Key Components of HR Wellness and Motivation Programs: It's Not What You Think!

I was talking to a health and benefits manager about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. She is reading articles that tell her that only intrinsic motivations matter. But I know so much research that validates my instant-salivation when someone says $100 Amazon Gift-Card. So here's my take, in written form:

Extrinsic motivation is motivation that is focused outward, to the environment that the person is in. For example, you give people a $100 gift card or a reduction in their health insurance premiums if they get screened by their doctor and then talk with a health coach at least once a month, to focus on reducing weight, blood pressure or emotional stress in their lives - all factors that are known to lead to expensive illnesses. The person is taking action because you are dangling money (an external factor) or you are threatening them with a negative outcome (higher premiums).

Intrinsic motivation is motivation (desire) that stems from inside the person. The group increases the customer satisfaction by decreasing the fail rate of a product, and they do that because they are given more autonomy in their work and they are on fire to do a good job, because a good job reflects on their vision of themselves. They want to see themselves as Quality Performers, so they are internally-powered to think of new ideas and put them into practice. They take ownership of the result because they truly, deeply care (are motivated).

However, human beings are complex, and simple definitions don't model human beings very well. Most people take action or stop taking action, or shift their internal beliefs, because of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The most successful Human Resources changes include both intrinsic and extrinsic components. In the intrinsic example above, the professionals started to take more ownership of the final result (shifted to more intrinsic motivation) when they were given more power and autonomy to make changes; if the company just talks, or brings in a "motivational speaker," the results will not last, because deep desire isn't engaged by just talk.

One interesting result is that positive external incentives work more effectively than negative incentives. From a psychology perspective, consider that if you want people to change deeply ingrained habits, are they more likely to do so if they are cheerfully walking toward a reward, or are angry and resentful (you are increasing their premiums unless they comply)?

In the example of improving health outcomes, the best results seem to include both extrinsic factors (the positive financial incentives) and the addition of intrinsic motivation. The health coaches provide encouragement and inspiration, and the best coaches will stress the outcome of the changes: that the employee will be more likely to stay healthy for their children if they maintain a healthy weight and blood pressure. A strong desire to do the best for one's children is a common intrinsic motivation to get healthier.

Understanding that people are complex, that intrinsic and extrinsic motivations work best when both are active, and that carrots (positives) work better than sticks (negatives) can help guide a company to their true end goal - greater profits through more educated and trained, happier and more engaged workers.

Have you Heard?? Moderately Overweight Is Healthier Than Being Slim!

Except that it's not true.....

There was a big flurry of reporting about a meta-study that seemed to indicate that being a bit chub was better than being slim. A bunch of doctors thought that there was an unseen factor at work: many illnesses cause loss of weight. Were some of those slim people really ill with things that only showed up later ?

New study says yes: if you eliminate the people who recently lost weight due to illness, and just look at longer-term trends, then the "advantage" of moderate chub disappears and you are left with the same message that we've been hating.....

Overweight kills. It takes years off your healthy potential lifespan, either by making you ill & miserable or by killing you outright.

We're not talking about 10 pounds for a woman of average height. If you are over 60, 10 pounds has a very small impact on mortality or morbidity (getting sick with a serious disease), and even at a younger age, it's not worth heroic measures to get that gone. But DON'T LET IT GET OVER 10 POUNDS.

I know that many of my clients and friends are sick of the weight/fat issue. Fair enough. But I have to keep banging on about it, because my work is about facts and truth. I have to tell you what is true, not what you want to hear, as a matter of ethics.

And the more fun you're having, the easier everything else is, including eating kale and working out every single day, if you choose the path of health and longevity. I put together a whole lotta fun in 101 Stress Busters (Amazon or your local bookseller) and I have some very relaxing journeys (FREE) on the Classes tab of soaringdragon.biz.

Make your life joyous, whatever life path you choose!

How I Made Brussels Sprouts Lovable...

How I Made Brussels Sprouts Lovable
                                       – Without Requiring a Vulcan Mind-Meld

Copyright 2017, Victoria C. Leo

             

              Yeah. Brussels sprouts.  I wanted to pick the most difficult palatability challenge just like I chose the toughest demographic when I began working on weight loss challenges in my business nineteen years ago [women 35+ with full-time careers or businesses, kids, cats, parents, poodles, a 21^st century household with 12 different kinds of insurance to fill out forms for, and cars, appliances and electronics that break, need cleaning or explode at the least opportune moments; you know, people like YOU!]. 

