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| Photo by Rick Hustead |
So
much goes on in our immediate environment, let alone the world, that we don’t
know about or even perceive. But, what if you smelled the scent of every flower
or heard every car horn or dog barking in the neighborhood? Imagine noticing each
and every person who walked into the room or felt the sensation of the label
sewn into the back of your clothes? Consider what it would be like if you could
isolate the distinct flavor of every ingredient in KFC fried chicken or your favorite cookie? You
would be in a state of overload every minute of the day and probably not be
able to enjoy a lot of any of these experiences. In other words, you would be in
hypnosis—literally and metaphorically trying to escape the overload of
sensations bombarding you every moment of the day.
I
particularly notice this phenomenon when I am at yoga. There is always music
playing softly in the background, but after the first few minutes of class I
stop noticing it. I am so focused on moving and adjusting my body into the
various positions, everything else just falls away. My attention only shifts
back to the environment when the teacher instructs the class to move into a
different pose or adjusts my position. Then I notice the music again for a
moment and the other students nearby before my focus returns to what I am
doing.
If
you drive a car, you probably do a lot of things automatically now that
used to take much longer and require a lot more attention when you first
learned this skill. Back then, you would take the time to adjust the rear-view
and side mirrors and make sure the seat was adjusted before you even turned on
the ignition. This was especially true if you were driving the family car and these
things were already set to their preference. Eventually you became so familiar
and comfortable with the workings of the vehicle that you could adjust the
mirrors while you drove. The first few weeks or months after you got your
license, you couldn’t even deal with having someone else in the car. Now, you barely
pay attention to your favorite CD or radio station blasting through the car
speakers while you have animated conversations with your passenger(s). Driving,
which was once the complete focus of your attention, has become the equivalent
of background noise. We barely notice what we’re doing until something
different happens to grab our attention.
The
mind can only process seven items of new information at one time. This discrimination
is an important aspect of survival: when we notice everything in the environment,
everything is attributed equal value and requires a lot of attention (energy)
to determine whether it is a threat. As we become used to different aspects of the
environment, we can file these experiences as safe/comfortable/familiar (subconscious
knowns) and can focus on other things. However, when something new happens
or catches our attention, it is immediately filed as a possible threat or
danger and triggers the fight/flight response. Once this potential threat has
been addressed and the details/information processed, it also becomes part of
our subconscious
mental script for future reference—in most cases, a non-threat or
background noise.
Now,
back to that label sewn into the collar of your shirt….
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/.
© 2016
