Why You Must Bring Congruency Into Your Life

When you look at your life, how do you feel about it? Does it appear to be chaotic, confusing, overwhelming at times? Or does it appear to be a unified, continuous, joyful whole, progressing triumphantly towards your life goals?

Most of us live somewhere between these two extremes. Some days we’re “on a roll”, full of confidence and unstoppable. Some days we just seem to be running round in circles, burning all our energy, full of doubt and apprehension and getting nowhere.

So how to we get to spend more time in unstoppable mode, building our self esteem?

One key thing that we need to do is to live our lives congruently…

LACK OF CONGRUENCY IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH!

Do you tend to compartmentalise your life – maybe you break it up so that your work life you do what has to be done to earn a living, in your home life you do what you enjoy and from time to time you try to make sense of it. And your health just gets a back seat :-(

Or maybe you break your life down in other ways – you’re this person to your family and another person to your friends, someone else to your boss and so on…

When you live this way life gets complicated and stressful. You are constantly rushing from A to B, juggling different balls, trying to be different people in different contexts – and what happens when inevitably when two compartments that you have so carefully created overlap - your family meets your friends or your boss!!! Very stressful.

Trying to maintain all these different compartments burns a tremendous amount of mental and even physical energy. When you spend too long in one of your compartments the others start to feel neglected and your only solution is work even harder to juggle all the balls and keep them all in the air. Inevitably one gets dropped, all too often it’s your health or your personal relationships, and then you have real problems.

THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY TO LIVE

Luckily there is a better way to live – make sure you live your life congruently.

What if you only had 1 ball to juggle instead of 10 – you’d have no problem keep it in the air would you? That would be so easy – you could do it confidently, your self esteem would rise as you mastered the skill and your could even learn a few fancy tricks:-).

Carrying that analogy over to your life then, congruency is simply the decision to stop compartmentalising your life and to start treating it as one unified whole. Making sure you live your life by one simple set of rules where everything fits together is the best form of mental self help.

It may well take you some time to rearrange yourself and your life to get into the state of congruency, but when you do, all the different areas of your life will fit together perfectly and mutually support each other. Your work will fit in with your own beliefs, your family and friends will fit together perfectly, your health and wealth will go hand in hand.

IT'S TIME TO REVIEW YOUR LIFE

To some extent we are all living lives that are out of balance, so take the time today to think about your life – where are the fault lines? Where are the incongruencies? You may be a very lucky person and already have a well balanced life, but there is still room for improvement.

Then think about how you can rearrange things so that you can bring your life back into balance. What are the common themes and threads running through all areas that you can strengthen to make your life more congruent?

Unsatisfied Basic Needs And Addictive Behavior

Throughout our lives we have various requirements that must be met. These are our needs and desires, which range from basic physical needs to selfless desire. When any of these are not met, negative physical, mental, and emotional complications and addictions can result, sometimes with distressful consequences. This discussion is about needs.

A need is an explicit requirement, like feeling hungry and demanding to eat or seeking assurance when you feel unloved and insecure. Satisfying a need means that it has been gratified, relieved, and discharged. Once you feel satisfied, your attention easily turns to something else.

The following list of needs is inspired by the work of Abraham Maslow.

Physical needs. Food, water, safety, shelter, health, basic comfort and income.

Security. You feel secure when you feel wanted, accepted, loved, and supported by others, and are able to feel a sense of belonging.

Connection. The drive to meaningfully relate, involve, give and receive, procreate and/or experience sexual fulfillment.

Self-esteem. You need confidence, competence, respect and power. When you feel approval, recognition and admiration from others, you naturally feel these for yourself and others. This develops the confidence needed to risk and strive. From competence and achievement, you develop assurance, poise, and power. Esteem in all these ways is preeminent to favorable development and behavior.

Integrity. This results from fulfilling your agreements with yourself and others. Because you carefully consider possible consequences, you are discerning in your choices and are thereby able to trust yourself.

Satisfying basic needs is primary. Without doing so, you are distracted, out of balance, and out of peace. If numerous needs are unsatisfied, then your disturbances are complicated and magnified. Your daily activities and creative flow are biased and directed toward the satisfaction of your unmet need(s). Your focus is distracted and skewed, your life is entangled with problems, and your fulfillment will be forever compromised.

