These American Sports

Some might say that football (American style) is perhaps the most American sport out here in the States. However, when I was little, like many of those who had come before me, I equated the United States with the western image. Sure I know about Southern Magnolias, Northern factories, and even gambling in Atlantic City on the east coast. But I still had an image of the quintessential male being a cowboy. Cliche, isn't it?

Well, one of the first clients I worked with was a cowboy. Seriously, I mean it. He knew how to ride a horse before he could walk, his family owned miles of cattle land and though he was actually a financial analyst (I always ignore that fact when I can get away with it), he had a hankerin' for bull riding. I figured he meant the mechanic bulls you see in bars (or at least you used to...I image liability is high). However, this was not what he meant. He meant literally riding bulls competitively. Good grief (okay, but I was impressed).

So, why would a big ol' bull rider come to see little ol' Ellie Blunt with her reclining hypnosis chair? Well, I'll tell you. He wanted to work on concentration, balance and holding on (for dear life, I expect). Now I have no way of knowing if he was actually any good, but when I went out to see him practicing once, it seemed like forever that he was on the back of that angry animal.

And now there are tickets to the Pro Bull Riders World Finals (PBR Finals) in Las Vegas, Nevada. There is a part of me that wants to go. In spite of being here for what seems like eons, I still equate American sports competitions to things like the rodeo and bull riding. You know, they have the running of the bulls in Spain, and here it should be bull riding (why else were there mechanical bulls every where for a while). And okay, I tend to cheer for the bull, but every team has its fans, so why should a bull be any different? The sport itself still seems a true test of ability. As for being a spectator, it seems like something one should go to a least once in their life, so yes, I guess I want to go for the experience.

Plus, on a professional side, I cannot help but grin a little when I see notices about bull riding. The sessions I did around its theme were true feel good moments for me, some of the early hypnotic experiences that helped fuel my love for the craft. Does that make sense?

A Holiday Plea from Ellie

This is a bit off topic again, but I thought I might use the blog to make a quick appeal to my family and friends. Frankly, I am tired, very tired. Do I close the office down and travel to you (I thought we had this covered this past summer - that you would come here) now? Do I make you feel guilty and coerce you travel here to see me (truly, I would like to say I am above that, but here it is out in open, already said and typed)? Do we stay in our separate locals and have a merry phone chat? Perhaps we could just talk for the duration of the day (I have a wireless headset, so it is not out of the question)?

Think about this PLEASE!!!! This is not impossible with some of the better international calling rates. Will you not please consider this? Really! It is that simple. Follow the link and see for yourself. I bet my nephew could take care of the download and all.

I have put together this little video for you, in hopes you will consider this option for the holidays. And just so you know, you can call at other times as well. I will pick up the phone when I can.

And yes, Mum, I miss you, but would it not be better to hear my cheerful voice than to see my tired, harassed face during the holidays?

By the way, Mum, Dad, and anyone else nosey enough to watch this...please vote for
for this at http://bix.yahoo.com/contest/33995. It is in a little competition and I might even share the rewards (maybe).

The Morning and the Mixer

Morning...she said shuffling to the coffee pot, sticking the coffee filter in its place, pouring in the water and hitting the grind button. She looks at her feet, which are being stepped upon by two noisy cats wishing to be indulged with their breakfast. After seeing to this, she slides into her chair and faces another laptop morning. And so it is with me, a pleasant ritual, a rite of passage for the rest of the day.

But sometimes, yes, sometimes, I crave a different beat for the beginning of the morning - something that will pep up the day and renew myself for the blogging and hypnosis world. Very recently, I posted a fun little post and video about my Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer fantasy and low and behold the unreal happened. I have been propelled into the another consciousness, that of being one of the winners of this very thing.

It arrived pronto yesterday morning, all boxed and handed to me by a very sassy UPS delivery guy. It took all my meditative power not to just tear into it, but to open the box in an adult, sophisticated, coffee drinker way. Slowly, carefully, patiently.

Now there it sits on the counter, all lemon yellow and POWER, waiting, just waiting. And the moment arrives. This is the answer to my morning craving.

