scienceofselfhealing.com

I tell my clients that when we resolve an issue in one area of their life, it will most likely affect all life areas in some way; however, we can only resolve one major issue at a time - it’s the way the mind works. We’re “peeling the onion;” when you remove one layer, there’s another underneath it, and another under that, and so on. Getting to the center is a lifelong process, and occasionally, we need help along the way.

This is the story of David’s second breakthrough.

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David’s periodic episodes of arrhythmia, which he’d experienced for over 20 years, hadn’t come up in his first BreakThrough. He’d started experiencing episodes of panic that increased in severity until he was hospitalized. He became consumed by the fear that another such episode could endanger his life, and had started playing “what if….?” scenarios in his head. “What if this happens on a plane? What if it happens when I’m driving? What if I’m halfway around the world and it happens?” In short, that it could be risky for him to leave home at all!

All his tests were normal, and there was nothing wrong with his heart. His doctor told him it was an electrical issue brought on by stress; the medical protocol: drugs. David had been able to safely stop taking the prescription medications he’d taken for years to treat his PTSD and he didn’t want to take drugs. He’d worked hard to use healthy food and natural supplements to support his body. He knew from our prior work together that he was generating his own stress by how he was emotionally reacting to his perceptions of what was going on in his world.

He contacted me and we met to discuss how he was experiencing the mind/body connection in action; his feelings (emotions) were affecting his body. We knew right away that this was another situation where a complete BreakThrough was the optimal solution.

He was still experiencing all the positive changes from his 1st BreakThrough the previous year. He knew the process works, and that now he was encountering a different issue in a different area of his life.

We started immediately with a session of energy work to clear and balance his energy system, and I gave him a few suggestions and reminders for things he could do on his own before his first BreakThrough appointment. He reported feeling much better immediately - in the week between his energy session and the first BreakThrough session he experienced only a few “bumps”, or flutters in his heart rate; nothing that made him fearful of a significant event.

We incorporated energy work and some different techniques in breaking through this time, as this was a different issue requiring a different approach.

At his follow-up appointment, he expressed some concern that he might need a “recovery strategy,” a process to follow if he felt he was having difficulty enforcing his new boundaries and focusing on what he wants.

We revisited his desired outcome and how he’d know the problem was gone, and found that what he was experiencing was the confusion that results when old programs are disconnected - he WAS getting his desired outcome and the problem WAS gone. I asked him how he was dealing with situations that threatened his balance and we discovered that he’d already developed his own recovery strategy, using the tools I had taught him. His confidence was fully restored when he realized that he was doing all the right things.

David continues to report that his heart rhythm and blood pressure remain normal and he’s better able to manage his responses to events around him. In addition, he’s writing more than ever, and he commented that he hasn’t been as passionate about writing in over twenty years.

David returns periodically for “tune ups,” usually in the form of energy work or short coaching consultations designed to help him maintain balance. With this type of “maintenance,” he is able to continue moving forward toward his goal of health and well-being, knowing that if he uses the tools he’s learned and focuses on what he wants, he can achieve success.

You can read the story of David’s first BreakThrough here: http://scienceofselfhealing.com/blog/davids-first-breakthrough

I met a man the other day, a U.S. military veteran of the wars in the Middle East who has come home & returned to the workforce. He said that no one returns from that conflict unmarked; actually, he said everyone returns “not quite right,” including himself. He’s been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the bane of warriors since the beginning of time, and he sees a therapist in his home city of Chicago.

In April, the Rand Corp. released the results of a study of returning veterans. The study showed that about 300,000 U.S. troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan (about 18.5%) suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, roughly the same results of a government study released in February. The Rand study goes on to conclude that only about half of these returning veterans receive care, and that in half of those cases the care is only “minimally adequate.”

With few exceptions, humans have to be “psyched up” for war - physically, mentally, emotionally, & yes, even spiritually. Does this preparation just evaporate when the need is over? Absolutely not. The conscious mind rationalizes that “I’m home now; it’s over. I can get back to my life…,” but the unconscious mind, which was the target of the preparation, has to release not only the conditioning (training), but also the post traumatic stress itself. You don’t just talk yourself out of it.

The ancient Hawaiians knew that warriors returning home couldn’t just lay down their arms and return to society as if they’d never left. There were places of refuge in the Islands where the warriors went for a period of adjustment; where healers helped them clear their minds and emotions, balance their energies, and remember what it was to be the husband, father, son, or brother, and member of a community. They didn’t go home until this process was complete, for it was understood that it could be disastrous to release a warrior still in battle condition back into society - disastrous for both the citizen and the society. In their culture, there was no mental illness, no “depression”, no post traumatic stress, and outside of war, rare violence against members of their own society.

We tend to think of post traumatic stress as strictly a result of war. This is not so - victims of violence, especially children, often experience this malady. In my study and my work, I’ve found that the post traumatic stress that surfaces during or after a war experience often has its roots early in life. I worked with a veteran who had been in traditional therapies for this disorder since returning from Vietnam in the 1970’s. It was his war experience that resulted in the diagnosis, but his first experience with post traumatic stress occurred when he was five years old.

We continue to work together occasionally; and he’s made what he considers amazing progress over the course of 15 months when compared to the previous 36 years of treatment. The commonly used Western therapies have proven to be largely ineffective in terms of significant relief or resolution. On the other hand, holistic techniques such as NeuroLinguistic Programming, hypnosis, and energy work are highly effective in releasing the wounds and bringing a person back into balance in a relatively short period of time.

If you or someone you know is struggling to find relief and release from post traumatic stress, find a practitioner of these holistic methods, the sooner the better, so the programs of war and violence can be dismantled.

And to those who serve on our behalf, I send the Light of love, compassion, and gratitude, and wish you many blessings as you remember your way back home.