Time Flies When I'm On-Line

(This blog was originally posted on December 14, 2014)

Image courtesy of Microsoft

Scene #1: You’re sitting at your desk writing a report for work or a term paper when you realize that you need to find one more reference to complete your project. You steel yourself against temptation to browse the internet for anything unrelated to your question and type a key phrase into the Google search engine. “This should only take a couple minutes,” you tell yourself as you wait for the search results. 

Scene #2: You are answering a very important e-mail or posting a response on your Facebook page. Then, to your exasperation (but secret delight) you notice something very interesting on the Internet and decide to check out one more post.

In both scenarios, not only have you forgotten what you were originally looking for but an hour (or several) has passed. Where did all that time go? And why—how—could so much time pass without your even noticing?

If your answer or explanation was “hypnosis,” you are right. While you were on-line, all those images and words that you were looking at on the screen gradually, subtly overloaded your subconscious mind with information (message units). Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D. explained that this phenomenon occurs when sensory stimuli bombard the inhibitory process of the mind with information (message units). This sensory overload disorganizes the inhibitory process of the subconscious mind, which triggers the fight-flight response and produces the hyper-suggestible state we recognize as hypnosis.

As I explained in my blog titled Natural States of Hypnosis, there are many common instances of this trance-state. I think computers and Smartphones, which have operating systems and web-browsing capabilities, likely induce a form of environmental hypnosis whenever we go on-line. The instant we connect to the internet, the subconscious mind is confronted with a cornucopia of information. Somehow it must interpret and process information that often includes audio and visual data designed to pull browsers into the virtual worlds they are exploring. Then there’s the tactile (touch) stimuli that the mind must process as you type on the keyboard and manipulate the cursor, whether that is the computer “mouse” or the index finger on one of your hands. A final source of this data overload will come from your conscious mind: whatever you are thinking about or your motivation to conduct that on-line search or interact with friends is an important source of subconscious overload. Many of us eat or drink, or simultaneously talk to someone on the telephone while we are doing internet searches or interacting with friends and acquaintances on-line. It’s no wonder that the conscious mind temporarily “checks out” until there is less sensory stimulation going on. 

When we come out of this trance-like state, we may feel temporarily disoriented and even forget where we are for a little while. Following are some tips to help you remain aware of yourself and your physical environment while you are on-line so you can be alert and aware of yourself and your surroundings when you (finally) log off.

• Limit the amount of time you spend working on the computer. Take a break from the activity every hour or so: put the device on sleep mode (or silent mode, for the smart phones) and walk away from the screen. Work on another task for a little while or at least take a genuine break or time-out from the on-line conversations and hashtag trends.

• Regularly count yourself out of this hypnotic state while you are working on the computer, etc. Say to yourself: “One, two, three, four, five. Eyes open [say your name], wide awake and in a fully alert and aware state.” Repeat this mantra as necessary.

• Stand up and stretch and take deep breaths. Do jumping jacks or run in place for a minute to get your body moving and switch your focus and awareness to your physical environment.

• While you are working or interacting on a social-media site, eat nutritious snacks that contain protein to keep your mood even and reduce your suggestibility to things you see, hear or read while you are on-line. (For more information about the role between nutrition and suggestibility, go to my blog titled Nutrition and Development of Phobias.

 

Limited-Time Offer: Free Phone Consultation

 This is a great opportunity to find out why hypnosis is so effective and how hypnotherapy can help you achieve your self-improvement goals. Call/send me a text message at (661) 433-9430 or send me an e-mail at calminsensehypnosis@yahoo.com to set up your free, 30-minute phone consultation, today! 

Offer valid through April 30, 2019. 

·          

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 calminsensehypnotherapy.com.

