Organizing the Mind for Change

[Guest guest]

Please let me know how you like these.  I am in a group with and she has given me permission to post these to our affirmations group.  She has some wonderful things to say

Pam

It's much easier to study & pick apart someone else, than oneSelf. " .... Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht 

We're all here looking to change something....RIGHT? What's interesting is that the things you end of changing might just change you in ways that you didn't expect. I know this from personal experience. When I decided ( or more accurately, it was decided for me ) to get my food in order, I had no idea that I would be changing just about everything thing that was familiar about the way I lived. So, we get on our " change path " & observe what happens. 

Being a clinical hypnotherapist, I was very aware of working within images. I had set up one of the first mindBody programs for patients with cancer when I worked in Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. I was a new graduate nurse, having finished my degree in a very large psychiatric hospital in New York. 

Now, I needed my own help. To be honest, I was very frightened & I knew as a clinical specialist that this fear could lead to my demise. I saw this first hand in my patients & I knew that I was no different. For me, just like for them, it was " change or else. "  

After making a list or what I needed to change immediately, I designed some images to help my mind to organize. My first thought was to just jump in, but I knew from past experience that this wouldn't work. Organization was going to be KEY & a few days more wouldn't really matter. I also decided to work with a journal in addition to my special images. I also designed some folders....one for each area of my life. As time went on I would grow these folders. Some would become permanent, others would be temporary as areas of my life changed or goals were completed. Inside each of these folders were two pieces of paper, one piece taped to each side of the folder. The paper on the LEFT was called the " grasscatcher list. " The paper on the RIGHT was where the goal was defined. Of course, this also changed with time as my experience opened additional facets. A grasscatcher list is a place where you write down things you need to do in reference to the particular folder. For example, if I was in the mindBody Health area, I might have clean the fridge, kitchen cupboards, throw out the soda in the basement, etc. 

On the RIGHT hand piece of paper I also made two separate lists that contained the names of my most " popular " emotional states. One list were those that worked well for me & the other was the names of those that interfered with my progress. 

IDENTIFICATION IS KEY TO HIGH LEVEL ACHIEVEMENT 

The more you can identify & name, the faster you will change & the less effort it will take IF you utilize the power of your creative or subconscious mind. This is why GOAL DEFINING is so vital. Now, what is this? In simple words, it is a paragraph that tells the story of what you want AS IF you already have it. It's like you are writing a letter to a very good friend & telling them the most marvelous outcome that you are already EXPERIENCING. In most cases it is completely fabricated. But here's the thing. Your subconscious mind does not know the difference, so this becomes your new reality. 

I wrote a book almost two decades ago that was my blueprint for my recovery plan. It's called, Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It. In a way, it became my dissertation for saving my life. I wrote it " as if " I was the patient & an experienced nurse was writing a nursing care plan for me. I became two people....the patient & the nurse specialist. Many of the things I'm sharing with you here come from inside that book. I wrote it in such a way as to bring my mind to a completely new level of awareness, so I could actively change many things at the same time. 

A KEY to the plan was a combination of what I called " Knowledge Hooks " ....things I needed to understand on a cognitive level & then exercises in " imaginology " or what I came to call Interactive Self-Hypnosis. Many of the images I've given you throughout my blogs are Interactive Images. We take them with us when we go out into the world. We sit inside our " golden egg shape " & observe the circus of the world. We observe it, but we are not a part of it. We are what is called " disassociated " .....but in a good way. 

For mind organization I built my own world. It's called " the Goal-den Path " ...that is not a misspelling. It is what is known as a metaphor. It has two very important meanings to me....goal-den & golden. Both valuable. Both leading somewhere. In this case, down the goal-den path & into my life gardens. Each of the folders I wrote about earlier represent one of the gardens. The biggest & most important garden is called the MindBody Health Garden. This is where all the body parts live. I knew I had to communicate with my body because I was so out of touch with it. Here we learn something called " body scanning " or mental biofeedback. It puts us back in touch. 

Other gardens include our relationship with our Source, ourSelves, our significant others, our prosperity, work, home, spiritual & future. There are sub-gardens for special projects. I had to place a garden on my path for mourning the loss of my son. You can see that I didn't just place a " black cloud " over my whole " Goal-den " Path, but I honored him, as well as my grief by placing this lovely garden right there. This is where I grieve & grow. This is where I build a very special resilience. And yes, there is a corresponding folder. 

Inside each garden there are self-hypnotic tools for taking care of the areas. Remember that the folders contain the goal definitions...so when we enter we can see or " think " about each area " as if " it were already accomplished. 

Emotions are seen or thought of as children wearing teeshirts with their names on the front. We learn to take care of them....to honor & educate them. No one gets thrown to the wolves or beaten up. That is not the way. We were born pure & we work to return to that state of love & respect for ourselves. We are helped by our Source or our Inner Coach or Therapeutic Self or Mother-Self. Some of you are working with programs of mine, so you are familiar with many of the images. This is powerful inner work & remember when I told you that you would change in many ways that you haven't even considered? Well, this happens through the utilization of the active images. 

Now, you may be thinking, " All I want to do is to lose weight. " OK...so did I, but it was very obvious to me that I had been doing that over & over again for decades. The idea of losing weight consumed by thoughts & my days. I was now at the point in my life where my attempts had made me sick both physically & emotionally & there had to be more to life than this. I remember asking myself, " What would I do with my life IF I never had to think about losing weight again? " I fell in love with that question & decided to take all of this apart, find the answers & get to it. I wanted more. I wanted a new life & I wanted to be happy & at peace. As for the food....quite honestly....that part was the easiest. I researched & learned about insulin resistance, why the body yo-yo's, why quick weight loss is the worst of all & how to reach a healthy balanced body that would afford me a high level of energy & health. There is no mystery....it's just a bunch of Knowledge Hooks & doing the same over & over. 

I think this blog is long enough....I know I've been sitting here long enough....so next time I'll join in the journaling with the imagery & the folders. Please, if you have questions, let them flow. 

elizRN 

reprinted with permision from Elizrn.