Mind over Matters

"In Tune with the Infinite"

2011-03-06T10:52:00.000-08:00

As some of you know I am working on a few projects about Hypnosis. One of them is my film. The main theme of my film is to dispel some of the serotypes of hypnosis and to show how simple the process of hypnosis is. To understand the process, we need to understand the history of hypnosis. What I find fascinating is how our perception of this old natural phenomenon has evolved over the last….. four thousand years.

The more we learn the less mysterious hypnosis has become. Many studies and scientific models like NLP or new sciences like Memetics explain how the mind works and how we can program our minds.

Today, I would like to share with you a book I came across last night, while reading a chapter from Dr. Anne Harrington’s book The Cure Within. I plan on interviewing Dr. Harrington for my film about the history of hypnosis. So, while I am mentioning two books, the one I wish to share with you now is an old book from an author, who to my own surprise doesn’t even have a wikipedia page. His name is Ralph Waldo Trine (1866-1958). Trine was a philosopher, mystic and one of the pioneers in the area of life transforming thought. His book “In Tune with the Infinite” influenced such luminaries as: Janet Gaynor( first Academy Award Winner for best Actress in 1928), Queen Victoria and finally Henry Ford, a prominent American industrialist.

Of course, today we have heard so much about the power of positive thinking and many various books on laws of attraction, visualization - which have spawned in the last century by many different thinkers. However, it is interesting to note, this philosophy is pretty old and first began by the end of the 19^th century. Ralph Waldo Trine’s book “In Tune with the Infinite” is spirituality inclined, yet still far from dogmatic or in any sense promulgating.

Trine's philosophy of positive thinking and the power of "infinite" is one of the links in the evolution chain of how we understand our mind and the phenomenon of faith healing, which is also self- hypnosis.

Here you go, enjoy the book and let me know what you think: “In Tune with the Infinite.”

Your Personal Rhythm...

2010-11-26T09:13:00.000-08:00

My battle with the gym and exercising ended today. I am celebrating the end of war, because I resolved the conflict. I want to share this with you. Not only is my discovery enlightening; but also it is physically invigorating.

I have had a gym membership for years. I would go to gym, take classes, run the treadmill. Yet, I often felt exasperated and formed quite a bit of resistance toward gym. I would get on a treadmill and couldn’t wait for it to be over, I constantly looked at the time. I really hated it. I thought and I could even say that was possessed with the idea that I needed to exercise to loose weight and be skinny. I pushed too hard and never felt happy and so I often quit and wouldn’t go to gym for months, while I kept paying for my membership.

Today, I felt quite low on energy and thought about going to gym, but then this thought came to mind: I really don’t enjoy it anyway, why go? I then, said to myself, just go and enjoy, this time you don’t need to exercise to be skinny or to lose weight. You are exercising to move around and stay healthy. Do it slowly.

I got on a treadmill and started very slowly, just feeling my every muscle moving. Feeling my breathing. I decided I would not rush. I would not push it. I would just move slowly and feel comfortable, no matter how slow or fast I wanted to go. I simply shifted my focus to a new single idea: I exercise for my body now.

As I moved, I began to find my own rhythm, which felt comfortable to me. There were a few times that I would start pushing myself, like I did in the past and going against that newly found rhythm. When that occurred I would say to myself, “stop, just listen to your body, go long with it now.” Yes, I was slow, but that didn’t matter – my body still exercised and even more - I was beginning to feel good.

I felt the heat spreading naturally from my lower back all the way up to my shoulders, neck and into my arms. It dawned on me: even in exercising you ought to find your rhythm, which feels comfortable to you. The same rhythm you must find in life. In life, you can’t ever rush things; they come to you once you are fully in unison with the rhythm of your own self (your body, mind, thoughts- call it whatever you want, your life, your purpose, your being.)

Twenty minutes went by really fast on the treadmill today. I enjoyed it for the first time. My whole attitude has changed. I will now exercise for my body and health, the rest will come with time….

I got the right hat!!!

2010-06-28T17:10:00.001-07:00

Saturday night a friend texted me asking if I wanted to join him at Polo game in Governor’s Island on Sunday June 28^th. I have never seen a Polo game live, so I readily agreed. Besides, we were invited to be in a VIP section with all the A-listers! As much as I felt exhilarated, I was also a bit concerned. Since the guests were invited to be in the presence of "His Royal Highness Prince Harry of Wales" they were also instructed on attire. "Gentlemen" ought to wear a "summer suit," the invitations said, and the "ladies" were challenged to sport "their most daring hat." Where in the world would I get a hat like that, I thought? It was too late to go shopping. And even so, at this point in my life I don’t think I could splurge a lot of money on a hat! I got nervous.