Since most people don't know how to address their unmet needs, they turn their attention to what seems easier. And yet it never truly works because weakness arises. For example, a person becomes a great singer, yet never learns how to develop or maintain healthy intimate relationships.

To satisfy basic needs one must feel the insecurity that develops from its lack, then determine the best way to effectively address it. However, many people lack the requisite trust, strength and method by which to do so. This inhibits healthy progress because they fear they will be weakened by admitting the lack; yet they will actually be strengthened.

The key is to identify the unsatisfied need that the negative behavior attempts to satisfy. Next, replace that negative behavior with a positive equivalent. For example, returning alone to her hotel room feeling the high of a concert, the great singer typically orders her favorite goodies, eats heartily, and grows larger. By determining that she never learned how to develop and maintain healthy relationships, she is able to decide how to begin developing satisfying relationships, even while touring.

Indeed, satisfying basic needs is necessary because it provides the foundation for all else to develop, and supports you to reach your optimum levels. Satisfying basic needs is fundamental to clarity, peace, and overall well-being, and supports your potential to be realized.

To Those Who Have, More Will Be Given

I don't know about you but I never understood this verse in the Bible. Doesn't it seem a very unfair statement? Nobody could really give me a satisfactory explanation, which would change that view. That was until recently when I finally understood what I think is its "true meaning."

"To have" or "not to have" as meant by this verse doesn't necessarily mean tangible wealth or possessions as most people who heard this verse thought, although it has a bearing on whether you will keep tangible possessions or not.

Rather it refers to an "attitude" as most scriptures in the Bible do. The verse says, that those who have, will receive more but those who don't have will lose even the little they have. Lets get a little practical here and see if I make any sense.

What this means is you may not have tangible possessions and yet you may have more than someone who has tangible wealth. Those who have, acknowledge that they have received and are therefore grateful. This feeling of gratitude is reflected in the way they live their lives.

People who have, often gives and helps others, which is a sign that they have, because in nature you can only share or leave over for others when you have enough. People who are like this will receive even more.

Everybody loves people who give, don't you? We want to do things in return for them, including wanting to do business with them. Let me give you a practical example. The most successful Internet marketers have realized that in order to sell, they have to give something away. Those who give the most away are often the most successful.

If you are stingy and you want people to buy your products, but you are not prepared to give, then know that you won't last long no matter how good your product is.

What is your attitude? Do you think you have or do you think you don't have? Have you ever heard someone who proclaims that he can't actually do something great?

Just look around you and you'll find that more than 80% of those who have achieved something in life think that "they have" and that "they can". Compare that with those people in life, who are really struggling, and you'll find that they feel they don't have and that they can't.

"To have" also means to recognize that "you can," which is only possible because you have received unique skills and talents.

What this verse merely says and which is confirmed by tangible reality is that your attitude determines your reality. The only way you can and will get and keep real wealth is when you change your attitude.

Those who do not have, as described by this verse are always complaining, about how difficult things are. Don't you know people who are like that? They are stingy and are often critical of others. They believe they owe nobody nothing and doesn't do anything unless they get something in return.

The difference between those who have and those who don't have is this. Poor people want to receive tangible things such as wealth and possessions first, before they "recognize" that they have.

Unfortunately the Universe doesn't work that way. You must first recognize what you have, including your talents, your health, good eyesight, hearing, good legs to walk with and use these, and only then will you receive the tangible things you seek such as wealth and happiness.

If you "don't have", it is perhaps because you don't have the attitude of those who have. That's why you constantly find that nothing seems to work for you. It is as if there's a hole in your pocket. Even the little you make seems to just slip through these holes.

Time Management Working to Succeed

Time management is the process of working to succeed.  When we are working to succeed, we are reaching our goals.  Sometimes it is difficult when time are constantly changing and problems get in our way, so it is important to decide which plan works for you as well as understanding that life has its ups and downs.  When we are planning to reach goals, we have sit down and really ponder on what is needed to reach this goal or set of goals.  Some of us prefer to set short-term goals, reach that goal, and then go for a long-term goal.  Most of us prefer to set short and long-term goals in the same time management scheme in an effort to reach both goals accordingly.  This is always wise, since you do not want to start over with another time management scheme once you reach your short-term goal.  One of the best tools provided to me in time management or rather business planning, was role-playing.  When we are setting goals for our self and searching for a solution to make the goal work, it often helps to play out the parts as you come to a decision.  If you see this works, then it is obviously part of the solution required to reach your goals.  However, if you see that there are issues, then you need to re-evaluate to find a solution that is more fitting.  Time management is essential, since it demands the person (s) to plan, act on those plans, and stay focused on those goals with motivation in play.  You must also keep reality in view, since if you neglect the realness of the world, you will not be prepared when things go wrong.

Disasters such as storms, computer failures, family illness, personal sickness, and so on can happen any time.  There is no sense in believing that you are absent from reality.  It is always wise to include elements of your time management scheme in accordance with disaster, by thinking critical on the different issues that may arise.  For example, if you plan a solution ahead of a computer failure, you will have the tools to continue working while your issue is addressed.  Time solution is more than just planning then, it is a solution for planning here, now, and then.  When you begin your planning, you should start by analyzing now.  Now is in the present and you can see the elements that are needed to achieve your goals?  If you know you need a computer to start a business in the next five-years, you should begin setting up a budget for the computer in demand.  It is always wise when setting up budgets to open savings or money market accounts that does not take money from you, rather increases your savings by offering a nice interest on your savings.  This can help you to reach the goal sooner.  Computers are relatively cheaper nowadays, so you will not have to put much focus on this area, unless you intend to purchase a mainframe coupled with another system.  Mainframes are expensive pieces of equipment.  Next, you can search to find out more information about what is needed to start up a new business.  It depends on the type of business you are achieving to reach, but most require desks, computers, pens, paper, cabinets, chairs, and so on.  Be sure you add these expenses to your budgeting account.  You may also want to include other essentials for starting a business, such as insurance policies, health insurance, and disaster recovery coverage and so on.  Open separate accounts for your current financial obligations so that your savings will accumulate and your savings will not be affected.  Try to avoid purchasing something that is not needed throughout the course of your time management planning, since this can only delay your progress.  If you intend to open a business in five or ten years, make sure you keep this in sight while you work to the main goal laid out in your time management scheme.  Time management is working to succeed.  If you want to succeed then you must work hard every day to meet your goals.

What To Look For In An NLP And Hypnotherapy Trainer

NLP and Hypnotherapy are fast growing must-have skills these days. However, in a market where practically anyone can call themselves a practitioner, how do you know that the company or individual training you, is professionally qualified and skilled in the area of expertise. Do you know how to tell the difference between Joe Bloggs off the street who’s spent a few hours reading books on the subject in comparison to the major trainers who have really invested their time and knowledge in the stuff?

I work for a company called People Building, who provide NLP and Hypnotherapy training in London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. I would like to share with you the experience I had when looking for an NLP and Hypnotherapy Trainer.

When I decided that I wanted to do the training course, I began my search for a trainer, as many people do, on the internet. I didn’t realise quite how many NLP and Hypnotherapy Trainers there were out there! Even just throughout Herts, Beds, Bucks and London, the Google pages were littered. My main priorities at the time were to find a training course that offered both NLP and Hypnotherapy within the one course, that fitted in with my budget, that were fairly local to me in Hertfordshire. It turned out that a very popular ex stage hypnotist had teamed up with one of the significant figures of NLP and was running a course in London. However, to do both the NLP and Hypnotherapy training course was almost double the money I had available. Later, a friend I had met at a Tony Robbins event, said that they had done the NLP training course with that particular company, and that the group sizes were enormous. This meant that if someone felt confused or unsure at any point, it was difficult for them to put up their hand and ask questions. They also said that the training course had taught “mainly the unconscious mind.” Which meant that they had learnt everything they needed to know, they just didn’t know that they knew it. I eventually found a training course, but it was very far from home. It turned out to be quite an adventure and I met many new friends. My only complaint was that I felt I had only been given the tip of the iceberg, I came away wanting more, much, much more. And the more fellow NLPer’s I met, the more than me, they seemed to know. I ended up re-doing my NLP Practitioner and Master Practitioner trainings (so I paid twice as much as I’d wanted to after all!)

Now I’m qualified as a Trainer myself, and I run an NLP and Hypnotherapy Training school that provides training courses throughout Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and London. Obviously, my style isn’t for everyone, not everybody will like me, but I thought that what would be useful for everyone, is for my website to be a useful resource for anyone who is planning on doing NLP or Hypnotherapy training courses. That’s why I have included on there all of our course contents, what to look for in a trainer, and what to look for in a training course. So to whet your appetite, here are a few tips, but please visit our website for more.

• They should be a qualified master practitioner and hold a trainers certification so that they can legitimately certify their students.

• The trainers certification should be recognised by an accrediting body such as the ABNLP or BBNLP.

• They should be approachable and fit in with who you are as a person.

• They should have good rapport with their audience.

• A sense of fun.

• You should feel convinced that they deliver value.

Treat Snoring Without Surgery

Snoring is an inconvenience and a health hazard for both the snorer, and his or her spouse.  Many people will turn to surgery in a desperate attempt to cure the snoring, but non-surgical treatments are available.

While undertaking any non-surgical treatment for snoring, it's important to establish a baseline to measure the effectiveness of the treatment.  This can be a difficult and time-consuming task.  Those with willing partners to assist them can ask for feedback as to whether or not they notice an improvement once a treatment is under way. Those who live alone can make nightly recordings to assess the effectiveness of any treatments they try.

Drug treatments fall into three groups. The first works to stimulate respiration, the second opens the airways and the third works to keep the patient from entering REM sleep. All stages of sleep have been proven to benefit health and well being, so one must question the validity of taking a drug that interferes with natural sleep patterns.

Some over-the-counter decongestant inhalers can be beneficial in keeping nasal passageways open.  Simple saline nasal sprays will work to keep the mucous membranes moist and unclogged, thus reducing vibration noise.

People who sleep on their backs are more likely to snore; so numerous devices have been designed to manipulate the sleeping position.

Specially designed pillows force the snorer to sleep on his or her side.  Snoring balls can be useful if you try sleeping on your side but always roll to your back.  This little wonder is sewn into a pocket on the back of a pyjama shirt, making it uncomfortable to sleep on your back.  Snoring balls can be purchased in stores, or fashioned from materials readily available in the home.  Sleep position monitors are also available.  These electronic devices emit a beeping alarm when the sleeper rolls from back to side.  The premise is that the snorer becomes conditioned to sleeping on his or her side.

Nasal strips applied externally to the nose will act to widen the nasal passages. Athletes also use nasal strips to improve their respiratory efficiency. Another device based on the same principle is a dilator.  This plastic or metal coil is inserted into the nostrils before sleep, keeping the nasal passages open during sleep. Both of these gadgets seem to cut down on the vibratory noise of snoring.

There is a huge market of appliances devised to help desperate snorers.  Other choices include oral appliances, tongue trainers and even a little device that emits an electric shock when it senses snoring.

Diet and food allergies or intolerances can also contribute to snoring.  Allergies can cause mucous membranes to become inflamed and congested. The congestion blocks the airway and snoring occurs. Some people have reported that avoiding dairy products can improve snoring, while others have found that vitamin C can worsen their condition.

Weight is another contributing factor to snoring.  There is a direct link between snoring and obesity or even excess weight. Once other underlying causes can be ruled out, weight loss should be the first treatment considered for snoring.  Of course, reduced snoring is only one of countless benefits you'll receive from attaining a healthy weight.

Finally, avoiding alcohol and sedatives can greatly improve a snoring problem, as these substances can cause tissues to relax and obstruct the airways.

While immediate surgery might seem like the alternative to a snorer, or a snorer's bedmate, there are many alternative treatments to consider before going under the knife.  Ask you doctor which treatment option might be best for you.

Where Did My Old World Go

You’ve just bought a new car. It’s the latest model; it has the whiz-bang features that will definitely single you out from the merely mortal driving rank and file. You know you paid a bit (maybe a lot) too much, but with this car you make a unique and powerful statement to all others on the road. This car is as different from the herd as you are! Yet, as you drive this rare sparkling beauty home from the lot you suddenly notice the roadways dotted with several other nearly identical cars. Hmmm…never noticed those before. Somewhat deflated, it slowly dawns on you that your chromium highlighted beauty came from an assembly line, and it obviously wasn’t the only one of it’s species turned out that day. You ‘uniqueness’ becomes similar to dozens of other drivers.

This is an occurrence so common it has a name: “seeing the same car syndrome.” How is it that our subjective experience of the world can change so sharply with a simple purchase? We can either assume there is a profound metaphysical change, and the infinite cosmic auto-assembly plant suddenly seeded our roads with more of your cherished previously ‘unique’ vehicle; or, that somehow the act of buying and valuing this four-wheeled beauty has changed your perceptual apparatus. I am going to argue for the latter, and show you how to use that phenomenon.

Our experience of the world is made up of a magical concoction of sensory experience, memory, and imagination. Research has shown that our visual experience of our world at any given moment is made up of approximately 30 percent actual sensory data, and 70 percent of memory and imagination. Most of what we see isn’t technically what’s there, but what we think ought to be there. That last bit makes way for some delightful mischief. Obviously, sight isn’t the only sense involved, and there is a corroborative networking of sight and sound (the two distance senses). Vision, however, is usually the more distinct and detailed sense, and will tend to drive the auditory sense. If you doubt this, and are old enough, recall drive-in theaters. We would put a cheesy speaker in one window, and watch a screen usually at least half a football field away. Within a few minutes, we would forget the actual screen/speaker placement, and hallucinate the sounds emanating from the screen.

So, according to this argument, those cars were always there, they were just existing in that 70% of your visual world with which you have artistic license.

As a stage hypnotist, I can suggest a volunteer visually hallucinate the crowd as naked. I am not asking the client to violate his actual optical experience; I am merely playing with the 70% majority part of his visual experience that he is ‘making up’ anyway.

More usefully, I can suggest to a person with a fear of public speaking, that the crowd she sees are smiling, supporting her, and wishing her well. I am only suggesting changes in the part of her experience that she is mentally constructing. 30% of the crowd she really sees may be responding however they do—good, bad, or indifferent. I’m just asking her to focus on the friendly bunch that she has created. They are smiling, and so is she.

How about if you make up your mind to see opportunity. Make your waking thoughts the instruction “The world is full of opportunity, and I am going to see it today!” You’ll begin to have an effect on the 70% of the world that you have an automatic say about.  If you can see lots of people driving your car, you might be able to see lots of people offering you new opportunities. At least it is worth a try.

What You Always Wanted To Know About Dreams And Their Meanings

Every dreamer has asked questions about why we dream, and what those dreams mean. While every dream is unique to the person who dreams it, the world of dream interpretation is a rich, fascinating and exciting one. We have included here some of the most commonly asked questions about dreams and their analysis.

What is the significance of dreams?
Yes. Dreams to have significance in the real world. Dreams are told in a symbolic language, and the images in dreams tend to contain hidden meanings and hidden messages. When analyzing and interpreting dreams, it is important to understand that the stories told in dreams are symbolic and not meant to be taken literally. The significance of dreams for each dreamer is a personal matter related to each person’s experience and emotions.

Why do recurring dreams happen?
Recurring dreams are among the most common types of dreams. Most often, recurring dreams indicate that the dreamer has some issue that is not being confronted in his or her waking life. Examining these recurring dreams, and understanding what triggers them, can often allow the dreamer to resolve the underlying issue and banish the recurring dream.

Do most people dream in color?
Most people do dream in color, but many may not notice the colors in the dream world. Since color is such a natural part of our normal day to day experience, color may be overlooked in the dream world. In addition, because dreams fade so quickly, the sense of color may be the first thing to leave the conscious mind.

Do animals dream as well?
All mammals studied have exhibited the same brain activity that humans exhibit during dream sleep. Many scientists see this as proof that animals do in fact dream, although what they dream about is likely to remain a mystery.

How are dreams affected by our daily lives?
Any feelings or thoughts repressed during the day are likely to make an appearance in your dreams during the night. For example, if you wanted to show your anger to someone but were unable to do so, you may express anger to that person or a similar figure in a dream. In addition, those who have experienced traumatic events are often troubled by nightmares in which they relive that trauma.

Do men and women dream differently?
Men and women both experience the same brain wave activity during dream sleep. The content of the dreams of men and women do differ, however. Studies of dream content have shown that men tend to dream more about other men than about women, while women tend to dream about men and women equally.

Why do I remember only bad dreams and never good ones?
One reason is that the most vivid dreams tend to be those that are remembered, and nightmares are generally more vivid than good dreams. In addition, sleepers are often awakened by a particularly vivid nightmare, and waking during dream sleep means that the dream will most likely be remembered in its minutest details.

What does it mean to dream about dreaming?
Experiencing a dream within a dream may be a way to deal with items from the subconscious mind. A dream within a dream may prevent the dreamer from waking up prematurely, and they often are reflections of a critical issue that the dreamer needs to confront and gain control of.

Will I really die if I hit the ground during a falling dream?
The many people who have described hitting the ground during a dream about falling are proof positive that hitting the ground in a dream is not a terminal experience. It is true, however, that dreams of falling often wake the dreamer, and that is probably where that old legend got its start.

What Is Advaita Or Oneness

Advaita means nondual or “not two.” This oneness is a fundamental quality of everything. Everything is a part of and made of one substance. Often the question arises, If it is all one thing why don’t I experience it that way? This is confusing oneness for the appearance of sameness. Things can appear different without being separate. Just look at your hand for a moment. Your fingers are all different from each other, but are they separate? They all arise from the same hand.

Similarly, the objects, animals, plants and people in the world are all definitely different in their appearance and functioning. But in their ultimate nature, they are all connected at their source. So, this one Being has an infinite number of different expressions that we experience as different objects.

It also turns out that your fingers are all made of the same substance. As you explore the nature of your hand with greater subtlety, you discover more and more similarities. Your fingers are actually made up of very similar tissues, cells, atoms, and ultimately subatomic particles. When your experience of reality becomes even more subtle, you discover that everything is just a different expressions of one field of Being. Below is a wonderful little story written by Dennis Waite that explores this in more depth.

What about your experience right now? Is it possible to discover this subtle oneness in ordinary experience? It is, if you set aside the expectation of a dramatic experience of oneness and explore the oneness a little bit at a time. Just as even a single drop of water is wet, you can experience oneness in even simple everyday experiences, since oneness is a fundamental quality of everything that exists.

As an experiment, just notice your fingers and the palm of your hand. Can you really say where one starts and the other ends, or are they one thing? To take this further, where does your hand stop and your forearm begin? Can you experience the oneness of your hand and your forearm?

If these are not separate, then what about all the other parts of your body? Are your feet and your ears really one even though they are so different? Now notice if there really is a separation between your thoughts and your head. Where does your head stop and something else called thought begin? What about feelings or desires?  Are they really separate from you or your body?

Now, notice the simple sensations you are having: the sounds you are hearing, the sensations of touch, and the objects and events you are seeing. If you are seeing, something, where does the seeing stop and something else called the eye begin? If you are hearing sounds where does the sound start and the ear stop? Perhaps the hearing and the sound and your ear are all one thing. Yes, the ear is different from the sound, but in the act of hearing they become one thing.

Then, where does the source of the sound stop and the sound itself start? For example, if a bird is singing outside your window, where does the bird stop and the sound of its song begin? Or are they one thing? If the bird and its song are one thing, and your hearing and the song are really one thing, then is it possible that you and the bird are one thing also?

Advaita, or oneness of Being, has often been thought of as something hidden or difficult to experience, when it is quite ordinary and available in every moment. Of course a big experience of oneness, where you directly experience the oneness of everything, is a rare and dramatic event. But why wait for something so rare when this sweet and satisfying oneness is right here, right now?

Breathing Problems - Natural Solutions
Breathing difficulties can seriously handicap our ability to function and enjoy life. Air is our most vital source of energy and vitality. When we suffer from asthma, bronchitis, allergies, frequent colds or simply insufficient oxygen intake, we are prone to a lack of energy, vitality and /or mental clarity.

Every cell within our body depends on an abundant supply of oxygen for proper metabolism and vitality.

Some Causes of Breathing Problems

1. Hereditary weakness may make our lungs or other organs of respiratory apparatus weak points in our system. Thus when tired, overworked, anxious or stressed, these parts of the body will start to malfunction.

This does not mean, however, that we must suffer. It is in our hands to live in a certain way so as nurture and protect our bodies and minds.

Among such weaknesses we should include the inability of the immune system to effectively protect the body from microbes and viruses. In some cases the immune system may work overtime trying to protect the body from "imagined" dangers. Allergies and asthma are often the result of such over-reactions from the immune system.

2. Environmental factors may also aggravate the condition.

Cold and humid weather tend to accentuate breathing problems.

Pollen and other particles in the air may cause allergic reactions.

Occupational conditions such as working in a dusty area or in a smoke filled room may also aggravate the problem.

Pollution irritates our nasal passage and lungs.

Smoking cigarettes obviously damages our lungs, cutting off our supply of oxygen.

3. An over production of mucus clogs up the breathing passages, obstructing breathing. Foods, which tend to cause excess mucus, are all dairy products, white flour, white rice and sweets.

4. A lack of sufficient liquid intake causes the mucus to thicken and cling to the lungs and other breathing passages. This creates a favorable environment for microbes to reproduce.

5. Blockages in the spinal vertebrae or tension in the muscles of the upper back may also obstruct the flow of nerve impulses and bioenergy to the lungs. This may inhibit the proper functioning of the lungs.

6. Emotional blockages are directly connected with our breathing. People, who experience anxiety, depression, fear, nervous tension or a poor self-image, tend to subconsciously hold their breath. Thus their breathing is tense, shallow, and sometimes spasmodic.

Long-term emotional blockages may also affect the adrenal glands and thus hormonal disorders may also play their part in the problem. Negative emotions also depress or disturb the functioning of the immune system.

7. A lack of proper education in breathing is another reason why people suffer from breathing problems. It is entirely possible for us to learn to use our lungs more effectively for greater energy, vitality, peace and clarity of mind. This should be learned from an experienced breath coach.

Some Solutions

1. Environmental & Habitual Factors

a. Surround yourself with large green leafed plants, which produce oxygen and absorb pollution.
b. Get out of the city frequently. Go the sea or mountains and breathe fresh clean air.
c. Use regular deep breathing to clean out and rejuvenate your lungs.
d. Deep breathing while walking can clean out a considerable amount of pollution from the lungs.
e. If you smoke, then - love yourself - and stop.

2. Dietary Guidelines

a. Avoid all diary products, white sugar, sweets, white flour and white rice. When the problem has subsided, then we can start taking small quantities of dairy products while watching the body’s reaction.

b. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

c. Drink plenty (6 or 8 cups per day) of warm liquid daily. This may be water, herb teas, or water with lemon. Do not drink refrigerated or iced drinks.

d. When one has a cold, an onion and garlic soup spiced with pepper, cinnamon ginger and cloves, opens up the nasal passages and allows the congestion to flow out.

e. In some cases the use of natural vitamin C tablets can be helpful.

3. Facing emotional factors is essential for healing the cause of the breathing problems.

There are various ways in which we can find relief from these emotional factors and then eventually analyze them and transcend them.

a. Self-analysis or objective-self observation can free us from various emotional attachments and fears.

b. Positive thinking, affirmations, and positive thought projection can neutralize negative emotions and tendencies.

c. Various Body-centered catharsis techniques in addition to reprogramming techniques such as EMDR, TFT and EFT can free us from emotional based psychosomatic symptoms.

4. Exercises and Techniques

A. With the help of various exercises and techniques we seek to:
1. Remove the blockages and tensions from the upper back and chest area.
2. Develop greater freedom and control over the muscles of breathing.
3. Bring blood and healing energies to the chest area.
4. Open up the nasal passages if they are blocked.
5. Stimulate the harmonious functioning of the adrenal glands and immune system.

B. Techniques will need the guidance of an experienced coach are:

1. To start with we can simply practice deep breathing exercises. These exercises will give us relief from tension and may even bring the cause for our emotional tension to the surface so that we may see it more clearly and objectively.

2. Exercises for the upper back and chest can also bring considerable relief from emotional tensions.

3. Deep relaxation techniques are also very effective for relaxing the whole system so that the muscles of breathing may function more freely.

4. In guided deep relaxation sessions the source of the emotional blockages can be researched through regression.

We can care for our bodies and minds and they will care for us.