Knowledge Hooks, Containments & Motivation

In school you began with ABC & in this work you begin with basics as well. These become your touchstone. This is where you will return if you fall off course.... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

We are totally responsible for what the cells receive in the way of nutrition & stress management. So, your job is quite simple. You need to provide that, or else live with the negative outcomes that will eventually knock at your door.

SELF-EXPLORING

Spend a moment imaging your binge, disorderly eating or addictions as a child wearing a tee shirt with it's name on the front. Pay attention, noticing it is only a child & that you are an adult in charge of it.

Locate your containments of knowledge that are growing as you read this material. Invite a sensation representing confidence to arise deeply inside yourself. Your subconscious mind knows where your confidence is located & will play it if you request it. Do so now right in eye view of your disorderly child, noticing it noticing you.

You are learning to observe yourself in relation to food "as if" you were under your own microscope. You will get very good at self-observation. This will take you to safety, to higher health, as well as to optimum performance. Sometimes you will have to begin again, returning back to basics. This is not failure, but re-structuring. Whether you come back once, or a hundred times, this is where you come. It helps to know this.

In the next few chapters you will learn about food groups & what your cell managers need to run the cells of your body. Every cell in your body is an expert at what it does. Your heart cells know how to be heart cells. Liver cells follow their own job descriptions. If you were asked to step in & be a heart cell for a day you simply wouldn't have a clue. As we come to understand this rather child-like story, we can see the important reality underneath.

BUILDING CONTAINMENTS

When working with lifestyle change, it helps to have some inner organization. You will also want to use self-hypnotic organization with other large projects. I like the metaphor of containments. These are simply "mind containers".

Just for a moment image a table with many containers. Locate the labels. Each time I ask you to build a containment for some knowledge, you will mentally come to this table, choose a container & label it. Each & every time you work with this particular area of knowledge, you will take the container off the shelf & work with it in some self-hypnotic way.

When something is contained it is easier to manage, as it no longer sits out in the confusion of the world. You mind & body will not only see it as less stressful, but will find it much easier to send you free floating thoughts or suggestions relating to it.

Now it's time to begin collecting knowledge, locating the hooks & hanging up some motivational mind programs. Then you can place these in labeled containers in the library of your mind.

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

Let's begin with imaging a baseball diamond, a great organizational metaphor for the problems we are focusing on in this book. You may remember working with this very image earlier in the book. This metaphor works for many different kinds of goals. Remember, you are always the batter. Most of us know there are four bases. In the baseball game of life, first base is the food connection & it is here that you will collect very important knowledge. You will then find out how to apply your motivation to the knowledge.

First off the bat, few people think about what they eat & drink in relation to the needs of their body. Even fewer think about what they put in their mouths in relation to their family & personal medical history. In most people’s minds, it is like these things have no relation to each other. It is actually uncommon for someone to build a connection between what is eaten & the function of the mind or body.

It helps us to think in imagery. We were all born with genetic wallpaper that comes with designs from parents, grandparents, great-grandparents & so on. Some of us were born with a tendency towards certain diseases such as heart, diabetes, circulatory diseases & certain cancers. This tendency towards is a biochemical factor that can cause one to either over-produce a hormone called insulin or to develop a resistance to it. You visited this knowledge earlier in the book .

You also learned that through the years you might have developed some of the risk factors such as high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, obesity or yo-yo weight gain patterns. Perhaps you added a history of smoking, alcohol or drug addiction. How you managed stress over the years also is an important consideration when evaluating where you are in relation to where you want to go & how your food connection hooks up.

Now that you know this, it is a good time to work with the knowledge. If not, it will have the tendency to go out with the tide.

INNER MOTIVATION

Many people have difficulty finding a place to begin lifestyle change. They answer to this by not beginning. They either procrastinate or bury their head in the sand, either way achieving the same negative outcomes. But you are not like most people because you are reading this book & you can choose to begin right in this moment. There is no need to wait. Let me show you how.

Read through this exercise and then close your eyes . Earlier in the assessment area you learned a simple relaxation response. Employ that now. Go a bit further by tilting your eyes up just slightly, allowing your mind screen to appear behind your lightly closed eyes. Notice a movie is in progress & that a hand is being extended to you, offering to pull you forward. Take the offered hand with confidence, knowing you have nothing to lose in learning about yourself & wanting to change. Your subconscious mind is now engaged. You are on the path to first base.

Your past family is waiting for you with their rolls of wallpaper. Walk past each member, even if you don't know them, thanking them for coming. Place all the wallpaper into your cart and go into a quiet place where you can spend time reviewing it. The more you understand & accept where this comes from, the better your self-care will be. There is no room to be upset. Just like anyone else, you received both good & bad from those who came before you. Your work is to do your best with what you have. You can choose to commit to this now through the planting of an inner motivational affirmation:

I understand and accept my genetic wallpaper.
My wallpaper serves as a guiding light to the needs of my mind and body.

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

Pinpointing your current location on your life path is important when deciding to change course. Most of us have little idea as to where we are "path-wise" in relation to the chronic disease door, nor have we evaluated how fast we are walking towards it.
Moments do count. Everything you put in your mouth counts. Think of your body departments as being bank accounts. Each time you put something in your mouth, a record is made in that particular area. Think about yourself for a moment now. How would you evaluate your inner prosperity?

Waking up is often unpleasant. Just the idea of making a lifestyle change can cause panic. Lifestyle changes can appear monumental, especially in the deciding and early phases because usually no containment has been build. The emotions are in charge & most people have no idea how to get their life back on course. For success, both containment & emotional management must be engaged. In this book you will be learning how to do this & more.

MEET BOB

A patient of mine had his first heart attack this year. He was forty-two. While that was really frightening, he was actually more frightened when his doctor told him that if he didn’t make radical changes to his lifestyle, he would die. That meant he had to lose weight, stop smoking, stop drinking & learn to relax. He is a corporate executive, living on a high stress career track. He saw this as his “worst work project to date.”

Bob is not alone in his boat. I wish I had a dollar for every patient who is given a similar message. Here is a good example of knowledge not being enough. This patient, like all others, needs a containment & a plan of action. Then the plan needs to be fired off, motivated & supported, especially through the early stages.

INNER MOTIVATION

As in all motivational work, read through the exercise and then close your eyes, reviewing what you just read as if a movie were playing on the movie screen right behind your closed eyes. Make certain you will not be disturbed as you read and work with these tools.

Waking up to your life path is good news. However some people do not see it this way. Usually this is because they do not have knowledge hooks or motivational containments. They awaken into a highly stressed time of life with no tools. This can be overwhelming and frightening. No one is born with life-management tools. Few notice they don't have them until a life path wake-up is experienced. People tend to dream-walk until they stub their toe or completely fall down. By reading this book you are awakening and hopefully you haven't stubbed too many toes.

Knowledge & understanding are keys to success. You will come to understand why you binge or have your other problems. You will be able to put down your fear in a containment. As you bring your problems to the light, you will see them clearly. The fog will lift. You will come to understand that managing your problems is not a curse, but a gift. The problem is waking you up. Your food and beverage changes will benefit you through the rest of your life. You will be your future experiences !