RelaxNow for older children and Adults

I’ve just finished the recording and the first mix downs of the new version of RelaxNow . This version is slightly longer the original and geared more for older children and adults.

I have also have taken some of the natural sounds of the RelaxNow programs and created, what we’re calling for now, Ambient background tracks. These are designed to be played softly in the background to help with sleep or just to unwind. These peaceful sounds can be relaxing for anyone but for someone who has regularly used the RelaxNow program they should be doubly effective.

We now start the testing and editing process. With luck these new recordings will be available in a few week (hopefully) or a few months (if past is prolog.) 🙂

Wes Graham C.C.Ht.

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A Bridge to the Unconscious Mind

Why is it always about breathing? Whether you’re in a karate dojo, a yoga class or a hypnotherapist’s office, they’re always prattling on and on about breathing. “Take three cleansing breaths.” “Imagine your breath going here, going there.” Why all this focus on a bodily function that’s as basic as your heartbeat? It’s because breathing is different.

Your conscious thinking mind, for the most part, has no direct effect on most of the functions of your autonomic nervous system. You don’t “think” about secreting cortisol from your adrenal gland, you don’t “think” about your heartbeat and most of the time you don’t think about your breathing, but you can. Right now you can choose to breathe faster, slower, hold your breath. Try holding your heartbeat. (Go on, I dare you.)

The unconscious mind. (We really need a better name for it, as it is not “un” conscious at all, but let’s save that for another posting.) Okay, moving on, the unconscious mind does have an effect. In fact, it could almost be said that the autonomic nervous system IS the unconscious mind, with what we typically call the unconscious “mind” being simply the portion of the system that regulates behavior like the hypothalamus regulates body temperature. (Among other things)

It make very logical sense that when we want to pass information from the thinking mind to the unconscious “operating system” and vice versa, we use the few functions that are under the control of both system (breathing, eye blinking) as a bridge.

The language of the unconscious “mind” is a visual metaphor so you will find everyone from the Hypnotherapist in his office, the Yogi on the mountaintop, to the Massage therapist giving chair massages in the mall, telling you to “focus on your breathing,” visualize it as this color or that. See it going here or there. Breathing is a bridge between the conscious and the unconscious. This bridge runs both ways. You can “inhale” a healing light as well as “exhale” stress or pain.

We live in a time when science and logic seem to be at war with ancient wisdom that has stood the test of time. In this day and age so many alternative practices are looked down upon as metaphysical and so much “woo woo voodoo,” but when we truly understand the logic behind these practices, they can make sense and are as much physics as metaphysics.

Wes Graham C.C.Ht.

Depth of Trance, Who is in Control?

It is a common misconception, based on the representation of hypnosis on TV and in films, that a hypnotized subject is like a zombie under the Svengali-like control of the hypnotist. This image is also reinforced by the routines of stage hypnotists, whose use of a deep somnambulistic (similar to sleep-walking) trance states make for an entertaining show. The therapeutic use of hypnosis is quite different. In a therapeutic setting the depth of the trance is not nearly so important and mostly at the discretion of the subjects, whether they know it or not.

The hypnotherapist is basically a facilitator and guide; it is the clients that are ultimately the judge of what they need. For some, the experience they require for positive change is a deep, almost hallucinogenic trance state and that’s what they will naturally go to. For others, a simple game of “close your eyes and make believe” is exactly what they need and that’s what they will naturally go to. Both extremes and everything in-between can and will work for the clients if the hypnotherapist just allows them to go where they need to go and then just helps them deal with what comes up.

As is often said, all hypnosis is Self-Hypnosis. Either consciously or unconsciously, it is always voluntary. The process of calling, setting the appointment and sitting down with a hypnotist is a significant part of the initial hypnotic induction. Yes, I, like most hypnotherapists, will start with some basic inductions and tests. This gives me a feel for how the client responds (where they want/need to go), but more importantly, it gives the client’s unconscious mind a reference point for the tools and experience of hypnosis that has already begun just by being there.

Wes Graham C.C.Ht.

Why are we all so messed up?

