We got this lovely note from a happy Katrina K.:

“Just a comment... used your cancer/surgery cds for my breast cancer…. such a godsend.  Was very upset and frightened… can’t even describe… cds settled me down… got me through.  Thank you, thank you.  If someone told me it would help, would never have believed them… got from being terrorized to calm in no time.  Amazing…. Thank you for what you do…. gave them to my hospital when finished with them….  Please post this.”
K.K.

The very inspiring Dr. James Gordon and his awesome, kickass team of volunteer mental health professionals are currently doing advanced PTS training in Gaza City.  This is something, folks.  Yep, they work separately with both Israelis and Palestinians, and continue in the wonderful tradition of what they did in Bosnia and post-Katrina New Orleans.
 
These folks get it that posttraumatic stress is a biochemical and neuro-physiological condition, and that the way to healing is through the primitive brain and nervous system.

Our staff received this wonderful note last week about how some simple, stress-reducing imagery helped reduce a man’s back pain and shorten recovery time with a back that chronically goes out on him for weeks:

I feel compelled to write to you to thank you for the wonderful audio on Relieving Stress. For the umpteenth time, my back gave out on me. While a student at MSASS [Ed. note: This is The Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University), a professor introduced our class to these wonderful healing tapes. After a few short days of using the Stress tapes twice a day, my back feels so much better. I can't believe how much faster I recovered this time compared with other episodes of debilitating back pain in the past. Wow!

I am going to recommend these tapes to all my friends that lead hectic and chaotic lives. A few minutes out of the day to listen can be so beneficial to general well-being!

Thank you again!
MC

We love this story because it shows how guided imagery (and other mind body practices) can provide lasting tools that cross over into other spheres of living.  This woman was introduced to it for use during chemotherapy, but it wound up as part of her skill set to stay centered and sober:

Thanks to Mary Ann Brussat, I used your tapes during chemotherapy 6 years ago.  Like many others, I found the visualization practices powerful and effective.  

Since then, I have become a member of AA and have used the same summoning of my AA helpers when I am in an environment in which I would formerly have had a drink.  I summon my AA group members, one by one, and surround myself with them in a circle of safety.   I feel cared for and strong and protected.
 
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR TEACHING ME HOW TO SURROUND MYSELF WITH A CIRCLE OF SUPPORT.  

Anonymously Grateful

We get a lot of requests for guided imagery for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) but don’t yet have anything specifically targeted for this condition.  We knew that anything that relaxed the listener would make symptoms better, but we were nonetheless gratified to read this post where that notion is validated:

The [Asthma] affirmations work well for me, [who] suffers from COPD.  I feel better, my breathing is more relaxed. I listen to this at night and when I wake up during the night.  It has helped me to take my drugs as allies.

I even had a dream of being in a beautiful hall with molded ceiling. There were the friends, and a friendly healthy, strong and vital guide put his arm on my shoulder to comfort me. I woke up realizing that that luxurious room was my lungs feeling healed. Thank you Belleruth!

With all my encouragements,
Michael from UK

Our seven-year-old son Sam is a very sweet boy who has had problems with anxiety since pre-school. He now is in second grade with an excellent teacher and many neighborhood friends in his class.  He is also a bright boy - schoolwork has never been a problem for him. In spite of all this, at the beginning of the school year he became very anxious, was reluctant to go to school and started wetting the bed again.

This happened at the beginning of first grade too, lasting for many months. This year, my social worker sister predicted this was likely to happen again and coached us to become proactive. She recommended we keep tools on hand from your website to help Sam.  

We used two CDs  – Sleep Fairy right before bedtime and Magic Island in the morning before school – sometimes with breakfast in bed!  He enjoyed listening to them immediately.

We found this wonderful reaction to guided imagery in general and Martha Howard’s guided meditation for Keys To Your Highest Potential in particular, posted as a review comment on our site:

This is an extremely valuable item--worth every penny spent and every minute spent. I was deterred at first, since it was only 25 minutes--I felt that it would not have as much value as others on this site.

After some trial and error, I came back to this one, and I am very glad that I did. I had first been introduced to Belleruth Naparstek when I was given a complimentary chemotherapy CD.  I listened to it religiously for 6 months while I underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy for breast cancer. It helped me immensely in dealing with the discomfort of the procedures.

My 41 year old daughter is a successful research scientist who took her time finding the right man to marry.  Four years ago, she finally found him. They married a few months later and immediately tried to start a family.  She could not get pregnant, in spite of the fact that there were no hindrances detected clinically in either one of them.  

Sarah is a bit high strung to start with, but this situation created great levels of stress in her and for them as a couple.  It was heartbreaking to watch my lovely daughter, who had so much of her life together at last, become a tense, distracted, unhappy person.  She has always been a high-energy, productive, happy person.

We recently got this over-the-top enthusing over our Cancer imagery, showing how supportive a simple technique like guided imagery can be for reducing passive helplessness and giving some control back …,
 
This is the most wonderful CD ever. I was diagnosed with breast cancer right after my lovely daughter graduated from college. What a week of extreme joy, to the depths of despair!