Happy New Year!

In our January issue, we update you on 2009 training events, including teleseminars with Dr. Bruce Eimer on How Hypnosis Can Relieve Pain, Anxiety, and Stress scheduled for Thursday, January 22, from 9 am - 10:30 am Pacific Time and Brother David Steindl-Rast on Pathways to Gratefulness scheduled for Wednesday, February 11, from 10 am - 11:30 am Pacific Time. News from the Pain Front this month features information on how to reduce stress and anxiety that often worsens chronic pain and other health symptoms.

Be well and stay well,

We are starting this new year with two powerful telephone seminars. If you have not joined us before, you may want to learn how our teleseminar system works by visiting FAQ's at www.maggiephillipsphd.com/teleseminar_faqs.html. If you have joined us before, you already have a good idea of the treat in store for you--content rich information that you can put into practice immediately with little time, effort or money (90 minutes of live seminar plus anytime 30-day audio replay for $50).

January 22nd Teleseminar: Dr. Bruce Eimer, author of Hypnotize Yourself Out of Pain Now!, will join me to present How Hypnosis Can Relieve Pain, Anxiety, and Stress scheduled for Thursday, January 22, from 9 am to 10:30 am Pacific Time. If you want to know why I invited Bruce to be a presenter in my "Ask the Experts About Chronic Pain" teleseminar series, please visit Bruce's website at www.hypnosisgroup.com.

We will be discussing some great topics whether you are a novice or expert in hypnosis. These include:

• How almost anyone can be hypnotized if they want to be
• How the hypnotic state is the opposite of pain and anxiety states
• How hypnosis differs from imagery and relaxation techniques
• Fail-proof self-suggestions guaranteed to help you with pain
• Topics important to you. To let us know what they are, please click here if you are a person with a chronic emotional or physical pain or trauma condition. Click here if you are a professional who treats people with pain or trauma difficulties. And don't forget to sign up at www.maggiephillipsphd.com/courses_teleseminars_be.html so that you can hear our answers to your questions!

• The difference between gratitude and gratefulness
• How gratefulness involves awakening to surprise
• Recognizing opportunities to cultivate gratefulness
• The simple "Stop, Look and Go" recipe
• How people in pain can benefit from new mind-body pathways created by gratitude
• The questions that matter to you.

Even though the holidays are now behind us, the stresses they generated may not be. Many of us are concerned about paying credit card bills for the amazing gifts we rushed to find for loved ones. And headlines let us know that stress in the larger world did not take a vacation. Our collective anxieties and stresses continue to be fed by global financial woes, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, traumatic changes in health, and many other uncontrollable events.

When we first encounter crises, such as that caused by recent and ongoing job layoffs and losses in financial markets, we are first shocked and then experience the emotional pain of loss, fear and despair. After a time, we become overwhelmed, which compromises our capacity to cope. Usually we need to vent our emotional distress to others, and to experience our reactions in privacy. Eventually, we need to move on to self-care and health considerations and to engage in other behaviors that can help us reverse the effects of the stress we've encountered.

10 Steps to Reverse Stress

1. Reach out to others. As hard as this is, it's one of the best antidotes to anxiety, pain, and loss. Research has shown that collaboration within a group and sense of community and belonging can increase intuitive intelligence and creative solutions for any problems encountered. When we are engaged in our hearts as well as our minds, bodies, and spirits, collective energy helps to lift the buildup of individual stress and anxiety. Even though you may resist the idea of being around others, please consider the possibility of finding and staying in community to help prevent and mitigate distress. Interactive internet experiences make this kind of experience accessible to everyone.


2. Re-open your heart. When we are experiencing significant stress, it's normal for us to retreat and close off our heart feelings. Yet when our minds operate too long without the wisdom and softening of our heart intelligence, we can experience gridlock and fear-driven thinking. One way to open your heart is to offer kindness and compassion to others either through volunteering efforts; certainly, these times present more of a need for volunteers than ever. Setting an intention to show kindness or compassion to others each day is a worthy goal, and even if you cannot be actively accessible to others, it's always possible to send caring and compassionate thoughts and wishes to others over the phone or as a private meditation.


