Future Focus Achieving Your Dreams

It is important to stay in the “present” so physical and emotional responses do not cause symptoms of distress to arise, however, planning for successful attainment of your goals and dreams is necessary for long term success. This all can sound like “double-talk” but it really makes good sense.

First, physical and emotional symptoms can develop for people who are “not in their bodies in the present.” Many people have anxiety/fear regarding occurrences from events which have happened in the past. These can be difficult to “let go.” Likewise, even more people get fearful and anxious about the unknowns of the future. These are things that we can not often control and so can become consciously or unconsciously scary. Most people need to learn how to release fears of the past or of the unknowns of the future and practice living, in their bodies, in the present moment. This is easier said than done, but very important to learn how to do and to use preventively.

If you are not completely happy with your “condition” in life, then you may need to move in positive directions to attain a long term goal and dream that will bring you greater satisfaction and happiness. For example, maybe you want to get your college education and a college degree. Or, maybe you want to take a trip to Paris or Rome. Or, maybe you want your work or investments to give you financial security. All of these are important and significant long range goals. If you want to achieve these, and not just desire them, you must take action. The first action is to really plan the steps necessary to accomplish this major goal. Break it down into the small steps that will take you down the path toward completing your goal. Work out a reasonable time line. Gather the information and the resources that you will require to begin. AND, GET STARTED! Get help or coaching if you can not do this for yourself, in a useful way.

You must be very clear about what your goal looks like. It helps to see, or visualize, your dream. Feel it! Know what the final result will feel like to you. Listen and hear what your success will sound like. Some people can even taste success… In other words, use ALL of your senses to imagine the successful completion of your goal. This will help to make it more “real” for your subconscious mind. NOW, focus on your goal and the path to achieving it.

Do not be lazy! Regularly, immerse yourself in seeing yourself moving toward, and then accomplishing, your goal. Some people do this upon awaking in the morning and again at bedtime. Many people need to start their day with these images of success. I know many people who plan goal focusing breaks throughout their day to help them maintain focus on their positive long range goals.

I believe in this process and I tested it! After completing my Ph.D. program my private practice had shrunk down to 3 appointments per week. I figured that I needed at least 15 per week reach my financial goals. This was in January and I set the last week of March as my target for accomplishing my goal. Several times a day I pictured myself answering the telephone and writing appointments in my appointment book, until all the appointment slots were full. Of course, I also made calls to referral sources and sent out letters to advertise my services. The last week of March, I had 18 appointments on my books and 14 people came in for their appointments. Pretty close to the exact goal I had established. I was thrilled. When I looked at where the new business had come from, less than half of the appointments came from my direct promotional efforts. More than half of these clients came from other sources, “out of the blue” you might say. It did not matter at the time but in the years since, I have come to respect the power of offering clear, specific requests to the universe. By being clear and specific, the universe can help provide the answers you require for the success that you desire. The principles are simple, the actual practice requires dedication, support, and sometimes specific coaching.

My coaching practice often takes clients with big goals and dreams. We move together to build the individualized program for success and take the steps necessary to accomplish these goals.

You can do it! You can make your life move in the most ideal directions, but it requires more than just “wanting” or “dreaming.” It requires the targeted work and the laser focus on your long term goal. What is the accomplishment of your dream really worth to you? Remember that anything of value requires your time, focused attention, and your energy to achieve.

Grab your dreams! Make them happen!

Healing Secret

Do you believe that someone else “Heals” you? Or, do you believe that you heal yourself? When you get a small cut or scratch how does your body repair itself? When you get exposed to a cold virus how does your body fight off the virus infection? These are mysteries that are just being explored. A doctor in an emergency room can set a bone, or put stitches in a wound, or restart your heart, or prescribe a medication like an antibiotic which can save your life. This demonstrates the mastery of medical arts, but does this heal you?

The power to heal is within you. People with faith may believe that the holy spirit can help the healing process or is it the “belief” in the holy spirit that actually supports the healing? The magic of the body hunting for an infection, building anti-bodies, and then destroying a bacteria or virus or even a cancer cell is still not well understood by medical professionals. There are many who believe that healing can be enhanced by the power of the focused mind.

I bought my wife a crystal that has healing properties, as told to me by the shop keeper. Perhaps the crystal focuses a healing energy that can not be measured by current scientific monitors or perhaps a person’s belief in the healing properties of the crystal are what rallies the patient to enhance their own healing mechanisms. In many ways, it does not matter whether the crystal does the healing or the faith in the crystal provides the healing, but…

From past experience in coaching clients, I have witnessed the power of the positive suggestions offered to enhance the healing process. The positive focus and concentration upon the positive end results and a soothing or calming environment can help promote the healing process. Many clients have responded well, physically and emotionally, to positive visualizations and suggestions, but I can not claim to know why this happens. I do know that the safe way I practice this use of suggestions does not hurt them and it is meant as an adjunctive process to traditional medical protocols.