I present to you, my Hamilton Beach® Mixer morning (along with the recipe):

The Transparent Hypnotist's Recipe for Excellent Coffee
Ingredients:

• Enough coffee to make a really strong pot
• A dash of Cinnamon
• A small carton of heavy whipping cream

Directions:

• Before making the pot of coffee in whatever way that suits you, add the dash of cinnamon into the ground coffee. You may want to make this pot a bit stronger than normal. Allow the coffee to go through its natural coffee making cycle.
• While the coffee is dripping, perking, boiling, or whatever your method, attach the whipping tool to your mixer, pour the heavy whipping cream into the mixing bowl and set the speed on a higher one (8-10 on the Eclectrics® Mixer.), and whip the cream until it forms peaks.
• When the coffee is finished and is almost ready to consume, pour a cup and place a dollop (or two...or three) onto of the coffee. Sprinkle this with a little more cinnamon, and you are almost done.
• Then take the coffee to your computer hangout, visit me, the transparent hypnotist, and savor your new morning side of adventure.

Holiday Gift Idea -The Gift of Summer

Today is a work catch-up and clean-up day. On my to do list are several things including a little holiday shopping for Gifts. I received the following press release for gift baskets and I looked up baskets of relaxation. They all have candles and scented things, but it would it not be fun to give real relaxation? Perhaps a gift basket of "summer" including guided meditations for a day at the beach, some sand (maybe), and a bathing suit (bet you can find some on the clearance racks. LOL). just a thought.

Here is the Press Release that inspired this:

DelightfulDeliveries.com Recognized as Hot 100 Retail Website

Internet Retailer Ranks Website Among Best in Nation for 2008

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DelightfulDeliveries.com, the premiere Internet Gift Retailer and America’s #1 Gift Basket Website, today announced it has been named one of The Hot 100 Retail Websites for 2008 by leading industry magazine, Internet Retailer. The Hot 100 list represents the best of what retailers are doing online, highlighting innovation and setting the standards in online for what the rest of the industry should be doing.

DelightfulDeliveries.com, a privately-held company, with one of the largest and most unique selections of gourmet gifts, ranked alongside larger sites such as Dell, Nike and Amazon.com, by building its award-winning site on selection, functionality, speed and the complete customer experience. A recent re-design has improved the customer’s shopping experience to make holiday gift-giving easy and enjoyable, including rating and reviews, behavioral recommendations and free shipping offers.

“We are extremely honored to be recognized as a pacesetter in online retailing,” said Eric Lituchy, Founder and CEO of DelightfulDeliveries.com. “We pride ourselves on using the latest technology to make gift-giving fun and easy. Being named among the best in the nation validates we are succeeding in our efforts to deliver the best possible customer experience.”

In addition to making Internet Retailer’s The Hot 100 list for 2008, DelightfulDeliveries.com was recently recognized by Inc. Magazine as part of its Inc. 5000, which highlights the fastest growing private companies.

DelightfulDeliveries.com offers over 2000 unique and delicious gifts from America’s best brands to the finest boutique shops. Consumers can easily shop the site by gift or food category, occasion, type and best-seller. Corporate gift-givers can choose from hundreds of customized gourmet treats.

For additional information, and to see a complete selection of gifts available, visit www.DelightfulDeliveries.com.

About Delightful Deliveries

DelightfulDeliveries.com is an award-winning website that began in 1998 and quickly established itself as one of the premier Internet gift retailers. Its mission is to bring great products to gift-givers, while providing world-class service. The company selects its offerings from a broad variety of fine food gift products for consumers and for corporate gifts, and gathers them in one place to make the selection process quick and simple.

Confessions of a Mild Mannered Hypnotist

It is one of those mornings that feels like it has been stuffed down my brain in a most unpleasant way. Yikes. Deadlines and other nasties await me. It is more admin than hypno.

So, I am going off on a tangent from our scholarly talks of forms of hypnosis and am going to take a few moments to indulge another passion. Stop groaning, I cannot help my love of the macabre and movies. It is part of my personality and I am going to free it for a little while.

