Thoughts of the Day

Aerial view of Mount St. Helens

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.

• “Dreams don't work unless you do.” – Unknown

• “Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.” – Raymond Lindquist

• “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.” – Maya Angelou

• “Life is Ironic. It takes sadness to know happiness, noise to appreciate silence and absence to value presence.” – Unknown

• “All great changes are preceded by chaos.” – Deepak Chopra

• “If you don't believe in miracles, you will see none.” – A.D. Williams

• “Forgive yourself for your past. You may not like how it looks, but you don’t have to relive it.” – Bruce Van Horn

• “With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift.” – Wayne Dyer­

• “There is no greater sadness than holding on to the words you never had the courage to speak.” – Lolly Daskal

• “Try and fail, but don't fail to try.” – Unknown

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     

 

The Red Box

Photo by Rick Hustead

Queen Victoria is known for many things. Until very recently, her reign was the longest of any British monarch. During that time there were considerable industrial and scientific advances, including growth of the railroad and building the London Underground, and development of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolutionary development. Her strong work ethic and public persona of prim behavior and proper etiquette became legendary. But when I think about this queen, what comes first to my mind is the Red Box.

The queen reportedly kept a red box on her desk in which urgent documents and communications were supposed to be placed until she could deal with the issue. As it turned out, less important papers such as generic requests for an audience (appointment) with the queen also found their way into that box. Of course, over time the box got very full. The monarch became frustrated and more than a little stressed out about all those things she had to “do.” Finally, her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, looked inside the box and pointed out that a lot of the material inside didn’t belong there at all. Queen Victoria could lighten her work load by addressing only the most urgent matters and postponing or even delegating the rest to him and/or her ministers, secretaries, etc. to handle. Long story short, the queen took his advice and adopted a new and more efficient strategy for managing her monarchy.

Whether she vocally resisted (argued) adopting the new system or immediately accepted her husband’s suggestion to reorganize the contents of that box is probably unknown. However, it is likely that the queen initially found this task daunting and even annoying. Suddenly, she had to change a familiar, relatively simple behavior of putting documents in one place and take more time separating and classifying each item based on specific criteria. Once she got the hang of it this process would prove simpler and more efficient, but she would have to get used to it, first.

Call it what you will, but Queen Victoria’s new and even the intention of her original organizational system sounds an awful lot like the Neurolinguistic Programming technique of “chunking it down.”

And if aspects of this tale sounds familiar in your own life that is the point I am trying to make. From time to time, a lot of us—including monarchs!—need help prioritizing assignments, jobs, projects and even relationships to be more efficient and productive in other areas of our lives. We are used to doing things a particular way, and every time we repeat that behavior (“way”) we reinforce it. However, it becomes easier to adopt a new process as we practice doing it for a while—i.e., incorporating these new actions (“knowns”) into the behavioral repertoire to create your new subconscious mental script. It is also easier to make a change when someone we respect or admire (hypno-modality) encourages/helps/teaches us what we need to do to implement the behavior/belief system, as Prince Albert did for his wife in this instance.

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

Processing the Outcome

Photo by Rick Hustead

The ballots are in. The votes are counted. Acceptance and concession speeches, respectively, have been delivered. Many people are thrilled with the outcome of this contentious presidential campaign; many people are not. But even though Americans have made their choice who will be the next Commander-in-Chief, there is plenty of raw emotion on display. 

For months, many Americans believed and expected that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would win the election. Ultimately, that was not to be. Last night, millions of citizens who had grown frustrated, weary and jaded by the business-as-usual antics of lifelong Washington politicians effectively expressed this dismay in electing Republican candidate Donald J. Trump as the United States’ 45^th president. The stunning outcome of the presidential race was surprising, exciting, disappointing depending which candidate you supported. On the one hand, the election was a great civics lesson for all Americans to illustrate how this country’s election process works and why every citizen’s vote really does make a difference. People who had been frustrated, angry and, yes, scared, about where they thought the country was headed dropped the metaphoric gauntlet for change, and the new President-Elect picked up that mantle. In his acceptance speech, he swore to be their champion and effect all those social changes his supporters wanted.

Meanwhile, many of Secretary Clinton’s supporters are experiencing grief and even confusion about what happened last night and, more significant, anxiety what will happen in the next four years. Those who voted for and expected her to win this presidential race also had a special vested (subconscious) interest in her inauguration. A Democratic president has occupied this office for eight years. In addition to supporting causes that are particularly important to this party, people have become comfortable with what Mrs. Clinton represents and stands for. In the 30-plus years she has been politically active, her political mind-set and decision-making processes/actions had become familiar and known. It was unlikely she would say or do anything unexpected or whimsical. She represented a reliable, “safe” choice for a leader who promised to fulfill certain specific campaign promises.

However, more people in the country wanted and demanded a change from business-as-usual. Mr. Trump’s message spoke clearly and directly to his party. He promises to deliver what his supporters haven’t enjoyed for a long time—including, they insist, a sense of feeling safe and protected. Whether he consciously employed hypno-modality techniques at political rallies, the President-Elect (more) successfully used these tools to convince voters that he was the better candidate for the job.

Almost 24 hours later, Americans are still processing the outcome of this recent election and what it means—and will mean—for this country. It is okay to feel disappointment and even grief if your candidate did not win. Many people’s dreams, hopes and optimism for a better future started to be realized at the exact same moment those of other people were dashed. Depending on your level of investment in this race, you may need to revise your previous subconscious mental script or even construct a completely new one to adapt to these unexpected/unwanted changes in your long-term plan. Meanwhile, take care to prevent getting carried away in daydreams or falling into a spiral of toxic worry about the future. Get plenty of sleep at night and be sure to eat healthy, nutritious meals that contain protein (meat or plant-based) that will help keep your mood even and anxiety levels low. Diaphragmatic breathing exercises and practicing the Emotional Freedom Technique are also great ways to increase relaxation and reduce anxiety and any negative emotions/associations about the outcome of this election.

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