Latest / The Hypnotist / The Holodeck of Resourcefulness to Rewire Anxiety

Transcript

The Holodeck of Resourcefulness to Rewire Anxiety · The Hypnotist

0:05
Welcome to The Hypnotist, the show that gives you inside
0:09
access to cutting edge hypnosis with real clients facing
0:12
genuine. Issues.
0:13
Brought to you by The Hypnotherapist, demanded by
0:16
celebrities, CEOs and even royalty, Adam Cox.
0:20
These recordings took place live from Evans Clinic in London's
0:24
world famous Harley Street. So get yourself comfortable and
0:31
enjoy today's episode of The Hypnotist.
0:39
Hi, it's Adam here, and you're about to listen to a hypnosis
0:43
session all about reducing anxiety.
0:46
And for this client, it was a specific type of anxiety.
0:50
It was anxiety triggered by bugs like bees and Wasps and flying
0:56
insects. But the structure.
0:58
Of this means that it can be worked for any fear, any
1:02
triggering event. And originally I was going to
1:05
use this virtual reality metaphor so they could imagine
1:07
taking a first person perspective, but it dawned on me
1:11
that actually we want to make this feel more like reality,
1:15
even though it was in their imagination.
1:18
And I remember. A part of an old TV show called
1:22
Star Trek where they had something called the holodeck,
1:25
and the holodeck was essentially a room that could generate any
1:30
kind of environmental kind of context.
1:34
It could be outside, it could be inside and it would feel like
1:37
reality, but they wouldn't have a mask.
1:40
They would just see it in the room.
1:41
So I used the metaphor of a holodeck plus a metaphor of ATV,
1:47
sorry, a movie called Groundhog Day where the day repeats and
1:50
repeats and repeats. And this does two things.
1:54
It enables them to take a first person perspective in the kind
1:57
of environments that used to cause fear, but in a resourceful
2:01
way, and to feel that they can collapse time, that they could
2:05
have 100 iterations of the same event and get the benefit of
2:11
experiencing less and less anxiety through the law of
2:15
familiarity. So whether you have a fear of
2:17
bugs or a fear of something else, for example, it could be a
2:20
fear of public speaking. You can imagine being in the
2:23
holodeck. Imagine being on that stage or
2:25
doing that presentation and then instead of 3 or 4 presentations
2:30
over a year, you could have 3 or 4 presentations over the space
2:34
of three minutes and that would feel like you're collapsing time
2:38
because a lot of people are anxious if they don't do
2:41
something very frequently. I remember I used to get very
2:44
anxious recording my voice, and I don't get anxious at all doing
2:49
that because I've done it so many times.
2:52
And that element of having iterations in a resourceful
2:55
sense gives that ability to wire the normal pathway that links
3:00
resourcefulness with the very behaviour that maybe in the past
3:04
was linked to avoidance or trepidation.
3:08
So there's a bit going on here, but at its core it's about
3:11
imagining doing the thing you fear in a resourceful way so
3:15
often that it loses all of its power to create anxiety for you.
3:20
Some of the suggestions will relate to insects, because
3:23
that's the client that I was working with.
3:25
That's their trigger. Yours might not be that.
3:28
So ignore any suggestions that don't fit quite right for you.
3:31
Feel free to allow your unconscious to evolve it and
3:34
change it to make it more relevant for you.
3:36
But if you do like the idea of a bespoke session created
3:40
specifically for you and experienced live rather than
3:43
through a recording, check out the description or visit my
3:47
website adamcox.co.uk and you'll be able to schedule a completely
3:51
free consultation call to explore working with me.
3:55
We'll have a chat in that 30 minute call.
3:56
I'll explain my process how I work.
3:59
And. What it would cost and how many
4:01
sessions I think we're going to need to help have a
4:04
breakthrough. And that's completely free.
4:06
In that consultation call, you get to decide if you want to
4:09
work with me or not. And I would say about half of
4:13
the people that do a consultation call end up working
4:16
with me and the other half is not quite right.
4:18
Maybe it's slightly more expensive than they thought,
4:21
maybe it's something else and they just don't feel it's the
4:25
right time. Totally fine.
4:26
There is no expectation or obligation to work with me just
4:30
because you have a consultation call.
4:32
So bear that in mind. I'm happy if people work with me
4:35
or if they don't work with me. The key thing is that I want to
4:38
work with people that really feel that I am able to have an
4:42
impact with them. That said, you may get some
4:45
value from this recording of a session that was created for
4:49
someone else to find a quiet, comfortable place.
4:51
The kind of place where you won't be disturbed, Relax and
4:54
enjoy the session. Take a deep breath in, and as
5:26
you breathe in, breathe in a feeling of pure, resourceful
5:32
relaxation. And as you exhale, just imagine
5:40
any fears, worries, doubts, or insecurities start to leave your
5:45
body slowly, shortly, gradually, in every outward breath,
5:53
breathing in resources like confidence and exhaling anxiety.
