Mind Horizon Reflections

Our Lady of Weight Loss

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:10:00 +0000

I just received in the mail yesterday the wackiest weight-loss book I have ever seen: Our Lady of Weight Loss: Miraculous and Motivational Musings from the Patron Saint of Permanent Fat Removal by Janice Taylor. She had a weight problem all her life until one day she was sitting in a weight loss class thinking, “I'm never going to make it.” That's when she heard The Voice. She said, “If you think you're never going to make it, you never will.” From what I gather, this was a rather unusual experience for Janice. It did not seem from the way she had written this passage that she was in the habit of hearing voices. But she decided later that night to ask The Voice what she could do about her weight problem. The Voice said, “You're an artist. Make weight loss an art project.” So that is what Janice did. Instead of eating cake, she made art out of it, and she lost weight. The Voice became Our Lady of Weight Loss. The book is illustrated with wacky images of the art she made while she lost the weight. There are also projects that the reader can do. The first is an altar to Our Lady of Weight Loss made out of a macaroni box and decorated with macaroni and glitter glue. There are Motivational Musings, Tasty Tidbits, Righteous Recipes, Weighty Confessions, and Prickly Prayers. Janice's inspired ideas have the potential for making weight loss a lot of fun. The book is certainly visually appealing. It also includes sound dietary advice. If one is going to be obsessed with food, then making art out of it would certainly be better than eating it.

Making Peace with Where You Are

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:44:00 +0000

I've been listening to Think and Get Slim: Natural Weight Loss by Esther and Jerry Hicks, the Teachings of Abraham. In one segment, it talks about making peace with where you are. “You don't go to the gas station with your gas gauge on empty and just lay your head down on the steering wheel and sob. ‘It’s over. Look what I've come to.’ You do something about it. You just fill up your tank.”

As I was listening to this, I thought about how my children and I dealt with their bouts of leukemia. When my son was first diagnosed in 2000, I was upset for a few days. Then I decided that this was a situation that just was, and I made peace with it. From that point forward, my mindset was that this was something that we just do. We follow the directions that the doctor has given, and I would say, “my son is recovering from leukemia.” I made a point of not saying that my son “had” leukemia. I didn't want him to own it. And so we went, day by day, following directions and saying he was recovering, and he did recover.

When my daughter was diagnosed last year, making peace with it came much more quickly for me. The problem this time was that her case for so unusual that it took a bit of time to find a doctor who had a plan for her. I told her that I wanted her to get to a point where she could say, “I am recovering from leukemia.” As soon as we found a doctor who had a plan for her, I told her, “Now you can say, ‘I am recovering from leukemia.’” She recovered, too.

I think this attitude of acceptance and expecting recovery helped my children to stay calm as they recovered. And this in turn helped them to recover.

While being overweight or obese is not so immediately life-threatening as leukemia, the same idea of making peace with where you are applies. There really is no need to panic or berate yourself if you are heavy. It's just a matter of knowing where you are and having a plan for what to do to get where you want to go. This includes having a plan for the way you will eat and the type of activity you will do. Since you want to make peace with where you are, it is also important to be able to look in the mirror and see the best you. For this reason, it is important to dress in becoming clothes and groom yourself appropriately. Don't wait until you have achieved your goal!

The 9-Inch "Diet"

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 05:17:00 +0000

I had a few minutes before a meeting last week. As I got off the freeway, I spotted a Barnes and Noble bookstore. I went in and browsed. Since it was January and New Year's resolution season, diet books were prominently displayed in the middle of the store. One of these caught my eye, The 9-Inch "Diet": Exposing the Big Conspiracy in America by Alex Bogusky and Chuck Porter. The book was written by a man who bought a lake house built in the 1940s. He was putting things away in the kitchen and discovered that his plates would not fit into the cupboard. He did some research and found out that the average size of a dinner plate in the 1940s was 9 inches. These days, the size of an average dinner plate is closer to 12 inches. Using this fact as his inspiration, he decided to try using 9 inch dinner plates himself. He discovered that he was satisfied with much less food when he ate off of these 9 inch plates. He soon found himself losing weight, and that was the inspiration for the book.

This information about the 9 inch plates is not new to me. Brian Wansink wrote about it in his book, Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. Brian Wansink researches the eating habits of average Americans. His research led to the discovery that people will eat less when food is served in smaller dishes or containers.

We Americans seem to be in love with the idea that bigger is better. Americans eat out more than people in other countries with the exception of Japan. Restaurants have accustomed us to expecting large servings. Our plates have grown over the years, and so have our appetites and waistlines.

Large dishes seem to be a uniquely American phenomenon. I went to a Chinese house goods store in Los Angeles some time ago and noticed that the dishes that they sold were much smaller than I was used to seeing in a typical American store. I don't often see Chinese people with a weight problem. After seeing their dishes, it's no wonder why.

