Pain can be controlled through hypnosis. Not just headaches, but real surgeries can be performed, all with only hypnosis. The reason it works is the brain/mind is the hub of the central nervous system – our bodies system for detecting sensation. When we learn to slow our minds down and shut off those receptors, we find that we can mitigate pain.

Recently, I had a LOT of pain in my stomach for no reason. Well, no other reason than I ate a Chili / Cheese / Slaw dog at the Varsity. The pain was intense! I was sweating. I couldn’t sit or stand. I utilized my hypnosis training and was able to lessen the pain somewhat. After 6 hours, I couldn’t take it anymore. The pain wouldn’t go away. I had to go to the emergency room.

As a side note, the funny thing about the emergency room is, to the nurses and doctors, if you aren’t dying in the next minute, you are not an emergency. After another hour of waiting – the pain was terrifyingly horrific – the triage nurse took my blood pressure, etc., and said, “Sounds like your gallbladder.” Of course I said, “Whatever … STOP THE PAIN!”

After another 45 minutes of waiting, I get a room and a lovely IV which they inject some drug into and it makes all the pain go away. After several hours of tests, the ER Physician comes in and tells me that I have gastritis. He gives me a prescription for pepcid and sends me home.

I slept wonderfully at home for about 3 hours. Then I woke up … IN PAIN!!!

I called them and told a nurse the issue. She said to come on back in. Because I have no insurance, I thought, “She must be crazy!” “What are my other options?” I said. “You could go to a gastroenterologist.” The woman replied.

Since it was 5am, I started my hypnosis techniques for pain, which took about 75% of the pain away. As I was lying there, I couldn’t understand why an upset stomach was causing so much pain. About 9am, I get a call from the hospital radiology department. They finished reviewing my test results. My gallbladder had stones in it. That “might” be causing the pain.

So I made an appointment with a gastroenterologist that day and went at the first available appointment time 2 days later. The gastroenterologist said it sounded like my gallbladder. He told me I needed to get a HIDA scan done. After I asked how much it would cost,  and he replied, “somewhere around $5,000,” I almost fainted. I said, “I don’t have insurance!” “Oh, well, you could get an ultrasound.” He says. “How much is that?” “About $150.” “Yes, I’ll get an ultrasound.”

I had to wait 3 days to get in for the ultrasound. All in all, it took from Saturday night, to Friday morning before I got the ultrasound.

This whole week, I was able to mitigate the pain through hypnosis techniques. When I asked the gastroenterologist for pain killers, he flat out refused; which was RUDE in my opinion – when someone is in pain you would think a doctor would help them out. But I think he is overly cautious about drugs and thinks everyone is a drug addict. A problem my surgeon didn’t have however, because he gave me 100 pain killers, and I only took 4. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In the middle of the ultrasound, with the nice lady pressing on my gallbladder, I wasn’t able to take the pain any longer. I had to go to the emergency room. They said that was wise, but to wait until the radiologist could type up an explanation of the test results.

Again, at the emergency room, they acted like I was just visiting, until I started asking them to PLEASE HELP ME! I think the profuse sweating along with my insistence quickened their pace and got me into the pediatric ward and a doctor who could see me now.

Long story short, my gallbladder was gangrenous and had become attached to my liver and rib cage. It was falling apart and had to be taken out immediately. After a two hour surgery, I awoke in a recovery room and got to spend the next 2 weeks recuperating.

I have had many, many people ask me about the effectiveness of hypnosis for pain. I have proven over and over again to myself that hypnosis is amazingly effective for pain – but in certain situations.

If you are dangerously ill internally, hypnosis will not completely take away the pain. This type of pain is so constant and intense that it is a real test to try to sit still and calm the body in the first place. It can be done, I’ve done it. But I also must admit that there are times when you simply cannot mitigate that kind of pain.

So why does hypnosis work so well for surgeries like dental procedures? Simple. From a normal pain-free state you can relax the body and mind and prepare for the procedure. From a state of pain, you must be able to completely sit still, and then relax the body and mind. That is a much more difficult undertaking.

A headache, backache, or a nagging ache in a joint may be constant, but the pain level does not compare to a gangrenous gallbladder, or kidney stones. The only thing that can take that pain away is to remove the problem.

Still, hypnosis can remove most of the pain that we have in our lives. We can not only soothe ourselves and relax the pain away, we can also reframe the pain to ourselves. This makes the pain sensations feel differently.

What we cannot do, is mask pain that is so severe that we need to seek urgent medical attention.

