You can train yourself to see the bright side or find the silver lining in every situation; it’s called “reframing.” An example: My hours were cut at my full time job. My initial thoughts were, “How will I pay my bills? CAN I pay my bills? Should I get a second job?” I also knew I was going to hypnotherapy school come hell or high water, and it wasn’t going to be cheap… After a mild freak out, I naturally began to view the event as an opportunity instead of a setback. I got creative with my money and how I spent it. I trusted that losing 25% of my hours (and my income) was actually in my best interest. And so it was… You can learn how to reframe, too. Hypnosis can help.

I got a short, sweet email from a first-time client’s wife last nite. It read, “I can’t tell you how excited I am! [My husband] came home sounding happier than I’ve heard him sound in a long time. He’s even excited for the next session.”

Knowing I helped someone feel soooo amazing warms my heart; it’s the reason i’m I love with being a hypnotherapist…. So rewarding. So powerful. So EMPOWERING. hypnosis is the bees knees.

At varying points during our childhoods, we make decisions about ourselves that are untrue; we lie to ourselves simply because we don’t know any better. For example, many of us accept the belief that worrying about things outside of our control is a proper, healthy, natural response to stressful situations. This lie causes anxiety in 18% of the American population.

Using age regression and hypnotherapy, I guide my clients into their pasts, accessing memories stored in the subconscious and linked to the roots of limiting beliefs. Once the earliest memory related to that untruth is accessed, I guide the client to essentially rewrite his or her history… I ask them to use their imaginations, and as a team, we tell the subconscious a new story; I invite them to tell themselves the truth.

The subconscious mind does not know the difference between reality and imagination, so it easily accepts my suggestions as fact.  The seeds of change (the suggestions) are immediately planted in the fertile soil of the subconscious. With proper cultivation and nourishment (it does take conscious effort to effectively retrain the brain), those seeds grow into new thoughts, and eventually new beliefs. The old behavior that resulted from the original limiting thought pattern becomes a thing of the past. Amazing!

I used hypnosis to improve my communication skills… This seemingly simple idea led me down a rabbit hole, which provided great insight into who I am and why I interact with others the way I do. The point: experiencing immediate results does not imply the work is done! Hypnotherapy is a process; don’t end the journey prematurely.

And by the way, this quote is essentially my take-away, regarding how to effectively communicate.  The title of this blog is a direct suggestion I give myself.  Feel free to add it to your affirmation arsenal.

Tuesday evening, during a guided meditation with Yael of the LIGHT Center, a lovely bar of soap was gifted to me. Leah, also of the LIGHT Center, gave me yet another highly insightful, buzz-including Reiki session on Thursday, which revealed a lot about my hypnotherapy practices, abilities, insights, as well as much about releasing toxic relationships. On the way home from that session, I realized that the bar of soap from my meditation represented the cleansing of years-old wounds of my first relationship. I moved beyond that relationship when i moved to Atlanta, but apparently I hadn’t reallyhealed the wounds.

I underwent hypnotherapy on Saturday, whereupon I sought to dig deeper into my attachment to toxic relationships. I was regressed wayyyyy back for the first time, and as a non-visual person, it was quite enlightening to “see” what it’s like… to experience how answers, memories, insight present themselves to me. 

I was there with my 5-year old self… accessing the memory of an experience that would seem inconsequential to an adult; but as a vulnerable, indiscriminate child, led me to believe I could not trust my own feelings. The decision I made about that experience planted a seed. I nurtured that seed, collecting experiential evidence and telling myself the things that supported the idea. Soon, the seed germinated. It slowly grew roots and over time, set up permanent residence as a belief in my subconscious mind. This belief has repeatedly manifested in my interpersonal relationships. 

… That’s how subconscious programming works.

With much introspection, I realized that when entrenched in a toxic relationship, romantic or otherwise; I have not trusted my intuition, thus stuck around far longer than any logical, feeling person would. In doing so, I’ve subjected myself to plenty of unnecessary hurt. I recognized this pattern years ago, but recognizing a pattern doesn’t change that pattern.

Last weekend, while under hypnosis, I rescued myself from that moment and told the grownups involved they were “dumbasses.” Using my adult mind, I gave myself permission to trust my feelings and ultimately, my intuition. I also decided that from then on, I will allow people to earn my trust versus simply giving it away. Again, my conscious mind knows this is the mature way to establish and build relationships, but my subconscious mind had been operating from the immature perspective of a child.

With the conscious and subconscious minds finally in agreement, the likelihood of changing this pattern increased exponentially. And for someone like me, someone with strong convictions who is highly suggestible, that likelihood became approximately 99.994%. (Yes. I made up that statistic.)…

Shortly after the hypnotherapy, I started noticing some very interesting thoughts coming to mind… thoughts I had never thought before. One literally caused me to raise a brow! Clearly, new seeds were carefully planted on Saturday and already growing come Sunday. 

