The Transparent Hypnotist

Or How A Piece Of Plastic May Change My Life

Photograph by sergis blog (cc)

My name is Ellie Blunt and I am a clutter-aholic. 

I say this with conviction to the crowded-yet-empty room. In my mind, the observer sits, head propped in her hands, pushing her glasses back onto her nose bridge. The critic is posed on the edge of her seat, notebook in hand and has begun to scribble something. The logical part of me paces back and forth and the creative side, runs her finger’s through her hair, ready to problem solve. She thinks she is a team player, but is often at odds with Reason (aka logic). 

I have their attention with my introduction and they respond with “Hello Ellie.”  Then there is a pause, exquisite silence and I enjoy it. 

The critic is the first to speak, “That is true Ellie, you are a clutter-aholic. Everything is piled up everywhere. How can you live in this mess?”

“It is a sign of creativity. She is constantly working on stuff,” my creative side comes to my defense.

“But is that the most productive way?” asks Reason.

The observer watches all this without comment.

This is a conversation I often have with myself when things get busy-crazy. These are the sides of me I commune with during self-hypnosis and very often each serves its purpose well…until they gang up on me. The most recent incident was when I went shopping to stock up on tea for the office. My normally organized purse was in its own state of crisis and this became known to everyone in the grocery store when I had to go excavating not only for my credit card, but also for my “user loyalty card” (yes, I want those points to save on my gas expenses). Out flew old receipts, lipstick, cell-phone, eye drops, Aspirin vials, and a few unmentionables. All this trouble was to save a few cents on a gallon of gas. Was it worth it? 

The answer is yes. Yes, all the ungraceful moments of my life circumstances leaking out of my purse for the world to see was worth the trouble. Sure, I will save a tad on my next tank of petrol. But, the incident in question tells me something more is going on inside me. I have let some hecticness filter in and affect me. I am not taking enough time out for myself (I do not believe I meditated yesterday). It also reeks of a need to simplify again, to reconsider a new organizational system (I do like a good system).

As I pulled out my abundant key ring (remembering I had my loyalty card attached to it), the wad of plastic and metal seemed really overbearing. There was a sudden flashback of trying to find my office supply store card on it, only to realize it had worn away and had released itself into the wilds of the world, becoming another piece of plastic litter. Unacceptable. 

While perusing buzzpond.com, I found a potential solution, a new system for organizing loyalty cards. The name of this fabulous thing is simply The KeyRing Thing. Basically, it lists all your loyalty card barcodes on one card (holding a total of six loyalty cards), thus combining a series of annoying little plastic tags or several cards that take up space. The reality is, you could probably make one card yourself by combining all the tags and laminating them onto card stock. But for a small shipping and handling fee (about $2 a card), this could be a really useful piece of plastic to carry around (provided you can find your wallet in your purse or briefcase - lol).

As a hypnotist, I appreciate things that easily modify behavior, whether you trance out for it or not. Therefore, I have ordered said card and will give it a go. My creative self is still thinking it would be fun to make my own card, but Reason has won this one (this is cleaner, neater, and by the time I buy the card stock and lamination supplies, the cost will well exceed $2). My inner critic seems satisfied and is taking a coffee break and the observer? Well, she is always watching.

Visit KeyRingThing to learn more.

 

Photograph of Saint-Malo by steve.grosbois
 

Last night I sat down to do a little self-hypnosis. This week brings a lot of social events and if I think too hard about them, I tend to get a little nervous. A little dash of hypnosis goes along way and makes the events enjoyable.

I turned the lights down low, lit a candle, put on some Philip Glass (I find his music very trance inducing), sat down in my recliner, and closed my eyes. Taking a deep breath in, in a distracted way, I expected to smell the lavender scent of my candle. There was no scent. I opened my eyes to double check that I had lit it. Sure enough there was a little flame glowing steadily in the dimness of the room. Closing my eyes again, I took another deep breath and slowly exhaled through my nose - only no air escaped. My nasal passages seemed to be clogged. I had been going on high-speed for so much of the day, I had not even noticed that I was beginning to have an allergy reaction. Moments before beginning the self-hypnosis, I had cleaned out a cabinet that contained various linens that I had not used for a long-time (and that had also become a prime sleeping spot for the cat - had I really left it open long enough for her to discover it?). Hence allergies.

My normal reactions to such predicaments is to have a cup of tea with a teaspoon of honey, but alas, I had not been to the market in time to replace that last teaspoon. The honey jar sits neglected in emptiness. I also tend to use hypnosis to open up my nasal passages, but last night, I did something a little different.

