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Time Travel Through the New Year

Looking Back on The New Year
What if you could travel in time? A new year is the perfect opportunity to think about time. It’s the moment when we mark the end of one phase of life and the beginning of a new one. But this year let’s try stepping into an imaginary time machine. It’s new  year’s eve 2020, you’re looking back on 2019. What do you see? What would you tell yourself in January 2019 that you know now, here in December 2019?
Picture yourself there, standing on the edge of a new decade, the 2020’s. What do you want for yourself going into the next decade? What do you wish you’d done to prepare yourself for this transition? Do you have any regrets? Any missed opportunities? People you wish you’d told how you feel about them? Things you wish you’d done or didn’t do?
Now take a step back into our imaginary time machine. You’re back. You’re here in January 2019. The year stretches before you, from now to that moment at the end of the year and the beginning of the next decade. You have the opportunity right now to prepare yourself for that moment, to align your will with the reality you want to create for yourself at the end of the year.
Instead of looking at the new year as a moment to make resolutions and start on a path from which we mustn’t stray, try assessing who you want to be at the END of the year. Then decide what you have to do to make that person a reality.
Set Your Goals Backwards
Once you decide what your goals are, it can be helpful to view them in retrospect. Think of where you are now. Most likely there are some things you’ve accomplished in life. How did you get there? How did you achieve the things you have now that you once only dreamed of? Think of the things you like about yourself. How did you cultivate those attributes?
Now imagine yourself there at the end of the year in December 2019. What do you need to do to become that person at the end of the year that you’re proud of? What do you need to let go of at the start of this year? What do you need to bring in, to cultivate?
Instead of viewing resolutions and goal setting as a linear forward developing process, it can be helpful to set your goals backwards and work from the end to get a better handle on the beginning.
Start From The End
Maybe you’ve made resolutions every year. How often do you keep them? How many do you make and how many do you keep? It can be helpful to revisit your resolutions and goals throughout the year. Also keep in mind it’s okay to add goals and resolutions as you go. One helpful tactic can be keeping your focus on the end goal. Focus on that person you want to be at the end of the year. What does it take to get there? This can keep you from beating yourself up over little failures that are bound to happen on the way to your end goal.
For instance, instead of resolving “I’m going to go to the gym three times a week every week in 2019,” resolve “I’m going to be a healthier person at the end of the year.” This way you can get to the gym, eat better etc., but if you make it to the gym only twice one week you haven’t broken your resolution. By setting goals backwards – with a focus on result rather than perfection in the process – you only fail if you stop striving. The route to success isn’t a straight line, it’s a wibbly-wobbly windy fall down seven times get up eight times kind of a thing.
This year start from the end, and don’t be afraid to stumble along the way. The story of how you get there is up to you.

The Mythology of Your Life

A powerful part of our minds, as noted by people such as Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, James Frazer and others is myth. Myth sounds to many of us at first glance like an archaic and outmoded concept – something relegated to the dust bin of history or the stuffy halls of an anthropology class. But myth is still very active today. It’s everywhere in fact.
Most obviously myths show up in our super hero movies. We have similar stories about people with extraordinary power – in modern times usually granted through some scientific malfunction or direct application in lieu of the supernatural batteries of yore; an irradiated spider bites a young man with glasses, a young man with glasses is actually an alien from the planet Krypton, a young man without glasses but with infinite wealth at his disposal devises contraptions to harness the fear of his enemies through a bat motif etc. An extremely obvious example of modern and ancient myths colliding is found in Marvel’s Thor and Avengers series with its cadre of Norse gods.
Myth as it stands though isn’t just about super heroes – we see legendary figures in our modern world, heroes and villains. Politicians, musicians, and athletes often become larger than life or mythic figures. George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., Benjamin Franklin, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Michael Jordan, John Lennon, Oprah Winfrey – any of these people could be seen as modern mythic figures even if they actually lived (or live).

Old Myths, New Faces

In Joseph Campbell’s 1949 work “The Hero With A Thousand Faces” he explores the fundamental structure of mythology. Campbell calls the archetype “the hero’s journey” which Campbell summarizes as:
“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”
(In this light it is interesting to note that the Egyptian Book of The Dead is more properly translated as The Book of Coming Forth By Day).
We see many of the older myths retold in Disney films. We are often introduced to these stories in childhood, whether through films or books. Disney as a cultural phenomenon introduced many of us to Robin Hood, King Arthur, Aladdin, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Pocahontas, and other legends, myths, and Fairy Tales for the first time.

