I got an email recently from someone whose mother died. She knew I’d suffered the loss of my mother and wanted some insight on how to deal with it. Unfortunately for her, I had no advice…shit…I’m still dealing with it.
Every single day I think about my mother. I think about her living and breathing. Talking to me, laughing with me, yelling at me. But I never, ever think about her death. This email made me think of that so I began resenting that email. I began resenting that someone else had to deal with a mother who was dead. And I really resented that someone thought I was an expert on dealing with dead mothers. If you get to be an expert on anything…the last thing you want to be is an expert on dead mothers.
When I clean my home, I remember doing the same with my mother. Saturday was cleaning day and I always equate lemon fresh Pledge with her. I think of my mother often. I miss her every single day. I find myself wondering…I wonder what my mother would think of this duvet cover. Or I wonder what she would think of my efforts to create a beautiful home. I know it’s weird that I know she’s gone but I don’t wonder about her as if she’s dead…I wonder about her as if she’s still in Louisiana wondering what I’m doing too. I know…crazy me.
Death is pretty permanent. It’s as permanent as it gets actually. It’s the end. I like to think of my mother being everywhere. I don’t like thinking of her as a skeleton in a casket under 6 feet of dirt on the side of an old church in the country. That’s too permanent.
I didn’t have much to offer she-whose-mother-just-past. I don’t know her that well so was unable to infer much. I offered what I could. A place to come and rest and just be without the responsibility of dealing with death. Granted, with her in my home, in my space, in my world I…would have the responsibility of dealing with death. With personal death. With my own permanent tragedy.
I invited her into my haven where I am safe from all things painful and I helped her in a very small way deal with her mother’s death at the expense of my peace. She left yesterday and I turned to my guy and the normalcy of my life to bring me back from my abyss.
I, Monica Lenay Pattan Mingo, a self-professed, uptight, prude bitch, allowed someone to hurt me without knowing because I knew how badly she was hurting. I didn’t feel a kinship with her. I just felt renewed in my own personal, permanent pain, in my infinite grief. And I left knowing only one sure thing…I’m not cut out to be a hero.
Hypnosis has been given many definitions over the years, and many authors have debated whether it even exists. These debates and definitions themselves are evidence of what I consider to be the most basic and profound form of hypnosis. My definition identifies the discursive thinking mind (what most of us identify with as our ordinary sense of self) as an ongoing hypnotic process. From this perspective, the ordinary conscious mind contains all the process elements of what traditionally have been called “trance phenomena.” And although the conscious mind approximates reality and makes its constructs seem workable, the mind itself is never accurately in touch with reality. More and more people are now beginning to subscribe to this view, as quantum physics continues to bear out scientific evidence that the nature of reality as described by spiritual masters throughout the ages is not merely metaphor, but actual truth. In fact, this approach to hypnotherapy could as appropriately be called “quantum hypnotherapy” as well as “transpersonal hypnotherapy.”
The transpersonal definition of hypnotherapy assumes that:
1) We are not who we “think” we are. Who we think we are is our deepest trance state (actually a “bundle” of trance states).
2) To the degree that our awareness is absorbed in and identified with our thoughts, we are in a hypnotic statea defined state rather than a spontaneous, “real” state, an “awake” state.
3) All communication, both intrapersonal and interpersonal, to the degree that it is a sharing of thoughts about reality rather than a direct experience of reality, is a sharing of hypnotic states, “dream” states, even deluded states.
The Hypnotic Trance of Self
Not being who we think we are is the root of our dilemmas. (Or, more accurately, believing that we are who we think we are, and not noticing that we are not, is the root.) We are selectively attending* to our ideas about ourselves in order to make choices* which define and determine our lives. If the root idea of who we are is a mistake, then our whole accustomed process of strategizing to improve our lives is a “mishap” having varying degrees of painful and pleasurable consequences.
The most profound aspects of the hypnotic trance of self (or the bundle of trances of self) are established in childhood prior to our development of a discriminating perspective. As children, we accepted the overwhelming vividness and prestige, good and/or bad, of the stimuli and messages acting upon us as “truth.” Learning to identify our sensory functions and our bodily delineation happens quite naturally, but extending that to the healthy expression of our mind/body in interpersonal relationships is rare. The degree to which our first relationships were unhealthy, i.e. shaming, confusing, or threatening, determines how profoundly we develop the trance of false, hypnotic self. This trance of self refers to a fixed idea of a rigidly defined self, rather than the spontaneous sense of wellbeing of a self that flows on effortlessly through changes, one that does not need ideas to help it remember who it is. In other words, when you are fully involved in being who you are, you don’t waste time keeping track of who you are. It isn’t necessary to do this if there is no sense of shame or threat to ward off. And the de-hypnotized, free-flowing selfnot perceiving anything as separateis simply blissfully existent and awake, without a need to ward off anything that comes its way.
