Pirate’s Cafe by Greenasian

Kate tucked the sheet of paper inside her notebook and, wrapping the leather cord around its  cover.  She lifted her eyes, surveying the scene in the bar.

The newcomers uneasily settled into their seats, their eyes darting to the windows and the weather outside. Bob’s Barmaid made the rounds, but few were interested in her menu. 

A large official man, Bernard, stalked into the tavern, taking an authoritative stance.  The guests moved their eyes to him and waited.  Bernard was never short on words, or orders to hand out, given the opportunity.

Kate moved quietly toward the back of the bar and sidled up next to Bob.  Both of them turned a blank gaze toward Bernard. He took a breath and began to bark: “Everyone, follow me.  It looks like a bad one. ” There were a few low groans from the crowd. He got louder, “You know the drill. Everyone goes to the city shelter room until this blows over.” Then his voice softened slightly, but didn’t gain one ounce of sincerity, “We will keep you informed of developments at all times. Now please move along.”

Kate and Bob leaned back against the bar as the rest filed out. Then Bob followed behind the crowd to the door. “Come back soon.” He called out easily and loudly, as if it were any other closing time.

From the street, Bernard, still shouting orders, threw a backward glance at Bob, glaring at him with cultivated resentment. Bob casually swung the heavy door shut and threw its latch, then turned a bolt.  The deep heavy clunk of steel signaled that the inner mechanisms of the well-fortified door were engaged. Another gust of wind hit the door in protest, but it was unmoved.

Bob and Kate stood near the window. “So, Kate, how is the weather?” Bob inquired, Kate put her hands in the air, as if feeling it’s currents through the thick panes of glass. Bob looked at her face intently. Kate laughed, “It’s a blustery day.”   But then she closed her eyes and extended her arms and hands more, purposefully. They  swept back and forth, up and down, carving the air as if to entrance it.  But Bob was the one taken into a trance. Soon her motions came to balance and stillness, paused then drifted down to her sides.

Suddenly she grabbed Bob and swung him around playfully.  Just as suddenly, she sat down again and took a deep breath. “That feels a little better.” she sighed. Bob, unsettled, backed away just a little. “They’ll be back soon.” was his excuse as he moved back from Kate to take care of the bar.

Outside, the wind calmed for a moment, then picked up again. Kate moved away from the window and perched herself on a bar stool near where Bob was busying himself. She unwrapped her notebook and pulled out the page marked Bob’s #1 and her pen. She looked up at Bob for a moment, thinking, then began to write:

“What if you had a brilliant idea.  Would it be big or small? Who would it help? How would it feel? What would it do?”

She folded the paper up, keeping it under her fingers and she reached deep into her vest with her other hand and touched her gold ball, then brought out her hand to reveal the traces of gold it had left there.  “Bob-” Bob stopped wiping the bar.  “Remember the gold ball?” “Yeah.” Bob replied. Kate planted her gold dusted fingertips on the sheet of paper and pushed it forward. “Come to my ship tonight, say – eight.  I’ll tell you about it.”  Bob stood there for a moment, glancing down at it, feigning disinterest.  Then Kate pulled the paper back and waited until she had Bob’s attention.

Bob’s expression gave just a hint of interest. Kate knew Bob well enough to know that he, like many, wanted that quick fix, that easy instant answer. And the process of getting that gold ball was anything but quick and easy. It was the result of years of work and experimentation. But she also knew that Bob had a good heart, and sometimes an open mind.  After all, he did put up with Kate’s tendency to wax metaphysical on him, and still seemed to like her company. So, taking that chance, Kate took her hand off the piece of paper on the counter and went toward the window.

The weather outside was still blustery, but less strange. People were already coming out of the town hall, talking among themselves, relieved to get on with their lives. Bernard stood on the steps importantly, scowling at the sky and fending off the annoyed questions from a few townspeople. 

Back in the bar, Bob read the paper Kate had left. Kate glanced back at him casually. “ Tonight then?”  Bob left the paper to rest on the bar, working around it as if afraid acknowledge its existence. “Yeah.” He replied.

Kate was also eager to get on with her day. She pulled out her crystal ball communicator and glanced at its colorful display.  “Shit. I’m going to be late. Got to go!”. She dropped her ball as she grabbed her coat and pulled it on. The ball rolled away, then stopped and rolled back to her feet.  She waited for it to stop, then swooped it up, tucking it into a silver-lined pouch at her waist.  