I called my best friend and told him about my dilemma. He told me to go to Harlem, find a store where they sell those voluptuous hats that black women always wear to churches. Luckily, I live in Harlem, so I didn’t have to go far! I went on the street and asked a few random women where I could find such store. After getting a few suggestions I headed to the hat store destination. I walked a few blocks to find the store was unfortunately closed. I worried more. Then suddenly as I turned to my right I saw a beautiful brown hat on a small table among many other goods a street vendor was selling. It was an elegant looking hat for the humble price of 20 dollars. There was one problem, the rim of the hat had a part where the lining kind of got overlaid, creating a small messy spot. Well, you get what you pay for, I thought. I bought it. I had no choice. When I came home I took a thin yellow scarf and wrapped it around the head of the hat, tying a nice bow tie; which gently covered the knotty spot . I was all set for my first Polo event!

The next day I saw so many glamorous good looking people and celebrities! His Highness Prince Harry stood right next to me when he was giving a speech about the good causes of the charity event. It was a mixture of people with most amazing outfits, dresses and certainly very fashionable glamorous hats!

My hat wasn’t perfect I knew it. My hat wasn’t overly expensive and glamorous, I knew that too. But, I tried not to think about it and rather enjoyed the Polo game, dinner, champagne, desserts and mingling with happy people all around.

After the first part of the game, all the VIP’s were invited to come on to the field. My friend and I joined everyone on the grass. It was fun to stroll on the field and being a part of that special VIP world. It was different, yet it was the same.

I turn around and next to me is standing Gayle King (editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine and the best friend of Oprah Winfrey ). She is smiling and shining brightly like a beam of light. She looks at us and says hello. We talk for a little bit, take pictures. She leaves and then turns back again and says to me “You got the right hat!” This was by far the most exhilarating day of the year for me.

formspring.me

2010-04-13T12:06:00.001-07:00

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/elenabeloff

Hypnosis and Pain Management: Myth or Real? ( Part I)

2010-03-06T21:22:00.000-08:00

I remember I used to have headaches a few years back for about a year, they were quite painful and consistent, occurring at least once a month. Even two tablets of Advil wouldn’t help me rid those headaches. After while I figured that the only way to stop such pain would be to put a cold wet towel over my forehead, close my eyes and drift into a sleep state. As a practicing Hypnotist I of course knew the tricks of making myself fall asleep despite any distractions or even insomnia. My self-hypnosis techniques always worked. I usually would use a part of a Dave Elman Induction by visualizing the numbers from 200 going down by one, after each number I would silently within myself say the words : deeper relaxed. Before I reached 170-150 I would quite naturally and unexpectedly enter a light state of trance and eventually fall asleep. Sometimes, I would visualize golden strings graciously pulling the pain out of my head, just drawing it further away from my physical awareness. Next morning I would wake up feeling great, free of any pain and totally refreshed.

James Esdaile, a Scottish surgeon was one of the pioneers in using Hypnosis for pain control. Esdaile performed about 3000 painless surgeries while working in India. There is one twist though: at that time ( beginning of 19^th century) they weren’t using the word Hypnosis. The term Hypnosis was coined a little later in 1842 by another Scottish surgeon James Braid. Before that Hypnosis was known as…. Any guesses? Mesmerism, of course. This term originated with a well known Austrian physician and faithhealer Anton Mesmer. Just bear with me readers, don’t go away. Mesmerism is somewhat different from Hypnosis and yet very much the same. What was different about mesmerism, with which Esdale was able to perform so many painless surgeries? Mesmerism worked on the power of suggestion just like Hypnosis, however it worked because patients were lead to believe as if the doctor or a surgeon possessed some special power. That in turn would induce trance in patients. Interestingly enough both Mesmer and Esdaile also believed in their special abilities to connect with some universal healing fluid. How entrancing!

Nowadays, of course we as hypnotists do not use any of these bogus stories to put our clients to trance. There are many inductions, breathing techniques, guided visualization and imagery that hypnotists use to achieve a receptive state of mind in a client. I think this is where the power of a good hypnotist lies: in the abilities to detect limiting beliefs, formulate proper suggestions and finally to induce trance to “install” these new suggestions in one’s subconscious mind. In other words, clinical Hypnosis has nothing to do with any special mysterious or divine power of a Hypnotist. It is just a skill, which a good hypnotist acquires with practice and knowledge. By the way anyone could learn that, it just takes years of studying and practicing.

I use Hypnosis and NLP when I work with clients to help them stop stop addictions, with success motivation, weight loss and more. Most of the time, especially with smokers, you don’t need deep levels of trance,like theta or delta ( there are four known levels: beta-wake state,alpha- heightened state of focus, theta- trance state and delta- deep trance, coma).

