Proprioception

Photo by Rick Hustead

When I count a client up and out of hypnosis at the end of the hypnotherapy session, I always drop in a suggestion that the individual begins to become more aware of his or her physical body. I add that the person is also becoming more aware of where the body is in relation to relaxing in the recliner in my office. I do this to re-stimulate the person’s proprioception: i.e., awareness of the different areas of the physical body and strength in relation to movement and position in the environment in the alert and aware state.

Proprioception is something most of us take for granted on a day-to-day basis. Remember, the conscious mind can only process a small amount of information at any one time. The ability to discern important (urgent) information is necessary for our survival, which is why so much of what the subconscious mind perceives and processes “rarely” makes it to conscious awareness. Can you imagine what your day would be like if you constantly felt the scratching sensation caused by the label stitched inside the collar of your shirt or blouse? How long would it take for you to become overwhelmed by the persistent sensation of each muscle in your legs constrict and relax while you walked across the room?

Consequently, we don’t think about how our muscles, tendons, joints and bones work let alone what they are supposed to do when we first roll out of bed or run to catch a bus or train. We just do the activity and expect that everything in the body is working/doing what it is supposed to. When we feel threatened by something in the environment or even the environment, itself, we become very aware of every muscle in the body. As the subconscious mind goes into the fight/flight data processing, the conscious mind wonders: How fast can I get out of here if I need to escape?

 

Another time we become much more aware and attuned to what is going on is when things don’t work like they should, such as after an injury or during an illness. For example, people who experience chronic pain are often hyper-alert to every sensation in the body as they try to find some position that provides some relief, if only for a little while.

Athletes, including dancers, naturally tend have very good proprioception. Or, I should clarify that this “natural” ability is a learned, oft-rehearsed behavior that has become a subconscious mental script. These individuals must have this to successfully execute their special skill in the sport to achieve the winning goal or point or, ensure that their movements seem effortless as their and their dance partner’s bodies flow with choreography. No matter what is going on, these individuals remain consciously and subconsciously aware of/attuned to the placement of the body and what it is and should be doing at all times. 

When my yoga teacher started to explained proprioception to the class today, instructing us to pay greater attention to specific areas of our bodies, she reminded me how similar this physical work is to what I help clients do in hypnotherapy. She wanted us (the students) to increase our awareness of how these separate parts worked together (or not) by noticing if there was any resistance in certain areas and then ease that tension by breathing into it. She also suggested that it was okay to allow ourselves to release or let go of anything we felt was holding us back or what we no longer wanted or needed to hold onto in our lives. This exercise reminded me so much of what I do with my hypnotherapy clients: i.e., inviting the breath into the body to release tightness and tension while increasing their relaxation, calm and comfort. Like yoga, hypnotherapy is an opportunity to increase self-awareness and make desired behavior changes starting with something as simple breathing in and breathing out. Directing awareness to what we are able to do to increase comfort within and control of the entire body or just specific areas is a great way to build self-confidence and belief in our ability to handle other areas of our lives.

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

Attitude and Suggestibility

“A bad attitude is contagious.” – Lolly Daskal

Photo by Rick Hustead

Have you ever noticed how quickly and easily you or other members of your family or peers at work get grumpy, fearful or some other negative emotion if someone else in that group has that attitude? Or, if you hear a news report that a particularly virulent strain of flu is going around and the first symptom is a really sore throat, you notice that you also have a sore throat? Even babies get in on the act: one crying baby can set off temper tantrums in every other infant or toddler in the room? Alternatively, some people are able to maintain an inner peace, patience and indifference to the emotional volatility of other people in their environment. What is that all about?

I believe that a lot of this behavioral mimicry comes from suggestibility. As I have explained in my previous blog titled Where Does Suggestibility Come From?, we learn behavior by identification and association of various message units that enter the subconscious mind. Some of this behavior—especially in the case of animals and very young children—is likely reflective of the fight/flight reaction that is triggered in the primitive area of the mind. The subconscious mind of young children is programmed very early that that when they fuss, someone should/is going to come along to make them comfortable. When a baby become irritable, the volume of its shriek can easily trigger that “fight” response in its young peers, who start to cry, too. These infants’ cries communicate the following message: Something is wrong, the noise is irritating/hurting me, take care of me now.

As for our reactions to stressful environments and other people’s emotional volatility, I also believe that a lot of our discomfort comes from the negative energy we pick up in that context. Each of us, to some extent, possesses the ability to detect subtle and obvious signs of threat or danger (intuition). This can be a nagging sensation of being watched in a crowd or feel like the air in a room you entered is very thick or heavy because others are arguing or fighting. We make these associations because we have learned (suggestibility, again) that emotions are easily transformed into physical sensations. The more sensitive and suggestible you are to the emotional miasma in the room, the more likely you are to take on this negativity (good or bad) as well.

