Hypnotherapy and Insomnia

(This blog was originally posted on March 12, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

 

                Insomnia is described as an inability to sleep through the night. It may be manifested as a difficulty falling asleep or waking up frequently during the night so the person does not have a restful sleep. Physiological causes of insomnia can include hunger or a drop in blood-sugar level. However, the most common cause of insomnia is worry, which makes this condition one of the easiest behavior problems to treat, said Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D.

                When I work with a client to improve the person’s quality and quantity of sleep, the first thing I do is to help the person enter a deeply relaxed state of calm and comfort. When the individual is in hypnosis, I help him or her to deepen this sensation of comfort and dozy relaxation through breathing and progressive relaxation exercises. I also establish one or two physical anchors (e.g., the finger press) that the person can use to activate this relaxed, dozy relaxation when the person climbs into bed for sleep. I incorporate the client’s reasons/desire to sleep through the night and his or her suggestibility—physical (direct and literal) or emotional (inferential) to craft a customized suggestion for sleep. The ideal sleep suggestion is one that will induce the client to sleep “quickly, soundly and deeply throughout the night and will awaken in the morning feeling completely rested. The mind will be alert and active,” Dr. Kappas said.

                Post-hypnotic suggestions to drift into sleep include reinforcing the person’s sensation of feeling deeply relaxed, comfortable and free of stress. Using therapeutic guided imagery, I may also help the client to create a special box or safe in which to store or “lock away” any worries or concerns in order to get a good night’s sleep. (I reassure the client that he or she can always “unlock” the box and take out those issues to work on in the morning, if they haven’t already resolved themselves during the good night’s sleep.) I will also provide a final suggestion that the person will release in a venting dream any and all of the stresses or worries that have previously prevented the client from enjoying a sound, deep, full night’s sleep.

Following are some other practical suggestions to help sleep through the night:

·         Do not to watch television or play video games an hour before you plan to go to sleep (these activities can mentally arouse you too much to sleep).

·         Do not to take any sleep aids or drink alcohol to help you nod off: sleep aids can inhibit REM sleep and dreaming; and you are likely to wake up again once the alcohol has worn off.

·         Have a bedtime snack that includes some form of protein. A piece of roasted turkey or a glass of milk is a great choice because both of these items contain tryptophan, which is believed to induce sleep. Eating something before bed will also reduce the likelihood of becoming hungry during the night, which is associated with insomnia.

·         While you are in bed, practice diaphragmatic breathing. Draw a breath through your nose, deep into your lungs, hold it for four seconds and release through your mouth. Repeat this breathing four or five times until you feel your body has released any of the remaining tension that you have been holding onto during the day.

·         Once you are in bed, if your mind is still whirring from the day, count backward from 100 as you preparing to fall asleep. “Counting will help to put [you] in a completely relaxed and restful state that will facilitate falling asleep,” Dr. Kappas explained.

·         Systematically tighten and then relax specific groups of muscles in your body, starting with the muscles in your face and neck, then down to the shoulders, back, arms, hands, abdomen, waist and hips, thighs, feet and toes. As you do this exercise, visualize, imagine, picture or pretend that every area that you stretch and relax makes you feel progressively relaxed and sleepy. It is perfectly fine if you drift off to sleep before you complete this exercise!

 

 

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

Getting Out of Your Own Way

(This blog was originally posted on February 10, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Microsoft
 

 

                We tend to be the biggest “block” to our personal success. For some reason, the more we want to succeed at something and the harder we try to accomplish our goal, the further out of reach that dream seems to get. Why is that?

Quite simply, we may be doing too much, “trying” too hard. We micromanage our behavior (activity) and over-analyze what we think we should be doing and how a task should be done to such a degree that, when the time comes to actually take action, we forget how to do it. We dream, we hope, we aspire to greatness. We set goals and lay down the groundwork—the foundations—that will make this success possible (we hope). But when we face challenges and even setbacks along the way, we become frustrated, angry and discouraged about our likelihood to succeed or achieve that goal. Sometimes we even consider giving up on that dream or project and start something new.

