Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Returning to the Land of Oz: Your Miracle Brain

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Returning to the Land of Oz: Your Miracle Brain: Brain cells have the amazing ability to grow new communication pathways to take over the jobs of non-functioning or under-performing cells. ...

Returning to the Land of Oz: Your Miracle Brain

Brain cells have the amazing ability to grow new communication pathways to take over the jobs of non-functioning or under-performing cells. Entire networks of brain cells can be routed around damaged areas of the brain, bringing back skills that were lost due to traumatic head and brain injuries. Plasticity is the brain’s ability to rewire itself and to grow new communication links. It is the brain’s ability to adapt and change throughout our life. Because of the brain’s plasticity, damage caused by free radicals and other factors are repaired to insure that our brain cells continue doing what they were created and programmed to do, which is to help us to learn, to remember, and to expand our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. It is as if within the fluid structure of the brain is a guardian angel protecting it to make sure it grows, expands, and heals. 

I have worked in the capacity of Executive Director for two traumatic head and brain injury facilities and have marveled at the incredible healing that occurred with people who one would think would never recover, due to the seriousness of their accidents. Using a combination of brain building exercises, group support, recreation therapy, adaptive physical education, speech therapy, relaxation,  meditation, and creative imagery processes, I witnessed dramatic improvements in the lives of dozens and dozens of patients.

The brain is amazingly resilient and can repair itself with the proper interventions. Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz was correct in wanting a brain so that he could think, communicate, and problem solve. Have no doubt about it, you possess a miracle brain and the aging process will not significantly impact the full functioning of your brain IF you continue to learn new things, build your attention skills, read and ponder the storyline and themes in the books and articles you read and the films you watch, draw upon creative solutions to daily life experiences AND feed the brain healthy and nourishing food. If you take care of your miracle brain it will surely take care of you. 

John A. Tamiazzo, PhD is the author of Returning to the Land of Oz: Finding Hope, Love, and Courage on Your Yellow Brick Road available at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com both as a paperback and as and e-Kindle book and Nook book.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: 5 Gifts: Hope, Mind, Love, Courage and Imagination...

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: 5 Gifts: Hope, Mind, Love, Courage and Imagination...: I believe that the Wizard of Oz , the famous children’s classic, is the perfect metaphor for the issues facing us as we age. Both the book w...

5 Gifts: Hope, Mind, Love, Courage and Imagination

I believe that the Wizard of Oz, the famous children’s classic, is the perfect metaphor for the issues facing us as we age. Both the book written in 1900 by L. Frank Baum and the 1939 film based upon Baum’s book focused on 5 main themes: Hope, mind, love, courage, and imagination.

As we age we certainly need hope. Doubt and hopelessness are depressive states that make life difficult. When you lack hope your life begins to close in on you and your world gets smaller and smaller. Hope revitalizes the spirit and opens doors.  When Dorothy landed in the Land of Oz, Glinda the Good Witch gave her hope by telling her that the Wizard of Oz could help her get back home. She gave Dorothy a protective kiss on the forehead and a pair of Ruby Red Shoes to safely guide her journey. We need hope, inspiration and the reassurance that we will be OK. How do we keep the fires of hope burning? We need to keep our expectations positive and trust that we can make healthy decisions and choices. We need to have things and activities to look forward to. We need to continue to dream about the enjoyable things we want to do and to join forces with others who are currently doing these things or want to do them in the future. We must always hold onto the belief that we are not alone in our dreams and wants and there are others out there who can and will join us on our journey.

The first person Dorothy meets on the Yellow Brick Road is Scarecrow who is stuck on a pole. He believes that he doesn’t have a brain. This is one of the greatest fears instilled in us, especially as we get older; that we are going to get some kind of dementia or Alzheimer’s, the brain cells are going to die and we are slowly going to lose our mind and brain power. Dementia and Alzheimer’s do not have to play a part in the aging process. Beliefs are powerful and the pharmaceutical companies and the medical profession have done us a disservice by telling us over and over again about the deterioration our brain is going to experience as we age. This repetitive negativity creates doubt and fear. If doctors would spend more time educating about proper nutrition, exercise, brain enhancing educational activities, mediation and relaxation techniques, we would probably see a dramatic drop in dementia. But most doctors have very little education or training in nutrition and brain enhancing activities. Their training is mostly in pathology.

Abraham Maslow eloquently wrote about this phenomenon in his book, The Farther Reaches of Human Nature. He said that if we continue to study mental illness and think that it will give us a better understanding of the full spectrum of human nature we are sadly mistaken. All we will have is a sick psychology. He believed that in order to heal we need a psychology of wellness and therefore need to study people who are psychologically healthy. What we have today is a sick-illness oriented field of medicine that primarily addresses problems with pills and surgical procedures.

The fact is, the brain has a remarkable ability to heal and expand its communication network between and among brain cells. I have seen these miraculous changes take place as a former director of two brain injury facilities. This phenomenon is called neural plasticity. The human brain has over 100 billion brain cells that make over 1,000 trillion connections with a vascular network of over 400 miles of blood vessels. Keep your brain active by learning new things, nurture it with healthy and nutritious food that soothe it rather than inflame it, participate in ongoing exercises that enhance it, and incorporate daily meditation and self-hypnosis techniques and processes that create optimism and release the ‘feel good’ hormones, and you are on your way to having an amazing mind and brain, just like the Scarecrow wanted.

We want love and an open heart. Love is vital to our health and wellness, yet as we age we feel more isolated and lonely. Love is what connects us and joins us together. The Tin Woodman wanted a heart because when he was in love he was the happiest man on earth. He said he needed a heart to love and be loved again. How can we open our hearts more as we age? We need to participate in activities with others, to spend our time with people who are caring and nurturing, to try new things and add more fun, play and joy into our lives. Perhaps we can volunteer and help others who are less fortunate than we are. Perhaps we can go to adult education classes and explore topics like building self-esteem, vegetarian cooking, meditation, loving relationships, and learn more about the biology and psychology of beliefs and how they impact the heart and our miracle brain. Perhaps we will radically alter our diet and tell the pharmaceutical companies, “No thank you, my heart is healthy as ever because I am feeding it the beliefs, food and activities it requires for optimal functioning. “

As Dorothy continued down the Yellow Brick Road she was startled by the roar of a large lion. The three of them recoiled in fear as the Cowardly Lion made his big presence known. When he frightened her dog Toto, Dorothy smacked him across the snout and the Lion began to cry. As we get older, courage may seem to be in smaller supply. But why does it have to? Courage is that inner force within us that inspires us to stand up for ourselves, the guts to try new things, the daring to take risks, the bravery to move away from an isolated life and to open the door to something new and different. Courage helps us to defy fear. Fear is there but we don’t let it stop us from doing the things we want to do and taking the risks we want to take. And like the Wizard of Oz teaches us, we oftentimes need the help of others to make changes. Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and the Lion could not have gotten to Oz alone….they needed each other to get beyond the barriers and challenges they met along the way. They needed each other’s support, encouragement, and creative problem solving to get to the Wizard of Oz.

