolution.

The first thirty years ago was bad for the US but worse for the world.

Religious extremism of any type… Muslim, Christian, Jew is simply wrong.

Now images of young Iranians putting their lives at risk in support of their freedom are on CNN and I can’t break away.
I see the bodies of young Iranians, lying bloody; being carried by their friends and relatives and my thoughts and prayers go to these young freedom fighters.

I ask myself, Why is it that one small group of people who are in control of a larger group, always seem to resort to violence to keep that control?

And I think of how sometimes, I take the precious gift of our freedom for granted.

The rain outside my window suddenly seemed less dreary;
the clouds seemed less grey.

In comparison to what was happening half the world away I feel embarrassed by my own selfishness and self centeredness.

I am brought back to the early 1960’s with JFK as our president when I was a naïve, idealistic pre-teen.
The way I felt about our great country was to be challenged when that great man fell.
With each shameful act of violence to keep control, my idealism faded and my cynicism grew.
Robert Kennedy,Martin Luther King,
It seemed as soon as there was someone to believe in, someone else was there who didn’t believe and resorted to violence to stop any new hope.

Again, my hope returned with the promise of the Clinton administration,
only to be disappointed by the man himself, but not his message.

Now I am sitting at my same old kitchen table,
watching my same old TV and trying to write in my book,
but I am witness to an amazing change in a country thousands of miles away
that will not allow me to do anything but sit and watch change, in action.

This change for freedom is being accomplished by the voice of the Iranian people and I am brought to the recent change in our country.

Our change was peaceful, organized and a polar shift from the previous administration, with no violence.

How great is this country?

And I am once again an idealist no longer naïve; too much life experience in these 59 year old bones, hardened by too many “What could have been’s”.

But here I am again,
Mr. Idealist and proud to be one.

Now, always the optimist, even when I have been disappointed so often, I look at the TV and think of the “What If’s”.

I think back to the time, seven months ago on Election Day 2008 (Another memory that will always remain with me).

10 pm watching MSNBC and thinking
“He might actually do it! Obama may be the first African American president of the United States of America”.

I remember thinking that this man, may be “The One…”
The one that Kennedy could have been, given the chance.

But, Obama is different than all the rest or at least it feels that way to me… This time I don’t think I will be disappointed.

I gave myself the audacity to think... “What if”.

And at 11pm when Keith Obermann said
“MSNBC now projects that Barack Obama IS the next president of the US”, with my jaw agape and a tear in my eye, I thought “What if?”

What if he can change the view the world has of my country?
What if he can bring us together?
What if this was just the beginning of the changes?

"What If" there is the same change in Iran?
And now I am sitting at the same old table…
In the same chair…
Watching the same TV… on the same channel,
But the world could be very different tomorrow…
What if we could actually have World Peace, for our children?!

This is certainly an amazing time to be alive on this planet.

PHOBIAS from A to Z - Part 3

Synopsis;
In this, the third posting on Phobias, I write about how hypnosis can help with the removal of phobias; the hypnotic method I use to control and eliminate phobias and a case study of a client who had a lifelong fear of the water but no longer has Hydrophobia - Fear of water.

How hypnosis helps

There are many “tools” a hypnotherapist has at his disposal. I tend to combine different tools to make the most effective therapy for each client.

No two people are the same, so through combining different proven therapies and techniques, I offer each client an individualized plan of action; this is at the core of “Transpersonal Hypnotherapy”.

I have found that the most powerful and effective method of eliminating phobias is to combine two different hypnotic techniques; “Parts Therapy” and “Regression Therapy”.

Parts Therapy, is a technique developed in the 1950’s by Charles Tebbetts, a hypnotherapist who found that you can have a dialog with a “Part” of a person’s subconscious.

Regression Therapy is a hypnotic technique used to have a person go back in time to where the fear started.

Combining the two works very effectively to find the memory that caused the phobia and then with other therapies, eliminate the fear and give back control to the person.

Under hypnosis, a person with a phobia is directed to a comfortable place and given the suggestion that they are safe and have survived whatever caused the fear.

Once I determine the source of the phobia and more importantly the person remembers what had been a repressed memory, the power and fear the memory had had is greatly diminished.

Case Study on Hydrophobia - Sue

This is a case study of a young woman who was able to overcome her lifelong fear of the water with one hypnosis session.

Sue (not her real name) called, asking about the effectiveness of hypnosis for stopping a phobia of water. She described her fear as “not afraid of showers, but I never take a bath!” Her voice shook as she even mentioned a bath.

She continued describing how she never goes in a pool or the beach, that she can’t swim and was deathly afraid of being on a boat.

We made an appointment for the following Monday. It would be our first and only session.

At the beginning of her session, she relayed how the phobia was being controlled by avoiding the places where she would be around water.

“I have been able to deal really well with the fear, I just don’t go in a pool, a lake, the beach or the ocean. I take showers instead of a bath. I never put myself in a situation when I would take a cruise or be on the water. So I felt that I didn’t need any help, I dealt with the fear by avoiding water and I was fine. But I now have a major problem and it will ruin my life if I can’t fix it.”

