Category Archives: Therapeutic Imagery

Mindfulness & The Eternity Of Giving

I start many of my presentations on mindfulness with a rhetorical discussion of love. What is it? What does it mean? How is it defined? Understood? Misunderstood? Characterized? Commonly depicted? How is love illusory? How is it enigmatic?

What typically emerges is a focus on the love that exists externally; the love which comes to us from others. Of course, we do share our love and in fact, that is the point of the exercise: to remind everyone that we all emerge into the world with love. Each new life, in every magnificent shape, form and fashion, is a miracle of connective awe and wonder, especially for those who bear witness. Thus we are reminded of the well-spring of love each of us carries within, and how this fundamental force represents the core mystery of life itself, the unifying energy of our living, breathing universe.

In being mindful of this elemental phenomenon, we cultivate and foster our innate “heart wisdom,” which serves as the impetus for altruism, philanthropy, social grace, creativity, and spiritual identity. Indeed, our embrace of compassion, empathy, and the power of love serves to align our conscious intention and inspire a more meaningful understanding and life purpose.

The Eternity Of Giving

Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery specializes in innovative approaches to workplace wellness, mindfulness training, and personal development. Via private coaching, presentations, workshops, training events, and our partnership in the unique online wellness community Your Wellness Room—used by Kaiser Permanente, EFactor and other notable companies—our nationally recognized programs and practices help people and organizations make positive changes. Please call for a free consultation at (818) 512-4371 or contact us via email.

Video Attributions:

“Eternity of Giving” written and produced by Shawn Quinlivan, C.Ht. & Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery.

Music “Tumult” courtesy of Kai Engel (edited) http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/The_Run/Kai_Engel_-_The_Run_-_07_Tumult
Licensed via Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

Higher Law – An Inspirational Video

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Written and produced by Shawn Quinlivan, C.Ht. & Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery

Music “Whispers” courtesy of Hyson (edited)

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Hyson/Soundtrack_for_the_Weary_Vol_I/Hyson_-_Whispers

Licensed via Creative Commons 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

Love Is Not Always Tame

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“Aslan was gone. But there was a brightness in the air and on the grass, and a joy in their hearts …” ~ C.S. Lewis, from The Chronicles Of Narnia

Love and fear are our primary emotions. They are also the elemental forces of motivation. Love is the impetus for connecting to our world so that we develop and thrive, while fear compels separation as a means of protection from threats. The fundamental relationship of love and fear offers a profound context for inspiring narratives of crisis, conflict and transformation. At life’s fateful crossings of love and fear, our individual and collective strength and fortitude, our courage of conviction, are forged. This is why the ancient traditions and wonders of story medicine—the fantastical and heroic adventures of love’s triumph over fear—hold such sway.

HERO MYTHOLOGY

As observed by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung in their seminal work on the human psyche, and later expounded upon by renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell, the symbols of hero mythology appear to exist as archetypes within our subconscious mind. On a psychological and spiritual level, we identify with the hero of the story, who conquers fear and overcomes insurmountable odds in order to claim victory and salvation for loved ones. The storytelling traditions of our indigenous ancestors are the foundation of the hero’s journey, which evolved into the archetypal right of passage common to world mythologies.

“To acknowledge the power of myth is to realize that one lives amongst all these ancient tales. And is not we who make sense of the stories, but rather the stories that make sense of us.”

As the oldest form of psychology known to mankind, storytelling draws our truest sense of self into the tale in meaningful and insightful ways. The metaphor of an unfolding adventure of discovery, a journey filled with confounding problems and challenges, motivates us to embrace the power of faith and possibility in our lives. We are inspired to consider new viewpoints of ourselves and the world around us.

I was moved to study and master Therapeutic Imagery because it conjures this symbolic and mythical realm of adventure inside of us, where we find deeper and yet familiar realizations about ourselves and our challenges. As a trance state healing medium, it continues to teach me lessons through the transcendent revelations of my clients. These story-based experiences are profound at bringing new perspective to the trials of love and fear that occur in our everyday lives. We become unstuck. We move beyond limiting beliefs and negative emotional attachments that have held us back and undermined our well being.

THE GREAT LION

Aslan “the Great Lion,” who despite his loving and benevolent nature is not tame and can be both powerful and dangerous, has a particularly profound meaning for me. I read the Narnia stories just before the occurrence of a life shattering event. I was thirteen at the time and the subsequent loss of these books haunted me for years. Of course, I bought them again but the memory lived on as a reminder of the fragility and tragedy of our family . . . and of life itself. Yet Aslan remained steadfast in my heart. Courage was still possible. Inspiration welled up inside of me in music and the calling of songs. Love was bigger than betrayal. And I persevered.

