Kara Pomeroy NLP.com: Certified Master Neuro Linguistic Practitioner, Counseling for individuals and couples

Kara Pomeroy NLP.com 206-417-4541 Certified Master Neuro Linguistic Practitioner

January/February 2009 Newsletter

Hello...

...and Happy New Year to everyone!

We entered 2009 with quite a display of the fluffy white stuff! One morning while the snow fell in big, lazy flakes, I took a few minutes to stand on the back deck and just listen. The world felt hushed. The quiet brought with it a quality of stillness that I don’t often experience in “normal” life. I started to get a sense of how much it makes sense to hibernate, as Winter’s blanket slowly enveloped my environment.

Winter is a time to slow down. While people don’t hibernate in the true sense, we can follow the natural rhythms of slowing down and going within. Who knows what bears dream about during their winter slumber? Maybe about the delicious berries they’ll find in the spring? What if we did something similar? During this dark, cold time of year why not ask yourself what you’d like 2009 to be like? Take the time to dream your own dream. There are lots of ways to do this, and we’ll take a look at a couple in this months article, “What Would You Like?”

We’ll also explore the Water element of the Chinese Five Elements, which correlates to Winter, and going within.

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
-- Audre Lorde

All Good Wishes to You,
Kara Pomeroy
Editor
www.KaraPomeroyNLP.com

What Would You Like?

Starting the New Year NLP-Style
I love calendars! They provide a visual for the passage of time. Each January we get to start a new calendar - what a great metaphor for starting fresh. The New Year is a perfect time for taking stock of where you are in life, where you’d like to make adjustments, and what you’d like to reach for.

A good question to ask yourself is simply, “What would you like”?

“I want to lose twenty pounds,” “I want a new job,” “I want my ideal relationship.” These all sound really good, but what exactly, is the experience you are wanting to have? And in what ways might the thing you desire impact your life?

For example, let’s say you would like a new job. In your mind’s eye, make a picture of you in your new position. Imagine yourself there in the space. What clothes are you wearing? How did you get there - by car or bus or bike or walking? How does it feel when you walk in the door in the morning? See yourself completing the tasks at hand and relating to your coworkers. What are the smells and sounds around you?

This is a great start! Then ask yourself, “What will having that (referring to the mental image you’ve now created) do for me?” In other words, when you vision yourself in that new job, at that new desk, what do you imagine some of the “perks” will be? Maybe they include more schedule flexibility, increased salary, meeting new people, being challenged with learning new, exciting things? Or feeling better about yourself. Or being happier about what you’re doing so you will be happier in general.

If what you truly desire is to be happier, then that would be a useful place to start exploring for yourself. What truly makes you happy, and how do you know when you are happy? What keeps you from feeling that way more often?

Now we start to enter the territory where NLP is really useful. Not only in discovering what it is that underlies the original desire, but in unwinding the unconscious programming that keeps us from actually having that. It’s often the case that there is a desire buried just beyond the thing that we originally wanted. Getting past some of the layers to find the richness is worth the time and effort.

If you want help creating the change you know you want...
Remember, if the things you desired were easy to achieve, you would already have manifested them. What keeps us from moving forward is the unconscious programming that was put in place at a much earlier time.

The NLP toolbox provides a respectful, elegant means to both find out what the original programs were, and then to gently update them so you have more choice in how your life unfolds.

Special attention is paid to how the belief structure was put in place to begin with, so updates to your system will actually “take” and you won’t have to think about being different. You just start experiencing the world differently - a change you can live with.

If there is some part of your life that isn’t working the way you would like it to, I would love to work with you to give you new options and choices. Call 206-417-4541 or email info@karapomeroynlp.com to make an appointment.

The “I Want” List
A fun exercise to start limbering up your “I Want” muscles is to write an “I Want” list every day. First thing in the morning, or just before bedtime are great times to do this. Start with writing a list for five minutes of what you would like - that means anything - from “I want to take a walk today,” to “I want to run a marathon by the end of the year,” to “I want to remember to brush my teeth after lunch,” to “I want a new pair of jeans.” This can be a stream of consciousness exercise. The main purpose is to get your wants on a page.

It doesn’t matter if the same wants are on the list each day. There are bound to be new ones, too.

Wait at least thirty days before looking back at any of your daily lists. For example, wait until January 30 before looking at the list from January 1. After that amount of time has passed, it’s fun to look back to see what items from your list have happened, which ones you no longer want and which ones are starting to become reality. (Heartfelt thanks to Carla Camou, trainer at Life Re-Solutions, who first introduced me to this wonderful idea.)

Treasure Map
It was six or seven years ago when a group of friends introduced me to the idea of creating a “Treasure Map” for the upcoming year. We spent an afternoon cutting pictures and words from magazines and catalogs that represented the things we wanted to have in our life the coming year. It was a very fun exercise, and at the end, we all shared our maps, and got to see what everyone else was “ordering”! I kept mine tacked up the entire year — a constant visual reminder of what I wanted.

Making Space for Gratitude
It’s a great idea too, to create a list of things you are grateful for that can be added to throughout the year. Take it out at the end of the year and let it sink in how much you really did accomplish. We often forget this important step, and it’s as important as figuring out and moving towards what you want.

Have a magnificent 2009!

Five Element Face Reading Corner

Five Elements Abbreviated: Water
Color: Black
Time of Year: Winter
Time of Day: 5pm to 7pm
Emotion: Fear
Organ: Kidney and Bladder
Features: Ears, chin, philtrum, domed forehead, area under the eyes
Overview: This is the energy of Winter — after death and pre-birth — that beginning and ending place that has such huge potential on either side. Water is also a lot about courage, will, and a depth of feeling that can be quite profound. If you think of the ocean, and what a huge power that is, that’s what some of this energy is like. And Water energy is also like the tenacious but gentle stream that carves its way through a mountain canyon. Someone with a lot of this archetypal energy in their make up will tend to need freedom in their work, have a depth of emotion that often does not get exposed, and the potential for huge creativity.

If you, or someone you know, is interested in receiving a face reading, I would love to work with you. The sessions last 60 to 90 minutes. The cost is $50. Call 206-417-4541 or email info@karapomeroynlp.com to set up an appointment.

Classes at Life Re-Solutions!

There are ongoing classes at Life Re-Solutions, with a busy schedule of classes for the year. Please check out the website at: http://www.life-re-solutions.com for more information and times/dates.

A new Foundations class begins in March.

An Advanced class begins at the end of January.

A Masters class begins in September.

Monthly Constellation classes begin in February.

Free NLP Intro Evenings: January 1, February 2, February 19, March 12 from 6:30 to 9:30pm in Seattle. You get to meet the trainer, experience some fun NLP exercises and get a feel for what NLP is all about.

Comments

I welcome your comments and feedback. Please email me at info@KaraPomeroyNLP.com

Disclaimer

This newsletter is meant to inform but does not replace medical advice or treatment. Contact a qualified health care professional if you need medical assistance.

Please feel free to reproduce, copy or distribute this newsletter with people you know who would be interested in the content. When doing so, please forward it in its entirety, including my contact and copyright information. If any other use is desired, permission in writing from Kara Pomeroy is re-quired. Thank you for spreading the word.

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