Bob sneered. “They’ll find you anywhere.”  Kate retorted, “If I let them.” She stood in the doorway, holding tight to the brim of her hat, and let her hair blow in the wind a moment, then Kate stepped out into the world.  Bob watched her leave, with one hand slyly reaching out to the paper, keeping it from blowing away with the wind that blew in the door. He slid it off the bar and into his apron.  Then he went to the door to secure it and stepped to the window to watch as Kate disappeared into the morning mist.

On the Edge of the Dreamtime Ocean by Prairiekittin

I have this little prayer and ritual that I do every night just before I go to sleep.  I lay in my bed and do a few things to balance my body and go through a short mental intention to make sure I get the kind of sleep I want. Then I ask for something a little extra using more of my special Magic Nights words.

The problem is, on more nights than I would like to admit, I can’t even get through even half of it before falling asleep.  Sometimes I even feel that my brain just blocks me from continuing the thought.  ”Enough” it will say, and just make me go to sleep without any agenda whatsoever.

This sleep-inducing protocol is the first part of the Magic Nights Technique:

• I set the overall tone for the night with words like Love and Light.
• I make sure everyone is safe and has a good time:                                             ”According to Free Will and for the Good of All.”
• I put on my Captain’s uniform:

1. I do a mini cross-crawl exercise with my hands and feet to balance my right and left brain,
2. I activate each Chakra by putting my hands over it and running a little energy through it until it feels open and good, to balance my neurology more.
3. I call forth my inner wisdom, divine essence and authentic self in harmony and wholeness.

• I begin to invite my Magic Nights Crew…Z Z Z…

If I wake up in the middle of the night and realize I hadn’t gotten through my full Magic Nights intention, I just start again. This time, I usually can stay awake long enough to get through all of it.

But then, if I really, really can’t sleep even with the intention, I might drink some water then:

• lay on my Upledger Still Point Inducer for ten minutes
• do a little AcuYoga out of my Acu Yoga book.

In either case, I will make sure to spend a little more time on my morning attention meditation.

I guess sometimes a girl just needs to just sleep.  And that’s OK.

Have a Magic Night!

Til the End of Time by Akshay Moon

‘Green’ Sleep is Good Sleep. 

They call it ‘sleep hygiene’ in the medical community: those simple things you can do to get better sleep.

And most of them, not coincidentally, are also ‘green’ things to do.

Clean your world, your body and your mind. Then enlist the powerful, free and renewable resources of your brain and the universe with the Magic Nights technique to help you get just the kind of sleep you want.

‘Green’ your Home and Your Sleep Environment:

Air pollution:

• Sleep in a room which has good circulation and air free from toxins.  Buy a HEPA air purifier to have on hand to clean the air before bedtime, especially if you have pets.
• Minimize toxic fumes from artificial scents.  If you like scents, use pure organic scent oils such as lavender oil
• Many cleaning solutions can also emit toxic fumes. Clean your bedroom, your bedding and night-wear with non-toxic, unscented, biodegradable products.
• Formaldehyde and other toxic gases can be emitted from newer rubber (including memory foam), new plastics and glues (pressboard furniture and synthetic carpets).
• For lots of ideas to help make your bedroom, home and life more ‘green’ and healthy, go to my friends Lia and Jason’s Green Living and Building Center site and store in Lambertville, NJ.  Also Norman’s Green with Envy Home Store in Hillsborough, NJ has lots of good products and another place to visit might be Your Organic Bedroom in Doylestown, PA

Electronic Pollution from appliances, radio waves and EMF:

• Turn off and unplug as many electronic appliances as you can while you are sleeping.
• Turn off radio frequency emitting devices if possible, or keep them as far away as possible from your sleeping room – this includes WiFi antennas.
• Keep anything you must have switched on, such as an alarm clock or cell phone, at least four feet from your body when you are sleeping.

Noise Pollution:

• Don’t sleep with the television on!  If you must have sound, use a nondescript sound generator designed for sleep.
• Don’t watch disturbing or violent news or television in the hours before bedtime.  Instead watch something uplifting like romance or humorous shows or listen to soothing music.

‘Green’ your Body and Your Mind:

Food and Drink Pollution:

• Don’t have alcohol, coffee, tea or other stimulants in the evening.
• Drink pure water or decaffeinated digestive or calming teas instead.
• Eat whole, organic, raw foods if possible.  They are easier to digest.

