Louise is an amazing and creative woman. She is a therapist and author working on her second book, this one on relationships. Fiercely independent, she had left her marriage a long time ago. Since then Louise had several long-lasting deep relationships with equally independent men. Her most recent partner died suddenly a little over a year ago. She still felt the pain of this loss intensely.
 
Coaching helps with difficult problems.
Louise is an expert in the SciStress techniques in addition to traditional tools. She has used SciStress for herself and with her clients. Actually, Louise has helped me edit my book. Why would this accomplished therapist come to me? Because having somebody else coach you through a particularly difficult set of issues and emotions can bring relief and resolution much more quickly. What is the reason that a coach can be so helpful in such a situation? Because these deep issues are processed in our emotional brain, which is subconscious. Therefore, it is helpful to have an experienced coach guide you with particularly difficult issues. Still the client, in this case Louise, does all the work using the techniques. To be sure, most day-to-day issues and stresses an individual can handle completely on their own.
 
Pain explodes into hot anger.
As soon as we started working on the pain of having lost her partner Sam, that emotional pain flipped into red-hot anger. “Why did he leave me?” Louise assessed the intensity of her anger at a level 7. We use the same subjective pain scale a doctor might use when she asks you how much does it hurt on a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being very minor, 10 being unbearable. You could see by her expression that Louise was really in a rage. She described it as red-hot with black lightning. As she described it the intensity of her anger increased to a level 8. With two sets of the quick SciStress technique Louise was able to reduce her intensive anger to a level 0. Louise knew the effectiveness of the technique and was not surprised by the sudden change.
 
Raging anger replaced by deep sadness.
Now she began to feel an overwhelming sense of sadness, level 8 or 9. It was almost unbearable, “I want to die.” This time the tapping didn’t work correctly. It seems the intense emotion was stuck. Louise kept describing it in intellectual, mental terms. Our emotional brain does not react well to thinking mind representation. It has to be more concrete for the emotional brain to process.
 
Making an emotion real.
For the subconscious to process something effectively you have to make it “real”. There is a straightforward trick of the trade to do that. I asked Louise the following question. “If that feeling of sadness had a shape what would it be?” Louise didn’t hesitate: “It is like a big lead ball, very heavy in my chest.” I continued, “If that lead ball had a color what would it be?” “Dark gray to black,” came back as the answer. “What is the temperature?” “It is cool, maybe cold.”
 
Shift is good.
Louise tapped several quick rounds on the cold gray lead ball in her chest. It had started out as a level 8 and didn’t budge immediately. Then after the third or fourth round it suddenly dropped to a 1. The perception of the heavy gray lead ball had virtually disappeared. But now it shifted to a very tight feeling in the throat. That discomfort Louise rated as a 7. Now, these kinds of shifts in emotion and their perception may sound strange to somebody who has never experienced that. In practice however it is quite normal. The emotional brain is closely connected to the body's autonomic nervous system. Therefore, it quickly and automatically connects emotions to specific perceptions in the body. Shifts between strong emotions and corresponding feelings in the body are a natural part of releasing trauma and pain. These shifts are clear signs of progress in releasing.
 
Opening to good feelings.
Working with difficult feelings will result in significant relief most of the time. The intensity of the negative emotion may drop to a level 1 or 2 or even a 0. Sometimes the emotional brain will spontaneously shift to a positive emotion. This is a wonderful experience. It is also proof that the negative feeling has been permanently transformed. Especially if you have lost a loved one or had a bad experience with an individual, the release of the negativity allows positive memories and positive perceptions to flood into consciousness. This is what now happened for Louise. Her training and her work now paid off. She suddenly was filled with intensive positive emotions about her last partner Sam. You could see it in her face. A deeply joyful smile had replaced a painful frown.
 
Losing a loved one can happen to all of us.
 
Remember, all instruction for dealing with difficult emotions, which includes a loss, are in the second part of the book. They are easy to learn. Most of the time you can even do it yourself. But as you have read in the above case, even experienced people may benefit from being coached in some cases. If you don’t have the book, you can get the book at Amazon. If you have the book, go and read it again to refresh your skills.
 