As an official buzz agent, I was sent a bottle of Afrin(R) Pure Sea to try. It is a hydrating nasal rinse that uses sea water (from the Bay of Saint-Malo in France) that has been put through sterilizing filtration to remove anything harmful. Basically you use the rinse to clean out the nasal passages after you have been exposed to things like dust, mold, germs, smoke, irritants, pollutants, and yes, allergens. It is touted as a natural way to deal with these things that does not involve medication. As I am working on decreasing medication in my life, I thought it would be good to give this a try.

I have used it once a day for about a week (you can use it up to four times a day). I had not noticed much, other than it seemed to help eliminate some of my nose itchiness that happens because of the forced air of my environments (so very, very dry). But last night, as the allergy symptoms progressed, I decided to give Afrin(R) PureSea an opportunity to prove itself. I used it, composed myself and sat down in my recliner agin. I inhaled through my nose this time, and sure enough, I had clear passages. I was a little shocked. I expected a bit of relief, but not to be able to breath so well, so fast. I continued on, concentrating on my breathing, until I was in the wonderful state of hypnosis that allowed me to work on my original intention of being able to enjoy the upcoming social events.

Now I am a fan. But what about you? Care to try it? I was also given a bunch of $3 coupons to hand out. I will gladly share them with you, dear readers. Yes, I will send one to you, no strings attached. They are valid until June 30, 2009. If you are interested in trying Afrin(r) PureSea, just leave a comment with this post, sharing your allergy experiences (anything at all - complaints, things that provide you with relief - whatever). Make sure to include your email address, so I can contact you for your mailing address. I suspect this is a USA campaign, so I will have to put this codicil on that your address needs to be in the States. 

Photograph by The Labour Party

She comes to me for help in losing weight. Somewhere along her path, somewhere between fast food joints and petrol stations with trail mix (the kind with bits of chocolate), she has gained quite a bit of weight. She travels frequently and finds herself using this as an excuse not to keep up with her exercise or even proper nutrition. That is boring, right? 

She finds her self-esteem also wrapped up in the weight. Somewhat naive and believing the pounds would magically shed themselves, every time she went to a physician and was forced to stand on a scale (finally almost thinking about fending this off with a few well chosen martial arts moves - she knows no such gestures), her heart would sink as the scale, perhaps justly so, told of her bad habits. Her beautiful clothes no longer fit quite right and she began to exist in jogging pants (the skinny little black yoga pants long too small). The mirror also betrayed her, but not as much as the everyday reflections off of glass doors or cars (anything reflective). They were the true enemy. She was no longer able to live with the the idea that every reflection was complete distortion. No, the distortion was in her head. Her stomach sagged a bit over her waist line, she had a bloated look to her, and jowls even threatened to be a new addition to her face. 

This client who desperately sought me out was myself. Since I began with the goal to lose 20 pounds (back in January), seven and a half have been removed - not lost. Have I just used hypnosis in this process? No. I have finally had to take my advice to countless others and practice what I preach - I need a healthier lifestyle. This  new life style includes self-hypnosis (for keeping me motivated and tweaking some of the better habits I wish would come easier), portion awareness, some calorie counting (allowing me to make better food decisions), daily exercise (almost), drinking lots of water, and being patient with myself. 

It has been truly tempting at times to go for diet pills or other trendy diets, but I know in the long-term, slow and steady will win my race back to a size eight. It has been a remarkable experience so far in that now I have a much deeper understanding of what people go through in trying to lose weight. I also find that the more I know about healthy living, the better I do, the better I feel. 

I have always done research or tried to find sources for my clients. Since I am now one of them, I find myself always looking for women’s health resources. I have always been tempted, when grocery shopping, to go for foods that say fat free or low calorie, totally buying into the marketing of specific products. It is not a practice that is very consumer conscious really. I had no idea what those terms meant, only that they sounded good in a healthy sort of way (Oh, Ode to Olestra). But then I go to web sites such as www.womenshealthbase.com and find out that well, it is not quite as fuzzy wonderful as I would have hoped. There is math involved (I am not a fan of math, though I see its necessity). There are certain amounts of this or that in those products that may not be so helpful to my cause. But, now I have a better idea of what to look for in nutrition as well as some healthier options.

It is amazing what we think we know compared to the reality. Sometimes you just have take off those mental, rose colored glasses, take a long hard look (put on those reading glasses and gaze upon the ingredients and nutrition information of potential eating pleasures), take a deep breath and make another choice. The road is long.

