Archive for February, 2010

Have you ever had a time when you just couldn’t quiet your mind enough (or, at all!) or shut those persistent, disruptive thoughts completely off? We’ve all been there – and, sleep problems have become a national problem. Many of us lead overly stressful lives with high pressure jobs, family situations, or just too much going on at once that for some, it’s just impossible to truly wind down. Many others, too, brag about powering through their super schedules on four hours of sleep, or five, or three…

I believe that people have actually untrained their brain in the ways of sleeping. Sound crazy? Well, the causes are simple, and all round us. Too much stress, anxiety, anger, sadness, and fear get in the way of our positive thoughts. We churn on these negative elements far too often. When we experience crises and traumas, we pave the way for those negative life experiences to make serious impressions on our brains and how we process information.

Ready to break such unhealthy patters? Ready to rest so you can be at your best? Ready to sleep? My sleep CD programs are designed for the purpose of retraining your brain – to sleep! (Remember there was a time in your life when you did actually sleep!) Stay Relaxed is designed to put you to sleep; Stay Asleep is designed to encourage your brain to let go so you can go to sleep. Repeated listening of all CD programs puts you in charge of your sleep patterns. What are you waiting for? Get to sleep so you can recharge!

There has been a lot of news lately about local and national sports figures making mistakes, poor decisions, and public apologies (just like the rest of us!). The pressure to maintain a positive image, to serve as a role model, and to perform has never been greater, it seems.

Almost every athlete I see is anxious, experiencing a fair amount of anxiety or fear about performance in their sport. By the time these athletes reach age 14, 15, 16, they have developed an actual pattern for their anxiety. It’s an ingrained, automatic response, which becomes more and more intense as the years move on. Some of my clients even argue that they need their anxiety to perform! These patterns can – and should – be broken so optimum performance levels truly can be achieved.

I have developed many different programs using NLP (neuro-linguistics, guided imagery, and trauma therapy) to help all types of athletes handle their stress, and alter their states of mind. Managing stress is possible and stress management techniques can be applied to most high-performance situations.

To train yourself to get into a desired state of calm, the CD Stay Focused is a treat. It allows you to learn how to go into and stay in peripheral vision, which allows your nervous system to actually experience calm. Listening repeatedly to this program helps you to learn how to get calm rather quickly. Stay Calm is a guided imagery program that helps you to learn to go from sympathetic nervous system to parasympathetic nervous system.

Get calm, stay calm, and improve your performance today!

Phobias are a little different than anxiety in that they are usually specific to some thing that actually exists – like spiders, or driving over bridges, being trapped in closed spaces or crowds. Phobias and putting oneself in uncomfortable situations can certainly create and entice anxiety to emerge. You may have a phobia that sounds strange or silly to someone else but is very real to you. You may already be avoiding situations that potentially cause you unnecessary anxiety.

But, why not gather some additional helpful tools and techniques to help you change old and negative behavior patterns that are getting you nowhere? Using NLP (neuro-linguistics, guided imagery, and trauma therapy), I have designed programs that will help you to effectively, safely overcome phobias so you can get back in control of your life without fear. Reinforce positive patterns of thinking to recharge!

By the time a person comes in to see me, they are usually pretty scared and confused about anxiety and panic. Most think their panic is coming out of nowhere, just happening to (or attacking) them. Through our collaborative work, early on it becomes very clear that there has been a build up of stress or major life stresses over time for the client, which is natural and normal (more than you think!). The onset of anxiety or panic does not necessarily occur immediately following a major life stress.

Major life stresses range from a death in a family, illnesses, drug use, divorce, financial difficulties, job loss, traffic accident, sports injuries, even allergic reactions to medications. There is no one cause for anxiety.

In the case of built-up stress, the first attack can and mostly does occur when there seems to be no obvious trigger. The victim might be doing something mundane like driving or watching TV. For example, one of my clients (a very successful businessman and athlete in his 60s) was driving to his beach place, which he did frequently for years, and all of a sudden he experienced dizziness and shortness of breath. He thought he was having a heart attack (which many people think is truly happening to them). He pulled off the road and his wife got in the driver’s seat and took him to the nearest hospital where he was diagnosed with vertigo. The symptoms didn’t get better over time, so he came to see me. We discovered over a few visits he had experienced anxiety and stress most of his life. He had learned to suppress it and over time it festered. Through our work together, he has been able to address the stressors in his life, and is presently doing much better and living life to the fullest.

This is typical of what I see with panic and anxiety. Most of my clients are high functioning people that just get good at pushing their feelings aside until they fester enough to turn into something more serious like a panic attack. Often anxiety runs in families, so if you grow up with an anxious mother or father, very early on you are learning to develop anxiety yourself. Children who are constantly taught or shown anxiety or who grow up in an abusive home will often develop anxiety or depression.

You can learn how to cope with the stress in your life. Learn new tools and techniques with a safe guide. The CDs I recommend for anxiety are Stay Calm and Stay Confident. One set is designed for you to listen to in a comfortable place when you can just drift off and relax to the music and suggestions. The other set is designed with repeated suggestions that help you and your brain to stay focused on what you want. Repeated listening is the key to consistent change.

See my CD catalog for these self-guided tools, and consider setting up an appointment with me today so you can be well your way to handling stress in a healthy way.

In the past two years, I have seen so many more clients that have been diagnosed with a generalized anxiety disorder. Medical doctors can and often do prescribe medications for anxiety, not knowing what else to do to help people. Most of my clients tell me the medication either doesn’t help or makes their symptoms worse.

Generalized anxiety disorder is a little less severe than actual full-blown panic attacks.  It is experienced more generally rather than as a sharply defined incident. For example, many people are overly anxious about work or school or relationships or life in general.

When anxiety has a specific focus it usually has a different diagnosis, like the fear of public speaking (#1 fear for many!) or social phobia.  It is sometimes also called or can include Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Anxiety about weight is usually classified as anorexia nervosa.  Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is becoming quite common and in part of the diagnosis that includes anxiety disorders. Each of these disorders have very similar or even the same symptoms:

• Substance–induced anxiety disorder
• Social phobias
• Obsessive thoughts
• Mood disorders
• Psychotic disorders

These disorders are real and can be seriously debilitating for many. Once you have been examined by a medical doctor, there are many modalities that I use in my practice to help you resolve the underlying issues that trigger your anxiety.
The CDs I recommend for anxiety are Stay Calm and Stay Confident. One set is designed for you to listen to in a comfortable place when you can just drift off and relax to the music and suggestions. The other set is designed with repeated suggestions that help you and your brain to stay focused on what you want. Repeated listening is the key to consistent change.

Please see my website catalog for a selection of CDs that can help you as you take control of your anxiety issues.