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.

• “Too many of us are not living our dreams, because we are living our fears.” – Les Brown

• “When you are interested, you do what is convenient. When you are committed, you do whatever it takes.” – John Assaraf

• “More than those who hate you, more than all your enemies, an undisciplined mind does greater harm.” – Buddha

• “Learn to trust the journey, even when you do not understand it.” – @Inspire Us

• “The way you treat yourself sets the standard for others.” – Sonya Friedman

• “A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top.” – Author Unknown

• “Reconnecting with long-term dreams fuels energy for today's challenges.” – Dan Rockwell

• “Don't tell customers what you sell. Ask them what they want to buy and simply provide it.” – Ben Acheson

• “Love doesn't make the world go round; love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning

• “To the soul there is no distinction between giving and receiving.” – Lolly Daskal

Hypnotherapy for Weight Loss

This 10-week weight-loss package is designed to help you shed extra pounds using hypnosis and therapeutic guided-imagery techniques. It is customized to your specific weight-loss goal, and materials are provided at each weekly session to help you keep track of your progress and maintain motivation throughout this program. In addition, a complimentary recording of the hypnosis portion of each session (CD or digital file) is provided at the end of each appointment to reinforce what you worked on that week. 

$1,250 for 10-week series. (This is a $250 savings!)  

Fee must be paid at the start of the program. This promotional discount may not be combined with any other offers.

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

Protective Posturing

(This blog was originally posted on December 8, 2016)

Photo by Rick Hustead

A few years ago, as I was switching channels on the television, I happened to catch a couple minutes of a rodeo competition on RFDTV. As I recall, a rider was climbing onto a very large bull, waiting for the chute to open and begin his round. The television announcer started providing a bit of background about the man, including a very interesting detail. Apparently, the rider had recently recovered from a broken scapula (collar bone). However, his posture on the animal indicated that he was subconsciously “protecting” the previously injured area, which could undermine his success during the round, the announcer warned. A doctor had cleared the rider to compete, so the man was obviously healthy, fit and strong enough to ride a bucking bull again. However, the rider’s subconscious mind didn’t completely believe this prognosis, which could undermine his self-confidence and actual ability to ride well and stay safe.

Most of us can probably identify with this phenomenon. Whether we are coming back from a long illness or get hurt participating in a sport or performing a task at work, it’s natural to favor other areas of the body to protect the injured area. Sometimes this means that we assume very strange postures or physical contortions, which ultimately puts undue extra strain on the healthy/intact body part.

We also do this metaphorically to protect ourselves from emotional pain or discomfort, such as following the end of a relationship or loss through bereavement or geographic relocation. We build metaphoric walls around our feelings (hearts), and use sarcasm and even cruel comments to discourage anyone from trying to break through and establish a bond. Have you ever sworn to “never fall in love again” when your true love breaks your heart, or to never buy or adopt another pet after a beloved companion animal has died? These behaviors serve the same purpose: to protect that vulnerable or injured part of ourselves from future pain by blocking off or using defensive behaviors to guard that area from further injury.

In fact, the desire to avoid emotional pain is so ingrained that the subconscious mind has specific strategies to protect us from these risks. According to Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., an Emotional Sexual individual uses rationality and intellect to distance (separate) him- or herself from a potentially contentious (romantic) situation to protect these vulnerable emotions. The Emotional Sexual person always wants to maintain control, and the best way to do this is to literally “turn off” the feelings or, at very least, to segregate sexual desire from emotional entanglement.

While a Physical Sexual individual uses his or her body (sex) to protect the person from emotional vulnerability, sex and love are often indistinguishable in this person’s mind. If and when this person feels threatened emotionally—in other words, fears rejection by the partner—he or she tends to become very clingy and needy, trying to keep the lover close by and thus “under control.” Of course, these behaviors only push the other person further away and open fresh emotional wounds.

When it comes to recovering from a broken bone or a broken heart, many times the best course for complete recovery is to step back for a little (or long) while and let that real or metaphoric fracture to heal. Loosen the reins or hold you have on that volatile situation; let it run its course without so much intervention but enough confidence in your ability to either stay the course or safely separate from it to ride or love again another day.

