In the 27 years I’ve lived and hiked in rural Arizona, I’ve never seen a poisonous snake in the wild. I’ve seen many non-poisonous ones, even on my own deck. I know to watch out for them, and to be careful where I’m stepping.

Yesterday, Jeff and I were in the southern desert, near Phoenix, so he could take some photographs. On our second stop, he went one way, I went another to scout for him. Even though we’d just been warning each other to beware of snakes, I wasn’t as conscientious or mindful as I should have been.

I glanced at the ground and walked forward without paying it much attention. When I should have been examining the dirt in front of me, I was looking up a hill.

“Buzzzz,” I heard, the warning everyone dreads. About 2 steps in front of me was an upset rattlesnake. By the time I noticed her, she was barely out of striking range. I instantly backed up as quickly as I could to get away from her. The snake blended into the dirt perfectly, and it was no wonder that, when I just scanned the ground, I didn’t see her.

As I trotted back towards the car, I yelled, “Rattlesnake” at Jeff. Instead of leaving it alone (as a reasonable person would), the photographer was thrilled and said, “Cool. I’ve wanted to photograph one for years.” He spent the next 20 minutes (way too close to it for my peace of mind) taking pictures of the snake. For another photo of it, visit TheCreativesCorner.com, Jeff’s blog.

My mom said, “God protects drunks and fools,” and I frequently use the affirmation, “I am protected at all times, under all circumstances.” I sat in the car, feeling like a fool, and thanking God profusely for the gift of the warning to walk no further.

Life can turn on a dime. Mine could have taken a challenging turn yesterday. I’m very grateful that it didn’t, and will pay more attention to where I’m about to step in the future. I’ll also use my affirmation for protection more often, especially when I’m out in nature.

Copyright 2010 Linda Ann Stewart
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A study has shown that meditation increases pain tolerance. Apparently, it’s not just because of meditation being distracting (when you’re paying attention to one thing, it fills up your mind buffer and you won’t feel pain as much), but reduces emotional response to pain.

In my hypnotherapy practice, I’ve worked with chronic pain sufferers. The first stage of hypnosis, relaxation, can reduce pain significantly. What to you do when you first feel pain? Tense up. When you relax, it’s a natural calming agent to the nerves.

In the next phase of a session, I’ll usually help them use visualization and imagery to change the perception of the pain somehow. Once you show them that they can reduce it, even a little, it gives them confidence and reassurance that they have some control over it.

When you’re in hypnosis, you’re in the same brain wave level as when you’ve in meditation. So it’s no surprise that even a short meditation exercise can also influence the perception and quality of pain.

For the full article, read Brief Meditation Training Brings Pain Relief.

Copyright 2010 Linda Ann Stewart
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In the Verde Valley, we have several American Indian ruins open to the public. Montezuma’s Castle National Monument is well known, with its building perched high in the cliff. But the one I love, and hold close to my heart, is Montezuma’s Well. It’s associated with the Montezuma Castle National Monument, but 11 miles north of the Castle.

Long ago, a limestone cavern collapsed, leaving a circular hole that filled up with water. The Sinagua built dwelling on the inner walls of the cliff. Water constantly percolates up through the limestone, creating a lake of (essentially) carbonated water. The Well is 368 feet across and 55 feet deep.

At one end of the Well, the water flows through a tunnel to the far side of the cliff. Indian ruins sit just above the outlet within the Well and there are also some on top of the cliff.

The water empties into an irrigation ditch dug by the cliff dwellers hundreds of years ago and into a year-round stream, Beaver Creek.

This particular place is special and sacred. There’s an element of serenity that I don’t feel at the Castle.

In the confines of the park, there’s a lovely picnic area, a lime coated irrigation ditch, and more ruins under roof.

It’s a lovely oasis in the desert. Jeff and I spent the afternoon here, and had a peaceful lunch in the tree shaded picnic area.

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Question: Do I need to know and understand what my fears are and where they came from, or do I just push forward in changing my behavior?

Answer: If you’re someone who needs to know “why,” then you’re probably going to need to find out what prompts you to continue your unwanted behavior. There’s no telling what it could be. Especially since it seems to keep happening. There’s some part of you that’s uncomfortable with changing, or has permission to continue your behavior.