I've been using smaller dishes more and more myself. I have a large set of Corelle, much of which was purchased open stock. My set includes what they call luncheon plates. I measured them, and discovered that they are just about 9 inches wide. They are perfect for following a 9 inch plate diet. I also have in my set the small 10 ounce bowls. I find that the smaller size is perfect for the smaller portions I prefer. Of course, even the dinner plates in my set aren't terribly big. They measure 10 1/4 inches across. That is quite a bit smaller than the 12 inches commonly found in stores today. In addition to my Corelle, I also have little sauce dishes. These work well for serving out nuts and dried fruit. I can vouch for the fact that eating from smaller dishes leads to eating less. It's certainly working out that way for me.

Overcoming Fear of Public Speaking

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 02:44:00 +0000

Your boss asks you to give an oral report in a meeting. You have been asked to speak at your church. How does that feel to you? Are you excited about sharing what you know or are you petrified at the very idea?

It is said that at a funeral, most people would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy. In fact, public speaking or glossophobia is the number one fear. It affects 75% of the population.

People with fear of public speaking may experience a wide variety of symptoms while giving a speech or even thinking about it. They may sweat. They may experience muscle tension, particularly in the neck and shoulders. They may also find that they are breathing with the upper chest rather than using the whole of their lungs. They may feel butterflies in their stomach. Nervousness may cause them to use a lot of ahs and ums while speaking.

So what causes fear of public speaking? There may be a number of factors involved.

Unfamiliarity of situation. For many people, public speaking is simply not something they do. The mind likes familiarity. Familiarity is pleasure to the brain. When a situation is unfamiliar, the fight/flight mechanism can become engaged. The extra adrenaline in the body then creates the physical symptoms often experienced when speaking.

Early experiences. Perhaps you had a bad experience as a child when asked to speak in front of the class. Maybe you witnessed someone else have problems while speaking. Messages you received as a child can also influence public speaking. Maybe you were told as a child not to talk. Maybe you were told that your ideas were stupid.

Lack of confidence. The speaker may feel that he is not good enough, or that other speakers are better than he is. Maybe the speaker does not feel that he knows his material well.

Hypoglycemic incidents. Symptoms of low blood sugar can mimic fear, causing palpitations and sweating. If someone experiences low blood sugar while speaking, he may conclude that that it is because he is afraid of public speaking. He associates the physical symptoms with the situation. He could then be fearful in similar situations from that point on due to this experience.

Sense of isolation. The speaker is in front of the group and the focal point of the group. The speaker is doing most if not all of the talking. This is what makes public speaking different from other forms of conversation.

So what can you do to feel better?

Think of the audience as your friends. The feeling some speakers have when approaching a speaking situation is almost adversarial. They think of the audience as critical and judgmental. But what if you turned that situation around and thought of the audience as your friends? How easily do you engage in conversations with your friends? They are familiar to you, and you are comfortable around them. If you think of the audience as your friends, you will feel more comfortable speaking to them.

Imagine being your role model. Who do you know who gives great speeches? Imagine that you are that person and that you have their confidence. Imagine how they would approach the assignment. Get into the feeling of the emotions they might experience. When you are in that feeling of confidence, what you can do is …

Anchor in those good feelings. While feeling those good feelings, press your thumb and middle finger together to anchor in those feelings. You can also anchor in the feeling of being in a relaxing place or a time when you yourself felt confident. Use a finger touch to anchor those in. Then when you want to recall that feeling of confidence, press your thumb and middle finger together again.

Use visuals. One way to get the focus off you is to give your audience something else to look at. Just be sure to practice with your visuals so you are comfortable with them and know how to manipulate them.

Practice in your mind – feelings as well as content. Now practice in your mind all the various steps of giving a speech from finding out that you will speak to writing the speech and practicing and giving the speech in front of your audience. Rehearse the feelings you want to have at each step. Use the anchor where needed to bring in that good feeling by pressing your thumb and middle finger together.

Practice physically. Now that you’ve gone through your mental rehearsals, it’s time to practice your speech physically. Stand up and give your speech using any visuals you have prepared. Become familiar with any equipment you will use. Practice reduces the feeling of unfamiliarity, thus disengaging the fight/flight mechanism. Participating in Toastmasters is a great way to get practice opportunities in front of an audience.

Eat something. Before giving a speech, be sure to eat something, preferably with some protein in it. This will help prevent a low blood sugar incident.

Take deep breaths before speaking. Before speaking, take a few deep breaths. This will help bring you into a state of greater relaxation.