I’m going to prove you to you that it’s just as easy to turn this tough tiger into a sweet pussy-cat as it is to – well, pet a pussy-cat.  All the vegetables that you “can’t stand”?  Bring ‘em on!!

What’s the matter with…

1)   Brussels sprouts

2)   Green beans

3)   Peas

4)   Spinach

5)   Kale

6)   Swiss and red chard

7)   Collards

The problems, if you think about it, fall into one of two categories: either the greens are bitter, have an “aftertaste,” are tough to chew, etc.  or they are just boring.  Beans, peas and spinach fall into this latter category.

How to Make the Boring Exciting

One of the best things to do with peas (and everything else on the list) is to toss frozen peas into soup or stew.  101 Healthy Meals in 5 Minutes or Less has a whole section on soup and stew.  Start with a low-sodium soup and hype it with more fresh or frozen veg, or start with vegetable or seafood stock and do the same.

But here’s what so many people forget: you can radically change the Yum rating of food by adding spices.  That’s why Europeans and Middle Easterners wanted so desperately to find new, faster, cheaper routes to Indonesia, aka The Spice Islands, and India.  And if you’ve ever eaten traditional English cooking, you’ll wish they’d tried harder, sigh.  In 101 Healthy Meals, I explain the sweet prices and sharp spices in more detail.  The short version is: pepper, garlic and stuff like that all taste good together; all the sweet spices taste great together.  Don’t fuss over exactly which one to use.  Just throw a moderate (sharp spices) or generous (sweet spices) amount in the soup/stew.  Set the burner to medium, set a timer to 15 minutes and go back to writing your memoirs or paying the bills.  Come back and stir it at intervals until you taste it and it tastes good.   It will!

Peas, spinach, that boring white tofu or anything else that you don’t want to eat because it’s blah – give it the spice treatment.

Another option is taking boring veggies and putting them into a burrito or omelet. 

·Turn a pan on medium heat, spray it liberally with olive oil, and saute (lightly cook) your spinach, onions or other greens.  For the noxious ones like kale, chop them small, removing the stems.  Put a lot of greens in the pan, because greens are mostly water and the volume will shrivel to 20% of what you started with.

·When the shriveling is well along and things are making sizzling noises, turn things over with a spatula, so the warming is equal on both sides.

·Add eggs or egg substitute and when the egg mixture has set, add Daiya or similar brand of non-dairy cheese.  The “cheese” is made of tapioca or something equally innocuous and non-fat, with lots of nice digestible protein.  Keep turning it over so it doesn’t burn.  Add sweet prices!

·Shovel parts of it into tortillas, and make wraps or burritos, or just plunk it on a plate and eat it. 

The cooking removes the bitterness from the bitter greens.

Another option, instead of an egg dish, is to add a small amount of pasta sauce and the non-dairy cheese.  This gives you a “pasta-type” flavor, especially if you add some (not a ton) of parmesan or romano blend cheese on top. 

Bitter Greens

You can dump them in soup or make egg and other saute-veggies in pasta sauce dishes.

The key to taming the taste is to chop them up as small as you can, and give them a good amount of saute time.

For kale and collards:  spray with olive oil, put them in a broiler and get the broiling started.  Then pull them out, throw on some sharp or sweet spices, and finish the broiling.  You get a really good “crunch” with this, although it might not come out perfectly the first time. 

Baking is another great way to tame the bitter taste. 

·You can make a “meatloaf” with veggie-substitute for ground round, plus chopped up kale and collards, and the filler. 

·You can bake fish on a bed of quinoa, brown rice or couscous, with a ton of kale and collards and chard.  [All of these are in 101 Healthy Meals so I assume you know the basic procedure.]

·You can bake any form of protein, including beans, with pasta sauce and get your Lasagna fix with these no-longer-bitter greens.

So now you can see so many different ways to make really yummy meals and side dishes from all kinds of leafy greens and peas.

But what about Brussels sprouts.  I DO understand why it’s not everyone’s fave veg.  It takes more time to cook, yes, it does.  But does it really deserve the horror that my husband treated it to when we first started cooking together?  Nah.