Someone recently asked me why they should trust me to help them. It was a fair and honest question, and a challenge to my ‘license’ as a motivator and inspirator. I told them I am a survivor of childhood trauma and PTSD. I said simply that I understand the landscape of suffering and shame, and I know from my own life how it is necessary to vibrate from a place of love in order to overcome fear. I teach my clients that compassion is strong enough to change individuals, dangerous enough to challenge paradigms, and powerful enough to transform the world.

Indeed, just like the mighty Aslan, love is not always tame.

Beyond The Shadows Of Fear

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My father was a combat veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. He witnessed and participated in atrocities during the Korean War. He made life altering self-sacrifices and lived with horrors that were not entirely of his choosing. He was predisposed to violent and abusive episodes that he could not control, and inflicted a legacy of rage, vengeance and sorrow upon those who loved him the most. Overcoming the trauma of my relationship with him provided profound meaning and purpose to experiences which once seemed hopelessly tragic and senseless. The unique insights I gained into the primal nature of love and fear and how they function in the human psyche were life-changing. And it became my personal mission to help others solve their suffering by sharing what I have learned.

Childhood Trauma

As a boy I asked my father if he was ever under enemy fire. He replied that he once saw a torpedo pass the bow of a ship he was on in the south pacific. When I inquired about the blisters and open sores on his feet, which I later learned were from a severe fungal infection he contracted in the extreme cold of Korea, he said this was from his brother throwing firecrackers at him when they were kids. My dad would never talk about the Korean War and it was clear to me, even as a child, that a deep unrest resided within him about his experiences there.

When I was 7 years old, my family suddenly wasn’t Catholic anymore. I was abruptly placed in a public school and we began attending an Episcopal Church. A secret was passed from my older siblings that my dad had a wife and son in Korea, and that she left him because he beat her. My parents began having bitter fights. I witnessed my father lose his temper and become verbally abusive and physically violent with my mother. And it was only the beginning.

“Our family became familiar with an intimate and immutable fear that would continue to shape our lives for years to come.”

I was in the 7th grade when the last of his many merciless beatings of my mom occurred. I didn’t see that one but I witnessed most of them. Blood and bruises. Police. Hospitals. Neighbors. Embarrassment. Shame. Confusion. Something inside him would snap and he would explode. And afterward, he would act as if nothing had happened. That last assault landed my mother in the emergency room. She was finally ready to leave him and take us with her. I was brave and called my dad from a pay phone in the hospital lobby to tell him we wouldn’t be coming home that night—or ever. I was 12 years old. Like my sister and brothers, I too had been brutally beaten by my father. I still loved him though. We all did. But we were afraid of him.

The following days brought a divorce filing, the issuance of a judicial restraining order, and a sheriff’s escort to our home to retrieve necessities. My dad was in his study when we arrived. He was nonchalant but we soon realized he was not in total denial. The study and kitchen were intact, but the rest of the house was eerily empty; besides the furniture, the only personal belongings remaining were our clothes and shoes. There were no books, toys, trading cards, Tonka trucks or race cars, balls or mitts, hockey sticks or ice skates, albums or record players, stuffed animals, or musical instruments. My mother’s beloved piano was gone. In fact, all the tangible mementos of our life together had disappeared. When we discovered that he had burned most of those things in the incinerator in the basement, my older brother became so enraged he had to be physically restrained by the sheriffs—yet my dad remained passive. It was one of the most surreal events in my life and ushered me into a deep state of emotional shock.

Flashbacks

In a poignant moment some years later, when life had moved on for all of us, my father finally revealed to me a little of what had happened to him in Korea. It was only the second time I ever saw him cry. But he still couldn’t really talk about it. There were only a few quotes like the one below, which he retched out like bile from the pit of his soul. He contracted a brain tumor and died shortly thereafter, and I was grateful for the estranged sort of peace I had made with him. I forgave him for all that had happened. But the impact of my father’s violence and abuse had not yet taken the measure of its toll on me. Shadows of that fear, in the shifting and malevolent form of rage, still existed deep in my heart. And year by year, as I emerged from the emotional shell that had protected me as a child, I would revisit my forgiveness of him in the specter of that ash-filled basement incinerator and its forsaken providence—his vengeful razing of the village of our family—again and again, whether I chose to or not.

“We didn’t know who we were fighting over there. The villagers would bring out food and fruit in baskets to the soldiers . . . and there would be live grenades hidden inside. My buddies were blown to bits right in front of me. It happened more than once. So we razed those villages. We killed everybody.”

The vestiges of my father’s violence overtook me in my forties. By then the conflicted emotions I suppressed as a boy had finally come to the surface, raw and often unchecked. It had become difficult to avoid angry and irrational responses in certain situations, especially those I perceived as threatening or inherently unfair. I lost my temper easily. I brooded and ranted and my moods were volatile. Indeed, the repressed rage had been tapped within me. And a disturbing pattern developed which left me in anguish each Christmas Day and on my birthday, when the intrusive recall of familial trauma and abuse was somehow triggered and I would grieve uncontrollably. I came to realize I was still afraid of my father, for he haunted my thoughts like a ghost on those days and I could not dismiss his threatening presence. I was also afraid of myself and what was happening to me.

