Reflections Newsletter
"People are not broken and in need of fixing... most people are just fine. They may simply need a tune-up."
Dr. Alexander R. Lees
|
|
In This Issue:
Want to take more control of your life? I think all of us would like a little more control in our lives, given the present world economic conditions, which are basically out of the control of the average person. This month everyone has some very helpful suggestions on how we can control a number of different areas in our lives. Alex writes about how our state of mind can affect what we eat, and in turn, how that can affect your body. Dave writes about how we are influenced, in all areas of our lives (on a daily basis) and how we can learn to influence ourselves to achieve our goals. Tom has a special treat for us - the Energy Medicine Allergy Elimination Trial is ready. Anyone that suffers from allergies may want to consider being part of the trial, but that's only if you don't want your allergy! We also have another treat for you - Dr. Mike McCallum has written about Simple Lifestyle Changes, and the first thing we can do is simple and easy. I write about what I do when I feel the need to be comforted and it tastes good. To see what I mean, you'll have to read the article. :-)
P.S. For those interested in learning EFT, we have another EFT Fundamentals workshop scheduled for Oct. 17, 2009. Space is limited so please register early. See details.
Bon Appetite!
Berit Lees, Editor
************************************************************************************************
|
|
Let's talk about eating & food, and how we do it
By Dr. Alexander R. Lees
There's an old adage: We are what we eat. But, what determines what we eat? All of us are given one body for life, and how we treat our body will affect everything we do until the day we die. Some people regard their body as a temple and treat it accordingly. Others never stop and think about how they treat their body and can end up abusing it. The majority of people make some attempt to maintain a healthy and fit body. What's the difference that makes the difference for each one of us?
One of the factors that determines how we treat our bodies is our perceptual filters. All information coming into the brain is filtered; some information is allowed in and other information is kept out. Whether the information is allowed in or kept out is determined by a number of things. For example: our socioeconomic status, where we live, our skin colour, our gender, our culture or heritage, our religion, our education and our politics, to name but a few.
The world renowned environmentalist, Dr. David Suzuki in his article, Our perceptual filters shape the world, states, "Even though we detect our surroundings in the same way through eyes, ears, nose, skin, and tongue, our brains actively filter that incoming information so that it 'makes sense' according to our individual values and beliefs. This creates huge dissonance between fossil-fuel executives, environmentalists, and politicians when we discuss an issue like climate change."
Perceptual filters play a huge role in how we experience and live our lives. Perhaps one of the most rigid of all our filters is our beliefs, and we're going to focus on our beliefs regarding food.
Dr. Mark R. Vogel, a clinical psychologist, professional chef and food writer states, "In essence, what we think about something influences how we feel about it. It doesn't matter whether our thinking is right or wrong. What matters is our appraisal." In one of his articles, Dr. Vogel sites the following example.
His father had a belief that only iceberg lettuce was worth eating. Knowing this, Dr. Vogel served him a Caesar salad made with romaine lettuce. Even though his father wolfed it down with obvious pleasure and delight, he couldn't help criticizing his son for using romaine lettuce. The point of this story is it was his father's belief, not his taste buds, that dictated the preference.
To some, a foreign food is automatically considered unhealthy, distasteful or nutritionally inferior simply because it is "foreign." For many, their diet changes practically monthly, simply because they believe the information that accompanies the latest fad, be it - low fat, high carb, or low protein, high fat and so on. The point is all food contains one or more of the main elements necessary to maintain health - water, carbs, proteins and fats.
Dr. Vogel also sites a case of a father that refuses to allow his children to drink cows' milk. This restriction is erroneously based on his belief the milk contains antibiotics. The fact that it is illegal to sell milk that contains antibiotics, and milk is tested by the Dept. of Agriculture to prevent its sale (should it contain them) is not sufficient to offset this belief.
In Science Daily (August 22, 2006) Marieke Saher reports that even people with higher education can be just as susceptible to food fads and various superstitions regarding food, even though these beliefs directly contradicted the available science. In other articles, Saher sites examples of the need to supply cause and affect; that is, which food must have caused that upset stomach, or pain in the leg, or lower back discomfort. In many of these cases, it was the belief about the particular food that had more to do with generating the symptoms, not the food itself.