Body Energetics:

• Gentle and balancing forms of exercise are good before bed, such as Chi Gung or Yoga for relaxation orAcu-Yoga.  They will help your sleep have a deeper healing effect.
• Taking a bath or shower before bed will not only help you feel fresh and relaxed, but clean the body’s energetic system as well.  Let all the stress from the day go right down the drain.
• Use the techniques in my blog post “My Cure for Insomnia” for more healthy body balancing before bed.

‘Green’ your life using the Magic Nights Technique:

Use the powerful, free and renewable resources of your brain, your immune system and the universe in helping you get good sleep by simply asking for it using the ‘magic words’ that work.  Buy Magic Nights to learn how to use this tool for good sleep and more.

Have a Magic Night!

Dr. Katie Hawn

A Precious Bundle of Talent, Intelligence, Creativity, and Possibility

By the time I arrived in this world, the spots of First Born Son and the Pretty Little Girl were already taken in my family. And my parents didn’t have the imagination to create another spot, such as talented, creative, artistic, athletic, intelligent… Instead, when I was just in diapers, my brother dared to speak the words I felt from the others around me.  ”You’re ugly.” It didn’t help when my group of friends in middle school nicknamed me “Franky” for Frankenstein, and even as an adult, my mother said to me “well, your sister was the pretty little girl.”

It’s been a lifelong journey to change my mind about myself. It has driven me to seek beauty on many levels, especially within, and to continually nurture and appreciate that wounded inner child.  Now, even in middle age, I am satisfied with my life and looks. I’ve learned a lot and am still learning how to better appreciate who I am and where I am in life.  Here are some ideas and things to do that can help your child, have helped me, and can help you:

To Help an ‘Ugly’ Child

If you have or know an “ugly child”, my blogposts for and about children will help them gain self-esteem, empower them and help them choose their own future dream, one Magic Night at a time, especially The Best Bedtime Story and the Magic Nights Lullaby.

If you are a young adult or adult with a childhood as an ‘ugly’ child, or to help an ugly child as they grow, below are

Eight Tips to Feel Good About You!

1.  Remember that ugly is only a word.  

How you feel inside is more important:

• Ugly is only a word.  It doesn’t have much to do with reality. Like yin and yang, There is ugliness in all beauty and beauty in all ugliness.
• We are more than our bodies.  We are our intelligence, our ethics, our creativity, our purpose, our talent and our inborn essential divine perfection.
• Ugly children don’t necessarily become ugly adults.  My parents were ‘surprised’ that when I grew up, I was perfectly fine looking = maybe not a stunner, but at least attractive.
• Even’ugly’ or disabled people can be happy, productive, creative and make the world a better place in their own unique way.
• Being ‘ugly’ in one persons eyes doesn’t prevent a lifetime of happiness and fulfillment.  As a wedding officiant, I married all kinds of people, rich and poor, plain and attractive, thin and overweight, young and old.  And they were all deeply in love.  The couples I felt had the brightest future together were the ones who began their married lives having been great friends for years, and already knew what “in sickness and health, in good times and bad” really meant.
• During the stages of our lives; childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age and old age, what is most important changes.  It may change from learning and experiencing, to productivity and purpose, to career and passion, and to wisdom.  During all of these stages beauty and ugliness takes on different meanings and different positions in our lives.

2.  Be Happy, Busy and Creative.

An interesting happy person is always more attractive.

3.  Pay more attention to how you feel than how you look.

Beauty or handsomeness must begin within.  Create more of this with a busy, happy and purposefull life.  Every night for at least a week to start, ask your inner wisdom and the universe to teach you how to feel attractive with this simple prayer in the Magic Nights style:

“Please teach me how it feels to be [beautiful/attractive/ handsome/brilliant/successful…] in every cell of my body, on every level and aspect of my being and in all time and space. For my highest and best good and for the good of all. With peace, freedom and joy. Thank you.”

4.  Get a great haircut.

No matter what kind of hair you have, a professional stylist can help you to make it suit your face and your style

Modeling Shoot at 23

5.  Learn how to do your hair and makeup from professionals.

Go to a salon for a makeup and style lesson, or if you can, take a modeling class.  No matter what you look like, this will help.  I couldn’t model because of my head shape and high forehead, but it was important to have that experience to find out that I was talented at runway and it motivated me to get my first modeling pictures taken.

