The following is a letter from a PATHS customer that was posted on PI.

You can see the entire thread at Forum PATHS Forum: A Letter from a PATHS customer...

Here is an excerpt that does a good job of explaining cognitive dissonance:

"I have been with PATHS for over a week now and for the most part my days have not been very pleasant. There are a few modules that caution ?dissonance may occur.? I believe this is what has been happening to me. I remember from Aaron?s main thread on PI that someone dropped PATHS after the first week because she was feeling so awful. I have followed the Holosync forum at PI and this subject is brought up frequently. It is a feeling of ?overwhelm;? my thinking is cloudy and muddled, and even my body feels clammy at times. I can go from anxiety to sluggishness. And, yes, I?m taking gobs of spirulina!

Now for the good news! I believe what is happening is that the subconscious, with all of its ingrained, and shall we say counterproductive beliefs, is not giving into the re-patterning quite so easily. Those old beliefs thought they did serve. So with all the new messages from PATHS being given to the subconscious, there is a ?revolt? going on. And it translates into this unease or disharmony that is experienced. That?s the dissonance that is alluded to on the PATHS website. So now that I know this, I have been employing the techniques gleaned from others who?ve employed brain entrainment tools and have had these same unpleasant feelings and experiences. That is, I observe the feelings and get through the day the best way possible. I take the spirulina, eat nutritiously, get some exercise, remember to breathe deeply, pamper and love myself, and know that this yuck will pass. No pain, no gain, as the old adage goes. I feel confident that these feelings will pass because they?ve passed with others who felt the same way. I?ve committed to three months of PATHS no matter what, and know that I will be soaring soon!

Please feel free to post this on the PATHS forum, Pamela. Maybe it will help if others are experiencing this so they don?t give up before they reap the great results.

Blessings and love to you.

Donna"

This is an excellent explanation of cognitive dissonance! Thank you!

Hi Donna,

I was conferencing last night on skype with Jamie Kiner and Pamela Sweda. I was explaining to them that as of Saturday night I had viewed my new custom module (this puts me on 13 modules) I had not experienced anything adverse at all since I have started using paths.

I told Jamie and Pamela, that Sunday I felt as if in the area of my solar plexus a war was breaking loose. Similar to the story in the bible of Jacob Wrestling with the Angel!!

My custom Module has all my ultimate desires on it from my website with paths, my real estate investment company and family, Martial arts etc

I focused on Gratitude all day Sunday (even though my outer world was mirroring my inner world) and I did Get through it very easily!! By Monday I was flying High once again!!!!!

Thank you for your wonderful Post You have explained cognitive dissonance so very well!!

Much love and Gratitude Grace(ruth)

Hi Kevin,

I am so intrigued with "Jacob Wrestling the Angel" I have a call in to two people helping me with this story!! I will keep you posted Kevin. You are awesome!!!

Grace,

Also remember that when Jacob finished wrestling with the angel, the angel gave him a new name: "Israel." Coincidence? I think not...

Oh Jamie and Kevin,

THANK YOU!!! I LOVE IT!!! I am SOOOOO HAPPY!!!!


MUCH LOVE AND GRATITUDE GRACE

Thanks for putting this up. I am trying to keep this in mind ... oh, I feel so yuck right now! It hasn't even been two weeks yet, but I'm having all the symptoms described (fogginess, anxiety) plus a few more that have not been mentioned (headaches, raging thirst). I hope it doesn't last for much longer, as it's really not pleasant for me - or the people around me - at all. Thank goodness I'm on my Spring break now. There's no way I'd be able to get through a working day in this state!

Anyway. I can be glad that PATHS is clearly having an effect on me!

Hi Rin,

Kevin is right, You need more Water and Spirulina! I know this sounds simplistic, but It is what has worked for me and soooooo many others!! Please keep posting and let us know what you are feeling.

Rin -

I'm right in there with you at 15 days. Since starting, I've had some lousy days where I coudn't budge my attitude at all. Then, all of a sudden, a point of view that I'd lived with for decades just wasn't there. Free to create and it was goooood. Days where the background "noise" couldn't be ignored and times when I couldn't hear it for the life of me (not that I was going to go looking for it, mind you).

There have been mornings when I get up and my brain feels like a soldier has washed his feet in it. Most of them, as a matter of fact. Still, the positive effects have been remarkable enough to warrant continuing.

