Stress Relief Technique

In our last few articles, we informed you about the various modalities that we use at Wholistic Wellness Associates in our individual practices. In this article we felt that it would be beneficial to explain how we pull these various modalities together in order to create change for our clients.

The procedure we will discuss is a stress relief technique that we teach our clients in our group sessions as well as in our individual practices. In the group sessions it is used strictly for centering and focusing. In our hypnosis sessions it is used as a procedure to relieve stress.

It is our opinion that in our hypnosis sessions the majority of people who come to see us are there for relief from habits and beliefs that they have created to help them to manage stress in their lives. We feel that smoking, alcohol, drugs, sex and pornography addictions are all a drug of choice for the relief of stress in people’s lives. Therefore, it is necessary for our clients to have a means of eliminating the stressors that are acting as triggers to activate the cravings, longings and hunger for the individual active behaviors or substances by eliminating the need for the malicious habits and addictions.

With our breathing technique, we utilize the body, the mind and the spirit to enable our clients to neutralize the stress that is being generated by the people, places or things in their lives.

Since Robert is the main one to use this technique in our practice, we felt that it would be best for him to describe how this is done.

Shortly after the client interview I ask the question; do you know how to breathe? Of course I get a look from the client like I am crazy, and they usually say yes. On the very rare occasion that the client answers no to the question, I respond by saying “I see dead people.” I then go into the correct method of breathing which heavily uses the diaphragm and is the same method that an infant would use, which is also the same method that is taught to singers and it is called diaphragmatic breathing. I then teach them the cadence of breathing which I suggest breathing in to the count of 5, holding for the count of 2 and breathing out for the count of 7 or more. I have the client stand with their hand on their belly. This is the area of the Dan Tien in Chinese medicine, where it is considered the energetic center of the body and in Japanese medicine it is called the Hari. Having the client put their hand on their belly enables them to be aware of expanding their belly to create a truly deep breath. Once they have done this I ask them to be seated.

I then ask the client permission to touch them on various areas of their body, the first being approximately 3 inches above the head or the crown chakra, the second being placing my hands on both of their shoulders asking them to breathe deeply and then when they exhale I push down on their shoulders to help to relieve the tension in that area, the third is pushing down on the knees,the fourth is griping the wrist and then lastly touching them in between their eyes, slightly above the eye brow area, also known as the third eye.

The next thing that I do is ask the client to identify some stressor that would prompt them to desire whatever action, activity or substance that they wish to eliminate from their lives. After identifying what it is, we ask them to stay with it. In most cases people try to take it out of their minds, ignore it, pretend that it is not there or even better, to use willpower to defeat it. So we have now identified an issue. We are allowing ourselves to be with it, to take ownership of it because it is said that you can’t give anything away unless you first own it.

The next step is to identify where the client is feeling it in your body. It is usually very interesting if not amazing how the place where this feeling is, is a place where the client will usually have some physical discomfort. For example, if the feeling emanating from the stomach area, the person may have ulcers, indigestion, acid reflux, etc. This feeling could cause a lack of ease or dis-ease.

Ithen ask the client to quantify the intensity of the discomfort on a scale from 0 to 10. 0 being totally ecstatic and 10 being where’s the cliff, I want to jump. This is called a SUDD index which stands for subjective unit of discomfort or distress. This gives both the practitioner and the client the means of measuring the results that the client is getting from the opportunity to get a better feel or handle of what they are actually feeling, which again reinforces their identification with the negative aspects of the issue. Once the client has given me the SUDD index number, we refer to the issue by the number, which is the amount of stress they are feeling. So for instance if the client refers to the issue as a 10 then we refer to the issue as a ten-ness. This helps them to stay focused on the feeling.

The next part helps to identify the issue in the physical. I ask the client the following questions…

• If this ten-ness had a shape, what shape would it be?
• If it had a color, what color would it be?
• What does it look like? Is it long or short? Is it flat or three dimensional? Is it stationary or moving?
• If it had a sound, what would it be? Is it loud or soft?
• If it had a taste, what would it taste like?
• If it had a smell, what would it smell like?
• Is it hard or soft?

This is what I refer to as vividization. It helps the client take ownership through recognition and by employing the five senses.