When working with pain management I found that inducing deeper levels of trance (theta) and lingering there a bit longer would really benefit the reduction of pain much more. While in those states I would usually guide clients into visualization of various metaphoric healing images (like strings, or cleansing water, or beams of light). Throughout this long lasting pleasant trance I would give them very positive suggestions and sometimes very specific instructions to remove triggers and associations with pain.

So, what exactly is so powerful about these long lasting trance states? I will chat about that in my next post. In the meantime, I welcome any questions or comments here.

My Two days in Sufi Camp

2010-01-03T20:47:00.000-08:00

Last year I was shooting my documentary film Zaritsas:Russian Women in New York. I traveled to New Mexico to Sufi Camp, as I followed one of the Russian girls in my film. This is a short video of just sufi camp

From Jesus to Antichrist ( William Dafoe as an allegory)

2010-01-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

When I heard about the movie Antichrist written and directed by Lars Von Trier about few months ago, I knew I had to see it.

I remember being quite impressed by his dogme film The Idiots (1998) a few years back( In this film a bunch of people act out their inner idiots and walk around fooling everyone they are mentally challenged.)

The Antichrist didn’t disappoint me either, disregarding the fact that I left the theater with a rather disturbed feeling. Even so, that feeling later turned into something enlightening.

When I came to the IFC, I asked a ticket guy if he saw the film, he said yes and confirmed it was very horrifying, he even gave me a guide which warned the movie goers when to look away just in case; the graphical images of self-inflicted clitoridectomy, blood masturbation, pornography , dead rotten animals, diabolical photo images can be quite traumatizing.

In brief, this is a story about a grieving couple that loses their son who accidentally tumbles out the window while they passionately make love. The couple is referred as He or She, no names.

This film develops as She ( Charlotte Gainsburg) is grieving deeply over her lost son, filled with guilt and inability to enjoy sex anymore ( in a normal way), she also grows in anger towards herself and later to her husband. He( William Dafoe) is a patient husband and therapist who is trying to help her assuage the pain. He uses various therapeutical modalities like hypnosis, role playing and etc. Nothing seems to work, instead making her agony more intense. She becomes psychotic and violent. Graphical disgusting images visually intensify the horror of the film as we watch Her grow in immense anger. She bolts a millstone to his leg, he escapes, she finds him and tries to berry him alive.

As a viewer I found myself filling up with anger towards that woman, something visceral inside me that wanted to tear her apart. But He continued to be patient, he wouldn’t fight her. The next morning they return to the cabin. He just lays next to her and touching her gently after all the physical pain she caused him. He looks her in the eyes and asks lovingly “ Were you trying to kill me?” She hit him again and then neurotically cut one part of her own body. Laying near the wall in blood it looks as if this sick woman is finally dead. He opens his eyes, takes out the millstone, he grabs her by the neck, pushes to the wall and brutally suffocates her to death. At this point I experienced mixed feelings. Finally the bitch (sorry) is dead. However I was disappointed in Him. He was the kindest man till the very end of the film. I felt that He lost. He did not withstand the trial of anger. Evil won in this film through his last action. In other words, if He had a Christ –like nature no matter how much anger She directed towards him (tortured physically and emotionally), he would have forgiven her. This is a non-violent pacifist nature of Christ. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also.”

My father asked me, so what would you do if you were Him? I said, well, I would tie this woman with ropes and carry her to the psychiatric ward. But, that’s easy to say for anyone who doesn’t experience the physical torture as He did in Antichrist.

What I think is very ironic though, is that William Dafoe played Jesus Christ in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and 21 years later he plays a character in Antichrist (2009) who succumbs to the antichrist nature within himself when slapping the cheek of the one who struck him.

I think this irony is an allegory whether von Trier meant it or not. This is an allegory signifying the human nature, inseparably consisting of the two opposites like in the actor William Dafoe who played two opposites in two different films.

I wonder, what it’s like to have a character without any ego whatsoever? That’s not human I guess…or it is just a total bliss.

Trataka gazing with Soham mantra: Yoga and Tantra meditation

2009-12-01T09:06:00.001-08:00

This is a good way to begin Meditation. Try it. It will bring you to focus.

FSOL - Lifeforms part 1

2009-11-30T14:20:00.001-08:00

Future Sounds Of London, great music and amazing video graphics. Hypnotizing. Incredible!

14. What matters (cont.); The nature of death, Part I

2009-11-30T14:14:00.001-08:00

I watched this whole course. Pretty amazing! I recommend!

Zaritsas:Russian Women in New York

2009-11-17T12:20:00.001-08:00

This is preview of my documentary film Zaritsas:Russian Women in New York. Coming out soon, stay tuned!

Self-Hypnosis Based Meditation

2009-10-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

Last year I was shooting my documentary film Zaritsas: Russian Women in New York. I followed five girls around during their daily activities and interviewed them for six months! It was an unforgettable experience. Of course, there were ups and downs throughout the process, but each minute of it was a worthwhile experience.

