Hey, it’s Monday again! Hope you had a great weekend and made some good memories. My afternoon session had to reschedule today, so that gives me a minute to hang out with you.
I want to tell you a story about my friend, John. He had a job that was very demanding, where he was overworked and underappreciated. Along with high demands he placed on himself at home to be a good father and husband.
Naturally, His tensions and stress levels would rise from a number of sources throughout the day.
John would say, “I’d really like to mindfully go into a trance about 8-10 times or more on some days.”
“Why is that?”, I asked.
“Most of the problems hit me when I’m in the office.
So, I gave John some tools to use.
One was to give himself suggestions while in self-hypnosis that, whenever a problem comes up that stresses him, he will put his stress in a drawer. Just write down the word, name of the person, or situation that is the problem. Sometimes just one word that describes the problem is enough.
Then take two deep breaths, open the drawer, and put away both the slip of paper and the feelings of tension.
“Can I also put away the throb I feel in my head that means a headache is on its way?” he asked.
I said, “Yes, pain is about perception, and when you change your perceptions, the pain changes. It can lessen in intensity, move to a less bothersome place in the body, or be dialed down to a more comfortable level.”
Then, once a week just throw out the old slips of paper and make room for new calm and relaxed reactions.
He told me later that he added a folder in his briefcase for situations that occur when he is in the field.
You may want to adapt this technique for yourself. Choose a place like a drawer in your dresser at home or in your desk at work, or someplace else that has meaning for you. Make it a place to put your tensions and stress, and when you close the drawer, put the lid on, shut the door, screw the cap on, etc., you leave your unnecessary stress there. Now, use the power of your imagination combined with visualization to reinforce the feeling of distance between you and the stress.
This is just one simple act but notice the difference. The key here is to be aware of the feelings before they grow out of control.
Take a moment to do this now. Notice where you are carrying tension in your body right now and go through the process above.
Let me know what you notice.
Hypnotically,
Dr. Shane
PS – Here is a video of a quick but powerful self-hypnosis technique you can start to use today