Quotes

It’s Just The Programming

Do you wonder why you think what you think? “It’s just the programming.” Ted A. Moreno offers these words for contemplation: We believe what we’re told. That’s what we do as little kids. From the time we’re born until 8 or 9 years old we take in everything as absolute truth. So when people come to my hypnotherapy office because they don’t feel good about themselves, or they feel less than, I tell them “Hey, It’s the programming. Just the programming. The mind viruses you caught from someone else. It’s not your fault. It’s not who you are, it’s just how you are thinking and what you believe, and the good news is that you can change your thinking and what you believe.” Excerpt from: “Embrace Your Place: Powerfully Claiming Your Existence, Episode 408”— November 17, 2022, by Ted Moreno Ted A. Moreno is a hypnotherapist, success performance coach, published author,…

Just Write

Strategies For Stress Reduction

By now, many of us know the drill to stay safe during the 2020 pandemic: Wash hands, wear a mask, and social distancing. But what about our mind, body, and spirit? “My lab’s study found the best recipe for dealing with everyday stressors is to try to simultaneously plan ahead about what you can control and stay in the moment mindfully.” —Shevan D. Neupert, Ph.D, “How to Soothe Your Soul,” August 2020 Consumer Reports The activities listed to soothe your soul in this article are the same as the restorative activities in the resource section of The Write Spot: Writing as a Path to Healing. ~ Prepare and plan. “Tasks that distract you now but also benefit you in the future are wonderful.” — Joyce A. Corsica, Ph.D, “How to Soothe Your Soul,” August 2020 Consumer Reports If you are working on a writing project, plan for the result. If…

Guest Bloggers

Are you enjoying life or racing to your grave?

Guest Blogger Ted Moreno asks: Are you enjoying life or racing to your grave?   Life has been very busy… In fact, it has been at times overwhelming, like life has been turned up to a higher speed. Ever feel that way? I don’t do very well when I feel like life is an out of control ride and I can’t get off. I don’t sleep as well, don’t eat as healthy as I like to. I start to feel out of control. What’s that line from that Ozzy Osborne song? “I’m going off the rails on a crazy train.” I know I can’t control how life shows up, but I do try to control my response to whatever life is giving (or throwing at) me. I want to stay calm, positive and un-freaky. It’s not easy. There are two things I do that are necessary for me to stay…

Guest Bloggers

Too stressed to write?

Are you too stressed to write? You want to, but you just can’t clear your mind. Maybe you’re drifting in The Fog of Overwhelm. The following is paraphrased from Ted A. Moreno’s Blog Post, Avoiding the Fog of Overwhelm Part I and Part II, where Ted discusses “the state of overwhelm, what it is, how it happens and how it affects us.” State of Overwhelm   Overwhelm happens when there is too much information coming into our conscious awareness. Our minds only have a certain capacity, like a cup that can hold a limited amount of liquid. When our minds are filled to capacity, and stuff keeps pouring in, we lose the ability to cope. At this point, our ancient survival mechanism, that good old fight or flight, gets triggered. When that happens we become what is known as “hypersuggestible” which means that we are susceptible to whatever is coming into our…

Guest Bloggers

What are you telling yourself?

Guest Blogger Ted A. Moreno writes about description versus story and making up stories: Do you have a habit of making up stories? We know some people who have a tendency to exaggerate the truth. We think we know what is real. But do we really? Something that happened to me this morning: I was out for my morning walk when a police officer pulled up alongside of me in his car. He asked me my name and for my ID. He said that they had been looking for a missing person that had the potential of hurting themselves and that I fit the description. I gave him my ID, told him I wasn’t the one he was looking for and he drove away. Now, let me tell you a story. I was taking a walk, minding my own business, when a police car passed me. I nodded to the…

Guest Bloggers

What is the scariest season?

The Halloween season has passed and the holiday season approaches, the time of good cheer and good will. This might be the scariest season for some. Ted A Moreno’s guest blog post might help shoo away our fears. Guest Blogger Ted A. Moreno writes about “31 Scary Questions to Ask Yourself.” It’s all about scary this week as we approach Halloween and Day of the Dead.  It’s a time when it’s fun to be scared, as long as we know that it’s just a movie, or someone dressed up as the walking dead. Truth is, there are plenty of really scary things out there.  But by far, the scariest things are those that we hide from ourselves, the things that we are afraid to deal with. Unresolved issues that haunt us, pain we can’t seem to release, resentment that traps us in unhappiness. These are the monsters under the bed, the goblins that we…

Guest Bloggers

How does someone become frightening to one’s self?

Guest Blogger Ted A. Moreno: How You Became What You’ve Become I’m learning a new song on my guitar: “Africa” by the band Toto. One line of the lyrics intrigued me:  “I seek to cure what’s deep inside, frightened of this thing that I’ve become.” It’s never really explained in the song what that means. How does someone become something that is frightening to one’s self? Seems to me that it doesn’t happen all at once, of course. It’s more like the frog peacefully floating in increasingly hotter water until he is boiled, never aware of what’s happening so he never jumps out. Kind of like death by a thousand cuts. Perhaps a good word would be entropy: the gradual decline into disorder. How does someone become someone that they are not happy with? It happens one extra cookie, or additional scoop of ice cream or portion of food at…

Quotes

Making a pronouncement, judgment or criticism about someone else . . .

“Making a pronouncement, judgment or criticism about someone else reveals little about them, but reveals much about you.”   — Ted A. Moreno Note from Marlene: I agree with Ted. Watch what you say and how you act, because your words and your actions reflect more about you than about the other person. However. . . this can also be used as a way to reveal your character’s traits (fictional character or real person). I know this isn’t what Ted had in mind . . . but it’s such a profound idea. . . I thought sharing it here, on a writing blog . . . might also be helpful as a way to reveal characters’ personalities. Watch for tomorrow’s blog post, where we’ll explore this concept as a method for character development. Ted A. Moreno, C.Ht. Creator of the Moreno Method for Life Transformation™ Hypnotherapist and Success Performance Coach  Check…

Guest Bloggers

Guest Blogger Ted A. Moreno – You Don’t Need Silence to Be Quiet

The following is from Ted A. Moreno’s 12/16/14 email, “You Don’t Need Silence to Be Quiet.” Sit back, relax and enjoy. Ted writes: Last night I sat in a filled auditorium and watched as my 9 year old daughter, along with scores of other elementary school kids, gave her first band performance. They played 5 notes. When the curtain rose, she was right in my line of vision, wearing the white shirt and black pants her mom had picked up for her that afternoon. She sat with her clarinet, Taylor Swift hair, and sparkly eyes. She spotted me and returned my thumbs up sign with a huge grin. And even though the auditorium was filled with hooting parents calling out their kids’ names, I felt a stillness within. It hadn’t been a really good day, too busy, but right then and there it got a whole lot better. It wasn’t…

Guest Bloggers

Guest Blogger Ted A. Moreno . . . and the jewels deep within.

Today’s Guest Blogger, hypnotherapist Ted A. Moreno, writes about reflection and the passage of time . . . We’re still enjoying 80 degree temps here in Southern California. But it’s obvious that fall has arrived and that summer is on its way south. Can you feel it? The morning chill, the early darkness, the long shadows of late afternoon. Leaves releasing themselves for the slow descent to the ground. Autumn has always been my favorite time of year. Something about the shorter days and chillier nights make me pensive, perhaps because I was a winter baby. For me, this is a time of introspection, of going within. It’s as if the fading fall light casts a different perspective that makes me take a step back to examine my life. I’m getting more present to the fading away of a younger me. Remembrances of younger days seem to be visiting me lately. Not only…