Quiet for a Racing Mind

Just as the audience settles into their seats for my Hypnotic Experience show I dive into the pre-talk.   It’s during this 20 minute chat I use humor and entertaining anecdotes to clear up misconceptions about hypnosis and set expectations for the show.

I’ll ask the audience to accept for a moment that we all have two minds – conscious and sub-conscious.  Our conscious mind is our area of rationale thinking and, while important to how we survive and thrive each day, it often gets us in to trouble.

Have you ever arrived at home exhausted after a long day at work?  You may feel like you’ve run a marathon, even though you have been planted at a desk.

That’s because our conscious mind requires a tremendous amount of energy to function.  A hypnotic induction helps a person step outside of the conscious mind, and get to a place of focus, quiet and relaxation.

That outcome intrigued a woman I recently met with individually after she attended one of my shows about hypnosis for exceptional living.

When I arrived at her home, it was obvious that her mind was racing.  In short order, she talked about an important graduate school project she has in the works.   She mentioned a grant application she’s developing.  And then rattled off several conflicts these deliverables had created in her relationships with co-workers and classmates.

Could hypnosis help quiet her mind?

In this particular case…no.  I walked her through several relaxation exercises and soothing visualizations, using my “go to” scenarios such as lying on a raft on the perfect pool and floating in the cloud.

Although she gave it a sincere try, she simply could not step outside of her conscious mind.  Little things like me saying her name as part of my soothing dialogue jolted her out of trance.

Plus, she changed up the visualizations to better suit her interests.  For instance, rather than lying on a raft on the pool, she placed herself in the water.

Of course, this action required attention from her conscious mind.

The take-away for me is that a person must absolutely be in the right state of focus and creativity to reap the full positive outcomes of visualization.  It confirms that it truly is self-hypnosis.

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Our time together did prove to be well spent.  The woman sent me a text message a few days later that read, “BTW, I think it did help afterwards.”

The subconscious mind holds much of our creativity and power of visualization.  Photo source: Aisha's Scrapyard.

The Pros (and Perils) of Creative Visualization

False memories can often be wired into the brain.  Source: Clipartguide.com

It often plays out the same in the movies, television dramas and (unfortunately) real-life.

 

An eye witness comes forward and is absolutely certain the suspect was indeed the person who committed the crime.  They were there.  They saw what the person did.  They remember it clearly.

It then turns out through other evidence that the witness’ recollection was flawed.  Did the witness simply lie?  Or was there something else at work?

This article recently published by Time entitled “Remember That?  No You Don’t?  Study Finds False Memories Afflict Us All” is a fascinating read about the process our brains follow to record and recall memories.  The conclusion is clear:  even people with extraordinary memories sometimes make things up without realizing it.

Prior to a performance of “Hypnotic Experience” I’m often asked by a volunteer what it will feel like to be hypnotized.  There’s no answer to this question because everyone is wired a bit differently.  The hypnosis process is a personal one.

Yet, the power of creative visualization (i.e. our subconscious mind) is compelling.  It can help a person be more open to success in career, school and competitive athletics.

And, at times, our subconscious is flawed and will fabricate memories.  The research proves it.  

Taming the Shadows of Our Mind

Our subconscious lays in the shadows of our mind.  It influences our thoughts, perceptions and emotions.  It's there when we decide to take action, shaping how we respond to situations.

The subconscious even emerges in unexpected places – such as our dreams.  Or, in the case of a woman who I worked with this week, in the form of nightmares.

Highly intelligent, driven and an accomplished attorney, this woman is no push-over.  She takes life challenges head on, and does a remarkable job managing family, parenting and career.

Yet, at times when she closes her eyes at night she is met by unexpected nightmares.  We didn't dive into their specific content, yet she explained they awaken her and leave her so shaken she is often unable to return to sleep.

Could hypnosis be an effective tool to help her enjoy a more peaceful and restful night?

Like many professionals in the areas of law, accounting and finance that require a high level of critical thinking, it took some time to get her into a deeply relaxed hypnotic state.  I guided her through a primary induction and then multiple deepening visualizations over a 45 minute period.

Even when she instantly and willingly responded to the “sleepsuggestion," she refrained from acting on other basic hypnotic suggestions (i.e. heavy hands, blank mind, etc.).  I even showed her a photograph of what she looked like in a hypnotic trance as a visual reinforcement of its effectiveness. 

Yet, I was comfortable enough with her level of relaxation and focus to introduce three post-hypnotic suggestions:

--Positive feeling about the hypnotic process to encourage the use of self-hypnosis

--Overall relaxation and stress management

--Feeling of confidence, comfort and warmth when getting ready to sleep at night

The next day we exchanged text messages and she shared the following: 

“Just about to text you.  I slept well!  Feeling low stress.  Thank you so much!”

Are the nightmares now in the past?  Well...that's still something she will need to work on using self-hypnosis and positive visualization.

Like the other aspects of her life, she is empowered now to manage this challenge.  That is the promise and value of hypnosis.

Nightmares can result from an eager and anxious subconscious mind.  Can hypnosis help?  Photo:  Fanpop.com.