These moments are windows into what psychologists call ego-states — inner parts of ourselves that were formed through life experiences, especially during childhood. Some are wise and resourceful, others are vulnerable and carry pain. All of them continue to live within us, shaping the way we think, feel, and act.

🧠 What Is Ego-State Projection?

In today’s Meditation Monday session, we explore a guided process called Ego-State Projection and Mapping.

This exercise gives you a chance to:

• Step into a safe inner space — a sanctuary designed just for you.

• Invite different parts of yourself (ego-states) to step forward, one by one.

• Notice how they appear, where they “sit,” and what feelings or needs they carry.

• Bring in your resource team — nurturing, protective, wise, and spiritual parts of you — to support the more vulnerable child-states.

• Begin to imagine how all these parts can work together in harmony.

🌿 Why This Matters

Many of our ego-states were created when we were young. For example:

• The Vulnerable Child may still carry unmet needs.

• The Angry/Defiant Child may still protest old unfairness.

• The Critical Parent Child may echo voices of judgment we once heard.

• The Free Child still longs to play.

• The Little Professor still problem-solves in clever, childlike ways.

Meeting these parts doesn’t mean “digging up the past.” It means allowing each part to be seen, heard, and understood with compassion. This opens the door for healing, integration, and inner peace.

✨ What You’ll Experience in This Session

• Relaxation induction to settle body and mind

• Gentle imagery leading you into your personal inner sanctuary

• Projection and mapping of your inner family of ego-states

• Introduction of a resource team (nurturing, protective, wise, spiritual)

• Integration — imagining all parts supporting one another going forward

🎧 Listen Now

Take 20 minutes today to connect with your inner family. Allow yourself to notice, listen, and simply be curious. You may find that even a brief encounter with these parts brings a new sense of clarity, compassion, and calm.

💡 A Final Thought

Your inner family is always with you. By meeting them in a safe, guided way, you can begin to create the inner harmony that so many of us long for. Remember: each part served a purpose. Now, with your True Self leading, they can find new ways to support your growth and well-being.

Some traditions recognize six core tones, while others, like the chart above, expand the system to nine distinct frequencies. Each is said to resonate with a specific energetic quality, supporting physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.

🔑 The 174 Hz Frequency

Known as the natural anesthetic, 174 Hz is the lowest of the Solfeggio tones. Many listeners report that it:

• 🌱 Helps ease physical and emotional pain

• 🛡️ Encourages a sense of safety and courage

• 💖 Supports emotional wellness and relaxation

This frequency is often associated with grounding energy — a gentle foundation for deeper inner work.

🧘 Meditation and the Science of Sound

There is a large body of research showing that meditation and meditation music can:

• 🌿 Reduce stress

• 😌 Improve emotional regulation

• 💤 Support better sleep

• 💪 Enhance immune function

These benefits are widely accepted in both scientific and therapeutic communities.

By contrast, Solfeggio Frequencies have been around for centuries and are deeply meaningful to many, but modern scientific studies specifically on these tones are still limited. Much of the evidence is experiential or anecdotal. In other words, there’s plenty of tradition and reported benefit, but more formal research is needed to fully understand how and why these frequencies may work.

🎧 How to Use This Session

1. 🪷 Find a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed.

2. 🎧 Use headphones or quality speakers to fully experience the tone.

3. 🔊 At the start, focus your attention on the pure 174 Hz tone. Allow your mind to settle into the vibration.

4. 🎶 As the meditation music blends in, let the sound carry you into a state of calm and healing.

5. ⏳ Listen for at least 15–20 minutes for best results.

The recording begins with the pure tone, giving you time to “lock in” to the frequency, and then layers in soothing meditation music to deepen your relaxation.

✨ Why Healing Dreams?

At some level, each of us carries parts that have been burdened by pain, confusion, or unmet needs. These younger, vulnerable parts sometimes live just out of awareness — stuck in the past, waiting to be heard and understood.

Meanwhile, other parts step in to protect us, sometimes keeping us so busy, distracted, or numbed that we lose touch with those inner children.