By now, I expect everyone has heard of “The Secret” and has found that while that “secret” that is “the law of attraction” is important and valuable, it doesn’t work like they claim.

The reason?

Because there is more to it.

There is really about 40 “laws” of the Universe, all tied up into 7 super laws that were first laid out by Hermes Trismegistus in Egypt well before Jesus was born. These 7 super laws are:

·         The Law of Perpetual Transmutation of Energy

·         The Law of Vibration

·         The Law of Relativity

·         The Law of Polarity

·         The Law of Rhythm

·         The Law of Cause and Effect

·         The Law of Gender

In over 3,000 years, no one has been able to disprove any of these laws. In fact, people have only added on to them. The “Law” of attraction is actually a half baked version of the Law of Vibration.

But what are we really talking about here? We are talking about being able to manifest our goals, hopes, dreams, and aspirations aren’t we? In order to really understand how to manifest something in our lives, we expect we need to be able to understand all 7 of the laws fully. For instance, the Law of Gender not only discusses man and woman, it also speaks about gestation periods. Babies need to grow in the womb for 9 months before they can be born. Everything has a gestation period. By the way, this is a hard one for our “must have it now” society to grasp.

So now, it seems as though I have gone on a tangent and am talking about long forgotten people and “Laws” of the Universe; what does this have to do with motivation?

Well, if you boiled all 7 of these laws down into one essential ingredient that ran through each and every one of them, we would call it motivation. While it’s helpful to know about the 7 laws, what’s more important is to know what motivates you. Because:

Motivation is what you use to manifest your goals, hopes, dreams and aspirations.

Now, some people say that they are not motivated. The truth is, everyone is motivated. Some people are motivated to start a business, or run a marathon, others are motivated to sit on the couch and watch TV. We are all motivated, and what we are motivated to do shapes our life for better or worse.

But I think I may have gotten a little too simplistic with my definition of motivation. Let me add to it by saying that sometimes, we are motivated, and other times we are de-motivated. The difference between being motivated and de-motivated is simple, are you living life to the full and accomplishing amazing things that inspire you to jump out of bed in the morning? If not, you are probably de-motivated, or, in other words, motivated to just exist in the easiest way possible.

It’s generally hard for us to recognize being de-motivated ourselves, but if you come home from work exhausted and you have to “veg” for a while before you can make dinner or do anything, then you are probably de-motivated. If you decide to order a pizza and decide not to do laundry because you can find something to wear and you wind up watching 6 hours of TV, then you are definitely de-motivated.

In her book, “Get Motivated,” Tamara Lowe discusses motivational DNA. She surveyed over 12,000 people including the past 5 presidents, every Superbowl winning quarterback and coach for the past 15 years, actresses, actors, Mother Theresa, CEO’s of major corporations including Jack Welch and many, many others.

What she found was there were only 81 reasons that motivated these 12,000+ people. When she looked deeper, she found that these 81 reasons fell into just 6 categories. These categories are: Producers, Connectors, Stabilizers, Variables, Internals and Externals. Each of us have 3 traits which define us. For instance, I am a PVI (also called Visionary) which means that my motivational DNA is Producer, Variable, Internal.

As a producer, I cannot be a follower. I am headstrong and have to tell others my opinions. I make my own way in life and always am looking for ways to enhance the current process. I will even find fault with the current process and tell everyone I know about it. I believe that I am in control of every aspect of my life. If I was a fullback on a football team, I would always make the play, but there would be bodies from both sides all over the field.

As a variable, I need adventure. I thrive on change. I cannot be held down or chained to a desk. I need to experience new stimulus every day or I wither and die.

As an internal, I seek my own reasons for doing things. Largely, this is based on how doing something makes me feel. I won’t be motivated to do something by giving me money. I have to figure out how to use that money for something I want. I much prefer praise from others whom I respect, in fact I need it.

As you can probably tell, I wouldn’t be good in a corporate job. Actually, can’t you see why I had panic and anxiety when I had a corporate job?

If you want to de-motivate me, put me in a job, chained to a desk, where the tasks are repetitive and the boss is a micro-manager. Give me 2 weeks and watch me either explode or implode.

I’ve often said, “I can’t work for anyone else. In two weeks I have identified what is wrong with the current process and I’m trying to change everything.”

But there is nothing wrong with that! It’s how I’m wired. It’s my motivational DNA. As long as I know that about myself, I know how to motivate myself.

