Proprioception

(This blog was originally posted on October 11, 2016)

Photo by Rick Hustead

When I count a client up and out of hypnosis at the end of the hypnotherapy session, I always drop in a suggestion that the individual begins to become more aware of his or her physical body. I add that the person is also becoming more aware of where the body is in relation to relaxing in the recliner in my office. I do this to re-stimulate the person’s proprioception: i.e., awareness of the different areas of the physical body and strength in relation to movement and position in the environment in the alert and aware state.

Proprioception is something most of us take for granted on a day-to-day basis. Remember, the conscious mind can only process a small amount of information at any one time. The ability to discern important (urgent) information is necessary for our survival, which is why so much of what the subconscious mind perceives and processes “rarely” makes it to conscious awareness. Can you imagine what your day would be like if you constantly felt the scratching sensation caused by the label stitched inside the collar of your shirt or blouse? How long would it take for you to become overwhelmed by the persistent sensation of each muscle in your legs constrict and relax while you walked across the room?

Consequently, we don’t think about how our muscles, tendons, joints and bones work let alone what they are supposed to do when we first roll out of bed or run to catch a bus or train. We just do the activity and expect that everything in the body is working/doing what it is supposed to. When we feel threatened by something in the environment or even the environment, itself, we become very aware of every muscle in the body. As the subconscious mind goes into the fight/flight data processing, the conscious mind wonders: How fast can I get out of here if I need to escape?

 

Another time we become much more aware and attuned to what is going on is when things don’t work like they should, such as after an injury or during an illness. For example, people who experience chronic pain are often hyper-alert to every sensation in the body as they try to find some position that provides some relief, if only for a little while.

Athletes, including dancers, naturally tend have very good proprioception. Or, I should clarify that this “natural” ability is a learned, oft-rehearsed behavior that has become a subconscious mental script. These individuals must have this to successfully execute their special skill in the sport to achieve the winning goal or point or, ensure that their movements seem effortless as their and their dance partner’s bodies flow with choreography. No matter what is going on, these individuals remain consciously and subconsciously aware of/attuned to the placement of the body and what it is and should be doing at all times. 

When my yoga teacher started to explained proprioception to the class today, instructing us to pay greater attention to specific areas of our bodies, she reminded me how similar this physical work is to what I help clients do in hypnotherapy. She wanted us (the students) to increase our awareness of how these separate parts worked together (or not) by noticing if there was any resistance in certain areas and then ease that tension by breathing into it. She also suggested that it was okay to allow ourselves to release or let go of anything we felt was holding us back or what we no longer wanted or needed to hold onto in our lives. This exercise reminded me so much of what I do with my hypnotherapy clients: i.e., inviting the breath into the body to release tightness and tension while increasing their relaxation, calm and comfort. Like yoga, hypnotherapy is an opportunity to increase self-awareness and make desired behavior changes starting with something as simple breathing in and breathing out. Directing awareness to what we are able to do to increase comfort within and control of the entire body or just specific areas is a great way to build self-confidence and belief in our ability to handle other areas of our lives.

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/.

© 2018

You Have Ages, Yet

“Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience.” – Unknown

(This blog was originally posted on January 7, 2016)

Photo by Sara Fogan

When I studied in London during my junior year at college, one of my friends was fond of saying, “You have ages, yet,” to reassure me that I had plenty of time to complete an essay or project. She was right, of course: I typically started and completed essays as soon as the lecturer had assigned them. (That strategy was all the better for allowing enough time to do countless rewrites and edits, but that’s a topic for another essay.) Somehow, the deep timbre of her voice and calm way of delivering the statement always helped to take the pressure off. I knew that the only real pressure on me was what I was putting on myself. Without explicitly saying so, the statement reminded me that the more stressed-out and worked up I allowed myself to become about the assignment, the more “stuck” I became in my worrying—time would be better spent actually doing the work. Depending on the value of the assignment—weekly essay versus a term project—sometimes I had to repeat the mantra to myself (“I have ages, yet”) while I worked. But I always finished and turned in the essay on time and a little less stressed.

