Feeling Blocked

 

                Sometimes, there are no words. No musical notes. No freedom of movement. Your muse has disappeared; your inspiration has taken flight. Suddenly, there is no obvious way for you to tap into all of the inspiration that you have worked so hard to cultivate. What should you do, now?

                Whether you write, paint, draw, sculpt or dance, hypnosis is a fabulous tool with which to release blocks in your creativity because these arts are an expression of the subconscious mind. Here are some practical suggestions to help you get back your creative mojo.

·         Practice diaphragmatic breathing. Draw a slow, deep breath through your nose, hold it the breath for four seconds and then release it through your mouth. You know you are doing this technique correctly if only your abdomen puffs out a little when you inhale; the shoulders should remain even and still when you breathe. Repeat this process several times until you feel the tension in your body start to release.

·         Take a walk or do some kind of exercise to take your mind off the project you are working on. As you focus on the physical activity you are doing, give yourself permission to know and believe that your inspiration will be waiting for you when you return to your desk, easel, etc.

·         Visualize or imagine that you are working on your project. Where are you working? What does the room/space look like? What are you wearing? Who/what is in the room with you? How does the room smell? What is the ambient temperature? How does it feel to handle/work/mold the materials you are using? What is your body doing, and how does this feel? The more details you can provide in this exercise, the richer the visualization will be and the more “real” this creative process will feel for your. Remember: The subconscious mind does not know the difference between fantasy and reality, so imagining or pretending how you will do something is a great way to rehearse doing that activity in the real world.

·         Just start working on the project. Even if your conscious mind hasn’t completely formulated what you want to say, do or express, the physical action of starting/doing this work will reinforce the creativity and technical skills (knowns) stored in your subconscious mind. The most effective way to trigger or re-activate these behaviors is to do them!

·         Give yourself permission to accept whatever you create during this exercise regardless of the form it takes. Your finished product may or may not resemble the project you originally envisioned, but that is okay. This version could be even better than the one you first imagined!

You are not the first person to ever experience a creative block at a crucial moment, and you will not be the last. You can and will break through that wall to tap into your creativity and imagination once more. Remind yourself that you have all of the skills, talent, etc. to overcome whatever is challenging you right now and create something wonderful. Every other project you have ever worked on began as a thought or inspiration. Where did that inspiration come from? Probably the same place that this one you are starting to have right now in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1….

 

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

 

Release and Let It Go

 

 

 

Everyone lives in the context of a pain/pleasure principle. We prefer—and try—to do what makes us feel good (pleasure) and avoid the things that cause discomfort (pain) in the context of the “knowns” in the subconscious mind. For example, John Kappas, Ph.D., theorized that the SCM would categorize your 10-year feud with your siblings as pleasure (known) because it is so comfortable with all of the emotions it associates with this grudge.

When anger morphs into a long-term resentment, it is a habit. Like any other habit or behavior, it is something you learned. The great news is, since you learned how to feel angry about a particular situation or at a specific person; therefore, you can unlearn the anger response in that context. Following are some basic strategies I would use as a hypnotherapist to help the individual transform his or her anger response into one of forgiveness, healing and emotional and spiritual freedom.

·         I would describe the person’s strained relationship with the sibling in the context of Dr. Kappas’ Theory of Mind by way of explaining/helping the client to understand how he or she has substituted/emphasized anger at the sibling in order to avoid feeling any emotional pain that conflict caused.

·         Once the client is in hypnosis, I would help him or her to feel and acknowledge the hurt the original incident caused. I would also employ therapeutic-guided imagery and desensitization techniques to help the person work through the triggers that continue to incite the anger and hurt. I do not use age-regression techniques to bring up these triggers, I will desensitize the client only to the memories/associations that he or she remembers and has described during an alert/aware state.

·         I will use more deepening/relaxation techniques and guided imagery to help the person forgive him- or herself for having been in a position to have been hurt, in the first place. Next, I will use these techniques to help the client also forgive the other person for doing whatever he or she did to cause the original pain.

Marc Gravelle, a late instructor of the Hypnosis Motivation Institute, once advised: “As long as you remain angry at a person, you’re giving him permission to control you physically, emotionally and intellectually. When you forgive the other person, you’re not giving him permission to do ‘whatever.’ He’s still guilty of doing that, but you (the client) can move on and the other person no longer controls you.”

 

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

 

Data Management

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

Every decision you make and every action you take
creates or reinforces a “known” response in your subconscious mind.