Does this scenario sound familiar? Star Wars fans know the scene in which Yoda famously counseled Luke Skywalker during his training to become a Jedi Knight: “Do. Or do not. There is no try.” All of our machinations and preparations for success are meaningless if we don’t finally, at last, just go out and do what we have been working so hard to achieve. Trying is not doing. At the end of the day, the most effective way to achieve a goal is to stop planning and thinking about all of the things that might go right or wrong when you finally get around to doing it. Just take a deep breath (or several) and go for it. Get out of your own way and just let your body and subconscious mind do what it already knows how to do.

               

 

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

Past-Life Regression and Hypnotherapy

(This blog was originally posted on January 13, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Fotolia

 

                Past-life regression is based on the person’s religious belief that he or she lived before and has been reincarnated. I offer PLR when a client specifically requests it, such as to explore what happened in the person’s previous life and how a specific event(s) from that lifetime is affecting him or her, today. It is also a useful technique to help a person identify a source of distress in the following situations:

·         Resolve a fear/phobia that the client absolutely cannot identify the source or cause;

·         Open up another creative pathway in the person’s imagination;

·         Travel to another country to become familiar with the culture;

·         Unexplained medical issue/condition, but the client MUST HAVE A MEDICAL REFERRAL* from his or her physician to rule out a medical cause or condition as the cause of the discomfort;

·         Obesity/debilitating inability to gain weight (MEDICAL REFERRAL REQUIRED)*.

Most people have an authentic life experience during the PLR. I include the information that the client receives and shares with me to reinforce the subconscious message or lesson that the person received during the PLR. This experience often provides new perceptions about something that is going on in the person’s life and provides new insights for dealing with it. In addition to reinforcing this new knowledge in a post-hypnotic suggestion, I also provide an instruction for the client to “vent out” the issue in dreams so that the person can use the insight learned during the PLR session but will not be suggestible to the experience(s) of that past life.

 

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/.

*California law allows access by California residents to complementary and alternative health care practitioners who are not providing services that require medical training and credentials. The purpose of a program of hypnotherapy is for vocational and avocational self-improvement (Business and Professions Code 2908) and as an alternative or complementary treatment to healing arts services licensed by the state. A hypnotherapist is not a licensed physician or psychologist, and hypnotherapy services are not licensed by the state of California. Services are non-diagnostic and do not include the practice of medicine, neither should they be considered a substitute for licensed medical or psychological services or procedures.

Hypnosis to Help Stuttering

(This blog was originally posted on February 13, 2014)

 

 

                 According to John Kappas, Ph.D., the founder of the Hypnosis Motivation Institute, stuttering is a projection of incongruent behavior. For example, the person may have a way of learning (suggestibility) that is different from how he or she performs/acts. This individual may speak literally (physical suggestible) but picks up a lot of inferences from conversations and the environment. There is often another family member who stutters, Dr. Kappas explained.

                Stuttering usually begins when the person is around five years old. It is often observed in people who have very addictive personalities. “People cannot stutter when they are under hypnosis, performing visualization exercises or when they are not concentrating on what they are saying,” the hypnotherapist said However, speaking on a telephone often induces stuttering, he observed.

                There are typically no physiological causes of stuttering. As your hypnotherapist, my first objective would be to help you identify the circumstances around which the stuttering began. Once the cause of the stuttering is identified, while you are in hypnosis I would use relaxation, systematic-desensitization and behavioral conditioning techniques to help you resolve any issues that perpetuate this behavior. “Since people usually can’t stutter on purpose, one of the most effective techniques to replace stuttering with normal speech is to teach the person to stutter in hypnosis,” Dr. Kappas advised.

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Driving Anxiety

(This blog was originally posted on February 17, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Fotolia

 

 

                For many people, driving a car is a way of life. It is not only a way to get things done; it is practically a prerequisite for being able to accomplish many of your goals. It is a symbol of independence: if you can drive and have a driving license, you can go and do just about anything you want to do. When you can drive, you must no longer rely on a friend, neighbor or family member to chauffeur you to an event or an appointment. It is a way of getting to work or simply of getting away. Driving a car is a privilege and a responsibility; and for many people, it can be the source of great anxiety and even social debilitation.

