Give the Gift of Peace to Veterans
By
Dr. Sir Clifford Alford, Th.D, DD, MH
While some would say that I suffered with PTSD for over thirty years, I would also have to add that I wouldn't trade the experiences that gave me this problem for anything. I just didn't want the negative results of those experiences. Due to post-traumatic stress, I found myself singularly unsuited for civilian life and a very real danger to many of the people around me. And, it cost me my second marriage to the lady whom I have loved beyond all others. That gave some serious motivation for me to find a way out of the hell my life had become.
I have found the way to peace in my life, and that is the reason for this article. I intend to share with you the things that have worked for me. It is my hope that this will help veterans and their families find some peace of their own as well.
My first shot at healing came from the rather unlikely venue of a Ninjutsu seminar in Arlington, TX with Robert Bussey's Warrior International. It seems that a bunch of them are Viet Nam Vets, and they know PTSD when they see it. We had an initial confrontation that began with my reading a book called "Nam Vet" that is available on Amazon.com. Then I had to learn to talk with civilians about my experiences in both the United States Army and as a mercenary. That was really hard, and there are still some things that I will never talk about.
The next break-through came from a monastic order called the Ishayas and the Society of Ascension. If meditation processes interest you then get three books by "MSI" called "First Thunder", "Second Thunder" and "Third Thunder". The Ishaya's Ascension process was a great help to me, and still is. Contact information is listed in the books, but if you want to learn from the best Ishaya monk in the business then send me an e-mail, and I will forward it to her. Yes, I did say HER.
The biggest change came from a hypnosis CD program called the New History Generator. I used that program daily for two weeks, and have continued to use it one to two times weekly. The end result was that I have lost most of the fear that had controlled my life since I had my first experiences under fire. You can find information on this program at http://www.deeptrancenow.com?a_aid=0b680468 , then click on "Products", and scroll down to "Self-Improvement".
Before using this program, I was seriously uncomfortable whenever I heard fireworks or helicopters, and flying was a problem since I kept feeling for my "parachute" while sleeping, and waking up in a cold sweat because it wasn't there. All of that is gone now. I don't know how well this will work for everyone, but it certainly worked for me, and this would make a great Christmas present for a veteran.
Just a couple of weeks ago a friend told me about a seminar that was coming to town, and my wife and I went to it last weekend. During this seminar, people kept getting relief from stressers that had often been in their lives for many years. A part of the process is releasing the stress through movement and sound, but in a non-verbal way. You may recall that there are some things that I have seen in my travels that I will never talk about, but I did express the feelings around those incidents during the weekend. I was well supported in the process, and it was very liberating. You can contact the facilitator, Keith Salmon, through his website at www.SongsTheBodyKnows.com.
Another approach to healing PTSD that is having great success is drumming using both Native American and African drums. One of the leaders in the field is a woman named Nina Gibson who helps our veterans who were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. I had the opportunity to see her do her work, and it was truly amazing. You can contact Nina through her website at www.wheresnina.com.
There are many veterans who come home and say things like "I had so and so experience, and it's like a part of me got lost and I can't get it back." There are many cases in which we go through traumatic events, and nothing seems to happen to our psyche, then there are other that cause what psychologists call "dis-sociation" and which we call soul-loss. There is a process known as soul retrieval that we can do to get the missing pieces back for you, and this is a great first step towards healing.
Only about 25% of the people in the world will ever need a soul retrieval, and many of those are people involved directly in the business of war. For them, soul retrieval can have immediate and lasting results, but this activity is a dangerous one for the Shaman as well as for the client. Therefore, I encourage you to get your work done by an experienced Shaman or Adawehi, such as myself and those mentioned in the section of my website entitled "Fast Track", and not by someone who just took a weekend seminar or two and started calling themselves a Shaman. You can contact me through my website at www.NakedShaman.net if you have any questions, and I will get back to you as quickly as I can.
These are just a few resources that can help you give the gift of peace to a veteran this holiday season. If we can give the gift of peace to our warriors then the day may come when we won't feel the need to go to war, or even be willing. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the politicians decided to start a war, but no one showed up to fight it? I am not suggesting that our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen or Marines consider an act of desertion, but we can change the way things are done by helping people learn to think in a different way.
Our current veterans have laid their lives on the line on our behalf just like so many of us have done for you and them in the past, and all of us can be healed of the psychological and spiritual damages of war and strife that we have either witnessed or participated in. The activities and contacts given above can make the road home to a good and everlasting peace a viable option. And, since we are all One anyway, if you help sponsor the healing of a veteran then you are increasing your own health and wellbeing as well as that of your family, friends, loved ones and the world as a whole.
Give the Gift of Peace to a Veteran today!
