Open up and Say "Hello"

In an effort to stay active and healthy, within the past year or so I started going to the gym twice a week and playing basketball with a group of guys. Roughly the same group of men get together at the same time of day for some good old fashioned exercise and competition as a welcome break from the workday.



I played basketball from the time I was ten years old right on up through college, but being the shy kid I was at the time, never would have thought to start up a conversation with someone I didn't know outside of the gym.

Recently while I was playing, just before a game began, I noticed one of the guys on my team was wearing a Detroit Lions t-shirt. Being a long-suffering Lions fan from Michigan myself (and guessing that no one outside of Michigan would wear a Lions shirt), I asked him if he was from Detroit. He said yes. I told him the city where I grew up. Then he mentioned that he played basketball at Catholic Central High School. Well, guess what? That's my high school!
Small world!

I found out that he graduated a couple years before my brother, and I told him that I'd probably seen him play while he was there. We talked about the teachers we knew and threw names back and forth, and then we went out and won five games in a row as teammates before calling it a day.

This fellow is, by the way, probably the best player at our gym on any given day. I have played against him many times, but never spoke to him off the court. Who knew?

Just last week I struck up a conversation with another player who mentioned that he spent a significant number of years in the military, most of that time involved in combat situations in countries including Somalia and Cambodia. I had an endless fountain of questions for him and I learned a lot about war, politics, the media... and human beings.

World Hypnotism Day

"Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account."
-Oscar Wilde, Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900)



Happy New Year!

Visit the official site - www.worldhypnotismday.com - for information and free hypnosis audio clips as well. Of course, this is the time of year for resolutions... so if you'd like to ensure that you stick with yours longer than the kids stick with their new toys, hypnosis may be just what you're looking for.

Give us a call and set up your free consultation today.

You've got nothing to lose... except your resolve.

Many blessings for the new year.

Happy Thanksgiving

Okay, so it's a few days early for this. Unless, of course, you work in a grocery store or a department store at the mall. If that's where you work, it's been Thanksgiving since November 1st (or as soon as they removed the Halloween decorations).



Not to put a damper on your Thanksgiving Day feast and celebrations, but it's a good opportunity to point out how we can associate good times with family and friends with - yes, food! Keep in mind when you sit down to the table on Thursday that there is a difference between sharing time with loved ones and eating until you feel sick.

So eat! Don't count calories, carbs or fat grams... instead focus your attention on all the good things happening in your life. Focus on the people still around for you to laugh with... play with... or even argue with, and the memories you have of those who are no longer around. Enjoy your time away from work. Work will be there when you get back to it.

And one more thing... before you feel like you have to unbutton your pants in order to become a member of the "Clean Plate Club," go ahead and push yourself away from the table. There'll be plenty for leftovers on Friday. Try this and I promise... you'll be thankful.

Second Annual World Hypnotism Day

(Atlanta, GA) – January 4th, 2006, the second annual World Hypnotism Day will take place. And with New Year resolutions facing us, the timing is perfect for World Hypnotism Day. Learn how to beat the Resolution Blues and succeed at your goals.



The first World Hypnotism Day proved to be one of the most impressive displays of professionalism and sharing of knowledge and skills by hypnotists around the world. Talks, interviews, workshops and articles were available around the world, all clearing the air and removing the myths and misconceptions of hypnotism while explaining the many benefits it brings. Free resources for the public can be found at www.worldhypnotismday.com.

The popularity and benefits of hypnotism increases daily as we have read and heard the headlines in Newsweek, Good Housekeeping, Canadian Living, Shape, O magazine and on popular syndicated television shows. Now it’s time to come out and learn more about how hypnotism can help you, especially for your New Years resolutions.

Updates and Improvements

Since the only constant in life is change, and change is what most of my clients are seeking, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I am making some changes myself. The first change will bring immediate benefits to my clients... at least those who are seeking assistance getting into shape.



I am always seeking ways to improve upon what is already working well, and that is what I have done. After learning the proven weight loss program from Massachusetts hypnotherapist Tom Nicoli, who became famous for his client's success shedding pounds on Dateline NBC back in 2002, I have recently implemented his teachings into my own program. The early results are inspiring, and my clients are already enjoying the benefits. Please call or email for more information about this recent improvement and what it could mean for you.

On the "Good news and also Bad News" front, due to the continued growth of Pure Hypnosis and the subsequent amount of time I'm committing to my clients, I will be taking a temporary leave from Whole World Theatre - the best improv comedy theatre in Atlanta (and the world, as far as I'm concerned). My final performances will take place this coming weekend of October 20th-22nd.

New Orleans Survival Story

This message came to me from a friend, and I wanted to pass it along...

"I would like to thank all of you that offered your prayers and support for my family during the recent hurricane and the aftermath. I am from California but the roots of my father's side of our family are in New Orleans and Louisiana. My grandmother moved to the Bay Area in California from New Orleans during World War II to help build battleships and ended up settling there. She was one of 12 children and some of her immediate family members left Louisiana. Of course, some stayed in Louisiana and raised families. One of my best friends from childhood is a lawyer in New Orleans, has lived there for 12 years and has a family. So I have many friends and family who live in the region.



