"BLOWN AWAY" - A VOICE MAIL MESSAGE

     One of the joys of my profession is knowing that the work hypnotherapists do with their clients can change lives.  This morning when I arrived at work I had a voice mail from a recent client.  She had been referred to me by her psychotherapist for some adjunct hypnotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder.  She did one session with me and then she returned to her regular therapist.  Her voice sounded so good on the phone as she thanked me for the session saying, "It was really something else!" in a very positive tone.  She talked about some ways in which she had already seen the hypnotherapy session working in her life and how it had opened up new discussions with her psychotherapist.  She concluded, "It was well above and beyond what I though it (the hypnotherapy session) would be.  I'm just blown away".  If you are working with a therapist and would like to experience hypnotherapy, ask for a referral for hypnotherapy.  If you are in northern Virginia or the Washington, DC, area, check out my website: www.JenniferPJohnson.com. And thanks to the client who took the time to share the results of her experience with hypnosis.

BOOST YOUR MOOD

    Been feeling down or anxious?  If you want to reduce anxiety and improve mood, walking at a moderate pace or practicing yoga are often suggested.  A 2011 study of 34 adults who practiced yoga or walked was reported by Chris Streeter, MD, associate professor of psychiatry and neurology at Boston University School of Medicine.  The study found that those who practiced yoga reported significantly greater mood improvement and anxiety reduction than the walking group.  In addition to the study participants reports, brain scans were done of the participants which showed that the yoga group had higher levels of the brain chemical gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) which produces calming effects.

   If you want to add yoga or walking to your daily life to boost your mood, but are having trouble getting started, hypnotherapy can be an excellent tool for motivation.  Get moving.  Feel great.  Be well.

ENRICH YOUR LIFE AND REDUCE STRESS BY BEING MINDFUL

    How many of you are like me - (doing one thing but thinking about what I need to do next and a dozen other things that have to be done)?  I find this particularly true when doing chores such as cleaning house,  I'm vacuuming, dusting or cleaning the sink, but my mind is racing ahead to what happens next.  What would happen if we could change the mundane chores of life into something more meaningful?

     Ronald Alexander, PhD, is a clinical psychotherapist in Santa Monica, California.  The executive director of the OpenMind Training Institute he is also the author of WISE MIND, OPEN MIND:  FINDING PURPOSE AND MEANING IN TIMES OF CRISIS, LOSS AND CHANGE.  He is also an expert on the idea of mindfulness.  He suggests that perhaps we find a different approach to those everyday tasks like brushing our teeth and cleaning the house.  Instead of rushing through chores while distracting ourselves with other things, what if we slowed down and actually engulfed ourselves in the sensory experience of the activity?  By being more mindful in our daily activities, we can enrich our lives, relax and reduce stress.

     Experiencing mindfulness, begins by a different state of focus.  Instead of mentally focusing on "what's next", be in the moment.  Use your senses to focus on what you are doing.  Feel the weight of the dish you are washing and the warmth of the water.  Smell the dishwashing soap.  Really take time to notice the taste of the toothpaste.  Look at what you are doing as if you had never done it before.  Allow your curiosity to be engaged.  What would the carpet look like if I vacuumed in a different way?  How would it feel to use a different hairbrush?  As you heighten your senses with focus and concentration on what you are doing, you are no longer overwhelming your mind with mental work beyond the physical activity you are in.  You are just being  - a tooth brusher, a house cleaner.  In that state of being you are opening yourself to intuition and creativity.

    Try this with your next mundane chore.  Just be in the moment and become more mindful to reduce stress and enrich your life. 

REDUCE PROSTATE CANCER PROGRESSION

    If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer, there is a way to reduce the progression of this disease.  E. L. Richman, et al, reported in CANCER RESEARCH on the discovery in an article called "Physical Activity After Diagnosis and Risk of Prostate Cancer Progresion:  Data from the Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urologic Research Endeavor".  Researchers in the study came from the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of California, San Francisco.

