Monthly Archives: April 2011

A staff member found this excited, bubbly report about our Help with Fertility and Healthy Pregnancy & Successful Childbirth imagery on Amazon.  We think it goes a bit overboard in giving excess credit to the guided imagery, but her delight and gratitude for this baby girl is palpable and fun to see.  Here is what “Ang” writes:

“I cannot say enough positive things about guided imagery and affirmations. In fact, I used Help with Fertility when my husband and I were sent to a specialist and were told that we couldn't get pregnant on our own. Surprise!  We did - without any help from our new doctor!

Researchers from the Astronaut Research and Training Center in Beijing, China looked at whether guided imagery can reduce the anxiety and tension that astronauts feel during centrifuge training (designed to improve their tolerance of hypergravity) and which can impede their responses.  This small study measured the impact of guided imagery vs. music on changes in anxiety, heart rate and heart rate variability in 12 healthy young men before, during and after centrifuge training.

Change in the patterns of anxiety was different in the two groups over the three phases. Anxiety (measured by State Anxiety Inventory) in the GI group changed from 31.7 +/- 5.9 to 26.8 +/- 2.6 and 27.8 +/- 4.1, whereas for the music group this changed from 32.2 +/- 7.6 to 31.2 +/- 8.3 and 26.8 +/- 6.8. 

Question:

Over the past several years I have had more friends and relatives die than I can count.  One of these more recent losses was someone I had been taking care of for four years. There were a lot of issues between us, including anger about having to care for her before I even started high school. I wanted a "normal" teenage life, and couldn't have it because of my responsibilities to her.

After she died I could not forgive myself or her for the death. Since then I have not been able to get much sleep (it's been almost 3 years).

Now I'm dealing with a close relative battling cancer, stage 3. I don't live close to this particular relative, and that's made dealing with the strong possibility of losing them that much harder.

I was always the main caretaker in the family when there was a problem. I find myself restless, angry, resentful, and depressed. A psychologist familiar with my situation suggested BR's recordings. I would like some suggestions about which CDs to start off with.

Nora

I’m in Garmisch, Germany right now, at one of the Armed Forces Recreation Centers in the Bavarian Alps, to speak about guided imagery to a bi-annual conference for US military health providers under the Europe Regional Medical Command, who are working in Italy, Belgium and Germany.

Just before coming here, I was in San Diego, where I had the great pleasure of speaking to a group of 700 of the National Guard’s leaders - NCO’s and officers who run programs for suicide prevention, sexual assault response, psychological health, alcohol and drug dependency, and resilience training. (Yes, Virginia, Comprehensive Soldier Fitness has come to the NG, and just about every place else in the military, too).

Question:

Hello and thank you for the great help you have provided me, and many others struggling to live a better life.!!!

I guess before I come down to the question itself I would tell you a little bit about my current situation.  Pardon if it takes a bit of your time.  I have had chronic Depression for as long as I can remember, life has been a gray shadow for me.. and its not as if you give up, but you just don’t know any better.
 
I was going to school to become a Biochemist then an MD. Unfortunately I had the worst nervous break down I have had yet, incapacitating me from going, seeing, hearing about school; in a nut shell I was triggered by the whole idea.
 
I started taking a cocktail of medications and trying to get my balance back. To my misfortune I had more health problems from trying so many different drugs with so little result.

This beautifully written and inspiring letter came to the office on March 7th.

Dear Ms. Belleruth Naparstek,

My life was shattered when my 5-yr-old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. After a nasty case of strep throat that recurred a week later, Alana’s pediatrician ordered a series of blood tests that revealed falling hemoglobin and platelet counts. She directed us to drive her to the Children’s Hospital 4 hours away, as soon as possible. By the time we arrived, Alana was so white she looked as if she wouldn’t make it through the night.

Three days later she was officially diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and the three week induction phase of treatment began. It was then that I began having panic attacks.  I would be sitting in the hospital with Alana and if no other family members were present, I would begin to feel waves of adrenaline flooding my system, followed by shallow breathing, which would only scare me and make the symptoms worse.

Researchers from the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL mounted a single arm feasibility trial to examine whether an internet-based, 7-week intervention for depression (including phone support) could increase adherence rates and improvement in depression outcomes.
 
The intervention required frequent brief log-ins for self-monitoring and feedback as well as email and brief telephone support, guided by a theory-driven manualized protocol.

Some of you may have noticed that I’m not a big proponent of video or virtual reality resources, simply because I think it’s far more effective when you can close your eyes and conjure up your own images and sensations generated from your insides. 

It’s only when a visual feast shows up that’s so transformationally gorgeous, that all bets are off with my usual reservations. 

This is why we’re now carrying Joe Lindsay’s Healing Waters: A Meditative Underwater Experience It’s such breathtakingly exquisite videography, capturing the movement of sunlight, currents and water flowing around rocks and underwater grasses, that it just gobsmacks you into a state of meditative bliss.  I’m not as crazy about the music (our staff committee liked it well enough), but the gorgeousness of this video trumps the audio, and, besides, if you’ve got a persnickety ear like mine, you can always lower the sound.

Question: 

Hi Belleruth. 

A very wise therapist I saw a few years ago suggested your depression management CD and I was amazed at the power of guided imagery. 

I am sitting for the Bar exam this summer, and a facing it after several failed attempts. Through a great deal of introspection I learned that, in my past attempts, I never provided myself with the tools I needed to succeed. 

I am planning to purchase a product to help with test anxiety, memory and learning but cannot determine which CD would be the best for me. Do you have any suggestions? 

I know you are a very busy person and I appreciate your thoughtful consideration of my question.  My dream and only real goal for getting my law degree is to be able to use my knowledge to help others. 

If I succeed I will be able to become active in the Pro Bono program and achieve a piece of my dream. I firmly believe I need some help in training my subconscious so that I can pass this test. 

Thank you, 
Melody

We got this note in March from Japan, from a friend of a friend who is living there.

“I caught this poem on NHK today [Japanese TV Channel], so it may be missing some words (and it was hurriedly translated by me), but I think I caught the main concept.  March is the month of graduation in Japan, and even in the devastated areas of Japan, some children graduated.  In one school, the children of the tsunami-stricken area who graduated chose to recite the poem rather than singing their school song.  They recited with a big smile, pledging not to give up after losing so much.