Imagination is one of the greatest gifts of all. If we are feeling stuck in life, imagination is our way out. When we were children we literally lived in the imagination. As we get older, imagination can play a smaller role as practical concerns take precedence. Your brain thrives on positive thinking and imagination. Your heart splendidly relaxes as it is inundated by the chemistry released by imagination. Courage is your constant companion in an environment that bathes in the rapture of imagination. A positive imagination is always your antidote to the doldrums of fear, anxiety, and depression. Let these 5 gifts and themes of the Wizard of Oz take you and your life to new heights of enjoyment and fulfillment.

John A. Tamiazzo, PhD is the author of Love and be Loved and a new book, Returning to the Land of Oz: Finding Hope, Love, and Courage on Your Yellow Brick Road which is available at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com both in paperback and as an e-Kindle book and Nook book.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Aging Wisely

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Aging Wisely: We live in very stressful times and it is a known fact that stress ages us. Stress interferes with collagen production and our skin suffe...

Positive Aging

We live in very stressful times and it is a known fact that stress ages us. Stress interferes with collagen production and our skin suffers. Under the constant duress of stress, we look older, feel older, and lose our vitality. When we are constantly under stress and the natural stress response is not completely shut off, we experience a chemical imbalance eventually damaging  joint tissues and blood vessel linings. In short, when the natural stress response is not turned off, the body is constantly on the defensive and inflammation ensues.

Chronic inflammation is central to many common diseases and health problems that develop causing deterioration of the joints and surrounding tissues, mobility challenges, pain, and digestive problems. In regard to the latter, a growing number of medical researchers are finding that inflammation begins in the digestive tract. Anxiety, depression, fear, anger, resentment, and diet all directly affect the proper functioning of the digestive system.

30 million Americans take anxiety medication on a regular basis and an equal number take prescribed and over-the-counter remedies for indigestion. In addition, current research shows that 60 million Americans have problems with sleep. Poor digestion is one of the main causes of interrupted and poor sleep. In teaching often in other parts of the world, I have discovered that these conditions are prevalent in many other countries and cultures.

What can we do? The first thing to address is diet. “Food is like a pharmaceutical compound that affects the brain,” said Fernando Gomez-Pinella, a UCLA professor of neurosurgery and physiological science. “Diet, exercise, and sleep have the potential to alter our brain health. This raises the exciting possibility that changes in diet are a viable strategy for enhancing cognitive abilities, protecting the brain from damage, and counteracting the effects of aging.”

We are a country of junk food junkies. We buy our food at huge super markets that, in most cases, do not care about our health and well-being. Do not entrust this responsibility to your doctor, the pharmaceutical companies, the FDA, or the food industry. Your health is in your hands and it is up to you to educate yourself on how to take care of your body, your miracle brain, and your wellness.

In an article I read the other day, medical researchers estimated that at the current rate, 1 out of 3 people will have diabetes in America by 2050. Think about it. If an engineer told you that in 5 years your home would most likely slide off of its foundation would you do nothing? The point is, we are in the midst of a health crisis in America and things do not seem to be getting better.

To dramatically improve your health, you need to radically alter your diet. Eat organic fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants and lots of whole grains. The average soda contains the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar and Americans consume 150 pounds of sugar per person a year! Eat foods abounding in omega-3 fatty acids like wild salmon, walnuts, and flax seeds.

Learn effective stress management techniques, relaxation techniques, and mind enhancing reframing skills. Listen to relaxing music.. Learn natural pain management skills and participate in fun and enjoyable exercise, such as dancing, swimming, walking, and hiking. Take time to play. Play with your loved ones, your animals, your children, and your mate. Spend lots of quality time in nature. Trees, plants, flowers, the ocean, rivers, lakes, and forests, are naturally healing and harmonizing. Take good care of your skin. Use quality products daily and make sure you and your loved one give each other a facial and massage at least once a week.

The fact is you have the power to make positive changes in your life that will impact your health for years to come. You can age wisely and gracefully. Begin now! You have that power.

John A. Tamiazzo, PhD is the author of Returning to the Land of Oz: Finding Hope, Love, and Courage on your Yellow  Brick Road, now available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and BarnesandNoble.com and available as an e-Kindle book and Nook book.

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Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Five Amazing Lessons from the Wizard of Oz

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Five Amazing Lessons from the Wizard of Oz: The 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz , and L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , present five themes over and over a...

Five Amazing Lessons from the Wizard of Oz

The 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz, and L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, present five themes over and over again: hope, mind, heart, courage, and imagination. These five themes successfully address most of the issues and struggles we face day to day.

I was watching the fantastic film, The Shawshank Redemption, last evening and there was one scene where Tim Robbins said to Morgan Freeman, “Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things.”

Many of the students I have had the pleasure to work with in my seminars are dealing with this exact issue, hope. Hope is an amazing quality to possess. When we don’t have it and don’t feel it, life seems to be out of reach and we struggle to gain our footing. Hope keeps the inner fires burning. I remember years ago reading Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning. He recalled when he was in a concentration camp and knew when others had lost hope. He could see it in their faces, hear it in their voices, and feel it lacking in their movements. He said, “Those who had lost hope died within a short time.”

I remember when my mom had a heart attack in 2005 and the attending Cardiologist told her that she might not pull through because her heart had so much damage. When I entered her room in the ER, she was crying and told me what he had said. I reassured her that she would pull through. I went to the nurse’s station and called him on the phone and asked him why he told her such a negative thing when she was so vulnerable and struggling for her life. He told me that he told her the truth. I told him that he told her HIS version of the truth, not necessarily the truth. I told him that as a doctor you always give the patient hope because you never know what they are capable of. He disagreed. I fired him, hired another Cardiologist, and told him how I wanted him to communicate to my mom. He agreed. That was 6 years ago. My mom pulled through, lives independently, cooks, cleans, bakes, watches movies, watches the LA Dodgers, and is enjoying life again in her 90’s.

In the Wizard of Oz, the first person Dorothy meets when she arrives in the Land of Oz is the Good Witch Glinda. Glinda gives Dorothy hope. She gives her a pair of magical Ruby Red Shoes, tells her that the Wizard of Oz may be able to help her get back home, and then kisses her on the forehead and proclaims, “No one can harm a person who has been kissed by the Good Witch of the North.” Dorothy is sent on her way with both a feeling of hope and a feeling of safety and protectiveness. Isn’t it a great feeling to know that we are protected and are safe?