 
Photograph by tnarik

There are times when I crave a little cream for my coffee. Sometimes a teaspoon of the cool, white liquid, turning the darkness of my beverage to a lighter brown is the height of decadence. I find this more so with my current goal to lose 20 lbs. I have always been a black coffee drinker, but every now and agin, as you may know, I love to shake it up and change things around. However with my current weight loss, I find it harder to justify the few extra calories provided by creamers (that little bit of cream really can add up in the course of a day). So, I take a deep breath in, look at the note that sits beside my computer that says 130 lbs. and I abstain.

But, I am not so good with abstinence that I will continue on the deep and furious path of phobia hypnosis work that I have been on for a little over a week. I need a break from the dark and heavy (call it taking care of the therapist in me). Today I am focused on my own personal goals and searching for more of the latest trends in weight maintenance and management. 

I have become aware of a web site called Skinny and the City, which combines nutrition and diet with fashion and beauty. I am a sucker for low cal. recipes (especially at the moment) and any advice on which jeans to purchase for my shape. But, I fear I do not do this site justice. It is the sort of site you can imagine Carrie Bradshaw (Candace Bucknell?) appreciating. It has the quaint feel of getting together with you best buds and well, being healthy (maybe still knocking back a martini or two). The site also offers an email service that will send you daily tips (including stuff that is not on the web site). I know, I know, more potential junk mail for the email trash can, but every now and then signing up for such things turns up real gems. I am looking forward to seeing what they have to say (five experts in the field).

 
Photograph by you-did

Somewhere on some bookshelf of my past, there is a NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) handbook. It is a hardback, well-kept, and treasured. I can see it sitting on the bookshelf and could walk right over to it, coffee in one hand, and pull it out of its resting spot with the other hand. I would like to do that now so I can have a lucid discussion of another handy tool called Eye Movement Integration(tm), but alas, the book is not on my current shelf. I move my eyes up and over as I recall that the bookshelf was in a totally different location from where I currently live or work and that book, where is that book? It is not in the box sitting next to the bookshelf, the one with all the books that will not fit. And for this moment I am desolate. 

Anyway, no point in dwelling. Someday the book will show up again, but that does not help me with today’s posting. Yes, Eye Movement Integration(tm) is indeed the theme, so I will have to go it alone without the book. Are you finding yourself looking back to the 10 Questions with Rebecca Batts and wondering where the reference to EMI was mentioned? No, it was not from Rebecca (whose favorite technique is progressive relaxation and visualization - we can talk about that another time if you would like). I was reminded about EMI in an article I mentioned yesterday on overcoming fear.

EMI as defined by the Free Dictionary (medical) is:

therapy in which the practitioner directs a client to recall a traumatic event, while leading the individual to move the eyes in a particular set of patterns to bring about healing and release from the trauma.

EMI originated in the work of Connirae and Steve Andreas in 1989 and has its foundation more in NLP than hypnosis. It continued in its legacy with the help of Danie Beaulieu, who wrote a book called Eye Movement Integration Therapy: The Comprehensive Clinical Guide. When thinking about eye movement in relation to NLP work, many of us tend to think of it more as a way to monitor another’s thought process, using it an an evaluation tool, rather than as one that is more therapeutic. EMI is the later and is based on the idea that eye movement accesses all the various sensory systems (could we call this reflexology of the eyes?). Guiding the eye movements of the client, the practitioner is able to help the client connect all the senses. With traumatic events, EMI practitioners believe that such occurrences are isolated in a person’s life, which causes all the problems both in actual neurology and thoughts. By incorporating eye moments, all the sensory systems are accessed. Though the event remains in the mind of the client, the goal is to lessen the emotional impact of it.

So how does EMI work?

The client thinks about the fear and responds to it by creating a statement that is the direct opposite of the fear, a statement that encompasses feelings of safety and security. Then the client thinks about the the source of the trauma (the event itself) or the root of their anxiety. As the client thinks about this, the practitioner slowly moves their fingers in front of the client’s eyes and has the client follow the slow movement (2).

The process has been well-described on Interlink, the National Board of Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists:

Finally, change occurs during the EMI procedure because there is a five-way division of attention as the client is being asked to concentrate on the numerous facets of the intervention collectively. First, the client is being encouraged to wrap him/herself in a sense of competence/security which is remembered, accessed and anchored from a past personal experience. Second, he/she is being asked to watch an imagined “younger” self going through a representation of the problematic experience on an imagined movie screen. Third, to bear in mind a desired positive belief and any positive learning the client discovers and wants to preserve into the future. Fourth, the client is being instructed to follow the therapist’s finger, or target, as it is being moved across the plane of the client’s face. Fifth, the client is being asked to scale his/her level of discomfort as a Subjective Unit of Distress (SUD) repeatedly.

