Thoughts of the Day

Photo by Sara Fogan

 

                Every now and then I like (and need) to take a few moments and remind myself about what is really important to me, in my life. If you follow me on Facebook you may have seen some of these quotes before on this page, or will in the future. Many of these Quotes of the Day are beautiful examples and illustrations of the work I do as a hypnotherapist, so I will probably draw on them in future essays.

 

“I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” – Pleasure P

“If you have passion and belief in yourself, anything’s possible.” – Criss Angel

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.” –Colin Powell

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." ~ Wayne W. Dyer

“The best use of imagination is creativity. The worst use of imagination is anxiety.” – Deepak Chopra

“There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from."- Elizabeth Kübler-Ross

"He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions." ~ Confucius

"And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?" Rumi

"The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of the state of your mind." ~ Wayne W. Dyer

“Whatever you are not changing you are choosing.” – Laurie Buchanan

 

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2015

Stop! Negative Self-Talk

(This blog was originally posted on January 17, 2014)

 

 

                From time to time, in a moment of frustration or anger or even fear, we say something negative and hurtful to someone very close to us. The incident that sparked the outburst may turn out to be inconsequential, but in that instant there is nothing more important or urgent than giving that other person a piece of our mind for causing so much trouble in the first place. We can always apologize and make amends to the other person once tempers have cooled down and the issue is resolved. But, what if the person you are so mad at is you? Do you apologize for the hurtful things you have said or thought about you, to yourself?

                According to John Kappas, Ph.D., the subconscious mind works on expectation and imagination. Over time, we learn to expect others to respond to and interact with us in a particular way based on our previous experience with those individuals. We also learn to internalize the message or emotion we perceive in those interactions, which can affect self-confidence and self-esteem. No matter what the “message” is, as you hear and repeat it to yourself your subconscious mind starts to internalize and believe that message. If people in your social circle constantly bombard you with criticism and negativity, perhaps it is time to change who you hang out with. If you are the one trash-talking yourself, it is time to rewrite your mental script to be ­­­more loving and accepting of yourself.

                During hypnosis, I teach my clients simple breathing and relaxation techniques by which to dial down or even turn off the negative self-talk. I also desensitize my clients to the stimuli that typically trigger their self-criticism and self-reproach. Finally, I use therapeutic guided-imagery techniques to enable my clients to find solutions for those situations and then visualize, imagine, picture or pretend that they have successfully resolved a conflict with self-confidence and self-love.

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

Just Go With It

 

                As we get older, it becomes easier to appreciate an experience and to reap the benefit of doing something we don’t really want to do, than when we are children. Even though adults have most of the same subconscious motivations, desires and “knowns” that we had when they were little kids, we also have the benefit of experience. We know that we will learn something from this experience if we just open up our minds and are willing to take in this new information. We know that nothing really does last forever—whether it is a six-hour riding demonstration or that time we get to spend just hanging out with a beloved parent or child. So we just go with it and try something new.

          As adults, we can appreciate that the logic, reasoning, will-power and decision-making faculties we possess in our conscious mind were actually the catalysts for organizing this family time in the first place. I love horses; I train in dressage. My dad says he is afraid of horses, and he doesn’t really know anything about the discipline I ride. But the opportunity to spend “family time” together was the subconscious “known” in our minds that clinched the deal.

                So, a couple days ago my dad accompanied me to the second day of Charlotte Dujardin’s dressage symposium at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. This was a big deal for me: I have been a big fan of Ms. Dujardin since I “discovered” her during the 2012 Summer Olympics; the opportunity to watch her teach and ride (in person, not on TV) was an opportunity of a lifetime. More important, I got to spend the day with my father, which hardly ever happens because of our very different schedules and my predilection to spend most of my free time around horses. But, my dad was a good sport. He didn’t tell me that he was bored even one time; I even caught him leaning forward in his seat once or twice to get a better look at what was going on in the arena. He just went with the flow of the afternoon: demonstrations, lunch, more demonstrations and then a question-and-answer session with Ms. Dujardin and her former trainer, Judy Harvey. He even made some very good, informed observations about what he was watching. He wanted to know if my horse could do some of the things he saw being done in the arena; and he seemed proud when I told him that Galahad is working on a lot of those movements (albeit at a much lower level).

At the end of the afternoon, he told me he had enjoyed himself. He said liked spending time with me and that he had a very good day.

So did I.

                              

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2014