Want to succeed at finals? Get a really good night's sleep the night before.

After a good night’s sleep, people remember information better when they know it will be useful in the future. The findings suggest that the brain evaluates memories during sleep and preferentially retains the information that is most likely to be needed again in the future.

Humans deal with huge amounts of information every day. Most is stored in memories, but the majority is quickly forgotten. How does the brain decide what to keep and what to forget? Apparently it has to do with a selection formula:

“Our results show that memory consolidation during sleep indeed involves a basic selection process that determines which of the many pieces of the day’s information is sent to long-term storage. Our findings also indicate that information relevant for future demands is selected foremost for storage.” (Jan Born, PhD, of the University of Lübeck in Germany)

The research team devised several very clever experiments to determine exactly how this selection works. Using fMRI and other electronic testing methods, they were also able to determine when such filtering occurred.

“The more slow [brain] wave activity the sleeping participants had, the better their memory was during the recall test 10 hours later,” Born said. The study authors suggest that the brain “tags” memories while awake and then consolidates them during sleep.

This would be akin to the day shift working on a report and telling the night shift to, “Put all the pages marked with red tags into the red filing cabinet, the green tagged pages in the green cabinet, and toss the untagged pages while you’re at it…”

My recommendation base on this study’s results:

If you want to succeed at your finals, get a really good night’s sleep the day before. Don’t cram – it’s a total waste of your time. Sleep, that’s the ticket.

If you want to make the most of your Rapid Eye Technology sessions, consider making a clear and compelling statement of intent before eyelid blinking begins – and, equally important, a compelling post-session test. The artificial REM state created by the RET blinking process may initiate the same memory information sorting mechanism addressed in the study – sorting out which session pieces would best support the new post-session you. In your intention setting, imagine DOING whatever it would be that would TEST your session results immediately after the session.

For example, if your intention was to stop smoking, you’d imaging yourself immediately after your stop smoking session, in a situation that would normally trigger smoking behavior, yet NOT smoking instead – then, at the end of the session, test – ACT THE PART of a non-smoker so your mind feels the testing (clean up with IRT as necessary).

The idea is to EXPECT a test afterward. For RET, this test could be administered immediately – at the end of the session. The mind, knowing it will be tested afterward, will filter memories to support successful passage of the test – just as it would do if you were a college student taking a final exam the next day. For the RET Technician, devising such a test might be as simple as asking the client, “How might we test you at the end of this session to make sure your intention is met…?” (or something along those lines).

I tended to do post-processing testing with my own clients in session. Example:

George was referred to me by a medical doctor because he had a persistent rash that resisted treatment. George’s doctor thought it might be psychosomatic – I laughed.

“George, how will we know that we’ve been successful with your sessions?” – this was the way I usually set intent with a client.
“The rash will go away and not come back,” he stated right away.
“Okay, then, let’s test this at the end of our session today,” I suggested.

He was delighted and we got to work doing RET. About a half hour later, we began our closing and wrap up. Just as we finished up, I asked him, “Are you ready to test now?” He nodded and we tested. Sure enough, his rash had disappeared. I heard from George’s doctor that George’s rash had not returned when he saw him again a year later. George was happy and I got more referrals. (BTW, the rash was the result of irrational fears that were super-simple to address using the Rapid Eye Technology IRT process).

A successful session formula might look like this:

1. Set intent with expectation of a test afterward (“What is your intention for this session and how can we test that you achieved your intention after the session?”)
2. Do the RET process and just before closing processes – (remember, RET simulates REM sleep [on steroids!] so anticipation of this testing should consolidate learning [imprinting reframes])
3. Test (using the client’s own test criteria)
4. Clean up as necessary (usually unnecessary)
5. Test again (usually unnecessary)
6. Repeat 4 and 5 until test passed (usually unnecessary)
7. Close the session using standard RET closing processes

Source: Kat Snodgrass, The Journal of Neuroscience, Society for Neuroscience. The research was supported by the German Research Foundation.