As a Hypnotist I often practice self-hypnosis or exchange NLP sessions with my colleagues for personal self-improvement. I am constantly looking for new effective ways of trance inductions and ways to plant positive suggestions. My colleagues and I often exchange a lot of information and ideas. As Thomas Jefferson once said “If two individuals get together and exchange a dollar, they each walk away with one dollar. If the same individuals get together and exchange an idea, they both walk away with two ideas.”

This past summer I discovered a new powerful self-hypnosis technique which I would like to share with all of you. It is called Self-Hypnosis based Meditation. I discovered it while filming for three days in Sufi Camp in New Mexico, as one of the girls in my film stayed there for two months.

Sufi is a spiritual practice that originates from Islam, kind of like Yoga from Buddhism. Sufi involves various modalities like dance, movement, meditation, chanting, singing and so on. It is very artistic and creative in its base.

On the last night of my trip I was invited to participate in one of the sufi workshops with everyone else. That night we were doing a sufi meditation. I was in a hall room full of people. The Sufi instructor Adnan Sarhan inserted a tape into his old stereo. It began playing a mantra ( a short Arabic phrase) loudly into the speakers without any music. Just plain words. We were instructed to repeat it over out loud in unison with the tape recorder.

I began saying my mantra out loud, occasionally looking around trying to capture my surroundings. Everyone sat silently on the floor obediently repeating the mantra. I closed my eyes again and continued repeating these two Arabic words just like everyone else did. I was not supposed to stop.

I knew that this was one of the ways many people meditated: repeatedly focusing on a mantra. I heard about it so many times and read in books. I may even tried it a few times in the past, but never got any effect from it.

So, this time in Sufi camp sitting on a floor with my legs crossed I didn’t have much expectations, other than expecting to be very bored. Ten minutes later I was still repeating the mantra out loud and kept on thinking what was coming next and when this tape would finally end on this old man’s stereo.

About ten more minutes passed and I couldn’t believe we were still doing it. I peaked around at people. I noticed some of them were swaying slightly from side to side and gently lowering their heads down and up. I looked ahead of me and saw a young girl stretched on the floor moving her body slowly, almost in ecstasy. It was captivating to watch.

I close my eyes again. Bored, and even more: I was beginning to feel angry at myself thinking that I wouldn’t get anything out of it anyway. My lips were getting very tired. I stuck to the mantra. The more I tried to keep my lips moving, the more tired they felt. Then they felt more lazy, my face feeling relaxed. Then I felt this drowsy feeling and relaxation spreading around my mouth and into my face even more, then slowly into my body. I began to feel a pleasant sensation of trance-like state flowing into my whole body again and then into my awareness.

At that moment I became aware of a familiar state of the hypnotic trance that I had experienced before many times in sessions ( when exchanging sessions with colleagues.) Except this time I entered this deep state with this strange mantra myself and quite unexpectedly. My thoughts slowly started to melt away.

I continued seeing various images in my head, as if I was streaming through a beautiful colorful tunnel. I stopped saying the mantra for a moment. Then, forced myself to utter it again in a very low voice. I could feel an euphoric feeling traveling through every limb of my body and mind. I was just enjoying the ride of deep hypnotic trance.

The next day when I was leaving camp I was going into the airport and thinking about this beautiful experience. I kept asking myself: Do campers actually know that they go in and out of deep trance every day during their workshops? Do they know that they could use these states to direct their thoughts and give themselves suggestions for powerful changes?

From what I knew, they only used these states to relax and feel a purification and oneness with the Infinite Intelligence. It is very spiritual. Also, I know that the workshops and overall experience in the camp helps many campers improve in various areas of life and even quit bad habits. ( I have a theory why, which I will explain another time.)

As a Hypnotist I began looking at my trance experience in sufi camp from a practical point of view. These trance states that campers go in and out during the day in a sufi camp - are the kind of states we, as Hypnotists work to induce in our clients in order to plant suggestions for a positive change. For some clients it can be very easy to reach that deep state, for others it may take a while ( a few sessions) before they get there. Even though we don’t always need a very deep state of trance in order for suggestions to reach the subconscious, still, I personally always loved the deep states and found they work powerfully for me.

When I came to New York, I began practicing meditation more often. I either used a mantra or simply focused on my breathing for a long time to help me enter a deep meditative state. The more I practiced the better I became at it. Today it can take me anywhere from ten to twenty minutes before I slip into a trance.

What do you think I do then? Any guesses?

I use my inner voice to feed my mind with positive suggestions, hence the invention of my new technique Self-Hypnosis Based Meditation.

