Why We Read More Young Adult And New Adult Romance Novels

tags: young adult, new adult, romance, novels, books, young love, first love, high school romance, teenage love,

Young Adult and New Adult Romance Novels are a booming genre.

As a genre, Young Adult and New Adult Romance hasn’t changed much over the years, because neither has the subject matter that appeals to the readers. 

The reason that romance is such an eye-catching genre, is because of the heart pounding thrills that drive the story. The road blocks, obstacles, and struggles that each of the characters must face to develop the love between them is an emotional trip that any reader would love to explore. 

The various subgenres: young adult, new adult and adult romance, are largely determined by the protagonists' age and aims at drawing readers in by having the main characters struggle through the same emotional issues as the reader before gaining the love which they set out for.

In North America, romance novels are the most popular literary genre, comprising almost 55% of all paperback books sold.  According to The Daily Mail, sales of Young Adut and New Adult Romance Novels jumped almost 150 per cent in just six years.  Figures compiled by Neilsen BookScan are even more dazzling: In 2014 more than 3 million books in the category were sold, compared to only 981,000 in 2006!  Whereas it is estimated that women buy up to 90%  of all adult romance books, Young Adult and New Adult romance books have managed to attract a considerable number of male readers.

The common theme in these novels are young people turning into adults and discovering love and the responsibilities of life.

Typically, the main character in these books is a late teenage or early twen heroine who is trying to figure out who she is and wanting to fit in and be noticed.   In the process, she is struggling with her emotions, and often getting into conflict with her environment.

In the Young Adult Romance Novels, paranormal elements, dark forces (spirits, werewolves, vampires, zombies or whatever) and universal threats (extinction, plague, extra terrestrials) help to attract young readers.

In the New Adult Romance Novels, the life phase focused on generally moves from an high school environment to college and transition to work.  Paranormal elements appear less frequently and, if they do, are less important.  Instead, the emphasis is on a more mature sexual experience and / or deeper psychological analysis and description.

Inter racial and same sex relationships, as well as more controversial topicss including poverty, addiction, criminal behaviour, rape, abuse, domestic violence and personality disorders are addressed in some novels.

Young adult fiction, thankfully, has conquered the literary recognition it deserves.  And It's not just children who are reading these books!  Industry experts estimate more than a third of them are actually bought by adults.

It's no surprise these books are finding a growing audience:  there are countless amazing young adult and new adult novels to choose from, and with promising novels coming out every month, chances are that once you have found one series you enjoyed, you too will return for more. 

There are plenty of good reasons why adults love these books. 

Actually, young adults often feel  embarrassed to confess that they are reading Young Adult or New Adult books, whereas more adult readers have come to accept and appreciate the reasons why they love reading this kind of novels:

-          There is something endearing, fresh, compelling and innocent about young love that makes it irresistible.  Stories about young love are about starting the path towards becoming yourself.  They are open minded, unpretentious, have a strong sense of hope, and take us to a period in life where imaginiation still reigns and cynicism isn't present yet.

-          The characters are easily relatable: the main character’s behavioural traits and goals mostly are clear from a very early stage in the story, allowing readers to communicate more openly, honestly and candidly with them than is possible in most adult novels.

-          Since the theme is universal, we can draw from what is happening in the story and learn from the characters' behaviour and growth how to conquer problems in our own life.

-          The stories have a clear plot: generally, you know what to expect when you start reading.

In Young Adult novels, the protagonist, who is usually female, is going through a rough periode and meets a bad boy.  As the story evolves, a good boy enters the story and with time, she discovers that she's in love with him.  But there are obstacles to overcome and misunderstandings to clear before the pair of them finally become an item and their love is accomplished.  

In New Adult novels, though the story is basically the same, you are likely to find more explicit sex scenes, thought monologues and flashbacks. Also, since the characters are usually older here, elements from their personal history may return on stage and complicate the plot.

-          The first cut is the deepest.  Teenagers have this capacity to love undonditionally.  Their life is filled with new emotions, new perspectives, new dreams and new experiences and every decision has the potential of creating a totally different future.  Because they are about a phase in life when everything is new and felt more intense, also the drama is more intense in Young and New Adult novels.

-          To some adults, reality is a disappointment.  They want to experience true love and,  live all these emotions and believe in a happily ever after, but often can't.  Reading about it is the next best thing and has the power to turn every day into a love story.  Young Adult and New Adult Romance Stories are exciting and interesting because the reader knows they almost always end with a positive outcome.  In general, good people who believe in and fight for their relationship will likely be rewarded, which offers hope and feeds optimism.

-          Teens and young twens are still at the outskirts of society.  They aren't really part of the system yet, which allows them to revolt and kick ass.  As such, they remind us of our own ideals, which makes it easy to feel empathy for the characters and be empowered by them.  Watching them grow and learn from their mistakes, makes us reconnect with our younger self, which makes the characters easy to root for. 

-          Parents and teachers may choose to read Young Adult and New Adult books to stay connected to their children or students.

-          The novels provide an opportunity for escapism: There is nothing that makes you feel better than reading about people who become happy.  You also know that any emerging problem can be easily solved by reading the story all the way to the end. 

-          Young Adult and New Adult Romance Stories are inspiring and empowering.  In the life of a teen, every new event and decision has the capacity of creating new perspectives for a totally different future. In considering the possible consequences of the main characters’ decisions, we enter a world with new morals and new choices that invite us to consider applying them to our own daily actions.

-          They are good adventures, because traditionally the hero and heroine fall in love very soon, but have to conquer a lot of opposition and go through a roller-coaster of experiences and emotions before finally finding love in each other’s arms.

-          Stylish packaging and marketing helped them expand beyond their initial teen audience.

Young Love

Have you ever looked back at your life and noticed you remember it in segments defined by the relationship you were in?  If you did, I'd like to recommend you some of the more unconventional Young and New Adult Romance Novels. 

Amongst them, Dean Amory’s “Young Love” series definitely is amongs my favourites.   If you're done with romance stories that rely on princes, werewolves or dark secrets, than here is a set of refreshing contemporary New Adult Romance Stories about ordinary people that deal with love, loss and growing up.

Sean's high school phase was determined by Katherine. Though Katherine wasn’t his first girlfriend, she definitely defines as his first love: the person and relationship all later significant persons and relationships in his life are compared to.

In the first novel, Young Love Part1: A Schoolyard Love Story, Sean and Katherine fall in love.  Theirs is never an easy relationship.  When Katherine doesn’t agree with his life style, he realizes he will lose her unless he drastically changes his behaviour. His desire to please Katherine forces him to start looking at himself, other persons and events in his life with new eyes.  Nothing he does however can save their relationship from capsizing. When the relationship becomes a threat to her studies and understanding with parents and teachers, Katherine still ditches him. Since Katherine keeps repeating that the break up is only temporary and that she can’t imagine life without him, he starts out very optimistic about his chances to win her back.  Soon however, he discovers that broken things have sharp edges and that trying to fix them can be very painful..

Young Love, A schoolyard love story, is a refreshing high school romance set in Europe, Flanders, in the early seventies of the previous century with a total lack of stereotyping, that has it all: it's witty, bittersweet, touching and rich in culture and history. The story depicts all the uncertainties and overpowering emotions that come with true young love in a most original and genuine way.

Readers will appreciate the realistic depiction of the tortured hero's psychological struggle after the heroine ends the relationship, especially when it becomes clear that both young people remain drawn to each other anyway and struggle to regain their balance during the rest of the school year.

In the second novel, Young Love Part2: First Love’s Shadow, Sean tries to move on with his life.  After some time, Katherine asks him to reunite.  But she ads a condition: “Until the end of the school year only”.  Sean would go to the end of the world to date Katherine again, but the added condition makes it obvious to him that Katherine’s view of what they mean to each other is very different from his own. But maybe, once they go together again, Katherine will change her mind and not keep him to the expiration date she is putting forward?  Are second chances really possible? Can recreating the past help the young couple to create a different future?  And is Sean even willing to accept her terms?

