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Monday, September 12, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
20 Reasons To Go Bananas! (reposted by JoDa Hodge)
From personal experience, JoDa Hodge recommends eating many bananas every day, to boost your mood and improve your health. JoDa Hodge also recommends that you combine healthy eating habits with regular exercise for a natural, synergistic anti-depressant and cognitive-enhancing regiment.
20 Reasons To Go Bananas!
20 Reasons To Go Bananas!
20 Reasons To Go Bananas!
by Page Remick
© Page Remick – All Rights reserved
www.purezing.com
Bananas are filled with so many nutrients, that they are almost the perfect cure for whatever ails you! Compared to an apple, the potassium-rich banana has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals.
Boost Your Brain Power: potassium in bananas makes your more alert
Natural Laxative: High in fiber, bananas can get things moving without the use of chemicals
Calm Yourself: Bananas are high in calming B vitamins
Anemia Help: High in iron, bananas can help anemia by stimulating the production of hemoglobin
Get Over a Hangover: Make a banana milkshake with honey and milk. The banana calms the stomach and builds up blood sugar levels with the help of the honey…the milk soothes and rehydrates
Cheer Up: Bananas contain tryptophan that the body converts into serotonin. Bananas can make you relax, feel happier and improve your mood
No More Nicotine: Bananas contain B6, B12 and potassium and magnesium which all aid in stopping smoking and nicotine withdrawal
So Long Strokes: Research shows that regular consumption of bananas can cut your risk of strokes by 50%
Mama Morning Sickness: Snack on bananas between meals and keep your blood sugar even, preventing morning sickness
Monthly Moods: Regulate your blood glucose levels with the B6 in Bananas and smooth your mood naturally
Better Blood Pressure: High in potassium and yet low in salt, this is the perfect blood pressure food.
Halt Heartburn: Bananas are a natural, soothing antacid
Manage Mosquitoes: Many people reduce the swelling and itch of mosquito bites by rubbing the inside of the banana skin on them
Soothe Stress: Our potassium levels plummet when we are stressed. Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. Bananas are high in potassium!
Wart Removal: Put the inside of a banana skin on a wart and hold it in place with a bandage: a natural wart remover!
SAD: Banish seasonal affective disorder by consuming bananas natural mood enhancer: tryptophan
Ulcers: Soft and soothing, bananas are the only raw fruit that reduces the acids of ulcers and coats the stomach lining
Pressure and Pounds: Highly stressed people benefit from a high carbohydrate banana between meals to keep their cravings and blood sugar in control
Cool It: Many cultures consider bananas a ‘cooling’ fruit that lowers the emotional and physical temperature of a person
Super Shine: Wipe your shoes with the inside of a banana skin and polish with a dry cloth for a super shoe shine.
And don’t forget how good they taste too!
Reposted by JoDa Hodge
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20 Reasons To Go Bananas! reposted by JoDa Hodge
From personal experience, JoDa Hodge recommends eating many bananas every day, to boost your mood and improve your health. JoDa Hodge also recommends that you combine healthy eating habits with regular exercise for a natural, synergistic ant-depressant and cognitive-enhancing regiment.
20 Reasons To Go Bananas!
20 Reasons To Go Bananas!
20 Reasons To Go Bananas!
by Page Remick
© Page Remick – All Rights reserved
www.purezing.com
Bananas are filled with so many nutrients, that they are almost the perfect cure for whatever ails you! Compared to an apple, the potassium-rich banana has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals.
Boost Your Brain Power: potassium in bananas makes your more alert
Natural Laxative: High in fiber, bananas can get things moving without the use of chemicals
Calm Yourself: Bananas are high in calming B vitamins
Anemia Help: High in iron, bananas can help anemia by stimulating the production of hemoglobin
Get Over a Hangover: Make a banana milkshake with honey and milk. The banana calms the stomach and builds up blood sugar levels with the help of the honey…the milk soothes and rehydrates
Cheer Up: Bananas contain tryptophan that the body converts into serotonin. Bananas can make you relax, feel happier and improve your mood
No More Nicotine: Bananas contain B6, B12 and potassium and magnesium which all aid in stopping smoking and nicotine withdrawal
So Long Strokes: Research shows that regular consumption of bananas can cut your risk of strokes by 50%
Mama Morning Sickness: Snack on bananas between meals and keep your blood sugar even, preventing morning sickness
Monthly Moods: Regulate your blood glucose levels with the B6 in Bananas and smooth your mood naturally
Better Blood Pressure: High in potassium and yet low in salt, this is the perfect blood pressure food.
Halt Heartburn: Bananas are a natural, soothing antacid
Manage Mosquitoes: Many people reduce the swelling and itch of mosquito bites by rubbing the inside of the banana skin on them
Soothe Stress: Our potassium levels plummet when we are stressed. Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. Bananas are high in potassium!
Wart Removal: Put the inside of a banana skin on a wart and hold it in place with a bandage: a natural wart remover!
SAD: Banish seasonal affective disorder by consuming bananas natural mood enhancer: tryptophan
Ulcers: Soft and soothing, bananas are the only raw fruit that reduces the acids of ulcers and coats the stomach lining
Pressure and Pounds: Highly stressed people benefit from a high carbohydrate banana between meals to keep their cravings and blood sugar in control
Cool It: Many cultures consider bananas a ‘cooling’ fruit that lowers the emotional and physical temperature of a person
Super Shine: Wipe your shoes with the inside of a banana skin and polish with a dry cloth for a super shoe shine.
And don’t forget how good they taste too!
Reposted by JoDa Hodge
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Tuesday, September 6, 2011
DNA Healing: The Ancient Solfeggio Frequencies (Reposted by JoDa Hodge)
Forgotten In Time: The Ancient Solfeggio Frequencies
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powerofharmony.tripod.comWhat Are The Ancient Solfeggio Frequencies?
These original sound frequencies were apparently used in Ancient Gregorian Chants, such as the great hymn to St. John the Baptist, along with others that church authorities say were lost centuries ago. The chants and their special tones were believed to impart tremendous spiritual blessings when sung in harmony during religious masses. These powerful frequencies were rediscovered by Dr. Joseph Puleo as described in the book Healing Codes for the Biological Apocalypse by Dr. Leonard Horowitz. I give honor to both of these gentleman for the part they’ve played in helping return these lost frequencies back to humanity.
The Six Solfeggio Frequencies include:
UT – 396 Hz – Liberating Guilt and Fear
RE – 417 Hz – Undoing Situations and Facilitating Change
MI – 528 Hz – Transformation and Miracles (DNA Repair)
FA – 639 Hz – Connecting/Relationships
SOL – 741 Hz – Awakening Intuition
LA – 852 Hz – Returning to Spiritual Order
For example, the third note, frequency 528, relates to the note MI on the scale and derives from the phrase "MI-ra gestorum" in Latin meaning "miracle." Stunningly, this is the exact frequency used by genetic biochemists to repair broken DNA – the genetic blueprint upon which life is based!
A Little History
At the turn of the century the awareness of DNA entered the collective consciousness of the world. We have incarnated into this human experience as divine beings with a blueprint, a set of instructions. We know that a very small percentage (3%) of those instructions make up our physiology.
Carl Sagan writes that most of our genetic information (about 97%) is unused DNA. He refers to this as "genetic gibberish." Is it possible that most of who we are still lies dormant as our human potential?