     The researchers found that men with early stage prostate cancer who walked briskley for three hours or more weekly were 57% less likely to need a second round of treatment than those who walked more slowly or walked for a shorter amount of time.  Walking briskly was defined by the researchers as walking at least three miles per hour which was vigorous enough to elevate the heart rate.  

     This is another indication of the positive effect of physical activity upon disease.   If you have been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer and want to get moving, a clinical hypnotherapist can design a session for you to get you motivated to start walking and reduce the progression of the disease.

ANTIDOTE FOR LONELINESS

        Researchers at the University of Buffalo have found that reading fiction eases feelings of loneliness.  If you have been feeling isolated or lonely, reading a novel for just thirty minutes can boost mood as much as being in a group for thirty minutes. The researchers found that participants in the study felt like they "belonged" within the character's world which satisfied their need to connect in real life.

       Loneliness not only affects emotional health but physical health as well.  Researchers in a Tennessee study found that of the 61 people age 60 and older that they studied, those who scored the highest on a "loneliness index" were most likely to consume too few calories and too little calcium.  When people are lonely they are more apt to have poor-quality diets and skip meals. Poor nutrition in turn can lead to poor health.

     So try reading that novel and offering to share a meal with an acquaintance.  A professional hypnotherapist can help you plan ways to alleviate your loneliness and use hypnosis to reinforce your plan.   

EARLY MENOPAUSE INCREASES THE RISK OF HEART DISEASE

      If you or someone you know has gone through early menopause which is defined as going through menopause starting at age 29 or younger, then be aware there is greater risk for heart disease. This is caused by the drop in heart-protecting estrogen after menopause. 

     Because I went through menopause after surgery at the age of 29, I am quite interested in new research just published in MENOPAUSE.  The researchers reported that in an eight-year study, women who enter menopause early are twice as likely to suffer from a stroke or heart disease.

    There are a number of things someone going through early menopause can do to lower their risk of cardio-vascular disease.  I always encourage my clients to take care of themselves.  This is particularly true for women who experienced early menopause.  A major goal should be to reduce stress.  It's time to nurture yourself by doing relaxing things, socializing with friends and enjoying creative activities and hobbies.  Establishing certain disciplines like deep breathing, meditation, tai chi or yoga can be valuable ways to deal with stress.  Working with a clinical hypnotherapist to deal with the stresses in your life can be very useful.

   Eating healthy foods including noninflammatory foods such as fresh vegetables and fruits and healthy protein such as fish, minimizing the intake of inflammatory simple sugars found in candy, pasta, white bread and pastries, and taking daily supplements including a multivitamin, CoQ10 (60 mg to 100 mg), magnesium (400 mg to 800 mg), fish oil at your doctor's recommendation and vitamin C (1000 mg) are great ways to lower the risk for heart disease. And exercise is particularly important to protect yourself.  Shoot for at least 200 minutes of exercise per week.  Exercise should be done regularly such as taking a half hour walk every day. 

     If you are a woman who experienced early menopause, it's time to take care of yourself by managing stress, eating well and using supplements and exercising regularly.  If you need help to get motivated to "take care of yourself", a clinical hypnotherapist can help you to do those things and lower your risk of heart disease.

SMOKING-RELATED DEATHS AMONG WOMEN HAVE SOARED

Women began smoking in large numbers after World War II.  The consequences of this shift to large numbers of women smoking are just now reaching women in their fifties or older.  Steven Schroeder, a health and smoking expert at the University of California, San Francisco, said, "We used to think women were at less risk of illness from smoking.  That doesn't seem to be true now.  My guess is that early women smokers didn't smoke as much as men because there was some stigma to it.  Now they"re smoking as many cigarettes as men are."  So he concluded, "Smoke like a man, die like a man.

And that seems to be what a report in the New England Journal of Medicine showed.  It indicated that for the first time since the 1950's, the rate of smoking-related deaths is now nearly equal between male and female smokers.  Since  the CDC says that smoking kills some 443,000 people every year, that is a scary statistic. If you do not want to be a statistic like that, it's time to think about becoming a nonsmoker.  So check my website: www.BeaHealthyNonsmoker.com or find a hypnotherapist in your area help you to become a healthy nonsmoker.

