Creative Focusing for Positive Change

Guest Blog By Jason Linett, Board Certified Hypnotist

Hypnosis is often defined as a “bypass of the critical faculties of the conscious mind.”  This definition refers to our nature to think, feel, or respond to stimulus as an automatic response. 

Consider the things you do throughout the day that don’t require conscious thought.  Tasks such as walking, driving, or even tying your shoes have become activities which don’t require having to think about them.  Your mind and body generalized the process, and it became automatic behavior within the subconscious mind. 

…but what if you can start to generalize “good” feelings – rather than stress, anxiety, cravings, fears, frustration, or even chronic pain?

Experiment with this simple exercise in creative focusing.  Read this article first to get the basic idea, and then go through it with your eyes closed.  Hypnosis is a process of dissociating out of a “stuck” state of mind and associating into a more effective state.  Closing the eyes aids the initial dissociation. 

Take a moment and notice the natural pace of your own breathing.  Perhaps even notice that simply focusing on your breathing results in you taking control of your breathing, a behavior which for the most part occurs without conscious intervention.  Isn’t that interesting, that you can take control?

Make the decision to think of a specific upcoming event which may give you stress: the more specific, the better.  Perhaps it’s a sales meeting, an interview, a moment of public speaking, an early morning trip to the gym, or perhaps something of a medical nature. 

Now imagine watching a movie of yourself going through the event the way you’d like to feel.  Perhaps you’re confident and speaking well, perhaps you’re energized and feeling great, perhaps you’re happy and peaceful, or perhaps you’re experiencing comfort and healing well.  Enjoy the scene as if you’re viewing yourself in the third person.  Play the scene through to a comfortable stopping point, and then rewind the scene.

Now imagine stepping into the scene in the first person as the main character.  In other words, “try it on.”  Enjoy the scene with as many of your five senses as fully invested as possible.  Play the scene through to the end, take a nice deep breath, and as you exhale allow the eyes to open.

In the simplest explanation, this process gives you permission to expect and enjoy success.  It can help you eliminate unwanted conditioning and take control of your internal outcomes. 

…and how great would it be to feel that way without having to stop and think about it?

That’s hypnosis.

Jason Linett is a Board Certified Hypnotist and the Director of “Virginia Hypnosis,” a hypnotherapy practice in Old Town Alexandria.  He works with more than three-hundred clients each year for issues such as reducing anxiety, overcoming fears, managing stress, business motivation, removing unwanted habits, and hypnotic pain relief.  His programs have been featured on radio, in dozens of newspapers, and numerous times on CNN, FOX, CBS, and The Travel Channel.  More information can be found online at:

http://www.VirginiaHypnosis.com

Jason lives in Alexandria, and he and his wife, Michelle, became parents in April 2011.

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