She relayed to me that she is a single mother of a nine year old boy.
She is engaged to a wonderful man who loves her and her son.
Her fiancée wants to marry her and adopt her son.

She described a perfect relationship and then informed me of the majorly huge hurdle in her life.

“He has a house on Lake Hopatcong, with a dock and a speed boat” she said as if telling me he had a terminal disease.

“He loves his boat! He is on the lake every weekend and all summer long!
His friends, who I love, all have boats!
Our whole social life is on the water!
My son loves being there with him and he wants me to go out so badly, but as soon as I step foot on the dock, I start to shake!
Once he actually had to carry me off the dock!
PLEASE, PLEASE HELP ME!”

I told her that hypnosis can help.

Fortunately, she was an excellent hypnotic subject, who went almost immediately into a very deep state of hypnosis.
As I described earlier, I brought out her “fearful part” and had that part of her “Regress” - go back in time to the very first time she was aware of her hydrophobia.

Without going into great detail, I had her go to a time when she wasn’t afraid of water and then “Progressed” her to a time when she was fearful.

As I observed her, a memory reflected through the expression on her face.

“I was 9 years old…” she said in a faint whisper.

“My parents wanted me to learn how to swim, so we went to the lake (Hopatcong) and they hired a lifeguard to teach me…”

“Oh my God, I see it all so clearly…” she said, her eyes closed, yet I could see her eyes moving left and right.

“We went into the water which was up to my neck. The lifeguard held me so I was on my stomach. He told me to breathe when he said I should and he held my face in the water and turned my head up yelling

‘BREATH!...
HOLD!...
BREATH!’

He kept holding my head underwater, pulling me out only when I was choking!...”

Whispering, “I never remembered that until this very moment”, tears streaming down her face.

I then did some hypnotic techniques called “Reframing” where she gained back the control that had been taken from her.

After the session, she thanked me and I told her the only way she will know for sure that she is phobia free is to test herself on the boat. She agreed, with the comment, I'll call you for another appointment if it doesn't work.

That weekend my phone rang and it was Sue, she was on her cell phone.

There was a lot of noise in the background.

“Garry?” she said.

“I wanted to thank you for saving my life!”

I think she was exaggerating, but the feeling you get when you realize a joy-draining phobia is eliminated can make a person exaggerate a little.

“I am calling from the boat!"

"Me and my new family we are on the lake! I can’t believe it… It is so much fun! Thank you so much!”

If you are plagued by a phobia, you don’t have to deal with it, you can eliminate it and realize how much better your life can be phobia-free!

PHOBIAS from A to Z - Part 2

Synopsis; In this, the second posting on Phobias, I write about how the natural process of the primitive part of the brain contributes to the acquisition of phobias; how phobias form; the hypnotic method I use to control and eliminate phobias.

In the last posting “Phobias from A to Z – Part 1”, I describe how the primitive brain effects the “Fight or Flight” instinct.
In the cave man example, you can see how, because it was so necessary to react instantly to perceived threats, the functioning of the primitive brain was essential for survival of the human race.

Keep in mind, that the cause (the killing of a clan member) of the Fight or Flight instinct would be repressed.

The horror of witnessing the killing of a loved one would be blocked from the awareness of the young clan member by their subconscious.

However, the reaction to seeing a jaguar (the symbol of the horror) would result in an immediate, critical and unthinking response.
You may say that the young clan member had a phobia of jaguars.

In modern society, the threat to your survival is much more complex than those of ancient times. Say what you will, the society we live in today is obviously more civil than that of primitive times. The human brain has also advanced, but still, at its’ core is the same primitive brain stem that helped our ancient ancestors to survive and become the modern day human being.

Our subconscious has many functions, not all are yet known to us. It is a protector, a servant, and the storehouse of knowledge, memories, emotions, habits and much more.

Referring again, to the caveman analogy from Part 1, you can see why the function of repressing the horrific memory, while automatically causing a fight or flight reaction, was critical to survival.

However, in a society where we are not threatened with life or death on a daily basis, the function that was essential to the survival of a primitive man is now, in a modern society, contributing to the manifestation of so many phobias.

How do phobias form?

Generally speaking, phobias can form in two ways.
In an adult, a phobia can form after a severe traumatic experience, such as a plane crash or a life threatening accident. In a traumatic experience, you can understand how a phobia could start. These phobias are usually temporary and fade with time.

Phobias formed in childhood are much more common and devastating.
When a child, between two and seven is witness to a traumatic experience (or a perceived traumatic experience) their primitive brain stem reacts the same as a primitive man; repressing the specific memory and triggering the “Fight or Flight Response”.
The memory of the traumatic incident is buried or repressed, again, by the subconscious, but the reaction to seeing the symbol of the trauma is reacted to in the same way our ancestors did.

Each time the repressed memory is stirred, whether by seeing or experiencing something that would stir that memory, the phobic reaction is stirred.
The reaction stirred by these repressed memories present themselves as phobias, each time the repressed memory is stimulated.
The phobic person will feel a variety of emotions, from mild discomfort to a full-blown panic attack.