In this imaginative, surprising and complex page-turner, which will certainly appeal to all fans of young adult and new adult romance novels, Dean Amory has brought a vivid, clever and heartfelt portrayal of what it’s like to be a teenager in love. "Young Love Part 2, First Love's Shadow" is a gripping story in which the distance between lost and found is often less than a text line long.

The success of the books is due to their simple, yet intricate storyline. This, in fact, is the kind of situation many young people go through.  Young love, the loss of love, the internal struggle and the continued search for love are all captured beautifully in these novels, allowing readers to easily identify with the story’s main characters..

Life (especially life as a teenager) is rough at times, and novels offer the greatest of sanctuaries from reality. As I met and came to love people like Sean and Katherine,  I realized that these novel characters do not only inspire us, but also remind us of the fact that we are not alone in our experiences.

04-07-2015 om 13:01 geschreven door Zytha  

New High School Romance Novel YOUNG LOVE

Author: Dean Amory

Tags: young romance, first love, young love, teenage romance, teenage love, coming of age, new adult, young adult, romance, novel,

In “Young Love part 1, A school Yard Love Story”, we witnessed how Sean and Katherine fell in love the first day they met. But Katherine broke up when she got afraid that things became too serious, and risked to disrupt her studies and the good understanding with her parents.

For Sean, being dumped was hard enough, but things became really complicated when Katherine  promised she would return to him after they graduated from high school.  Unfortunately, his heart was broken and he never believed love is something one can switch off and on deliberately. After trying for months to convince Katherine to reconsider, Sean gave up.  But with Katherine always nearby, he never really managed to distance himself from her. 

The sequel “Young Love Part 2, First Love’s Shadow”, starts at the beginning of the summer holiday.  Sean has acceted a holiday job at a hotel in the seaside resort Ostend.  He tries to move on. It’s difficult though to forget about Katherine, when so many of the issues he experiences in his new relationships look almost identical to what he went through before with her. Since this can hardly be coincidence, Sean starts questioning himself and the rules he’s always lived by.

At the start of their last year at school, Sean and Katherine discover that it’s not always simple to spend most active hours of every day in the same classroom with your ex.  Someone you loved and adored with all of your being and with whom it’s still easy to talk because they know and  understand you.  After some time, Katherine invites Sean to date again. Will they lay their hearts on the line again? Are second chances really possible? Can recreating the past help the young couple to create a different future?  And is Sean even willing to accept the terms Katherine's offer comes with?

About Young Love, part 2: "First Love's Shadow"

Dean Amory, author of the critically acclaimed coming of age novel “Young Love, A Schoolyard Love Story”, returns with a poignant, striking sequel that skilfully captures the singular experience of being a teenager: “Young Love, First Love’s Shadow”.

Dean Amory chronicles the hero’s life through the thrills, heartbreaks, joy and despair of the final year in high school and the consecutive transition to a work environment.  After the traumatic end of the school year, Sean leaves for the Flemish seaside resort Ostend, where he will work at hotel Brabant during the summer holiday.  Away from Katherine, he opens up again, meets new people and falls in love again but past experiences are haunting him and he must face some hard truths about himself.  Torn between old dreams and new hopes, he questions himself and the rules he’s always lived by.  By the time he returns home after the summer holiday, he feels reborn and ready to face the world.

But is he also ready to face Katherine? When she broke up, she had a simple plan: put studies before love and return to Sean after graduating from high school only.  Seeing how Sean has distanced himself from her, she realizes she is running the risk of losing him completely and invites him to reunite with her until the end of the school year, at which point she wants to re evaluate her life. 

Are second chances really possible? Can recreating the past help the young couple to create a different future?  And is Sean even willing to accept her terms?

In this imaginative, surprising and complex page-turner, which will certainly appeal to all fans of young adult and new adult romance novels, Dean Amory has brought a vivid, clever and heartfelt portrayal of what it’s like to be a teenager in love. "Young Love Part 2, First Love's Shadow" is a gripping story in which the distance between lost and found is often less than a text line long.

Some Comments: 

Great writing!  Could not stop reading!!

When I first picked up this book I wasn't all that sure I would like it, but I was pleasantly surprised when I read it. Now I can say with complete honesty that I enjoyed the story very much and am so glad I picked it! The story drew me in and I felt all the joy and all the pain.  It was intelligent and well developed and the dynamic between the main characters was great. 

I really enjoyed the characters. The characters are very well written: they have substance, and are unique without ever being overdone.  The author didn't go over the top with unrealistic scenes, though sometimes I became frustrated with Sean and even yelled at him once or twice. He took his time and you felt him struggle with his feelings. 

I was a little sad at some times and even cried at one point.  His heartbreak over losing Katherine was really sad.  I was left with a little bit of hmmmm a hang.

All in all it was a sweet read and wish this author only success with many more to come.

Total recommend for someone who's looking for a really good, original romance novel.

(Nele)

I usually dont leave reviews, but this book was TOO good not to.  This is an incredible book that you will not regret reading.  The story really caught me up in it. It had me hooked within minutes and I couldn't put it down! 

 I love this type of stories because they give you that feeling of first love discovery and transport you back to the days of high school and the emotional highs and lows of young love. 

 The book is very well written and unique because it takes the boy's point of view, which is rather unusual for a romance.  Also, it isn't as superficial as most romance stories: you really get to know the main characters very well. Especially Sean of course. To me, it was unexpected who he ended up with. Throughout the book, I kept hoping Sean and Katherine would come together in the end, after they finished school. After all, they loved each other, had known each other for years and had always been there for each other, even when they were not so close.I can honestly say that my feelings were hurt when they did not, even though they probably made the best choice for themselves.

I hope the author will consider publishing the book with an alternate ending with Sean picking Katherine, after they finally realize they've been each other's true love all along! 

Definitely recommend this book. I will be buying other books by this author. 

(Megan)

I'm so glad to have come across this book! This truly is a gem!  I have absolutely enjoyed reading it!  I fell in love with the characters right away and felt as if I were in high school right along beside them.  They are totally realistic and relatable.

I loved the special bond Sean and Katherine shared.

The story had me go through a roller coaster of emotions.  The plot line was sweet and endearing but also honest and never too sappy! Even though Sean's heart gets broken along the way, he refuses to settle for anything less than true love. I'm so glad for the silver lined cloud in the end. 

The story is paced evenly throughout the book with no huge time jumps or overworking of parts. I would definitely recommend you purchase this book. You will not be disappointed! 

(Sharon)

Wow, I loved this book!  Really amazing!  This book contains a well thought story plot.  The characters are genuine, and their decisions easy to understand.

Sean's personal struggle adds just enough drama, but I most of all adored Katherine.  Unlike Sean, she does not allow her hormones to rule her life and fights for what she knows is right, even if this means that she has to suffer a lot. 

I absolutely loved this book!

(Caroline)

Wonderful book. I literally just finished it and am sitting here a little stunned by how much I liked it.  I absolutely loved this story! It had me smiling, made me feel sad, even crying and on edge.  I was amazed at how well written it was.  The book is easy to understand, but also very different to the usual superficial falling-in-and-out-of-love kind of teen romance.  I loved it!

From the beginning I felt a connection with Sean. 

This is definitely one of the better young adult romance novels I have read in a long time! 

Anybody who loves a great teen romance should definitely read this book.

(Madelyn)

Wow, "Young Love" is absolutely awesome and I really enjoyed reading it.

I don't usually read young adult books because I thought they are too juvenile for me.  But I decided to give it a shot anyway.  After reading Young Love, I am persuaded otherwise!  The story captivated me from the start. I realy liked this book. It was so full of emotions that it overwhelmed me sometimes.

The story is good and it's well-written. I was able to connect to the characters and feel the emotion they were going through.  I started reading it last night and couldn't put it down anymore.  I finished it about 15 minutes ago. 

My emotions were everywhere! The book reminds me of my own life story.

I appreciated the honesty with which the author describes Sean's personal struggle.

The boy took my heart away just because he's not perfect or fake, but one hundred percent authentic.  And Katherine was so strong!  Doing the right thing all the time even though she knew it would cause her pain.  

