I'm not sure it's today's lack of protein (oatmeal for breakfast, J's cubano rice for lunch, raspberry cookie snack with my cup of tea) or the book I listened to this morning, but I'm feeling quite odd and lightheaded. Unlike myself in fact. The book is "Many Lives, Many Masters" by Brian L Weiss. On top that, the Ishiguro book "Never Let Me Go" that I'm reading for our book club is deeply disturbing & hence I am distinctly out of sorts.
My friend L has been suffering from panic attacks which occur completely out of the blue -- in the middle of breakfast for example, or in the evening while she's playing with her dogs -- and they are very intense -- racing heart, pain in the chest, a feeling of slipping away -- very similar symptoms to those of a heart attack. Each time she thinks she's about to die and the ambulance arrives, whisks her to hospital, checks all her vital signs, hooks her up to monitors, and each time the results are the same -- a perfect bill of health. She claims she doesn't have any stress in her life that she can think of and doesn't know why these attacks happen. But they are very alarming to her. The doctor gives her ativan and tells her to go away. She is not a dummy and has realized that she must have some deeply repressed feeling that are trying to bubble up. Last week, she told me, she watched an episode of Oprah where a doctor, Brian Weiss, put someone into deep hypnosis and he revealed all kinds of truths about himself in a past life. When she tells me this, she tears up. It's hard for her to talk about. Before I can roll my eyes, she points out that this guy Brian Weiss, MD, is a graduate of Columbia University and Yale Medical School, and chairman emeritus of the Department of Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, and that he only tried hypnosis, something he absolutely did not believe in previously because it had no scientific backing, on a patient who had extreme panic attacks, and he found that he could not cure her by traditional therapeutic means.
This morning L's husband rings me to tell me that she can't call me because she isn't feeling well, which means she's having another attack. I am determined to find her something that will help her. And if it means going over to the woo-woo side, so be it.
I downloaded the Weiss book on iTunes. It's short - an hour and a half only. It is mostly transcripts of his hypnotherapy sessions with Catherine, the woman with the panic attacks, whom he discovered had lived 86 lives. Same soul, different body. It also includes Catherine's "channeling" of messages from the Masters or Spirit Guides -- extraordinary, big stuff like we are here to work out our debts before we move on to the next level, karma stuff. And faith, hope & love -- these are the most important things. Past life regression, he suggests, helps us get rid of our fear of death; if we know we've lived before and that we will live again and will be reunited with our loved ones, then why fear death? By the time I'm finished listening, my body feels like jelly.
Oprah has an interesting role in our society. It's not just about the book club anymore or whether you can get a show on the latest feature film, or Tom Cruise bouncing on the sofa. She introduce America to Eckhart Tolle, now to Brian Weiss, has Marianne Williamson on her radio show, and seems to be filling a spiritual void for many Americans. Apparently she had these beliefs for a while but was nervous to share them, believing that she would be marginalized because of them. But cleverly, feeding her audience in bite-sized pieces, she seems to have given them just enough to swallow. I wonder with Oprah and Obama, and some of the other interesting characters & ideas that are beginning to pop out, whether we really could change the shift of this country from consumerism, capitalism & egotism, to idealism, humanism & altruism. It's a tall order, I know.
1 comment:
In today’s ever increasing stressful socioeconomic environment emphasis should be focused on the advantages of Medical hypnosis.
Unfortunately, inadequate training and state licensure plus myths, half-truths, and suspicions surrounding Medical hypnotherapy have most physicians prescribing medications rather than hypnotherapy for certain problems like weight gain, smoking, nail biting, bed wetting, thumb sucking, test-taking, sports enhancement, certain addictions, pain issues, phobias, and disorders. These medications often have multiple contraindications that are excessive and even potentially fatal while concentrating mainly on the "effects” not the “causations.”
By contrast, through therapy, Medical hypnosis assaults the "cause" of the problem, It, therefore, is important to understand that one is not treated with hypnosis but rather through hypnosis by redirecting or even eliminating Negative habits, emotions, and perceptions; plus helping pain threshold, self-esteem, and confidence. When the ‘want’ is eliminated the ‘need’ is eliminated
Although, over-the-counter books on hypnosis may be somewhat informative as to the scientific nature of the hypnotic phenomenon, because you read while in your conscious state, are not effective tools for hypnosis. Store bought CD's are to some extent effective, but many still use theatrical tactics like aversion therapy, are usually too general in nature, and establishes little rapport between the hypnotherapist and the patients.
Choosing the right qualified hypnotherapist with credentials, rapport, and past efficacy is therefore very important. One-on-one sessions are most desirable over groups, in correcting conditioned habitual responses, as each patient has different and sometime multiple past and present sensitizing events.
As increased scientific study confirms the validity of medical hypnosis our stressful society will benefit.
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