Once on the Yellow Brick Road, Dorothy meets the Scarecrow who is stuck on a pole. Through their interactions, she helps free him from his confinement on the pole and he joins her to see if the Wizard of Oz will give him a brain. He doesn’t think he has one but challenge after challenge proves that he has a great and creative mind. Belief systems are so important in life. What we believe is true is true for us BUT not necessarily the truth. Like the first Cardiologist that saw my mom, what we think is true and what really IS true might be poles apart. Scarecrow had a great mind and an amazing brain. He just didn’t know it. He just needed the opportunities to allow his creative mind to work.

Dorothy and the Scarecrow met Tin Woodman rusted and immobile standing in the woods. He persuaded them to find an oil can and oil his joints. Once mobile again, he told them his story of how he lost his heart. He was deeply in love years ago, the relationship ended, and he lost his heart in the process.  Tin Woodman told Dorothy and Scarecrow that a person without a heart cannot love and love is the greatest experience in life. He asked them if The Wizard could give him a heart again. They asked him to join them, giving him hope and inspiration.

Love is an amazing force. Some say that it is the greatest power, the most precious gift, the most fulfilling experience in life. In the film, Don Juan de Marco, Johnny Depp said,” There are 4 questions to ask ourselves.  What is sacred?  Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for? What is worth dying for?” He then tells Marlon Brando that the answer to all 4 questions is love.

Years ago I had the good fortune of spending time with Elizabeth Kubler Ross, MD author of, On Death and Dying. Elizabeth told me a story about one of her psychiatric residences. She worked at a facility where there were 4 children’s wards. The children in one of the wards were experiencing great physical and emotional improvement, so much so that it called for a meeting of the entire medical staff. The question posed was, “what are we doing differently on that unit that is resulting in this amazing improvement?” Meeting after meeting did not result in any clarity so Elizabeth took it upon herself to visit that ward to see if she could find any clues. The first 8 hour shift provided nothing out of the norm. The second shift provided no clues either. But, on the late night shift, Elizabeth observed something utterly amazing. The housekeeper picked up each child one by one, held them lovingly, rocked them in her arms, and played with them. The vast improvement was the result of loving touch and loving communication. What is equally amazing is that the medical staff with all their degrees and expertise didn’t think of doing what the housekeeper did.

Further down the Yellow Brick Road Dorothy, Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman come upon a very loud and angry Lion who attempts to scare and attack them. Dorothy walks up to him and slaps him across the snout! The Lion immediately stops his rants and begins to cry. He reveals that he has always been afraid and lives within a very small space in the jungle. “Can the Wizard give me courage, he asks?

While the four of them are walking along the Yellow Brick Road, they come across a big divide on the path. This gulch is so wide that the four of them sit down to discuss if they will be able to continue on their journey. Scarecrow says that if they cannot come up with a solution, then their journey will have to end. The Lion rises up, assesses the situation, and then says, “I can jump over it.” To this the Scarecrow adds, “If you can do that, then take each one of us one at a time, on your back over to the other side. And so he did with each marvelous leap, one at a time.

Hope, love, courage, mind, imagination….these are the gifts of the soul, the qualities that help us get through the challenges that life presents us with.  Remain hopeful;  keep your heart open and your thoughts positive and uplifting;  express your courage and draw upon inner and outer resources; and let your imagination be your constant companion.

John A. Tamiazzo, PhD is the author of, Returning to the Land of Oz: Finding Hope, Love, and Courage on Your Yellow Brick Road, available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Barnesandnoble.com, and as a Kindle e-book and Nook book. His dynamic workshops in the USA, Canada, and Scandinavia show participants how to creatively use the power of the mind and the wisdom of the imagination to successfully achieve goals, improve health, and make positive life changes.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Maintaining Your Focus on the Yellow Brick Road

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Maintaining Your Focus on the Yellow Brick Road: It is a welcomed sight to see the Occupy Wall Street protests growing. Protesters in Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle a...

Maintaining Your Focus on the Yellow Brick Road

It is a welcomed sight to see the Occupy Wall Street protests growing. Protesters in Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle and Oakland are beginning to define their message. Maintaining their focus and poise are extremely important.

Chanting, “Banks got bailout. We got sold out. Hey Chase, what do you say? How many houses did you take today?” the protesters are defining something that has been happening all across America. Banks got bailed out and kept the money. They didn’t provide the necessary assistance to homeowners. They let the loan rates get higher and took over millions of homes, flooding the market with foreclosures that sank the housing market. Once you sink the housing market, you destroy millions and millions of jobs. States do not collect much needed taxes from foreclosed homes. When a home is foreclosed, electricians, plumbers, painters, carpenters, and contractors lose jobs. In addition, the stores that sell home improvement products and merchandise lose millions of customers. When you ‘sack’ the housing market you put the entire nation at risk because the housing industry is one of the major sources of employment and revenue.

In Oakland, the protesters are rallying at the Oakland Port where huge shipments of Chinese imports arrive daily. Importing just about everything from China is so destructive to our economy. Chinese workers and Chinese imports have taken millions of jobs away and forced the closure of millions of small businesses and hundreds of corporations all across America. The current Republican platform calls for giving more tax incentives to American businesses and corporations. They mistakenly believe that if you give even more tax breaks to the wealthiest, they will use their tax savings to hire American workers. What foolishness. Corporations will take their tax savings and import more goods from China.

When the bailout happened, there were no oversights imposed. The plan should have been to have banks work with American homeowners to lower their interest rates so they could stay in their homes. What are the Republicans suggesting? That we lower the interest rate for the corporations??? Hello?? Is anyone home?? Republicans and Democrats have their heads deeply embedded in the sand. No one knows what to do.

What was that great line from the Wizard of Oz? Dorothy asked Scarecrow, “How can you talk if you don’t have brains? “I don’t know,” responded the Scarecrow. “Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t they?”

America, keep on protesting! Your message is getting clearer and making more sense every day. But remember the wisdom of Gandhi and Martin Luther King: Keep your movement peaceful!

John A. Tamiazzo, PhD is the Author of, Returning to the Land of Oz: Finding Hope, Love, and Courage on Your Yellow Brick Road, available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.uk, Barnesandnoble.com and as an e-Kindle book and Nook book.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Believing in the Power of Your Miracle Brain

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Believing in the Power of Your Miracle Brain: The first person Dorothy meets on the Yellow Brick Road is the Scarecrow who wants a brain. Little did he know that the brain has 400 miles ...

Believing in the Power of Your Miracle Brain

The first person Dorothy meets on the Yellow Brick Road is the Scarecrow who wants a brain. Little did he know that the brain has 400 miles of blood vessels and 100 billion cells which make 1,000 trillion neural connections. What makes new neural connections? Exploring new ideas, expanding your mind and imagination and taking the steps to develop new learning experiences. The brain’s ability to make these new connections is called placticity. It is one of the important neurochemical foundations of learning and memory.

