Swasti S Sharma, CMS-CHt, FIBH - USA

25/05/2019

Social drinking vs alcoholism - The irony is that most people never realize or accept that they are alcoholics...

25/05/2019

Social drinking vs alcoholism
Social drinking has become so acceptable in India that gone are days when teenagers would hide their whiskey in soft drink to avoid being caught by elders. Almost in every party you can find budding boys and girls proudly holding their can of beer and chatting with elderly people, looking straight in their eyes. Parents no longer have the guts or courage to question them as they themselves are hooked to drinking habits. This certainly is causing serious health problems, as only a few people know when to say NO.
A couple of months back a successful industrialist brought his only son, still in teens and with serious drinking problem. Before I could open my mouth to say a few words of advice, the handsome young boy directly shot a question “Hey doc! Don’t you guys suggest that red wine protects the heart and immune system? I drink only red wine as I have heard it’s great for health”.
The humble father completed the story. The son was drinking almost two bottles of red wine every single day and yet believed that he is just protecting his health and by no means he is an alcoholic.
Alcohol industry being one of the most profitable and giant industries all over the world is quite prone to manipulate opinions through sponsored columns advising couple of drinks, a glass of wine or beer for good health. We all know that drinking is such a temptation that not many people can limit to just one or two drinks. As one of my good physician friend comments, “if you slip once, you will find ways to slip again and again”.
The irony is that most people never realize or accept that they are alcoholics. Last month a sixty two year old Indian gentleman, settled in France, came to consult. On questioning when he revealed that he is regular with three vodkas for lunch and five scotches for dinner, I suggested he is alcoholic. I could see that he was quite uncomfortable with my opinion of his being alcoholic.
The problem of alcoholism is as old as alcohol itself. Master Ayurvedic scholars Charak, Sushruta and others deal with alcohol related health problems at length in topics under ‘Madatyaya’ and ‘Panatyaya’. According to Ayurvedic viewpoint alcohol is similar to poison which in small dose acts like medicine but in excessive quantity threatens longevity. Ayurvedic term for alcohol is ‘Madya’ which is quite close to ‘Wine’. Ayurveda in detail describes numerous ways to prepare medicated herbal wines specific to various physical and mental disorders. But the dose of any such wine should not exceed more than one ounce, if being used for medicinal purpose.
Ayurveda observes four stages of alcoholism. In the first stage, which is known as ‘Pratham madmaha’, a person feels enlightenment, happiness, more confidence, better appetite, sense of elation and increased creativity.
In the second stage, which is known as ‘Dwitiya madmaha’ , the person feels disorientation of memory, speech and other actions. He starts loosing control on his senses of perception and becomes excited and restless.
Third stage of alcoholism is known as ‘Tritiya madmaha’. In this stage the alcoholic looses sanity and sense of discrimination. He likes to drive fast, disrespects elders, makes fun of noble and humble people, likes to eat inedible food and starts sharing his best-kept secrets with strangers. He starts laughing, shouting and singing without any reason and completely looses control of his mind.
In the fourth stage known as ‘Chaturtha madmaha’ the alcoholic looses all senses and falls on the ground. He feels nothing even if the dogs pee on his face. He completely blacks out and next morning he may not even remember anything.
Continuing with the second and third stage of alcoholism leads to chronic digestive problems, lack of appetite, disturbed sleep, loss of memory, bad temper, lack of confidence and self-esteem, high blood pressure, fatty degeneration of heart, cirrhosis of liver, tremors in the limbs and delirium.
The first drink of toast for your success and prosperity may be fine but the last one for the road always leads to the Road of failure and destruction. Take care my friends !!!
Dr. Dinesh Sharma
NLP Therapist
At Life Before Lives Therapy Centre

Social drinking vs alcoholism - The irony is that most people never realize or accept that they are alcoholics...

