I have a friend who has just undergone a mastectomy. She has cancer. She recently came to a party we were throwing. Okay, it was our wedding. I was afraid she would not be able to attend because she was going to have her first chemotherapy treatment the day before the wedding, but she came and had a great time.
In fact, she really had a better than great time. She had a radiant-hippie-free-love of a time! (more…)
Last fall Kevin and I went to Yosemite. We love living in San Francisco, but it is really nice to take some time to get away from our daily lives of work and urban living and just be in awe of natural surroundings.
I love the quiet of the forest, the sound of the birds and russle of the wind through the trees. I enjoy my life in the city, but it’s so nice to go somewhere without having to have quarters for a parking meter or wonder if your car is parked on the wrong side of the street on street cleaning day. (more…)
Every time I go to the gym I’m amazed at the sheer variety of different exercises you can do to work out each part of your body. It seems that for each muscle there are a dozen different ways of working it to make it stronger.
That’s good, because variety can help you avoid becoming bored with your workout routine. It’s also useful because if you keep doing the same thing over and over again the benefits are not as great as if you keep trying new things.
That raised a question in my mind. If you can make your physical body better, more efficient and stronger by doing a variety of exercises, can you train and strengthen other things, like memory?
Lately, I’ve been working with people who are suffering from anxiety. There is a lot of anxiety out there, and in many cases there is good reason to be anxious. Loss of a job, money worries, or health issues just to name a few. But sometimes we create anxiety when we don’t have to. (more…)
A new study from Finland found that people who drank three to five cups of coffee a day in middle age were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s or dementia compared to people who drank no coffee or very little.
The study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, followed more than 1,400 people between the ages of 65 and 79 over the course of 21 years. They asked them various questions including how much tea and coffee they drank a day.
They found that people who drank what was categorized as “moderate consumption” - 3 to 5 cups of coffee a day - during midlife had the lowest risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia, compared to people who didn’t drink any coffee or drank two or fewer cups. Drinking more than 5 cups a day didn’t seem to offer any extra protective benefits.
What about tea? Well, this was Finland and apparently there weren’t enough tea drinkers to draw any conclusions about its effectiveness.
The really good news for coffee lovers is that this is just the latest piece of research showing that a cuppa Joe can do a lot more than just provide a quick pick-me-up first thing in the morning (or even last thing at night).
Altogether some 19,000 different studies have been done on coffee. It’s one of the most widely researched substances in the world. Most of the studies have found some positive benefits, for most people.
Like with any beverage there is a danger in drinking too much. But even there, another study has shown that people who smoke and drink alcohol, but who also drink a lot of coffee, are at lower risk of heart disease than smokers/drinkers who don’t consume coffee.
Think about that the next time you are in Starbucks behind the person who is ordering 7 triple shot extra hot low foam soy-milk white chocolate lattes. Be patient with them, they’re not buying drinks, they’re buying medicine.
So I went to my daughter’s house yesterday. She was having the midwife, the midwife’s assistant, and the doula over for a little pre-birth chat. Our baby is due in 2 weeks. The baby has lot’s of people looking out for her already. Right, her. She is named Emma, after her grandmother, Helene, after her father’s grandmother, and her middle name is “Danger”. It’s better than “Trouble”. (more…)
Anxiety and stress seem to be gaining much attention in the news recently, or maybe it’s due to the news that stress and anxiety is prevalent! Don’t despair, there are ways to control these toxic feelings instead of being overtaken and ruled by them. One method that is gaining momentum to change this emotional tide is hypnosis. It can relax and sooth while changing the way you look at your problems. Really!More…
There are many ways people use hypnosis. One of the most frequent is to help them overcome anxiety, and that is with good reason. Anxiety is a common human problem. Most of us suffer from it in one form or another. Some of us are so overcome by it that it becomes a debilitating force in our daily lives. It may show up as a formal diagnosis, such as agoraphobia, (fear of leaving the house) panic attack, (fear and high anxiety) or a generalized anxiety disorder or phobia, such as a low grade feeling that things are not well. It may have an attachment to our daily lives like going through a divorce, giving up smoking, building a house or going through a medical problem with a family member.
Our bodies continuously experience anxiety, it’s part of living. We can’t run away from it but we can tame how we react to it. The level in which we experience anxiety, can be a beneficial window to our state of mental and physical health. It’s the idea of fight or flight which has come in very handy throughout our evolution, but since we don’t usually run into primal predators in our daily lives, we need to reassess how we to react each time we experience a problem. Anxiety is the way most of us cope with stress or change. But sometimes it can be overwhelming, and instead of getting us to perform at a high level it can be debilitating and leave us depressed, afraid and unable to function, unable to take any risk at all for fear that something bad may happen.
This is where deep breathing and hypnosis comes to the rescue, because being hypnotized is a very relaxing experience just like deep breathing. The induction or invitation into the relaxing realm of the hypnotic experience becomes a safe haven from daily challenges. The hypnotherapist can include additional suggestions for positive imagery and help people create a place where problems can be seen in a different perspective. Hypnosis can help people overcome the shame of giving in to anxiety. It helps people use their imagination to tap into the valuable experiences used in trance, such as finding respite in a safe landing place, or discuss solutions to problems with an inner adviser or protector. By quieting the mind people can gain more awareness and understanding and tap into the subconscious strength and wisdom.
You can do this for yourself if you don’t have a hypnotherapist handy. How? Breathe, that’s right take a deep breath, I mean deep and slow and now let that cleansing breath out - slow and easy. Take another and when you have taken 10 really deep breaths, concentrating on each one, well, my friend you will feel more relaxed and calmer. It’s not as exciting as having a guide to help you get into that relaxed state, but it works. Focus, breath and be calm. Quiet your mind and control anxiety instead of it controlling you.
It’s been a stressful time for all of us! My sister and I were just wondering how we lost as much money as we did! I said, “Gee, how did we have that much money to loose?” My Dad never had any money, maybe that’s why he was so short tempered. My Mom always had a little stash somewhere. She didn’t call it that, but if there was a dance coming up and I wanted a new dress to wear, it was my Mom who said…”here…don’t tell your Dad!” Of course my Dad would take me aside and give me $20 and say, “Here, get something special.” But, where are your Mom and Dad now? (more…)
Last weekend Kevin and I got together with some people we used to see everyday when we worked in television. We were producers and our days were filled with deadlines, research, writing, booking and scheduling cameramen, talking with interview subjects, solving problems when schedules changed and getting the story on the air. It was also filled with laughter, jokes, ironic takes on the days events and many, many people. We’ve all moved on to other work but we still get together once in a while for a picnic in a park. We bring the kids, the dogs, the “new” spouses. It’s a meeting that celebrates friendships, and you know what? I miss them! (more…)
This is my new blog. I just put it up for you to get an understanding of how hypnotherapy works. I’ll have more information and articles in coming weeks. Thanks for visiting and if you would like to contact me: shirley@davadiva.net Thank you for visiting!
Shirl
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