by Jason Linett, BCH, CI
Fears can hold a person back from experiencing a productive, happy life. In this month’s column, I’m going to share some interesting tactics we’ve found to be helpful in overcoming fears that may benefit you or someone with whom you share this information.
Whether it’s a fear of flying, fear of public speaking, fear of medical procedures, or any other fear, we’re talking about the same concept: an irrational use of the subconscious mind and the imagination. You know one thing, and yet you’re feeling something else. Consider a person that has a fear of flying. They likely know that they may be safer 30,000 feet up in the air than they were driving to the airport, and yet they are feeling symptoms of fear and anxiousness.
That phrase, “and yet,” can be best one to understand how to begin to release the fear. We define hypnosis as a “bypass of the critical factors of the conscious mind.” The following examples will help explain this. You’re driving in your car thinking of everything other than driving, and you miss your exit. You’re working on something in a very focused state of mind, you lose track of time, and realize it’s a few hours later. These are naturally occurring “bypasses” of the conscious mind, something people do nearly every day.
People often call me with the question of whether they can be hypnotized or not, and perhaps now you’d understand why I may respond, “You’re already doing it, and I’m just going to help you do it in a more beneficial way.” We use the process to then program in the right thoughts and eliminate negative beliefs. Here are some helpful tips and mindsets to begin to release your fear.
Understand the strength of your own mind. There are two statements we can make about any fear. First of all, it’s a part of your mind that’s working really hard to protect you. Therefore, the process to change it may be very simple: give it better information. The second statement is that it only took a few moments to learn the fear. As your mind is so gifted that it can learn quickly, you may be able to unlearn it just as quickly.
Dial the sensation up and down. When you experience the sensation of fear, it may be the most important thing about you. On the other hand, a team of surgeons couldn’t track down that “feeling” and remove it from you. On one side, it’s important and demands your attention, yet on the other side it doesn’t exist. By understanding this balance, you may perhaps begin to “play” with that fearful sensation. Try dialing it as well as dimming it down, simply by thought.
Disconnect it from your identity. Become aware of the words you use to describe it. Is it always “my fear” or similar phrases? The more your words own it, chances are the more you may be reinforcing it. Consider what new patterns of thought you’ll reinforce within the brain by referring to it as “that fear” rather than “this fear.”
Interrupt the pattern. The next time you encounter the stimulus, find a good reason to laugh. Remember something you recently laughed at and you can “short circuit” the negative mental pattern.
As a final thought, fears don’t have to be a permanent problem. Just the awareness that you’d like to change something is the first step forward.
Jason Linett is a Board Certified Hypnotist and the Director of Virginia Hypnosis, a solution-oriented hypnosis practice in Alexandria, Virginia. For more information, visit www.VirginiaHypnosis.com or call (703) 341-6655 for a free confidential consultation.