Should you have difficulty dealing with a loss, please let us know. We may be able to help.
 
Warm regards,                    Fred & Judy
 
Fred George Sauer, MS, MS Eng., Chief Stress Coach, Performance & Productivity Specialist
Judith Lynch-Sauer, PhD, RN, Scientific Advisor, Clinical Professor of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing
 
PS: Don’t forget to keep a daily routine of managing stress. Check Appendix 2 of the book for quick help with stress.

Mom and daughter Ria were very excited. The next day the little six-year-old would have her children’s ballet performance. Ria and her class had trained for several weeks for this performance. Ria is a very lively intelligent girl. She loves her kindergarten class and is a great student. But more than anything else she looks forward to her ballet class. Therefore, this children’s performance was anticipated with great expectation for many weeks.
 
So excited, how could Ria go to sleep?
The evening before the great day time came to go to bed. Mom talked with Ria and told her how important a good night sleep would be for her. Without that sleep she could not be at her best the next day. Ria told her mom she knew that and she would sleep extra well.
 
Relaxing music and talk therapy.
But sleep would not come! Mom quietly talked to her again to help her settle down. Then she put on some quiet sleeping music which always worked before. Still little Ria just could not fall asleep. Mom talked some more to her. She told her how the restful night would help her with her performance. They talked some more; you could call it “talk therapy”. To no avail.
 
Under stress we forget.
Now this mom had been to several SciStress workshops. She had used the techniques frequently. She was an expert. She had taught the techniques to her daughter and they had used them together many times. This evening not getting Ria to sleep had created a little bit of a stressful situation for them both. One of the most typical stress reactions is that we forget and we don’t easily see alternatives for action. Why does that happen? The reason is that in stress mode our autonomic nervous system immediately pulls our blood from our thinking brain. There is less oxygen available to think, remember, and make good decisions. This is very natural yet also very unfortunate. It is a very good reason to use our fast-working and effective stress reduction method.
 
Sound sleep for a great performance.
Becoming a little bit worried about Ria not sleeping, mom finally remembered SciStress tapping techniques. And she started gently using them on little Ria who was still quite hyped up. Ria immediately began to relax. Her body melted into bed and pillows. Her eyelids slowly dropped. Her face had a quiet smile. In less than five minutes the little girl was fast asleep. The next day, full of energy Ria did a great job performing at the children’s ballet.
 
By the way, Judy and I both use the technique whenever we have trouble sleeping. It works perfectly for adults too. Many of our clients confirm this. The stress hormone cortisol stays in the blood stream longer. Therefore, it is often the reason we can’t get to sleep or wake up frequently. Reducing the stress response in our brain quickly calms the nerves and no more need to produce cortisol.
 
Sleep better and live longer!

Warm regards,                    Fred & Judy
 
Fred George Sauer, MS, MS Eng, Chief Stress Coach, Performance & Productivity Specialist
Judith Lynch-Sauer, PhD, RN, Scientific Advisor, Clinical Professor of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing
 
PS: Don’t forget to keep up a daily routine of managing stress. That too helps you to better health. Many of you have my book, “The Girl Who Couldn’t Laugh, the Neuroscience of Stress Management”.
 
PPS: Get it out now and check Appendix 2 for quick help with stress. Reread the second part of the book for the full technique and a deeper understanding.

​Sorry, I really have to apologize
 
Yes, yes, yes … In my last blog article I started out with a difficult topic but rather than introducing it gently and easily I started out with the most difficult aspect for many. What happened is this.
 
Stress has a lot to do with what we eat.
 
This is true both ways. Stress causes you to eat the wrong food, e.g. the stress hormone cortisol makes us crave fat and sugar. On the other hand bad nutrition makes us more susceptible to stress. If we have 20 or 30 pounds too many we don’t feel quite as well, we are not as mobile, we will even get sick more often.
 