It all comes down to coincidence. Yesterday, I did a group guided meditation for the general public. I do them for $10 a person, but find I get a lot of past clients who attend. Afterwards, I step out of the room, grab a cup of tea and then return to gabwith whoever is not in a hurry to get back to their lives. Inevitably, what happens is that people use this time to just let go of whatever it is that is bothering them and my office becomes a group confessional.

So, here it is, the new movie Sweeney Todd is about to be released. Well, to go along with the opening, they have released a confessional page where the viewing public (you and I) can record our confessions. That is the coincidence. Confessions. Yesterday, I was the listener to other's confessions and now today, here is this site that does the same thing.

Therefore I have my own confession to make. As I listen to other people's (I am not a Catholic priest, wrong sex and all, nor can I provide any absolution) confessions, I tend to have some various song running through my head that receives a little bit more focus than the words of the confessions But because I do feel a bit guilty saying that, I must scream for contrition and also say that I am not one to work on other people's problems in a group environment and I do view the time period as one where all that is really needed is the venting opportunity. Hence, the website is a fantastic thing.

And as for the songs, now I have the sound track from Sweeney running through my head. My other confession is that as a teenage I owned the album from the Broadway version. What a great story. What great music. And oh swoon, Johnny Depp.

If you have enjoyed my confessions about confessions, you might just find Sweeney Todd on MySpace interesting. You might also want to visit the official Sweeney Todd movie site.

My Dream Hypnosis Trip

Today I spilled coffee all over a suede jacket, not to mention my pants (and it hurt). I am working overtime to not let that be the sum of my day. You know how that goes. Sometimes it is easier than others. However, I am now cold. So indulge with me for a few glorious minutes while I try to move my attitude to a better place.

The topic is: what is your ultimate dream hypnosis job? Is it traveling around the world doing hypno shows? Working in a meditation lodge in the mountains? Street hypnosis in the largest cities in the world? Doing a workshop in Tibet? Seriously. What would it be?



Today, even though the coffee hurt, I would like a cup of Cafe Au Lait in Paris (I have never been). Yep, a hypno trip, staying in one of the nice Paris hotels. Then, since this is my fantasy, I would like to work with clients who have height phobias (that being one that I have personally conquered through hypnosis) at the top of the Eiffel Tower (consider this my being inspired by the mass hypnosis event in Scotland recently). That's 324 m up, you have to minus a few because that includes the height with the flagpole. Then I would soar down from this height and head to a museum, maybe the Louvre, and do a few sessions on guided imagery (got to pay for those nice hotels). After this, I would go well into the mountains, the Roane Alps, and find some where cozy to bed down and have my own mystical experience of some sort. I hear that France hotels are fairly nice if you find the right one.

Okay, so there. That is my fantasy. How about yours?

Stepping into the Mist

The script goes something like this:

You are now entering the mist, perhaps it is blue or white, but it could be any color you prefer, as long as it is a good color, a color that allows you to feel comforted, nurtured. This is a good mist, a timeless place where you can go to heal and revive. The mist is a healing mist.

And there I am, floating in this place of timelessness, resting, peaceful. In some aspects, I wish I could stay here indefinitely. No cares. No worries. Perhaps a uroboric time or perhaps a time of true connectedness with the great and powerful All. Maybe it is nothing.

This is the starting point of an inner journey of self-exploration within certain hypnotic philosophies (read regression). And when guided, one emerges for this powerful mist into awaiting clarity.

For me the mist has always been a mystical concept. When I was a teenager, I remember being driven through the rocky, coastal areas into a misty landscape, and I always had the secret hope that once we cleared the mist, we would be in some wonderful, historic place. Mist as a mode of time travel. It never scared me. Rather, I would occasionally long to be wrapped in its comforting oblivion and hopefulness.

But here we are, ripped from these comforting, tranquil moments of contemplation into a nightmare. Thank you very much, Hollywood, we now get to witness The Mist by Stephen King. Perhaps not as dreadful as the imagination can make it with the words of his written story, the horror of the unknown is about to be unleashed (once again) on the big screen.