The hypnotic self is a powerful set of trance phenomena. Growing up from infancy to early adulthood means being in the cultural and familial hypnotist’s arena 24 hours a day! Everyone is hypnotizing youtelling you what everything means, telling you what you are, and what your actions mean regarding your worthinessby delivering suggestions to you with repetition and emotional force.*
Children learn by modeling; they are master mimics. Thus begins the process of self-hypnosis (or self-talk, if you like). Have you ever had the opportunity to eavesdrop on a young child playing with toys while he is repeating the judgments he has heard about himself in an innocent, singsong voice? We master these skills of hypnosis very early in life.
In this way we quickly develop the veils of perceptionwe are no longer able to see a tree, hear a bird, taste a hamburger, or experience anything (including ourselves) simply and directly, without a running commentary going on inside. The stimulus of a tree, a bird, or a hamburger, or the spontaneous movement of our own mind, body or emotion, triggers an instantaneous, uninterrupted barrage of associations, judgments, and memories, filling our mind with sights, sounds, and sensations. This onslaught of associated responses refers to the past and projects into the future with such speed and force that, not only do we not notice we have missed the experience of the tree (its mounds of soft leaves, its mottled trunk, its gnarled mass of roots sinking deep into the earth who knows how deeply) but we also don’t notice that we have been distracted from seeing the tree. We are anesthetized to the pain of our severed relationship to the tree. How many of us are already habitually numbed to the pain of being disconnected from the natural world? Does it seem a strange notion that it could be painful not to really see and experience a tree that was right in our midst?
Distraction by association, forgetfulness, spontaneous anesthesia, positive hallucination (seeing something that isn’t there), negative hallucination (not seeing something that is there), time distortion and time displacement, spontaneous regressionall these are signs and qualities that traditionally indicate a deep state of hypnosis, And yet all of these take place in our ordinary waking consciousness.
We will examine the signs and qualities of hypnotic depth from the traditional standpoint, and then explore how they blend into what is usually considered the non-hypnotic or “conscious” state. In this way we will begin to understand why it has become so difficult for us simply to see a tree.
Therapeutic Hypnosis Defined
Conscious, subconscious, unconscious: these concepts pervade our culture, and we freely use them in talking about ourselves. To the degree that we do this without having contemplated the meaning of these terms in the context of personal experience, or to the degree that we haven’t determined the usefulness of labeling various kinds of experience with these terms, we really don’t know what we are talking about. We are merely engaged in hypnotizing ourselves by the very familiar process of sloganeering.
For example, the political slogan, “America! Home of the free!” has no specific, universal meaning, but can trigger strong emotional responses of varying kinds depending on the audience. Likewise, a phrase such as, “I know this problem is in my subconscious but I can’t get at it,” gives a person a false sense of knowledge that is really a state of confusion (i.e., a hypnotic state). The idea itself creates the dilemma.
Here’s one we all can identify with: “I know that intellectually, but I can’t stop…”. The phrase, “I know intellectually,” is one of the most common supports of ongoing trance. Its most important characteristic is that it short-circuits the possibility of accessing or maintaining an awake state of openness, while affording a bit of comfort in seemingly knowing something. What “I know intellectually” usually means is not that we know something at all. (Knowing it would meaning that it is alive within us, an actively available resource capable of facilitating change.) Rather, saying “I know it intellectually” indicates nothing more than our ability to pronounce the words, saying them over and over in our head like a lullaby, with little or no effect on our awareness.
I point this out in order to alert you, especially while you are a student, not to settle for this false kind of “learning.” It is what most of us are conditioned (hypnotized) to do. Bearing that in mind, here are a few of the definitions that successful, highly recognized hypnotists have applied to hypnosis:
“Hypnosis is the use of suggestion, whether direct or indirect, to induce a heightened state of suggestibility in which there is bypass of the critical faculty of the mind, and selective attention to suggestions given.” –Dave Elman
“Hypnosis is a state of awareness dominated by the subconscious mind.” — Michael Preston, M.D.