SMOKING-RELATED DEATHS AMONG WOMEN HAVE SOARED

     Women began smoking in large numbers after World War II.  The consequences of this shift to large numbers of women smoking are just now reaching women in their fifties or older.  Steven Schroeder, a health and smoking expert at the University of California, San Francisco, said, "We used to think women were at less risk of illness from smoking.  That doesn't seem to be true now.  My guess is that early women smokers didn't smoke as much as men because there was some stigma to it.  Now they"re smoking as many cigarettes as men are."  So he concluded, "Smoke like a man, die like a man.

    And that seems to be what a report in the New England Journal of Medicine showed.  It indicated that for the first time since the 1950's, the rate of smoking-related deaths is now nearly equal between male and female smokers.  Since  the CDC says that smoking kills some 443,000 people every year, that is a scary statistic. If you do not want to be a statistic like that, it's time to think about becoming a nonsmoker.  So check my website:www.BeaHealthyNonsmoker.com or find a hypnotherapist in your area help you to become a healthy nonsmoker.

APPETITE CONTROL THROUGH EXERCISE

James LeCheminant, PhD, and associate professor of exercise sciences at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, did a study of 35 women who had brain scans to figure out how their brains responded to pictures of food.  One group of scans was done after the women walked briskly on a treadmill for 45 minutes.  A second study was completed of their brains without having the women exercise first.  LeCheminant's study found that when the women had just exercised, the brain responses to the pictures of food, which were considered a marker of appetite, were reduced.  Dieting to control your weight can be difficult if you are not exercising.  Reduce your desire to eat by doing moderate exercise.  And remember, a hypnotherapy session can be a great motivator to get moving!

GREAT NEWS - MY WEB SITES ARE BACK

     Most technology is way beyond my pay grade.  So I am so happy that I have a fantastic webmaster.  Mike, thanks for all your help in getting my web sites back on line.  If you haven't checked them out, learn more about hypnosis and about my practice at www.JenniferPJohnson.com.  If you are thinking about quitting smoking, go to my site just for you, www.BeaHealthyNonsmoker.com.  Now that they are both up and going, I will return to adding new information on this site:  www.johnsonhypnotherapy.com which incidently rolls over to the other two sites.  Thanks for your interest and support while I was "technologically challenged".

BELLY FAT LINKED TO OSTEOPOROSIS

In 2011, Miriam Bredella, MD, assistant professor of radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, presented a paper on belly fat and its link to osteoporosis at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. Dr. Bredella had led the study of 50 premenopausal obese women. She reported that obese women with more fat around their waist were more likely to have low bone-mineral density than obese women with less fat around their middle. This is important because low bone-mineral density is a risk factor for osteoporosis.

Some earlier studies had suggested that carrying more body fat might actually protect against osteoporosis. But we now know that not all fat is the same. Some women carry excessive subcutaneous fat which is fat just below the surface of the skin. These women showed normal bone structure. But the women who had the deep belly fat, those women with the apple-type figure, were more likely to be at risk for lower bone-mineral density.

With lower bone-mineral density comes the risk for susceptibility to bone fracture especially of the back and hip. The National Osteoporosis Foundation reports that about 10 million Americans have osteoporosis and another 18 million have osteopenia or moderately low bone mass. Since bone fractures can cause mild to severe pain, losing that belly fat can be a way of preventing the problems caused by the increase risk of fractures. Hypnotherapy can be a valuable tool in building a bone-healthy lifestyle by exercising more, quitting smoking, avoiding excess alcohol and certainly losing belly fat.