In the old paradigm of religion, "potential" remained a mystery to the human mind, therefore we coined a mystical term called "SPIRIT." "Spirit" was something that was detached from who we were, something we didn’t have and could only be gained through the systems of most religions.
The old paradigm and its premise stated that we began as biology in the womb of our mothers. Telliard deChardin tells us that we are not a human being trying to attain a spiritual experience, but, rather, we are spiritual beings having a human experience. This shift in perception causes a tremendous difference in the way we perceive ourselves in this third/fourth time-space continuum.
Poet Cathie Guzetta summarized this science best when she wrote:
"The forms of snowflakes and faces of flowers may take on their shape because they are responding to some sound in nature. Likewise, it is possible that crystals, plants, and human beings may be, in some way, music that has taken on visible form."
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Sunday, September 4, 2011
"exercise’s effects lasted longer than those of antidepressants" (reposted by JoDa Hodge)
Exercise and Depression - Harvard Health Publications
Exercise and DepressionTechnorati Tags: JoDa Hodge
(This article was first printed in the Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School "Understanding Depression". For more information or to order, please go to www.health.harvard.edu/UD.)
Can a few laps around the block actually solve your emotional problems? Probably not, but a regular exercise program might help. A review of studies stretching back to 1981 concluded that regular exercise can improve mood in people with mild to moderate depression. It also may play a supporting role in treating severe depression.
Another study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 1999, divided 156 men and women with depression into three groups. One group took part in an aerobic exercise program, another took the SSRI sertraline (Zoloft), and a third did both. At the 16-week mark, depression had eased in all three groups. About 60%–70% of the people in all three groups could no longer be classed as having major depression. In fact, group scores on two rating scales of depression were essentially the same. This suggests that for those who need or wish to avoid drugs, exercise might be an acceptable substitute for antidepressants. Keep in mind, though, that the swiftest response occurred in the group taking antidepressants, and that it can be difficult to stay motivated to exercise when you’re depressed.
A follow-up to that study found that exercise’s effects lasted longer than those of antidepressants. Researchers checked in with 133 of the original patients six months after the first study ended. They found that the people who exercised regularly after completing the study, regardless of which treatment they were on originally, were less likely to relapse into depression.
A study published in 2005 found that walking fast for about 35 minutes a day five times a week or 60 minutes a day three times a week had a significant influence on mild to moderate depression symptoms. Walking fast for only 15 minutes a day five times a week or doing stretching exercises three times a week did not help as much. (These exercise lengths were calculated for someone who weighs about 150 pounds. If you weigh more, longer exercise times apply, while the opposite is true if you weigh less than 150 pounds.)
How does exercise relieve depression? For many years, experts have known that exercise enhances the action of endorphins, chemicals that circulate throughout the body. Endorphins improve natural immunity and reduce the perception of pain. They may also serve to improve mood. Another theory is that exercise stimulates the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, which may directly improve mood.
Besides lifting your mood, regular exercise offers other health benefits, such as lowering blood pressure, protecting against heart disease and cancer, and boosting self-esteem. How often or intensely you need to exercise to alleviate depression is not clear, but for general health, experts advise getting half an hour to an hour of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, on all or most days of the week.
(This article was first printed in the Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School "Understanding Depression". For more information or to order, please go to www.health.harvard.edu/UD.)
Understating Depression: a special report on mental health
Understanding Depression
Depression affects nearly 19 million adults each year, yet this common disease is often misunderstood or misdiagnosed. While depression can’t simply be willed away by "shaking off" your blues, there are many effective treatments that can bring joy back into your life. Reading Understanding Depression and sharing it with those closest to you might help improve your life — or the life of someone close to you!. Read more »
Reposted by JoDa Hodge
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Brain-Healthy Spices You Should Be Using (Reposted by JoDa Hodge)
Brain-Healthy Spices You Should Be Using | HealthyWomen
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Brain-Healthy Spices You Should Be Using
authored by Sheryl Kraft
Science and research is a godsend, but it can get so darn confusing and frustrating sometimes. Take Alzheimer's disease; it's forever in the news. Brain games help, researchers say. Sleep and diet is important, scientists insist. Genes and exercise count, everyone agrees.
It's hard to keep up with everything; it all changes daily and sometimes, hourly. And the more I write about health and interview doctors and scientists and researchers, the more I realize that studies, even though they seem to say a lot, are oftentimes flawed, inconsistent, difficult to interpret and forever subject to change. But, alas, sometimes they're all we've got. So my theory is approach them with caution and skepticism. What's a no-no today can be heartily endorsed tomorrow. Bad news is the new good news. Yesterday's skepticism is today's miracle cure.
And then, just as I was feeling good and hopeful – writing about things we can do to keep our brains sharp – last night's gloom and doom news announced the NIH’s latest stance on Alzheimer's disease: the scientific evidence is not strong enough to make any recommendations to help prevent, or even slow it.
So…WHY do we need to know this? Does this mean we should give up our crossword puzzles, our exercises, our healthy lifestyles? Do we throw away the ginko biloba and fish oil because one of these panelists called them "garbage?" No, I say. This Matters> Keep exercising, keep socializing, keep on eating a healthy diet.
So, let's talk spices. There's new research (I know, there's that word again, but, hey, spices really seem kinda innocuous, you know?) that they are good for your brain. They may not be the anti-Alzheimer's panacea, but since we probably already have a lot of these in our kitchen, why not put them to good use?
Turmeric: There might be a reason that the rate of Alzheimer's in India is one-fourth of ours in the U.S. Curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric (that's what gives curry its yellow color), breaks up brain plaques of amyloid beta (the abnormal protein buildup that is a hallmark of Alzheimer's). Curcumin has also been found to inhibit the growth of cancer cells and reduce inflammation. Just a teaspoon of curry powder (which is a blend of turmeric and other spices) is equal to ½ cup of red grapes in antioxidants. Oh, how this makes me wish I liked Indian food….
Saffron: What does this have in common with Prozac? In a 2007 study, it was found to work as well as the anti-depressant in treating mild-to-moderate depression. When my son visited Spain when he was in high school, my souvenir was 2 good-size bags of the stuff. (when I think about that, it's cute…after all, all you need to use is ½ teaspoon added to 2 cups of rice. If you need any saffron, call me.) Saffron is a concentrated source of antioxidants, on par with strawberries, cherries and raspberries.
Garlic: It may help fight brain cancer; garlic compounds, in a study, eliminated cancer cells. Of course, further studies need to be done to further test the effectiveness of this claim. But hey, garlic has so many other benefits, like possibly helping keep cholesterol low, so who knows what else is hidden behind those cloves?
Cinnamon: Cinnamon has one of the highest antioxidant levels of any spice – and even more than many foods. There are as many antioxidants in 1 teaspoon of cinnamon as a full cup of pomegranate juice or ½ cup of blueberries. And chewing cinnamon gum may keep your brain sharp: a recent study found that it speeds the rate at which your brain processes visual cues. (It may be because cinnamon also helps to regulate blood sugar levels – which is good news for diabetics – and by doing this, may help you stay focused).
Thyme: A teaspoon of thyme has about the same amount of antioxidants as a carrot of ½ a cup of chopped tomatoes. And the flavanoids in this spice give it antioxidant properties as well. There are some studies that suggest these antioxidants may have age-related benefits like helping to maintain cognitive function and promote heart health.
