Turn It Off

Photo by Rick Hustead

With so much going on in the world these past few days, it is easy to get sucked into a vortex of national news/political spin/cat videos/etc. when we turn on and tune into social media. From what I have observed on my own Facebook and Twitter feeds, local news reports and daily life, it seems like more and more of us are getting stuck in environmental hypnosis. This constant onslaught of digital information overloads the subconscious mind and impairs our ability to use the reasoning, will-power, decision-making and logic faculties of the conscious mind. The more information we get (or misinformation, as some cases turn out to be), the more we want and, in many cases, the grumpier and more stressed-out we become. If you want to get off that emotional treadmill, I have a suggestion.

Turn it off.

That’s right, turn it off. Put down the Smartphone or tablet, close the laptop, turn off the television or radio and do something else for a little while. Go outside and do some gardening. Take your dog for a walk, go for a run on the beach or find a quiet part of your house or office and take a nap. Work on a hobby you previously set aside and focus 100 percent of your attention on that project for half an hour. Put on some music and dance; exercise, meditate or do yoga. It doesn’t matter what activity you choose so long as it provides a sensory break from the images (sights, sounds and other sensory experiences) that have been overloading you in your digital environment.

To fortify your ability to discern information and make logical, reasoned decisions, eat a meal or have a snack that contains some form of protein. In my blog about the origin of fears and phobias, I explained how Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., observed how fluctuation in blood-sugar level can influence mood, anxiety and suggestibility. Dr. Kappas observed a strong relationship between low blood-sugar levels, fear and development of phobias. If you finding that you are more likely to react or over-react emotionally to something in the current social environment, pay more attention to what you are eating. Maintaining a healthy diet that includes nutritious food and limiting caffeine and alcohol intake can help you remain more objective about what is going on around you.

One of my yoga teachers recently advised as we prepared for meditation at the end of class: “You control your mind. Your mind does not control you.” I know it may not always feel that way, but her words were and are true. To get control over all that extra stimuli that seems to be driving you to distraction, it is as easy as turning off the noise and looking away.

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

The Royal "We"

Photo by Rick Hustead

“We are not impressed.”

Have you ever wondered where that expression came from? I can’t remember the first time I heard it, but it seems like a long-running joke that members of the British Royal family are said to use a plural pronoun to express displeasure. I don’t know if that is true and they really speak that way, but I highly doubt it. However, since watching the television series Victoria on PBS, I have a suspicion how that tradition may have started and been misunderstood/misinterpreted, as well as why it has lasted so long.

Early in Queen Victoria’s reign as queen of England, her dog, Dash, was a constant companion and apparent confidant of the young monarch. At least in this series, the queen is occasionally shown depicted addressing her dog and even including his unspoken opinion about an issue during a discussion with an advisor. I have no way of knowing if this scenario actually happened, but it made me wonder if these kinds of incidents inspired the royal “we.” Except in this case, rather than simply being a vernacular affectation, the queen genuinely and legitimately meant we. Nonetheless, as generations passed and the little dog likely long forgotten, the expression has lived on—at least in the public’s imagination. It is familiar and comfortable because it has been around so long. It is known.

Consider a tradition you or your family follows. Do you know why the holiday meal must always be prepared in a certain way, using specific ingredients that are not actually included in the original recipe? Upon further investigation, it turned out that some of the original ingredients were unavailable during World War II, so the family improvised the original recipe. The dish turned out well and the substituted ingredients continued to be included in future preparations. Some people call their grandmother as “Nan” or “Gram,” and their grandfather “Paw-Paw” because that is how they were instructed to address their grandparents. Why? My guess is that way back in the family tree a youngster couldn’t pronounce Grandma or Grandpa and the new monikers stuck and eventually became a new subconscious known.

How interesting…

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

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.

• “What I am looking for is not out there…It is in me!” – Helen Keller

• “If you expect the world to be fair with you because you are fair with them, you’re fooling yourself. That’s like expecting the lion not to eat you because you didn’t eat him.” – Unknown

• “Life isn’t practice. You have to live now. Today is the only sure thing.” – Bille Baty

• “Men are probably nearer the central truth in their superstitions than in their science.” – Henry David Thoreau

• “You will not be punished for your anger; your anger is the punishment.” – Buddha

• “Never be afraid to do something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.” – Anonymous

• “The closer you are to being real, genuine and authentic will bring people who are the same closer to you!” – Bruce Van Horn

• “It’s always hard to lose somebody. It leaves a hole in your heart that never grows back.” – Kevin Brooks

• “When you see a good person, think of becoming like him. When you see someone not so good, reflect on your own weak points.” – Confucius

• “Be perfectly willing to be perfectly human.” – Lolly Daskal

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     

Defense Mechanisms: Turning Against Self

(This blog was originally posted on January 14, 2015)

 

Photo by Rick Hustead

Sometimes, emotional pain or intense disappointment because something didn’t go our way can lead to self-criticism and self-recrimination (self-blame). Rather than direct our negative emotion toward the cause or source of this pain, we turn on ourselves. For example, have you ever told yourself that the reason a romantic partner ended the relationship with you was because you were unattractive and actually “unworthy” of his or her love? Have you ever scolded yourself for being unskilled and “hopeless” at your job when a relatively new, junior colleague got the pay-raise or promotion you deserved after you landed that big account? Or, have you ever blamed yourself for “doing something stupid” that resulted in an injury while playing your favorite sport or doing a maintenance project around the house? If so, you have turned against yourself, which is a form of defense mechanism.

I previously touched on this phenomenon in my blog titled Stop! Negative Self Talk. Every time we disparage ourselves we create powerful, negative subconscious messages about ourselves that undermine our self-confidence and self-esteem. Since the subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between fantasy (imagination) and reality, thinking or speaking these negative beliefs in a moment of pique cause equal damage.

Like other defense mechanisms, turning against self is: 1) unconscious; 2) self-deceptive; 3) and it distorts reality through thoughts and action. According to the Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D.’s Theory of Mind, people are subconsciously motivated to maintain and/or restore a known physical and emotional status of comfort and security. Whenever someone says or does something that causes physical injury, hurts your feelings or challenges your beliefs, your mind automatically tries to compensate for this threat or “pain” by activating this or another form of defense mechanism. In this case, you turn against yourself to avoid having to experience the pain of rejection or disappointment that someone else caused you.

To help someone change this behavior, while the client is in hypnosis I desensitize him or her to the situation (and similar situations) that triggered this defense mechanism. I also employ therapeutic guided-imagery techniques to help them reframe their negative beliefs and self-recrimination to positive thoughts that are self-nurturing and promote self-love and self-confidence. Finally, I use imagery techniques to enable the individual to find solutions for those situations and visualize how they have overcome this setback and which lessons they learned from this experience have increased self-confidence and social coping skills.

               

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