Stin's Blog

Can You See It?

2008-10-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

As you read or listen to your affirmations, mentally visualize them as already achieved.

Because your brain thinks in pictures, adding a bright, clear, moving mental picture of what you want to achieve will help you to penetrate your subconscious mind more rapidly and more deeply than if you just read your goals.

In the book Psycho-Cybernetics, Dr. Maltz shared an experiment on the effects of mental practice on improving basketball free throws. The study, published in Research Quarterly, divided the subjects into three groups. Each group was tested for free throw accuracy once at the beginning of the experiment and again at its conclusion.

Group one physically practiced free throws for 20 days. Group two performed no practice at all. Group three spent 20 minutes a day getting into a deeply relaxed state and visualizing themselves shooting free throws. When they missed, they would visualize themselves correcting their aim accordingly.

The results were remarkable: the first group,which practiced 20 minutes a day, improved in scoring 24%. The second group, which had no practice, showed no improvement. The third group, which practiced in their minds, improved their scoring 23%! Amazingly, mental practice yielded results almost identical to physical practice.

All great athletes and peak performers use visualization. Jack Niklaus said he never hit a golf shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in his head.

Tennis superstar Andre Agassi once told an interviewer that he won Wimbledon at least ten thousand times. When asked what he meant by this, Agassi replied, “Since I was five years old I saw it over and over and over again in my mind. When I walked on the court that day, it was my exact vision. I felt like I was stepping into the role I was made for, and I just demolished them!"

Legendary basketball Hall of Famer Bill Russell wrote about his use of mental imagery in great detail: “I was sitting there with my eyes closed, watching plays in my head. It was effortless; the movies I saw in my head seemed to have their own projector, and whenever I closed my eyes, it would run.”

Pay Attention

2008-09-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

Mastering and controlling your attention gives you the freedom to choose what happens in your life. There are countless things happening at the same time all over the world, however, as long as your attention is not directed to any of it – nothing really happens for you.

This is very important to understand. The more you can control your attention the more you attract only the things in your life that you really want. If you do not pay attention to the crime scene on your television it does not create this reality for you. If you don't pay attention to negative things in your life it will not create that reality. This doesn't mean you should ignore the parts of the world that do not produce peace and happiness for you; it simply means not to give them too much attention. Don't get absorbed in them – decide when enough is enough and move on to something you want your attention to be focused on, for example, the important goals and dreams of your life.

One simple exercise you can do to train your attention is to simply observe your attention and to speak out loud where it is in the moment.

Here is what it might look like:
●I am thinking about tomorrow . . .
●There is a cat next to me . . .
●What I am doing here . . . ?
●So many thoughts . . .
●Am I crazy . . . ?
●The carpet is brown . . .
●It's dirty too . . .
●I should get it cleaned . . .
●Ah, just relax . . .
●How busy my mind is . . .
●What's next . . .

You may find yourself thinking about how crazy this is, but this exercise actually just happens in a short time span of your attention. You may have a few thousand of these each day . . . no wonder some people feel constantly stressed, overwhelmed and light years away from their goals!

Do this every day for about 15 minutes and you will observe that several things happen. First of all, your mind gets calmer but at the same time may also feel exhausted, especially after the first few times you do the exercise. Exhausting your attention is a very interesting occurrence that happens quite often and naturally in your daily life. Training your mind not to exhaust itself will sharpen your focus and free up your attention considerably.

The more free attention you have, the happier you feel and the more power you have to control what is happening in your life!

Your Mind and, umm, Your Bowels.

2008-09-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

Irritable Bowel Syndrome anyone? Here is a clip from an article in the NYTimes today about the mind and the colon. Hmmmm . . .

Personal relationships can have a major impact (on IBS). Symptoms are worse if there is conflict in the family, better if relationships are supportive.

The brain has the ability to inhibit sensations from the gut. “I.B.S. patients tend to be hyper vigilant — too aware of what is going on in their gut.” says Dr. Gerson, a leading expert. Through techniques like hypnotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy, it is possible to change how the brain perceives what is happening in the body.

In hypnotherapy, I.B.S. patients learn to visualize their colon as functioning more normally. Patients can learn to change symptom-provoking beliefs, like thinking that their colon will always be abnormal or that a given circumstance will provoke symptoms.

In a British study of 204 patients in which more than two-thirds of them were initially helped by hypnotherapy, 81 percent of those maintained the improvement up to six years after the treatment. Learning to practice stress-reduction and relaxation techniques is as helpful as learning which foods to avoid.

Click here for the full article from the NYTimes

Worried?

2008-08-08T15:01:00.000-07:00

Everybody worries.

The concept of worry is an example of negative imagery, and it creeps up easily. Most of us can imagine events happening inside of our bodies. Many times the images come in the form of worry; perhaps we have a symptom that frightens us, like pain. We imagine something inside our bodies is going wrong. This usually makes the symptom worsen, which in turn causes a greater intensity of the symptoms. A powerful cycle of pain and anxiety is the result.