You don’t have to go it alone! Ask family members to sit in as an audience for you. Toastmasters is a great program that will give you opportunities to speak in front of an audience. You may also want to consider hypnotherapy. The use of hypnosis can speed progress in calming nerves and feeling confident. Your hypnotherapist can help you with practicing the feelings of confidence and relaxation. Individual sessions are best because they can be tailored to your own specific needs. You may also want to consider self-hypnosis recordings. Roxann Higuera has prepared an MP3 recording that you can use in your own home. You can download it at Overcoming Fear of Public Speaking.

Green Up Your Cleanup

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:38:00 +0000

I was swishing toilets this morning with caustic cleaners. The fumes were getting to me. I thought, "There's got to be a better way. How can I clean up my home effectively without killing us off?" So I went online for answers. I eventually found my way to Amazon and found a great book: Green Up Your Cleanup by Jill Schoff.

Not wanting to wait, I checked with Borders to see if they had it, and they did! I gathered up the Amazon listing and a 30% off coupon I had from Borders and went and got it. I love it! It is colorful and engaging and easy to read. It has recipes for environmentally friendly cleaning solutions that you can make from inexpensive ingredients. It has suggestions and tips for cleaning tools. It has room by room sections detailing how to deal with specific cleaning chores, including ideas for regular cleaning and dealing with the build-up from neglect. It is spiral bound, so it will lie flat while you're mixing up the recipes.

Enhancing Positive Thinking with Card Decks

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:05:00 +0000

I love card decks. I'm developing quite a collection of them. I've got some of them in a little bag under my desk. When I'm fishing around for positive thoughts, I look through the decks. These cards are all 3.5" x 5". I was shopping at Aaron Bros. not too long ago and spotted acrylic display "frames" just the right size for these cards. I have a couple of them that stand on my desk and a couple more with magnetic backs that I have posted on my refrigerator. When I find a card with a thought that I want to work with and incorporate, I put it in one of these displays so that I can see it regularly in my environment. Doing this helps remind me to focus my thoughts in positive ways.

Here's a list of the ones in the bag:

Ask and It Is Given Cards by Esther and Jerry Hicks (The Teachings of Abraham). I did not take to these cards right away; but now that I am studying Abraham writings in a classroom setting, I have developed more of an appreciation for them. I have two stand-up frames on my desk, and both have cards from this deck in them. There's a statement on one side and an explanation of it on the other, which is the case with all of these decks of cards. You can find out more about the Abraham classes here at Mastering the Law of Attraction.

10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace Cards by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer. These cards list one of the ten secrets at the top of the card and a thought related to that secret on the bottom. The back side explains it further.

Healing Cards by Carolyn Myss and Peter Occhiogrosso. I gave a deck of these to my daughter while she was recovering from leukemia. She loved them, too. They made her wonder, "Did my thoughts create the leukemia?" I told her it was possible. I then said, "The good news is that you can choose again."

Secrets of the Millionaire Mind Cards by T. Harv Eker. These cards are based on the book and seminar. If you get a chance to go to the Millionaire Mind Intensive seminar, I highly recommend it. I've got one of the cards posted on the refrigerator.

Success Cards by Deepak Chopra. I had one of these cards on my desk for a while, too. The back of the box says, "Creating money has to do with developing a 'wealth consciousness,' the ability to know that whatever you need is available to you."

Wisdom for Healing Cards by Carolyn Myss. This is a very beautiful deck, too. The "Eat Healthful Foods" card is on my refrigerator.

and my latest addition, The Law of Attraction Cards by Esther and Jerry Hicks (The Teachings of Abraham). I'm really enjoying this deck. The cards haven't made it into the displays yet, but I'm sure they will soon.

Surgery Free Gastric Bands

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 23:33:00 +0000

Here's an interesting article that came down the wire: Now We Have Surgery Free Gastric Band’s. It's an interesting idea, but I kind of wonder about the "reality check" problem. If the client goes around telling people that he had surgery, wouldn't someone call him on it?

Site Feature: HONESTe Online

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:55:00 +0000

If you've browsed my site, you've probably wondered about that HONESTe Online seal in the Your Assurances box. It's sort of like a Better Business Bureau for online businesses. The image is clickable. The service publishes individual "consumer information pages" for its members' websites. They have a feedback center there as well.

The service has provided an excellent guide to safe buying online: Be Safe Online! - Revenge of the Online Shopper. I highly recommend it. It has great tips on how to protect your credit. For instance, it tells about a great strategy for using an ATM card for making online purchases that can prevent fraud from ever occurring in the first place. It tells about safe password usage, phishing, and spyware.

John Cerbone - The Trance-Master

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:28:00 +0000

I joined HypnoThoughts.com yesterday. It’s a great resource for hypnotherapists. This morning, I was reading the latest blog entries and came upon an entry from John Cerbone - The Trance-Master. He wrote about how he developed his The Cerbone Butterfly Induction, also know as the Butterfly Fingers Induction.

