All focus (or so it seems) is on you – you feel your face going red, your heart beating as though it is about to jump out your chest (or your mouth), sweating palms, you begin to dissociate, your mouth becomes dry or stops working and you feel as though you are slurring your words. Does this seem familiar? You are not alone. Every dealing with more than one person is an ordeal you anticipate.
What begins to happen is that you anticipate the above happening and you set the image in your mind of being uncomfortable and feeling very nervous and anxiety and hey presto, that is exactly what happens. And so the vicious circle continues….
Your mind does not know the difference between what is real or what is imagined – you set the standard and it follows suit – after all, it is only doing what you expect.
What would life be like for you if you could reverse the symptoms and actually only feel normal anticipation (say for giving a presentation)? What would that mean to you? Is it something you have ever thought about? We will all say I “don’t want….” but the subconscious does not recognise the word “not” so in effect you are saying “I want to feel anxious” without realising it!
So, I want you to make a list to answer the above questions and each answer is to start with “I want to feel…I want to be….” with a positive statement. Hypnosis helps by accessing the subconscious and using relaxation and visualisation techniques to overcome each symptom and learn to re-wind it as it were. Sometimes we can be so caught up in the negative that we do not know how to be positive and therefore put up obstacles.
Hypnosis can help re-enforce the behavioural changes necessary to overcome anxiety whatever the type of anxiety you suffer from. No matter how logically you work out your anxiety it is not going to change unless you access your powerhouse of emotion – the subconscious mind. Therapy is required for moderate to severe cases to uncover the precipitating event and gain closure. For presentation confidence, suggestion therapy will usually be sufficient (i.e. just dealing with the symptoms). With hypnosis we access the subconscious mind and reprogramme the old way of behaving so that the new ways are acceptable. In this way, we create a positive scenario. This isn’t easy as the sufferer you are used to behaving a certain way. What will your life be like with your new found relaxed way of dealing with situations that used to previously caused you so much pain both mentally and physically? How will people react to you now? Creating change is never easy but it will be worth it – do you really want to live you life in fear/panic? Do you want this anxiety to make you socially isolated? I don’t think so. But there is no magic cure and it takes time and effort on your part. Are you ready to make the change from panic to relaxation?