Here is how you can do it too:

Chose one or two positive suggestions you want to “download” into your subconscious mind during your meditation. For example: “ I am a successful writer,” “ I am an excellent public speaker”, “ I am a happy person”, “ I am fearless in..( whatever)”, “ I improve my relationships”, “ I have a high self-esteem”, “ I am a non-smoker”, “Tobacco is poison”, “ I no longer bite my nails, I am healthy”, “ I am in control” and so on.

Make sure that your affirmations ( suggestions) are always stated in positives. And try not to use more that two affirmations while in trance, because your mind can only remember one or two items while you are deep in trance. I actually recommend using one good suggestion, which can also become a mantra for you during trance. Your mind will hear it, accept it, and believe it! Eventually your mind will turn in into your reality when you are in a wake state!

After you chose your suggestion, begin by going into a trance. Be patient. Use your breathing or a mantra if you know any. Or you can simply just count from 200 and down saying the words “deeper relaxed” after each number. It may take you about 15-30 minutes before you enter a deep meditative state. It takes practice. You might have a tendency to get up and stop. Don’t do that. Continue by pushing your thoughts away. Use whatever technique you want to meditate ( there are plenty of spiritual books on that)

Once you are in that deep meditative state, feeling physical relaxation and stillness of your mind, begin by saying your affirmation( suggestion) inside yourself silently. Don’t say it out loud or you will awake yourself. Keep on saying that suggestion and really hear your inner voice. Notice where it comes from. Do it for as long as you feel comfortable. Your new positive affirmation will begin to securely plant in your inner mind, replacing the other old limiting belief. You will know when to stop.

Slowly open your eyes, feeling invigorated and refreshed. Your newly installed positive affirmation is your new positive belief now! You attitude and behavior will change accordingly to this new belief.

See, it is very simple. The entire self-hypnosis based meditation may take anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour. I usually do it for one hour a few times a month. It works wonders! Let me know if you have questions!

If you found this information useful click here to tweet about it on tweeter. Created by @elenabeloff

Sleep well, dream well...

2009-09-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

Some of you already know that I am a Certified Hypnotist and Master NLP Practitioner. I am a big fan of Hypnosis and absolutely enjoy using its magnificent tools when working with people. I assist my clients with building strategies towards getting their desired outcomes. You can learn more about my Hypnosis practice on my site www.insidehypnosis.com
I also design self-hypnosis audio programs. My favorite audio program is called "Mental Antivirus" You can purchase this audio here.

This is a thirty minutes hypnosis audio program which induces trance, and gives positive suggestions for the healthy night sleep. It awakens your strength and power to function throughout the next day, dealing with daily routines and challenges effectively. It works well for insomnia and reduces stress. In addition, you will have beautiful dreams throughout the night... let me know what they are!

The Airplane. The Bus. Two Certificates.

2009-08-21T20:18:00.001-07:00

The dream I had last night was very strange. I have a need to write it down. Of course, like many dreams it was very metamorphic in its nature, without much logic, you just fluctuate from one body to another or one space and time to the next. At first sight dreams seem to lack any type of normal human logic. But what if in reality dreams actually have their own unique logic? The kind of logic unbeknownst to any waking state? I don't know.
   The dream I had last night was very strange, I wonder if there is any logic to it at all. Even if it's that other type of alien and abstract , which I yearn to understand.
   Here it starts, my dream.
   I feel very good. I know I am safe. I am next to someone I love. It feels warm and I can feel his touch. I do not see his face. But I know that we both in love and I trust him. I look around, we are on the small white plane. I notice that we are both naked. We are so close to each other.
   "Let's do it", he says.
   "What, my darling?" I ask him lazily.
   "Let's go!"
   "Where?" I ask.
   "To the top, very top of the airplane!"
   "You are out of your mind! It's dangerous…"
   " Trust me, let's go!"
   He takes my hand. We both somehow ( in abstract dreamy logic) get to the very top of the airplane and spread out on it while it's flying through the air. We did it! I lay on the top of his body facing the sky. The airplane is flying so fast, the wind passes by. I can feel chills on my body. I feel so safe and secure. We are still both naked.
   Suddenly, we are falling off the plane. Falling down so fast. I look at him. Oh no! We are going to die! He doesn't say anything, just hugs me closer and we hold hands. The air is so cold and it feels so liberating to fly down so uncontrollably. We know we are going to die.
   We fall on the ground. I open my eyes. I move my body. I am alive. Tall dark green grass is looking right into my face. I see the empty fields to one side and the woods to the other. I try to stand up. Where is he? I look to the side. He doesn't move. I must do something to get out of this place and get to the city! I don't know if he is dead or alive.
   I take his body and carry it with me. I walk through the woods. I see the road.
   Cars are passing by fast. I look at myself. I am no longer Elena. I am him. And now I am holding Elena's naked body with my right arm. I hold it tight. I think she is dead, my woman is dead. What have I done! I need to get to the city. I try to flag down a car, but they all pass by me. They just don’t want to stop.
   Why? In fact they all speed up as soon as they see me! What the hell is wrong with these people? Maybe they think I am a criminal and killed this naked woman? That I am murderer? What idiots! Finally a very strange bus stops. It is extremely narrow and all red on the outside. I walk in, there are few off-beat looking people in it. It is a very old looking bus. The driver keeps pressing down the horn and it rings like bells. He is very skinny and his face is all pockmarked looking. He asks me where I am going. I instantly notice that he speaks as if he never went to school, as if he is an ex prisoner or something.