(Abigail)

Young Love is available at:

Lulu.com

http://www.lulu.com/shop/dean-amory/young-love-part-1-a-school-yard-love-story/paperback/product-22211969.html

Amazon.com  (also Amazon Fr, De, Uk ...)

http://www.amazon.com/Young-Love-Part-School-Story/dp/1514332035/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434526760&sr=8-1&keywords=dean+amory+young+love

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Young-Love-Part-School-Story/dp/1514332035/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1434526665&sr=8-2&keywords=dean+amory

Barnes and Noble

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/young-love-part-1-mr-dean-amory/1122130623?ean=9781514332030

ShopmyBooks

http://www.shopmybooks.com/IE/es/book/dean-amorydean-amory/young-love-part-1-school-yard-love-story

Smashwords

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/550243

More about Young Love

There is something endearing and innocent about young love; it’s irresistible. 

Here are two unconventional young adult romance novels with a unique rhythm that echoes the cadence and energy of youth, and a wonderful underlying pulse that quickly captures your imagination.  

YOUNG LOVE is a unique and welcome look at love and romance from the young man’s perspective. It looks at first love in diverse and unconventional ways, which is what we need in young adult novels today: 

YOUNG LOVE Part 1, A School Yard Love Story, follows Sean as he meets the smart and witty Katherine on the first day of the new school year.  

Although Katherine questions what his true intentions are, and doesn't always like his behaviour, she cannot help falling in love with him. But when their relationship threatens to ruin her studies and the understanding at home, she breaks up.

When he discovers that Katherine cannot shake him from her mind, Sean struggles to live up to her expectations and restore their bond. In the process, he is forced to have a good look at himself and to discover his own identity.  Slowly, he finds that it’s okay not to have all the answers.

In Young Love Part 2, First Love's Shadow, we follow the two during their last year at highschool. During a two month holiday job at a seaside resort, Sean has managed to distance himself from Katherine.  After the return to school however, Katherine realizes she's about to lose him for ever and invites him to reunite.  But her invitation comes with a condition.

Will they lay their hearts on the line again? Are second chances really possible? Can recreating the past help the young couple to create a different future?  And is Sean even willing to accept the terms Katherine's offer comes with?

If you’re looking for a great contemporary romance check out YOUNG LOVE.

YOUNG LOVE  is a wonderful contemporary romance.  Dean Amory does an excellent job at at giving us humor and characters that have depth, and portraying love, heartbreak and fate in this great coming-of-age story.  He gives us the thoughts and musings of young adults, and shows us that in a world seemingly without a cure, there is always hope in one form or another.

Dean Amory is a master at writing characters that come alive on the page.  The emotional tension between Sean and Katherine  is beautifully written. You really get a good sense of what both characters are feeling.   The sweetness of young love.  The anguish of regret. The sadness of time lost.   Not only did I fall in love with Sean and Katherine, but I really enjoyed watching Sean struggle to become the person he wanted to be and remain honest and consequent, even when his decisions came with an obvious cost..

I don’t know about you, but I totally love high school romance stories, especially when they involve young people trying to become the best they can.  I highly recommend this book.   It’s a wonderful read, and it leaves you with a sigh and a smile.  

17-06-2015 om 10:22 geschreven door Zytha  

17-05-2015 om 15:49 geschreven door Zytha  

17-05-2015 om 15:46 geschreven door Zytha  

‘Omdat Ik Vlaming Ben' -  Eddy Adriaens

‘Omdat ik Vlaming ben’ is een sociale aanklacht, weliswaar met humor verzacht. Het is een politiek manifest, geschreven met een gevoel van mededogen en in de wetenschap dat de ‘vijand’ in elk van ons loert. Maar het is vooral het ontroerende verhaal van Florine, die liefde, respect en identiteit zocht tijdens de helse jaren van de tweede wereldoorlog en lang daarna.

'Omdat Ik Vlaming Ben' is uitgegeven bij onder meer Lulu

(Prijzen te vermeerderen eventuele verzendingskosten afhankelijk van het verkooppunt)

http://www.lulu.com/shop/eddy-adriaens/omdat-ik-vlaming-ben/paperback/product-22013368.html (17 € retailprijs; 14.90 € bij aankoop via Lulu Webshop)

http://www.shopmybooks.com/BE/en/book/eddy-adriaens/omdat-ik-vlaming-ben-0 (23,14 €)

 http://www.amazon.de/Omdat-Vlaming-Ben-Eddy-Adriaens/dp/132616435X (18,19 €)

'Omdat Ik Vlaming Ben' is eveneens beschikbaar als E-pub of PDF eboek via volgende links:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/eddy-adriaens/omdat-ik-vlaming-ben/ebook/product-22013481.html (5 €)

https://www.scribd.com/doc/253955849/Omdat-Ik-Vlaming-Ben  (4,99 €)

amazon kindle:  in processing

 ‘Marleen' - Eddy Adriaens

"Marleen" is het verhaal van de apenjaren van Eddy: drie vreemde jaren die beginnen op die eerste schooldag in 1970, als hij verliefd wordt op een nieuwe klasgenote: Marleen.  Een verhaal vol ups and downs, doodlopende straatjes en onverwachte wendingen. Een verhaal zoals het leven zelf, dat je meeneemt op een tocht door je eigen herinneringen. Een verhaal dat je niet meer wil neerleggen voor het helemaal uitgelezen is en dat je achterlaat met een glimlach en een warm gevoel. Niet omwille van het happy end, maar omdat je onderweg jezelf hebt herkend.

 'Marleen' is uitgegeven bij onder meer Lulu

(Prijzen te vermeerderen eventuele verzendingskosten afhankelijk van het verkooppunt)

http://www.shopmybooks.com/BE/en/book/eddy-adriaens/marleen-0 (338 blz - 22,50 €)

http://www.lulu.com/shop/eddy-adriaens/marleen/paperback/product-13039617.html (248 blz - retailprijs 18,00 € - bij aankoop op de website van Lulu:16,65 €)

http://www.standaardboekhandel.be/seo/nl/boeken/literaire-fictie/9781452886756/eddy-adriaens/marleen (211 blz  17,86 €)

http://www.boek.be/boek/marleen-2 (211 blz  17,86 €)

http://www.feedaread.com/books/Marleen.aspx (338 blz  14,75 €)

'Marleen' is eveneens beschikbaar als E-pub of PDF eboek via volgende links:

http://www.amazon.nl/Marleen-Dagboek-Apenjaren-Handelsschool-Aalst-ebook/dp/B00ND71S9E  (Kindle, 4,38 €)

http://www.lulu.com/shop/eddy-adriaens/marleen/ebook/product-18476101.html (PDF  4,78 €)

01-02-2015 om 00:00 geschreven door Zytha  

Nieuw boek: OMDAT IK VLAMING BEN

20 januari, 2015 door Eddy Adriaens

Met trots presenteer ik mijn nieuw boek "Omdat Ik Vlaming Ben".

Het boek schetst aan de hand van de levensloop van Florine De Pauw geboren in 1921 in het kleine dorpje Kerksken (Haaltert), het gevoel van achterstelling dat in de periode rond het uitbreken van de tweede wereldoorlog leefde bij vele Vlamingen.

Haar generatie had de de verhalen gehoord, en de gevolgen gezien, van de manier waarop Vlaamse soldaten aan het IJzerfront vernederd en zelfs onnodig opgeofferd werden door ééntalig Frans sprekende officieren. De manier waarop het Belgisch Establishment en de Katholieke Kerk met Priester Daens had afgerekend, droegen zij vers in hun geheugen. Bovendien stelden zij vast dat er voor een Vlaming nog altijd geen mogelijkheid bestond om in de eigen taal te studeren en ervoeren zij aan den lijve hoe de Vlamingen in België behandeld werden als tweederangsburgers

Bij het uitbreken van de oorlog, werden deze gevoelens alleen maar versterkt doordat wie actief was in de Vlaamse Beweging automatisch als collaborateur bestempeld werd.  Niet altijd ten onrechte, want velen droomden nog altijd van een hereniging van Vlaanderen met Nederland en zagen België enkel als een onderdrukkende staatsstructuur. Het waren vooral de meest kwetsbaren, de jongeren, bij wie idealen en de drang tot overleven de ogen deed sluiten voor de mogelijke gevolgen, die na de oorlog zouden terechtstaan als collaborateurs.

