The Choices we Choose to make
There are choices and then there are, well, choices. We choose. Sometimes we think we have no choice but you know we do.
We also have expectations, which sometimes drive the choices we make.
The sticky bit, is when the expectations are more than we can ecologically cope with or worse that we have expectations of others that THEY cannot ecologically embrace.
This leads to disappointment and shows us that the premise of the outcome of communication is the result that you get is very true and has great relevance no matter what we get up to or whatever choice we make.
This is the kind of thing that can lead us into the cul-de-sac of Hobson’s Choice; no choice at all, a less than totally verdant place to be.
My old friend Castaneda has a good one for this, read this and think about the situation you find yourself in when the walls are closing in and you feel that there is no way to move forward, there is still choice…
“Any path is only a path, and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you. All paths lead no-where, it is important to choose a path that has heart!”
There is always a choice, people may be disappointed at the choices you make, but that is their expectation not yours.
Choose to release your expectations of yourself and your expectations of others and find freedom, peace and acceptance.
You may be pleasantly surprised to find other things too, things that you may have overlooked from the platform of high expectations.
Tuesday 2 October 2007
Sunday 10 June 2007
Instinctively self destructive...
The Outcome of Communication
One of the tenets of NLP is that the outcome of communication is in the result that you get.
I am discovering that in certain situations when I am being less than totally magnificent in my communication the results I am getting are on the surface, pleasing, however I am aware of their placatory and transient nature, particularly within the scenario I find myself playing out on a day to day basis at this point in time.
A friend asked me recently had I ever heard of the adage of ‘trapping more flies with honey’? Of course I have, my tendency though is to either leave them alone or kill them instantly.
Thinking about it dispassionately (?) I wonder if this has as much to do with my personal coping mechanism, as it has to do with my beliefs, which are of course inextricably linked.
This is something that I have learned about sentient beings, we make connections and having made them we use them as convincers banging home the rightness of it. For the reasoning and more rational animal this is a complicated procedure – or not. It can just as easily be a knee jerk reaction to an external stimulus that provokes an emotional response, jeez would that be the birth of a strategy that would possibly be compounded by proving it again and again – compounding itself, becoming rooted in our neurology. That old survival fight or flight still crazy after all these millennia, and still so strong.
In the aftermath of an adrenaline high response attitude there is only a need to rest, conflict especially within oneself is exhausting and it can be the result of a learned behaviour, a less than totally positive behaviour at that.
I know what my friend means about the honey. For me it’s a bit like learning something new and strange and until I am able to be secure in this alien world in all my states, I am likely to slip back to swatting the flies, irrevocably and taking the hollow victory of being placated until I go away and leave them to lick their wounds and build their walls of resentment so that I become the trigger for their adrenaline response.
Eventually this too will cease and there will be no communication at all. What is the point in that?
The self-fulfilling prophecy goes around again and nothing new is learned, only re-iterated.
So, in order to rewire my neurology I have to examine those static beliefs about myself, and change them now.
One of the tenets of NLP is that the outcome of communication is in the result that you get.
I am discovering that in certain situations when I am being less than totally magnificent in my communication the results I am getting are on the surface, pleasing, however I am aware of their placatory and transient nature, particularly within the scenario I find myself playing out on a day to day basis at this point in time.
A friend asked me recently had I ever heard of the adage of ‘trapping more flies with honey’? Of course I have, my tendency though is to either leave them alone or kill them instantly.
Thinking about it dispassionately (?) I wonder if this has as much to do with my personal coping mechanism, as it has to do with my beliefs, which are of course inextricably linked.
This is something that I have learned about sentient beings, we make connections and having made them we use them as convincers banging home the rightness of it. For the reasoning and more rational animal this is a complicated procedure – or not. It can just as easily be a knee jerk reaction to an external stimulus that provokes an emotional response, jeez would that be the birth of a strategy that would possibly be compounded by proving it again and again – compounding itself, becoming rooted in our neurology. That old survival fight or flight still crazy after all these millennia, and still so strong.
In the aftermath of an adrenaline high response attitude there is only a need to rest, conflict especially within oneself is exhausting and it can be the result of a learned behaviour, a less than totally positive behaviour at that.
I know what my friend means about the honey. For me it’s a bit like learning something new and strange and until I am able to be secure in this alien world in all my states, I am likely to slip back to swatting the flies, irrevocably and taking the hollow victory of being placated until I go away and leave them to lick their wounds and build their walls of resentment so that I become the trigger for their adrenaline response.
Eventually this too will cease and there will be no communication at all. What is the point in that?
The self-fulfilling prophecy goes around again and nothing new is learned, only re-iterated.
So, in order to rewire my neurology I have to examine those static beliefs about myself, and change them now.
Monday 28 May 2007
Just a thought on States of Mind
Depression, a bigger state than Texas…
And I don’t mean Alaska!
Depression, deeply dark, totally autocratic, no sense of boundaries! Sounds like my last date!
It is also a state of mind, and like other states it does have boundaries, we just don’t recognise them.
When we are travelling there are road signs, place signs, directions and miles to go signs, there are even state lines; borders we call them. There are no visible signs for the long journey that depression is; there are only indications, symptoms.
How many people do you think know that depression is something that can be treated to a successful conclusion? How many people do you know have it, have had it or has someone in their immediate family dealing with it?