Coffee: Okay, I'm cheating; it's not a spice. But I wanted to sneak it in here because of this: Scientists have already documented coffee's ability to enhance learning and memory and speed the processing of information. Now new research published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease says that coffee can also ward off some effects of aging on the brain. Previous research shows that caffeine can lessen the damage of Alzheimer's disease caused by the toxic peptide that forms plaques in the brains of Alzheimer patients. New findings show that women (not the same for men, for whatever reason) who drank 3 or more cups of coffee a day (or 6 cups of tea) were protected against the deterioration and loss of brain tissue. Caffeine also stimulates blood flow.
Reposted by JoDa Hodge
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Friday, September 2, 2011
church quote joda hodge
saint augustine whore - Google Search
"The Church is a whore, but she is my mother." – St. Augustine
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Thursday, September 1, 2011
My Favorite Patriotic Quote by JoDa Hodge
IS THIS WHAT PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON MEANT HOW VETERANS SHOULD BE TREATED...
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation."
- George Washington
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Increased female attraction to men in relationships (Reposted by JoDa Hodge) (Recommended by JoDa Hodge)
Interpersonal attraction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Increased female attraction to men in relationships
A 2009 study by Melissa Burkley and Jessica Parker of Oklahoma State University found that 59% of women tested were interested in pursuing a relationship with an "ideal" single man (who was, unknown to the women, fictitious).[11] When they believed the "ideal" man already was in a romantic relationship, 90% of the women were interested in a romantic relationship.
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Increased female attraction to men in relationships (Reposted by JoDa Hodge) (Recommended by JoDa Hodge)
Interpersonal attraction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Increased female attraction to men in relationships
A 2009 study by Melissa Burkley and Jessica Parker of Oklahoma State University found that 59% of women tested were interested in pursuing a relationship with an "ideal" single man (who was, unknown to the women, fictitious).[11] When they believed the "ideal" man already was in a romantic relationship, 90% of the women were interested in a romantic relationship.
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Tuesday, August 30, 2011
How Fructose makes us Unhappy (Reposted by JoDa Hodge) (Recommended by JoDa Hodge)
How Fructose makes us Unhappy. on The Health Imperative
About David Gillespie
David Gillespie is a recovering corporate lawyer, co-founder of a successful software company and consultant to the IT industry. He is also the father of six young children (including one set of twins). With such a lot of extra time on his hands, and 40 extra kilos on his waistline, he set out to investigate why he, like so many in his generation, was fat. He deciphered the latest medical findings on diet and weight gain and what he found was chilling. Being fat was the least of his problems. He needed to stop poisoning himself.
David Gillespie
Best Selling Author
How Fructose makes us Unhappy.
Jun. 2 2011
We don’t know what causes depression and we certainly don’t know how to cure it. But some interesting new research suggests that there may be a very strong link between depression and what we shove in our gobs.
Depression is a catch-all diagnosis for a spectrum of illness affecting our mood. The spectrum covers everything from a mild bout of feeling down through to the most severe Major Depressive Disorder.
We can become depressed because things aren’t going well. If having your cat run over doesn’t alter your mood (one way or the other depending on how you feel about cats I guess) then you were probably built by aliens. But the science suggests how long we stay depressed has more to do with biochemistry than the state of Fluffy’s road-safety skills.
Food makes us happy (I know, you’re shocked at this revelation). Even seeing food improves our mood. This is because the anticipation of a feed, fires up the hormones responsible for how we feel.
The sight (or smell) of food gives us a squirt of the pleasure hormone, dopamine. Dopamine focuses our attention, makes us think more clearly and helps us move faster and more effectively. It’s an important signal to our body that we are in for something good and we need to pay attention. And that was probably pretty handy in times gone by (when dinner was on the hoof rather than in the burger box)
Once we actually start eating, serotonin kicks in. The serotonin makes us feel happier and less stressed. We relax, our mood improves (Fluffy will still be road kill, but we’ll feel better about it) and our minds can turn to less important things than eating (such as sex – the anticipation of which will give us another dopamine hit and the aftermath of which will give us a nice relaxing serotonin hit). While the cliché that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach may be the G-rated version – it is largely accurate.
Researchers have known for a long time that severe depression is strongly associated with an inability to properly absorb serotonin in the brain. No (or low) serotonin absorption makes it much harder for us to come back from unhappiness. And this can translate into anxiety and depression if it’s sustained for long enough.
The primary anti-depressant drugs available in Australia (Cipramil, Luvox, Prozac, Lovan, Aropax and Zoloft) all work by targeting the serotonin system. They give the brain more time to absorb the serotonin. Some other drugs (Ecstasy, Amphetamines and LSD) work by enhancing the amount of serotonin we produce (but you might find it tricky to get a prescription for them).
If all is well with our hormone system then severe depression should be an extremely rare disease. But it’s not. Most studies suggest that one in ten of us is suffering some form of depression at any given time. So it won’t come as too much of a surprise to discover that one in every 30 GP consultations in Australia is now about depression.
Depression is a major chronic health problem and it is getting much worse at a very rapid rate. Something is messing with our serotonin system and the evidence is starting to mount that the something is fructose.
Fructose is the only carbohydrate which produces a significant spike in our cortisol levels. Cortisol is our stress hormone. It’s terribly handy for confrontations with unexpected bears (for example) because it ramps up dopamine (to focus the mind and sharpen the movements). It also rapidly increases the amount of dopamine we can absorb. But it does so at the expense of our ability to absorb serotonin.
We like dopamine. It is our reward drug. Frequent hits of fructose mean frequent hits of dopamine. This leads inevitably to fructose addiction and that is exactly the mechanism used by other man-made opiods (like nicotine and cocaine). The trouble is that it seems the upregulating of dopamine at the expense of serotonin can become hard-wired if we allow it to go on for long enough. And once we’re addicted, we cant help but let it go on for long enough.
We don’t run into that many bears on a daily basis (well, I don’t). Fructose was once about as common as a bear encounter, but is now embedded in almost every processed food we buy. And it has an addictive quality as powerful as nicotine (so it isn’t exactly going to harm sales now is it?).
We are now on a constant drip of fructose. That means we are on a constant cortisol (and therefore dopamine) high. This in turn continuously impairs our ability to absorb serotonin, the one substance that can turn our mood around.
Fluffy will still become a bumper sticker if he chooses an inopportune moment to cross the freeway and that will probably be a downer. But the science is suggesting that how quickly (or if) we bounce back from that may depend (to a large extent) on how much fructose we are eating.
In an environment of non-stop fructose infusion, the wonder is not that one in ten of us is depressed, it’s that nine in ten of us aren’t (yet).
I’ll be talking more about the link between Fructose and Depression at the upcoming conference on Happiness and its Causes – June 16-17 at the Brisbane Convention Centre.
« Sometimes you have to fall in order to know you’re falling
The Glycemic Index has passed its use-by date »
The Health Imperative © 2011
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PTSD and Art Therapy (Reposted by JoDa Hodge) (Recommended by JoDa Hodge)
PTSD and Art Therapy | Pandora's Project
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Support and resources for survivors of rape and sexual abuse.