NEW STUDY SAYS SMOKING CARRIES GRAVE RISKS

A study recently reported in the New England Journal of Medicine emphasized the message that smoking carries severe risks for smokers.  The study took the result of surveys of 217,000 adults collected for the federal National Health Interview Survey between 1997 and 2004 and linked them to the National Death Index which reports cause-of-death.  The results were scary.  Very few smokers reached the age of eighty.  In the nonsmoking population seventy percent of women who never smoked and sixty-one percent of men who never smoked reached the age of eighty.  Just thirty-eight percent of female smokers and twenty-six percent of male smokers celebrated their eightieth birthday.

If you want to give yourself the best opportunity to live a longer, healthier life, it's time to consider quitting smoking.  Hypnotherapy can be a valuable tool in helping you get rid of this scary habit that can carry such grave risks.  Quit smoking, live long and BE WELL.

NEW STUDY SAYS SMOKING CARRIES GRAVE RISKS

     A study recently reported in the New England Journal of Medicine emphasized the message that smoking carries severe risks for smokers.  The study took the result of surveys of 217,000 adults collected for the federal National Health Interview Survey between 1997 and 2004 and linked them to the National Death Index which reports cause-of-death.  The results were scary.  Very few smokers reached the age of eighty.  In the nonsmoking population seventy percent of women who never smoked and sixty-one percent of men who never smoked reached the age of eighty.  Just thirty-eight percent of female smokers and twenty-six percent of male smokers celebrated their eightieth birthday.

    If you want to give yourself the best opportunity to live a longer, healthier life, it's time to consider quitting smoking.  Hypnotherapy can be a valuable tool in helping you get rid of this scary habit that can carry such grave risks.  Quit smoking, live long and BE WELL.

GET MOVING AND DECREASE RISK OF KIDNEY DISEASE

     Do you sit at a desk most of your work day?  Do your evening plans include tv or more time sitting at a computer?  A new study by researcher Thomas Yates, PhD and senior lecturer at University of Leicester in Leicester, England, was recently published in the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF KIDNEY DISEASE.  Yates reported that kidney disease is linked to prolonged sitting.  Men who reported spending the most hours sitting were at 19% increased risk for kidney disease.  While women who sat for eight hours or more daily were 30% more likely to develop chronic kidney disease than those who sat less than three hours per day. 

    So what can you do to lower that risk.  If you have a seated job at work, you may want to try a standing desk and if you are seated, get up regularly and move around.  We all need to be moving.  But if you have a sedentary job, it is extremely important to move when you are not working.  Get up and move to decrease the risk of kidney disease.  Hypnotherapy can be used as a great tool to motivate you to add movement into your life.  Get moving, decrease your risk of kidney disease and BE WELL.

RESTORE LIFE EXPECTANCY - QUIT SMOKING BY 40

   Did you see the new study published online last Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine about quitting smoking by 40?  The bottom line - smokers who never stop smoking lose about ten years of life expectancy.  But the good news, if a smoker quits between the ages of 35 and 44, he can gain back nine of those years.  Those who quit between 45 and 54 gained back six lost years and even those who didn't quit until between 55 and 64 gained four years back.  Best news of all - those smokers quitting before the age of 35 gained all ten years back. 

    Restore years of life expectancy by quitting smoking.  Check out my website www.BeaHealthyNonsmoker and learn how hypnotherapy can be a valuable tool in stopping smoking.  Stop smoking, restore life expectancy, Be Well.

STOP DRINKING SOFT DRINKS WITH HYPNOTHERAPY

      Most of us know or at least suspect that soft drinks are not good for us.  Whether we are talking about sugared sodas or diet drinks or even bottled teas or sports drinks, there are significant health risks to consuming those drinks.  Studies show that the average American consumes about fifty gallons of soft drinks in a year and 11.5 gallons of fruit juice and fruit beverages.  These drinks contain sugar or a sugar substitute and may also contain caffeine, phosphoric acid or high-fructose corn syrup. None of these things are good for us and may cause health problems.