6:02
Almost like each breath gives you more of those feelings of
6:08
resourcefulness and releases emotions connected to historical
6:15
ideas that were never true then and certainly aren't true now.
6:24
I want you to get a feeling that there are certain things that
6:29
you do that other people in the world are terrified by, and
6:37
there's certain things that used to create anxiety for you that
6:43
would be insignificant to someone else.
6:49
And therefore it stands that it can't possibly be the thing
6:54
itself. But the way you're thinking
6:58
about the thing that either opens up resources or shuts
7:04
those resources down either creates feelings of calm
7:09
confidence, that wonderful ability to be capable when you
7:14
need it, or to increase anxiety and trepidation that impedes
7:26
your ability to resolve the situation anyway.
7:31
So as you breathe in and breathe down, I want you to create a
7:38
change to a belief because you've been using vigilance and
7:45
avoidance as your primary coping strategies.
7:50
And if they were working well, well, then surely you wouldn't
7:56
be feeling as much anxiety as you felt.
8:00
What we can say is that what if there's something better than
8:06
vigilance, overthinking, and avoidance that actually helps?
8:14
What instead of overthinking, you just think I can handle it?
8:25
Instead of anxiety keeping you safe, what if calm confidence
8:33
keeps you safer? Instead of avoidance, I want you
8:42
to get a sense that avoidance just continues the myth that you
8:49
can't handle the situation. So instead of avoidance, I want
8:55
you to unlock courage because the moment you do something that
9:04
is not avoiding but is leaning toward that thing you used to
9:11
run away from, well then, then you get to desensitize and
9:21
rewire through experience rather than imagination.
9:29
I want you to think of something from your past that the first
9:32
time you did it, you felt nervous, and the third time less
9:40
nervous, and the seventh time, hardly any nerves at all.
9:47
And on the 113th time you did it, you can't even remember it.
9:55
Was that meaningless, that insignificant, because you had
10:01
irrefutable evidence that you could handle that situation and
10:07
therefore your brain didn't need to be vigilant or avoidant?
10:13
Capability is a better coping strategy.
10:19
So as you breathe in and breathe out, just imagine.
10:24
I want you to imagine a virtual reality room.
10:31
Consider it from the future, like a holodeck.
10:36
Whenever you go into that room, you experience a reality as if
10:40
it's real. It can take you inside a room,
10:46
out in nature, and everything looks exactly as it would do, as
10:51
if it was real. But because it's a holodeck, I
10:58
want you to imagine that you can distort time.
11:04
Days can last seconds, and you can repeat day after day after
11:07
day until you've completely rewired a connection between
11:13
thought, idea, and emotion. And I want you to imagine
11:20
dialing up your confidence, relaxation, resourcefulness, to
11:26
feel that none of this is real. And even if it was, you can
11:32
cope. And I want you to imagine a
11:37
specific type of situation that in the past may have caused you
11:42
some anxiety. But as you imagine that first
11:46
person perspective, I want you to imagine feeling calm,
11:52
confident, and resourceful. And then imagine iteration 1 of
12:01
doing something different than you did perhaps in the past or
12:05
would have done if the anxiety was real.
12:13
I want you to imagine doing things as you would do if you
12:16
were calm and confident. Just allow that courage to be
12:26
amplified. Courage is not the absence of
12:31
anxiety, it's the willing to take action even if there is
12:36
anxiety. So activate that courage and
12:42
imagine doing the thing you would have liked to have done it
12:45
and notice that the anxiety is lower.
12:55
Just imagine a child that doesn't look under a bed because
13:00
they think there's a monster there and they're lying on the
13:03
bed filled with anxiety, and all they have to do is to look under
13:08
the bed to know that the monster doesn't exist.
13:15
Your anxiety has never been the things.
13:20
Not a bee, not a wasp, not an insect.
13:24
It's been the stories you've been telling yourself and
13:27
memories of previous emotions. The real monster is a mirage,
13:35
and simply by doing things differently, that mirage
13:39
disappears. Imagine now iteration 2.
13:45
The same thing, but almost like a day has passed.
13:50
Notice how it feels easier. And then iteration 3.
13:57
Imagine three days the third time even easier.
14:06
Each time you feel more confident and more resourceful,
14:14
and each time the anxiety is harder to find.
14:21
Now jump to day 7, day 7 of doing exactly the same thing and
14:27
now notice how elusive that anxiety is.
14:35
In fact, the harder you try, the more elusive the anxiety
14:40
becomes. I want you to feel that you are
14:49
the one in control. You have choices, you have
14:53
options. Move away, move closer, guide
15:01
them away. Just be curious, be grateful,
15:05
even be fascinated or courageous.