Therefore, for the last couple of years Judy and I have been studying and experimenting with different ways of eating. We actually found 4 different systems which helped us feel great, have energy, keep our weight in line and in general supported good health. More about all of them will be in another article soon.
 
The easiest and most adaptable of those systems seems to be intermittent fasting. That’s why I was so excited when I read Dr. Jason Fung’s book. To repeat:
Jason Fung, MD. He wrote it with a well known health author and blogger, Jimmy Moore:
​
“The Complete Guide to Fasting”
 
Now the reason I want apologize is Dr. Fung’s book is probably not the easiest way to start out with. You have to really be seriously committed to dive into his research and recommendations.
That’s why I want apologize to you. I’m sorry we didn’t start out with an easier recommendation.
 
Why is eating right so difficult?
Why is keeping our weight down so difficult?
Why has everything we’ve tried not worked?
 
Because we have been misinformed about nutrition. We have been misinformed about how our body really works.
 
Now here are the answers in a short highly concentrated 36-minute video presentation. Here is a great way to start learning about what’s wrong with our current nutrition quickly but thoroughly. Here is a great way to learn how our body really functions:
 
Dr. Jason Fung - 'Therapeutic Fasting - Solving the Two-Compartment Problem'

Watch this video and you will start rethinking how you eat. I’m not exaggerating. Dr. Fung has been practicing both in the United States and in Canada. He really knows what he’s talking about. And he explains it in very clear easy to understand terms.
 
Remember what bad nutrition and bad eating habits can do to you! You feel bad, you feel guilty, and you feel older than you are. Also remember a long list of serious illnesses which are the result of metabolic disease, of bad eating habits.

• heart disease and stroke
• Alzheimer’s
• high cholesterol and blood pressure
• abdominal obesity
• polycystic ovaries
• gout and arteriosclerosis
• stomach reflux and sleep apnea
• diabetes type 2 and … dreaded cancer

 
This is not fear mongering. This is real. If many of you readers might already have some of these symptoms, hopefully just starting. Take action and get Dr. Fung’s book now. Follow his advice and in a short time you’ll have more energy and feel better. And then with a little more time your health will improve.
 
Judy and I know from our own experience, the better way to eat makes a huge difference in our lives.
 
Live better and live longer!

Warm regards, 
 Fred & Judy
 
Fred George Sauer, MS, MS Eng, Chief Stress Coach, Performance & Productivity Specialist
Judith Lynch-Sauer, PhD, RN, Scientific Advisor, Clinical Professor of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing

Yesterday a friend posted a photo of 5 buddies having breakfast at a famous local hangout. From the research we have done in the past year on stress and nutrition we couldn’t let go of this picture. Why? Because at least 3 of the people in the picture look like they will shorten their lives. If they don’t do something drastic, their lives will be cut short by up to a dozen years. And the last few years of their lives will not be healthy. Those “golden years” will most likely be unhappy, perhaps miserable. How can we say this?
 
We are reading a book by a famous medical doctor. The book is about a healthy lifestyle which doesn’t cost you anything. It would probably even save you money. If the 3 buddies in picture don’t do something like this doctor suggests, they’ll be in trouble. He has a list of health problems which go together with metabolic disease. Here is the list:

• heart disease and stroke
• Alzheimer’s
• high cholesterol and blood pressure
• abdominal obesity
• polycystic ovaries
• gout and arteriosclerosis
• stomach reflux and sleep apnea
• diabetes type 2 and … dreaded cancer

 
Is this alarmist or exaggerated? Not really. There is plenty of research and he explains most of it in the book.
 
What to do? We learned about this free and easily available tool to improve health from a leading U of M cancer specialist. He uses the technique with his entire research team. The technique is called intermittent fasting. It is easy and safe to start with it. There is a lot of good information available. But now we are reading this outstanding book about the subject. It’s written by the now famous Dr. Jason Fung, MD. He wrote it together with an also well known health author and blogger, Jimmy Moore:
 
“The Complete Guide to Fasting”