De levensloop van Florine De Pauw leent er zich bij uitstek toe kennis te nemen met wat het was om destijds als Vlaming geboren te worden, hoe dit gegeven de denkbeelden van de mensen vormde, en wat daar de gevolgen konden van zijn. 

‘Omdat ik Vlaming ben’ is een sociale aanklacht, weliswaar met humor verzacht.  Het is een politiek manifest, geschreven met een gevoel van mededogen en in de wetenschap dat de ‘vijand’ in elk van ons loert. Maar het is vooral het ontroerende verhaal van Florine, die liefde, respect en identiteit zocht tijdens de helse jaren van de tweede wereldoorlog en lang daarna.

Op het moment ben ik nog bezig met de laatste puntjes, maar de voorbereidingen schieten goed op.  Wil je alvast jouw exemplaar van "Omdat Ik Vlaming Ben" reserveren, of wens je bericht te ontvangen wanneer het boek in de handel verkrijgbaar is, stuur dan een email naar adriaens.eddy@telenet.be en ik verwittig je zodra het boek klaar is.

Over mezelf:

Ik werd geboren op 21.09.1953 in het Oost-Vlaamse Aalst en groeide er samen met mijn zes broers en zussen op in de wijk Terjoden. Na mijn studies aan de Handelsschool te Aalst werkte ik 14 jaar bij lokale KMO's als korrespondent, directie-assistent en hoofd verkoopadministratie. Sinds 1986 werk ik bij Belfius Bank. Ik ben getrouwd met Arlette Scheerlinck, vader van een dochter, Tamara en woon in Nederhasselt - Ninove.

Eerder publiceerde ik "Marleen", het dagboek van mijn apenjaren in de Handelsschool te Aalst, en "Sarah en de Liefde", een verhalenbundel over de ervaringen van een tienermeisje, geschreven samen met mijn zus Marlies Adriaens en gepubliceerd onder het pseudoniem Nele Smit.

Regelmatig stel ik - hoofdzakelijk Engelstalige - themaboeken samen.  Deze handelen vooral over aspecten van coaching, counseling en communicatie en worden gepubliceerd op http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Jaimelavie. 

20-01-2015 om 11:56 geschreven door Zytha  

13-10-2014 om 15:24 geschreven door Zytha  

AN INTRODUCTION TO MINDFULNESS

What is mindfulness?

What are the origins of mindfulness?

What are the benefits of mindfulness?

What are the skills of mindfulness?

How can I practise mindfulness meditation?

What are some examples of meditation and training exercises?

What is mindfulness based cognitive therapy? (MBCT)

What does a 6 - 10 week mindfulness program include?

How to practise mindfulness throughout the day? - in the workplace?

What are the differences between awareness, consciousness, attention and mindfulness?

... These are some questions you may have been asking yourself about mindfulness.

You will find the answers to these questions and many more in “INTRODUCTION TO MINDFULNESS”, compiled by Dean Amory.

Download your e-book of "Introduction to Mindfulness" here, or order a paperback copy and make it your loyal companion through the good and the bad moments that eventually form your life.

paperback: http://www.lulu.com/shop/dean-amory/introduction-to-mindfulness/paperback/product-21066108.html

ebook:  http://www.lulu.com/shop/dean-amory/introduction-to-mindfulness/ebook/product-21066129.html

What is mindfulness?

In a nutshell, mindfulness is about being completely in touch with the present moment and being open to experiences as they come.

Mindfulness involves taking your attention away from the past and future and away from your imagination - and instead becoming aware of what is going on right now. You can do this as you go about your daily life. Notice with your senses: what you are seeing and hearing, that you are breathing, standing, walking or sitting or lying down, the feel of the air against your skin as you move along.  Your mind will keep drifting out of the present so you need to keep bringing it back. It is bringing your mind back to the present that makes up the practice of mindfulness. Never criticize your mind for drifting away: just bring it back kindly and gently.

Have you ever suddenly become aware of a background noise that had been going on for some time unnoticed? Or have you ever woken up just moments before your alarm clock went off, as if an inner force had lifted you from slumber? That was mindfulness.

Mindfulness is a mental faculty, like intuition or musical ability. It reminds you of what you didn't know you had forgotten, and wakes you when you didn't realize you were sleeping (or daydreaming).  Mindfulness points out what ordinarily escapes conscious attention, what is hidden in plain sight -- or what we've overlooked or forgotten because it doesn't fit our interpretations, or pertain to our goals, or because it makes us feel uncomfortable.

When you are mindful, your mind is quiet but alert, empty but present, sharply focused on the immediacy of the situation,  knowing that anything can happen.

Without mindfulness, we function as if on autopilot, only partially aware of who we really are or what we're doing.

What are the origins of mindfulness?

Mindfulness has been used for thousands of years in the Buddhist tradition to improve people’s experience of living.

What are the benefits of mindfulness?

Being mindful lowers anxiety and stress, interrupts harmful brooding and will help you to avoid endlessly repeating distressing or unhelpful thoughts, images and mental scenes.  

Mindfulness meditation has been demonstrated to provide relief from a wide range of afflictions including pain, depression and loneliness. It also contributes to enhanced focus, creativity and performance on a wide variety of tasks.

Among its many welcome side effects are deep serenity and a patient, tolerant understanding of others, but it is worthwhile in itself for reasons that must be experienced to be appreciated. In a word, it awakens us.

What are some examples of meditation and training exercises?

Exercises like those below have been used for centuries to help people practice mindfulness as they go about their daily life. The first two need only take a minute or so but will help you if you repeat them at intervals during the day.

Awareness

From time to time, notice your breathing.

Notice your posture.

Notice the points of contact between your body and the chair, floor, ground.

Notice your clothes touching your body.

Notice sounds in the room; sounds outside the room; the furthest away sound you can hear.

Every time you drift into thinking, just return to noticing these sensations.

Basic Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness should be the simplest of tasks, an elemental challenge like no other.

In the July 2012 issue of Shambhala Sun, James Ishmael Ford boils the practice down to its basic fundamentals. His instruction:

“Sit down, shut up and pay attention.”

Or, to expand it slightly, “Sit down, shut up and observe your breath and body. When your attention begins to drift, gently put it back on target.”

This is the practice. Repeated re-engagement, over and over and over. Without judgment. Over time, this becomes a foundational, primal skill that we can bring to every other task and challenge in our lives. It is powerful.  So don’t make it complicated.  Just do it. Again. And again.

Mindfulness Cues

This involves using habitual behaviours to remind you to practice mindfulness. Choose one or two and then decide that when performing them you will maintain awareness of what you are doing, rather than daydreaming or getting caught up in fears or anxieties: Using the telephone ~ Going up or down stairs or steps ~ Using a computer mouse or keyboard ~ Tidying ~ Washing up ~ Showering.

Awareness of Breathing

As you go through your day, notice your breathing from time to time. All you need to do is notice just a few of those 20,000 breaths you take every day. Are you breathing with your chest or your tummy (abdominal breathing is usually more relaxing)? As you breathe out, can you feel movement in your tummy? Can you feel the air entering and leaving your nostrils?

Mindful Awakening

When you wake up in the morning, spend a few moments savoring your dreams. You don't have to remember what happened in the dreams. Just taste their overall flavor. Even when you do remember fragments of the dream story or imagery, pay especial attention to the subtle moods that they evoke, which are like aromas or fragrances.

The delicate threads of your dreams will be lost easily in the morning if you enter your waking life too quickly. Take your time, lie still for a moment, and taste the herbal flavors that your dreams have left in your mind.

Then, when you do begin to think about your waking life, notice its flavor, as well, as if it were also a dream.

Take your time, lie still for a moment, and taste the herbal flavors that your dreams have left in your mind.

