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What Are Mind-Tools?

What Are Mind-Tools?

by | May 27, 2023

Patient Heal Thyself

What Are Mind-Tools? (main page)

Have you ever felt like our medical system is missing something? Ever sensed that, to your doctor, you were just another appointment, another box to be ticked, another insurance payout–and that your personal wishes or healing capacity were the least important considerations in the exam room?

I witnessed the sad truth as a medical student: many in the medical profession had neither the time nor the desire to really listen to their patients, and to offer them personalized, compassionate healing plans. I also came to discover that in creating an empathic relationship with my patients, my own desire for them to become healthy and happy could significantly boost their healing, well-being, and positive outlook.

My dreams of treating not just the symptoms, but the source of patients’ illnesses were realized when I conceived and developed the concept of Mind-Tools. These are self-applied mental/emotional techniques that melt away anxiety and rescript the unconscious mind to produce healing and transformation.

Many years have passed since then, and the processes and concepts presented and used in Mind-Tools have become so widely used and applied, even within the medical profession, that it may be hard to appreciate the impact of my discovery in 1960s and 1970s. At that time such tools, and the whole idea of Neuroplasticity—the idea that by guiding our thoughts, we can change the actual wiring of our brains to create behavioral and physical healing—were virtually unheard of. I came to suspect that my ability to see these possibilities was the result of my computer programming training and studies. My experience with computers—rare for a physician at the time—gave me the unique ability to understand that the human mind functions, in specific ways, much like a digital processor.

In our conscious mind, we know that we need to change some of our behavior patterns for the better: we need to stop smoking, eat less, kick drug habits, exercise more, manage our anger, lessen our anxiety, and so on. However, successfully making such changes can often seem almost impossible. This is because the subconscious part of our brain, which has learned and over the centuries “perfected” these behaviors because they saved us in life-or-death encounters, resists our feeble attempts to change. This protective behavior makes it inaccessible to the conscious mind, even though wisdom shows the higher levels of mind that soothing the subconscious and making a change is a wise thing to do. It became obvious to me that what we need is a way to “reprogram” the subconscious.

By the 1970s, I had found and researched several novel-to-the- mainstream approaches that could open the door to the deeper levels of . They included meditation, prayer, autogenic training, hypnosis and self-hypnosis. Their use had been shown to create mental, emotional, behavioral, and even cellular change—that is, healing. Each of these techniques involve the use of:

  • Focused awareness
  • Relaxation
  • Clearing of the conscious mind
  • Presenting new behavioral responses (algorithms) to the subconscious in the form of mental imagery

Using my medical practice as a proving ground, I isolated and combined the most effective features of each approach to create what I call Mind-Tools. Around this time, as fortune would have it, audiocassettes came on the market. Now I could design and record unique hypnotic inductions and mental imagery for each patient during their appointment. Using a Walkman cassette player, a patient could carry my voice and access to healing and rescripting around with them wherever they went, and access this “self-treatment” whenever they needed. I witnessed a massive jump in therapeutic effectiveness when patients used the recordings, especially when I set the words to soothing background music.

Eager to spread the word of this incredible mind-body tool, I made cassettes available to forward-thinking physicians, psychologists, and educators all over the country. The recordings focused on relieving patient stress and the illnesses it causes, changing behavior patterns, and awakening wisdom and spiritual awareness. Feedback from professionals indicated that their results were similar to mine, and so I decided to package the tapes and offer them directly to users nationwide. I marketed them as “Software for the Mind” (a reference that was lost on most people at the time).

Through the years I have created many more programs, each dealing with a specific illness, disorder, or goal, and now provide them CDs, DVDs, and instant online MP3 downloads. You can read more about Mind-Tools, how they work, and how they can help you achieve your healing and life goals.

My original dream is now a reality: effective, affordable self-help and self-healing tools available to everyone.

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Hypnosis

by | May 27, 2023

Hypnosis, Hypnotherapy, and the Human Biocomputer 

(ARTICLE FOR “ABOUT DR. MILLER”

As a young medical student in the 1960s, I came to find aspects of the study of medicine rather perplexing. While I enjoyed learning about the human mind and body, I was simultaneously surprised and disturbed at the lack of attention given to patients’ emotions during their medical treatments. I was also shocked at the inattention to human beings’ innate ability to heal themselves, something I had observed over and over: physical symptoms faded away when people overcame their fear, grief, or anger. 

