Whieldon Alice - Mind Clearing

This book brings a broader and deeper understanding of the psychological, philosophical and spiritual aspects of Charles Berners work and is a significant contribution to the further development of practice and for the professional recognition of Mind Clearing. I give my compliments to and have full respect for Alices work.

Desimir D. Ivanovi, Dijada Clearing Training Center, Belgrade, Serbia, Former President of the Training Standard Committee of the European Clearing Association

Alices ambitious undertaking in her book Mind Clearing has clearly made the complex simple. Writing with insight and eloquence, she has successfully integrated the intentions of both Berners and Noyes lives work. She sets the stage for clarity and transformation to free the minds who read this book.

Meranda Squires, Mind Clearer trained by Lawrence Noyes

by the same author

Sei-Ki

Life in Resonance The Secret Art of Shiatsu

Akinobu Kishi and Alice Whieldon

ISBN 978 1 84819 042 9

eISBN 978 0 85701 061 2

of related interest

The Ethical Space of Mindfulness in Clinical Practice

An Exploratory Essay

Donald McCown

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eISBN 978 0 85700 510 6

Theory and Practice of Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy

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MIND CLEARING

The Key to Mindfulness Mastery

ALICE WHIELDON

FOREWORD BY LAWRENCE NOYES

Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia

First published in 2016

by Jessica Kingsley Publishers

73 Collier Street

London N1 9BE, UK

and

400 Market Street, Suite 400

Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

www.jkp.com

Copyright Alice Whieldon 2016

Foreword copyright Lawrence Noyes 2016

Front cover image source: Shutterstock. The cover image is for illustrative purposes only, and any person featuring is a model.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Applications for the copyright owners written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher.

Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Whieldon, Alice, author.

Mind clearing : the key to mindfulness mastery / Alice Whieldon ; foreword by Lawrence Noyes.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-84905-307-5 (alk. paper)

1. Meditation--Therapeutic use. 2. Mindfulness (Psychology) 3. Mental health. I. Title.

RC489.M43W495 2016

615.852--dc23

2015023483

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84905 307 5

eISBN 978 0 85700 637 0

For Tom

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

For many years I have wanted to see a book about Mind Clearing come out, so I am delighted to write this foreword. Mind Clearing, informally called Clearing, was developed in the late 1960s by an American named Charles Berner. He drew from the work of a lot of people before him and added his own insights, which give it something special. I first heard about it in 1975 when I met Charles. To this day it is one of the truest, most honorable methods I have found for helping regular, modern people get free from mental suffering and have their lives go better. I devoted a good portion of my working life to training Clearers for this reason.

Mind Clearing is not magic, a quick fix or something that is done to you. It is not based on moving ideas around in the mind or looking at things more positively. Clearing is based on fulfilled relating. You work together with a Clearer in one-to-one sessions, in person or over the Internet. Using processes refined over decades, the two of you set out to find and clear the problem areas in your life that have been darkened by mix-ups in relating.

Clearing rests on old and new discoveries of what clears the mind of its upsets, depressions, fears, guilt and negative attitudes. A good Clearing session brings you home to who you really are and to a place of choice and self-responsibility. From this place, you can really live.

For those in the helping fields, Clearing adds something completely new to the methods that are popular now and enjoy some measure of success, such as coaching, cognitive therapy, and mindfulness training. Many aspects of Clearing are compatible with these approaches and deepen their effectiveness. I am convinced by what I have seen over the years that Clearing offers whole new levels of understanding and methodology for anyone working in any of the helping professions.

These assertions will take some explaining. Alice Whieldon has done a heroic job of it in this first book on Mind Clearing written for the public. Of course, the real power of Mind Clearing lies in the sessions themselves. From the pages of this book you will be able to see if you would like to try Clearing sessions. In the meantime, you have in your hands the place to start in learning how the minds torments can be cleared at their source.

Lawrence Noyes

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

May 2015

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Particular and extraordinary thanks to Lawrence Noyes. Without him this book would not have been possible. He has continued to bring the work of Charles Berner to the world with clarity and compassion. He generously gave his time and several workshops to help with this project. He did not flinch when I, a virtual stranger at the time, announced I was going to write a book about Berners lifes work.

Thanks to Tony and Jean who have supported and helped me with steadiness and generosity. Tony, my father, is a Mind Clearing practitioner of many years standing. Through numerous exchanges, he has helped me develop my understanding of the work, pulled me up where I got things wrong, pointed out inconsistencies and repetitions and given me huge moral support at all stages. Jean has always been there; really there.

Thanks to Tom who put up with my bad moods when the writing did not go well and offered me the wealth of his experience in writing and thinking and, moreover, fed me. Thanks to all my other friends and family, particularly Jane, Bernard, Sooty, Tina, Frankie, Stevie, Dominique and Tara. Thanks also to my clients and students who have asked me difficult questions and stayed enthusiastic and not seemed to mind or notice my own struggles to understand and explain. Finally, thanks to Juanita and Charlee.

GEORGE ELLIOT

The mind is a papier-mch dragon that appears to be terrifying but is actually nothing at all. Its a fake. It ought to be ashamed of itself for acting like that. Its really a whimpering little thing that tries to act big in order to survive. But most people are convinced that this papier-mch dragon is a firebreathing monster that is going to annihilate them at any second.