15:13
There was a million ways of handling all of these previous
15:16
situations, and perhaps unconsciously, you were choosing
15:23
one of the worst strategies as your default strategy.
15:30
But now you've got so many other options, and I want you to
15:35
imagine, as eat iteration repeats, create a new way of
15:43
handling that same situation until you find the one that
15:47
feels the most empowering, the most relaxed, the most
15:51
confident. And I want you to get a feeling
16:01
that the way that you can convince yourself that a fear is
16:04
gone is never by avoiding the thing.
16:10
It's by doing the thing and knowing that you can handle it.
16:15
That is the nail in the coffin of any fear.
16:21
But there is a fine line between fearless and reckless.
16:30
Just because you don't fear a bee anymore doesn't mean you.
16:34
Should poke it. Doesn't mean you should kick a
16:39
hornet's nest. And that's not fear.
16:47
That is discernment and intelligence.
16:54
I want you to get a feeling then there are certain things you've
16:58
been considering as threats that were never threats.
17:03
But when you consider the real threat and decide that it's not
17:07
something that you would invite, then you'll need to be vigilant
17:13
or on guard those away. I want you to imagine yourself
17:20
in that same holodeck chamber a year from now.
17:26
A whole year of having evidence of being able to cope with
17:31
insects in every environment. They enter your living space,
17:37
you wait for them to leave, or you use a fan to waft them away.
17:44
You eat outdoors. If an insect comes nearby, you
17:50
can just wait for it to leave and it will.
17:58
Or maybe walking past a particular Bush on a beautiful
18:03
sunny day, and a year from now, you will experience a moment
18:12
where you've walked past a Bush that you once avoided and
18:18
totally forgot there were any insects there at all.
18:24
Because the real victory of defeating, of fear, isn't
18:28
through bravery and courage. It's waiting for that neural
18:34
pathway to give you ambivalence. You simply don't care.
18:44
So imagine having that ambivalence a year from now and
18:48
just all of those things that used to make you feel anxious.
18:52
Imagine feeling ambivalent in the same situation.
18:57
This holiday can speed up time. Moments that took 5 or 10
19:03
minutes in reality can be two or three seconds in your mind each
19:08
moment. Repeat and you feel unbothered,
19:12
unfazed, nonchalant, completely ambivalent in the same
19:19
situation. Change the scenario, change the
19:25
environment. But in all cases, your nervous
19:32
system reacts as if there is no threat at all.
19:38
Because there isn't, and there never was.
19:45
Sometimes people create a belief based on a sample size that is
19:50
too small. If that belief was true for you,
19:58
surely it should be true for everyone and yet wasn't.
20:05
So allow that belief to fade away, just like beliefs of Santa
20:08
Claus and tooth fairies, and the moment it goes away, the
20:14
emotions. Also evaporate.
20:21
Imagine leaving the holiday but feeling.
20:25
Feeling that you've trained your brain at altitude and now we're
20:29
looking forward to doing what you've done in your mind and
20:33
reality to seek out those things that you once avoided.
20:40
Not forever, just until you don't care anymore.
20:47
When there is no dopamine or feeling of pride of doing that
20:51
thing, that's not a bad thing. That means the rewiring is
20:57
complete. The second river is the one
21:01
that's flowing and the old river is drying up.
21:07
So as you hold that thought, that idea, unleash that desire
21:14
to do those things that once terrified you.
21:19
Just like a child looking under the bed and seeing that the
21:23
monster never existed. So take a deep breath in through
21:27
your nose and now through your nose.
21:32
Wiggle your fingers, wiggle your toes.
21:34
Connect and calibrate into the here and the now as I count.
21:38
From 1:00 to. 10 You will float back to your present, but with
21:42
new beliefs, new ideas, new resources, and an eagerness to
21:48
banish these beliefs that were never true.
21:52
Starting to count. 123 Waking up. 456 More alert 7-8 Open your
21:59
eyes, open your eyes. 910 Wide awake, wide awake, wide awake.
22:14
Thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of The
22:18
Hypnotist. If you've enjoyed this episode
22:21
or got some value from it, please.
22:23
Give it a. Five star rating and review and
22:26
maybe you know someone that would also benefit from this
22:30
particular episode, in which case share the episode with them
22:33
so they can also get the benefit too.
22:37
And if you would like to listen to this episode where it's just
22:41
the hypnosis. So no intro, no outro, no
22:44
explanation, just the hypnosis and completely AD.
22:48
Free. There will be a link in the
22:50
description where you can subscribe at a very low cost and
22:53
only get access to the hypnosis, so if that's of interest please
22:58
check that out. Thank you again for being a
23:02
regular listener of The Hypnotist and I'll see you again
23:04
soon for more.