6.  Dress to feel good and attractive and to ‘blend in’ with your crowd while giving your look your own unique style.

This doesn’t mean having to be a slave to the latest fashion, it means being creative and allowing yourself to find the clothing that works for you at the right price.  How you feel in your clothing will determine how attractive you are, not what labels are on your clothes. Like they say, “Are you wearing your clothes, or are they wearing you?”. When lived in California, there was a great Goodwill nearby.  I got most of my clothes there and got compliments all the time because of how I put the outfits together and how I carried myself when I wore them.

Fun Photo Shoot at 45

7.  Learn how to dance and move.

How you walk and move through life tells volumes about you as a person.  Use the treadmill in the gym to transform your walking style. Find a movie star you like the style of and imitate walking like them with good posture. My personal favorite is Nicole Kidman. She is tall, graceful and refined. Take jazz or ballroom dancing class, snowboarding or stylized martial arts like Kung Fu.  Avoid sports that create an aggressive, restricted, hunched or jarring movement style.such as boxing or karate.  If you are overweight, choose a fun sport you like that will be safe and effective to help you feel better in your body. Think more about being increasing your activity and health than about decreasing the weight.  My favorites are ballroom dancing and belly dancing.

8.  Do a Photo Shoot.

Put together a photo shoot for yourself that suits your personal style not just your physical attractiveness.  Play up your talents and positive energy and avoid a purely sexy glamour shoot as this only reinforces the dependence on looks alone.  Use a friend to take the pictures. If you can, have your hair and makeup done up professionally and use a few different types of fabulous and fun outfits and different locations.  With digital cameras, you can take the hundreds of shots (at least 300) that will result in a few really good ones you’ll treasure all your life.  Use different angles, lighting.  Shoot indoors and outdoors. Everyone has a ‘good side’ and in the right light can express their best points through the lens.  Do this periodically over your life (I did and it is great to go back and look at those pictures)  Practice in the mirror to find out your best smile and angle for photos. Get some prints made, frame them and put them up on your wall!

You are a perfect expression of the divine love that created you.  Your life is a work of art. Your joy is all the universe wants for you.  Have fun!

And more recently...

Dr Katie Hawn

Einstein' s Hair by Rafael Robles

What if Everyone woke up one morning with Einstein’s Hair?

And a Brilliant Idea.

What a great day that would be. Maybe we could save the world!  Small ideas, grand ideas – they would all work in their own unique ways, inspire smiles and create a vision for a new and better world. Just think of the buzz in the local cafes and bars.

This is actually not so far-fetched. Having a brilliant idea is not as hard as it sounds.  Let me tell you why, tell you my brilliant idea story, and show you how you can do it, too:

First, a brief on the Serious Science of it:

Our brains are more powerful and more responsive than we understand (Neuroscientists know a lot less than they will usually admit).  Luckily, with just our intention and focus, we can tap into this power.  There is evidence in Neuroscience and Physics that backs this up. My “Serious Science” blog post has a bit more information and more links.

Now for My Story:

Years ago, I had been told from a number of reliable sources that I should consider writing as a way to “really make it” in this world.  I started by dabbling in screenwriting, resulting in one very long and epic script.  I found out what an amazing rush creative writing could be.  That was and continues to be great fun, but selling a screenplay is about as likely as winning the lottery.  So I needed a new idea.  I need to write something that was marketable, easy and fun for me to write, would be accessible and useful to a broad audience; old and young, rich and poor. I wanted it to be a fun experience and a launch pad for other fun experiences and products – maybe even a film!

The first Brilliant Idea:

A few days later, I was taking a walk in a beautiful park pondering this. Suddenly, I heard that wise voice in my head say, “Write about how you program your sleep.”  Brilliant!  That was perfect.  It was something I knew well, having done it for years already.  I had worked out a system and had lots of experience and stories to tell.  All I needed to do was write it up, throw in some fun personal stories and things to do in between the how-to bits and get it out there.

Then I began the process.  And each step of the way, I had that wonderful wise voice guiding me.  In fact, the presence of that voice was the result of all my nights of sleep programming.  I had opened a door to inner and outer wisdom every night and had developed a level of trust and ease with that connection that I no longer needed to ask at night.  I could ask any time and get answers after, not weeks or even days, but almost immediately.

The next Brilliant Idea:

When I had gotten far enough into the writing process, I realized I needed some kind of metaphor, some kind of visual image to tie all the material together harmoniously.  So I took a walk, sat under a tree by a river and opened my mind.  A few minutes later, a vision came to me.  A pirate ship, like the one in Pirates of Penzance – fun, full of colorful images, costumes, dance, song and happy endings.