Home > Library > Articles & Essays > PTSD & Art Therapy
PTSD & Art Therapy
The Importance of the Self-Body Image
in Survivors of Sexual Assault with PTSD
Using Art Therapy Techniques
By: Enari
About Art Therapy
Although visual expressions have been basic to humanity throughout history, art therapy did not emerge as a distinct profession until the 1930's. At the beginning of the 20th Century, psychiatrists became interested in the art work done by patients, and studied it to see if there was a link between the art and the illness of their patients. At this same time, art educators were discovering that the free and spontaneous art expression of children represented both emotional and symbolic communications. Since then, the profession of art therapy has grown into an effective and important method of communication, assessment, and treatment with many populations, including health care and mental illness.
Art Therapy as used for PTSD
PTSD
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) involves a pattern of symptoms that some individuals develop after experiencing a traumatic event such as sexual assault. Symptoms of PTSD include repeated thoughts of the assault; memories and nightmares; avoidance of thoughts, feelings, and situations related to the assault; and increased arousal (e.g., difficulty sleeping and concentrating, jumpiness, irritability). One study that examined PTSD symptoms among women who were raped found that 94% of women experienced these symptoms during the two weeks immediately following the rape. Nine months later, about 30% of the women were still reporting this pattern of symptoms. The National Women's Study reported that almost 1/3 of all rape victims develop PTSD sometime during their lives and 11% of rape victims currently suffer from the disorder.
Art Therapy in PTSD Survivors
One important aspect of Art Therapy is the creation of a safe space where these traumatic feelings can be processed. Sometimes the verbal skill is lacking to describe traumatic experiences and by creating art, the person can feel more confident .
Brett and Ostroff focused on the imagery processes in PTSD and a framework for treatment. Research has found that traumatic experiences are encoded in non-verbal imagery and that it is often difficult to verbalize the experiences because traumatic experiences have been found to be encoded in non-verbal imagery pathways of the mind. These images show up in both dreams and artwork.
Art Therapy has been used to help War Veterans, Refugees, people who survived Natural Disasters and Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Survivors – people who are susceptible to PTSD.
Art Therapy in SA Survivors with PTSD
Art Therapy is not a new idea when it comes to survivors of sexual assault. In the 1980's group art therapy was used in centers for survivors of sexual assault. Models have even been created to help women address the problems that occur after such an assault.
Many domestic violence and sexual assault centers have art therapists to help process the trauma that has occurred. There are even national art therapy projects afforded to survivors. The Clostheline Project is particularly well known and many college campuses participate in it.
The Role Dreams Play
Dreams
Dreams or, more specifically, nightmares are a major role in the life of someone who has PTSD. As such, a little time needs to be devoted to dreams relating to PTSD. Dreams are a unique view on trauma and its effects. Dreams show a changed version of events that is often distorted but can bring troubles into resolution. This can be both diagnostic and therapeutic. Earnest Hartman proposes that PTSD dreams are not 'truly nightmares but a memory intrusion into dreams as well as waking life'
Typical dreams with PTSD
A typical PTSD nightmare is recurrent with a variant of the traumatic scene happening over and over again for years. Hartman argues that they are not nightmares at all, but what he classifies as "memory intrusions" because of how they differ from normal nightmares with the repetitive quality and time of occurrence. In laboratory settings PTSD Nightmares are classified differently from night terrors or nightmares as they can occur in both non-REM sleep and REM sleep. Hartman says that "a repetitive nightmare of PTSD is an encapsulated memory that can intrude into consciousness during sleep or during waking"
Typical Dreams with Survivors
There are two main different patterns of dreams of survivors of sexual abuse. One pattern is frequent repetitive nightmares. The other pattern identified by Susan Brown is the confounding and confusion of sex and aggression in the same dream. There are four different dream stages that a survivor goes through. The first phase is self protection, the second acknowledgment, the third of fax and the fourth growth in understanding finally leading to renegotiation.9
- Self Protection: the dreamer makes clear that they do not want to go through the experience of admitting what has happened to them. The dreams normally consist of pushing away and denial.
- Acknowledgement: the dreamer replays the assault that has occurred. The dreams often play out the memory of the assault.
- Effects: the person dreams about how they feel in the current situation related to the sexual assault. An example may be a person feeling like they are covered in cement.
- Growth and Understanding: In this phase, the dreamer sees something differently and from a different point of view.
- Renegotiation: The survivor comes to terms with what has happened to her.
Art Therapy Involving Dreams
Dream imagery is very strong among survivors of sexual assault, and art therapy helps bring these dream images into the waking world to be processed. Focusing on the dream helps contain some of its unpleasant feelings. Getting the imagery out and looking at it makes dreams more approachable. Having a choice over how to express the dream makes people curious.
For example, crayons allow the sense of control, where paint is more expressive. A sharp pencil encourages detail. By using art, the dream begins to evolve. The art is not just a response to the dream but allows it to continue. Some parts of the dream show greater emphasis and others are added, left out or diminished. This interacting with the dream is important and can be empowering.
Types of Art Therapy Projects used for Survivors
Various methods of art therapy are employed: graphic narratives, drawings of the traumatic events, drawings of dreams and drawings of the empowered self. Each method focuses on the fact that it is often difficult to verbalize the experiences because traumatic experiences have been found to be encoded in non-verbal imagery pathways of the mind.6 Of these, work with the self-body image therapy stands out.
The survivor's self-body image becomes very important when working with sexual assault. The Self-Body Image can be used to determine if a person has been sexually abused, using the Manchover Draw-A-Person Test. It is also possible to create an image that integrates a traumatic image with the whole self.
Self-Body Image #1
In a study performed by Rachel Lev-Wiesel , the common traits of images drawn by both male and female survivors were analyzed. The Manchover Draw-A-Person test was used. In this test Gillespie feels that the request to draw a person lets the patient freely chose all of the aspects of the person. In their study they had 10 women and 10 men child sexual abuse survivors and a group of 10 people who were not abused as the control. The following areas were used as indicators of baseline: eyes, genitals, hands, and arms.
In this experiment, the face line showed a double chin or cheek that was either empty or shaded and was in all drawings of sexual abuse survivors. In most survivors the eyes were either shaded, hollowed dotted or omitted. There was also an addition of a barrier such as a large belt between the lower and upper body. When looking at the hands and arms most, were clingy, cut off, detached or omitted.
Self-Body Image #2
In another Self-body-Image exercise, the women were asked to focus on their empowered and disempowered self . Beth A. Stone wrote about her work with the empowered/disempowered self. This exercise was recreated by the author using two women who have PTSD symptoms.
The women were first asked to draw a picture of their empowered self without speaking.
Both pictures are very bright in color and the feet are firmly planted on the ground.
The women were then asked to draw a picture of their disempowered self in silence.
Both pictures are dark in color, show a disoriented background and have their feet standing askew. Both drawings have words written on them.
Next the women were asked to have a conversation between the empowered self and the disempowered self.
The women were then asked to draw a picture of the conversation.
Beth Stone found that the empowered self is consistently larger than the disempowered self. The disempowered self lacks color and is darker than the image of the empowered self. The disempowered self is also bent or closed-up in stance and the feet are often not placed on the ground. Our test has shown the same results.
Survivor comments on the use of Art Therapy
Many survivors of PTSD and Sexual Assault have used imagery to help them heal. A group of survivors were asked about the impact of art in their life and their recovery. Their comments are shown below. Often times they use art to replace words, which cannot convey the hurt that they have survived.