I have seen “miracles” (or unexplained benefits) occur. As an example, I had a woman in her mid-twenties come in to my private practice with a diagnosis of a hyper-active thyroid and the symptoms that go along with this diagnosis. She said that she had been treated by an endocrinologist for 4 years with little positive result. Her symptoms included: hyperactive behavior, skin breakouts, bulging (protruding) eyes and high levels of thyroid hormone in her blood tests. I told her that I had not worked with this diagnosis (this was early in my career) but as we discussed her life she seemed to respond to information about biofeedback and stress management. We discussed a process that involved relaxation with Autogenic Training and a targeted visualization of blue light and coolness surrounding her thyroid gland to reduce blood supply to her overactive thyroid. It seemed to make sense to her and she went home to practice these techniques. 4 weeks later her skin was better. Her eyes were not bulging. Her energy levels seemed better under control. AND, her doctor found no trace of excessive thyroid hormone in her blood test. She felt that her success was due to her relaxation and visualization of a positive result. She used the power of her mind to heal herself in a measurable way. I loved this experience but I can not really explain the positive result.

I believe that we have the power to help keep ourselves healthy and we can be a big part of the healing process. I recommend that we get diagnosis and support from our medical professionals especially with our personal physicians but we should not always assume that they will heal us… We have a big part of this responsibility and we need to do our part.

I do not know whether a crystal helped my wife but I like to think that she may found emotional support in the belief that a positive environment helped her invest her own healing energies in appropriate ways. I also know that other people’s prayers, healing thoughts, love and positive energy can give great comfort and support. This may assist the healing process by having positive effects on the mind, emotion, and spirit of the person receiving this support.

Heal yourself. Share love and support with people who need healing. Allow them to bask in the healing, spiritual golden-white light of your unconditional, loving thoughts and prayers.

Contact me through the Stress Education Center’s website at www.dstress.com for more healing examples or coaching on how this might benefit your healing process. Please take good care of yourself.

Empowerment: Get Back in Control

Are you feeling that many things in your life are out of control? Does this feeling of “lack of control” make you feel stressed? Would you like to “Get Back in Control”?

There are many things that are important to you and yet beyond your control. These are the things that are the most stressful. Relationships are stressful and often beyond your control. The economy, world conflicts, global warming the fear of nuclear proliferation are all stressful and, in most cases, beyond your control. You may not be able to control other people’s actions or the global economy, but you can learn to control one important thing, the way you respond to these challenges.

To “Get Back in Control,” you most do 2 things. First, you must identify how you physically and emotionally respond to these stressors. This awareness will aid you in NOT becoming a Victim to your habitual patterns of holding stress. Secondly, you will want to learn how to change (and control) your responses. Biofeedback and stress management research have proven that any physical system that can be monitored in “real time” can be controlled. You can learn to control your: brainwaves, blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, blood flow/circulation, even the release of gastric juices. Through awareness and learned control, you can learn to change your habitual response to stress and invest your available energies in more appropriate and positive ways.

I recommend starting with temperature training biofeedback combined with a stress management strategy like Autogenic Training or visualization. You can learn to control your physiology and this will in turn lead to Empowerment. It is often reported by my coaching clients that: “things that used to bother me do not seem to bother me anymore (or the same way.)” My clients learn that they can get back in control of the their bodies’ and then their lives.
It may not change all of the stressful situations that surround you, but it will give you an opportunity to put things in perspective and make the best use of your available time and energy.

Please take good care of yourself.
L. John Mason, Ph.D.
www.dstress.com (360) 593-3833

Zen and the Art of Beach Combing

This past weekend, I was searching for sea shells on a beach in Ferndale, WA. It reminded me of the many times I found solace as I have walked beaches around the world…

Most of us have had the experience of walking on a beach. We have walked by the ocean or by a lake or by a river and as we walk we look for interesting things that have been washed up on the beach. The experience “absorbs” us by filling our minds with the present moment and what treasure can be spotted.

The act of walking by any body of water is relaxing for most of us. If the weather is calm and we do not fear bodies of water, then we can feel the soothing calmness that moving water can provide. I have been told that water gives off “negative ions” which are supposed to be relaxing (for most of us.) Moving water resonates at about 10 cycles per second and as our brains mimic or resonate with this pace, we can drift into an “alpha” brainwave state (which is a meditative and relaxing state for most of us.) Just the act of walking outdoors by water seems to relax us and this is enhanced by walking barefoot over warm sand as we feel the sunshine and listen for sounds of birds…

In fact, many people use similar images as a relaxation visualization that can soothe and even help to heal. We can benefit from a mental vacation and the peaceful rest of a brief Zen meditation. Perhaps we remember a beach that we have strolled upon. Perhaps we contemplate a walk down a beach that we have wished to visit. The very thought has powerful positive qualities. Adding details makes it richer and more powerful while also helping us to escape, for a moment, our normal beach-less lives.

I challenge you to dream. Image yourself walking, or better still, walk the beaches of the world and then lose yourself in the wonderful pleasure of this peace and beauty. This will heal your mind, body, and spirit.