Core Quality: Witnessing

Is witnessing just watching? According to Dictionary.com this is how they define witnessing:

verb (used with object)

1.
to see, hear, or know by personal presence and perception: to witness an accident.

2.
to be present at (an occurrence) as a formal witness, spectator, bystander, etc.: She witnessed our wedding.

3.
to bear witness to; testify to; give or afford evidence of.

4.
to attest by one's signature: He witnessed her will.

verb (used without object)

5.
to bear witness; testify; give or afford evidence.

As a Core Quality it is more than just this definition. It is watching what is happening all around you all the time. Watching without becoming involved either physically or emotionally. Once we become involved in any way we become a part of what is going on around us. There are times when our interference is not needed nor appreciated. Being able to just see what is happening is enough.

There are part of our subconscious that now exactly hot to witness without any judgments or emotional ties to what we are witnessing. It is from these parts of ourselves that we can learn how to be a witness without changing the scene that we are witnessing.

Core Quality: Inner Peace

What is Inner Peace? I found this definition on Wikipedia, it sums it up very well:

Inner peace (or peace of mind) refers to a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress. Being "at peace" is considered by many to be healthy (homeostasis) and the opposite of being stressed or anxious. Peace of mind is generally associated with bliss,happiness and contentment.

We can have moments of inner peace when life itself is quiet. The trick is to have inner peace when the world around us is noisy, bothersome, and intrusive. There is a part of our subconscious that knows exactly how to have inner peace at all times no matter what is going on around us.

As core quality we all have the means to reach inner peace. We have to listen to the part of our inner selves that knows how to achieve this state. As with the other core qualities I have already discussed, and the others that I have yet to write about, Integral Deep Listening allows those parts of our inner selves to impart their suggestions on what we should do. Even if we only reach inner peace a little at a time, that is a bit of peace that we didn't have before and can be built upon.

Core Quality:Confidence

The first of the core qualities I am going to discuss is confidence. Just what is confidence? Dictionary.com defines it as:

1. full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing: We have every confidence in their ability to succeed.
2. belief in oneself and one's powers or abilities; self-confidence;self-reliance; assurance: His lack of confidence defeated him.

While this is a good place to start it doesn't quit measure up to being a core quality. I would add being fearless as part of that definition. Truly knowing yourself and your abilities, and being able and willing to push beyond the boundaries.

There are parts of our subconscious that are full of confidence. That part of us knows that we can handle any life issue that comes our way. That part is more than willing to share their strength in confidence if we would allow it. As we grow more confident in ourselves, we see the world and our life issues in different light.

When I was first diagnosed with cancer I was afraid, in disbelief, and in denial. Tapping into the parts of me that are confident I was able to overcome the fear and make the decisions necessary for my treatment. The more I allowed myself to feel confident in my decisions the better I felt about what was going on with my treatment.  

Integral Deep Listening Core Qualities

We all have the six core qualities that I will be discussing in more detail in following blogs. In each situation that we face those qualities come into play, and they may be at different levels depending on how we feel about the given situation.

Integral Deep Listening explores how our subconscious perceives itself according to these six qualities. It also explores how we would act differently if we scored high in all these areas. It also helps us discover new ways of resolving current life issues. Please see my post for an in depth explanation of IDL: What is Dream Yoga?.

The six core qualities that I will explain over the next postings are:

• confidence
• compassion
• wisdom
• acceptance
• inner peace
• witnessing

Integral Deep Listening works well for everyone, it even works while undergoing chemotherapy and the chemo fog that comes with it.

Hypnotherapy and Cancer

When it comes to cancer, or any disease really, hypnotherapy works great. It helps with stress management, pain relief, insomnia, and controlling fear. With the proper post hypnotic suggestions all of these can be sustained through the entire treatment process.

What the suggestions are depends on the person. Some respond well to just remembering to breathe deeply, others need a little more than that. Getting to know you is what will give the best results through the whole process and will guide the hypnotherapist to what works best.

To get the best results seeing a hypnotherapist before starting treatments will give better success to the treatments through the whole process. Especially before starting chemotherapy. With chemotherapy a person will get what is commonly known as chemo brain.

Chemo brain is a side effect of the chemotherapy. It fogs the thinking process to the point that it is sometimes difficult to put sentences together, it effects short term memory, and has the effect of being in a different state of mind. This different state of mind makes it difficult, if not impossible, to be hypnotized. This is when having the proper post hypnotic suggestions is crucial. Being reminded of them will help to relieve stress, pain, fear, and insomnia.

There are other ways to relieve these problems without using hypnotherapy, and a good hypnotherapist will know what they are and how they can help you.

The New Normal. What does that mean?

Just what does the phrase “new normal” mean? It means that whatever had been the status quo before cancer is not going to be the same after cancer. So that's a very basic definition, yet that doesn't really convey exactly what it means.