The key to making the Brussels sprouts yummy is to find a way to apply a lot of heat.  Baking works.  You can put it into a baked ensemble and in 30-40 minutes, it is bubbling in its pasta sauce or light patina of olive oil and it’s as docile as a – well, not a baby if you have any experience with them; a more willful and obdurate age doesn’t reoccur until teenagehood – how about docile as you wish your children, spouse and manager were?

You can steam it easily with a microwave.  Put some water in a microwave-safe bowl and set it for 6 minutes.  Add some of that lovely cheese sub and nuke it for another 1.5 - 2 minutes.  Yum. 

You can always steam it in an actual steamer if you have one.   You can also boil sprouts, and then add a 1 minute nuke with cheese sub or Parmesan.  Finally, you can get them half-cooked in the microwave, and then broil them.  Spray them with olive oil, perhaps spices or Parmesan.

ALL of these options are really yummy!

And the Vulcan mind-meld.  If you have spent the past half-century engrossed exclusively in literary fiction or living in your underground bunker, and don’t know what that phrase means, a generous translation would be “without extensive mental manipulation.”  In other words, you don’t have to have your normal thinking reset to love the unlovable veggies; you just have to know how to cook them and your beliefs will be a natural result of your Yum response!

Enjoy!

Want a copy of the basic cookbook this references?  Go to Amazon print or e-books, or your local bookseller.

Victoria C Leo    253-203-6676    victoria@soaringdragon.biz
www.soaringdragon.biz

Facebook group: Healing Minds, Healing Bodies

Blog:  soaringdragoninjapan.blogspot.com

FREE: Extended deadline: Kick Dieting to the Curb: Get and Stay at your Healthy Weight Forever!

Extending my FREE beta class!

Losing weight and staying healthy has never been harder - and you know this.  Junk food is everywhere, employers want us to overwork and never exercise, have hobbies or any fun, and we have kids, cats and parents - not to mention cell phones - that need attending to.

But the reason we don't have what we want is only because we aren't going about it in a comprehensive way.  We CAN make time for the healthy habits that we need to have a joyful and vibrant life, with peace of mind and clothes that fit the healthy size we want to be.  Willpower won't do it, but having a touchstone will.  Buying a bike and not riding it won't, but a movement plan that fits your life as it really exists.  Sleeping for 8 hours and reclaiming your birthright of clear thinking and energy can be yours.  The deep psychic surgery that excises the voices that are keeping you stuck is hard work but you have courage, and you WILL succeed - because you have the best guide in the world, right here, working to make it happen.  It will!

https://my.leadpages.net/page/5720929187397632/

I need Beta testers for my new online class.  You get everything in the actual class - all the videos, links to inexpensive books of tools, all the support that will MAKE IT HAPPEN!

YOU CAN!  

The "fine print" is that if I let you have a $100 class for FREE, you have to make a commitment to FINISH it - no "I'm too busy" stuff.  If you aren't willing to clear your calendar for 2 hours/week to make massive changes in your "problems list" - if you don't really want to let go of the pain and disappointment that you are currently living with, then let me be blunt: don't waste my time.  I will be giving 100% to you and I need a commitment back from you.  Come back when your level of pain has reached the unbearable point and you are ready to commit.  Even though it will be $97 or more by then, if you are willing to commit, then it will work for you.  If you aren't ready to let go of what isn't working, then you aren't ready.  All is well.  You'll know when it's time, because the pain will propel you to the comprehensive solution of never having to diet again. 

https://my.leadpages.net/page/5720929187397632/

Healthy Female Body Image - and Healthy Female Bodies

Harriet Brown (Missed Images, October 2016, Prevention Magazine, prevention.com) fell into a common error:  she discovered that she’d been doing something to harm her kids and decided the only solution was to go to the opposite extreme.  Specifically, she’s spent years criticizing her body in truly unhealthy ways, in front of her kids.  She’s stopped that.  Good.  

Now listen to her list of what the rest of the world has to do: no mentioning of weight, calories or carbs, ever.  Those of us who are determined to stop being victims of the nationwide-epidemic of overweight – a very serious health hazard, personally and for our country! – can’t even mention our weight loss and strengthening victories, much less celebrate them!   If we congratulate each other on vegetable-eating and subsequent weight loss, talk about recipes, talk about yoga and water aerobics, about losing fat and putting on muscle, then we are “trash-talking” our bodies.  We cannot discuss these health facts and victories with our kids or with each other – ever, in any way.   