He has a website at John Cerbone, Hypnotist - Cerbone Hypnosis Institute - Clinical Hypnosis, Stage Entertainment and a MySpace blog where you can read more about the inductions. You can see him at work here:

Welcome to Reflections!

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 18:28:00 +0000

Welcome to Mind Horizon’s new blog, Reflections. In this blog, I will be writing about hypnosis and hypnotherapy as well as topics in areas where hypnotherapy can be applied such as weight reduction, smoking cessation, self-esteem, and prosperity. I will be reporting on books and passing along articles. I will also write about products and features on the Mind Horizon website.

Right now, the biggest news (besides the new blog) is that I have moved my site from mindverve.net to mindhorizon.com. People couldn’t hear “Mind Verve” clearly when I said it, and I’d have to spell it for them. Mind Horizon should be a much better business name and URL.

On my way to my goals

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:04:00 +0000

As you know, I've been wanting to become a hypnotherapist for a while now, and I've been wanting to finish my spiritual psychology degree at University of Santa Monica even longer. Well, I recently found out that I won't need a psychology degree to become a hypnotherapist. I can become a hypnotherapist first and then use the income to pay for the spiritual psychology degree. I just finished the Hypnosis 101 course at Hypnosis Motivation Institute. When I receive my certificate of completion, I can use it to become a Certified Hypnotist. If I continue at HMI, I can eventually in less than a year from now become the Certified Hypnotherapist that I want to be. In fact, I'll begin seeing clients during my internship even sooner than that, in December of this year. Would you like to be one of them? Let me know, and I'll put you on a mailing list to receive a coupon for a free session. My internship will take place in Tarzana, California. Eventually, I plan to open a practice closer to home in the South Bay.

The website is up!

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:16:00 +0000

It seemed to take forever to get the contract and everything set up, but it's finally done! Click here for self-hypnosis MP3 audios that induce the theta brain wave state for more effectiveness. Topics covered include weight loss, smoking cessation, prosperity consciousness, self-esteem, happy relationships, strong immune system, restful sleep, and stress reduction.

The Reconnection

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 18:53:00 +0000

This isn't the big announcement. That's coming. But this is something I'm excited about, too. I'm reading again. This time it's The Reconnection by Dr. Eric Pearl. He's got a website, too, if you're interested in checking that out. It's about yet another healing system, but I'm particularly excited about this one. Dr. Pearl offers seminars in how to use the system, but he says you can get it from just reading the book, too. I was playing with the energy a bit as he suggests in the book. Wow! I felt a lot of electricity in my hands. Then I thought, "What will happen if I aim this at the dog?" He was just lying there on the bed at the time. I aimed a hand at him. Within moments, he flinched. Hmmmmm...... He doesn't do that very often at all. Anyway, I'm going to a book signing and lecture by this author next Thursday.

Water

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 19:45:00 +0000

I had to share this with you: Hado.net. Have you ever seen this link? If you've watched the movie, What the Bleep Do We Know?!, you've seen some of Dr. Masura Emoto's work. (If you're interested in the movie, you might also like their site.)
The other day, I went to one of the local metaphysics supply stores, Soothe Your Soul in Redondo Beach. They included a bunch of flyers with my purchase. One of them suggested buying mugs engraved with things like "Peace," "Love," and "Health" so that these messages would be infused into the water, tea, or coffee that was in the mug. Having seen the site and the books and the cards, I thought this was a good idea. So I went home and used a Sharpie to write "LOVE" on the jug of water that's sitting on the counter in the kitchen. That should give my water a nice energy.

Possibilities for the Future

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 17:57:00 +0000

The other day, I was contemplating what I could do to earn money to go to the University of Santa Monica to complete my Spiritual Psychology degree (or even start it over, if necessary). I felt moved to draw a card from my Kryon Cards deck, a deck I have seldom used. In case you can't read it in the image, the card says:

"Blessed are the Humans who look for unseen things that are intuitive but not yet accepted into the reality of life. They will be rewarded with knowledge and wisdom, and will become the forerunners of the newest sciences on the planet."

I don't think I could have drawn a more appropriate card. Wouldn't it be great if I could help develop instruments that would make the energies of the aura more visible? I know the energies are there; I can feel them. It's easy to feel them, actually.

Hold your hands wide apart and then slowly bring them together out in front of you with arms outstretched. As you bring them together, you will notice that your hands begin to tingle. I begin to feel this sensation at about 2½ or 3 feet apart. You may have to bring your hands closer than this to feel it.

There are cameras that supposedly take pictures of the aura already, but I am not sure exactly what these are capturing in their images. Hands of Light by Barbara Brennan includes a chapter the "History of Scientific Investigation into the Human Energy Field." One study was conducted by Dr. Valorie Hunt* at UCLA. In her experiments, she was able to record frequencies of low millivoltage signals from the body. She also had a clairvoyant view the auras of the test subjects. It was found that specific ranges of frequency correlated to particular colors that were seen by the clairvoyants. This finding would seem to authenticate the clairvoyant images of the aura.