Phobic Commonalities

“…I always had the fear of public speaking. Every time I needed to speak in front of people, my face would get red hot, I’d sweat… my voice would shake, I couldn’t breath. I assumed that I had ALWAYS been that way. I didn’t know any different. Then when I was hypnotized, the memory of my 2nd grade class came to me, my teacher and the kids in the class laughing at me; it all came back… I finally remembered and understood why I had the phobia. And it stopped! I couldn’t and still can’t believe it, but it worked!...”

a quote from Phil, a Police Captain with a severe public speaking phobia.
One common feeling many people with phobias have is the lack of knowledge or understanding of where and why they have their particular phobia.
Many people, who have had hypnotic intervention for the relief of a phobia, have told me that they remembered how and why the phobia began, only after being hypnotized.

The Self-Fulfilling Prophesy of a phobia.

“…Sometimes I think I will get an attack, and it happens, I’ll be fine until the
thought of chocking comes into my mind and then it happens…”,

a quote from Mary, a 47 year old who had a fear of chocking her whole life.
Very often sufferers of phobias will actually predict an attack happening.
This self-fulfilling prophesy aspect of phobias are common to all phobias.
Unfortunately, when you allow a thought to come into your mind, it is an exercise in futility to get it out. When you anticipate it happening it will happen.

The Anticipatory Anxiety factor; the third commonality…

“… I live with the phobia, I stay inside, but I also live with the fear of when it will happen; it can be worse than the fear itself… I live 24-7 with either the fear of seeing a bird or the fear of the phobia of seeing a bird”,

a quote from Karen, a 50 year old hairstylist with a fear of birds.
The fear of the phobia becomes worse than the fear itself. When a phobia is so ingrained, a person has no joy in their life because it (the phobia) is all they think of.

When you are in the midst of a phobic attack, you feel that you are alone in your fear and there is nothing that you can do!

It controls you and you are powerless to take that control back.

It takes on a presence of its own. All too often, people who have phobias will try to simply, avoid any chance of being where their phobia may be activated.
If you have a fear of birds, like Karen, you stay indoors.

If, like Phil, you have a public speaking phobia, you would never put yourself in a position to be speaking in front of a crowd.

However, what if you must deal with a phobia?

You can go to “Talk Therapy”, where you can discuss where and when it started and if you find the cause, you can find closure and cure.

You may learn coping strategies to “live with” the phobia.

However, if the function of the subconscious is the protector that will block the painful memory that causes the phobia AND is the store room for all your memories, it becomes quite difficult to determine where and when it started.
The place, the subconscious, which has the information for you to understand why you have a phobia, is the same place that is designed to keep that information from you.
I call this a phobic’s “Catch-22” and it is no joking matter.

I combine two hypnosis processes for the elimination of phobias. Combining Parts Therapy with Regression Therapy, works very powerfully to allow the sufferer of a phobia, get their life back.

In the next posting, titled “Phobias A to Z - Part 3” I will describe how hypnosis helps a phobic person eliminate the phobia and describe a case study about Sue, a single mom with a lifelong phobia of water- hydrophobia.

Feel free to make a comment on y blog, I will be happy to post it.

PHOBIAS from A to Z - Part 1

Synopsis;
In this posting I cover the subject of phobias. There is a listing of many phobias in alphabetical order and a lighthearted and serious view of phobias. I also give definitions of phobias, the brain the functioning of the sub-conscious and its effect on the conscious mind and how the brain forms phobias.

Phobias from A to Z

Fears and phobias have been with us since we first walked the planet.
They have been the subject of stories around a campfire, of books, of short stories, movies, radio shows, television and more.

As you can see from the following list, there are hundreds of phobias;
some seem understandable like Lilapsophobia – the fear of tornadoes;
some seem silly like Dendrophobia – the fear of trees;
some seem obvious like Aichmophobia – the fear of needles;
some seem bizarre like Octophobia – the fear of the number 8;
some seem strange like Barophobia – the fear of gravity;
some seem exhausting like Somniphobia – the fear of sleep;
some seem redundant like Phobophobia – the fear of phobias;
some make sense like Atychiphobia – the fear of failure
and
some seem common, like the number 1 phobia in the world...
Glossophobia - Fear of speaking in public.