I began to see the similarities between the functioning of the human brain and that of the digital computers I had learned to program when earning my first degree in Mathematics, back in 1962. Just like a computer, humans can learn algorithms–sets of rules for attempting to solve problems–that lead them to engage in faulty and destructive behavior patterns. This is especially true, in the case of humans, of patterns formed in response to traumatic events. 

When a computer’s algorithms are not returning the results we want, we rewrite the algorithms so that the computer does what we need it to do. So why shouldn’t we also be able to focus the power of our minds to transform negative patterns and unlock our true potential for healing and growth? Seems logical enough, but how to overcome the barrier between the subconscious “monkey mind” and the higher levels of the mindin the prefrontal cortex. In seeking the answer to that question, I came to discover and develop of what I call Mind-Tools.

In 1970, soon after I entered the private practice of medicine, I met two physicians, Clarence Van Horne and Peter Mutke, who had been using clinical hypnosis to achieve what to me seemed remarkable feats of mind-body communication. By guiding their patients to think in specific ways, they were able to relieve headaches, perform surgery without anesthesia, and even control bleeding during surgery. They directed me to the American Medical Association Council on Mental Health report on their study of the use of hypnosis in medical care. In a JAMA article on the same study, they recommended that medical students receive 144 hours of hypnosis training because of its effectiveness in relieving pain, anxiety, headaches, and various skin ailments; and helping with weight loss and smoking cessation. 

I was blown away. The study had been performed in 1961, two years before I entered medical school, yet in all of my training no one had even mentioned hypnosis or hypnotherapy, much less providing 144 hours of instruction! I had to learn more. As luck would have it, Dr. Mutke, who was one of the West Coast’s best-known hypnotherapists, was practicing in Carmel, California, very near Fort Ord, where I had been stationed as a captain in the Army Medical Corps. I reached out to him, and soon I was working in his practice, learning his remarkable techniques and practicing them with patients. In my work with Dr. Mutke, I began to realize there was a way to use hypnosis to actually treat the source of illness, not just the symptoms. This was the breakthrough moment–I had found my Mind-Tools!

By giving patients mental exercises, I could decondition their negative emotional reactions, heal existing illnesses, and even create new positive responses to triggers that previously caused panic, confusion, or anger.

As fate would have it, this was just around the time when audiocassettes were coming on the market. With this new technology, I could design unique hypnotic inductions and mental imagery for each patient and give them a cassette recording to listen to two or three times a day. Whereas reprogramming a computer is as simple as rewriting the computer code, for humans the new message(s) must be received many times. The cassettes made it easy for people to practice often and effortlessly. Repeatedly being exposed to the desired mental image in the deeply relaxed state made the change happen even more quickly and more permanently. 

Through these new pocket-sized cassettes I was now able to spread the word of this incredible mind-body tool to forward-thinking professionals around the country. The recordings focused on relieving patient stress and the illnesses it promotes, changing behavior patterns, and awakening wisdom and spiritual awareness.

Through my own practice, I developed Selective Awareness Exploration, a powerful age-regression technique for tracing the source of people’s physical, mental, emotional, and habit disorders. Then, after listening to guided imagery to provide a more appropriate response to the usual triggers, they merely needed to listen to the recording daily. In a while, sometimes only a few days, the negative emotions and harmful behavioral patterns they were leading to would be deconditioned and overwritten  The results were nothing short of stunning!

In 1972, I published my first book, Selective Awareness, The New Science of Mind-Body Medicine, {Link to Selective awareness book in catalog} sharing the details of this revolutionary process and the Mind-Tools I had discovered. Soon I published the world’s first series of audiocassettes featuring deep relaxation and guided imagery for self-healing, peak performance, and personal transformation. In the decades since then, I have spoken and taught at numerous colleges and medical schools, and have continued to treat individuals and families in my private practice, testing many different approaches and techniques. As I discovered ways to effectively treat ever more illnesses of mind, body, emotion, spirit, and behavior, I created audio and video tools that could present the new material to people worldwide.