* Hunt, Dr. Valorie, Massey, W., Weinberg, R., Bruyere, R., and Hahn, P., "Project Report, A Study of Structural Integration from Neuromuscular, Energy Field, and Emotional Approaches." U.C.L.A., 1977.

You can learn more about Kryon at http://www.kryon.org/.

Grounding

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 16:31:00 +0000

An important part of energy meditation is grounding. In my psychic development classes, when we meditate, before we work with the chakras, we imagine a root going down from the base of our spines going down through the earth, branching out, and grasping onto the earth. We imagine the same for the soles of our feet. This is the process of grounding.

I've often been told in these classes that I need to be more grounded. I had thought I'd done well with my meditations until I learned about an exercise with chi often done in Aikido classes.

This exercise requires three people. One of the people is chosen as the subject. The other two people lift the subject by the arms, being careful to lift evenly, and then set the subject down. Then the subject imagines his energy lifting up toward the ceiling. When the subject lifted again, the lifters should notice that the subject seems lighter. The subject is set down again. Now the subject imagines roots from the base of his spine and the soles of his feet going down into the earth, branching out, and grabbing ahold of the earth. When the subject is lifted now, the lifters should notice that the subject seems heavier.

After reading about this exercise, I went to class. As we were going through the meditation and sinking our roots down deep into the earth, I noticed that I seemed heavier and more pressed into my seat. As I noticed this sensation and recalled the exercise, I realized that I was properly grounded.

On the way home after class, I have often imagined dragging these roots along the freeway as I drive.

Channeling

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 17:03:00 +0000

We had a very good class last night in Psychic Development. It was channeling night. Channeling, the way we do it, is something akin to controlled spirit possession. We are very careful to set the intent for only the highest entities, and we use "light" to create an environment where only those entities will enter.

The evening begins with our usual meditation of grounding and opening the chakras. For grounding, we imagine roots growing down from the base of the spine and the soles of the feet going deep into the ground, branching out and grasping Mother Earth. I'm going to say more about this in another entry because I want to share something I learned about the aura and its apparent weight.

During the meditation, we imagine pulling in green, gold, and white light, filling ourselves with it, and sending it out into the room. We set the intention that only entities of the highest vibration be allowed to enter. We say the light invocation: "We invoke the light of the Christ within. We are clear and perfect channels. Light is our guide." Then we are ready to begin.

The person who wishes to channel then sits in the "hot seat." A light is set shining into the face so those in the room can better see any physical transformations that take place during the channeling. (Yes, I have witnessed this.) The class instructor stands by helping the channeler by removing energy blocks and adjust her energy.

The first time I was in the hot seat, I felt a heaviness but didn't get any further than that. This time I got further. I imagined myself reaching out to the instructor and leaving the body so that the entity could enter. I felt some sense of movement out and then the message, "Greetings!" I spoke this out. The instructor asked if the entity had a message. That was enough to pull me back in, and the experience was pretty much over.

Other members of the class were quite successful. One woman channeled Mother Earth and gave a message about how Mother Earth always gives us her energy and supports us and how we can send energy to her. Other unidentified entities gave messages about the essential Oneness of all entities. We received messages about the importance of enjoying life as we pursue our purpose. Another spoke on the gift of free will. All messages were rooted in love. There were no fear-based messages. We had plenty of time at the end of the meeting after all students who wanted to channel had their turns, so we encouraged the instructor to channel for us. It took a few moments because it had been some time since she'd done it herself, but she finally brought in the apostle Peter. It was a moving message.

The class was taught at the Learning Light Foundation by Anne Reith.

If you would like to see some channeled messages, here are two of my favorite sites for them: http://www.kryon.org/ featuring channeling of Kryon by Lee Carroll and http://lightworker.com/beacons/ featuring channeling of The Group by Steve Rother.

Diet Tools

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 18:47:00 +0000

WeightControl.xls: This is the spreadsheet I use to track my weight. There's a chart included that graphs out the progress. The dates don't show properly on the chart, but I haven't been able to figure out how to fix that. It does a nice job as it is. Somewhere along the way, I picked up a little fact saying that 1% of body weight was the ideal weight reduction for a week. That may not work out well for someone who has a LOT of weight to shed, but it seems right for someone who is moderately overweight. The spreadsheet uses that fact.

WeightWatchersPoints.xls: This spreadsheet can be used to keep track of points for a day. There's also a page to calculate the points for a food based on information from the Nutrition Facts. There's a multiplier for adjusting the portion size of that food in case one wants to eat a portion smaller or larger than that used in the Nutrition Facts.

