As of Tuesday next week the love of my life and I, will have completed the Whole 30. She can share her results personally as I will only share mine. I have to say the results are pretty amazing. First thing I noticed after about 4 days was my persistent cough was better. No dairy perhaps? At 10 days I was down about 7 lbs and at 15 the tiger blood started to kick in and I found myself running up and down the hall at work. No joke I am over sixty! Was it easy to put everything in place so that my choices were the correct ones? Not really easy, yet not difficult. More and more grocery stores are carrying Whole 30 compliant foods and the above mentioned woman directed me to Pinterest, which I appreciated. Guys it's a whole new world!
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,Can you feel it? A feeling in your gut that tells you that you are ready. Ready for what, you ask yourself? I'm not sure though it feels kind of cool, like the feeling I used to have as a kid. You know just feeling curious and hopeful. I could imagine myself to be anybody or anything I wanted to and I never once heard an objection. I could fly to the moon and back and still get home for dinner. Camping in the backyard took me to the jungles of the amazon or the Himalayas. So what went wrong? When did I lose the magic of a day filled with unlimited possibility? When did your sense of wonder vanish? For me it was not a specific day or event but a gradual slipping away until that feeling became pretty rare. It seems like I replaced this natural joy with an artificial joy that was dependent on something or many things that needed to align. It was usually related to some form of consumption or acquisition. Sometimes it was either alcohol or food induced. What I am calling joy is a very poor replacement and never really comes close. I am settling for a pretty poor consolation prize. What's the pay off for acting this way, for going through life without feeling deeply, without expressing our true nature. When we discover this, we are stepping onto a path of profound change. If this idea sounds a little risky perhaps you are not as far from it as you think. February 2018 Spokane, WA Event Description: At this event, we returned to our natural state of being with simple techniques that first quiets the mind and then frees it to begin further exploration of deeper levels of consciousness. This event was part of the Intentional Human Project small group change series. What if, the very thing that we used to reinforce our feelings of unworthiness were actually the path to a life well lived? What if, the solution was quite literally at our fingertips in the form of a reset button, how many of us would have the courage to push it? If it's that simple you ask, why not push the reset button? What could be the downside? Well it's kind a red pill, blue pill thing for those of us that have watched the Matrix". In the “Matrix” the main character, Neo, is approached by Morpheus who tells him everything he has ever seen or heard is not real and in order for him to know the truth about his world, he has to swallow the red pill in his right hand… or if he wishes to resume the illusion take the blue pill in his left hand. In my analogy the reset button is the red pill and we have to push it to change our reality- while the blue pill keeps us stuck in our current story. Of course you know there is more to this! January 2018 Spokane, WA Workshop Description: We may set a goal and begin the change process and suddenly run out of motivation at about 6 weeks. We have all been there. Quite simply life gets in the way and we often give up! Attendees learned two powerful techniques to push past the resistance and create the desired change. These tools can be used to achieve fitness goals, lose weight or break bad habits. Now is the time to sit in deep refection and gratitude for all that has unfolded this past year. This is a gift of time that we must give ourselves! Perhaps the most important thing that we can give ourselves. In many cultures throughout history this time of the year was celebrated for just that. There is a tremendous impulse in our own country to get busy and get on with the new year. Often without any reflection on the past year or our current situation. Some of us can sense the error in this approach! Without a clear understanding of how our past actions have affected ourselves and others it's difficult to imagine that we will create something different in the new year. So we end up creating more of the same and wondering why we feel stuck. January 2018 Spokane, WA Workshop Description: Attendees participated in this series of flowing movements designed to transform the body and mind into a relaxed focused state of awareness. It is from this place that creativity is fostered and vitality expressed. This form improves flexibility and balance while strengthening us on a mental, physical and spiritual level. How many of you have a quest in place for the new year! Going to Cabo that's great but I am talking about something different. This is about being completely invested in making 2018 your year! If you are curious but have really been too busy to think about it, then you really need to call a time out. Can you afford to let another year go by with you on the sidelines wondering what the game of life has in store for you? That, unfortunately is where most of us sit year after year and I have to tell you it's not pretty.