 

                No matter what you do, even if you don’t try, you learn something new every day. The question is: What will you do with this new information that you have just learned?

                For example, imagine that your car’s gas gauge is almost on empty, so you pull into a gas station to fill up your tank. You notice that the cost of unleaded gas is up four cents from last week’s listed price, which triggers a familiar (known) emotional response of anger/frustration and even anxiety about the cost of fuel. What you do about or with this information will depend on how badly you need the fuel right now and whether it is/will be available when you are ready to make the purchase. Your actions will also be influenced on how you have handled similar situations in the past: Just fill up the tank and resolve this inconvenience, buy just enough gasoline to keep you on the road for a few more days, or drive around to look for a better price at a different station.

                Your subconscious mind likely knew exactly what you would do before you made the conscious decision to just fill up the tank. Even though your first instinct would normally be to look around for a better (cheaper) price, you decide to just buy the gas right now. A big storm is coming, and you don’t want to risk getting stuck on the road in bad weather. Also, if a lot of other nervous drivers have the same idea, you might have to drive around forever looking for a station that has a better price, but it could already be sold out of gas before you get there. Even though you are still annoyed that you had to spend so much more money to buy the fuel than if you had shopped around a bit more, you are relieved that the tank is full, and you no longer have to worry about getting stuck in bad weather.

Remember: Every sensation you perceive provides a catalog of information about your environment and how/where/why you fit into that situation. The conscious mind identifies this data (stimuli) as a “known” or “unknown” message unit; the subconscious mind is more likely to accept or reject the information/behavior if it is already in your repertoire of knowns—and you will act accordingly. Furthermore, no matter what you do, you will be creating a new and/or reinforcing a previous known behavior in your repertoire for next time.

 

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

Words of Wisdom, Part 2



Photo by Sara Fogan

Jane Savoie at the 2014 Horse Expo in Pomona, California.

 

 

In Part 2 of this blog, I will share more advice and words of wisdom from a few of my favorite horsemen and horsewomen. Again, while these pearls of wisdom were originally spoken in the context of training horses and riders, the main theme of each of these messages is also relevant for, and applicable to, many other human/life experiences.

·         Gina Miles: “Ride past the last jump. Have a plan for where you are going.” Whether you are riding your horse on a grand-prix jumping course or you are driving to the grocery store, it is important to know not only where you want to go and how you plan to get there. It is also imperative that you know what you are going to do once you arrive at your destination. Life carries on and time passes whether you are doing something or not, so keep setting new goals that will continue to motivate you to succeed after you have accomplished this one. http://mileseventing.com/

·         Gina Miles: “Don’t let one mistake ruin the ride; go on to the next movement.” Everybody makes mistakes; the trick is to not allow one error paralyze your progress. If you can’t remember information to answer one of the questions on a test, don’t waste time worrying about that problem. Answer the other questions on the test, and go back to tackle that item if you have time. Once a mistake has happened, it is over; but there can and will be other opportunities to regain your advantage if you allow yourself to move on. As former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill famously advised his compatriots during World War II: “Stay calm and carry on.” http://mileseventing.com/

·         Monty Roberts: “Low adrenaline equals high learning; high adrenaline equals low learning.” I use this advice every day, whether I am handling one of my trainer’s stallions or dealing with rush-hour freeway traffic. I know that the more calm and relaxed I feel, the better I can focus on what I need to do to accomplish my goal. The key to achieving a goal is to maintain a low-energy state so that high-energy emotions (e.g., fear, frustration, anger, excitement) do not get a chance to interfere with what you are doing. http://www.montyroberts.com/

·         Monty Roberts: “If you give yourself fifteen minutes, it will take all day. If you give yourself all day, it will take fifteen minutes.” One of the biggest lessons I have learned (repeatedly) from this advice is, it is important to devote my complete attention to the task I am working on while I am doing it. Have you ever noticed how quickly a series of small projects can explode into a major endeavor—especially when you try to accomplish these projects at once or in rapid succession? Multi-tasking has its place, but that place isn’t every place or all of the time. Show yourself some respect by honestly assessing your physical and emotional ability to accomplish a specific task; based on this information, make an honest estimate of how long you believe it will take you to do that one task. When you go to work on that project, allow yourself twice the amount of time you originally estimated ­­it will take, so you don’t have to feel rushed or otherwise pressured to complete the job. (You’ll probably complete it within the original time estimate, too.) http://www.montyroberts.com/

