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Contents:

• A Checklist For Stress
• Conquer Stress - With A Hobby
• Actions on Stress
• How To Keep Stress At Bay When There's No Time For A Break
• Music Helps In Relieving Stress
• Enhanced Healing Through Music
• Improving Self Esteem With Affirmations and Therapuetic Relaxation Music

Stress is a natural part of life. It can be both physical and mental and much of it can come from everyday pressures. Everyone handles stress differently, some better than others. Left unchecked, however, stress can cause physical, emotional, and behavioral disorders which can affect your health, vitality, and peace-of-mind, as well as personal and professional relationships.

Here is a checklist of negative reactions to stress and tension:

• Do minor problems and disappointments upset you excessively?

• Do the small pleasures of life fail to satisfy you?

• Are you unable to stop thinking of your worries?

• Do you feel inadequate or suffer from self-doubt?

• Are you constantly tired?

• Do you experience flashes of anger over a minor problem?

• Have you noticed a change in sleeping or eating patterns?

• Do you suffer from chronic pain, headaches, or back aches?

If you answered "yes" to most of these questions, consider the following suggestions for reducing or controlling stress:

• Be realistic. If you feel overwhelmed by some activities, learn to say NO!

• Shed the "superman/woman" urge. No one is perfect, so don't expect perfection from yourself or others.

• Meditate for ten to twenty minutes.

• Visualize how you can manage a stressful situation more successfully.

• Take one thing at a time. Prioritize your tasks and focus on one at a time.

• Exercise regularly.

• Take on a hobby that will give you a break from your worries.

• Live a healthy lifestyle with good nutrition, adequate rest, regular exercise, limited caffeine and alcohol, and balanced work and play.

• Share your feelings with family and friends. Don't try to cope alone.

• Give in occasionally. Be flexible.

• Go easy with criticism. You may expect too much of yourself and others.

If you think you have too much stress in your life, it may be helpful to talk with your doctor, spiritual advisor, or local mental health association. Because reactions to stress can be a factor in depression, anxiety and other disorders, they may suggest that you visit with a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, or other qualifed counselor.

For more information, call the National Mental Health Association at 800-969-NMHA.

About The Author
Arthur Buchanan
President/CEO
Out of Darkness & Into the Light

43 Oakwood Ave. Suite 1012
Huron Ohio, 44839
www.out-of-darkness.com
www.adhdandme.com
www.biologicalhappiness.com
567-219-0994 (cell)

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Everyone knows that stress can take a heavy toll on your mind and body, but one simple activity can not only prevent the harmful effects of stress but also make your life richer and more rewarding.

Hobbies have been around since ancient times, yet few people use them as an effective tool to beat stress. The secret is in choosing a hobby that not only picques your interest, but that you find mentally engaging as well. A major component of stress is worry. A fascinating hobby crowds out worry thoughts by replacing them with positive ideas and study.

Watching television or listening to music might be classified as hobbies; however, they rarely provide the mental stimulation needed to leave you feeling refreshed and satisfied afterward. A worthwhile hobby will make you a more rounded, interesting person. It will give you an outlet to explore your creativity. It will also bring you in contact with fascinating people, which can relieve loneliness.

If you have a hobby that you've lost interest in, or you're looking for a new hobby, check out these tips for exploring the endless possibilities before you.

1. Your hobby should interest you.

Don't get into a hobby just because a friend or relative enjoys it. You'll soon tire of it if that's your only motivation. No, your hobby should be an activity that you enjoy. And unless you're truly interested in it, don't take over someone else's collection and add to it. Pick something you like. Be original!

2. Explore what the world has to offer.

If you get an idea for a hobby, the Internet is the best place to research it. Whether it's collecting, art, crafts, or reading about a specific topic, you can find thousands of web sites, clubs, and user groups to give you more information. If your public library doesn't have books on the hobby you're researching, ask a librarian to order them for you through interlibrary loan. This is a free but often underused service of public libraries. A knowledgeable librarian can also help you find magazines and newsletters about your area of interest.

3. Pick something you're passionate about.

What one person finds captivating, another may think is silly or boring. Remember that you don't have to satisfy or impress anyone else with your hobby. This is for you. Pursue something that gets you excited. Don't be discouraged if you try several different pastimes before you succeed. You'll know you've found the right hobby when you look forward to doing it, when you're happy during your hobby time, and when it leaves you feeling relaxed and positive.

