November 2008
Essential Awareness
Recently I was talking with a group of people about the success of hypnotherapy for improving fertility. One man in the group questioned the wisdom of wanting to bring a child into this world because things were just so bad. "It's the end!" he said with a shake of his head. He saw my startled reaction and asked, "Well, what else can it be? What else can it possibly be?"
Well, hmmm, good question. What else can it be?
Let’s see, right off the top of my head, how about - the dark before the dawn - or - the storm before the calm - or - the gateway to One Thousand Years of Light?
Poor guy probably thought I was just another one of those California crazies he'd heard so much about. Perhaps he felt as sorry for me as I felt for him.
What has your reaction been to the uncertainty and instability in the world? Where have you gone in your thoughts, in your feelings? For many, fear has been the default reaction to life in this final quarter of 2008. Unfortunately, fear is such a low-energy vibration that it easily spirals further down into hopelessness, helplessness, depression, anger, resentment - and haven't we've been seeing a lot of this just in campaign rhetoric over the last few weeks!
Once you recognize where you have gone with your thoughts and in your feelings, you can decide whether to stay there or shift out. Yes, it is a choice you can make, not a destiny tattooed on your forehead. We all have tendencies toward certain reactions, but ultimately we can define – and redefine – ourselves moment by moment.
Once you decide you don’t like the way you're thinking, feeling or behaving, the next step is to ask yourself, "Who do I want to be in this situation?" I have found this to be a wonderfully powerful question. "Who do I want to be?" Sometimes just posing the question is enough to shift energy into a higher vibration. At the same time it's really empowering to actually decide that, for example, "I want to be the man who is confident and strong from the inside out," or "I want to be the woman who trusts that all is moving toward the good," regardless of how "bad" things look or feel at the moment.
I call these two questions Essential Awareness Questions. Where do I go? Who do I want to be? Because perception plays such a vital role in the nature of reality, your answers ultimately create the world you live in – the world we all share. It's totally up to you! IfIf you need some help in aligning yourself with your highest good, please call me at 925-820-1949 or email please call 925-820-1949 or email lucy@ahigherperepctive.com
Until next month, Happy, Happy Thanksgiving! And remember: All is moving toward the good.November Inspiration
Yesterday's thoughts have created your present. Today's thoughts are creating your future.
- James Newman
In the News
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The brain can produce antidepressants with the right signal, a finding that suggests that meditating, or going to your "happy place," truly works, scientists reported on Wednesday.
Mice forced to swim endlessly until they surrendered and just floated, waiting to drown, could be conditioned to regain their will to live when a tone they associated with safety was played. The experiment suggests that there are good ways to teach people this skill, and points to new routes for developing better antidepressants, said Dr. Eric Kandel of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Columbia University in New York, who led the research.
"The happy place works. This is like going to the country," Kandel said in a telephone interview. Writing in the journal Neuron, Kandel's team said they used classical conditioning to train mice. They had already conditioned some mice to fear a neutral tone by playing the sound when they shocked the animals' paws. After a while, the tone itself creates fear. "It scares the hell out of the animal," Kandel said.
They decided to reverse the study -- they played the tone when they were not shocking the mice. "It learned that the only time it was really safe is when the tone comes on," Kandel said. To make a mouse depressed, they used a method favored by drug companies called learned helplessness. "You put an animal into a pool of water and it can't get out. It gives up and it stops swimming and it just floats," Kandel said.
"When you give the animal an antidepressant, it starts swimming again. When we played the tone, it started to swim again just as it did with the antidepressant."
NEW PATHWAYS
Further experiments showed the tone and an antidepressant drug worked synergistically, he said. When they looked at the brains of their mice, they saw using the conditioned "safety" tone activated a different pathway than the drugs did. It affected dopamine, while antidepressants work on serotonin. Both are message-carrying molecules called neurotransmitters. The conditioning also affected a compound called brain-derived neurotrophic factor or BDNF -- which helps nourish and encourages the growth of brain cells. The learned safety did not affect serotonin.
Mice conditioned by the "safety" tone also had more newborn brain cells in the dentate gyrus, a part of the brain linked with learning and depression. When Kandel's team used radiation to slow the birth of new cells in the dentate gyrus, the effects of learned safety and of antidepressants were blunted. Kandel noted that antidepressant drugs appear to work, in part, by encouraging the growth of new brain cells – as does psychotherapy. "Learning involves alterations in the brain and gene expression," Kandel said. "Psychotherapy is only a form of learning."
This shows how effective psychotherapy, meditation and other stress-reduction tools may be, and it could help in the design of new drugs, Kandel said. "This opens up new pathways that may profitable," he said.
Note: Too bad that after all of that clinical support for a natural solution, the article concludes with a call for new drugs instead of “Go See Lucy!”