The Shadow Out of Time

 
Myth transcends time. Like a shadow it lurks in the hidden places of our minds, sometimes forgotten, but always in our psyche. A lot of our modern mythic figures – real and imagined – are recognized for extraordinary beauty, generosity, strength, forbearance etc.
In the old mythic legends of Greece, Rome, Egypt, India, Africa, and Scandinavia (just to name a few) we find similar ideas. These ideas speak to our aspiration as humans; They point to the things we value for good or for ill.
For instance, cleverness is displayed by both real and mythical legendary figures from Anansi, Robin Hood, Hermione Granger, Thor, Gandalf, and Aladdin to Benjamin Franklin and Harriet Tubman. Strength and beauty are displayed in various forms by Michael Jordan, the Prince and Princess in Sleeping Beauty, Prince Rama, Hercules, Superman, Cleopatra, Achilles, and Galadriel of Lothlorien.
Self-sacrifice is demonstrated by many figures as well, from more mythological and fictional characters like Odin and Harry Potter to real life heroes Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Gandhi who ultimately paid for their selfless actions with their lives.

Towards a Personal Mythos

The power of myth is in its application to daily life. In this way myths live on within us. What choices will we make in the coming days? On our best days do we exemplify the qualities of the archetypal hero? Bringing back benevolence and wisdom from danger? On our worst do we exemplify the villain? Giving in to avarice and anger? Myth also challenges us to decide what we value. Do you value wealth? What do you mean by wealth? Money? Property? Friendship? Do you value intelligence? Athleticism? Inner and/or outer beauty? Wisdom? Courage? Perhaps even trickery or cleverness?
This moth we challenge you to think about your own story – your own personal mythos if you will. What stories are you telling yourself? Are they working for you or do you need new ones? How will you apply your myths to your own life?

Dreaming Awake

A Life Spent Sleeping
According to a report from the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research we spend, on average, 227,468 hours or 26 years sleeping. This translates to 33 percent of our total lifetimes!
During healthy sleep, the brain enters 90 – 12 minute cycles of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. This accounts for as much as 20 – 25 percent of our sleep time. REM sleep is curiously important as it is associated with the dream state. Further curiosity arises due to the fact that in prolonged periods without REM sleep the mind tends to hallucinate, and seems to require the dream function in some sense imposing it on to waking life through hallucinations.
With so much of life spent in sleep and such a significant percentage of that time spent in the dream state – why do so many of us have trouble remembering our dreams? Most of us enter REM sleep (i.e. we dream) every night, but many of us don’t remember our dreams. But what if there was a way to induce better dream recall, and further, to become conscious during the dream state? Further, what if so-called lucid dreams allowed you to sort out problems and experience scenarios that could assist you in waking life?
Lucid Dreaming
Lucid dreaming is defined as the conscious sensation that you are dreaming, or ‘waking up’, in the dream state. This is experienced naturally by many children, and some people continue to have lucid dreams into adulthood. If you are one of those who don’t experience lucid dreaming naturally there’s good news! Lucid dreaming and dream recall can be induced.
Do-It-Yourself Lucid Dreaming:
This step-by-step method isn’t a guarantee, but it will almost certainly work for most – if not all of you – at least to some extent. Follow this method consistently, every day, for at least two weeks. For best results try it for a month or longer.
  1. Keep a Dream Journal – Keeping a Dream Journal is an easy way to train your subconscious mind to pay attention to your dreams. It sends a signal to your brain that dreaming is important to you and that you want to remember your dreams. Start simple. Keep a notepad or journal by your bedside. You can even use the electronic notepad on your phone if you find it convenient. Write down whatever is on your mind when you wake up, even if you don’t remember your dreams that night.
  2. Perform Reality-Checks – Reality-checks are anything that might alert you to the fact that you’re dreaming. One of the simplest techniques is the Light Switch Technique. Flip a light switch on and off. If you’re dreaming, it won’t work. (Seriously, try it). Another technique involves willing a number or letter you see to change. Look at a clock for instance, note the time, look away and look back. If you’re dreaming the number will be different (Not just one minute different either). These techniques are likely to induce a realization that you’re dreaming. In order to integrate them into your subconscious, you should perform three reality checks a day while you’re sure you’re awake. Try one at each meal. This way it will integrate into your subconscious and eventually you will do a reality check while you actually are dreaming.
  3. Hypnotherapy Assistance – Hypnotherapy can be used to induce a state similar, if not exactly the same, as the dream state. The state of hypnosis acts on a similar subconscious level and during hypnotherapy sessions, dream recall can be achieved. Further, the mind can have obstacles to lucid dreaming removed – and the paths to lucid dreaming and dream recall opened – through Ericksonian style hypnotherapy.
  4. Stay Grounded – It’s important not to get too excited when you realize you’re lucid dreaming. Your mind will have a tendency to become very excited when you realize you’ve achieved a lucid dream state. This excitement will usually wake you up. If you can become familiar with this state you can learn to be in it without the mind becoming overly excited. From there, the dream is yours!
Dream Yoga
So why would you want to do any of this? Well, in a lucid dream you have full control of what is happening. This can be used to overcome nightmares, to deal with subconscious trauma, as well as to live out fantasies and explore your imagination. Imagine changing objects in your dream at will, flying through the air, living out a novel or movie style romance or adventure story!
But the dream world can be utilized for much more than curious self-indulgence. The dream state can be used for what Tibetan Buddhists call ‘Dream Yoga.’ The art of Dream Yoga is at its core, the will to use the dream as a teacher and a mindfulness platform. By realizing how powerful our minds are to create the dream reality that we once took to be real, we can realize how potent our minds are in waking life to create an illusion of permanence, and of psychological distresses and joys.
Use the your dreams as a guide. What archetypes arise? What fears are holding you back? What are you being drawn towards? Those of you familiar with meditation may want to try meditating or performing rituals while in your lucid dream. Experiment and find out what happens. Seek out other resources on dreams, look up what herbs or diet choices may induce lucid dreams or assist your mind. Use your dream state as a place of retreat, of awareness, and of self-discovery!