Into The Light

The psychotherapists helped me understand my own post-traumatic stress disorder. Perhaps they helped me understand my father. But I did not change as a result of those traditional forms of therapy; in fact, I got worse. The flashbacks recurred with more intensity. The rage persisted and began to threaten the homeostasis of the life I had worked so hard to build for myself. My marriage suffered. And year by year, the dread of Christmas and my birthday gradually became intolerable. I found myself tormented by recurring thoughts of those incinerated childhood treasures and the memories attached to them—the beautiful yuletide festivities our family shared, the surprise birthday parties and celebrations, the special gifts and cherished times when we were together and all was put right in our troubled world—and I cursed my father for his desecration.

Hypnotherapy was my salvation. I discovered the redemptive balance of honor, dignity and grace for my father’s life, and for my own. I stepped out of my tunnel of fear and the confluence of my life paths suddenly came together in a profound affirmation of my existence. After 25 years as a successful corporate restructuring professional, I left my career and went back to school. I graduated with honors from the world renowned Hypnosis Motivation Institute in Los Angeles as both a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Master of Therapeutic Imagery. In 2011, I founded Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery in Chatsworth, California.

At the heart of my approach is the use of trance state healing to help people understand how love and fear function as the primary motivational forces in our lives. My journey has afforded me a unique understanding of the landscape of suffering and shame, the fundamental nature of rage and the various ways it can be triggered, and the innate power of compassion and empathy to transform lives and connect us to the deeper significance and intention of our being.

I am a therapist. I am an intuitive agent for change. I am an inspirator. And I am a survivor. I cannot call my traumas war stories—those belonged to my father. My suffering was not his suffering; my terror was not his terror; my sacrifices were not his sacrifices. I was blessed with a vision of making his tragic life stand for something noble, and that is how helping people conquer fear became my mission.

Story Medicine: The Medium Of Leaders & Heroes

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Storytelling is a healing art and mankind’s oldest form of psychology. Stories have the power to calm, heal, rejuvenate—to invoke deeper comprehension and reflection while inviting a shift in perspective. Ancient cultures revered storytelling, which was a sacred practice reserved for the learned and holy men, and served as a powerful medium for helping tribes and clans cope with the hardship of survival.

The Hero Within

On a psychological and spiritual level, we profoundly resonate with tales of crisis, conflict and transformation. We individually and collectively identify with the hero of the story, who overcomes insurmountable obstacles in a confluent realization of innate potential and purpose. The storytelling traditions of our indigenous ancestors are the foundation of the hero’s journey, which evolved into the archetypal right of passage common to world mythologies.

“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.” ~Joseph Campbell, from ‘The Hero With A Thousand Faces’

The metaphor of an unfolding adventure of discovery, one which presents confounding problems and challenges—each representing a threshold of realization and growth—subconsciously motivates us to reconsider the powers of faith and possibility in our lives, inspiring new viewpoints of ourselves and the world around us. Indeed, stories are how we make sense of ourselves.

Leadership Tales

There are three primary elements of story that play into the human experience:

Identity: A context to interpret the past and anticipate the future
Integration: A narrative for affirming life meaning and purpose
Socialization: A dialogue with which to interact with others

Research in psychology has shown that people realize meaning and purpose in their lives through personal stories; this is especially true in tales of individual redemption through which pain and suffering are transformed into self enlightenment, and then conferred as a benefit to others. (See ‘The Redemptive Self’ by Northwestern University psychology professor Dan McAdams here).

This is why storytelling is fundamental to leadership, especially the trial and redemption aspect, which provides the backdrop of crisis, conflict and transformation necessary to resonate with the listener’s inner hero. Incorporating these elements engages and motivates others to consider why they should change their world, while at the same time opening their receptivity as to how that might be achieved.

An effective leadership tale compels people to experience and examine their values on an emotional basis rather than as abstract principals, inspiring a calling to action of their own leadership qualities and ability. This personal inspiration is then integrated through social interaction to become part of the organizational identity, exemplifying why storytelling is one of the most powerful leadership tools of organizers and movement builders.

Therapeutic Imagery

According to research by psychology professor Jonathan Adler, PhD, therapy patients who experience themselves—rather than the therapist—as the focal point of the story, show the most improvement (see American Psychological Association publication, ‘Our Stories, Ourselves’ here). This is the fundamental principle of Therapeutic Imagery, which is a mindfulness meditation modality that facilitates imagination and visualization with all the senses.