The power of suggestion is an amazing force. Your miracle brain can respond to positive health oriented suggestions with the same results as taking a drug and without the side effects! In Bruce Lipton’s book, The Biology of Belief, the data show that in more than half of the clinical trials for the 6 leading anti depressants, the real drugs did not outperform placebo sugar pills. What this means is that you have the inherent ability to manage pain, curtail headaches, sleep soundly, stop anxiety attacks, and significantly reduce stress without taking any pills.

Your miracle brain is a remarkable and elaborate communication system which controls, coordinates and regulates all the physical and mental activities you perform each day. Every action you take, every step, every gesture, every breath, every thought, every word you express, everything you see, feel, touch, smell, and taste, the decisions you make, the memories you store and retrieve all require the direction, orchestration, and responsiveness of your miracle brain. I really believe that pharmaceutical companies will one day be big businesses of the past because people will come to see the technological and magical power they have within their own miracle brains.

John A. Tamiazzo, PhD is the Author of Returning to the Land of Oz: Finding Hope, Love, and Courage on Your Yellow Brick Road available at Amazon.com, Amazon, ca, Amazon.uk, Barnesandnoble.com and as an e-Kindle book at Amazon and Nook book at Barnes and Noble.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The Art and Science of Managing Emotional and Phys...

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The Art and Science of Managing Emotional and Phys...: One of the secrets of a successful and fulfilling life is listening to the right voice. The right voice is supportive, kind, and compassiona...

The Art and Science of Managing Emotional and Physical Pain

One of the secrets of a successful and fulfilling life is listening to the right voice. The right voice is supportive, kind, and compassionate. The right voice inspires hope, self-confidence, and feelings of safety. When we are listening to the right voice we feel strengthened and we want to move forward. The wrong voice has the opposite effect. When we listen to it and take in its message, we feel fearful, weakened, limited, and hopeless. The right voice opens doors and the wrong voice shuts them.

The characters from the Wizard of Oz are good examples of this. The Good Witch of the North, Glinda, greeted Dorothy with a welcoming smile and immediately won Dorothy’s trust. Glinda told Dorothy that the Ruby Red shoes would safely guide her on the Yellow Brick Road to the Wizard’s castle. Glinda leaned over and kissed Dorothy on the forehead and said, “No one will dare harm a person who has been kissed by the Good Witch of the North.”

How many of us had a parent or authority figure create this kind of safety for us when we were young? How many of us had someone in our life that made us feel inspired and self-confident just by the wisdom and comfort of their voice?

The Wicked Witch of the West repelled and terrified Dorothy with her threatening voice and manner. She was intent on taking her Ruby Red shoes away so she could become more powerful. People use their power in different ways. Some people use their power to intimidate others. Some people use their power to gain more power and thus more control. Some people use their power to help others in need and to extend a hand. Some people use their power to inspire others to achieve great things.

A woman, who was a registered nurse, volunteered at one of my workshops to work with me in front of the group. She was overwhelmed with the recent news that she would need to have dental surgery again. She was born with a genetic condition adversely affecting the bone structure in her jaw. As a result, she had over a dozen serious jaw and dental surgeries since the time she was a girl. The surgeries were always painful with lots of swelling and bleeding. Each dental procedure got worse and each recovery period got longer and more arduous. She wanted to believe that using her mind, imagination, and positive imagery would result in her having a pain-free and complication-free surgical experience. Her memories and accompanying voice were saying one thing and the part of her that was hopeful was saying something quite different.

I told her about research studies all over the world which confirmed that placebo pills had the same result as the real drugs and cited many studies that showed successful uses of imagery and self-hypnosis for managing both emotional and physical pain. There was absolutely no reason why she couldn’t be one of these success stories. Placebo medicine is not a lark but rather a viable alternative for managing emotional and physical pain.

She had the surgery 5 days later and this time it turned out exactly as her positive imagery envisioned it. She had no swelling and minimal discomfort and bleeding. There was no need for drugs. I saw her two days after the surgery and she looked totally normal!

As a result, in her capacity as a nurse, she is now helping others to use the power of imagery and self-hypnosis to manage pain.

In the USA alone, over 30,000,000 people take anxiety medication every day and another 30,000,000 take medication for managing pain. I read a recent article in the Vancouver Sun which stated that over 5,000,000 Canadians suffer from pain and this is in a country with only 30,000,000 people. The pharmaceutical companies spend millions of dollars yearly telling you that you need their drugs and in some cases you do. They are trying to help you manage the pain you are experiencing with their products and voice of authority.

Each one of you has the gifts of positive thinking, imagery and imagination that can, if used correctly, have a significant impact on managing pain. You have the ability to dramatically change the course of your life and to use your God-given powers to create health, wellness and healing.

John A. Tamiazzo, PhD  is the author of Returning to the Land of Oz: Finding Hope, Love, and Courage on Your Yellow Brick Road available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and barnesandnoble.com. It is also available as a Kindle book at Amazon and as a Nook book at Barnes and Noble.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Frankenfish

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Frankenfish: Mary Shelley would have a field day with the approval of frankenfish by the FDA. Frankenfish is the controversial genetically engineered sal...

Frankenfish

Mary Shelley would have a field day with the approval of frankenfish by the FDA. Frankenfish is the controversial genetically engineered salmon that might even glow in the dark. Genetically engineered 'anything' is something to be concerned about. It is man's attempt at playing God with nature, taking control of food that was never intended to evolve in this particular way. Genetically engineered salmon appears to be 2-3 times larger than normal salmon and will only continue to be available IF the fisheries find and continue to have buying customers. It is my hope that this salmon will not infect the wild salmon industry which is precious. Salmon is one of our greatest brain foods, high in omega-3 fatty acids, and has the soothing effect of reducing inflammation in the cells. It is one of the great anti-inflammatory foods that is highly recommended to add to your diet. I do not know all the particulars about GMO salmon but if it is raised in environments anythink like farmed atlantic salmon, you might want to think twice or three times about eating it.

John A. Tamiazzo is the author of Returning to the Land of Oz available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and barnesandnoble.com

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The 10 Richest Americans

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The 10 Richest Americans: Today's headline is a list of the 10 Richest Americans. The article goes on to discribe which new billionaires moved up the ladder and which...

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The 10 Richest Americans

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The 10 Richest Americans: Today's headline is a list of the 10 Richest Americans. The article goes on to discribe which new billionaires moved up the ladder and which...

The 10 Richest Americans

Today's headline is a list of the 10 Richest Americans. The article goes on to discribe which new billionaires moved up the ladder and which moved down. We have an idea of how billionaires live but do we have a clue how the 10 Poorest Americans live? How would we rate them? What standards would we use?How would we locate and identify the 10 poorest Americans?

