Specialists in Personal Development.

Text Copy of Article from Irish Examiner, 17 June 2005

 By Michèle Horgan 

Spending a full weekend learning new techniques to boost the power of your mind sounds challenging, to say the least.

I had my reservations about the Mindlink weekend workshop before it began, especially when I read online a list of benefits pledged by the course leader Rod Briggs.

The course promised everything from boosting your self-image and breaking old negative thought patterns to finding a cure to insomnia. Was there anything this weekend workshop could not do?

The last thing I needed was to be induced into hypnosis by a random stranger. Images of a group mindlessly chanting a mantra and hugging each other came into my head.

I would have been even more cynical if I hadn’t gone over a few clippings from journalists who had done the workshop over the last ten years.

Their reports were both varied and interesting, with a number of journalists reporting that the weekend workshop had improved their lives in a myriad of ways.

The seminar began on Friday evening with 14 of us sitting in a conference room at Isaac’s in Cork. By Sunday evening we were armed with techniques designed to break old habits and instigate new goals.

Basically this seminar is about getting in touch with your subconscious alpha brain and about letting it solve problems for you.

Thankfully there was no hand-holding, hugging or talking in group circles, but there was plenty of visualisation work. Even those who are not visual can drop down into themselves into a peaceful scene, according to Rod.

It takes 21 days to break a habit, and excited by the prospect of breaking what many of us had perceived as habits of a lifetime, our group arranged to meet after a month to track each other’s progress.

Four weeks later eight of us turned up to share our experiences of putting the mindlink course into action. Most of us were using the techniques and all agreed that the course helped to boost focus and concentration.

With regular practice of the mindlink meditation, from 20 minutes up to 40 minutes per day, I discovered that I was able to achieve my daily goals fairly quickly.

I also benefited from increased focus and more energy following the workshop and found I was more open to the idea of dreaming of new possibilities and of being lucky.

One woman in her late twenties gave up cigarettes a week after doing the course, by using techniques which allowed her to program her subconscious with images of the harm she would cause herself by continuing to smoke.

Another lady in her fifties, who felt nervous behind the wheel on long journeys, said she used the mindlink relaxation techniques to overcome tension while driving. The techniques worked, she said.

A software engineer said he had benefited from increased focus and smoother days at the office on the days when he took twenty or so minutes in the morning to utilise the mindlink techniques and plan out his day.

A bio-energy therapist said her self-image had improved following the course, while everyone agreed that the outcome of business meetings was more positive, once the meetings had been pre-planned at a subconscious level.

While all members of the group had taken some time to practice the techniques taught on the course, most people said they didn’t have the time to practice for 20 minutes in the morning and evening.

Course co-ordinator Rod Briggs stresses that regular practice makes for excellent results. Although he didn’t promote a CD, with a taped morning and evening session, it’s well worth the money.

Rod was born in the UK with only one working lung, which left him a virtual cripple. His lack of physical ability meant that he spent vast amounts of time reading, while other kids were out playing.

As a young boy he had the ability to see things and to sense vibrations outside the normal scope of the senses. Driven by a search to bring meaning to his visions, he studied mythologies and philosophical systems.

His time spent in an old library, where he read everything from books on shamanism to mystery schools, allowed him to learn techniques to cure his own lung. Later, when his family moved to South Africa, he earned Black Belts in judo, karate and jiu-jitsu.

All of the group who did the weekend workshop were struck by the calm energy of Rod and were impressed by the techniques he taught us. Now all we have to do is practice the techniques.