I am beyond thankful to have the presence of mind to be able to recognize these Presents of Mind, and I am awestruck by the amount of positive change I am experiencing in my life as a result of this training. Spectacular… truly.

I started meditating last year.  New to the practice, yet still recognizing its power, I wanted to do it well (I’m a bit of a perfectionist).  During these first highly insightful guided meditations, I found myself honing in on certain phrases like “now you see” and “in front of you is…”  I grew to love the experience of being led on a meditative journey, but continued tripping over what I was not seeing in my mind’s eye.  

In those moments, I would focus my attention on trying to literally see something.  My mind would wander, “I want to watch a movie on the back of my eyelids.  I want to see that fantastic meadow of orange poppies I am imagining!  Why can’t I see?  I must be doing it wrong.  Try harder.  Do better.  Oh wait… I’m meditating.  My mind is supposed to be quiet and focused right now, but this conversation in my head is causing me to disconnect from the group, from the meditation, and most importantly from my Higher Self.  I’m spending my energy on seeing something, and in doing so, missing the messages.”

Shortly thereafter, I began my hypnotherapy training.  During the first week of class, I learned that the majority of people can, in fact, see images when they close their eyes.  I also learned that some of us cannot.  At that point, I understood: I am not doing anything wrong while meditating; I simply have a blind mind’s eye.  This epiphany was beyond helpful in moving forward; not only while mediating, but in other facets of my life, as well.

I began using my imagination to see with my mind’s eye.  I engaged my conscious mind, swapping words like “see” and “visualize” with words like “sense, imagine, experience.”  In doing so, the pressure to perform, to see the right way, faded away… I stopped trying to force experiences and soon noticed my ability to feel sensations.  I recognized that my ‘images’ reveal themselves as thought-bubbles as opposed to filmstrips.

You’re probably wondering what any of this has to do with hypnosis. 

Welp, it turns out there’s actually a strong tie: hypnosis is quite like guided meditation.  With hypnosis, the first bit… the induction, is sprinkled (the word “sprinkle” is a fine example) with mental imagery.  The more readily the subject connects my words with the imagery, the more deeply relaxed he or she becomes.  Deep relaxation is a vehicle for  bypassing the critical conscious mind and accessing the nonjudgmental subconscious mind.

Our memories, habits, emotions and mental images reside in our subconscious.  Memories are generated when a strong emotional connection, be it positive or negative, becomes associated with a situation.  As a hypnotist, I create powerful suggestions that cause the client to simultaneously visualize (see, imagine, experience) and attach strong, positive emotions to those suggestions.  As such, the suggestion is readily accepted by the subconscious mind – the subconscious believes the idea, and begins to express it as its own.

With awareness and presence of mind, my clients are able to change the way they think.  Changing the way they think – engaging these presents of mind– changes their lives.

Presents of Mind is the name of my business, y’all.  The website is under construction, but you can find me on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/presentsofmindhypnotherapy!

All of this is happening very fast; this unexpected, somewhat unprecedented transformation I am undergoing included.  I cannot reiterate how thrilled I am about this endeavor, as the power of hypnosis continues to reveal itself.  Astounding.   

I knew becoming a hypnotist and learning how to conduct hypnotherapy would be changing.  I did not realize that in my training, I would be undergoing therapy myself.  Full disclosure: I underwent my first age regression about two weeks ago.  I revisited the day I graduated high school… a day I hadn’t thought of in years, if not close to two decades. 

When I learned we would be conducting regressions that day, my mind began to fret: What if I don’t know where to go?  What if I can’tthink of the right experience?  What if I can’t get to where I need to be?  First of all, when under hypnosis, the subject is not actively thinking.  Secondly, I’ve since realized that the subconscious is fully capable of accessing the appropriate [right] memory, and that this brain of mine can absolutely take me wherever I need to go.

While observing and interacting with my 17-year old self, I learned from her.  I realized certain things I have often joked about are actually a source of guilt and shame that had left me defensive, insecure and seeking approval as an adult.  

During this journey toward becoming a hypnotherapist, I have been working on remaining centered and present during charged situations.  In the past, I was reactive, sometimes volatile and always super emotional under certain circumstances.  I can’t fathom how many times I’ve said, “I just want to be understood.”  Feeling misunderstood hurt.  And in an effort to combat that pain, my inner two-year old (AKA my subconscious mind) would rear her loud, snarky, dismissive and condescending head to make sure she was heard… Unfortunately, being heard and understood are two very different things.

Until I did the age regression, I never understood why I reacted or felt the way I did.  The carnivorous plant that presented itself during the session had surely rooted much earlier in my childhood… but the experience I revisited helped my conscious, adult mind recognize how that seed, that belief has manifested in the present.  In acquiring this knowledge, I have the information necessary to reprogram this little glitch in my programming. 