How do you treat a person you know has it, as in how do you interact with them? Do you steer clear not wanting to get involved, do you tell them to ‘get a grip, pull themselves together and just get on with it? Do you sit with them and empathise, ‘there, there, I know, I know’? The thing is – you don’t know, you can’t know, even when you have been there yourself because everyone’s is unique to them. It is their state; they own it and they are completely in it to the exclusion of all else. It takes that much energy.
The word itself is in fact overused, like the word ‘love’, which is bandied about as a step up from just liking something it is used in such a way to allude to enthusiasm and covetousness of a thing or a place and sometimes a person. When used in this way it has nothing at all to do with the Shakespearian, Casanova, Burton/Taylor, situations that we are taught are the thing to strive for.
These days when someone says they are depressed it can be anything from just slightly peeved, a bit unhappy or put out about something that didn’t go how they would have liked, ‘I didn’t win, that is so depressing!’ to totally suicidal with various stages in between. There are even those who will go from totally ecstatic to the depths of despair that confound most of us.
There are things to look out for though, a change in habit, if outgoing to introverted. Less inclined to buy or shop for little treats and in some cases even staples for themselves. Just too tired or apathetic about getting out of bed or getting dressed; losing interest in topics of hobbies or favourite television programmes, being impatient with others and tired or sleeping at strange times then up in the middle of the night.
These are just some indications and most of them can be found in the indicators and symptoms for M.E.
Mental health is not just in the mind – it has a physiological effect. Depressed people don’t tend to stand straight they bow their heads, they shuffle they sit for long periods of time – vegetating in front of a television that if asked they could not begin to tell you what was on it.
What can you do?
Pay attention, action is movement, get them to change their state, get help. If not for them – find out how you can get help if it is a partner or family member or your friend. Every little helps, and may even prevent a fall into despair. Depression is a lonely and isolated dis – ease. The feelings of being in a vortex of despair and pain whether physical or mental is most debilitating. It is also frustrating for those closest to the person involved which brings it’s own form of depression.
Carlos Castaneda once wrote, ‘we can make ourselves miserable, or we can make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.’
It’s not the effort itself; it is the kind of effort, focus of strength, and the intent to change this state, fromI CAN’T to I WILL! Strangely the rest will follow.
Any complementary techniques should be used under advisement and if they are under a Doctors care with that Doctors’ written acknowledgement of proposed methods and their permission to go ahead.
For more info or 1-2-1discussion on this topic use e-mail link
And I don’t mean Alaska!
Depression, deeply dark, totally autocratic, no sense of boundaries! Sounds like my last date!
It is also a state of mind, and like other states it does have boundaries, we just don’t recognise them.
When we are travelling there are road signs, place signs, directions and miles to go signs, there are even state lines; borders we call them. There are no visible signs for the long journey that depression is; there are only indications, symptoms.
How many people do you think know that depression is something that can be treated to a successful conclusion? How many people do you know have it, have had it or has someone in their immediate family dealing with it?
How do you treat a person you know has it, as in how do you interact with them? Do you steer clear not wanting to get involved, do you tell them to ‘get a grip, pull themselves together and just get on with it? Do you sit with them and empathise, ‘there, there, I know, I know’? The thing is – you don’t know, you can’t know, even when you have been there yourself because everyone’s is unique to them. It is their state; they own it and they are completely in it to the exclusion of all else. It takes that much energy.
The word itself is in fact overused, like the word ‘love’, which is bandied about as a step up from just liking something it is used in such a way to allude to enthusiasm and covetousness of a thing or a place and sometimes a person. When used in this way it has nothing at all to do with the Shakespearian, Casanova, Burton/Taylor, situations that we are taught are the thing to strive for.
These days when someone says they are depressed it can be anything from just slightly peeved, a bit unhappy or put out about something that didn’t go how they would have liked, ‘I didn’t win, that is so depressing!’ to totally suicidal with various stages in between. There are even those who will go from totally ecstatic to the depths of despair that confound most of us.
There are things to look out for though, a change in habit, if outgoing to introverted. Less inclined to buy or shop for little treats and in some cases even staples for themselves. Just too tired or apathetic about getting out of bed or getting dressed; losing interest in topics of hobbies or favourite television programmes, being impatient with others and tired or sleeping at strange times then up in the middle of the night.
These are just some indications and most of them can be found in the indicators and symptoms for M.E.
Mental health is not just in the mind – it has a physiological effect. Depressed people don’t tend to stand straight they bow their heads, they shuffle they sit for long periods of time – vegetating in front of a television that if asked they could not begin to tell you what was on it.
What can you do?
Pay attention, action is movement, get them to change their state, get help. If not for them – find out how you can get help if it is a partner or family member or your friend. Every little helps, and may even prevent a fall into despair. Depression is a lonely and isolated dis – ease. The feelings of being in a vortex of despair and pain whether physical or mental is most debilitating. It is also frustrating for those closest to the person involved which brings it’s own form of depression.
Carlos Castaneda once wrote, ‘we can make ourselves miserable, or we can make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.’
It’s not the effort itself; it is the kind of effort, focus of strength, and the intent to change this state, fromI CAN’T to I WILL! Strangely the rest will follow.
Any complementary techniques should be used under advisement and if they are under a Doctors care with that Doctors’ written acknowledgement of proposed methods and their permission to go ahead.
For more info or 1-2-1discussion on this topic use e-mail link
Friday 27 April 2007
The Hypnotic effect with M.E.
