Posts Tagged ‘mind’

Science of Vision

Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

For years I have always known that peripheral vision is more sensitive than focused vision in uncovering the world around us. I remember the special warfare training in the military and how we trained the teams to not focus directly on something to become more aware of their surroundings. They never went into the actual science of this though and later in school this was reinforced by anatomy. Many of my peers these days are familiar with the learning state where we focus and expand our awareness to become more open to the learning. I thought I would take a few minutes to explain why we are able to see things out of the corner of our eyes that we can not see when we focus directly on them.

Let us start with the eye itself. Obviously the eye consists of different types of cells and these cells will provide a specific function. The body itself consists of cells that receive information from the outside. These cells are comonly referred to as receptor cells. These receptor cells receive information and convert it into electrical and chemical signals to send along the way to the neuro-network. You will also see these cells referred to as transducers which is common in engineering terms. The receptor cells are located in the retina of the eye itself.

Anatomy of the Eye

As you look at the diagram above of the eye you notice the Fovea area which is also referred to as our focus area or point. This area is used as our center of attention and consists of cone receptor cells. As we move outward from the Fovea our Retina starts to include another receptor cell called the rods. So basically there are two different receptor cells in our Retina the Cones and Rods. You might ask why this is important so let me explain in more detail.

Consider that we need a certain level to see anything. For an example we measure light in a level of degrees. It might take 5 levels for us to see anything and if the level is under that 5 it is just a void.

We have 130 million cells in our retina and of these 4 million are cones and 126 million are rods. Connecting the receptor cells is a bipolar cell that connects them with our retinal ganglia which connects to the 1 million optic nerve fibers. Doing the math you see that 130 million does not really relate to 1 million very well. There are also less bipolar cells than there are receptor and optic nerve fibers. To make this even more important is how these are spread out. The cones all have their own optic nerve fibers when needed. The ratio for cones to bipolar to optic nerve fibers is 3-2-3 which means that we get a clearer picture. Now lets take an example of the rods that share everything in the thousands to hundreds of thousands. Just as an example we can have 10,000 rods sharing 4 bipolar cells which share one optic nerve fiber.

What this explains is that the slightest level now seen through the peripheral vision will be increased because more recepter cells are seeing it and combining the information on one optic nerve fiber. This is why we can see movement and light better from the corners of our eyes but cannot see it when looking directly at it.

When we are putting outselves into the learning state we are telling our bodies to activate and use more of our senses to pay more attention to the world around us instead of focusing on just that one thing. My question for you is this then. Can we see auras better without focusing on them because our rods can pick up the lower frequency and intensify it through the process making it more visible? Is that shadow that we see moving at times because our rods can increase our visual acutity allowing us to see something that might not be there with regular focus?

Maybe this is just something cool to know as well and now that you understand the anatomy of our visual process maybe you can come up with your own interpretations as well.

Mystically yours

Michael Holt, Ph.D.

 

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Trance is easy Change is Different

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

I have a lot of people that contact me saying they want to learn Hypnosis. “I want to learn how to Hypnotize Someone Fast!” or “I want to put people into a Deep Trance to make them change!” Over the years I think I have heard just about everything. “Can you Teach me Hypnosis so I can tell if my girlfriend is lying?” or ” I want to make my husband stop doing something!”.

So let’s start with the title of this article. Trance is easy - that is right a complete idiot can put someone into a trance. Look at Paris Hilton and the media. There is no way that either would exist like they do if it was not for the fact that people like to be put into an altered states. Your first date was an altered state more than likely. Our lives are lived in altered states. We pretend that an altered state is something special and that only the smart can get into it. Well maybe only the smart can use it correctly would be more of an accurate term these days. The cute girl that smiles at the older man or that newscasts that tugs on your emotions annoying you with the story. The ad that suggests that sexy people smoke cigarettes and these days the ad that shows you that smoking is a rebel to attract even more smokers. Think about it for a second. How many of our young people are still smoking? I seen a picture with Miley Cyrus smoking a cigarette and how about the one with her smoking the bong. I can say that I was disappointed to see it but what is disappointment these days as well? Think about it for a second..why would I be disappointed that Miley Cyrus smokes? Not related to her, don’t hang out together so what is it then. It is my own expectations put on someone else isn’t it. Not fair to Miley really and not a smart thing for me as well unless I like being disappointed. Sorry I have went off subject here so let me get back on track.