17/05/2019

Don’t shop for a Guru on television
By: Dr. Dinesh Sharma
NLP Therapist
At Life Before Lives Therapy Clinic
In this consumer oriented television culture where we have the option of choosing cars, shampoos, soaps and noodles at will, the gurus are aggressively campaigning to be picked up like any other utility product. Thanks to the television channel revolution we no more need to scale tough Himalayan heights to find a yogi or guru. They are easily available in the comfort of our soft bed through a gentle push on the remote control.
First we need to understand that what really Guru means. The literal meaning of this Sanskrit word is ‘bigger’, ‘larger’ or ‘heavier’. Guru translates as more ‘weight’ or ‘substance’. In popular perception Guru represents teacher, preceptor or a person who helps us understand and resolve the challenging intricacies of life and lead us on the path of self-realization and finally liberation.
In the journey of life mother becomes our first guru since she brings us up, helps to identify things and people and teaches us to communicate. Father becomes our other guru as he educates us about moral values, social conduct and provides us protection and sustenance. We also learn a lot from our elder siblings and friends. Later in school several teachers and books become many of our gurus.
When we become financially secure and socially independent we start looking for the sources from where we can learn, get experience and wisdom to grow in different dimensions. Such sources can be books, intellectual people or senior family members. This is also the time when the idea of finding a Guru may hit us.
Here most important exercise is to question our own self do we really need a guru or we are suffering from GAC (guru absence complex). These are two different things. It may happen that when we find big portraits of smiling saffron clad rich handsome faces displayed as Gurus ( people display their gurus like newly acquired expensive cars) in the homes of our friends or relatives, we develop a sort of guru absence insecurity. We may also feel like ‘possessing’ a guru to display with pride when people visit our home. In such case the importance and role of the guru will not be more than an expensive coffee table book, which we will never read or understand.
These days a big number of people go ‘Guru Shopping’ for some well defined obvious interests. Apart from other routine desires, top on their list is sickness, failure in business and marriage and career of grown up kids. Guru marketing has also polished the saffron corporations and smarted skills to cater to specific needs of their prospective devotee clientele. In this business of mutual worldly interests the true purpose of the divine and pure Guru tradition has suffered a serious setback.
The need of a guru is felt when someone starts a spiritual sojourn. For majority of the sadhakas this path of self-exploration is new and completely unknown. Not many people have the knowledge and experience of stumbling blocks in ethereal voyage. The search for finding the right kind of spiritual guide has never been easy. It’s always the divine grace which comes to succor when we desperately seek. It may sound mysterious but the method of connecting with the spiritual guide is very simple. When we truly seek for help to advance on the spiritual path, the divinity definitely arranges the meeting. If one has not been able to meet his spiritual guide yet the chances are that one’s resolve has many holes in it.
It’s very important to know that a veritable Guru never tries to possess, hold and bind you to his clan or sect. He will guide you to liberate from many bonding including his own. The real Guru will always shy away from the tag of Guru and would prefer to be known as a spiritual guide. The genuine Guru will always help to connect you with the Maha Guru, which dwells in the cave of your own heart. A bona fide Guru never tries to impress you with miracles, promises of making you rich, curing your diseases, helping you earn more money and materializing instant suitable matches for your kids.
If your own concerns are such, you need a smart fixer and not a Guru.

Don't shop for a Guru on television. First we need to understand that what really Guru means...

10/05/2019

NLP the tool to defragment mind hard disk
When bad events and emotional traumas stay in memory and keep disturbing us, it's because of perceptions we have formed of that event or trauma. That perception faintly or strongly represents a past episode but is not the 'past event'. When we start believing our past thoughts, we actually start living a past episode without even realising. Our mind is so powerful that it again starts recreating the whole event, even if that took place years ago. Feelings of anger, hate, happiness, elation or humiliation start flooding in. Our breathe quickens, heart beats increase and adrenaline starts rushing in our whole system. This is because we respond more to our 'maps of reality' than to actual reality. Impact of any event or trauma is measured by how one chooses to perceive them.
With the help of NLP or Neuro Linguistic Programming we can change the impact of such events and traumas if they are hindering our day to day life and blocking our positive growth. We need not remain bonded to the negative outcome of our perceptions. NLP arms us with the power to bring positive fundamental shift the way we recall our memory of traumatic events and traumas.
Dr. Dinesh Sharma
NLP Therapist
@ Life Before Lives Therapy Clinic