I like challenge. I like doing new things every day. I like meeting new people and working with them to achieve their goals. I like an adventure. I like to get a lot of things done every day – it makes me feel successful. When I don’t do this, I get depressed and de-motivated and I start asking myself questions like, “Why am I not motivated?”

You have motivational DNA too! There are things you are best suited for. Maybe you are a connector who likes stability and are internally motivated. Actually, there are 8 different permutations of the 6 different types of motivation.

If you go to www.getmotivatedbook.com and click “take the test,” after you take the test, you will receive your motivational DNA and some tips about what motivates you and what de-motivates you. Make sure you write it down.  It’s well worth it!

Depending upon what you are, you may find that you have been living a life of continual de-motivation, or like me, you may find that all of the times I couldn’t keep a job, or I found myself with panic and anxiety, were times that I wasn’t living according to my motivational DNA. In fact, the times that I had it hardest in my life, were times that I was obviously de-motivated.

One of the things I am looking for when I meet with my clients is their motivational DNA. I need to know how they can be motivated to achieve their goals. Is it praise, a challenge, money or reward, or some other thing or feeling that motivates them to succeed?

This is what I believe sets me apart from every other hypnotist in the world. I am not blindly using a technique, I am trying to find all of the reasons why someone wants to do something, identify how they can best stay motivated to achieve it, and persuade them that their goal is indeed worthwhile.

If you have any questions about this and you would like to discuss your motivational type, please call me (Michael) at (770) 441-1050.

Demi Lovato

Sometimes, I turn on the TV and look for something that’s entertaining. Heck, sometimes I even find something that makes me laugh. Not often mind you, but sometimes.

There doesn’t seem to be much on Television that excites me, but I have found a couple shows that I enjoy. One of them is “The Voice,” but another show I really enjoy, as silly as it sounds, is a Disney channel show called Sonny with a Chance.

Well, the star of the show, Demi Lovato, has/had self esteem issues and started cutting herself and became extremely anxious and sabotaged her opportunity to continue to be a teenage Disney star. They pulled her from the show, took her clothing line out of Target and she has disappeared (well, until July 19, 2011 – her new, already in-process album came out). It’s a shame too, because she is very talented. She is also pretty inside and out, but isn’t it funny that she doesn’t believe that to be true about herself.

What’s interesting about this, is that the show Sonny with a Chance has a great cast of characters, so Disney created a new show based on the old show. The new show is called “So Random.” The other day I happened to turn on the TV and the new show was on and was featuring another rising star in the Disney stable named Selena Gomez. Selena sang one of the songs off of her new album – which every Disney star has these days.

The song Selena Gomez sang is called who says, and it’s actually quite inspiring. As a side note, all of the Disney songs are inspiring and they have kind of started a new genre of pop / bubble gum inspiring music.

So, I started thinking about Demi Lovato and her obvious self loathing, self destructive behavior and comparing it to the lyrics of Selena Gomez’s song. To make this clear, here are the lyrics of the song:

I wouldn’t wanna be anybody else

You made me insecure,
Told me I wasn’t good enough.
But who are you to judge
When you’re a diamond in the rough?
I’m sure you got some things
You’d like to change about yourself.
But when it comes to me
I wouldn’t want to be anybody else.

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na

I’m no beauty queen
I’m just beautiful me

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na

You’ve got every right
To a beautiful life
C’mon

Who says, who says you’re not perfect?
Who says you’re not worth it?
Who says you’re the only one that’s hurtin’?
Trust me, that’s the price of beauty
Who says you’re not pretty?
Who says you’re not beautiful?
Who says?

It’s such a funny thing
How nothing’s funny when it’s you
You tell ‘em what you mean
But they keep whiting out the truth
It’s like a work of art
That never gets to see the light
Keep you beneath the stars
Won’t let you touch the sky

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na

I’m no beauty queen
I’m just beautiful me

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na

You’ve got every right
To a beautiful life
C’mon

Who says, who says you’re not perfect?
Who says you’re not worth it?
Who says you’re the only one that’s hurtin’?
Trust me, that’s the price of beauty
Who says you’re not pretty?
Who says you’re not beautiful?
Who says?

Who says you’re not star potential?
Who says you’re not presidential?
Who says you can’t be in movies?
Listen to me, listen to me
Who says you don’t pass the test?
Who says you can’t be the best?
Who said, who said?
Won’t you tell me who said that?
Yeah, who said?

