THINK UP

21 Days OR 21 Seconds? You choose.

2011-01-21T17:18:00.000-08:00

Perhaps you have heard that it takes 21 days to anchor in a new behavior or habit. I know I have heard this and read this repetitively for most of my life, especially since I started getting interested in human behavior and the mind-body connection. When I read it yet again this morning in an e-mail from a holistic center attempting to give advice about how to reach your New Year’s resolutions/goals, a strange thought came to me in my half-awake state. It seems that the half-awake state, much like hypnosis, is a great state for the unconscious mind to give you thoughts unimpeded by the conscious mind.

Here is the thought: We have been hypnotized, through repetition and belief, that it takes 21 days to create a new habit. Yet I know that I have worked with many clients and with myself to create a new thought, behavior or habit instantly. Therefore, if you change the belief and expectation, you change the experience. Why not condense the 21 day process into 21 seconds. This seemed too simple and logical when it popped into my head, and the more I now wake up into conscious thinking, the more I question the simplicity. So, I’ll STOP IT, and go with the original thought.

“From now on, I am catching myself anytime I read, hear, or repeat the previous Belief that had been reported as Fact that it takes 21 days to create a new habit, and I now intentionally choose to Believe and Expect that it only takes 21 seconds (or less)!”

I plan to repeat this mantra for 21 days. Oops, there goes that old habit again!

Hypno-Expo 2010!

2010-05-03T06:31:00.000-07:00

UPHI Florida Hypnosis Training Testimonial 2010

2010-04-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

DO YOU FEEL LUCKY!

2010-03-03T08:19:00.000-08:00

DO YOU FEEL LUCKY? Woke up this morning with the universe downloading (it happens a lot) the following: This year is about new beginnings, second chances, and confidently and fearlessly taking risks!

Good vibrational energy is definitely in the air the last couple of weeks because every time I go to a networking event I win something. In the past 2 weeks I won a beautiful Callaway golf bag, 2 bottles of wine, some beautiful covered fine-fashion CAbi clothes hangers, and $1600 worth of internet marketing classes from Phillip Black's Social Media Workshops (they're fabulous!). Now, I'm going to check my lotter tickets and prepare to write that book about "Using Hypnosis to Win the Lottery!"

DECIDE TO HAVE A LUCKY DAY!

HYPNOTISTS BENEFIT HOSPICE FOR WORLD HYPNOTISM DAY

2009-12-31T12:54:00.000-08:00

The 6th Annual World Hypnotism Day is January 4th and my company UP Hypnosis Institute is once again gathering an impressive group of Hypnotists for special events to raise money for our local Hospice. The Tampa Bay Area has in recent years become a magnet that has attracted the best of the best, and we are fortunate that many notable Hypnotists are now within just a few miles of our Palm Harbor, Florida, facility. Our motto is “Cooperation, not competition”, and we have found that the more we work together, the better all of our practices prosper.

On January 4th, I will be joined by my partners and adjunct trainers Katie Coffin and Jan Rysdon for an Open House at UPHI. We’ll spend the entire day meeting the public, answering their questions about hypnosis, doing presentations and demo’s, giving away prizes, and offering free hypnosis sessions for a tax-deductible donation to Hospice. We see this as an ideal way for people to have a wonderful, relaxing experience and to eliminate any misconceptions they may have about hypnosis.

Then, on January 9th, we have an impressive lineup of presenters that includes Jillian LaVelle (Founder of Int’l. Assoc. of Counselors & Therapists), Debbie Lane (IACT’s 2007 Hypnotist of the Year), Arthur Emrich and others who will be giving talks every half hour. We’ll have music, prizes, refreshments and private sessions available for tax-deductible donations to Hospice.

We look forward to raising even more money than we did at our last event, proving that the best way to be prosperous and joyful is to help someone else. When the positive energy starts to flow, it frees up space and invites even more positive energy in. We hope you’ll join us if you’re in the area.

What a great way to begin 2010!

A DREAM REALIZED - MEDICAL HYPNOSIS TRAINING IN PALM HARBOR

2009-11-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

When I began a private practice 17+ years ago in California, there were only a couple of places to get medical hypnotherapy training. One of those places was in Phoenix, AZ, and I made many extended trips there through the years. My first medical hypnotherapy teacher, Dr. Michael Preston ("Hypnosis: Medicine of the Mind"), passed away last October. Sean Longacre ("Visualization & Guided Imagery in Complimentary Medicine), founder of the National Board for Hypnotherapy & Hypnotic Anaesthesiology in Arizona, passed away a few years ago and the Board was disbanded. Bruce Lipton ("Biology of Belief") was on the Board of Directors at the American Board of Hypnotherapy in those early years and taught me about the science behind the mind-body connection. As a student, I was definitely ready. And the universe caused amazing teachers to appear!