With imagery, we can imagine the good just as well. Lack of practice might keep us from doing it as effortlessly as we do when we worry, BUT if we take that negative thought process and turn it into a positive thought process, we absolutely can overcome symptoms such as illness and pain.

We can promote self healing instead.

You Choose.

2008-08-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

In most cases the actual details of our lives matter less than what we choose to become in the midst of them.

What would happen if, in our personal relationships, we just dropped all charges against those around us? What if we just happily sacrificed all bitter satisfaction, all retribution, all demand for repayment, all vengeance-we let all this go, without regret or second thoughts? -Terry Warner

The Meaner the Better

2008-07-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt that many of the people around you don't value what you do, or even begin to meet your hopes and dreams?

Nearly every day the people in our lives do one or more of the following: belittle, show insensitivity or indifference, make us feel insecure, humiliate, frighten, abuse, inconvenience, demand, criticize, disappoint, lie, hurt, betray, try to seduce, misunderstand, resent, threaten, or attack us in some way.

The truth is, relationships are an opportunity for us to develop in love and personal happiness! How can we ever learn true, unconditional love unless we have a chance to practice it in the face of the opposites? Every disrupted relationship, whether in our own home or within a particular group or community, is a chance to forge and experience divine nature in ourselves, and to practice true happiness. . . despite what is going on in the world around us.

Is it possible that all the people in our lives are there for important reasons? That we stand in a sacred relationship to them because we and they cannot be made perfect without each other? With their help, it is possible to experience a much greater love than we would have been capable of in a situation where everybody agreed with us, everybody loved us, and everybody saw everything the way we do.

Perhaps the abrasive people in your life are really friends in disguise, there to teach you to perfect love within YOURSELF, not in them.

You Name It and Exercise Helps It

2008-04-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

I found this excerpt in the NY Times today, from an article by Jane Brody.

In the February/March issue of ACE Certified News, Natalie Digate Muth, a registered dietitian and personal trainer, emphasized the value of a good workout for people suffering from depression. Mastering a new skill increases their sense of worth, social contact improves mood, and the endorphins released during exercise improve well-being.

“Exercise is an important adjunct to pharmacological therapy, and it does not matter how severe the depression — exercise works equally well for people with moderate or severe depression,” wrote Ms. Muth, who is pursuing a medical degree at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Healthy people may have difficulty appreciating the burdens faced by those with chronic ailments, Dr. Nancey Trevanian Tsai noted in the same issue of ACE Certified News. “Oftentimes, disease-ridden statements — like ‘I’m a diabetic’ — become barricades that keep clients from seeing themselves getting better,” she said, and many feel “enslaved by their diseases and treatments.”

But the feel-good hormones released through exercise can help sustain activity.

“With regular exercise, the body seeks to continue staying active,” wrote Dr. Tsai, an assistant professor of neurosciences at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. She recommended an exercise program tailored to the person’s current abilities, daily needs, medication schedule, side effects and response to treatment.

She urged trainers who work with people with chronic ailments to start slowly with easily achievable goals, build gradually on each accomplishment and focus on functional gains. Over time, a sense of accomplishment, better sleep, less pain and enhanced satisfaction with life can become further reasons to pursue physical activity.

“Even if exercise is tough to schedule,” Dr. Moffat said, “you feel so much better, it’s crazy not to do it.”

Here is a link to the full article.

Your Inner Compass

2008-04-24T10:04:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed by now that not ALL of your inner thoughts are helpful or even remotely truthful. If we listen to and follow every thought and feeling, our daily lives, future, and inner peace are precarious indeed.

You have an inner compass, an inner "truth detector" that can allow you to navigate through life with greater peace and confidence. With practice, you can identify what is truth and what is not as clearly as you can tell daylight from darkness. It is one of the great tools that we each have access to.

Truth comes as a feeling or a sense. It is a whisper, and caresses so gently that if you are preoccupied you may not feel it at all.

There is a sure way that you can know if what you are thinking or feeling is true. Ask yourself: Does it persuade me to do good? to rise? to stand tall? to do the right thing? to be kind? to be generous?

You can always recognize truth by the fruit that it bears--if it enlightens, builds up, leads you to better thoughts and better words and better deeds, it is truth.

Begin now to work on developing and enhancing your innate ability to discern truth by practicing with the following MP3. It contains statements of truth. If you listen with more than just your ears, you will feel impressions within you.

As you listen, pay attention to how you FEEL inside as you hear and repeat each statement to yourself. How does it feel PHYSICALLY? That feeling, that place within you where that feeling lies, is your inner compass. In order to do this best, take just a few moments to be still. Inner stillness is vital to being able to FEEL truth.

MP3 File

Truth creates a unique FEELING within each individual. For some it is a feeling of inner warmth and strong emotion. For others, it is a quickening of the intellect and an inner stirring. As you begin to recognize what it feels like in you, you will soon have an anchor to come back to, letting you know when you are on track . . . and when you aren't.

Hard at Work as a Human Have-ing?

2008-04-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

Ever felt that in order for life to work that first you have to HAVE something, before you can DO something, before you can really BE something? Like you had to HAVE money so you can DO the fun things in life that you want to do, so that you can BE happy?