    Our bodies are simply not created to process the sugars in sweetened drinks, the excess sugar negatively affects the body's chemical balance which can lead to a variety of serious illnesses including: pancreatic cancer, osteoporosis, leaky gut syndrom which can increase the risk for and/ or severity of rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and other autoimmune diseaes, hypertension, asthma, gout and heart burn.  Diet sodas are no better with recent research indicating that people who drank diet soda daily were at much greater risk for stroke and heart attack. It is likely the sugar substitutes such as saccharin and aspartame and the phosphoric acid are the causes for this risk.

     If you are thinking of turning to sports drinks, be aware that a sixteen ounce bottle of lemon tea has 10.5 teaspoons of sugar and a twenty ounce bottle of Gatorade Original Lemon-Line contains 8.5 teaspoons.  If you have decided these health risks are to great, hypnotherapy can be a great tool whether you quit cold turkey or gradually.   

BELLY FAT LINKED TO OSTEOPOROSIS

     In 2011, Miriam Bredella, MD, assistant professor of radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, presented a paper on belly fat and its link to osteoporosis at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.  Dr. Bredella had led the study of 50 premenopausal obese women.  She reported that obese women with more fat around their waist were more likely to have low bone-mineral density than obese women with less fat around their middle.  This is important because low bone-mineral density is a risk factor for osteoporosis.

     Some earlier studies had suggested that carrying more body fat might actually protect against osteoporosis.  But we now know that not all fat is the same.  Some women carry excessive subcutaneous fat which is fat just below the surface of the skin. These women showed normal bone structure.  But the women who had the deep belly fat, those women with the apple-type figure, were more likely to be at risk for lower bone-mineral density.

    With lower bone-mineral density comes the risk for suceptibility to bone fracture especially of the back and hip. The National Osteoporosis Foundation reports that about 10 million Americans have osteoporosis and another 18 million have osteopenia or moderately low bone mass.  Since bone fractures can cause mild to severe pain, losing that belly fat can be a way of preventing the problems caused by the increase risk of fractures.  Hypnotherapy can be a valuable tool in building a bone-healthy lifestyle by exercising more, quitting smoking, avoiding excess alcohol and certainly losing belly fat.  

SMOKE FREE

    Got this email today:  "Had wonderful holidays smoke free!!!  Hope you had a wonderful holiday season as well.  I have referred a couple of people to you for weight loss and/or smoking, hopefully you can help change their life as much as you helped change mine.  Have a happy new year."  (E.H.)  Are you ready to be smoke free?  Hypnotherapy can be a valuable tool to become the person you want to be. Be smoke free.  BE WELL. 

A HAPPY NONSMOKER

      Getting letters from clients is one of the most awarding parts of my profession.  Like this one:  "I'm on my 44th day of being a non-smoker!  I never in a million years thought I could do this.  Thank you so much.  Four of my friends have also contacted me about the hypnosis & have requested your information!  They want so badly to be smoke free.  Hopefully they will contact you soon when they are 100% ready.  Thanks again!  Brooke"  You, too, can be a person who used to smoke.  Hypnotherapy is a valuable tool for anyone who wants to be a healthy nonsmoker.

NEW BEGINNINGS

    It's the time of the year when many of us begin to think about a new start.  Whether it's losing weight, quitting smoking, getting more exercise or one of a myriad resolutions, most of us consider the beginning of a new year an opportunity for change and new beginnings.  For most of us that process of change begins by identifying the bad habit.  To learn and  understand your habit, break it down.  Ask yourself "what are the triggers that cause me to (do whatever it is you want to change).  Next break down the actual behavior of the habit ( what do you do, where, when, are you alone or with others). Then think about why you have the habit - what are the rewards? Finally, identify how you are going to change the triggers, behaviors and rewards to attain your goals.  It is o.k. to look for help in making those changes.  Smart people use tools.  You can dig a hole with your fingernails.  It's a lot easier to use a backhoe.  So get help where you can - a personal trainer may help you to get started in an exercise program, a registered dietician may help you plan your meals.  A hypnotherapist can be another great tool in supporting new beginnings.  Be smart.  Get the help you need to make new beginnings.  And BE WELL.