Imagine that you have gone to the movie theater and we are sitting together. As the movie begins, you get caught up into the action and before you know it you're living the movie. Lost in the imagery of the movie, you feel the action and react to the excitement of a kiss, a chase, or a fall.
If I hit your arm and you react to me, it breaks the imagery of the movie and you
remember that you're in the theater. Not only is the imagery of the movie broken, so
is the emotional bond that held you. The power of the imagery fades away into
nothing.
The Exercise works on the same principle. Simply put, it breaks the endless loop of thought sustained by emotional energy. It sets you free from “Reimagining the trauma again…”
Your thoughts rage into a battle, keeping you confused, lost and emotionally charged, and worse yet, causing you to seek escapes (to feel better, e.g., drugs, alcohol, sex, outbursts).
Being aware is effortless. There is nothing to study, nothing to learn. Just be still, aware, and the reoccurring images with their assorted pains wither away.
All you have to do is sit in a straight-backed chair and listen to the Exercise. The narrator, Roy Masters, walks you through it.
(As you sit, you’ll become aware of your hand and it’ll tingle just a bit until a thought pulls you away and the tingling will stop. It’s a mini-battlefield between being in the Movie [caught up] or the Audience [aware].)
Day-by-day this simple Exercise breaks the shackles of your mind, and you're no longer reliving the past. As you see it, and watch it, the thought will simply fade away.
Mr. Masters’ exercise delivers results. It is not an escape, just to make you feel better. It is designed to set you free; empowered.
Dr. George Hayter, M.D., Psychiatrist and Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, says the Exercise "…is the only program of self-therapy which achieves the desired end-state of therapy; to lessen the dependence on the therapist – the goal is self-awareness.” Also, he says, “It’s the only approach that I have ever seen in the whole field of psychology which allows you to become independent, competent and effective.”
Read what the Military is saying...
From U.S. Army Baptist Chaplain:
Chaplain (LTC) Phillip L. Pringle
US Army (Southern Baptist)
3 NOV 09
Dear Colonel Monaco,
Thank you for the energetic and hopeful dialogue we have entered into regarding Patriot Outreach. I am always looking for morally and psychologically sound materials that a chaplain can use to boost a unit’s morale and enhance a Soldier’s resilience. Your Coping Strategies CD is an effective and practical tool that enhances stress management and builds resilience within the mind and emotion of the warrior.
I am especially thankful for the Be Still and Know Exercise. It is a good self awareness exercise, comparable to the concept of mindfulness used within the field of empirically researched psychology. I have integrated the exercise into my own personal life as a Christian Chaplain. It assists me in being effective in what I call a listening prayer. My foundational written statement for listening prayer is found in Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know I am God.” The essence of this spiritual discipline calms my soul, improves my emotional regulation, and enhances my critical thinking skills.
I read a small, but powerful book by Charles Swindoll, Intimacy with the Almighty, several years ago. This book helped transform my life as a war veteran chaplain. The book clarified if I am to be resilient in this difficult world, I must practice the four spiritual disciplines of simplicity, silence, solitude, and surrender. The Be Still and Know Exercise helped me practice these four disciplines on a consistent basis.
My average day is filled with phone calls, emails, visits, and deadlines. It seems to me the Blackberry and computer tends to escalate distress signals in my brain as I suffer with an overload of information and tasks to be completed each day. Charles Swindoll said it best when he stated, “Everything around us works against reordering and simplifying our lives. Everything! Ours is a complicated and cluttered world.” The Be Still and Know Exercise used as a listening prayer decreases the clutter in my mind and helps me be more effective and creative in my thought process.
The practice of silence and solitude is at the very core of the Be Still and Know Exercise. Learning to be still is one of the most needed, yet most difficult spiritual disciplines today. I remember my struggle when I first became intentional about practicing being still. It was just like the noted Roman Catholic Priest, Henri Nouwen stated, “Time in solitude may at first seem little more than a time in which we are bombarded by thousands of thoughts and feelings that emerge from hidden areas of our mind. It can feel like a multitude of confusing thoughts are jumping around in the mind like monkeys in a banana tree.” Indeed, this was my experience early on. However, I have observed as I continue the practice of silence and solitude my mind becomes more rested. It also seems my resilience in thinking straight under pressure is improved.
Last of all, there is the issue of surrender. It is an issue of how I want my day to go versus how my day actually does go. A few years ago, while practicing the essence of be still and know, I came to a powerful awareness of what my core daily struggle is. I want my day to go my way. I am finally learning to let go of those things I cannot control or change. I am finally learning that surrendering my days and future to God, not as I would have it, is the most responsible act of obedience I can do. This transformative attitude is a lighter burden for me to carry. It certainly decreases my frustration and distress levels.
Colonel Monaco, I need simplicity, silence, solitude, and surrender in my life to be an effective, resilient military chaplain in today’s complex world. Thank you for introducing me to the Coping Strategies CD. It is a helpful tool that can help many other military personnel become the resilient leaders we all need to be in the rapidly changing environment in which we live.
Chaplain (LTC) Phillip L. Pringle
US Army (Southern Baptist)
Thank you so much for your efforts and your generosity. I wish that my wife and I had this the first time that I deployed. We have both struggled with stress. God Bless you! - 1LT P. H., U.S. Army
This is basic training for the mind. - PFC J. Oehring, U.S. Army Infantry, Deployed to Iraq
I have been listening to your CD for five days now and it is completely changing me… I have been struggling for so long… I feel so liberated… I’m not resentful for my husband for leaving again (Returning to Iraq). - Janie, Wife of Deployed Warrior
On the third try, all hell broke loose and it was an epiphany… It energizes me, it enlightens me and it gives me strength… I am ready and proud. - Mike, US Marine Corps, Deployed to Iraq
Thank you, it saved my life! The peace and joy I now enjoy makes life worthwhile! - SGT J. Shiposki, US Marine Corps (Homebound Quadriplegic)
I received my CD and love it. I would very much like to request thirty more for use at the VA Clinic and to provide to soldiers and families. This is a wonderful resource! Thank you. - T.P., Addiction Therapist, VA Clinic
From an Addiction Therapist at a VA Medical Clinic...
• I am a federal employee for the VA and would like to have 10 copies for use in American Samoa. (February 20, 2009)
• I received my CD and love it. I would very much like to request 30 more for use at the VA Clinic and to provide to soldiers and families. This is a wonderful resource. Thank you. (March 18, 2009)
• May I please have 40 more? I am finding the soldiers really like the CD a lot. It is powerful. (May 20, 2009)
• Thanks for increasing the order. ... I know it is changing lives! (May 21, 2009)
Please call our office if you cannot afford the cost of CD/download or you have difficulty in ordering: Toll-Free 800-877-3227(8-5pm PST) or 541-956-6700
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