“Hypnosis is a ’shrinking of the focus of attention.’”
– Milton Erickson
Can any useful sense be made of these statements? What is “the use of suggestion…to heighten suggestion”? What is “the bypass of the critical faculty”? And how can “a state of awareness” be “dominated by the subconscious mind”?
What are these expert hypnotists attempting to describe? Can you relate the terms they are using to your personal experience? First, it is helpful to recognize that such labeling, which we have all been trained (hypnotized) to do, dissociates us from the experience we are labeling and creates subtle and not-so-subtle limitations.
It is important to note the difference between labeling, which diminishes interest and awareness in ongoing phenomena, and descriptive activity, which keeps us engaged with the phenomena. When descriptive interest is reduced to labeling, something alive and vital is lost in the process. The ability to label is, nevertheless, valuable when used appropriately. Labeling is inappropriate in the learning process when it does no more than satisfy the urge to say, “I know that intellectually.” Because no sooner do we say it, than we have put ourselves into trance, and are living in the box created by our words.
We all do it. In fact, this tendency lies at the root of all our worldly difficulties, personal and political, social and cultural. For once we have created a label, a conceptual box we can hold onto, we will grasp it and defend it, even in the face of irrefutable evidence to the contrary. It is easy to observe this everyday phenomenon in the prejudices and politics of our times, but have you ever thought about some of your own problems from this point of view? Take a moment now to remember being in the grip of some personal limitationone of those times when you acted and felt like a helpless two-year-old, despite the truth of your six-foot-two-hundred-pound-body-having-taken-care-of-yourself-daily-for-years experience. That’s hypnosis!
The phenomena these men are trying to describe as hypnosis are marked by the same qualities that pervade our conscious functioning. There is no clear distinction between the two. Even the “critical faculty” is actually a trance conditioned function. From this perspective, it is not so important to create a neat label to apply to the phenomena, because that so easily leads to a lazy, and false, sense of knowledge. It is more challenging, and more helpful to the client, to develop and access more resourceful trance states that expand the client’s awareness of choice and powerto the point that, ultimately, she comes into an awareness that is beyond trance states altogether.
Buddhism calls this the state of No-Mind. In all trance states, the thinking mind is busy labeling and defining reality, whereas the No-Mind state allows the direct perception of reality without conceptual mediation. (That’s a euphemism for “distortion and interference.”) No-Mind is a state in which the heart/mind and the head/mind functions merge, releasing one’s true, clear intelligence. The mark of this union is one’s reliance on the spontaneous guidance of intuition, direct perception and recognition of identity between subject and object. This intuition of identity engenders an unwavering sense of spaciousness, luminosity, and love. It manifests in a person as the revived capacity to be moved by the beauty of a flower, to see the focus, love, and attention of the whole universe in the movement of a fly’s wings, and to care for the life of all beings as one’s own life.
I define therapeutic hypnosis as taking hold of the mental functions we use every day to contract our focus and numb our sense of being (or to maintain the status quo of an already acceptable contracted state) and using those same functions to expand our awareness of being organically alive. Therapeutic hypnosis releases this mental contraction, the nature of which is fear, into an expansiveness, the nature of which is love. As with natural medicine, we distill the very poison that causes an illness in such a way that we produce its antidote.
Using this as our working definition of hypnotherapy, there is no real or solid boundary between the conscious and the unconscious to get in the way. No borderline exists to stop our own mental processes, skillfully used, from destroying the hypnotic state that keeps us boxed up in the world of our words, that prevents us from truly seeing the tree. If one understands this definition of therapeutic hypnosis, not as a label, but as a phenomenon being displayed by the mind, it becomes very delightful to do hypnotherapy. We do not have to be concerned about who can be hypnotized and who cannot be hypnotized. We need only develop the sensory acuity to notice how each person does it to themselves, how we do it to ourselves, and then make the kinds of adjustments that this course intends to teach.
To do this kind of work, we as therapists must place primary emphasis on our own daily practice. We must cultivate greater and greater awareness of our own habitual states, of when these states are triggered and what triggers them. And we must notice these states in ourselves with a growing capacity for spacious, kind-hearted acceptance of their presence. Our daily practice must include some form of body-mind coordination through physical activity. It must also include a meditation or contemplation practice, to develop the capacity to detach from the hypnotic turmoil of subconscious thoughts and feelingsthe constant “internal gossip” that we all generally accept as a given and therefore rarely challenge in ourselves.