"I have never done art therapy, but art is my therapy. Through artwork you can let out what you can't put in words, because sometimes there aren't words adequate of the pain, or it is too hard to put in words."
"Art therapy helped me to be less judgemental[sic]of myself. When I first started, I would hold an oil pastel/pencil/paintbrush over the paper, too afraid to even make the first mark. With the gentle encouragement from my art therapist, "It doesn't matter how it looks; it's the process", I was finally able to let go enough to just let my art happen. Once I did that, I was able to get at some pretty deeply hidden emotions, and I was able to talk about those emotions as well."
"I have been in Art Therapy for 2 years. I came in with no words, the complete innability[sic] to speak or express myself. Art became my voice when I could not speak. If it wasn't for being able to freely express my feelings on paper without judgement- [sic]be it morbid, happy, sad, or angry, I don't think I would be here right now"
"Making art may also help me express feelings I'm not allowed to express otherwise. Sometimes I paint myself and those pictures really show my emotions, my sadness, my fear and my pain.
Most of my pictures are still happy ones. I paint things I like. I do a lot nature pictures. I also make portraits of people I admire, last week I painted Tori Amos, for instance. Making those makes me feel better. "
"Making pictures gives me energy and joy even in the worst times. It also raises my self esteem. Often I may feel that I'm bad and weak but when I look at my pictures I appreciate myself more. I'm not just a victim, I'm also an artist, I have creativity, power and skills beyond my wounds and experiences. My abuser destroyed most of my life but he couldn't destroy my creativity. And I am actually better than him in something."
Conclusions
The majority of PTSD symptoms revolve around imagery. The nightmares, flashbacks and intrusive thoughts are often examples of survivors reliving the imagery of what occurred to them. It is possible to tell if someone has been sexually abused based on their drawing of their own self. Images of the self are also used to help survivors incorporate what has happened to them into their daily lives and has helped them to regain power. Art Therapy has been shown to be a powerful tool when resolving issues around PTSD. Art Therapy has been introduced to Rape Crisis Centers and work towards helping these women achieve peace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bibliography
www.arttherapy.org
(www.arttherapy.org/aboutarttherapy/faqs.htm)
(http://www.ccsu.edu/counseling/New/women/PTSD.htm)
Vab der Kolk, B.A. (1994) Trauma. Memory and the Self. Lecture. Australia and New Zealand Association of Psychotherapy, Westmead Hospital, NSW, Australia
Breat, E.A., & Ostroff, R (1985) Imagery and PTSD: An overview. American Journal of Psychiatry, 142,417-424
Ledoux, J.E. (1994) 'Cognitive-emotional Interactions in the brain.' In p. Elkman and R. Fadison (eds) The Name of emotion, Fundamental Questions. New York: Oxford University Press
Courtois, C.A. (1988) Healing the Incest Wound: Adult Survivors in Therapy. New York: W. W. Norton
Spring, D. (1993) Shattered Images: The Phenomenological Language of Sexual Trauma. Chicago: Magnolia Street
Hartman, Earnest 'Who Develops PTSD Nightmares and Who Doesn't', Trauma and Dreams: Cambrige: Harvard University Press
Cuddy, M. A., and Belicki, K. 1992 Nightmare Frequency and related sleep disturbances as indicators of a history of sexual abuse. Dreaming, 21:15-22
Brown, S. 1988 The dreams of women molested as children. Doctorial Dissertation, The Wright Institute
Levenson, Marty BA, DVATI, BCATR, ''Working With Dreams In Art Therapy'
Lev-Wiesel, "The Use of the Machover Draw-A-Person Test in Detecting Adult Survivors of Sexual Abuse: A Pilot Study.
Stone, Beth A. "Self body Image and PTSD in Australian Spanish Speaking Trauma and Torture Survivors: Empowerment through Imagery-Art-Dialog; Tapestry of Cultural Issues in Art Therapy. ed. Hiscox, Anna R. and Calisch, Abby C. Philadelphia:Jessica Kingsley Publishers
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Monday, August 29, 2011
Effects Of Stress (Reposted by JoDa Hodge) (Recommended by JoDa Hodge)
American Institute of Stress
http://www.retn.org/programs/stowe-film-society-presents-oscar-nominated-screenwriter-hawk-ostby
Effects Of Stress
Stress is difficult for scientists to define because it is a highly subjective phenomenon that differs for each of us. Things that are distressful for some individuals can be pleasurable for others. We also respond to stress differently. Some people blush, some eat more while others grow pale or eat less. There are numerous physical as well as emotional responses as illustrated by the following list of some 50 common signs and symptoms of stress.
| 1. Frequent headaches, jaw clenching or pain | 26. Insomnia, nightmares, disturbing dreams | |
| 2. Gritting, grinding teeth | 27. Difficulty concentrating, racing thoughts | |
| 3. Stuttering or stammering | 28. Trouble learning new information | |
| 4. Tremors, trembling of lips, hands | 29. Forgetfulness, disorganization, confusion | |
| 5. Neck ache, back pain, muscle spasms | 30. Difficulty in making decisions. | |
| 6. Light headedness, faintness, dizziness | 31. Feeling overloaded or overwhelmed. | |
| 7. Ringing, buzzing or "popping sounds | 32. Frequent crying spells or suicidal thoughts | |
| 8. Frequent blushing, sweating | 33. Feelings of loneliness or worthlessness | |
| 9. Cold or sweaty hands, feet | 34. Little interest in appearance, punctuality | |
| 10. Dry mouth, problems swallowing | 35. Nervous habits, fidgeting, feet tapping | |
| 11. Frequent colds, infections, herpes sores | 36. Increased frustration, irritability, edginess | |
| 12. Rashes, itching, hives, "goose bumps" | 37. Overreaction to petty annoyances | |
| 13. Unexplained or frequent "allergy" attacks | 38. Increased number of minor accidents | |
| 14. Heartburn, stomach pain, nausea | 39. Obsessive or compulsive behavior | |
| 15. Excess belching, flatulence | 40. Reduced work efficiency or productivity | |
| 16. Constipation, diarrhea | 41. Lies or excuses to cover up poor work | |
| 17. Difficulty breathing, sighing | 42. Rapid or mumbled speech | |
| 18. Sudden attacks of panic | 43. Excessive defensiveness or suspiciousness | |
| 19. Chest pain, palpitations | 44. Problems in communication, sharing | |
| 20. Frequent urination | 45. Social withdrawal and isolation | |
| 21. Poor sexual desire or performance | 46. Constant tiredness, weakness, fatigue | |
| 22. Excess anxiety, worry, guilt, nervousness | 47. Frequent use of over-the-counter drugs | |
| 23. Increased anger, frustration, hostility | 48. Weight gain or loss without diet | |
| 24. Depression, frequent or wild mood swings | 49. Increased smoking, alcohol or drug use | |
| 25. Increased or decreased appetite | 50. Excessive gambling or impulse buying |
As demonstrated in the above list, stress can have wide ranging effects on emotions, mood and behavior. Equally important but often less appreciated are effects on various systems, organs and tissues all over the body, as illustrated by the following diagram.