This is not a picture of what we ought to be doing, as that only holds us back. What I am talking about here is a feeling sense that you cannot deny. It perhaps manifests as an ache or restlessness whose source is a little out of reach. You want to do something! You want to create real change but you are held back! Who or what is holding you back? Is it real or just an old story? It is not easy to push past this wall of resistance to change. If it were we would not be discussing it, we would simply be doing it. The quest that I am talking about starts with strong intention and takes duty, devotion, and purpose to unfold. It's not for the faint- hearted but it is what you came here to do, is it not? It's flexible and also within your range of capability though it will stretch your self-concept. It's your plan after all and your the one that will unfold it. Perhaps it's more of a quest than a plan! If you like that idea then come join us in creating and unfolding the life that you desire and deserve. Feeling gratitude is a natural expression of this time of year. It's a time for friends and family to come together and experience the abundance of the past season. There is also another expression that is equally important that may be overlooked and that is the strong act of giving that goes into the orchestration of these events. While many feel gratitude others spend an enormous amount of time and energy to create the experience. They open their hearts and homes to so many, offering food and drink. I had the good fortune this year being involved in the creation of this experience with a woman who is becoming a most important part of my world. Giving without thought comes easily for her, though has not always come so easily for me. Perhaps I felt that I lacked the social awareness or the skills to be a good host. What matters is that slowly but surely over the years I did discovered the joy that comes from giving freely and really appreciate the energy of this now. I feel that this strong expression of giving is the side of Thanksgiving that is often overlooked. So please check in with yourself and simply offer to be a part of each experience that you are involved in, throughout this season of giving. Then, perhaps you too will find the courage to begin to invite others into an experience that you orchestrate. In doing so, you may just be setting in place a foundation for the best year ever in 2018. A common belief is that Americans gain from 5-10 lbs between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Whether or not that amount is totally accurate, we can be certain that what we gain accumulates each year slowly tipping the scales towards obesity. The American adult obesity rate was 33 percent in 2000 and 40 percent today. That's a nearly 20 percent increase and a statistic I'll bet most would prefer to avoid. So let's look at some causes and a few simple techniques to help us do just that!
Increased Stress- Triggers Survival Mode The holidays are a time of celebration, gatherings with friends and family. They are also a very stressful time. Where is dinner going to be? Who will be attending and who would you prefer didn't? Meal prep and presents to buy, so many choices to make and on top of that all those extra hours at work. Stress and its cascade of fight or flight inducing hormones is a contributor that can lead to anxiety and lack of sleep. The body is hard wired to store fat in this survival mode. Lack of sleep may contribute to overeating in an attempt to boost our energy which actually has the opposite effect. Survival Mode- When Unconscious Behavior Patterns take Over Think of this as reset switch that takes over and keeps us functioning even in extraordinarily stressful conditions. This is actually a good thing, kind of like having emergency lights come on in a building during a power failure providing safe passage out of the building as quickly as possible. Survival mode is designed to do the same thing, simply get us out of danger so that we can then reset ourselves to a normal more relaxed state. Just as we are not able to function well in a dimly lit building, we are also unable to function properly in survival mode. So, if we are stuck there, we begin to fall back on old behavior patterns in order to get through our day. These are often patterns of convenience and work but only to a point. This default mode of unconscious behavior patterns takes our energy and resolve reducing our ability to make good choices. Failing to prepare meals we grab fast food or eat out more often. We skip exercise as we are too busy! You get the idea and we soon see the results in the mirror. Exit Ahead-Empowering Conscious Choice The first step is to shut off the stress mechanism and step out of this dimly lit existence. There are many ways to do this from meditation, breathing exercises, tai chi and yoga. Though I use and recommend these techniques, my experience has been that hypnosis supported by powerful personal coaching is the quickest way to reset these out of control behavior patterns. The truth, is that our mind once reset into these old patterns needs support as well as strong intention to make consistently better choices. These patterns of poor choice are usually accompanied by a story that justifies them. Such as, "I am too tired to cook!" or "Their is nothing at home to eat." Think of intention as the road map that gives us direction, while hypnosis gets rid of the back seat driver who is giving us the wrong directions. When this happens a feeling of renewal occurs. The good choices get easier when we feel supported to make them. I will let this phrase that I have heard so many times from clients sum up the feeling. When I hear a simple, "It's clicking" I know that they now understand that the reward to be experienced is far beyond the loss of weight and increased vitality. It's a much more internal sense that they are worth the effort. I celebrate this shift in awareness as it leads to real behavior change. The holiday season is an ideal time to seek out much needed support. I wish you all the best this season!