Any factual information about the health hazards of obesity are equivalent to body-hating.  What other pressing problems could we solve if we stop thinking about improving our health by reducing our fat, the author asks?  More important than a strong, healthy body and the self-care that precludes stress-eating?  Health is the #1 most pressing issue in your or anyone else’s life.  What does it profit a woman to save the rainforest and die young herself of preventable disease?  We women have been modelling THAT kind of devaluing ourselves for way too long.

The cure for trash-talking isn’t a gag rule.  We can't switch from shaming each other for our unhealthy bodies to trying to make ourselves feel better by shaming those who are trying to improve their health - or ours.  

What this author should have said is that she used to refer to herself in self-loathing terms, now she is self-loving.  She now tells herself that she completely loves and respects her physical self AND she is charting exercise, calories, carbs and meditation every day so she can nourish and care for her physical self in the best possible way, during the making-muscles, losing fat transformation period and on into maintenance of her healthy, vibrant body.  

Insisting that all body types are equally worthy of LOVE is right on.  Saying that all body shapes are equally HEALTHY is utter nonsense.

Creativity to Boost Your Sleep!

My regular readers know how enthusiastic I am about creativity.  My class on using Creativity to Cleanse and Clear Specific Chakras (on learnitlive.com) is a big hit.  I use specific creative exercises whose action is to clear blockages in a specific chakra.  It's been a happy all-day class and I recently experimented with dividing it into chunks of a chakra or two, for people who digest big changes slowly.  I also include specific creative activities in all my really powerful transformation programs. 

Why?  Do I just like the idea of the whole world painting, drawing, coloring, making things with wood and cardboard, building kits, making mosaics and collages, and on and on?  

No, I'm not really addicted to paint.  I'm addicted to alleviating suffering.  Getting into your unconscious mind is the fastest, most powerful route to ending problems.  [I also use thinking-oriented, cognitive-behavioral techniques, but they only work if you already have an accurate idea of what really is the problem, and that is NOT usually the case.  My entrepreneur friends, you don't just need a tutorial on the new magical marketing tool in order to instantly have a million-dollar business.  Nope.]  

And how do you get into your unconscious mind when you don't have me in person or via video to guide you?  One way is deep meditation.  Another is listening to a journey with Belleruth Naperstek.  And another is to get yourself engrossed in color, shapes and the feel of creation in your hands.  My friends, you will never feel so close to god-like powers as you do when you step back from a work you created and realize the spine-tingling awe of "I MADE that.  From nothingness."  When you look at something you did and you feel deep into your DNA that you LIKE it - and you love yourself.  When you look at something you made with your own two hands (or whatever you have), and you feel deep in your DNA, "OMG, NOW I understand why I have always had trouble with taking charge, swimming, speaking in public, being praised, failing to excel at anything I try, ."

THAT moment of either pure joy or transcendent enlightenment is the real purpose of a consistent creativity practice.

So what about sleep?

After you have taken warm milk and melatonin, you turn off your blue light electronics, you have a bed that is not too hot or too cold, and you have made sure that you weren't arguing about politics or other aggravating topics for the two hours prior to bedtime, if you still can't sleep, start reiki-ing yourself.  Don't know reiki?  How about tapping?  Meditation of the Ommm and breathe style.

And if you haven't learned any of that, after you made a note for tomorrow AM to go to www.soaringreiki.biz and sign up to learn, then it's time to get up and pull out the pencils.  [Painting at midnight requires you to wash your brushes.  If you live with people who will be disturbed, go the colored pencils on quality paper route.  Same effect!]  Breathe deeply.  Close your eyes, call on your spirit guides, your goddess guides and helpers [another class at learnitlive.com, very powerful and fun.], or your Wise Adult, take a walk at the beach, or along a forest trail, and tell them all about it.  Then start to draw, without waking up your conscious mind at all.  Just let your "feelings" guide you to colors, shapes, and effects.  I have glitter glue sticks, animal eyes and all kinds of magazines, for pictures.  Whatever hair-brained idea pops into my mind, I breathe deep to make sure I'm not thinking, and then I let myself do it.  The results can be quite extraordinary!