Healing Dreams is not about forcing change. Instead, it gently opens a pathway for the wiser, more mature parts of you — and the deeper source of life energy within — to bring comfort, balance, and wholeness.

🌿 What to Expect in the Session

In this guided experience, you’ll be invited to:

• Breathe deeply and settle into a state of relaxation

• Let your eyes stay open or close them if you prefer.

• Enter a safe, beautiful inner landscape — a meadow, a brook, or a quiet clearing — where healing can unfold

• Connect with the radiant life energy at your core — the essence of your spirit, your True Self

• Allow that nurturing presence to reach younger, wounded parts of you with warmth and compassion

• Open to the possibility of healing dreams that may arise at night or even during the day, gently shifting old burdens and patterns

This is your time — a sacred pause in the rhythm of your life.

🛌 How to Use This Meditation

• Listen before sleep to invite healing dreams

• Listen during the day when you need a restorative break

• Pause if needed to reassure any protective parts that may surface

• Listen often: Let Intensity & Repetition program it into your nervous system

• Allow the process to unfold naturally — remember, shift happens!

💡 A Closing Thought

Healing doesn’t always come in a flash of insight. Sometimes it arrives like a dream — quiet, symbolic, or subtle. Over time, these small shifts add up, helping you feel lighter, stronger, and more connected to your True Self.

May this meditation support you in finding comfort, guidance, and renewal in both your sleeping and waking hours.
Sweet dreams. 🌙

In this Monday Meditation, you’re invited to Meet Your Inner Family — the nurturing, protective, wise, and spiritual aspects of your Self that form the core of your inner support system.

Using principles from Internal Family Systems (IFS), Ego-State therapy, and other Parts-Oriented therapies, this guided meditation will help you:

• Discover and connect with inner parts in a safe, compassionate way

• Strengthen your sense of Self-energy — curiosity, compassion, clarity, and connection

• Begin building trusting relationships with your inner family

This is more than a visualization — it’s an invitation to form a lifelong bond with the parts of you that hold wisdom, care, and protection. It is a great introduction for those just now learning about Parts and “Parts-work”.

Find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed, and let this journey unfold at your own pace.

🎧 Listen to the Create Your Sanctuary episode before or after this session:

✨ Your Inner Family is always there for you. Today is a beautiful day to say hello.

In Internal Family Systems (IFS), the sanctuary is a place in your imagination that is entirely yours. It’s a place of peace, safety, and restoration — a place where your inner parts can feel welcome and secure.

Your sanctuary can be anywhere you choose:

• A rustic cabin in a wildflower-filled mountain meadow

• A quiet forest cottage beside a sparkling waterfall

• A bungalow on a white sandy beach with turquoise waves lapping at the shore

• Or anywhere your heart feels most at home

🧳 Before You Enter — The Safe Container

Before we begin creating your sanctuary, we’ll use a gentle exercise to set aside anything that might distract or weigh you down.
You’ll imagine a special container — perhaps a treasure chest, a jewelry box, or a hope chest — where you can temporarily store worries, fears, and tensions. Once the lid is closed and latched, you can step away knowing those things are held safely until you’re ready to pick them up again.

🌊 The Guided Meditation

In this session, I’ll lead you through a step-by-step guided visualization to bring your sanctuary to life. You’ll engage all your senses — noticing the sights, sounds, scents, and textures that make your sanctuary feel vivid and real.

This space will become more than just a calming visualization. It will serve as:

• A healing retreat for your wounded parts

• A meeting place for your protective parts

• A safe space where your True Self can lead the way

Over time, each of your parts will be invited to create their own unique space within your sanctuary — a step toward harmony, healing, and trust.

🎧 Listen, Watch, & Experience

You can close your eyes and listen or keep them open to watch the full Create Your Sanctuary session in today’s Serenity Saturday release of the Oasis @ Serenity Cafe Podcast.

Give yourself the gift of a quiet, uninterrupted 20–30 minutes to explore your inner world.

