The Body Knows

The Body knows. Okay, maybe the real line is that "the shadow knows," but that's a whole different posting. The body is the thing.

The body holds us together in this reality. It allows us to express ourselves and to communicate. Without it we would be dealing with another reality, so again, let's allow our focus to be bodily. The body is also often a reflection of our inner selves. It has its own language. The body changes expression if you are comfortable or disinterested, even if your words say something else.

But does it tell you the truth?

Look at the study done in 1952 by E. Sh. Ayrapetyants. To make quick work of this, basically the study tested people's response to having pressure applied to their bladders. During this time, they were given a meter to read so that they could see the increase of air pressure their bladders were incurring. Later, without telling the participants, the researchers stopped applying air pressure to the bladders, but the meters continued to read as though the pressure was still happening. Ultimately, the participants all reacted and felt the bodily response of having pressure on their bladder just by seeing the meter results. Pavlovian all the way.

Again, I ask, considering this, does the body always tell the truth?

What this experiment shows is that the body is affected by the past. The participants continued to bodily act as though the same conditions were applied even when the conditions were static. This proves that the body acts on memory. It hangs on and is a faithful mate to the past. So, what the body is really saying is that it reacts to some stimulus that is either happening or affected them greatly in the past.

Sometimes this is for the greater good. We gain muscle memory. Muscle memory helps us to take care of ourselves, especially in the more athletic realms (remembering steps and actions). Even driving becomes a bodily reaction to a past stimulant. We do not have to consciously tell ourselves to depress the gas pedal or the brake.

Then there are the times when the body actions inhibits life. It could be from phobias. Maybe we get into a crowd and our body feels like its suffocating. Even things that provide mental barriers for us, may show through certain bodily actions. Depression for instance, the body acts a certain way, maybe feeling tired or painful.

This is why regression hypnosis can be especially helpful. By regressing to the past moment that is influencing the body reactions, such as found in phobia work or certain uncontrolled responses, the subconscious mind can release the memory, helping to create new reactions in the present. It allows us to explore our mental past and change the past in a way. We can view it with our new eyes of greater experience and offer wisdom to our past selves.

Source: Toward an Integral Methodology for Transpersonal Studies

Healing Confessions

Monday I mentioned the idea of dealing with trauma and that I would write more about it. While I was gathering my thoughts, I came across some interesting information that I feel pertains to this topic. Granted I would always recommend using hypnosis for helping heal trauma whether one is the victim or the tormentor. However, this may not always be an option for some. The following may be used in conjunction with hypnosis or talk therapies.

It is the idea of spilling your gut out onto paper (or cyberspace). By writing our deepest feelings, we may heal ourselves. Now granted for those who have issues maintaining privacy, did you know that you can have a private blog that is password protected? If someone hacks into it, it is a little different than someone happening across your journal. From my own past experience, the former has been really bad and it turned me off of writing my thoughts. But life has a way of changing for the better. So there are options out there for those who have privacy issues.

Not only am I speaking from experience, when it comes to healing through the written word, confession, emotion, etc., James Pennebaker, PhD, a professor of psychology at Southern Methodist University has done studies and research that back this up. And what were the benefits of really writing out emotion? Compared to a control group who suppressed issues, those who poured out there soul onto paper increased their immune responses including reducing recovery times and promoting general wellness. There was actually an increase in white blood cells.

So, when you feel overwhelmed by trauma (or even if you do not know what it is that is bothering you), try writing it down or typing it out and begin the healing process.

Sources:
WebMD.com
Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions by James Pennebaker, The Guilford Press; 1997.

The Heart Library

As we are readying ourselves for today's Midweek RELAXation Session, this seems like a good time to share a resource. It is called the Heart Library. If you have ever wondered about symptoms of a heart having physical issues, this is a great place to start. It shows the inner workings of the heart and what happens during procedures such as Ablation.

All the more reasons to take some time out of your day and work on relaxation - even if it is just five minutes to clear your mind.

Corn People

Click here to see the video mentioned in this post.

You maybe thinking to yourself that this is old news - the whole Good Morning America about a documentary two college students are doing about the pervasiveness of corn in our lives. This includes what we ingest. And after looking for the story to post here, there seems to be a lot of sentiments and feelings about the idea that corn is in so much of what we eat. (It is true - go look in your pantries and refrigerator and notice how much high fructose corn syrup there is in there). Now I personally do not have anything against corn in general, but have tried to cut back on anything with high fructose corn syrup (my genetics may make me pre-disposed to diabetes).