In 1997 I wrote Deep Healing – The Essence of Mind-Body Medicine {Link to Essence book in catalog}, incorporating many of the ideas and techniques I had learned in my 30 years of studying and practicing with these extraordinary mind tools. I have since learned and developed even more ways to integrate my original theories with those of neuroplasticity, cognitive behavior therapy, and psychoneuroimmunology. The many tools I have developed incorporate all of these in a form that allows listeners to practice Self-Healing, or use them in conjunction with other approaches to health care.

Are you ready to unlock the power of your mind? Then it’s time to experience how effective these Mind-Tools can be for you. 

{Insert sample to listen to 

and additional readings. 

See the entire catalog of Mind-Tools.  LINK

Stress

by | May 27, 2023

Stress, The Silent Killer

Stress is making you unhappy and slowly killing you. Current medical research demonstrates that 90-95% of all our illnesses and symptoms–physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and behavioral–are strongly related to decisions being made by that two-pound powerhouse between your ears, the human biocomputer, your brain. Stress decisions!

We are all experientially familiar with the concept, and the condition, of feeling stressed. We’ve all felt it, and we use the word in everyday conversation: “I was so stressed,” “You’re stressing me out,” “Don’t stress about it,” and so on.  But most people don’t realize that stress is not something that happens to us. The fact is, stress is simply the highly maladaptive way our nervous systems react to the challenges in our lives–the stressors. 

When stress is acute and severe, we experience it as a pounding heart, shortness of breath, and tense muscles– classic symptoms of the fight or flight response. However, the stress that most of us deal with on a daily basis is often milder and more persistent, a slow drip of toxic stress chemicals seeping into our bloodstream. In time, this chronic stress leads to . . .  

(more)

. . . a range of debilitating problems, such as chronic illness, fatigue, depression, and a general sense of dysfunction. Stress: the silent enemy we’ve grown accustomed to, wreaking havoc on our bodies and minds without our even realizing it–sometimes not until it’s too late.

For over 50 years, Dr. Miller has specialized in helping people release harmful stress and harness its potential energy for healing and optimal performance. Many studies, both in the lab in the clinic demonstrate clearly that stress is a significant factor in most diseases, as well as in depression, suicide, and addiction. Stress can undermine us psychologically and cause us to underperform in—and even fail at—relationships, work goals, and other important life challenges. With a bit of practice, you can learn to tame stress and use its energy to achieve your goals. 

 

When we attack stress as if it is an enemy to beat down or chase away with pain pills, drugs, alcohol, and other addictive behaviors, we are merely hiding the symptoms of stress from ourselves. Meanwhile, the true source of the imbalance and the stress can become worse!

The secret to dealing successfully with stress is to realize:

1. Stress is the behavioral reaction of an ancient part of the brain, the limbic system, inappropriately reacting to our relatively minor social and psychological problems as if they are life or death threats from which we must instantly escape. Unless we have learned to accept challenging situations with relaxation and wisdom, the fight-or-flight stress response kicks in.

2. In our human existence hundreds of thousands of years ago, stress evolved as one part of a two-phase process. The other part of the process was, (and still is,) relaxation. Life or death confrontations were rare, occurring perhaps just a few times a month, and they were over within seconds or minutes. The chemicals dumped into our brains and bloodstream during such moments created the fight-or-flight response. If we survived the confrontation, there was plenty of time to relax; the parasympathetic response–the rest and digest time–would wash the toxic products of stress from our system.

3. Instead of the occasional saber-toothed tiger attacks and landslides that our nervous systems could handle well and recover from our current world bombards us night and day with frightening headlines, ringing cellphones, emails, text messages, angry bosses, demanding clients and customers–endless demands with far too few opportunities and little time to fully relax and recover.