©Copyright Jack Elias, 2006, All Rights Reserved. Excerpt from Finding True Magic: Transpersonal Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy/NLP by Jack Elias. Contact jack@FindingTrueMagic.com , www.FindingTrueMagic.com
Jack Elias, a Clinical Hypnotherapist in private practice since 1988, is founder and director of The Institute for Therapeutic Learning, a licensed Vocational School in Seattle training and certifying Transpersonal Clinical Hypnotherapists since 1988. Jack presents a unique synthesis of Eastern and Western perspectives on the nature of consciousness and communication, teaching simple yet powerful techniques for achieving one’s highest personal and professional goals. For 39 years Jack has studied Eastern meditation, philosophy and psychology with masters such as Shunryo Suzuki Roshi and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Before beginning his teaching and counseling career, Jack worked for 20 years in sales, marketing and financial planning. Jack offers dynamic experiential workshops and seminars, and his Finding True Magic courses are eligible for credit at universities, and for CEUs for Registered Nurses and other clinicians.
Human psychology is always painted negative and as a study of negative human behavior; basically we perceive psychology as a sign of trouble, and thus attempt to correlate it to such destructive issues like depression, psychosis, unhappiness, mental disorders and mania. Sadly most of the clinical examinations also tend to look at psychology, as something that is a malady and most of the treatment attempts are aimed at treating the disease than stopping them from happening. Thus there is a pressing need for a new, revived way of looking at the old concept of psychology. Also called “Positive Psychology”, this area is more concerned with the sunnier side of psychology, which is the area of those people, who are happy and move with confidence, wherever they go and whatever they do. Positive psychology may shed more light on why some people behave in such a pleasing manner and how they have developed that trait. Ultimately, this intense study may help us to find a lasting cure for many of our negative psychological conditions and other eccentric behaviors.
Positive Psychology is a new attempt to redefine and readjust the existing disparity or imbalance, to encourage and support psychologists to try and attempt to contribute to positive aspects of human life, not only just perform something about negative things. Being a new branch of psychology, this field is still in its infant stage and is hotly contested for its veracity and advantages, by both detractors and supporters. Some of them tend to neglect this new theory, while others vouch for its authenticity. Many of them never believe in the concept of joy, love, positive talk, optimism and love, while others see a broad daylight in professing the techniques of all good human behavior to cure any psychological malady.
New theories of positive psychology condemns the traditional practice of treating psychological patients as mere numbers or objects, and also the supporters of the new theory disapprove the current methods of approaching a sensitive issue as important as psychology. Many experts who support the positive psychology theory have varied ideas about what actual psychology is and how it can best be researched to solve many perennial problems. However, these experts are united by a view that, normal human beings possess excellent qualities, and that we can still be capable enough to make better choices about what we believe and do, in spite of all those unfortunate events, occurred due to reasons beyond our control or by factors of our genetic disposition.
Positive psychology often relies heavily on the principle of optimism, which is a cherished positive parameter of human excellence. There is remarkable evidence that optimistic people are usually happier and highly productive than ultra pessimists. Optimism can also be taught and learned by human beings. According to the new theory, there tends to be a positive flow of things in those people who are highly optimistic and cheerful. This flow is usually not checked in them, in any manner, at any time and thus this set of positive flow causes a person to be tougher mentally and psychologically. Positive psychology and its application may take a while to be universally accepted for clinical practice.
You don’t necessarily need an expensive Tarot deck to divine
the future from cards. You can use a regular deck of playing
cards. All you have to remember is that the four suits equate to
the following Hearts represent love or equate to Cups in the
regular deck Diamonds represent money or Coins or Disks Spades
represent hardship or Swords Clubs represent opportunity or
Wands Perhaps the simplest layout is a three-card spread that
represents past, present and future. Or you can choose one card
from the deck and meditate on its meaning for the day. I have
found that an ordinary deck of cards is also easily adapted to
the Celtic Cross, as well as the Horoscope Spread (which
involves laying twelve cards out in a circle with each card
representing what is going on in each house). Below is a quick
guide to the meaning of the cards. Hearts (Cups) Ace: triumph in
love, perfection, union, happiness King: Honesty and affection.
