On our blog talk radio show today Charly and I had invited Dr. Sally Witt as our guest speaker. Dr. Sally has an amazing amount of experience in counselling and healing and uses many different approaches and techniques. She very much believes in seeing each person as an unique individual who will respond well to certain techniques but not respond to or even dislike others.

One of her specialties is working with fears and phobias and also helping people to stop smoking. Dr. Sally uses close to 60 different modalities or techniques to assist people to heal themselves.

I asked her whether there were particular modalities that were the “staple” of treatment strategies.

She said that NLP (short for neuro linguistic programming) was one of them. It is a technique that uses language to shift behaviour. This is the one technique that was made famous by Anthony Robbins.

She often uses hypnotherapy which is simply a means to get a person into a relaxed state and then initiating change by putting positive suggestions straight into their subconscious.

The third one that plays a big role is EFT (short for Emotional Freedom Technique). It is a method of tapping fingers on certain acupressure points, you get the benefits of acupuncture but without needles. I think the beauty is that once you know what to do, you can do it yourself.

We also talked about Yoga and how it is a great adjunct to all of the other modalities. It supports people between sessions, they learn extra techniques to manage their stress and over time develop enough inner strength not to reach for a cigarette as soon as the going gets tough.

Please go and listen to the whole interview, I think you will find it very interesting.

Dr. Sally Witt sees people for private sessions, but she wanted to be able to reach more people, so she put together a programme you can buy online, teaching you many different techniques. You will get extra support with the programme, like the ability to join a chat room, participate in live radio shows where you can ask questions and more.

Talk to you next time,

Connie Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com

Check Dr. Sally’s programme out here:

Do you want to stop smoking? Have tried several times and failed?

Here is a wholistic programme which may be of great benefit to you. It uses a variety of many different techniques and has a high chance of success. Have a look below!

Tooth grinding seems to be caused by various stresses which haven’t been dealt with during the day.

As a first aid measure there are some mechanical aids available which physically make the grinding impossible. What is available will depend on which part of the world you live in. It might be necessary to get some mechanical implement as a “first aid measure”.

It is cheaper and healthier in the long term to deal with the underlying cause. This will not happen overnight, but like with everything else - persistence and perseverance will lead to success.

Let us start at the beginning. You are feeling so stressed out and have not got a spare minute to even think about what is causing you stress?

Start by using the times when you are doing something that does not require your mind to be “present”. Examples are washing the dishes, washing the floor, standing in a queue at the bank or the supermarket cash register, while waiting to see the doctor, at the hairdresser…..

Start by asking yourself some questions:
What is causing you stress? Can you do anything to change the situation? Are you too hard on yourself, are you a perfectionist and cause a lot of the stress yourself? Is the pressure coming from within yourself or is it caused by external circumstances?

If this all seems to hard, you may want to see a counsellor or talk to a trusted friend.

Other things you can do to help you relax and cope with your stress:
Yoga, getting a massage, learn how to do a facial massage to relax the jaws and face, see a physiotherapist……

In my next post I will talk about some specific exercises you can do that might be of benefit.

Connie,

Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com

I know that many of you are interested in the powers of the mind, and realise that your thoughts do in fact create your reality.

I don’t expect you all to believe that creative visualisations actually work. Just imagine for a second that they do work, that you can achieve what you turn your mind to. How important do you think is it, to control your mind?

I mean how important is it - really - to be in possession of an optimistic, expectant, intention-based mindset? Is life REALLY Good?

What do you think?  Hold that thought for a minute?

What was your answer?

Did you answer — both?  Good AND Bad?

So did most everyone else…

Do you “do what you like and like what you do”?

Is the glass “half full”?

Is the leftover pie on the plate half eaten?

There is a line that is crossed with each result we have in life.

Ask yourself these questions:

Is your weight “half empty” or “half full”?

How about your purse?  Half empty or half full?

What about your relationships?

How about your health?

What about your general *luck* in life?

What about your self esteem?

How about your looks?

“Half empty” or “half full”?

What are your results in those areas that are “half empty”?

What about the ones that are “half full”?

See what I mean?

Let’s face it, we all don’t have hours every day for each of these issues to go and meditate on a mountain top somewhere to solve these problems.  However, your bank account, concentration, health, kindness, weight, happiness, expectation, optimism and intention can all be improved each day — every day in a row — with some amazing CDs (downloadable).

Have a look here https://paydotcom.com/r/47928/ConnieY/20228651/ I really love them, they are great!

They even come with a 30 day guarantee! 

The only thing you need to do is relax, listen to these audios as the most calming, soothing voice places incredibly positive messages into your subconscious mind.

Everything else will take care of itself!

It just happens!!

Give it a shot and check it out for yourself!

https://paydotcom.com/r/47928/ConnieY/20228651/

Choose your future today.

Connie

Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com 

Are you overwhelmed by tasks you are supposed to do, is stress controlling your life? Do you overreact to little things and regret it later? Maybe multitasking is to blame? Read on…. 

One of my biggest gripes with modern society is this all pervasive idea, which has nearly become dogma, that we all need to “multitask”. Most job ads require the applicant to be able to multitask. What I seem to notice is: the lousier the pay and the worse the job, the more mutlitasking is expected. Usually the ads target women.