Who says, who says you’re not perfect? (Yeah)
Who says you’re not worth it? (Yeah yeah)
Who says you’re the only one that’s hurtin’? (Ooooh)
Trust me, that’s the price of beauty (Hey yeah, beauty)
Who says you’re not pretty? (Who said?)
Who says you’re not beautiful? (I’m just beautiful me)
Who says?

Who says, Who says, you’re not perfect?
Who says you’re not worth it?
Who says you’re the only one that’s hurtin’?

Who says, who says you’re not perfect?
Who says you’re not worth it?
Who says you’re the only one that’s hurtin’?
Trust me, that’s the price of beauty
Who says you’re not pretty?
Who says you’re not beautiful?
Who says?

Who says you’re not perfect?
Who says you’re not worth it?
Who says you’re the only one that’s hurtin’?
Trust me, (yeah) that’s the price of beauty
Who says you’re not pretty? (Who says you’re not beautiful?)
Who says?

Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez

Now, if you think about Demi Lovato and you think about the lyrics of this song, you can only come to the same conclusion as I did.

To answer to the questions posed in the song, every question that asks “who says?”

The answer is: YOU!

We are the creators of our lives. We are the one’s who accept what we have created (notice I didn’t say what we have been given?).

Realize now that you are the one who has the say over how you feel. Your internal mental and emotional states are under your absolute control. Remember, your beliefs shape your life and dictate what you will receive in your life.

So now, think about Demi Lovato. What had to be going on in her mind for her to feel ugly? What did she have to constantly tell herself in order to start cutting herself? What did she have to convince herself of in order to tell Disney that she had to walk away from certain fame and fortune?

Do you do this? Even if it’s in some small way, do you sabotage yourself?

Why?

I mean, being self critical is not helping you live a better life is it?

I didn’t think so.

Now that you see it played out in another person’s life, and you realize it’s not helpful in any way, can you agree that you should stop criticizing yourself and start empowering yourself?

Who says you are pretty?
Who says you are worth it?
Who says you have star potential?
Who says you can do it?
Who says you are intelligent?

YOU do, that’s who!

When you submit your information below, you will receive an email link to download a 52 page e-book, and a hypnosis session Absolutely FREE! Then, you will receive an additional e-mail coaching course that arrives in your inbox daily. This coaching course helps you increase the pace at which you overcome panic and anxiety. Start Now! You can be back to feeling good in just a few days!

Golf is the perfect game to show the benefits of sports hypnosis because when a player completely unravels on live television, the cause is obvious. It’s all in the mind!

The Master’s is the jewel amongst the Majors and every youngster who takes up the sport of golf, dreams of one day putting for the win in Augusta.

Rory McIlroy is a 21 year old phenom from Northern Ireland. When I first saw him play and win on the European tour, I thought “he is a Tiger killer!” Rory has the perfect swing and plays all out like a typical youth. But he is different. He is a really good kid! McIlroy is respectful and friendly. He is also open and honest. These are ideal qualities for any man, especially a golfer.

The first day in Augusta, McIlroy rocketed into the lead. He continued to capitalize on his skills the second and third day as well.Rory McIlroy led the Master’s for three straight days and came into the final round with not only the lead, he also had the proven ability to win.

Let’s stop here for a moment and think about playing on the PGA tour: When you step up to the tee, there are thousands of people looking at you. They have all hushed and you are left to your thoughts and your ability as a golfer. Most people, when in similar situations, like public speaking, become nervous and weak feeling in their knees. Imagine trying to swing a golf club correctly and hit a ball 300 yards down the middle of the fairway on some of the hardest courses ever devised to torture golfers and test their skill when your arms and legs feel like jelly.

Now, add in the pressure of a major. Instead of crowds of 10,000, triple it to crowds of over 35,000. Each hole is wall to wall people. All looking at you. Watching every move you make.

Rory started his fourth round 4 strokes ahead of the field. This means that if Rory would play just average golf, he would win the Master’s.

His first nine holes were shaky. Then, on the back nine he had a meltdown. On 10, he hooked his tee shot off of a tree and placed it between cabins that were well left of the fairway. Then on 13, he drove his tee shot into a creek. I could go on and on recounting each errant shot, but the shots aren’t what matters. His mindset is what matters. His shaken belief and confidence in himself and his inability to get his mind back in the game are the reasons he shot an 80 and lost the Master’s Tournament.

Imagine what was going through his mind on the first hole when he stepped up to the tee. What was he telling himself? Was he saying “I can do this! I am going to win!” or was he saying, “hold it together! Just get through this!”