                People can develop a fear or phobia of driving for various reasons. Sometimes, people become understandably afraid to drive or to even ride in an automobile after they have been in a car crash or narrowly avoided being in an accident. The same is true if they have been injured in a crash or if a loved one has been seriously injured or killed. Anxiety and phobias about driving can also develop in association with a sudden drop in blood-sugar level; it is common to associate (blame) driving with sudden symptoms of dizziness, feeling light-headed, confusion and nausea. However, the likely cause of this discomfort is being hungry because the person skipped breakfast to save time in the morning and then downed a quadruple espresso beverage to help stay awake for the morning commute.

                When I work with clients to help them resolve their anxiety about driving, one of the first things I do is to contextualize the origins of their fear or phobia. I explain John Kappas, Ph.D.’s, concepts of the Theory of Mind to illustrate how this current fear/phobic reaction has successfully, albeit temporarily “protected” them from perceived danger by keeping them out of cars. Finally, I employ relaxation, systematic-desensitization and visualization techniques to help my clients work through and overcome their anxiety while they are in hypnosis so they can get back in the driver’s seat of the car, and their lives, once again.

 

 

 

 

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

Body Language

(This blog was originally posted on April 25, 2014)

 

 

                I am fascinated by a television advertisement for mobile (cell) phone services. In the ad, a group of potential customers puts a representative of a major, national phone company through her paces as they ask about various communications features that the company offers. Viewers are led to infer that the prospective customers are real-estate agents, because each of them is professionally rand sports a tan blazer with a large emblem of a house on the left side of the jacket. The group pretty much verifies the identity of their vocation when one of the women says, “Let’s close!” and they all cross their arms over their chest and grin. But it is what the customers and the sales representative say with their bodies throughout the ad that is of greatest interest to me.

                Throughout the ad, the phone-company representative matches every physical and facial gesture that her prospective clients make. As a customer’s voice lilts at the end of a question, the salesperson uses a similar lilt in her response. When one person points a finger to make a point, the sales rep makes the same movement during her explanation. Someone steeples her fingers across her midsection; the sales rep makes the same gesture. Another person in the group nods and raises her eyebrows; so does she. When the camera pans back a little, viewers can see that the sales rep has even adopted a similar stance as she stands with the customers. At the end of the advertisement when one of the customers crosses her arms and announces they will all take (“close”) the deal, her colleagues look at her and immediately imitate the crossed-arms gesture.

                I like this ad because it is such a fabulous demonstration of how people mirror someone’s behavior in order to build rapport with someone. If your job entails selling products or services, you probably recognized every sales technique depicted in the advertisement I just described. But you don’t have to be a salesperson or a customer to identify with what went on. We mirror each other’s various behaviors—facial expressions, physical gestures, patterns of speech—all the time, often without realizing that we are doing it. These actions are like a “fast track” to building rapport with someone you would like to get to know better. People are naturally attracted to others who behave or seem to think like they do.

Think about a conversation you have had recently: Did you nod at some point during the conversation or lean forward in your seat as if to listen to your companion’s words even more closely? And did your companion then lean his or her body closer to yours, return your nod or mirror a hand movement that you were previously unaware of having made? Did you notice when your spouse or friend took a step forward, backward or sideways to mirror your stance, or raised or lowered his or her voice to match the tone of yours? These are examples of mirroring; and mirroring is a subconscious (or conscious) behavior that creates rapport and can facilitate social bonds by reinforcing similarity or familiarity between you. Rapport is an inherent and necessary component of every kind of relationship; it is the cornerstone upon which every relationship is built. It is only when we establish rapport with someone are we likely to explore the similarities and differences between us, and know whether we want to spend the time and energy to create a social, romantic or professional relationship with that person. Without rapport, we cannot come to trust, respect, like or communicate well with him or her, and a relationship—or a successful sale—is unlikely to result from the interaction.