·         Jane Savoie: “You have time.” It is easy to get so caught up in the excitement of an experience that you can’t (or refuse to) stop doing it. Put on the brakes, anyway! Ignore the temptation—no matter how strong it is—to rush through the training or keep repeating what you have just learned so you can “perfect” it. Everything takes time to learn and even longer to master. A young child or a young horse has a short attention span to learn something new, but adults can also become overwhelmed and burned out when they focus a lot of time working on just one thing. Spread out the amount of time you work on a project so you can approach it from a fresh, enthusiastic and focused mind-set. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so the saying goes; but it was built. You have all the time you need to complete your project, too. http://www.janesavoie.com/

 

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

 

 

 

Words of Wisdom, Part 1

Photo courtesy of Sara Fogan

Me with Chris Cox at Equine Affaire in February 2009

 

                 For today’s blog, I thought I would share the advice and words of wisdom that I have learned from some of my favorite horsemen and horsewomen. While these pearls of wisdom were originally spoken in the context of training horses and riders, the main theme of each of these messages is also relevant for and applicable to just about every human/life experience.

·         Clinton Anderson: “Whoever moves his feet first, loses.” In one of his basic groundwork exercises, Mr. Anderson asks his horses to yield (swing) their hindquarters away from him. The purpose of this exercise is to teach the horse to respect the trainer by moving wherever and whenever the human asks him to go. (It is also a tool by which the trainer can gain better control of the horse’s body on the ground by temporarily destabilizing the animal’s power/balance in its hindquarters.) During the exercise, the horse should be the only one moving his or her feet. If the human has to move to get out of the horse’s way, the equine has essentially “won” a power advantage in the relationship because the person was unable to gain the horse’s respect. This model may be applied to the context of human-human relationships in that, at some time or another, everyone must remain firm and demand fair/respectful treatment from another person. Whether you typically give in to the other person’s demands or are the one who lays down the rules about conduct in a relationship, your behavior says a lot about you and your role (power/control) in that relationship. www.downunderhorsemanship.com

·         Chris Cox: “Ride with your eyes.” No matter what you are doing, it is important to keep your eyes open and focused on where you want to go. As you look in the direction you are traveling, you are subconsciously programming your body to prepare for that destination. Whether you look straight ahead, behind/above you or straight down at the ground, your subconscious mind is sending your body a message: This is where you will end up. www.chris-cox.com

·         Chris Cox: “If you can ride a fast horse, you will never be on a runaway.” Sometimes things happen in life that will take you completely by surprise. You may suddenly find yourself having to deal with challenges you never thought could—or would—happen to you. Practice taking on more challenges and accepting additional responsibilities to stretch your comfort zone. Do things faster or slower than you are used to doing them, so you will be comfortable and emotionally prepared to rise to any challenge—and at any speed—if life throws a curve ball at you.   www.chris-cox.com

·         Robert Dover: “Your horse must feel like he can do everything like a champion.” Confidence is the key to a successful outcome whether you are a horse or a human. The more confident you feel about yourself, how well you do your job, how good you are at your hobbies, how emotionally secure you feel in your relationships (romantic, family, etc.), the harder you will try to succeed at that endeavor. Continuing to set reasonable goals that you must work at—but are capable of achieving—and celebrating the recognition and other rewards of your success that you receive during this journey, will increase your enthusiasm and motivation to succeed.  www.doversworld.com

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

 

Tuning It Out

Photo courtesy of Fotolia

In hypnosis, you can teach your mind to focus on
what you want to notice--or not.

  

                As the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, are drawing to a close, I continue to marvel at the athletes’ incredible physical and mental prowess. To even qualify to participate in an Olympic event, they must be at the top of their game—a national or even a world champion or finalist in their sport. (Hard as qualifying to compete in the Olympic Games must certainly be, qualification seems like it would be the “easy” part.) Once these athletes make their nation’s Olympic team, they must all face off against similar-ranked competitors of other nations—and then then their teammates—on the world’s stage. There is no time to be excited about the honor of being an Olympian, representing and earning medals for their nation. There is no room in their training regimen (nutrition, rest, training, training, training, competition, etc.) for feeling nervous. No matter what is going on around them, whether they feel sore from yesterday’s competition or are elated and excited about having earned a career “best” in the preliminary round, these athletes must remain focused on the job ahead of them. They must continue to give their all (and a lot more) to score that winning goal, do the most/highest/longest jumps, the most beautiful spins, the fastest runs down the mountain slope, half-pipe or chute until they have completed their last event. There is no time to ruminate over mistakes they have just made or whether the triple-triple jump combination in their ice-skating program has sufficiently intimidated their top-ranked opponent. So, how do these athletes keep it all together to bring home the gold or silver or bronze?