There are numerous emotional and physical disorders that have been linked to stress including depression, anxiety, heart attacks, stroke, hypertension, immune system disturbances that increase susceptibility to infections, a host of viral linked disorders ranging from the common cold and herpes to AIDS and certain cancers, as well as autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. In addition stress can have direct effects on the skin (rashes, hives, atopic dermatitis, the gastrointestinal system (GERD, peptic ulcer, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis) and can contribute to insomnia and degenerative neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease. In fact, it's hard to think of any disease in which stress cannot play an aggravating role or any part of the body that is not affected (see stress effects on the body stress diagram) or. This list will undoubtedly grow as the extensive ramifications of stress are increasingly being appreciated. Additional information is available at Current and Past Stress Scoops, Current and Past Newsletters and elsewhere on www.stress.org
Links to sites with additional information on the effects of stress include:
- www.nimh.nih.gov -- National Institute of Mental Health
- www.nami.org -- National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (800-950-6264)
- www.nmha.org -- National Mental Health Association
- www.amtamassage.org -- American Massage Therapy Association
- www.cognitivetherapynyc.com -- American Institute for Cognitive Therapy
- www.aabt.org -- Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy (800-685-AABT)
- www.psych.org -- The American Psychiatric Association (888-357-7924)
- www.psychologicalscience.org -- The American Psychological Society
- www.naswdc.org -- The National Association of Social Workers
- www.apna.org -- The American Psychiatric Nurses Association
- www.aacap.org -- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- www.cmhc.com -- Mental Health Net (800-528-9025)
- www.mentalhealth.com -- Encyclopedia of mental health information
- www.tm.org -- Transcendental Meditation (888-532-7686)
- www.wildmind.org -- Meditation techniques
- www.meditationcenter.com -- Meditation techniques
- www.4therapy.com/consumer/assessment/taketest.php?&uniqueid=19& -- Find a therapist
- www.4therapy.com/consumer/assessment/taketest.php -- Assess stress levels
(Reposted by JoDa Hodge) (Recommended by JoDa Hodge)
http://www.7dvt.com/2005/born-be-wild
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4347909/
www.stowefilm.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH_cOLcnX4s
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLharr8625U
www.departedharvest.com
twitter.com/jodaism
http://jodahodge.tumblr.com/
https://www.facebook.com/people/JoDa-Hodge/100002603415178
https://jodahodge.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/joda-hodge/
http://www.blogger.com/profile/03405317205671402517
http://www.goodbyebrother.com/
jodahodge.net
joda.tv
joda.me
hippiebusmovie.com
jodahodge.com
sexanddeath.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWFPcEYQw1I
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnHyoyydn1g
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ9PgcLLtpkhttp://www.retn.org/programs/stowe-film-society-presents-oscar-nominated-screenwriter-hawk-ostby
Saturday, August 27, 2011
A Local Writer Talks About Mashing Up Cowboys & Aliens By Margot Harrison (Reposted by JoDa Hodge)
A Local Writer Talks About Mashing Up Cowboys & Aliens | Seven Days 
http://www.retn.org/programs/stowe-film-society-presents-oscar-nominated-screenwriter-hawk-ostby
A Local Writer Talks About Mashing Up Cowboys & Aliens
State of the Arts
By Margot Harrison [07.27.11]
Daniel Craig in Cowboys & Aliens
Moviegoers who have seen the early-summer trailer for DreamWorks’ Cowboys & Aliens, in theaters this Friday, might be forgiven for wondering, WTF? The film appears to start like a traditional Western, with Harrison Ford as a crusty sheriff and Daniel Craig as a mysterious loner. Then the aliens invade. By the time the title flashes on the screen, ending the preview, audiences are often giggling in excitement, disbelief or both.
So, is Cowboys & Aliens the new Men in Black? No, said Hawk Ostby of South Burlington, who cowrote the film’s screenplay based on a graphic novel created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.
“You’re very close to camp with a title like this,” acknowledged Ostby, 44, speaking on the phone from San Diego, where he’d flown to attend Saturday’s premiere at Comic-Con. One of the first priorities for the film’s writers, he said, was “setting the tone. We’re not making a spoof here; this is a serious movie. Don’t come expecting a comedy.”
Also, don’t come expecting to wear 3-D glasses just because C&A is based on a comic book. Ostby said director Jon Favreau “was pretty specific about doing it in 2-D.”
Ostby and his L.A.-based writing partner, Mark Fergus, also coscripted Favreau’s earlier comic-book hit, Iron Man. Before that, the duo went to the Oscars for their work on the Children of Men screenplay. Their indie drama First Snow, directed by Fergus and starring Guy Pearce, was released in 2006.
Cowboys & Aliens has a whopping six credited screenwriters, according to the Internet Movie Database. How did Ostby and Fergus fit in? They were one of two distinct teams, said Ostby. (The other included “Lost” head writer Damon Lindelof and “Fringe” creators Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.) “We got it to the 50-yard line,” Ostby said, “and the other team got it the rest of the way.”
Ostby and Fergus didn’t work on the set of C&A as they did with Iron Man. Would he recognize his individual handiwork in the finished product? “Moviemaking is really a collaborative endeavor,” Ostby noted, one that includes not just various writers’ contributions but also “other things ... invented by actors or the director. As a screenwriter,” he said, “your biggest job is to get the structure right. It’s always interesting to see how things evolve — the bending and the sausage making of the movie.”
In this case, “getting the structure right” involved “dealing with two different mediums,” Ostby said. That meant asking questions such as “How do you capture the feeling of what was in the graphic novel? What needs to be there and is iconic and inherent in that material, and what sort of things do you need to invent to have an engaging movie?”
Ostby and Fergus have more big-budget projects in the works. They just finished adapting James Patterson’s young-adult series Maximum Ride to the screen, and they’re “rebooting” the Lara Croft series, which is “very exciting,” Ostby said.
So, no more comic books? “When you have some success in one thing, you tend to get pigeonholed into it,” Ostby said with a chuckle. Since he grew up in Norway, American comics weren’t part of his childhood. But he was revved by his Comic-Con experience last weekend, saying, “It’s quite wild. It’s pretty spectacular.”
Fergus and Ostby first teamed up in New York about 15 years ago, but they’ve “never worked in the same room,” said Ostby. Though he chats every day with Fergus, Ostby does most of his writing from his home in Vermont, where he lives with his wife, Monica, president of group-gifting service Inlu.com, and their kids. “I’m more efficient at home,” he said. “I love to have my routine. It’s nice to look out the window and see trees.”
In addition to their work on big Hollywood projects, Fergus and Ostby have “two originals we’re hoping to get going,” said Ostby. One he described as a “mashup between a heist film and a prison movie,” the other as “Deliverance meets Southern Comfort.”
At a meeting last spring of the Stowe Film Society, organized by local filmmaker JoDa Hodge, Ostby talked candidly about the initial process of pitching First Snow in 1999. Some major Hollywood players loved the script ... until they found out it ended on a downer that couldn’t be rewritten. “We weren’t ready,” Ostby said. Instead of basing their career on one breakthrough deal, he and Fergus slowly worked their way up.
Original projects, Ostby noted from San Diego, are a hard sell in today’s Hollywood. “As movies get bigger and more expensive, you try to minimize the risk,” he said, “and part of that is picking brands that are already in the public consciousness” — such as Cowboys & Aliens.
Still, there’s definitely something original about a sci-fi Western. While Cowboys & Aliens may not be based on a director’s vision, like Inception — a trend-bucking example from last year — Ostby hopes it will give this summer of familiar-looking blockbusters a kick.