Measurements.doc: I set up a little chart of measurements to be printed on a 6"x4" index card. I thought this would be a good idea because I could have my workout partner at the gym help me take the measurements. The card is far more portable than a computer!

Living Cookbook: This is software for planning menus and printing grocery lists. Nutrition Facts for recipes can be calculated from an extensive database of ingredient information. Weight Watcher points can also be calculated. (Because Weight Watchers has a patent on the equation, Living Cookbook doesn't set this up for you. You have to enter some parameters into the setup, but they tell you what parameters to use.) The program comes with a fairly good set of recipes built in, and it's easy to add recipes found on the Internet by capturing them. I've got quite a collection built up now. I hardly ever open a cookbook anymore.

WWCalc Info: If you're following the Weight Watchers program and you have a PDA running Palm OS, you're going to want this! The link is to a Yahoo group where you can download WWCalc and find links to where databases of restaurant foods and the like to use with it. Real cool.

NutritionData's Nutrition Facts Calorie Counter and DietFacts.com: These sites have Nutrition Facts for a wide variety of foods.

Theta Healing: The Experience

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 17:31:00 +0000

I decided that since I was interested in learning how to do Theta Healings, it would be a good idea to experience one. I called Brent Phillips and made an appointment. He can do distance healing, but I chose to see him in person because I wasn't sure about how to do the muscle testing step at home.

On June 30 about 12:30 p.m., I showed up for my appointment. Since I had already read both of Vianna's books (Go Up And Seek God and Go Up and Work With God), I didn't need much of an introduction to what we would be doing. Brent led me to a table where we would be doing the healings. He went and got a cup of water for me. Apparently, the muscle testing works best when one is well hydrated.

Before we could continue, we had to figure out which muscle testing method we would use to test yes/no questions. Brent did not want to use the method in which the arm is held out to the side and pushed down because he said it would be too tiring over the course of an hour. We checked out the standing method. In this method, the subject stands up straight. When a yes/no question is asked the subject will automatically lean forward for yes or lean backward for no. It didn't seem this would work out for me because I tend to lean back a little in my standing pose anyway. It wasn't comfortable for me to stand in the position that Brent said was straight. I asked Brent about using a pendulum. He said that this could work and that he had pendulums for just this purpose. He got out a wooden pendulum on a string for me to use. We tested yes and no, and it appeared that it was going to work out well for me.

At this point, I should briefly mention how Theta Healing works. When doing a healing in person, the healer and the patient will sit facing each other. Often the healer will ask the patient to put his hands into the healer's hands. This is how Vianna teaches it, anyway. Brent prefers to sit off center and hold only one hand. The healer moves his consciousness above himself 3, 6, or 67 feet. He then invokes God and commands a healing. This moves the healer into theta brain waves. This is the brain state in which healing works best. The patient need only sit there. In the next step, the healer moves his consciousness into the patient and works with the part of the body that needs healing. When the healing is done, the healer removes his consciousness from the patient and imagines washing himself off. Then he returns to his own body.

So Brent and I were sitting at the table. He next did a quick scan of me using the method I just outlined. He then asked me what I wanted to work on. Since my husband had recently complained that I snored, I chose to work on insomnia and snoring.

The first steps of the healing seemed almost psychological. Brent asked me what it was that insomnia did for me. We eventually discovered that I had been robbed and murdered in my sleep in past lives. The pendulum confirmed this. Apparently I didn't want to sleep because I didn't want this to happen again! Brent asked for my permission to clear this thought. He then did the Theta Healing process to clear the thought. When the thought was tested again with the pendulum, it was cleared. The snoring was likewise part of this same dynamic.

Brent asked me if I had something else I wanted to work on. I decided on weight issues since that is something I am working on in one of my groups. We cleared a couple issues with respect to that. Apparently I had the thought embedded in me that greater weight meant greater power. There was also an issue of not wanting the extra attention from men that being slim tends to bring on. Both of these issues were cleared, and no other issues were detected.

We had just a little time left in the session. I mentioned allergies. Brent seemed to want to work on food allergies. Actually, I was more concerned about airborne allergies since I'd had a pretty rough time of it in Copenhagen while on vacation and still had a touch of a cough from it the day of the appointment. But I did have known food allergy problems, so we went ahead and worked on this.

At the end of the session, Brent had me put a hand in his and did a final scan, working on the physical issues related to what we had worked on. I actually felt something happening during this process. I felt sensations move down from my head and into my bowels. The sensations continued in the bowels for a few moments and then moved up to my throat and head. And then it was done. Brent asked me if I had felt anything. I told him I had and described as best I could what I felt. He said that was the order he had worked on me, so that pretty well confirmed to me that what I had felt was real.

