How big is your Innerspace?Can you remember when life seemed to have more meaning? When did it change? What was happening or not happening when it changed? How can you get your life back or more on track?

Many people notice life changes when the sun hides out behind all the grey skies for extended periods. Others find it happening after some change in their life. Anything from moving, job changes, relationship changes or not having a relationship, thwarted dreams, plans or goals. There are lots of reasons aren’t there?

Have you felt yourself spinning in space, seemingly stuck or not moving at all or floating aimlessly? Innerspace is a big place and our unconscious mind is not limited to the small cavity inside our head … it has infinite space to store things as well.

Supposing any of the above is true for you, what can you do to change?

Ahh… good question. So glad you asked! The really good news is, according to some very insightful people (Buddha, spiritual leader; Abe Lincoln, President; William James, father of American Psychology), our realities are a sort of ‘mental construct’ in which we unconsciously create our programs or patterns virtually every moment.

Now back to being Lost in Innerspace.  Good news! There are ways to work with the mind to create more resourceful or useful patterns and programs! You can gain direction and control of those areas that have gotten away from you. How might someone make those wonderful changes and have life feel more meaningful or connected again? The answer might surprise you and then again for many people it will be of course.

You can learn to make those wonderful changes. I would like to show you how to use something that is designed to get past the conscious mind and work where the ‘mental constructs’ are happening. We work together by using a proven process.  Hypnotherapy and it’s cousin NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) can be amazing ships to help you navigate your Innerspace. You can redesign or redefine your Innerspace. Let me show you how.

Discover more on how to work with your own Innerspace. Connect with me. Call Rich at Apositiva for Counseling, Coaching and Training at 503-525-0595 or email  Rich   I would look forward to being your guide.

Managing IBS

When you hear this statement do you get riled up? Do you wonder what aweful thing is happening now? Or… do you get excited about a new cure for pain, a solution to a world problem, an agreement between sides in a conflict? Well, it’s up to you what you want to do with your mind, but could I offer something useful? A new report says that Hypnotherapy provides a long-lasting effect for pain.

Hypnotherapy has been found as a long-term resolution for pain control. Yes! Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) sufferers have found it can even save health care costs. Doctors and health care providers want you to feel better and there are many ways to get you there. If you have tried everything else, you might want to consider Hypnotherapy.

A study was recently published by the US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health focusing on IBS. The report stated:

“A total of 87% of all patients reported that they considered gut-directed hypnotherapy to be worth while.” Conclusion. This long-term follow-up study indicates that gut-directed hypnotherapy in refractory IBS is an effective treatment option with long-lasting effects.”  (Long-term effects of hypnotherapy in patients with refractory irritable bowel syndrome, published Feb. 20, 2012)

How long does it take? Approximately six to nine appointments.

Want more information? Give us a call and we’ll be happy to answer your questions. The important thing is to stop hurting now and start living more comfortably!

Call for an appointment to discuss how we can help you release the pain of IBS. You can reach Cat at 503-525-0594 and Rich at 503-525-0595.

Explore Safe Play

Recently I made a visit home. How many of you go back to a safe place you used to call home? It’s an odd experience. Why? Well, because there is another me living back there that is still “her.” The 8-year-old kid. It’s like when I left I stayed that age back there, and moved on to grow up out there. It’s not a big problem for me, but it reminds me how far I have come. Every child needs a safe place to play and call home and I was lucky. I had this place that encouraged me to explore and grow.

One of my colleagues teaches Fourth Grade, as well as College evening classes business. She loves it! I asked her how it feels to have such a split, and she told me, “Most of them are men, and men are basically boys. In class they all feel like they’re 8-year-old kids to me.” What an interesting view! She explained that people seem to act a certain way in the context of a safe place to learn. School to a person may be a place where they sit still and listen, or throw spitballs (depending on the type of 8-year-old kid they were). Yet, they all seem to revert back in time when they get in the classroom and when it feels safe to be. Just be.

