Post Holiday Depression

Beat Stress - Realize Success

I always experience a "let down" after the holidays.  The hoopla is over and it is back to business as usual.  Often the holidays are not the "Hallmark" experience I had hoped for - again.  I meditate and listen to my "Depression" CD often to ensure that my temporary thoughts don't create a more permanent state.  Then I find that I am once again hopeful.  Hope is a great antidote to the blues.  Here is a thought of hope for all of you - 

Beating Stress in '09

Beat Stress - Realize Success

Looking to a bright and prosperous New Year.  In the spirit of community and a collective consciousness of unity --Happy 2009 to all.  I have slashed the prices on the www.stressbustters.com website and look forward to a prosperous and communally satisfying NEW YEAR.  Remaining calm in times of upheaval is my goal and my hope for all.

From Christine

Stressbustters - A Spa for the Mind.

RESENTMENTS - THE SILENT KILLER

Beat Stress - Realize Success

It seems to be a time of reflection on addictions of all sorts and why human beings rely so heavily on them. Our safety zones - those very things that may be hurting us - that we hold on to with both hands!  Most of my destructive behavior can be traced back to a real or imaginary hurt - a feeling of a lack of justice - a feeling that I have been wronged and I am only acting in response to those things. STOP REACTING AND START ACTING IN YOUR LIFE.  Get rid of those resentments and start to act in your best interest regardless of the circumstances!  Check out RESENTMENTS - the visualization to relieve you of that pain that causes you so much agony in your life.  Let Resentments help you let go and feel the relief of all that old garbage leaving you-- leaving your body with all the accompanying physical pain - leaving your mind so you can start fresh each day - Download and listen to Resentments at least 4 times and - I guarantee with a money back offer -  that you will feel better in no time at all!  Let me know through this blog or the website about your experience!  www.stressbustters.com - Peace

THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT ALCOHOLISM

Beat Stress - Realize Success

The biggest obstacle in my life, and the lives of all the people I have met in my journey, towards overcoming a problem has been to identify the problem and then to get real with myself.  I can't fix something I won't admit to.  In writing and recording TRUTH - the pathway to getting real with yourself about the problem of addiction and alcoholism - I relied on the 1st step in the 12 step program.  Getting through the layers of denial is the major obstacle on the road to recovery.  I have applied this concept - the concept of my powerlessness over things I am kidding myself about in many areas of my life.  See for yourself how this one minor change in thinking can open a vista of possibility.  Check out Truth - at www.stressbustters.com

Economic Stress - Got Money!!

Beat Stress - Realize Success

Everyone who doesn't have your economic future on the mind, take a step back!  I didn't feel anybody moving.  Times are changing and hope is in the air.  I have been doing deep breathing and meditating myself lately while tuning in to a higher consciousness.  Funny how the clouds don't appear to be affected by the stock market fluctuations and the birds don't chirp any faster and the waves at the ocean don't seem to be concerned.  As I look around and feel the deep realization at a soul level that circumstances change all the time, I feel the steady rhythm of the ancient universal knowledge that I am safe and abundance.  Hold your hand tightly in a fist and imagine that you are holding that fist under a faucet.  Turn the faucet on and try to hold the water in that fist - THE WATER CAN'T STAY IN A CLOSED FIST. This is abundance attempting to be received by the closed off self. Sit for a moment looking up to the sky and consciously recognize the vast universal abundance - slowly breathe in that beauty and power and strength and abundance.  Feel your mind opening to receive it - allow that power to replace any fear.  Breathe in deeply and fully and feel your heart open to receive - With each breath - With each heartbeat the abundance becomes stronger and more relaxing - Feel your soul - feel your essence open to all that is available.  Abundance - strength - love - prosperity - joy - Feel it flow in and feel yourself opening even more.  

Experience freedom - experience joy - experience love - experience abundance.

We are one - we are one with the universe.  I offer to you abundance - joy and love today. 

Laugh your way through the economic struggle

Beat Stress - Realize Success

Who do you know that doesn't have the economy on their mind these days?  I usually don't pay much attention to money matters because up until recently, the market had not affected me much.  That is the beauty of not being rich--and by rich I mean having gobs of disposable cash.  I am rich in ways that transcend the monetary.  One of the biggest blessings in my life has been the ability to laugh in the face of most anything.  I was leaving improv practice the other day - yes I am one of those crazy people who get up in front of people and make up wacky stuff!!!  Anyway I was thinking about how I don't fret or worry while I am actually playing.  Improv is about being in the present.  It is about focusing on the immediate and it is about choice.  What a concept.  Staying in the present and focusing on the funny.  When I try to remember the thing I worried about last week, I am often at a loss.  Do you remember the biggest thing that caused you to worry a month ago?  Worrying never helped and never changed an outcome as long as I have lived, yet if I decide to dwell on something that I have no power to change - in no time - life sucks.  If I decide to wear my life a little more loosely, if I decide to see the funny in all situations, if I look at my life with a tiny bit of perspective - IT DOESN'T SUCK.  Diverting the mind - choosing to see the beauty and fun - taking some time to express my inner beauty - I think I choose that for today.  Check out my Improv cd, along with the Creativity Booster.  Divert your mind and laugh all the way to success!!!!    

