For over 35 years, I've been a hunter-gatherer, scouring the known world for ancient and modern change practices that can help you to ...

• restore your mojotivity;
• resolve your personal problems;
• dissolve blocks;
• eliminate unwanted cravings;
• improve relationships and communication;
• enhance your special qualities and gifts;
• connect to your sources of inspiration;
• get things done.
  
  

Some clients call these practices the magic in my mojo bag, but really they are just the catalysts that spark the magic that is within you ... waiting to emerge. When we work together, you will be filling your own mojo bag with effective, easy to use practices that you will be able use on your own -- when you need them the most.

The following practices
have been selected
because of their power,
gentleness and speed,
as well as their
enduring effectiveness ...

      Focusing
        __________________

Focusing is both a set of techniques, and a philosophy. No matter which techniques we might be using at any given time, our work will be informed by the Focusing philosophy.  So let me tell you more about Focusing:

In the section called Joan's Approach, I wrote about how there is a field of energy, inspiration and creativity which you can tap into because you are already part of it.  This source is your birthright, and the mojoflow that happens when you connect with it is your natural state. So we can say that if mojoflow is the natural way of things, stuckness is an unnatural thwarting.



With Focusing, you revive your mojotivity by keeping friendly company with a body-based signal called a "felt-sense."   This "felt-sense" catches the essence of the impasse, or a emotion, or problem that you are working on in a way that is not yet describable in words.  This felt-sense is sort of like something being on the tip of your tongue, but in this case it is at the tip of something more than your tongue:  it is at the tip of your bodily awareness.  Starting at a fuzzy edge of understanding, the felt-sense, when explored, begins to become known.

As you tune into your issue or struggle, paying gentle attention to the felt-senses that are generated, your problem starts to shift and change.   You don't have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps because your boot (or in this case, your body) has an inner knowing about where to go.

From a Focusing perspective, stuckness happens when some part of you is not being listened to enough.  Movement and flow return when that part is heard and accepted, in the same way that ice melts when it is presented with warmth.

Focusing teaches you how to linger at the edge of not-knowing, listening curiously for communications that seem to be whispered by the body.  Silence and pauses are encouraged to allow these special knowings to emerge from deeper and deeper places within you.

What we used to call resistance melts, because there is nothing to resist. Nothing is judged, everything is met with appreciation.

So, even though there is no urging, no pushing, no forcing and no fixing ... with Focusing, situations right themselves on their own. 
As your issue is befriended with empathy and compassion, it automatically evolves, transforms, releases, relaxes and shifts ... and new behaviors emerge with surprising spontaneity.

Eugene Gendlin, the discoverer of Focusing, calls this "making steps"  and  "living forward."  I call it "getting your mojotivity back."

       Energy Techniques
     ____________________________     

Energy is real. You can sense it... especially when you are feeling up, down, or discombobulated.

When you feel stuck, wired, or collapsed; when you feel as if you have a lump of lead in your chest; when you feel off - these are sure signs that your energy is disrupted. (I used to say that disruption in the energy system is like static on the TV screen; make the required adjustment, and the static goes away, leaving a clear picture.  Only now, with cable, you may not know what static I am talking about!)

Energy techniques clear the unwanted charge that makes you feel upset. Once that charge is cleared, you feel lighter, freer and more focused. Spontaneous understandings follow, and old, negative responses self-correct.  Your natural creativity, insightfulness and productivity are restored. Your Mojotivity is revived.

• EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). Developed by Gary Craig, EFT is an energy balancing process, related to acupuncture, but without needles. You will learn to tap gently on your own energy points while tuning into your pain or problem. This allows the pain or problem to self-correct.
  
  
• BSFF (Be Set Free Free Fast) was developed by Dr. Larry Nims to remove painful thoughts, feelings, behaviors and post traumatic stress. Here, a programmed cue stimulates the healing power of your subconscious mind to eliminate the causes of problem states.
  
  
• TAT (Tapas Acupressure Technique) was created by acupuncturist Tapas Fleming from her work with Traditional Chinese Medicine.
  By focusing on your problem while holding your hands on vision centers at the front and back of your head, TAT creates creates the space for gentle, natural healing to occur.
  
  
• REMwork (Rapid Eye Movement Work) is a blend of eye-movement processes and hypnotherapy, used to deepen emotional healing, and to calm the after effects of trauma. It is useful as a method of profound inner centering, and it helps free the mind from its old patterning.

        Hypnotherapy
        ____________________

Hypnotherapy is a gentle way of tuning into the wisdom of your inner mind to transform the invisible beliefs, traumas, decisions and motivators which are at the root of your most stubborn problems.

At the core of hypnotherapy is the deep relaxation which comes from letting go of conscious control. From this peaceful state, essential truths and healing experiences bubble up. These experiences may include memories, images and insights about the root causes of present suffering.

Hypnotherapy is also about receiving guidance - from your highest self, and from guides and mentors in the transpersonal realm. (Interestingly, you don't actually have to believe in a transpersonal realm in order to receive help and guidance in this way!)

Hypnotherapy is a safe and gentle way to access the wisdom of your inner mind - where trauma can be healed, where creativity can be restored, and where your mojotivity can be reclaimed.

         Expressive Arts
        _____________________

As an artist with an MFA in sculpture, I am naturally drawn to expressive arts techniques. This might include drawing, amplified movement, sounding, or role-playing. The use of expressive techniques allows you to find and embody your truth and articulate your vision, and express your power in a variety of forms.

         Spirituality & Shamanism
        _________________________

Our work together may include aspects of spiritual psychology, meditation and deep inquiry.  By tuning into your spiritual being, you begin to calm down, let go, release stress-producing beliefs, follow the natural flow of events, and experience your connection to the expansive intelligence of the universe.

Buddhism, Taoism and The Work of Byron Katie inform my spiritual approach.

Shamanic practices represent the most immediate form of spiritual experience. There is no book of received wisdom; there are no masters who tell you how to think or what to do. It is all process - all about journeying to higher sources of wisdom.

Shamanic journeys allow you to retrieve your power and your soul, without giving any of it away.

        Intuition Enhancement
       ________________________

We all are naturally intuitive, but sometimes, we have trouble accessing what we actually know. The following techniques let you know what you know but don't yet know that you know.

• Muscle Testing reveals the connection between your mind and your body.  Because your muscles become weaker when exposed to harmful stimuli, to unhealthy emotional attitudes, to mental stresses and to untrue thoughts, you can use muscle testing to find out what is harmful or beneficial, what produces stress or calm, and what is false or true, and what is your deepest reality.
  
  
• Similarly, you can be trained to use a Pendulum to answer questions, to choose between several available options, to track the progress of our work, and to determine the next step toward your goals.

The most important skill you need to develop when using muscle testing or a pendulum is the skill of framing things in unambiguous yes or no questions.

         Humor
        _____________

The Mojotivity Way, among other things, is a way of spontaneity, goofiness, and play.   It embraces the part of you that likes to smile, fool around, and have fun.  A big part of our work together involves reviving your childlike aspects with react to life with awe, wonder and creativity. Humor is a big part of how we work.

____________________

"Joan's work is like having an eraser that simply removes problems.

Once you work on a problem you can easily forget that it was a problem, because it's completely gone!"

Cathy Hedgecock,
journalist