It is the other way around, you know. You and I are better off BE-ing first, so that we can DO, so that we can HAVE.

HAVING is a natural by-product of BE-ing.

BE forgiving.
BE non-judgmental.
BE accepting.
BE loving.
BE grateful.
BE caring.
BE understanding.
BE happy.
BE willing to admit you don't know everything.

BE the best you can BE in every moment.

BE efficient.
DO your best work.
HAVE the best pay.

Life works better this way.
I'm just saying.

Q&A with Stin

2008-02-26T11:52:00.000-08:00

I was recently interviewed by a woman's magazine. Here is the crux of the Q&A.

The whole gang (from left to right) Anders, Tatiana, me, Lucianna, Scott my amazing husband, and Mackenzie.

Tell me a little bit about yourself...interests, etc.

I grew up on a ranch in Central California in a big family. I am now continuing in the big family tradition with my fifth child on the way. I recently competed in a triathlon, am an avid reader, play guitar and sing. My greatest joy is found in my friendship with my husband and children. I love doing life with my family.

How important do you feel meditation and fitness are to young women today?

If there were a manual to success for doing life as a young woman in this century, it would without question include a daily practice of meditation and fitness. These small and consistent steps, done REGULARLY, offer the physical and spiritual strength needed to thrive and stay grounded. They are so simple, and require so little time, that we think that it must be more complicated than it is. It isn’t. Adding these two things will simply bring greater happiness and success to your life.

Things are tougher in many ways than they have ever been, but young women today are completely up to the task! In many ways the unique experiences in our individual lives are much like a classroom. We find ourselves constantly being tested and given opportunities to learn, as we prepare for each new stage to come.

How and when did you first start getting interested in metaphysics?

I was initially introduced to a holistic approach to healing in high school, when my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. With the grim diagnosis, my mom turned to eastern medicine and affirmations with miraculous results. She is still alive, and healthier than ever. It was then that I began to learn about the impact our thoughts and beliefs could actually have on our lives. I began to see that we had a CHOICE about what we thought about! This was a radical but very exciting shift for me.

Explain a little bit about what you mean when you talk about metaphysics and the mind?

In the 1970's, the Soviets and East Germans were the first to formally use structured mental rehearsal. At that time, they dominated in several Olympic sports. Today virtually all elite athletes use visualization extensively, as we now know that the brain cannot differentiate between real practice and practice that is vividly imagined.

Our brain is cybernetic in nature, which means that it is literally like a computer, waiting for a program to be installed. As it turns out, our own thoughts, repeated daily, are one of the primary ways that our "mental computer" is programmed on a sub-conscious level-- the level of beliefs, habits and automatic behavior. CHOOSING TO FOCUS ON NEW POSITIVE THOUGHTS, FEELINGS AND IMAGES WILL LITERALLY CREATE NEW NEURAL PATTERNS IN YOUR BRAIN.

What inspires you?

My biggest inspiration comes from reading my old journals. When I look with some distance at the miracles and growth that have taken place throughout my life, I am able to see myself in a broader context. Every time I read I am given courage to keep progressing and dreaming.

How do you deal with situations that leave you feeling discouraged and wanting to give up?

I have a “three second rule” that I really try to follow, which means that if discouragement and despair creep in I am only allowed to let it stay for 3 seconds. After that amount of time, I know it will begin a physiological response in my body, and that a slew of additional despair is on its way. This method of prevention has saved me from otherwise impending discouragement on many occasions.

What are your goals with all of your endeavors? What would be the perfect result of all of the work you do?

The deepest desire of my soul is to utilize my talents in building up, empowering, encouraging and strengthening others.

How do you deal with stress?

Any time I allow myself to get into a funk, it is remarkable to me how effective a quick workout can be. There is always a lot of resistance to get started, but once I get moving the hardest part is over. When I am done I feel mentally and emotionally re-booted. Optimism returns, and I am provided with a window of opportunity to change direction with my thinking and actions. I am able to step out of the box and respond with fresh perspective to whatever is going on.

To me, the greatest benefit of exercise is the emotional well being that always accompanies it. We miss the boat when we view it as merely a way to become more thin. It is a doorway towards re-inventing ourselves! Moving our bodies literally re-boots our brains.

How do you deal with negativity in your life, be it from internal or external sources?

I have had many difficult things to overcome in my life. The most effective tool for me in getting through some tough times in my life has been, oddly, through gratitude. It is a strange concept, because instinctively we are grateful for the good things in our lives but dread and hate the difficult things. I read a book during one of the darkest times of my life that proposed expressing “gratitude in all things.” It takes a huge leap of faith to be grateful for situations that are nearly killing you, but I decided to try it because nothing else was working! Every time I would feel pain inside from the situation I was going through, I would express gratitude for it. Eventually I began to see my life with a completely different perspective. As I accepted and even began to embrace my trials, I began to find new solutions and build the strength that was required to move beyond them. Most of my most prized traits were born from very intense labor pains!

