Did you know that more than 100 million people worldwide have obstructive sleep apnea or OSA? And according to the World Health Organization1, an estimated 18 million Americans suffer from OSA, too.

This disorder is caused by an obstructed airway due to the tongue and soft tissues falling into the back of the throat during sleep. It results in short episodes when breathing stops—a scary outcome! OSA then leads to feeling excessively sleepy in the daytime. Worse than that, it’s been associated with increased risk for high blood pressure, stroke, heart problems, and death.2

My specialty is helping clients who have physical problems release the emotional component of the disease or condition. I use the MO (Modus Operandi) Technique to achieve this result for people. Let me share what happened with Erma, a client who did five sessions with me over five months.

When Erma came to me for help with sleep apnea, she was 56 years old and used a CPAP machine every night. (CPAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure.) Used through the night by individuals with OSA, this machine applies mild air pressure to keep airways open for continuous breathing. Because of the noise from the machine, Erma wasn’t able to sleep with her husband at night.

After her first sessions with me applying the MO Technique, Erma simply forgot to put the machine on. After five once-a-month sessions, she packed up her CPAP machine and put it away. Four months after her treatments ended, she was able to sleep through the night with no problem. She can now sleep with her husband, which is comforting for her and not as lonely as before.

OSA’s Emotional Components

Dr. Michael J. Lincoln’s book Messages from the Body addresses the emotional component for people with OSA, stating:

They are intensely sensitive, fearful and longing for mother love or love from someone else. They have a lot of disappointment, bitterness, forgiveness and resentment of being overworked.

But at the same time, they dare not express or even acknowledge these feelings out of fear of total rejection and abandonment. They are hostility repressing, compulsively over giving, hypersensitive and lonely.

They are full of family taboos, social restrictions and moral inhibitions, all learned in an intensely repressive family which forced a “model child” adjustment on them.

There is a great deal of deep-seated guilt, shame and grief arising out of this and they are joy avoidant, happiness squashing and love deflecting all in the misguided  hope that they will thereby finally “earn” the  “God Housekeeping Seal of Approval.” In effect they are so self suppressing, they are suffocating themselves.” 3

What did that mean to Erma? After she read Dr. Lincoln’s message from the body about sleep apnea, she told me, “All of it was me to a T!”

Erma had emigrated to the U.S. with her family from the Portuguese Azores at age seven and had to leave her grandparents—a devastating event for her. Her grandmother was the one family member who showed affection to her. Without her mom’s affection, Erma felt lonely and unloved from a very young age. Her rigid father ruled the household with an iron fist, often declaring, “What I say goes.”

Given her upbringing, I was delighted the MO Technique could help Erma in her adult years. In a written Q&A format, she shared with me how it has made a significant difference to her.

1. How many years have you had sleep apnea? What were your symptoms? How long have you used the sleep apnea machine (CPAP) at night?

I got my CPAP machine in October 2009. My symptoms were being extremely tired and sleepy all the time. Sometimes driving home after work, I would have extreme drunk-like sleepiness. When my husband would drive at night on the way back from going out, I would fall sleep. It was a bobbing-for-apples-like sleep. I also had episodes of waking up coughing and choking-like noises. Or I’d wake up just coughing and gagging.

2. How did you relate to the emotional components of sleep apnea? Please write a little about each one you resonated with.

I resonated with the following emotional components:

1. Maternal deprivation—longing for a mother’s love or love from someone close
2. Resentment about being overworked but dare not express it for fear of rejection and abandonment
3. Over giving, hypersensitive and lonely
4. Forced to be a “model child”
5. Need to earn the “Good Housekeeping” seal of approval
6. Self-suppressing and suffocating

A.   All my life, it has been hard to get close to my mom. It was very hard for her to return a kiss, hug, etc. I know now she loved me very much, but it was very hard for her to show me in those ways that I needed. When my mom passed away and was beside her coffin, I said, “You can’t run away from me now” and I hugged and kissed her.

B.    I started in the work force my senior year, but even before that, at age 13, I started taking my family to doctor appointments, doing book work, accounting, etc., for my parents’ business. Now looking back, that was a lot of stuff for a 13 year old to handle. I just did what was asked of me and didn’t express anything such as fear or ask for support.