© 2019

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 makes you different or weird…that’s your strength.” – Meryl Streep

• “Don't start believing everything that you think.” – Unknown

• “Ideas are useless unless used.” – Theodore Levitt

• “None of us are losers! It's just that some of us QUIT before winning.” – Bille Baty

• “Frustration and discouragement comes from focusing on things outside your control.” – Dan Rockwell

• “Many of us do not listen to ourselves deeply enough to know how we feel.” – Lolly Daskal

• “Anyone who makes you feel smaller should have a much smaller, if any, role in your life.” – Bruce Van Horn

• “The only way you can push past the fear is to lean into it.” – Angus Nelson

• "It is easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is best from the top." – Arnold Bennett

• “Be true to your heart.” – Mulan, Mulan

Limited-Time Offer: Free Phone Consultation

 This is a great opportunity to find out why hypnosis is so effective and how hypnotherapy can help you achieve your self-improvement goals. Call/send me a text message at (661) 433-9430 or send me an e-mail at calminsensehypnosis@yahoo.com to set up your free, 30-minute phone consultation, today! 

Offer valid through April 30, 2019. 

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/.

© 2019

Suggestibility on Prime Time

(This blog was originally posted on March 3, 2014)

Photo by Rick Hustead

Did you watch the 86th Academy Awards on television on March 2, 2014? Remember when host Ellen DeGeneres asked viewers to retweet the group “selfie” picture that host Ellen DeGeneres took of herself with a handful of Oscar nominees during the broadcast? Did you do it? If so, you weren’t alone: according to a CNN report, 2.7 million people took on her challenge, and the Twitter platform actually crashed for a few minutes. The event was undoubtedly a major advertising and publicity triumph for the Oscars and the company that manufactured the camera they used to take the shot (Samsung)—not to mention the host. This incident was also a great opportunity for me to illustrate how suggestibility and hypnosis work in real life.

In my January 16, 2014 blog about hypnotic modalities, I explained how an authority figure could create a hyper-suggestible state in another person and use this state to persuade that individual to behave in a particular way. (If you have ever gone car shopping, you have likely experienced this kind of sensory overload.) She may not have literally sold an item to her audience, but Ms. DeGeneres did a very handy demonstration of group hypnosis with just a few elements naturally occurring elements:

1.       She had authority. As the Oscar host, Ellen DeGeneres had access to all areas of the stage and the audience in the auditorium. A celebrity herself, she also had charisma and charm that helped her to build a rapport with the guests as well as television viewers at home.

2.       She had a message. The role of any host at a party or event is to help the guests feel at ease and have a good time so that, hopefully, they will want to come back again. The Academy Awards may be an American event, but it is known around the world. No doubt the Academy and the television network wanted to receive positive reviews and feedback so they could do this again, next year. What better way to get this message out than to take a photograph of some of your guests having a good time and share that image with everyone you know (or who wishes they knew you)?

3.       There were plenty of environmental stimuli to overload the subconscious mind and create the hyper-suggestible state: the excitement of being nominated for or having won an Academy Award, or the disappointment of not winning that Oscar, after all; the visual overload of being surrounded by beautiful people wearing beautiful clothes; the amount of time the nominees had already spent posing on the red carpet before the awards began; the anxiety/stress that they must have been experiencing while they waited for the award to be bestowed in their category; waiting and wondering who would win an Oscar; the glamorous environment in the Kodak Theater and the stage… You get the picture.

4.       Ms. DeGeneres used the right language to get the group of nominees to do the photo with her. Not only did she have the advantage of being the host for the night, but she knew how and when to cajole one of the A-list actors sitting in the front rows to join the group. Soon, some actors just jumped into the shot without waiting for an invitation.

5.       Watching the scene from home on our televisions or computers, etc., it looked like everyone in the shot was smiling and having fun. Didn’t you wish you could have been in on that picture, too? (Or one just like it, but with your friends and family?) When Bradley Cooper finally snapped the picture, the audience at home and in the theater was ready and waiting to be asked (or told/playfully challenged) to retweet the image so many times that Twitter couldn’t cope with all the traffic.

6.       And hey, presto: 2.7 million people accepted and acted on Ellen DeGeneres’ suggestion.

Now, that is impressive.

Limited-Time Offer: Free Phone Consultation

 This is a great opportunity to find out why hypnosis is so effective and how hypnotherapy can help you achieve your self-improvement goals. Call/send me a text message at (661) 433-9430 or send me an e-mail at calminsensehypnosis@yahoo.com to set up your free, 30-minute phone consultation, today! 

Offer valid through April 30, 2019. 

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/.

© 2019