Were you ever faced with pressure from those around you to conform to a certain norm, or to follow a certain path in life? If so, how did you deal with that?

I spent the early years of my life as an absolute chameleon, shifting and changing to meet my perception of what others wanted me to be. This method of doing life eventually failed, most perfectly. I was left exhausted and without a clue of who I was. I spent a couple of precious years trying to figure it out, and it was WRITING in journals and taking time to be still every day that eventually anchored me much more firmly into who I am today, how I spend the hours of my day, and where I am headed in my life.

What is something that you absolutely cannot live without?

I used to play a game with myself and try to eliminate one thing that I thought I couldn’t live without for a full week. My first one was no music for a week, and I discovered that I could actually live without it. Then it was sugar. Tough, but do-able. Television--hard habit to break but still possible to live without and even GREAT to live without once you realize how much time you get into your life! I haven’t done that game for a while, but I have learned that I am not as afraid as I used to be of suffering. It is the quickest way to see how blessed you really are, and identify those things that are most dear to you.

What guidance would you give to a young person who is unsure of which direction she wants to take with their life?

Get messy! Make mistakes! The quickest way towards figuring out what you WANT often comes through contrast, by discovering (often first hand) what you DON”T want. Write a lot and get a clear idea of what you WOULD create for your life if you could. Writing engages both parts of the brain in the creative process, and is very powerful. Everything that I have ever written about as being a desire of my heart has come to pass. The first thirty years of my life were a great "information gathering" phase and paved the way for the wonderful life that surrounds me know.

What do you think are the biggest challenges women face today? Do you experience them? If so, how do you overcome them?

One of our biggest challenges and opportunities as women is to find a way to become “beyond sexy”—to embrace our feminine power and beauty yet not rely on it in any way for our strength or identity. Many aspects of popular culture objectify women, put them on unrealistic pedestals, and then turn their backs when they fall short from perfection. We can and need to re-define what sexiness means for us personally and socially, and this is the generation that is going to see that happen!

What advice do you give to anyone who feels like they just don’t know how things will work out? If this feeling ever sets in, how do you deal with it?

I have found that faith and fear really can’t exist at the same time and that I am given constant opportunities in my life to decide where I stand.

What brings you the most joy in life?

Being a woman, walking by faith, and being inside my own skin as a mother.

The Power of Palming

2008-02-10T11:16:00.000-08:00

One of those days? Palming will rest and relax your eyes, calm your nerves, and quiet your mind. Your respiration will increase as long as you remember to breath deeply and fully.

Rub your hands rapidly together with your palms and fingers touching. Keep rubbing until you feel the generation of some heat and energy. Next, rest our elbows on your desk or a table. Cup your hands and gently place them over your closed eyes. Let the warmth and darkness soothe your eyes. Take several long and easy breaths as you imagine the tiredness being released with your out-breath and energy and vitality returning with your in-breath.

If someone walks in on you, try something like, "Can't a person even pray around here?" Better yet, have them join you.

Safe Passage

2008-01-08T13:35:00.000-08:00

Here's a great poem by Will Allen Dromgoole called “The Bridge Builder”

An old man, going a lone highway,
Came at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide—
Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”
The builder lifted his old gray head:
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him.

Sometimes the most important bridge that we can build is the one for our future selves. I think of my daughter Mackenzie who is now reaping smooth passage through her high school years on a bridge she started when she was very young. She built a bridge of steady study habits, high standards, and daily spiritual centering. I can't think of a time I have ever seen a kid with such a wide open future ahead of them. She inspires me.

Each time you choose to exercise or eat nutrient dense food, you are building a bridge for your future physical experience. When you choose to immediately let go of an offense, each time you stay honest, or keep your commitments, or steer clear of addiction and harmful behaviors, you are without question building safe passage for your emotional and spiritual future. Others are watching you too. Your bridge may light the way for someone in your life that you may not even be aware of.

What if things don't quite work out?

2007-11-30T15:22:00.000-08:00

A recent study by Peterson, Seligman and Vaillant found that men in their twenties with pessimistic thinking tendencies predicted poor physical health when those men reached their forties and fifties.

According to the study, when an unfortunate event occurred this group of men tended to blame themselves, tell themselves that they would never improve, and believe that misfortune would spill over into all areas of life. For example, after failing a math test a pessimist would think, “It’s me—I’m a failure; I always mess up on math; I am always unlucky when things really matter.”

Those with more optimistic patterns of thinking fared dramatically better in their physical health years later.

A different study indicated that similar thinking styles also tended to be a good predictor of drug and alcohol addicts who would completely relapse after slipping vs. those who would be able to bounce back after a similar stumble.

Choose carefully the inner dialogue going in within you during each phase of a stressful event: before, during and after.

Here are a few examples to help mentally prepare for a stressful event with an uncertain outcome:

• It will be fun to succeed, but not the end of the world if I don’t.
• What lies before me is an opportunity and an adventure, not a problem.
• I will aim to do the best that I can. I won’t ruin the experience with perfectionism.
• I have as much right as anyone to try my hand at this.
• I am embarking without absolute certainty of all the facts and outcomes, and I’m okay with that.
• My focus is on development, not mistakes.
• I’m not afraid to risk and fall short because I know that my worth comes from within.
• What really, is the worst that could happen?
• This could possibly end up being one of the best experiences of my life.
• Relax and enjoy the process, glitches and all.