Sources:

• Eye Movement Integration Therapy: The Comprehensive Clinical Guide
• (1) NLP Comprehensive book review by Dr Graham Dawes
• (2) NV Daily

With a backlog of things that I need to do - this living thing can be hard work - I find myself feeling a bit tapped out. My concentration is not as acute as it has been in the past, so I am boiling things down, learning the life lessons I need (everything is an opportunity for learning, yes?), and assigning priorities. Therefore I am going to look at my list of goals and begin to move forward on them.

I have two goals that I think can go in tandem with each other - working through Gorilla Marketing tactics and creating a hypnosis audio. I created a free guided meditation last year as an act of kindness for one of the various blogger’s unite days and I do client audios, so I do not think this is a far stretch. Therefore I am starting to get ideas and resources together for it.

Back in November I did a post on photo resources and one was from acobox.com. They have another site that is a consumer network. It is a social networking sort of place, where you can post information on well, just about anything. You can see what other people have to say about various products including blogs. I registered and put in a blurb about my blog. If you are curious, you can see it at http://www.acobay.com/topic/520246. (Please feel free to leave a review or comment).

It is a really simple interface. You join with the standard user name and password. Then you can add items randomly, look for stuff and then add your own reviews just by clicking what looks like a + sign. After this, you type, type, type away, immortalizing your words for eternity (or the duration of the site). And there is the ever present make new friends thing that happens on social networking sites. Always a plus.

It will be interesting to see how this goes and a I said I plan to shamelessly plug the new audio once it is finished. But you know, you could beat me to the punch…

Photograph by ian boyd

It feels a little like relief, this thought that today day is the last in 2008. The new year always feels like a fresh mental notebook, one that is clean, organized in its straight lined paper and full of potential. Maybe it is the idea that the collective universe somewhat feels the same, so we all share in some hopes of newness. My partner says that hope means longing, and I guess I am longing for new positive changes in consciousness for this upcoming year.

This year I do not believe I will do the whole resolution thing. Are you? Instead I am making a list of goals that I would like to accomplish. I had to planed to share these with you, but the friends that I am staying with over the holiday have a slow internet connection, so that will have to wait.

However I will share the resource that I plan to use help keep track of these goals. It is www.43things.com. This site is a place to list your goals, keep track of them, find others with similar goals, and spread the positive energy of intention. Others can cheer you on or you can route for them. When I am back on my own computer (and connection), I will post mine. Let me know if you are participating and we can cheer for each other.

Also, quick note to entrecarders - I am unable to do much dropping for a few days, but I will be mentioning those of you who have faithfully dropped on my for the past month or more.

Photograph by vlidi

My head is still a cotton ball and today the words are not flowing. Usually even on the worse, most tired days the words tumble from my typing fingers onto the blog post. Not so at the particular time. All I want to do is just crawl back in bed and wake up to a nose that allows for breathing and a head that is not pounding. 

This means that I need to write about something positive, something slightly in the future, something to look forward to - something hypnotic and refreshing…I have got it - the Global Hypnosis eSummit. It is happening from March 13 -15, 2009. And it is happening in your own home, on your own computer. No need to make travel reservations, lug suitcases around, and be enticed by hotel bars (bars that might have really good Clam Chowder…). The eSummit is the brainchild of the Hypnothoughts.com community and will feature 99 hours of hypnosis education with seminars geared for the general public and experienced hypnotist. 

We even know a few of the presenters:

• Lee Darrow
• Paul Durbin
• Roy Hunter

It all sounds pretty wonderful. The only downside is that the NGH says they will not accept this eSummit for continuing education credits. 

Photograph by zeon7

The flash of the camera is barely blinding and goes off so frequently that it is almost unnoticeable. What would seem like obnoxious, invading paparazzi is otherwise, is accepted because it is your friends and family that control the trigger (whoops - Freudian slip - I meant to say shutter). Some still insist on using film, so you forget about those latent images until they surface at another gathering. You make appreciative sounds as you look at the pictures of the wonderful memory. And for those using digital cameras, they show you the pictures right then and there, before the image becomes digital air.

The truth is, with the digital air, you may find yourself somewhat relieved that you may never see that photograph of you again with eyes half closed in a blink, exposed in some unflattering pose, or with huge hips because of the evils of the wide angle (it is the camera really - my hips cannot be that big). And the next truth is that maybe you dread looking at those images because they are completely unflattering and remind you that your body is not remotely as you would wish.