Most issues aren’t simply a problem of behavior. Usually, there’s some emotional component to it. Generally, some uncomfortable emotion urges you to act in unwanted ways to cover over the feeling and avoid it. Or it could be an emotion of joy or reward. There’s all sorts of triggers and associations connected with self-sabotaging actions. That’s why you should probably find out “why” you’re doing it.

I’d also recommend you do some journaling on your issue. You may be surprised what comes up. If you don’t know how to do this valuable technique, check out my article Your Write To Self-Discovery.

Another point that I’ve found. The subconscious is very literal. I’ve found that sometimes when we have a goal, but what we think about is actually a step to that goal, thenwhen we reach it, the subconscious thinks, “Great. We’ve reached that. Now let’s go back and do it again.”

For instance, you want to “lose” 10 pounds. Remember, what we lose, we tend to find again. And since your goal is to lose 10 pounds, rather than stabilize at a certain weight, once you’ve lost that amount, the subconscious thinks you want to do it over again. So you gain it back, to lose it again.

It’s convoluted, but that’s the way the subconscious thinks. Have your goal be the end result, rather than the action you take to get there.

Copyright 2010 Linda Ann Stewart
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Jerome is a ghost town and artist haven, perched high on the mountain near Sedona, AZ. It’s the 3rd most visited destination in Arizona, after Grand Canyon and Sedona. And it’s one of our favorite places.

Recently, we attended the 45th annual Jerome Home Tour. Over the years, I’ve attended several Jerome Home Tours, and love them. I admit, I’ve always enjoyed history. During the tours, I’ve learned so much about the town, the buildings and the people.

One house we visited has been renovated from a ruin. Before the work began, ivy held its outer walls together, the roof was caved in and the space was filled with mud. Now it’s gorgeous. They’ve used as much of the original wood and flooring as they could.

Most of the time, the tour includes a commercial business. This year, it was the Connor Hotel. It’s only been recently remodeled and opened again after being closed for 20 years. I’ve wanted to peek into its rooms for decades, and finally got my wish this year. They’ve updated it, but have kept some of the original fixtures. One room still has the original skylight, another the original tin ceiling.

This year, we got to visit the largest wooden headframe in Arizona. It was designed to haul up ore from the mine. At 1900 feet deep, it’s 653 feet deeper than the Empire State Building is tall. The headframe stands just below Jerome State Park, which was slated to be closed, along with all the other state parks in Arizona. However, Jerome State Park (along with most of the others, by individuals and communities) has been rescued and will stay open. Once renovations are complete on the Douglas Mansion (which is the park), it should be able to reopen, probably in the fall.

The glass pane you see on the ground, just at the left foot of the photographer (Jeff), covers the mineshaft. (Behind him, you can see another headframe that hauled men up from the mine.) They’d set up a light that illuminated this shaft and, when you stepped on the glass, you could see 1700 feet down the hole, to the 200 feet of water that fills it at the bottom. Yes, I was brave enough to stand on it and look down.

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Question: Is it better to say affirmations while in a meditative state or while I’m in a conscious state?

Answer: It’s not so much an issue of either/or. When you state affirmations while in a meditative state, you’re relaxed and your subconscious mind is more impressionable. Therefore, you won’t notice as much opposition to the new programming. The conscious mind, which doubts things, which questions whether any change can occur, isn’t as present. Also, the subconscious won’t be objecting to your new ideas. The subconscious is more receptive in this state.

However, stating affirmations while in a completely alert state is also important. That’s when you’ll be aware of your old beliefs rising up to complain. Repeating the affirmation of what you want counteracts the outdated idea. It also helps to reinforce what you’ve impressed while in meditation. The best thing to do is to state your affirmations while in meditation, then say them aloud during the day. And that’s exactly what is done when a person performs self-hypnosis.

Copyright 2001, 2010 Linda Ann Stewart
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The self-image is how we see ourselves, a combination of self-esteem, self-worth and self-confidence. Sometimes, how we see ourselves doesn’t agree with reality. In that case, we need to be honest and assess the gap between where we are and where we want to be. Most of the time, we have to make changes or take some action to get our self-image to align with the real world.

Copyright 2010 Linda Ann Stewart
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self improvement, self help, personal growth, personal development, motivation, inspiration

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Depression tends to be accompanied, if not triggered, by negative thinking. Dwelling on those negative thoughts can create a mood that spirals downward. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can help sufferers to change those negative thoughts and improve the way they feel.