Sometime during the day, when you remember to do it, pay attention to the sensations on the inside of your body. You might start by letting your attention rest on the sensations of breathing in your chest and throat.

Notice what happens to your mind as you begin to focus on those inside-the-body sensations. Do you notice a shift in the overall tone of your mind?

Then let your attention move throughout your body, like the gentle hands of a masseur, checking for spots where you feel tension or sensations of burning, tingling, or glowing. Don't forget your hands, fingers, and feet.

If you're feeling a strong emotion, such as fear or excitement, where do you feel the sensations of that emotion in your body? What textures, colors, or flavors do they have? See what happens when you examine the sensations in detail, taking quick glances at them. Mindfulness is what lets you see in greater detail.

Mindful Walking

While you're walking around outside, listen for spaces between sounds. Even the steadiest sounds are perforated by tiny gaps. Listen to the sounds as if they were music. Also, try tasting their aromas, the subtle impressions that they make on your mind, just as you do with dreams.

Try listening to the sounds as if you were listening from your belly or gut, rather than from your head. Let your belly become the center of your awareness. Let it feel just as sensitive and exposed as your face.

Also, instead of looking at things as whole objects that have names and purposes, let your attention be drawn to their textures and colors, until what you're looking at doesn't have a name or description at all. Notice how the feeling of your mind changes as you do this.

Mindful Conversations

While you're having a conversation with someone, spend a moment listening to the spaces between the sounds of his or her words. Try listening from your belly. Feel its changing sensations as the person is speaking.

Mindful Relaxation

Before you fall asleep at night, lie still and look for feelings of tension that come from all your effort to get things done during the day. Look for knots of tension in your head, neck, face, and in your belly or in your limbs.

The next day, as often as you remember to do it, look for those feelings of effort again as you're going about your day. Do you feel any tension around or behind your eyes? Pay attention to how the "making an effort" feelings are associated with thoughts or desires.

In the same way that you were noticing moments of silence between sounds, also notice that between the feelings of effort there are gaps where those feelings diminish or disappear. Sometimes the gaps are so small that they're hard to notice at first, but let mindfulness point them out.

Mindful Thinking

Thoughts are like mini-dreams. When you suddenly realize that you've been having a thought (mindfulness is what reminds you), savor its flavors, savor the residue that the thought has left in your mind, just as you've been practicing with your dreams every morning. Does it produce any sensations in your body, perhaps behind your eyes?

Notice gaps between the thoughts, where there's a bit of silence. What do you experience in that silence?

Now listen to the sound of your thoughts -- not to what the thoughts are about, but to their tone of voice, as if you were listening to another person talking. What would that person's facial expressions or body language look like? What would that person want to say?

With quick glances, explore the subtle sensations, the dream-like flavors and aromas of the personality that seems to be "you", the captain of the ship, the pilot that seems to be in charge of your body.

Observe how it seems to break up into little bits, like pixels on a screen, as you glance at it up close and in detail.

Mindful Self Consciousness

From time to time reflect on the "I" that sees inside your mind. What is experiencing and how does it know that it is experiencing? What kind of light illuminates dreams and thoughts so that the "I" can see them?

When seen with mindful glances, the most ordinary aspects of experience seem mysterious and remarkable -- and the more ordinary, the more remarkable.

How strange that the universe exists rather than that nothing exists at all, and that it exists just as it does and not some other way. And then, how strange that this "I" exists and is aware of the existence of that universe.

Such bare reflections come as part of the process of mindful awakening. Once the process of awakening begins, it moves along at its own pace, under its own steam, as awareness awakens to itself.

What are the skills of mindfulness?

Mindfulness is made up of a number of skills, all of which require practice. These skills are briefly described below:

Awareness

One skill of mindfulness is learning how to focus your attention on one thing at a time. This includes being aware of and able to recognize all the things that are going on around you (for example, sights and sounds), as well as all the things that are going on inside you (for example, thoughts and feelings).

Nonjudgmental/Non-evaluative Observation

This skill is focused on looking at your experiences in a nonjudgmental way. That is, simply looking at things in an objective way as opposed to labeling them as either "good" or "bad." An important part of this skill is self-compassion.

Being in the Present Moment

Part of mindfulness is being in touch with the present moment as opposed to being caught up in thoughts about the past (also called rumination) or the future (or worry). An aspect of this skill is being an active participant in experiences instead of just "going through the motions" or "being stuck on auto-pilot."

Beginner's Mind

This skill of mindfulness focuses on being open to new possibilities. It also refers to observing or looking at things as they truly are, as opposed to what we think they are or evaluate them to be. For example, going into a situation with a preconceived notion of how things will turn out can color your experience. This can prevent you from getting in touch with the true experience.

Practicing Mindfulness

Mindfulness takes practice. Some people may put aside time to formally practice mindfulness, such as devoting time to practice mindful awareness of their breath or thoughts. However, the good thing about mindfulness is that you can also practice it at any point throughout your day. For example, you can bring mindfulness awareness to a number of activities that we often do without thinking, such as eating, washing dishes, cooking, taking a shower or bath, walking, driving in the car, or listening to music.

As you go about your day, try to find as many opportunities as you can to practice mindfulness. The more you practice, the easier it will become to bring mindful awareness to your life experiences.

24-06-2013 om 00:00 geschreven door Zytha  

How to perform on-the-job training

According to The Encyclopedia of Business, ©2000 Gale Cengage, On-the-job training is by far the predominant form of job training, particularly for non-managerial employees.

Numerous studies also indicate that it is the most effective form of job training. Yet, On-the-job training also represents a significant investment considering that roughly 30 percent of a new worker's time is spent in on-the-job training during the first 90 days of employment, that productivity of experienced workers assigned to train new workers may decrease during the training period, and that new workers may make expensive mistakes.

Both companies and workers therefore profit largely from the presence of simple, but complete trainee and trainer guides that allow for executing OJT in a structured way.

“How to perform on-the-job training”, has the information, techniques and tips that will allow you to implement a professional OJT training program.  The book also includes all the tools, documents and checklists necessary for setting up a qualitative and efficient skills training program for OJT coaches.

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29-05-2013 om 07:52 geschreven door Zytha  

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THE MAGIC POWER OF MENTAL IMAGES

THE VISION OF THE TIGRESS

Compiled by Dean Amory

What Is Mental Imagery And How Does It Work?

Mental imagery, also called visualization or mental rehearsal, is an experience that resembles a perceptual experience, but which occurs in the absence of the appropriate stimuli for the relevant perception.

Mental images have the power to change your life. The mental images that you often visualize affect your life, whether you are aware of this or not.

If you visualize negative situations, difficulties and problem, and continue doing so, your moods will gradually become negative, you will alienate people, you will close your eyes to opportunities, and your self-esteem will go down. How can you achieve success if you are so negative?

On the other hand, successful people attract success, because they constantly imagine and expect success

What Can Mental Imagery Do To Enhance Your Life?

Mental images are like a movie or still pictures that you see in your mind. If you watch them again and again your subconscious mind will ultimately accept them as you reality.

Through Mental Imagery you can affect your thinking, behaviour and world.  If you visualize what you really and truly desire and how you will achieve these goals; if you replace self limiting thoughts by inspiring and motivating thoughts; negative habits by positive habits; prepare yourself mentally for challenging and difficult situations and picture yourself as the happy, healthy and successful person you want to be, you will improve your skills and become more happy and successful in your life!

How To Use Mental Imagery

• Practice Daily. 
• Use short visualizations during your daily activities and longer visualizations while relaxing and prior to meeting specific challenges.
• Use visualization boards as a computer wallpaper, sleeping room decoration or at places where they will regularly remind you of what is important to you.

Use Different Techniques of Mental Imagery for Different Purposes

Mental Imagery is an excellent way to

• Manifest your Dreams and Desires
• Reduce Stress
• Create a Mental Safe Place
• Define Priorities and Strategies
• Get Rid of Stumble Blocks
• Eliminate Negative Behaviour
• Perfectionalize your Skills
• Improve Problem Solving and Decision Making
• Clear your Mind from Emotional Clutter
• Find Balance
• Let Go and Break Free

Some Of The Things You Can Do With Mental Imagery

1. Manifest your Dreams and Desires

• Dreams do come true, but first you have to dream them, Right?
• If you aim at nothing you'll hit it every time.
• Goals are dreams with deadlines: If you don’t set priorities, if your short term goals don’t serve a long term vision, if you don’t select strategies, and don’t take action: how will you reach your goals? 