💬 Reflection Prompts

After you’ve visited your sanctuary for the first time, share your experience in the comments below or in your journal. Suggested journal prompts:

• What you noticed first when you arrived

• How your body felt while you were there

• Any parts that showed up or expressed curiosity about the space

This is your space.
You can return anytime, with eyes open or closed, simply by bringing it to mind.
Each visit strengthens your connection to your inner world and deepens your healing journey. Those of you practicing IFS, ego-state therapy, or other form of parts work, in session with me or someone else, will use this safe place frequently and may already have an inner sanctuary. You can use this session to develop it further, enhance it, and make it bigger and better each time you visit.

✨ See you in the sanctuary…
— Don Carter, MSW, LCSW
Oasis @ Serenity Cafe

This 4-minute video meditation blends music, imagery, and lyrical captions to evoke the essence of inner child healing and the sacred journey of parts work. Inspired by Thawing the Inner Family of Self, the visual experience is meant to awaken something tender, hopeful, and deeply human within.

🎁 Want to go deeper? Claim your free bonus worksheets, fillable PDF, and bonus materials when you pick up the workbook. (See the instructions when you click on the book below)

This session uses alpha-level binaural beats (7–13 Hz) to support deep relaxation and focused visualization. Alpha brainwaves are associated with a calm yet alert state of mind—ideal for affirmations, visualizations, auto-suggestions, and self-hypnosis practices.

This frequency range can help activate the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting a healthy relaxation response. To deepen the effect, try pairing the audio with your favorite grounding practice, such as LightStream or EFT tapping (even just imagining the tapping while listening can be effective.)

🧘‍♀️ How to Use:

• Wear headphones (required for binaural beats to be effective).

• Find a quiet, comfortable place to relax.

• Set the volume between 14% and 25%, or whatever feels most soothing.

• Visualize your intention or goal for the session—see, hear, and feel it as if it’s already happening.

⚠️ Important Listening Note:
Headphones are essential for binaural beats. Isochronic and monaural tones do not require headphones, but for this alpha-level session, headphones are a must.
Do not listen while driving or performing any task that requires your full attention.

🧠 Brainwave Frequency Overview

🌀 Delta (0.5–4 Hz):
Linked to deep, dreamless sleep. Delta waves support physical restoration and are often used to promote profound rest.

💭 Theta (4–7 Hz):
Associated with REM sleep, meditation, creativity, and intuition. Often used for deep meditative states and emotional insight.

🌿 Alpha (7–13 Hz):
Supports relaxed focus, daydreaming, and gentle alertness. Ideal for stress relief, affirmations, and visualization work.

⚡ Beta (13–30 Hz):
Linked to concentration and active thinking. While beneficial for alertness, higher frequencies in this range may increase anxiety in some individuals.

Leave a score in the comments between 1 and 10 — 10 being “I like it” and 1 being “not-so-much”.

These audios use Isochronic beats to encourage beta-level brainwave activity. Beta brainwaves are present when we are in our normal wakeful state. Use these with headphones or a good sound system while you are working out, focusing, concentrating, or if you just need an energy boost. They are also good brain exercises for improving memory, alleviating depressed mood, and increasing focus and concentration for studying. Use them for ADHD as well. (Do not use them if you are feeling anxious as that might increase the anxiety.)

Improvements in focus, concentration, and energy are more lasting when these audios are used regularly. Here is a brief summary of the differences in brainwave activity:

• Delta Brainwave Activity: Isochronic beats in the delta level operate at a frequency of 0.5–4 Hz with links to a dreamless sleep. Studies indicate people who received a delta pattern frequency during sleep entered a deeper stage of sleep, according to electroencephalogram (EEG) brain scan results.

• Theta Brainwave Activity: Practitioners set Isochronic beats in the theta level brainwave activity to a frequency of 4–7 Hz. Theta activity contributes to improved meditation, creativity, and sleep in the rapid eye movement (REM) phase.

• Alpha Brainwave Activity: Isochronic beats in the alpha level activity are at a frequency of 7–13 Hz and may encourage relaxation.

• Beta Brainwave Activity: Isochronic beats in the beta frequency are at approximately 13–30 Hz. This range may help promote energy, concentration and alertness. However, it can also increase anxiety at the higher end of the range.

