Earlier this month, a media producer friend of mine called me and told me he had some studio time available and asked would I like to make a DVD product. I have worked with Jake Peryer before and know off the quality of his work , so naturally I was interested. The question was what topic to put in the product? I thought something that would reach out beyond the NLP community, a topic that would be of value to everyday people would be good. The question that I asked myself is “what is one area of the average person’s life that if they apply NLP and hypnosis there would be a major difference in the quality of that person’s life?” The answer was simple; the subject would be ‘stress’ or more accurately ‘de- stress with Self Hypnosis’
Stress is a major issue for people living in the fast passed modern world, juggling the many balls that represent different areas of life. The advertising industry sends out messages of the perfect man or woman who is healthy, wealthy, has balanced relationships and enjoying a perfect life. Unconsciously, we strive to do well in different areas of life balancing career, with home life, being healthy, enjoying positive relationships with family members and intimacy with our loved ones. The thing is, we get overwhelmed and go beyond our stress threshold and as a consequence the stress response kicks in. There is a shift in our body and behaviour as result of the stressful situation.
Stress is physical change that produces a difference in behaviour. Your central nervous system mediates your experience with the external world. The central nervous system regulates motor responses to sensory impressions via the brain and spinal cord. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulates the internal systems. These internals systems are usually not under our voluntary control, until you learn self hypnosis and NLP that is. They include the heart beat, pulse, glandular activity and digestive processes. The autonomic nervous system has within it two systems ‘the sympathetic system’ and ‘parasympathetic system’.
When you’re experiencing stress your sympathetic nervous system is aroused. When you are relaxed your parasympathetic system is active. The interesting thing is that the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems cannot be active at the same time. Therefore a highly effective way to deal with stress is to use a method that directly connects with the parasympathetic system, e.g. hypnosis.
Whereas many systems for dealing with stress attempt to override stress with a behavioural shift, this is akin to putting headphones on to drown out a persistent noise, the minute you take the headphones off the noise is back. Self hypnosis on the other hand is means of working directly in the autonomic nervous system, which is the part of the nervous system that creates the stress response in the first place. In the new DVD de-stress with Self Hypnosis, I talk about natural trance like states people experience every ninety minutes or so throughout the day. These day dreaming states are where the conscious mind is taking time out and the unconscious mind is assimilating the data that has been inputted through the senses. When you are stressed the natural cycles get disrupted –this self hypnosis is an excellent way to de-stress. Click this link for an easy to follow self hypnosis induction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIGSEGfd5Ds
While stress is an internal response there is usually an external factor or series of factors that trigger the internal response. The external factors are called stress triggers. Stress triggers exist in work and home situations. For example the sound of a certain individual’s voice might routinely trigger a stress response or maybe being asked to deliver a presentation. Sooner or later, we can internalise those stress triggers, so we only have to think about that person’s voice and experience the stress response. In self hypnosis we can review the ‘stress triggers’ and create different responses. If you are experienced with self hypnosis you can follow the format below.
1. Induce self hypnosis
2. In trance create a screen or stage
3. View the stressful situation
4. Be aware of stress trigger points
5. Stop at key points, recognise the choices
6. Are there positive benefits? What other response could you have that preserve the benefits
7. Imagine you are reliving the context with a different response
If you are not experienced in self hypnosis the new DVD will be out in January. As well as helping you de-stress, self hypnosis has many other benefits including breaking habits, increased confidence, and becoming slimmer. Watch the NLP Academy site for hypnotic events and products.
I enjoy all of the monthly articles because they’re like an unexpected reminder and a revision of something I have temporarily ‘forgotten’ about. But I love this one, Michael, and you published it at just the right time…
Why do we forget some of the basics when it comes to managing our own state? Hmn….