Today, our discussion is on the developing brain of younger children and their imaginary playmates.

What is the relationship among brain waves, what children see, and ghosts? Why do young children see things that grown-ups don’t see? By interacting with the environment, a child’s brain activates and develops only the potential networks that match or prove to be useful in the environment.

In the early years, between ages two to six, the brain has not distilled enough to distinguish between conception/perception that is inner generated and outer generated. It is usually during this time that young children experience and develop relationships with imaginary playmates and what we might call ghosts.

Between ages seven and eleven, the brain comes to a different order, and the dreamy influence of early childhood diminishes in most children. At age eleven, the brain flushes and dissolves the unused potential neural networks, fixing the brain in its current relationship with the environment. This effectively prevents any perception experience that is not in sync with the child’s or family’s environment/model/culture. Thus, a lot of children may no longer see ghosts, energy forms, or spirits after puberty.

Then at ages eleven to fourteen, the brain goes through this big cleansing process and physically dissolves the unmyelinated potential neural connections that were available in the early brain. We either use it or lose it, and by age eleven, nature assumes that you are going to be using everything that the environment calls for you to use. It says, “We don’t need this extra stuff. Let’s clean house and wash it away.” At that point, most people stop “seeing.”

If the child sees a form or something that the adult doesn’t see, they quickly learn to screen that out or hide it, because that’s not normal in their parents’ environment. The ghost is not part of what the culture reflects; it’s not part of the bonded experience.

So we have these different brain frequencies as the brain goes through its stages of growth and development; it changes and adds higher frequencies or different frequencies to its brain-wave patterns, which correspond to states of perception.

It is perfectly normal for children to have ghosts and\or imaginary playmates in the early years, as late as age eight. Surveys estimate that 65% of all children have imaginary playmates during the first eight years of life. These children develop better social and communication skills than their peers, and their heightened creativity and imagination are now recognized as healthy and normal.

Seeing a ghost or imaginary playmates might be a way a child copes with stressors in their lives. Lucy was eight when her parents divorced, which caused financial setbacks for her mother and father. Both of Lucy’s parents lived in apartments, and she went back and forth between the two homes. Sleeping on her dad’s couch when she visited him on weekends was her normal routine.

One night, Lucy woke up when she felt her favorite quilt being tugged. She opened her eyes and saw a young girl pulling the quilt off of her toes. Lucy wasn’t frightened, only curious. She closed her eyes again, thinking she was dreaming and sleepy. If the girl were still there when she opened her eyes, she would be her friend. She opened her eyes and—voila!— the girl was still there.

The ghost returned with Lucy to her mom’s apartment, and Lucy spoke with her friend, sometimes when she was alone in her room or sometimes before she slept at night. Lucy told her mom about her friend and said they had been conversing for about a year.

Did something bring the ghost to Lucy? Or did Lucy conjure up her new friend via her imagination, in response to the loneliness and stress she felt after her parents’ divorce?

In Kids Who See Ghosts, you’ll read several times that the professionals and psychics who work with children who see and have imaginary playmates ask parents to

1. Listen to their children.

2. Don’t dismiss them or put them down.

3. Ask questions.

4.Observe how the child interacts with the spirit, and under- stand any life circumstances that might be influencing the child’s perceptions.

Get Kids Who See Ghosts: How to Guide Them Through Fear, Today!

When parents have the information they need, they feel more confident in helping a child overcome fear and put any event into perspective. Those four steps help the child stay connected to the parent’s heart and allow him or her the time and opportunity for further exploration and understanding. Don’t think that you can shield children from fear or feel that you have to take care of all their fears. Kids learn resilience just like parents learned it by gaining life experience with confidence in knowing mom or dad support them.

If you enjoyed this article about imaginary playmates, please visit the next spot for the sixth day of the tour, http://yvonneperry.blogspot.com, where Dr. Goode speaks about the writing process for Kids Who See Ghosts.

I happen to by a type “O” which apparently 70% of the population are the same. This is the oldest type of blood as the types “A”, “B”, ” and “AB” developed in man as we evolved. The theory goes that Neandrathal man was type “O” and lived life as a hunter/gatherer.

This meant they mostly consumed meat and therefore their (and our) bodies operated (operates)  best on a protein based diet. Because the majority of people on this planet are Type “O” they are the ones that need to be eating gluten free foods by adhering to a gluten free diet.