Although emotions are generally not thought of as perceptual filters, they can and do act as filters. Consider the following example. Person A considers a statement made by another as humorous. The resulting behaviour, voice tone, facial expressions and body gestures will all reflect the emotional state.
Now, contrast this with someone who has different beliefs, and hearing the same statement, reacts in anger. Again, the behaviour, voice tone, facial expressions and body gestures all reflect anger and annoyance. Instead of patting Person A gently on the back or shoulder, the angered individual may well terminate the conversation with threats or by leaving the room.
An experiment done by one university showed the effects of the emotional state on how the body responds to cholesterol. Four actors were hired to play two couples who had been close friends for years. They were getting together to share a meal - pizza - and talk about fond memories. A blood sample was taken prior to the meal, and another sample after the meal. The blood (after the meal) was then tested for cholesterol. Granted, it was there, but later, when tested again, had "disappeared." Something in the blood had broken it down.
The experiment was repeated, but this time each person was to act as if they were almost mortal enemies, and anger and resentment permeated the meal. The same amounts of pizza were then consumed by each person, complete with the same precisely measured amount of cheese. This time, the cholesterol did not dissipate within the blood sample. Remember, the only variable was the state of mind, yet the cholesterol (lipid) in the blood was measurably affected.
It becomes evident then that to really be healthy and do the best we can, we have to take into account beliefs and mental attitude concerning food.
Let's suppose you are given a vehicle, and you are told it's the only one you will ever have. In other words, this vehicle must last for the rest of your life, and other than a few replacement parts here and there, you best decide to look after it well. What kind of maintenance would you decide to do? How would you drive it, or otherwise use it? In a like and similar way, you will only have one body in this lifetime. The food you put in it is the fuel. Are you going to use the good stuff, or the quick and the cheap?
Your beliefs about why you eat what you eat (and the amount) as well as the quality of the water you drink, and the exercise you choose or shun, will all contribute to how well your body performs. It will also determine how long, and how well, your body serves you. Examining those same beliefs will help you to understand why you don't have room for one more carrot, or a few more peas, but plenty of room for dessert.
***********************************************************************************************
Quick Check for Alzheimer'sThe following was developed as a mental age assessment by the School of Psychiatry at Harvard University Take your time and see if you can read each line aloud without a mistake. The average person over 40 years of age cannot do it! 1. This is this cat. 2. This is is cat. 3. This is how cat.  4. This is to cat. 5. This is keep cat. 6. This is an cat. 7. This is old cat. 8. This is geezer cat. 9. This is busy cat. 10 This is for cat. 11 This is forty cat. 12 This is seconds cat. Now go back and read the third word in each line from the top down.
************************************************************************************************
|
 Contributing
Columnist Dave Marshall is retired and lives in Spain. Before his
retirement he was in the corporate world in the UK, and also taught NLP
(he's an NLP Master Trainer). Visit his website at www.nlpman.eu which
has a ton of free information on NLP. Dave's blog at http://www.bukisa.com/rss/people/nlpman (you may have to copy and paste URL into your browser), on Twitter: davesnlp
Tricks of the Mind & Derren Brown
By David Marshall
I think I may be becoming a TV critic! But I make no apology for writing to you again about Derren Brown because the guy is one of the foremost educators of psychology we have in the world today, provided you look beyond the show and discover things that you can learn to apply for yourself. And what has he done this time? (Apart from impressing me.) This time he demonstrated how people are so unwittingly open to influence and persuasion at a subconscious level.
Just let me tell you about two things that he did on his last show. He did a lot more - but I'll let you enjoy watching the rest, if you can find a copy. The first one happened in a shopping mall. All the shops who were taking part in the experiment had decorated their shop windows with mannequins holding money in their hands, as if they were offering to give the money to someone. One of the hands was offering a green shoe. Some shops had slogans saying things like "the great give-away ". The hidden theme was all about generosity and giving.
