Land of Oz Workshops Blog: His Brother's Obituary

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: His Brother's Obituary: Alfred Nobel was a very successful chemist, inventor, and engineer who mixed substances together in a way that had never been mixed togethe...

His Brother's Obituary

Alfred Nobel was a very successful chemist, inventor, and engineer who mixed substances together in a way that had never been mixed together before, and as a result discovered dynamite. This explosive became so popular that within 10 years Nobel had dynamite factories in 20 countries and he became one of the wealthiest men in the world. The irony is that he regarded himself as a pacifist even though thousands were killed with his dynamite and the canons and armaments he manufactured.

In the late 1880’s his brother died and one of the French newspapers mistakenly put Alfred’s name in the obituary column. A French writer referred to him as the ‘Merchant of Death’ for the thousands who had been killed as a result of his inventions. When Alfred read his own obituary, he was shocked to find how he was going to be remembered when he actually did die. In a single moment, his entire past and future crossed his mind and he knew he had to make big and sweeping changes. In the coming years he created the Nobel Prizes.

The first prizes were awarded in 1901 to five people in the world who made the greatest discoveries in physics, medicine, chemistry, literature, and efforts resulting in creating a more humane and peaceful world. His legacy is the creation of the Nobel Prizes and they continue to be given out over 100 years later.  They are regarded as the most prestigious awards in the world. In 1968 a sixth Nobel Prize was added called the Economic Science Award.

Alfred Nobel was looking for his brother’s name in the obituary section of the newspaper and instead found his. Transfixed by what he read and saddened by what his life had become, he knew he needed to take action. The amazing thing about this story is that there were many choices he could have made as a result of the paper’s error. He could have become furious with what was said about him and never change. He could have ignored the article entirely. He could have gone into a deep depression and become paralyzed over the horrendous past he had created. But, he decided to change people’s perceptions of him and how they would remember the Nobel name. He could not change what he had done in his past, but he could change his future.

One hundred and fifty years ago, people all over the world associated the name Alfred Nobel with explosives and the horrors of war. Beginning in 1901 his name became synonymous with the Nobel Prizes.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: How and Why Self-Hypnosis Works!

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: How and Why Self-Hypnosis Works!: I was reading an article the other day on a medical website highlighting the best approaches for pain management. Among those listed was se...

How and Why Self-Hypnosis Works!

I was reading an article the other day on a medical website highlighting the best approaches for 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 disagree. Once you understand the dynamics of self-hypnosis, it is easy to comprehend how and why it works.

Self-hypnosis assists a person in moving their attention away from the pain to another place in time: a relaxing scene in nature, a pleasant past memory, an enjoyable future image, or by simply distracting yourself by doing something else. The greater your focus and concentration on the imagined or actual task at hand, the more success you’ll have with managing physical and psychological pain. As you do these things, you are altering your brain chemistry with hormones and neurotransmitters that stimulate, support, and bring about positive feelings. Once these chemicals enter the bloodstream, the entire body healthily and harmoniously responds.

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. If you believe that the pill, whether it is filled with medication or sugar, is going to ameliorate your pain, it most likely will. If you believe that the power of your mind and imagination can help you manage pain and that these powers will rid you of it, then that can happen. Another interesting discovery about placebo medicine is the pill’s color. Research has shown that people tend to view dark red pills as sedatives and white pills as painkillers. The power of belief put into action is an amazing force that can achieve things that some regard as miracles.

In dozens of double-blind studies comparing placebos to aspirin, placebos proved to be 50% as effective meaning that 50% of those who used placebos had the same positive effect as aspirin for pain. Taking this a step further, how about not even giving the patient an aspirin or pain killer or placebo pill at all and just giving him/her a hypnotic suggestion that they will not have any pain? All hypnosis is self-hypnosis meaning that if I give you a suggestion for pain and you accept the suggestion and believe the suggestion will work, then it becomes self-hypnosis.

Self-hypnosis works upon the principle of reframing. Reframing is taking an image of something you perceive as uncomfortable or painful and changing it into images that are pleasant. When you picture something from your past, present, or anticipate something in your future that is bothersome,  you can alter that image or thought so that it doesn’t affect you negatively anymore through the power of your own creative imagination. Since how you see and experience your past determines how you see and experience the future, clearing away those old memories is important to your health and well-being and to effectively addressing both emotional and physical pain.

Mark Twain

Sam Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist who wrote many classic novels including: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and The Prince and the Pauper.