I am a man. And I can spot this guy. He is definitely and ex convict. Where is my woman? Oh... She is next to me.

   "Take me to the city," I say to this criminal driver.
   I am clothed. My woman is naked, she lays peacefully to my right side. She doesn't move anymore or say anything. What have I done…
   I get off the bus. I walk. Tall gloomy looking buildings. I walk into an old looking building. Elevator. Flat. I ring the bell. Somebody opens the door. Oh it's my cousin from Russia. Wait, I am Elena again. I am a woman. I walk through the long hallway. I enter a room and see a young man, it's my first boyfriend, the one whom I lost my virginity. I kiss him on the cheek. I am still holding something on my right side. Is it a body? No. Two folders. I look at them, then carefully put them on the table.

   "What is it?" They ask me.
   "These are two death certificates," I reply.
   I woke up. Good morning, Friday.

The Lost Soul Dream

2009-07-31T08:05:00.000-07:00

Dear readers, I will no longer post much of hypnosis pertaining material here. At least it will not be directly related to Hypnosis as in my previous ( only a few ) posts. Reason? Ha, secret. Can’t tell you. Ok, a hint: most of my Hypnosis material shall be in a different form, which will be announced to your knowledge later.

But for now I would like to invite you to my rather peculiar world of dreaming. I dream, just like all of us. And I decided that I want to start writing my dreams and maybe try analyzing them if possible.

I must say that my dreams are like the alternate world of existence. I literally live a parallel life, which I very much look forward to sometimes.

Two nights ago I had a very vivid dream, after which I began understanding one interesting concept of a “lost soul.” You know how sometimes people say, “ Oh, he ( or she) is a poor lost soul.” You kind of get the meaning of it: that the person is lost or having some troubles or doesn’t have a direction in life or simply unlucky or whatever.

We all have some sort of perception of this expression, and it is somewhat similar I believe. But how did that expression ever come to life? It must have started somehow. Just think about it: Lost soul. Where is it lost exactly? Is it in a body at all? If not, then where is it lost? And where is it supposed to go? I frankly did not think of such questions till the time I had my dream two nights ago, which I am about to tell you.

But let me say something else. Before I had that dream, I was listening to Philosophy lectures on Death ( yes I am a bit of a nerd!) a few nights in a row from an Open Yale University by Professor Shelly Kagan. His last two or three lectures were on suicide. So, for the last couple of days before the dream I had been pondering this concept and why people would want to end their lives. In my blog I will not go much into a philosophical discussion of suicide and death. Though I will add that Shelly Kagan, as he calls himself is a physicalist ( vs. the dualist) and is also a determinist. Putting it simply, he is an atheist and believes that after we die- we just die, that there is no soul, we just vanquish. Zero. Nada. Kaput! We are all mortal, he believes. I don’t want to argue that ( just yet). But before I bore you with too much philosophy, let’s get to my dream.

I am asleep. Deep sleep. I am in Russia. I lie on the floor in my aunt’s apartment. We are all in the kitchen. Many people are around, mostly relatives. All worrying. Something terrible is happening. There was some poison in the city to which many people were exposed. Not sure exactly how. But I am a victim. I am dying. I know it. I see that my parents are not there. And my aunt is holding my hand. I feel that the death is coming. What a feeling: knowing that you are about to die. I know that in a few seconds I will go, I will be out. How could I know? I feel the nearing of death somehow consciously and physically. I will be blunt, it is very close to a feeling of knowing that you are about to climax. Some of you (or many) may know that feeling.

Anyway, I know, I am about to die and I tell my aunt, “Please tell my parents that I love them very much!” And suddenly I feel I am rising out of my body. I feel myself coming out of my heart, neck, and head - all together . It is a strong physical sensation, also very liberating! Oh, I should add that the few seconds before knowing that you are about to die - you actually look forward to dieing, because somehow in these few seconds of prelude you understand how great death will feel.

And so, I am out of my body and streaming through the rooms and passing through the walls! I just fly so fast through the balcony and out to the streets. I go up and down so fast and so high and so low. I still know that I am me! I know who I am. I know that I am separated from my body and also from everything else around me. I don’t see myself. I want to talk, but don’t hear myself. I probably don’t even have a mouth. Yeah, I don’t! Wow, what a feeling! I am flying so fast! Where should go? I just feel so happy now! I am flying fast because I want to see my parents and say hello. I fly to the left where my parents’ house is.