On my visit, my brothers and I all fell into the role of who we were back when we all lived at home. My brothers joked around like when we were kids… albeit they were different jokes. My mother reverted back in time, too…  baking lots of cookies and delicious muffins, and offered to make bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwiches for all of us to enjoy for lunch. It felt fun to hear the offer and see the cookies… only my response was different now in time with food, than back when I was a child. “Mom, are the cookies made with wheat? I am on a gluten-free diet and don’t eat wheat. What does that mean? I can’t eat the cookies and muffin. No, I don’t eat wheat bread. Yes, that pasta is wheat and, no, I can’t have the spaghetti.”

My mother was concerned and asked me if I had Celiac disease. “No,” I explained, “just a wheat sensitivity. I feel great. I don’t miss it. Really!”

Thinner, healthier, more alert, and comfortable in my own skin, I was able to stand up to the scrutiny of questions. I felt good inside, and that made me look good outside, too.  I was the grown up coaching my younger self. Yet, the little kid was still hanging around… looking in the cabinets, the refrigerator and noticing what I used to eat that I thought helped me. Funny thing… when I stopped taking in that stuff I felt happier… and I grew. Once I thought about all that, it also occurred to me that I used to take in “comments” from other kids that didn’t feel good. Comments from other people belong to other people – not my words, so I don’t take them in anymore either. Oh, yes, I respect people sharing their ideas, but if someone tears down or insults how I live a healthy life I can smile and be true to myself. And, yes, I can say “no thanks” to a cookie now with the help of my grown up self.

For a moment here and there time would stop, I would remember, reflect, and realize that I’d moved on. We grow when we give ourselves new fields to play in, work in, bloom in different seasons. If we don’t change… we think the same way, we act the same way, we get results the same way. Change one thing the rest seems to start to change and grow, too. You get new and better results.

Be a courageous soul, and venture out and learn about the world. In Portland, Oregon you can go out on the Tri-Met and travel all over the city! An exciting daily excursion! Go out and explore a new place for a few hours. There are Tri-Met busses that will take you to Apositiva (Hamilton Street between Barbur Boulevard and Corbett Street). Or give yourself a change of pace for a few weeks, a few months, a few years and see how you change and who you become. It may be that someone is waiting inside of you… to grow.  Along your way, look for interesting classes and workshops to expand on your ideas. This is a time for change in the world and the way we make it new and fresh is by starting with ourselves.

Apositiva offers interesting workshops. Right now we are taking new students for Growing Coach Training, class begins April 20-22nd. It is a playful environment. Gluten-free snacks served while you learn in a safe adult atmosphere.  Experience coaching yourself and learn how to do it well with others. There’s nothing like seeing the ‘AH HA’ light up in people. We offer a safe place to play. Classes are experiential and the atmosphere is open to all, professional and life learners.

Oh, by the way, living gluten-free is amazing! In Portland, many restaurants and bakeries are looking out for those of us who are wheat sensitive. One place I love is New Cascadia Bakery.   At Apositiva Institute, we offer non-gluten snacks during our week-end workshops, so everyone gets to enjoy the benefit.

Every kid (inside and out) needs a safe place to play and grow. It’s a time of change. Are you changing with the times?  Come play here. Call Cat or Rich for new classes being offered this spring and summer of 2012. Don’t see the class you wanted? Give us a call and we’ll see how we can work with your needs.  Calling (503)525-0594 will get you to Cat. (503)525-0595 will get you to Rich.

It’s time for a positive change. Learn Play Grow!

Bumps Ahead

Over the last year, I’ve worked with hundreds of people who want to change something. Habits, attitudes, shape of their body, focus ability, and you name it. Everyone who comes in has a few gifts that another person who came in would have loved. As a matter of fact, there wasn’t a single something that one person came in for that someone else would have wanted. Even procrastination!