But, many of you are aware, I am a horror junky, so this will probably not escape me. The basic plot is that a group of townspeople are all trapped in a supermarket by a strange and enveloping mist. This mist is not healing. It is a mist that cloaks horrible creatures and brings about certain death. Though very much in the horror genre, this could also be a psychological thriller. It shows the depravity that can occur in time of torture and tragedy; the insanity of fear and how it can strip away the layers of controlled consciousness, and release the beast within us all.

I suppose this mist does a similar thing to my therapeutic mist. It does show other consciousness depths, but not in a pleasant way. It stares our natural fears in the face, but shows what can happen if we let the fear get the better of us. This too, perhaps, is a learning experience of the loss of self-control and fearal aftermath.

If you want to begin the visualization process, do check out the web site and the trailers. It is a nice use of Flash. Oh, and the movie comes out on November 21.

On the Lite Side

The computer has been on overload apparently and wanted a break this morning. It decided to download binary files rather than opening my normal, routine sites. How distressing. But, I guess maybe it is good to shake things up. Change the morning routine. So today the shower came before the coffee.

For those of who who were kind enough to email about my animations, thank you. I am glad that you think they are fun. It is just so easy to get so involved with a subject that humor escapes like air being let out of a balloon in slow bursts. Perhaps the begining point of stress is when the last of the humor escapes and there is nothing left but a sickening seriousness.

So, for those of you who understand that I am just having fun with the advertising medium and our sterotype, good for you! For those who may be offened, I am sorry, but even I need to let lose every now and then. Do you? And if so, what do you do?

Mixing it Up

I talked about it earlier in the day, how I spent my afternoon. It did use a few of my hypnosis skills…

For fun today, I decided to bring back out my animated eyes. Remember? I used them a few months ago to blog about the PostieCon (that is happening right now). This time I have used them in a commercial for the new Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer. I realize this may seem like it is veering off the path a bit, but it is another spoof on the hypnotic induction and sales pitches. Plus, okay, I admit it, I am trying to be more inspired in my cooking and along with self-hypnosis I am doing for this, this handy, dandy Eclectrics® Mixer would be just the thing. You may be saying to yourself, "It is just a Hamilton Beach® Mixer," but watch the video - it is awesome. And, this all goes along with my weight ideals that I have been preaching. If one were to spend more time paying attention to what one is really eating, one could really have better control overweight issues. If you retake the kitchen and cooking, you can make educated choices. Do you use olive oil or butter? Certainly no high-fructose corn syrup. And if you spend a little extra on tools that make cooking easier and on tools that last, well, that can be a sense of accomplishment, a tool of empowerment. (Yes, next thing you know, I will be teaching cooking classes along with my ballroom night).

Here’s another idea. We all look for those moments when we can just meditate for a moment, a chance to let go. So many people tell me that to do that is to add one more thing to the to list, so it creates stress. Well, get a hand-free mixer, and work on small increments of meditation for the minute or two it does the work for you.

Mischief

Do you ever have days where you just do not feel like working? You can do all the hypnosis in the world, meditate and still you have no desire to actually do what you are supposed to be doing? I am having an afternoon like that. I do not know if it is the cold or too much on my mind. I had ear marked this afternoon for marketing, but the idea seems pretty bleak to me.

So, I have been playing again…stay tuned to see what mischief I have gotten into this time.

Reward Systems

One of my weight loss clients has taken my advice on a reward system and it seems to be working for her.

Being that I believed pleasure is a way to inspire or motivate oneself as a reward for accomplishments, I usually take clients through an exercise before we begin hypnosis. In this exercise, one visualizes success in making their changes and how good it feels (or at least imagine what it would be like). Then I have them see this new image of themselves engaged in something pleasurable that utilizes components of the change. For smokers it could be something like doing a day hike on a picturesque mountain and realizing their lung capacity has increased. For nail biters, imagine having a luxurious manicure done and showing off one's finger nails the next day or buying a new ring that showcases their healthy looking nails.