The Soft Strength of Water

The Lessons of Water
Water – we depend on it for life and our bodies are primarily made up of the stuff. It seems simple enough, but are there lessons this most fundamental of molecules – H2O – can teach us?
The ancient Greeks classified the stuff that makes up the world into four fundamental elements – Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. These classical elements still show up in Tarot, Kabbalah, Alchemy and a variety of spiritual/psychological practices. We now know that matter is composed of molecules and atoms – but the importance of water as one of these classical elements and natural teachers of the psyche remains.
Soft Strength
Lao Tzu, the great Chinese thinker and founder of the Taoist philosophy, placed great emphasis on water as a teacher. In the Tao Te Ching he writes:
“The highest goodness resembles water. Water greatly benefits myriad things without contention. It stays in places that peole dislike. Therefore it is similar to the Tao.”
Further Lao Tzu says:
“Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever s fluid, soft, ad yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.”
Letting go, Tuning in
Perhaps more than any other substance in nature, water invites us to surrender into the natural current of our lives. Sometimes this happens in catastrophe, other times this happens with a gentle “aha!” moment when we decide to let go of fighting the things we can’t control and bending with them.
Two summers ago I learned a powerful lesson about water. I was out near Auburn, California swimming in a river with some friends. Myself and my friends Amber and Tim decided to climb a small waterfall upstream. It was easy enough; we navigated around the eddies and currents and scaled the slippery rocks to stand atop the mini-vista.
Atop the waterfall was a small natural pool with another pool above it spilling into it with a mini waterfall that passed through two large rocks like a flume. The pool on top was calm and serene looking; the only thing between our position on the rocks and the pool was the stream current that led into the waterfall below us.
As Amber had gone to explore more of the rocks, I turned to Tim and said that I thought I could make the jump over the current into the upper pool. Before he had time to tell me that was a dumb idea I jumped. My arms caught the rock on the other side of the current, but my legs didn’t make it. I was immediately torn from the rock with the violent force of water. I took a gasping deep breath as I was sucked under, pulled through the flume, and briefly appeared in the lower pool before going over the lower waterfall.
Into the Current
In the few seconds that this happened it felt like time slowed down. I held my breath and kept my arms around my ears as I went over, protecting my head from a rocky battering that would have been fatal.
I decided not to fight the water – it was too powerful. Instead as I was sucked into the undertow over the falls, I surrendered, protected myself as best I could, and determined to hold my breath until I couldn’t anymore. Surrendering to the flow I found, after plunging over the falls, that I had been dragged by the undertow so deep that eventually the undertow and current stopped. The water was still. I could swim out! So I did and that breath of air felt so good! All in all my arms took a beating but I was none the worse for wear.
This month I invite you to try to practice the lesson of water – by becoming soft and yielding, we become strong.