Cellular biologist, Dr. Bruce Lipton, shares his understanding of biology and beliefs. I picked out several salient points:

• Environment (energy fields) controls biology
• Conscious mind is tiny and weak compared to subconscious mind
• Setting intent without engaging the subconscious mind DOES NOT WORK
• Your subconscious programming runs your life
• Your fate in life is not determined by your DNA
• Genes are not the limiting factor in your life – your mind is.

Although this video presentation is about EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), it could just as easily apply to Rapid Eye Technology.

According to the newest figures from the 2007 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), an annual study in which tens of thousands of Americans are interviewed about their health- and illness-related experiences, developed by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 38 percent of adults in the United States aged 18 years and over and nearly 12 percent of U.S. children aged 17 years and under use some form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

That’s a lot of therapy outside the mainstream of “traditional” American medicine. According to the survey, most of the care was for pain. The higher the level of education and socioeconomic level, the more likely the use of CAM. As CAM is rarely covered by US insurance carriers, more wealthy people are more likely to be able to afford such care.

No statistics for effectiveness were released, but it is obvious to me that the sheer numbers speak for themselves. US insurance carriers are missing a huge chunk of the overall patient care picture by not covering CAM. The US is so far behind most other first world countries in the medical care of its citizens it just screams out for reform. Nowhere else in the world are supposedly free people treated so poorly medically as we are in the US, generally speaking.

It comes as no surprise to those who are currently uninsured or under-insured, that fully one in four US citizens have none or inadequate access to medical treatment. Those fortunate enough to have the means to buy insurance, are usually treated to a policy that excludes effective CAM treatments. A few avant gard carriers do include a small number of CAM sessions when ordered by one of their participating physicians. And, although physician referrals restrict access somewhat, it is perhaps the most reasonable way to ensure adequate care.

In the end, however, I’d like to see a universal healthcare package similar to that which the French enjoy – where everyone has access and proven CAM therapies are included in the deal. Unfortunately, greed reigns more than sense in the US when it comes to health care and I doubt I’ll see universal health care in the US in my lifetime.

A significant relationship was found between boys’ and girls’ emotional intelligence and their SAT and GCSE English scores. Those with higher emotional intelligence scores fared significantly better than those with lower emotional intelligence scores.

What does that have to do with Rapid Eye Technology? Plenty!

Rapid Eye Technology, Emotional Freedom Technique, and Self-Hypnosis, are great for training teenagers how to manage their emotions – in other words, improving their emotional intelligence levels.

“Further detailed analysis of the results [of the studies] suggests that emotional intelligence may moderate the effects of IQ on academic achievement. Faced with failure, a student low on IQ but who is emotionally intelligent will be able to manage their emotions surrounding failure, reconcile poor performance and work to improve; a student low on IQ and low emotional intelligence may find failure more difficult to deal with, which undermines their academic motivation.”

Those students with better emotional management strategies in place are more likely to do better academically than their peers with fewer such inner resources.

In a study published by Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, researchers discovered that feedback given earlier in learning sessions tend to bring about better grades over the long haul and improve students’ performance overall.

I’ve found this same phenomenon in hypnotherapy and Rapid Eye Technology sessions. When clients discovered early on that the process I was using was working, they tended to get better results overall – achieving therapeutic goals quicker and with far less effort. When clients believed it would take several sessions to show improvement, they tended to go slower and often struggled to make progress. Conversely, when clients felt immediate results (positive feedback) they tended to feel more successful and confident with the processes we used.

In hypnotherapy we call it a “convincer” – that is, a sort of “test” in which the subject feels that what they are doing they are doing successfully (“you’ll notice now that you cannot open your eyes no matter how hard you try…”). The end result of a successful convincer is deeper somnambulism and more effective hypnotherapy. In effect, the subject invokes the placebo effect and makes the therapy work better overall.

I’ve believed all along (and is borne out by years of experience) that clients who believe their therapy is working are more likely to succeed with the therapy. I’ve also experienced the phenomenon that clients who believe early on that the therapy is working will make the most dramatic strides toward their therapeutic goals.