Well, the client who lost the weight has just planned her "reward." She has lost ten pounds and to keep her going, she is taking a weekend trip down to St. Augustine, Florida. She wants to show her accomplishment off to her long-distance boy friend who is meeting her there on November 24 for Uptown Saturday Night on San Marco Avenue. She is looking forward to dancing in the streets, but her boyfriend collects rare books and apparently there is much in the way of incredible antique bargains. She has even bought a new dress just to stroll through the romantic Mission of Nombre de Dios.

I looked into Uptown Saturday Nights and they wonderful. Art, antiques, music, free parking at the Mission. Can't beat that. Plus there are antique workshops, opportunities to hobnob with artists, and just enjoy the ambience of the evening on this historic street. They just had one last weekend on October 27, and the next is November 24. These events are from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. I know there are a few of you reading this who may live near by, so you may want to attend these St. Augustine events. I also imagine that my weight loss group may start clamoring for a field trip to this. Hmmm. Wonder if they would allow meditation at the Mission?

Battling the Buldge with My Dancing Feet

The other thing I have going this week is my mini-session weight loss group. We are using meditation and guided imagery, but it is also beginning to feel like "pop culture" weight loss. Doesn't that sound less scary than hypnotic weight loss? I am almost kidding here.

Well, after talking with the group last week, exercise is definitely something that seems fairly absent. There is predictable moaning about the subject. It isn't fun. I don't have time. It doesn't feel good. I hate exercising alone. And so on. You get the picture.

I personally am in somewhat agreement. Running hurts my knees. There is such little time in the day. I am not dressed to exercise. Excuses, excuses, excuses. They are every where. However, I prefer my exercise in doses of fun or relaxation - I like it disguised as something else. I am faithful to Yoga and dancing. You have heard about the yoga, but probably not the dancing. I have a personal desire to get into competitive ballroom dancing (tango, thank you very much).

I am forcing this upon my poor weight loss group. Once a week, during happy hour, I am clearing my floor and cranking up the sound system. Welcome to Ellie's Very Small Dance Hall. And dance we shall. Thanks to DanceCrazy.com, we can use their dance videos to learn all the right steps. Started by SalsaCrazy.com, they have expanded their repertoire. A little disco (do the Hustle), a little swing (it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that...), and heck, maybe even a measure of ballet (just kidding, but it is a possibility). It is step by step, world class dance instruction.

Anyway, Rumba sounds more fun than running. Salsa sounds satisfying. Waltzing maybe just wild. It will be a great way to let off steam and a few pounds without noticing the pain.

Hansgrohe

It is a typical fall Saturday afternoon. I have been swamped with holiday catalogs and a partner who is into remodeling (yikes). I have never put much stock in the aesthetics of my office bathroom, instead focusing on creating a unique and comfortable environment for my session rooms. But I think maybe, the bathroom really is important, not just the cleanliness factor but how it makes one feel.

I am reminded of a recent expedition to a doctor's office (I blogged about her acceptance of hypnosis a few weeks ago). She had just moved her office into a new building. It was well done, upscale doctor decor, but the bathroom - the bathroom was phenomenal. It was fabulously designed with an arty looking sink and faucet. It is actually nicer than my home bathroom.

So, I am also thinking faucet design now. I am totally drawn to the cleanliness of the Hansgrohe Stratos. It is completely simple, not daunting. It comes in a few finishes (brass underneath), but I am thinking along the lines of brushed Nickel for less finger prints. It seems quite affordable for the modern look. I found this one at faucets.com. Seems very straight forward, and I suspect my partner could even install it (since he is the one who got me into this mode).

If you cannot tell, I really hate sterile environments, but do crave professionalism. This is sometimes paradoxical.

The Esoteric Therapist

Last weekend's Esoteric Saturday subliminal software really caught on in my mind. LOL. Actually, I have been playing that software in the background of my machine since then. Not sure if it is doing any good, but there have been times when I wonder if it makes me a tad bit more aggressive - just a tad. But there are several other factors that could be contributing to that as well. I would need a therapist to help me decipher it all.

hypnotist (which we may go into at some point), she was a base-line for Speaking of therapist (do you like the segway?), I thought we would go into a blast from the past and bring out Eliza. Remember Eliza, the cyber-Rogerian psychotherapist? She was a computer program created in 1966 by Joseph Weizenbaum. Though she is not a cyberartificial intelligence. The program is rather simple in that she more or less just rephrases your comments into questions. She has been called a "parody."