We live in an altered state so to say we want to learn how to create an altered state seems easy then right!. All we really have to do is have someone focus on an emotion and walla we have an altered state. The question should be how can we create a resourceful state instead of an altered state. That would be different right. What we need to find out is what is a good resource state for people so they can find different ways to do things. Isn’t it annoying to not have a choice in life? It is kind of frustrating to think you only have one choice isn’t it? Of course it is so part of success is having more choices wouldn’t you agree?

So lets cover what you have not learned so far okay? Trance is an altered state that we live in already. Did you already learn that or are you coming up with other ways to say it internally that makes more sense to you now! Love, lust, pride, happiness, joy, excitement and how many other positive states can you come up with.

Did you find it easier to think of a negative state than a positive state? Did you know we have twice as many ways to describe a negative in our lives than a positive? I wonder why we felt it necessary to explore the negative side of life more than the positive. Could it be because the mental health professionals spend more time on the negatives of our lives so they have to define that more? Just thinking out loud here. I really don’t know why we would take more time to explain the negative side of life.

I seem to keep getting off track today. I was covering things that you did not learn yet right? So to sum it up we are not concerned with just any altered state now are we. We really want a resourceful state that allows us to find the answers to challenges we might be experiencing. Would you agree with that or is there a better way you might want to say it internally now so you can start to find some answers you are looking for now or maybe later. After all have you ever noticed that you are always right.

Any ways I did not discuss Change is Different did I? Maybe you are already getting an idea of why Trance is Easy and why Change is Different? You have changed many times over your life haven’t you? Of course you have when you sit right back now and think of it. Think of all the successful things that you have done and things that you have changed in order to do them. It is really quite amazing how fast and how much we change now isn’t it. You are still the same person that you always were and along the way you keep fine-tuning and learning more things now don’t you. Just by reading my ramble right now you might have already started to think about some things a little differently allowing you to take control and have more choices. After all didn’t we agree earlier that you really like having more choices and that it is frustrating to only have one choice in your life. Didn’t you also agree that you really wanted to practice and learn how to use a resource state better.

I have to go for now and thanks for talking with me here. After all you were having an internal dialog while reading this were you not! Do you pay more attention to your internal dialog so you can better understand your own self talk now or will you start later when you find it useful.

Mystically yours,

Doc Magi

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Christmas Time Imprint Strategy

Saturday, December 25th, 2010

This year the family decided that we were not going to celebrate Christmas like we always have. With the search of faith by the young one and explorations into other religions Christmas was turning more into a day of gift giving for us personally. When the girls first said that we would not need to do the gift exchange and put up the tree and lights I was pleased. My thought was one of relief in that this year we could avoid the tree and stringing lights around the house for just us to see. I would not need to plan a big dinner and we would not need to spend the time out in the malls and stores looking for the right gift for each other. I am typically an early shopper and have everything by Thanksgiving to avoid the typical rush. This year we were going to avoid all of this so I was pleased.

It appears that our family did bypass the stress of the holiday allowing us to keep focus on work and day to day activities.  We watched others stress and run around which was nice and quite often we were thankful about our decision. I still found myself secretly looking for gifts for Mardee and T though and restrained myself. There was even a time where I found this great sentimental ring that I thought would show Mardee how much she means to me. I called her in to take a look at it to see if a sparkle appeared in her eyes which would say buy it for me but it didn’t. She seemed uninterested. I learned a technique from my dad years ago that when you are not supposed to buy gifts you avoid the day of gift giving and you get them something out of necessity earlier so you can give a gift without giving one.  That worked and we did a secret gift giving after Thanksgiving without giving a gift.

Now it is Christmas day and my day is just like any other day except something is missing. At first my question was did I let my family down because we did not spend the thousand dollars on gifts and enjoy the stress of the Christmas Holiday? I reflected on my self worth as well,  just because we chose not to exchange gifts on this day. Was this programmed into my belief system so deep that not doing it had this kind of effect on my self confidence? It appears that the holiday systems that we put into place does have an ability to effect people negatively as well. We can link this holiday to several internal anchors and emotions.