Ask any Sports Psychologist or Sports Hypnotist, there is a difference in affirming statements. When we want to create something positive in our lives, we must be specific and bold in our self-talk. We can’t hope. We can’t try. We are! We do!

The problem is that people pay too much attention to the world around them. They look for evidence in the outer world to prove that what they are telling themselves is coming true. This is not confidence! Confidence is knowing you will succeed. Confidence is believing in yourself to the point that you refuse to accept what the outer world is telling you until it tells you that you are a winner.

Athletes are trained for competition. Competition is a finite thing. It is timed. It has a beginning and an end. This makes it feel different than when you compare an entrepreneurs self-confidence and belief in themselves to succeed. But it’s not different. It’s exactly the same.

Sports hypnosis teaches you how to control your mind and act “as if.” If you were going to win, what attitude, what habits, what mindset would you have to have in order to win? If you train yourself to maintain these thoughts and beliefs, and generate positive internal self-talk, you would be in the best possible position to win! Would you win? Maybe, maybe not, but you would be mentally in the best possible position to win.

This is exactly the same as physical training. Do you have the skills to win? Maybe, maybe not, but you will continue to train your body so that your physical skills are the best they can be. Your mind needs to be trained just as hard as your body does.

As Atlanta’s premier Sports Hypnotist, I help my clients train their minds to get into the zone at will. I also teach them that peak sports performance can, and must, be achieved in short bursts. No human, animal, or machine can operate at peak performance indefinitely without breaking down. That’s why, it’s not only important to learn how to access the states of confidence and belief in ourselves instantly, it’s also important to access states of calm and relaxation instantly as well.

Golfers have to be masters of their minds as well as their swings. Sports hypnosis can help all athletes, especially golfers. As Bobby Jones said, “Golf is played mainly on a five-and-a-half-inch course, the space between your ears.”

I really respect Rory McIlroy. He seems like a great young man and he has a great career ahead of him. He has a great swing and plays golf on par with Tiger. What he needs is to train his mind with sports hypnosis.

When anxiety attacks, it is one of the worst feelings a human could ever experience. I know this all too well. I had anxiety for ten years before I knew what it was. Before that, I thought I was dying of some horrible disease. I would regularly tell my wife, “I think I’m having a heart attack!” or “My heart is racing and my hands are sweaty, I feel clammy, I’m nauseous, I’m dizzy, my stomach feels hard and I have horrible heartburn, and I can’t breathe!”

These are a lot of very painful, very nerve wracking physical symptoms of anxiety. In fact, there are many, many more symptoms of anxiety, but these were the most common for me. This is why I thought I was dying. I didn’t think I had any stress. I don’t think I knew what stress was at the time. I would have never guessed that stress could cause physical symptoms and such raw fear!

Anxiety attacks, also known as panic attacks, are a disorder that can easily be treated with hypnosis and hypnotherapy. Hypnosis for anxiety is actually one of the best treatments for anxiety and panic attacks because it helps you rewire the feelings and the behavioral patterns that feed the panic and the fear – thereby completely curing the condition by either removing the trigger of the stress, or making you aware of the trigger and giving you the tools and confidence to overcome the anxiety, panic, and fear.

What’s amazing is that as bad as anxiety attacks and panic attacks can be, Hypnotherapy can quickly and easily remove all of that panic and anxiety and get you feeling normal and healthy again. As I said, I had anxiety attacks for 10 years and when I started using hypnosis and hypnotherapy for my anxiety, I felt better in a week. Within two weeks, after not having any more anxiety attacks, I realized that I had completely overcome them.

So you may be wondering, have I had any anxiety attacks since I used hypnosis to overcome them? No, I haven’t!

I have to admit, I have gotten anxious a little, but I know how to quickly relax and change my mind about what I’m experiencing. I never have an anxiety attack because I release all of the stress and tension before it goes too far.

If you are experiencing panic and anxiety attacks, I can help you completely overcome them and rid them from your life. You can get back to feeling good again fast! As horrible as anxiety attacks are and as easy to cure as they are with hypnotherapy, no one should ever have to live with them ever again!

Beliefs are hard to pin down. Most of the time, we are not even aware of our beliefs at work in our daily lives. It seems almost hard to believe that everything we have in our life is the result of our beliefs.

Think about it for a minute though. Why do you wear the clothes you wear? Why do you drive the car you drive? What about your house: Do you own or rent? How much did it cost? What area is it in? How happy are you with your job? Do you drink alcohol? Do you go to church? What do you do for fun? How many YouTube videos have you posted of yourself? How many friends do you have on Facebook? Do you tweet? Do you have children? Do you have pets?