Here is a short conversation:

Ellie: What do you think of hypnosis?

Eliza: Does that question interest you?

Ellie: Very much.

Eliza: Please go on.

Ellie: It is the most fascinating therapy ever.

Eliza: Please go on.

Ellie: Do you have any thoughts about hypnosis?

Eliza: Oh, i have any thoughts about hypnosis.

Anyway, thought she was something fun to explore. You can visit her here.

To to Incorporate Subway into a Hypnosis Session

So, I sit there listening to the group discuss weight woes. The tea pot has boiled the water hot and I have offered this small group of hypno-weight loss devotees each a cup of green tea (and it is not as if I am being uncivilized, there is skim milk, lemon, honey or even pure sugarcane to top it off). Yet, here I sit, drinking my green tea black, alone, while one drinks a diet soda, one has a large litter-like, disposable, fast food beverage, one has a loaded energy drink, and one, bless her heart (and praise be) has bottled water - with saccharine flavoring.

They are bonding over their common issue - the need to lose a few pounds and honestly, if they could just watch their diet a little more and say, well, exercise every so often they would all be in great shape. Yet, these are the stereotypes who seem to come to my weight loss hypnosis programs. As they continue their struggle, and a struggle it is, it beginning to sound like a commercial for Subway. My big but comes from having a nine to five that binds me to the chair and all those fries go straight to the butt. My love handles? I love the extra burger and side order of grease on my sandwich. And if I eat cottage cheese, won't the cottage cheese on my thighs be worse, cottage cheese is a cheese after all.

I am not sure which at this point really would be more helpful to them - twenty minutes trancing out to my voice or just playing with the new Subway site. It has more rapport and commonalities with them than my skinny-legged self. As they continue to bond and share the horror stories (and when the hurricane hit, I couldn't even get a candy bar at the convenience store), I actually pull up the site.

There is the familiar drive through. There is the hysterically appropriate "Burger Town" guy to take the order. As they talk, I click on the menu for an order of "badunkadunk but" and out comes the dripping sarcasm. The group, once chatty, now becomes very quiet. I click randomly on the menu for a dish of condescension. There is actually a moment when I feel guilty. The group looks appalled, faces war torn from fad diets and exercising binges.

"What are you doing?" one of them finally ask and I turn the laptop around and show them. They crowd around, and initially after a hair raising moment, smile, then laugh. One writes down the site URL. Ice broken. Luckily, the site also offers some good advice on healthy eating and exercise. Jared is their hero and I wonder briefly about the likeliness of him coming to hang out with us.

Now they are pumped, ready to go, all committing to this program. I wonder if I really even need to give self-esteem or decreasing craving suggestions during the hypnosis or perhaps sharing the site was enough. At first, I feel a little threatened. Why come to me when there is always a Subway down the street?

Then I realize what an interesting tool it makes. The session ends. They all say they feel so relaxed and inspired. They agree that after the next meeting, they will have lunch at Subway and then go power walking in the park.

Goodbye badunkadunk but.

Shameless Begging

Here is my shameless plug...if you get a chance and participate on the payperpost.com boards (or you can sign-up)...please vote for my little moment of creativity...and vote for my postiecon.com video.

To vote, click here. The voting ends on Thursday.

To see the video, click here.

Bedding the Idea

The great cover-up. Literally. One of the most useful items I have in the office is a blanket. I throw it over a chair and if clients want to cover up, they can. And it always surprises me as to who actually does this. Sometimes it is the high school quarterback who wants to improve his concentration, the blue collar worker who is kicking smoking, or it could be madame CEO herself.

Always in a state of keeping the office fresh through the idea of redecorating, I have come up with another interesting concept. Since I have gone the route of digital picture frame inductions (for some), it might be fun to coordinate the images into other parts of the office, thus perhaps stimulating and reinforcing the suggestions. For instance, one of the pictures that makes a quick pass through the picture frame is now also framed in my rest room.