It is rather simple identifying the 10 richest Americans because they are in the news all the time. We seem to glorify the rich and famous. But the fact is, this is America. When Emma Lazarus wrote these passages that were mounted on a plaque inside the Statue of Liberty in 1903, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," she was writing as if she were Lady Liberty reaching out to the poorest of the poor in America.

These are very challenging times. Perhaps it would be more appropriate and educational for Americans to see how the poorest of the poor live and know how many millions have dropped into the poverty level rather than how many billionaires have moved up. Maybe more Americans will take a moment to read her poem. She knew what the Statue of Liberty symbolized.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Extraordinary Lessons from the Yellow Brick Road

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Extraordinary Lessons from the Yellow Brick Road: One of the secrets of life is listening to the right voice . The voice or voices that are supportive, encouraging, inspiring, and enlighten...

Extraordinary Lessons from the Yellow Brick Road

One of the secrets of life is listening to the right voice. The voice or voices that are supportive, encouraging, inspiring, and enlightening are the right voices to listen to. The voice that is judgmental and says you are stupid, stuck, boring, unattractive, lost, a failure and helpless is the wrong voice. The right voice strengthens you and creates safety, protectiveness, hope, trust, and expansion. The wrong voice weakens you and creates fear, anxiety, stress, limitation, and hopelessness. Glinda inspired hope and possibility. The Wicked Witch incited fear and hopelessness.

You possess a miracle brain. Your brain has 100 billion nerve cells (the same number of stars in our galaxy), 1,000 trillion connections, and 400 miles of blood vessels. Laughter requires the activity of 5 different areas of the brain. Every positive new thought and idea results in new brain connectivity, which enhance thinking, feelings, creativity, and achievement. Every negative old thought constricts and in some cases reduces brain connections. Therefore, thoughts and perceptions alter brain chemistry. Positive imagery, imagination, and optimism are fundamental to your physical, emotional, and psychological health. Scarecrow was absolutely correct in wanting a miracle brain.

Your mind and imagination have the amazing ability to transcend time. Your imagination is one of your greatest gifts. You can be in present time, past time (age regression), and future time (age progression) in a matter of seconds.  Learning to educate your mind in the sojourns it takes is a fantastic skill that will positively alter your brain chemistry and change the course of your life. Every time Dorothy thought about going back home to Kansas, her mind went back in time to memories of Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Every time she thought about getting to Oz to see the Wizard, she moved into future time.

Love awakens the best within you. Your history contains the seeds that grow into your present and future experiences of love. The inner places of anger are your walls. The memories of pain are your barriers. The inner places of fear are your defenses. Love and an open heart make you magnetic to success. Tin Woodman knew this very well. The happiest time in his life was when he had a heart and was in love and that is what he wanted again.

It takes courage to be a creative thinker, to take risks, and courage to change. Chronic stress, hypertension, worry, negative thinking, hopelessness, and fear constrict life, keep you stuck, impair your decision making ability and block access to your intuitive wisdom. Change is what life is all about. The opposite of change is stagnation. The Cowardly Lion didn’t know why he was always so afraid so he decided to join Dorothy and her friends to get the gift of courage from the Wizard of Oz. (Within a short time he discovers he had courage but just needed the opportunity to express it.)

Being solution focused opens doors. Being problem oriented shuts them. Don’t accept a problem as reality. The circumstances of your life can change overnight if you alter the way you see things, explore options and possibilities, draw upon the wisdom of your intuition, and take action!  Being stuck is a state of mind. When Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion came upon a wide and very deep ditch in the road, they thought they had come to the end of their journey. But the Cowardly Lion came up with a solution using his imagination. He would leap over the great ditch carrying Dorothy, Tin Woodman, and Scarecrow on his back one at a time. Once he did this and they were able to continue on their journey, he was no longer a Cowardly Lion but was transformed int a Courageous Lion.

John A. Tamiazzo is the author of Returning to the Land of Oz: Finding hope, Love and Courage on Your Yellow Brick Road available at Amazon.com, Amazon. ca, Barnesandnoble.com and available as an e-Kindle book at Amazon.com

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Becoming Educated on Inflammation

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Becoming Educated on Inflammation: Inflammation is one of the body’s natural defenses against injury and disease whereby the body’s immune system triggers the release of chemi...

Becoming Educated on Inflammation

Inflammation is one of the body’s natural defenses against injury and disease whereby the body’s immune system triggers the release of chemicals to heal wounds and infections such as bacteria and viruses.  Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, is a disease. Instead of protecting the organism (our bodies) it starts to kill the organism by releasing a surge of chemicals that ultimately destroy the tissue when no infection or wounds are present. It is regarded as an autoimmune disorder.

Beginning with the pioneering medical research of Denham Harman, MD in 1956 and Imre Nagy, MD in 1978, chronic inflammation has been shown to be the main contributing factor of all degenerative diseases, and the root cause of the two greatest killers: cancer and heart disease. In addition, chronic inflammation appears to be a contributing cause of allergies, mood disorders, gastric diseases, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, fibromyalgia, psoriasis, and the premature aging of the body and skin. A diet rich in omega 6- fatty acids which is called the typical western diet, sets the stage for chronic inflammation. High fat diets generate the production of free radicals which attack cells to get an electron they desperately need to stabilize themselves. Every time they stabilize themselves, they damage healthy cells.
Harmon wrote, “Molecules are made up of atoms glued together by chemical bonds. Each bond consists of a pair of electrons. When a bond is broken, what’s left are two molecular fragments, each of which contains one of the now unpaired electrons. These molecular fragments are highly charged and highly unstable, because they contain only one electron rather than two. These highly charged, highly unstable, highly reactive particles are what we know as free radicals.”

When you ingest lots of saturated fat in your diet, your body generates more free radicals. Your body is already in a constant battle between free radicals trying to take control of your cells and antioxidants fighting to protect your cells from invasion and damage. Free radicals cause damage to the cell membrane, resulting in the cell being unable to let nutrients in and wastes out. This imbalance sends a signal to the immune system to produce chemicals to help repair the damage. Now you have two problems: an over abundance of free radicals and a chronic overproduction of chemicals. Harmon discovered that omega 3-fatty acids, a good source of antioxidants, need to be abundant within the system to counteract the aggressiveness of the free radicals.  Since the brain is 60% fat, it is a breeding ground for free radicals. You want to be eating foods that nourish and protect your miracle brain which has over 100 billion cells, 1,000 trillion neural connections, and 400 miles of blood vessels, and coordinates, controls, and regulates all the physical and mental activities you perform each day.