I now have a client who is in touch with their issue and their feelings about that issue. At this point the client may actually be showing physical signs of discomfort or distress (tears, redness of face, anger, bodily movements.) When this is observed I tell the client they are doing great, to stay with the feeling and we will be able to get through this.

I now ask the client to start breathing deeply as I had instructed them previously, taking at least three cleansing breaths. While they are doing this I ask them to keep their eyes closed; and to keep them closed throughout this procedure. By doing this it will help the client stay focused on the issue at hand. I now stand in front of the client and place my hand three inches above their head. I ask that they let me know when it feels like I am touching their head. I believe that this is where they can feel the energy from my handat the crown chakra. I then invoke a Reiki symbol to get the energy flowing. At this point the majority of clients tell me that they feel something, so I tell them to imagine this to be, what we call, the white light of the universe. That is the energy which binds all things together, the animate and the inanimate. Although science cannot measure this energy it is referred to in quantum physics. I tell them that this same energy is referred to in almost every ancient cultu
re. In the martial arts it is referred to as Chi, Qi or Ki depending on whether you are referring to Chinese, Korean or Japanese. In yoga it is known as Prana. It is referred to as the breath of life.

The client is now breathing deeply imagining this white light coming in through the portal at the top of their head and with each breath that they take they bring in more and more of it. The deep breathing acts like a pump to bring this energy in.

They are then told to direct the white light energy to the area where they feel the discomfort or distress. I then go behind the client and put my hands on their shoulders. I ask that they take a deep breath, hold for 2, and exhale as I push down on their shoulders asking them to release all tension in that area; I do this three or four times. I then stand in front of them once again and I ask them to imagine the white light energy to be totally surrounding and encasing the area of their body where the feeling is manifesting. I define this feeling to the client as negative energy and explain how our negative thoughts are associated with a person, place or thing. When these negative thoughts occur, the negative energy remains in our bodies and cause dis-ease. The problem is that we were never given instructions on how to release the negative energy. I tell the client that from this moment forward and for the rest of their life they will now know how to do this. I then ask the question, “Why would we
want to get rid of this negative energy?” I tell them in a very definitive manner, because negative energy serves no purpose and through its accumulation it will have unwanted effects on the spirit, the mind and the body.

I have the client continue the deep breathing; bringing in the white light energy and after a while of doing this I ask the client once again to calibrate the feeling using the SUDD index. In a normal session a client starting out with a SUDD index of 10 may drop to somewhere between a 6 or a 3 at this point. It all depends on how resistant they are to letting go of this negative energy. I will then ask the client to look at this state of beingness from a 6 to a 3 and ask themselves, “What is it about this that I need to hold onto?” or another words, “What is it about this negative energy that you are unwilling to let go of?”

We will continue to do this procedure until the client brings their level or SUDD index down to a 1 or a 0.

At this point the client feels extremely relaxed and extremely empowered. They have now been able to look directly at the painful issue in their life and be able to nullify the negative and emotional aspects of it. Most of my clients say that they feel much lighter, freer and have a joyful feeling.

This process or technique illustrates how we can use a thought and convert it into a feeling. This feeling is what carries the emotional consequences to an issue. By doing this we are able to extract the emotional charge from a historical event, thereby creating healing, and promoting and recognizing the wisdom in our lives events.

We at Wholistic Wellness Associates, LLC are available for both individual and group sessions to teach this technique.

Patricia Pedersen is a Natural Healer, Certified Clinical Hypnotist, Certified Acupressurist, Nutrition Counselor and a Doctor of Naturopathy. Patricia is a teacher, counselor, coach and a partner with you in your quest for health and wellness.

Robert Brienza is a Master Hypnotist, Mental Trainer, Certified Master NLP Instructor, Reiki Master Teacher and Certified Sports Enhancement Specialist. He has continued his course of study in Healing and Pain Management and is a Therapeutic Massage Therapist. Robert helps people to overcome fears, stop smoking, meet weight reduction goals, improve golf games and overcome addictions.

Patricia & Robert have been interviewed many times on NY Talk Radio, are presenters at Essex County College and travel extensively giving workshops on such subjects as Complementary Health, Stress Reduction, Pain Relief, Weight Reduction, Nutrition & Herbs, Past Life Regression, Sports Enhancement and Mental Training for Sales & Marketing.