Put on your headphones and settle into a comfortable position, relax, and focus on a visualization of your goals for the session (e.g., see yourself as if you already have the goal you want. See, hear, feel as if it has already happened)

NOTE: You MUST use Headphones with Binaural Beats. Headphones are recommended, but not required for Isochronic and Monaural Beats. Turn the sound down to a comfortable level, usually between 25% and 14%

Here is a brief summary of the differences in brainwave activity:

• Delta Brainwave Activity: Binaural beats in the delta level operate at a frequency of 0.5–4 Hz with links to a dreamless sleep. Studies indicate people who received a delta pattern frequency during sleep entered a deeper stage of sleep, according to electroencephalogram (EEG) brain scan results.

• Theta Brainwave Activity: Practitioners set binaural beats in the theta level brainwave activity to a frequency of 4–7 Hz. Theta activity contributes to improved meditation, creativity, and sleep in the rapid eye movement (REM) phase.

• Alpha Brainwave Activity: Binaural beats in the alpha level activity are at a frequency of 7–13 Hz and may encourage relaxation.

• Beta Brainwave Activity: Binaural beats in the beta frequency are at approximately 13–30 Hz. This range may help promote concentration and alertness. However, it can also increase anxiety at the higher end of the range.

NOTE: Do not listen while driving or engaging in any safety-sensitive activity

Put on your headphones and settle into a comfortable position, relax, and focus on a visualization of your goals for the session (e.g., see yourself as if you already have the goal you want. See, hear, feel as if it has already happened)

NOTE: You MUST use Headphones with Binaural Beats. Headphones are recommended, but not required for Isochronic and Monaural Beats. Turn the sound down to a comfortable level, usually between 25% and 14%

Here is a brief summary of the differences in brainwave activity:

• Delta Brainwave Activity: Binaural beats in the delta level operate at a frequency of 0.5–4 Hz with links to a dreamless sleep. Studies indicate people who received a delta pattern frequency during sleep entered a deeper stage of sleep, according to electroencephalogram (EEG) brain scan results.

• Theta Brainwave Activity: Practitioners set binaural beats in the theta level brainwave activity to a frequency of 4–7 Hz. Theta activity contributes to improved meditation, creativity, and sleep in the rapid eye movement (REM) phase.

• Alpha Brainwave Activity: Binaural beats in the alpha level activity are at a frequency of 7–13 Hz and may encourage relaxation.

• Beta Brainwave Activity: Binaural beats in the beta frequency are at approximately 13–30 Hz. This range may help promote concentration and alertness. However, it can also increase anxiety at the higher end of the range.

NOTE: Do not listen while driving or engaging in any safety-sensitive activity.

Oasis @ Serenity Cafe

Put on your headphones or earbuds, turn the sound down to a comfortable level, sit in a comfortable position and follow the instructions below:

Before you begin, make a list of the happiest and proudest memories in your life. Do some digging. Once you feel in a comfortable state, meditate on those memories one at a time. Make them as vivid as possible by tapping into what you see, hear, feel, smell, and taste in each memory. During the session intensify the effect by stepping into each memories and reliving them. The more intense and vivid you make it, the more the subconscious mind will remember and reproduce these feelings when you think of positive memories and current positive experiences.

In a groundbreaking study published in the International Journal of Psychophysiology, participants who completed a 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat showed significant increases in heart rate variability—a key marker of vagal tone and overall health. This wasn't just subjective improvement; their bodies physically changed in measurable ways.

In my next video, I'll count down the ten most significant benefits of meditation, explaining how each one relates to vagal tone and why this matters for your physical and mental well-being. (Number seven could be particularly important if you're dealing with chronic stress.)

In the meantime, take a few minutes to watch this video, breathe comfortable, cleansing, and refreshing breaths - in and out. Just notice how it feels to take time to breathe and meditate on thoughts of health, happiness, and peace of mind.

The affirmations are available in the accompanying transcript. Carry them with you, maybe on your phone. Memorize the ones that resonate with you. The act of memorization is a form of meditation. Enhance that by “seeing, hearing, and feeling” the desired effects of the affirmation on your mind, body, and spirit as you repeat them.