A Change Will Do You Good
NLP & Dr Milton Erickson, MD
Founding father of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis, Dr Milton H. Erickson, MD was a particularly excellent psychiatrist and foremost practitioner of hypnotherapy.
It was therefore no surprise that John Grinder and Richard Bandler sought him out to work with them and used him as a model for the Neuro Linguistic Programming that we know today.
The no less than spectacular results achieved by modelling Erickson’s techniques have brought NLP to the attention of the world, not only as a therapeutic tool but also in the world of corporate business.
Surprisingly so, because the language patterns are distinctly vague, and at times totally bizarre, bringing the client’s brain to the brink of meltdown in the attempt to make sense of it all.
Rapport is key, and Dr. Erickson was so masterful at gaining rapport instantly that it was possible for him to entrance a person within a few minutes, and on one occasion to hypnotise a client who couldn’t speak a word of English.
How did he do it? Body language and paying attention to the space in-between; using sensory acuity the way a surgeon uses a laser scalpel. Every facial tic, every foot shuffle was a beacon to him, and being artfully vague and ambiguous allowed the client to relate completely to what was not being said.
To change you need choice. To have choice you must first recognise the clients’ model of the world.
Requisite variety, the tool of change; it’s good to change is it not?
Sleepy Dragon Oct. 06
NLP & Dr Milton Erickson, MD
Founding father of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis, Dr Milton H. Erickson, MD was a particularly excellent psychiatrist and foremost practitioner of hypnotherapy.
It was therefore no surprise that John Grinder and Richard Bandler sought him out to work with them and used him as a model for the Neuro Linguistic Programming that we know today.
The no less than spectacular results achieved by modelling Erickson’s techniques have brought NLP to the attention of the world, not only as a therapeutic tool but also in the world of corporate business.
Surprisingly so, because the language patterns are distinctly vague, and at times totally bizarre, bringing the client’s brain to the brink of meltdown in the attempt to make sense of it all.
Rapport is key, and Dr. Erickson was so masterful at gaining rapport instantly that it was possible for him to entrance a person within a few minutes, and on one occasion to hypnotise a client who couldn’t speak a word of English.
How did he do it? Body language and paying attention to the space in-between; using sensory acuity the way a surgeon uses a laser scalpel. Every facial tic, every foot shuffle was a beacon to him, and being artfully vague and ambiguous allowed the client to relate completely to what was not being said.
To change you need choice. To have choice you must first recognise the clients’ model of the world.
Requisite variety, the tool of change; it’s good to change is it not?
Sleepy Dragon Oct. 06
Monday 5 February 2007
Stop the world and make a connection
What Happens When We Lose Our Connection?
Recently I got very excited. Now, normally that is nothing to write home about, however, you ask anyone with M.E. when the last time was they got excited and they’ll probably say they can’t remember or they haven’t got the energy.
Energy is the key word here, and it does have a physical, organic root to go along with the metaphysical and spiritual curtain that few of the medics will go beyond.
So what lies behind the curtain that has them all so freaked out?
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, AKA Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, AKA Post viral Fatigue Syndrome and in the good old US of A it has the impressive handle of Epidemic Neuromyasthenia.
So when your GP tells you it’s all in your head, you can actually correct him by saying not only is it in my head it is also in my spinal cord and in the nerve endings in my muscles – see your medical dictionary for clues!
Dr. A Melvin Ramsey, Hon Consultant Physician, Infectious Diseases Dept. of the Royal Free Hospital describes M.E. in his paper circa 1986 as a ‘Baffling Syndrome with a Tragic Aftermath’. He also explains the different terminology used in it’s diagnosis.
Another Doctor whose paper was summarised in The Haworth Medical Press, the title, Betrayal By the Brain: The Neurological Basis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia Syndrome and related Neural Network Disorders was written by a Dr. Jay Goldstein, in which he describes a conceptualisation of CFIDS/FMS as “ impaired sensory information processing in a neural network, resulting in dysfunctional responses. Triggers include things like genetic susceptibility, neonatal stressors, and elevated cortisol levels activated from an early age due to various situations including sexual, physical, emotional abuse.
A Dr. Charles Shepherd has acknowledged that it has links to certain toxins and pesticides, organophosphates being the main contenders.
With all this weighty evidence going on how dare the GP’s call this hypochondria?
And, should we wish to go and inspect the aforementioned curtain then we can look to another eminent scientific source, Dr. Deepak Chopra.
Who writes prolifically about the cells eavesdropping on one another and their ability to hold memories, particularly traumatic memories.
Take into consideration the depression angle, a lot of physicians say that M.E. is just another form of depression and is therefore psychological, it has been proven though, that cortisol levels in the clinically depressed are low and yet in M.E. they are high, so the answer to that would be that although depression may follow an episode of M.E it is not in itself a component of the disease.
I have M.E. and I have a good idea why I have it. My biggest problem has been how to manage it for once it is got it will not go away!
It hibernates and lays in wait, it catches you out when things are going relatively okay then you catch a virus and it’s basically goodnight Vienna for anything up to 18months or longer.
I have found that actually recognising when I need to rest is the key and acting upon that information, I REST! Dr. A. Melvin Ramsey, agrees with me on that one; only wish I’d known that earlier.
