Monthly Archives: December 2008
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Posted: December 31, 2008Read more »
We got this from Dinah, back in the days when we sold guided imagery on tape:
I am a large, Goddess-like woman, about 5’9” and maybe 285 pounds. I love to eat and so do my adult boys, who are also of generous proportions. Let me be clear: I like the way I look, and so does my boyfriend. But I started listening to guided imagery for Weight Loss for my health. I wanted to lose around 50 pounds for my blood pressure and my knees.I kept one tape in my car so I could listen as I drove around (even though I know you are not supposed to) and one at home by my bed, to listen to before falling asleep. It was definitely having an effect on me, because I wasn’t as hungry. I was mellow. The fried foods that I normally adore were starting to feel greasy and unpleasant on my tongue. Even though I was not getting on the scale (I think that is a bad idea), I could tell from my clothes that I was losing weight. I had more energy too. But that is not what this tale is about.
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Posted: December 31, 2008Categories: Update from Health JourneysRead more »
Well, it’s a new year! Very soon we’ll have a new administration, some fresh ideas and – I’m thinking and hoping - some effective new policy. And not a moment too soon! No question, it’s time to repair of our weary, broken systems here in the U.S. Most people are feeling pretty hopeful about this, in spite of the fact that they’re reeling from all the financial and ethical chaos that’s been going on. So, here’s to a better future! I’m counting on it!
In the meantime, all of you who’ve recently had dealings in cancer care, for yourselves or a relative, I have a request:
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Posted: December 21, 2008Read more »
Dear Belleruth,
I have a 22 year old brother with mental retardation/developmental disability. He lives in a group home and holds down a job at a local supermarket as a stock boy. Every now and then, he gets stressed, just like the rest of us. My question is this: can you use guided imagery with people like my brother? Would he be able to get something out of a guided imagery CD? I’d like to give him a pre-loaded iPod for Christmas.
Thank you in advance,
Martin T. -
Posted: December 21, 2008Read more »
Dear Belleruth and Health Journeys,
My 5 year old son, a very active little boy, tripped while running around the living room and fell against a coffee table with sharp corners. He suffered a deep cut on his forehead. I took him to the E.R. to get him stitched up, and of course he started squirming and protesting the minute he realized what was about to go down. The more the nurse and I tried to hold him still, the more upset he became. Things went from bad to worse. -
Posted: December 21, 2008Read more »
Researchers from the Department of Nursing, Pochon CHA University in Kyonggi-Do, Korea, compared the impact of feeling state guided imagery (FSGI – imagery to generally improve mood) and end state guided imagery (ESGI – imagery to imagine successful performance) on stress levels and quality of performance in nursing students learning to give intramuscular (IM) injections.
The subjects were 40 female sophomores (21 for the ESGI, 19 for the FSGI). The instruments used were the Visual Analogue Scale for Stress and the Nursing Skill Performance Check-list on Intramuscular Injection, developed by the researchers. Guided imagery was provided through audiotapes for 8 minutes. A pretest was given before applying the guided imagery; the first posttest was taken after the intervention; and the second posttest was taken before the intramuscular injection. Evaluation of the performance of the intramuscular injection was done immediately afterward. -
Posted: December 21, 2008Categories: Update from Health JourneysRead more »Hello again.
I now know dozens of people – as I’m sure you do - who’ve been hammered by this frayed economy. Last week I had breakfast in New York with an old friend, a successful editor and publisher, who was heartbroken because she’d just had to lay off several prized members of her staff – people who’d worked for her for years and whom she considered good friends as well as valued colleagues. As I watched her over our cooling eggs, I thought, “I bet she feels even worse than the people she had to pink-slip.” Aside from feeling horrible for them, she also knew she’d be holding her demoralized shop together with a lick and a promise, and the constant anxiety that she and everything she’d built over the years could be next. -
Posted: December 21, 2008Read more »
I am 59. I have had a migraine since I was in my mid-twenties (poetic license!). Seventeen years ago I was diagnosed with the prelude to what has now evolved into Lupus. I have had this condition for 5 years - suffering stuff that I wrongly attributed to God knows what - until a major flare-up this year resulted in the diagnosis.
This year I have had one flare-up after another. I control one with steroids - get over it - another comes. I have been working with all kinds of techniques/therapies on my own (have a background in psychology) and then I hit the jackpot: relaxation, emotional protection, visualization. -
Posted: December 20, 2008Read more »
Researchers from the University of Sheffield in the UK evaluated the effectiveness of homeopathic treatment for reducing the symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Using a triple-blind design, 103 patients were randomly assigned to homeopathic medicine or an identical placebo condition. Patients had monthly consultations with a professional homeopath for 6 months. Outcomes were measured on the MFI - Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory. Secondary outcome measures were the Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS) and the Functional Limitations Profile (FLP).
Ninety-two patients completed treatment in the trial (47 homeopathic treatment, 45 placebo). Eighty-six patients returned fully or partially completed posttreatment outcome measures (41 homeopathic treatment group who completed treatment, 2 homeopathic treatment group who did not complete treatment, 38 placebo group who completed treatment, and 5 placebo group who did not complete treatment). Seventeen of 103 patients withdrew from treatment or were lost to follow-up.
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Posted: December 20, 2008Categories: Update from Health JourneysRead more »
My dear fellow slacker, procrastinator holiday shoppers!! Even if you’ve blown your deadline for holiday shopping and feel like an utter, unredeemable slug, here’s the good news: thanks to the wonders of cybertechnology, you can still come off as the timely, responsible, thoughtful person we all know you really are, with an instantaneous, digital gift!! How about that? We all get to have our cakes and eat them too! I love it when this is possible.
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Posted: December 17, 2008Read more »
I wrote this guided imagery program to create a rich atmosphere of protection and safety, with images that are evocative enough to successfully compete with all the internal brain chatter that keeps us up. Steve Kohn’s music draws mind, body and spirit down into deep, restful sleep.