Two main causes of inflammation are eating inflammatory foods including fast food, processed food, food high in saturated fats, trans fats, hydrogenated oils, sugar, aspartame, high fructose corn syrup, and salt which are high in omega 6’s; stress is a leading cause of inflammation since the body is continually on alert, continually in the stress response mode protecting itself from perceived danger. In this chronic stress response, the brain signals the adrenal glands to release cortisol and it is continual release the of cortisol in the bloodstream that presents the problem. What are the sources of stress in your life? What inflammatory situations or people anger, provoke, agitate, infuriate, stir-up, and irritate you? How many of these anti-inflammatory foods do you eat consistently? The omega-3 to omega-6 balance we are looking for is 4-1 or less, or at least something close to that.

Dairy is another source of inflammation to consider. I stopped eating and drinking dairy because of the gastric reactions I was getting. The more I read, the more I was convinced that dairy was not for me. Some people have had success eating and drinking goats milk. Some consuming dairy from organic and grass fed sources. In the book, The China Study, the authors and researchers found many health problems associated with dairy. It is up to you to do more research.

Excellent anti-inflammatory foods include:    

Sweet potatoes, wild salmon(12-1), olive oil, avocado, strawberries(1-1.3), kiwi, papaya, spinach(6-1), flax seeds and flax oil(4-1), broccoli(1-1), tomato, romaine lettuce(2.5-1), leafy greens, orange, green peas and red bell peppers.  The ratios are omega 3 to omega 6.

John A. Tamiazzo is the author of Returning to the Land of Oz, available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Barnesandnoble.com, and as an e-Kindle book at Amazon.com

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Educating Our Children

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Educating Our Children: Nothing is more important for the developing child than to create a strong and healthy relationship with his/her parents. Community colleges...

Educating Our Children

Nothing is more important for the developing child than to create a strong and healthy relationship with his/her parents. Community colleges and adult education programs offer fantastic courses in parenting which include information on infant development, sleeping habits, nutrition, sensory motor development, music, play, recreation, art, and positive discipline.  Some programs offer information on the importance of reading to your child. Research confirms that parents who read to their children on a regular basis help them develop the neural pathways which support becoming successful readers.

It is unfortunate that there is so much discussion in Washington these days from the politicians about cutting back on educational funding. Back in 1984, President Ronald Reagan made it his mission to dismantle the Department of Education stating that it was a waste of taxpayer money. How absurd is that? If anything, the Department of Education needs to become stronger and more resourceful by helping needy students with student loans, pell grants, and student aid. The Department of Education spearheads important research that improves teaching methods and inspires students in their learning experiences.  It makes certain that children receive the valuable educational experiences they are entitled to. Education needs a govermental presence as strong or even stronger than other governemental departments. Why should we have a Department of Defense or a Department of Health and Welfare more powerful and better funded than a Department of Education? Why aren't we spending more money on education and less on the military? Educational funding illustrates our excitement and support of the success of our children's future. Huge defense spending exemplifies our fears.

When I travel to Europe I am always amazed and envious at how most European countries provide free education for all academic levels: elementary, high school, college, and university. We don’t. We encourage college students to take out huge educational loans which strap them with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt by the time they graduate.

Education is the future of America and our students are the future leaders. We should never be having discussions on Capitol Hill about cutting back on money budgeted for education and educational research. We should only be having discussions on how we can cut back on other departmental expenses so that the Department of Education can work better and more successfully with state departments of education to improve edcuational opportunites and educational resources for our children.

John A. Tamiazzo, PhD is the Author of Returning to the Land of Oz: Finding Hope, Love, and Courage on Your Yellow Brick Road available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Barnesandnoble.com

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Mental Illness in America

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Mental Illness in America: One of this week’s headlines was, “Half of Americans Face Mental Health Woes.” Principle Director of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and...

Mental Illness in America

One of this week’s headlines was, “Half of Americans Face Mental Health Woes.” Principle Director of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Ileana Arias said, “It isn’t clear why so many Americans suffer from mental illnesses.”

It isn’t clear??? Hello?? Is anybody out there??

Loss of jobs, homelessness, poor health care, overpopulation, pollution, the breakdown of families, family violence, alcoholism, legal and illegal drug abuse, poor parenting, isolation, insomnia, financial stress, horrible diets, the fast pace of American life, the propagation of fear, the excessive violence in our cities and towns, and all the unnecessary violence depicted in film, video games, and TV can all be considered contributors to the mental problems and mental instability of Americans.

America certainly has its woes. And the sad thing is, not a single person in government has a clue of what to do.  America needs to get working again, get its priorities in order, take care of its people, and stop being the world cop. We need to make things again instead of importing just about everything from China. We need to spend more money on education not less. We need to help small businesses thrive again because small businesses employ more people than anyone else. We need to work with the banks so that they loan money again for home loans instead of holding onto all the money they got from the stimulus programs. We need to help people stay in their homes instead of foreclosing.


No matter who you listen to, the Democrats, the Rebublicans, the Independents, the Tea Party, they each have something good to say but each also has lots of very questionable things to say. They argue and argue and resolve nothing. I don't hear wisdom anywhere and I certainly don't see leadership. America has many great minds and creative thinkers but they seem to be silent these days. Where will the leadership come from? Who will step up to the plate and take us in a new direction?

Rallying around the flag will not solve America's ills because if you look closely at that flag you will discover that it too, most likely, was manufactured in China.

John A. Tamiazzo, PhD is the author of, Returning to the Land of Oz: Finding Hope, Love, and Courage on Your Yellow Brick Road, available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Barnesandnoble.com

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Aging Wisely

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Aging Wisely: We live in very stressful times and it is a known fact that stress ages us. Stress interferes with collagen production and our skin suffe...

Aging Wisely

 

We live in very stressful times and it is a known fact that stress ages us. Stress interferes with collagen production and our skin suffers. Under the constant duress of stress, we look older, feel older, and lose our vitality. When we are constantly under stress and the natural stress response is not completely shut off, we experience a chemical imbalance eventually damaging  joint tissues and blood vessel linings. In short, when the natural stress response is not turned off, the body is constantly on the defensive and inflammation ensues.

Chronic inflammation is central to many common diseases and health problems that develop causing deterioration of the joints and surrounding tissues, mobility challenges, pain, and digestive problems. In regard to the latter, a growing number of medical researchers are finding that inflammation begins in the digestive tract. Anxiety, depression, fear, anger, resentment, and diet all directly affect the proper functioning of the digestive system.

30 million Americans take anxiety medication on a regular basis and an equal number take prescribed and over-the-counter remedies for indigestion. In addition, current research shows that 60 million Americans have problems with sleep. Poor digestion is one of the main causes of interrupted and poor sleep. In teaching often in other parts of the world, I have discovered that these conditions are prevalent in many other countries and cultures.