Prepare Success!

• Achieving your goals, being successful and being who you want to be and living the life you want, is best visualized  by mentally rehearsing the positive outcomes of future actions and events and by picturing the destined future stage.
• Envision yourself achieving your goals vividly to remind yourself of your objective and what you need to do to reach it. Many athletes, actors, and singers "see" and "feel" themselves performing a routine, program, or play perfectly before they actually do it.

2. Reduce Stress

Reduce stress by visualizing yourself in peaceful natural scenes, by descending an imaginary staircase towards your sacred safe place, by becoming a leaf that travels the waters of a lovely creek, by pulling the plug and draining all your stress away or by imagining how you let loose on an imaginary punching bag…

3. Get Rid Of Stumble Blocks

• Confront and eliminate irrational believes, fears and internal conflicts and turn your stumble blocks into stepping stones
• Take responsibility for your own emotions and actions:
  • • Recognize that neither another person, nor an adverse circumstance, can ever disturb you.  Only you can.
    • Replace “must” by “strongly prefer”
      
                       
  4. Eliminate Negative Behaviour
  
  Use Covert Sensitization:
  Imagine engaging in some behaviour you wish to change, say, an addiction. Have this quickly followed by imagining a highly unpleasant event. Thus, the addictive behaviour becomes paired with a highly aversive event and therefore is less likely to occur in the future.
  Next: imagine how your life will be without the negative behaviour.
  

5. Perfectionalize your Skills

Systematically visualize the desired correct coping behaviour and its benefits for you.
This technique has seen much use in sports.
Seeing yourself perform skills at a high level, the way you want to: confident, accurate, focused, … is a good way to build confidence and a feeling of readiness prior to a challenging task (public presentation, important meeting, …) or competition.

6. Improve Problem Solving and Decision Making

Choose an image to focus on to help you through a troublesome period.
Visualize yourself as a superwoman who can easily scale the highest skyscrapers or a marathon runner who outruns all of his competitors.
Put your problems inside a carton and imagine it getting smaller and smaller until it can easily fit into your pocket. You'll discover that your problem is easier to carry inside your pocket than the heavy weight of it sitting on your shoulders.
Or, you can visualize your problems magically disappearing before your eyes. There are no limitations in your visualizing. It can be magical.

When you are struggling with making a decision between two different options, try visualizing yourself involved in the two scenarios and imagine the results of your decision. This visualization exercise should help you in making the right decision.

7. Clear your Mind from Emotional Clutter

• Too many thoughts and mental pictures can convolute the mind
• Choose images that erase, filter, or organize your thoughts. Much like de-cluttering a closet, you can use visualization to reduce mental clutter.
• There are three causes of mental clutter: Avoidance, Indecision, and Procrastination. Don’t avoid them. Confront them Now!

8. Find Balance

Use visualizations to help you ground and find balance. Because our energies are always in flux it is important to "check in" with our bodies routinely to adjust and centre ourselves.

• If you find yourself stubbing your toes or bumping into things, you are not in balance.
• If you are experiencing mental confusion or are all over the place emotionally, a centring visualization can help return you to calm and better focus.

9. Let Go and Break Free

Are you having difficulty walking away from a toxic relationship? Or do you tend to dwell on the past instead of moving forward in your life?
Choose images in your visualization sessions which will allow you to break free from problematic people and move past personal regrets.
We cannot change the past, but we can create our futures. Begin a new way of living by visualizing it first!

10. Familiarize

Mental imagery can be used effectively to familiarize yourself with the surroundings before an event, such as an interview, an important meeting, a sales conversation or negotiation, a public presentation, a competition site, a racetrack, a stage or a difficult play or routine prior to a competition ...

11. Do a Run-Through

Mental Imagery can be used as a cognitive technique to plan strategies, rehearse procedures or game plans, affirm what you want to occur, or as a coping skill strategy to stay calm and composed under pressure. 
Athletes and performers often do a complete mental run through of the key elements of their routines. This helps them focus, eliminate some pre-performance jitters and be more comfortable. It also serves as a warm-up or mini rehearsal.

12. Build Confidence and Readiness

Seeing yourself perform skills at a high level, the way you want to: confident, accurate, focused, … is a good way to build confidence and a feeling of readiness prior to a challenging task (public presentation, important meeting, …) or competition.

13. Stimulate Healing and Recovery

Repetitive use of positive visualization allows access to the mind-body connection. This lets the mind and body work together to foster the healing process of the body on a physical level.

Visualization puts your intention of what you want to work. The more specific the intention, the more specific the results. Remember whatever you believe is what your body will do

14. Help You To Emulate Your Role Models

• An important key foundation in Neuro-linguistic Programming is modelling. To model, you emulate those who have already achieved success. You observe, analyze and then replicate the factors that contributed to the outstanding performance.
• While there is no 100% guarantee that you can reap the same results, modelling helps you shorten your learning curve. You learn to avoid common mistakes and apply the essential steps and strategies that have helped your role model succeed. The idea is that it is much easier to follow a previously proven path to success.

15. Give You Access To Your Totem Power

• Animal totems contain a natural power that can allow you to see and love and know more of the earth, life and especially yourself.

• Animal spirit guide totems hold power and knowledge that we can use to be one with nature - all that is and will be and use the power of nature to achieve our goals. Many cultures of the past understood and used the power of animal totems.

• Totems can be particularly useful in today's society where it is easy to forget the essence and true spirit of life and love in the midst of high technology.

• Use your personal animal totem to awaken the natural balance with nature that you already possess. You can be healthier and happier physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually in understanding and honouring your animal totems.

16. Borrow The Mind Of A Genius Or The Powers Of Your Hero

The truth is that you can be anything that you want to be—but you do have to work at it.



If you want to find out more about how you can use the magical power of mental imagery to enhance your life, visit my bookshop at :

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Jaimelavie


Or go to :

http://www.lulu.com/shop/dean-amory/the-magic-power-of-mental-images/paperback/product-21022668.html

Tags:

• enhance,
• happiness,
• health,
• improve,
• life,
• mental imagery,
• mental images,
• mental rehearsel,
• success,
• visualisation

17-05-2013 om 11:20 geschreven door Zytha  

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http://www.lulu.com/shop/dean-amory/the-magic-power-of-mental-images-i-am-the-tigress/ebook/product-21022704.html

THE MAGIC POWER OF MENTAL IMAGES

THE VISION OF THE TIGRESS

Compiled by Dean Amory

What Is Mental Imagery And How Does It Work?

Mental imagery, also called visualization or mental rehearsal, is an experience that resembles a perceptual experience, but which occurs in the absence of the appropriate stimuli for the relevant perception.

Mental images have the power to change your life. The mental images that you often visualize affect your life, whether you are aware of this or not.

If you visualize negative situations, difficulties and problem, and continue doing so, your moods will gradually become negative, you will alienate people, you will close your eyes to opportunities, and your self-esteem will go down. How can you achieve success if you are so negative?

On the other hand, successful people attract success, because they constantly imagine and expect success

What Can Mental Imagery Do To Enhance Your Life?

Mental images are like a movie or still pictures that you see in your mind. If you watch them again and again your subconscious mind will ultimately accept them as you reality.

Through Mental Imagery you can affect your thinking, behaviour and world.  If you visualize what you really and truly desire and how you will achieve these goals; if you replace self limiting thoughts by inspiring and motivating thoughts; negative habits by positive habits; prepare yourself mentally for challenging and difficult situations and picture yourself as the happy, healthy and successful person you want to be, you will improve your skills and become more happy and successful in your life!

