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Happy New
Year
January 2009 Vol
2(1)
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Healthy Alternatives
is published by iHealth Center for Integrated Wellness
Founder/President Kweethai Neill, PhD, CHT, CHES,
FASHA
Publisher/Editor Steve Stork, EdD, CHES, CHT
Changing Your Mind to Change Your Life
The missing link in Health Education is
Spirit.
This newsletter conveys ancient knowledge to a modern audience.
We don't refute science; we ask you to look beyond it.
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Healthy Alternatives is a
monthly newsletter. If you prefer not to receive future
issues,
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For
more information about iHealth Center,
contact
steve.stork@att.net
call
817-491-9809 or see our website
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This year, my
resolutions will work
The Secret to Manifesting New
Year Resolutions
New Year’s resolutions are a quaint
tradition. They are more euphemistic than practicable. You
say, “I resolve to…” while thinking, “It would be nice if
something magical happened that would make
me…"
Resolutions are not lies…exactly. But
somehow they are more often intended than actualized. How is
that so?
At the beginning of each new year you
express positive intentions to improve your state of
well-being. You resolve to lose weight, manage debt, save
money, get a better job, get back in shape, eat right, learn
more, drink less, quit smoking, reduce stress , take a trip or
grow a garden.
Such resolutions are reasonable. It’s not
like asking to win the lottery, find a cure for cancer or
negotiate world peace. Yet, given you have the resources and
the capacity to attain reasonable goals, you still fall
short. What stops you from getting what you want?
How come your resolutions feel more like a dream than a
plan?
In the book Hypnotherapy: An
Alternative Path to Health and Happiness (iChange Press),
Dr. Kweethai Neill provides an explanation for the failure of
most resolutions. Briefly, it’s not what you are eating, it’s
what is eating you. While that sounds like dieting advice, the
concept applies to all manner of resolutions.
New Year’s resolutions arise in the
conscious mind, from things you know about yourself. The
resolutions are expressions of intentions to change your
behaviors for the better. However, the conscious mind is the
wrong place to start the process; because all habits—good or
bad—originate in the subconscious.
The conscious mind is aware of habits but
is powerless to change them. The conscious mind is logical and
concrete, while the subconscious operates on emotions, and it
is emotions that drive behaviors. For someone with bad food
habits, you know a second piece of chocolate cake is
unnecessary, yet you cannot resist the indulgence. Perhaps it
is comfort food; the taste and texture reminds you of a time
when mom’s baking provided a sense of love, comfort and
safety. Those emotions trump logic and you take a
bite.
Resolutions usually seem reasonable and
logical. You think you have good reasons for stating what you
want. But how you feel is more powerful than what you
think. So understanding your feelings is a more effective path
to changing your behaviors. But it is not an easy path to
locate, since emotions are stored in the subconscious mind and
resist being changed.
Fortunately, emotions can be accessed via
hypnosis. And, via that access, they can be revised. As Dr.
Neill explains it, hypnotherapy “rewrites the software of your
mind” to revise emotional triggers. This makes the
subconscious more amenable to change.
Change your mind to change your
life Most resolutions lead to tentative steps
that, at best, create only temporary success. New behaviors
don’t stick. Stressful events evoke emotions that cause you to
fall off the wagon. You default back to your old habits (e.g.,
a former smoker lights up again as old stresses reassert
themselves).
A more reliable way to ensure successful
and sustainable change is to begin by revising emotions in the
subconscious. This creates an energy flow that supports
desired change. The result is that you feel empowered, and
that makes you better able to sustain change.
This year try a new approach to
actualizing your resolutions. For example, to more effectively
attain what you want, first go inside yourself using
meditation or prayer. With effort and practice, meditation
shuts out conscious distractions; making it easier to address
your feelings.
When you are still, your focus is better;
which is empowering in itself. It sounds easy, but most people
find this type of inner focus quite challenging. If you
cannot do it yourself, hypnotherapy can help. Hypnosis is
simply a state of consciousness with a very narrow focus. You
experience similar states every day. Consider how often you
become engrossed reading a book or totally engaged in a
project, to the point where you are not aware of your
surroundings.
While in a hypnotic state, your thinking
mind relaxes, which opens your feeling mind to suggestions. A
competent hypnotherapist gives suggestions consistent with a
prior discussion of changes you desire. You retain control.
Your mind accepts only suggestions that correspond with your
beliefs. Once your subconscious is amenable to change, you
are better prepared to learn new skills relevant to your
desired behaviors. That includes learning self-hypnosis as a
means of continuing to communicate with the subconscious
yourself.
Don’t wait eleven and a half months to
make new resolutions. Make them now and start looking for
someone who can serve as your change catalyst. You’re on the
right track; don’t be shy about asking for a
push.
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