Think about you; who you are. Everything about you is based upon decisions you made which are governed by your beliefs.

Whatever your answers are to the above questions, there are no wrong answers. But each of your answers is dependent upon your beliefs about yourself and the world.

If you were to think about making one million dollars in the next year, do you have enough confidence in yourself, confidence in your abilities, and belief in yourself to actually achieve it? Most likely not.

It’s a sad but true fact that none of us give ourselves enough credit. If we were to add up all of the forces against us accomplishing our goals and dreams, 99.8% of them would be internally generated.

In fact, there are 10 most used limiting beliefs. These are used by all of us from time to time. Which ones do you resonate with?

1. Afraid of Failure.

2. Others can get it, but not me.

3. I am too old/young, not pretty enough, not clever enough.

4. I must serve other people’s needs before my own.

5. I must not boast about my success.

6. I must not take risks.

7. I run away when things get tough.

8. I cannot make my decisions without other people’s approval.

9. I have to do everything myself.

10. I must be perfect in everything I do.

No matter which of these you feel represents you, you must realize that they are all LIMITING beliefs.

It can be hard to recognize how your beliefs are affecting and controlling you in the moment, but when you reflect on these 10, and look at yourself objectively, they are easy to see.

Looking at your beliefs like this leads you to one conclusion:

Something you experienced and/or assumed gave you evidence to feel disempowered in your life.

Another way to say it is, you had False Evidence which Appeared Real.

Did I just use the “F” word?

Yes I did! FEAR underlies all of our limiting beliefs. Look back at the list of the 10 most used limiting beliefs again. Can you see the fear now?

We develop beliefs as coping mechanisms for the fear that we feel. That way, we can actually feel better about not doing something – we aren’t afraid, we just can’t do it, it’s impossible.

But is it really impossible?

I don’t think so. I have evidence that anyone can do anything they want. Making one million dollars in a year is not impossible. A lot of people do it – old and young, handicapped and not, clever and average, self-starters and hard-to-get-starters, even people who are not money motivated, all make over one million dollars a year.

If there is evidence to prove someone with your supposed flaws can do it, then what is stopping you?

The question you really need to ask yourself is:

What do I have to experience, and assume about myself and the world in order to feel empowered in a given situation?

When you have the answer, you should experience and learn what you need to learn, then you should create the feelings and beliefs that you need to empower yourself. When you can bring up the feelings of confidence in yourself, intensify them and begin.

Slowly but surely, you will start to see that you are not your beliefs. You are dynamic and powerful. You actually can do anything and be anything you set your mind to. You have the power to choose what you will and will not believe. You can empower yourself to great things. You do it with awareness.

Hypnosis is an important tool that you can use to help you change your life for the better. Whether you are looking for weight loss, relieve anxiety, stop smoking, pain control or get a good night’s sleep, hypnosis can help you achieve your goals.

Michael Miller, Certified Hypnotherapist with the Hypnotherapists Union, discusses how your mental states are as important as your motivation in order to achieve your goals. While hypnosis suggestion works on your beliefs in your subconscious mind, you must have the right mental state in order to get results.

In my last article I wrote about the importance of not knowing. I believe that looking at many aspects of our lives from the point of not knowing is invaluable. But it has to be used wisely, because it’s quite easy to get confused, and more importantly, it can have a downside.

I write my dreams down every morning when I wake. I am always able to remember my early morning dreams and sometimes my middle of the night dreams, but the dreams I have early on in the night have, for the most part, escaped me. For the last 10 years I have been trying to remember them and thought myself to be missing something as to the secrets of this art.

Then I started thinking about not knowing. How I had to suspend any beliefs, ideas or judgments I had about remembering my dreams. Over the next 4 nights I noticed that I was aware of these dreams, but they aren’t dreams so much as scenes or snippets – dozens of them. For the most part, I was just hanging in a semi-aware state in the early morning hours. As my sleep period approaches 4 – 5 hours in, then I move into the lengthy, vivid experiences that we all call dreams. These are the ones I recall.

When I “knew” about my dreams, I thought I was doing something wrong. After I decided to “not know” I noticed what was actually happening and realized that it would be hard to remember all of the little 2 minute dream snippets that take place.

In this case, not knowing helped me find an answer I had been seeking and I moved from not knowing to knowing. There was some understanding, some learning that took place.

The trouble is, as I contemplated this “not knowing” more, I realized that it’s easy to get confused if you use it on every aspect of your life.