Most overweight people are consuming large amounts of gluten in flour based products. The obvious ones are all the different bread products but if  you start reading the package contents in the products in the grocery store, most everyone there contains gluten.

The extreme of gluten insensitivity are people who suffer with celiac disease. The not so obvious reactions to gluten include. Arthritis, weight gain, lethargy, intestinal disturbance, bloating, and even light sensitivity in the eyes. These are just a few of the reactions your body has to eating non gluten free foods.

So the bottom line is, if  you are suffering physically you have to accept that  you are what  you eat and if you do not change your diet  your symptoms will never go away. Being a sensitive person most likely means that you need to be eating gluten free foods. Adopt a gluten free diet and your body will be so much more healthy and responsive.

For more information on a gluten free diet Click Here:

]]> http://sensitiveselfhelp.com/gluten-free-foods-save-your-life/feed/ 8 http://sensitiveselfhelp.com/christmas-stress/ http://sensitiveselfhelp.com/christmas-stress/#comments Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:09:46 +0000 guruglenn http://sensitiveselfhelp.com/?p=207 Tis the season for stress and tension…falalalala…lalalala…    When I was a massage therapist this time of year really stressed people out.  My practice was so busy coming into the holiday season. It was good for my pocket book but I wondered why people became so stressed.

Most of my clients were sensitive people and I wondered if everyone was stressed as much as they were. If we listen to the news we can tell how most people are reacting to the stress. BADLY….

It never made sense to me that a time of year meant for peace on earth and goodwill towards men caused the complete opposite for most people.

Stress is certainly the culprit. At Christmas time there seems to be that much more to do and even less  time to do it in.  Wouldn’t it be great to just stop rushing around and be fully present with the moment?

Starting each day with a short meditation helps to keep you grounded in the present moment. We now know that engaging the right hemisphere of the brain is the key to being one with the moment. Meditation, Deep Breathing, Contemplation, Focus, all are helpful.

It is just a matter of deciding to do it and then following through with your intention.

Be peaceful this season.

Dogs Feel It Too...

What comes to mind?

For me it was the years I suffered with anxiety and panic. There was no going forward in life. It was all about just trying to cope with what was happening at the time. Gaining control over my mind was the secret to eliminating my symptoms.

What would your life be like if you had no hurdles to hold you back?  What do you dream of becoming and what stops you from going there?

There are many resources on the web for helping people move forward in life. The ones I find most relevant are the ones that deal with changing the thought processes of the mind. Our belief systems create our reality. The challenge is that our subconscious or unconscious mind holds the hurdles in place.

Meditation has helped me to discover what was in my way. What was unconscious is now conscious and therefore I am able to deal with it.

Our Biggest Hurdle?  Our Own Mind.

Okanagan Lake

Besides the obvious need for water to keep our bodies alive, we sensitives need to be near water to stay sane.

What is it about water that helps us to reduce the stress in our lives?

Water has a healing affect on the energy center, or chakra, at our throat level. The color that emanates from this center is blue. Of course water is most of the time blue. I have seen some water that is in polluted industrial rivers and I do not like being near them.

The throat chakra is related to communication. As a sensitive person can you relate to withholding what you truly want to say sometimes.

It is very important to speak your truth.  This does not mean venting or speaking harshly to others. It does mean being true to yourself. It means getting in touch with how you really feel about things and then taking the action required.

Being in, around and near water helps to nourish your throat chakra. Your other energy centers when balanced will help with the expression of your inner truth. When your are living your truth completely, you will be fully realized.

Here is a fascinating account of Water:

If You Are Sensitive YOU Are Special

Have you heard of the 80/20 rule?  Sensitive people make up slightly less than 20% of the population. That means that 80% of the time you are vulnerable to the rest of the people out there. How to be less sensitive requires you to learn to be insensitive when you need to be.

I’m a…
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Being sensitive around other sensitive people is one of the most beautiful experiences there can be. Maybe you already have this kind of connection and have discovered there are some people you are around that you don’t need to know how to be less sensitive. The free flow of energy between two sensitives is like the waves of a warm ocean coming in and out on the beach.