Below is an alphabetical listing of just some phobias…

Achluophobia - Fear of darkness.
Acrophobia - Fear of heights.
Agliophobia - Fear of pain.
Agoraphobia - Fear of open spaces or crowds.
Aichmophobia - Fear of needles or pointed objects.
Amaxophobia - Fear of riding in a car.
Androphobia - Fear of men.
Anginophobia - Fear of angina or choking.
Anthrophobia - Fear of flowers.
Anthropophobia - Fear of people or society.
Aphenphosmphobia - Fear of being touched.
Arachnophobia - Fear of spiders.
Arithmophobia - Fear of numbers.
Astraphobia - Fear of thunder and lightening.
Ataxophobia - Fear of disorder or untidiness.
Atelophobia - Fear of imperfection.
Atychiphobia - Fear of failure.
Autophobia - Fear of being alone.
Bacteriophobia - Fear of bacteria.
Barophobia - Fear of gravity.
Bathmophobia - Fear of stairs or steep slopes.
Batrachophobia - Fear of amphibians.
Belonephobia - Fear of pins and needles.
Bibliophobia - Fear of books.
Botanophobia - Fear of plants.
Cacophobia - Fear of ugliness.
Catagelophobia - Fear of being ridiculed.
Catoptrophobia - Fear of mirrors.
Chionophobia - Fear of snow.
Chromophobia - Fear of colors.
Chronomentrophobia - Fear of clocks.
Claustrophobia - Fear of confined spaces.
Coulrophobia - Fear of clowns.
Cyberphobia - Fear of computers.
Cynophobia - Fear of dogs.
Dendrophobia - Fear of trees.
Dentophobia - Fear of dentists.
Domatophobia - Fear of houses.
Dystychiphobia - Fear of accidents.
Ecophobia - Fear of the home.
Elurophobia - Fear of cats.
Entomophobia - Fear of insects.
Ephebiphobia - Fear of teenagers.
Equinophobia - Fear of horses.
Gamophobia - Fear of marriage.
Genuphobia - Fear of knees.
Glossophobia - Fear of speaking in public.
Gynophobia - Fear of women.
Heliophobia - Fear of the sun.
Hemophobia - Fear of blood.
Herpetophobia - Fear of reptiles.
Hydrophobia - Fear of water.
Iatrophobia - Fear of doctors.
Insectophobia - Fear of insects.
Koinoniphobia - Fear of rooms.
Leukophobia - Fear of the color white.
Lilapsophobia - Fear of tornadoes and hurricanes.
Lockiophobia - Fear of childbirth.
Mageirocophobia - Fear of cooking.
Megalophobia - Fear of large things.
Melanophobia - Fear of the color black.
Microphobia - Fear of small things.
Mysophobia - Fear of dirt and germs.
Necrophobia - Fear of death or dead things.
Noctiphobia - Fear of the night.
Nosocomephobia - Fear of hospitals.
Obesophobia - Fear of gaining weight.
Octophobia - Fear of the number 8.
Ombrophobia - Fear of rain.
Ophidiophobia - Fear of snakes.
Ornithophobia - Fear of birds.
Papyrophobia - Fear of paper.
Pathophobia - Fear of disease.
Pedophobia - Fear of children.
Philophobia - Fear of love.
Phobophobia - Fear of phobias.
Podophobia - Fear of feet.
Porphyrophobia - Fear of the color purple.
Pteridophobia - Fear of ferns.
Pteromerhanophobia - Fear of flying.
Pyrophobia - Fear of fire.
Scolionophobia - Fear of school.
Selenophobia - Fear of the moon.
Sociophobia - Fear of social evaluation.
Somniphobia - Fear of sleep.
Tachophobia - Fear of speed.
Technophobia - Fear of technology.
Tonitrophobia - Fear of thunder.
Trypanophobia - Fear of injections.
Venustraphobia - Fear of beautiful women.
Verminophobia - Fear of germs.
Wiccaphobia - Fear of witches and witchcraft.
Xenophobia - Fear of strangers or foreigners.
Zoophobia - Fear of animals.

The one thing that all phobias have in common, (actually, there are many more than “one thing”) is that they are no laughing matter for the millions of people who suffer from them.

A phobia that may seem silly or insignificant to you may be ruining the life of its victim.
People who suffer from phobias are in a constant state of apprehension and fear.
They are haunted by their fear both day and night,
by what is causing it;
by when it will happen again;
if they will ever be able to control it;
will they be embarrassed by their phobic attack?

Their lives are controlled by their particular phobia
and they are helpless to control their fears
and because they are helpless, they become hopeless.


Fortunately, I have found a very effective tool to help people with phobias gain control over their fears
and with this control, comes hope and finally a life free from debilitating fear.

The tool I am referring to is Hypnosis;
specifically PARTS Therapy.
Started in the 1950’s by Charles Tebbetts, this therapy goes directly to the “part” of the subconscious where the phobia resides, or more accurately…hides.

In order to understand and overcome the debilitating effects of a phobia, we first must thoroughly understand exactly what a phobia is, how it works from the subconscious and how it was formed.
Then, armed with that understanding a person with a phobia has the tools to overcome it;
to live a happier, normal fear-free life.

So…

“What is a Phobia?”

“Medline Plus” describes a phobia as

“…a type of anxiety disorder. It is a strong, irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger. There are many specific phobias. Acrophobia is a fear of heights. You may be able to ski the world's tallest mountains but be unable to go above the 5th floor of an office building. Agoraphobia is a fear of public places, and claustrophobia is a fear of closed-in places. If you become anxious and extremely self-conscious in everyday social situations, you could have a social phobia. Other common phobias involve tunnels, highway driving, water, flying, animals and blood...”