Twain became a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River and it was this venture that resulted in his pen name Mark Twain which refers to a measured river depth of two fathoms. His first claim to fame came from a humorous story he wrote about the jumping frog contest held in Angels Camp, California. His story was published in a New York weekly, The Saturday Press, and it won international attention and inspired him to continue to write more. Twain not only became a hugely successful writer, but he was also in high demand as a speaker. Over the years his writings and presentations brought him fame.  People of all stations of life, from farmers to American Presidents, knew and appreciated his wit and his creative skill with words.

President William Howard Taft said, "Mark Twain gave pleasure – real intellectual enjoyment – to millions, and his works will continue to give such pleasure to millions yet to come ... His humor was American, but he was nearly as much appreciated by Englishmen and people of other countries as by his own countrymen. He is an enduring part of American literature."

One of my favorite Mark Twain quotes is, “I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.”

One of the things Twain is saying is that oftentimes we get too caught up worrying about what could happen, what might happen, and the what ifs that lead to desolation row. Within our own lives, let imagination be used to envision what is possible and ultimately fulfilling. Imagination can take us to the heights of heaven or the depths of Hades, depending upon how we use it. Life is challenging enough without writing stories in our head of future misfortunes that may never come to pass. We could probably all recall tales of woe that never turned out quite as bad as we had envisioned and a few that did!

Mark Twain’s brother Henry was killed in 1858 when the steamboat he was working on, the Pennsylvania, exploded. Twain had witnessed his death in a dream a month earlier and held himself responsible for the rest of his life. He experienced other devastating personal losses including his wife’s death and the early deaths of his two daughters.

Mark Twain was born in 1835, shortly after Halley’s Comet made its closest approach to earth. In 1909 he wrote, "I came in with Halley's Comet. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's Comet. The Almighty has said, “Now here are two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together."

His prediction was accurate. Mark Twain died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910, one day after the comets closest approach to earth.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Dear Theo

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Dear Theo: Around 1978, I read an extraordinary book titled Dear Theo. Dear Theo is a collection of hundreds of letters Vincent Van Gogh wrote to his b...

Dear Theo

Around 1978, I read an extraordinary book titled Dear Theo. Dear Theo is a collection of hundreds of letters Vincent Van Gogh wrote to his brother and closest friend Theo, an art dealer in Amsterdam.  In these letters, Van Gogh told amazing stories of his discoveries of the beauty and wonder of nature and the people that captured his attention, all of which became the subjects for over 900 paintings he made between 1880 and 1890. In 1878 he wrote, “Great art feeds the inner life, as do the works of those who apply themselves with heart, mind, and soul. If one can only remember what one has seen, one is never idle or lonely, and never alone.”

When Van Gogh moved to Paris, his art began to take on a unique style. His daring approach to painting was to fervently apply the colorful paint with thick and bold brushstrokes. He mostly painted outdoors no matter what the weather conditions were to fully capture the emotion and natural state of his subjects.  But, fame would not come to him for many decades following his early death at age 37 in 1890. The tragedy of Van Gogh is that he only sold one painting and this one sale came 4 months before his death. His bouts with depression and rage are well documented but make sense for what he perceived as total rejection by the general public and his Impressionistic colleagues of his artistry.

After Vincent’s death, Theo died just 6 months later and is buried next to his brother. Theo’s wife Johanna inherited all of Vincent’s paintings and dedicated her life to arranging public showings all over the world of his work, thus bringing his remarkable art to the attention of millions. 100 years after his death, 7 of Van Gogh’s paintings sold at auction for a total of 700 million dollars. Today those same paintings are worth over one billion dollars.

People’s perceptions of Van Gogh are that he was a mentally unstable artist, but if you look beyond what you’ve heard and read some of the letters that he wrote to this brother, you will discover that he was a passionate and compassionate artist, a gifted writer, and a profound thinker. At age 25 he wrote, “The best way to know God is to love many things. Love a friend, a wife, whatever you like, but love with a lofty and intimate sympathy, with strength, with intelligence, and always try to know deeper, better, and more.”

Vincent Van Gogh was ridiculed in his time for his paintings which were regarded as too bold and too unusual. The fact is he was excited by all the beauty he saw around him and enthusiastically painted what he saw on canvas. In a letter to Theo he wrote, “Try to walk as much as you can and keep your love for nature, for that is the true way to learn to understand art more and more. Painters understand nature and love her and teach us to see her.  If one really loves nature, one can find beauty everywhere.”

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Dance, dance, dance

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Dance, dance, dance: Your response to potentially stressful day to day experiences has a major impact on your health and well being. Many medical journals report...

Dance, dance, dance

Your response to potentially stressful day to day experiences has a major impact on your health and well being. Many medical journals report that chronic stress puts us at greater risk for illnesses including cancer, heart disease, infectious diseases, and digestive disorders.