For a little more direct help, try listening to "Dealing with Setbacks and Mistakes" at MyThoughtCoach.com. These recordings contain affirmations to use before and during stressful events, and one to use for the times when things don't quite work out the way you wanted. They will each help you maintain optimism and retrain your brain during the times you need it most.

Introduction to EFT

2007-11-30T08:46:00.000-08:00

This introduction to EFT video will help you get a better idea of how EFT works. Try it out! My Thought Coach.com.

Mentally Boost Your Immune System

2007-11-19T13:49:00.000-08:00

The ideal emotional state for optimum health is one free of judgment or offense and one full of gratitude and humility.

If you are not feeling too hot, allow your intention to be one of simply letting go of anything that is in opposition to the mental state for optimum health. Let go of any negative emotion that you might be aware of: fear, resentment, anger, worry. This type of energy compromises your health and drains energy from your system.

Focus your intention on also letting go of any grievances that you might be carrying, from either a person or a situation. Just as you can let go of physical tension and tightness in your body, so can you, with simply your intention, release and let go of any grievance that might be causing you anger, resentment, hurt, humiliation or judgment.

Your body will respond to your intention to let go of these feelings. Your ability to ward off illness and stay healthy and strong will be intensified. Try out the latest MP3 at My Thought Coach titled "Immune System and Wellness Booster" for an even more complete and enhanced experience.

Write Your Way Through A Funk

2007-09-24T19:01:00.001-07:00

Have you ever reached an impasse in your goals, and don't think you can go any farther? Try this. Pick up your pen and a notebook and write. Without stopping.

If you discover that you are angry at a turn of events not going your way, chances are that beneath the anger is fear. Let your writing help you come to the fear, and see what happens when you take it on.

If the situation seems hopeless and you have exhausted all avenues (so you think), if you know where you want to be and don't have a clue how to get there, write. Cover the page and keep on writing. Cover the next one too. Go on to the third. You will be surprised at your own power, and the solutions you will generate. You will experience a shift in your thinking, and most likely a breakthrough.

Write your way right through the funk and through to resolution.

Beyond all written whining something is waiting, but you need to stick to it until you find it. Go on with that pen, instead of giving in, until you get a sudden burst of energy and a surprise for going the extra mile.

The best stuff, the aha!, is often right past the place where you think you have run out of ideas or solutions.

Resolve to keep on writing until you come to the point where the light peeks through again. Almost seamlessly, before you know it, your complaining will shift to a "I suppose I could . . ." and then, subtly, to a "To-do today."

Clinical Studies on the Effectiveness of Imagery

2007-09-19T08:50:00.000-07:00

Imagery is at the center of relaxation techniques designed to release brain chemicals that act as your body's natural brain tranquilizers, lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and anxiety levels.

Because research indicates that imagery relaxes the body, doctors specializing in imagery often recommend it for stress-related conditions such as headaches, chronic pain in the neck and back, high blood pressure, spastic colon, and cramping from premenstrual syndrome. Try out my new "Meditation for Headaches, Backaches and Other Pain" at MyThoughtCoach.com, and put the power of imagery to task.

Researchers at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio found that people with cancer who used imagery while receiving chemotherapy felt more relaxed, better prepared for their treatment and more positive about care than those who didn't use the technique.

Several studies suggest that imagery can also boost your immunity. Danish researchers found increased natural killer cell activity among ten college students who imagined that their immune systems were becoming very effective. Natural killer cells are an important part of the immune system because they can recognize and destroy virus-infected cells, tumor cells and other invaders.

In another small study, researchers at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pa and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio found that seven people who suffered from recurrent canker sores in their mouths significantly reduced the frequency of their outbreaks after they began visualizing that the sores were bathed in a soothing coating of white blood cells.

Imagery can also help alter menstrual cycles and relieve symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. In a preliminary study, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston found that 12 of 15 women, ages 21 to 40, who used imagery for three months lengthened their monthly menstrual cycles by an average of nearly four days and slashed their perceived levels of premenstrual distress in half. They also reported fewer mood swings.

At the University of South Florida in Tampa, researchers asked 19 men and women, ages 56 to 75, who had chronic bronchitis and emphysema to rate their levels of anxiety, depression, fatigue and discomfort before and after they began using imagery. The researchers concluded that imagery significantly improved the overall quality of these people's lives.

A study at Yale demonstrated that patients suffering from severe depression were helped by imagining scenes in which they were praised by people they admired- a clear boost to their self-esteem.

Visualization and other relaxation methods may produce significant benefits, often by helping to ease pain and lift depression. Research is continuing to determine whether even more spectacular results can be achieved.