A generous, temperamental, and passionate man. Usually fair
haired or fair complexion - card can also mean unreliability or
a bad decision. Queen: A loving and attractive woman, fidelity,
devotion, usually a fair-haired woman. Can mean vanity or
delusion. Jack: A good friend or close friend. Can mean a
reunion of separated lovers. Usually a fair-haired young person.
10: good luck, satisfaction, balance, peace, happiness in family
or home. 9: good news, relief, the desires of the inquirer will
come true, 8: an approach, invitation or proposal (traditionally
to a party or celebration.) 7: a severe disappointment, broken
promises, cancelled promises 6: sudden windfall, good fortune,
generosity (can also mean unwelcome guests) 5: indecision,
insecurity, jealousy, and obsession 4: postponement of a date or
important matter, can also signify a delayed or canceled
marriage 3: a warning to be sensible, watch for deception, bad
decisions 2: friendship, a positive connection, a loving
trusting relationship Spades (Swords) Ace: bad news, a
separation or split, conflicts, a doomed love affair, endings,
death. Can mean an ambition but thoughtless man. Usually dark
haired. Queen: betrayal, gossip, sabotage, malice, treachery.
Can mean a widow or divorcee. Usually signifies a dark haired
woman Jack: obstacles, laziness, and hindrances. A lazy, but
indolent, young man. Self-destructive. Usually dark haired 10:
emotional anguish, cruelty, worry, grief, and a turn
psychologically for the worse 9: delays, quarrels, opposition,
conflict, bad luck, 8: secret enemies, disappointments.also a
rival pretending to be a friend 7: loss of friendship, loss of
trust, and a battle not worth fighting 6: gradual improvement,
ambition, discipline and the efficient carrying out of plans 5:
being at the threshold of a project, anxiety about money,
financial exchanges.can sometimes indicate great success in
business 4: delays, emotional issues, troubles with business or
money, illness 3: infidelity, a love triangle, a love or
marriage that is ending 2: division, scandal, and deception
gossip Diamonds (Coins) Ace: new job, promotion, cash windfall,
an engagement ring, King: an old regime, the patriarchy,
inescapable boundaries and rules…can mean a stubborn but
powerful man. Usually fair haired man Queen: sophistication.
society, control. Can mean a mean spirited woman or a flirt. A
vain woman. Usually fair haired woman. Jack: bad news,
unreliable or shaky circumstances. Unwanted visit from a
relative. Destructive or sullen young man usually fair-haired.
10: life changes, a move, a trip for business or money reasons
9: a happy financial surprise or opportunity and surprises,
travel, adventure, excitement 8: a new relationship, a renewal
of vows late marriage or new relationship, reunion 7: gossip,
lies, rumours, , criticism, sarcasm, and bad luck at gambling or
love 6: reconciliation, early marriage; sometimes premature end
to a relationship. 5: business success, happy news, unexpected
windfall, patronage, a loan 4: power, an inheritance, good
fortune…sometimes betrayal in business 3: divorce, legal or
domestic battles, quarrels, violence 2: a love affair thriving
despite great odds, a soulmate Clubs (Wands) Ace: artistic
talent, inspiration, a love for life, achievement, honour,
professional success, King: prosperity, good business,
faithfulness, and philanthropy. An honest, reliable, generous
man. Usually a dark haired man. Queen: Intelligence,
flexibility, fairness. Organization.An attractive, caring soul.
Usually dark haired woman. Jack: a reliable friend, sincere but
impatient 10: unexpected gift, money or good fortune, a silver
lining in a cloud 9: an affair, an infidelity, a new
romance..Sometimes disagreements with friends 8: bad decisions,
opposition, bad luck in gambling, a loan that is not repaid, 7:
success, prosperity, competition, can sometimes mean dealing
with rivals in romance 6: a profitable business or partnership,
a successful project 5: aid or support from a friends or family,
sometimes marriage with a wealthy woman 4: interference,
unexpected ill will, failure of a project, bad planning 3:
marriage or union…sometimes a long engagement or sex without
marriage 2: opposition, disappointment, lack of acceptance in
business or social circle. Have fun!
People will be arguing over the validity of dream prophesy for eternity, but cases do exist and they offer the only proof that believers need.
Take for example the following true story:
On a November evening, Jim Karol of Pennsylvania had an unusual dream. He dreamt that he picked up the phone and a man’s voice told him, “Jim, you were right! The daily number on December 22 was 2-2-2!”