“You hear so many people grumbling that there’s nothing new,” he said. “Well, here’s something that’s new and fresh.”
© Seven Days 2011
Reposted by JoDa Hodge
http://www.7dvt.com/2005/born-be-wild
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4347909/
www.stowefilm.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH_cOLcnX4s
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLharr8625U
www.departedharvest.com
twitter.com/jodaism
http://jodahodge.tumblr.com/
https://www.facebook.com/people/JoDa-Hodge/100002603415178
https://jodahodge.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/joda-hodge/
http://www.blogger.com/profile/03405317205671402517
http://www.goodbyebrother.com/
jodahodge.net
joda.tv
joda.me
hippiebusmovie.com
jodahodge.com
sexanddeath.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWFPcEYQw1I
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnHyoyydn1g
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ9PgcLLtpkhttp://www.retn.org/programs/stowe-film-society-presents-oscar-nominated-screenwriter-hawk-ostby
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
BBDO’S global study of rituals uncovers new business-building opportunities for brands (Reposted by JoDa Hodge)
BBDO - The Ritual Masters
BBDO - The Ritual Masters
The Secret is to Become a “Fortress” Brand
BBDO’S global study of rituals uncovers new business-building opportunities for brands
NEW YORK, MAY 11, 2007 – BBDO Worldwide, an Omnicom Group company, released findings today from a global study designed to better understand rituals and the role they play in people’s lives. The study, entitled “BBDO – The Ritual Masters,” is the most extensive research project ever undertaken by BBDO. It was nine months in the making, involved ethnographic research in 26 countries, 2,500 hours of documented and filmed behavior, quantitative feedback from more than 5,000 people, and interviews with psychologists, nutritionists and sociologists. It was led by BBDO teams from the U.S. and Europe.
“We are focused on behavior, both as a source of insight and for defining goals and strategies,” said Andrew Robertson, President and CEO, BBDO Worldwide. “The idea here is to look at rituals as an important behavior in consumers' lives, to understand what they are, how they work, and how to work our clients' brands into them. We usually look at behavior through the lens of a brand or a category. This is an extra lens to look through. Not an alternative."
According to the BBDO study, rituals are a defined series of actions that move people emotionally from one place to another. Rituals are sequences that are developed over time. Rituals make people feel good. While there may be bad habits, there are no bad rituals.
It was BBDO’s going-in belief that by better understanding rituals, new insights might be uncovered that could change behavior and unlock business-building ideas. For example, those brands that are already embedded inside a ritual enjoy great “stickiness” with consumers. These are called “Fortress Brands.” The goal of the BBDO study was to uncover insights that could help move a clients’ brands inside.
More Alike Than Different
“What we found is that people are more alike than different, which is great news for marketers,” remarked Tracy Lovatt, Director of Behavioral Planning for BBDO New York and BBDO North America and one of the architects of the study. “Emotionally, rituals are critical to people everywhere in the world. They help transform us from one emotional state to another, for example, from your private sleepy self every morning to your ‘warrior ready to take on the world’ self. We all repeat a series of steps to help us make that transformation. What varies from country to country is the execution.”
As a result, the BBDO study focused on the five rituals that are performed most often by most people throughout the world. These include:
- Preparing for battle: transforming us from the cocoon to “ready to face the day”;
- Feasting: the pleasure of eating that “reunites us with our tribes,” transforming us from alone to connected;
- Sexing up: a highly pleasurable and indulgent ritual, though not without stress (particularly for women), that transforms us from our everyday selves to our most fabulous selves;
- Returning to camp: that moment when we unwind and exhale, transforming us from tense to relaxed;
- Protecting yourself for the future: that last ritual of the day that moves us from relaxed to feeling safe and secure before the next day comes around
Jammed Up, Preparing for Battle
The busiest and most tightly sequenced ritual of the day, “preparing for battle” includes an average of over seven steps in less than one hour. These are functional, sequential steps that get people ready for the outside world. The most common task is brushing teeth (performed by 82% of people around the world), followed by taking a shower or bath (74%), having something to eat/drink (74%), talking to a family member/partner (54%), checking e-mail (54%), shaving (male – 53%), putting on makeup (female – 47%), watching TV/listening to radio (45%) and reading a newspaper (38%).
Importantly, 89% of people rely on the same brands when performing this sequence, and three out of four people become disappointed/irritated when their sequence is disrupted or their brand of choice is not available. That’s because the morning ritual is all about being prepared and gaining control in order to face the day.
From a global perspective, the Chinese are the most regimented (96% have a sequence compared to the global average of 79%) and the U.S. is the most brand loyal (94% versus the global average of 82%). Brazilians brush their teeth most often (94% versus the global average of 82%). The Japanese shower and bathe the least (only 27% versus the global average of 74%). Another interesting finding: seniors have the highest rate of e-mail usage (64% versus the global average of 54%).
Bottom line: this is the biggest-volume opportunity for brands, but also the ritual that is most entrenched and most jammed.
Feasting Is More Than Thanksgiving
A physical and mental meeting of the group marks the start of a feast. It is an emotional transformation that goes from feeling alone, to being connected to a group. People let go of other things and bond. Sharing is at the core of this ritual: everyone is expected to bring something to the table (literally or figuratively).
Americans are most likely to meet in a restaurant, whereas the Spanish and French are most likely to meet at home. The car has become a sizable dining venue for the Saudis, Chinese and Americans, with anywhere from 10 to 12% of people eating in their cars (versus the global average of 7%).
Bottom line: Maybe convenience has gone too far. It’s important that people also feel a sense of involvement in the preparation of a meal. It’s part of the emotional transformation.
Spontaneous Sex
Globally, people say that sex is spontaneous (78%), yet, 33% say 10pm to midnight is the “hot time of the day” and over 50% wait for the weekend (Friday/Saturday/Sunday) for sex. The Chinese are most likely to have “appointment sex” (41% versus the 9% global average).
So maybe sex isn’t as spontaneous as people like to think.
Preparation starts days before going out. Some call and talk about the evening ahead; teenage girls photo message pictures of their outfits for approval and reassurance. People eat and drink luxury foods, forget diets and treat themselves.
Bottom line: when “sexing up,” people are transforming from their normal to most confident selves. They use special products to make themselves feel special.
Time for Me
At the opposite end of the spectrum from “preparing for battle” is “returning to camp.” This is the moment when people exhale. It lasts an average of four hours and includes fewer than five steps – quite a difference from the more than seven behaviors that are crammed into an hour at the start of the day.
Winding down typically begins around 8pm. All over the world, people demonstrate they have ended their day by changing elements of their clothes – from kicking off shoes to changing into pajamas. Two out of three people let go with media (66% watch TV in the evening); one out of five reads a newspaper; more than one-third go online. Many bathe or shower – a particularly popular activity among Brazilians (85% versus the global average of 48%). Almost half of all people take something to read with them in the loo. Brazilians and Chinese read the most; Italians multitask. Few Americans (only 27%) are able to create alone time – or time for oneself.
Bottom line: there is an opportunity for those brands that can contribute to a sense of relaxation, calm, self-satisfaction and at ease.
Husbands and Fathers Take “Protecting Yourself” Seriously
The final ritual, and the shortest one, is protecting yourself for the future. This can take the form of leaving packed bags by the door, laying out clothes for the next day, turning off computers, pouring a glass of water, taking your medication or setting the alarm. To husbands and fathers, the day is not complete until they’ve checked on kids and pets or locked doors and windows.