4. It is crucially important to understand that when we are in a stressed state–which for many people is nearly always–one of the effects is that the higher levels of the mind are inhibited. We cannot think, reason, and respond creatively and wisely because the monkey mind, shuts off the prefrontal cortex of the brain to block our being distracted from the imagined “emergency.” This inhibition is most unfortunate because this is the part of our mind that otherwise could develop a wise, creative, inspired strategy to deal with the source of the stress. The behavior that is appropriate if a lion is chasing you, when nature wants you focused purely on escaping, is exactly the wrong behavior in our world of today. Nowadays we need to focus on the source of the stress with all of our intellect, creativity, wisdom, and inspiration.

5. The most effective method for harnessing the energy of stress that would otherwise create disease and dysfunction is to practice and learn to enter the state of deep relaxation, dismiss the physical tension and mental anxiety of stress, and then call upon the creativity and wisdom of our higher mind and engage and resolve any challenges. Amazingly, our culture does not teach us this skill, possibly because advertising and social media depend on our being anxious and stressed to sell us products and candidates and the idea of success, and to keep us working to be ever more “productive.”

One of the central features of all of Dr. Miller’s products is his world- famous stress reduction imagery, as this offers the most rapid access to healing, change, and transformation.

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Mindfulness

Mindfulness

by | May 27, 2023

Dear Reader,

Mindfulness is a state of being that involves clear awareness of the present moment, non-judgmental attention, and self-compassion. At its core, mindfulness is about learning to live in the in the here-and-now, letting go of negative thoughts and emotions, and cultivating a sense of inner peace and calm. Most people learn to reach the mindful state through meditating in silence, sometimes twice a day for several weeks. I found that I could guide people into a mindful state through a single experience using a high-speed technique I developed combining guided imagery, self-hypnosis, and deep relaxation.

LISTEN TO SAMPLE of????

While developing the Mind-Tools of Mind-Body Medicine and self-healing, I found that states of deep relaxation were crucially important in disarming the subconscious mind of its  stress reaction. Disarmed, the subconscious can no longer pour the corrosive and disease-producing chemicals of the stress reaction into the blood stream. Moreover, when a person is in a deeply relaxed state, it is much easier to communicate with the subconscious mind because the mind’s protective barriers are removed. The subconscious becomes receptive to rescripting unwanted behaviors of mind, body, emotions, or behavior and the brain is literally rewired.

The Benefits of Living Mindfully

Simply training oneself to be mindful brings many general benefits. Studies have shown that regular mindfulness practice can reduce stress and anxiety, improve sleep quality, boost immune function, and increase overall well-being. Mindfulness has also been shown to improve focus and concentration, increase empathy and compassion, and enhance relationships.

One of the most significant benefits of mindfulness is its ability to reduce stress. In today’s fast-paced world, stress has become a widespread problem. We are confronted with literally hundreds of problems, ranging from climate change, the threat of nuclear war, social unrest, crime, financial challenges, relationship misunderstanding … the list is endless. And each one of these triggers another burst of stress chemicals meant to help us in physical fight or flight situations. This gradually leads to a host of health problems, both physical and mental. Mindfulness helps us to become more aware of our thoughts and emotions, allowing us to identify stress triggers and manage them more effectively. By helping you reduce your stress level, mindfulness can help you improve your overall health, enabling a more fulfilling and enjoyable life.

Another benefit of mindfulness is its ability to improve mental health. Mindfulness has also been shown to be an effective treatment for anxiety and depression, two of the most prevalent mental health disorders in the world today. As you cultivate self-awareness and non-judgmental attention,  you will find mindfulness helps you to identify negative thought patterns and break free from them, leading to a greater sense of inner peace and happiness.

In addition to its mental health benefits, mindfulness also brings physical health benefits. Regular mindfulness practice has been shown in clinical studies to reduce blood pressure, improve immune function, and even lower the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Mindfulness reduces inflammation and boosts immune function, and can help you to stay healthy and vibrant, even as you age.

How to Practice Mindfulness

Despite its many benefits, mindfulness is often misunderstood or overlooked by many people. Some see “mindfulness” as a trendy but ultimately empty buzzword, while others believe that its practice would be too difficult or time-consuming for them. Still other people may view mindfulness as part of an esoteric spiritual system or religion to which they do not belong or to which they cannot relate. The truth is that mindfulness is a simple and accessible practice that anyone can benefit from.