The link between stress and abundance.

Beat Stress - Realize Success

I recently lived through a principle that I know to be true but seem to have to experience time after time before I get it.  I found myself in financial fear, and true to form tried everything I could think of to do - until hitting that familiar wall - until I remembered to sit down and meditate.  Pray.  Chill.  Listen to some great music.  Watch a comedy.  ANYTHING BUT RELIVE THE ISSUE IN MY HEAD.  The balance between mind - body - spirit can be healed so simply sometimes for me that - when I remember - to sit quietly - and know - The problem becomes life, not life-threatening.  A little perspective goes a long way with me.  This from someone who records CD's for relaxation!!  I am off to watch a movie and then listen to one of my own recordings.  A little bit of physician heal thyself!!  I have jammed my own channels of abundance and since taking a little bit of time to relax and open - the difference is unreal.  Just a reminder to myself. 

Stress Free Time Management

Beat Stress - Realize Success

I have had such challenges with time management lately.  I am involved in writing a portion of a book about going within and recovery from addiction and I am doing some editing to keep the lights on and I am writing scripts for my hypnotherapy practice and I am marketing my online site soooo - what is my point (except that I evidently love to whine)? - The first thing that I do when I get scattered is to forget to go within myself.  I forget to meditate myself.  I hit the ground running and before I know it I am agitated, frustrated and ready to let loose on the people close to me.  I KNOW BETTER - I recorded 2 short (14 minute) cd's for my website on FOCUS and PROBLEM SOLVING.  I have been meditating since the 1970's and wrote a meditation cd for my practice ----- and what do I do when these are the most important things to do?   Do I sit quietly and ask for guidance?  Do I listen to my own stuff - knowing full well the enormous power that comes as a result of this?  No - I do the human thing - I run around thinking that the more I do - the faster I do it - the better I will feel.  I started today with a little quiet time - today I am centered and balanced - today I know that I will accomplish 5 times as much in half the time - Jeez - physician heal thyself.  Humans are so conditioned to do things a certain way and today ----- rather than fault myself, I think I will do it differently and laugh out loud!  

Empowering from Within

Beat Stress - Realize Success

I am working with a bunch of "experts" to make my website more visible.  The marketing people tell me one thing and the search engine people another and the web designers another and HELP! When I reached my info overload - I decided to go out in my backyard and meditate to clear my head. 

   I had one of those enormous moments of clarity!  Being me vs marketing me!  

I was becoming a lemming!  The reason I love hypnotherapy is facilitating individuals to find their inner truth to empower and improve their lives.  The reason I love improv is the unique - immediate expression of creativity in present moment time.  And here I am taking advice from 'EXPERTS' on how to get my message out.  How to change my message - my unique voice - to mass market.  

Any genuine message will be received by those to whom the message is important - it has no choice - that is a universal truth.

I am such a believer in the unique beauty of all individuals - I have such a thing about being told what to think or how we can become an even more cookie cutter society - I am such an aging hippie.  I reconnected with my INNER HIPPIE - and felt a huge amount of rebellion followed by immense relief.  

I am always empowered from within when I take the time to go to the source.  I just need to remember that when barraged by those who want to sell me their way.  

 I jumped off the lemming wagon, and feel strong in my voice, in my style, in my truth.  I laughed for the first time all day.

I may be completely misguided -  but I will do it in style! 

                                            Christine - Rebel without a Clue

 

Laugh Stress Away

Beat Stress - Realize Success
I spent time yesterday talking with a bunch of comedians. I started out the day completely stressed out - all the usual stuff - too much to do - not enough money etc., running in my head. I spent a couple of hours with an improv group and I laughed myself to sleep.
I was looking at my same life with a new perspective. I needed to get a little distance from the minutiae in my mind that was blocking out the ability to laugh at myself.
There is nothing that can't be cured with a good belly laugh. I had written and recorded a hypnotherapy session to reduce performance anxiety for improv a while ago so -( physician heal thyself) I listened to the recording and voila - my whole perspective changed. It still amazes me how easily I forget to apply the things I know to be good for myself.
I am going to start my day with MY OWN RECORDING - Boost your creativity - www.stressbustters.com - duh!! When I go inside and tap my unique voice - my inner giggle - being an adult a whole lot easier to swallow.
I am going to laugh out loud at least 10 times today and watch my stress levels drop - It happens every time - It works!
Did you hear the one about ........