The benefit of using the state of not knowing is in helping us see our beliefs, whether empowering or disempowering, for what they are. Then, we can decide if we want to change them, or if we need to experience something more in order to know and understand.

Now I haven’t been contemplating this for years and years so I might be missing something. However, what I have realized is that, coming at everything from a point of not knowing, not only may be impossible, it might be detrimental to you.

This “not knowing” idea comes from the New Age, Western adaptation of Zen popularized by books such as “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” and Authors such as Eckhart Tolle, Adyashanti, and Jed McKenna. I’ll call it “Western Zen.” But what is this “Western Zen?” I think it’s a belief system. Some can call it a way of life, or a known, but using the ideas of Western Zen against itself proves that taking “not knowing” too far doesn’t necessarily lead to empowering states of consciousness – even if it is called “enlightenment.”

Here’s a fictional dialog that explains what I’m talking about:

JIM: “I have achieved enlightenment and my life is perfect in every way now.”

SUE: “But you still live in a trailer on your parent’s land and you still work for the same company in the same crappy job.”

JIM: “I know, but I’m OK with it now. I have everything I need to survive.”

This sounds to me like a way to be OK with giving up. I hate to say it, but it disagrees with me. For instance, when I read The Enlightenment Trilogy by Jed McKenna, especially the first book “Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment,” I got depressed. I felt like there was no purpose to life anymore.

You see, according to this “Western Zen” attitude, when you remove all of your beliefs, and delve deeper, you realize that there is only known’s. If you only go on known’s, however, there is no self. There is nothing that can prove the existence of self. Only consciousness – which some call awareness.

My problem is, I don’t know what you are thinking. I only know what I am thinking. I only know that I exist. I think you exist, but what happens to the people in my dreams when I wake up? Do they disappear? Did they ever exist?

All I know is I exist. That suggests a self of sorts depending upon how you define it. Knowing I exist, because I am aware of myself, definitely suggests a personality and a consciousness – an entity. But “Western Zen” will have you thinking that you don’t exist, because there is no self.

Now, I agree that there is no self as we believe ourselves to be, because we create our “self” when we choose the role we are going to play for the rest of our life. But I don’t believe (there’s that word again) that we come into this world a blob. From everything I have seen, we all come into the world with a personality. This new, Western Zen line of thought would have you combine self and personality.

Western Zen thought hinges on the belief (yes belief) that there is no self. Western Zen cannot prove that there is no self, so using that logic against itself invalidates the premise.

Now, maybe as you get more and more advanced into it, and reach enlightenment, you will either understand what having no self means, or become OK with not existing. I have studied these Western Zen authors quite a bit and I’m not ok with everything they say because I can use the Western Zen logic against itself and take it apart. This means, that it’s impossible to find truth according to the Western Zen definition, because it can never be known. That said, I am willing to say I don’t know this for a fact and am open to learning and understanding.

A Western Zen teacher that I really respect is Adyashanti. However, I don’t know why you have to change your name from Chris in order to be a teacher unless it’s more impressive to have a cool name – anyway, I digress.

Adyashanti was asked by Tammi of Sounds True, “what happens to us after we die?” He replied, “I have no idea!”

This is a correct answer according to Western Zen; something for which I respect Adyashanti. In order for him to maintain his Zen line of thought, he would have to say I don’t know – even though if he shared a happy message, he would get more students / seekers. You see, it’s impossible for him to know until he actually dies, according to his line of thought. But is it impossible to know?

Throughout the centuries there have been all manner of ways that, according to one’s belief system, validates an afterlife. But if you throw out all of your beliefs, you have to throw out a belief in an afterlife and assume nothing. You have to be ok with not existing. Which remember, there is no self according to Western Zen, so existing shouldn’t be possible.

To be clear, the reason I keep saying that no self = not existing, is because Western Zen makes this statement. “There is only consciousness” is a common saying; however there is never any real definition of what that means. When it’s discussed, it is broached as the one consciousness and not my consciousness or your consciousness.

So, it is impossible to know the answers to these deep questions logically and experientially according to the Western Zen line of thought. So, when these authors make statements that “there is no self,” they are essentially saying: “Even though I don’t believe you should have beliefs because beliefs are fallacious, I believe there is no self.”

Their line of thought invalidates their logic. As such, it makes their thoughts beliefs and not known’s.