A large and growing body of research demonstrates the efficacy of mindfulness meditation modalities in treating various medical and mental health related conditions. Therapeutic Imagery is particularly effective for wellness, mindfulness training, and personal development initiatives such as:

Increasing Emotional Intelligence
Managing Stress & Anxiety
Overcoming Physical Debility & Relieving Pain
Resolving Psychological Trauma
Treating Autoimmune Conditions

The predisposition of the subconscious mind to interpret imagery in story form, and the persuasive power of stories to dramatically shape thoughts, memories and emotional attachments, is the heart of this artistic and extremely client friendly approach. Universal symbols, mythological archetypes, and personal metaphors empower new and enlightened encounters with personal challenges, stimulating self-discovery and a meaningful rescripting of life stories.

Why The Medicine Works

Sometimes words such as ‘problem’ and ‘challenge’ elicit the need to visit our misfortunes. Stories help us stay positive and focus on the ways in which our struggles are born of personal choices. We learn to recognize attitudes and beliefs that are limiting and self-defeating. We begin reframing our narrative of self. Instead of pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps, we endeavor to climb mountains. The ability to inspire ourselves and others prompts us to take leadership roles and embrace opportunities to serve. Indeed, stories affirm that we each possess the innate ability and determination, the courage and wisdom, the compassion and force of will to be leaders and heroes in our own lives.

Shawn Quinlivan, C.Ht.

Mastering Mindfulness: A New Horizon In Coaching

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Mastering Mindfulness is an innovative and transformative coaching modality that cultivates emotional intelligence. The skills of presence, empathy, critical attending and reframing, and positive affirmation accelerate success by enhancing the inherent bounty of human connection.

Perhaps you have noticed how more people, especially those who have achieved a degree of the particular success they desire, have used a coach somewhere along the way. For many, a coaching relationship serves as the catalyst for achieving the growth and self-actualization they desire. A skilled coach can help you acquire greater objectivity and learn to view yourself and others in a more liberating light, free of judgment or criticism. In essence, you work on realizing how to expand not just your own self-image, but your vision of life’s infinite possibilities—to let go of limitations imposed by old attitudes and beliefs you may hold about yourself and the world, and to embrace a more profound sense of your unique value and worth within the broader context of human potential.

“Everybody needs a coach . . . every famous athlete, every famous performer, has somebody who’s a coach . . . someone who can help them see themselves as others see them.” ~ Eric Schmidt, Former Google CEO

Because coaching is an unregulated industry, many choose credentialed professionals as coaches. Athletes, sports teams, performers and professional speakers, among others, routinely employ clinical hypnotherapists to serve in this capacity. Trance state techniques such as hypnotherapy, therapeutic imagery and mindfulness meditation have proven track records as powerful mediums for motivation, focus, concentration, and for consistently producing reliable and measurable results.

Mastering Mindfulness®

Mastering Mindfulness® is a transformative coaching modality used in the meditation and mindfulness training for corporate leadership and workplace culture designed and facilitated by Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery. A combination of hypnotherapy, mindfulness meditation and therapeutic imagery—each applied to the individual landscape of your life—facilitates a keener focus and conviction for attracting a purposeful existence, one that vibrates with a deep and directed intention about the particular type of success you desire.

The disciplines, practices and interactive techniques of Mastering Mindfulness® teach you to pay deliberate attention to the current moment, without attachment to outcomes predicated upon past experiences or expectations for the future, so that you become more present in your own life. Negative thoughts, emotions and behaviors that serve as obstacles to achieving your goals are diffused, and you acclimate to a new mindset of positive insights and empowering realizations that reaffirm your motivation, commitment and resilience. You acquire new linguistic skills and tools that support a mindful framework for your personal and relational success, including:

The Cognitive Empathy Equation
Critical Attending & Reframing
The Art Of Positive Affirmation

By developing a better understanding of your own actions and feelings—and the motivational influences that undergird them—as well as an awareness of how those actions and feelings affect both you and the people around you, the connective and transcendent force of emotional intelligence begins to resonate in your life. And as you master the practice of mindfulness, your emotional intelligence develops into an enlightened and inspired consciousness. Your ability to perceive the behaviors, motivations and emotional states of yourself and others, and to positively negotiate conflicted interactions by acting rather than reacting, blossoms into a remarkable symmetry of poise, focus and self-possession.

Four Ways Mastering Mindfulness® Can Help You

1. Happiness & Fulfillment: It is not uncommon to feel at times that life has lost some excitement and hope; perhaps your routines and daily demands have left you in an emotional rut, or important relationships are presenting difficult challenges, or you have recently lost a loved one. Indeed, these are a few of the myriad reasons one might come to believe the luster and verve for living—the awe and enthusiasm and wonder—have somehow become elusive and fleeting. Just the act of finding a coach can shift this perspective and renew the conviction to seek a deeper meaning and purpose to your most trying experiences. A structured, one-on-one coaching relationship serves as a catalyst to understanding how the conscious energy of positive thoughts and self-dialogue, the honing of your emotional intelligence, forges the motivation and inspiration to overcome hardships and restore your faith and confidence in the ability to synergize the world around you in new and imaginative ways.

