This
afternoon, KABC-TV news reported that a neighborhood in Pasadena, California was
host to a wayward black bear. Local homeowners were instructed to remain
indoors while the animal settled on the grass behind a house and started to
gnaw on the homeowner’s wooden fence. Meanwhile, thousands of viewers and, it
seemed, the reporters covering the story, were glued to their respective
television screens and monitors to watch and discuss what the bear was getting
up to.
Even though most of the people who
saw or know about this incident watched it unfold on their television sets, I
still count this incident as “environmental hypnosis” because the object of
fascination was an animal doing its thing in its environment. Also, until the
police and officers from Animal Control arrived to order everyone to stay
inside, the news feeds showed people standing around in their back yards with
video camera/cell phone in hand, waiting to get a glimpse and, hopefully, a
video of the bear. One man even crossed the street to talk to Animal Control
officers about the situation. No one seemed in a hurry to get out of the way
until they were ordered to go inside; but a patrol officer did seem nervous
when the animal climbed over a fence and started to lope down the street. (He
immediately sought shelter in a nearby Animal Control vehicle.) It was obvious
that the bear was not under anyone’s “control”—staff from the Department of Fish
and Game had yet to arrive to (hopefully) humanely return the bear to the
Angeles Forest.
Meanwhile, the bear’s unusual
presence in a local neighborhood, compounded by our very human curiosity about
the wildlife that lives nearby, was more than enough to overload the
subconscious mind of everyone watching the news or living nearby. Hundreds of message
units flooded our minds: Whoa, there’s a bear in my back yard! What is it
doing? Why is it doing that? Where is it going? How cute…I want to get a
picture of it! Etc. The stage was set for a naturally occurring form of
hypnosis to occur. Most people know that bears are potentially dangerous and
unpredictable; we tend to be duly cautious if not outright terrified when we
know that a large predator is so close. However, the context of this incredible
incident overwhelmed and temporarily shut down the critical (analytic) part of our
minds, literally freezing people to their TV screens or wherever they were in the
neighborhood, waiting for the drama to unfold.
Any time you are in a situation where
you think or know that you are becoming overwhelmed by what is going on around
you, you are likely drifting into a light state of trance (environmental
hypnosis). Simply say the following: “One, two, three, four, five, [Say your
name]. Eyes open, wide awake.” These words will count you back up to a fully
alert and aware state. Meanwhile,
it is fortunate for the people in
this community who may not have known this trick that police and animal control officers were on hand to provide a powerful suggestion (command) to the residents that they stay inside until the bear could be humanely returned to the forest so everyone can get back to their normal lives tomorrow.
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