How To Use Mental Imagery

• Practice Daily. 
• Use short visualizations during your daily activities and longer visualizations while relaxing and prior to meeting specific challenges.
• Use visualization boards as a computer wallpaper, sleeping room decoration or at places where they will regularly remind you of what is important to you.

Use Different Techniques of Mental Imagery for Different Purposes

Mental Imagery is an excellent way to

• Manifest your Dreams and Desires
• Reduce Stress
• Create a Mental Safe Place
• Define Priorities and Strategies
• Get Rid of Stumble Blocks
• Eliminate Negative Behaviour
• Perfectionalize your Skills
• Improve Problem Solving and Decision Making
• Clear your Mind from Emotional Clutter
• Find Balance
• Let Go and Break Free

Some Of The Things You Can Do With Mental Imagery

1. Manifest your Dreams and Desires

• Dreams do come true, but first you have to dream them, Right?
• If you aim at nothing you'll hit it every time.
• Goals are dreams with deadlines: If you don’t set priorities, if your short term goals don’t serve a long term vision, if you don’t select strategies, and don’t take action: how will you reach your goals? 

Prepare Success!

• Achieving your goals, being successful and being who you want to be and living the life you want, is best visualized  by mentally rehearsing the positive outcomes of future actions and events and by picturing the destined future stage.
• Envision yourself achieving your goals vividly to remind yourself of your objective and what you need to do to reach it. Many athletes, actors, and singers "see" and "feel" themselves performing a routine, program, or play perfectly before they actually do it.

2. Reduce Stress

Reduce stress by visualizing yourself in peaceful natural scenes, by descending an imaginary staircase towards your sacred safe place, by becoming a leaf that travels the waters of a lovely creek, by pulling the plug and draining all your stress away or by imagining how you let loose on an imaginary punching bag…

3. Get Rid Of Stumble Blocks

• Confront and eliminate irrational believes, fears and internal conflicts and turn your stumble blocks into stepping stones
• Take responsibility for your own emotions and actions:
  • • Recognize that neither another person, nor an adverse circumstance, can ever disturb you.  Only you can.
    • Replace “must” by “strongly prefer”
      
                       
  4. Eliminate Negative Behaviour
  
  Use Covert Sensitization:
  Imagine engaging in some behaviour you wish to change, say, an addiction. Have this quickly followed by imagining a highly unpleasant event. Thus, the addictive behaviour becomes paired with a highly aversive event and therefore is less likely to occur in the future.
  Next: imagine how your life will be without the negative behaviour.
  

5. Perfectionalize your Skills

Systematically visualize the desired correct coping behaviour and its benefits for you.
This technique has seen much use in sports.
Seeing yourself perform skills at a high level, the way you want to: confident, accurate, focused, … is a good way to build confidence and a feeling of readiness prior to a challenging task (public presentation, important meeting, …) or competition.

6. Improve Problem Solving and Decision Making

Choose an image to focus on to help you through a troublesome period.
Visualize yourself as a superwoman who can easily scale the highest skyscrapers or a marathon runner who outruns all of his competitors.
Put your problems inside a carton and imagine it getting smaller and smaller until it can easily fit into your pocket. You'll discover that your problem is easier to carry inside your pocket than the heavy weight of it sitting on your shoulders.
Or, you can visualize your problems magically disappearing before your eyes. There are no limitations in your visualizing. It can be magical.

When you are struggling with making a decision between two different options, try visualizing yourself involved in the two scenarios and imagine the results of your decision. This visualization exercise should help you in making the right decision.

7. Clear your Mind from Emotional Clutter

• Too many thoughts and mental pictures can convolute the mind
• Choose images that erase, filter, or organize your thoughts. Much like de-cluttering a closet, you can use visualization to reduce mental clutter.
• There are three causes of mental clutter: Avoidance, Indecision, and Procrastination. Don’t avoid them. Confront them Now!

8. Find Balance

Use visualizations to help you ground and find balance. Because our energies are always in flux it is important to "check in" with our bodies routinely to adjust and centre ourselves.

• If you find yourself stubbing your toes or bumping into things, you are not in balance.
• If you are experiencing mental confusion or are all over the place emotionally, a centring visualization can help return you to calm and better focus.

9. Let Go and Break Free

Are you having difficulty walking away from a toxic relationship? Or do you tend to dwell on the past instead of moving forward in your life?
Choose images in your visualization sessions which will allow you to break free from problematic people and move past personal regrets.
We cannot change the past, but we can create our futures. Begin a new way of living by visualizing it first!

10. Familiarize

Mental imagery can be used effectively to familiarize yourself with the surroundings before an event, such as an interview, an important meeting, a sales conversation or negotiation, a public presentation, a competition site, a racetrack, a stage or a difficult play or routine prior to a competition ...

11. Do a Run-Through

Mental Imagery can be used as a cognitive technique to plan strategies, rehearse procedures or game plans, affirm what you want to occur, or as a coping skill strategy to stay calm and composed under pressure. 
Athletes and performers often do a complete mental run through of the key elements of their routines. This helps them focus, eliminate some pre-performance jitters and be more comfortable. It also serves as a warm-up or mini rehearsal.

12. Build Confidence and Readiness

Seeing yourself perform skills at a high level, the way you want to: confident, accurate, focused, … is a good way to build confidence and a feeling of readiness prior to a challenging task (public presentation, important meeting, …) or competition.

13. Stimulate Healing and Recovery

Repetitive use of positive visualization allows access to the mind-body connection. This lets the mind and body work together to foster the healing process of the body on a physical level.

Visualization puts your intention of what you want to work. The more specific the intention, the more specific the results. Remember whatever you believe is what your body will do

14. Help You To Emulate Your Role Models

• An important key foundation in Neuro-linguistic Programming is modelling. To model, you emulate those who have already achieved success. You observe, analyze and then replicate the factors that contributed to the outstanding performance.
• While there is no 100% guarantee that you can reap the same results, modelling helps you shorten your learning curve. You learn to avoid common mistakes and apply the essential steps and strategies that have helped your role model succeed. The idea is that it is much easier to follow a previously proven path to success.

15. Give You Access To Your Totem Power

• Animal totems contain a natural power that can allow you to see and love and know more of the earth, life and especially yourself.

• Animal spirit guide totems hold power and knowledge that we can use to be one with nature - all that is and will be and use the power of nature to achieve our goals. Many cultures of the past understood and used the power of animal totems.

• Totems can be particularly useful in today's society where it is easy to forget the essence and true spirit of life and love in the midst of high technology.

• Use your personal animal totem to awaken the natural balance with nature that you already possess. You can be healthier and happier physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually in understanding and honouring your animal totems.

16. Borrow The Mind Of A Genius Or The Powers Of Your Hero

The truth is that you can be anything that you want to be—but you do have to work at it.



If you want to find out more about how you can use the magical power of mental imagery to enhance your life, visit my bookshop at :

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Jaimelavie


Or go to :

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17-05-2013 om 11:18 geschreven door Zytha  

This is the presentation of the new, extended and improved version of “An Introduction to Family Therapy”, your reference guide containing detailed information about all important facets of family therapy: schools and methods, strategies used, structure and content of family therapy sessions, stages, basic techniques, influential people, history of family therapy,…

The cover illustration is from Zirta from Mexico: www.zirta.net

E-mail address: beatriz@zirta.net - betyto@gmail.com

* The electronic edition of this practical family therapy manual is available as a free download file at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Jaimelavie?searchTerms=family+therapy

* The paperback book can be purchased at the lulu website: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Jaimelavie?searchTerms=family+therapy

· Brief Strategic Family Therapy

· Brief Strategic Family Therapy for Adolescent Drug Abuse

· Solution Focused Brief Therapy

· Brief Psycho Therapy

· Psycho-analytiuc Family Therapy

· Strategic Family Therapy

· Bowen’s Strategic Family Therapy

· Salvador Minuchin’s Structural Family Therapy

· Virginia Satir’s Humanistic Family Therapy

· Behavioural & Conjoint Family Therapy

· Milan Systemic Family Therapy or Long Brief Therapy

· Response Based Family Therapy

· Contextual Family Therapy

· Narrative Family Therapy

· Problem Centered Systems Family Therapy

· Experiential Family Therapy

ACCOMMODATION

AFFECTIVE CONFRONTATION

ASKING PERMISSION

BEGINNER’S MIND

BOUNDARY FORMATION

ADDING COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTIONS

COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES

COMMUNICATION SKILL-BUILDING TECHNIQUES

CONCLUSION

CONFIRMATION OF A FAMILY MEMBER:

DEFRAMING

DETRIANGULATION

DIAGNOSING

DIFFERENTIATION OF SELF

DISEQUILIBRIUM TECHNIQUES

LESSONS IN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

EMOTIONAL CUT-OFF

THE EMPTY CHAIR

ENACTMENT

FAMILY CHOREOGRAPHY

FAMILY CONTRACT

FAMILY COUNCIL MEETINGS

FAMILY FLOOR PLAN

FAMILY LIFE CYCLE

FAMILY PHOTOS

FAMILY SCULPTING

FAMILY SYSTEM STRATEGIES

THE GENOGRAM

GOAL SETTING

ICEBREAKER COMPLIMENT OR POSITIVE STATEMENT

IDENTIFICATION

INFORMATION-GATHERING TECHNIQUES

INTENSITY

INTERVENTION TECHNIQUES

· RELATIONSHIP EXPERIMENTS.

· COACHING.

· I-POSITIONS.

· DISPLACEMENT STORIES.

· TAKING SIDE & MEDIATING.

· THE EMPTY CHAIR

· FAMILY COUNCIL MEETINGS

· STRATEGIC ALLIANCES

· PRESCRIBING INDECISION

· PUTTING THE CLIENT IN CONTROL OF THE SYMPTOM

· SPECIAL DAYS, MINI-VACATIONS, SPECIAL OUTINGS

· PROBLEM SOLVING

· FAMILY CONTRACTS

· REFRAMING

· PUNCTUATION

· UNBALANCING

· RESTRUCTURING

· ENACTMENT

· BOUNDARY FORMATION

· WORKING WITH SPONTANEOUS INTERACTION

· INTENSITY

· SHAPING COMPETENCE

· ADDING COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTIONS

INVOLUNTARY CLIENT SHEMA

JOINING

NORMALIZATION

OBSERVATION

POSITIVE CONNOTATION

PARADOXICAL INJUNCTIONS

PRAGMATIC FICTIONS

PRESCRIBING INDECISION

PROBLEM TRACKING

PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES

PROBLEM DISSOLUTION

PUNCTUATION

PUTTING CLIENT IN CONTROL OF THE SYMPTOM

QUESTIONS

REFRAMING

REFRAMING PROBLEM DEFINITIONS

RESTRUCTURING

SHAPING COMPETENCE

USE OF SILENCE

SPECIAL DAYS, MINI-VACATIONS, SPECIAL OUTINGS

WORKING WITH SPONTANEOUS INTERACTION

STRATEGIC ALLIANCES

TRACKING

UNBALANCING

INTRODUCING UNCERTAINTY

UTILIZATION STRATEGY

See for more information: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Jaimelavie?searchTerms=family+therapy

20-04-2013 om 15:35 geschreven door Zytha  

Unlike people who are trying to influence, persuade or convince others, manipulators work with unfair means to get what they want.  They do not respect the personal rights of their victims. They violate the victim's integrity, work with hidden agendas and deliberately use dishonest tricks like faulty reasoning, coercion, blackmail and lying in an attempt to control the victim's actions. Manipulation is about suiting the manipulator's advantage or purpose only, often at the expense of the victim.

Yet, it is often difficult to know when you are being manipulated: manipulators do all they can to convince you that you are the one who is to benefit most from their actions and that they are acting in good faith.

It's often really difficult to recognize manipulation when it happens.  After all, if we are aware that it is happening, would we allow ourselves to be manipulated?

That is where this book comes in handy: it explains the tricks manipulators use and teaches you how to best defend and protect yourself.
 

02-04-2013 om 15:01 geschreven door Zytha  

Influence includes being able to persuade, motivate and negotiate in order to get what you want.

Imagine just for a moment how important it is to each of us to improve our ability to influence others: to make friends and inspire them,  to win other people for our standpoint or to make business contacts and reach positive agreements with them.

What if you were even only slightly more successful in this art?  Just imagine the possible benefits for your personal life, your love life, your career, your social life, your personal happiness, your financial position!

You know how important it is to educate yourself, to develop a vision, to plan, and to work towards your goals with flexibility and perseverance.  Yet you also know that the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor does food always come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned. 

One of the main reasons why excellent people do not advance in their careers or fail in life, is because they don't realize the enormous importance of networking and communication.

Knowledge and personal capacities are not enough to be successful.  You need influencing skills to make it in this life!

Since this great book about the art of influencing and persuading others, is composed of articles found in the public domain, which are freely accessible for anybody on the internet, it's only fair that you should also be able to download this book totally free of costs.

So, why not download the book and start today to take your influencing and persuading skills to the next level?

The knowledge contained in this book will allow you to be happier in your life and more successfully

* make friends and inspire them

* win other people for your standpoint

* make business contacts

* negotiate positive agreements

* advance in your career

* enhance your personal life, your love life, your social life

* enhance your personal happiness

* enhance your financial position

By getting better at influencing and persuading people, you will in short, be able to create for yourself and your loved ones the kind of life you have been dreaming of

It's free, so just get started now!

Dean Amory

Bijlagen:
http://www.slideshare.net/jaimelavie/how-to-influence-persuade-motivate   

DE WETTEN VAN GOEDE COMMUNICATIE

Prijs: € 9,94  (Geldig op 15/10/2012)             

17-10-2012 om 13:26 geschreven door Zytha  

Dear Reader,

It takes love for people and willingness to study their psyche, culture, habits and trends to become a good mind reader.

Yet Mind Reading is a skill, and like with all skills, training and exercising are required in order to become good at it.

To the individuals that do make the effort however, the rewards are numerous: Mind Reading enhances our observational talents and our insight in what makes people tick, it improves our communicative capacities, makes us used to being in the spotlight and requires that we learn to handle its seducing powers.

A good mind reader therefore is much more than just that: he's also a good communicator, a good coach and teamleader, a good mediator and sales person. Above all that, my wish to you is that your newly acquired powers will also make you a better person, a better partner and lover!

You will find an introduction to the training book at:
http://mag3.i-magazine.de/imag/Introduction_to_Mind_Reading/#/0

You can download your copy of the file or order a printed copy of the book at:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Jaimelavie?searchTerms=MIND+READING

04-10-2012 om 16:59 geschreven door Zytha  

04-10-2012 om 16:43 geschreven door Zytha  

04-10-2012 om 15:54 geschreven door Zytha  

04-10-2012 om 15:17 geschreven door Zytha  

Communiceren is hoe je in contact komt met anderen.

De manier waarop je dat doet is meteen van enorm belang voor het ontwikkelen van bevredigende en succesvolle relaties.

In dit werk focust Eddy Adriaens op een aantal zeer belangrijke communicatietechnieken: contacten leggen en onderhouden, vrienden maken en houden, een gesprek starten en in gang houden, jezelf en anderen motiveren, spreken in het openbaar ... het draait allemaal rond communicatie.

Goede communicatie op haar beurt vereist sterke interpersoonlijke vaardigheden. Hoe word je meer assertief? Hoe geef en ontvang je feedback? Hoe vraag je iets en hoe reageer je op een verzoek? Hoe breng je slecht nieuws? Hoe ga je om met verandering?

In "Leven is communiceren" vind je gedetailleerde informatie en nuttige tips om je communicatie met anderen te verbeteren en zowel privé als beroepsmatig beter te scoren.

Via volgende link kan je het boek online lezen:  http://mag3.i-magazine.de/magPage/Leven_is_Communiceren/Seite_1/#/0

Wens je een download van het bestand of een gedrukte versie, dan kan je deze bekomen via: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Jaimelavie?Searchterms=leven+communiceren

04-10-2012 om 14:25 geschreven door Zytha