He writes, ”The degree of physical incapacity varies greatly, but the dominant clinical feature of profound fatigue is directly related to the length of time the patient persists in physical effort after it’s onset; put in another way, those patients who are given a period of enforced rest from the onset have the best prognosis.”
So, NO, it is not the best thing to work through the flu, it is not the best thing to go back to work soon as you can put your feet to the floor without falling down. We need time to heal and if we don’t take it the cells in our body will mutiny and then we really will find that creek and how necessary a paddle can be. It is all very well having a work ethic, but how good is it if it means you can only work for a significantly shortened length of time?
The government is not too helpful in that department either, it could make things better with more legislation on sick days and wellness programmes in the workplace, not to mention tightening up on the pesticides and toxins that are carried on ships in our waters and used on our food and our animals on a daily basis.
Getting level with M.E is an expensive and epic journey- getting level is all you can hope for, these papers I'm on about have been in existance since 1986 and before; it's been around so long and they're still arguing whether it's a 'real disease' or not. Where have we heard that one before? The NHS does not supply most of the treatments that are helpful, and even when they do it is down to the mind set of the GP that has to refer you to it which will again depend on his budget.
For myself, it has been an awakening to how much more we can do with natural things and (dare I say it?) spiritual things. Don’t get me wrong there are extremely interesting people out there who have some very unique ways of looking at things; all in all though sorting through the chaff there is help available and again it is at a price, isn’t everything these days, but what price the ability to at least function reasonably on a daily basis?
The Shamanic way of looking at it is that a soul part has been lost and there is a void there that has been filled by the dis – ease, this is bourne out by the neo natal stressors and other triggers mentioned above. It also bears out the mind controls the body thing and Dr Chopra’s theories on cell memory.(This is a very simplistic and edited explanation of these concepts, I will have a tendency to mention them again and go into more detail).
The NLP and Ericksonian Hypnosis way of looking at it,is using neural networks and changing pathways through language and metaphor, hey, it works for me and helps me to talk to my body when it is tired and aching – my unconscious mind is a vast storehouse of resources – as is yours – just waiting to be used, making the connection is the key.
Then there is the Reiki, Aromatherapy massage, Reflexology et al. Touch and smell and relaxation, it really does make you feel better and when you feel better you feel less tired. Being tired is tiring sometimes you know the hypothalamus and the limbic system they don’t need drugs, they need some TLC; and we all know there’s just not enough of that to go around these days.
So what to do, look for yourselves, find a practitioner of any of the above mentioned therapies and some more, whatever is right for you – there’s Indian Head Massage, herbalism, sound therapy, there are so many and there is no one right answer for me it was a combination of the Shamanic, Reiki, Reflexology, hypnosis/NLP, and a great support network that I had to find for myself, my GP is of the Hypochondriacs persuasion… It seems he ignores the fact that the brain is the one organ in the body they know damn near nothing about!
I actually learned how to do most of the ones that work for me and am now trying to get into the NHS so that I can help people who haven’t perhaps the means to pay for some of these treatments.(The surgeons don't like anything they can't shake a scalpel at! When the phrase ' if in doubt - cut it out' won't or can't cut it they balk at the idea that something non invasive in physical terms will acheive what they cannot. How could we dare? Let us remember that white coats, greens and an ability to excise things doesn't mean you're right every time, and doesn't lessen the gravity of the illness just cause you can't get hold of it and put it on a slide.
When I’m not able I don’t do it – when I’m able I do it until I need to rest. If the world can’t slow down maybe we have to? If we are a Universe inside a Universe inside… Isn't it time we listened? Isn't that what Doctors used to do, so they could follow the hypocratic oath - first do no harm. Ignoring it will not make it go away and it certainly will not cure it.
Excerpts from papers found on www.meactionuk.org and www.afme.org.uk.
Contact me at Sleepy.dragon@ntlworld.com
Recently I got very excited. Now, normally that is nothing to write home about, however, you ask anyone with M.E. when the last time was they got excited and they’ll probably say they can’t remember or they haven’t got the energy.
Energy is the key word here, and it does have a physical, organic root to go along with the metaphysical and spiritual curtain that few of the medics will go beyond.
So what lies behind the curtain that has them all so freaked out?
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, AKA Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, AKA Post viral Fatigue Syndrome and in the good old US of A it has the impressive handle of Epidemic Neuromyasthenia.
So when your GP tells you it’s all in your head, you can actually correct him by saying not only is it in my head it is also in my spinal cord and in the nerve endings in my muscles – see your medical dictionary for clues!
Dr. A Melvin Ramsey, Hon Consultant Physician, Infectious Diseases Dept. of the Royal Free Hospital describes M.E. in his paper circa 1986 as a ‘Baffling Syndrome with a Tragic Aftermath’. He also explains the different terminology used in it’s diagnosis.
Another Doctor whose paper was summarised in The Haworth Medical Press, the title, Betrayal By the Brain: The Neurological Basis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia Syndrome and related Neural Network Disorders was written by a Dr. Jay Goldstein, in which he describes a conceptualisation of CFIDS/FMS as “ impaired sensory information processing in a neural network, resulting in dysfunctional responses. Triggers include things like genetic susceptibility, neonatal stressors, and elevated cortisol levels activated from an early age due to various situations including sexual, physical, emotional abuse.
A Dr. Charles Shepherd has acknowledged that it has links to certain toxins and pesticides, organophosphates being the main contenders.