Brilliant again!  I saw all the pieces of the book falling into place.  How fun would that be.  My mind was racing and I was happy to get back to work on my book.

I went to town with the pirate ship idea, obviously.  I just couldn’t help myself. Some people think my site should be more serious – play up my doctor credentials and credibility. But to me, that would be boring. Despite that fancy diploma, series of licenses, white doctor’s coat and huge student loan, it’s just not who I am, and writing is all about being authentic.

So, like sailing off into an ocean of adventure, I chart this course to be under the pure blue skies of authenticity.  A brilliant idea can’t be truly brilliant any other way.

How you can have your own Brilliant Ideas:

I love the idea of a brilliant idea being easy, fun, deep and mind expanding all at once.  I think the best ideas are that way. And then I thought about asking for brilliant ideas.  Everyone could ask for one, just as I did.  Everyone – no matter their circumstances, could have their own brilliant idea and we could, together, save the world, each in our own way! All they have to do is ask, and then sleep on it. How exciting!

So get on your Magic Nights ship tonight and put on your Captain’s Uniform of inner wisdom, brilliance and authenticity.  Invite your crew of wise ones from the universe of your dreamtime and ask for a brilliant idea!  Do this every night for a week and let me know how it goes. Buy my book Magic Nights to learn just the right magic words and have a good understanding of how it works, and discover lots of other possibilities for nighttime adventure, too.

What if we all woke up with Einstein’s hair! – how fun would that be….

Have a Magic Night!

Dr. Katie

And the brain, and what it does when we sleep is a really big one.  As much as they know, and they know a lot, it’s just a drop in the bucket of true understanding of our mind in all its aspects – physical, chemical, energetic.  Here is what Harvard says healthy sleep is:

http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/science/what/characteristics 

by WordRidden

Sleep is really important; for learning, for rejuvenation of the cells with growth hormone, for processing and organizing the brain’s activity during the day:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228442.400-hijack-your-own-dreams-to-improve-your-skills.html

and

http://www.parade.com/health/your-healthy-home/articles/the-healing-power-of-sleep.html

And even studies of our human genome are now revealing that we are born with certain tendencies to sleep patterns.  There is no ‘normal’ sleep.  But there is ‘good’ sleep, ‘healthy’ sleep.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/01/genes-sleep-duration_n_1118896.html

http://news.discovery.com/tech/brain-scan-lucid-dream-111102.html

Those inner fantasies do have another, more serious link with reality, though.  Our daytime mind does influence our nighttime mind, and not always in a good way:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SleepNews/sleep-locks-bad-memories-emotions/story?id=15377705

I am really glad that there is so much science being done around something so inherently mysterious and powerful.  The science is very important.  But it also takes the pressure off of someone like me, who is studying sleep from a different perspective.

I have been doing a kind of experiment with my sleep for the past seven years.  But I feel that I am more of an experiencer than a studier.  I prefer the stage to the audience.  And I would love lots of company up here on this stage of sleep.  I would love to dance with my dreamtime with friends alongside me in their own magic nights boats.  It’s not hard.  I’ll show you the ropes.

And I certainly invite the scientists among you to come sit in the front row and study this magical nighttime mystery.   Study about why I can tell myself where I want to ‘go’ during the night and how I want to feel in the morning with consistent levels of success.

But you scientists may have to take your turn at the wheel on the stage.  It will be fun, I promise.  Like the “Pirates of Penzance” musical play where the ‘bad people’ aren’t so bad and there are curious paradoxes, songs and dancing and a great band, and a happy ending, of course.  Auditions start now.  Just get your script.  It’s called Magic Nights: A Treasure Map and Travel Guide to the Ocean of Power and Possibility in Your Sleeping Mind.

Bedtime Stories by Gracie & Viv

How could a bedtime story help your child feel empowered and honored for who they are. How could it show them that friends come in all shapes and sizes, and that, in the end, the universe they live in is a safe and supportive place to be.

Maybe it could be the story with a simple, fun story structure that you can lead them through, but where they can choose the scene, the characters and the destination. – a nighttime journey of their own making. Like going out into a magical ocean full of possibility every night.

Maybe it could be a tale where you can teach a Captain’s Code of important life-skills like graciousness and freedom and ethics that they can draw from for the rest of their lives.