When the emotional energy is discharged in a good cry or some creative arts, you'll be able to sleep.  Sometimes I take a few minutes to write down the insights into my journal for later cogitating as well as feeling.  But with the emotional burden lifted, I drift away.  

Bliss.....

When Do You Drive Ahead Regardless - Mind over Matter - and When Not To...

We've all heard the joke about the efficiency expert who thinks waiting 9 months for a woman to produce a child is a process that can be improved; just get 9 women to work at it for a month!

 Doesn't work that way.

 So watch out for how you implement the new craze for short, intense gym workouts.  The reasoning goes that we are all stressed for time, so why waste time?  So far, so good.  But you have to understand that some truths are Truths; they are not a matter of personal opinion, and you cannot use willpower, vision boards or any other mechanism to overcome them.  

 Good:  Warm up with a treadmill or other slow, rhythmic, aerobic moves for at least 10 minutes.  Then do your shorter, more intense workout, realizing that intense HAS to use perfect form and correct placement of limbs and weights, because if you are too heavy or too intense and you make even a small mistake in placement, you are going to get injured.  Injured removes you from workouts anywhere from two days to the rest of your life. 

 Bad: Jump right in and start pushing and pulling at high intensity.  Muscles and fascia that have been over-stretched or over-tense during hours of work and worry, usually in the same position, are really ripe for a major injury.

 So - impatience can kill you, just like your parents told you oh so long ago.

 Take your impatience and treat it like the problem that it is.  Breathe deeply for a full minute.  Allow your muscles and connective tissue to relax a bit.  Pray.  Reiki.  Meditate.  Stare into the abyss until the urge to think that you can overrule the physical laws of nature, what your physical self needs, dissipates and you are returned to sane, rational humanity.  

 If you only have 10 minutes, don't go to a gym.  Walk up and down the stairs at your job or home, at a walking pace.  Don't run.  You only have 10 minutes and you're not loosened up yet.  Or do yoga.  Cats and cows, boys and girls.  You can do it in a dress, in a cubicle, so you can surely do it at home. 

 If you only have 20 minutes, walk on a treadmill to warm up for ten, then do intervals of rapid or hard work, with a slower pace. for another 10.  Cool down by walking for a few minutes.  

Any strategy is better than going from overstretched and over-tense straight into an intense, especially weights, workout. 

ANY time you feel "I have to" preceding something that violates the laws of physics or biology, know that as a signal to change your faulty thinking. A law that is equally true on Earth, Ganymede and all the planets and moons of the Andromeda Galaxy is not going to bow down to your demands.   

Two plus two will always, always equal four, not twenty four, no matter how busy or important you are, or think you are.  I permanently crippled my hands by exactly this kind of crazy decision-making, and it took me five years of rehab and you don't want to know how much pain and suffering to regain most of my function (and life), but the life lesson has left me with a permanent twerk toward a sane approach to facts. Truth exists, apart from opinion.  Much of what we think of as fact, is truly opinion - but not everything.  

Slow down.  Breathe.  Make a sane assessment of what is truly possible (Truth) and commit to that.  Let go of everything else. 

www.soaringdragon.biz

Soar With Dragons to Genuine Joy (part 1)