With all this weighty evidence going on how dare the GP’s call this hypochondria?
And, should we wish to go and inspect the aforementioned curtain then we can look to another eminent scientific source, Dr. Deepak Chopra.
Who writes prolifically about the cells eavesdropping on one another and their ability to hold memories, particularly traumatic memories.
Take into consideration the depression angle, a lot of physicians say that M.E. is just another form of depression and is therefore psychological, it has been proven though, that cortisol levels in the clinically depressed are low and yet in M.E. they are high, so the answer to that would be that although depression may follow an episode of M.E it is not in itself a component of the disease.
I have M.E. and I have a good idea why I have it. My biggest problem has been how to manage it for once it is got it will not go away!
It hibernates and lays in wait, it catches you out when things are going relatively okay then you catch a virus and it’s basically goodnight Vienna for anything up to 18months or longer.
I have found that actually recognising when I need to rest is the key and acting upon that information, I REST! Dr. A. Melvin Ramsey, agrees with me on that one; only wish I’d known that earlier.
He writes, ”The degree of physical incapacity varies greatly, but the dominant clinical feature of profound fatigue is directly related to the length of time the patient persists in physical effort after it’s onset; put in another way, those patients who are given a period of enforced rest from the onset have the best prognosis.”
So, NO, it is not the best thing to work through the flu, it is not the best thing to go back to work soon as you can put your feet to the floor without falling down. We need time to heal and if we don’t take it the cells in our body will mutiny and then we really will find that creek and how necessary a paddle can be. It is all very well having a work ethic, but how good is it if it means you can only work for a significantly shortened length of time?
The government is not too helpful in that department either, it could make things better with more legislation on sick days and wellness programmes in the workplace, not to mention tightening up on the pesticides and toxins that are carried on ships in our waters and used on our food and our animals on a daily basis.
Getting level with M.E is an expensive and epic journey- getting level is all you can hope for, these papers I'm on about have been in existance since 1986 and before; it's been around so long and they're still arguing whether it's a 'real disease' or not. Where have we heard that one before? The NHS does not supply most of the treatments that are helpful, and even when they do it is down to the mind set of the GP that has to refer you to it which will again depend on his budget.
For myself, it has been an awakening to how much more we can do with natural things and (dare I say it?) spiritual things. Don’t get me wrong there are extremely interesting people out there who have some very unique ways of looking at things; all in all though sorting through the chaff there is help available and again it is at a price, isn’t everything these days, but what price the ability to at least function reasonably on a daily basis?
The Shamanic way of looking at it is that a soul part has been lost and there is a void there that has been filled by the dis – ease, this is bourne out by the neo natal stressors and other triggers mentioned above. It also bears out the mind controls the body thing and Dr Chopra’s theories on cell memory.(This is a very simplistic and edited explanation of these concepts, I will have a tendency to mention them again and go into more detail).
The NLP and Ericksonian Hypnosis way of looking at it,is using neural networks and changing pathways through language and metaphor, hey, it works for me and helps me to talk to my body when it is tired and aching – my unconscious mind is a vast storehouse of resources – as is yours – just waiting to be used, making the connection is the key.
Then there is the Reiki, Aromatherapy massage, Reflexology et al. Touch and smell and relaxation, it really does make you feel better and when you feel better you feel less tired. Being tired is tiring sometimes you know the hypothalamus and the limbic system they don’t need drugs, they need some TLC; and we all know there’s just not enough of that to go around these days.
So what to do, look for yourselves, find a practitioner of any of the above mentioned therapies and some more, whatever is right for you – there’s Indian Head Massage, herbalism, sound therapy, there are so many and there is no one right answer for me it was a combination of the Shamanic, Reiki, Reflexology, hypnosis/NLP, and a great support network that I had to find for myself, my GP is of the Hypochondriacs persuasion… It seems he ignores the fact that the brain is the one organ in the body they know damn near nothing about!
I actually learned how to do most of the ones that work for me and am now trying to get into the NHS so that I can help people who haven’t perhaps the means to pay for some of these treatments.(The surgeons don't like anything they can't shake a scalpel at! When the phrase ' if in doubt - cut it out' won't or can't cut it they balk at the idea that something non invasive in physical terms will acheive what they cannot. How could we dare? Let us remember that white coats, greens and an ability to excise things doesn't mean you're right every time, and doesn't lessen the gravity of the illness just cause you can't get hold of it and put it on a slide.
When I’m not able I don’t do it – when I’m able I do it until I need to rest. If the world can’t slow down maybe we have to? If we are a Universe inside a Universe inside… Isn't it time we listened? Isn't that what Doctors used to do, so they could follow the hypocratic oath - first do no harm. Ignoring it will not make it go away and it certainly will not cure it.
Excerpts from papers found on www.meactionuk.org and www.afme.org.uk.
Contact me at Sleepy.dragon@ntlworld.com
Monday 29 January 2007
A Change in Perspective Can Be The Answer
TURNING JAPANESE
I’ve been having a bit of a think recently. It’s been quite confusing at times – all these things I’ve been thinking about. Confusing until I had that ‘ah!’ moment; you know the one. That’s the one where everything slots into place very suddenly, like when you’re watching one of those formation thingies, just before it’s completed or from the original angle they make no sense at all; then in a nano second there it is, and you wonder how you could have not seen it all the while.
