The Nervous Breakdown: A Myth?

Nervous breakdown. We all know what it means, in a vague sort of way: one day you're more or less fine, then the pressure gets too much, and then, boom, off the rails. We all know someone who's had one, or had one ourselves. But what does the phenomenon correlate to in modern psychological terminology?....read more

VIDEO - Should You Confess Your Affair? --Dr Sheri Meyers

The only way to have a true blessed marriage is for one - not to have an affair, but if you have, then it's time to refuse the devil's ways and let God redeem your marriage. In order to totally be forgiven you must 1st confess it to God, then to your spouse. They deserve to know. It is un-fair to them to sleep with, live with, cook for, work for - etc. with someone who has been with someone else without ......read more

Wisdom and Understanding

Many spiritual writings emphasize the importance of obtaining wisdom and understanding. The question is how do we do that? Our senses feed us the information that we receive. That's nature. Our job is to see beyond what our eyes and ears report to us and "see" the invisible; "hear" the inaudible; "touch" the intangible; that's "super" nature. It is in this way that the Bible is written for the unlearned who cannot grasp such an in-depth concept, and also for the scholar who seeks a deeperstudy. The Bible appeals to the practical with it's hands-on approaches and to the mystic with ethereal appeal. I think it's rather remarkable that we can obtain the highest level of wisdom and understanding for whatever stage of life we are in from reading and meditating on the very same words. Today, put extra effort into getting more of what is freely given - wisdom and understanding.

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
Proverbs 3:13 (King James Version)

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Proverbs 4:7 (King James Version)

Raising Responsible Children

One of the elements of being an effective parent includes fostering a sense of responsibility in children. Many parents are reluctant to start giving their small children age appropriate tasks to do around the house. This reluctance on the part of parents actually teaches children to have .......read more

3 Simple Steps to Impoving Your Relationship

All experience derived from human interaction has the potential to be extremely challenging. The fact is that any relationships can be difficult. With just a few simple considerations, relationships can be successfully improved. Read more...

Catastrophizing: How to Turn Mountains Back into Molehills

Consider this scenario: Your teenager was supposed to be home at 10:00 p.m. It's now 10:15. Your imagination starts kicking into high gear. It's 10:20. You are now sure that she has been in a car accident. You pick up the phone to call the police when she comes in the door apogizing for being late because she was stuck in traffic. If this is you, then you know firsthand about the cognitive distortion called catastrophizing. Catastrophizing is an irrational way of thinking that is characterized with excessive worry. It causes us to entertain all of the "what if's" as if they were reality and because we often really believe that something will go terribly wrong, we often sabotage our own.....read more

Do You Think in Black and White?

Many people, in fact all people, have automatic thoughts that are distorted at times. One example of this kind of thinking has been dubbed by cognitive behavioral therapy professionals as "all or nothing thinking" or "black or white thinking".

"All or nothing" thinking is a way of processing thoughts that limits people to just two choices in life - "good" or "bad", "rich" or "poor", "smart" or "dumb". People are generally not aware that this particular distortion is occurring in their thought processes nor are they aware of....read more

How Important are Manners?

In the "age of attitude" many people are losing touch with what it means to be polite. Learning manners is an important part of growing up and getting along in life. By equipping your children with social skills such as using manners and exhibiting respect to their peers and other adults, parents are giving their children ....read more

Should Couples Share Housework?

Households where domestic responsibilities were not shared, both partners reported dissatisfaction in the marriage and there was a greater risk for depression. Children were also affected. It seems that children of parents who share responsibility .....read more

Resolutions: Getting Back on Track

Are you feeling like this was just another year to regret making New Year’s Resolutions? Now that we are a little ways into the year, do you feel like a complete failure because you haven’t followed through on those things that you were determined to change this year? What happened to all of the enthusiasm that we mustered on December 31? Take heart. There is a way to get back on track. All hope is not lost.

One of the key elements....keep reading

7 Public Speaking Survival Tips

I used to be terrified of public speaking - now it's natural and fun.

Dry mouth, fast heart, sweaty palms, blank mind - yeah I've been there! It's easy to fear public speaking. But I was never just content with overcoming fear. I wanted to be a great speaker. What I needed was a way of calming down and applying simple techniques and strategies to talk like a pro.

When I'd learned to relax (more of that later) I learned and applied the following four steps.

1. Reassure your audience - they need to know you know your stuff and you are human!
2. Hook them by being interesting and relevant. Tell them why what you are saying is relevant to them.
3. Inspire them by giving them information and ways of seeing that are new and applicable.
4. Leave them on a high by telling a story them encapsulates your central message.

How do you become confident enough to apply the four steps?

Here's some tips some of which are practical some of which are to do with the way you think about your public presentations and also how you can start to change the way you feel about them.

