Posts Tagged ‘Caregivers’

Increase Your Personal Well Being in 2012

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

Alternative Practices Can Enhance Health and Personal Well-Being for Family Caregivers

 

Do you desire a long, healthy, happy, and meaningful life?

It’s a crucial focus every month of the year, especially if you’re a family caregiver. With the beginning of a new calendar year, though, your health, wellness, and personal well-being step into the spotlight.

There’s even “National Staying Healthy Month” (January) to increase your motivation. So many inspirations to take action right now!  That makes now a perfect time to commit to exploring alternative practices for your health, wellness, and personal well-being. If you are a family caregiver committed to staying healthy, please consider these keys to keep yourself on track.

 Alternative Paths to YOUR Personal Well Being

Over my lifetime of being a pioneer in anchoring non-traditional and alternative paths to personal growth, I’ve identified these keys that are essential for creating a healthy, happy, and meaningful life.

  • Discovering the power of honesty with yourself and others.
  • Feeling and expressing your genuine feelings.
  • Speaking from the truth of your own experience.
  • Shining the light of unconditional love and acceptance on yourself and on your shadow, thus empowering you to express fully.
  • Recognizing the feelings that support you in making the choice that’s right — for you.
  • Experiencing the secret of being happy for no reason.
  • Understanding how, by being truly who you are and expressing the truth of your own experience, you are contributing to the collective good for healing and restoring the fragile planet we live on!

 

Feeling and expressing genuine feelings honestly with self and others is the direct pathway connecting to our hearts.  By the time we entered grade school, most of us had closed down and did not express our genuine feelings. We had lost this precious heart connection.

Our heart energy is where we connect with the essence of who we are — whatever you call this energy that’s our individualized expression of life, Beloved, God, Creator, Consciousness or Source.  When we close off from our heart energy, mainly we feel low self-esteem and experience an endless stream of meaningless and negative mind chatter.

Maybe you’ve had the experience, when seeking to make a decision, that your cultural or religious training said, “Go right,” yet your inner nudging said, “Go left.”  So you trust that inner nudge, “go left,” and it turns out to be a very good decision.

If you’ve been aware of this experience, you might ask, “What is going on?”   From my experience, that nudging that says “go left” is coming from the heart energy or intuition, and it’s the essence from which we express our inner knowingness.

How can we tune into our inner knowingness on a regular basis?  Could it be that by learning to speak from the truth of our own genuine feelings, we will naturally access our heart energy and inner knowingness?  As a very small child, we candidly did this — until we were culturally conditioned that it is “not nice” to express what we really feel. Now it’s possible to rediscover that coming from our heart energy creates good feelings and genuine self-confidence.

When we speak from the truth of our genuine feelings, free from our cultural conditioning, we discover feelings are neither right nor wrong. They just are. We can then shine the light of love and acceptance on our inner self and our inner shadow. With this inner acceptance, we naturally gravitate to recognizing more of our genuine feelings. We grow an inner willingness to express genuine feelings in life affirming communication with others.

With this truth-telling, we begin to recover the energies that we have held in our shadow. How? As we see all the genuine feelings we’ve numbed out and could not safely express throughout our life because they were not socially acceptable, we begin to see the source of what became our shadow self. As we shine the light of love on our shadow and all those buried unexpressed feelings, we are taking powerful steps to heal and empower ourselves.

The more grounded we can be in expressing the inner knowingness of our heart energy, the happier we are. Seemingly for no reason, our life overflows  with fun, joy and laughter.

The more we speak and write from the truth of our own experiences and feelings, the better we feel about our self. This contributes to healing our inner child energy, a crucial step in raising our consciousness.  As we raise our level of consciousness, we are better able to contribute to the collective project of healing and restoring the planet.

Your personal inner healing and well-being work may be the most important step in shifting the greater good for all. If you are willing to explore pioneering alternatives that enhance your health and personal well-being, I invite you to join the community by signing up at the box on the right hand side of my home page at http://www.authorBettyLSmith.com. You’ll be able to access resources and support on being your own authority, and learning about the diamond of health and well-being.

 

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Dislodging Trapped Emotions for Caregivers

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

 

Trapped Emotions:

How They Get Lodged in Your Body and How To Get them Out!