To start practicing mindfulness, all you need is a few minutes of quiet time each day. You can begin by sitting comfortably and simply focusing on your breath, observing the sensation of air moving in and out of your body. Whenever your mind wanders, gently bring it back to your breath, without judgment or criticism. Over time, you will find that mindfulness becomes easier and more natural. It is as if mindfulness is a new muscle you have discovered, and each time you practice using it, your mindful focus becomes stronger. You get into the rhythm of mindfulness faster each time, and you become more aware of how much clearer is your thinking, how much brighter the colors and sensuous the sounds and textures around you each day. fMRI scans begin to show the neural tracts leading from your prefrontal cortex (your brain’s brain) to your limbic system grow thicker, giving you ever greater ability to calm and direct your emotional reactions.

Indeed, mindfulness is a powerful practice that has the potential to transform your life in countless ways. By learning to live in the present moment, letting go of negative thoughts and emotions, and cultivating a sense of inner peace and calm, you can improve your mental and physical health, reduce stress, and increase overall well-being. So why not give mindfulness a try today and see what benefits it can bring to your life?

Sincerely,

Emmett Miller, MD

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Mindfulness and Stress

The subconscious is the storehouse of unwanted thought patterns such as those that produce uncomfortable or dangerous physical symptoms, emotional distress, and maladaptive and addictive behaviors. The state of deep relaxation leads to more rapid and more complete acceptance of suggestions, affirmations, and positive guided imagery to replace faulty patterns with more positive, healthy ones. The Mind-Tools I provide to my patients and clients usually include guided imagery preceded by deep relaxation produced through mindfulness.

The benefits of mindfulness are numerous and wide-ranging.

In addition, very deep states of relaxation often referred to as deep hypnosis,

much deeper than most

The benefits of mindfulness are numerous and wide-ranging. Studies have shown that regular mindfulness practice can reduce stress and anxiety, improve sleep quality, boost immune function, and increase overall well-being. Mindfulness has also been shown to improve focus and concentration, increase empathy and compassion, and improve relationships.

One of the most significant benefits of mindfulness is its ability to reduce stress. In today’s fast-paced world, stress has become a widespread problem, leading to a host of health problems, both physical and mental. Mindfulness helps us to become more aware of our thoughts and emotions, allowing us to identify stress triggers and manage them more effectively. By reducing stress levels, mindfulness can help to improve overall health and well-being, leading to a more fulfilling and enjoyable life.

What is Mind-Body Medicine?

What is Mind-Body Medicine?

by | May 27, 2023

Mind-Body Medicine is the revolutionary approach first introduced by Dr. Miller in the 1970s. It differs from mainstream medicine in that it recognizes the profound connections between mind, body, emotion, and spirit, and harnesses their power to unleash healing and transformation. Mind-Body Medicine comprises a dynamic, all-encompassing paradigm that blends ancient wisdom with modern science to tap the innate healing potential of the human body.

 

This cutting-edge discipline recognizes that our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs profoundly impact physical health and well-being. Mind-Body approaches to treatment emphasize the fact that human beings are not just a collection of organs and tissues but complex, integrated living systems. This perspective empowers us to take control of our own health by drawing on the vast, untapped reservoirs of healing energy that reside within us.

 

Accessing this potential through a range of transformative practices such as meditation, deep relaxation, hypnosis, cognitive restructuring, and guided imagery, you can unlock the healing power of your mind and body and overcome challenges to your health, happiness, and success. These Mind-Tools will show you how to focus your mind and emotions to promote healing and well-being, and connect with your true Self.

 

Mind-Body Medicine and Emotions

It is important to note that from the beginning, Dr. Miller’s approach acknowledged the contribution to healing of Mind, Body, Spirit, and Emotions, even though for ease of pronunciation, its name has been shortened to “Mind-Body Medicine.” It is vital to recognize that our emotions are directly produced by the subconscious Limbic System and commonly serve as the trigger of physical symptoms and diseases, as well as mood disorders such as anxiety, depression, and rage, and habit disorders such as addiction. When we have learned to quiet the Limbic System–what Dr. Miller often refers to as “the monkey mind”–through meditation, self-hypnosis, or prayer, our higher mind becomes free to deal with the source of our problems through analysis and strategizing. By guiding yourself into states of deep relaxation, you can let go of distracting thoughts and sensations and allow yourself to be present in the “now.”