So hang in there; I'm eager to compare notes in another couple of weeks.


Regards -

John H.

heh, thats one way of describing it!

I had it when I first started and will still get it from time to time when I switch to a set of modules I have not been on.

for me, being sure to eat healthy foods at regular intervals (not letting myself get to hungry) and taking spirulina does the trick.

Okay, thanks for the tips guys. From the start I've been guzzling down the spirulina like there's no tomorrow, but I didn't know that I should be drinking more water (you'd think the "raging thirst" would've clued me in, but nooooo!). You can read my blog about my day-to-day experiences, too. Please keep me posted on yours as well. Cheers.

Hi Guys,

I'm still having a bit of a time per my PATHS post on PI site, copied and pasted below...Is it possible, that I should lay off the enlightenment modules, or reduce the number of cog dis modules I'm on...maybe my poor kiwi subconscious just doesn't want to be enlightened? Don't get me wrong, some pretty cool stuff going on too...but I think that may be half the problem, I'm picking up some bad vibes as well as the good! I don't know...any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated.

[i]I've been having a rough time with PATHS and have even gone to leaving it 10 days between viewings...I started with a hiss and a roar, but lately I'm getting higher and higher then lower and lower...not sure what's going on..I'm having a real roller coaster, some really big highs, then real dumping lows...

I'm going to get back into my mediatation etc and see if that helps.

For a while there I was on mood elevation, spiritual elightenment, breakthrough to enlightenment, and intuition and insight... I've since swapped the breakthrough to enlightenment and have just started the postive attitude and vitality module this last week... I received a few coments about the cognitive disonance with these modules, I guess using all of them may have been a bit much for my wee noggin?[/I]

So, to confirm, I'm still on mood elevation, spiritual elightenment, and intuition and insight as well as the recently swapped positive attitude and vitality module...any advice, suggestions?? I feel like there has been a whole lot of chewing up and spitting me out going on!!

If this is just the norm and I have to just harden up, then by all means just let me know :-). It just seems that most people have a few weeks worth and then see the light at the end of the tunnel...

Kiwi Boy! I feel your pain, mate. I suffered horribly for two weeks after starting, and then suddenly I was as right as rain. At the time I felt so awful that I even considered stopping the whole thing, but now I'm very, very glad that I saw it through. I feel also very relieved that I don't have to go through that again until I next change modules in a couple of months.

Being a cautious person, I'm only taking one module at a time (right now the Confidence one), and I'm glad because I don't think I can handle much more than that. Is it possible that you have bitten off a bit more than you can chew? Perhaps, instead of taking all those "spiritual" modules at once, you can take them one at a time, as I plan to do.

You know the score about spirulina. Might I suggest adding a B-complex vitamin supplement to your daily regimen (or Brewer's Yeast). I don't know why this helps, but it does - a lot. I felt noticeably better within two days of starting. Give it a try. Cheers!

Thanks Rin,
Yeah, I'm starting to wonder about my bite being bigger than my subcon myself!! Thanks for the B vit tip, I'll give that a crack over the wekend and see how I go. Now...brewers yeast...how about several beers?? :-)

Hi Chris -

I am in the process of becoming certified for PATHS and a recent chapter I studied was about the very thing you are describing, cognitive dissonance.

There are many reasons that one experiences cognitive dissonance, but they all stem from a resistance to change. And this is perfectly normal.

Usually when one first starts on PATHS, the feeling of excitement and anticipation is quite high and that results in the wonderful "feel-good" emotions that are almost euphoric. However, most of the time, our subconscious is so powerful, that we start to resist change, usually subconsciously. This causes a big drop in our emotions until it literally bottoms out. This is called the valley of despair.

This is all very normal and almost everyone experiences this. From this low point, the valley of despair, you will begin to move again in the direction of your original euphoria that you first experienced. However, this forward movement is not one straight line. There will be ups and downs along the way, though not as extreme as the first drop. At one point, you will break through your locked pattern of behavior and be where you want to be.

Again, all of this is something almost everyone experiences. By being aware of what is happening, you can be prepared for some temporary setbacks. The payoff, however, is huge

I hope this helps.

sweeeet, thaks very much...that explains things nicely! Ah well...I'll just ride this thing out then...and hopefully don't have too many wipe outs along the way. Thanks for all of your help...i didn't want to post too much of my junk as I like to keep it in the HAPPY Appreciate the positive feedback!