2. Love Relationships: Are you looking to solve problems you are experiencing with your significant other? Are you trying to attract a special partner or soul mate? Are you attempting to discover why you seem to draw a specific ‘type’ of person? Or are you perhaps trying to figure out why your romantic relationships follow certain patterns? A coach can lend invaluable insight into how self-perception, moods, disposition, and expectations affect your love life, both in the kind of people you attract and in the affection and gratification you manifest. Intimacy is a measure of self-awareness, and fostering the trust of another person in such a way that both continue to grow is the key in successful love relationships. An experienced coach can be critical in achieving the objectivity necessary for this kind of success and fulfillment.

3. Career Success: How might you actualize a career goal, such as changing professions or starting your own business, despite circumstances and practical demands that stand in your way? Maybe you are wondering if it is possible to find greater satisfaction and attract more success in your current profession? Or perhaps you just haven’t figured out the best way to combine your talents, desires, and resources into a rewarding occupational pursuit. These are some common questions you might ask when searching for direction or considering making changes in your vocational life. And quite often, it is at these critical junctures that limiting attitudes, beliefs, and self-defeating behaviors arise, perhaps preventing you from envisioning and enacting the steps necessary to realize your true potential. A coaching relationship is about challenging doubts and fears by bringing them out into the light, where they can no longer cast shadows on your ability to see and attract the infinite pathways of possibility. Mastering Mindfulness® instills the thought processes, habit behaviors, and motivation to sustain focus and direct consciousness toward fulfillment of your goal.

4. Body Image/Healthy Lifestyle: Many who struggle with weight problems have difficulty with diet and exercise; indeed, poor dietary choices and eating habits often seem to fulfill unhealthy needs, and exercise represents acknowledging this fact. Mastering Mindfulness® places emphasis on personal integrity and healthy body image, which includes acquiring a better understanding of how practicing mindfulness changes our biology in positive ways, and acceptance that regardless of individual circumstances, the equations for fitness and healthy living are similar for everyone. The accountability and encouragement involved in a coaching relationship, along with shifts in perspective brought about by trance state disciplines such as hypnosis and meditation, quickly result in a new ease of lifestyle choices that are restorative and affirming. The idea of ‘dieting’ gives way to a welcome regimen of daily nutrition and physical activity that is invigorating and stimulating, imparting renewed energy and drive for living life to its fullest.

“The secret of achievement is to hold a picture of a successful outcome in the mind.” ~Henry David Thoreau

What Is Your Takeaway?

Many people experience a nagging feeling of not living up to their true potential, a sense of failing to answer a deeper and more meaningful calling in their lives, even though on the surface things may appear to be fine. Mastering Mindfulness® is a coaching modality aimed at overcoming reactive and self-sabotaging behaviors that are rooted in fear, and at developing and trusting your inner voice—the part of you which intuitively understands the connective and enriching qualities of compassion and empathy. You learn to be present in the present by separating unhealthy emotional attachments and by utilizing the executive function required to plan and accomplish the success you desire. Hypnotherapy, mindfulness meditation, and therapeutic imagery are proven and effective motivational tools that promote emotional intelligence, inviting you to discover your own creative ways of manifesting a more significant and gratifying life.

©2014 & 2016 Shawn Quinlivan, C.Ht. & Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery

Dream Therapy

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Dreams Are A Portal To The Mystical Realms Of The Subconscious

Have you ever consulted a dream dictionary to try and understand puzzling symbols that have appeared in your dreams?
Do you have nightmares or wake up with dream memories that stay with you through the day?
Have you ever had an out of body experience during a dream?
Are you familiar with lucid dreaming and have you experienced it?
Does the idea of dream analysis appeal to you as a way to find out more about yourself?

Dream Therapy

Dream therapy can help you realize and fulfill goals, improve your performance and problem solving ability (see NY Times article here), discover and understand your deeper self, and increase your focus and energy. Positive side effects often occur as a result of the process, including development of better sleeping habits, experiencing deep and restful sleep on a consistent basis, and gaining a new respect for the important role sleep and dreaming play in mental, physical, and emotional health. Exploring dream therapy has helped clients with insomnia move beyond the common fixation on falling asleep, and has also proven beneficial with weight loss and addiction clients who decide to improve dietary habits—mostly related to sugar intake—in order to sleep better, recall their nightly dreams, and begin to decipher them.

