Archive for How To
Now Smile
Posted by: | CommentsRemember Mona Lisa? What was she thinking about?
There is more to a smile than what we usually think. Research has shown that smiling & laughing can reduce stress, improve the immune system, and even could help with recovering from certain diseases. The most famous case is Norman Cousins’ recovery from (what is now thought to be) reactive arthritis which he claims in his book “Anatomy of an Illness” he cured with mega-doses of Vitamin C and heavy doses of daily laughter. He mentions : “I made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep,” he reported. “When the pain-killing effect of the laughter wore off, we would switch on the motion picture projector again and not infrequently, it would lead to another pain-free interval.”
Many Eastern traditions have also incorporated laughter as part of a daily set of practices such as Laughing Yoga and Laughing Qi Gong. The power of the Taoist ‘Inner Smile’ meditations has been well documented (we teach some of those practices during our Beat Stress, Pill Free half day workshop. Check date for the next one on the schedule of all courses webpage)
Watch the Ted video below where Ron Gutman reviews a number of studies about smiling, and reveals some unexpected results.
Uncover Your Hidden Talents
Posted by: | CommentsAstro Coach Academy is an Astro eCourse for coaches and anyone eager to learn tools to know oneself better & become more effective.
Psychological astrology looks at a zodiac chart to discover potentials, talents and challenges that are hidden in our psyche or, to use a NLP & Hypnosis vocabulary, our unconscious mind.
Unlike traditional astrology, psychological astrology does not make predictions. Why? because we believe that to a large degree, we create our own reality, and therefore have the power to influence the unfolding of our own life.
How? By constantly filtering our experience through our own unconscious maps. Some information is deleted, some information is allowed to come in and register in our consciousness. The choice is made outside of our awareness. The meaning we give to the world, to people and situations results from this filtering process.
The information that is allowed in becomes our ‘focus’.
Predictions, when made by someone we consider as an authority in their field, whom we believe and respect (such as an astrologer), can often become self fulfilling prophecies. How? By installing what has been predicted as a point of focus for our conscious awareness. Once this is done, we literally look for it outside of us.
Example: Ms. X goes to see a fortune teller she considers an expert in his field (i.e. “he knows something that I don’t”). Every time she went to him he told her something that ‘was true’. This time, after a careful examination, he tells her that she should be careful this year, because there is a high probability that she will have an accident. Where does her mind focus after she comes out of her session? What is she unconsciously looking for in the outside world?
From our point of view, an astrological chart only shows psychological frames, not real life events. When used skilfully and within the context of a dialogue rather than by imposing knowledge onto a person, the chart becomes an invaluable tool to assist someone (or ourselves) to uncover part of our personalities that we are not aware of. In a way, it works in a similar fashion to a psychological or personality assessment.
Want to know more? Sign up on the Astro Coaching Academy website. You will receive regular tips and articles about the Astro tools. You can also request articles on topics that interest you, and answers to your most pressing questions.
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Handling Conflict
Posted by: | CommentsSometimes, misunderstanding arises when we do not understand other people’s map of the world, or in other words, when we cannot put ourselves in their shoes. Each person reacts to the other, the situation escalates, emotions intensify, and the chance of reaching a mutually beneficial agreement disappears in a puff of smoke.
One of the most effective ways to solve conflicts is to be able to see the other person’s perspective. Many times, this is all that is needed to defuse tension, initiate a different mind-frame, and open the path to a solution to the conflict or argument.
Whether you’re preparing for a meeting, dealing with family members, selling, negotiating, coaching, or giving a presentation, the ability to consciously choose the perspective you want to have on the situation massively increases the likelihood of success. This is what in NLP we call ‘Perceptual Positions’, i.e. different perspective from which you perceive a situation or problem which involves several people.
In this short audio, I’ll take you through the 3 Perceptual Positions. Leave comments at the bottom of this page if you have any. Click on the little arrow below to start the audio player.
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Want to know more? The schedule of all courses can be found here. Look for NLP Practitioner, Coach & Hypnosis Certification Training.
If I told you that…
Posted by: | Comments… the human unconscious mind has an irresistible need for closure, you’d understand why you have felt an involuntary, maybe overwhelming urge to keep going after you read the title of this post.
In 1927, Gestalt psychologist Kurt Lewin noticed that waiters has a much clearer recollection of still unpaid orders. His student at the time, Russian psychologist Blyuma Zeigarnik went on to study the phenomenon. What she found is: People remember incomplete tasks much more easily than completed ones. This is now called the “Zeigarnik effect”.
Want to know the whole story? Watch the short video below. And if you want to become a master communicator, check out the NLP Practitioner and Coach Certification training in March. This is part of what we’ll learn.
If I Told You That…
The Scientific Nature of Consciousness
Posted by: | CommentsSusan Blackmore is dedicated to understanding the scientific nature of consciousness. Her latest work centers on the existence of memes — little bits of knowledge, lore, habit that seem to spread themselves using human brains as mere carriers. She’s exploring the existence of a new class of meme, spread by human technology. It’s temporarily named the “teme.”