The dream seemed so real that he felt compelled to share it. He’s a stand-up- comic, so he had an opportunity to share with lots of people. So, he told people at 41 shows to play 2-2-2- on December 22.
Thousands of people played the numbers - and won! It cost the commonwealth of Pennsylvania nearly $12 Million.
Ironically, Jim himself wasn’t among the nearly 49,000 winners. He never got around to buying a ticket for himself!
Death is not something that many people want to think about. However, death is a part of living a human life. At least, our current level of science and technology acknowledges that death is inevitable.
Is death something to be afraid of or is death something to look forward too? The answer may depend on who you talk to.
Aside from the obvious religious answers, what body of information exists that can help us to approach this question with some degree of logical thinking? When exacting scientific evidence is lacking, our only option is to consider the anecdotal or subjective experiences that others have had.
Fortunately, there is a body of information that leads to the formation of some interesting thoughts on the subject of death and what it is or what it might lead too. You can find this resource at near-death.com.
Each person is encouraged to draw their own conclusions. Yet, I would like to share some of my thoughts and opinions on the matter.
Many people who have a near-death experience have strikingly similar experiences. There are some who report a horrible experience but the majority report more positive experiences.
Some may have gone to a terrible place, while others seem to leave the pain of the mortal body behind and experience an interesting journey before they revive. Both kinds of experiences have been recorded.
One striking similarity is the ‘life review’ process. This has been reported as a review of one’s entire life where each event is played out before your eyes. People that have experienced this process say that you suddenly become aware of how you affected the people you interacted with during your life.
If you did something that caused them pain, you may become cognizant of those feelings as if you were experiencing them yourself. People report that they feel regretful. The experience doesn’t just extend to that one person, but the effects are like a ripple in a pond and you see how that ripple affects multiple people.
On the other hand, if you did something good you experience that as well. It does appear that the good things involve acting from compassion. For example, one lady said the most significant act of her entire life occurred when she was a little girl. She cupped a flower in her hand and gave it ‘unconditional love’.
Others don’t experience an in depth life review, theirs lasts a few seconds and doesn’t seem to have much impact. Experiences vary someowhat. However, the fundamental similarities remain.
Can a person change as a result of a near-death experience? I was struck by the example of one person who was a self described atheist and hateful person. After his near-death experience he became a minister and a kinder, gentler soul. The change was not only noted by himself, but also by his family members.
Wouldn’t it be fascinating to actually talk to a person who has had a near-death experience? I remember listening to a gentleman named Dannion Brinkley talk about his NDEs (near death experiences). He actually had more than one in his life due to an unfortunate propensity to attract lightning. I found his insights to be very interesting.
If you want to read more about NDEs, visit near-death.com Although it is hard to classify the information there as anything more than subjective, there is a large body of recorded experiences there. Perhaps it will provide you with more insight as to whether death should be feared or not.
Success coaching is a type of therapy that has become increasingly familiar over the last 9 years. The term life coaching first became likeable in the USA where, together with NLP aka Neuro Linguistic Programming, it became part of a redesigned breathtaking wave of exceedingly proactive therapy techniques.
In many ways both Performance Coaching and NLP are an answer against certain factors of the Humanistic therapy movement, in particular Humanistic Counselling. A criticism of the human-centred approach is that it is very reactive and not incredibly proactive. Although all that works great with some folk, with other folk long periods of no exit in sight or low return for time and effort occur. Life coaching and NLP are both humanistic in stance, focusing on improving a customers smiles rather than looking into the minefields of childhood, like traditional psychoanalysis. Success coachings emphasis is, however, deliberately proactive and their to resolve your problems.
Personal coaching is not about preaching to the customer what to do. This is a common misconception. Some success coaches are somewhat successful in their business careers and then make the cross over to performance coaching, assuming that they will at most be required to divulge their pearls of super wisdom with the client. This is more like mentoring a person in a specific environment. Coaching is instead about life as a whole. Change your life today with Life Coaching.
When the Internet was in its infancy people marveled over all the potential this terrific new networking vehicle had.
Even people who could see the future had no idea what was coming, and thus were not prepared completely for what was coming.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as those coming was a vehicle that made online marketing the way to go when it came to cost effective marketing strategies.
The Internet is still continuously growing and as it grows its power becomes more and more, while the benefits of the little guy versus the major corporations becomes more and more level.