Many clues to the psychological reasoning of the mind can be uncovered in the symbols of dreams. Some dreams are tied to daily stresses, pressures, and challenges, while others are archetypal in nature and may represent fears, apprehensions, grief, or unresolved traumas from the past that are being triggered by current life events. Extensive scientific research has shown that everyone dreams for about 100 minutes each night (see the article Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep here), including several separate dreams during the normal rapid eye movement (REM) dream cycles. People who say they do not dream simply do not remember their dreams. Nonetheless, almost everyone can be conditioned to sleep in a manner conducive to vivid dreaming and recall, and to record their dreams for interpretation and analysis.

Lucid Dreaming

A lucid dream is any dream in which you have conscious awareness. Lucid dreaming is characterized by elements of both waking and dreaming and has attracted the attention of scientists with an interest in further specifying the brain basis of consciousness (see Harvard Medical School article The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes Up here). Lucid dreams can happen when you have just begun to fall asleep, during deep sleep when physiological factors such as pain or illness are present, and in the early morning hours when you are about to awaken. Yet lucid dreams commonly occur at other times as well, such as in guided imagery, while under hypnosis and during meditation, or when taking a nap.

Another way lucid dreaming takes place is through dream therapy and the process of remembering your dreams. As you train yourself to recall dreams and think about what they mean, you may begin visiting those recollections at times throughout the day and find yourself re-entering certain dreams in a detached sort of way, as if you are on a threshold between two points of consciousness. Studies and research conducted on lucid dreaming (see Wake Up World article here) show that like meditation and self-hypnosis, it is a manifestation of consciousness you can condition yourself to become more adept at, with the only limitations being your self-discipline and imagination.

Astral Projection

Implicit in the discussion of lucid dreaming is the out of body experience, also known as astral projection, which is consciousness outside of the physical body. There are many definitions and philosophical arguments about this controversial subject that has ancient roots in common world religions and is associated with near death experiences, sleeping and dreaming, illness, surgical procedures, psychoactive drugs, and hypnosis and meditation. While it defies the limits of conventional testing and thus invites skepticism, science nonetheless acknowledges the phenomena (see the article Understanding The Out-Of-Body Experience from a Neuroscientific Perspective here). Perception beyond the physical plane is supported by the quantum physics theory of a unified energy field of consciousness, otherwise known as the quantum hologram, as well as by holistic and spiritual healers, teachers, practitioners, and by many who have had out of body experiences. As it relates to sleep and dreaming, perhaps the most familiar out of body experience is the sensation of having to “get back to your body” and wake yourself from a dream.

The Secrets To Dream Interpretation

An archetype is like an old watercourse along which the water of life has flowed for centuries, digging a deep channel for itself. ~Carl Jung

Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung both used dream analysis with patients and wrote extensively on the subject. Freud, whose name is synonymous with the term psychoanalysis, proposed that dreams were primarily tied to the fulfillment of wishes. Considered a seminal figure in the history of psychology, Jung is widely believed to have advanced many of the ideas Freud introduced. Among Jung’s contributions were the concepts of genetic memory and the collective unconscious, which stemmed in part from the significance he placed on the familiar archetypes that appeared in the dreams of his patients; his belief was that dreams were deeply anchored in the psyche and expressed more than repressed wishes (see About.Com article on Freud and Jung here).

Dr. John Kappas, Ph.D., who founded the Hypnosis Motivation Institute (see HMI link here), was a modern day pioneer in dream analysis and developed a model of dream therapy currently used by many psychologists and hypnotherapists. This approach incorporates aspects of both Freud’s and Jung’s work, yet distinguishes itself in its separation of dream stages and individualized interpretations of the unique dreamscape of each client.

The Kapassinian model of dream therapy contemplates three distinct periods in which we dream each night. These can be described as follows:

The Wishful Thinking Stage: The initial dreaming period where the mind sorts and prioritizes the stimuli of the day based on emotional attachment.
The Precognitive Stage: The second dreaming period occurs during the middle of the night when the primal, instinctive part of the mind sorts both the familiar and unfamiliar aspects of current life challenges, which are filtered by the deeper attitudes and beliefs of our life script. In this stage, we try to predict outcomes as a means of survival.
The Venting Stage: The final period of dreaming is in the early morning hours when we release emotional charges attached to relationships, events, and transactions to which we are no longer invested. These dreams are the easiest to remember, the most hallucinogenic in nature, and can infuse unlikely mixes of people, places, and times with uninhibited and sometimes bizarre or objectionable circumstances.

In order for a proper analysis to take place, the dreams must be written down, no matter how disjointed or fragmented the memories of them may seem, with a notation of the time each dream occurred; it is best to do this immediately upon waking. After practicing this journaling exercise for awhile, the ability to remember your dreams will improve and you will only need to jot a few things down in order to accurately reconstruct them during therapy. Then you and your therapist work together to analyze your dreams based on what stages they occurred in, what symbols, emotions, and physiological factors were present, and how they may relate to the circumstances in your life.