Bill is a wonderful friend, and I love him dearly. He had an interesting twist on procrastination. He and I met for coffee at Moonstruck one day and he told me about his perspective. Just so that you know where Bill is coming from, allow me to share a little about him. He is a numbers guy with a heart. Formerly a Vice President of Accounting for a large company (years ago), he now is a Consultant that goes in and helps Nonprofits and Profit companies. In his spare time, he does volunteer work at an amazing place called The Dougy Center. This is a center that helps children who have lost brothers and sisters or parents. Bill is a smart and amazing guy.

Procrastination he said is a “tool.” You might not need it when you want to get something done, but it is sooooo useful when you want to “not do something.”

“That is confusing, Bill. What do you mean?” I asked.

“Take a habit you don’t want to continue. For example, eating sugary items like cake or cookies. Simply use your ‘Procrastinating Tool’ and you’ll be fine. Just keep on saying, ‘ not now… maybe tomorrow’ and after a while you realize you haven’t eaten that for a month!” He smiled.

Realizing he was on to something, we laughed about all the habits we didn’t want that we could procrastinate on. Here are some we came up with:

• smoking
• eating french fries and fatty food
• smoking cigarettes (and everything else)
• drinking alcohol and rotten coconut juice
• being late for important activities like exercising at the gym
• organizing (closet, paperwork, writing-my-book articles, etc.)

This is a small list when you consider everything you could procrastinate. I’d love to hear from you readers what you’d like to procrastinate.
Procrastinating will get you started (odd to think that), but there are still some other problem people have when they want to change.

People frequently are afraid of the problems that they will encounter when they do change. If they stop smoking, how will they ever be able to share a visit with their best friends … the people they hang out with at the local bar? What will they do when they need a break? If they are on a diet, and can’t eat sweets what will happen when it is little Jamie’s birthday and people insist you eat cake? How do we deal with these times? These are bumps in the road.

Maybe you have driven down a road that has speed bumps. Let me ask you this question: When you get to a sign that says bumps ahead do you stop? Do you decide not to drive down the street because you’ll have to go over a few bumps… albeit slowly? Of course not! You can apply that same strategy to the times when you find yourself facing the hang out people and the cake. Go slow… decide what you will do when you get there (i.e. procrastinate) and continue on your journey.

You know there will be some bumps, so just decide a new strategy to use when you get there so you can make it to your destination. You’ll get there.

As Rich and I say to all our clients and students, “Arrive safely to your next destination.”

February and March are great months to map out your journey. If you think you have a great idea, then get it going now.  Come in for a free coaching session with Rich or Cat. Fun. Experiential. Productive. Call us at 503-525-0594 or 503-525-0594

Between the Stones

Stuck between a rock and a hard place? Life challenging you too much? Looking for a new perspective or to  hear another plan?  Cat has something special JUST FOR YOU!

First, allow me to share a story. A young woman who is close to me talked to me about feeling stuck in her life. She was working two part-time jobs, dealing with problems with where she lived, and trying to figure out a current relationship – all  overwhelming her and she just couldn’t see through the fog of these issues. She didn’t know what to do, and thought she was doing the best she could possibly choose.

One of my colleagues had come and told me about someone close to her in the same position. Both of us where too close to the person to work with them due to a conflict of interest. We wanted to  help. So, we put our heads together and came up with this idea. Over the course of a few weeks it came together and felt really good because we tried it on ourselves and we could see with new eyes! Taking this into action… we talked to people and they agreed to try it out.  Amazing! It was so simple and yet gave such a positive solution!  Although I can only speak with permission on the woman close to me, I can tell you that she found a myriad of ideas that she had never thought of, and that right now her life is already on a more positive track. Yes, she is doing better and looking towards her future with new eyes.

Are you wishing you could get new perspective? This brief, but powerful morning workshop is for you!

Cat Wilson is known as a dynamic and heart-centered instructor. She brings her wealth of working with human issues and creative training techniques to create a fun learning experience. Participants will walk out with new eyes and a book to begin the new journey. Cat is teaching this class at Portland Community College (Sylvania Campus). Use the PCC Registration link below.