Cholesterol, Hypertension, Stress Disorders, Obesity, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Nervous Disorders.  We have pills for this, therapies for that, on and on and on. Why are so many of us so messed up? It seems that as we develop as a civilization, we’re collapsing as a living creatures.

I recently attended a meeting of the Dallas Holistic Chamber of Commerce . At one point in the meeting we were having a round table discussion about how our different disciplines approached the subject of anti-aging. Listening to the different practitioners talk about their different approaches, my mind drifted (as it often does) to all the different maladies collectively we seem to be suffering.

It seems the more advanced we become technologically, the worse our general health becomes. Now this brings the counter argument of “but our life-spans are so much longer now,” and that’s true, but not as much as one would think. If you negate infant mortality and basic hygiene, our ancestors were almost as long lived as us. More surprising is the relative absence of some of the modern world’s biggest health issues. Our ancestors, as far as we can tell, had very low cancer rates, not much diabetes, heart disease, a lot of today’s big issues.

The thought that came to my head was this: One of our ancestors living 10,000 years ago lived in very much the same way as one living 3,000 years ago, or even 500 years ago in much of the world.  Basically, the rate at which the world changed, and the rate at which we migrated around it, was slow enough that we, the human animal, could physically adapt. Groups of people settled in different regions and their bodies changed to accommodate local conditions. After many generations, people who settled in cold climates developed subcutaneous layers of fat to help control their body temperature. People who settled high in the mountains developed larger lung capacities and higher red blood cell counts to maximize oxygen uptake. The general pace of life was slower. Their problems were just as dire and their lives were by no means as easy as ours, but it was rare for things to radically change. That all ended in the late 1800s.

Starting in the late 1800s the pace of life started to accelerate radically. People started migrating around the world en masse. Consider someone whose ancestors hadn’t traveled more than 20 miles from their village in Scotland for 10 or 15 generations. Suddenly, this someone was placed on a sailing ship and sent to the other side of the world to Australia. Someone whose ancestors had lived as rural farmers in central China for 1,000 years was now digging a railroad tunnel through the Rocky Mountains. And the pace of change accelerated. Someone who was born in the age of sailing ships lived to see aircraft carriers. My grandmother was born before the Wright brothers flew and she saw Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. Guglielmo Marconi sent his first radio transmission in 1885. By 1985 we swam in a sea of electromagnetic waveforms, covering the spectrum from ultra-long wave transmissions used to communicate with submarines to microwaves that could bake a potato.

The reason we use so many prescriptions and have so many diets and health fads, the reason we need hypnosis, meditation, yoga, exercise, vitamins, etc., etc. is this: The rate at which our minds have changed our world has vastly outpaced our body’s ability to adapt to the changing conditions. This adaptation used to be a natural process, but in this rapidly changing world we need to be mindful and help our bodies along. As individuals and as a society we need to be mindful of what we change and make sure to slow down every now and then and let ourselves catch up.

Wes Graham C.C.Ht.

Rational Irrationality

On a recent trip to Austin TX. I visited Natural Treasures, a store that specializes in stones, crystals and various “New Age” accoutrements.  They often have different alternative practitioners doing sessions in the store. On this day there was a gentlemen, Kramer Wetzel, doing Astrological readings and on a whim I decided to give it a try.

Now, I generally look at the world through what I consider a very rational, almost scientific, lens, I try to understand why and how things work.  There is no way my rational mind can wrap itself around the proposition that the position of the planets and stars, cross referenced with the time and date of your birth, can tell you anything about your past, your future or your current circumstance, it’s just irrational.  That being said, I received a very accurate reading. I detected no “cold reading” technic or any other misdirection or tricks.

This got me thinking, when you think about it; we seem to live in an irrational universe. The fact that some sub-atomic particles can simultaneously exist and not exist, or have no location or mass until someone decides to measure it seems pretty crazy and irrational to me but it has been tested again and again and proven to be so.

