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!

Why are We Still Sending Foreign Aid?

It is estimated that the US spends approximately $25-30 billion dollars in foreign aid each year. I understand our need to help other countries but these are unusual times. Our postal workers need to keep their jobs. Our small businesses need loans. Our educational programs need assistance. People who want to buy homes need loans. The poor need places to live and food to eat. How can we justify sending money to other countries when what we are sending is essentially borrowed money? Those who supposedly represent us in Washington can debate all they want but the fact remains America is ailing and right now we need to keep whatever money we have at home. Once we get back on our feet, then by all means send money abroad to help others. Now is not the time.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Timeless Lessons from the Wizard of Oz

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Timeless Lessons from the Wizard of Oz: "When L. Frank Baum wrote the Wizard of Oz in 1899, he created a pretty, smart, and energetic little girl for his marvelous story named Dorot..."

Timeless Lessons from the Wizard of Oz

When L. Frank Baum wrote the Wizard of Oz in 1899, he created a pretty, smart, and energetic little girl for his marvelous story named Dorothy. Dorothy in his original book was about 8 years old. It is quite possible, since he had four sons, that Dorothy was the daughter he always wanted but never had. The Wizard of Oz became his artist canvas to create an archetypal little girl that was able to find her way around this strange Land of Oz, help others, melt the Wicked Witch of the West, and force the Wizard of Oz to admit his powerlessness. This amazing little girl transformed the Land of Oz through her positive attitude, fearlessness, integrity, and relentless desire to go back home.

In 1939, the film makers created Dorothy as a teenager with a marvelous singing voice and stage presence. Judy Garland was fantastic in the role and movie-goers will always think of Dorothy as depicted by Judy Garland singing, Somewhere over the Rainbow, on a dirt road in Kansas.  As the story goes, some of the producers of the film wanted that song cut out of the film because they thought it distracted from the story. It is a good thing that they didn’t get their way because Somewhere over the Rainbow captivated film lovers all over the country as we were still climbing out of the devastation of the Great Depression. That song’s lyrics connected with people, hoping to find another place far, far away where their dreams would come true.

L. Frank Baum’s Dorothy was different from the Judy Garland version in many significant ways. As an 8 year old, she stood toe to toe with the Wicked Witch when she was captured by her and locked in the Witch’s castle. The Wicked Witch stole one of the Ruby Red Shoes and Dorothy demanded it back. The Wicked Witch refused. In her fury, Dorothy grabbed the closest resource to her, a bucket of water, and poured it on the witch. As you remember in the film version, the witch set Scarecrow on fire and Dorothy inadvertently poured the water on the witch while trying to save the Scarecrow. In Baum’s original tale, Dorothy confronted the witch head on and refused to back down, ultimately winning her freedom. After the Wicked Witch melted away, Dorothy left the castle and freed the Lion who was held chained in the Wicked Witch’s courtyard. She then summoned the Winged Monkeys to rescue the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman who were badly beaten. If you remember the film’s version of this scene, Dorothy frantically pounds on the door of the castle screaming for the Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Woodman to free her. Instead, Baum had Dorothy free them. This is quite different scenes.

Throughout the story, there are 5 themes that are repeated again and again: remain positive and hopeful; use your brain and mind wisely; live with an open heart; muster your courage often; and draw upon the magic of your imagination again and again.

I believe that the Wizard of Oz is one of the greatest stories of personal transformation ever written. The 5 themes are timeless. Even today, 111 years after its first printing and 72 years after the film made its debut, these 5 themes are fundamental to our continued psychological health, creativity, spirituality, and well-being.

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.co.uk, BarnesandNoble.com, and as an e-Kindle book at Amazon.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Hope, Mind, Heart, Courage, and Imagination

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Hope, Mind, Heart, Courage, and Imagination: "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..."