  What do you think is the most popular category for re-pins on Pinterest and for responses and shares on Facebook?  Inspirational sayings, right?  As a culture, we are starving for uplift.  How did we end up in this place?
Part of it is a reflection of economic realities.  Prior to the Reagan years, labor and management had a more equal balance of power.  With the near-demise of labor unions, the real wages of most Americans have dropped sharply, more and more of us have only part-time or contingent work with no benefits, we are working longer and have very little realistic hope of a dignified and comfortable retirement.  Having economic fears and anxieties simply means that you’re aware and paying attention.
Our health is a legitimate concern as well.  For the first time in history, life expectancy and overall health measures of adult Americans are declining.  Our young adult offspring have less hope and opportunities.  [If none of these categories apply to you, have compassion and generosity for the rest of us.]
In a reality where glib “don’t worry; be happy” platitudes are lacking in wisdom as well as empathy, how can someone like me insist that Happiness is the goal of ALL of my programs?  My answer to you:  Blast away all the external Barriers to joy that you possibly can and then learn the Secret Sauce that allows you generate joy internally.
So why am I such a joy advocate?
The first reason is physical health.  Anxiety and worry depresses your immune system, raises your blood pressure (which damages kidneys and arteries and leads to premature death and an end to sexual function), and wrecks your skin.  If you want to live longer, stop wasting money on supplements and potions and practice Reiki, EFT (tapping), meditation and daily movement.
The second is that joy is infectious.  All your other problems start easing, when you approach other people with a glow.  You can talk your bankers into outrageous rule-changes, you can encourage discounts and more-time-to-pay from nearly everyone, you can blind hiring managers to your flaws and weaknesses, and you can convince everyone else to have hope for their future as well.  You can even have the faith to commit to healing of long-festering problems (with me) if your expectation for your future changes.
How do you shift yourself away from dwelling on all your legitimate sources of dismay?
Well, you don’t want to ignore reality.  That is one beef I have with some less-than-wise proponents of Positive Thinking.  Did you know that in the 1950’s, the early advocates of civil rights for women and minorities were accused of fostering disloyalty and even treason because they were bringing up “negative” views of American society?  Don’t ever, ever allow a preference for a positive twist on your situation to morph into suppressing your first duty to tell yourself and others the truth about your life.  Black Lives Matter.  Women’s lives matter.  If this is “negativity,” then thank god for it.  Walk away from anyone who tries to suppress or muzzle your grasp on Truth.
But joy can be part of Truth, too.
Carve out time in your day, every day, for joy.  Joy is your natural state when you are fully present in your body, in your reality.  Stress comes from moment-by-moment time travel to the past and the future.  So -
Ø  Stop rushing from place to place, so you have time to breathe deeply and look up at the clear blue sky or the new daffodils or the cute dog walking your neighbor.
Ø  Have less things on your to-do list, if you have to, but make time for Reiki, tapping (EFT), yoga and meditation.
Ø  Give yourself time to breathe and be still, accomplishing nothing tangible, unless you count better physical health, sharper thinking and – joy.
 As one of my inspirational pins reminds me, “It’s just a bad day, not a bad life.” [On Pinterest – SoaringDragon]
And make time, at least once a week, to be creative.
Ø  Get some inexpensive ($5) watercolors or acrylic craft paints from the craft store, some painting paper or cheap canvases and swirl some colors around.  It’s called abstract art.  Don’t show it to anyone or ask anyone for an opinion.  If you get a negative remark, tell the person to shut up.  When you let go of the desire to “do a good job,” and get others’ approval, not only do you create great art – because “great art” is anything that is an authentic reflection of your feelings and your vision - but you will feel such an intense upwelling of pure joy, it will take your breath away.
Ø  Build something.  Get craft supplies or a kit and make something.  It doesn’t even matter what.  It is the PROCESS of the creation that reduces stress, gives you new insights into your life and makes you bubble with joy.  I used to build furniture.  I still build and create useful objects every week.  You can get addicted to stained glass and mosaic kits.  That is my fun time, and if you try it, you, too, can contemplate giving up your TV.  Go to Michael’s or Joann [never Hobby Lobby], just walk around and when something catches your heart, don’t talk yourself out of it, second-guess or shame yourself.  Buy it. Take it home.  Try it out.  Keep going into mindfulness, to keep the critical voices at bay.
 Ø  Embrace colors.  Color has amazing impacts on your brain.  Painting the prison walls calming colors really does reduce conflict.

Ø  Learn a new skill.  I keep telling people that crochet is so simple, children learn it easily.  I can crochet in the dark, with my eyes closed, while watching scenery go by on a tour bus, because it’s a simple tactile task.  With crochet, you can create stuffed animals, a nifty protector/carrier for your smart phone, purses, clothing, housewares galore.  My smart phone carrier has compartments for phone, charger, USB, earbuds, a credit card and ID.  I can use it as a purse for short trips where I don’t need a gazillion ID cards.  Knitting is fun and leads to the same bumper crop of clothing, gifts and beauty.