When we wake up every morning in a universe where rational logic says we should be able to walk through walls because they (and us) are 99.999999999999******% empty space, is it that much of an intellectual stretch to say that “something” ties us to the stars, or the tarot cards, or the tea leaves, whatever. I suspect that what we now consider irrational is no such thing. We have only existed as a species for an incredibly short period of time. By universal standard we only figured out fire a tiny fraction of a second ago, maybe what seems irrational now is just stuff we haven’t figured out yet.

I never want to just believe something offhand, so I always refer back to Arthur C Clarke’s 3 laws, especially law number 3.

1.When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

2.The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.

3.Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Wes Graham C.C.Ht.

A New Age Heresy for the Modern World

The other day I was doing a walking meditation. For those of you who are not familiar, I basically put myself in a meditative state, opened my awareness to all the Qi energies surrounding me and then take a long slow walk, trying to interact with as much of the life energy around me as possible.

Now, I live in Texas and it is still very much summer here, so of course the temperature was on the high side of 100 degrees. I’ve develop a mental trick for dealing with the heat, instead of fighting against it, I envision myself being solar powered. I just accept the sun’s heat and mentally pull its Qi energy through my skin, into my body, into my core and down to power my legs.

That’s not as odd as it first sounds, when you accept the fact that inanimate objects have their own Qi energy signature, then our old friend Sol has the largest Qi signature in our little corner of the galaxy. (Note: Please use common sense when doing this. We live in physical bodies and in a physical world and you can exceed said bodies’ capabilities and injure yourself.)

I was doing my walk along a nature trail that winds through the center of my suburban neighborhood. Along the way, I kept getting distracted by the sound of traffic when I came close to major streets. This got me thinking; just as the sun’s heat and radiation can be changed from a negative to a positive, could I do the same with the traffic noise? As I continued walking I let my mind ponder the sounds of traffic and its creation by the car’s engine and its motion down the street.

Many people meditate while focusing on a lit candle. Everything that makes up the candle comes from the Earth. The flame is taking wax, either processed in the bodies of bees or refined from ancient plants and dinosaur bones, and changing it to heat and light energy. That transition has a Qi signature that we feel when focusing our attention on the flame.

Now, I’m making no judgments on the role of the automobile in modern society, pollution etc., but cars are a currently inescapable part of modern life. This may be New Age heresy, but think of it this way: everything a car is comes from the earth (no Martian car parts) and its engine is taking ancient plants and dinosaur bones and changing them into heat, light, motion and sound energy. Does that not also produce a Qi signature?

Unless you’re lucky enough to live on a mountaintop, this “mechanized” energy is going to be present in your life. So, like the sun’s energy, can this be used (energetically) in a positive way? I began to take in the energies of the traffic and it at least seems to work. I know, one experiment does not prove anything, but I intend to look into this further. I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up meditating on a freeway overpass soon, just to try it out.

I’d love to hear others’ take on this.

Wes Graham C.C.Ht.

PS below is a short clip I recorded near my home.

Get a Stone to Call your Own

A Habit from My Father

I guess I inherited my fascination with rocks and stones from my father. He was a desert-loving rock hound and had a collection of all the interesting stones he’d come across. These were not precious stones and were of no particular type or value; they just were interesting and “spoke” to him in some way. From time to time, he would pick one out and carry it in his pocket. He called it his “worry stone.” When he got stressed he would take it out or just stick his hand in his pocket and rub the stone. As if it were some magical talisman, he would transfer his stress to the stone. Because where your mind goes, your energy flows, for him, it worked.

 Stones as Symbols

For as long as there have been humans, we have used inanimate objects, such as stones in particular, as powerful symbols.  Large monolithic structures such as Stonehenge and the giants of Easter Island come to mind.

An even more striking example is the “Stone of Scone,” a small rectangular block of red sandstone that,  since before recorded history, has be imbued with the power to make kings.  It was used in the coronation of all the Kings of Scotland until 1296AD, when King Edward of England conquered Scotland. To enforce its submission as a vassal state, Edward took the stone and placed it in Westminster Abby and it has been used in the coronation of every English monarch since. In 1996, for political reasons it was decided that when not in use, the stone would be “stored” in Scotland. However, when Prince Charles is eventually made King of England he will be sitting on a throne placed on top of the Stone of Scone.

