Positive Change Hypnosis/Counseling

Posted on January 4, 2007 by mcallister

Hypnotherapy can be a wonderful opportunity to truly come to know yourself, to gain perspective, perception, and learn from your past. Alchemical Hypnotherapy is a client-centered process, which empowers the client. You proceed at your own pace ~ dealing with your own issues ~ setting your goals and learning to heal your life. Therapy can provide short cuts for your personal growth. It allows you to see the patterns of your behavior, and through hypnosis, reprogram your internal tapes in order for you to have a more productive life and healthier relationships. The roots of all mental and emotional issues lie within the Spirit. Heal the Spiritual wounds and you begin the journey of self-actualization. Once you can see the patterns of your behavior ~ as opposed to living them ~ you become capable of choices. Working with a good therapist can help you make new choices, which support your life goals.

We Create Our Lives Out Of The Choices We Make

What Is Hypnotherapy?

Hypnotherapy uses deep physical and mental relaxation, which allows direct communication with the subconscious. Hypnosis is gentle, fast and very effective. Relaxation, improved stress management and increased self-awareness are automatic by-products of the process. Hypnotherapy is safe and gentle. You are always aware. You are always in charge.

How Does The Subconscious Accept Hypnotic Suggestions?

Hypnotic suggestions bypass the conscious mind, and zero in on the subconscious. When given a new suggestion that is within the bounds of a person’s belief system and moral orientation, the subconscious mind accepts the suggestion literally as new reality.

How Does Hypnosis Help People?

The ability to reprogram emotional attitudes and reactions is a talent within every human being. Hypnosis is the most functional and reasonable way to train life long attitudes, rather than suffer a lifetime of emotional incidents that the conscious mind is unable to change.

Can Any Person Be Hypnotized?

People of average intelligence (unless there is some sort of organic brain damage) can be hypnotized in most cases. The depth of hypnosis varies with a person’s ability to respond. If you are not a naturally responsive subject, you can improve your receptivity to hypnosis with practice.

Is Hypnosis Medically Approved?

Yes. The American Medical Assoc. and the American Psychiatric Assoc. have approved hypnotherapy for use by professionally responsible individuals. The British Medical Association also adopted Hypnosis as a viable therapeutic tool in 1958 (the same year as the AMA).

Are The Results Permanent?

Suggestions stay with some individuals indefinitely, others need reinforcement. The effects of hypnosis are cumulative. The more the techniques are practiced and post-hypnotic suggestions are brought into play, the more permanent the result becomes. Self-hypnosis training and reinforcement tapes for home use provide additional help.

The Value of the Hypnotherapist

Hypnotherapy is a consent system, in which a Hypnotherapist guides and counsels the client. Skills and training are essential to create the greatest benefit for the client. National Certification and Continued Education are essential.

Change Your Mind. Change Your Life!

Posted in Hypnosis, Psychology | Leave a comment

On the Braid of Evolution

Posted on November 18, 2004 by mcallister

by Alan McAllister, CCHt PhD-phys

Have you ever wondered how you can be clear in your spiritual goals and intentions and yet stumble over their realization? Seemingly betrayed by body or mind?

We are complex, as Walt Whitman said “I am large, I contain multitudes”, and therefore capable of self-contradiction.

We are in fact beings at the intersection of several different evolutionary paths. Part of the challenge of living a lifetime in a human body arises out of this, and part of our ability to contradict ourselves also.

We are generally familiar with the concept of physical evolution, that our bodies have grown and changed over time. Do we consider what changes are yet in store?

The yogis tell us that we are made like Russian dolls, in layers, like onions. We have a series of bodies of which the physical is just the first, the densest. There are seven altogether, of which the first, second, and third are mortal, passing away in the transition that we call death. Conversely they are created anew each time a “soul” is born into a “body”.

Besides the physical these comprise the emotional body, and first mental body, including the subconscious and what we usually call the conscious mind. The evolution of the human species on the planet Earth involves all three of these. The energetic emotional and mental structures, which we embody the subconscious and the conscious minds, have evolved over time, parallel to the physical body. They have primal directives that arise out of the survival necessities of evolution, encoded in our software (what we might call the operating system) as well as our hardware. This is one evolutionary path.

Intersecting this is the path of experience and evolution our energetic “spiritual” essence which is made up of the fourth through the seventh yogic bodies, the supermental being the densest of these. This second path is one that moves from lifetime to lifetime, pursuing goals and objectives that include self-discovery, education and the completion of things carried over from other lifetimes.

So a soul comes into a body which will express its nature and allow it to undergo various experiences, but a body which also has a genetic history, an operating system that has a long history, and is rooted in the distant past. We begin to see the the potential for conflict here.

