Tag Archives: My Opinions

The Myth of Being Nonjudgmental

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It is improper and imprudent to simply throw away judgment for the sake of being perceived as "nonjudgmental."

It is improper and imprudent to simply throw away judgment for the sake of being perceived as "nonjudgmental."

Can I throw away my many years of training and experience? No – it is part of who I am.

Can being nonjudgmental harm me or my client or someone else? Of course it can, in certain situations and environments.

There are bounds to tolerance. Unconsciously and instinctively I KNOW it is wrong to have sex with a child, for example. To help a pedophile get better at his trade would be unconscionable to me. I CANNOT offer such behavior safe haven in my sessions. On the other hand, if a pedophile wishes to overcome his harmful behavior, I am willing to assist. That is because I have a judgment about that behavior and the erroneous thought processes that produced it. I cannot be nonjudgmental in this case.

I have a list of behaviors I judge incompatible with health and wellness – for the individual and for society in general.
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Pattern Problems

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How quickly and accurately we recognize a pattern could mean the difference between death and survival 20,000 years ago.

How quickly and accurately we recognize a pattern could mean the difference between death and survival 20,000 years ago.

Patterns – it’s the stuff of life. We don’t perceive reality – we literally create it with our assumptions – based on our perception of patterns. We assume a pattern as soon as we “guess” that one exists. After that, we tend to “fill in the blanks” rather than test our hypothesis (our “guess”).

To illustrate my point, consider the following pattern:

1, 2, 3…

Can you predict the next number? Of course you can. You assume it is 4. That’s because you perceive a familiar pattern. But, what if it is not 4. What if it is 5 instead? Is the pattern broken? Maybe – unless you can perceive a new pattern, you will not be able to predict the next or the next number.

Prediction is how we survived on the plains 200,000 years ago when we were considered food by many of the then existing fauna. Correct predictions brought about survival. Incorrect predictions often brought about death. Over the course of millions of years of evolution, prediction has become so ingrained in humans as to make it invisible to us.

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Mind Machine Madness

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A light and sound mind machine can be WAY fun!

A light and sound mind machine can be WAY fun!

Have you ever tried a mind machine? You know, those cool hand-held computers that present you with flashing lights and brain wave tones? Basically, you put on headsets and special glasses that have LEDs in them, close your eyes, hit the start button and WOW! Yeah – those are the mind machines I’m talking about.

I own several models – Voyager Mind’s Eye (used to be Voyager XL), Voyager Galaxy, Proteus, and Sirius (Used to be Orion). My favorite is the Voyager Mind’s Eye. Here is my personal evaluation of each:
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More Chocolate Magic

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Dark chocolate - my miracle drug of choice.

Dark chocolate – my miracle drug of choice.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that a compound in dark chocolate may protect the brain after a stroke by increasing cellular signals already known to shield nerve cells from damage. They found that mice given the compound suffered significantly less brain damage after induced stroke – even when given to them hours afterward.

OMG! Is there nothing dark chocolate can’t do?!

It seems the more research is done on the miracle drug, dark chocolate, the more amazing things they find it will do for you.

I’d write more about it now, but I gotta get down to the See’s Candy Store. I gotta replace my emergency supplies. You never know when I might have a stroke and need it! And, of course, it’s only reasonable that I test for quality before I have to use it for real – don’t want the EMTs stuffing BAD chocolate down my throat at the moment I need the good stuff!

Be right back…

And what was that about my weight-loss regime? Hey! You know what they say? A pound of prevention……..

As I’ve Grown Older

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If I'm only 7 years old, why do I look so OLD?

If I’m only 7 years old, why do I look so OLD?

Aging might be desirable after all.

Joan came to me complaining that she’d tried everything she could find to slow the aging process. She felt that she was getting “old.” By old, she meant that her body looked wrinkled and withered – no longer fresh and alive as it did when she was in her twenties. Now she was in her sixties and wanted to look 10-20 years younger.

She had tried wrinkle creams of all sorts and varieties – spending small fortunes in the process and making herself a standard figure in the local health food stores. Joan’s body was healthy and vibrant – she exercised regularly and ate sensibly. For the most part, she had a pretty good outlook about life although three marriages had dented her psyche a little. Now a single woman, she felt concerned about her looks.