Prolonged negative thinking, depression, anger, resentment, and worry are high stress states and are all potentially harmful to the essential mind/body balance. Constantly seeing the glass half empty puts the emotions and body under stress. High stressed individuals produce more of the neurochemicals that impair the immune system: heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, muscles tense, breathing quickens, and stomach acids escalate. If poor sleep is one of your challenges, keep in mind that stress produces more of the hormones that keep you awake and less of the hormones that help you to relax. In addition to poor food choices, stress causes weight gain due to an over production of the adrenal hormone cortisol, resulting in too much belly fat.

Stressors can be minor hassles, major lifestyle changes, or life events that overwhelm us. Being able to identify stressors in your life and releasing the tension they cause are the keys to successfully managing stress. Stressors may include: the death of a friend or loved one; challenges at home with children or your intimate relationship; work overload; ending or starting a new job; being unemployed; money issues and financial concerns; legal problems; uncertainty about the future; and unresolved grief. Loss and grief follow us throughout our life time. When loss is not addressed and worked through, the anticipation of future losses can loom over us distorting our vision for a positive future.

What can we do? Use your creative imagination to play with options and possibilities for changing the stressful situation you find yourself in. Participate in an ongoing meditation group or spiritual group to help move your mind and emotions in more positive and life-enhancing directions. Hike in the red rocks, taking notice of and appreciating the amazing beauty of nature. Learn more about healthy eating from local markets and discover for yourself the relationship between food and stress. Join a grief support group to help heal the anguish of a significant loss. Listen to music at local clubs, watching and feeling the passion of the musicians who play.  Take an art class from a talented local or visiting artist or join an enjoyable singing group. Use self-hypnosis relaxation techniques, including calming breathing processes to help you fall asleep more naturally. Read books that are uplifting and that help you to feel more hopeful. Watch birds soar through the air, seemingly defying time and space.  Work in the garden, planting beautiful flowers and delectable vegetables. Laugh often, smile at others when you make eye contact and dance, dance, dance.

                                                                                                                                    

                                                          

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The Imagination

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The Imagination: When the artist Michelangelo was asked how he approached sculpting his masterpiece David, he replied that he chipped away everything in the ...

The Imagination

When the artist Michelangelo was asked how he approached sculpting his masterpiece David, he replied that he chipped away everything in the large piece of marble that wasn’t David. Michelangelo had amazing focus and concentration as he tirelessly and passionately worked on his masterpiece chipping away what he didn’t want while maintaining his future vision of what he did want and what the completed David would look like.

Because of the miraculous design of our brain, we can recall a past experience and quickly assess what worked and didn’t work and draw upon resources there; we can take what we learned and apply it now and be fully absorbed in present time with focus, concentration and creativity; we can retain an inspiring vision of the future and work towards what we want it to look like.

An excellent example of this is the story of the Russian composer and pianist, Sergei Rachmaninoff. The premier of his Piano Concerto No.1 in 1897 in St. Petersburg, Russia met with such critical reviews by the local newspaper that Rachmaninoff fell into a lengthy depression. Unable to recover, he sought help from a physician, Dr. Dahl, who specialized in autosuggestion. Autosuggestion is what we now call self-hypnosis. Dr. Dahl assessed Rachmaninoff’s case and advised him to use the same hypnotic declaration every day, “I will compose a new concerto. I will work with the greatest of ease. The composition will be of excellent quality and the critics and public will rejoice!”

Rachmaninoff repeated these positive statements day after day for two years. Slowly, he began to see that much of his first piano concerto was excellent and he applied what worked to the new piano concerto he was working on, Piano Concerto No.2.  As Piano Concerto No. 2 took shape, his confidence began to return. Piano Concerto No. 2 had its world premiere in October 1901. It was an instant success and is regarded as one of the greatest piano concertos in classical music history. Not only did Rachmaninoff rise to the occasion, he exceeded it. He made peace with his past, drew upon successes and resources there, regained his confidence, moved beyond his fears, reignited the joy of composing, and successfully performed in public again. With the help of Dr. Dahl, he was able to take the best of what he had learned from his past and create the future he wanted to create.

The imagination is amazingly resourceful. It can repair a broken past, inspire the present, and generate excitement about the future.  Whether it is a work of art, a fund raiser, a room addition, a romantic evening with a loved one, or a new business endeavor, the imagination is capable of doing extraordinary things.  Yours or mine might not be on par with that of Michelangelo or Rachmaninoff, but it will be a creative and unique expression of whom we are and that is something to celebrate!

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Traveling Through Time in Your Mind and Imaginatio...