We chose to not exchange gifts and it still rocked me a little bit.  I woke up wanting to go buy presents and to right this situation. I walked downstairs and there was no family gathering and no bonding over opening up gifts. Is this what it is like to not celebrate Christmas? I spent some time checking to see if anyone else felt this way and it appears that I am the only person that has tied my “ego” to Christmas. Could it be that over the years I have listened to the men in the family talk about providing Christmas for the children. My uncles and my dad proud of the Christmas that they provided their families growing up. Is there a time that everyone reaches where they no longer provide for a Christmas and does everyone go through this stage? Is this why grandchildren are important to keep us celebrating Christmas and to keep this feeling alive for our own egos as well? Can we become so material in our existence that we tie who we are to what we have? It appears that the answer is that even when we are not aware of it at times we can and do.

Imagine what it might be like for the people that did not make the choice today and could not. My thoughts go out to them and I hope they are able to embrace what the holiday is really about. It is not just about religion to say that a Christian is the only person that will celebrate today.  The point is not really why we are celebrating Christmas because we all have our own reasons today. The point is that Christmas can also be a habit and when that habit is broken for whatever reason the result can be very enlightening as it was for me today.

We can link Christmas to our own ego and ability to provide for our family. We can link Christmas to our role in the family as well. Christmas can become a demanding stressful time where it becomes something different than what we want. This year I learned first hand how I have linked Christmas to ego, role and my own internal state. How over the years what I have taken as the simple role of exchanging gifts can become linked to who I am as well. I think this is also why my parents and sister have chosen to still have Christmas the way they do. They take $100.00 and buy their own presents. Wrap them and open them up in front of each other every year.

It is not the presents that matter it is the feeling we get when we open them in front of the people we care the most for it seems. It is that time when we are surrounded by the ones we love the most and the simple act of unwrapping something could signify a new beginning as well to us. It could be opening up a part of us with each unwrapping that creates a bond that we will remember forever. Maybe the wrapping paper is like a part of us that we choose to uncover and share with the ones around us that is deep inside us.

I am pleased that I learned these lessons today and that I took the time to break old connections so I can appreciate Christmas for what it is today. A time for us to enjoy each other and to build real connections that we share with each other and with that higher power that we can all find comfort in. Call it what you want today just take the time to appreciate that today you can be a little nicer and can appreciate what you have because everyone does not have the ability to celebrate it like you are today.

Today is a day that’s filled with miracles of all kinds. A day that we should notice just how important these miracles are so we appreciate them more each day. Don’t feel sorry for people that don’t have what you do because from what I have discovered today they might have something that we have been overlooking with our success.  Today is like every other day that we choose to make special. Take time today to know why it is special for you and maybe tomorrow will be a special day as well.

May your holidays be filled with miracles and joy my friends.

Mystically yours,

Doc Magi

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HYPNOSIS & THE BRAIN

Sunday, August 1st, 2010

HYPNOSIS & THE BRAIN

© By Shelley Stockwell-Nicholas, PhD

President of the International Hypnosis Federation

IHF@cox.net and www.hypnosisfederation.com

(Includes excerpts from her book “Wake Up Who’s Secretly Hypnotizing You and What to Do About It”)

Bless scientists who try to figure out how hypnosis affects brain or how your mind works. They’ve got problems… Hypnosis and your mind are like electricity; we may know how to use it but no one really knows what it is.

All scientists take a S.W.A.G. (S-cientific W-ild A-ssed G-uess) and then often believe it as gospel.

Phenomenal brain hypnotists ask, “Where does this or that emotion or attitude live?” One researcher “locates” positive thought in the right front side of your brain, negative in the left rear, and addiction at the top front center… that is if you are right-handed. The left-handed are tabbed as positive on the left front side, negative at the right rear, and addicted at the top rear center. Ambidextrous people might find addiction at the top center of their brain.

But why believe a machine or another’s opinion. After all, it’s your brain. So try this. Close your eyes and ask, “Where is my positive thinking? Give it a location… Where is it? Where is negative thinking? … Where is addictive thinking.”

Your answers are correct… for YOU.

I, myself, find that my negative place is on the left side near eye-level, my positive is a whole brain experience or by my third eye, and addiction behind my tongue. How about you?

Not long ago, phrenology and science assessed your character by each bump on your head. Then the ink-blot test became the rage to assess traits. Now, it’s a testing device printout.

Amorphic thought can’t be pinned down. Those who dogmatically associate thoughts with a physical location don’t even know if the technological readout actually correlates to the factors they claim to detect. Just because a gizmo or gadget lights up in various ways doesn’t necessarily mean that that is the “location” of that state of mind, mood or idea. And just because it lit up in one person doesn’t mean it will be the same for you now or you ten minutes from now. Still, study after study dogmatically “interprets” and attributes specific brain parts to specific traits or function.

