Monthly Archives: August 2015

Well, what a kick! Last week, we hosted our first Health Journeys Hangout On Air – the topic being guided imagery and how to use it, listen to it and what are the conditions for its most effective use.

There was an especially great discussion on how to introduce guided imagery to people who aren't used to meditative techniques, not to mention the skeptical, suspicious and reluctant.

We had knowledgeable and passionate input from our terrific panelists Ann Williams, Craig Walker, Lisa Lansing, Jean Maurie Puhlman and Bob May, whose considerable collective experiences included using imagery for diabetes, surgery, combat stress, childhood trauma and rehab in the Gyrotonic studio.

It was our first sortie into this wild, new world, using a terrific platform provided by Google (who knew?). Well, I guess Elizabeth knew, because it was her idea, and she was after us to give it a try.

With Cindy as co-producer, E. also moderated the panel for us, skillfully commandeering the tech requirements (those would have stopped me cold, right there), showing panelists with varying levels of technophobia how to use the platform, doing the intros, and facilitating the conversation, after setting the whole thing up. Yikes. That had to be a ton of work and a steep learning curve. Bravissima, E and thanks to Cindy for her usual steady, behind the scenes support.

If you missed it, this hangout is now memorialized on Youtube in perpetuity, and on our HJ Youtube Channel. So if you missed it, you can still "attend".

Stay tuned! We'll be doing a lot more of these, including a special series for our professional program members. And coming up soon: We're also thinking about hosting a special hangout for vets and military to honor Veterans Day.

It's funny - some days I feel like a resentful slave to Google and its persnickety web page requirements, rules and regs. But I'm grateful for this ingenious hangout platform – it's almost as impressive as its astoundingly speedy, comprehensive search engine. When they get it right, they get it right. Again, check it out.

See you soon. Take care and be well,

p.s. If you liked this post, you might enjoy getting our weekly e-news with other articles just like it. If so, sign up here!

This touching note came to the office for Belleruth from a woman in chronic pain from her auto-immune condition.

Aside from being a beautiful thank you note and a reminder of the effectiveness of guided imagery for reducing pain, it also makes an important point about how we stop breathing when we're in pain, when what we need to do is breathe more deeply and fully. Please read on. Here is the note:

If possible could you pass this on to Belleruth.

I just wanted you to know how grateful I am of the work you have been doing and continue to do. A friend gave me one of your CD's and I have been listening to it for a very long time now. I have suffered so badly for years with an auto immune arthritis condition, which has been very difficult to cope with because I'm so sensitive and unable to take the typical biologic drugs that are needed in order to help with the inflammation process.

So what is left after I incorporate a really good diet, exercise when I can, and whatever medicines are tolerated at any given time, I have relied on your chronic pain CD, which honestly has been a Godsend for me.

Researchers from New York University, Boston University, the Boston VA Hospital and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research examined the effectiveness of psychotherapies for PTSD in military and veteran populations. First-line psychotherapies most often recommended for PTSD consist mainly of "trauma-focused" psychotherapies that involve focusing on details of the trauma or associated cognitive and emotional effects.

The investigators searched PubMed, PsycINFO, and PILOTS for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of individual and group psychotherapies for PTSD in military personnel and veterans, published from January 1980 to March 1, 2015.

They also searched reference lists of articles, selected reviews, and meta-analyses. Of 891 publications initially identified, 36 were included.

If your children have gone back to school, and you are finding that all they want to do is go back to sleep in the morning, you are not alone.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has declared sleep insufficiency to be a nationwide public health epidemic, and the American Academy of Pediatrics in its recently released policy statement, School Start Times for Adolescents said "Insufficient sleep represents one of the most common, important and potentially remediable health risks in children, particularly in the adolescent population, for whom chronic sleep loss has increasingly become the norm."

We got this question from a woman with a host of worries and concerns, none of which are exactly small potatoes. In spite of all these issues, she's clearly managed to keep her sense of humor intact. Check it out:

Question:

Hi, Belleruth,

I've had two of your tapes for years (depression and pre-surgery). Now I need one for rising blood pressure.

I had a pace-maker/defibrillator installed last year for my exceedingly low heart rate (cardiomyopathy triggered by viral pneumonia years ago), and now my blood pressure's rising with accompanying dreaded drug onslaught.

Seems to get worse as they raise the dosage, which I hate, resist, and fear etc. Other pressures have increased, too = big work project I'm excited to be working on. Plus increasingly wretched relationship with alcoholic son, which I work on with my Alanon 12-step study and sponsor.

Greetings!

Before I forget, I want to remind you that Cindy's super-successful back-to-school sale ends on Sept 7th. We've got strong titles for students eager to fine-tune their learning game (- even for those not so eager, come to think about it...). Check out our guided imagery for Procrastination, Self-Confidence, ADHD, Self-Esteem and Stress Relief, to name a few topics that have been flying off the shelves lately.

And on an entirely different note, here's this announcement:

So, all you Torontonians, Ontarians, Buffalonians and North Americans, listen up! If you're in the business of therapizing, coaching, consulting, or people-influencing, and want to pump up your people/process skills to a whole 'nother level, a pretty amazing and unique training opportunity is about to show up in downtown Toronto Oct 7-9.

Hello, Health Journeys and Belleruth. I'm 52 and I have suffered from horrible panic attacks off and on since I was 16. I never know exactly when they will strike. At my worst times, I would have 2 or 3 a day, where I could barely function. For reasons I won't go into here, I cannot take medication.

My daughter who is a nurse suggested I try guided imagery, so 3 mos ago I uploaded your Panic Attack audio to my phone and started listening to one or two segments of it 3-5 times a day.

I found the voice and music calming. What I liked even more was knowing it was in my phone!!! I could access it any time of day and nobody would know I was "undergoing treatment" for my panic attacks!!!

I had to write you all to let you know that after 3 months, I can go up to a week without an attack. This is like a miracle!!!! I may even get rid of these horrible things altogether. I have hope that I will.

British researchers from the University of Dundee, UK, conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the appeal and the effectiveness of internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for kids diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

A systematic search of 7 electronic databases was conducted to assess CBT intervention for children with anxiety problems with remote delivery either entirely or partly via technology, yielding 6 articles altogether, reporting on 7 studies.

The findings suggested that web based CBT programs were well received by children and their families, and efficacy was almost as favorable as clinic-based CBT.

If it's true that a plan not implemented is just a wish, what are some of the ways we sabotage our own wishes and how can we get on track to turn them back into plans and help fulfill them?

Complacency: Failure to Take Stock

What do you plan to change? Do you want to lose weight—but you will start next week, stop smoking—when you're not under so much stress or find a new relationship—after you lose weight? If you have too many things on your plate, and too many excuses, you might simply not start. Journaling is a great way to figure out where you want to go and how to get there. Choose the most important goal on your list, and begin writing at least three pages every day about your thoughts and feelings regarding the goal. If you keep writing, you might discover that what you really need to change first is quite different from what you wrote on your list. There are numerous websites and publications about journaling. My favorite instructional journaling book, which I have often recommended to my students, is The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, by Julia Cameron.

Question:

My 86-yr old aunt is in the middle stages of Alzheimer's. She lives in a nearby assisted living facility and I, along with two other sisters, are her family caregivers. As the Alzheimer's progresses she is becoming more anxious (Sundowner's Syndrome) and depressed. I have used several of your guided imagery recordings over the years to help me and I was wondering if there is something you could recommend to ease her depression and anxiety. She was a music teacher in the past and yet I can't get her interested in listening to music to help relax her. I am hoping that listening to a human voice at night might bring her some comfort. Is there anything you can recommend?

Many thanks!