So how to be less sensitive 80% of your time all depends on your frame of mind. You have the ability to protect yourself from the insensitive people by operating from your source. Changing perspective to understand that whatever is happening is the other parties story is the key. You have a choice to engage in it or not.

The beauty of being sensitive is that you can develop the ability to freely choose from being sensitive 20% of your time and being protected 80% of your time. Eventually knowing how to be less sensitive will be a thing of the past and you will want to know how your sensitivity can best be expressed in the world.

When you do want to share your sensitivity, make sure you let us all know because the world will be a better place.

Who else wants to learn how to be less sensitive? I can help you. You were born that way for a reason and all you need to do is to understand why to be successful in life. Did you know your hand prints reveal your life purpose? Contact me to discover how to be less sensitive. glenn at sensitiveselfhelp.com

The number one thing that helped me become less sensitive was to learn to control the stress and anxiety in my life. I have created a free ecourse detailing what I found out about decreasing stress and anxiety. If you feel overly stressed and anxious then go get it NOW!. Free Anxiety Ecourse.

I’ll leave you with some wisdom left to us by Mother Teresa:

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have and it may just never be enough;

Give the world the best you have anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it’s all between you and God;

It was never between you and them anyway.

Mother Teresa

]]> http://sensitiveselfhelp.com/how-to-be-less-sensitive/feed/ 35 http://sensitiveselfhelp.com/the-blessed-right-brain/ http://sensitiveselfhelp.com/the-blessed-right-brain/#comments Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:14:57 +0000 guruglenn http://sensitiveselfhelp.com/?p=130 We can all learn a great deal by the first hand experience of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor.  If you have not heard of her you can watch her video HERE. 18 min. in length.

I am naturally very right brained and had nothing but trouble trying to fit in a left brained environment like the school system.  Not until I started meditating thirty years ago was I able to view the world from my right hemisphere.

Meditation is the key to being able to see the world from a right brained perspective. When everyone is operating that way, what a wonderful world it will be.

If your mind is constantly dictating to you how things ought to be, I encourage you to spend a few minutes of every day focusing on the present moment.

In the present everything and everyone is perfect and whole. Being in this state is what’s known as Nirvana. I am blessed to have experienced this state and even more blessed to be able to access it at will.

Read Dr. Taylor’s book, My Stroke of Insight. In it she eloquently explains the benefits of seeing the world through the right brain.

It is a very scary place to step outside of our comfort zone.  How many sensitive and non-sensitive alike, settle for a life of obscurity?  Sometimes a very safe place to reside is also a great place to suffocate.

After many years of personal growth, I took a huge risk and left everything I knew behind me.  Even though I was getting many of my needs met there was still a whole in my soul that needed filling.

Being out of my “comfort” zone was a very scary place for awhile.  It felt like I had crawled under a rock for what seemed like years.  After processing what I was truly meant to put forth in life a story came to me.  I wrote it out and lo and behold I gave birth to a novel.

It is called “Lotus Petal” and it is a spiritual parable that will help you to overcome your fear of death. It is being publish by Persona Publishing. I will keep you posted as to when it is on the market.

The process I followed for my development is available to all who care to seek their inner truth.  A great resource is Success University. You will find a link to it in the right menu under the blogroll.  There you can grab a free copy of “Think and Grow Rich” by Napolean Hill. Following these principals will lead to fulfillment physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Faced with a choice between your money or your soul, which would you chose?  I would say both.

Many people strive to obtain fame and fortune while somehow losing themselves in the process.  Do you 

know people who are financially secure and unhappy at the same time?  There are many who feel empty

spiritually even though their bank accounts are full.

Money is power and I agree with creating the right amount of wealth to support our desired lifestyle.  The 

universe is very supportive and will conspire to create whatever we set our minds to.

If our only focus is on the accumulation of wealth then our spirit will be in need. If our only focus is on our spiritual development, then our finances will be lacking. The answer of course is to find a balance.

Because making money requires a lot of energy from the mind, it is important to pay attention to your feelings.  I know this is foreign territory to most people. I can attest from personal experience that this is the way to feel whole and complete.

Spend ten minutes every day sitting undisturbed with your eyes closed.  Pay attention to your breathing and just notice, without judgment, how your body feels.  The time spent with your feeling self will help you to feel balanced, allowing your authentic truth to emerge.

Foster a relationship with your authentic self, then you will be wealthy financially and spiritually.