Derren was then heavily disguised as a homeless person and he sat outside a shop and started begging. In no time at all people started giving him money, and one man insisted on giving him his shoes. He then walked away bare foot! (This was attributed to the suggestion of the hand holding the green shoe). The amazing thing was that people were not just throwing some coins in Derren's cup; they were stuffing notes into the cup. In just one hour the people gave Derren 350 pounds (which was later donated to charity) - rather more than the average beggar gets, I think.
The second example that Derren performed happened in a toy shop. In London there is a very famous toy shop called Hamleys which has several floors full of children's toys. Derren met his subject outside in the street and explained, as they entered the shop, what they were going to do. Basically all Derren wanted the subject to do was to pick a toy to give to an old childhood friend. He then led the volunteer to the top floor, stopping off to point out various toys and books on the way. The volunteer then walked round the floors deciding which toy she would pick to give to her friend. I don't know how he did this, but he did correctly suggest that her friend was called Vikki! The next part of the experiment involved the volunteer thinking of the gift that she had decided upon and together, with Darren closely observing her facial expressions and gestures, they made their way down the floors. When they reached a display of soft animal toys, Derren picked three of the toys and showed them to the subject. Watching her expressions closely, he then decided that she had chosen a giraffe. This was correct. He then asked what name would she give the giraffe and she said she would call it Frank. In the volunteers shopping bag there was an envelope which she then took out and found a name tag with the name Frank upon it.
Well, she was, of course, totally amazed that Derren was able to do all this. But the biggest surprise came as she left the shop because outside the front door was an enormous inflatable giraffe with the name Frank hanging round its neck!
So how did he do it? Well, he then went on to explain how he did most of the things that happened in that session. When he met the subject outside the shop, he made a gesture like a giraffe as he explained they would be going to the top floor. As they made their way up the floors, they stopped at various places where there were various suggestions of giraffes. There was a poster of giraffe heads, there was an abstract picture of the pattern of a giraffe skin and so on. He also mispronounced the phrase "do you have" so that it sounded like "giraffe". "Giraffe a special gift in mind", because it was slightly mumbled, sounded like "do you have a special gift in mind". As they walked through the shop he presented all of these cues in a way that was outside of the subject's awareness.
So what can we learn from this program? Well one thing we should realise is that in this highly commercialised world we rarely make a free choice. We are always being manipulated by advertising, the media, marketing, politicians, reporters and news editors, et al. And it is very powerful because, most of the time, we are not aware that it is happening
"So what?" some of you cry - "That is life!!" But how can we use it to benefit ourselves? Well firstly, if you're a practising therapist, decorate the waiting room with suitable images. A very nice picture of The Fighting Temeraire, or The Night Watch, does not have the same effect as a smiling face, or images of peace and tranquillity. You may think of some suitable phrases that you could put on the wall or hide in your flyers. For example, change can be easy, people get better every day, freedom can be yours, contentment is free, float in peace, soak in tranquillity, health is attainable, etc. These phrases can be quite subtly displayed; they can be very small and still have the effect of being out of awareness. For instance, the phrases could be hidden in the pictures. But it's up to you to decide how you can best use this information for the benefit of your clients.
For yourself, you could also use the same techniques to achieve your own goals. You can make a collage that symbolises things that you want to achieve. If you are thinking about getting fitter put things around the house about being fit. If you want to eat a more healthy diet put pictures of healthy food around the kitchen. Or, you can make yourself recordings that contain out of awareness messages to help you achieve your goals at an unconscious level. Or, better still, to keep them out of your awareness, get a friend to do them!
As Walt Disney said, "I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained." And that is, to me, what Derren Brown does - because, although he doesn't disclose all of his secrets, he does explain a lot of the things he does to achieve the results that he gets.
Note: Derren Brown is also the author of three books, and one that may be of particular interest to anyone interested in learning about the mind is called Tricks of the Mind. For North Americans that would like to see Derren Brown in action, his TV show is currently on the SCI FI channel.