What can we do? The first thing to address is diet. “Food is like a pharmaceutical compound that affects the brain,” said Fernando Gomez-Pinella, a UCLA professor of neurosurgery and physiological science. “Diet, exercise, and sleep have the potential to alter our brain health. This raises the exciting possibility that changes in diet are a viable strategy for enhancing cognitive abilities, protecting the brain from damage, and counteracting the effects of aging.”

We are a country of junk food junkies. We buy our food at huge super markets that, in most cases, do not care about our health and well-being. Do not entrust this responsibility to your doctor, the pharmaceutical companies, the FDA, or the food industry. Your health is in your hands and it is up to you to educate yourself on how to take care of your body, your miracle brain, and your wellness.

In an article I read the other day, medical researchers estimated that at the current rate, 1 out of 3 people will have diabetes in America by 2050. Think about it. If an engineer told you that in 5 years your home would most likely slide off of its foundation would you do nothing? The point is, we are in the midst of a health crisis in America and things do not seem to be getting better.

To dramatically improve your health, you need to radically alter your diet. Eat organic fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants and lots of whole grains. The average soda contains the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar and Americans consume 150 pounds of sugar per person a year! Eat foods abounding in omega-3 fatty acids like wild salmon, walnuts, and flax seeds.

Learn effective stress management techniques, relaxation techniques, and mind enhancing reframing skills. Listen to relaxing music.. Learn natural pain management skills and participate in fun and enjoyable exercise, such as dancing, swimming, walking, and hiking. Take time to play. Play with your loved ones, your animals, your children, and your mate. Spend lots of quality time in nature. Trees, plants, flowers, the ocean, rivers, lakes, and forests, are naturally healing and harmonizing. Take good care of your skin. Use quality products daily and make sure you and your loved one give each other a facial and massage at least once a week.

The fact is you have the power to make positive changes in your life that will impact your health for years to come. You can age wisely and gracefully. Begin now! You have that power.

John A. Tamiazzo, PhD is the author of Returning to the Land of Oz: Finding Hope, Love, and Courage on your Yellow  Brick Road, now available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and BarnesandNoble.com

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Taking Care of Your Ama...

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Taking Care of Your Ama...: Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Taking Care of Your Amazing Brain : In L. Frank Baum's enchanting story, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Scarecro...

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Taking Care of Your Amazing Brain

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Taking Care of Your Amazing Brain: In L. Frank Baum's enchanting story, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Scarecrow wanted a brain. The fact is, the brain is a very complex org...

Taking Care of Your Amazing Brain

In L. Frank Baum's enchanting story, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Scarecrow wanted a brain. The fact is, the brain is a very complex organism and it is imperative to know how to properly feed it, take care of it, and nurture it so it does exactly what it was designed to do. Your brain has 100 billion nerve cells (the same number of stars in our galaxy), 1,000 trillion connections, and 400 miles of blood vessels. Laughter requires the activity of 5 different areas of the brain. Every new thought and idea results in new brain connectivity, which enhance thinking, feelings, creativity, and achievement.

Therefore, you feed the brain by the nutritious food you eat, the uplifting thoughts you entertain, the noble beliefs and values you hold, the positive attitude you possess, and the quality of your perceptions. Enjoyable exercise, play, dance, laughter, relaxation, meditation, being in nature, and continuing to learn new things feed the brain.


Andrew Weil, M.D. once said that ‘Fast food is one of the most unhealthful dietary developments in human history.” Richard Wurtman, research psychiatrist at MIT said, “The ability of a meals composition to affect the production of brain chemicals distinguishes the brain from all other organs.”

The brain is 50-60 percent fat and, thus, is the favorite breeding ground for free radicals. Free radicals are hazardous chemicals that corrupt your brain cells genetic DNA and erode the neurons normal functioning. Free radicals are generated when you breathe or burn calories during normal metabolism. So, they are a natural part of living. But, they are also generated when you breathe in cigarette smoke and polluted air. Free radicals are carried into cells through food, notably fatty food. Under certain circumstances, free radicals are good in that they help to destroy invading bacteria and viruses. But, once they get out of control, they can wreak havoc on your brain cells. A high-fat diet and sugary foods are enemies of the brain.

The human brain was never designed to process the amount of sugar you feed it. It is estimated that each person in the US consumes nearly 150 pounds of sugar a year! In addition, you consume foods rich in saturated fats, transfats, and prepared with hydrogenated oils. If you look closely at most of the food stocked in supermarkets across America and you take the time to read what is in the food and how much fat and suger it contains, you might be surprised at how unhealthy the food is. A can of soda typically contains 10 teaspoons of sugar regardless if it is regular or diet.

Antioxidants are chemicals that neutralize free radicals and keep them under control. Antioxidants act as the body’s ever-vigilant army that searches out and destroys free radicals and attempts to repair the damage they have caused. It is important that antioxidants predominate over free radicals to enhance the brain’s circuitry and repair the cells when necessary. Antioxidants are best produced by eating foods that are antioxidant rich. Creating a strong presence of antioxidants is one of the most important things you can do for the continuing health of your brain. 

The deep color in fruits and vegetables indicate their antioxidant richness. Antioxidant rich foods include: raisins, prunes, blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, plums, broccoli, beets, avocado, oranges, red grapes, red pepper, grapefruit, kidney beans, pinto beans, red beans, eggplant, apples, tomatoes, especially cooked tomato as in paste or sauce. Antioxidant rich nuts include pecans, walnuts, peanuts, and sunflower seeds. Barley, oats, oatmeal, and millet are excellent sources. Spices include cinnamon, cloves, cumin, tarragon, and oregano. Antioxidant beverages include green tea, red wine, and dark beer. But, alcoholic beverages need to be consumed in moderation.


Dark chocolate, thank God, is a rich antioxidant and when consumed in moderation it is an excellent brain food. Consider eating 1 ounce of dark chocolate that is at least 70% cacao as your primary desert. Forget about fat laden-artery clogging-gas producing-cholesterol-rich deserts like cakes, pies, ice cream, cookies, etc. In extreme moderation they are fine. But, dark chocolate is your best bet and your miracle brain will love you for it!

John Tamiazzo is the author of Returning to the Land of Oz available at Amazon.com, Amazon, ca, Barnesandnoble.com, and as a Kindle e-book at Amazon.com

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Mr. Warren Buffett

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Mr. Warren Buffett: "This morning, I read the following headline: 'Billionaire Warren Buffett urged U.S. lawmakers Monday to raise taxes on the country's super-r..."

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Mr. Warren Buffett

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Mr. Warren Buffett: "This morning, I read the following headline: 'Billionaire Warren Buffett urged U.S. lawmakers Monday to raise taxes on the country's super-r..."

Mr. Warren Buffett

This morning, I read the following headline:

"Billionaire Warren Buffett urged U.S. lawmakers Monday to raise taxes on the country's super-rich to help cut the budget deficit, saying such a move will not hurt investments."