For those of you who didn't know the situation or who don't know me very well, I have 6 relatives who were among the thousands of people who couldn't or didn't leave New Orleans for various reasons. They were stuck in the city at a hotel and then forced to live on the I-10 overpass (that many of us saw on TV) for 4 days. I discovered on Sunday that some members of my family had been flown from New Orleans to San Antonio. I immediately flew to San Antonio with my cousin and picked them up from Kelly Air Force Base. We drove back from San Antonio Monday evening and arrived here in Atlanta late Tuesday morning. Three of them are here and doing as well as they can be considering their experiences. There are 3 of my family members who we have not spoken to because they were separated at different points during the ordeal. But we have some information on where they are. We are hoping to track them down and find out about their conditions soon. I ask you to keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

I am also writing to implore all of you, regardless of your race, political affiliation, income status- any factor that usually divides us in this country, to volunteer in some capacity for the relief effort. Do anything you possibly can. I sat with my family for a while after we had picked them up and they told me about the horrific experiences they and others had endured. The filthy water was chest high in the streets as they struggle to get to dry ground. People were being assaulted, raped and killed. My uncle, in his 80s, spoke of seeing dead infants floating in the water on the streets. My 87-year old aunt, who cannot get around without a walker, told me of how she could hear shooters' bullets flying past as she was being lifted into a Coast Guard helicopter.

They also spoke of valiant and courageous people of all colors who helped them to survive. There were so-called "looters" who brought my family food and water for days before supplies were being delivered, when there was no food or water. Young black men who made shading out of plastic to help the elderly survive the suffocating heat in the daytime. Men who made rafts out of doors, floating infants to safety. Men who physically carried my aunt down 6 flights of stairs and placed on her on a raft to help her get to the I-10 overpass.

I am not here to criticize law enforcement, the government, or any other body. But many more people would have died, maybe even members of my family, if it weren't for the efforts of ordinary people who cared enough to help save lives when the police and the government could not or did not help. These people need help of any kind. They need clothing and support. Many of these people, including the members of my family, have lost their homes and all their belongings. They've lost loved ones and they've essentially lost a city that they may never be able to go back to. There are many displaced people, like my uncle, who have fought in wars to defend this country. It's now our time and our duty to help these people rebuild their lives.

Giving money to the Red Cross is a good option. You can contact the Red Cross to find out about volunteering if you have the time. You can donate clothes you don't wear anymore or clothes that you still wear to shelters set up in town. You can simply offer to visit and help out shelters, talk to people, let people know that you care as a human being. It doesn't have to be money, although the money does help. Nothing is too little or too much. So I also write to say thank you in advance for the help you will give."

How I Became a Hypnotherapist

On the day that would eventually change the course of my life, I was already well on my way to a successful career in television. I took a job with CNN a few months after graduating from the University of Miami, and a short time later, I had my first opportunity to work in front of the camera. Even though it was a small division of the network, I was actually on CNN.



On this particular day, I was home (in Michigan) for the holidays, visiting my best friend Steve, whom I've known since the first grade. While waiting for him to get ready so we could head out for lunch, I browsed a bookshelf and came across a small paperback book on self-hypnosis.

Curious (and wanting to kill some time), I picked it up and read a few pages. At that point, my only experience with hypnosis had been a couple stage hypnosis shows I'd seen in college.

My First Experience Being Hypnotized

As soon as I returned to Atlanta, I bought myself a book on hypnosis for beginners. After trying self-hypnosis a couple times on my own and being unsure of how much it had "worked," I found a reputable hypnotherapist and made an appointment. I asked him to make a tape of the session so I could use it to practice self-hypnosis at home, and he did.

As you have probably guessed, I had a very positive experience that day. I had never been so relaxed and so clear-headed in my life as I was after that brief, 90-minute session. I began to see and experience things in entirely new ways.

I listened to my tape every day, often more than once, and before long I didn't need a tape at all. I was able to sit down and hypnotize myself in minutes, which gave me poise and clarity whenever I needed it. I was now able to be calm, relaxed and in control during stressful times when others around me lost their cool.

I was so impressed by how well hypnosis worked for me that I decided to change my direction in life. I read every book on the subject I could get my hands on, and then went to school for some hands-on training. With hypnosis, I had found my calling. I had a passion for it. I still do.

While I was in training, I was instantly amazed to discover that the things I was learning to do actually worked. Before I even graduated, I had helped a friend quit smoking, helped rid a classmate of a lifelong phobia, and gained more control over my own eating habits than I ever had before. Everything I learned had a purpose. Everything I learned was useful.

One of the first questions people ask me is "Does this stuff really work?" The answer is a resounding "yes. "

Free and Independent

Everyone has problems. Everyone has stress. Everyone could use a way to relax and see things from a new perspective. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy provide that opportunity for every person: the opportunity to gain more control over their minds, their behaviors and their lives.




I never became dependent on my hypnotherapist. In fact, he gave me independence. He made it easier for me solve my own problems. My goal is to do the same for every client with whom I am fortunate enough to work.

Sincerely,

Sean Wheeler