3. Practice an attitude of gratitude. Practice cultivating genuine feelings of appreciation for someone or something in your life. What's important is that the feelings or thoughts are authentic and heartfelt. Research shows us that this practice tends to diminish stress and even stabilize your nervous system. When we're in pain, we struggle to feel grateful for a life that seems laced with suffering. Gratitude practice will only work with practice. It takes effort to interrupt negative patterns that have been fed for many years.


4. Decrease the drama. One way to stop energetic drain and reduce stress is to refuse to feed drama during difficult times. Spinning thoughts related to "the sky is falling" attributed to "Chicken Little" only increases stress and makes what is already challenging even harder. One practice is to minimize drama when sharing experiences with others. If we share genuinely from the heart, there's more of a tendency to strengthen and encourage clear thought. When you notice that your thoughts are looping with too much negativity, label this process in some way for yourself (Ex. "This way of thinking doesn't help anything."). Then make a real attempt to choose a thought that is counter to the negative one, such as "Another way to look at this is..." or "a positive perspective on this situation might be..." If we practice interrupting our negativity, over time we will reduce stress overload that can create health imbalance and draw to us more positive thoughts and experiences.


5. Prayer and meditation. Regular prayer and meditation can help restore hope. Once hope is restored, then confidence and inner strength also can be reclaimed. Stress disconnects us from these aspects of ourselves. When we are able to reconnect with divine love and with compassion and appreciation for ourselves, this can spark the return of safety and security so that we can begin to re-envision and recreate our lives.


6. Heart focused and mindful breathing. Bringing mindful attention to the experience of breathing is another way to reduce stress and anxiety. Just becoming aware of how your breath travels in and out through your body can begin the process of letting go of stress. You can also practice breathing in and out through your heart or the center of your chest. As you focus on heart breathing, you can imagine breathing in positive heart feelings of love and compassion, calm and peacefulness. With practice, you can shift stress-producing attitudes more quickly and reset your optimal window of stress tolerance.


7. Sleep. What I've learned that helps me deal with the challenges of frequent and long journeys by air is to get plenty of rest and sleep. During times of stress, we need more sleep and yet the stress can make it hard for us to let go so that we can get restful sleep. For people who are experiencing chronic emotional or physical pain, getting reliably restful sleep is the single best strategy to keep their stress and anxiety (and pain levels) low. Use some breathing or stress reduction.


8. Exercise. When we are caught in anxiety and pain cycles, we don't feel we have the energy to exercise. One thing that stops us is the time and effort it takes to get the right gear, drive to a gym, work out and shower, and drive home. The truth is that you don't need to do this kind of workout to get benefits of exercise. You can take the stairs instead of the elevator; you can park your car at least a block away from your destination; you can enjoy gentle stretches or yoga poses. What's amazing about exercise is that the biochemical effects can neutralize stress and create new emotional reserves to deal with any kind of challenge. Whatever exercise you do, aim for keeping your heart rate elevated for 10-20 minutes without adding to your pain levels.


9. Stop comparing the present with the past. One of the hardest reactions to deal with in a crisis or loss is the tendency to compare the ways life used to be with the way life is now. After a reasonable period of grieving any negative change (which can include the onset or worsening of a pain condition), it's important to find some way of moving forward from where we are at the present time. It might help to make a commitment to confront mind preoccupations with the past. Notice how this way of focusing on the past affects you. Are you more depressed, low energy, stuck, less confident? Contrast this with appreciating past memories when you feel energized, renewed, or open hearted.


10. Reduce fear. Prolonged fear reactions deplete the immune system and can threaten our health. Excessive fear also can block hope, initiative, and positive regenerative energies. Practice steps 1-9 to reduce your fear. You might also want to write a letter from your heart to your fearful self. Start with an acknowledgment of the fears you have and affirm your commitment in some way to forward momentum so that you can move past this barrier.

Thanks for reading this newsletter.

My very best wishes for a powerful, positive 2009.

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