Tip One

Breath your way to calm. When you breath out you relax that's why people sigh when they're stressed.

Breathing in without breathing out causes hyperventilation and worsens anxiety. Just before your speech take five minutes breathing in to the count of seven and out to the count of eleven (quick count-not seconds!). On the out breath hold it a second before breathing in again. This will produce quick and lasting calm. Remember extending the out breath calms you down.

Tip Two

You have a responsibility as the presenter but relax you don't carry all the responsibility. Presenting is a team effort. Audiences are responsible for politeness, extending their attention and attempting to learn. It's not all you-it's a meeting of two halves. Never mind how they judge you. How do you judge them?

Tip Three

Use metaphor and stories. We all experience life metaphorically. The most technical logical person spends at least two hours a night dreaming! Talk detail if necessary but present patterns with metaphors. Folk from 4 to 104 love stories. Use em.

Tip four

Captivate attention by using words that evoke all the senses. Describe how things look, sound, feel, smell and taste. Paint pictures and sensations in their minds with your words.

Tip Five

Vary your voice tonality and speed of delivery. Keep them alert and engaged. Convey energy when need be and slow down when you need to 'draw them in close.' You are the conductor to their orchestra. And pepper your talk with humour. Your willingness to be funny shows personal confidence and confidence is contagious.

Tip Six

Tell them what they are going to get. What they are currently getting and then what they have got from you. Sell your sizzle!

Tip Seven

Watch and learn from other great speakers until compelling, relaxed speaking is a part of you.

Rehearse positively. You need to rehearse how your going to feel as well as what you are going to present. Don't think about your forthcoming presentation whilst feeling nervous as this creates an instinctive association between fear and presenting. This natural negative self-hypnosis is very common with nervous speakers.

Hypnotically rehearse your speech whilst feeling relaxed. This produces the right 'blueprint' in your mind. In fact when you do this enough times it actually becomes hard to be nervous!

All great speakers know how to use great self-hypnotic rehearsal. Hypnosis changes attitudes and can bring emotion under control. I used hypnosis, to change my instincts around public speaking. Now I just can't get nervous whether it's 50 or 500 people. The world needs great communicators. Go for it!

Cure your fear of public speaking at HypnosisDownloads.com

Article by Mark Tyrrell of Hypnosis Downloads.com.

5 Hypnosis Myths Exploded

OVER the years, hypnosis has picked up all sorts of weird associations from stage hypnotists, the media and superstition. This is a great shame, because in reality, hypnosis is your single most effective tool for change. Hypnosis is your birthright, and you should know how to use it so it doesn't use you. Here we dispel the biggest hypnosis myths.

Hypnosis Myth 1) All hypnosis is the same

As with anything, hypnosis can be good, bad or indifferent. The most common is old-style authoritarian hypnosis of the type "You are getting sleepy, you are feeling confident". Unsurprisingly, this sort of hypnosis doesn't work well with many people. Good hypnosis uses subtle psychological principles and advanced communication patterns.

It's like the difference between a football coach who thinks you'll perform best if he yells at you, compared with the more elegant style of a great leader who knows that to get the best from his people, he needs to understand motivation, to cajole, encourage and reward.

Hypnosis Downloads.com offers hundreds of sessions using the best type of hypnosis.

Hypnosis Myth 2) Subliminals work

Subliminals are words that you can't hear. Common sense says they shouldn't work, and there's no research proving that they do.

Hypnosis Myth 3) Some people can't be hypnotized

The only reason you can't be hypnotized is if you are incapable of paying attention due to extremely low IQ or brain damage. That's not to say that every hypnotist can hypnotize you however. The more flexible the hypnotist, the more effective she will be with the largest number of people.

Hypnosis Myth 4) Hypnosis is something weird that other people do to you

If you couldn't go into hypnosis, you wouldn't be able to sleep, to learn, or get nervous through 'negative self hypnosis'. (You know when you imagine things going wrong and it makes you feel anxious? Well that's self hypnosis!)

Hypnosis is simply a deliberate utilization of the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) or dream state. We're not giving people medication here – if it wasn't a natural ability, hypnosis wouldn't work!

Hypnosis Myth 5) You lose control in hypnosis

Crazy news stories, stage hypnotists and gossip have created the illusion that you lose control in hypnosis. In fact, when hypnotized, you are relaxed and focused – and able to choose to get up and walk away at any time. You choose to give your attention to the hypnotist, and you can withdraw it at any time.

If you have been scared of hypnosis in the past, this article has hopefully convinced you to at least give it a try. But remember, ensure what you're getting is the real thing. Visit www.hypnosisdownloads.com

[Notes for use: you are licensed only to use this material unaltered to promote the www.hypnosisdownloads.com affiliate program.]

Article by Mark Tyrrell of Hypnosis Downloads.com.