Although hypnosis is being utilized more and more as a complimentary adjunct to conventional medicine, there are still very few avenues for practicing hypnotherapists to receive the appropriate specialty training needed to work within the medical model. When I started the UP Hypnosis Institute 7 years ago, my intention was to offer quality training and support for those desiring to help people and to eventually offer specialty training in medical hypnotherapy. Well, eventually has arrived!

Melissa Roth is someone I met early in my hypnosis career and attended many of her seminars and classes, both at the American Board of Hypnotherapy is California and the National Board for Hypnotherapy & Hypnotic Anaesthesiology in Arizona. She has gained notoriety for her work with medical professionals and has developed programs for working with fibromyalgia, IBS, and more that are now industry standards. Now I am so happy to be partnering with her to offer Medical Hypnotherapy Specialty Training for the first time in the Tampa Bay Area starting November 20 (see: http://www.uphypnosis.com/). This truly is a dream come true, and only the beginning of my quest to have expert hypnotherapists in every hospital and clinic.

Projecting this DREAM out into the future, I imagine well-trained hypnotherapists out in the world receiving the respect and success they deserve and helping people to discover the Unlimited Possibilities that are available to us all through Mind-Body Cohesion(c). And just as I am passing on the wonderful teachings of Preston, Longacre, Lipton, and my other wonderful teachers, I imagine UP Hypnosis Institute students spreading their knowledge and making this a healthier, more enjoyable life experience for their clients and students.

The flow of energy is positive, self-perpetuating, and getting more powerful each and every day. I look forward to what the universe causes to appear NOW!

PAIN IS A BEHAVIOR!

2008-08-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

PAIN IS A BEHAVIOR

Although some people's behavior may be a pain (couldn’t resist), I have come to think of the experience of pain as being an "expression", either of some disturbance within the physical body, or some disturbance in the thought process. I'm convinced that people can get into the habit of having a pain on cue, so to speak. They can literally program themselves to get the pain at certain times and in certain situations. In that way, it might very well be thought of as a learned behavior.

Recently I saw an ad in a magazine that I had to cut out and use in classes. I MUST share this with all of you. It was for a new migraine medication and showed a pondering woman at her work desk with bubbles of thoughts above her head. The sequence went like this:

Bubble #1: "If I get a MIGRAINE (their emphasis) tomorrow......"
Bubble #2: "I'll never make it through that two-hour recital....."
Bubble #3: "But Kate's counting on me to be there....."
Bubble #4: "Plus, I've got that presentation for work due Monday....."
Bubble #5: "Somehow I'll have to get it done."

Then the ad states the following:

"Thinking about migraines even when you're not having one? Maybe it's time for a change. TxxxxxX can help stop migraines before they start so you can get fewer of them to think about......"

Tell me that ad agencies don't know something about the power of suggestion. And by the way, how do you "STOP" something that doesn't exist…yet???

I'm working with a gentleman who fell off a ladder 3 1/2 years ago and had part of his brain removed. His wife was told he would be a quadriplegic the rest of his life and never regain his body or brain functions, and that she should put him in a nursing home and get on with her life. She didn’t listen. When she called me in to work with him on pain and attitude about 5 months ago, he had recovered a remarkable portion of movement of most of his body. He still must be lifted in and out of wheelchair, but is walking between bars with a physical therapist and astounding the doctors.

On my first visit, he had some pain going on in his back. On a scale of 1-100, with 100 being the worst, it was at about 70. Just talking with him and getting him to create some imagery to represent releasing endorphins from his brain and sending them down his back, he was able to immediately take it to 40. A few minutes later it was insignificant. His mind envisioned the endorphins as musical notes, so that is what we have used since.

Sorry to be so wordy (you know ME), but back to the point. In speaking with him, it became obvious he had come to “expect” that whenever he sat for over ½ hour, the pain would show up. I think pain comes from our belief system. As a matter of fact, I would go so far as to say that ALL of our problems, conditions, painful memories, diseases, etc., are caused, exacerbated or affected by our belief system. That may be a radical stretch for some to accept, but as long as I hold that “belief” in my energy when working with clients, I somehow seem to be able to help them consider that possibility, and sometimes that alone facilitates profound changes that help them to move forward. The reason I believe that hypnosis and NLP are so powerful in dealing with the experience of pain is that it allows the person to go inside to discover the source of what really needs attention. Change the beliefs and the expectations, and you can change the expression and experience of pain.

"MEDICINE OF THE MIND" AUTHOR, DR. PRESTON, SURPRISES ME!