We are all works in progress! We came into this world as expressions of pure awareness and soon became enmeshed in a web of conditioning. Many of us spend our lives trying to make sense of this nonsense and become even more deeply entwined. If this statement resonates with you, then you are not alone and are making strides on your own journey home. The purpose of this group is to provide a place where your unique expression of truth will be honored. The practice I offer, is the Intentional Human Project. I use this phrase because it presents a path of returning to the expression of pure awareness that is our birthright. Though forms are used (talking circles, fire and water ceremonies, guided visualizations,hypnosis, tai chi, qi gong) these are only vessels that assist us in opening the space, that allows the expression of our awareness. The simpler we keep things the more opportunity there is for something real to occur. Membership requirements- When you enter this space do so in innocence! My teacher "Ten Bears" invited us to invoke the phrase, "I am nothing, I know nothing", before entering into ceremony. Ego does not dwell in the the sacred. So simply open your heart and step inside the Circle. You are invited! November 2017 Spokane, WA Workshop Description: This interactive workshop focused on helping participants make weight loss permanent by identifying current convenient, non-productive behaviors and transforming them into convenient, productive behaviors. Attendees benefited from a guided visualization and were taught a powerful technique called anchoring. When applied over time these tools ensure lasting results. The claim is that, we gain about 5-10 lbs. over the holiday season. Whether or not it's completely accurate the weigh gained most often stays on and accumulates each year. What if this season I supported you to actually lose weight and start the next year with the new behaviors in place to get you to that vital fit body that you desire. Step number one is a necessary reframe regarding the holidays. Look at each of the special days separately instead of surrendering to the season of excess! Let's start with Halloween as it's just around the corner. Who is looking forward to handing out all those sugary treats to the kids? Most of us, right? How many are purchasing their favorite treats for these same kids? You buy them 2-4 weeks early and find you have to restock several times as someone is eating the supply. You are buying early because?
,The external world my seem at this time to be reflecting a lot of pain and suffering. The language and actions being demonstrated by those who have been afforded the responsibility of guiding our nation can serve to either reinforce or diminish this sense. We may find myself enmeshed in a feeling of resistance to what we see unfolding or we may be filled with a smug sense of satisfaction. No right or wrong just opposite sides of the same coin. Neither serves as they close down our sense of humanity, our vulnerability. We have to be willing to stop reflecting these external conditions and choose to go deeper simply because that is the only way to make a real difference. I am a fan of allowing myself to be vulnerable, kudos to Brene Brown, though I have been questioning how difficult that may feel to pull off in a social environment, that is so predator friendly. Yes, predator friendly! It would be naive of me to suggest that our culture has been an example of respectful, courteous and genteel human interaction throughout it's short history. Though I must say that I am shocked by our rapid decline in simple human decency. Everyone of us can see this if we dare look! Next we must disengage from our need to defend our beliefs. Instead we must question how does this defending serve and what effect are we having on others when we do so. If what we say and do does not serve to uplift others then it is not reflective of our true nature. The practice that we must begin, is one of questioning what it is inside ourselves that we are protecting. Embrace it, see it for what it is and beneath it, we will discover a beauty that the world needs! Are you willing to share yours? What is the Intentional Human Project? How does it tie into the Intentional Hypnosis program? It all begins with our humanity and the various strategies that we use to keep ourselves from it. Yes, from it! Most of us understand, what it is to embrace our humanity. The dictionary gives us the following traits of humanity, compassion, brotherly love, kindness, consideration, philanthropy, humaneness, understanding, tenderness, benevolence, charity, mercy, generosity and so many more.
You get the idea and yet these ideals seem to be in short supply, so much so, that we treat people that embody them as if they are exceptional. Know that they are not exceptional. We, in fact are the exception when we choose to push off from them and embrace hatred, fear, miserliness, bigotry, as our norm and settle for the opposite of what we desire in our hearts! This is not who we are, as crazy as it sounds we are simply defending ourselves from our humanity. We are walled off, shut down and ultimately ashamed of what we have allowed ourselves to become. We have allowed unconscious or unintentional behavior patterns to dominate our lives and we are suffering greatly as a result. Don’t blame our politicians, they are simply mirrors and when enough of us change they will change as well. When we operate with Clear Intention everything changes though it is a process or project. Thus, the name Intentional Human Project. So how does Intentional Hypnosis figure into this? It is but one of many tools that I have discovered and it is very effective in alleviating this suffering. Our lack of humanity is mostly directed towards ourselves in the form of a self-loathing that for some, becomes our unspoken truth. We do our best to keep it hidden and in doing so empower the very thing we despise. Hypnosis at its core helps us to create a new more supportive story that we act out of. We are given permission to begin to love and embrace all parts of ourselves through the rekindling of our humanity. This single act points our compass to true north giving us a new found sense of direction. We are now once again on our path. It is the Path to an Intentional You and is as varied as each one of us that chooses to walk it. My own path has been both challenging and rewarding. I would change nothing as even the most painful and heartbreaking moments have served to shape who I am today. Truth is that it took me a long time to fall in love with that guy in the mirror. I do not always approve of his behaviors but I do accept him just as he is - a work in progress. It is my own unique journey that empowered my successful approach to behavior change and how I discovered that the blending of the following two elements is the key to lasting change. No long-term change occurs without them! Please view more on website home page. Life is full of open doorways! Some we see and enter, some we walk by without entering and others we do not see. I contemplated this one morning over a steaming hot cup of coffee and this thought flowed out of me onto paper. Please let me know if it resonates with you. Doorways are open, perhaps always have been. Not seeing them I choose a familiar path filled with predictable outcomes. Now I have consciously chosen something different. The proverbial road less traveled. The task is to cease looking for the familiar on this new path. I must look in a new way at least for me. Let my eyes be those of a child unfettered by concepts and knowing. Let me approach these these new doorways with innocence and curiosity. May I walk with this clear intention intact all the days of my life!
