Hi from a one-month PATHS user

[cassiopeias_dream]

Hi everyone!

I've been lurking this forum industriously for about a month now but haven't yet been able to post. I came across a post in this forum one night when I was very depressed and on the brink of giving up on everything (been suffering on and off depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember), and was introduced to PATHS. Even though I thought it sounded a bit woo-woo I was intrigued and for some strange reason decided to buy four modules...

Right now I am on:
Mood elevator
Self-confidence
Trauma Free
Increased energy and motivation

(the last two I have only been on since yesterday, was on Goal Setting and Achievement and Get Organized before, but they didn't feel right for me at the moment).

My mood swings were quite turbulent in the couple of weeks before I signed up for PATHS, but funnily enough I felt really good the day after I viewed my first theatre, and for a whole week afterwards - uncharacteristically good. Since then, it's been up and down. I feel it's too early to tell whether it's working for me or not. Sometimes I am convinced that it is working, that I am getting better and that the downs are just a result of the famous 'cognitive dissonance', at other times I get a bit down and discouraged, thinking "who am I kidding, I've tried 1000 other things which didn't work and this seems the most far-fetched of them, it's just a massive placebo...". I guess it's difficult, when you've been down for so long and have gotten your hopes up on so many things that didn't deliver, to strike a balance between too much optimism - and with it the possibility of feeling completely crushed when it doesn't work - and too much skepticism, which never does any good. I find myself wavering between the two constantly. Any advice for me?

I'm not saying I don't feel a change, because I do. Even though these past few weeks have been turbulent for me in terms of university work (final year, lots of deadlines, much stress and little sleep) and other events in my life, I feel I am handling it better than I would have in the past. I have a sense of hope, and I feel better about myself. I'm fairly experienced with using EFT, and when I do EFT these days I seem to get insight into my issues easier. But I have this deep underlying fear that it's all a placebo and that it's going to stop working eventually, and after having spend so much money and time, and most of all effort, over the years trying to feel happy about myself and my life, I don't feel like I can take another let-down... Did any of you PATHers feel the same in the beginning?

Ooops, I really didn't mean for my first post to be a long complaint about my woes and miseries, I just wanted to say hi to everyone whose posts I've been following for so long, but then I got kind of carried away... Sorry!!! Hope no-one minds...

[Aaron]

Welcome!

Hi and welcome to Energetic Forum.

PATHS can just take time depending on the person and module(s).

I could tell a difference in sleep the very first night. Sleep should be the first thing you notice a difference in. If not, contact the office asap to see if they can adjust it for you. E-mail info@paths-vx.com

Also, make sure you're taking at least 4 grams of spirulina a day mimimum. That is usually 8 tabs/caps @ 500mg each.

You'll have a more clear sense of what PATHS is doing after the school year, which is almost here I believe.

[cassiopeias_dream]

Hi Aaron, thanks for the reply!

I've been taking spirulina all along. I used to be a bit overenthusiastic and take about 15 grams, I've recently cut it down to about 7 because it upsets my stomach in large amounts.

As for sleep, no clear difference. I usually don't have problems falling asleep, but due to studies my sleeping schedule has been quite abnormal so I can't tell if there's much difference. I used to be on Flex sleep however, and just switched to Deep Sleep a couple of nights ago. My sleep has indeed been deep the past two nights, then again I've been very tired. See, I keep second guessing myself, haha! Whenever I see an improvement, I think "Well, it could be PATHS... It could also be xyz...". I just need to RELAX and let go of expectations (easier said than done), and you are right, it will be easier to see a difference now that the school year is over.

[future pather]

Yeah the thing I've found about PATHS is synchronicities will happen so there's quite often a logical reason for your change, but I still believe the change is due to PATHS.

For example, I was a volunteer tester on the oral health mod and they did a blind test so we didn't know what the mod was. I found my teeth were whiter after I had been on the mod a while but I also knew I had cut back on coffee a bit.

Well the thing is I'm pretty sure the mod had something to do with me cutting back on coffee, so while there was a logical explanation for my whiter teeth that I could separate from PATHS, I don't believe I would have had the result of whiter teeth had I not been on the mod.