************************************************************************************************
|
Tapping News+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ As many of you know, the "tapping business" is becoming a world wide phenomenon and to help tappers everywhere, Nick and Jessica Ortner, producers of the movie Try It On Everything and the Tapping World Summit have a new website called the Tapping Insiders Club. The TIC (Tapping Insiders Club) is destined to become an important aspect of this world wide movement.The TIC is designed to help you get even better results with tapping and help affect positive changes in your life. For others, it will provide an excellent review, to help you integrate the information about tapping more fully. There's something for everyone from beginners to seasoned practitioners. The site has a wealth of information in videos, teleclasses, ask an expert, and much more!************************************************************************************************ |
 Contributing Columnist Tom
Dorzab is a retired biologist from Kansas and now lives with his wife
in Spain. Tom followed his passion and is now an energy medicine
practitioner specializing in Eden Energy Medicine. You can contact Tom
at tdorz@telefonica.net It's Allergy Correction Trial Time!
By Tom Dorzab
It's allergy correction trial time!
This could be one of the most important articles you have ever read! I am so excited about this month's topic I could pop! For those of you who have not read my article in last month's newsletter, this month's should be a real treat for you and for those of you who did read the article, this should be a real treat for you too! So it's treats all around! What's the big deal? What is being presented this month that could possibly be so important to you?
In a nutshell, you will be given access, at no charge to you, to a technique that could very possibly have a profound effect on not only your life, but also on the lives of most of those around you. This month, Dr. Lees, Berit, my good friend Ron Matthews (also a Certified Eden Energy Medicine practitioner) and I are unveiling a simple, fast, and in our experience, almost always effective technique for eliminating or decreasing allergy symptoms. And did I mention that it's completely free? The only requirement is that you have hands, although we may find later that the same results can be obtained with your feet.
We are giving you the opportunity to take part in a study to evaluate the efficacy of a completely new energy medicine allergy elimination technique. Not only will you learn a technique that will probably allow you to help many people around you break the yoke of allergy symptoms, you may also be contributing to the advancement of energy medicine in the scientific community. For the scientific types out there, it's often difficult to accept the principles of energy medicine with or without proof. If this study is as successful as I think it will be, it will be just that much more ammunition for convincing the scientific world that energy medicine really is a way people can often empower themselves to achieve greater levels of health.
We need to set some guidelines before going any farther. First let's remember that allergies are usually referring to a bodily reaction that triggers a histamine response such as a runny nose or other inflammatory responses. There is another similar response to substances known as a substance sensitivity. A substance sensitivity can result in a wide variety of other possible symptoms. So if your doctor tells you your negative reaction to a substance is not an allergy, don't be discouraged. This technique can be tried on any allergy or other substance sensitivity. From this point on, I will refer to both allergies and other substance sensitivities as simply sensitivities.
The next important subject relates to sensitivities that are so severe they could be life threatening. I would strongly suggest that anyone with such a serious reaction to a substance should not take part in this study and anyone who does decide to take part in this study attempting to correct a serious sensitivity, does so at his own risk.
The next concern has to do with possible adverse reactions. In a few cases I have been told by clients that after this technique has been used, they have had somewhat of a negative reaction for a few days. After the few days have passed however, they feel much better than before. Since this technique is still in its experimental phase, it's important to note that although to date no serious reactions have occurred, I cannot guarantee that they won't. Anyone who takes part in this study therefore, needs to assume full responsibility for their decision to participate and realize that unforeseen reactions may be possible.
The last point I want to address has to do with who this will and won't help. The great majority of people who have received this technique have found relief from their symptoms. There is a certain percentage of people however that is so sensitive that much deeper work is required. If you are one of those people, and you probably already know who you are, you may not get the results you hope for. I have also found that, in people with a lot of sensitivities, after a substance sensitivity is corrected, they don't really feel any better. My theory is that, even though the sensitivity was corrected, another one pops up to take its place. So until most of the sensitivities are corrected, there is little change in how they feel.