A controlled study of fifty-five women examined the effects of imagery and relaxation on breast milk production in mothers of infants in a neonatal intensive care unit. They received a twenty-minute audiotape of progressive relaxation followed by guided imagery of pleasant surroundings, milk flowing in the breasts, and the baby's warm skin against theirs. They produced more than twice as much milk as compared to those receiving only routine care.

In another study, a group of metastatic cancer patients using daily imagery for a year achieved significant improvements in NK cell activity and several other measures of immune functioning.

At Michigan State University, researchers found that students could use guided imagery to improve the functioning of certain white cells called neutrophils, important immune cells in defense against bacterial and fungal infection. They could also decrease, but not increase, white cell counts. At one point in the study, a form of imagery intended to increase neutrophil count unexpectedly caused a drop instead. Subsequently, students were taught imagery explicitly intended to keep the neutrophil count steady, while increasing their effectiveness. Both of these goals were achieved.

Other studies have shown that imagery can lower blood pressure, slow heart rate and help treat insomnia, obesity and phobias.

The Relaxation Response of the Mystics

2007-09-18T12:48:00.000-07:00

One of the ways that guided meditation can assist you in the alleviation of stress is by helping your body reach a profound state of muscular relaxation.

One thing I learned in my own life, as I began to practice meditation regularly, was that I could reach a deeper and deeper level of relaxation and inner peace more and more quickly each time I did it. As I learned how to totally relax key muscle groups in my body, a kind of muscle memory was established-- similar to the one that helped get through the triathlon swim this summer (see previous post "Life Mastery and Swimming Pools").

In addition, my awareness of the levels of muscle tension going on within me developed, as I became more quickly aware of subtle changes in the degree of muscle tension within my body. I was eventually able to bring these newfound relaxation techniques into other areas of my life, particularly during times of stress.

Through practice, you too will be able to eventually even block the stress reaction altogether. You will also learn how to control your breathing, and to completely prevent hyperventilation. When a person breathes too rapidly, an excess amount of carbon dioxide is exhaled, and oxygen consumption is increased. This process leads to feelings of light-headedness, faintness, and anxiety. Most panic attacks are accompanied and exacerbated by hyperventilation. These attacks can be aborted by relaxing skeletal muscles, ending the hyperventilating.

When you learn how to control your breathing and your musculature, you can find that place of deep peace and security that is always within. When you reach this level of inner peace, you can completely cease the production of any stress chemicals or hormones. You have mastered your body and your mind. You are in control. At this level, nobody and no thing can rob you of your inner peace and joy.

When mystics master this state, they describe how they are freed from fear, stress, desire, and the control of others. They can be in jail or prison, yet they are completely free.

We are all mystics. We can all be free. We just have to remember how.

Your Body Doesn't Equal Your Worth.

2007-09-06T22:37:00.000-07:00

The body is an external. It is not the core. Your body doesn't equal your worth. However, the body is a metaphor for the core in that the way we experience the body is likely similar to the way we experience our core selves.

The body, for example, is one way that we can receive and experience love. Consider the feeling of a hug or a gentle touch from someone who genuinely cares. The feeling that the body senses is also perceived by the inner core. If one views the body in the mirror with appreciation, it is easier to appreciate the core in a similar way. A respectful, caring attitude toward the body-- reflected in sensible and nurturing health practices-- tends to positively influence one's feelings toward the core self.

Conversely, through mistreatment or ridicule the body can be shamed, and often, by extension, so is the core. Thoughts such as, "I would appreciate my body if I didn't this blemish or that wrinkle or that fat," you are also likely to place harsh conditions on loving the core self. If you are hard on your physical imperfections, you will likely be unkind to your core self as well.

No matter how negatively you may have come to view your body, however, or how negatively it has been treated, your inner core is still intact. It is responsive to healing, refreshing, restorative love.

As you cultivate appreciation for the body, it becomes easier to experience the core self more kindly. The Appreciate Your Body Meditation is an exercise to help you cultivate a wholesome appreciation for your body, no matter what its present condition. Although you or others in the past may have transmitted critical messages about your body, you can learn to experience your body in a whole new, much more positive way.

Breathe Deep and Blow Loads of Bubbles.

2007-08-16T10:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a skill for your Life Toolbox that will help you more than soccer practice ever did.

The overall health of your body, mind, and emotions is tied directly to how well you breathe.

When breathing in, your lungs fill with blood waiting to be oxygenated. Once it is, the blood then circulates throughout your body cleansing, refreshing, and purifying your cells, all the while picking up poisons, toxins, and wasted that are released when you breathe out. As the diaphragm expands on the in-breath, it massages the abdominal organs, aiding digestion and elimination.

Diaphragmatic breathing is done by breathing in deeply enough that the belly area feels as if it is expanding. In fact, your belly will literally rise and fall as breaths are taken.

Doing so slows the heart rate and is associated with normal blood pressure. It increases lymphatic flow and the transfer of oxygen from the blood to the tissues. Diaphragmatic breathing dilates the brain and coronary arteries, which increases blood and oxygen to the brain and heart. It lowers tension and stress in the muscles and can reduce the sensations of pain. Diaphragmatic breathing enhances vitality, energy, self- awareness, and stability.