It reminded me of a time when I was sitting in a pub with a bunch of PhD doctor types, one of whom was Japanese – that he was Japanese (and presumably still is) is not all together relevant, he was a thoroughly impressive chap, at least 6ft 4 if he was an inch! Anyway, he made a puzzle with some matchsticks, it was a fish shape and we had to change the direction it swam in by moving only two of the matches. Whether it was the copious amount of alcohol we’d consumed, (there the Japanese are also impressive!), or that we were all just not thinking laterally – and let’s face it within a group of five academics and one technician someone should have been able to sort this one out – we just couldn’t see it.
The call of nature saved face! I had to go to the toilet, having consumed several pints it was urgently required. The point is that on my way back to the table I looked down at the puzzle and BAM! There it was, the answer so obvious, how could it be there, just there staring me in the face, such a simple thing, and I could not see it?
Until I changed my position, until I looked at it from a different perspective I could have been sitting there all night and still been stymied because my Japanese doctor friend was being very inscrutable and refused to reveal the solution. He had given us the puzzle to solve and would leave us locked in a battle with this inanimate thing until we ourselves found the answer.
So, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about life and NLP and Mr Erickson (our hero). Like my Japanese friend, a head and shoulders above his peers, he sees from a different perspective, and shows us that by simply altering the way we look at a situation, allows us to change that situation, by using very little interference we can change the direction in which we or our clients are swimming.
Can you hear it? Can you hear the ‘Ah, yes?’ It’s so simple – isn’t it?
Leslie Currie, July 2006
I’ve been having a bit of a think recently. It’s been quite confusing at times – all these things I’ve been thinking about. Confusing until I had that ‘ah!’ moment; you know the one. That’s the one where everything slots into place very suddenly, like when you’re watching one of those formation thingies, just before it’s completed or from the original angle they make no sense at all; then in a nano second there it is, and you wonder how you could have not seen it all the while.
It reminded me of a time when I was sitting in a pub with a bunch of PhD doctor types, one of whom was Japanese – that he was Japanese (and presumably still is) is not all together relevant, he was a thoroughly impressive chap, at least 6ft 4 if he was an inch! Anyway, he made a puzzle with some matchsticks, it was a fish shape and we had to change the direction it swam in by moving only two of the matches. Whether it was the copious amount of alcohol we’d consumed, (there the Japanese are also impressive!), or that we were all just not thinking laterally – and let’s face it within a group of five academics and one technician someone should have been able to sort this one out – we just couldn’t see it.
The call of nature saved face! I had to go to the toilet, having consumed several pints it was urgently required. The point is that on my way back to the table I looked down at the puzzle and BAM! There it was, the answer so obvious, how could it be there, just there staring me in the face, such a simple thing, and I could not see it?
Until I changed my position, until I looked at it from a different perspective I could have been sitting there all night and still been stymied because my Japanese doctor friend was being very inscrutable and refused to reveal the solution. He had given us the puzzle to solve and would leave us locked in a battle with this inanimate thing until we ourselves found the answer.
So, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about life and NLP and Mr Erickson (our hero). Like my Japanese friend, a head and shoulders above his peers, he sees from a different perspective, and shows us that by simply altering the way we look at a situation, allows us to change that situation, by using very little interference we can change the direction in which we or our clients are swimming.
Can you hear it? Can you hear the ‘Ah, yes?’ It’s so simple – isn’t it?
Leslie Currie, July 2006
Friday 12 January 2007
Path of the Shaman
Shamanic practise is more than 50,000 years old. It is not a religion of itself but can be found interwoven into many religions; not excluding the main known orthodox beliefs. A part of, but apart from the major religions of the world. It is singular and of itself, and is remarkable in that although developed by many separate cultures, it has a central core that is common to all these indigenous traditions.
From the Australian Aborigine to the Tibetan Monks, from Siberia to Africa, from North and South America to Northern Europe. From Santa Claus to Arch Angels, Shamanism is alive and well and becoming more and more apparent as the Universe shifts back the spiritual balance to the individual; be it person, tribe, clan or village, the Universe is calling its warriors to arms, the Warriors of the Shadow, the Shapeshifters, the Healers, the Pyromancers, the Psychopompers, those who have eyes to see in the dark.
Le Barre said that there were Shamen before there were Gods, this is understandable as it would behove that a Shaman would be the one with access to the other words; other realities and different dimensions. Only when one found the way to enter these dimensions would it be possible for them to communicate with the beings/spirits therein. How they chose the first Shamen is still a mystery.
Supposedly, the original travellers to space and time had no pre - conceived ideas of what to expect and therefore, the fact that the Shamens’ individual (and very separate) experiences have so much in common has allowed them to connect with others such as themselves, that a belief system of ‘other worlds, of other dimensions, of other realities of has evolved from a core experience and recounting of these.
Their relating of journeys to otherworldly realms, the purpose of which was to find good hunting, good shelter, or more prosaically - an honourable victory over a Shaman from a rival tribe. From the birth of new members of the tribes, what their souls would bring to their people, what gifts would be brought by this new life, to the guidance of souls passing through the veils of shadow lands back into the void. The Shamen were the ones who knew how, and each one through ritual and wisdom passed down by elder Shamen to the chosen few, would have the responsibility of the lives and fortunes of all those within the tribe.