OK, now for the fun part. The technique that is the basis of this study requires that a substance to which the subject is sensitive be placed on the subject's solar plexus prior to completing the protocol. That's good and fine if you know for certain that you have a sensitivity to a dog for example. For a dog you would simply take a handful of hair (remember we want to be able to say that no animals were injured during this study so be gentle) from the animal and place it on the subject's solar plexus and continue with the protocol. Remember it's probably best to avoid placing the substance in plastic or metal. I much prefer a glass container or the substance can also be wrapped in paper.
It's possible to have a sensitivity to an unknown substance, for instance, an airborn substance. Obviously it's difficult to place an unknown substance on the solar plexus. For our purposes in this study, we need to leave those sensitivities out of the study. Next month we will be going into more detail as to how to deal with such sensitivities as well as discussing the results of the study.
That should do it for this part of the explanation. If you're interested in taking part in the study, all you need to do now is click on the link below and the rest will be explained to you there. One important reminder, only one submission form will be accepted per participant, so try to avoid mistakes that will void your results.
This study was designed so that there would be no possible way to track any of the participants, so if you're concerned about your privacy, don't be. If you have a particularly exciting story to share about your experience with this study, please email me. I would love to hear about it.
Thanks in advance to all who choose to participate. The exciting results will be posted in next month's newsletter. I can't wait to see how you all do. Have fun.To learn more, please watch the video and then register to take part in the Energy Medicine Allergy Elimination Trial. Click here
*********************************************************************************************
This is what happens when your kids take away your car keys!
************************************************************************************************
|
 Guest Columnist Dr. Mike McCallum is a chiropractor with 23 years experience. Mike is passionate about his work and hockey. When he's not helping people to feel better, or flying down the ice, he enjoys the creative thinking process, and marvels at people who think outside the box. Mike is located in Abbotsford, BC and can be reached at chiroman@shaw.ca or 604.870.8722.
Simple Lifestyle Changes
By Dr. Mike McCallum
It seems that everything I read or listen to lately makes a reference to "simple lifestyle changes". I think the notion of a "simple lifestyle change" is crazy. The only thing simple about lifestyle changes is describing them.
A recent study in The British Medical Journal looks at England's public servants since the early 1960's. One part of this study looked at 19,000 men and in a nutshell it showed there were three things which had been proven to shorten your life. They were Smoking, High Cholesterol and High Blood Pressure. If you stopped smoking, lowered your high cholesterol and blood pressure you could expect to live 15 more years.
Have you ever tried to quit smoking? Change your diet? Start and continue an exercise program? These are not "simple" changes. In my years in practice I have found that lifestyle changes are monumentally difficult. Ken Peters, a management guru from the US said, "It takes a split second to make a change, and a lifetime to maintain the change". Amen. If lifestyle changes were easy we'd see a lot less of these three life shortening diseases. I like to believe that health is normal. My experience has been that often, we humans veer off the healthy path mostly because of the lifestyle choices we make.
We need to make "Simple Lifestyle Choices" not "Changes". What is it that keeps us from making better choices? I think it has to do with consequence. The consequences of our choices are often years in the future. We smoke but we don't get lung cancer the first week. We eat really poor food but our cholesterol doesn't skyrocket and we don't feel terrible. We watch TV, play video games, sit around all day but we really don't feel that bad. It takes years to get symptoms and it's often these symptoms that drive change. Maybe we could reframe "health" so it looks more like a retirement savings plan. We do things now, a little at a time, and reap the rewards much later. I'd bet we'd be able to enjoy our retirement a lot more too!
Editor's Note: Please stay tuned -- Mike will write more about how to make simple lifestyle choices in the next edition of Reflections.
***********************************************************************************************
The Fire Truck
A firefighter was working on the engine outside the station, when he noticed a little girl nearby in a little red wagon with little ladders hung off the sides, and a garden hose tightly coiled in the middle. The girl was wearing a firefighter's helmet. The wagon was being pulled by her dog and her cat.
The firefighter walked over to take a closer look. 'That sure is a nice fire truck,' the firefighter said with admiration.
