Practical Steps of Enchantment
Let us sit back and review the Seven Gateways to Enchantment and
seminal ideas that led me there. It will give us an opportunity
to ponder over what The Enchanted Self is all about. This might
mean returning to some material already shared with you once
before, but it is still 100% pertinent. For those who are new to
the Seven Gateways may please find them at
http://www.enchantedself.com/eletterarchives.htm. The following
article contains a short history of The Enchanted Self project
alongwith some information on using our memories in healthy
ways. This is critical to coming home to our Enchanted Selves.
Let's remember that our Enchanted Self is that place somewhere
between our minds, bodies, hearts and spirits, that always knows
what feels good, what is healthy for us and what promotes joy
and purpose! Going through the article you will come across: 1)
Short Description of The Enchanted Self 2) Katherine's Memory -
Playing Elevator in the Closet 3) Positive Memories - We All
Have Them! 4) Peanut Butter: We All Love It
1) Short Description of The Enchanted Self
After I interviewed women outside of my practice, I realized
that we do not reinforce, nor encourage the capacities for joy
and pleasure that we really have. Often, the media further
encourages a negative view of ourselves and our world. How could
I begin to capture and teach others about the capacities for
personal joy that these women outside of my practice had taught
me? I decided to share this news in my first book, THE ENCHANTED
SELF, A Positive Therapy In the ENCHANTED SELF, A Positive
Therapy, I teach: 1. How you can live a more joyful life; a life
of pleasure and meaning -what I call THE ENCHANTED SELF. 2. How
you can reclaim from your own past your potential, talents,
dreams and abilities and reinvent yourself in positive ways in
the present and into the future. 3. How, if you are a therapist,
you can change your treatment room into a place where your
clients find their enchantment. Learn how healthy it is for your
own mental health to benefit from focusing on what is right with
your clients rather that what is wrong. 4. How, if you are or
have been in therapy you can continue your personal growth by
participating in THE ENCHANTED SELF activities at the end of
each chapter. When my book came out, I realized that I had a
deep commitment to share with the public and other professionals
the information I was gathering about how to live a more joyful,
fulfilling life. This led to many assignments that I took on,
including: THE ENCHANTED SELF newsletter that went around the
world for five years in paper and now with over 2000 readers
goes around the world on the web! Lots of radio, e-radio and
television appearances to teach how to live a more enchanted
life; A second book, titled RECIPES FOR ENCHANTMENT, The Secret
Ingredient is YOU! that further brings each one of you into the
enchanted world of positive living, feeling and thinking. And
MORE-Two new books on the horizon-I'll tell you more about them
soon and lots of products for women to cater to our fun-loving,
inspirational sides. Come and see all my products on my website
at www.enchantedself.com and www.psychjourney.com at enchanted
gateways. And now, let's look some more at the Basics: THE
ENCHANTED SELF promotes a positive review of your life and
encourages life style changes that lead to living a more joyful,
authentic and meaningful life. Once you know how, it is just as
easy to practice positive states of mind and body, as it is to
repeat negative behaviors. I emphasize using your memories for
positive, life enhancing purposes. I encourage reviewing your
past to see that has given you pleasure and joy. I also help you
rediscover talents and lost potential. Always I emphasize what
is right with you rather than what is wrong. Let's give energy
and support to: Remembering the best, Practicing pleasure, Going
for our potential! Don't forget: for those of you unfamiliar
with THE ENCHANTED SELF, please visit my website
www.enchantedself.com for more background on THE ENCHANTED SELF
2) Katherine's Memory - Playing Elevator in the Closet Katherine
remarked: "My sister and I had so much fun when we were
children. The two of us would play, "Elevator" for hours. It was
a simple game that went this way: one of us would pretend to be
the elevator operator. She would open the closet door and say
going up or going down. Then the other one would walk into the
closet. The door would be closed behind her. She would huddle on
the floor in total darkness. A moment would pass and then she
would respond to the voice outside saying, "This floor, coats,
dresses, or Second floor, furniture, and cosmetics." Then out
she would leap, laughing hysterically. This sequence would be
repeated again and again. We were not at all frightened by the
darkness, feeling totally at home in our homemade elevator."
What a lovely memory Katherine had, so full of heartwarming
components. Katherine was able to bring back images of herself
and her sister playing with enthusiasm, keeping busy laughing
uproariously, and feeling safe.
3) Positive Memories - We All Have Them! Do you realize that we
all have special fond memories tucked away inside of us? Whether
you come from a family that had many opportunities for pleasure
and joy or whether you came from circumstances that were far
from ideal, it doesn't matter. Somewhere, in you past you have
experienced pleasure, joy, humor, and positive feelings of
connection. My hunch is that there have been times when you felt
that all was right with the world and whatever you were doing
could go on forever. For Katherine when she began to talk about
pleasant memories, this elevator memory came back to her, from
early childhood. However, you may have a special memory that
goes back to last year or maybe even this morning. That too
qualifies as an enchanted memory. Simply put an enchanted memory
is one where positive rather than negative feelings are aroused
as you go back to it. I call these memories Positive
Fingerprints of the Mind because they are so clearly unique to
you. We may both have gone to summer camp. While swimming in the
lake was your fondest memory from that summer it may have been
my most miserable. 4) Peanut Butter: We All Love It Lots of
memories, even from the very distant past, are charming and
heartwarming. Here is a memory that many of us can resonate to:
eating peanut butter sandwiches. I was surprised and delighted
to hear on public radio that in New York City there lurks a
small restaurant devoted to the nostalgia and experience of
peanut butter sandwiches. The two favorite at the restaurant are
a peanut butter sandwich dripping with honey with sliced bananas
inside, and a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich with peanut
butter. I thought as I listened to the report that this was such
a charming idea for a restaurant. People can come together in
one place where everyone is not only enjoying the food but also
have a reverie into his or her own past as sandwiches are
devoured. I hope I gave you a nice review or introduction to The
Enchanted Self. Please savor the two examples above and spend a
little time coming up with your own delicious memories from the
past. May they be as much fun as the imaginary elevator and
taste as good as a fresh peanut butter sandwich!