Life Scripts

Come to play with a life event, challenge, or something happening in your life where you feel stuck. By the end of the day, you will have a collection of ideas to help widen perspective and move forward in accomplishing your challenge.

Registration: www.pcc.edu

Driving on Road to Challenge

The blog “Dreary to Dreamy” elicited so many responses and one person asked me to expand on it. So, here is another expansion on one aspect… creating the fuel to get you going.

Given the circumstances you find yourself in, life may or may not be what you want.. exactly.  One woman I know lives in Colorado and has chosen a life in nursing. Her days are filled with helping people who may or may not be appreciative.   Her dream was to provide an important service and knowing how smart she is, perhaps she is interested in being a witness to the human. As a traveling nurse, she actually moves around the country and works in different states. Each hospital has its own structure and rules and order and characteristics. Hospitals are places of many things. Birth. Illness. Fear. Science. Miracles.  Becoming a nurse was her desire, but the environment and place she is in may or may not make her happy. Yet, she fuels up and heads  out to do this dream, despite the dreary aspects.

When we find ourselves doing what we had hoped to be doing, but something is missing in the dream, it can be useful to check our perspective.

Let’s do a Check In with these four questions:

• What is my mission or purpose ?
• What is my intention (in this moment, in this day, in this career)?
• Who do I want to include in my experience?
• Which beliefs support my mission, and what beliefs hold me back?

How many people do you know are actually conscious of their mission or purpose? Are they drifters letting life happen? Do they blame others (family, politicians, cultures) for their problems?  Our students work on their missions, so they have a focus. Once that is worked out with intentions, people and beliefs then they are fueled!  It takes a little time to separate the ideas of what other people want us to do. Then check what you believe is possible and taking action.

When you bump into the wayward soul who has no direction and “fire” inside to fuel them they can become driftwood. Driftwood in the rivers bumps into boats and gets in the way. Driftwood can also build up to the point of creating a dam, and blocking energy. If there is driftwood, get it out of your way.

Energy Flows Where Attention Goes as Directed by Intention

When you feel fueled with intention, you have that drive and can meet up with obstacles and work through them.

I remember a time when I was a teenager and really wanted to go to my friend’s house. Overnight the winter snow storm covered everything with a few feet of snow. Snow plows made it through, but the driveway needed shoveling. I wanted to go out, but I didn’t want to shovel snow, but for this time when I wanted to visit my friend, all this energy came available and I HAPPILY shoveled our driveway, the sidewalk, and sat in the car while it was warming so my mother would drive me.

Enthusiasm I felt in that moment fired me up, fueled me up, and was contageous! People in other houses came out when they heard me shoveling, and joined in the activity around their houses. What a funny thing!

The point here is that I intended to visit my friend and I believed I could do it with actions that would support everyone involved. I was fueled.

Enriching the lives of others is what Rich and I desire to do. We’d like to enrich your life. Let us know what you are interested in and how we can help.

Magic Slippers

Recently I was listening to a speech by Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of “Eat, Pray, Love” on TED.com. Gilbert talked about genius and creativity and where it comes from.  In ancient times, people saw creativity as being a power of the Gods, fairies, elves, or magic. She also talked about fears about creative ventures.

There are creative ways to make a wish happen.  Creating it in your mind is the beginning. I like the vision of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz knowing that all she had to do was make a wish while wearing her ruby red slippers and click her heels three times.  This puts the power into the feet to take a “step forward.”

You have wishes. Your have dreams. You have goals! Yes, you do. Think about it. Imagine having your complete wish, your happy goal, and sit with that for a minute. Yeah! Add a little color, turn up the music, taste the spices, feel it in your grasp, smell the roses!  Ahhhh…  so good to take a moment with a dream, create a goal and see it in your mind. This is known as daydreaming, the same state of mind as you can use with hypnosis. Anyone who has taken a class or come for a session learns that “all hypnosis is self-hypnosis” and we are your helpful guides, keeping you on the path.