C.   Well, I am absolutely all of these, over giving, hypersensitive and lonely. In the over giving, I did as people wanted me to do for them, I guess. Hypersensitive—that would be my crying, how I always feel things so deeply and tears well up all the time. The lonely is weird, because as busy as I was with work and family, at the end of the day, it’s just my hubby and me. And then I would be lonely, as he has his family business 24/7.

D.   I was forced to be a model child in my household. I knew how my parents wanted me to be and what they wanted me to do, and I did it. I feared my dad and got no emotional support from my mom.

E.    I resonate with the “Good Housekeeping” one because I feel I don’t cook well enough and can’t pass the white-glove test of the home. My older sister got the “Good Housekeeping Seal” and I didn’t. Portuguese women are very proud of their cooking and their homes. Because my mom didn’t speak English or drive a car, I was groomed for doctor’s appointments and book work, so I never cared for the cooking and cleaning. I have put myself down for that.

F.    I have felt self-suppressing and suffocating real intensely since my mom died. My dad remarried, and it just was not a good time for me. I didn't like myself; it felt like I was on the hamster wheel going around and around trying to be perfect. And how could I be perfect when I was going against my dad remarrying?

3. How has the MO Technique helped you with this problem?

Maureen, it feels really weird answering these questions now. My intense emotions of when I first shared these things with you have softened so much. I cannot explain the peace and calmness I feel as I write this down. It just feels so surreal.

The MO Technique has been the most effective healing technique for me. In my relaxed way, I am able to convey my deep hurts and bring them to the surface. It has worked for me unbelievably well and continues to work for me.

It has been a Godsend to have discovered the MO Technique at this time in my life.

4. How has doing the MO Technique changed your relationships or helped you in life in general?

It has changed me to be a calmer person. I’m starting to ask for what I want and stand up for it. My relationship with my husband is better. I am stronger now to ask and say what I need and want from him and life. Two things I’m working on he doesn’t agree with—to become vice president of an organization in our church and get preapproved to buy a house. He knows I have wanted to do these the last 10 years and I haven’t been able to until after my sessions with Maureen. I’m setting what I want in motion and have asked for my husband’s support. I also know I have lots of family and friends who will support me when I ask them. And as of January 1st,   2013, I am vice president for our church organization.

Seeing Deeper Truths

So many times, we can’t consciously know how we feel at a subconscious level. It takes going to a deeper place to see our truths. Through the MO Technique, Erma released all of the emotional untruths that had led to her sleep apnea.

Energetically, like attracts like. That means having the energy of being lonely and not supported at our core will attract lonely and non-supportive situations to our experience.

Yet when we “become” the energy of support and allow people to be there for us, we can then attract situations that provide people to help and support us. This is true for all of the emotional components that Erma was able to release because of working with the MO Technique.

Happily, Erma no longer has to suppress her feelings. She no longer has that suffocating feeling and is able to breathe in life with ease.

Disclaimer:  Although this article only depicts the emotional component of sleep apnea, I believe in a balanced approach to healing all ailments. Because the emotional component isn’t as readily available as traditional remedies, those remedies (except for the CPAP machine) are not addressed in this article.         

1 http://www.apnexmedical.com/downloads/Apnex_Medical_OSA_FAQs.pdf

2 http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-apnea/news/20060203/mouth-guard-endorsed-for-sleep-apnea

3 Lincoln, Michael J., Ph.D. Messages from the Body: Their Psychological Meaning. Talking Hearts, rev. 2006, p.302.

Maureen Minnehan Jones, a registered nurse and holistic healer, has applied her Modus Operandi Theory and MO (Modus Operandi) Technique on hundreds of clients over the last 16 years. Her book Wisdom to Wellness: Healing Your Emotional Sufferings so the Physical Healing Can Follow details the emotional component of how and why disease is sparked in the body. It describes her powerful MO Technique for reprogramming the subconscious, super conscious, and conscious mind to create lasting change. Wisdom to Wellness also features discussions on how and why Alzheimer’s developed in Ronald Reagan, Parkinson’s in Michael J. Fox, and ALS in Lou Gehrig, as well as discussing 14 other diseases.

Maureen helps individuals prevent disease through her MO Technique. She can be reached at mmj@maureenminnehanjones.com or 209-845-8141. Visit her website at www.maureenminnehanjones.com