Marketing used to be a pretty standard operation in most businesses. There was a certain cost factor, time ratio, and man-hours involved in generating a marketing campaign.
When online marketing hit the street knowledge of the costs cut down to a fraction of what it used to cost to do the same amount of marketing, the marketing power became pretty potent.
His mental expense any small company can get on the Internet and do an extraordinary amount of marketing of their product and if their campaign doesn’t pan out there not out much.
In the old days if the small company poured out this much marketing power and it didn’t pan out it could cripple or crush the company financially.
However with Internet marketing the costs involved are very minimal the time is the real cost by comes to Internet marketing.
At any given time 9.5% of the population is suffering from some form of depression. Many of these people never seek treatment or are unaware that depression is in fact treatable. While not everyone experiences the same symptoms, if you are suffering from depression, you may feel consistently sad or empty, experience feelings of guilt or helplessness, lose interest in things you once enjoyed, suffer from insomnia and decreased energy, or have thoughts of suicide.
There are many potential causes for depression, and cases vary from person to person. Depression can run in families, which leads some researchers to believe that the condition can be inherited. In some cases, people who have experienced trauma or are suffering from severe illnesses will also develop a depressive disorder, suggesting that depression can be caused by psychological or physical changes in one’s life as well. Depression is more common in women than men, and can sometimes be caused by hormonal changes in the body, which women are more prone to.
Any diagnosis of a depressive disorder should be accompanied by a physical evaluation and conducted by a doctor. There are some viral illnesses, as well as other medications, that can cause symptoms of depression, and these should be ruled out. Once a diagnosis is obtained, your doctor should work with you to develop the best treatment for you.
Depression can often be treated with therapy alone, but some patients do decide to try prescription medication. The most commonly prescribed medications are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclics, and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). It can take a while to find the right medication or combination of medications for each person, but all prescription depression medications have a risk of minor, or occasionally major, side effects.
If prescription medications aren’t working as well as you’d like them to, or if you’re unhappy with the side effects and risks that accompany them, you may decide to explore herbal remedies for depression. There are many natural cures for depression available in the marketplace, but it’s best to look for ones with a few key ingredients:
St. John’s Wort is one of the most effective natural ingredients for treating depression. In fact, in some countries like Germany, St. John’s Wort outsells many of the major prescription anti-depressive medications. The active ingredients in St. John’s Wort are believed to naturally boost serotonin levels, which helps lift spirits and ease depression.
Passion flower is a natural ingredient that is often used to treat sleep disorders and anxiety. It helps to soothe and calm, and when combined with St. John’s Wort can be a wonderful aid in treating depression naturally.
Depression is a life-consuming condition, but you do not have to suffer quietly. If you think have a depressive disorder, seek professional help to find the treatment options that are best for you and your condition, whether they include prescription medication or natural remedies for depression, and remember to explore a variety of options before making a decision.
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Tess Thompson is a Homeopathic Practitioner, Reflexologist, Certified Aromatherapist, and Herbalist who contributes regularly to Native Remedies - where you can find All Natural Homeopathic and Herbal Remedies for treating depression naturally and natural remedies for depression. |
Alcohol depression is very grave and should not be one’s state of living, however just how one can overcome this form of depression could be quite challenging as two factors are being addressed here: a substance abuse and an emotional disturbance.
Dealing with depression means at the moment you may not be feeling too good. What with low energy, poor sleep and a general feeling of helplessness, naturally finding a solution out of being depressed is a much expected step. Sadly, most people turn to either legal (e.g. Zoloft) and illegal (e.g. marijuana) drugs or the use of drinking alcoholic beverages in a quest to ease the pain, however, research has shown that both illegal drugs and alcohol are marked depressants. (in spite of the buzz they may temporarily give) and speaking of depression drugs from recent studies, these substances just may not be worth the side-effects.
Now on the subject of alcohol use and depressive illnesses; this is actually the worst possible strategy for dealing with depression. Depressed moods can be a direct outcome of substance abuse. Conversely, use of alcohol by people with a depressive disorder may increase the severity of their depression symptoms and thus should be avoided.
Alcohol depression is quite rampant these days as up to 40 per cent of people who drink alcohol heavily have symptoms that resemble depression. However, when these same people are not drinking heavily, only 5 per cent of men and 10 per cent of woman have symptoms meeting the need to be diagnosed for depression.