The mods help your subconscious to get that result you want by whatever ways work for you.

I posted long ago about when a client of mine went on the defying gravity skin mod. A bit after she had been on it someone gave her some fancy face cream. She was starting to get compliments about her skin but she couldn't decide if it was PATHS or the creme.

I think PATHS helped her biologically as much as it could but maybe her skin needed certain nutrients, moisturizing, etc. so the mod found a way for her to get them.

Your mod helped you reach a state of really tired so you could get some deep sleep imo.

There are countless examples I could share but I'd be here forever

[wpage]

Hi CD

Welcome...
Hang in there with the moods. This too shall pass!

You have come to a good place to get some helpful solutions

[cassiopeias_dream]

Thanks, guys

I've never thought of it that way, future_pather. It makes sense, and it makes me more hopeful, thinking that all the good stuff is synchronicity rather than coincidence.

One thing though... do you think the same could be said for cognitive dissonance? Because while it has calmed down now, the second and third weeks on Self Esteem I had a lot of external triggers that gave me a huge self esteem crisis. I had an unusually rough time, I even went as far as self-harm, and I haven't had low enough self-esteem to do that for a good couple of years!... I remember even being surprised, at the time, about how much self-hatred I had for myself, just because I really hadn't felt that way for so long. I didn't think of it having to do with cognitive dissonance or PATHS, since it was caused by an external trigger... but now I'm thinking maybe I was wrong about that.

I got through the worst though, and I feel relatively emotionally stable now. My only worry is a new set of cognitive dissonance since I just got on the Trauma Free module! But if it does happen, I can at least console myself with the conviction that PATHS is working for me!

[future pather]

I think of that as slightly different than cog dis. I think of cog dis as a spaced out feeling I get (not sleepy, just not a lot of conscious thought) when what I believe is happening is my mind is having conflicting thoughts and trying to reconcile them.

What you are describing sounds to me more like a case of PATHS tackling deep issues. I'm sorry you went through that! In general PATHS will start making improvements, then it will tackle deeper issues. Eventually you will see improvements there.

Sometimes you don't have too many bumps in the road, sometimes you do. It just depends on the person and the mod and where they are with the issues the mod addresses. But I guess it's a matter of if you want to grow and improve in an accelerated way. Imo it's better than the alternative, lol.

Please post here or talk to someone if this keeps coming up. Hopefully it is in the past now

Jessica

[cassiopeias_dream]

I think of that as slightly different than cog dis. I think of cog dis as a spaced out feeling I get (not sleepy, just not a lot of conscious thought) when what I believe is happening is my mind is having conflicting thoughts and trying to reconcile them.

Yea, I recognise that feeling. I get that sometimes after an intense EFT session. I wasn't really sure what the difference was between cognitive dissonance and a healing crisis, so thanks for clearing that up for me.

Incidentally, after my last post that I had really deep sleep, I had an awful night's sleep. Terrible nightmares of being chased, kept waking up in a cold sweat - I can't remember the last time I had a nightmare. Watched my theatre just before bedtime and couldn't sleep for ages after that, from now on I'll stick to mornings and afternoons. It's all good though, if these are side effects from my new modules then I'll gladly take them as long as I eventually get the benefits!

[future pather]

Cassi,

Two things come to mind. First if you are having your spirulina later in the day, try only taking it earlier. It can have amping effects.

Second, you may want to swap one of your modules to the lucid dreaming one. I recommend to go with your intuition as to if you should. But the lucid dreaming one solves nightmares for me.


XO Jessica

[cassiopeias_dream]

No worries, I only had nightmares that one night. I'd love o try out the lucid dreaming module eventually though.

So I did a little experiment lately and stopped taking spirulina for a few days to see if it would make any difference. Woke up today and felt extremely weak and out of energy, then took about 15 grams of spirulina, felt fine later on... even a bit energetic. So I'm a little more convinced that it's working now. Been going through another rough period lately though, I'm hoping it's a healing crisis and that it'll be over soon. Just before I added the two new modules, I was finally feeling opimistic and upbeat and I hope I can feel that way soon again!

[Kevin]

from North Mississippi!