Maybe it could be a story with an exciting new chapter every night sending the child off into dreamland as the Captain of their own ship, with a crew of their choosing, to a destination only limited by their imagination.

So that in the morning before they open their eyes, they can learn how to go within to thank their crew and guests. They can see what treasures that they have brought back with them, and what new discoveries they have made.

And they can keep that feeling of self-determination, self-reliance and support from the universe with them all through the day. They can learn that they now have a resource, an inner wisdom and power, and a place to go for help no matter where they are or what situation they might find themselves in.

All they have to do is remember that special bedtime story.

And when they grow up, they will still have that old Magic Nights ship in their back pocket:  And when they feel challenged, their answer just might be  “Sure.  Let me sleep on it…”

Have a Magic Night!

Dr Katie Hawn

Dreamtime Boats by Sammydavisdog

Sing this lullabye to help your children have a Magic Night.  

So that they will always remember…

 Set to an old Irish tune:

“Star of the County Down”

Magic Nights Lullabye Music and Lyrics       (.pdf here)

Every Magic Night, there’s a golden dock that goes out to the dreamtime sea.

There your ship awaits, and it’s strong and sleek. Only you have the magic key.

So put on your Captain’s fancy dress and call up your hearty crew.

Check your maps, chart your course. Raise the sails, take the wheel.

There’s adventure ahead for you.

Will you swim with the dolphins down into the deep, or daringly great whales ride ?

Will you dance and play, through the nighttime day, with your best mates by your side ?

So lay down your head on your pillow, and drift off on a dreamtime tide.

We’re devoted crew, and we’re here for you on your Magic Nights dreamtime ride.

Musical Notes the YouTube version plays the tune ABB, ABB, ABB, where I have written it out ABAB  The sheet music .pdf shows the A part and the B part of the tune.

Have a Magic Night!

Snore by Noemi Manalang

How I fixed my own snoring in Aspen, CO:

After chiropractic school, I decided to move to Aspen, Colorado.  I had always wanted to live in the mountains, and when I got there, I knew I was home!. Something about the beautiful canyons and crystal clear mountain air enthralled me.  I came alone with just a few dollars in my pocket, a short housesitting job and a sense of adventure.  Soon the housesitting ended and I was looking for whatever I could find for next-to-nothing.  The cheapest living space was at the edge of this very small town, living with six other young women and a creepy old man (the owner) in a townhouse.  Space was tight, but as long as we had room for ski clothes and hiking boots, and a few clubbing outfits, we were happy.  I was a little older then most of them, in my thirties at the time, but they were gracious and invited me to go clubbing with them almost every night.

One night I woke myself up with my own snoring!  I was personally a little amused, but I could just imagine what my twenty-something roommates would think (“old fart…”).  So, it couldn’t continue.  Luckily my well-trained hands could reach just about all the body parts involved, so I went to work.  Physician heal thyself!

I started with my chest and worked my way up my neck to my jaw and sinuses.  Ten minutes of that brief routine for a few nights and I felt pretty sure that I wasn’t snoring any more.  What a relief.

A Quiet Beach Vacation

My next snoring client was my Mom:

I didn’t think much about it again until I was staying at a small beach house on vacation with my mom.  She was snoring a little, just as I had.  And by this time, (it took about ten years) she believed in my abilities as a therapist and doctor.  So when I asked her if I could treat her before bed, she welcomed it.  Twenty minutes later and her snoring was fixed and I could sleep too.

All the other snorers I treated:

Every now and then, I would do update snoring sessions on myself and my mother.  And every time I was in the position of having to sleep with other people who snored, I offered my services.  These snorers were a often a little more challenging. As I worked with people with generalized long-term chronic tension (middle aged men are prone to this), chronic asthma and sleep apnea, it became evident that they would benefit from more frequent sessions at first, and then follow up with therapy for the underlying conditions to keep the sleep disturbances (for everyone) at bay.

Help with sleep and snoring was always one of the positive side effects of Upledger’s CranioSacral Therapy.  As therapists, we were more often presented with more complex health issues, and the clients may not have even noticed that their sleep was better.  I didn’t think much about it for a while, but then I started working with my own sleep by programming it Magic Nights style.  I became interested in all things sleep related.  And I remembered about my success with snoring.