Even though when used sparingly, alcohol may briefly produce a pleasant and relaxed state of the mind, depression resulting from alcohol is not uncommon. This starts off like anything else, slowly but picking up intensity with time. When alcohol is used sparingly, it may for a while lift the moods; however, when used to treat a depressive illness, tolerance to the effects of it may lead a patient of depression to drink more alcohol in search for a positive effect. This is where the problems begin, one drinks more and more and before you know it, alcohol- being a noted depressant-starts to cause depressive tendencies in the mind.
Alcohol Depression: Effects and Consequences
Now we all know alcohol confuses judgment and makes one more impulsive to take risks, moreover it causes a loss of inhibition and increases aggressive behavior and violent acts even towards one own self. Consequently, when used as a means to curb depression, this should be a particular concern as studies have shown depression can lead to suicide. Generally, a much higher incidence of suicide, both completed and attempted, is associated with alcohol depression.
Moreover, alcohol depression leads to complicated social disorders such as absenteeism, sickness and under-performance. Inevitably, marital problems often arise because of an alcohol problem, add this to the depression problems at hand, it is not surprising that many marriages have suffered due to this particular depressive illness.
In regards to health, alcohol depression can cause a lot of physical problems. These may arise in the liver in the form of hepatitis, cirrhosis or liver failure. Stomach Ulcers, sexual dysfunction and irregular heartbeat are other factors as well. Now these are just symptoms that result from excessive alcohol use, add to this the effects of depression on the body…needless to say, this particular form of depressive illness is a very serious and grave one. Here are the symptoms of this particular kind of emotional disorder.
Alcohol Depression: Symptoms indicating its presence
There are a number of pointers that should lead one to consider if one has an alcohol depression problem. In no particular order, they include:
1. Using alcohol to try to escape from one’s worries and trouble.
2. Drinking too much alcohol everyday.
3. Using alcohol to induce sleep.
4. Drinking this excessive alcohol alone.
5. Feeling an immense guilt about one’s excessive drinking
Thankfully, as with all things there is hope, however one has to have the desire to change.
Enumerated are some helpful tips for this emotional disorder resulting from excessive drinking.
Alcohol Depression: Helpful solutions.
Depressive symptoms resulting from alcohol might indeed be quite difficult to curb, However, as with anything, the more one works at it, the better the chances of success.
It always helps to know the cause of one’s reckless desire to drink in the first place. These may be marital, financial or even spiritual problems. Therefore these issues should be addressed by competent counseling, reading self-help books and even a good old talk with one’s creator.
Moreover, a simple fast or restricted diet on a seasonal juicy fruit can aid to detoxify the body of alcoholic tendencies. Now this may sound very unconventional, but according to Professor Arnold Ehret, this method has been used successfully to aiding many an alcoholic to give up excessive drinking. Dr. Stanley Burroughs also attested to this in his writings known as the Master Cleanser. Of course 60% of the battle may perhaps be the patient’s desire for change in the first place.
In addition, physical exercise, besides occupying one’s time, also goes a long way to first aiding in detoxifying the body and helping with alcohol depression as this method exercises the motor centers of the brain, making the blood flow away from the emotional activity center; consequently one becomes more receptive to positive thoughts.
Yoga is highly recommended as a choice for exercise here as several benefits lay in its use as an alternative depression treatment. From the intense relaxation and stress relief that arises from its use, to the increase of alpha and theta waves in the right portion of the brain ( a noted characteristic of optimistic people), yoga as a means of coping with alcohol depression, though admittedly may be unconventional, is indeed a wise choice.
One major step in overcoming alcohol depression is the desire for change. Consequently if a relative or loved one expresses the need for help, it is advised to immediately lend a helping hand and walk them through the steps to redemption. If however one is alone in these struggles, well, the internet in constantly making the world a smaller place or help may just be a phone call away…as long as one makes the move, the spiritual forces that are ever inherent in our own minds will guide one to the right path for success. The tips provided thus far can definitely help as well.
Alcohol depression need not be one’s state of living, with the drug-free methods of a positive thinking, and even diet and proper exercise, its symptoms, causes and effects can definitely be overcome.
Foras Aje is an independent researcher and author of Fitness: Inside and out, a book on improving physical and mental health naturally. For additional information on depression treatment go to: http://www.bodyhealthsoul.com/depression.htm