Wikipedia has a longer description and describes a phobia as

“…a morbid fear; an irrational, intense, persistent fear of certain situations,
activities, things, or people. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive, unreasonable desire to avoid the feared subject. When the fear is beyond one's control, or if the fear is interfering with daily life it is considered a phobia… "
"...Phobias (in the clinical meaning of the term) are the most common form of anxiety disorders. An American study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found that between 8.7% and 18.1% of Americans suffer from phobias. Broken down by age and gender, the study found that phobias were the most common mental illness among women in all age groups and the second most common illness among men older than 25...”
"...Most psychologists and psychiatrists classify phobias into three categories:
Social phobia,
also known as social anxiety disorder - fears involving other people or social situations such as performance anxiety or fears of embarrassment by scrutiny of others, such as eating in public. Social phobia may be further subdivided into generalized social phobia, and specific social phobia, which are cases of anxiety triggered only in specific situations.
Specific phobias -
fear of a single specific panic trigger such as spiders, snakes, dogs, elevators, water,
waves, flying, balloons, catching a specific illness, etc.
Agoraphobia -
a generalized fear of leaving home or a small familiar 'safe' area, and of possible panic attacks that might follow.,,"
The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. It has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over five times as large as the "average brain" of a mammal with the same body size. Most of the expansion comes from the cerebral cortex, a convoluted layer of neural tissue that covers the surface of the forebrain. Especially expanded are the frontal lobes, which are involved in executive functions such as self-control, planning, reasoning, and abstract thought. The portion of the brain devoted to vision is also greatly
enlarged in humans.

The brain is the physical home of the conscious and subconscious…

OK…

We can (and I have) researched the heck out of phobias, but I can never find in my research, where they come from…
How and why they form…

Through working with many people with phobias,
I have found my own method of helping phobic people
and it doesn’t include months and months of talking sessions.

If you have no idea where it came from, what is the point of talking about phobias endlessly?
I feel it only strengthens its hold over you.

As I have described in other posts, the subconscious is the servant to the conscious mind, but by some of the complications it causes, you may disagree with that statement.

Picture this…

You are a caveman,
living a hunter/ gatherer existence.
You are primitive, living with your clan
and you are also hunted by other larger predators.

In order to survive, you must react instantly to a perceived threat.
But how do you instantly react?

Your primitive brain comes into play with the “Fight or Flight” instinct.
But it is not a true instinct, it must be learned…

So, there you are in the forest,
with your clan,
hunting rabbits,
picking vegetables etc.

You are 5 years old walking behind your mother.
Suddenly a large Jaguar leaps on your older brother,
dragging him screaming, bleeding and dying into the bush!

Your tribe instantly reacts!
The men throw their weapons!
The women grab you and the other small ones and run!
The image is burned into your mind, permanently!

To survive, they reacted instantly…
Fought and Fled and survived.

But, so that you never remember the horror of seeing the death of your brother,
your subconscious mind repressed and blocked the image of the scene from your conscious awareness.

You can’t recall your brother’s death,
but to survive,
it also lets the emotions of the event react in your mind,
each and every time the image of a Jaguar comes to you.

When seeing a Jaguar, from that moment on, you would either fight or flee,
without thought…

reaction MUST be immediate, without thought…
to survive.

So when a Jaguar is seen,
you like all your clan, react immediately almost instinctively,
but you will never remember why you react the way you do;
and you and your clan… survive.

This response is hard wired in our brains right now, from our distant past,
but… what was a survival mechanism then, is now causing phobias.

Webliography
Google
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/phobias.html
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_brain


In my next posting titled “Phobias A to Z - Part 2”
I will be describing how this survival mechanism from our past, causes our phobias; how phobias are formed; and commonalities between many phobias.
Please feel free to make comments.

Past Life Regression as a Therapy

Synopsis;
This article is about the therapeutic use of Past Life Regression, a definition of what a Past Life Regression is and how experiencing a Past Life can help you understand yourself better, as taught by Dr. Brian Weiss.

Before reading about Past Life Regressions, it would be helpful to have a working definition of what a PLR is. The following definition is by Florence Wagner McClain of the Llewellyn Encyclopedia http://www.llewellynencyclopedia.com/article/169 and I find to be quite accurate.

"Past life regression is just remembering.
Stored in your subconscious mind are the memories of all of your experiences since you became a soul with the awareness of your individuality. Regression is reaching into those memory banks to recapture the events of past lifetimes.

It isn't so very different from trying to remember events that took place during your early childhood. At first, the memories may be dim and few, but each event remembered sparks another memory and another until it becomes easy.

In one way, you might compare it to an information storage system that has had little or no use for a long period of time. Some of the file drawers are stuck, or rusty. There are a few cobwebs here and there. Dust is thick and fills the air making it difficult to see. Some of the light bulbs have burned out, and the file clerk has taken an extended vacation.

But-a little attention here and there, putting the system on notice that you intend to make extensive use of it, and everything slowly begins to shift into gear. Shortly the system is running efficiently, retrieving the memories and information you request.

There are many ways to get the attention of your 'file clerk,' or gain access to your subconscious. Nearly everyone has experienced a form of spontaneous regression. For example, have you ever met someone for the first time, but felt an immediate kinship as if you were old and intimate friends? You probably were friends in some past lifetime, and the presence of that soul caused your subconscious to produce the proper emotion for that far-past relationship.