Symbols Of The Dream World

Conveying more than obvious or immediate meanings and representing broader expressions, symbols elude absolute definition because they have different connotations to different cultures and peoples. As the mind contemplates a symbolic image, it is compelled to consider ideas beyond the immediate grasp of reason or conviction. Many symbols are collective in nature, having originated from religious beliefs and customs—believers contend they are divine revelations, while skeptics argue they have been invented. Examples of such symbolic images are the wheel and the cross, both of which are known around the world yet have different significance under various conditions and renderings.

A symbol may occur in a dream because an event has taken place in our life that we are subconsciously aware of but are not yet willing to acknowledge; hence, the awareness manifests symbolically in the dream state. Symbols may also recur in dreams, or the dreams themselves may recur, sometimes in slightly varying episodes. Recurring dreams and dream symbols that invoke a similar emotional response can be rooted in a past anguish or forgotten trauma, or represent an attempt by the dreamer to compensate for some perceived defect in character or attitude.

Yet expressions of repressed emotions, memories, traumas, challenges of character, or events we are not ready to consciously acknowledge, are not the only basis for dream symbols. Indeed, certain elements of dreams can occur which are not necessarily particular to, nor derived from, the personality or individual experience of the dreamer. Freud first observed such elements and called them “archaic remnants.” Carl Jung referred to them as “primordial images” or “archetypes,” and described them as:

” . . . mental forms whose presence cannot be explained by anything in the individual’s own life and which seem to be aboriginal, innate, and inherited shapes of the human mind.”

Jung connected archetypes across cultural boundaries and conceptualized them as fundamental, instinctual forces that somehow exist beyond our comprehension. Perhaps this is why dreams have served as a portal to other realms for shaman, holy men, spirit walkers, prophets, and medicine men from indigenous cultures throughout time, reminding us of the importance of this mystical otherworld of consciousness.

Reality: The Quantum Hologram

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In his book, A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking refers to the unified energy field as ‘The Mind of God’

There is growing acceptance in the Western scientific community of the ancient idea of a unified energy field that links all of creation in an ethereal bond, an innate consciousness. Many scientists and researchers refer to this phenomenon as Nature’s Mind, Unity Consciousness, or the Quantum Hologram (see Greg Braden article, Oneness & The Quantum Hologram, here).

The navigation of consciousness transcends the boundaries mapped by a pantheon of great human minds, reaching ever outward into this sensory holograph that is creation’s enduring mystery. The connection of all living things, the cosmic equation—the whole of life within every part, and every part within the whole—manifests in our perception of reality as multiple dimensions that elude absolute comprehension and definition. We can see, touch, hear, smell and taste the universe around us, yet these images are shifting perspectives of an even greater fabric and texture, an interwoven awareness we have merely glimpsed through the eyes of science, physics, eastern medicine, psychology, mysticism, and spirituality.

The ‘angle of light’ shed by our specific viewpoint and the various ‘interference patterns’ of our own attitudes and beliefs, serve as vectors of discernment that create the basis for this concept of reality as a holographic image (see M.S. Benford Journal of Theoretics study here). And the function of our mind, body and spirit, the magnetic and vibratory energy of the human aura interacting with the vast energy of the universe, is a critical variable in how the world ultimately presents itself to us, affecting how we perceive and experience our individual realities.

The power of individual perspective greatly influences the enigma of reality and its various dimensions and levels. Our attitudes and beliefs, our emotional intelligence, comprise the filters with which we process incoming information, while also sending coherent emotional impulses to the heart, the electro-magnetic dynamo of the human organism. The heart then transmits this energy, the magnetic force and vibration of our convictions about ourselves and the world—which can be photographed and measured as the seven levels of the human aura—out into the universe. In turn, the unified energy field (see John Hagelin, Ph.D. video on quantum physics and consciousness here), our connection on an atomic, molecular, and biological level to every other living thing, responds with a like reflection. This is how our consciousness, individually and collectively, fashions the Quantum Hologram, or what we perceive and experience as ‘reality.’

The Wonder Of Past Life Regression

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Spirituality Is Often Realized As The Deeper Intention Of Past Life Regression

Are you preoccupied with a certain culture, geographical location, or historical period?
Are feelings of de-ja-vu something you have experienced profoundly or frequently?
Do you have recurring dreams of places, events, or people?
Have you ever had the powerful sense of being connected with a friend or family member that couldn’t be explained?
Do you experience phobias, fears, anxiety, or premonitions that cannot be traced to a particular source?