My goal in the first session was to do like fire fighters do with large blazes – knock down the “big stuff” – and then mop up afterward. That way, the client quickly builds belief in the process through early success – and then sticks with it to “clean up”. In the process, the client gets to enjoy rapid change in the direction of their choice – while belief in the therapeutic process gives them added value and power later during the “clean up” phase.

If you are a therapist, even in a socialized environment where you get paid the same regardless of client outcome, I recommend rapidly building client belief in whatever system you’re using. The overall length of therapy can be years – yet if the client/patient believes the system works for them, they will feel successful throughout their time of treatment/therapy.

If you’re a client/patient, wouldn’t you want your therapy to work for you? Of course you would! That’s why you sought therapy in the first place. And wouldn’t you want that therapy to work FASTER rather than SLOWER? Yes! And in most of my cases as a therapist, clients preferred the “knock down then clean up” method better than the “you’ll see results after 12 sessions” approach.

Rapid Eye Technicians, especially, if they follow the outline taught by the Rapid Eye Institute will generally see rapid results. However, since Rapid Eye Technology is not designed to be a “knock down clean up afterward” kind of model, you may have to invoke some convincers early on to accomplish the early positive feedback model. NO CHANGE in practice of the RET process is necessary to achieve this – just a slight change to how you address the client during their first session. Here’s how I did it when I was in practice:

• Within seconds of the wand moving and the eyes blinking, I’d give feedback – “Very good. I can see by your rapidly pulsing pupils that this is definitely working for you…” or “Good! You’re reacting to the process even more rapidly than I expected…” or “Excellent! I can feel the difference in your energy already…” etc. VERY positive feedback VERY early on.
• Make ALL observations invoke the placebo effect by attributing physical changes to successful therapy – “See? Your face is smoothing out… this (RET) is working VERY well for you…” etc.
• Invoke a convincer. This works best AFTER the client has released something heavy – “Now, just TRY to bring back that feeling of fear you just told me about before we started doing RET on it…” When they can’t recall the feeling, their convinced the process works – and will work even better now that they are convinced.
• Make the first session the BEST session. Of course they will have even better sessions later because clients tend to get better at RET the more they use it – but in this case I’m talking about PERCEPTION rather than reality. At the close of their first session you could say something like, “Now that you’ve knocked down the major emotional load of all this, I look forward to cleaning up the little pockets of ‘stuff’ that we didn’t quite get to today…” (giving the PERCEPTION that you took the majority of the load off in that first session – and sending them home even more hopeful and excited about their next few sessions with you)

If you are a client/patient, I recommend that you let yourself BELIEVE that you’ve knocked down the major emotional load in your first session. Reward yourself for your success early on by focusing on and noticing how WELL the therapy is working for you.

Knock the blaze down in the first session and mop up afterward – easy and effective.

Study Source: Barbara Isanski, Association for Psychological Science

Patients reported a new ability to reduce panic symptoms by means of changing their respiration.

“We found that with CART it’s the therapeutic change in carbon dioxide that changes the panic symptoms – and not vice versa,” said Alicia E. Meuret, psychologist and panic disorder expert,  Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.

CART stands for Capnometry-Assisted Respiratory Training – a breathing exercise designed to naturally lower carbon dioxide levels. “In our study, cognitive therapy didn’t change respiratory physiology, but CART did effectively reduce hyperventilation. CART was proved an effective and powerful treatment that reduces the panic by means of normalizing respiratory physiology.” (Meuret)

After looking over the study, I’m concerned about the small number of test subjects (41) and the comparison of CART with only one other panic disorder treatment, Cognitive Therapy (CT).

Still, I believe the concept of normalizing CO2 levels is the way to go. High blood levels of CO2 have been shown to create panic attacks. Further, my own experience with clients reporting panic attacks demonstrated to me that deep breathing did not mediate their symptoms – rather, deep breathing tended to exacerbate the condition.

“CART tells us a patient’s CO2 is very low and is causing many of the symptoms feared, but it can also show how to change these symptoms through correct breathing. There has been an assumption that if people worry less about symptoms it will also normalize their physiology, but this study shows that this is not the case,” Meuret said, confirming my experience. “Hyperventilation remains unchanged, which could be a risk factor for relapse down the road. Apart from hyperventilation being a symptom generator, it is an unhealthy biological state associated with negative health outcomes.”

