More on that in a minute.

 

One of my favorite trainers is fond of saying all we are is changing. While it is an oversimplification, the body replaces almost of its cells in seven to ten years. You are literally NOT the same person you were.

On a behavioral level, change is also inevitable. Life is constantly in flux. We learn more, people around us change, we may grow stronger or change our appearance.

Even if you try to stay the same, you are changing how you relate to things as they change to maintain your own sense of constancy. In a very real sense, everything is changing even on a molecular level.

 As an experiment, think of something that’s holding you back. At a recent training I attended, the idea was presented that something can only be a problem if you focus on the point where you are stuck.

Consider a movie. If you pause it at a point where the main characters are captured or things are going wrong, it seems like a tragedy. However, if you let the movie play out and the heroes escape, beat the villains, or otherwise save the day, it has a happy ending.

 

People often do that in their own lives. That thing that’s holding you back can only hold you back if you freeze the frame at the bad part. If you focus on being stuck, your brain is primed to look for things related to that state. In other words, when you are focused on negative things your brain cannot sort for positive things very well.

 

Now, think of a time you did something really well. Remember where you were, what you did, and more importantly, how it feels. Really notice how you feel, and even where you feel that in your body. You may even notice that feeling has a color, and you can allow it to flow through your body. Now, as you’re feeling that, look at that thing that had been bothering you, and notice how it is different. It has to be different, because as you’re reading this, and as you’re re-experiencing those feelings, you HAVE to see that situation differently. Why? Your neurology is primed to view it differently.

 

So all you are is changing. And that is a good thing, because it means if you can change your focus and see beyond the point where you have been stuck, you can access more resources. When you can do that, you are much more capable of making positive changes.

Let’s get back to the butterfly. Butterflies do not start out as beautiful winged insects. They start out looking more like this.

This is a Monarch caterpillar. And while you may or may not find it pretty, it is very different from how it will look after its metamorphosis. In fact, if you stopped the movie at this point in the insect’s life, it would end up being a land-bound legged insect.

It is only through a period of drastic change that the caterpillar becomes something else. Only after that change has occurred can we look back and see how this long crawling insect turned into a beautiful winged butterfly.

What we focus on becomes more permanent. If we focus on bad things or where we are stuck, we reinforce that state and make it more permanent. We are priming ourselves to notice things related to being stuck. However, if we change our focus to notice everything else that’s positive, it primes our brain to focus on the positive. That has a major impact on HOW we change.

 

In specific terms, hypnosis can change where you are focusing your attention and change how your brain processes things. Much like the caterpillar spinning its cocoon, hypnosis gives you a chance to enter a learning state to make those changes at the deepest of levels. That can be by resolving things from your past, whether those are traumas or things you were led to believe that you may no longer need to carry along. It could change how you view your relationship with food, yourself, or others. What patterns in your life would you like to change? Hypnosis can help you stop those patterns, and create new, more positive behaviors, thoughts, and even beliefs.

 

Beyond that, where are focusing your attention, now? Where would you like to end up?

One question I ask every client is, how do you want to be different. Usually, the answer I get is what they don’t want. However, that is like focusing on the scene in the movie where everything is going wrong. You are focusing your attention on the wrong thing. There are an infinite number of things you DON’T want. What you DO want is something else.

 

Consider the cocoon.

The cocoon is a space held for change. Hypnosis can be a catalyst for that change. However, that change works best when you know where you want to go, and how you want to be different. While the caterpillar is programmed to become a specific type of butterfly, you have options.

 

So widen your view. How do you want to be? What’s holding you back? What has to happen to allow you to make the changes you want? How do you want your movie to end? On a symbolic level, the butterfly works in the same way. If you freeze the movie at the point where it’s still a caterpillar, it is hard to see the butterfly it will become. Without the cocoon, the caterpillar never becomes what it needs to be.