4. Pick a hobby that's affordable.

Many people don't consider this aspect, but it's better to do something that doesn't run up debt, tie up a lot of your money, or make you frustrated because you later find it's out of your reach financially. A hobby doesn't have to be expensive to be fulfilling. Again, remember that the object of a hobby is not to impress people, but to do something that's fun and appealing to you.

5. Pick a hobby that is challenging.

Some collectible items are rare or hard to find. The pursuit of them is part of the excitement. Some hobbies, like painting, playing a musical instrument, or baking, have no limits. Today, instructional videos or DVDs are available that can teach you almost anything. Be realistic and don't expect to master your new interest right away. You have the rest of your life to develop your skills. Soon you'll experience a great sense of personal satisfaction as you become more and more accomplished.

A captivating hobby is a positive, healthy way to escape, if only for an hour at a time. As you grow in your hobby, you'll feel more contented as a person and less vulnerable to the stress of your job and everyday life.

About The Author
Copyright by Jack Zavada. Jack Zavada is an avid wood carver, toy soldier collector, and fisherman, who lives in Streator, Illinois. He is the author of four novels and over 5,000 newspaper and magazine articles. His web site is http://www.inspiration-for-singles.com.

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Stress is such a commonly used word, but what does it really mean? How does stress affect us and what can we do about it? Stress can be the cause of so many health conditions, lost days of work, irritability with those we love, and general unhappiness. Certain herbs, vitamins, minerals and techniques can help calm your body so you are better able to deal with the stresses that come your way.

Some of the more common symptoms of stress are: fatique, headaches, irritability, stomach aches, heartburn, rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, cramping, indigestion, insomnia, food reactions, hives, weight gain, weight loss, and lowered immune function. Stress can effect any one in any part of the body as we all deal with life differently; we all hold our stress in different parts of our body.

Some supplements that can be useful for stress are: The B vitamins (B complex), vitamin C, Calcium-Magnesium, and EFA’s (essential fatty acids). EFA’s are oils like, flax, fish and 3-6-9 oil; they are the "good fats". Many essential nutrients are depleted when we are stressed, especially Magnesium. This mineral helps to calm the muscles and nerves, making you less jumpy, less quick to anger, while reducing cramping and chocolate cravings. There are many great herbs you can take for stress: St John’s Wort, Kava Kava, 5-HTP and more; do not take any of these three if on an anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medication. Homeopathic remedies can also work well. Remedies such as, Calms Forte, Rescue Remedy by Bach Flower are good for calming during a crisis; Coffea Cruda works to help shut off your mind so you can sleep.

There are many techniques we can use for stress: deep breathing, time out, counting, walking, a hobby, talking to a friend, exercise, watching a funny movie, dancing, singing and meditation. Deep breathing is practiced by expanding the whole torso while breathing in, filling the lungs with air, and then releasing it slowly. Take a class or read a book to help learn a hobby, meditation or an attitude change. Learn to release anger in a healthy productive way. Get a pet. Spending time with a pet has been shown to lower blood pressure, increase immune and a sense of well being. A cat’s purring is on the right decibel for healing, yet we still don’t understand how they purr.

Watch your diet. Too much caffeine, sugar and white flour products (which immediately turn to sugar in the body) can make you tense and irritable. Going without food for hours causes your blood sugar to drop, making you light headed, nauseous and irritable. Eat more fruits, veggies, whole grains, efa’s and good quality proteins. Drink more pure water.

Our genetics determine the form of disease and what part of the body is affected. Diet, and the amount of stress and how we let that stress affect us, determines whether we develop that disease. If we cannot change the stress, we have to learn how to live with it. You can learn to be happy while dealing with the everyday stress of life.

About The Author
Anne Arsenault has worked and studied in the natural health field for over ten years now; she has been writing health articles for five years and has just recently built a website with more informative health articles at: www.healthbrights.com. She is a Certified Nutritional Consultant and strives to make health understandable to everyone.

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Taking exercise helps us get back in touch with reality, it grounds us and releases tension and feel-good endorphins. However tough deadlines don't always allow for a break from our desks so what can you do when you need to work at your maximum and keep your mind sharp?