Study source: “Respiratory and cognitive mediators of treatment change in panic disorder: Evidence for intervention specificity,” appeared in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Meuret, who developed CART, is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at SMU and co-directs the department’s Stress, Anxiety and Chronic Disease Research Program. Co-authors of the study at SMU were David Rosenfield, associate psychology professor, and psychology graduate students Anke Seidel and Lavanya Bhaskara. Stefan G. Hofmann, psychology professor at Boston University, was also an author on the paper. The Beth & Russell Siegelman Foundation funded the research.

Feeling a bit low or blue during the winter months? Or maybe just feeling a little depressed now and then? Well don’t despair or feel anxious over it – adding to the feeling. It’s perfectly normal for humans to have mood swings – and to have negative moods that can last for days or even weeks.

The slightest shift in the balance between serotonin and melatonin, adrenalin and noradrenalin, and other chemicals in the body can affect our moods – and it is NORMAL for us to do so and feel that way when we do.

According to University of East London psychologist Professor Mark Rapley, “Bottling up anger and sadness is never a good way of dealing with things; problems tend to come back and bite us harder further down the line. The trouble is, we’ve become so obsessed with being happy that we now see being down as a real problem – when, in fact, it’s perfectly normal.

“We’re constantly encouraged to be anxious about whether we are happy or depressed, yet these feelings are not illnesses, simply part of regular human experience. Life would be so much duller if we just muddled along in the middle without feeling any emotions at all. Learning to recognize that it’s normal to feel angry or sad is a good thing for our mental health.”

Balance is boring!

Feeling blue or “down” offers you a chance to reconsider – to ponder and reflect – and maybe take action to alleviate the blues. And in the course of solving the blues problem, maybe you’ll come out with new ideas to make the rest of your life even better than before.

When I feel down, I sometimes think that “all is lost” or that “it will never end” or I just can’t see me ever coming out of it. Such thoughts come from “absolute” thinking – which is normal when one is feeling under stress.

In reality, if I were to investigate, I’d notice that 99.99999+% of my life is going along wonderfully – and only the tiniest portion has gained my attention and is really “bugging me” – why? Because it is out of the ordinary! And maybe the feeling is simply something I ate – that changed my chemical state to the blues. If I will reconsider my mood tomorrow morning when my body chemistry has had time to change, maybe things will look differently, too – and probably will.

However we are feeling right now, chances are we’ll feel differently within a very few hours. And not necessarily because of environmental influences – rather, maybe due to just a slight elevation of a single chemical in our body.

Some change therapies influence body chemistry directly – like pharmaceutical therapies. Other change therapies, like Rapid Eye Technology, hypnotherapy, or Emotional Freedom Technique take another approach and use the body’s inherent drug store to affect change from within. I like the latter idea in that I don’t have to introduce some chemical to my body’s chemical system, the side effects of which I can’t control.

So next time you feel blue, don’t despair or worry – adding to your problem – it’s probably simply a natural and normal mood. If it lasts for some time – several weeks perhaps – maybe it’s then time to seek assistance from a qualified healer. First, though – make sure you’re not just experiencing life as a human should – with moods, attitudes, feelings, and chemistry!

How many times have you heard or seen on TV the glowing reports of some miracle drug that is supposed to cure what ails you? And, along with the report/advertisement is a long list of side effects and possible conflicts with other meds or conditions. “Side effects include… [long list of sometimes life-threatening side effects]…” An example of serious side effects are those found with usage of anticonvulsant medications that may be associated with increased risk of suicide*.

The reason we can’t just “make a pill for that” is because we don’t yet understand enough about the physical body to interact with it in unnatural ways – like medication – without disturbing a functioning system (even when that system is mal-functioning).

I am SO grateful that we have medications for so many things that used to kill folks young (well, younger than me, anyway!). Without “miracle” drugs, those with a ruptured appendix would have died instead of recovered. The flu would have killed millions each year. Smallpox, polio, dengue and other deadly diseases would run rampant and decimate humanity. We owe much to the pharmaceutical industry.