The body which the soul creates for itself, is born of a mother and a father. There is a social context which is the third strand of the braid of evolution. In the process of growing up, during which the physical body completes itself, and the emotional and mental bodies form largely after our birth, we are imprinted with the patterns and energetic pictures of our family, our society, and our native culture. One might call this the applications software loaded over the operating system.

Social and cultural evolution, family history and patterns of emotional and mental behavior, are passed along energetically; as surely as the physical genes. Aspects of the parents are passed along unto the sixth or seventh generation in this fashion.

Each human being, each of us, is the result of the intersection of these three streams of evolution. While they affect each other and often parallel each other, they operate under different rules, different imperatives. Thus we are large, and capable of self-contradiction. It is in this crucible of clash and cohesion that we learn and grow as souls.

In particular as spiritual beings pursuing our own spiritual path we should not neglect the human aspects of our evolution, both individual and collective. They frame the issues and lessons which we are healing or learning. They also form the tools with which we experience our life and carry out our tasks. It is generally more effective and beneficial to learn them, to embrace them, and then guide them in a direction that pleases our soul.

It is very hard to overcome the momentum of millions of years with shear will. Judging aspects of ourselves, our bodies, our emotions, our egos, causes them to resist our will. When we can understand how they operate, accept them as they are, we can begin to reprogram them, to come to a more cooperative arrangement, in which we let them take care of tasks for which they are suited, guiding them gently and with persuasion.

Thus through awareness and acceptance we can unify our aspects, our multitudes, and therein find a fuller expression of our spirits, our souls. In the unity of the multitudes lies our full power for experience and action in the world.

(© 11/2004)

Posted in Articles, Nature, Psychology, Spiritual Process | Leave a comment

The Limits of the Ego and the Benefits of a Higher Power

Posted on November 12, 2004 by mcallister

by Alan McAllister, CCHt PhD-phys

The ego being what it is; a mental level model of ourselves and our world, it is by its nature limited by our experience in this life, and by the necessity that models are simpler than that which they model.

A limited ego will inevitably come upon events that are beyond its power to deal with. What these are will vary for each of us, and some things that will devastate one person will leave another barely touched. In cases where the new experience barely pushes the limits of the previous experience, the ego may adapt a little and grow. But when new events are significantly or overwhelmingly outside the limits of the ego, either in content or intensity then “bad” things happen.

The ego often believes it is meant to manage everything, and so will try to manage all new events, fitting them into an accepted existing framework, which is in fact the ego itself. It is generally very loath to let something go, even when it is overwhelming.

When things are too much in any way, or simply unfathomable, then the ego can go into a variety of defense mechanisms. In denial we are then left with parts of our experience, indeed of ourselves, that are “lost” or submerged. It may try to redefine the experience in a way that limits the damage. It may dissociate, i.e. our awareness can leave our body and either view things from a distance, or go away altogether. The classic technique is fainting, shock is another.

In all cases judgement is involved, and generally a negative one. This may be on any level, from physical to spiritual, and may be either externally directed or reflexive, or both. In fact previous judgements, or pillars of our ego-model, are often that very things that prevent us from letting matters be. In some cases we hold onto these core judgements so strongly that the whole structure breaks and comes crashing down.

It doesn’t help that we are taught that we ought to be able to walk through anything and come out unchanged. Or perhaps we are taught that we can’t do something at all, which leads to easier breakdowns. There is a historical male/female aspect to this programming; which is part of why men are more prone to denial of their emotions, and women were supposed to be more prone to fainting or hysteria. In the end it is the emotional charge on the experience and/or the threatened aspects of the ego that determine the battlefield and the damages.

Now consider that when faced with something new and perhaps overwhelming, we have the option to put the ego aside and just be present with events. We can do this by surrendering the situation to a “higher power”. Calling in our “higher self”, our spiritual guides, the Saints, Spirit, or God. On the battlefield soldiers have experiences of suddenly merging with the cosmos in the midst of certain death. Athletes who perform in “the zone” are doing something like this as well, moving things to another level of being which is beyond the normal ego state. It is certain that the use of a “higher power” in AA or similar programs is insisted on for just these reasons.

We, as spiritual beings, are larger and stronger than our limited ego selves. If we can suspend judgement, the need to control, fix, manage the outcome, etc. we let go of much of the conflict. By allowing the ego to step aside for a while, and saying essentially that this is too much for it, we release it from the need to try to handle a situation that it may not be suitable for.

It is important that this is different from fainting or dissociation; we are still present, just operating from a different, larger level of our being. This level is more capable of simply being present, and letting the understanding and sorting out wait for later. It has been said the difference between fiction and fact is that fiction has to make sense. The events of our lives may not make sense to us either at the time or even later, not that that keeps the ego from attempting to integrate them.

