Hidden Barriers to Happiness Blog
Have you always wondered about the invisible forces that affect your health, wealth, relationships and happiness?
For over 25 years, first as a neuroscientist, then epidemiologist, and now as a Holistic Brain Health Practitioner, I’ve been passionate about identifying underlying causes of mental and cognitive health challenges. This blog reveals my discoveries from my academic training, my passion for functional medicine, psychology, sociology, energy medicine and what I’ve learned from identifying secrets held by the subconscious.
If you want more health, wealth, better relationships and more happiness, find out what could be getting in the way! When you sign up to get my Top 10 Tips for a Happy & Healthy Brain, you’ll also get 2-4 newsletters per month featuring my blog, “Hidden Barriers to Happiness”.
What are you waiting for? Knowledge is power!
How our Brains Foster Wrongful Convictions
Wrongfully convicted
Back in college my social psychology professor, Elliot Aaronson Ph.D., told us a story over 3 lectures that had us absolutely riveted. It was about a young man Bradley Nelson Page (not to be confused with Dr. Bradley Nelson), a UC Berkeley student who had been accused of murdering his girlfriend. Dr. Aaronson led us through all the factors of the interrogation that led Page to a false confession of her murder.
That story left me with a sense of awe about how effective persuasion could be. But it also left me profoundly disturbed about how it could be used, and the implications it had on our “justice” system.
We heard how the police used various mechanisms we discussed in class to force Page to concoct a story that allowed them to frame him. As a college student, Page could have never imagined that the police would lie and use such manipulative tactics to force a confession! He later recanted his confession after he was given enough space and rest to think clearly.
But his recanting wasn’t sufficient. (more…)
Ghosts that Interfere with Healing
I was searching for effective means to address psychosis, and talking to a colleague (an M.D.), who shares my passion for integrative healing modalities. I asked him if he’d heard about effective approaches to address psychosis, and he pointed me to Dr. Barbara Stone and Robert W. Alcorn, MD who straddle the world between western medicine, shamanic healing and energy medicine.
Earthbound Spirit Attachments: aka ghosts
On their website, souldetective.net, I was guided to learn about earthbound spirit attachments (aka ghosts). I learned that they are beings that aren’t able to pass on to another dimension for a variety of reasons. Often they are confused and don’t know they are dead. Sometimes they don’t want to leave because they are attached to things on earth. Some are afraid of having to face what they’ve done on earth, and some have unfinished business.
I learned that there is a device called the Luminator that helps people see these entities with Polaroid photographs. (more…)
Two Perspectives on How Emotions are Made
Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett, neuroscientist, TED speaker, and author of the book, “How Emotions are Made,” says that we construct our own emotions.
When I first heard this it sounded so preposterous! Emotions feel so innate. When something happens, we don’t sit there trying to figure out how to respond. In fact, we often feel something first, right before we have a good sense of our story around it.
So how did she come to the conclusion that we construct our emotions? (more…)
Taming the Sugar Monster
The Sugar monster
I had a client who had a sugar addiction, and found it impossible to resist sweets. People were regularly bringing in baked goods and candy to work. And it wasn’t usual for him to eat an entire serving tray of cookies!
He often said his sugar addiction was so bad that it was even easier to give up alcohol! He had been eating this way for his entire life, and so had others in his family of origin! (more…)
The Causes of Autoimmune Disease
My Fountain of Youth: Interrupted
I spent the week of Christmas of 2018 doubled over in pain, with horrible stomach cramps and diarrhea. The mold I had inadvertently ingested along with my tomatoes was wreaking havoc on my digestive system. This was not how I wanted to spend the holiday! Then when I did recover, the problems would resurface whenever I ate tomatoes. Had a developed an allergy or intolerance to tomatoes?
After that bout of mold toxicity, my body seemed to continue to decline from there. It began with the reoccurring illnesses. I used to claim to only rarely get sick. But now it seemed like every week, I was fighting yet another infection! Why I wondered, was I all of a sudden so vulnerable to getting sick?
Aging Fast
Around that time, (more…)
The Power of Addressing the Metaphysical Causes
My new client came to me with a list of concerns he wanted to address. As I customarily do, I ask if he’d like to me to ask his subconscious where to start. He agreed, and when I did, I got that we needed to address pain, which was not on his list! When I asked him about it, he said, oh yes, with my MS (multiple sclerosis), I have regular back, neck and shoulder pain. His lower back pain could be so bad that sometimes he couldn’t get out of bed for over 10 minutes! He rated the pain as a 8.5/10! When I asked him when he hadn’t put it on his list, he said, that it has become such a normal part of his life, that he had just accepted it as a part of who he had become!
He agreed to let me proceed, and as I often find with clients with autoimmune conditions, there was a metaphysical question underlying the pain that needed to be addressed.
(more…)
Why We Need to Aim for an Awe-Filled Life!
A few weeks ago, the gardener for a large private estate in The Highlands in North Seattle invited me for a tour. I jumped at the opportunity!
My Mini Vacation
As we entered the gated community of The Highlands, it felt like we had completely left the city behind. The neighborhood is encased in Redwoods! As we approached the Gardens, my gardener friend said, “and this is where I start whistling”! It wasn’t long before I could see why! (more…)
The Power of Protect Stones
Three months ago, I was introduced to the power of gemstones through shungite. The vendor next to my table at a wellness fair, Cosmic Reality was selling shungite, and I found myself drawn to the their table.
The Power of Shungite
They told me that they were bee-keepers and that they had lost all their colonies. In a desperate attempt to find a solution to bring back the bees, they discovered (more…)
Why You Must Protect Yourself from Electromagnetic Frequencies (EMFs)
I once had a client who had a bump in her mouth that wouldn’t go away. The lump would shrink with the release work I did. But it would keep coming back.
She was living in Taiwan at the time.
Inside her apartment were big-screen TVs that were wired to computers. The apartment was filled with EMFs (Electromagnetic Fields) throughout the building, and I got that the EMFs were interfering with her ability to heal.
How to Get Younger With Age
My feline fur baby Tuk Tuk just turned 15. One and a half years ago, she developed horrible leg cramps that seemed to strike randomly. She’d scream with fear, and then struggle to walk. I realized that by massaging her back legs, I could get the blood flowing again, and she’d be back on her feet as if nothing had happened. I was very concerned.
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