On a much more personal level stones can be beneficial symbols.  They can remind us to place our energies where we want them.

Stones as Energetic “Batteries”

I’ve always had the habit of carrying a small stone with me most of the time. But instead of using it like some kind of symbolic septic tank, I prefer to think of it as a battery. When my energy is up, say after an exercise or a meditation, I often “push” my positive energy into the stone. Then when I feel drained, worried or just down, I take hold of the stone and imagine the energy flowing back into me. Any old stone will do, but it is better if it has a special meaning or it comes from a special place or time.

How my stone came to me

I’ve had many stone over the years, but my current “Sacred Stone” came to me in a truly special way. My path to these current projects has been interesting, personally difficult and sometimes quite odd. At one point when I was particularly stuck, I went to see a hypnotherapist. (Just like doctors don’t treat themselves, hypnotherapists quite often see other hypnotherapists.) During one of my sessions we were doing an exercise much like The Message.  In this exercise I was looking for an “Inner or Spirit Guide” or even an Animal Guide. (Interestingly, quite often even people with no background knowledge or experience with Native American culture see their “Spirit Guide” as an animal.) In the trance I mentally envisioned myself in my “Happy Place.” In my case it was a picnic table in a real park I go to on the windward shore of the island of Oahu. I really had no expectation of what my guide would be; I wouldn’t have been surprised if I saw my great grandfather or if I saw a talking squirrel.

I was surprised when the guide who came to me in this trance state was actually me.  A slightly thinner, long haired (my hair was shorter at the time), self-confident and, most importantly, very happy version of myself. Even in trance I was dumbfounded. He walks up to me, slaps me on my shoulder and said very gregariously, “Dude, you know what you want to do!” and showed me a vision that started me on the path to this work now. As we finished, in the vision/trance he/me smiled and handed me a small stone, which I felt and saw very clearly.

Weeks passed and the memory of the trance/vision was still strong in my mind as I worked to absorb the full meaning of it all. Now, I often order supplies and such over the Internet and one company where I get my favorite incense routinely sends little “gifts” with orders. These little things could be a string bracelet, a pin, etc., like spiritual Cracker Jacks prizes. Well, I received an order and opened the box and to my amazement they had sent me a stone. THEY HAD SENT ME THE STONE! Even in a life filled with bizarre and miraculous events this took the cake. Personally, I took it as a sign of the validity of my vision and I have treated it as such ever since.

Get a Stone to Call your Own

Below I’ve included a link to a Mindfulness exercised based on a “Personal Stone that I call “Minding the Stone.” If you don’t have one yet you should find one and make it your own.  As I said, really any stone will do. It doesn’t have to come to you like some universal thunderbolt, but it should have some connection to you. Maybe you picked it up at your favorite beach or on your favorite hiking path. If you don’t have one yet just put the thought in your mind. Get in a relaxed state and mentally call for a special stone to come to you. Then just keep an eye out for it, in the next day or two you will see it; in in your yard, in a park or a parking lot, you will just know that it’s the right one. This might not be your end all, be all, sacred stone, but you can at least use it for this exercise.

You can click on it to play or right click on the 2nd link and select “Save target as” to download.

http://wp.me/a3zzZi-1n

Thanks and enjoy,

Wes Graham C.C. Ht.

Release announcement: The Message.

Well, I’ve gone and done it, I’ve released my first hypnosis album, The Message. It’s now available on iTunes and will soon be available on all the big digital download sites.

In this world you can have anything you want; the hard part is knowing what that truly is.

The Message is a guided meditation with a nice long hypnotic induction. The purpose of The Message is to open a channel of communication with an individual’s own unconscious mind.  To help that individual to discover what their unconscious mind is really trying to tell them.

While The Message does not employ many of my Hypno-Energetics technics, it does use some of the latest wild crafted sound I’ve recorded. I’ve also included a bonus track, a subliminal loop to play while sleeping. It contains positive affirmations for self-esteem and self-confidence.

Download it from iTunes   http://bit.ly/14LFfIb

Now available on Amazon.com  http://amzn.to/1cQIjuG