On the “flip side” we have holistic medicine that for the most part has no side effects at all. Of course, in some cases, it offers little real benefit, too. Unfortunately, those of us with little education into holistic practices are at the mercy of marketing – just as we are with pharmaceuticals. The difference is that in the West, big pharma markets its products through a network of trusted providers – the medical establishment. We in the West don’t view holistic practitioners as trusted resources like do our medical physicians.

When I go to the hospital for an operation, I don’t want a fellow waving a willow branch over me pronouncing me “cured”. I want results in the way I have come to believe – according to my cultural training. Never mind the effectiveness of the willow branch waving. I’m unlikely to even give it a go if my medical doctor says it’s hokum.

Basically, I’d rather die being right than live being wrong.

I’d rather kill myself with side effects and hope my medication does what I expect it to (man, that headache went right away when I took my aspirin for it) – than to try out voodoo or mysticism or a Wicca spell or any other form of alternative [to drug] therapy my doctor (who works for the “industry”) says is not worthwhile. My physician is biased by the system s/he works for – but I’m okay with that… apparently.

Years ago, I worked with a rather unorthodox physician who referred some of his patients to me for hypnotherapy and Rapid Eye Technology. He almost lost his license to practice medicine because of his interest in offering his patients alternatives to pharmaceuticals. Instead of losing his license, however, he was forced to take “classes” in remedial note taking – along with the installation of a computerized medical record-keeping program monitored by the State. He was brought “in line” with State regulations… and I received far fewer referrals.

Next time you visit your pharmacy for one of those “miracle” drugs, look over the contraindications and other warnings – usually in extremely small print so as to fit onto one LONG page. Feel grateful that science has given you such amazing products. Then look into alternatives – perhaps something holistic that might prevent you from having to use the “miracle” drug in the first place.

Holistic and allopathic medicine have their places and complement each other nicely. In a world awash in information, however, I still find it difficult to sort through the detritus to know which and when to use for what ails me…

*Source: Journal of the American Medical Association

Basically, when you suppress an emotion, you still feel it and your body must account for the increased chemical activity – usually resulting in illness or later increased emotional expression. On the other hand, re-evaluation of the judgment one gives their experience tends to significantly decrease the chemical activity of emotional brain areas – and leads to far less emotional expression later.

I recommend the same for men as well. When you feel angry for whatever reason, if you will take a step back in your mind, disengage with the object of your anger, and reconsider your judgments about it, you may find that you’ll feel better. And even more importantly, you’ll feel better later.

Perhaps the greatest emotion generating judgment we have is the need to be right. The energy we expend on our crusades rivals those of the middle ages – often giving us similar results: less energy overall, impoverished relationships, and overall poorer health. It’s wise and prudent to reconsider your positions in relation to others. It may be okay for more than one person to be right. It may be okay to let someone else have their opinion.

If you find you’re having trouble reconsidering your judgments, you might find value in a therapy like Rapid Eye Technology, EFT, hypnosis, or CBT.

It's easy when you have the key pieces.

1. Visualize, Speak aloud, and feel the goal clearly.
2. Remove any internal blocks (use RET, EFT, or a scripting process where you dispute the hindering belief).
3. Devise/recite out loud a mantra/affirmation (stated 1st & 3rd person, present-tense and positive using all the representational systems).
4. Convince yourself you deserve it; get congruent.
5. Raise energy (breath-work, sex, dancing, etc.)
6. Release the energy into the goal.
7. Release attachment to the goal and give thanks for its attainment.
8. Periodically repeat steps 3, 5, & 6 (how often is up to you, but at least daily).
9. Take physical action towards its attainment (listen for intuitive guidance).
10. Tithe something and/or do a good deed.
11. Banish self-pity and forgive yourself and others for any and all misdeeds.
12. Have faith you’ll achieve your goal (put it in the past on your timeline).
13. Bless your situation, your possessions, and others.

– Thomas Lomax