However, most of the time, CBT therapists see depression sufferers between episodes, not during them. Now there’s another strategy for those already in the grips of depression.

Studies are now showing that mindfulness meditation is effective in treating depression and the possibility of relapsing. It’s been effective to reduce relapsing back into depression by 50%.

Patients are taught to take their focus off their negative emotions and put their attention on one thing, such as their breathing, a mantra, affirmation, or an object like a candle or stone. Growing evidence shows that brain patterns change from this kind of meditation.

Not only is the evidence increasing concerning meditation helping mental health, but physical health as well. Stress, heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, asthma, inflammation and pain are being reduced from practicing this simple technique.

Read the entire article Why Buddhists Don’t Get The Blues at the Express.co.uk – Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.

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by Linda-Ann Stewart

Positive thinking, which powers the Law of Attraction, always works, as long as there isn’t anything that conflicts with it. Some of those sabotaging issues are ones you know about, such as focusing on what you don’t have (instead of what you want), verbally negating the positive, and old programming conflicts. But one of the main reasons it doesn’t fulfill expectations is due to having a self-image that contradicts your positive focus.

Self-image is a combination of self-worth, self-esteem and self-acceptance. If your self-image doesn’t agree with your conscious affirmative thinking, then your subconscious won’t allow it to manifest. Your subconscious makes sure that what you attract into your life is consistent with what you believe about yourself. If you try to change the outer experience before changing the inner attitudes, your subconscious will short-circuit your positive thinking efforts.

Here are three of the ways a negative self-image can undermine your constructive thinking:

1. Guilt.

There are a couple of ways this can express in your life. Both tie up energy and focus.

The first way guilt can affect you is if you’re acting or thinking in a way that violates your values. For instance, if you consider yourself to be diligently honest, but you cheat on your taxes, this could set up a niggling feeling of guilt. You’ve ignored your values, and your subconscious knows that. So you unconsciously punish yourself by not getting that raise you want. The solution for this is to find where you’re going against your values and change it.

The other way is outdated feelings of guilt that aren’t valid anymore. You could still be feeling bad for stepping on your classmate’s hand in kindergarten. If something happened a long time ago, and you’ve learned the lesson from it, then this type of guilt no longer serves you. It has fulfilled its purpose. Stop punishing yourself by forgiving yourself and move on.

2. Standards and values.

You may have standards and values that conflict with what you’re affirming. For instance, you consider yourself to be honest and generous, and believe the rich to be selfish and corrupt. If you want to be wealthy, that would mean that you’d have to become selfish and corrupt, which would be inconsistent with your values. Your subconscious won’t allow that kind of incongruity.

You could also have old standards that prevent your achieving more. For instance, you want to earn more money, but you feel you shouldn’t make more money than your father or your husband. Not only would this be putting an unrealistic limit on your goal, it could prevent you from achieving it at all. Assess your standards and decide if they’re appropriate for you and and your goals. Some of those values are holdovers from past generations and need to be adjusted.

3. False beliefs about yourself.

Do you believe that you’re unworthy, undeserving, or unlovable? That’s a false belief. Evaluate anywhere you feel bad about yourself, and track it back to where it began. Usually the feeling got rooted in childhood, and was never challenged. Challenge it now. Consider where you’ve been successful, complimented, or appreciated. Those times could be more recent and more objective than the original events. Instead of focusing on the past lies that tear you down, fill your mind with all the constructive opinions that build you up. Stand up to your own self-criticism and let your power unfold.

Although a negative self-image can short-circuit positive thinking, the good news is that your self-image can be changed. Affirmation, visualization, and action in a constructive direction will reap great rewards. When your self-image is consistent with your positive thinking, you’ll get the results you want.

Affirmation

I know that positive thinking works, because what thought has created, thought can change. My thoughts are now changing to be in alignment with my goals. I now release anything that sabotages the good that I consciously choose. I forgive myself for past mistakes. I now update my standards and values to reflect what I feel is important. I recognize my true worth, and  focus on the positive about myself. As I improve my self-image, and act accordingly, it becomes easier for me to achieve my goals.

Copyright 2010 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

A nationally known speaker, life coach, hypnotherapist, and writer, Linda-Ann Stewart helps people rediscover their power and sense of self-worth. Visit Secrets To The Law Of Attraction to download your copy of this free ebook.

self improvement, self help, personal growth, personal development, motivation, inspiration

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