How was your week? I hope all is well. My week was very full again. I’ve been busily preparing for two weeks teaching which starts today. Last year I was asked to teach a module of the Hypnotherapy Diploma Course at Phoenix Institute. I got really lovely feedback from the students and so I was asked to do it again this year. It’s such a joy to teach something that I love. The module is on Regression and Past Lives. Uncovering and healing old stories really is one of the best aspects of my work as a Hypnotherapist. I recently worked with a beautiful client who’d been on medication for depression and under the care of a Psychiatrist for many years. We did 3 sessions healing her past and the changes in her were remarkable. Her psychiatrist was amazed and is now planning to learn Hypnosis! I think I’ll take that as a compliment. So why is cleaning up the past important? Take a trip down memory lane and you’re bound to discover treasures that make your heart sing and dark corners that make your stomach sink. Many events from the past may be forgotten to the conscious mind, but the subconscious and the body have recorded everything that’s happened to us. Past events are not only recorded as sounds and images, but the body also holds the feelings that occurred with the events at the time. Every time we think about a particular memory we tend to feel the same emotion. If the memory is pleasant we feel good, if not then we feel bad. Most of us have some memories that we simply don’t want to think about because they feel uncomfortable. This is really normal. We can forget or repress the memory of an event, particularly if it was traumatic. This however doesn’t stop the feeling of an old experience coming to the surface when we are somehow reminded of it. We may hear a certain sound or notice a smell that triggers an emotion. Sometimes the connections are clear. Maybe the smell of lavender or mothballs recreates the feeling of being at our Grandparents’ house. Sometimes a particular situation fills us with a certain feeling but we don’t know why. When we think about a memory and it creates an uncomfortable feeling in the body, make no mistake about it, it is doing us harm. Of course the very purpose of an uncomfortable feeling is to guide us to stay safe. When I think about touching a hot iron, I remember the pain of a burn and it makes me more careful. Not all the things we learn to fear as a child are helpful or rational however. I once worked with a woman who hated green! She wouldn’t wear green or eat anything green, she hated being in a green room. The colour actually made her feel quite ill. She had no idea why. When we explored her past she recalled almost drowning at the age of four. It was an incredibly distressing experience for her. When I guided her more deeply into the memory, she realised she was wearing green bathers. All her life her subconscious and her body had been trying to keep her safe by avoiding green! It obviously made perfect sense to her subconscious mind but it wasn’t rational. Irrational emotions can interfere terribly with our ability to enjoy life. For some, an old memory of being embarrassed in front of the class as a child, leads to a fear of public speaking. For others the pain of a broken heart leads to an inability to commit to a loving relationship. Anger towards a parent can be the underlying cause of arguments with a partner. This is the baggage we carry with us. It often seems to me that we try to move forward in life as we drag a scared or angry inner child along with us wherever we go. The good news is that we can release and clear old, negative, irrational emotions from our memories. We can choose our thoughts, tidy up our past and make it safe to visit any memory we have stored in the mind. We can then be free to live life in the present and that inner child can be a wonderful, playful companion. If you would have past experiences that need clearing then call us to book an appointment. Hypnotherapy, Kinesiology or Belief Busting (with PsychK) are all really effective ways to rewrite your history, clear negative emotions and and make peace with your past. I also highly recommend the Emotional Freedom Technique Workshop we are running in a couple of weeks. And you might like to join us for a Group Healing Meditationat The Pines Activity Centre with Nicole Rigato “Empower Your Inner Child” from 7.15pm to 9pm on Friday October 3rd BOOK ONLINE HERE Take a look at the Right Hand column for lots of info on our other events, therapies and our exceptional practitioners >>>>>>> Also scroll down to review us on Facebook and receive $20 off your next appointment, Have a happy, healthy week, Warm Regards, Alison Burton pioneering the future of healthcare Simply Natural Therapies 41 Tunstall Square East Doncaster VIC 3109 03 9842 7033 info@simplynaturaltherapies.com.au www.simplynaturaltherapies.com.au