Hypnotherapy for Weight Loss

This 10-week weight-loss package is designed to help you shed extra pounds using hypnosis and therapeutic guided-imagery techniques. It is customized to your specific weight-loss goal, and materials are provided at each weekly session to help you keep track of your progress and maintain motivation throughout this program. In addition, a complimentary recording of the hypnosis portion of each session (CD or digital file) is provided at the end of each appointment to reinforce what you worked on that week. 

$1,250 for 10-week series. (This is a $250 savings!)  

Fee must be paid at the start of the program. This promotional discount may not be combined with any other offers.

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

Application of Theory of ind in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Part 2

(This blog was originally posted on December 17, 2015)

Photo by Rick Hustead

Yesterday, I identified several applications of Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D.’s Theory of Mind in the 1964 stop-action film, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. In the first part of this blog, I focused on Dr. Kappas’s model in the context of how the characters interacted with each other and dealt with challenges in their environment. Here I will address the ways in which details in the story satisfy the audience’s expectations about the characters’ behavior, especially by anthropomorphizing the non-human characters’ beliefs and behaviors.

• First, the narrator of the movie, Sam the Snowman, tells the audience that a Christmas tree isn’t a Christmas tree without tinsel. Then, when Rudolph runs away from home and Donner decides to search for his son, the reindeer tells Rudolph’s mother that she must remain in the cave to wait because the search will be dangerous. A couple times, Donner and even Sam the Snowman refer to the search as being “men’s work” and that the male reindeer need to “protect the women.” Sexism aside, isn’t a female reindeer a “doe”?

• Remember that tuft of bright yellow hair that I noticed sprouting between the tiny antlers of Dasher, Rudolph’s new friend at the reindeer tryouts? The “hairstyle” was probably very popular among young boys when the movie came out. As for “Coach” Comet’s baseball hat and whistle, we’re used to seeing these items on coaches and referees at human sports events. Incorporating these details on the reindeer helped to make the scene more relatable for the child audience that would have been watching the movie.

• People of any age would recognize and even empathize with the more serious theme of bullying that Rudolph, Hermey the Elf and the characters on the Island of Misfit Toys endure. To this day, whenever I watch the movie or listen to the song, I feel a twinge of sadness and even anger about the teasing and ostracism that they endure before their differences are accepted and appreciated.

• When we meet mineral prospector Yukon Cornelius, he values silver and gold above all else. He has been alone in the wilderness for so long in his pursuit wealth that it’s almost incredible that he would even know how to talk to Rudolph and Hermey, let alone forge a friendship with them. I don’t think it’s an accident that Cornelius is depicted as being socially isolated, perhaps the consequence of a single-minded pursuit of achieving his goal even though he also nurtured a desire to connect with others. The fact that this character is able to ultimately make friends and even join the community in Christmas Town is a hopeful metaphor for the many individuals who feel isolated and alone at this time of year.

• The characters that live on the Island of Misfit Toys initially doubt that their dream of finding homes with children who will love them can or will ever come true. They don’t even believe it when they first hear the reindeer’s bells as they pull Santa’s sleigh and see the glow from Rudolph’s red nose. Their disbelief stems from their previous experience of being disappointed every Christmas Eve; the idea of finally being delivered to a home on Christmas morning is unknown and likely even a little bit scary. It is emotionally safer to feel disappointment when you know that a wish won’t be realized than to feel even more hurt by allowing yourself to believe that it might come true and then it doesn’t happen after all.

Hypnotherapy for Weight Loss

This 10-week weight-loss package is designed to help you shed extra pounds using hypnosis and therapeutic guided-imagery techniques. It is customized to your specific weight-loss goal, and materials are provided at each weekly session to help you keep track of your progress and maintain motivation throughout this program. In addition, a complimentary recording of the hypnosis portion of each session (CD or digital file) is provided at the end of each appointment to reinforce what you worked on that week. 

$1,250 for 10-week series. (This is a $250 savings!)  

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