Masters of Suggestibility

(This blog was originally posted on May 2, 2014)

Photo by Jennifer Berkowitz

Have you ever attended a really good concert? Rock, pop, country—it really doesn’t matter what the genre happens to be—have a lot in common: The singer(s) and other band members engage the audience through their music and banter; and the audience, which typically comprises devoted fans wearing T-shirts or hats with the performers’ logo, knows every lyric to every song they ever wrote. There is always plenty of activity going on, on-stage: musicians or back-up entertainers are dancing, lights are flashing; there are changes of costume and/or scenery. There may also be a video screen projecting images or scenes from a previous gig to look at and further overload the audience with an impossible number of visual and auditory stimuli (sensory overload). By the time the band is halfway through the first song, the audience is mesmerized and the singer(s) have become masters of their fans’ suggestibility.

Several years ago, my friends and I experienced one of the best and, for me, most interesting concerts I have ever been to. (I will get to that in a minute.) I think that anybody who has ever attended a Bon Jovi concert would agree that this band puts on an incredibly entertaining, rocking show. They went through a catalog of about 20 songs, practically nonstop, for two hours. Even when lead singer Jon Bon Jovi—who is one of the most energetic and charismatic performers I have ever seen—disappeared offstage for a couple of minutes to drink some water and change clothes, the band rocked on loudly and exuberantly until he popped back into the spotlight and continued to work the audience. Most if not every other person at Staples Center that night was a devoted fan of the band and knew all of the lyrics to their songs. All Bon Jovi had to do was hold his microphone out at the audience and thousands of voices would automatically sing along with him.

But by 11 p.m. or so, the night was wearing on, and everyone’s ears were probably buzzing from the loud noise. Exhaustion was starting to set in. After all, most of the fans in this audience were in their late-forties or fifties, if not older. We had been at work all day and we still faced a long drive back to wherever we lived so we could get to bed and then get up early to start another workday, the next morning. Meanwhile, the band was still going strong and cranking out one song after another. Bon Jovi must have felt the reduced energy in his audience because this is when he suddenly encouraged everyone to get up and sing and dance with the music. “I still have a whole catalog of songs in my head to go through!” he told us. Of course, the revelry started up again and we continued to rock on until the concert was over.

This was when the concert became truly interesting to me in terms of being able to observe behavior and suggestibility. I was fascinated to witness and impressed to actually experience the hypnotic modalities I have studied, hard at work on everyone at the Staples Center that night. Here was a very charismatic and talented band whose lead singer was literally telling thousands of people what to sing or say or do without really ever having to issue a direct instruction to the audience. There was no question that Jon Bon Jovi was running this show, because he was standing/walking/dancing around the stage (special place or authority), wearing either his trademark jacket emblazoned with the stars and stripes motif or leather vest (special clothes or authority) and singing those Billboard hit songs (special words or doctrine) or reminiscing about highlights of the band’s storied career. Bon Jovi only had to point his microphone and those of us with emotional suggestibility immediately got the inference: he wanted us to sing along with him! (So we did.) Later on, when he specifically told (instructed) his audience that he wanted us to continue to enjoy the music we obliged and stood to sing and dance some more (physical suggestibility) until the gig was over.

Hmm… I wonder if I was hypnotized?

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/.

© 2017

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 my Calminsense Hypnotherapy Facebook page 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.

• “Love your enemies. It makes them so damned mad.” – P.D. East

• “A man is not where he lives, but where he loves.” – Latin Proverb

• “I would rather die of passion than of boredom.” – Vincent van Gogh

• “There are blessings in all experiences—the losses and the wins.” – Troy Amdahl

• “Wise men don’t need to prove their point; men who need to prove their point aren’t wise.” – Lao Tzu

• “People will do as you do, not as you say.” – Bruce Van Horn

• “Good things take time.” – Lolly Daskal

• “Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia." – Charles Schulz

• “Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” – Vince Lombardi

• “Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.” – Confucius

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/.

© 2017

At the Blackfish: Live Premiere

(This blog was originally posted on July 5, 2016)

After the screening I got to meet several of the former SeaWorld trainers featured

in Blackfish: Dean Gomersall (left), me, Samantha Berg and Carol Ray

Photo by Lisa McDougald

Many people who know me are aware that I am passionate about animal conservation--especially ending captivity of orcas (killer whales). On Friday, July 1, 2016 I enjoyed the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend the premiere screening of Blackfish Live at the Montalbán theater in Hollywood. I had already seen the film several times, including once in the cinema and many viewings on CNN and DVD. However, this event was extra-special because Jeff Beal, who composed the movie’s fabulous score, conducted the Hollywood Chamber Orchestra as they played the soundtrack to accompany the film. In addition, four of the former SeaWorld trainers featured in Blackfish attended the screening and were on-hand to discuss the film’s impact since its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013.

I didn’t even expect to be able to attend the event when I first heard about it a couple weeks ago. While I always wanted to go, by the time I got around to investigating availability of a ticket I doubted there would be any seats left. Then Dean Gomersall posted a cheery “Hope to see you all there tomorrow evening” comment with the event’s link on Facebook. Of course, I “liked” the post. I knew it was now or never to get a seat, so I asked if he knew whether any tickets were still available. Long story short, Mr. Gomersall sent me a message and comped two tickets to the event for me. You could have blown me over with a feather at his generosity. We had never even met before, beyond Facebook!

The next afternoon, one of my dear friends and I braved the pre-holiday traffic on the 405 and 101 freeways driving to Hollywood to attend the screening. In addition to being excited about finally being able to meet him and several of the other SeaWorld trainers featured in the movie, we were thrilled to be able to see and hear the Blackfish score performed live. I had bought and downloaded the soundtrack off iTunes as soon as it was available last year, and I often listen to it driving in my car or participating in social media in the evenings. Two of the pieces—“Orca in the Wild” and “Blackfish”—always give me goose-bumps, and I couldn’t wait to hear the music played live. (Needless to say, I have also had the soundtrack booming out of my iPod a lot since last weekend.)

Lisa and I were happy to see that the theater was packed. Before the movie, concertmaster Mark Robertson asked the audience who had seen Blackfish before that night. Many people, including my friend, had never seen the movie before. The rest of the audience (including me) had watched it many times. This dichotomy said a lot about the staying power and enduring influence that Blackfish has had on the public. When the film came out, director/writer/producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite said her original intention in making the movie was to explore why Tilikum, a SeaWorld orca, killed trainer Dawn Brancheau during a show. The rest is history, as marine biologists and former orca and marine mammal trainers stepped forward to provide a darker picture about what captive cetaceans endure at marine parks. 

As evidenced last Friday evening, the power of the movie’s message of compassion for the plight of these magnificent mammals continues to move people. It has even inspired a worldwide, popular anti-captivity movement dubbed “The Blackfish Effect.” According to the post-movie video featuring personal testimonials from several of the former trainers featured in the movie and live commentary from Samantha Berg, Mr. Gomersall, Carol Ray and Dr. Jeff Ventre, this phenomenon shows no sign of fading away anytime soon. Without the courage of these and other trainers and marine-mammal experts who daily share their experiences and observations to raise awareness about the plight of captive orcas, these animals would probably continue to suffer in silence and darkness.

Thank you so much, Mr. Gommersal, for inviting us to experience Blackfish: Live!

 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®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/

(c) 2017