When you are straining your brain over some task or problem the neurons of your brain function more intensely. As they do this, they build up toxic waste products that can cause foggy thinking. You know that feeling you get when your mind just seems to be like 'cotton wool'? Can you afford to operate like this?

At its very worst, not doing any form of exercise can lead to depression, neck and back problems and there is evidence that illnesses such as IBS either start with or are exacerbated by allowing tension to build up.

By exercising, you speed the flow of blood through your brain, moving these waste products faster. You also improve this blood flow so that even when you are not exercising, waste is eliminated more efficiently.

But of course you don't have the time to take exercise. Well you think you don't. But you could fool yourself into doing exercise regularly by sneaking it in to your life. Here's how.

If you are sitting at your desk now, take a deep breath in and let it out like a sigh. Feels better already, doesn't it?

Hands Up.

Sit up and making sure your feet are flat on the floor, raise your arms straight up and join your hands together with your arms as near to your ears as possible. And stretch; really S-T-R-E-T-C-H. Release your arms now and relax. Repeat at least twice.

Flopsey-Wopsey.

Swing your chair away from your desk, kick your shoes off. Start with a deep breath in, take your arms over your head, and slowly with a flat back, fold yourself over whilst exhaling and flop down with your arms dangling to the floor and just rest there. Your back will thank you and your brain will experience the benefits of blood and oxygen. (Pretend you're looking for a pen or something if you think everyone's looking, but chances are they're so involved with worries they won't notice.) Now come up and take a few more calming breaths. Repeat as you feel the need.

Let's Twist.

Body twists are good if you're feeling blue, anxious or fearful. (Explore yoga if you want more benefits.)

Sit on the edge of your chair with left side facing the back of the chair. Your feet and knees are together and need to stay that way throughout the pose. Place your hands on the back of the chair or as near to it as you can get. Keep your feet and knees together. Take a deep breath in, allow you shoulders to rest downwards as you do. Exhale and twist your upper body round to your left to look behind you and go as far as is comfortable. Keep your face aligned with your chest. When twist to the left push with your right hand and pull with your left. Repeat the other side.

Now I bet you're feeling better, feeling brighter and more 'up for it'? Are you not?

Having got a taste for exercise capitalise on it and start thinking how you can build more walking into your day. A walk at lunch time, walking up stairs instead of taking the lift or escalator, a walk around the office or to someone else's office. There are countless ways for you to do this. Act now, because as you do more you create the habit and your mind will present more opportunities for you to take an exercise break and you will find that you want to do longer, regular forms of exercise.

Speed Up Your Success By Slowing Down

And finally if like most people you always tend to be in a hurry, rushing from one place to another and not really spending much time sitting down and clearing your mind. You may find that when you have to perform, for example by giving a presentation, that you r mind goes into panic. Now, a good way to avoid this kind of response is just slow down a bit and think things through, visualising a positive outcome for yourself. You will find this very calming and a practical way to train your mind and body to give you what you want.

Here is a technique to get you on the fast track to success :

Simply take a long slow breath in through the nose, gently hold it for a count of four and then let the breath out as if sighing slowly. Try it now . . . . . feel the difference it makes with just one breath. Now try two more and with each out breath say the word 'relax' to yourself. Notice how you can slow down, allow any thoughts to pass, imagine they are like clouds floating by on a windy summer's day.

Turn your attention to b-r-e-a-t-h-I-n-g ... In ... and... out.

Now how do you feel? How easy was that?

About The Author
Liz Labrum
Master NLP Practitioner and Hypnotherapist
Coaching the subconscious for conscious change.
Want to drop stress, bad habits and fears?
Visit http://www.lizlabrum.co.uk

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Listening to music does wonder to alleviate stress. Everyone has different tastes in music. We should listen to the music that makes us feel comfortable. Sitting down and forcing yourself to listen to relaxation music that you don't like may create stress, not alleviate it.

Music is a significant mood-changer and reliever of stress, working on many levels at once.

The entire human energetic system is extremely influenced by sounds, the physical body and chakra centers respond specifically to certain tones and frequencies. Special consideration should be given to the positive effects of one actually playing or creating music themselves.

Among the first stress-fighting changes that take place when we hear a tune is an increase in deep breathing. The body's production of serotonin also accelerates.

Music was found to reduce the pain during dental procedures.

Playing music in the background while we are working, seemingly unaware of the music itself, has been found to reduce the stress.