Managing Fibromyalgia - Get some sleep

Beat Stress - Realize Success

  Recently two of my best friends have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia.  I wanted to know what I could do for them with hypnotherapy so I began to research the information on the disease.  I was so surprised at the massive amount of info - and the many theories on causes and cures.  One constant was that sleep disorders appear in up to 90% of patients.  It makes perfect sense.  If I am not getting good restful sleep I can't restore and be ready for the next day.  The effects of sleep deprivation are well documented.

   I use sleep hypnotherapy for disruption caused by menopause.  The results with my guinea pig friends were amazing.  Sleep fights fatigue - duh!

   I also had been aware of a local doctor, with a group of medical professionals, who have been having remarkable success with a combination of natural remedies so I passed the info to my friends www.fibropharmacy.com.  One friend raves about the results, which of course,  prompted the other to get in to action.  

     Fighting fibromyalgia is a multi-layered kind of a thing and I am so happy to have discovered some meaningful things to offer two very special people in my life.  

     For help with sleep disorders see Sleep Soundly - www.stressbustters.com (note the extra t - stands for timely!)

Reduce Stress with a good Belly Laugh

Beat Stress - Realize Success

Bust Stress Today With
Tips to Change your Mind - Change your Life

1. Restore your perspective -
Is it Life or Life-threatening
Will you remember this "life altering" drama next week?

2. Remember to be fascinated -
View today the way you did as a child
Remember when a bug could hold your undivided attention for hours?

3. Look Up - Look Out
Nothing is as large on the other side of your eyelashes.

4. Turn your life story from a drama to a comedy
Rewrite your day as a sitcom
Add a laugh track

5. Be Visible
Someone needs to see you today
See someone else today

And Laugh Out Loud

Publish your story of Recovery

Please write to me with your story of recovery.  I am fascinated by success stories in overcoming all difficulties.  We all have our issues.  Let us know how you overcame your particular problem.  Whether it be illness, or alcoholism or addiction or co-dependency or divorce.  I love to hear from people who overcame childhood trauma to become happy healthy adults.  With one voice there is power, with many voices there is triumph.  Sharing recovery gives us all a voice that has immense power to heal ourselves and others who need hope.  

Make your voice count - tell your triumph - lend your voice to those in need!

christinepatrick@mindspring.com

Recover from Addiction Your Way

I recently wrote a chapter on the use of Hypnotherapy and Meditation with Alcoholism and substance abuse.   The book is being put together by a Doctor in Los Angeles in the same style of the Big Book of AA.  I will let you know the publication date!!!  The stories are personal recovery journals of people who used all types of ways to recover from substance abuse.  No one treatment works for everyone because we are all so unique.  I am fascinated with the stories of genuine people that have turned their lives around in the most unexpected ways.  Most of the research shows that Alcoholics Anonymous remains the most successful recovery tool available but in my experience as well as the real life stories of actual people that I have known or talked with, who were able to maintain long term recovery, all had implemented the most unique and inspiring ways to life themselves out of the nightmare of alcoholism and addictions of all kinds.   Relaxation and meditation of all kinds topped the list.  I personally have used meditation and hypnosis and many ways of going within to overcome so much in my life.  I personally triumphed over a severe panic disorder with a number of meditation techniques - guided visualization has seen me through mind-numbing pain management as a result of operations associated with Cancer.  I have been free of all sorts of addictions and am Cancer free for over 20 years.  I have had recovery on my mind because of the book.  I looked back over 20 years of "going within" in one way or another and the amazing things that came as a result.  I am a firm believer in life being an inside job.  I have personally accessed strength and wisdom from within that I would have told you was impossible.  I always wondered why we only use 10% of our brains and have concluded that that lazy underused 90% can and has worked for me for a long time.  I love when I have one of those A-hah moments after some quiet meditation moments, or I see it in someone else, when things begin to fall together and I realize what is or isn't working.  I find most of my answers within.  I love getting info from all sources and then seeing the fascinating answer that is perfect for me and then watching it play out in my life.  Writing part of this book has reminded me to be aware of how special and beautiful that I am and how colorful and fascinating all the people have been that I have had the pleasure to get to spend a little time with on my journey.  I would love to hear from anyone who has overcome difficulties in special and unique ways.  I look forward to hearing from you - until then I wish you every opportunity to manifest the best you.