Over the years through talking with thousands of clients I learned what behaviors are high on their, I need to change this to create success list. If I listen a moment, I can hear clients list hundreds of responses. It would take too long to list them all and even behavior change coaches may miss the point by focusing too much on a particular habit. It is the nature of habits to operate largely on an unconscious level, after all that is how we humans are wired. Now what is it that causes us to engage in habits? You know the answer, it's triggers oftentimes emotional ones. This is where weight loss programs falter! They advocate using regimen to temporarily and often begrudgingly hold off these triggers. Regimen in this case eliminates all of your "Bad Habits" through the imposition of a new routine. Call this a diet if you like and if you stick with it you will lose weight at least temporarily. You are probably not a fan of diets and truthfully I am not either. Though, I am a fan of eating healthy foods. So what is the big love hate relationship, we have with diets? We love the results we just hate watching them disappear so quickly as we gain back the weight. This happens because we have not created permanent change. Even more importantly we have not dealt with the emotional undertow that sucks us back into the cycle of unhealthy choices. We get clobbered by our personal story and it's hold on our daily routine. In other words the triggers rear their not so pretty heads! This is the sticking point for a lot of behavior coaches. Routine may suppress triggers but it will not replace them permanently, unless the new routines become as convenient as the old ones. So the key is a movement over time from convenient nonproductive behaviors to an awareness that guides us to make our productive behaviors more convenient. This is the process and when you choose to work with me on any behavior change this will be a big piece of it. Be sure to register on the free members page where I will be posting tips that you can use to create the successful changes that you desire.
I have been thinking a lot lately about what it takes to be an intentional human. What is the foundation of clear intention? I believe that the answer lies in our humanity. Without the attributes of our humanity intention often morphs into goal setting without consideration of outcomes. This blatant action may get results that are aligned with our goals and yet at what cost? This is willful intent as it does not come from an inclusiveness that asks, "How will this affect?" Being willing to ask how one's action may serve is a fundamental practice. It really involves bringing a level of awareness to each action. Since it is a lot easier to operate with a kind of target lock in regard to goal setting, it may feel a little uncomfortable to add in this extra step. The cool part is that it gets easier with practice and will likely lead to some pretty satisfying outcomes. Most people don't realize how subtle the creation process really is. I for one have equated my ability to get things done with willpower. The harder I worked the more I would accomplish and I often had difficulty asking for help. That felt vulnerable and I didn't want to go there. The problem with doing it my old way, is that was too easy to be led astray. Yes, by other people, but mostly by myself and a process that was far too focused on external goals. The picture is seldom clear at first, so we have a tendency to project what we want to see on it. Maybe it's not as much a picture as a feeling sense. I truly allowed my heart and gut to guide me through this process of collaborating with people in the design of this site. Perhaps the most challenging practice I have ever engaged in.
Positive Changes was a popular and successful Spokane hypnotherapy practice that I worked at for more than eight years. I loved my time there but unfortunately the business was not well run and closed unexpectedly in early 2017. If you were a client there you already know the shock of the situation. Hundreds of clients in the Spokane area were suddenly left without the support they required to complete their programs.
The good news is that I have now opened my own practice and I am welcoming new clients - especially past clients of Positive Changes. As a former practitioner there I can help you pick up where you left off and get momentum to move forward again. I heartily invite you to continue on your path to wellness by coming in for a free initial session. Book your session. |
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About the Author
I, James Barfoot, have mentored with a spiritual teacher over 20 years. Over 30 years of Tai Qi, Qi Gong and Zen training. As a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Master NLP Practitioner with sixteen years and thousands of success stories, I have the ability to guide you to the result you desire.
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