In hypnosis there are techniques that we use as therapists that put our clients’ minds into a type of chaos so that the conscious mind basically shuts down and the subconscious is more easily accessed. An everyday life application is when, for instance, too many people are talking to us at one time, we become overwhelmed and then we can’t hear anyone. Or maybe too many stressful or out of the ordinary things are happening and the conscious mind can’t wrap around the multiple events and, poof, mentally and physically we simply stop. In some cases we may even we create self-induced amnesia.
So why is this important to know? For our mental (and ultimately physical) protection, the conscious mind shuts down and the subconscious jumps in to create a calming effect. With the current world chaos, a theory has emerged into my conscious mind. The economic chaos — housing, banking, business, and the weather chaos – earthquakes, tsunami’s, Western U.S. fires followed by mudslides, blizzards, hurricanes followed by flooding take a stressful toll on our mental and physical selves. We become confused and then we shut down and then what?
These events are getting all too common so how do we use this to our advantage, for healing, to catapult us forward? There’s a saying “When the world hands you lemons, you make lemon-aide.” In NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) fashion, we must reframe the chaos for (what I’ll call) growth-aide. It’s not what we’re dealt, it is what we do with it after our experience. We have to come up with the “what-next” plans to, not just, survive but to thrive.
When I experienced a dysfunctional childhood and poverty, my conscious mind panicked at many points. Anxiety, Panic, Fear, Anger, Guilt, Remorse, Shame, and Embarrassment… piled up. The question was “How am I going to get out of this mess?!” If the subconscious mind is numbed artificially (with alcohol or drugs for instance) that is all put on hold, and you can become even more confused. But you can find the eye of the storm even while surrounded by chaos, while the door isn’t always crystal clear, you can sense a direction as the subconscious mind forms a plan.
For a quick self-induced (self hypnosis) calm, ask your subconscious mind for an answer to the standing issue and request that you have a message on how to move forward once you’ve completed the following simple session. Have a pencil and paper available as well for further processing. So close your eyes and count backwards from 100 (out loud if possible). Just focus on the numbers and keep counting… 100, 99, 98, 97… Eventually you won’t feel like counting and the numbers will begin to fade from your mind and you will just be quiet. When you feel like opening your eyes, restate your question and if an answer hasn’t formed then write down what’s “on your mind.” Remember that sometimes we can only handle pieces of answers (otherwise it puts us back into chaos), so be patient with the process. If you don’t have an answer directly after your self induction, go on with your day and hints will start to drop into your conscious mind and steps to resolve your issue(s) will emerge.
With hypnotherapy, NLP and EFT, there are many techniques for discovery. But on your own, practicing this with simple matters will also help you work your way up to more complex issues. I am available for mind over matter – Hypnotherapy, NLP, EFT… — training and individual sessions if you’d like to take this deeper. Go to www.MichellePayton.com for more information. Speak to you soon.