                When I work with hypnotherapy clients to help them achieve their athletic goals, the first thing I do is reinforce and/or build their self-confidence about their skills and talent in the sport. If a person has won prizes or championships in this sport before, and/or had to qualify to participate in the upcoming event, I incorporate this information into the hypnotic script. I teach breathing techniques to help the person learn to relax his or her physical body; then, I introduce guided-imagery so the person has an opportunity (or several) to rehearse the event and even work through various competitive scenarios. If appropriate, and with my client’s permission, I may also invite the coach or trainer to help me incorporate sports-specific jargon or instruction about a technique that the person is working on, in the script. I also reinforce suggestions about continuing to follow a healthy lifestyle to support the client’s athletic program (e.g., eating nutritious meals, drinking plenty of water and getting enough rest and a good night’s sleep).

Equally important, I help my clients to tune out distractions during the competition, such as camera flashes, cheers or applause, or being in an unfamiliar environment. In these cases, I use imagery and systematic-desensitization techniques to not only “desensitize” the person to these stimuli, but to create an association in which these stimuli will actually help to increase their confidence in their athletic prowess and double their focus/concentration on what they need to do to succeed in the event. Many athletes are distracted and affected by negative self-talk; some receive discouraging or disparaging comments from opponents or even teammates, friends, family members or a coach/trainer. In these instances, I first desensitize the person to these kinds of negative messages. Then, I help my client to create powerful imagery to deflect and virtually shield the individual from others’ negative comments/energy, and to dissolve and dissipate negative self-talk before the person even knows or notices that it is going on.

                While the client in hypnosis, I include a final suggestion about muscle memory: “Allow the athlete inside of you to give yourself permission to trust your body. Trust your training and all of those previous experiences of success doing [this sport], which you have been doing for so long. Allow your body to do what it does well, and you are doing it even better than you ever have, before.”

 

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

            While the client in hypnosis, I include a final suggestion about muscle memory: “Allow the athlete inside of you to give yourself permission to trust your body. Trust your training and all of those previous experiences of success doing [this sport], which you have been doing for so long. Allow your body to do what it does well, and you are doing it even better than you ever have, before.”

 

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

Turn It Around

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

When you get frustrated with a situation, "turn it around"
and create a positive outcome or benefit from the circumstance. 

                A neighbor calls you at 2 a.m. to let you know that your dog has got out of the yard, and you have to chase him through the neighborhood before he finally heels and you can get him home. Your car doesn’t start, and you have to call road-side assistance to jump-start the engine so you can get to the mechanic and buy a new battery. You rush to get to work to meet a client, only to find out that your 11 a.m. appointment is a no-show. You agree to stay late to finish a project at work, and then get stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic during the evening commute.

                Have you ever had a day like this? Okay, maybe not exactly like this, but frustrating (“bad”) in its way? What did you do about it? How did you react and handle the frustrations—or did you handle them, at all? One of my favorite strategies about how to deal with an uncomfortable situation is to “turn it around.” My mentor, Cheryl O’Neil, C.Ht., introduced me to this philosophy when I was training to become a hypnotherapist at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute. HMI founder John Kappas, Ph.D. coined this phrase. It is similar to the idea of every cloud has a silver lining, except you play an active role in creating your silver lining.

For example, rather than silently (or verbally) curse your canine companion for his naughtiness, you thank him for making you aware that you have a hole in your fence or that your gate is broken. Another advantage of your late-night jog through the neighborhood is that you are getting a good cardiac workout. When you have to make the unscheduled stop at the car-repair shop, this delay to your morning commute likely saved you from having to deal with rush-hour traffic. As for your no-show appointment at work, this is a great opportunity to catch up on other work or projects that need your attention: return phone calls, answer e-mails, rehearse the presentation you must give to your department next week, etc. While you are stuck in stop-and-go traffic during your drive home—when you are not moving—practice diaphragmatic breathing to help you relax. Start by drawing a slow, deep breath through your nose and hold it for five seconds, then release the breath through the mouth. You know you are doing this technique correctly because your tummy will extend or push out a little bit as you inhale, but the shoulders will not move. Imagine that as you inhale, you are drawing in patience, calm and relaxation; as you exhale, you are releasing any frustration and negative emotion that you have felt during the day. The goal is to clear your mind of the frustrations you have successfully dealt with today.  

Remember, the worst is over. Tomorrow is a new day, and all things are possible.

 

 

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