https://www.lifebeforelives.com/nlp-a-tool-to-de-fragment-minds-hard-disk/

03/05/2019

03/05/2019

LBL Stress Management Techniques
"Stress is a normal psychological and physical reaction to the demands of life. A small amount of stress can be good, motivating you to perform well. But multiple challenges daily, such as sitting in traffic, meeting deadlines and paying bills, can push you beyond your ability to cope."
Stress is more of a mental and/or emotional response to certain situations that may lead to physical symptoms including rapid breathing, headaches, trembling, palpitations and low energy among a few others. In this write-up, I'll be sharing 4 easy and practical techniques to help manage and deal with the kind of stress that is caused by day-to-day challenges. Chances are you already know this stuff but may have not done any of it up-until this point. Oh well, I guess we all need gentle nudges and reminders from time to time. Read on and try these out for yourself. You'll be glad you did! :)
1. Eating healthy, eating well:
You are what you eat. People often confuse diet with healthy eating habits. While the word 'dieting' itself can give you stress (c'mon, everybody loves food), thinking about 'nutrition' and 'health' when you fix yourself a meal can give you great delicious cooking ideas. Including greens, nuts, fruits and foods rich in Vitamin B12 in your everyday meal can actually prove extremely beneficial in managing your stress levels. Although there are plenty of meal plans available on the internet today, but it is still a good idea to consult a professional nutritionist so that you don't end up eating things that don't suit your body or give you allergies. Keeping the right quantity in mind is important too. 'Healthy eating' does not come with a "as much as you want to eat" tag.
2. Breathing:
As one of the physical symptoms of stress is rapid breathing, try this technique as and when needed to bring your breathing back to normal -
● Lie down straight on your back on a flat surface (if you're unable to because of your surroundings or whatever reasons, sit down comfortably with your feet flat on the ground) with one hand resting on your chest and the other on your bellybutton. Also, it doesn't matter which hand is placed where. (If you're driving and feel a sudden need to relax or calm down, park your car somewhere safe, make sure it is locked from the inside - purely for safety reasons, push your seat back and place one hand on your chest and the other on your bellybutton.)
● Breathe out once through your mouth slowly, close your eyes and loosen up your whole body from head to toe. Give yourself a couple of minutes to do this.
● Then take a deep slow breath right into your abdomen through your nose, hold it in for 2 seconds, then exhale through your mouth through slightly parted lips very VERY slowly. You know that you're doing it correctly if you notice the hand on your stomach moving up and down as you breathe while the hand on your chest stays still.
Continue breathing like this for about 3 to 5 minutes or till you feel your breath getting normal once again. And honestly, why wait for something to go wrong for you to practice this technique? Make it a part of your daily routine. Do it every day at least twice a day for 7 to 10 minutes. In just a week you'll start to notice positive permanent changes in you.
3. Exercise:
At least three days in a week, if you can't every day, for up to 60 minutes a day. If the mundane 40 minutes brisk walk routine is not your thing, not a problem. Pick up something fun and exciting for yourself - a dance form, a sport, martial arts, hatha yoga... Anything that goes well with YOU. It doesn't matter what others are doing, because they're only doing what they find enjoyable based on their nature, mindset and thought process. You're you. Find and do YOUR thing. Remember, you're living your life - not others' stories.
4. Meditation, Healing Visualisations and/or Self Hypnosis:
Hmm. Now this one's a little tricky. If you have learnt it from somewhere and know it, you've got it. If not... Well... Like many others I'd too suggest checking out some guided meditation audios available on YouTube (and yes, some of them truly are amazing) but at the same time I would also recommend learning the techniques yourself from an expert practitioner. Being a Certified Hypnotherapist and Past Life Regression Therapist myself, to be able to do this on my own and having the discipline and self-control needed for these practices is far more satisfying and empowering any given day than being guided by a faceless unfamiliar voice. It makes me feel self-sufficient and independent, like I'm the master of my own mind and my own life.
When I teach meditation, healing visualisations and self-hypnosis to my clients, I only guide them till we're both sure that they know the techniques well enough. After that, they don't have to be dependent on me or anyone else to steer them to positivity. Then they're the ones behind the wheels. And naturally, if you know well how to drive/ride and are the one driving your car or riding your bike, why would you want someone else to press the brake, accelerator, clutch and shift gear for you?
If you wish to connect with US to learn more such techniques that'll help you improve the quality of your life and make YOU the MASTER of your mind and your life, you can call us on 7042321200 between 11am to 5pm during weekdays (Monday to Saturday) OR visit: www.lifebeforelives.com to read more write-ups that may help you one way or the other.
Now, like I pointed at the beginning of this article, chances are you already know this stuff but may have not done any of it up-until this point. This was just that gentle nudge and reminder you were looking for. So go right ahead, try these out for yourself. You'll be glad you did! :)
https://www.lifebeforelives.com/lbl-stress-management-techniques/