Hypnosis is a wonderful and useful skill, and it can help you achieve what is important to you by giving you focus, peaceful and organized thoughts, and some good brain chemistry to keep you stepping forward.

If you truly want to get your magic slippers in the right direction, make a list of a few ideas, and get going. Are you feeling stuck? Come in for an appointment. Or, how about this. Talk to a friend and come in for a local community class.  How about “Goal Setting Through Hypnosis”?

You can sign up for one day class with Cat Wilson, an Instructor at Portland Community College (Sylvania Campus) in Portland, Oregon. She is presenting an entertaining day on “Goal Setting Through Hypnosis” which will begin at 10:00 am and finish at 4:50 pm. You will receive a wonderful book with an audio cd to practice your motivating and inspiring sessions after the class, too! Anyone who has been in a class with Cat knows this will be active and experiential and fun!

Ready to get going? Good. Sign up and pay $39 to Portland Community College, and bring a check for a $15 material fee to Apositiva Institute, too. Grab your ruby red slippers (or golden green ones) and meet Cat in room HT324 at PCC. Cat will be waiting with her ruby red slippers just for you!

SIGN UP INFORMATION

Goal Setting Through Hypnosis
Class CRN 16913
Saturday, January 28th, 2012  UPDATE: Moved to SUMMER: June 30th, 2012
Time: 10:00 am – 4:50 pm
Portland Community College, Sylvania Campus, Room HT 324
Fee to PCC: $39
Material Fee to Instructor: $15

www.pcc.edu/nc
Phone 503-977-8888 Pay by Phone: 503-977-4234

Paradise Garden

“Hello! Welcome! Hair cut today? Nails?”

“Yes,” I said, actually only coming in for a hair trim.

“Five, maybe 10 minutes. You come sit and relax.” She directed me to a comfortable chair with controls to massage my back… patiently waiting until I sat down, she set up the controls and asked if ok. Nodding, I agreed.

Sitting back in the lovely salon massage chair, I waited my turn to have a hair trim. Originally, I hadn’t planned on having a manicure, but I was so grateful sitting there that I considered it. Stressed and tired, my intention was to ensure the scalp massage, hair wash and new style to feel better. Yet, her friendly open manner had instantly made me feel at home in her care. Sonia (not her real name) was the owner, a most congenial person, and the most customer-sensitive person. Her husband Bob (not his real name) worked with her and could do nails as well as all the other wonderful duties required in such a business.

“Tea? Green tea okay?” Bob asked me.

“Yes, thank you.” I smiled. Wow. I hadn’t expected that!

“Here you go.  Haircut and Pedicure today?”

“No, I’m having a hair trim.”

“Okay. Good. Sonia is good. You’ll like it. Let me know if you need anything.”

Relaxing, enjoying my green tea, I felt the simple pleasure of being cared for. Such a nice celebration of human spirit. Looking around, I saw the same satisfied look on the other faces, men and women.  Lots of interaction. Although the ladies performing the pedicures, manicures and hair dressing didn’t speak perfect English, they were all such good listeners. When the door jingled, they jumped up to attend to every person, old, young, male, female. Made no difference. Every person was treated with the exact same helping of kindness, “Hello! How are you? Come in, come in. Haircut? Manicure/Pedicure?”

It felt good to sit here. Such a warm, inviting atmosphere. I’ve heard that Starbucks strives to give each customer at least a few moments of intent attention. It feels good to go there, too.

Soon it was time to have my hair trimmed. Sonia came over smiling, and beckoned me over to the station where everything was neat and waiting.  She worked so fluidly moving between customers.

“Okay, tell me what you want?” She stood paying close attention. Then she asked me if she could also do some “new” ideas, too. Nodding my head, I was pretty open to anything from this angel of relaxation. By the time I left I was glad! I felt beautiful inside and out. (Yes, I got the manicure and pedicure.)