I see my father walking, he looks so happy and smiles. And I come close to him and want to talk and hug him. But he doesn’t see me. I am unseen! Of course I am, because I am dead!!! I am so distraught; I fly higher in the sky. I fly to the left and right. I have nowhere to go, nobody sees me. Nobody knows of my existence. I must do something about. I am a lost soul! Lost soul! What should I do? I want to come back to my body. Where is it? I want back, back to life! I want to be in my body, I have so much to say, so much to do and accomplish in my life! I want back.

And suddenly I am feeling my arms, my chest, every single nerve and muscle in my body enlivening so slowly. Cell by cell, back to life. I feel my physical body and I slowly open my eyes. I am back in my body here in my apartment in New York City. What a great feeling to be alive! I have so much, so much I have not done, and I am just appreciating being alive.

That was my experience of being a lost soul in space without the body and nowhere to go and no one to see or hear me. Perhaps, that’s the feeling one gets when ending one’s life and not having accomplished what he or she ought to in one's journey?

The Hypnotic Experience of my MTV Audition

2009-02-03T22:02:00.000-08:00

I was absolutely flabbergasted when I received a phone call to audition for MTV casting directors last week. It was completely unexpected and out of the blue. They were looking for a host for their new hypnosis talk show. In the midst of my post production work of my film I said to myself “Let me try this, I have nothing to loose.” Some of my friends were so excited for me, probably more excited than I was myself.
   And so I did, I auditioned for MTV, they liked me and brought me in again the next day and I auditioned for more people. I showed all my stage hypnosis tricks, and my knowledge of hypnosis. But still, within myself I kept on thinking, “I will do what can, I will be myself, and if they like what they see- great. And if not – great too.” With this kind of attitude I felt totally relaxed and comfortable. I was just going with the flow. Besides, I had so much fun going through the auditioning process. Everything was happening very fast in just two days: a phone call, audition, hypnosis, another audition, meeting great people, more hypnosis and feedback, I felt like a hurricane came by into my life and shook me up a little bit.
   After my first audition I started thinking, “Well, yes I have background in Hypnosis and NLP, and I practice clinical hypnosis. I love Hypnosis, and realize that it is a part of my life. But where else am I to do with it? Where else am I to use my skills in this life? I certainly used some of them in my upcoming documentary Russian Women in New York ( by building rapport, organizing things, coaching and so on). But I feel there is much more to my skills. Shall I ever write an insightful book about it? Shall I ever have a film about it? Or perhaps a show? What is my position in this most exciting area of mental art, called Hypnosis?”
   The MTV audition got me thinking. And I started researching, and reading, and watching videos of some great hypnotists, mentalists, illusionists. That’s right. Magic. Here we come again. Why am I always drawn to that area? I guess Hypnosis and Magic are cousins.
   Nevertheless, my new and most profound discovery was English illusionist Derren Brown. I not only I watched mostly all his videos, but I also knew exactly how he did some of his tricks. I am blown away with his mindreading skills and I want to learn how he does that. I also realize that many of his tricks could not be done without a very skillful film production. Actually, I found that his producer is also a magician- that helps. It is clear that Derren Brown uses a lot of Hypnosis and NLP, yet I suspect that in some of his routines like in Mind Control program, the whole Idea of hypnosis is simply a cover up. In fact, some of the show is built around the idea as if he is skillfully using hypnosis or some kind of psychological tricks. I believe most of the scenes are set ups and are well written routines which convince us the audience as if he is using NLP or hypnosis. I am OK with that. It is a part of the show.
   Now, of course in some other cases he does use some powerful linguistic tricks. My favorite show of his is The Messiah. He travels to the US to convince five leading figures that he has certain powers in their field of expertise: alien abduction, psychic powers, Christian evangelism, new age theories and contacting the dead. The concept of the show is to highlight the power of suggestion with regard to beliefs and people's abilities, and failure to question them. In that program you can clearly see what Derren’s opinion is on the whole idea of human perception and how much we humans can easily be fooled with pseudo-scientific phenomena.
   I have also noticed that he has a very strong opinion about psychics. And you can place it in one phrase: Derren Brown believes that all physics are charlatans ( as if most of them use coldreading techniques). Actually, I noticed that another magician Chris Angel thinks just that. When I watched his interview I noticed his absolute repulsion towards all guru/psychic/clairvoyant type of people. I do see a similar trait from Derren Brown. Now, this is very interesting, actually. Because, Brown had mastered those powerful linguistic patterns and obviously had studied many psychics and so this way he can surely say that all of the psychic phenomena is simply a bunch of bologna. Yes, there is certainly some kind of structure to magic, and obviously coldreading being a whole set of linguistic patterns that most psychics use. Where am I going with it? I believe that it can be both: Coldreading as science and also intuition. The latter is something that is indeed connected to some source of Knowledge and Enlightment. But, I also fully agree with Derren Brown and Chris Angel that there are way many people that use the techniques to fool people. Actually, I think that not only charlatan use these techniques, but also marketers on TV, film and various add campaigns.