And it’s working!

I now recognize that I don’t need improve my communication skills; I need to feel safe to lovingly express myself.  I am embracing my unique way of thinking and in doing so, preparing to help a lot of people.  I created new hypnotic suggestions for myself based on the experience, and as a result, I am realizing changes in my responses to others.  

It is extremely empowering to realize I can quite literally change my mind.  In the past, I plead the “that’s just how I am” case.  Never again will I make such a poor excuse for my bad behavior…

I returned from the regression, sat up wide-eyed, and said “WOA!  That was a wild ride.”  

Two Sundays ago, I left class feeling accomplished, energized andthrilled to have earned my Professional Hypnotist certificate.  My homework was to begin working with clients.  Knowing the day would quickly approach, I began compiling a list of volunteers weeks ago.  I was ready to hit the ground running!  And I did.

“I gotta say,” said Client Numero Cuatro,“ I was a little leery about whether or not you could hypnotize me because… well [insert slightly awkward pause here]… I’ve been hypnotized before; calm, soothing, and relaxing aren’t exactly adjectives I would use to describe you as a person OR your voice.”  

Did she just bust on my speaking voice!?  

I am animated.  I gesticulate.  I talk fast, and my relatively squeaky voice goes up an additional 12 octaves when I’m excited, upset, angry… when I am speaking passionately.

My Client continued, “I was quite surprised by how soothing and calming your voice was during the hypnosis.  You got me reeeeeeeeeally relaxed.  I feel great!”  I smiled, explaining that every word I spoke was actually a tiny package filled with my intention to relax her; filled with my intention to help her become a better version of herself, and filled with all the love a single word could possibly hold. 

This training has taught me that the power of positive thinking and intention are real.  Positivity is not just something I’ve put my faith in for the past number of countless years, although I always thought it was… There’s a real, scientific reason behind my impeccable ability to manifest my desires.  There’s a real, scientific reason why things “come easily” for me, although they don’t… I work hard for everything I have. 

At this point, I believe that hypnosis and hypnotherapy can help everyone.  We all have obstacles to overcome, goals to achieve, and facets of our lives that could simply use improvement.  I want to help people make positive life changes… help them recognize the amazing people they already are underneath all the “programming.”  I want to help them actualize their full potential. 

I want to start an evolution.  

Once people start to “get it,” the whole world will begin to change for the better… One mind at a time, I will help people get it.  And hypnosis is my vehicle.  

I’m nervous.  And anxious.  Simultaneously freezing and perspiring.  Am I naked?! …perhaps I need to hypnotize myself for writer’s block; I’m rarely at a loss for words.  I’ve never blogged before and given the gravity behind this personal movement, I’m feeling a lotta pressure to perform. 

Breathe deep and “surrender to the flow….”

I started smoking cigarettes when I was a 15-year old rebel-child who didn’t know anything about regret, and didn’t have the foresight to care.  I maintained a love/hate relationship with smoking until I decided to make a change nearly 15 years later.  A successful “quitter” for all of eight weeks, I decided I could take a drag or two while drinking, or just bum one smoke, and eventually bought a packfor the nite.  Before I even realized, I was back on the butts full time.  I repeated that cycle for six years.

In early December 2012, I made an appointment to get hypnotized to quit for good.  I was astonished to realize all of the matters hypnotherapy can tackle:insomnia, PMS, post-traumatic stress disorder, smoking, drinking, nail biting, WRITER’S BLOCK, pain management, past life regression (wait…what?!), phobias…you name it; hypnosis addresses it!   The therapy was relaxing and liberating, gentle and enjoyable (thank you, Meredith Everett).  I felt energized and rejuvenated; awakened.  And by the way, I haven’t smoked or had the desire to smoke since.

Months later, I resumed the soul searching I had put on hold years before.  I realized the strength of my innate desire to help and take care of people…I’ve been trying to “fix” (I mean that in the best way possible, y’all…we’re all “broken” on some level) my friends and family for as long as I can remember, and am actually quite fond of doling out advice.  I love tweaking peoples’ perspectives and playing Devil’s Advocate in an effort to expose the opposition.  In the meantime, I’ve forever been a firm believer in the power of positive thinking, as well as a proponent for cultivating positive self-dialogue: be nice to yourselves, People.  You’re the only you you’ve got!

Sooooo….given my craving to help people help themselves, I am becoming a hypnotherapist.  Right now, I don’t know a whole lot about what that means beyond accessing the subconscious mind and formulating effective suggestions, but it’s not as creepy as it sounds.  Promise.  I begin my training TONITE and intend to document my journey here.  Thanks for joining me!