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Traveling Through Time in Your Mind and Imaginatio...: Revisiting the past is a naturally occurring phenomenon that happens over and over again in the course of a single day. Simple conversatio...

Traveling Through Time in Your Mind and Imagination

Revisiting the past is a naturally occurring phenomenon that happens over and over again in the course of a single day. Simple conversations about what we did or where we went immediately take us back in time. Our life is filled with symbols from the past and these symbols stir up memories. A painting, a film, a photograph, a wine glass, a special book, a street, or even an empty space that was once occupied by a loved one can all immediately bring back past memories. Just listening to the lyrics and melody of a song can transport you back in time to the memory of a former friend or loved one.

Traveling back in time to memories can be an exhilarating experience or miserable journey, depending upon what we are thinking about. We can recall and entertain images and memories that make us sad and depressed and we can entertain images and memories that make us laugh and feel good. If we time travel primarily to think back to all the things that didn’t work out as we had hoped: separations, losses, disappointments, mistakes, hurts, injustices, resentments and the like, then we are using an amazing power of the mind in very limited and perhaps unhealthy ways.

The imagination is the playground for seeing the self in action. The brain does not know the difference between walking in the woods and imagining you are walking in the woods using all of your senses: visualizing seeing yourself there, feeling yourself there, hearing the natural sounds of the woods, and smelling the fragrances of the trees, brush and flowers. The brain does not know the difference between jumping in the water and swimming and imagining you are jumping in the water and swimming. In both situations the brain releases the same chemicals leading to feelings of pleasure and enjoyment.

What would be the purpose of imagining you are walking in the woods? One of the best reasons is for relaxation and the subsequent health benefits. Visualizing that you are enjoyably walking in the woods is a meditative experience and a very effective way of calming the mind and the emotions. Doing this for just 10 minutes a couple of times a day can make a remarkable difference in lowering blood pressure, eliminating headaches, and falling into a restful night’s sleep.

ThSimply breathing deeply can help abate an oncoming migraine or help you to gain your composure before taking a test or going on a job interview. Wherever you notice the discomfort or anxiety, breathe into that place and let your breath and imagination help you to soothe your emotions. Once you begin to trust in your ability to use the power of your breath and imagination, your confidence in yourself will grow and your perception of what is possible will amaze you again and again.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The Life and Times of Walt Whitman

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The Life and Times of Walt Whitman: In 1900, Richard Maurice Bucke, M.D. wrote an amazing book titled, Cosmic Consciousness. In this book about spiritual enlightenment, Bucke...

The Life and Times of Walt Whitman

In 1900, Richard Maurice Bucke, M.D. wrote an amazing book titled, Cosmic Consciousness. In this book about spiritual enlightenment, Bucke discussed the lives of those he believed had very advanced thinking, extraordinary intuitive skills, natural realization of the oneness of the universe, a freedom from fear, and mystical qualities that pervaded their personalities.

Bucke was not just an ordinary physician. He was a devout scientist, a gifted doctor, and he possessed a fantastic memory, especially for poetry of which he knew volumes of the classics by heart. In 1882 he became Professor of Mental and Nervous Diseases at Western University. In 1888 he was elected President of Psychological Section of the British Medical Association, and in 1890 he was elected President of the American Medical-Psychological Association.

In 1867 a friend of Bucke’s brought his attention to the poetry of Walt Whitman. Upon reading it, he went into an altered state. In 1877 he met Walt Whitman for the first time and knew immediately that he was in the presence of a very gifted and spiritually advanced soul.

Bucke wrote that he never met a man who genuinely liked so many things and people like Walt Whitman. He was kind, generous, gracious and grateful. He was especially fond of children and all children liked and felt totally safe in his presence and trusted him immediately upon meeting him. Whitman exuded such enormous charm and love, that he literally transformed the lives of everyone he met.

In the 20 years Bucke knew Whitman, he said that Whitman never argued or spoke unkindly about anyone. If literary critics or anyone spoke harshly about his writings, Whitman would simply say that they were correct, thus mitigating the situation immediately. Once Bucke took Whitman to the mental hospital Bucke was the director of to see how the mentally ill would respond in Whitman’s presence. Bucke watched in amazement as some of the most difficult and dangerous patients hospitalized there began to spontaneously smile and be at ease in the presence of Whitman. For the entire day, Whitman engaged these so called incorrigibles in games and playful activities.

Bucke said that Whitman’s favorite things to do were to meander outdoors, attentively look at the grass, trees, flowers, the vistas of light, the clouds in the sky, and tenderly listen to the birds and the sounds of nature. It was evident that these things gave him an enormous feeling of pleasure, far beyond what they gave to the ordinary person.