NOTE: Headphones are required to get the Binaural Beat Effects

We use binaural beats to encourage delta level brainwave activity (See brainwave activity descriptions below). Put on your headphones and settle into a comfortable position, relax, and focus on a visualization of your goals for the session. For Example, see or think about yourself sleeping soundly all night and awakening refreshed in the morning, See or think about images of the healing you want as if you already have it.

Use these programs daily to condition your nervous system to create an adequate relaxation response, aka Parasympathetic Reset or Vagus Nerve Reset. This reset is the best thing you can do to offset the effects of Chronic Stress, aka Distress (See image below).

NOTE: You MUST use Headphones with Binaural Beats. Headphones are recommended, but not required for Isochronic and Monaural Beats. Turn the sound down to a comfortable level, usually between 25% and 14%

Here is a brief summary of the differences in brainwave activity:

• Delta Brainwave Activity: Binaural beats in the delta level operate at a frequency of 0.5–4 Hz with links to a dreamless sleep. Studies indicate people who received a delta pattern frequency during sleep entered a deeper stage of sleep, according to electroencephalogram (EEG) brain scan results.

• Theta Brainwave Activity: Practitioners set binaural beats in the theta level brainwave activity to a frequency of 4–7 Hz. Theta activity contributes to improved meditation, creativity, and sleep in the rapid eye movement (REM) phase.

• Alpha Brainwave Activity: Binaural beats in the alpha level activity are at a frequency of 7–13 Hz and may encourage relaxation.

• Beta Brainwave Activity: Binaural beats in the beta frequency are at approximately 13–30 Hz. This range may help promote concentration and alertness. However, it can also increase anxiety at the higher end of the range.

NOTE: Do not listen while driving or engaging in any safety-sensitive activity.

Getting Started: Entering Your Mental Garden

1. Find a Quiet Space

- Choose a comfortable, peaceful spot

- Close your eyes and take deep breaths

- Picture yourself standing at your garden's entrance

2. Assess Your Current Garden

- Notice the state of your mental landscape

- Identify overgrown areas (limiting beliefs)

- Observe withered plants (neglected positive thoughts)

The Weeding Process

3. Identify Limiting Beliefs

- Look for recurring negative thoughts

- Notice patterns of self-doubt and discomfort

- Recognize reactive behaviors

4. Practice Gentle Removal

- Approach weeding with patience

- Use self-compassion, IFS, CBT, and other tools

- Work with, not against, your inner protectors and wounded Parts-of-Self

Planting New Growth

5. Sow Positive Beliefs

- Choose empowering thoughts to plant and nurture

- Water regularly with positive affirmations

- Give time for new beliefs to take root

6. Daily Maintenance

- Morning visualization practice

- Evening garden review with intensity & repetition

- Consistent nurturing of new thought

Tips for Success

* Start small - focus on one area at a time

* Be patient with the growth process

* Know when to reach out for help

* Practice regular maintenance

🌱 Ready to start tending your mental garden? Begin with just 5 minutes of visualization each morning. You'll be amazed at how your inner landscape transforms with consistent care.

Want to deepen your practice? Join Serenity Cafe Academy to learn the skills for tending your mental garden via courses and guided meditations that will help you cultivate your most beautiful inner landscape yet.

Just a reminder to join me for a live chat today, July 29th at 5:30 PM (Central time) to discuss and ask questions about the EFT-BLS Studios. These are powerful tools to re-condition the nervous system, reduce anxiety, stop cravings, heal the inner child, and regulate emotions.

There are actually two places to join: one for those who prefer the traditional text-based Live Chat and another for those who would also like to hear my responses, or use your own mic and camera as well

1. TheraFlix for Text only Chat (Sign-up and Login to participate) (unlimited seats)

2. Cafe Auditorium for text and mic/camera meeting. (Login only) (20 seats)

Watch the video and add your questions or comments ahead of time or during the live event at one of the links above. (The video is on demand so you can watch before, during, or after.)

Hope to see you there!
Don

What we know as our imagination is that mechanism of re-presentation. Think of it as a "Movie Mind" that has a visual track, an auditory track, a kinesthetic (Touch/Feel) track, a smell track, and a taste track.