Announcements
At the Women's Health Center Walnut Creek
If you know anyone who has been diagnosed with unexplained infertility, or is undergoing IVF or any fertility treatments, or is just plain old "trying" without result, please let them know about my workshop, "Breathe, Scan, Relax: A Mind-Body Toolbox for Fertility" at the Women’s Health Center on Tuesday, November 4, from 7-8:30 pm. The reason why fertility is one of my specialties is that hypnotherapy and EFT work beautifully to help women conceive and carry the child to full-term. This workshop offers in group format the same principles I cover in private sessions. Invaluable information at a very, very low fee.
Get Over It! An Introduction to EFT
Thursday, November 6, 2008
6:45 – 8:15 pm
Women’s Health Center
1656 N. California Blvd.
Walnut Creek, CA
941-7900 x. 3
Fee: Free
Last month’s EFT class at the Women’s Health Center was so popular that they asked me to do it again this month. So I will be offering and Get Over It! at 6:45 on Thursday, November 6. There’s no question about it: The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) can change your life. What is EFT? Think of it as acupuncture without needles, using light tapping of key acupressure/acupuncture points with your own fingertips to simply dissolve fears, phobias, physical and emotional pain – its creator, Gary Craig suggests that people try it for everything! Once you learn the basics, you’ll be able to use the technique right away!
Breathe, Scan & Relax:
A Mind-Body Toolbox for Fertility
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
6:45 – 8:15 pm
Women’s Health Center
1656 N. California Blvd.
Walnut Creek, CA
941-7900 x. 3
Fee: $15
If you’re curious about the mind-body connection and how hypnotherapy may be of service to you, sign up for the Essential Healing Workshop on November 11, 2008. Hurry, though. This class usually fills up fast!
Essential Healing (Free Hypnotherapy Demonstration)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
6:45-8:15 pm
Women’s Health Center
1656 N. California Blvd.
Walnut Creek, CA
941-7900 x. 3
At Align Healing Center - Danville
Workshops at Align always are magical. The venue is welcoming and its intimacy allows for a wonderful synergy of energy, beyond the value of the material presented. Whether you don’t know a thing about The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or are an old hand at it, you’ll enjoy this focused attention on identifying and dissolving all the different ways fear is showing up for us these days. Cutting-edge rescue when you need it most!
Navigating the Rapids of Fear:
An EFT Workshop for all levels
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
7:00-8:30 pm
Align Healing Center
125-G Railroad Avenue
Danville, CA 94526
925-820-1949
Fee: $40.00
New Year Manifestation Event
Release 2008 and bring in the new for 2009!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
6:45 for smudging; 7:00 for workshop
Align Healing Center
125-G Railroad Avenue
Danville, CA 94526
925-820-1949
Fee: $40.00
Preregister now for $35!
Holiday Gift Suggestions
The following recommendations are from my heart, not paid advertising:
500 Presents for Penelope Potts is the endearing story of how one girl’s sense of entitlement is transformed at Christmas into the genuine joy that only heart-centered giving can bring. Although this beautifully written and illustrated book is destined to be a new Christmas classic for children, the story is engaging enough for adults to enjoy. To order, log on to www.bigtenbooks.com.
Vegetarian Meals for People On-the-Go by Vimala Rodgers is my favorite non-meat cookbook. Each recipe received "Second helpings please" from each of Vimala’s eight children, or the recipe was not considered. Gorgeous to look at -- with 40 color photographs as well. What a gift to be remembered by! www.vegetarian-meals.net.
I had the pleasure of meeting Yvonne Oswald in October when we both were presenters at the 2008 National Board of Professional and Ethical Standards World Conference in Ocala, Florida. Yvonne wowed us with her outstanding presentations. I highly recommend her remarkable book, Every Word Has Power. It's bursting with excellent information about how the subconscious mind works, and specific exercises and suggestions on how to harness its power for maximum results. If you're a fan of the Law of Attraction principles, Yvonne's book is required reading. To order, log onto www.globalwelcome.com.
101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life: Volume 3 is a compilation of 101 articles with practical, solid advice on how you can finally take action and improve your life, including my chapter entitled, "Sign Here, Please." I excited to be a contributing author along with Ken Blanchard, Les Brown, Mark Victor Hansen, Byron Katie and many other leading Self Improvement experts. This book is the third volume in the "101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life" Series. For those of you that have not seen Volumes 1 & 2, David is also offering a special discount if you purchase the three-volume set together. Volumes 1 & 2 include more great secrets from Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, Jim Rohn, Jack Canfield, Dr. Richard Carlson and many other leading experts. David has also bundled the book with life-enhancing tools! He calls them "bonus gifts," and he has created a package of $1,500 worth of absolutely free gifts that you get by purchasing just one copy of our book. Check it out here.
Betty Albert has always been passionate about healthy food and cooking and baking. She has blended her education as a naturopath with her natural foodie talents to launch Health Nut Betty. Check out www.healthnutbetty.com where you can find Betty’s abundant assortment of wheat and gluten-free baked goods including muffins, scones, cookies, cakes and breads. Health Nut Betty also offers bakery mixes, organic herbal tea blends and culinary spices, chutneys, salsas and glazes. What a wonderful fall and holiday gift basket these items would make!
Blessings,
Lucy Grace
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