Anyway, I know today I am eliciting my position in the hypnotic field, And here is my line: I believe that there is a fine line between pseudo and true science. And we need to find unity in order to transcend polarity between western and eastern science.

   Well, now you want to ask what does this have to do with hypnosis? Hypnosis, NLP, coldreading- they are all elements of pseudo-science. That’s why Derren Brown being an expert in Hypnosis and NLP has simply turned the tables on the very experts of the many other pseudo-scientific felids. And Lo and behold, he was good. He fooled them with their own tricks. Interestingly enough, some of those representatives really do believe that they can speak to the dead or spirits or have been abducted by aliens and so on. However, what differs my position from Brown is that I am somewhere in between, I do believe that there still exist certain amount of ESP or intuition that one may have. I don’t know maybe Carl Jang is right: there is that source of collective unconsciousness that contains all the information about everything. I am rational, I am skeptic, yet at the same time I want to believe that there is an opposite side to rationalism. But unfortunately, that opposite side has been exploited a bit too much by pseudo-scientists too.
   So, do you see now where my MTV audition had taken me? My quest for my position in the area of hypnosis, mentalism and magic. I see, I have a long way to go.
   And here is my tip for today: there are two kind of attitudes toward getting what you want: First is when you are absolutely sure that you want something, and you will get it no matter what. Sounds familiar? I am sure, many of you have had that experience before. It is the time when you know that whatever you want is something that you have been waiting for and here is your chance to grab it. Now on the other hand, there are other times when you want something but you are not sure if you want it, yet you go with it and simply take a chance- maybe I will get it, if I meant to have it – almost like playing a lottery.
   Which scenario has more of chances of getting the outcome? Certainly the first one. My point – you need to clarify your final outcome, mold it and refine it. It’s OK if you don’t know precisely what you want: because the process of searching for it is also gratifying. Keep on searching and never stop!

That Yellow Yummy Yolk!

2008-11-27T16:26:00.000-08:00

This morning I found myself doing something peculiar and once again I paused and thought -how powerful the power of our mind can be!

As usual I did my eggs-over-easy for breakfast. Sometimes, I change it and make them scrambled or add a toast. But I certainly try to keep it healthy. Instead of home fries I eat a salad with my eggs: some cherry tomatoes, small slices of cucumber without the skin and maybe some lettuce, dressed with balsamic vinaigrette.

I noticed that this time I really paid attention to the way I was making my breakfast. I used butter and not oil. Because eggs are so much more delicious when you use butter! I also made sure that my eggs are not over-cooked, I really wanted the yolk to be runny! I wanted to top my piece of toast into it! I couldn't wait to break that thin white egg layer to reach for the yellow yummy yolk! ( three Y's !) I just had that image in my mind and I had to make it my reality!

And so I did, and I enjoyed my toast and runny yolk as I sat on my couch and devoured my breakfast.

By the time I finished it, I recalled something that I read the day before for my fiction workshop class. We had to read other student's short stories. And one girl's story had a passage about a main character's grandmother. I remember reading it and being so absorbed into visualizing and feeling what I read. She wrote: "I remember my grandmother's eggs, how she kept the yolks runny but made sure the whites were good and firm. How she never used too much butter, but made sure to use just enough, and the same went for the toast which came golden brown and just crispy enough to break the yolk and scoop it out with the corners."

Ladies and gentlemen! I got hypnotized!

I remember how I visualized this scene in my mind as I read the story. I even forgot to underline it! I could see that scene so vividly in my mind. One of the Rules of the Mind: When our mind accepts the idea, it does everything possible to achieve it!

And so the next day without even realizing I made myself my usual egg breakfast and did exactly what the passage said: just enough butter, runny yolk, brown toast to break that yolk!

And boy! Did I enjoy my breakfast. I also remembered that my grandmother in Ukraine did just that!

Are all grandmothers the same?

My first day here!

2008-11-26T22:21:00.000-08:00

Well, here I am on this blog entry. Hello, my name is Elena. Is this what I am supposed to say?

It doesn't matter. What does matter is Mind over Matter. But that does not mean that one better or worse than the other. They are One and they both require respect and unconditional love. We will leave it at that today.

What else will I say? Say that I am thrilled with what I do and have and eat and drink? Will that be way too much to shrink? Shrink in my mind, your mind. I say we wait till what I have in mind keeps pouring on this computer screen (made out of matter.)I say good night and wait. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow will bring life into my mindful chatter.