We tend to want everything right now, but it's not just impatience that keeps us locked up inside our problematic issues. Problems or obstacles that are not clearly defined cannot be solved. On a conscious level, it's like we keep tripping over stones as we try to accomplish what we think we want. For some reason, the things we want won't show themselves to us with any clarity, as if we didn't have a right to know them or have them. See if you recognize any of these thought/beliefs: "I can't imagine myself thin." "I can't see myself eating a healthy diet for any length of time." "I know what I should do, but for some reason, I can't." "The idea of changing frightens me more than staying just like I am."
NOTE TO NEW READERS:
This experiential blog/workshop is based on my new book, "How Many Cookies Will It Take to Make Me Happy?" If you are new to my writing, you might want to read the earlier mini-chapters. They are available on FaceBook, The PublishersMarketPlace & at the following link. Remember to scan down to find the earliest chapters & work your way up. http://beyonddisorderlyeating.blogspot.com/
A bit of background.... we are working with creative Interactive Self-Hypnosis imagery, planting suggestions directly into the creative subconscious mind as you read along. What appears like a story is a series of self-hypnotic sessions, designed to bring about desired lifestyle changes. The inner mind is creative & rather child-like, loving to play with images, especially when they are emotionalized. Just like the saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words", well-planted mind images, can be worth hours of therapy. We can actually change or motivate in 1/200th of a second. So come along & look forward to some lifestyle-changing events.
THE SECRET POWER OF ASKING QUESTIONS
If we are to succeed, we need to uncover whatever is blocking. Once a block is brought to the surface, it tends to disappear. But, if we don't know what's blocking, how can we bring it to the surface? We can do this by asking questions to ourSelf. These are best asked when we are deeply relaxed, either first thing in the morning or before going to sleep at night because this is when we are in, what is called, the hypnogogic state. This means that our brain waves are slow & it's easier to access our subconscious mind, for this is where the answers are found.
I'll invite you to visit as I ask some questions regarding my own eating issues, especially those having to do with recurring stress eating. I know from my practice of hypnotherapy that we can learn from others & so I'm happy to share my experience with you. Here's where I'm at. Although I've had my compulsive eating under control for several decades, I still fall back into certain behaviors when I'm under high stress. I'd truly like to know why this is & what I can do to erase some of these repetitive programs from my subconscious mind files. In other words, I don't want my old secret eating to pop up on auto-pilot when I'm stressed.
First, I'm going to relax very deeply. I'm in a quiet place where I know I won't be disturbed. I'll do a quick bodyscan & then enter my Golden Egg space, leaving the Circus of the World outside. No one is in the Egg except me. All emotions are down in the playground becoming balanced. It's just me, now contacting the Higher Part of me. This is the part that I believe is connected to the Universal Mind, a place of great inner wisdom. This connection will be very helpful in re-editing those unwanted programs, once they are located.
My breathing is slow & quiet, but my mind is very keen & alert. Although I've planned my questions in advance, they seem to form themselves. I know that I'm in the area of my "secret eating behaviors" & I can visualize them in front of me. This is something that I can only achieve in an hypnotic state, the reason being that these behaviors don't want to show themselves to me because they leak "power." I decide to spend some time observing them from my disassociated or observing position. It's interesting to me that there aren't many & the rituals that they perform tend to be repetitive. That tells me that they have been there for a very long time, most likely from my early childhood.
I've decided to ask for some direct help from my Higher Self. Earlier on I helped you to build an image of a Therapeutic Self that is connected to a Higher Self, but since I'm in an excellent hypnotic state, I'm going to work directly with my Higher Self, asking my questions to this Part. I can do this "right in the moment" or I can utilize "automatic writing." Since I'm on the computer writing this, I'll use automatic writing.
Eliz: Why do my secret eating behaviors come forward when I'm having high stress?
HigherSelf: You call them "my" & so they belong to you. You have connected them to "high stress." The words you use to define your life, call them forward.
Eliz: What do they need to know so they won't come forward?
HigherSelf: They are NOT in charge, so they don't need to know anything. They are followers & need to be properly directed.
Eliz: Don't you mean re-directed?
HigherSelf: No, they need to be "directed." Re-directing connects the old response with the new & that is where your mistake has been. Life begins anew in this moment & nothing from the past will be connected.
Eliz: So, you are suggesting that I design a brand new program for these behaviors.
HigherSelf: Please design a new program for each of these, not one for all of them. Keep them separated, for in this position they have less residual power.
I thank my HigherSelf for showing me the way. I can now see where I made my mistakes. In the past, I held ownership by calling them "my", this encouraging them to come forward. I also saw them as a group & not separate. I know from my experience as a hypnotherapist, that it's best to isolate behaviors into units & in this case, I hadn't done this in a hypnotherapeutic exercise, but I will do this right now. I will take each of the behaviors, one by one, instructing them to follow a specific program. My HigherSelf helped me to understand that because the behaviors were so old, it was important to completely walk away from any old history, so this would not undermine the new program. When old programs are so embedded with emotion & so practiced, it's important to wipe the slate clean before bringing in the new program. I'm doing that right now.
( continued in next blog/workshop)
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Copyright 2009 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht
May not be copied or reproduced without permission of the author.
Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht is author of Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It. She is also the writer/producer of over 350 mp3/CD programs in the areas of medicine, health, prevention, addictions, self-development & sports for adults & children.
http://www.hypnosis-audio.com
http://www.sugar-addiction.com
http://www.international-medical-health-writers.com