But what about the blanket, the cover up? This gives certain people a feeling of security, so would it not also make a great reinforce? Visionbedding.com offers such a product, the Photo Blanket . They reproduce your image onto a micro-suede fabric and the back is solar fleece (which means soft and comfy). They are machine washable and dryable.

I have to be careful thought...too many flowers might make the office too girly. I do not want the session room to look alike a teenage girl's bedroom. Perhaps a landscape might be best.

The Rewards of Being Part of the Blogger Community

I know, I know. This is quite a bit later than I normally post. But I am taking today easy, tyring to get past a cold or sinus infection.

What I have done with my time is participate in the blogger community. PostieCon is coming up in Vegas (now would be a great time to start blogging Paul, being that you are out there) and so are the Blogger's Choice Awards. Rosie O'Donnell and Ross Matthews (Jay Leno's intern) are both up for Best Celebrity Blogger. The people behind the awards have asked bloggers to participate in trying to recruit both of them to attend the Awards by creating video promotions to entice them.

I decided it would be fun to do a hypnosis related one and so I shall share it with you...



So, I did I entice you to attend? It sounds this conference sounds like a lot of fun. They have some great speakers coming to PostieCon and well, the Blogger's Choice Awards should be a hoot. There is a lot about creating a better blog, making more money blogging, gizmos, widgets and gadgets, plus the opportunity to hang with other bloggers. I can see the cell phones out and ready for those who blog that way.

Out and In

Today I had an opportunity to have coffee with a hypnotist friend of mine who is finally making the big switch. That is right, she is moving her part-time practice out of her garage and into a spa. Pretty nice for her and much easier than running a business in a solo way.

She says her husband is elated because he will get the garage back. So, I started thinking about how many of us have at one time or another sacrificed the garage to our various professions or spouses' professions. And I have to wonder, how many of us presently actually use the garage for the automobile members of our families.

I guess mine is still not really relegated to the car. And though I do not see clients there, it still is somewhat of a consciousness room. I do yoga there. I meditate there. And it is my make shift recording studio. No cats or humans, just drips and drabs of equipment, a comfy chair, and me. Oh, and a coffee maker.

It seems like garages are one of the most flexible spaces one can have. I can see why my friend's husband is happy to have the space back. She is also buying him a celebratory red work bench and cabinets. Wonder if she will use www.carguygarage.com? That should look nice with the parquet floors from the office. Not sure it is what he has in mind, but it sounds lovely to my female aesthetic.

So, the question is, how many of you use your garage for your businesses?

A Mini-vacation

Now I am truly ready to be done for the week. I am heading out for the weekend and therefore will not be posting Esoteric Saturday or The Sunday Question. I will be back with bells on come Monday, though.

A speaker I once heard had an interesting philosophy and that was to pick a location that you want to go to and immerse yourself in the details that it would take to create a paid vacation there - i.e. do group hypnosis programs, etc. And I am in the process of doing this for London (watch out you UK hypno types).

However...

I now also have a yearning to try the Mexican Rivera Maya for a Mexico Vacation. There is a small hotel collection there called Karisma Hotels (Greek for "divine favor") that sound completely enticing. Maybe I am just really tired right now, but napping on a beach bed, feeling the curtains blowing across my slightly-tanned body (this would be after a few days of being there and continuing the sun screen) sounds just about perfect. On the other hand their gourmet experience probably would cause some weight gain due to eating foods that entice the senses. A sensual experience is how it is phrased. They have different types of resorts, two that are adult only (sorry kids, but huge thank you Karisma), one family oriented one, one naturalist one, and one that I would hold out for - Azure Blue, which is slated to open in November. It is being touted as the world's first "stress free" hotel. I would love to know how they plan to do this. Supposedly, each room comes with a butler, Italian sheets on the bed, spa services, and meditation classes. How wonderful it would be to be on the side of the relaxation world and enjoy it as a guest. It sounds like you could actually stay there without being involved with other humans (for some, like me today, a great way to de-stress), except for the butler. Do you think they give out personality test before you arrive to match a suitable butler up with you?

But today, this sounds just perfect, weight gain or not.

Have a great weekend!