Thursday, December 19, 2013

BE PREPARED TO FALL IN LOVE WITH...
The Philippines Camera Project & My Friend, James

Last year my friend, James Simpson of Condensed Photography lead a trip to the Philippines to work with area children on a very special endeavor called "The Camera Project"


The goal of the project was to encourage young people through the use of photography & art.  Please take a few minutes to see what beauty lies in the perspective of these beautiful children.  TRUST ME - you'll love it

The Philippines Camera Project

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Hypnotherapy: Certainly Not As Scary As A Crazy Cat Lady

I can't believe it's been as long as it's been since I logged in and actually wrote something here.  But here I am, back to write to the air...in the hopes that someone will read that and think, "...hunh...." 

Life is strange.  

It takes you on some amazing adventures, sometimes without even leaving your hometown.  

I'm not going to bore anyone with the details of the last two years of my life.  Most of you reading this will already know a lot anyway.  All you really to know is that I've encountered a good deal of loss in that time, along with a kind of roller coaster of emotions with my personal relationships.  

Don't get me wrong.  It hasn't been all bad or hard.  A lot of it has been really cool, actually.  So I'm really grateful for the time and the experiences, despite the emotions that I had along the way. 

But I wasn't always this clear about everything.  In fact, everything that's happened led me down such an inexplicable path of stress, anxiety and emotional craziness that it became obvious to my good friend, Beth Keil, who is a hypnotherapist.  She knows me so well that she could see I was having a rough time, just by one Facebook post I made.  So she reached out to me and asked me if I was ready to start working with her finally; and I was.  FINALLY.  We'd spoken about it for a few years.  But I wasn't ready.  You see, to commit to actually DOING THE WORK with Beth, and trusting yourself and her enough to ALLOW YOURSELF TO BREAK OPEN is critical to the success of this work.  I was not ready to do that, because THAT is HUGE for someone who is subconsciously pretending to be awesome and brave, when really all they are is...AFRAID.  But clearly (to Beth at least) I was at the bottom of my pit, and I was very ready to find a way out of it when she contacted me that day.  I'm grateful to my friend for that...

So I started my hypnotherapy sessions with Beth at her practice, "Hypnosis Services of Delaware" last Saturday.  Because I had already spoken to Beth about her services and hypnotherapy in general, and because I experienced hypnosis with her before, we started my sessions on what would be a typical "second" session for anyone who has never experienced it before.  

My session was all about my primary reasons for wanting hypnotherapy, and that is that I've been living with anxiety since I was about 5 years old.  When I say that I was "living" with anxiety, I say that very loosely.  No one with anxiety truly LIVES.  They merely cope, in my opinion.  That is exactly what I realized I've been doing (exhaustingly) for the last 41 years of my life, and even more so as my emotional traumas occurred throughout it.  It kept adding up inside me, and I kept pushing it down so that I could get through each day.  What I didn't realize was that I was exhausting myself by doing that.  Not only was I using my energy to suppress my fears around situations, but I was working double-time by using even more energy to act like I was OK.  Without even realizing it, I was subconsciously exhausting myself EVERY SINGLE DAY OF MY "LIFE".  

My FEARS (Beth encouraged me to use the word "fears" rather than "anxieties", because really - that's what it boils down to), I thought, were based on "abandonment" issues, with regard to relationships in my life.  

Through the process of an "Age Regression" in a hypnotic state, Beth worked with me to reveal that my FEAR of abandonment actually stems from a memory from the day I was born.
Now, whether this is an accurately detailed memory or not, I don't know.  But it is my perception of an event that occurred to me and it was very clear, and very real, and VERY emotional. 


The magic that occurs is that, once you realize that this moment - this memory - is the root or first experience that you can recall of feeling this way, Beth guides you to realize it, change it, and accept new information around the memory, and you do it all for yourself.  SHE gives YOU the power and the control to change your own reality, to change where your thoughts take you emotionally in the NEW scenarios.  And it REALLY happens.  

Along with the hypnotherapy, there is a critical added element called 7th Path, that Beth suggested I learn from her.  This technique is a means to sustain the results of the work you do with Beth, after you finish your hypnotherapy sessions with her.  Of course, one can always go back and do more work with Beth.  Life in it's very nature leads us to circumstances that will always bring up pain or fears, or - maybe we will want to lose some weight or quit smoking, or change our thought processes around something.  It's amazing what hypnosis can do for you, by affecting your subconscious mind.  It's amazing how powerful our subconscious mind truly is.  

With the little bit of information that I've learned already after only my first session with Beth, utilizing the 7th Path self-hypnosis technique during my everyday routine is helping me to maintain a level of calm, helping me to RECOGNIZE and redirect any typically anxious or fearful thoughts that pop up, and it's also helping me sleep better.  Best part: I do it for myself.  I can change my own negative patterns into healthy and happy ones, and best of all: I have control.   HOW COOL IS THAT?!?  I really am becoming the woman I never thought I was subconsciously pretending to be all along!  HELLA YEEAH, BADDY BADASS McBADerSTEIN!!! 

I'll continue to post about this amazing and very helpful experience that I believe EVERY HUMAN ON EARTH needs.  WE ALL DO THIS, whether we realize it or not.  

In fact, you know that diet you want to get on, the plastic surgery you think you need, that magical escape vacation you think you want and need so badly to recreate yourself and magically make your life AMAZING?!!? - they are NOTHING in comparison to the permanent and positive/healthy affect that hypnotherapy can have for you.  TRUST ME.  I should have done this YEARS ago, rather than eat all those gallons of Edy's Samoas Cookie ice cream and washing down Xanax with a cool dose of happy juice... But I'm thrilled and excited for myself that I'm doing it now.  (It's actually awesome to be able breathe like a regular human). 



(Thank you, Tardar Sauce).


GET YOU SOME SANITY.  NOW.

If you're interested in learning more about Hypnotherapy, 7th Path Self Hypnosis, Hypnosis Services of Delaware, or (or even hypnosis in general!) please contact Beth Keil via the Hypnosis Services of Delaware Fan Page on Facebook.  While you're at it, please "LIKE" the page!  

**TOTAL SIDE NOTE: I can't believe I wrote this without ONE profanity!  FUCKING AWESOME!! bye!