Perhaps you have traveled to some strange place only to find that it is familiar to you-you have a feeling of being at home. No doubt it was home to you sometime in the past. These are not uncommon experiences.

Very young children often have fairly clear memories of past lives. Sometimes these memories take the form of daydreams or are acted out in play. Occasionally past life memories are the basis for some of the fears of childhood. The child who is afraid of water may have memories of having drowned in another lifetime. The child who is afraid of the dark or can't bear to be in a confined area may have, at least, the emotional memories of the POW who was kept in the dark or confined in a small cage. Children usually forget past life memories rather quickly as they approach school age.

Some individuals have gained a certain amount of access to their subconscious through the practice of meditation. Probably the most familiar method of gaining access to the subconscious is through conventional hypnosis under the guidance of a trained Hypnotherapist".

Now, with a good definition you can imagine how the knowledge of a past life can affect your present life. If you are new to the concept of Past Lives (PL’s), I am going to confine this article to the basics of the concept. In future articles and workshops, I plan on developing a more detailed explanation of how PL’s can be a very useful therapy.

To be open to and explore the subject of PL’s, we need to make an assumption. You do not have to believe in PL’s, but you should be at least open to the possibility of reincarnation. Reincarnation is the bedrock for the belief in Past Life Regressions (PLR’s), so for the sake of argument, let’s assume that reincarnation is real. Your soul is immortal and uses the physical world as a school to learn, grow, evolve and assist others in their growth.

During a PLR, I will hypnotize you to visualize yourself going back in time, first, to a happy childhood memory.
Then, through the use of regressions we will go back to an earlier time in your life and finally I will have you sense yourself in your mother’s womb.
Next, with the permission of your higher self, we will go back to a place and earlier time that your soul was in another body.
There you experience various significant events in that life, which are affecting your life, now. You will experience your death in that life, which may sound scary, but is really enlightening because it proves to you, that death, is not as permanent as you may have first thought.
After your “death” in that life, your soul goes into “the light”, where you visit with the souls of family that has passed.

Past Life Regression Therapy (PLRT) is the therapeutic use of a past life regression to determine what experiences your soul had in that past life, which is now affecting your current life.
You gain insight as to why certain unexplained thoughts, fears, angers, etc. had bothered you, which suddenly, now make sense.
The therapeutic use of PLR was perfected by Dr. Brian Weiss (www.brianweiss.com) among others; PLRT has helped thousands of people with issues in their current life that could not be helped by more traditional therapeutic techniques.

I had the pleasure and honor to be taught by Dr. Brian Weiss in a week long Past Life Regression Workshop and Advanced PLR workshops that included “Future Life Progression”
(I will be writing and having workshops on that in the future).
At this PLR Workshop there were 150 therapists, doctors, hypnotherapists, teachers from all over the world to learn the PLRT techniques as taught by Dr. Weiss.
As you can imagine there were many, many questions posed to Brian and he answered them all in the loving nurturing way that is so his manner.

I will list some of the more popular questions and give the answers Brian gave.

Do I have to be “Very Deep” in hypnosis to have a PLR?
Not really. If you understand that issues from past lives can affect your current life, then those memories must be very close to the surface, readily accessible, even in a light trance.

How do I know it is a “real” past life experience and not my imagination?
This is a very good question. Therapeutically speaking, if the person has a better life; better able to function in society, with less stress and a better understanding of who he is and the purpose of his life… If he is better able to cope, in general, from the information he receives from a past life…Does it matter if it real or imagination? Of course it didn’t matter…And as Dr. Weiss said… But it IS real!”

How do you know PLRT is real?
I know from experience. As always, I will state that my belief in PLR, along with everything else on my website is my opinion. However, if you want to discuss the subject of real vs. imagination, contact me or enter a question unto this blog.

Can “Bad things” happen from a PLR, like in the movie “Stir of Echo’s”?
PLR is safe and enlightening. The only contraindications for any PLR or regression therapy are in the case of serious mental or emotional conditions. A person should NOT participate in PLR, regression work or hypnosis if they have been diagnosed by a medical practitioner as clinically depressed, bi-polar, manic/depression, etc.

For more information look at my website www.HYP4LIFE.com
More interesting sites

Carol Bowman's website;
http://www.childpastlives.org/

Webliography.
http://www.llewellynencyclopedia.com/article/169
www.brianweiss.com

Group Hypnosis and Telephone Psychics... Buyers Beware

Synopsis;

This article is about the concerns everyone should have when deciding to participate in a group hypnosis workshop or seeking a psychic. There are links to online reports of misrepresentations by unscrupulous hypnosis and psychic practitioners. How everyone should keep a healthy skepticism and the best method of finding a hypnosis or metaphysical practitioner that is right for you.

All hypnosis is good for you.
A very strong statement, but one I stand behind.
No hypnotist, no matter how gifted, experienced or deceitful can make you do something that goes against your better judgment.
Even if you saw your best friend, making a fool of him or herself during a hypnosis stage show, you should know that they would be that goofy in the right situation and the hypnosis just let them let their hair down a little quicker.
Stage hypnosis is a double edged sword.
On one hand it demonstrates how powerful hypnosis is and at the same time it frightens away many people from taking advantage of a very beneficial therapeutic technique.
During a hypnosis session (group or individual) you will feel relaxed and your body will totally de-stress, your blood pressure will be reduced, time will fade away with your stress.
Sounds good, huh?
That’s ‘cause it is good.