When we let go of ego and accept a higher power, our own or otherwise, we also can call in that infinite source of strength that we are all a part of as spiritual beings. Again we take things to a different level, a larger more powerful level, which both has more energy and more tools for coping with the experience as it happens, but is also not going to get hung up on preventing events from happening and unfolding. This level is beyond the judgements of the ego and ironically can therefore help the ego to survive, to handle change at its own pace, at a later time.

Most trauma therapy involves, in one way or another, going back to the various “memories” of the original events and bringing in the higher self or other higher power to give context after the fact. If we are able to let go of our ego in the moment, and call in a higher power then we can reduce the tension and struggle, lessen the trauma, give ourselves permission to stretch out the process of ego growth or adjustment. Occasionally we may even have to put things permanently into a region of experience that is outside of the ego, but perhaps we can do it without loosing consciousness of it, and thus a part of ourselves.

As with all things, there are levels of surrender, levels of shifting consciousness, of growing to encompass events in a coherent way. We will still need to work with some people after the fact, perhaps even those who can apply these methods, as eventually the ego level will have to come to terms in some way with the experiences. But the more we can experience them and hold them in the larger being, or let them be held by the universe as a whole, we take the pressure off the ego to move to far too fast. It can work on them, or leave them alone as is appropriate, without splitting them off entirely, or covering them in unconsciousness, or shattering under the strain. It can continue to function and do its job (even if that is more limited than it has been taught to conceive of).

The key is to be able to know when to say “this is bigger than me (at least for now) and I can use some help”. I will stay and be present as best I can, and be a channel for my higher power, but I will release all need to control or judge the situation or myself. This is the heart of the prayer of St. Francis. It is nothing more than acknowledging the fact that on the ego-mental level we are all limited beings, and there are things that we cannot handle alone or within our existing framework. That this is so is certain in the nature of what and who we are. BUT, we are also more than the ego-consciousness level of ourselves, we are capable of accessing greater levels of which we are but a part. This is also certain; but we are often forgetful.

(© 11/2004)

Posted in Articles, Metaphysics, Psychology, Spiritual Process | Leave a comment

Dancing on the Earth

Posted on August 17, 2004 by mcallister

by Alan McAllister, CCHt PhD-phys

Imagine yourself out in a field walking through the tall grass. There is an abundance of wild flowers painted among the stalks, the whole waving gently in a southerly breeze. The sun caresses your body, and birds call nearby. Barefoot you feel the earth of the path beneath your feet, cool and slightly moist in the mid morning.

Your awareness drops through your body and into the earth; feel the receptivity of the Mother. Sinking down, you are embraced and nurtured. How safe it is to let go of fear and effort. Breath deeply of the cool morning air, and feel the chi spreading through your whole body, energizing and alive.

Still walking, turn and look behind, and now ahead and be clear that you are fully present and alive in this one place, this one moment, walking on the Earth.

Your feet drum on the Earth, aware of how it resonates and responds. Play the drum. Drumming your feet become light, moving, dancing. Dancing on the Earth you are dancing with the Earth; this is a waltz for two, echo and response, full of the joy and laughter that is born from a shared communion.

Dancing through the field, be free, fly, like the birds or the butterflies. Run, skip, twirl. All the while aware of the deep grounding in the Earth. Though you are leaping high you are still, centered, connected to the core of the planet.

Dance across the sand beside the sea, feeling the difference wrapped around the sameness. Dance across the moss deep in the forest and feel the deep communion with the Earth spreading out around you, embodied also in the trees, the animals, the whole web of life. Dance on the bare stone and hear it sing under your feet; across the windy clouds, and the fire of the lava fields. Dance around the world, in all its beautiful places and let yourself be aware of how you are never alone as the Earth is always your partner.

Walk down a city street and feel the dance beneath your feet, it is the same anywhere. Pound on the Earth, deep into its receptiveness, and feel the joy. Dance lightly on her and feel the fairy laughter, ohh how it tickles. Let her lead for a while, your feet and legs following her rhythms. Now improvise around the beat. Dance the drumming of the tribe, the patter of the rain.

Your heart expands with the dance, pouring out its joy, and anger, its laughter and tears. The whole rainbow of emotion, of feeling, of life. The Earth can accept this, all of you, with compassion and love.

Powerful and passionate, or whimsical and light. Dance the dialogue of life with the Earth, day and night, summer and winter, ecstasy and terror, listen/feel the answer, the response, the partnership.

Establish the dance and your feet will know the path. Be whole, be free, and yet deeply grounded, infinitely alive.