Somebody coined the phrase: “Mutlitasking is a Myth”. I totally agree. The mind can only concentrate on one thing at a time.

The human brain is absolutely amazing, at the moment it is still superior to any computer. (I have been told that this is rapidly changing too….but at least for now this still is the case.)

“But a core limitation is an inability to concentrate on two things at once,” said René Marois, a neuroscientist and director of the Human Information Processing Laboratory at Vanderbilt University.

On his website he says: “We are particularly interested in understanding the neural basis of attentional capacity limits (e.g. Why can we only attend to very few objects at a time? Why can’t we select or execute more than one task at a time?).”

I am so glad that at least somebody is studying and looking into all these things. Often I feel like a lone voice in the wilderness.

How does all this relate to Yoga?

Yoga is all about living in the moment, being here now, focussing fully on the task at hand and then move on to the next one. Multitasking is incompatible with Yoga. I would go further than that:  in my opinion it is inhumane. I am not objecting to  somebody wanting to live their live that way as long as it is their choice. Nevertheless, it still has a negative impact on the people they interact with.

What I am objecting to is the fact that it has become the norm to expect people to multitask. In western society it has become mandatory to behave, work and live in a way that is contrary to all ancient teachings and that is physiologically impossible. Our brain simply can’t do it. End of story.

Recently I talked to somebody about the above issues and she said to me something along these lines: “But you are a woman, women are born to multitask, it is our natural strength, you should be thriving on it!” I was lost for words and still shudder recalling that conversation. I don’t agree.

My theory is that women were simply forced into this unnatural way of doing things by the fact that they usually are the main caregivers for the children and have to do dozens of other tasks as well. To put it simply: Lack of support.

It would be very interesting to find out how things worked out in ancient societies where women were in charge. Maybe men had to become the “natural” multitaskers because women were busy with more important affairs.

I leave you with the following thought: “Whatever you are doing at the moment, give your full attention to it. When working, focus on working. If you are eating, focus on eating. When you are playing, then play fully. And if you happen to be sleeping - sleep soundly and don’t let thoughts and worries deprive you of your sleep.”

Connie,

Your Yoga Partner

from

www.yogainahurry.com

Stress has become a household word. I am not sure when that happened. It is written about, talked about, countless books, tapes and DVDs are available, promising quick and lasting relief. Most of those gather dust on people’s bookshelves while their stressful life continues.

What Causes Stress?

Let us have a closer look. Where does stress originate? Where does it actually start? I can hear you say: it is caused by my boss, my spouse, my teenage children, living in the city, technology……STOP!

Stress is created in one place and one place only - and that is your mind. Your big toe can’t make you tense nor can your little finger make you tense. In your mind you create all your fears, worries, stressful ideas and thoughts. Even if you wanted to, you could not go to a shop and buy a jar full of fear.

Take responsibility for your own thoughts and feelings. It is much easier to blame somebody else outside of you.This is not where the problem originates! You are creating your thoughts and feelings.

All of these feelings cannot be measured or weighed, they are intangible. Yet, they create very real, negative results in your body. They can cause high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, insomnia, tension headaches and migraines, just to name a few.

How to Manage Stress?

To free yourself from physical and mental problems you have to tame your mind. You  have to take responsibility for your mind’s actions. This might be difficult at first. You are the only one who can control your mind! You are the boss.

In a lot of the yoga literature the mind has been compared to a monkey, hopping around on a tree or from tree to tree, constantly moving around and playing tricks on us. The mind is very restless, unable to concentrate and focus on one thing for any length of time. It creates ideas of fear, anxiety and guilt which turn into feelings.

Our body responds to those feelings by tensing certain parts, cutting blood flow to one area and sending more to another one, pouring out stress hormones which then cause blood pressure to rise and lots of other nasty things. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

How to Tame Your Monkey

• First of all, be gentle with yourself. It takes tame to re-learn the art of relaxation. Don’t feel bad if your mind wanders off, gently bring it back.
• Choose a method of relaxation that suits your personality and lifestyle. It is not going to work for you to buy a lovely 1 hour relaxation CD if you can only spare 10 minutes a day.
• Some simple methods to use:
  1. Buy a guided relaxation CD that you really like and feel comfortable with. Play it as it is or download it onto your computer or ipod.
  2. Create a quiet environment without disruptions. Take the phone off the hook and turn off your mobile.
  3. Make sure you are comfortable, sit or lie down. Don’t fall asleep.
  4. Keep bringing your mind back to the relaxation, no matter how often it wanders off. Keep persevering. In the beginning that might be very difficult.
  5. Join a stress management or yoga class, it might be easier for you to be in a group environment.
  6. Get private coaching or sessions with someone you trust till you feel comfortable working on your own.
  7. Get your partner involved. Have a relaxation session together. You then will be able to support each other during the day if you notice that the other person is starting to get tense or stressed out.
  8. Teach your children how to relax - you will have a much more peaceful household. They will be able to use the techniques they learnt before their exams.
  9. As time goes on, you will feel calmer and more relaxed overall. It will take longer to “stress you out”. You will be more aware of your body and where you hold your tension.
  10. Take action! No results without doing something. Do yourself and your family a favour and start “Taming your Monkey” today.  Remember that even the longest journey starts with that single, very first step! I wish you good luck on your journey

Connie,

Your Yoga Partner