Bucke believed that the central teaching of Whitman’s poetry and life is that beauty is all around us and we just need to recognize and appreciate this beauty with our God-given senses. Whitman strongly believed that we are missing out on the splendor of life when we long for something that we don’t have. Instead we can simply open our eyes to see, open our ears to hear, and open our hearts to feel what we already have.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Stress Ages Us

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Stress Ages Us: 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...

Stress Ages Us

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 directly impacts the proper functioning of the digestive system and as a result, 30 million Americans take anxiety medication on a regular basis and another 30 million take prescribed and over-the-counter remedies for indigestion. If you have a problem sleeping, look no further that to both anxiety and indigestive problems. We are conditioned to addressing indigestion by taking antacids or prescription drugs but daily indigestion is something to be concerned about.

What can you do? Learn effective stress management techniques, relaxation techniques, and mind enhancing reframing skills like self-hypnosis, meditation, yoga, tai chi, or visualization. Listen to relaxing music. Participate in fun and enjoyable exercise wherein you stretch, build strength, and use your full range of motion. Walking, hiking and dancing, Zumba, and Pilates are fantastic forms of exercise. Take time to play. Spend quality time in nature amongst the trees, plants, flowers, hills, mountains and forests which are naturally healing and harmonizing. Take good care of your skin by using quality products daily.

To dramatically improve your health, you need to alter your diet. Cut way back on the sugar and salt and eat cereals and breads rich in whole grains. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants. Keep in mind that 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. Always include anti-inflammatory food in your diet like avocadoes, wild salmon, olive oil, berries, and sweet potatoes. And, eat as much organic food as your budget will allow. There is a lot of controversy about the organic verses non-organic but the research is clear that organic is better for your health. Non-organic farmers use too many toxic sprays on their fruits and vegetables and those toxins are not good for your health and digestion. And the next time you suffer from indigestion, instead of reaching for that antacid, eat a delicious organic apple instead. Apples are a natural digestive aid and there is much wisdom in that old saying about eating an apple or 2 a day.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: I love reading biographies about famous and successful people. Their passion, creativity, focus, courage, and imagination continually insp...

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

I love reading biographies about famous and successful people. Their passion, creativity, focus, courage, and imagination continually inspire me to discover and uncover life in its fullest expressions. L. Frank Baum is one of those inspiring people.

L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, worked as a journalist for the Chicago Evening Post in the early 1890’s and wrote dozens of articles supporting women’s right to vote. His mother-in-law was a devout feminist and women’s rights leader who marched with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, founders of the Women’s National Liberal Union. The union was dedicated to the separation of church and state and focused on social reform. Baum was an advocate of equal rights for women and marched alongside his wife and mother-in-law in support of social reform.

His talent for writing combined with his vivid imagination led to the publication of 6 children’s books, 13 sequels to the Wizard of Oz, 55 novels and 82 short stories. Baum’s illustrator, W. W. Denslow, took Baum’s descriptions of Dorothy and her entourage and created the wonderful characters that we have come to love. Prior to teaming up with Denslow, Baum worked with artist Maxfield Parrish who illustrated his books.

Groups of children, including his 4 sons, regularly gathered in his office and listened to his imaginative tales of Dorothy and her friends in the magical Land of Oz. His mother-in-law encouraged him to write down these enchanting stories and to organize them into a children’s book. 

In 1892 Baum joined the Theosophical Society in Chicago and the philosophy deeply influenced his thinking. Theosophy avows that everything from the subatomic to plants, animals, humans, planets, stars and galaxies is alive and evolving. It espouses the essential oneness of all beings, universal brotherhood and sisterhood, and expressing altruism and compassion for all. The ultimate goal of life is to search for and discover truth. All of these became themes in Baum’s 14 books about the Land of Oz.

Baum was a consummate observer of life, drew inspiration from his past, his day dreams and night dreams, and put these memories into his stories and books. When Baum saw the design of the futuristic city, the White City, at the Chicago World Expo in 1893, it later became the inspiration for his Emerald City. His heart condition and deep love for his wife was transformed into the Tin Woodman’s tale and his nightmare about being chased by a scarecrow became a Scarecrow searching for a brain.

Baum, most likely, invented 8 year old Dorothy as the compassionate and courageous daughter he always wanted but never had. With an indomitable will, she magically and successfully maneuvers through the unfamiliar and unpredictable Land of Oz, defies both the Wizard of Oz and the Wicked Witch, and finds salvation for herself and her companions.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, first published in 1900, won best children’s book two years in a row and the 1939 film has been seen by over 2 billion and is the most viewed film in the history of cinema.