(© 8/2004)

Reading clip and recorded meditation available on the Recordings page.

Posted in Articles, Metaphysics, Nature | Leave a comment

Birth and the Fear of Being Alone

Posted on June 12, 2004 by mcallister

by Alan McAllister, CCHt PhD-phys

While there are many life experiences that may contribute to a fear of being alone, the primal experience of separation, of being in the dark by oneself, is that of an individual spirit descending into its new body. This is an experience of the soul, deeper than the personality, the separation from the divine.

It is a slow drawn out experience, occurring over the months of gestation as the physical, emotional, and mental bodies begin to form in the mother’s womb, the new house for the incarnating spirit. While there is an increasing awareness of the extreme closeness on these levels to the enveloping mother, there is a corresponding distancing from the larger spirit that it has been a part of. It is a transition from an existence of connection to energy and light, to one of separation and darkness, from effortless creativity, instant communication, extended awareness, and mobility, to helplessness, and relative confinement.

This process is punctuated by the birth of the growing physical body, when the physical sense of confinement, pressure, and often danger and death, are maximum. Now the spiritual separation is compounded, by physical separation from the mother. Over the next years the individuated spirit is gradually bound into its new physical/emotional/mental bodies, which increasing dominate the awareness of the growing infant, usually as the awareness of spirit fades from consciousness.

In the yogic traditions it is said that the greatest level of suffering is the soul yearning to return home, to experience again the unity with the divine. This suffering actually increases the closer one comes to that goal, as the soul can more fully realize what it has lost and is seeking to find. This yearning is embodied in the stories of the master who holds the disciples’ head under water, until they are near to drowning, and on letting them up tells them that when they want the divine as much as they have just wanted air, they will be close to their goal [e.g. Ramakrishna].

On the physical, emotional, or mental planes we may fear for what may happen to us when we are alone, some attack or injury, and we may have had experiences that support such fears. But on the spiritual level we are simply afraid of that most intense sense of loss, of the very experience of being an individuated human being, encased in the denser bodies, limited and alone, and forgetful of, and unconscious to, our true nature.

As we grow we compound matters further by self-judgements, often internalized from others, in which we begin to separate from aspects of our own physical/emotional/mental selves that are in pain, or “wrong”, or in some way unacceptable. These we forget, cover over, and distract ourselves from.

Being alone, especially for longer periods of time, removes many of the distractions and these aspects begin to surface. We find all our fears, our self-judgements, or sense of loss returning to us, arising from the inside out. This is actually the natural healing process, our being working to become whole, to end the little separations in preparation for trying to end the larger sense of separation of the spirit.

In fact this is what makes the smaller healings so hard. At some level in our being we know that behind, or under the smaller aspects of separation lies the primal spiritual wound. In the Journey process developed by Brandon Bays, the last step in working through the layers of emotional distress is to face the dark void. This is often where people turn and run, and yet it is the final place where acceptance and surrender takes one through to the larger experience of Self and Spirit.

I suspect that this is even an integral part of our fears about “death”, the transition at the other end of life from our “birth”. If I was to describe an experience of being wrapped up in a rug and crushed or suffocated, or enclosed in a stone sarcophagus, you might naturally think these were images of death. However from the spiritual point of view they are equally apt images of birth, the descent into the body.

In Stanislov Groff’s discussion of the stages of birth and the imagery that arises in accessing them via different means, there are many images of death and struggle [The Holotropic Mind]. While it may be that the body indeed fears for a physical death, being crushed or suffocated, during birth it is in many ways a spiritual death that is actually taking place. At least a severe diminishing.

If we have had such a birth, perhaps we unconsciously assume that death will be similar. While it is true that the lower level bodies will dissipate, the spirit or soul will actually be reborn into the larger spirit. What is actually a transition back to larger consciousness we fear as the finally separation from consciousness, the completion of the process that began with conception.

Thus on many levels we confuse birth and death, and project our fear of the former process onto the later.

This all leads to the conclusion that is part of most spiritual teachings that it is by learning to reconnect with spirit, by remembering that aspect of ourselves, increasing our consciousness or awareness, that we pass beyond the fear of being alone, and so many other fears as well. When we are able to access your connection to the divine, to “lay your head in the lap of God” at any time, then the most traumatic of earthly experiences no longer affects the soul that undergoes them.

The truth is that we are not, and never really have been alone, except in our limited awareness of our incarnated self. When we reclaim this, we step out of separation back into our full place as part of the divine play of existence. This is generally the aim and goal of the various spiritual traditions and religious teachings.

(© 6/2004)

Posted in Articles, Metaphysics, Psychology, top5 | Leave a comment