It’s been over a dozen years now, and Sonia and I have enjoyed many haircuts over the years together. Both she and her husband know how many children I have, and ask about grandchildren. Such a sweet relationship. Yet, I was curious about how she got here… to the USA, so I asked. She smiled, and began the story.

Sonia was a young girl in a war torn country. Life was hard and there were no luxuries… at least not in her home. It was tough enough to get simple necessities… like food.  In her small village, her mother gave her a few coins and she and her siblings would buy a sweet potato, which was cooked by a local vendor on the way to school. This was to serve as her first and second meal of the day. Her family was poor, and she felt it right on down to her only two sets of clothes. One to clean and one to go out to school.

After so many years of watching her father with no work, her mother trying to make money any way she could, and her own hard labor as a child, she decided she would find a way out. Her memory was fresh about how lush and green she remembered the country of her birth, but how poverty made life so difficult.

Now, I wish to mention that Sonia was in a war-torn country that our soldiers had impacted. You can use whatever you have in your head to argue what this means, but the hard, cold fact is that life was destroyed for her family and friends, and people had nothing.  American soldiers, however, had filled their heads with tales of a country of great bounty. Stories of the great America! It sounded like paradise! “You should go to America,” her father told her. “You should go to America when you can.” She agreed.

The day came when an escape was possible. They were refugees. A boat would leave at 7pm and head into the ocean, carrying many people… a storm in the near future. Yet, the opportunity to leave was like a sweet call to paradise. She arranged for her voyage and her younger brother to go. She feared plans could change so she only told her mother on the day of the boat. Can you imagine hearing this from your child? In their case, it was the only hope for an improved life. They said good-bye to their family, not knowing when they’d see eachother next (turned out seven years).

BELIEVE

They headed out of their home, Taking what little money they had, purchased better clothes, and with nothing more headed to an unknown land for an unknown possibility… all based on possibilities. As things go, the boat actually launched and the small vessel was tossed in the seas, and she found herself terrified, but holding strong for the others consisted of many children. She made a promise, “One day I will have children who will live a better life.”

There is so much more to the story, including threats of being imprisoned by the Chinese, the rolling waves of an ocean with a tiny boat, refugee camps she lived in for months, and the hurdles she jumped to learn our customs and become a citizen. She did it all. She did it well.  Maybe this is why her customer service skills are so amazing.

I listened to the dream of a lifetime from this tiny lady, so strong, so courageous!

Sonia’s daughter is about to graduate after four years at university, studying to be a doctor. She is a kind and gentle spirit, and worked hard for the scholarships she won with high grades and work with people in missions. Sonia’s son works and attends university. Parents are proud.

“You should write a book,” the other beautician says in her Tualatin Salon.

“I will,” Sonia smiles. When my daughter and son graduate, I will tell them that this is the success that I dreamed of a lifetime. They complete my dream.

Okay… this gives one person’s dream. They couldn’t see what was going to happen, but they had a dream… it took over 30 years, but it’s real.  Take a moment and think about your dream. Impossible? How could you make it possible? Be strong. Be courageous. Dream big. Now, go get your dream!

Feel free to give Cat or Rich a call if we can help you get your dream started. We’ll look forward to hearing from you.

Cats Listen

Hi, I’m Dancer, the local cat mascot for Apositiva and today is my turn to write a blog. I’ve been watching my humans and listening.  You seem to be in a conversation about your world. I’m only in the background and people typically don’t ask me for advice, but I could give it. What am I hearing around here? Divorce, poverty, death, personal abuse, substance abuse, illness. Stories of suicides, cancer, safety fill the news portals.