Once your awareness is no longer being diverted by disquieting thoughts of the past or anxious projections of the future, guided imagery can begin to work its magic on you. Initially it can take you to a special place–perhaps a sacred place–in your imagination, where body, mind, spirit, and emotions can begin to heal.

Here you can gain access to your wisdom and visualize making life choices based on reality and your tr abilities. What’s more, this deeply relaxed and focused state frees you to open fully to your inner spiritual guidance.

Mind-Body Medicine and the Spirit

 Authentic Mind-Body practitioners always consider the “spiritual” dimension of each patient/client. Each of us has a higher mind, the conscious, intentional, rational, analytical intellect. Most illnesses and dysfunctions represent situations in which the subconscious “monkey mind” is making decisions, triggering emotions and behaviors, and frustrating our conscious intentions. Sometimes, however, the choices we are making to try influence the subconscious, are often unwise or illogical, usually because they are affected by anxiety and stress reactions which inhibit the clear thinking of the conscious mind.

Fortunately, there is another level we might think of as the “spiritual” or philosophical level. We all have this; it is the part of us that storehouses our spiritual principles, our deepest values, our ideal selves, . . . Even if we practice no established religion or faith, we all have an inner model of the kinds of thoughts, words, and actions we “should” have or perform, although we often fall short. This level is closely allied with the place of wisdom and wise action within. To act wisely is to make a choice in the present that you will look back upon approvingly in several weeks, months, or years and think, “that was wise.”

The state of deep relaxation enables us to bypass the anxiety factor and access the highest sense of who we are or want to be. It enables us to align our choices with these principles and visualize ourselves behaving according to them in thought word and deed. This is one of the ways Mind-Body Medicine includes our spiritual dimension. 

The Evidence Basis of Mind-Body Medicine

In the 1970s and 1980s, mainstream medical and psychological professionals were hesitant to adopt an approach that, although logical and based on sound theory, could boast very few peer-reviewed double-blind studies. Those studies were slow in coming for many reasons, including the following:

• We did not yet have measuring instruments that could detect the changes the mind was creating (e.g., changes in antibody levels).

• Pharmaceutical companies, the prime source of funding for research, were not interested in proving the efficacy of tools that would lower their profits.

• Much longer timeframes are often needed for such studies, compared to the few weeks or months necessary to show the usefulness of a new symptom-reducing drug.

But, by the 1990s, our ability to carry out these experiments had improved, and in the decades since the mind/body approach was introduced, tens of thousands of studies have clearly demonstrated the enormous impact our thoughts, beliefs, and emotions have on every system in the body. Mental and emotional stress has been linked to nearly every illness, right up to and including the top five causes of death: heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease, accidents, and suicide. 

Most modern training institutions have begun to teach this new field, but huge systems change slowly, especially when success would lead to significantly lower profits. If pharmaceutical companies could make the kinds of multi-billion-dollar profits from these techniques they do from peddling pills to treat symptomatic relief, they would have sold you these mind tools long, long ago! Dr. Miller offers you these empowering techniques here for a small fraction of the cost of mainstream medical care.

 

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More About Mind-Body Medicine

Using Guided Imagery For Mind-Body Healing – Software for the Mind

The New “Old” Approach to Healing

How You Can Learn the tools of Mind-Body Medicine

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Mind-body medicine is the thrilling, groundbreaking field that brings together the power of the mind and the body to heal and transform. It’s a visionary approach that recognizes the inextricable link between our thoughts, emotions, and physical health, and harnesses this connection to unleash the full potential of our healing abilities.

Mind-body medicine is a thrilling, life-changing journey of self-discovery and healing, that offers us the opportunity to tap into our full potential as human beings, and create a future of limitless possibilities.

In short, mind-body medicine is a dynamic, transformative approach that recognizes the extraordinary power of the mind-body connection, and empowers us to harness this power for optimal health, wellness, and vitality.