Music was found to reduce heart rates and to promote higher body temperature - an indication of the onset of relaxation. Combining music with relaxation therapy was more effective than doing relaxation therapy alone.

To visit our site: www.drjulietrudeau.com

About The Author
Dr. Julie Trudeau - A native of Kankakee, Illinois,in 1984, Dr. Julie Trudeau graduated from the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa in America, at the age of 22, and has been a licensed natural health care provider in Australia since 1985.

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Music has always been a very important part of our lives, from childhood to our being an adult. As a part of our experience, music can have both a physiological and psychological affect upon us as human beings. In addition to the influence that it has on our life, music also has many therapeutic qualities and has been utilized in promoting a variety of healings throughout the ages. As we know further, music can be a very powerful medium for altering our state, of changing how we actually feel. More specifically music can be very effective in producing a very deep and healing state of relaxation and in the process, reduce stress and even promote sleep. Music can also be used to assist one in improving his or her self-esteem and furthering an individual’s personal growth and development, transformation.

As a therapist I have always used relaxation music in my clinical and counseling work with others. I have found that when I use relaxation music during both an individual and group counseling session that my clients do more productive work, are able to focus more effectively on themselves and the issues that they are becoming present to because they are more relaxed, focused and centered and as a result, better able to concentrate. Being relaxed during the counseling process always tends to generate more productive results for the individual being counseled. Relaxation music can be a very effective and powerful aid for assisting a client to reach resolution with respect to that which he or she is working on with their counselor.

The relaxation music that I now utilize during both my individual and group counseling sessions with others is that which is found on the CD, Prescription for Stress. The musical patterns that are on Prescription for Stress were originally developed for my work in counseling and especially in my hypnotic work with clients. In addition to its application for a traditional counseling session, the musical patterns on Prescription for Stress are excellent for assisting in the induction of a hypnotic state in that this music helps the client enter into a very relaxed state of hypnosis more easily. In the past I have used a variety of other musical compositions in my counseling practice but was very dissatisfied with the results that my clients and I achieved with them. As a musician I eventually decided to compose my own music and have found the results of my compositions with the clients that I work with to be excellent. After using the relaxation music that I composed for my work in counseling, I also discovered that the music had another application as well, that is, to assist anyone in achieving a very deep state of relaxation and as a result to effectively and efficiently reduce the stress in their lives.

Managing our stress is very important if not crucial to our overall well being. Prescription for Stress is an audio product specially designed to assist an individual in managing and reducing the stress that he or she may experience on a daily basis. This audio health care product utilizes two components to assist an individual in effectively experiencing a very deep state of relaxation, reducing stress and also in promoting a peaceful, restful sleep. The first component is the musical pattern itself. I have found that musical compositions that are harmonically slow, repetitious, with sustained voices, which are rhythmically, random in tempo assists an individual in experiencing a very deep state of relaxation. The second component of this product is the binaural audio tones that are interwoven into the music. The binaural tones, through a process referred to as entrainment or frequency following, gently guides or directs the mind/body to generate more of the targeted frequency of brain wave activity whether it be for either profound relaxation or sleep. The first CD contains binaural audio tones within the alpha and theta range, which induces a very relaxed state. The second CD contains binaural audio tones within the delta range and thereby assists one in experiencing a peaceful, restful sleep.

Anyone can experience the technology and effect of Prescription for Stress by merely playing it on their home audio system. Use of this powerful relaxation music can be accomplished by listening to it with ones stereo speakers or with headphones, the latter being the more effective way to listen to his product. Listening to Prescription for Stress with headphones allows one to experience the full effect of the technology, the uniquely designed music compositions combined with the binaural audio tones and thereby gain a deeper state of relaxation. Those who practice meditation, self-hypnosis or yoga will find that their practice is even more enhanced while listening to this audio product. I now also recommend that mental health and addiction counselors use this product when conducting counseling sessions with their clients whether it is in a group or individual setting. While many counselors are not present to the power of this type of relaxation music when utilized within a counseling context, those who do employ it find that their sessions with a client to be more effective and productive due to the reason stated above.