From a cat’s point of world, we are watchers. We find a safe perch and observe.  I like to watch you people, and I think you are fascinating animals, but sometimes you seem like you can’t see yourself. We as cats learn a lot by watching and listening. For instance, just by hanging out I’ve learned how to recognize signs that a person may show when they are in distress. It’s good to remember that any of these signs can be caused by physical as well as emotional challenges. Here are some signs I’ve seen in humans when they are struggling.

o  Physical issues like tired or red eyes, drowsiness, fatigue, bruises, eating too much or too little
o  Erratic mood swings, apathy, or lethargy
o  Secrecy
o  Chronic lying
o  Withdrawal from school and family
o  Hygiene and personal appearance are neglected
o  Less enthusiasm, loss of ambition, and abandoning goals
o  Falling quality of work

As a cat I think that hygiene is very important. Anyone who has watched me knows I take excellent care of my feline attributes from whisker to tail. When I see you people it makes me want to give you some tips.  Since no one has asked and the computer was left unattended I feel it’s my feline duty to feed you a little. After all you can be a leader and make a difference by helping others:

Let’s start with these steps:

o  Trust. Create an open and comfortable atmosphere when humans express themselves.
o  Listen, listen, listen … seriously. Listen with your heart, mind and your gut!
o  Put aside your story and let them finish before adding your ideas.
o  Differences. Humans come in many colors and shapes and sounds. Be sensitive to differences.
o  Be real. If you hear a myth or hyped up information talk about it and help get the facts.
o  Relax with them. Go for a walk, share a good story, smell something nice.

Being there when a human is going through a crisis can make a difference. I know this, because when my master is struggling I come over and sit on his shoulder. After he pets me for a while he feels better. Come to think of it… so do I!

Helping humans in crisis around you makes it more pleasant for we cats. So, I’ve done my bit today. If you want to learn more you will need to contact my master Rich Aanrich at Apositiva. Oh, look! Here’s his personal cell phone number: 503. 754.8226!  Tell him you saw his cat’s blog.

Viewing Rainy Portland

Dreary morning… pouring rain, blowing wind… you feel alone… and a little bit of depression sets in.  Weather taking a bite out of our day – eh?  I know when this happens to many people it can feel sad or scary.  Sometimes being around dreary people can take a bite out of you, too.  Unless you are trained as a therapist or know how to deal with this energy you feel down, and down, and down. Hmmm.  You caught the dulldrums. What to do… what to do? What to do?

One way to get out of the dulldrums is to start with realizing that you’re slipping down the hole that Alice in Wonderland fell in.  Grab a hold of a good deeeeeep breathe and let it go slowly. Do that a couple more times till you feel the ease in your shoulders, sort of like your shoulders drop down a bit. Now close your eyes and picture a colorful flower, like a red tulib, yellow rose, violets, or bright orange marigold. Listen for calming sounds like the ticking of a clock, sounds to lull you into a quiet space, or if you’re lucky the purring of a cat. (smile) Imagine smelling peppermint, orange or vanilla.

Decide with intention that when you open your eyes you will give yourself a gift of joy. Keep your eyes closed. Now, create a story in your mind of something or some experience that would be really fun. Theatre, softball, dancing, writing poetry, swimming, driving to Toronto, whatever looks and sounds like a different experience. Wander around in that for a while. When you find yourself smiling, open your eyes and look up and take a breathe. Now ask yourself what is needed for you to do for yourself today. Make a mental list of activities that you want to work on. Pick what is most important and valuable.  Imagine that you are surrounded with golden light. Build that feeling until you feel the smile, the warmth or a shift. Open your eyes…  take a few moments and jot down the ideas in your mental list that you want to work on. Now just take it step by step.

You can give yourself another boost with a glass of water or hot green tea later. You can take a walk. (Even walks in the rain can be enlivening.)  Work on completing one small idea on your list and get started on another one. By the end of the day you realize with pride how you lifted yourself and got something done.

You’ve gone from dreary to dreamy and are now in a happier mood, and the depressing, dreary dulldrums are withering.  Remember that light you imagined? Turn it up again when you get around others. It’s a big world out there and everyone gets their boatload of challenges, just like you get yours. You remember now that it’s not necessary to take on the rest of the world. Just manage your list.

Give this a try and let me know how it goes. Feel free to give me a call if you want a guide to give you another boost. We are here for you at Apositiva in Portland.