Since the session, I have not snored. If I have had difficulty sleeping, there was a cause such as a pain or some other thing that had to be dealt with. I was not just laying awake all night as I'd often done before. Since the healing, my eating has been more controlled. It's difficult to say whether I've had any help with the food allergies since I don't really notice those types of difficulties much these days anyway. All in all, I would say that the session has been a success. When I have gone a month without snoring, I plan to send a testimonial to Brent to use on his website.

I'm planning to take Brent's DNA 1-2 Seminar in October.

Seeing Auras

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 15:20:00 +0000

I had a great time on vacation and still managed to study a bit on airplanes and during down time. I took a few books with me. Perhaps the one that got my best attention was Hands of Light: A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field by Barbara Brennan. I especially enjoyed the sections on how to see the universal energy field and auras. I was in an airplane when I read the part about orgone and how to see it in the sky. I looked out the window and there it was, moving energetically about in a dizzying dance. I know I’ve seen it before, but I always thought it was something in my tears. Thinking about it, there was no way anything in my tears could have been moving as fast as what I saw.

I then read about the human aura. She described the various layers of the aura and their function. I looked up at the other passengers in the airplane. Again I found myself able to see. This time I saw a faint glow around the heads of the other passengers usually about an inch or two wide. In most cases it was white or faintly blue, but I also noticed a bit of pink around one woman.

I’ve seen auras before, but it was several years ago. I was making the effort then, having heard of them and being curious. I looked in a mirror and saw a thin magenta aura around me. In a bookstore, I saw a woman with a beautiful lemon yellow aura. And once while driving, I saw a man and a boy walking on the sidewalk. Around the boy, I saw a brilliant white aura. It startled me because I wasn’t expecting it. Since that time until reading the book, I hadn’t seen any auras. Fear must have shut down the ability during that time. Now I am again seeing the lower layers of the glow. I’m so thrilled!

Theta Healing

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Wed, 31 May 2006 14:20:00 +0000

It's been an eventful month. I've attended a funeral and a wedding, both out of state. And now I'm preparing to go for a long vacation in Europe. I don't think I'll be posting much in the near future.

I did my Reiki II attunement last week. I was quite amazed to feel how much better I was sensing energy. I was able to sense the instructor's hip difficulties. (I did a practice treatment on her.) Perhaps I'm better suited for healing work than for psychic readings.

In the course of my studies and readings for my weight control project, I came across a new spiritually oriented healing technique: Theta Healing. The technique is supposedly useful for physical ailments, DNA repair, and psychological work. I plan on taking a class in the use of the technique from Brent Phillips in the fall if the schedule doesn't conflict with a vacation I'm taking. (He hasn't scheduled the date yet.) Vianna Stibal, who developed the technique, has written two books about it: Go Up And Seek God and Go Up and Work With God. I've read them both. If you can only afford one of them, I recommend the second one. The material for the actual technique is included in both, plus the second one includes a couple of illustrations to illustrate key steps. The second book is thicker and also includes some information about the use of supplements.

She does address the topic of weight control in both the books. One thing she emphasized is that we should not speak of "weight loss." Otherwise, we'll want to "find" the weight again! The alternate terms I've seen used are "releasing weight," "weight control," or "weight reduction." I would think any of these would work just fine. Mystics I know have a preference for the first one.

Lourdes

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 15:42:00 +0000

I had a beautiful experience while meditating last night. As part of my meditation, I went to a "safe" place. I decided to let my angels and guides decide where that might be. I found myself at Lourdes, France, the site where, in 1858, Bernadette Soubirous saw the visions of Mother Mary and received counsel from her. I saw myself as simultaneously at the grotto and in the chapel that sits on top of it. I felt joy for being in this place. No personage appeared with a message, but I think being in this place was a message in itself. This is a holy place and a place of healing.

I had been to Lourdes before on one of my trips to France. I made a pilgrimage there alone while my husband was occupied with other business. This is a place where the ill and infirm come to seek healing. The town sells rosaries and bottles in which to collect water from the grotto. The streets are filled with people in nursing uniforms pushing wheelchairs and even an occasional gurney toward the holy sites of the grotto and the chapel that sits above it. There are places near the grotto where these pilgrims can be bathed in the waters of the grotto.

While in Lourdes, I went to the grotto, collected a bit of the water in one of those souvenir bottles, and then went up to the chapel to say a rosary. I had brought my beads with me for just this purpose. I am not Catholic or officially even Christian, but I do believe in Christ, and this seemed like an appropriate thing to do in this holy place.

The "Kinesthetic" Body

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:32:00 +0000

I've been playing Journey to Wild Divine and having a great time at it. This game uses biofeedback as part of its control system. One of the exercises within the game is done without the sensors, but it seems to have its own feedback.