Sequence matters the least because this is a time to let go: less than 50% of people have a sequence to end their day. Yet, more than 50% use the same products when ending the day. And four out of five people become irritated when their products are not available – levels comparable to preparing for battle.
Bottom line: brands play an important role in the ritual of helping someone feel safe and secure and protected for the future.
What Next?
There is an opportunity for brands to become more emotionally connected with consumers through understanding the transformation that is taking place in any given ritual and the role that a brand can play in that transformation. Implications can take the form of packaging to positioning, advertising, promotions and product development.
As people prepare for their next weekend, BBDO invites them to think about their activities, compared to Monday through Friday: what is done differently, their emotional state, the products used. It’s what BBDO calls the ritualistic rhythms of life…and it can give someone a firsthand perspective of what this study is trying to tell clients.
ABOUT BBDO WORLDWIDE
BBDO Worldwide has 287 offices in 79 countries. Its professional ambition is captured in the agency’s mantra, “The Work. The Work. The Work.” In 2006, BBDO was the winner of The Gunn Report as the most awarded agency network in the world, and the Won Report, as the most awarded agency network in direct and interactive. BBDO also won the most Lions at Cannes.
BBDO Worldwide is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. (www.omnicomgroup.com). Omnicom is a leading global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.
Related Article:
Daily Rituals of the World
A recent study by ad agency BBDO Worldwide offers marketers insight into the everyday routines of people across the globe.
Human beings are creatures of habit—the morning coffee with two sugars, the post-lunch brush and floss, the bedtime yoga routine with lights dimmed. Advertisers, on the other hand, often try to break those habits by wedging new products and services into various parts of the day.
Now comes ad giant BBDO Worldwide with its latest weapon to help clients get an edge: An extensive global study of daily rituals. Unlike habits or routines, which may be ingrained but carry no emotional meaning, a ritual is described in the study as "a defined series of actions that helps us transform from one emotional state to another."
Many of those actions involve favorite things, naturally, and BBDO's hope is that the data will help clients insert their products into those rituals. "We didn't have categories or brands in mind," says Tracy Lovatt,director of behavioral planning at BBDO North America. "We wanted to study the power of rituals in our lives."
The study comes at a time when ad agencies are struggling to find new ways to reach customers, and emphasize the value of their work to clients. "This is another example of how the richest source of insight comes from observing behavior," says BBDO President and Chief Executive Andrew Robertson.
Making MeaningBut rituals are something many associate with rites of passage—marriage, death, even the transition to a new season. BBDO, in contrast, came up with five that occur every day in every part of the world: "preparing for battle" (the morning ritual), "feasting" (reconnecting with your tribe over food), "sexing up" (primping), "returning to camp" (leaving the work place), and "protecting yourself for the future" (the ritual before bed).
Each label is meant to suggest a defined emotional state that permeates each set of behaviors. The notion resonates with anthropologist Norman Stolzoff, founder of Ethnographic Insight. "The idea that the day could be carved up into meaningful times is clever," he says. "Rituals form meaning."
As part of the study, researchers asked more than 5,000 people in 21 countries how they behave during these five transitional periods of the day. While people in every culture report engaging in rituals for similar reasons, they approach them quite differently. About 41% of Chinese respondents said they schedule sex, for example, while only 3% of Russians do—and 7% of Americans.
Nightly LockdownFully 44% of Brazilians read in the bathroom, according to the study; in Saudi Arabia, 10% of respondents do. More than half of all Indian respondents surf the Web before leaving the house, while less than one-third of Americans or Canadians do. About 80% of Saudi Arabians pray or meditate before work; in Germany, 3% of respondents do.
The rituals that are easiest to understand occur in the morning and evening. Marketers have long appreciated the value of getting a foothold in the tightly scheduled morning ritual, when people tend to stick with a routine and a particular set of products. BBDO participants reported doing an average of seven activities in under an hour, from brushing their teeth and drinking coffee to checking e-mail (participants between the ages of 60 and 70 reported the highest rate of e-mail use).
BBDO dubbed the period before bed "protecting yourself for the future." That's because the survey found people in self-preservation mode, as they went about locking windows and doors, applying wrinkle cream, and selecting clothes or "armor" for the next day. It's a brief period, but also the perfect time to find customers at their most vulnerable. As BBDO's Robertson, a former insurance salesman, puts it: "If there was some way to be in the home as people are going through lockdown, you could probably sell a lot of insurance."
Broad CategoriesWhen it comes to rituals in the middle of the day, the survey's results are less conclusive. That might have to do with the categories BBDO settled on. Feasting, for example, is described as "pleasurable and indulgent…the ritual that reunites us with our tribes." But the frequency with which people feast vs. simply eating something to stave off hunger isn't clear, and anyone who has organized a midweek meal with busy kids knows that "indulgent" may not be the best way to characterize the mood.
Everyone, too, understands the elaborate preparations that go into "sexing up." But the category is a catch-all for everything from teenage girls e-mailing each other to find out what they're going to wear, to people scheduling sex. "Returning to camp," meanwhile, can mean anything from sharing martinis with friends to staring zombie-like at the TV with a bag of chips in hand. Watching TV also creeps into both the morning and evening rituals, as do other habits—this perhaps means the same activity serves different purposes at different hours of the day.
Even so, marketers may find BBDO's results help them tailor their approach to consumers. For instance, cultures in which a high proportion of people eat on their way to work, such as China, could be more open to portable breakfast food than those that don't, such as Spain. While everybody showers or bathes, a shower gel aimed at Polish consumers might emphasize relaxing qualities, as 84% of them shower at night. A more invigorating message might work better with the 92% of Mexicans who shower or bathe in the morning. Knowing that women in Colombia, Brazil, and Japan apply makeup in their car at twice the global rate could prompt a new approach to the design and marketing of cosmetics.
Breaking the CodeThe challenge is that most consumers are loyal to particular products and patterns, making it tough for marketers to become part of a ritual if another brand is already there. Americans, in particular, said they use the same products every morning, though they're more flexible about what they use at night. Russians are less predictable—only half of them use the same products as part of their morning ritual, and 19% of them use the same products before going to bed. If there's one constant around the world, it's this: Almost everyone gets irritated when their rituals are disrupted.
How will clients see the work? BBDO has presented the findings to several so far, and some were willing to share a few comments with BusinessWeek. YUM! Brands Chairman and CEO David Novak, who calls his company "maniacal about insight-driven marketing," says the study will "provide a fresh, new lens to uncover those insights that lead to positive and lasting changes in consumer behavior." Pepsi-Cola North America Chief Marketing Officer Cie Nicholson called the study "intriguing, because we can learn how to build our brands' share of life, not just share of market."
For Scott Aakre, a vice-president at Hormel Foods, the Holy Grail is to "find a way to break the code and fit into one of these five universal routines [so] we might be able to build lifelong relationships between our brands and consumers." That's a tough challenge. But if he doesn't do it, he can always head home, change into his pajamas, curl up on the couch, and find comfort in the little rituals of his day.
Diane Brady, BusinessWeek, May 10, 2007.
Copyright 2000-2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.
BBDO
Copyright © 2007. All rights reserved.
Reposted by JoDa Hodge
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