THE PAST LIFE REGRESSION EXPERIENCE

Past life regression is an interactive technique of hypnosis and therapeutic imagery to facilitate the mind’s discovery of images that may be related to memories of experiences from previous lives. Explored in books*, mainstream media, and experimental studies, the age-old practice has been scrutinized because the results are not necessarily testable by empirical means. Memories from certain past life regressions have been investigated and found to be basic knowledge of history, or from events such as novels or movies a subject may have read or seen. Nonetheless, the phenomenon has credibility due to its roots in ancient wisdom, and because sufficient numbers of people have reported memories to traceable events that could have been experienced in past lives, including some that are uncanny in accuracy. Among the most fascinating aspects are subjects who spontaneously shift into speaking languages that they have never actually learned, which is known as xenoglossia.

The mythical basis for past life regression is unburdening karma accumulated from previous lifetimes, thus the process resonates naturally for those who believe in reincarnation of the soul. At the same time, the biological theory of genetic memory, as postulated by Carl Jung in his psychological concept of ‘the collective unconscious‘ plays a relevant role, as individuals of various cultures and religious convictions benefit from past life regressions, which are also commonly experienced as memories from the lives of ancestors.

PAST LIFE REGRESSION THERAPY

As a therapeutic tool, past life regression connects the spiritual and psychological self, allowing for a profound shift of perspective in those seeking a deeper understanding of their life purpose and reason for existence. It has been demonstrated throughout history that many forms of pain, suffering and affliction—mental, emotional and physical—can be eased by an awakening of spirituality. And whether real or imagined, in the myriad and unique journeys that individuals manifest from the depths of the subconscious mind, it is most often this divine connection that emerges as the deeper intention of the past life regression experience.

*There are several popular books responsible for a current resurgence of interest in past-life regression. Two of these, “Through Time Into Healing” and “ Many Lives, Many Masters,” were written by Dr. Brian L. Weiss, M.D., a traditional psychotherapist whose interest in the subject was inspired by a patient who channeled remarkable revelations from a past life about Dr. Weiss’s family and his dead son. The book “Reliving Past Lives, the Evidence Under Hypnosis,” written by Helen Wambach, Ph.D., uses statistical analysis to compare details recalled in past lives with various historical records of correlating time periods. The compelling experiences documented in these books are fascinating and thought provoking.

The Law of Attraction

The Secret Science Of Thoughts & Beliefs: How We Connect Our Divine Heart

Our reality is not subjective, but rather “collective.” The same can be said of consciousness. We are, in fact, subject to the thoughts, acts, desires, and ambitions of others, all of which are part of the enigmatic and ubiquitous energy of the universe and the powers of nature, whose mysteries and properties are perhaps not capable of entirely being understood. The modern interpretation of the Law of Attraction merely proposes that our thoughts, words, and attitudes, and of course, our actions, can affect, fashion, shape and influence the outcomes we desire, as opposed to “creating” them. Yet consider the effect of teaching every child in the world to meditate by the age of nine. Would that not likely precipitate world peace within a generation? So then collectively, at least, we can indeed create reality.

The Divine Heart

The Law of Attraction teaches us to set aside negative and prejudicial attitudes, to cast out doubts and fears, to let go of anger and resentment, to shun blame and victimization and embrace tolerance, forgiveness, and the decision of responsibility—to relinquish anything that weighs us down, instead visualizing on positives and focusing our thoughts, words, ideas, dreams and desires on that which serves our success and happiness—then committing a degree of faith in how the universe responds in delivering it to us. In so doing, we ‘get out of our own way’ and become increasingly connected with our personal power and by extension, the powerful electro-magnetic force or ‘energy’ of creation, the interwoven spirit and unity consciousness of all living things. Our hearts, which generate 60 times the electro-magnetic amplitude of brain waves (see Institute of HeartMath article here), become unencumbered, and are thus able to draw, to attract, not just the reality we desire, but that which was truly meant for us. We allow fulfillment of the purpose for which the mystical web of life brought us into being; hence, we attract a deeper discovery of ourselves in the process, as the wisdom of our experiences reveals a new and profound awareness.

Staying Connected

If our actions and thought processes are not motivated by divinity, then we must ask ourselves what are they motivated by? If we are not conspiring to realize our higher purpose, then what are we conspiring to? If we are not committed to galvanizing our strength, power and vision to create a better reality for ourselves and each other, then what are we committed to?

The Law of Attraction is akin to the blessed metaphor and universal language of music, where countless sacred harmonies, ethereal and beautiful and inspiring beyond measure, are achieved simply by listening to and embellishing the melody. The world is ever filled with that which would distract us from our deeper calling, yet if we but discipline ourselves to connect our divine heart, to stay tuned-in to the secret science of our thoughts and beliefs, we may still discover the many inspirited voices and unsung choruses in this, our shared song of life.

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THE PAST LIFE REGRESSION EXPERIENCE

PAST LIFE REGRESSION THERAPY

The Divine Heart

Staying Connected