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Magic Mushrooms Gave People Full Mystical Experience

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Over 60% of volunteers in a rigorous trial funded by the American government said that one magic mushroom session gave them a full mystical experience and several months of happiness. Magic mushrooms are also known as psychedelic mushrooms. The researchers, from John Hopkins University, Baltimore, wanted to find out what the neurological mechanisms and effects of psilocybin were. They were exploring psilocybin as a possible therapeutic compound. Psilocybin is the hallucinogenic agent found in magic mushrooms.

The research was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Drug Abuse and the Council on Spiritual Practices.

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The God Pattern?

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Perhaps they are observing the "God Pattern"

Perhaps they are observing the “God Pattern” – a fundamental, universal pattern underlying all things (patterns) – hidden, as it were, in the noise that pervades everything everywhere.

A rather amazing study out of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis discovered that EEG readings once discarded as “noise” are instead remarkably useful information – using a well-known mathematical technique a pattern emerges that matches many other patterns in nature and in human endeavors.

“We don’t yet know how to decode the information contained in these signals, but the fact that they’re such a large part of brain activity and that they can be modulated when you do a task suggests that they are going to be very important to understanding the brain,” says lead author Biyu Jade He, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow.

By using a mathematical technique called spectral analysis, neuroscientists have found that these “irregular” signals produce a regular pattern – one that is nearly identical to spectral analyses of many other phenomena that produce the same pattern. For example, analysis of the most frequently used words in a language and the number of times they appear in a typical text produces a similar pattern when graphed. Analyzing changes in stock market prices versus how fast they change, or the power and frequency of waves of seismic energy also produces similar results.

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Problems with “Ah ha!”

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“Ah ha!” can sometimes lead us down the path of rightness - along with its associated narrowing of choices.

“Ah ha!” can sometimes lead us down the path of rightness – along with its associated narrowing of choices.

Have you ever suddenly “got it” and said to yourself, “Ah ha!”? Maybe you felt you suddenly came to some realization that would solve your current or life problems. Many new therapists believe that if a client comes to a “realization” or “ah ha” then all is well and the client will come away from the session with resolution. This presupposes the insanely incorrect misconception that if we just know enough about our problem we can solve it and that resolution means solution.

“Ah ha’s” are fine and often make you feel you are progressing toward your goals. And sometimes that feeling is right on and correct. However, just as often or more, the “ah ha!” is merely the mind’s way of keeping you stuck or in the status quo – no progress toward substantial change.

When I was doing Rapid Eye trainings I’d often see students light up with “ah ha! I get it now!” and then return to doing exactly what they were doing before my feedback/correction. Their mind formed an image or “lock-on” – and with the lock-on they would lock out whatever else seemed different from their image. It’s called a scotoma and it feels very good – releasing endorphins in the brain. It is NOT resolution, though it often feels like it.

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Eye Movement and Blinking – New Evidence Suggests Links to Thought and Emotion

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According to an article in the August 2007 issue of Scientific American, micromovements of the human eye give us the capacity for vision – and a window into the mind.

Eye movement and blinking can betray your thoughts“As you read this, your eyes are rapidly flicking from left to right in small hops, bringing each word sequentially into focus. When you stare at a person’s face, your eyes will similarly dart here and there, resting momentarily on one eye, the other eye, nose, mouth and other features. With a little introspection, you can detect this frequent flexing of your eye muscles as you scan a page, face or scene.

But these large voluntary eye movements, called saccades, turn out to be just a small part of the daily workout your eye muscles get. Your eyes never stop moving, even when they are apparently settled, say, on a person’s nose or a sailboat bobbing on the horizon. When the eyes fixate on something, as they do for 80 percent of your waking hours, they still jump and jiggle imperceptibly in ways that turn out to be essential for seeing. If you could somehow halt these miniature motions while fixing your gaze, a static scene would simply fade from view.”

(Windows on the Mind; August 2007; Scientific American Magazine; by Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen L. Macknik)

In addition, “Microsaccades may have significance beyond vision. These little eye movements may also help expose a person’s subliminal thoughts.” (pg 62)

What was that again?!

Your eyes can betray your thoughts?!

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