But, really, I could not help but put this video on here, not so much for the health impact, but because it relates to my fascination with the Mayan Calendar. (See, I had not forgotten).

First, let me say that what struck my fancy in this video was the carbon testing they did on various people's hair. Apparently with such testing you can learn how much of your make-up (that is body, not the stuff you put on to look pretty) is corn-based. Diane Sawyer is 50%.

Interestingly enough, the idea of people being made out of corn relates to the Mayan Creation Myth. Not to simplify it too much, but in order not to write a dissertation, here's the gist. According to the The Popol Vuh, which is a text that references the Mayan Creation Myth, man is made from corn. Other substances were tried, such as mud and wood, but the true man was made out of yellow and white maze or cornmeal.

They came together in darkness to think and reflect. This is how they came to decide on the right material for the creation of man. ... Then our Makers Tepew and Q'uk'umatz began discussing the creation of our first mother and father. Their flesh was made of white and yellow corn. The arms and legs of the four men were made of corn meal.

There is much more to it all, but this is the part that totally relates to the GMA story. Man is made of corn. Our carbon make-up proves it.

Living to be 150

So, perhaps you have tried the Monday Contemplation about age. Interestingly enough, this contemplation must have tapped into the universal consciousness. Tomorrow night (Tuesday, April 1), Barbara Walters will air a new segment called Live to Be 150. It will be on at 10 pm on the ABC Network.

One of the things she will discuss is a new pill called resveratrol. It is being investigated in conjunction with combating cancer, viral infections, diabetes, along with age-related illnesses such as Alzheimer's and arthritis. It increases the SIRT1 enzymes by resetting the proteins that inhibit cell life. Dr. David Sinclair of the Harvard Medical School, among others, has recently studied it. His study examined the effects of Resveratrol on obese mice. What the study concluded is that it increased the lifespan of the subjects. It did this by cutting down on the side effects of high-calorie diets.

Anyway, it is an interesting idea. Though U.S. Lab Tested Resveratrol is studied and has had favorable results, it is only available through RevGenetics.

N*tranced is merely sharing this information with you so you know what is out there. Resveratrol is a natural herbal supplement. The FDA has not evaluated it claims, but legitimate companies and research facilities have studied it. You may want to discuss this with your doctor.

If you do try it, you might also want to consider using hypnosis along with it to help work on the mindset of the potential positive changes.

Goodbye Prozack

Maybe I will do another regular segment and call it "Things You Should Know." Hmm. It is all just gelling.

Anyway, here is something you should know. Prozack, Effexor, Serzone, and Paxil, in a recent study, were found to be as effective as placebos. According to the meta study analysis in which several colleges and universities participated in the findings, these popular antidepressants are not particularly helpful to treating mild depression (or even moderate) anymore than a suger-pill would.

These findings suggest that, compared with placebo, the new-generation antidepressants do not produce clinically significant improvements in depression in patients who initially have moderate or even very severe depression, but show significant effects only in the most severely depressed patients.

This is fairly big news. Several clients and friends of mine are on these medications, prescribed by physicians. There is no counselling, no talk therapy, nothing. Just the meds. We all want that magic happy pill to make us feel a little more fulfilled or satisfied with our situations. We are even will to undergo the side effects (sleeplessness, sexual dysfunction, slowness of thoughts, among other things), just for that little boost that we believe may get us out of bed.

The brilliant thing about this study is that, for those of us who fit the above description, any positive results we have felt then, may have been as much as mind over matter. We believe the pills help - therefore they do. Only, they don't. It is our own inner ability and belief system that creates the sense of positive change.

So, yes, I am making this into a plug for hypnosis. If your mind mind can use a pill to make you believe you are happier, imagine what hypnosis could do for you - and without the side effects.

Yet, I feel the need to add a disclaimer here. I am not suggesting or recommending that you just go off the pills without talking to your doctor first. Though it is your choice to do what you feel is best, if you are taking such medications, let the good doctors know that you want to go off them and try another route. It is your mind and your body.

Source:
PLoS Medicine