Learning to direct, edit, and produce your own mind movies is a powerful way of using the imagination for goal achievement, enhancing performance, and healing emotional wounds from the past! The video above is a primer on how to do that... the rest you will learn as we go along because these are central to our primary tools of change - such as mindfulness, meditation, self-hypnosis, guided imagery, brainwave entrainment, and all of the approaches that make up our model of Integrative psychotherapy and coaching.

Below is a Submodalities worksheet you can use to practice making edits and adjustments to various perspectives (Watch the video above to learn how to use this worksheet.) Remember everyone is different and there is no correct way to use these skills. Play with them to see what is most effective for you.

Use submodalities to make pleasurable experiences stronger and to minimize uncomfortable experiences. Everyone has one or two submodalities tat make a difference when used. See an image of someone you love and then pull it closer and make it bigger. Now try that with your least favorite person. Pulling positive images in closer and pushing negative images further away while making them smaller are typically two ways of regulating emotions

Download Submodalities Worksheet

Serenity Island
Best with headphones

Put on your headphones, turn the sound down to a comfortable level, and settle into a comfortable position, then listen a few times a week. See, hear, and feel what it is like when you have already reached the goal – call this your goal image. Dwell on this image throughout the day even when you are not listening to this session.

Download the Serenity Series Collection

NOTE: Do not listen while driving or engaging in any safety-sensitive activity. These audios are intended for our client’s personal use only.

1. Neurons that Fire together, wire together

2. Use it, or lose it

It is also critical to remember that change and all new learning comes with Intensity and Repetition. This is how to use the Core Courses section… with intensity and repetition. Study these Core Courses so that you know them so well you could almost present them yourself. The more able you are to do that, the more your neural circuitry will have been transformed!

The ability to focus inward has usually been so neglected by those who carry emotional wounds that they find it very difficult to identify and pay attention to their feelings in a healthy way. The Mindful Awareness exercises will help you develop and enhance your ability to turn your focus inward and soothe your feeling brain and those reactive survial oriented parts that get triggered.

The third video in the Basic Neuroplasticity post shows a secret about chemistry of thoughts and feelings. “We think the way we feel, then we feel the way we think, then we think the way we feel…”, and so forth. That is because your thoughts signal the brain to make and release chemicals consistent with those thoughts, then your thoughts tell stories about why you feel that way.

The Flashlight of Awareness shows us what happens when we focus our awareness in the wrong direction. The Neurological Group Home Analogy goes into detail about the role the Medial Prefrontal Cortex has in soothing the feeling brain when we allow it to simply be mindfully aware, just noticing thoughts and feelings in the present moment.

These Mindful Awareness Exercises will outline several interventions that help us stay mindfully aware of what is happening inside me and around me, right here-and-right now, rather than leaving the present moment behind and being transported back into the there-and-then, or entertaining disaster fantasies about what may happen in the future.

Video Transcript

Being “in script” means to be under the influence and control of our subconscious programming (Also known as those third-tier Reactive Parts on the LSPM card). The phrases “getting triggered” and being “in script” are almost synonymous; but not quite, because getting triggered refers to the stimulus that “triggered” our move into those “scripty” or reactive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of our fight, flight, freeze, submit, and attach survival responses.

So, in this sense the word “trigger” refers to any stimulus that becomes mentally linked to a certain inner state & behavior.  For example, the sound of ice jingling in a glass may trigger the Flight Part to create a strong urge for the alcoholic to have a drink. The tearful cry for help or cry for rescue from the wounded Attachment Part of that same alcoholic calling to get bailed out of jail may trigger the codependent partner to come to the rescue “one more time”.  

Or a disapproving look from a partner or spouse may trigger a fear of abandonment in the Submit Part of one person, but an angry tirade in the Fight Part of another. Any stimulus may be linked to any Reactive Part; it could be absolutely anything. Each Reactive Part has its own beliefs about the self, others, and life in general, its own familiar emotional themes, and its own collection of behavioral choices.

