We completed part one of the Freedom From Pain Online Pain Clinic with Dr. Peter Levine and me on Thursday, March 15, 2012.  

Many of you have written to share your appreciation for this event and we agree that this kind of online experience is both unique and important for those of you who work with or struggle with pain of any kind. It's still possible to sign up between now and April 12 so that you can attend part two live (Thursday, April 12 from 11 am - 1 pm Pacific time) where we focus on specific pain conditions and clinical issues in treating pain, and receive the full audio replay/ download for the March session. You will also receive great bonus items including:

1. An article on The Trauma-Pain Connection: "How is Trauma Implicated in Pain?" by Peter and Maggie
2. An audio with Maggie: "Breathe to Find Comfort as well as Pain"
3. An audio with Maggie: "Use The Body's Good Sense"
4. An audio with Maggie: "Disconnect Pain from Past Trauma"
5. You will also be entered in a drawing to win one of two copies of our newly released CD audio program Freedom From Pain. (Winners to be announced at the April 12 event).

We are also beginning to get excited about our teleseminar with Charlotte Reznick on Creative Imagery with Children. The live event is on Wednesday, April 18 from 9 am - 10:30 am Pacific time, and as always, you don't need to attend live as we will have automatic full audio replay/download available at the conclusion of the live event.

Dr. Reznick has dedicated her life to helping children, adolescents, parents, and professionals through her pioneering therapeutic coping skills program, Imagery For Kids: Breakthrough for Learning, Creativity, and Empowerment.  She is a child educational Psychologist, an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology at UCLA, and author of the Los Angeles Times bestselling book, The Power of Your Child's Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety into Joy and Success (Perigee/Penguin). In addition to her private practice, Charlotte creates therapeutic relaxation CDs for children, teens and parents, and teaches workshops internationally on the healing power of children's imagination. You can find out more about her at  www.ImageryForKids.com 

Here's Charlotte's mission statement:

"The challenges of growing up in today's rapidly changing society are enormous. Children need to be equipped with skills for survival and growth that were never before imagined. I focus on teaching children and adolescents self-healing and self-control techniques that will empower them to realize their potential throughout their lifetime."

Sound like a good path for you and/or the parents and kids you know? Strongly consider joining us on April 18; you can sign up here.  

Here's what experts have said about Charlotte's work: 

"Charlotte Reznick shows how kids can access the power of their imaginations for healing, growth, learning, change and peak performance.
Her practical wisdom and considerable experience provide the groundwork and the actual imagery tools to reach all kinds of kids -- rich and poor, smart kids and learning disabled, confident and unsure -- not to mention their parents, teachers and counselors. This is a
wonderful resource!" 
-- Belleruth Naparstek, LISW, author of Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal; and creator of the Health Journeys guided imagery audio series.  

Click here to read more testimonials.  

Just for signing up for the April teleseminar with Charlotte, you will receive:  

• A free transformational heart-centered meditative journey you can listen to at any time,
• An audio download on helping your child through a crisis,
• A handout that includes the practical applications of Creative Imagination, Creative Imagination tips and tools, and a resource list of books and music that can be beneficial to you implementing what you will learn in the teleseminar.  
• PLUS a FREE subscription to Dr. Reznick's e-newsletter packed with new articles and learning opportunities AND the Top Ten Things Kids Most Want and Need From Their Parents.

You will also receive special discounts (up to 50% off) on Dr. Reznick's guided creative imagery meditation journeys and her CD collection for children, adolescents, and parents. What great gifts!   

On May 9 and May 16, we are excited to welcome back Sandi Radomski and Tom Altaffer for a two-part e-course on Using Ask and Receive with Emotional Stress.   

Ask and Receive is one of our most popular series focused on a simple, highly powerful approach that offers a great way for people struggling with emotional stresses including grief, shame, anger, fear, and panic to find a way to ask themselves for help in healing that is both highly accessible and easy to receive. Registration for this two-part ecourse will be coming soon, so be sure to check our future emails for information and to register soon.

FEEDING THE SECOND WOLF

In her book, Taking the Leap (Shambhala Books, 2009), Pema Chodron reminds us of a Native American story that circulated shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

A Native American grandfather was talking with his grandson about the struggle that goes on within and between human beings that creates violence and cruelty in the world.