To help maintain a positive attitude, I teach my clients simple breathing and relaxation techniques by which to dial down or even turn off the negative energy or attitudes they perceive around them. I also desensitize them to the stimuli that typically trigger this negativity in themselves. Therapeutic guided-imagery techniques enable my clients to find solutions for handling their own reactions to other people’s criticism or antagonism (including peers or family members) they are likely to encounter during a stressful situation. For more tips how to improve your attitude and de-fuse and diffuse negative energy, I invite you to read my blogs titled Energy Exchange and Energy Vampires.

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

Change Your Attitude

(This blog was originally posted on September 5, 2015)

                A lot of the time, the way we deal with a stressful situation comes down to our attitude about what is going on. If we believe a minor inconvenience is a major disaster, we are likely to behave like it is. As soon as we perceive a threat in the environment, the subconscious mind goes into fight/flight mode, kicking the adrenal system will kick into high gear and flooding the bloodstream with adrenaline. Whether we are more likely to run away or stand up to the challenge and try to change the outcome of the situation depends a lot on our expectations about that outcome, based on our subconscious life script. If we can change these expectations, we can also change our behavioral response to that situation and the outcome of that scenario.

                One version of this philosophy is a quote from the film Barbarosa: “What cannot be remedied must be endured.” In other words, if we cannot change or improve our circumstances, we may still get through the challenge with minimal physical and emotional distress by gritting our teeth and ploughing through. Don’t make any waves or draw attention to yourself, just do whatever you need to do to deal with the situation until our luck improves. Alternatively, we can follow the Mother Superior’s advice to Maria in The Sound of Music: Climb every mountain. If and when we encounter an obstacle along our journey to fulfilling a dream or achieving a goal, continue to push forward toward your goal. Look for alternative strategies and different paths that you can take to get where you want to be.

                In his book titled Success Is Not an Accident: The Mental Bank Concept, Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D. explains how a person’s subconscious mental script and subconscious messages ultimately influence how and where the individual will direct energy and effort to realize a goal. Everyone has the power to achieve a goal, Dr. Kappas says, if the “correct” mental script for that success—like a road map or a recipe—is available and in place for the person to follow. However, if you don’t possess a subconscious mental script that compels you to pursue a goal when times are tough, repeated exposure (experience) to negative outcomes  may further jade your optimism about the likelihood of achieving the success you desire.

Hypnotherapy and therapeutic guided imagery can help you rewrite those negative mental scripts and help you to see that silver lining in the darkest of clouds. Remember: every belief and behavior you have learned can also be unlearned. Hypnosis is an effective, drug-free and natural way to help you override (i.e., unlearn) that previous mental script and override negative habits or beliefs that no longer work for you. so you can start living the kind of life you want and deserve to be living.

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/

© 2015

A Different Perspective

(This blog was originally posted on August 8, 2014)

 

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

    It’s uncanny how spending time and distance away from something gives you a brand new perspective on that situation when you come back. For example, as I finish re-reading Night Fall by Nelson DeMille, just about every page is yielding new details or references to the looming Al Qaeda attacks of 2001 than I remember reading before. The words on the pages and the plot twists in the book have not changed. However, my familiarity with the story, protagonists and the author’s writing style has probably enabled me to notice details I overlooked before.

     One explanation for this phenomenon could be that I am actually more relaxed than I was the first time I read the novel. This makes sense: Night Fall is a very exciting and fast read. I still remember how hard my heart pounded as I got swept up into the action. I couldn’t read fast enough to find out what would happen next, and it was all I could do to not turn to the next page before I finished the one I was on. Even though reading is typically relaxing for me, my physiological response indicated that I was actually agitated—even anxious or stressed—than relaxed. My conscious mind knew that I was not in imminent danger, but DeMille’s writing conjured specific images in my subconscious mind and convinced it that the opposite was true. In other words, my SCM translated the anxiety/excitement I felt while reading the novel as “danger” and my sympathetic nervous system probably went into fight/flight mode to protect me (my body). I couldn’t take the extra time to consider and digest each word on the page because I was literally “running” away from the danger my SCM believed I was in. Without intending to do this, I started skipping words or phrases that my mind identified as triggers of my anxiety before my conscious mind could process their meaning or implication.

     Now that I am reading the book for the third or fourth time, I am more desensitized to some of the more shocking scenes in it. Since my conscious and subconscious mind know what is coming next, I can allow myself to linger over or even re-read a paragraph that I don’t remember from the last time(s) I was on that page. Night Fall is still a thrilling thriller for me, but now that I am able to be more relaxed as I read it, I am able to enjoy each and every word of it.

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