 

 

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

 

 

Watching a Dressage Master at Work, Part 3

Photo by Sara Fogan

On the final day of his 2010 clinic, Olympian Jan Ebeling demonstrated why dressage riders

must master all of the elements on the Training Scale to achieve collection.

 

                In 2010, I had an opportunity to watch several dressage clinics that were conducted by one of my favorite competitors, Olympian Jan Ebeling. The workshop was held during the Equine Affaire in Pomona, California, during which time he worked with several riders and their horses to fine-tune their communication and technique with their equine partners. There is no better way to understand how the Training Scale “looks” than by watching a dressage master ride advanced movements such as the piaffe, passage, canter pirouette and single tempi changes. These are some highlights of what I learned and observed during the third (and final) dressage clinic he conducted during that weekend.

 

Seminar #3, February 6, 2010 

Theme of clinic: Structuring your dressage training sessions.

Dressage is a team sport: horse+rider+trainer.

Everyone can do dressage. It’s good training for everyone! Dressage improves the horse’s natural abilities by gymnasticizing its body.

Sandrina: Jan Eberling’s horse for the demo. Oldenberg mare with a lot of TB.

It takes 8-10 years to create a Grand Prix horse. Not every horse can do it.

“Principles of Dressage” guidelines for the professional trainer.

We are often our own best critic. Get video of key moments of your ride to analyze, evaluate the ride.

Goals we must achieve when training dressage: Rhythm. Relaxation. Contact. Impulsion. Straightness. Collection. You can’t have collection without establishing every other element, first.

Typically start out on the horse’s easier/better side to make it easier/more enjoyable for the horse.

Purity of the gaits is very important in dressage. Trot: a diagonal two-beat.

Change tempo of pushing poweràcarrying power. Combination of legs and hands puts the horse in frame.

Legs, seat and hands make the horse respond in a particular way. Get the horse to step actively under her legs.

In dressage, we want the horse to become more even.

When the horse gets scared, it’s important to earn their trust, to trust and listen to the aids. If the horse doesn’t trust you and spooks or something, if you punish the horse for geing scared, it will spook worse.

Shoulder-in and leg-yield helps the horse maneuver.

Balance, no resistance=good canter transition. Even a Grand Prix horse has to work on these things.

Practice sending the horse forward and bring him back.

“Leg” refers to knee on down (lower leg)

You must do the basics and know how to speak “the basics” to your horse so they understand.

In order to get good (become a good rider) it takes a lot of input.

Legs forward, hands restricting, seat assist forward drive.

In a test, the poll must be at the highest point.

Gradually work your way to the fancy transitions.

If you see that the horse is relaxed and wants to go forward, that’s good!

Profession in training, exposure to see where we are with the horse.

After movements of collection, always go forward again right away.

How pretty you sit, effectiveness of you aids, elasticity of horse and desire of horse to go forward …(?)

Backing up is an obedience exercise.

Make horse more compact and release. It should take very little aid (?)

Straight trotàput both legs on. Keep contact on outside rein so the horse turns.

One tempis: it’s like the horse is “skipping.” Keep horse straight, balanced. To train, go back to the basics, work on relieving stiffness.

Whwen horse is on a long rein, you want it to have energy. For a very eager horse, repeat stop-go.

Rhythm of the walk is easily destroyed if you mess with the hands a lot.

Get into the horse’s head to understand how it thinks/get into the horse’s psyche.

Separation of hind feet is a common mistake in canter pirouette. If frame isn’t right, the horse is too weak, back is tight, too much hand.in the canter pirouette, there’s not much to repair if it starts to go wrong.

Training is about compromise and confrontation.

JE keeps horse in a fairly round frame.

Always use positive reinforcement. Someone needs to explain what to do.

You always want to keep the horse happy: “I don’t want a slave. I want a buddy.” (Jan Ebeling)

 

 

 

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/.