I realize snoring is a big, and underserved, problem:

After doing a little research, I realized what a big problem it was and how seemingly little was out there in the way of effective treatment.  The kind of comprehensive deep-tissue release therapy, like CranioSacral Therapy (CST), that I had found worked so well was never mentioned as an option.  I looked at my own hands and thought,  ”But it’s so easy!”  And a new marketing idea was born.  Every time I mentioned that I treated snoring, ears would perk up, accompanied by a few nervous chuckles.  It seemed that most people had a problem with snoring themselves or knew someone who did.  I ran out of business cards very quickly.

Adding another treatment option to the snoring menu: CranioSacral Therapy

Now it’s my dream that all those big sleep clinics will have CST trained personnel on staff.  But there’s no need to for you to wait.  There are qualified CST practitioners  all over.  Just look for the therapists in the Upledger site with at least four dots in CST, then maybe some in brain curriculum or other courses as a bonus:

http://www.upledger.com/

Have a Magic Night!

Skinny by Jon Bell

The Psychology and Neuroscience of Getting Skinny:

Changing your mind about your body           and your life,  why it’s important,                     and two books that will help.

Is being thin, losing weight, or getting in shape more a matter of the “right mindset” than counting calories, carbs or sit-ups?

That’s what the “Russell Cook Wellness for the Real World” blog asked experts on the site:  www.drveronica.com

What are the real goals of getting “Skinny”? :

Self-acceptance,  Enjoyment of life,  and Freedom of expression.

So it’s just a matter of changing our goal, our focus: “changing our mind” about ourselves. That should be easy, right? But wait – aren’t we supposed to work hard at the gym? struggle to stay motivated to exercise? deprive ourselves of tasty foods? Our current society seems to encourage this approach. We beat ourselves up over not being thin enough or healthy enough or eating badly.

Paradoxically, this ‘hard work’ path to self-esteem and health can be the safer one emotionally. But where does it lead? Haven’t we all seen people with beautiful, thin, or buffed bodies that are just not attractive because they don’t believe it themselves or they just feel miserable on the inside and can’t completely disguise it no matter how much time or money they spend on their appearance? This self-flagellation only causes more stress and low-self esteem and can result in a downward spiral of – more of the same. If we forget the true goals of self-acceptance, enjoyment of life and freedom of expression, then all the exercise and dieting can seem endless, and pointless.

Dancing Pirate by Chris Willis

The seemingly easier path of changing our minds requires a commitment to introspection and self-love that can be long and painful in its own way. But it’s where the journey to “being thin” must begin, in order for it to end in true self-esteem and wellness.

It’s much easier to take care of ourselves when we feel loved and safe. And the most important source of love has to come from within as self-love and appreciation. If this is in place, then we will naturally make healthier choices for our bodies and our lives. True and healthy healing and wellness must begin with changing our minds about who we are, what we are worth and what we are capable of. Only then will the hard work we do for our health pay off, and stick.

Two books that will help are:

Magic Nights by Katie Hawn, DC (me) for an easy way to begin to “change your mind” while you sleep, finding self-love, motivation and getting a jump-start to health.  Tune into my Captain’s Log blog for more stories about how this works on a daily basis:

http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Nights-Treasure-Possibility-Sleeping/dp/0615442129

And

The Only Diet There Is by Sondra Ray for a wonderful presentation of why self-love is the only way to the true goal:

https://www.liberationbreathing.com/bookstore

As a bonus,

Here is a great quote from Abraham-Hicks:

“Your sophisticated physical body exists because of the intelligence of your cells. And the intelligence of your cells exists because of their Connection to Source Energy.

When doctors and scientists try to find cures for diseases without taking into consideration the Vibrational relationship between the physical Being and Source Energy, they are looking for cures in all the wrong places. If the resistance that disallowed the Well-Being to begin with is not released, it will show up in the form of another and another disease.

Your cells, because of their connection to the intelligence of Source Energy, know exactly what to do in order to become the incredible variety of functioning cells in your magnificent physical body. And in the absence of the hindrance that is caused by your resistant negative thought, that communication stays open to clear, up-to-the-moment interaction, keeping your physical body at peak and perfect performance.

In the absence of negative emotion—and therefore the allowance of complete alignment and communication with Source Energy—your physical body can reclaim its balance and recover from any imbalance. And once balance has resumed, it is easy to maintain with consistently good-feeling thoughts.”   — Abraham

Excerpted from the Getting into the Vortex Guided Meditation CD and User Guide # 332

http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php

Have a Magic Night!

Dr. Katie Hawn