Self-Hypnotic Tools

Your mind is like a DVD player. But this is no ordinary piece of equipment. Think of it as radar or a servo-mechanism, bringing towards you whatever you're playing. And because each disk is charged emotionally, it will either take you towards success or failure. Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

Sugar....the Hidden Eating Disorder - Who's Killing the Kids is a book/workbook/workshop in our Parenting the Parent Series. Visit with me as I design the metaphors for this & other projects in progress including Lifestyle Change Made Easy & Changing Your Mind - An Introduction to Interactive Self-Hypnosis.

I'm happy to share some complimentary mp3 downloads with you. Each is a full interactive self-hypnosis session. Current ones include...
Serious Goal Building &
Becoming Consistent

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

Your subconscious mind is a like a vast library with an infinite number of selections stored. It has an instant retrieval system and an endlessly cross-referenced subject catalog. You might like to image it as your personal DVD, knowing whatever disks you place there, become your goal & your subconscious mind librarian will go to find any & all cross-references to assist you in achieving this goal. This is great if you are playing a positive goal image, but what about if you are playing a negative goal image? You’ve already had some practice with identifying these in the earlier parts of this book or workshop that focused on Interactive Awareness & Emotional Management exercises, but now it is time to get even better at subconscious mind programming.

Visualizing negative outcomes or memories can stir up anxiety or depression. Besides the images or visualization, it is not uncommon to speak internally to yourself in quite critical ways. During the “practice” of putting yourself down, you are essentially in a light trance state, preoccupied & internally focused. What am I driving at? You guessed it! A negative self-hypnotic program is busy being etched right into your subconscious mind & is busy becoming a goal.

It's so easy to get caught up in negative mind programming, but once you learn to work in a healthy partnership with your subconscious mind, you can ask for all sorts of help. All of this is accomplished on your mind screen.

For example, during the programming of your subconscious mind for success, you can request your inner librarian to bring awareness to any unproductive emotional states or corresponding behaviors that may have set up barriers to your chosen success goal. This allows you to dismantle them right in the moment & avoid interference or stalling. When awareness exercises are joined with specific images for inner management, change can occur spontaneously. In real life, it's like being on a bus going towards your goal when all of a sudden you realize that you are on the wrong bus. Of course you are going to want to change right then & there & not an hour or a day later!

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

In hypnosis we alter our internal world. By utilizing our imagination in special ways we stir feelings while altering behavior & attitudes. When you change how you think, visualize & imagine things to be, your feelings & behaviors begin to change. You not only see what is possible, but the subconscious mind will send up other suggestions for your approval, perhaps things you never even considered that will take you even closer to your goal, or enhance it in some way.

The mind works backwards. When it sees the ideal goal picture clearly in great definition, it makes the action plan. Changes just seem to occur, as if the goal took on it’s own life. Things that were difficult in the past often become simple & you might be left wondering what the commotion was all about.

Our subconscious mind stores all memories, anything & everything we have experienced through our entire life. This includes memories of each & very sense, including taste, touch, sight, hearing & emotion. It’s all there filed in an orderly fashion. This means that you have a wealth of resources on which to draw as you focus on your future. Most of us never utilize these assets, often continuing to see everything as a struggle. If one continues to see things in this way, everything will be a struggle for one always gets what one asks for in the mind’s eye.

As you learn to relax, to let go, asking for appropriate resources from the inner bank vault, you can change with a new level of comfort. However it's a totally different experience when you are tense, for whatever reason. In this physical state, the subconscious mind cannot get your attention & so you cannot share the bounty. As you learn to relax during actual stress, the stressors will work as catalysts, opening the door of the subconscious mind, freeing you to work with this powerful part of yourself.

MIND EXERCISE

Although I'm going to address the subject of this book/workshop here, these exercises can be applied to any situation. Working with subconscious mind programs will make your management of disorderly eating & addictions much easier. You already know about containments & since you are more skilled than you were earlier on in this book or workshop, this is a good moment to build a few.

Simply relax deeply, tilt your eyes up about twenty degrees. Place a mind movie, perhaps seeing yourself in your containment area, placing an appropriate label on a facet of your disorderly eating. Your inner librarian will take care of the rest. Take an extra moment to study the contents. What does your disorder or addiction look like? Notice some of the DVD programs that you play in relation to this issue. Are they worn out from over-playing? Have you already made some corrections and celebrated them? Always be sure to celebrate both big & small accomplishments. Remember small ones tend to pile up and become very big ones!!

Have a look at your emotional children, noticing the crayons that they are applying to this special containment. Remember, your subconscious mind does not judge. What you play is what you get. This will be subconsciously enhanced for you. When working with your subconscious mind in this way, you can make changes right in the moment if you choose. If there are any emotional visitors or crayons you would like to remove from this containment, please go ahead and do so. Just image yourself completing the action. Your librarian will take care of the rest.

You may wonder what you are actually doing. The right brain is very creative and sees this as a re-programming. Whenever the subconscious mind finds your actions in real life being incongruent with subconscious mind programming, the inner programming will win out. You will instantaneously be pulled into heightened awareness, finding yourself going towards behaviors connected to the inner program.

KNOWLEDGE HOOK

The art of working with mind images is often called imagery or visualization. My word for this is imaginology. I define this as the study of your own imagination or mind creativity. This speaks to the special work you are doing here.

In the practice of imaginology, you see with your mind’s eye. This is very different than seeing with normal sight. Sometimes people report that they can’t see images, becoming discouraged in working hypnotically. This is simply a matter of communication, understanding of how the tools work & what to expect. Each & every person reading my words is working with imagery.

Whenever you notice an idea or a thought flowing through your mind, this is imagery. Whenever you hear someone telling a story & you form pictures in your mind about it, this is imagery. The reason one has less problems with those examples is that there is little to no efforting. When someone tells you a story they don’t say, “now I want you to see images in your mind as I tell you what happened to me on the way to work.” Images just naturally come to mind. Your job here is to take the efforting out of the process of imagery & imaginology, allowing free flow.

It helps to practice & so in this chapter you will be presented with some skill building exercises. There is no right or wrong way to do this work. It is simply the doing that is important. Your work is to get out of your own way, allowing your subconscious mind to simply take the ball and run with it.

MIND EXERCISE

Let’s practice. As your eyes read these words, if you choose, you can easily see your bedroom in your mind. You don’t have to elicit the relaxation response to do that, do you? The image just came forward. Now notice you can see yourself going to that bed, turning back the covers. You can also “mind experience” this, sensing your body walking towards your bed & feeling the covers as you turn them back. In another instant you can be in your car, driving down any street. Go ahead and practice seeing yourself driving, now sensing yourself actually driving. Feel the steering wheel, the seat beneath you, and touch the rear view mirror.

You can then transfer to your office, looking for some files, or seeing/sensing yourself doing that. Those are two different kinds of imaginology. Next, be in the supermarket choosing all your favorite foods. Feel them as you take them off the shelves. Notice they all feel differently. Now practice seeing yourself participating in an entire supermarket excursion in a few seconds. Don’t you wish it could be like that in real life?