Speaking in general, group hypnosis during a seminar or workshop can help people quit smoking or lose weight but, can never be as effective as a private session.
The reasons are many and obvious.
During group hypnosis, the hypnotist must adjust his technique for the average participant. Some will be deeper than others and so their hypnotic experience will be better,
while other participants will never experience hypnosis at all.

There are however, many benefits to attending a hypnosis workshop.
They are an inexpensive way to experience hypnosis
and understand what it feels like to be in hypnosis.

If you are in the 10 percent of the population that are extremely good hypnotic subjects,
you may walk out of the workshop and be perfectly happy and satisfied with the results.
Perhaps you will never smoke again or begin to control eating urges and
in general, most group hypnosis workshops are happy with a 10 % success rate.
I am not.
That is why my group hypnosis workshops are 4-5 hours long.
The reason why my group sessions are so long is because,
I want all participants to have the best shot at a great experience.
The workshops that I am doing now are,
"Smoking Cessation",
“Introduction to Hypnosis”,
“Past Life Regression”,
“Stress Management” and
“Hypnosis and Meditation”
In each group workshop, I will conduct at least three hypnosis experiences,
each one progressively more deeper than the previous one.
The reason is I want you to have a thouough experience
and not question if you were hypnotized.
The more often you experience hypnosis,
the deeper you go and your questioning if, in fact, you were hypnotized
becomes a moot point.
I want to feel comfortable that when you leave my workshop,
you will be satisfied, although I still admit,
group hypnosis can never be as effective as a private session.

There is a big difference between cynics and skeptics (I used to be a cynic)
no matter what proof you had,
if I didn’t believe in what you were “selling”,
I wasn't buying.
Period.

It didn’t matter if the proof was beyond doubt,
I was a non-believer and nothing would or could change my mind.
If that sounds like you, and nothing will change your mind,
you are not allowing a lot of joy and amazement into your life.
Consider challenging your disbelief,
you may be pleasantly surprised at the results of letting your
disbeliening guard down a little.

I am now a skeptic. I now will accept that anything as possible,
but I hold off, true belief until I am completely convinced.
Those things in life that I do not believe in,
I still allow myself the option of changing my mind,
should stronger proof come along.
I think I am a healthier person now than before.
I consider myself a “healthy” skeptic.

As in all professions, there are practitioners who are honest,
professional and totally reputable, but unfortunately,
there are those that are not
and give their profession a bad name.
With hypnosis (other than the types of group hypnosis seminars cited below)
there are hypnotists that are better than others,
but an extremely small percentage are fraudulent.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the field of Psychic/Mediumship.
The few fraudulent psychics have terribly besmirched
the reputation of practioners of this age old art and ability.
But in this case you MUST keep your healthy skepticism on high,
because in this field,
where people are so open and vulnerable,
the possibility of being a victim is higher than when looking for a hypnotherapist.
I suggest reading my blog article titled, “Metaphysicality”.

Here are a few articles from the internet about some, less than honest hypnosis smoking cessation and weight management programs and call in psychics.
You should always remember to thoroughly investigate any group hypnosis program, hypnocounselor/hypnotherapist or psychic.
Advertising in newspapers, radio and TV is fine,
but remember that word of mouth and referrals
are always the best way to find a reputable practitioner.
Ask for referrals and always, always keep your healthy skepticism!

*********************************************************************************

New Jersey Company That Markets Hypnosis Seminars for Smoking Cessation and Weight Loss Agrees to Settle FTC Charges
http://www.casewatch.org/ftc/news/1994/gorayeb.shtml


Florida Company That Markets Hypnosis Seminars for Smoking Cessation and Weight Loss Agrees to Settle FTC Charges
http://www.casewatch.org/ftc/news/1994/aihc.shtml


BBB of Texas report on fraud in hypnosis seminar
http://us.bbb.org/WWWRoot/SitePage.aspx?site=113&id=1869d6a9-82aa-49a1-8419-40a8251fa916&art=2934


IHI Settles FTC Charges over Stop-Smoking, Weight-Loss Claims
http://www.casewatch.org/ftc/news/1994/ihi-clinics.shtml


Lawsuits mount over “Miss Cleo”
http://www.slate.com/id/2063700/

Metaphysicality Part 5; ESP and Psychic Abilities

Synopsis,
In the 5th posting of the series, I define the seven psychic or Claire-senses we have. I describe the "Paranormal and some good links.

ESP and Psychic Abilities

The term clairvoyant is used commonly and interchangeably whenever people discuss the subject of Extra Sensory Perception – ESP. I would like to bring in a definition of each extra sense we possess. A definition for the seven “Claire” senses can be helpful.