Self-esteem is also extremely essential to ones well-being. Enhancing My Self Esteem is an audio health care product uniquely designed to assist an individual in improving his or her self esteem, supporting the development of a positive self-image and promoting the individual’s personal growth and development, transformation. Enhancing My Self Esteem will assist a person in changing negative and possibly even destructive thought patterns to positive and empowering beliefs about him or herself. Utilizing the same combination of original musical compositions and binaural audio tones as Prescription for Stress, Enhancing My Self Esteem is an audio health care product that creates a very profound and relaxing auditory environment, a space for the individual to become open or highly suggestible to a series of very positive affirmations. Within a conversation of transformation, the thoughts that we think and say or commit to word are very important, very powerful for improving our self-image and transforming our lives. Enhancing My Self Esteem is an audio product that creates a very relaxed auditory environment for the person to listen to, begin to practice and eventually accept 50 positive affirmations, affirmations designed to improve a person’s self esteem and begin the process of transforming his or her life.

To fully experience the beneficial effects of Enhancing My Self Esteem it is recommended that a person listen to both tracks once a day for a minimum of 90 days. The first track has been designed for use with your stereo system’s speakers and should be listened to during the morning or afternoon hours. Track One provides a person the opportunity to consciously practice all of the positive affirmations, to commit them to word, to make them real. Track two has been developed exclusively for use with headphones and should be listened to during the evening hours preferably before the individual goes to sleep. The second track has been developed for a person’s unconscious mind and will be that which the individual takes into his or her dream state. Each listening should be done when the individual will be completely free of any distractions. After the first ninety days of use, it is recommended that the person listen to both tracks two times a week for another 90 days to further enhance the beneficial effects.

In addition to anyone wanting to improve their self esteem and further his or her personal transformation, I also recommend that mental health and addiction-oriented counselors utilize Enhancing My Self Esteem with their clients. Most of the clients that mental health and addiction counselors see in treatment in either an individual or group setting have an impaired self-image and are continuously experiencing extremely low self-esteem. For whatever reason the clients that are seen by mental health and addiction oriented counselors tend to have many negative thoughts and beliefs about themselves, many negative affirmations about who they think they are. Assigning Enhancing My Self Esteem as homework for a client to listen to outside of the counseling session allows that client the opportunity to begin a process of improving his or her self-esteem and as a result to be more productive within the counseling session.

I am currently using Enhancing My Self Esteem with all of the clients at the Holistic Addiction Treatment Program, a residential and outpatient program in North Miami Beach, Florida. The Holistic Addiction Treatment Program is an agency that treats individuals who suffer from alcohol or drug dependency. The vast majority of clients of this agency experience chronic relapse. Within Transformational Counseling, Enhancing My Self Esteem is assigned as homework for all of my clients, as a way of continuing the work that is presented in my individual and group counseling sessions, as a way of transforming the thoughts and words of the client. The prescription for use of this product is the same as mentioned above. After the assignment is made I always ask the clients about their use of this product, about what they are becoming present to as they listen. In addition to assisting the individual in eventually feeling better about themselves and increasing their motivation with their recovery, I have also found that Enhancing My Self Esteem tends to elicit important thoughts and memories from the past, thoughts and memories that are then processed in the preceding counseling session.

Enhancing My Self Esteem is a very powerful, healing product. With continued use, clients tend to always report that they feel better about themselves and are more motivated, especially with respect to their recovery. When utilized in conjunction with Transformational Counseling, the effects can be extraordinary for a client. As Transformational Counseling is about an individual altering his or her very thoughts and words, that which has defined their very being in the past, Enhancing My Self Esteem is a product that allows a client to powerfully practice their transformation on a daily basis. While the basis or foundation for the actual transformation is in an individual’s language, the thoughts that he or she thinks and the very words that they say, the environment from which this takes place is one that is initially created through the power of music.

By: Harry Henshaw, Ed.D., LMHC www.enhancedhealing.com

Positive self-esteem is very important for our general health and wellness as human beings. Having positive self-esteem is also important for promoting any type of healing, whether physical, emotional or spiritual. Poor or low self-esteem on the other hand can be quite detrimental to our well-being and even our very existence. Negative self-esteem can create anxiety, stress, loneliness, depression, problems with relationships, seriously impair academic and job performance and also can generate an increased vulnerability to drug and alcohol abuse and dependency. On the other hand, a person with positive self-esteem tends to be more motivated in taking on and creating a life that he loves, living it powerfully and in this process be authentically related to others in his community. Having positive self-esteem appears to be necessary for having a happy and healthy existence regardless of who we are or what profession we are taking on in life.