Betty L. Smith

 

Find out how toxic emotions get trapped in your body in the first place and five steps to release toxins and open the way to self-healing: a special perspective just for family caregivers and their loved ones.

Since early spring 2011, I have been releasing trapped emotions on my husband who has Parkinson’s and on myself as his primary family caregiver. So far, using the methodologies outlined by Dr. Bradley Nelson in The Emotion Code, I have released about 2000 trapped emotions on each of us. There are still many more to go!

Toxic Results from the “Good Person” Code

I am convinced that people of our generation have a higher-than-usual number of trapped emotions. Why? We were trained from early ages to follow the code of “good” people. When we were growing up, for example, children were to be “seen and not heard.”

My husband always said that it was better not to say anything, never to speak from his true feelings in his family, because, he said, “If you speak from your genuine feelings, you just made things worse for yourself anyway.” So as a generation, we learned to swallow our emotions and numb out our feelings.

Especially when repressing anger, a powerful emotion, we end up cutting off the other emotions in the process. Censoring anger censors every other emotional expression. My father used to tell me, when I was expressing anger, “There’s enough hurt in the world already, without you adding to it.” So I learned to shut up and numb out my feelings instead of expressing them.

No Place To Express Your Genuine Feelings

We grew up with what I’ve called “life negating communications.” This is the opposite of what Marshall Rosenberg calls “Non-Violent Communication” in the book of the same name.

We literally have no place where we can safely express our true feelings. Tej Steiner, founder of Heart Circles, highlights this problem when he observes that there is no place that people can express their genuine feelings — not at home, with family, at school, work. I have observed that if it hadn’t been for psychotherapy that became available in the 20th century, we would still not have a place to share our genuine feelings!

How we talk to each other — when speaking in the sanctioned “good person” model, not allowing for the sharing of our genuine feelings, when the listening is done with judgment and not with acceptance, when expressing an emotion makes a person “Wrong” in the listener’s opinion — all of these contribute to an epidemic of toxic, life-negating communications.

Feelings Buried Alive…The Roots of our Illnesses

What happens when we do not express our genuine feelings? Well, they don’t come out our mouth, do they? So where do they go?   Our feelings, unexpressed, turn in on us. They become the trapped emotions that are held in places in our bodies for a lifetime. Those trapped emotions then cause pain and aches in our bodies as they age and leave us vulnerable to diseases, especially the degenerative aging diseases.

Even when there’s an intent to speak in life affirming communication (non-violent communication), if both parties are not fully engaged with this endeavor, then it can turn out just as life-negating as most of our conversations that mask our genuine feelings. I know I’ve been through this recently with someone. I wanted to speak in genuine life-affirming communications, but everything seemed to go wrong.  All I can say is, old toxic habits of communicating die hard.

I’ve concluded that one of the sources of these trapped emotions comes from our life-negating communication patterns and not speaking from our genuine feelings. We’ve been trained not to speak our genuine feelings for a lifetime.

Encouraging Your Miracle Body to Self-Heal

One of the most important ways to shift the energies from toxic to healing is by introducing practices where we learn to love, honor, and respect ourselves unconditionally — exactly the way we are right now. Loving yourself unconditionally is a powerful approach for sidestepping these toxic trapped emotions that seem to be at the root cause of disease.

Moving forward, I am taking my own advice, focusing on one day at a time and acknowledging to myself that “I’m OK in this moment.”

5-Steps to Health, Wellness, and Personal Well-Being

Below, you’ll find my 5-Step Recipe for opening the way and encouraging the body to repair itself without all the stress:

1 *Maintain that present moment focus.

2 *Release trapped emotions using the Emotion Code process.

3 *Speak with life affirming communications.

4 *Speak from your genuine feelings — so you don’t reintroduce trapped negative emotions you’ve just released.

5 *Make a regular practice of loving yourself unconditionally — accepting, honoring, and acknowledging yourself for who you are right in the moment.

Know that there are many paths to self-healing. It’s important that you find one that resonates with you. As someone who has been pioneering changes on the cutting edge my whole life, I encourage you to connect with the perfect people, those from whom you get a good feeling. Trusting your intuition about what will  be most perfect for you in any given moment — the connections, information, people who come your way — opens the door so that your health, wellness and personal well-being can shine!