One popular scientific myth says that your left-brain is analytical and your right-brain creative. Oh look, both hemispheres register similar activity in trance! Diagnostic machines actually reflect that all of your brain works together. Your whole brain does undetectable things to create you and your thoughts. I think of thoughts like the dark matter of the universe… immeasurable yet somehow mysteriously gluing all matter into a cosmic grid.

BRAIN SCANS DEVICES: Picture This!

PET Scan: Radioactive glucose is injected into your blood or you inhale radioactive oxygen while x-ray scanners pick up the radioactive absorption.

Structural MRI: Strong magnets temporarily align hydrogen atoms of the water in your brain to give a stationary picture. A functional MRIf notes changes as they occur.

Highly Hypnotizable Fallacy

The label “highly hypnotizable” is highly prized and praised. Interesting when you realize we all live out whatever trance we put ourselves in. Doesn’t that make us all highly hypnotizable?

Hypnotizablity “tests” are another crock. They ignore factors like intonation and rapport and energy between the test giver and the test taker. They ignore a person’s history around the word “test.” These tests then are arbitrary markers that label people. So, the very label of “more susceptible to hypnosis,” is skewed. BUT still, those culled out as “highly hypnotizable” are tested with gizmos and gadgets to determine what is hypnosis.

A 2000 Harvard/Cornell/Stanford study, asked people in their regular state [as regular as you would be in a PET scanner, inhaling radioactive oxygen, and looking at a computer screen] “Do you actually see color or are you looking at gray?” All registered the most activity on the right brain.

Now, the first leap of faith; does that mean we experience vision or color or gray or whatever from the right brain or is the whole brain functioning but only the right brain registering on this particular test? BIG QUESTION.

Then, those subjectively culled out by “hypnotizablity tests” are hooked up and hypnotized. Next big leap of faith; Who can say if these folks are any more hypnotizable that you or me? ANOTHER BIG QUESTION.

The study concludes; “Among highly hypnotizable subjects changes in subjective experience achieved during hypnosis were reflected by changes in brain function similar to those that occur in perception (more activity in the brain’s centrally located cingulate gyrus). [Next big leap of faith; Who labeled this part of the brain as the home base for attention and emotion? BIG QUESTION] …These findings support the claim that hypnosis is a psychological state with distinct neural correlates and not just the result of adopting a role… [Just how was that proven?] …We have shown… that hypnosis changes conscious experience in a way not possible when we are not under hypnosis. Our study is a thin edge of a wedge that shows that conscious experience can be changed in a willfully directed way by hypnosis [I would add ‘or whatever other variable like thinking of eating chocolate or remembering your first kiss…’ might]. This ‘disassociation of senses’…may be why hypnosis reduces pain, anxiety, insomnia, and helps people quit smoking.” [Next big leap of faith; Great thought yet the ‘may be why’ part is vague and speculative. Anecdotal evidence tells us that hypnosis works but to attribute “disassociation of senses” to why is another BIG QUESTION].”

PRECUNEUS PRESUMPTION

A study at the University of Geneva, Switzerland used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to understand what happens when you try to move a hand “paralyzed” by hypnosis and correlated hypnosis with more activity in your brain’s precuneus region (labeled as the location of your “internal representation,” memory, and imagery.)

In the study volunteers pushed a button with one hand or the other in three conditions:

1. Normal state… all twelve were first in their regular state of mind.

2. Hypnotic left-hand paralysis… six were told, “Your hand is paralyzed and is very heavy… it is stuck on the table…”

3. Feigned paralysis…six volunteers were told, “Pretend your left hand is paralyzed.”

Dr Yann Cojan concluded, “Hypnosis is associated with an enhanced activation of the precuneus, a brain region involved in memory and self imagery [and I ask, ‘says who? How do they know for sure? And what other parts of the brain may be involved too?] and with a reconfiguration of executive control mediated by the frontal lobes [what?]… Hypnosis induces a disconnection of motor commands from normal voluntary processes under the influence of brain circuits involved in executive control and self-imagery… Hypnosis had people connect to the idea that they cannot move the hand… and it doesn’t send the message to move. Hypnosis allows an internal representation from a suggestion but does not act through direct motor inhibition. This shows a neurobiological foundation for the striking impact of hypnosis on the brain and behavior… hypnosis produced distributed changes in prefrontal and parietal areas involved in attention along with striking modifications in the functional connectivity of the motor cortex with other brain areas… These results suggest that hypnosis may enhance self-monitoring processes to allow internal representations generated by the suggestion to guide behavior but does not act through direct motor inhibition… Despite the suggestion of paralysis, the motor cortex was normally activated during the preparation phase of the task. This suggests that hypnosis did not suppress activity in motor pathways or eliminate representation of motor intentions… These findings make an important new step towards establishing neurobiological foundations for the striking impact of hypnosis on the brain and behavior… Hypnotists call the lack of desire to raise your hand when given a suggestion of numbness or paralysis ‘hypnotic passivity.’”