What is self-esteem? We commonly think that self-esteem is merely about how we feel about ourselves at any particular moment. While seemingly existing in degrees, we tend to believe that we have positive or negative self-esteem and that we make that determination simply by how we feel about ourselves. However, within a conversation of Transformational Counseling, our feelings or emotions do not exist alone or have an independent existence. We do not just simply feel. Rather, for every feeling or emotion that we have, either positive or negative, there is a corresponding thought that we have about ourselves that generates the experience of self-esteem. Whether positive or negative, self-esteem is merely how our organism experiences the thoughts that the individual has about himself or herself. If a person has positive thoughts about himself he will experience positive or good self-esteem. On the other hand, if the individual has negative thoughts about who he thinks he is then he will experience poor or negative self-esteem. Therefore, to truly understand what self-esteem is all about and more importantly to be able to alter it when necessary for ones wellness or healing, we must first get it that self-esteem is really about our thinking, and more specifically about the thoughts that we develop or create about ourselves. The thoughts or beliefs that we have about ourselves are crucial in that they determine or create the structure of our experience of self-esteem and the various emotions associated with it.

We also tend to think of our self-esteem as being something that is shaped by the events that take place in our life, particularly those from our past. We tend to believe that who we think we are and how we feel about ourselves is merely the product, effect or caused by the experiences that we have had in the past, that we are who we are by virtue of what has happened to us as human beings. More specifically, we tend to think that the cause in the matter of who we think we are and our self-esteem is due to circumstance, situation or others, people, places and things. We do not tend to think that our self-esteem is something we actually developed or created. Within the work of transformation, it is not the past, circumstance, situation or others, that determines our underlying self-image and corresponding self-esteem. We created our thoughts and with it our emotions from the meaning that we gave to the events that took place in our life, especially at an early age. As meaning making machines we give meaning to everything in our life including and most importantly to ourselves. At an early age the meaning that we give an event tends to be made out to be all about us. While events do happen it is not the events that are important but rather the meaning that we give them and especially how we made it out to be about our identity.

Given the fact that our thoughts determine our feelings or emotions and equally important that we are truly responsible for their creation, to change or transform our self-esteem, how we tend to feel about ourselves, amounts to us altering how we see or conceive of ourselves in the world in the now and this work is our responsibility alone. It is our self-image, how we define ourselves as an individual in the world in the present, that determines our experience of self-esteem and it is this that we are truly responsible for creating and equally responsible for transforming. When we alter or transform our definition of ourselves in the present we change how we feel about ourselves and with it our experience of reality and life in general. If we do not get it that we are responsible for what we think about ourselves and that we are the real author of our self-image and self-esteem we will continue to blame something or some body, remain powerless and stuck in life. The question of how to actually go about altering or improving an individual’s self-esteem is one that has been debated for many years by professionals both in the mental health and addiction arenas.

Self-esteem can be improved or transformed in several ways. One way to improve ones self-esteem is to do the work of transformation as outlined in my articles, Transformational Counseling and The Conversation of Transformation. To improve ones self-esteem in this manner is to become present to ones self limiting belief, that which has stopped us in life and in the process create new possibilities for oneself, a new self-image from which to begin to live life into. Another way to improve an individual’s self-esteem is through the use of positive affirmations. Given that the basis of self-esteem is the thoughts that a person has about himself, an individual with poor or negative self-esteem is believing negative thoughts or ideas about who he thinks he is. The individual may think, for example, that he is “worthless” or “not good enough” and as a result will tend to experience poor or negative self-esteem. Within the work of transformation and Transformational Counseling, the thought that is at the basis or core of our self-talk is defined as a person’s Self Limiting Belief, the fundamental or core belief about who we think we are. Unless this core thought or belief that a person has about himself is changed or transformed he will continue to experience a poor or negative self-esteem and as a result of this negative thought pattern create or generate life experiences that will match and validate what they think about themselves. Given such a cognitive and emotional situation life will continue to appear as it has in the past and ones future will merely be the probable almost certain future.