A natural stress release is created as you breathe diaphragmatically. Your heartbeat will naturally slow down as your diphragm stimulates the vagus nerve. Oh yeah. Your overall circulation will also improve.

Here are some tips of the trade:

• Breathe in and out through your nose. Your nose is designed to prepare the air for your lungs by warming or cooling it, moisturizing it, and removing dust particles and other small debris that might be floating around out there.
• Your lungs are large, and meant to be used. Give yourself a chance to breathe all the way in and all the way out.
• Since a decent breath begins with a complete exhalation, start by breathing out through your nose as much air as you can. Even after you think all the air has been released, squeeze a bit more out. You will notice a big difference in your lung capacity if you will first push as much air out as you possibly can. This will automatically prepare your lungs for a full and complete breath.
• Breathe in through your nose smoothly and evenly so that the air fills up the lowest part of your lungs first. Then let it expand to the midsection and finally to the uppermost part of your lungs.
• Breathe all the way back out again. Let the air release from the top to the bottom.
• To get the hang of it, gently place your hands on your tummy so that the tips of your middle fingers slightly touch each other. As you breath in, notice how your fingertips will slightly separate. Your fingertips will go back together when you breathe back out. This happens when your diaphragm expands and gently massages the abdominal area.
• Be aware of your shoulders. If you feel any tightness or tension, let them relax and soften as you exhale.
• Try focusing your attention on the sensation of breathing itself. Know when you are breathe in. Know when you are breathing out. When your mind drifts away, gently bring your attention back to your breath.
• Notice the gently caress of a steady and even in-breath and the sense of freedom and release generated with a slow out-breath. Let the exhalation be an outlet for any unwanted physical, emotional, or mental sensations.

One of the best ways to help out an axious child is to have them blow bubbles, real or pretend. If they just had a tantrum, you might need to blow a few too. Another option: head over to www.mythoughtcoach.com and don some headphones. The Guided Children's Meditation will quickly help Junior back to sanity, and I can guide you to a peaceful and relaxed place in no time on any one of the mp3s in the RELAX section of the library.

It's not what happens to us that matters so much. It's how we deal with it.

Growth occurs during rest, NOT during the training.

2007-07-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

If you have used my guided meditations to help you relax or sleep, you have likely discovered that when you are under stress for too long, without allowing proper rest and recovery, your well being and often your health begin to deteriorate.

As you move towards becoming a powerful force for good in the world, an understanding of this principle is crucial. Taking regular down time will allow you to settle into, and apply what you are learning, in real life contexts. It will prepare you to work “better” and “smarter” when your mind and focus returns there.

The training and strengthening of your PHYSICAL body is naturally an ideal place to understand this principle and apply it. The best laboratory for the good life is the one that you are currently living in!

If you train too hard, too long, and too fast without proper rest and recovery, the body rejects progress and deteriorates.

What one is actually doing to the muscle(s) when training is creating very small tears in the muscle fibers. These small tears breakdown muscle tissue and if proper rest is achieved before the next time that muscle tissue is broken down --- progress and growth are the results. The muscle tissue creates scar tissue (i.e. repairs itself) over the small tears in order to protect itself and prepare for the increasing demands being imposed on it.

When a muscle is forced to respond to increasing demands, it will gain strength and grow in size in order to protect itself. But if the muscle tissue is broken down again before it has been given sufficient time to recover and repair then the principles of Overtraining and Diminishing Returns take effect.

New this month to mythoughtcoach.com are a few mp3s to jump start your strength training goals.

MAXIMIZE YOUR WORKOUT RECOVERY—Visualization and images to assist in healing between intense training workouts.

THINK LIKE . . .THE OWNER OF A STRONG BODY!—Yeah, you really need to strength train. It’s really not an option anymore. Affirmations and vision to get you started and keep you committed.

Strong People Stay Young, and (Relatively) Sane

2007-07-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

Q. How often should I strength train if my goal is to burn fat?
A. 2 times per week would be great! As you build muscle tissue, which burns calories 24 hours a day, excess calories are less likely to be stored as fat!

Q. What if I don't want to bulk up? I just want to tone.
A. If it were that easy to bulk or get big nearly every guy in the gym would be huge. Women don't have the genetic potential to build large muscles due to hormonal differences. Adding muscle tissue to your body will actually make you smaller in the long run, because muscle takes us much less room on your body than fat does. The best goal for women is to weigh as much as you can in the smallest size.

Q. What are the benefits of strength training?
A. Strength training, if done correctly, can make some major changes to your body and mind! Actually, if you were only able to choose one type of workout, I would have you choose strength training over cardiovascular work. Here is what you can expect:

1. Increased metabolism
2. Increased strength and flexibility
3. Increased muscle tone
4. Reduced stress levels

A great way to approach strength training is with the Slow Speed Method available at mythoughtcoach.com, which is safe and extremely efficient. With your headphones on, I will coach you through every set as if I were right there with you!

The Serenity Prayer

2007-07-17T14:38:00.001-07:00

At times of trouble, this prayer is recited repeatedly until the intensity of difficulty has passed.