What is hypnosis anyway?

You are hypnotized and passive when dozing in front of the TV. You hypnotized and passive when you hear the phone ring but you don’t budge saying to yourself; ‘I’ll just let it ring, I am too relaxed to move.’ You are hypnotized when you bored out of your mind in a dull meeting. You go in and out of these “states” all day long. Do your hundreds of moods and states of mind present “special” brain activations? We have yet to know. But to insist that mind-altering thoughts and states translate directly to brain altering activity is error laden. If we are to map the mind/brain we must take into account more than changes in temperature. First we must learn the basics what is thought? Where do thoughts themselves exist. Does your brain create mind, or does something else create mind? Do thoughts change brain chemistry or does chemistry change thoughts?

When you change your mind do you change the very structure of your brain? Structural changes, change function; functional changes change structure. Going round and round and round in a circle game.

Thank you scientists for speculating, researching and learning. Thank you too for helping us understand altered states… but beware. A premise that structure reflects function may be seriously flawed given how little we know about matter and how it relates to function. The underlying brain mechanisms of this phenomenon are not understood. To claim “solid science” stands behind anything to do with mind including hypnosis is a wonderful pipe dream at this time.

Let’s tell the truth. Although how hypnosis works is unknown, hypnosis influences your body. Hypnosis can put you in a state of deep relaxation or bring you to anxiety and stress depending on the suggestions you embrace. The work of the hypnotist is to positively influence your thoughts and your body the same way you do all the time with self-talk.

References:

Stephen M. Kosslyn, PhD, William L. Thompson, BA, Nathaniel M. Alpert, PhD (Harvard Medical School), Maria Costantini-Ferrando, PhD (Will Medical College, Cornell) & David Spiegel, MD (Stanford), American Journal of Psychiatry & Harvard University Gazette, August, 2000 funding attributed to John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Yann Cojan, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Lakshmi Waber, University Hospital Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Sophie Schwartz, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Laurent Rossier, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland; Alain Forster, University Hospital Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; and Patrik Vuilleumier, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, “Imaging The Hypnotized Brain: Neural Mechanisms Of Suggested Paralysis,” Cell Press June 25, 2009 Neuron, Volume 62, Issue 6, 25 June 2009, Pages 862-875

“Wake Up Who’s Secretly Hypnotizing You and What To Do About It” Shelley Stockwell-Nicholas, PhD, “the Hypnosis of Sxience” Creativity Unlimited Press, available at www.hypnosisfederation.com

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How to Achieve ‘Anytime Fitness’

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Modern life demands that all individuals should stay fit in order to keep up with our wild pace. Fitness refers to a person’s capacity to adapt favorably and take stress brought about by changing conditions. In this kind of situation, if you’re physically fit, then your mind and body will not be disturbed in any way. As you can see, fitness is not only about physical strength but of mental stability as well.

In many ways, fitness is synonymous to health. Modern living requires good health and to achieve such a state, a person must stay fit. Good health and fitness are interrelated. When a person is fit, then that person is considered healthy; and if a person is healthy, his or her fitness level naturally goes up.

But if fitness only pertains to physical health it’s inadequate. Have you heard about the Evolution Theory? It states that only the fit of all species can survive and pass their genes. So fitness is not entirely about health; you should also suit the environment that you live in, anytime and anywhere. Therefore, a person should be able to adapt to any environment in order to survive, together with proper fitness exercises.

Oftentimes, people disregard the importance of fitness. They overlook their responsibility to stay fit at all times. Perhaps they don’t know the benefits of ‘anytime fitness’. Life holds a lot of pleasure for individuals; but if you’re always ill you can’t enjoy such pleasures of life.