Peace,  Christine

www.stressbustters.com 

Attracting Love made easy

I have been divorced for a long time and dating is something I try to avoid even thinking about.  Where do you go?  Is online dating safe?  Am I going to attract the SAME MAN - DIFFERENT BODY?  I seem to attract the same thing over and over again.  Funny story - I did a free trial test with an online service and I filled out pages and pages of information about myself in order for this group to determine my "perfect match".  You gotta love it - I am a comedy performer/hypnotherapist who lives what I consider a free thinking lifestyle - The first 3 responses from my 'PERFECT MATCH" were from engineers - who can guess what my ex-husband does for a living?  I began to think that I am doomed to attract the same thing over and over.  In the meantime I was researching information for a hypnotherapy recording on love - the whole concept how we attract the people we do - and Voila - of course I attract what I put out!   The idea of pheromones is fascinating to me - add that to body language and vibes and it all made sense -  What if I subconsciously changed what I attract by changing what I put out. What a Concept.   Common sense (and all available research) tells me that if I want loyal decent people in my life - I become a loyal decent person.  Humans tend to pack together with commonality of ideaology - I hang with "like" people - It is instinctual.  So I wrote and recorded a cd  (see Attracting Love - www.stressbustters.com).  I test my recordings on my devoted friends who are willing to be guinea pigs -  (signing up for friendship can be done by responding to this blog or by trying out the free Fly Free session on the site!).  Anyway the results were so much fun - a friend told me that she met a guy at Home Depot!!  Another really shy friend said that she had been approached by people that she found a lot in common with  at college - not just guys.  I remain single - I have opened my social circle and have been asked out more times recently than I have for years.  When you think about it -  Mating has been going on for centuries, long before speed dating or online sites - The secret I found was to use a little common sense - - mix in the instinctual, biological nature of men and women  -add in the enormous power of the inner mind to favorably alter the signals that you are putting out and the result is extraordinary!   This recipe for dating success is the best thing I have found.  Let me know about your success in the dating arena.  I am always fascinated by alternative ways of approaching life - especially when it comes to the opposite sex.

What is Hypno - Anesthesia and Why Should I Care

What exactly is Hypno-anesthesia and why would anyone want to know?  I became a Hypnotherapist and then got certified in Hyno-anesthesia for the usual reasons.  I wanted to fix myself.  Way back in 1987 I was diagnosed with Cancer - fast forward to 1991 and I had endured surgery 5 times.   In the process, major nerves were severed and the MD's shook their heads while informing me that I would need to be in some sort of "pain management" forever.  I won't go in to the details of what transpired next in the  traditional medicine arena - I don't want keep you up nights - think electrodes - implanting foreign objects and mind numbing chemicals.  There had to be a better way.  I discovered a whole different group of healing practitioners who taught me to use the enormous power of my mind - What a concept!   The journey from then until now is the practical application of what worked for me and those healing teachers and students that have shared the road with me.

Hypno-anesthesia - a long way of saying pain management using hypnosis works.  It is the mind's perception of pain that is so individual.  It explains phantom limb pain.  It explains to me how the level of pain can be so different for all people.  It explains why I feel pain when I am stressed and am able to divert my attention away from the pain when I am totally focused on a different - mostly pleasurable - activity.  I am all about common sense.  This I know - Stress Makes Emotional and Physical Pain Worse - Relaxation and pleasurable experience makes it better.  We all have the power to learn to focus or divert our attention to or away from WHAT WE CHOOSE.  The effectiveness of Hypnosis and other relaxation modalities go back centuries. see - About Hypnosis - www.stressbustters.com.  Hypnosis was used to perform surgery on the battlefields in both World Wars.  Meditation and guided imagery go back centuries - long before Prozac or Vicodan.   

Think about the Body as a Robot theory.  The body only responds to what the mind tells it to do.  My mind is telling my body - right now - to touch certain keys on my computer - I am not thinking about each individual key before I push it - My mind is telling my body to breathe. to regulate digestion, to make my heart beat etc., - what if I accessed that same inner mind and learned to regulate the perception of pain!  What a concept!  So much of what we respond to physically and emotionally is simply what we have always felt - it is automatic.  We have the power to reset - renew - refresh - those thoughts - those responses.  Hypno-anesthesia uses this individual power of your unique mind to refocus - reestablish response.  I say these things not soley based on some study or some research, although opening myself to all information - all possibilities and putting them to the test has been the touchstone of my practice - so much of this comes from my experience and the experience of those I was blessed enough to share.

I went in alternative, holistic medicine for the most selfish reasons - to ease my pain - to renew my balance - to restore my emotional and physical health.  Imagine finding out that the best part of this journey has been sharing it with others, which is healing in and of itself.  

I invite you on this journey and will be sharing information as I have the pleasure of opening and expanding.  

Tears to Guffaws

Welcome - I am an expert on the tears to guffaws issue.  Being a hypnotherapist and comedy improv performer and teacher - I have a lot of experience in the CALM DOWN - TAKE A BREATH- GET A BETTER PERSPECTIVE  and then LAUGH OUT LOUD.   So far in my experience there is little negativity that stands up against a huge belly laugh.  

In the enormous frustration in setting up my hypnotherapy site - stressbustters - I found that an hour of improv or a good  laugh was the only true antidote.

I look forward to laughing out loud right here on this stage  - 

Let me know what does it for you -