Utilizing positive affirmations can be a very powerful tool for transforming what a person thinks about himself and as a result improve the individual’s self-esteem. Consistent use of positive affirmations will transform the negative beliefs about who a person thinks he is into positive ones, will begin to alter the basis and structure of his self talk or inner voice and produce a transformation from poor self-esteem to positive self-esteem. While utilized in a various ways, working with positive affirmations will be more effective when delivered through or combined with therapeutic relaxation music. What therapeutic relaxation music does to enhance the effect of positive affirmations is to create a very relaxed audio environment for the individual to become even more open or suggestive to the language of positive affirmations. When therapeutic relaxation music is combined with binaural audio tones the audio space that is created for the delivery of positive affirmations is even more relaxing and as a result very powerful. In addition to utilizing a unique type of therapeutic relaxation music, the infusion of either theta or alpha binaural tones is crucial for the success of this type of intervention. When therapeutic relaxation music and binaural audio tones are combined in this fashion the individual will experience a very deep state of relaxation and as a result be more open to the reception and eventual acceptance of the positive affirmations.

The key to the effective use of positive affirmation in this or any other type of intervention is consistency. The self-image and the negative thoughts about who a person thinks he is that generates his experience of poor or negative self-esteem is well established in the his belief system. In many cases the development of a negative self-image took years to create and has been reinforced through repetitive behavioral validation. Once a person creates and then believes that a self-limiting belief is true he will continually act as if it is true. This seemingly fundamental belief will appear to the person as true and as a result will continually be acted upon and thereby be reinforced through ones behavior. Much of that person’s behavior will be to continually validate who he thinks he is. Ones behavior will always be directed at supporting, reinforcing and validating what the person believes is true about him. While necessary for ones well-being and health, such a transformation of ones self-image from being basically a negative one to one that is fundamentally positive does not happen instantly. As with the development of an individual’s negative self-image, the development of a more adequate belief about the true nature of the individual will necessitate consistent and repetitive work by the person. Basic to this process is that the individual must fully embrace his sense of complete responsibility for the development of his self-image and also for its transformation. To do otherwise will only leave the individual feeling powerless and unable to create the life that he or she truly desires and unless there is consistency and repetition such a transformation will simply not happen.

Enhancing My Self Esteem is an audio product that will effectively transform the very structure of an individual’s thought or belief pattern, the basic ideas and language structure that he uses to define who he thinks he is in the world. This product was designed specially to change the self-talk that a person experiences on a daily basis by changing the ideas or beliefs that the person has about himself, the very foundation or backdrop of his inner conversation. As our identity is merely language, change the language in a person’s mind and his life transforms. By listening to this product an individual has the opportunity to practice or repeat fifty positive affirmations that will empower them to alter their life. Within a conversation of Transformational Counseling, committing an affirmation to spoken word makes it so or real especially if it is done repeatedly. Listening to positive affirmations before sleep also allows the person’s mind to begin this restructuring or reprogramming process even while the individual sleeps by taking the words and language into their dream state. By consistently listening to and practicing the positive affirmations in this product the individual will have the opportunity to begin to redefine themselves, who they think they are in the world, from one that is negative to one that is positive and enhancing for their life. With the acceptance of the words and language of the positive affirmations will come an improved self-image and with it an experience of positive self esteem.

I am currently using Enhancing My Self Esteem with all the clients that I counsel at the Holistic Addiction Treatment Program in North Miami Beach, Florida. All of the clients that I have worked with who are experiencing a drug and/or alcohol dependency problem also have very low self-esteem. My clients tend to be very depressed and unmotivated in many if not most of the various domains of their life, including and especially with their recovery. When given to my clients as homework, consistent use of Enhancing My Self Esteem alters how they think and improves how they feel about themselves. With an improved self-image and enhanced self-esteem my clients become more motivated in their life and especially with their recovery. If a person continues to experience low self-esteem and there is no intervention to disrupt the underlying cognitive process taking on improving their life and working the 12 Step Program will be meaningless and eventually given up completely as so many other things have been in the past. It is my belief that not altering or transforming the fundamental structure of ones self-image accounts for the great percentage of individuals who begin recovery and eventually relapse. The work that is essential to successful recovery is for the individual to be able to redefine who he thinks he is, to alter his self-image, the very foundation of his experience of self-esteem and life. Who the individual believes he is will determine what he does and how he will be in and appear to others and the world.

By: Harry Henshaw, Ed.D., LMHC www.enhancedhealing.com