PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

I decided to pursue my masters degree in Anthropology. In order not to bankrupt myself or my family, I pursued my MA in London so that I could go to a excellent university without a prestigious price tag. I moved to the land of what was once the biggest colonial empire in the world, and the spectacular inequalities of which continue to have a profound ripple effect in this neocolonial era today. This international move shifted my perception in profound ways. Not only did I get the chance to live a different version of reality, I was able to recreate mine in ways I hadn’t imagined. I realized that while growing up in the US, I was not considered American, however in the UK, that’s what I eventually became. While living in the US, I always had an accent, which prompted people to frequently ask me where I was from. Ironically, in the UK, I eventually started speaking with an American accent. And when I finally returned to the US over a decade later, I was looked upon as a white American, as if my family had come here on the Mayflower. This concept of perception, of how I am perceived and how I perceive reality is constantly shifting, whether it be in a different country, in a different language, in a different set of trousers, with a different facial expression, and having eaten a different breakfast that morning. I am not who I once was, no one knows where I once stood, and I am never perceived as I am now. If I am having this experience of constantly being perceived incompletely and of constantly changing my own perception, I bet most of the people around me are too, aren’t they?

It took me decades to put this into words, but what drives me is trying to find a unifying quality of the human experience—to find the we and us of humanity. It seems so obvious to me that we are all related…why doesn’t everyone see it? I have this persistent need not to assume anything about anyone I meet because I know how jarring it can be on the receiving end when assumptions are wrong. I want people to tell me who they once were (only if it feels important to them to mention it), to tell me where they once stood (only if they want me to know), and to tell me who they are right now (only if they feel it matters). We do not have the same experiences, we do not see things the same way, and we have faced different sets of life conditions that have prompted our unique conditioning. Yet I believe that we all want love and happiness. I believe we all grow when we confront and overcome challenges. I believe we all thrive when we are part of a supportive community. I believe that every tradition and every individual has the innate wisdom needed to find the strength and resilience to not only persevere, but to transform challenges into opportunities. I believe we are all spiritual beings that come from the same source regardless of our religions, backgrounds, and genetic makeup. I also believe that individuals of all religions, backgrounds, and genetic makeup deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. I believe we are all made up of the same stuff. There is a common thread that goes through all of us, and I keep finding it in everyone I meet—in a smile, a frown, a sigh, or in eyes meeting, as if our souls are rising up to say, “Hello, old friend.”

It was particularly during my study of Buddhist psychology and meditation practices that I realized that conditioning and the means to make meaningful change had already been thoroughly examined millennia before. Moreover, several recent studies in psychology, psychiarty, and neurosciences had found statistically significant benefits to various meditation practices, particularly mindfulness, in creating habit change, emotional regulation, and physiological improvements. In several case, mindfulness practices were either as effective or more effective than standard interventions.

As I taught my classes, I also found that some vocalized mantra methods from the Vedic tradition can help people enter into deep alpha/theta brainwave states quickly and more easily than standard hypnotic induction techniques. This occurs in part due to longer exhales that help to stimulate the parasympathetic nervouse system, leading to a profound sense of calm. Moreover, the brain starts to synch up with the soothing vibratory quality of the vocalization, which helps to lessen erratic thinking. In our mantra meditation sessions, my clients reported deep states of consciousness and calm that they hadn’t experienced before. If more effective methods exist, I decided that I owe it to my clients to utilize them in my hypnotherapy sessions as well.

I also started researching, learning about, and working with brainwave technologies for myself, such as Audio Visual Entrainment (AVE), Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF), and Isochronic Tones. I found massive changes in my ability to acheive higher states of consciousness—and consistently stay there—while using the devices together with meditation and mindfulness practices. This was a big discovery that levels the playing field for my hypntoherapy clients to get the most out of their sessions with me.