Clairvoyance
Or "Clear Seeing" is the ability to see anything which is not physically present, such as objects, animals or people. This sight occurs "in the mind’s eye", and some mediums say that this is their normal vision state. Others say that they must train their minds with such practices as meditation in order to achieve this ability, and that assistance from spiritual helpers is often necessary. Some clairvoyant mediums can see a spirit as though the spirit has a physical body. They see the bodily form as if it were physically present (This is Bill’s strength; Bill, Jill and I have an ongoing psychic circle, called “Connecting with Loved Ones in Spirit, which meets every Tuesday evening). Other mediums see the spirit in their mind's eye, or it appears as a movie or a television program or a still picture like a photograph in their mind (which is a good way to describe the way Jill and I “see”).

Clairaudience
or "Clear Hearing” is usually defined as the ability to hear the voices or thoughts of spirits. Some Mediums hear as though they are listening to a person talking to them on the outside of their head, as though the Spirit is next to or near to the medium, and other mediums hear the voices in their minds as a verbal thought.

Clairsentinence
or "Clear Feeling" is a condition in which the medium takes on the ailments of a spirit, feeling the same physical problem the spirit person. The medium also takes on specific mannerisms and attitudes. People have stated that a Clairsentient medium at times even looks like the person who they are in touch with (I have been told exactly that by some of our sitters).

Clairalience
or "Clear Smelling" is the ability to smell a spirit. For example, a medium may smell the pipe tobacco of a person who smoked during life. I have smelled Chicken soup, so strongly I had to ask if anyone else smelled it. When asked about chicken soup, our sitter said that her (pased- grandmother would always sit over a bowl of home made chicken soup. Jill, smelled the strong odor of cleanser, which was a strong validation to our sitter.

Clairgustance
or "Clear Tasting" is the ability to receive taste impressions from a spirit but this is a rare ability.
Clairsentience
or "Clear Sensing” is the ability to have an impression of what a spirit wants to communicate, or to feel sensations instilled by a spirit.

Claircognizance
or "Clear Knowing", is the ability to know something without receiving it through normal or psychic senses. It is a feeling of "just knowing". Often, a medium will claim to have the feeling that a message or situation is "right" or "wrong."

As I stated before Bill, Jill and I have a psychic circle on Tuesdays evenings. We bring into our circle from one to five people to give psychic/medium readings to. See my website for more information http://www.hyp4life.com/

Bill’s predominant senses are Clairvoyance and Clairaudience. He also reads auras and energy.

Jill’s predominant senses are Clairaudience and Clairsentinence. She has an ability to separate and sit with spirit to gain information and messages.

My predominant senses are Clairaudience and Clairsentinence; I allow the spirit to make me feel what they had felt in life. People have told me that when I am communicating with their loved ones I actually “look like them”.

All three of us are Claircognizance and Clairsentinence.

There are some people who call what we do “Paranormal” implying weirdness or not normal. Let’s look at the word first, before labeling our work too quickly.
There are various definitions for the paranormal, Beyond the range of normal experience or scientific explanation: “such paranormal phenomena as telepathy; a medium's paranormal powers”.
http://www.ask.com/web?q=dictionary%3A+paranormal&content=ahdict%7C9513&o=0&l=dir

Paranormal is a general term that describes unusual experiences that lack a scientific explanation, or phenomena alleged to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure. In parapsychology, it is used to describe the potentially psychic phenomena of telepathy, extra-sensory perception, psychokinesis, ghosts, and hauntings. The scientific community, as referenced in statements made by organization such as the United States National Science Foundation, contends that scientific evidence does not support paranormal beliefs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranormal#Skeptical_scientific_investigation

What is paranormal?
We are often asked, "What exactly does paranormal mean?" The term paranormal is used to describe a wide variety of activity and phenomena. According to the Journal of Parapsychology (a quarterly publication devoted primarily to the original publication of experimental results and other research findings as published by the Parapsychological Association), the term paranormal describes "any phenomenon that in one or more respects exceeds the limits of what is deemed physically possible according to current scientific assumptions." The actual word is derived from the Latin use of the prefix para meaning "outside or beyond" what is considered normal.
http://www.milwaukeeparanormal.com/What-IS-Paranormal.html

There has been much research in the field of Mediumship. In Britain, the Society for Psychical Research has investigated some phenomena, mainly in connection with telepathy and apparitions. According to an article in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, in some cases mediums have produced personal information which has been well above guessing rates.

The VERITAS Research Program of the Laboratory for Advances in Consciousness and Health in the Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona, run by Dr. Gary Schwartz, was created primarily to test the hypothesis that the consciousness (or identity) of a person survives physical death. Studies conducted by VERITAS have been approved by the University of Arizona Human Subjects Protection Program and an academic advisory board. Gary’s book “The Afterlife Experiments” is on my reading list.

References and Links;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediumship
http://veritas.arizona.edu/
http://www.nsac.org/
http://www.lighthousespiritualcentre.ca/Churches/churchengland.html
http://www.edgarcayce.org/.
http://www.ask.com/web?q=dictionary%3A+paranormal&content=ahdict%7C9513&o=0&l=dir
http://www.isd-sparta.org/
http://www.sethlearningcenter.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranormal