Surviving the Teen Years

Teen years are times for hormones, growth & change, so it's not uncommon to find many disorderly eaters still locked in the emotions & behaviors found in this area of their memory bank. One doesn't have to look far to find these. Check the picture box on the left & see if you recognize any part of your self that has been carried over to your current adult!... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

The workshop I presented last night was quite interesting in this regard. I asked Jennifer to attend because she has been working so diligently with interactive self-hypnosis & automatic journaling to uncover her earlier childhood patterns. I wanted to give her progress a boost by helping her explore some of her teen experiences. As I've come to know more of her childhood drama, I felt fairly certain that she would uncover the source of her rebellious nature in her teen years. This would be very important for her because it is that very rebellion that is getting in her way to better manage her compulsive & emotional eating issues.

MIND EXERCISE

I'd like you to relax deeply into the moment. You are all familiar with this exercise, but this time I'd like you to deepen your relaxation a bit further. Close your eyes lightly at the lids & move your eyes to the right..... to the left.....up slightly.....& now down slightly.....& back to the slightly up position. Leave them in this comfortable slightly up position, as you sense magnets pulling you down gently into the chair. Locate your mind screen & place a golden frame around it.

Notice you are in the library of your mind. Your subconscious mind librarian is over there & you are visiting the pre-teen & teen areas of your library shelves. Notice that there are many books & video programs here, all available to you for past-editing & future-pacing. Notice how relaxed you are about working in this particular area.

Now take your teen health book off the library shelf & open to the early teen pages. Begin reviewing your history as in your childhood book. Revisit your body through mental biofeedback. Notice you stay in your adult mature Self while visiting your teen body & mind. Look at the complete you. Without judging, choose to pay close attention to the details of the complete you. If you find this difficult, you might like to encircle the complete you with compassion for your Self. Lots of self-image & self-esteem issues can live here, in fact many originating here. Keep in mind that you are the non-judging, adult-mature visitor who's sole purpose is to nurture & assist this part of yourSelf to heal beliefs or behaviors that are getting in your way.

You might like to open these files & relax into them before editing.. I suggest you take a few moments to re-introduce yourself to the teen Self on the screen. No need to rush.. Remember, it's been a long time since your last visit. Your teen Self has much to share with you & will be willing to do so as long as you are non-judgmental. Indicate that you care deeply about helping & making things better. While you are on a fact-finding mission, if you feel that the time is right, gently point out what your mature-adult Self would like to change & why. Invite your subconscious librarian to gift you with further information. You can work with your automatic writing journal or self-speak your interview.

JENNIFER'S INPUT

I can understand that my behaviors could be carried forward, but what about my food choices during those years. Are they responsible in any way for my out of control desire to eat sugar & junk foods?

Whenever we eat something our body responds to it. Food preferences definitely have emotionalized memories attached. Even the way something is prepared can change our inner programming & either desire or dislike. Think about hot dogs at a baseball game, hot chocolate after ice skating, milk shakes at the corner hangout, etc. These memories are not just about the food. In fact, you might not even like those foods anymore or perhaps you didn't like them then, but it was the whole experience.

In stress-eating, we are often trying to get back those feelings & to feel those times again. When doing your assessment work, observe that you can revisit your “memory feelings”. Your memories have chemical codes on them & when you recall a memory, you also recall the chemical code. Later on you will learn about how these codes connect to your perception, & how you can change them to benefit yourself. So, you will be able to dissect the chemical code for the milkshake experience without the calories. As you master interactive self-hypnosis, you can even attach that chemical code to a healthier choice.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR INNER-TEEN SELF

Take some time to go over these questions, preferably through automatic writing. Allow you pen just to flow on the page as you get out of your own judgemental way.

What was your perception of yourself when you were a teen? Did it remain the same through your teen years, or was there a change somewhere?
Looking at it from where you stand now, was your perception based on true facts or was it a false image?
What messages or beliefs were fed to you by others?
Were you involved in any addictions such as smoking or drinking?

Notice if there are any meaningful doctor visits or surgery & if so, spend some time relaxing into those files to see if any messages come forward from your subconscious mind. If you are a woman, look at the information concerning your menses. Did you have any difficulties such as PMS or irregular periods?

Now, go to visit the nutritional areas including regular meals, school eating, social eating & family preferences, as well as behaviors at meal times. Spend some time studying the details of the pictures, one by one.

Were you over-weight or did you believe you were?
Were you involved in bingeing or any other compulsive or emotional disorderly eating?
Any secret eating?
What were your favorite foods?
What about beverages? Have a look at sweetened drinks such as soda, also keeping your eyes out for artificial sweeteners.
Did you participate in meal planning or cooking?
Did your family eat together at a table, or did you eat alone or in front of the television?
Were mealtimes happy or stressed?
Did you use food as a stress-releaser?
Were there any rituals around this such as hidden or middle of the night eating?

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

As you self-explore different areas on your time-line, you will find specific knowledge to take forward into your current & future life. Here's a few of these....

Aside from emotional programming, there is the physiological responses. We get immediate feed-back to foods & beverages that can be positive or negative. Then there is habit building & the related outcomes. If you ate poorly for months at a time, of course the body will have specific outcomes related to that. This is seen clearly in yo-yo weight gain. You may not gain the weight over-night, but you do gain it. There are also other changes besides this that are happening. Chronic diseases do not happen over night. This is another example of long-term outcomes, so important to understand that your daily actions do matter.

This blog is the workshop for thoughtWARE Books. The series includes Help.....My Life is Killing Me - Lifestyle Change Made Easy, Beyond Disorderly Eating & Bingeing, Holistic Weight Loss , Sugar....the Hidden Addiction, Nail Biting & Skin Picking & Small Change - The Power of Interactive Self-Hypnosis. At the present time I am seeking an agent and/or publisher.