The similarities and the success of these rituals and ceremonials are testament not only to the wisdom and aptitude of the individual, but are an indication to a shared knowledge of something most of the Western world can only dream of. Thankfully, some of us still do dream of it and though even fewer of us act upon those dreams, the few are increasing in number as we as humans begin to realise that there is a finite amount of money, carbon based fuel and land.
This brings us to our main belief systems today, which have collected that which suited and rejected as evil that which did not, allowed the creation of Heaven and Hell, and who is to go to whichever the ’priest’ decreed through his knowledge of the new mysteries; 2,000 years young. The basis of which was made upon texts translated from Aramaic and Sanskrit into Greek and then Latin. No matter that the academic prowess, and therefore the competence of the priests was suspect as long as they were zealous, pure, pious, knew the fundamentals and were willing to implement the Gospel according to whomsoever was revising the “good book” at the time; any which way and with as much force as it would take to convert the poor daemon worshipping, simple minded souls they encountered on their way, who had the audacity to believe that they knew more about their spiritual needs than these new guys in frocks, who couldn’t speak their language, couldn’t cope with their weather and conditions and instead of being gracious guests became tyrannical overseers.
While doing this pushed most pure Shamanic traditions to past the point of extinction in places, it only succeeded to bestialise and ridicule its practise in others, though still chasing it underground and ensuring that only the most inaccessible places on this earth kept a pure tradition. Were it not for some of the more open of European minds the Native American Culture would have been totally lost to a Hebrew God whose testament has been bastardised and politically spun throughout the ages - not least by the first Pope who had converted from a Pagan background, and in his wisdom decided what the poor plebs could handle and what they could not; so it was the Gospel according to Constantine not God.
Still taking into consideration the pantheon of God/Goddess’ from various traditions, Greek, Roman, Celtic, Nordic/Heathen. Shamanic resonance can be seen in all of these, even unto the Bible. The bible
Teaches Druidic theology, the sacrificing of oneself for the good of the many, for the good of the land, this was taught by the Druid priests since there were people on this island. The King who was and will be again, risen from the dead to lead his people to freedom of suppression is not just the remit of the bible. Every child knows the Arthurian legends. Every mainstream religion is based upon the messiah concept. The de- possessing of spirit’s, the common sense that has been lost in translation, the trial on the mount the feeding of the 5,000, the vision quest in the desert 40 days and 40 nights. Go tell it to a Native American Brave, that is before the missionaries came to make him over in Gods own image, before they came to destroy and bully a people who were so connected to the land they lived and died for it. A people whose Medicine men treated not just the wounds of their people but the traumas of their souls, by connecting to the land that sustained them.
Shamen have power over fire, time and space, the weather, and particularly they have great power in healing arts and in psychopomping ; the assisting of souls crossing over to a new
Dimension, or state of being. These days our lives are full of arts and means to keep death at bay. Death is the ultimate change and we, although having a tendency to embrace change when we can see the outcome, have less and less intention to accept and embrace death. Somehow we have come to see it as an end to ourselves, in our human form we are so self obsessed. Western Society by and large does not take to spirituality unless there is a crisis in the offing. A Tsunami will do it for some, though less of praying for the dead and more of rifling the wallet takes place, there are a few people who put aside their everyday lives and trials and for some reason have an all encompassing urge to do something - something they would never normally think of.
People go on holiday every day to places like Thailand and India and the Maldives. They see the poverty, they see the potential for destruction and loss of life but they don’t own it, it is not their problem. They’re doing their bit by visiting the place and brining in much needed tourist money. Most of them go home having had a great time and not realising or even registering the fact that there are people who live on the edge every single day, that their tourist money is actually not doing much good, because the more they visit the more hotels have to be built therefore the more land is cleared. Natural breakwaters, natural barriers no longer exist. The government spends no money on early warning systems because it’s not as important as the next new resort for rich Westerners to come and spend their money.
And the indigenous peoples, they live with death every day. Their rights are taken from them by faceless foreigners who want their land and resources but these are finite resources. The real gold is in the fact that indigenous peoples have treatments for cancers that we don’t know about. They don’t get the kind of cancers and diseases that we have. That they have good health and longevity that we can only dream of. That they know a peace and contentment that we shall never see again, lest we go back to real basics remembering who we are and that we need each other, not another car, not a bigger house, not a pool; we need to connect.
It is known as a magico - religious practise, whose practitioners bring on an ecstatic trance state, through dance, chanting, journeying and meditation. Some practitioners use psychotropic drugs, these are not necessary for all.
Shamanic practise is more than 50,000 years old. It is not a religion of itself but can be found interwoven into many religions; not excluding the main known orthodox beliefs. A part of, but apart from the major religions of the world. It is singular and of itself, and is remarkable in that although developed by many separate cultures, it has a central core that is common to all these indigenous traditions.
From the Australian Aborigine to the Tibetan Monks, from Siberia to Africa, from North and South America to Northern Europe. From Santa Claus to Arch Angels, Shamanism is alive and well and becoming more and more apparent as the Universe shifts back the spiritual balance to the individual; be it person, tribe, clan or village, the Universe is calling its warriors to arms, the Warriors of the Shadow, the Shapeshifters, the Healers, the Pyromancers, the Psychopompers, those who have eyes to see in the dark.
Le Barre said that there were Shamen before there were Gods, this is understandable as it would behove that a Shaman would be the one with access to the other words; other realities and different dimensions. Only when one found the way to enter these dimensions would it be possible for them to communicate with the beings/spirits therein. How they chose the first Shamen is still a mystery.