These are some of the things weight loss clients have shared with me in their journey toward their weight goals. The kicker is that even after these people lost their weight, in some cases toned their bodies through exercise, they look at random photos taken by others and are still unhappy with themselves, no matter what positive messages their clothing sizes or scales send them.

Here is the rub, people. Just because someone has a camera, does not mean that they will be able to take fabulous pictures of you. Odd camera angles, wrong lens, bad lighting and other factors can distort your actual image. The camera can, in fact, lie. One thing I am doing for my recent weight loss group is having a professional portrait photographer come in and do both the before and after picture of my clients. Their before pictures do not need to be hideous because I would rather the client see themselves in the same conditions before and after, so they can get a better comparison.

The other thing my clients did was their own weekly photographic journal of images. For this, the same photographer gave them a self portrait workshop. This proved really handy. The first thing he suggested was buying an inexpensive tripod, rather than just holding the camera out at arms length (bad angles for most people).

I started thinking about this recently when I saw a new product that might be better than a typical tripod that I think would be helpful for these photo diaries. It is called the xshot. Basically it is an extension rod that the camera can be attached to for a handheld pictures in a way that allows optimized self-portraits. It gives one flexibility with more angles and the option of a more flattering camera lens distance. Also, it is compact. It collapses to just nine inches for easy (and light ) carrying.

So the gist is that you attach your compact camera via a quick spin knob (no quick release adapters to lose). Then you chose your angle (the adapter rotates 180 degrees), extended the extension (37 inches), set your self-timer and hold out the rod with the camera attached at your height level (camera facing you of course).

Here is the truly fun aspect of this. When you are at gathering where other people bring out the cameras, just pull out the xshot, along with your own camera and take control of the situation. Put yourself in the festive pictures with your friends and family and shoot away. The best thing is that you get to pick the angle and the lens, perhaps receiving happier results. Then when it comes time to share the images, you will have your own memories where maybe, just maybe you like the way you are preserved in the moment.

The Tetons and Snake River
by Ansel Adams source Wikimedia license Public Domain

Ah, the pleasure of an old friend - Constant Comment tea. I lived on it during my university years. But, it too has aged a bit. It taste different than it does in my memory. It is more bitter now. Maybe it is just me. Sigh.

I must indulge my pleasures another way, but before you become too creative in helping me move that thought along, I shall not linger here for long. Rather, I shall infuse my sight sense with beautiful imagery. There is something so satisfying about beautiful art and photography. When you find something that causes pause and you want to look at it longer than it takes to click off a web site, well…it is a true pleasure. And there are so many wonderful things out there to discover. I equate it to shopping. We browse through the racks, seeing this fabric, that texture. We go quickly until something seems worthy of a longer look, and there is joy in that find.

I write about indulging the sight sense today because I get a fair amount of email from people who enjoy the images I choose for my various posts. There is something so pleasing about hearing from people who may not have no interest in hypnosis, but the images lured them into my web enough to read a few lines of the post, and some even read the entire paragraph sets. Then they return. Is that hypnosis? Maybe. The images act as an induction that allows the conscious mind to focus on something else, while the subconscious mind takes in the suggestion (to keep reading).

Many people ask me where I find the images, especially those new to blogging. I would love to take credit for them all, but the only notice I deserve in the matter is having good taste. LOL. I use a variety of sources to locate public domain or creative commons imagery, meaning that both allow me to share other people’s images with you here. I wish I could afford to pay photographers and artists for their work, but hopefully the link to their work is something. The main thing that one needs to remember though, is that the work remains the intellectual property of the artist, therefore it is never really a good thing to chose a random image off of a site that either says “All right’s Reserved” or has the good old copy write symbol. If you become so enamored of an image that has such things, best to write to the artist and ask for permission.

So, I have found a new site that allows bloggers to freely use the photography on the site. Acobox has a collection of blog pictures. To use them, you must sign up for an account. Then you can either scan through their collection or you can search using key words. Currently their image bank is somewhat small, but classy. The image above was found on their site, meaning that they have found some excellent public domain work from the big daddys of photography, such as Ansel Adams. It is a clean site (both in design and in content for those who are concerned about such things) and pretty easy to use.

If you are a photographer and care to share your work, thus getting more exposure, you can also register to do so. I believe unlike some of the other photo sharing sites, this one may be more monitored. Not sure what that means in real terms. They may screen for quality and content (one can hope).

So, feel free to join me as I peruse my pleasure. Also, if you have any sources for images that you enjoy, please consider sharing them.