He explained that it was as if two wolves were constantly struggling. One is vicious and vengeful -- he represents anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, false pride, superiority and ego. The other wolf embodies understanding and is kind -- he represents joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The young man asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win the fight?" And the grandfather answered, "The one that wins will be the one we choose to feed."

The question, of course, is how can we train ourselves to feed the right wolf?

Chodron believes that the first step is to be honest with ourselves. "Most of us," she writes, "have gotten so good at empowering our negativity and insisting on our rightness that the angry wolf gets shinier and shinier, and the other wolf is just there with its pleading eyes."

So we must be clear about which wolf we are feeding by our attitudes and actions. When your focus is on defeating your opponents, or when your anger drives you, you are feeding the first wolf. And when your focus instead is on being the best human being you can be and on bringing out the best in others around you, you are feeding the second wolf.

For Chodron, learning how to feed the second wolf involves an emphasis on three important human qualities: natural intelligence, natural warmth, and natural openness. She explains that when we're not caught in the trap of anger and fear, we instinctively know the right actions to take. Although we are frequently hijacked by our emotions, we still have access to our "fundamental intelligence."

Natural warmth, she defines, as "shared capacity to love, to have empathy, to have a sense of humor...to feel gratitude and appreciation and tenderness. It's the whole gamut of...heart qualities." Natural warmth can heal relationships whether with self, other people, animals, and all that we encounter in daily life.

The third quality of natural openness relates to spaciousness and expansion. The full mind is an open mind, flexible, curious, and without prejudice. To exercise this capacity for openness, Chodron suggests, think of a time when you were angry or frustrated. Now imagine that you can pause, expand, and empower the wolf of courage and presence instead of the wolf of violence or aggression. In the pause of openness, we often find our natural intelligence and warmth as well. The practice that becomes a portal to all three of these qualities is the sacred pause where we have a moment to reflect and to shift.

Other writers, such as author/comedienne Leigh Anne Jasheway, recommend learning ways to stop feeding negative emotions. When you feel the toxic emotions of anger, greed, envy, or judgment arising, try these simple tips:

1. Count backwards from 10...in another language is even better to give yourself time to shift emotions.
2. Take 5 deep breaths and imagine the wolf of anger loping away down the hill from you, never to appear again.
3. Practice distracting yourself with something silly, like imagining yourself as "little red riding hood" or other wolf-related character.
4. Go for a walk to give you distance from your emotions and bring yourself into the current moment.
5. Stop crying "wolf." Try challenging at least one of your negative beliefs -- for example, "Something difficult like this is always happening to me." Instead, try the mantra, "Nothing truly terrible is happening right at this moment."
6. Travel in packs. Spend time with your favorite friends and make sure you schedule regular doses of time.
7. Negative emotions feed in darkness, so get out into the light. Sit in the sun, turn on the lights, open the blinds, in at least one way, feel light shining on your face.
8. On your next good day, write a positive note to yourself to read the next time you feel like whimpering and hiding in a cave.
9. Make a list of ten things in your daily life that you're grateful for. Read it when you're least grateful.
10. If you tend to compare yourself to others and end up feeling defective, stop putting your tail between your legs and call someone who believes in your worth and will tell you so.

Once you learn to keep the angry wolf away, Jasheway clarifies, then it's important to find ways to invite the wolf of connection and gratitude into your life. Some simple tips from her include:  

1. Show your teeth in a good way by smiling at least once an hour.
2. "Wolf-whistle" your acknowledgements of others by recognizing their accomplishments
3. Refuse to see the world as a "dog-eat-dog" place and choose to believe in a world where mother wolves take in other cubs and raise them as their own. Practice being a mother wolf yourself to others.
4. Always carry hard candy in one pocket and dog treats in another. That way, someone will always be glad to see you!
5. Be a peaceful animal this week. Remember that there's a difference between play-fighting and "real" fighting. Only bare your teeth and growl when you really need to. 

For more information, visit  http://www.martial-mind.com/attitude/feed-wolf/ and  

http://awakeningwomen.com/2009/05/08/are-you-feeding-the-right-wolf/. My thanks to Pema Chodron and Leigh Ann Jasheway for the inspiration for this article.

March may be an ideal month to develop an effective practice of feeding the right wolf. Instead of waging war this month, find simple ways each day to embody the wolf of kindness, compassion, love, and peace.

My best wishes on your journey as you learn to feed the second wolf,

Maggie