Please contact me at bsetnow(at)sonic(dot) net to schedule a conversation about your personal well-being and how to feel better.

 

 

 

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Release Trapped Toxic Emotions

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Author Betty L. Smith Speaks Out about Releasing Trapped Emotions

In the spring of 2002 my husband, Gilbert Smith, went from being a middle-aged man to an old man in a few short weeks. In June of that year, we became members of EMC2AIM which is a quantum physics modality that raises your Life Force to 100.  When life force flows through every cell of the body, we stay healthier longer. Ultimately, it slows the aging process.  Gil’s aging immediately returned to normal speed. However the following year, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

At the time he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, he said, “I want to heal myself and speak out about how I did it.”  The allopathic Western medical system has no answers for Parkinson’s.  There is no medical test that can be given that verifies you have Parkinson’s. The doctor makes the diagnosis by watching how you move and walk.

Over the years, we explored all kinds of alternative healing modalities. They slowed his Parkinson’s symptoms.  However, in August 2009 Gil went into the Golden Living Convalescent Home in stage four Parkinson’s.

In the spring 2011, we finally hit pay dirt in finding a process that activates our natural ability to heal.  Dr. Bruce Lipton, a cell biologist by training from the University of Wisconsin’s School of Medicine and later performed pioneering research at Stanford University, was a featured expert in the movie, The Living Matrix: A Film On The New Science of Healing. Lipton observed that studies show one third of all healing occurs through the placebo effect, yet M.D.s-in-training spend just 15 minutes studying the placebo effect.

In Spring 2011, I heard an interview with alternative practitioner, Dr. Bradley Nelson, speaking on The Emotion Code.  The Emotion Code is a system uncovered by Nelson that quickly releases negative trapped emotions.  Alternative healers have known for decades that trapped negative feelings and emotions play havoc with our health and well-being especially as we age.   For example, in 1991 Feelings Buried Alive Never Die by Karol K. Truman was published. However no one to date has come up with a quick, easy way to release these trapped negative emotions until Dr. Bradley Nelson developed The Emotion Code.

Dr. Bradley Nelson had materials available to teach people how to use the process. I immediately ordered the information on The Emotion Code, started learning, testing it on myself at first.

On one particular visit to see Gil, I found he couldn’t move in bed. His left groin hurt so badly, he could not move — much less get out of bed.  I did The Emotion Code technique on him releasing negative trapped emotions in his groin. The pain immediately left. He got out of bed and with his walker walked half way down the hallway.  The next day I went back and released the negative trapped emotions in his right groin. After that, he went back to walking all four hallways again.

Over the past five months, I have been working with him almost daily, releasing negative trapped emotions in his body either in person or by proxy. He is now speaking better; his drooling has all but stopped; his shaking is greatly minimized; and he is beginning to stand taller and straighter.

Both he and I are feeling that if he had done The Emotion Code when he was initially diagnosed with Parkinson’s, he would not be where he has been these last two years.

As I released all these trapped negative emotions, I also found out when he first felt them and discovered the following pattern.  Many of the negative trapped emotions he formed from birth up to twenty years of age became inactive throughout adulthood.  Then around age 74, about the time he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, they became active again.

Statistics are showing that often Family Caregivers die before the loved ones they are caring for.
In doing The Emotion Code on myself, I found the above pattern applied to me also.  Many negative trapped emotions I had formed as a child became active again when I was plunged into family caregiving (with my mother who has been at death’s door for three years and Gil in the last two years being in the last stages of Parkinson’s.)

I encourage all Family Caregivers to learn and practice The Emotion Code, both to benefit yourself as caregiver and for your loved ones.  To learn more, feel free to send me an email at bsetnow(at)sonic(dot)net. You can read other articles about alternative health, wellness, and personal well-being at my web site, http://www.authorBettyLSmith.com.

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Practical Health Tips for Family Caregivers

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

Family Caregivers:

Follow These Five Steps to Improve Your Health Over the Long Term

Providing care for an ill relative may be among the most challenging experiences of our lives. It certainly has been for me.   Our bodies were made to deal with short terms stresses effectively. (Think: Running away from the saber-toothed tiger.)

