Heroes

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

“Your rescue is within you.” – Lauretta NgCobo, Nigerian Writer

Photo by Rick Hustead

I have been thinking about heroes a lot lately.

It is more than a year since the last season of 24 has concluded, and once again I am thinking about how fantastic it would be if there really was a Jack Bauer to sweep in and save the world. Yes, he is very rough around the edges and sometimes takes a—well let’s just say he tends to go “rogue” when it comes to getting the job done. But he does get the job done. Whenever I hear Bonnie Tyler’s song, “HoldingOut For a Hero,” I think of Jack.

On a similar theme, another one of my favorite television hero-types is a disgraced detective-turned-cab-driver called Mike Olshansky on CBS’s short-lived series, Hack. The hero—or anti-hero, depending on your point of view—has a knack for turning up at the right time when someone (usually one of his fares) is in the wrong place. He saves the day and then quietly disappears. The only token of gratitude Olshansky ever wants is a promise that whomever he has just rescued will not reveal his role in the rescue or even his presence at the scene. The tagline for the series is, “When you need someone who answers to no one,” and that line still resonates with me. 

The television characters of Mike Olshansky and Jack Bauer use their experiences and skills in law-enforcement officers to rescue clients or, in Bauer’s case, save the world. As far-fetched as some of their actions and derring-do might seem, these abilities make sense when we think about all of these behavioral knowns stored in the mental script of each man’s subconscious mind.

When I first read Ms. NgCobo’s quote, it reminded me of times in my life when I have had to rely on myself to solve a problem or to get the job done. While I never went to any of the extremes that my television heroes did to save my day, looking back, I am very proud of those accomplishments. I even have a couple of songs to remind me about this on my iPod—Mariah Carey’s “Hero” and Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All”—that still make me smile when I listen to them. The wistful lyrics, and the soaring voices of the women who deliver them, are like a mini pep-rally that remind me I still (and always did) have that can-do attitude.

My training at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute helped me to identify, refine and nurture the skills and beliefs that brought me to HMI in the first place. In a way, earning my hypnotherapy certification was a kind of “self” rescue. But this education also opened my eyes to the fact that every one of us is capable of stepping up to a challenge and becoming our own hero. We all possess a particular skill set that enables us to achieve great things, things that no one else can do the way we do them. We just have to be reminded or become aware of all those wonderful things we can do.

Guess what? When you are your own hero, no others need apply—and you might even get to help rescue someone else along the way. How cool is that?

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/.

© 2017

Hypnotherapy to Reduce Anxiety About Public Speaking

(This blog was originally posted on April 22, 2014)

Image courtesy of Microsoft

This evening I came across the outline for my first-ever presentation about hypnosis. It had been an assignment for the Speech Craft class that my classmates and I took at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute a couple of months before graduation. In it, we learned all of the fine points of crafting and delivering an effective, impactful speech about some element of our new, future vocation as certified hypnotherapists. My speech was very basic: I included some personal information about me and my educational background in the introduction, and then I focused on how and why I decided to become a hypnotherapist. That should be easy, right? Not so fast.

Reading those notes again, 10 years later, I could still remember how nervous I felt while I composed the draft for that speech. As a rule, I did not like to speak in public. I hated to be the center of attention in any circumstance, as I knew I would have to be when I did my presentation. Finally, the instructor and my classmates would be grading my presentation, a prospect that not only exacerbated my anxieties about public speaking but also of taking tests.

Before I drove to class that night, I made sure that I ate a nutritious meal with protein to keep my blood-sugar level (and mood) stable, which I knew would help to lower my anxiety. I wore one of my most professional-looking skirt suits that always helped me feel confident. Once I was in class, I practiced diaphragmatic breathing to calm my nerves while I waited for my turn to speak.

When the instructor finally called me up to the podium to do my presentation, my mind flashed back to the best advice I have ever received about public speaking. The current director of HMI, George Kappas, M.A., C.Ht., once gave the class a pep talk about public speaking and doing presentations on hypnosis and hypnotherapy to the general public. He reassured us that each of us would probably know more about this topic than anyone else in the room. He told us to relax and even suggested that we probably wouldn’t (shouldn’t) even need or want to use notes or note-cards to prompt our speeches because, again, we would already be the experts on this topic. So when I stepped up to the podium that night, I took his words to heart and allowed myself to own the room. Since this presentation was about me and my experience, I could be (and was) completely confident that I was the expert in the room about this topic. That night, I was finally able to overcome a personal challenge. To my surprise, I even created a new “known” in my subconscious mind: public speaking was fun!

Looking back, this class turned out to be one of my favorites on the hypnotherapy-certification program at HMI. First, the assignment made me face and overcome my fear and discomfort about public speaking and taking tests. Second, the experience of having to do a presentation gave me an invaluable opportunity to experience the efficacy of techniques that I now also use and teach to my clients to help them overcome similar fears and anxieties.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified clincial 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.

• “There is always light behind the clouds.” – Louisa May Alcott

• “The price of discipline is always less than the pain of regret.” – Nido Qubein

• “Where we fall are the stepping-stones for our journey.” – Lolly Daskal

• “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘'Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’” – Muhammad Ali

• “Every time you make a choice, you are training your brain to make that same choice next time.” – Bruce Van Horn 

• “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein

• “Doing is never enough if you neglect Being.” – Eckhart  Tolle

• “The heartbreak of regret is always 100-times bigger than the pain of trying and failing.” – Robin Sharma

• “Man’s status in the natural world is determined, therefore, by the quality of his thinking.” – Manly P. Hall

• “Be where you are; otherwise, you will miss your life.” –Buddha  

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