All it takes to make such a link is intensity and/or repetition. Let’s say there are two teenage girls in the same auditorium when the person giving a speech mentions the word “fire”. One of the girls quietly begins to cry while on the other side of the auditorium, another girl radiates with a happy glow and a big smile. The one who is crying was “triggered” into a memory of losing her favorite pet in a house fire recently – very intense. But the one who is glowing is triggered into a series of memories of all the happy times she had in Campfire Girls.

The death of a loved one in a house fire was intense enough to produce one-trial learning, instantly associating the word fire with enough emotional pain sufficient to cause a Freeze Response. But most other less intense associations take repetition such as those many outings with the Campfire Girls. The only difference between the two girls is their database of experience.

Words, gestures, smells, and facial expressions are examples of stimuli that may become triggers for our survival oriented, Reactive Parts.  These triggers get linked to the core beliefs, emotional states, and behavioral responses of the Reactive Part of us that had the original experience – usually one of our wounded Inner Children. When that state is triggered, if the subconscious programming is allowed to run from start to finish, we will think, feel, and behave in the same way we thought, felt, and behaved at the time of that original imprint experience.

When we encounter a trigger and mindlessly react by letting a wounded Inner Child “drive the bus of our life”, we are acting-out the Life Script of that wounded inner child. The only alternative to being “in script” is to be “autonomous” of script…which simply means maintaining our composure & staying in our Growth-Oriented, Self-Actualizing Adult Ego-State.

This requires developing the ability to stay Mindfully Aware of what is happening inside me and around me, right here-and-right now, rather than leaving the present moment behind and being transported back into the there-and-then. (A useful tool for learning this critical skill is the Functional Ego-State Map)

What do I mean by “Going into script is mindless?” - Mindlessness means, you don’t have to remember to do it, you don’t make the effort to do it, and many times you are not even aware of acting-out a script until after the fact. But choosing to be autonomous of these scripts requires conscious effort to remain Mindfully Aware… and in the present moment… just curiously noticing our experience of what is happening… internally and externally… right-here-and-right-now. From this position we can be pro-active rather than reactive… In other words, “we can choose our behaviors, instead of letting our behaviors choose us.”

Again, our choice is to go through life mindlessly unaware… and to continue acting-out the life scripts written during childhood… or we can learn Mindful Awareness and proactively choose our response after considering all of the available healthy options.

The following exercises are to help experience and develop the ability of Mindful Awareness. When preparing for hypnosis, I often tell people I am not trying to put them into a trance…I am trying to help them get out of one! When we get transported to the past where we re-feel trauma, pain, and anger over and over again… we are in a negative hypnotic trance.

Mindful Awareness Exercises

These three exercises are meant to be used with intensity and repetition in order to develop your inner focus. This is required for healing emotional pain and being able to have authentic relationships with others. It is best if you learn and practice them in the following order:

The Awareness Continuum

The Curious Observer

The White Room.

1. Neurons that Fire together, wire together

2. Use it, or lose it

It is also critical to remember that change and all new learning comes with Intensity and Repetition. This is how to use the Core Courses section… with intensity and repetition. Study these Core Courses so that you know them so well you could almost present them yourself. The more able you are to do that, the more your neural circuitry will have been transformed!

Video Transcript

This first exercise, the Awareness Continuum, is a gestalt therapy technique for experiencing and being with whatever is happening in the “here-and-now”. In the Awareness Continuum, there are three primary zones of awareness; the Outer Zone, the Middle Zone, and the Inner Zone.

The Outer Zone of Awareness is anything outside my skin. In other words, it consists of everything in the world around me and separate from me.

The Middle Zone is anything I am aware of in my mind…my thoughts, including images & pictures in my mind’s eye… and my self-talk…an urge to speak or ask questions…

The Inner Zone of Awareness is anything I am aware of in my body…physical sensations… such as the feeling of the air on my skin… the feeling of a texture or fabric underneath my fingertips… butterflies in my stomach, tightness in my chest, tingling of my scalp, rise and fall of my chest as I breathe, and so forth.