The exercise starts out simply enough. The player is asked to raise and then lower his arm a few times, paying attention to the sensations of the movement. Then it starts getting interesting: the player is asked to raise and lower his "kinesthetic" arm, recreating the sensations of moving the physical arm. (What the game called "kinesthetic," I would call "etheric" or "astral.") So I moved my "kinesthetic" arm and was able to have some sensation of doing so. The player is then asked to do the same with the other arm. When that is done, to do the same with both arms. Then the player is told to raise the physical arms while leaving the "kinesthetic" arms by one's side. Then the player is told to move the physical arms down while raising the "kinesthetic" arms and to continue moving the arms in opposition like this. The game's instructor says that one might feel the arms crossing each other as they move. I must say, I was rather excited to discover that I did indeed feel a sense of increased electricity as the arms crossed paths.

While the game does not expressly say so, I would think that moving the "kinesthetic" body independently of the physical body like this is the beginning of an out-of-body experience, astral projection, or remote viewing. This is an exercise I want to continue working with to develop a greater sense of the "kinesthetic" movement and better imaging of it.

The Celestine Prophecy

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 22:02:00 +0000

Friday I went to see a preview showing of The Celestine Prophecy at the Learning Light Foundation. I hadn't read the book, so the story was all new to me. Actually, in my mind, the story isn't the most important part. It's the Insights that make it worth the while. The story is just a background for presenting them. I especially liked the parts of the movie where they depicted auras and the exchange of energy. This energy work is a lot of what we do at the Learning Light Foundation. It is fundamental to both psychic ability and energy healing.

So far, I am more feeling than visual when it comes to sensing an aura. Several years ago, I actually did see a couple of auras. I was working at doing so with intent once when I was at the bookstore. I saw a lady browsing the stacks. I saw around her an amazingly beautiful yellow glow. The other time I saw an aura, it was spontaneous. I was driving down the street when I saw a man and boy walking together. A brilliant white glow surrounded the boy. It just doesn't do to have such spontaneous experiences while operating a motor vehicle! I was so startled by the experience that I haven't seen an aura since. Perhaps it is time to try again. I think before I do, I would like to speak with my psychic development instructor about how to prevent being startled again by a spontaneous experience.

There's another set of questions that has arisen from The Celestine Prophecy. I went online to see if I could find the Insights. (I knew they'd be there, and they were.) I found on an unofficial site mention of energy coming from food. My understanding of it was that the energy mentioned is what would best be called chi energy. It is the same type of subtle body energy that is responsible for the aura. To get more clarity about the reference, I went to the bookstore and found the section where this was discussed. According to the book, the energy is most efficiently assimulated when food is eating mindfully and with appreciation. Prayer or blessing of the food helps to prepare us to do this more effectively. My questions are:

How does the assimilation of chi energy from our food relate to the problem of overeating and obesity?

Do we overeat to compensate for inability to gather chi energy to us in other ways?

If so, how can we improve our way of gathering chi so that we do not feel the need to overeat?

Actually, I think I have an idea what at least part of the answer to #3 might be. First For Women magazine had another one of those astounding headlines on its April 3, 2006, issue: "THE FAT JUST FALLS OFF." This time the article was about a breathing exercise that is supposed to produce physiological changes condusive to weight loss. This is actually right in line with the energy-raising breathing taught in the game Journey to Wild Divine. (I'll discuss the game in my next entry.)

The New Medicine

noreply@blogger.com (mindhorizon) — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 00:29:00 +0000

I was watching The New Medicine on PBS tonight and was struck with a strong feeling of THAT is what I want to do! The first hour of the show particularly appealed to me. I would like to be able to help people deal with the emotional and spiritual side of their illnesses. I was particularly impressed by the doctor who was helping a patient reduce his pain through guided meditation.

I still need to go the psychic route because I need to pay for the education to get the credentials to do the psychology work. The psychic work will be my bootstrapping to the next step. That was the plan all along. I wanted to earn money so that I could return to the University of Santa Monica and finish my master's degree in Spiritual Psychology. Now I have a better idea of what I'd like to do with that degree.

Some may wonder why I don't just fall back on my previous career to earn the money. I DO NOT want to be a computer programmer again. Well, maybe I would consider it as a support for the psychological work in a project directly related to it. Maybe. In the meantime I'd rather do the little pocket money jobs that I'm doing now to pay for the psychic development classes.

I have sitting downstairs a game that I have yet to install and try: The Journey to Wild Divine. It's a computer game that teaches meditation and incorporates biofeedback. Tomorrow morning's project will be to load it up and give it a try. I am so busy with my little pile of books, the Spiritual Weight Control project, and the Psychic Development classes at the Learning Light Foundation, but I think it's all starting to come together now. I think maybe I've found a purpose, and I have an idea about how I will get there. Now if I could just pace myself a bit better...

This is such a nice change from the first entry in this blog, don't you think?