'Thanks,' the girl replied.
The firefighter looked a little closer.
The fireman noticed the girl had tied the wagon to her dog's collar and to the cat's testicles.
'Little partner,' the firefighter said, 'I don't want to tell you how to run your rig, but if you were to tie that rope around the cat's collar, I think you could go faster.'
The little girl replied thoughtfully, 'You're probably right, but then I wouldn't have a siren.'
Editor's Note: No animals were harmed in this joke. :-)
***********************************************************************************************
|
Berit's Corner
I just had a plate of homemade fries and they were yummy! Now I feel that all is right with the world and I have some energy to write this month's article. It really is amazing how we can change our state of mind so easily - one minute a task or chore seems onerous, and the next minute, it's no big deal.
Sometimes when I need a little comfort I eat something that feels good, like homemade fries. To me, they are comfort food personified. Other foods on my comfort food list include Campbell's Tomato Soup (no other brand please!), a grilled cheese sandwich, and Kraft Dinner (the original version).
Upon reading that, some of you are probably thinking, "This woman is going to weight a 1,000 pounds if she's not careful!" I probably would if I ate like that all the time, but I don't. The above foods are for the times when I want to feel comforted and a variety of reasons could have caused the need for "comfort." There's not one trigger that says, "Time for fries." Instead, it's a feeling I get. I can't really describe it, so here's an example.
When Alex and I were living in Spain we discovered that no one sold Kraft Dinner... no one! We asked all our friends if they knew of any store, anywhere, that might sell it. A few friends were amused that we would eat KD. Others thought we needed some education re what healthy foods to eat. And, still others suggested we make macaroni and cheese from scratch - it would taste better, and be more nutritious. Of course, they were right, but no matter how good it would taste, it wouldn't be KD.
After we had been in Spain for about a year, a friend of ours was going to Hong Kong on a business trip. She mentioned that KD was sold there, and said she'd bring us some back. We couldn't believe our good luck.
Two weeks later a box of KD was delivered to our door. It was like we were given something precious. Alex and I prepared it our special way with lots of good stuff added, like tomatoes, green peas, corn, sausage and/or anything else we fancied at that moment. You didn't think we ate KD just the way it came out of the box, did you?! We set the table with linen, lit some candles, poured the wine and enjoyed our feast.
Why was this such a big deal for us? It's really quite simple. Both of us had been going through a period of missing things about North America, Canada, Vancouver and White Rock. In other words, "home." We were feeling homesick, and that feeling somehow manifested into really wanting some KD!
We ate our KD that night, and it tasted as good as any filet mignon we'd ever had. Once it was all gone, we felt better. We'd had a taste of home. Believe it or not, that was all it took, because after that we didn't experience the same feeling of longing for all things "home." Instead, we really got into the experience of living in Spain, and as some of you know from our stories about that time, we had the time of our lives.
Also, a funny thing happened along the way. Now, whenever we have KD for dinner, as I'm eating it, I fondly remember Spain. So, it's a double whammy - eating KD comforts me and also brings back good memories. Maybe I should contact Kraft Foods and tell them this story... they may want to make a commercial about it. :-)
I hope all of you have a simple and easy way of fulfilling your need for a little comfort.
Till next month,
Take care.
***********************************************************************************************
|
|
|
|
|
Volume 16, No. 10
October 2009
|
Upcoming Workshops
EFT Fundamentals
Oct. 17, 2009
Learn More
Register
EFT Intermediate
Nov. 14 & 15, 2009
Learn More
EFT Advanced
Date to be announced
Learn More
EFT
Practitioner
Workshop
Date to be announced.
Learn More
For
details on our
Certified Practitioner
Program click here
Fees, Location & Other Registration Information
|
Practitioner Mentoring Group
Be the best practitioner you can be! Learn new skills & techniques to complement your tapping skills with Dr. Alex Lees (in private practice 22 years & Berit Lees (22 years managing the business side of things). Share your experiences with others, learn new information, and also get help with your specific issues. Limited class size provides individualized attention. Details
|
|