Why You Should Know Your Neighbors

The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of its Parts
     We often idealize the individual. Particularly in American culture with our veneration of the cowboy archetype in old westerns, the superhero motif of contemporary films, and the political rhetoric about individual opportunity – the individual gets priority. But the individual must have a context in order to have value. That context is the community.
     Even the cowboy or the superhero figure – Batman for instance – has a loyalty and a cause for which he/she fights. Curiously enough our films are beginning to reflect this as well. For Batman his community is Gotham, for the Black Panther his community is the nation of Wakanda. The most popular films right now – The Avengers film series, Justice League, and Black Panther – all serve as archetypal plays on the importance of community. The Avengers – as an example – being a collaborative team, each individual part is crucial, but in context the whole becomes more than the sum of it’s parts, to paraphrase Aristotle.
And Who Is My Neighbor?
     Many of us are familiar with the Christian story of the Good Samaritan. This classic parable illustrates the importance of being an active participant in the community. In the tale a traveler is beaten by robbers and left for dead. A priest, and a man from the upper class both passed him by. Both of these men were supposedly members of his community – such is the implication in the parable.
     Finally a Samaritan, a historic rival – even enemy – of the man in question came upon the man. The Good Samaritan took it upon himself to help the man, even footing the bill for his stay at an inn while he recovered. We remember the Good Samaritan because he actively chose to be neighborly, he participated in the process that creates community.
Find The Others
     Active community building can be tough. In our hyper connected world we’re tempted to look far afield for people who can pander to our prejudices and confirm our biases. But the local, neighborhood level community is crucial. It gives us context. Dr. Timothy Leary once said that we should “Find the others.” This advice holds true. If you actively seek out people in your locale with similar interests you will thrive. This doesn’t necessarily mean people who agree with you – often people with similar interests will have a different way of looking at the same thing, take politics for instance.
     The point is that by “finding the others” we can start building community at home. Don’t know where to begin? Start with your neighbor. A simple smile or ‘hello’ will do the next time you see them. They may say ‘hi’ back, and you’ve already gone a long way toward engaging in community building. This can also take more concrete forms such as hosting events with friends, neighbors and family. Consider your interests, consider your surroundings. Building a community can be approached many different ways, but the most important thing is to start.

Abolish Anxiety April

 
 

Abolish Anxiety

 
Here at Sacramento Hypnotherapy we’re set on abolishing anxiety. That’s why we’ve declared this month Abolish Anxiety April! Our focus this month is on anxiety – that pesky uninvited guest that seems to turn up for so many of us when it’s least welcome.
Anxiety can be crippling, and for those of us who deal with it, it’s more than a matter of just “letting go” or “getting over it.” Anxiety can arise for a variety of reasons, and sometimes medication is a useful tool. However, sometimes medication doesn’t work and sometimes medications have unwanted side-effects.
The cause of anxiety can be chemical imbalance inthe brain, past-trauma, or repeated patterns of self-doubt brought on for a number of reasons. Hypnotherapy is a very effective tool for overcoming, and ultimately abolishing anxiety from your life.
 

Anxiety Myths & Facts

  • Myth: Anxiety disorders are not very common.
  • Fact: A little over 18 percent of American adults – nearly one in five – experience some type of anxiety disorder in any given year (NIMH, 2013).

 

  • Myth: If you have an anxiety disorder, it is important to avoid stress and situations that make you feel ‘stressed.’
  • Fact: Avoiding anxiety tends to reinforce it. People can be anxious and still do whatever they have to do with proper treatment. (ADAA, 2014).

How can we help you with anxiety? We would love to answer questions for you . You can email us by responding to this email, or give us a call today to find out more at 916-549-5109.

Should We Call A Truce?