Is fitness anytime possible? Well, of course it is; just look on the positive and bright things in life. You will surely improve your life, look fresher, don’t fear any form of infection, and no worries if your car broke down; at least you get to walk an extra few blocks before reaching your home.

Think of every situation as an opportunity to stay fit and this is the key to fitness anytime. You can make the most out of your independence, have peace of mind, and you’re quite confident that you can handle everything.

Training for fitness focuses primarily on the different groups of muscles of every human being; this results to muscular fitness, aerobic fitness, and increases stability and flexibility. There are other factors to consider before deciding to do a physical activity, like your physical capability. Do check with your doctor before performing any activity that requires physical strength.

Aerobic exercises are of different kinds. You can do running, dancing, swimming, or even cycling. Make sure that you limit your exercise to about 30-40 minutes every day. Note that even the simple task of  walking up a hill or stairs can provide you the results you are looking for at times. Park farther away from the front door and save your car and improve your health. Walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator will also help you to maintain your health. You can take that time to focus on your mental attitude as well will provide you another benefit.

In order for your muscles to exude endurance and strength, focus more on muscular fitness. You can better enhance your muscular fitness if you do some strength training; this will result to an increase in mass of your lean muscles. A simple set of dumbbells work just as good as expensive equipment. If you are traveling a thera-band or another resistance band can also be a fantastic tool to help maintain muscle strength.

Related to your muscle strength’s core are balance and stability. Do exercises that can help in making your muscles tough, especially for your trunk area. A stability ball or yoga ball is a cheap fantastic tool to assist you in developing your core muscles. Use it to sit on instead of a chair.

With fitness training, you can also achieve flexibility. By doing exercise like pulling and stretching, your muscles can function in its widest possible range. You can try tai chi or yoga, they are great stretching exercises.

Another important factor is eating a well-balanced diet. Pay more attention to your eating habits. This will allow you to identify habits like emotional eating instead of eating because you are hungry. Use a journal to track your food so you are more conscious of your eating habits.

Take time each day to balance your mind by using our meditation timer as well. Start with just 5 minutes a day in the morning and 5 minutes a day in the evening. Work yourself up to 10, 15 and 30 minutes of focused meditation. Focus on what you are going to attract into your life and practice success each time you do this. Remember this is your time so use it wisely.

With all these factors present, you can totally experience fitness anytime and anywhere.

Mystically yours,

Michael Holt, Ph.D.
Magi Institute of Natural Medicine

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6 TIPS FOR SLOWING DOWN THE ADD BRAIN

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

If you are an adult with ADD, then you may be familiar that at times, slowing down is a very difficult thing to do. There are a lot of jobs to get done and so little time to get them completed. So your mind starts working in a high speed, trying to achieve it all and more, or getting upset about the actuality that it look as if it is not viable to get it all completed. As a result, you use up a lot of time constantly worrying, and very little time getting pleasure from life.

While slowing down is a complex ability to accomplish at times, it can be done. Here are 6 established methods to slow down the adult ADD brain:

1. Put Down Work

Fix up your business hours and stand by them. Even though at times it is essential to work overtime, do not do it unless you are directed to. You will work more competently during the day when the time you have to complete your job is fixed. And take a break on weekends – or at least 2 days a week. You should have time away from work.

2. Arrange for a Night out with Others

Nothing is more enjoyable than having a night out with people you like. This may well be with colleagues, friends, family, or members of a group you are a part of. Have a good time.

3. Make a Weekly Obligation (Like Taking a Class or Involving Yourself in a Group)

Find a reason to go out of the house and out of the office each week. Attend a class, if possible to learn something you for all time wanted to know how to do. Make certain that you *pay* for the class beforehand so you will not be coaxed to miss it out. Learn a new skill or volunteer for a service organization like the Optimist or a non-profit that shares your values.

4. Diary

Maintaining a diary compels you to stop, think over and act out. It aids you to deal with nervous tension and achieve clearness. Formulate the resolution to do it every day – even if it is merely for 10 minutes! Do not be bothered about sentence structure, syntax, punctuation, or flow since no one else ever has to see it. Keep your diary next to your bed as well to write any thoughts that might come during the night. This allows you to get back to sleep quickly so you feel refreshed the next day.