Family caregiving, however, is a long-term proposition. The challenge with this kind of stress is to deal with it so it doesn’t compromise your health and well-being.  The basics include taking care of the body. Be sure you get enough sleep and nourishing food. Deep breathing, daily exercise (20-30 minutes), meditation, good habit reinforcement, and maintaining your interests can all work wonders for caregivers on the brink of burnout.

1 Breathe!

One of the things that supports me throughout the day is doing deep belly breathing, something I’ve practiced over the years. I recently learned this technique called “Mindfulness.” This process really resonated and supports me in deep breathing longer and more often.

Say the words in quotes below silently in your mind:
*Inhale #1: “Deeply.”          Exhale #1: “Slowly.”
*Inhale #2:  “Calm.”            Exhale #2:  “Ease.”
*Inhale #3:  “Smile.”            Exhale #3:  “Release.”
*Inhale #4:  “Present Moment.”    Exhale #4:  “Perfect Moment.”

Repeat this series of breaths for at least three minutes (and up to ten minutes) throughout the day to feel better.  To encourage myself to do this calming breath multiple times a day, I put a mark on my calendar each time I do it.

Staying in the reality of the present moment is another technique I put to use years ago when we expanded our business under capitalized, then faced bankruptcy. For a year and half, I went outside daily to look at the trees and hills and affirm, “In this moment everything is OK. We have food, clothing and shelter.”

2 Move Your Body!

Years ago I took ten years of Tai Chi with my mother. This made a big difference in my posture and well-being.  After that, I continued a daily 20-30 minute Tai Chi practice. Each day, I also take a walk, intending that my mind stay focused in the moment.

3 Meditate — Not Medicate!

Meditation is an outstanding practice and way to relax and clear your mind.  With many available ways to meditate, you need to find what works for you. Perhaps, like me, you’ll find the deep breathing combined with the Tai Chi will give you energy so that you feel better.

4 Reinforce Your Good New Habits!

Train yourself to do all these good things for yourself.  Strange as it seems, you can draw from the art of dog training to encourage your good habits. Whatever you do to take care of yourself earns you compliments.  Learn to recognize what you do to take care of yourself, then praise yourself so that you will do more of it. Just like with a dog, acknkowledge yourself whenever you practice these healthy habits.

The secret?  Never put yourself down or bat yourself over the head and feel guilty when you fail to follow through.  Simply start anew in each moment to do the best you can.

Language can be your friend! Another technique I learned is to drop the phrases that reinforce negativity: “I need to… have to …ought to…should etc.”  Instead affirm yourself and say, “I will do…”  Then do it and feel good about following through!

5 Maintain Your Outside Interests!

Whether it’s work or hobbies, we each have activities that are meaningful and stir our passions. These things turn us on and make us feel good.  No matter how slowly, be sure to keep these things perking along for yourself.

For example, I thoroughly enjoyed leading seminars in the 90s. In 2008 I took a course to learn how to do seminars over the phone. For the past year, I have been working on creating a tele-seminar series for family caregivers.  It has taken me a year to accomplish what I would have normally accomplished in three months. However this ongoing business development process has contributed to my coping with the stress of caregiving in a very positive manner.

If you are a family caregiver suffering from burnout or you need to give yourself a boost, put these five steps to work to enhance your health and well-being.

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Parkinson’s Caregiver Discusses Being Your Own Authority

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

Author and Parkinson’s caregiver, Betty L Smith, met Dr. Kashonia Carnegie through The Soft Sell Marketers Association, an organization created by Judith Sherven, PhD and Jim Sniechowski, PhD. Kashonia, a moral and environmental philosopher who works from her home in the mountains in rural Far North Queensland in Australia, has created a community of like-minded colleagues at Raising Love Consciousness. Every month or so, she enters into conversation with her community members. The following link is an excerpt of Betty’s conversation with Kashonia in December 2009.

Betty shares her story of coming to learn how to listen to her own inner knowingness and to be her own authority, both of which are crucial skills for family caregivers who want to maintain their health and well-being.

Click the text below. It’s a link to bring up the recording so you can listen right on your computer.

Family Caregiver Betty L Smith Joins Kashonia Carnegie 12-15-2009

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