There are 400 billionaires in the US and according to Mr. Buffet, probably paying much less tax than they should. Billions of dollars in tax revenue could be acquired to help offset the debt. I realize that this is just a step towards paying off a very large debt, but it is a step. We have to stop borrowing money and we have to pay off our debt and this is one way of dozens of ways of doing that.

I realize that this is one area of strong disagreement between the parties in office, but when a man of Mr. Buffet’s stature and integrity comes forth and says, “Tax me fairly. Allow me and my fellow billionaires to pay our fair share,” you have to both congratulate him for his courage and veracity and heed the importance of his words. Those governing the House, the Senate, and the White House apparently do not know how to proceed. Those running for office talk big and act like they know what to do but it is too easy to critize others when you are not in their shoes. What someone in public office did in Texas or Iowa or anyplace else has little bearing on what we should do now. Warren Buffet is a billionaire because when it comes to money, he knows what he is doing. He is giving Washington some advice. Take it, Washington. What have you got to lose?

John A. Tamiazzo, PhD is the author of, Returning to the Land of Oz: Finding Hope, Love, and Courage on Your Yellow Brick Road, available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Barnesandnoble.com, and as an e-Kindle book at Amazon.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The Power of the Mind and Imagination to Create Po...

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The Power of the Mind and Imagination to Create Po...: "I was reading an article the other day on a medical website about the top approaches to pain management. Among those listed was Self-Hypnosi..."

The Power of the Mind and Imagination to Create Positive Changes

I was reading an article the other day on a medical website about the top approaches to pain management. Among those listed was Self-Hypnosis. The writer went on to say that even though it oftentimes successfully works, how it works is not understood.

I have specialized in teaching clients and students Self-Hypnosis techniques for over 20 years and I can tell you from experience not only that it works but how it works for managing pain.

Self-Hypnosis assists a person in moving their attention away from the pain to another place in time. Most people that I see that have pain are needlessly focusing on the pain. I teach them to bring their focus and attention someplace else: a relaxing place in nature, a past memory of something pleasant, a future image of doing something that brings joy or success, a future image of being without the pain and enjoying life.  When I suggest that a client think about a positive image, once their unconscious brings forth an image, I suggest that the person bring all their senses into the experience: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory and gustatory. Bringing all the senses into the picture expands and deepens the good feelings associated with it. As a person does this, he is altering his brain chemistry with hormones and neurotransmitters that stimulate, support, and bring about good feelings. Once these chemicals enter the bloodstream, the entire body positively responds. This response set brings about feelings of harmony.

Spending time in the future in your mind and imagination thinking about pleasant experiences and feel-good experiences goes a long way in reducing and healing pain. Again, learning to train your mind in the sojourns it takes is an awesome skill that will help you to positively alter your own brain chemistry and will bring about greater health, harmony, and peak performance.

Hundreds of medical research studies using placebo medicine or sugar pills report that the placebo oftentimes works as well as the actual medication.  This confirms one very important principle of medical self-hypnosis and that is the power of suggestion should not be overlooked or underrated as a healing agent. I have worked with thousands of students with pain and have helped them use the power of their own mind and imagination to not only manage pain but in some cases to completely rid themselves of it.

Self-Hypnosis works upon the principle of reframing. Reframing is taking an image of something that you have seen as unpleasant and changing it into something that is pleasant. Your mind and imagination have the amazing ability to transcend time. You can be in past time, present time, and future time in a matter of seconds.  When you picture something from your past, present or anticipate something in your future that bothers you, through the power of your own creative imagination and thoughts, you can alter that image or thought so that it doesn’t affect you negatively anymore. Since how we see and experience our past determines how we see and experience the future, spending time clearing away those old memories is important to our health and well being and to mitigating pain.

Much of the pain we experience is directly tied to past hurts, disappointments, and losses that have not been properly and effectively addressed. Self-Hypnosis can help you address these issues in two ways: seeing them for what they really are and by seeing them differently and thus experiencing them differently. In terms of the latter, it has nothing to do with avoiding feelings and everything to do with seeing things in a different way from a new and healthier vantage point. Much of the past that haunts us only haunts us because we are accepting responsibility for it. Many people suffer unnecessarily by accepting the blame or the guilt associated with childhood events that were clearly not their fault. Self-Hypnosis works on the principle of separating truths from untruths. When we live with untruths, we needlessly suffer. Once the truth is uncovered, we are free. This state of freedom is the ultimate goal of Self-Hypnosis and meditative practices.

Another approach is locating the pain within the body and breathing into that painful place. As you breathe into the painful area the pain typically subsides. Asking a person who is experiencing  a stress headache to describe what the pain looks like helps transform the pain into a metaphor that represents the pain. Once the metaphor is created, “It looks and feels like a rope tightening around my head”, the person can then go in and loosen the rope or untie the rope. This gesture can slowly relieve the head pain with the added suggestion that the pain is lessening as the rope is loosened more and more.

It is always important to make certain that you do not have a medical condition that needs to be addressed. Research does confirm, however, that most health issues are stress related. Learning to effectively deal with stress via Self-Hypnosis or meditation, therefore, are outstanding ways to help you dramatically improve your overall health and well being.

Another principle of why and how Selh-Hypnosis works is, “Where the mind goes the body will follow.” The 2000 Olympics is a perfect example. Olympic diver Laura Wilkinson was in 8^th place when I turned on the TV. Chinese women’s divers were in 1^st and 2^nd place and then Laura began diving perfect ‘10s’ and slowly moved from 8^th place to 1^st place.  By the time the event was over, Laura Wilkinson won the Gold Medal. When the interviewer asked her how she regained her composure and did this amazing feat, Laura told him that she began to see herself in her imagination diving perfectly, moving towards the water with perfect form, and entering the water perfectly. In her imagination she saw the judges hold up signs with a 10 on each one and heard the roar of the crowd enthusiastically applauding.  In future time, Laura saw perfection and her brain chemistry, feelings, and body responded with perfection.

Deep breathing, relaxation, reframing, creative imagery, traveling through time in your mind and imagination, metaphor, separating truths from untruths are all effective Self-Hypnosis processes. Self-Hypnosis, creative imagery, and imagination can work miracles as you learn to use the inherent God-given power within you to effect change. These are but a few of the dozens of techniques and Self-Hypnosis processes available for us to learn and use on a daily basis.

John A. Tamiazzo is the author of Returning to the Land of Oz: Finding Hope, love, and Courage on Your Yellow Brick Road available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and barnesandnoble.com.  Returning to the Land of Oz is also available at Amazon.com as a Kindle e-book. Visit his blog-site and click on Events and Lectures to see when he will be offering one of his programs near you!