Happy Holidays to You! This month’s article invites us, in a very unique way, to take a look at what we may be holding on to that is weighing us down. We invite you to take a little time to reflect on what you can put down, if only for a little while, to lighten your heart.
As always, we would love to hear from you and please share this information with your loved ones as well.
All Our Best,
Maude & Your Friends at Sacramento Hypnotherapy

Life In The Trenches
Machine-gun fire, smoke, and artillery shells filled the air – a ghastly cacophony hanging over the damp trenches. The Western Front of World War I, dubbed the “War to End All Wars” – before World War II proved otherwise – was running full tilt by December of 1914. Trenches stretched across Europe – the lamps of innocence extinguished – trenches lined with young men facing death, and inflicting it in turn. Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman’s declaration that “war is hell” was being reiterated starkly on the battlefields of the continent that had seen empires rise and fall – but never before in such apocalyptic grandeur.
The Christmas Truce of 1914
As the holiday season came, it must have felt anything but joyful. In an effort at goodwill, Pope Benedict XV put forth a plea to the warring powers issuing a request “that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang.” The plea fell on deaf ears. No official mandate of peace, no call for a ceasefire was issued. As far as the generals and presidents were concerned, the war would go on. But that’s not what happened.
No one is sure exactly where or how it began, but what is known is that over 100 years ago, on Christmas Eve, singing rose up from the trenches. Gunfire paused at multiple points along the trench lines across Europe. German, French, and British soldiers stopped shooting one another and crossed into no-man’s-land.
A letter from future writer Henry Williamson, 19 at the time reads:
“Dear Mother, I am writing from the trenches. It is 11 o’clock in the morning. Beside me is a coke fire, opposite me a ‘dug-out’ (wet) with straw in it. The ground is sloppy in the actual trench, but frozen elsewhere. In my mouth is a pipe presented by the Princess Mary. In the pipe is tobacco. Of course, you say. But wait. In the pipe is German tobacco. Haha, you say, from a prisoner or found in a captured trench. Oh dear, no! From a German soldier. Yes a live German soldier from his own trench. Yesterday the British & Germans met & shook hands in the ground between the trenches, & exchanged souvenirs, & shook hands. Yes, all day Xmas day, & as I write. Marvelous isn’t it?”
Bruce Bainster, another soldier wrote of the truce:
“I wouldn’t have missed that unique and weird Christmas Day for anything…”
Bainster went on to relate a tale of exchanging uniform buttons with a German officer.
Meals were exchanged, gifts were given, carols, and songs were sung. In some locations along the war line soccer matches were played between men who had been shooting at one another only hours before.
The Next Day
In some places the truce lasted through the day after Christmas. In others the truce didn’t occur at all. The following years there were scattered repeat truces, though less frequent as the war became more bitter with the introduction of poison gas, and officers were given direct orders to keep their men firing. Fraternizing with the enemy was condemned.
The holiday season – rightly named as the Solstice time contains not only Christmas, but the Norse Yule, the Jewish Channukah, modern Kwanza, and other holidays – has always been recognized as a time for renewal and refocus. The extraordinary example of the Christmas Truce of 1914 has a key lesson to teach us. If fighting soldiers were able to stop killing each other for a few hours in the name of the holiday spirit and bury their dead, swap gifts, and share in song and food, how much more can we do in our own lives?

Lessons of The Truce
We’re all fighting battles whether they be physical ones involving military service, or disease – or mental and less tangible ones, stress, financial trouble, grudges, or even just clinging to an idea of the world not in terms of what it is, but what we want it to be.
This holiday season let go of the battles and burdens you’ve carried throughout the year. If you’re carrying something around you aren’t sure you’re ready to let go of, perhaps this season can be an opportunity to try going without it. Just for a few hours, maybe just a day like the soldiers of 1914 did. The battles will still be there for you to fight and carry if you want them. But you might find, as did some of the soldiers in the following years, that even under orders, you don’t want to keep fighting. The division that plagues politics, the arguments and frustrations with loved ones – what battles are you fighting that you don’t need to fight right now? What burdens are you carrying that no longer serve you? Who are you still holding a grudge against that you can let go of?
This season presents an opportunity to think and reflect – where can I declare a truce in my life this holiday season? Where can I exercise mercy – even if it’s unwarranted?