2008-06-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

This has been an exciting week, culminating in an unexpected hour-long telephone call with Dr. Michael Preston, author of "Medicine of the Mind". I studied extensively with Dr. Preston in the early 1990's and haven't seen or spoken with him in many years. Since he was in his 70's when I studied with him, I wasn't even sure if he was still of this world. An interesting twist of fate that included someone "borrowing" my cherished signed copy of "Medicine of The Mind" about 2 years ago and never returning it actually laid the groundwork for this amazing phone call. For a long time I felt very upset and even angry that someone would keep something that meant so much to me. I thought I knew who borrowed it, and put the word out to many people in order not to embarrass the person, about how important this signed book was to me. A few weeks ago I came to terms with the fact it was probably gone forever, and decided to wish the person well and hope the book helped them or someone else. Funny how as soon as you decide to "let go" of old resentments, the universe offers unexpected rewards.

Dr. Preston said he did remember me and my ex-husband, Ernie, who accompanied me to those trainings in Phoenix. I originally attended to support Ernie, who had Lymphoma, and was immediately enthralled with the field of Medical Hypnotherapy and made it my specialty. Ernie used the techniques he learned from Dr. Preston for many years, and I'm convinced this significantly prolonged his life. Ernie died about 1 1/2 years ago of a different disease. During the phone call, Dr. Preston offered me bits of insight about working with what he calls "patients", and I refer to as "clients". I told him, ironically, I will be presenting a seminar based on his "Library" technique next month in Orlando for the Hypnosis Education Association, and he began to review his technique over the phone. I wish I had been able to record this phone call, but alas, it is only recorded in my mind and in the scribbles of furious notes I was taking.

Dr. Preston has been very ill for about 6 years now, following a fall from a ladder. Interestingly, I remember the very first seminar I attended in Phoenix with him. He was telling us a story about falling off a ladder a couple of years earlier (remember he was in his 70's at that time!) and as he lay unconscious in the hospital, having lost an enormous amount of blood, the doctor told his son not to be too optimistic because of his fathers age. Little did that doctor know that as soon as Dr. Preston fell and cracked his head open, in the unconscious state he began to give orders to his body to stop the bleeding and start the healing process. Being a doctor, he knew the precise directions to give his mind/body, and a few days later when he came out of the coma he began yelling at the doctor and repeating every word he had said to his son. The doctor was shocked, needless to say, as Dr. Preston lectured him on never using such negative language in the room with someone who is unconscious, because they DO hear every word and not everyone is trained as he is to ignore such limiting comments. After telling the class this story, he went on to convince us that there is absolutely no reason we can't live to 126 and beyond.

I found it interesting that his latest illness was caused from "falling off a ladder", and all I could think was, if I were Dr. Preston I would definitely stay away from ladders! He has evidently extended his previous forecast, in spite of his current condition, and said several times during our conversation that "400" years old is his expectation. I thought I had been optimistic by taking his "126" prediction and adding years every year since then to arrive now at an estimation of "187". Guess I need to readjust my expectations.

The wonderful result of this phone call is that Dr. Preston is sending me another signed copy of his book, and I also ordered 10 more books to make available to my students at UP Hypnosis Institute. I believe this new "reconnection" with Dr. Preston was destined, and I plan to do whatever is necessary to introduce my students and other audiences to his skills and techniques.

GRATEFUL MOMENTS!

2008-05-26T06:29:00.000-07:00

Waking up on this beautiful Memorial Day in sunny Florida, I am filled with a sense of gratitude and appreciation for so many things. First, for my 86 year old Dad, a war veteran and the most patriotic person I have ever known. He is no doubt taking part in some festivities at the VFW in Troy, Illinois, where he lives and where he (& I) was born. Second, for the amazing IACT/IMDHA conference in Daytona Beach last week, where I had the priviledge to interact with and learn from some of the most gifted people in the world of Hypnosis & NLP, and where I took morning walks on the beach and watched the sunrise.

Today I am also thinking about my brother, Joey, who was a Vietnam Vet and who died almost 4 years ago. Interestingly, the last time (only other time) I was ever in Daytona Beach before last week's conference was with my brother, who was giving me the grand tour of Florida by car on a visit about 10 years ago. His car broke down in Daytona Beach and we were "stranded" there for about 4 hours, walking on the beach, eating crab rangoon, and browzing a "Parrot Head" shop.

Mostly I feel grateful for LIFE. All I have to do is look around me, and I immediately find countless blessings. All I have to do is look UP into the sky, and feel in awe of the beauty and magnificence of life itself. When I encounter someone feeling DOWN, I want to encourage them to lift their eyes and look UP, lift their body and stand UP, and use their mind to "THINK UP!" If it sounds too simple, that's probably because it is.