5. Meditate

There are a lot of diverse methods of meditation, but I have a preference for mindfulness meditation. This is merely the action of being there in the present instant – whether you are working, walking, or washing the dishes. Make an effort to keep your mind in the instant, and do not tag on worrying or troublesome feelings when they come up. It is all right to start on little by little, with 5 minutes spent in mindful meditation daily, and after that building on your performance as you happen to be more at ease. You can use our meditation timer to track your daily meditation. Remember also that we have hundreds of downloads for you to listen to as well and lots of great books you can download on our website.

6. Switch off Your Computer 2 Hours before Bed

Computers are rather interesting, in particular for ADDers. Frequently at times, you will find yourself sitting at your computer at 3 o’clock in the morning completely occupied in exploring something totally arbitrary. You just cannot move away from the pc and go to bed, and that is for the reason that the computer stimulates your brain. Switch the pc off at least two hours prior to going to sleep so as to suitably relax, and slow down, at night.

Mystically yours,

Michael Holt, Ph.D.
Magi Institute of Natural Medicine

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Concentration Finds the Way

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Everyone has two natures. One wants us to advance and the other wants to pull us back. The one that we cultivate and concentrate on decides what we are at the end. Both natures are trying to gain control.

The will alone decides the issue. A man/woman by one supreme effort of the will may change his/her whole career and almost accomplish miracles. You may be that man/woman. You can be if you Will it to be, for Will can find a way or make one.

I could easily fill a book, of cases where men/women plodding along in a matter-of-fact way, were all at once aroused and as if awakening from a slumber they developed the possibilities within them and from that time on were different people.

You alone can decide when the turning point will come.

It is a matter of choice whether we allow our diviner self to control us or whether we will be controlled by the brute within us. No man/woman has to do anything he/she does not want to do. We are therefore the director of our life if we will it to be. What we are to do, is the result of our training and natural super powers. We are like putty, and can be completely controlled by our will power.

Habit is a matter of acquirement. You hear people say: “He/she is a natural, a chip off the old block,” meaning that he/she is only doing what his/her parents did. This is quite often the case, but there is no reason for it, for a person can break a habit just the moment he/she masters the “I will.”

A man/woman may have been a “good-for-nothing” all their life up to this very minute, but from this time on they begin to amount to something. Even seniors have suddenly changed and accomplished wonders. “I lost my opportunity,” says one. That may be true, but by sheer force of will, we can find a way to bring us another opportunity. For life itself presents us with opportunities each day.

There is no truth in the saying that opportunity knocks at our door but once in a lifetime. The fact is, opportunity never seeks us; we must seek it by opening ourselves up to what is around us. What usually turns out to be one person’s opportunity, was another person’s loss.

It is often the quickness of brain action that determines the result. One man/woman thinks “I will do it,” but while he/she procrastinates the other goes ahead and does the work. They both have the same opportunity. The one will complain of his/her lost chance. But it should teach them a lesson, and it will, if they are seeking the path that leads to success.

Many persons read good books, but say they do not get much good out of them. They do not realize that all any book or any lesson course can do is to awaken them to their possibilities; to stimulate them to use their will power. You may teach a person from now until doom’s day, but that person will only know what he/she learns himself. “You can lead him to the fountain, but you can’t make him drink.”

One of the most beneficial practices I know of is that of looking for the good in everyone and everything, for there is good in all things. We encourage a person by seeing their good qualities and we also help ourselves by looking for them. We gain their good wishes, a most valuable asset sometimes.

We get back what we give out.

The time comes when most all of us need encouragement; need buoying up. So form the habit of encouraging others, and you will find it a wonderful tonic for both those encouraged and yourself, for you will get back encouraging and uplifting thoughts. In order to express something to someone else you must create it in yourself first. This is another reason why it is important to focus on the positive around you.

Life furnishes us the opportunity to improve. But whether we do it or not depends upon how near we live up to what is expected of us by ourselves at times. The first of each month, a person should sit down and examine the progress they have made. If they are not come up to “expectations” they should discover the reason, and by extra exertion measure up to what is demanded next time.

Every time that we fall behind what we planned to do, we lose just so much for that time is gone forever. We may find a reason for not doing it, but most excuses are poor substitutes for action. Most things are possible.

Ours may be a hard task, but the harder the task, the greater the reward. It is the difficult things that really develop us, anything that requires only a small effort, utilizes very few of our faculties, and yields a scanty harvest of achievement.

So do not shy away from a hard task, for to accomplish one of these will often bring you more good than a dozen lesser triumphs in the end.

Mystically yours,

Michael Holt, Ph.D.
Magi Institute of Natural Medicine

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