MP3 File

My Thought Coach

Life Mastery and Swimming Pools

2007-07-09T16:03:00.000-07:00

For reasons yet unknown, I have been preparing myself for the rigors of an Olympic-length triathlon this July. With a solid testimony of interval training, endurance work is a change to my previous highly productive, even sacred 20 minute workout time.

There's nothing really time efficient about training for a triathlon.

But there is something powerful about the process of becoming a good swimmer. I began this journey with a labored and sloppy swim stroke that I had picked up at around age 8 while playing Marco Polo with my brothers. The only way to change it was to REFUSE TO SWIM THAT WAY even once more. Not one stroke. Ever again.

The change didn't come naturally. Even after a conscious decision to swim better, every thing I was trying to master felt unnatural, like alien commands traveling along my nervous system. I had to make them second nature, absolute habits deep inside my body.

Our brains, as complex and as wonderful as they are, are really only able to focus on one thing at a time.

The only way my brain and body could begin to make this profound shift was to change my paradigm. I had to stop thinking of my workouts as swimming. Each workout became merely a practice of just one tiny piece of perfection. By breaking the big job down into bite size parts, I could then begin to practice doing those parts perfectly.

One skill at a time, the deep grooves in my brain and muscle systems are slowly experiencing an override, as they replace the old for the new and improved. Occasionally now I have moments of being inside the body of a strong and efficient swimmer. It's remarkable. It restores my faith in the process of change.

You can, without question, override old patterns, habits, and ways of doing life. EVERY TIME YOU CHOOSE A NEW WAY OF RESPONDING TO A SITUATION IN YOUR LIFE, YOU ARE SOFTENING THIS GROOVE. You are practicing doing it differently, and dramatically increasing the odds that you will be able to duplicate that behavior again. And again.

Start now, in the movement toward a new and improved life experience, with just one bite sized area. Have it be small--something in your life that you will now practice responding to differently from this moment on.

Want more peace in your life? Practice. Identify one area that stresses you out and then, every time that stressor shows up, embrace it! This is your big chance to PRACTICE RESPONDING DIFFERENTLY! The second it happens (i.e. the co-worker is rude, the driver cuts you off, the kids are insane, the bills!) mentally express gratitude that you have been given a fantastic opportunity to practice staying peaceful!

You have been given a gift from this marvelously orchestrated universe to become a better person than you used to be.

Over time, as this new response becomes more natural, choose another habit or response in need of some overriding. Hooray! More chances to practice and eventually master a new skill!

You are in the most ideal life curriculum for your maximum growth, chock full of opportunities to practice and eventually become a truly remarkable person. Click here to head to www.mythoughtcoach.com.

Relaxed and Stress Free Public Speaking

2007-06-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

The EFT method is one of the most effective ways to "re-file" anxieties within the brain, such as the fear of public speaking.

As a protective mechanism, our brains tag certain situations that they perceive as a threat, even if that perception began at a very early age, or was completely unintended. EFT allows these associations to literally move into a different area in the brain, without the accompanying fear or anxiety.

It feels so easy that you might be tempted to make it more complicated than it actually is. That is the perfect time to surrender and trust that some great things just get to be easy.

Try this. Pick up a pen or small pebble in your hand and hold on to it tightly. Pretend for a moment that this object that you have picked up is your anxiety or fear about public speaking, and that your hand represents your gut or your consciousness. If you held the object long enough this would start to feel uncomfortable, yet familiar.

Now, open your hand and roll the object around in it. Notice that you are the one holding on to it and that it is not attached to your hand. The same is true with your feelings. Your feelings and anxieties are as attached to you as this object is attached to your hand.

Just as simply as you could choose to let go of what you are holding in your hand, you could let go of this anxiety and fear about speaking in public.

The choice to let go, or release harmful feelings can be enhanced by gently tapping along some acupressure points in the body. This method is called the EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique. Essentially it acts as acupuncture for our emotions, and releases resistance to change. This technique also works well when trying to clear out strong negative emotions that are stored in the body. They can help also help release some of the “yes, but. . .” responses that come up with some affirmations.

EFT for Relaxed and Stress Free Public Speaking is the latest mp3 up at My Thought Coach, and will assist you in this experience. Give it a try while tapping the points outlined below using the first and middle fingers of either hand. With a light but firm pressure tap each area 7-10 times as you cover the area where the point is located.

1. Top of Head - the intersection of two lines on the top of your head (the tip of one ear, over your head, to the tip of the other ear; and a line from the tip of your nose, to the base of your skull)
2. Eye Brow - at the beginning of the eyebrow, just above and to one side of the nose.
3. Side of the Eye - on the bone bordering the outside corner of the eye.
4. Under Eye - on the bone under the eye about one inch below and in line with the pupil.
5. Under Nose - in the center of the area between the nose and top lip.
6. Chin - in the center between the bottom lip and bottom (or point) of the chin.
7. Collarbone - the junction where the collarbone, sternum (breastbone) and first rib meet.
8. Under the Arm - on the side of the body approx. 4 inches below the armpit