As I look back on those days, I can identify the different stages of repeated and learned behaviors that were going on, based on John Kappas, Ph.D.’s model for the Theory of Mind. Throughout our lifetime, starting from birth, we create and follow a subconscious mental script that dictates how we are likely to feel about and react to different situations. According to the Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder, these responses are based first on what we have modeled and learned from our primary caretaker(s); later, we start to model friends’ and colleagues’ behaviors. For example, I “learned” or model my behavior of taking copious notes during a class and re-copying (hopefully, neatly) them into a separate notebook, from watching my mother do this when she worked on her degree when I was a teenager. I also followed her example of further organizing the relevant information into a structured outline before I wrote the assignment. This process was followed with several edits and rewrites up until the morning the essay or project was due. That may have been my way of “flirting” with procrastination: During high school, one of the girls in my class was well-known for procrastination. Somehow, she was able to put off studying for a test or completing an assignment until the very last minute and still earned very good grades. Her behavior was drastically different from my (known) way of being a student and it ultimately proved too emotionally and physically stressful (e.g., procrastination=pain) for me to successfully imitate. I quickly returned to my own ways of studying.

However, my friend’s perception of time to complete an assignment was an epiphany for me. Perhaps she was able to influence my attitude and study behaviors because we were friends, which increased my suggestibility to her. I knew she worked very hard and was very good student; but she seemed to be better at balancing fun/relaxation with getting down to doing her work when an assignment was due or a test was looming. I envied and admired that talent, so I decided to adopt her perspective about time to see if it would help me relax a little more. I was sick of making myself sick and sleep-deprived as I rushed to complete a deadline I had actually met, several drafts ago.

It worked. Just the act of repeating her words—“You have ages, yet”—reminded me that I did have enough time to complete the project seemed to stretch time out a little bit. Without yet knowing the term “chunking it down” I was able to mentally prioritize what I needed to do to finish my work so I could get a good night’s sleep and go for a meal or to a movie with my friends. I could give myself permission to enjoy my time and experiences in a different country while I learned and achieved academic success there.

After all, I had ages to be able to do it all.

 

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/.

© 2018

Stages of Therapy

(This blog was originally posted on December 14, 2016)

Photo by Rick Hustead

As a certified hypnotherapist, I work with clients to help them achieve their personal vocational and avocational self-improvement goals (Business and Professions Code 2908). In today’s blog I outline the (general) stages of the therapeutic process.* Please note that this description does not outline the specific number of hypnotherapy sessions each client receives or must receive to achieve the stated goal. Rather, it outlines certain behavior patterns that may be observed over time during the duration of hypnotherapy. Hypnosis is part of every hypnotherapy session.

• Defensiveness. The client may be defensive or subconsciously resist changing the previous behavior(s).

• Increased openness. Over time, the person becomes slightly less rigid or reluctant to address the stated goals. He or she also starts to talk more about other people and events.

• Avoidance. The individual may talk about or refer to the self by using more objective or even detached terms and avoid discussing present events.

• Opening up. The client begins to share or talk about deep feelings and may develop a close relationship with the therapist. As I explained in my blog titled Secondary Relationships, the hypnotherapist’s role in a client’s life is to use tools such as hypnosis and guided imagery to help the individual achieve vocational or avocational self-improvement goals. Therefore, to prevent transference and counter-transference in my hypnotherapy practice, I establish strong professional boundaries around the therapeutic relationship that I have with each client.

• The beginning of personal growth. As the person starts to express his or her emotions, he or she starts to make decisions (behaviors) and accept responsibility for personal actions.

• Moving toward congruence. With increasing personal growth, the client rapidly moves toward congruence: i.e., feelings “match” behavior. The individual’s Emotional/Physical Sexuality and Emotional/Physical Suggestibility may shift slightly at this time to reflect this congruence.

• Self-Actualization. This is characterized by greater empathy and the client’s ability to deal with situations in the “here and now.” A caveat: When a person grows this way, the romantic partner will also grow and catch up with these new values or the relationship may end. For more information about Family Systems, I invite you to read my blog titled The Systems Approach in Hypnotherapy.

  

*Hypnosis is performed during every hypnotherapy session, throughout the therapeutic process

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/.

© 2018