What these Western Zen authors really need to do is realize, as I have, that changing beliefs is more about questioning them than it is looking at them as un-necessary. While it is very, very important to question yourself and your beliefs so that you can see where you are being disempowered, only accepting what you know to be true is not only impossible for a human, it’s short sighted and dangerous.

I’ve already established in my last article that we are not really aware of reality, only our perceptions. Therefore, we now know our perceptions may not be reality. What makes us think that our perceptions of what we experience directly are any truer after we experience it, than when we only have beliefs about what we will experience?

So then, since we can’t and shouldn’t instantly trust anything and everything we believe or experience, we should focus on being – which is a true Zen idea.

That said, when it comes to just being, I’d like to BE happy, charitable and rich. The alternative is being satisfied with what is.

Don’t get me wrong, I am satisfied, and I am grateful. But since I have 70 or so years left on the planet, I’d like to grow, have some fantastic, breath taking adventures, meet and befriend a lot of wonderful people, learn a thing or two and travel the world.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about not knowing and how changing our lives might actually be easier if we become determined to not know things.

In order to make this clear, I first need to explain beliefs and reality. Sounds easy right?

Most of us are unaware that our beliefs are coloring our lives. Our beliefs drive our behavior and subsequently, our beliefs hold our lives in a constant pattern. For some, that pattern is one of abundance. For most, however, the results we achieve due to our beliefs and behaviors are less than desirable when compared to what we either want to accomplish, or know we could accomplish.

But where did we get our beliefs?

Upon contemplation, it seems that most of our beliefs actually come from society around us. We are molded as we grow to believe this and believe that. We are encouraged to go with the flow, and to be a part of the crowd, not to rock the boat, and be a good person.

We choose roles in our teenage years that we will play throughout our lives – and we do it all in order to conform to society so that everyone will like us.

But isn’t it funny how we are all so sure that everyone else is right? We look to others in our peer group as if they have the answer we seek and we emulate them. But how do we know they know?

Everything we believe is based upon personal known’s – whether they are true or not.

Our reality is our perception of reality – not reality itself. What we perceive to be true is most likely not true. This is because we take in information through our 5 senses. That may sound simple and elementary, but hang on; this is where it gets interesting.

Your brain takes in a little over 2 million bits of information per second according to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the book “Flow – The Psychology of Optimal Experience.” The problem is, our conscious mind can only hold onto about 148 bits of information per second. So what happens to the other 2+ million bits? They are deleted.

The brain is known to generalize, delete, and distort all of the information coming into it. All that sensory data combined with all of the unseen, un-sensed data that exists comprises reality. But we are aware of less than .001% of it.

What this tells me is that, for most things, we simply do not know. We have no clue. We take things by faith. We assume things to be the same as some other thing we saw that was similar. We assume things based upon limited information and faulty logic.

We all simply do not know … but we act like we do.

So now that I have essentially proven that we do not know anything really; you have to wonder why everyone is so bent on proving they know everything – some more than others.

We have named everything we deem important in our society and yet we don’t have a word for someone who has an ability to learn, but who doesn’t know that there is something to learn.

We call people who don’t know, stupid or ignorant. But what’s the word for someone who probably has the ability, but doesn’t know how to play chess?

Think of this in a business setting. Many times we are told to “be creative,” or “think outside the box” but the only way we could successfully do this is to not know anything. We couldn’t have ingrained beliefs about our business, competition, marketplace, customers, roles, self, and a myriad of other things in order to actually achieve “thinking outside the box.”

The truth is, we are all inside the box. Even those people who are non-conformists are inside the box because they are a segment of the “box” population.

What would happen if we decided that we really didn’t know? What if we tried to learn from a state, an attitude of not knowing? Then true change could take place. Then people who fear things could learn why they shouldn’t fear it. Then businesses could reinvent themselves and find new strategies. Then, we might all actually reach an enlightenment of sorts.

I don’t know where the road of not knowing would lead, but I have a feeling that learning anew, with fresh, wizened eyes would be one of the greatest adventures of self-exploration ever attempted.

Besides, many of the geniuses throughout history have all talked about how breakthroughs occurred when they came at things from a point of not knowing. Albert Einstein said he did not know anything.

Edison tried peanut butter when he was trying to invent the light bulb. Newton had to completely forget everything he thought he knew in order to see gravity at work. He said so in his diary, and remarked about how odd it was that no one saw it before.

Unfortunately, we are all used to not seeing the things that are literally in front of our faces. I am starting to believe that our lives would change if we started realizing we don’t really know anything. At least, not until we prove it experientially to ourselves.