Open or Download the Zones of Awareness

You may even notice a combination of inner zone and outer zone working together…a thought like “this is too weird”… a sick feeling in the stomach… an urge to stop the exercise… Just notice these things and watch them pass by…this will demonstrate to your conscious mind…the fleeting nature of thoughts that are not entertained…

In this exercise, we are going to explore all three zones of awareness starting with the outer zone and working our way inside…but before we do, I need to cover a couple important details:

1) Mindful Awareness is simply NOTICING – not judging…or evaluating…or trying to change anything…just being a curious observer of your experience…like a silent witness… Now having said that… you may NOTICE some part of you evaluating & judging automatically…all on its own…and that’s okay…just notice it… its just another part of you…and you can stand back and curiously notice that…and as it passes by…then just noticing what comes next…

2) also keep in mind that we have a hierarchy of awareness…and at any given moment…one thing is at the top position…sort of at the point of our awareness…notice how quickly that changes…from one thing to another…

So, if you’re ready now…just settle back into that comfortable position…and gently invite those eyes to close…but if they want to stay open for a while longer…that’s just fine too…they’ll know when to close…so now, just take a deep breath in, and let that out…slowly…now, take another deep breath in…and let that out slowly…very good…

now just begin to notice the first thing to pop into your awareness… It helps if you verbally report that either there in your mind…or out loud if you choose…and it’s helpful to say… “now I am aware of…” as you make your observations…

here is an example… “right now I am aware of the sound of the music…now I am aware of the fragrance of cinnamon in the room…and the temperature of the air on my skin…and now I am aware that I don’t know what to do now…and a feeling of confusion…and now I am aware that several things are popping in and out of my awareness…and it seems hard to notice just one thing…so now I am aware that I can notice the sounds…my breathing…and the thoughts about what to do next…all at the same time…”

Now you do the exercise for a few moments…

Very good…now stop and make a journal entry of everything you noticed and sum up your experience of the AWARENESS CONTINUUM... and Remember to do this exercise at least once per day…even without the assistance of this session…just get quite…and be Mindfully Aware… once you feel you have it…move on to the next exercise…do them in the order they are listed here as one exercise builds on the other.

Remember, everything I just said is in the past and everything I am about to say is in the future. The present moment is the ONLY time I can actually live my life. These Mindful Awareness exercises help us develop and enhance our inner focus. Think of it like getting to know yourself.

Video Transcript

Okay, this exercise is a variation of the Awareness Continuum where you can be just a tiny bit more active…by adding one thing to your awareness…and that would be curiosity… and what I call holding… we will start out just the same way we do the Awareness continuum…but once we get into the exercise…I’d like you to take special notice of the things that make you curious…and just gently hold…or stay with those things…as they occur…holding them with curiosity… and wonder…

But first, if you’re ready now…just settle back into that comfortable position…and gently invite those eyes to close…and if they want to stay open for a while longer…that’s just fine too…they’ll know when to close…so now, just take a deep breath in, and let that out…slowly…now, take another deep breath in…and let that out slowly…very good…

Now just begin to notice the first thing to pop into your awareness… It helps if you verbally report that either there in your mind…or out loud if you choose…and it’s helpful to say… “now I am aware of…”  as you make your observations…

[45 sec]

Very good…now…just follow… and gently stay with…your curiosity……taking special care… to notice the things and let them make you wonder…stay with them for a moment…and wonder what comes next… and when the next thought comes… just curiously wait for more information… and when the next thought comes…stay with it… and curiously wonder…what is going to pop up next… and as soon as you feel you have all the information… and you feel ready….if it’s a situation… or problem you’ve been facing… or a decision you want to make… just be curious about what to do…or just wonder curiously if there might be a solution…or idea…or a best course of action…that just pops up…

Take a few moments now to just be curious…about what comes into your awareness… and if it’s a situation…or problem you’ve been facing…or a decision you want to make…just stay with it…watching & waiting curiously…for what comes next…then…when you feel ready…curiously wonder about a possible solution…or direction to take…or a best course of action…

And I wonder how delightful it is…as you learn how just how powerful… and resourceful...that creative subconscious mind can be…so take a few moments and do this now…

[90 sec]

And when you feel complete with this…stop, come back to the room and make a journal entry of your experience today…remember to practice this session daily until you can do it anywhere, and time, even without listening to the session.