I have found that the recovery period was not so much for getting over the disease itself, more for the recovery from the treatment process. I am still learning to live with some side effects from chemo therapy and radiation therapy. Hopefully these will clear up shortly, a couple may take longer. These are part of what my new normal is now. Yet these aren't the only things that have changed.

When I first started this last journey with cancer I had in mind of going back to work when I was done with treatment and could think little clearer. After going through the treatments and all the changes that brought on, I now know that working a regular job is not for me. I am putting myself totally into what I have wanted to do. I am writing, I am promoting myself and my business, I am doing exactly what I want.

I am not the only person to get to the other side of treatment to realize that life is to short to live like others expect. Now is the time to do exactly what you are passionate about. I had been taking care of myself, and being selfish during treatment, just because I am done with treatment doesn't mean I have to stop taking care of myself. The same goes for everyone who has dealt with any serious illness. Even though you are past the illness itself doesn't mean you have to stop taking care of you.

This is where keeping the lines of communication open is a big step to getting the support that you need. My book, I've Got What, helps you to open those lines of communication with yourself and those who care about you.

Video Games and Healing

Using our imagination to “think” ourselves healthy is a good thing. The only problem is that most adults have a very limited imagination. This is usually because we spend our time with the day to day necessities of life. We have forgotten how to play.

When I watch a child play they are in their own little world. They make up the rules for their play as they go along. They are in control of what happens in their world. Even when faced with a debilitating illness they find a way to play. With encouragement they even use their imagination to be the hero in their own fight to beat their illness.

After being diagnosed with cancer I wanted to do more than just follow doctors orders. I wanted to be at the center of making myself healthy once again. I remembered an old article that I had read many years ago about children that were encouraged to see themselves and their own immune system as heroes. These heroes then would do battle with the disease. The study recognized that the children who had been encouraged to become the heroes in their recovery were quicker to recover than those children who had not been encouraged to be their own heroes.

Knowing that my own thought processes and imagination were hampered by the chemo therapy I decided to use video games to boost my imagination. I found a game where I could create my own character, and become the hero of the game. For every villain, bandit, necromancer, vampire, werewolf, and dragon that I killed it was one more cancer cell that died never to return. I believe that between the chemo therapy and the video game I was able to beat cancer.

In my play through while under going treatment my character is a nord with a two-handed battle ax. This character is now strong enough to knock the legs out from under the opponent before striking them on the head for the death blow. The name of my character is a German word for death.

Video games can be a waste of time, especially if playing them comes before everything else that needs to be done. Yet, when you can't go anywhere, see anyone, or do anything, they are a great escape. When you use it as a supplement to your imagination to beat an illness, no matter what it is, they are a very good thing indeed. The video games help to focus the attention thereby keeping the imagination engaged.

What is Dream Yoga/IDL?

The previous three posts are examples of Dream Yoga/IDL interviews. There is a lot we can learn from our subconscious mind when we learn how it communicates with us. When we learn to listen to the small, quiet voice of our subconscious we then act in our own best interest and the best interest of those around us.

Our conscious and subconscious mind is like an ice burg. The part that is above the water is like the conscious mind, it's only ten percent of the whole. It's the ten percent that we think of as being in charge; it's the part that makes active decisions on what to do. The other ninety percent that is our subconscious, it's the part that regulates our bodies functions, walking, eating, everything that we do without thinking about it. Our subconscious also is where different aspects of ourselves are. These different aspects of ourselves see the life issues and other problems that we face every day differently than our conscious mind does.

Through the interview process we talk to a different aspect of ourselves that has insight on the life issue, problem, or physical symptom that we are experiencing. When we listen to what we have to say we gain strength, and are able to resolve issues that we thought we impossible. Our minds and bodies are wonderful at keeping us healthy both physically and mentally as long as we listen to them. Dream Yoga/IDL is a very interactive way to explore and listen to our own inner knowledge.

Introduction

This is a quick introduction of who I am, what my business does, and why I started this business. There is quite a bit of information to be given, yet I will keep it short and expound upon it another time. More details later.

In 2001 I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. I went through surgery and radiation therapy. While I was going through all of the treatments, I had wanted something else other than the medicines that I was given for pain relief and nausea, sometimes the side effects were worse than what I was taking them for. I started meditating using guided imagery to gain some balance in my health care.

I wanted to do more to help others that are going through some of the same treatments that I had gone through. It took some time to find the right school that would give me the training I wanted. I found the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts. I am now a Certified Hypnotherapist, a Life Coach, a certificate of excellence in Integral Deep Listening, and Chinese Shamanism.

I use the tools and techniques that I have learned to help those that have been given a diagnosis of a serious illness and their caregiver to empower their health care and their lives. I help them with pain management, stress management, insomnia, healthy eating, simple exercises, and the emotional needs that come with any long term illness.

My name is Adrianne Snyder, I am a Certified Hypnotherapist, Life Coach. My business is her to empower your life and health care.