Supposedly, the original travellers to space and time had no pre - conceived ideas of what to expect and therefore, the fact that the Shamens’ individual (and very separate) experiences have so much in common has allowed them to connect with others such as themselves, that a belief system of ‘other worlds, of other dimensions, of other realities of has evolved from a core experience and recounting of these.
Their relating of journeys to otherworldly realms, the purpose of which was to find good hunting, good shelter, or more prosaically - an honourable victory over a Shaman from a rival tribe. From the birth of new members of the tribes, what their souls would bring to their people, what gifts would be brought by this new life, to the guidance of souls passing through the veils of shadow lands back into the void. The Shamen were the ones who knew how, and each one through ritual and wisdom passed down by elder Shamen to the chosen few, would have the responsibility of the lives and fortunes of all those within the tribe.
The similarities and the success of these rituals and ceremonials are testament not only to the wisdom and aptitude of the individual, but are an indication to a shared knowledge of something most of the Western world can only dream of. Thankfully, some of us still do dream of it and though even fewer of us act upon those dreams, the few are increasing in number as we as humans begin to realise that there is a finite amount of money, carbon based fuel and land.
This brings us to our main belief systems today, which have collected that which suited and rejected as evil that which did not, allowed the creation of Heaven and Hell, and who is to go to whichever the ’priest’ decreed through his knowledge of the new mysteries; 2,000 years young. The basis of which was made upon texts translated from Aramaic and Sanskrit into Greek and then Latin. No matter that the academic prowess, and therefore the competence of the priests was suspect as long as they were zealous, pure, pious, knew the fundamentals and were willing to implement the Gospel according to whomsoever was revising the “good book” at the time; any which way and with as much force as it would take to convert the poor daemon worshipping, simple minded souls they encountered on their way, who had the audacity to believe that they knew more about their spiritual needs than these new guys in frocks, who couldn’t speak their language, couldn’t cope with their weather and conditions and instead of being gracious guests became tyrannical overseers.
While doing this pushed most pure Shamanic traditions to past the point of extinction in places, it only succeeded to bestialise and ridicule its practise in others, though still chasing it underground and ensuring that only the most inaccessible places on this earth kept a pure tradition. Were it not for some of the more open of European minds the Native American Culture would have been totally lost to a Hebrew God whose testament has been bastardised and politically spun throughout the ages - not least by the first Pope who had converted from a Pagan background, and in his wisdom decided what the poor plebs could handle and what they could not; so it was the Gospel according to Constantine not God.
Still taking into consideration the pantheon of God/Goddess’ from various traditions, Greek, Roman, Celtic, Nordic/Heathen. Shamanic resonance can be seen in all of these, even unto the Bible. The bible
Teaches Druidic theology, the sacrificing of oneself for the good of the many, for the good of the land, this was taught by the Druid priests since there were people on this island. The King who was and will be again, risen from the dead to lead his people to freedom of suppression is not just the remit of the bible. Every child knows the Arthurian legends. Every mainstream religion is based upon the messiah concept. The de- possessing of spirit’s, the common sense that has been lost in translation, the trial on the mount the feeding of the 5,000, the vision quest in the desert 40 days and 40 nights. Go tell it to a Native American Brave, that is before the missionaries came to make him over in Gods own image, before they came to destroy and bully a people who were so connected to the land they lived and died for it. A people whose Medicine men treated not just the wounds of their people but the traumas of their souls, by connecting to the land that sustained them.
Shamen have power over fire, time and space, the weather, and particularly they have great power in healing arts and in psychopomping ; the assisting of souls crossing over to a new
Dimension, or state of being. These days our lives are full of arts and means to keep death at bay. Death is the ultimate change and we, although having a tendency to embrace change when we can see the outcome, have less and less intention to accept and embrace death. Somehow we have come to see it as an end to ourselves, in our human form we are so self obsessed. Western Society by and large does not take to spirituality unless there is a crisis in the offing. A Tsunami will do it for some, though less of praying for the dead and more of rifling the wallet takes place, there are a few people who put aside their everyday lives and trials and for some reason have an all encompassing urge to do something - something they would never normally think of.
People go on holiday every day to places like Thailand and India and the Maldives. They see the poverty, they see the potential for destruction and loss of life but they don’t own it, it is not their problem. They’re doing their bit by visiting the place and brining in much needed tourist money. Most of them go home having had a great time and not realising or even registering the fact that there are people who live on the edge every single day, that their tourist money is actually not doing much good, because the more they visit the more hotels have to be built therefore the more land is cleared. Natural breakwaters, natural barriers no longer exist. The government spends no money on early warning systems because it’s not as important as the next new resort for rich Westerners to come and spend their money.
And the indigenous peoples, they live with death every day. Their rights are taken from them by faceless foreigners who want their land and resources but these are finite resources. The real gold is in the fact that indigenous peoples have treatments for cancers that we don’t know about. They don’t get the kind of cancers and diseases that we have. That they have good health and longevity that we can only dream of. That they know a peace and contentment that we shall never see again, lest we go back to real basics remembering who we are and that we need each other, not another car, not a bigger house, not a pool; we need to connect.
It is known as a magico - religious practise, whose practitioners bring on an ecstatic trance state, through dance, chanting, journeying and meditation. Some practitioners use psychotropic drugs, these are not necessary for all.
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