There are literally thousands of cool things to learn – and learning something new brings joy.   Sign up for something on Coursera, The Great Courses, Udemy or another learning site.  When you are learning, your pre-frontal cortex lights up, and when it lights up, so do your joy circuits.  And your Pride in Yourself circuits.  You deserve to feel that good.  Learn something.  Konnichi-wa!
 People like the Dalai Lama, who encourage you to seek joy in the midst of your troubles (while also having compassion for your legitimate pain and difficulty), are your true North Star if you want a life that soars.  You deserve to soar with dragons.  Take action today!
 Who Am I?I’ve been where you are, thinking that I could only truly harbor joy in my heart when every desire of my life was being fulfilled.  I learned better, and so can you.  We’ll start by clearing away the fixable external problems. Victoria Leo offers programs guaranteed to blast through your barriers to bring you physical health, peace of mind and soaring goddess energy!  Is your career or dreams of entrepreneurship keeping you up at night?  Do you need freedom from worry and lack of faith in yourself?  Do you need physical health?  Every program also teaches you how to generate joy from within.  There IS a secret, magic formula and I will teach it to you!

Victoria offers both science-based and spiritual solutions that really work! Visit www.soaringdragon.biz and choose the program that will transform your life.  You deserve to soar with dragons! Victoria’s Facebook group Healing Minds, Healing Bodies welcomes you, as does her blog SoaringDragoninJapan. You can find her books on Amazon, Nook, Kobo or at your local bookseller.
   

If It's Powerful and Transformative, Does It Have to Take A Long Time?

I was reading a book on addiction  today, and realized that amid some very valuable content, I also learned something very important about myself.

No, I'm not a serious addict!  I have a hard time saying No to yarn sales and Kindle videos, but....  The learning was in aid of my profession, honest.

What struck me was that this counselor only knew about the action plans of cognitive-behavioral therapy and the rewards of behaviorism - both very valuable for helping drive transformation! - and never, ever mentioned the most powerful and quickly-transformative technique of all.

Clinical hypnotherapy with someone who's been through a long, thorough training and assessment program is the closest thing to magic we have in behavioral change.  As I read about the year-long processes the poor sufferers had to endure, I wanted to reach through the page and shake the author.  

Now, don't anyone misunderstand what I am saying!!  I am NOT arrogantly and stupidly offering the Miracle Cure that so many consumers today sign up for.  There are no Miracle Cures in behavior change.  If you were emotionally and/or sexually abused in childhood, yes, indeed, it will take years of hard work to craft a new mind, heart and emotional core that is equivalent to who you would have been if the abuse had not taken place.

However, if we're not talking about that extreme, I CAN turn your life around in a 90 day intensive program.  People with weight or physical pain issues can change direction.  Writers can banish Writer's Block forever.  You can blast through a whole slew of barriers in 90 days, and never see the dang wall go up again.  With skilled hypnotherapy, problems are gone for good.

Hypno works so well because it goes so deep, right to the source of the problem that is causing you the surface difficulty.  All my programs can wipe problems away permanently because they use a powerful mix of hypno, Reiki energy healing, spiritual healing, tapping (EFT) and professional life/health coaching. 

Spring is coming!  Tis the season for hope and transformation.  Don't hold back because you don't believe a solution can be this easy - just 30-90 days.  It can.  You could be free of your nagging problem.  Why not be?

Visit www.soaringdragon.biz and look at how quickly and thoroughly your nagging headache of a situation could disappear.

The Spiritual Road to Weight Loss - Live Webinar 3/23 6 PM Pacific Time

Have you been struggling with your weight? Does it seem impossible to get results that last? Are you TIRED of counting calories and constantly telling yourself NO? Do you feel like a failure? [You're not. Your strategies are ineffective, that's all.]

Trying to change your life with only willpower and "inspiration" is a losing strategy. It will work for a while, but it can't transform your life. The complete Spiritual Path program WILL! The key to success is using the right tools, in the right way, consistently and with intentionality. Once you have your first experience of blasting through the barriers that are keeping you from success, you will never look back - never return to the old, ineffective strategies.

“Spiritual” means a connection to the transcendent, which has an infinite number of forms. This class harnesses spirituality to unlock the door to PERMANENT weight control.

If you have been able to achieve permanent weight control, great; keep doing what you're doing. If you haven't, it's time to admit that what you're doing isn't working for you, long-term, and commit to a new program that really works.

Join a group of dedicated seekers who are tired of the old shame and blame game and are ready to combine effective action with joy. You can do it! This is the road to success.

Pre-requisites

A firm intention to follow the program

https://www.learnitlive.com/class/8440/The-Spiritual-Path-to-Permanent-Weight-Control-Blasting-Through-the-Barriers#