Elevating Mood through Self-Hypnosis
In the fast-paced world of female entrepreneurship, maintaining a positive mindset is crucial. Everything else can fail, but if your mindset is still standing then nothing is lost, you can pick it up where you left off and keep on moving!
For example, remember when was the last time (maybe even today) you've faced a setback in your business, and the weight of stress and self-doubt threatens to derail your momentum.
Mind you, it does not have to be anything big! As women business owners, we have such busy lives that a small technological glitch (your Calendly not synching with your Google Calendar, anyone?) can have a domino effect on the rest of our day in no time.
In a split second, you notice your inner talk beginning to shift from being supportive or just neutral into a barrage of frustration about yourself, your business, the world, etc.
Mindset is not everything
This is a good place to plug this: I am NOT trying to say “MINDSET IS EVERYTHING”!
If your nervous system is in a survival mode then trying to shift your state by affecting the mindset alone is futile. In this case you need tools that are going directly to help you shift into a state of safety and calm like those inspired by Polyvagal Theory (more on it in future blogs)
But it is true that your nervous state and self-talk are mutually influencing each other at all times and create your overall state or MOOD. This is a graphic I show to my client to point out the relationship between what we think and how we feel 👇👇👇
The relationships between Self-talk and Nervous System State = Mood
To help your nervous system and your mood, your self-talk needs to rise to the occasion and stop spitting anger and irritation. That energy is short-lived anyway. We soon might descend into the darkness of despair and overwhelm ourselves unless we choose to change it.
3 Steps For Empowering Self-Talk
Here are the 3 steps to changing it + how self-hypnosis can be a perfect tool for it.
1. Notice your self-talk, catch it as it begins to unravel its poison-dripping spell
2. Choose to refocus on the resourceful state/imagery (that you have built out separately, more on that below)
3. Remember to CHOOSE to focus on that imagery over and over again: this is a skill, you will get better at it with practice.
Let’s see what is a common mistake when it comes to choosing a more self-empowering talk and how self-hypnosis can help us avoid it. 👇👇👇
Here you are, catching your mind doing its stress dance again and it is inviting you in to participate, learn some new moves, will ya?
But you are then remembering the positive affirmations you have been inspired to use lately. You say them. You say them again. There is a minimal shift to feeling better but soon it fades away and you are back on the dance floor with stress, trying to get its hands off you.
You did everything right:
- You noticed stress thoughts.
- You chose to shift out of them.
- You remembered how you want to feel and be instead (your affirmations)
So why did they flop?
Because you did not build the resourceful state that they are supposed to bring about. You cannot do it in the moment of stress, en passe. But you can take 10 min every (other) day and create it. 👇👇👇
Enter Self-Hypnosis - A Mindset Game Changer
Consider the story of Sara, a dedicated entrepreneur facing the challenges of a competitive market. She was moving from being a solopreneur to hiring a small team and becoming an agency and that was taking its toll on her psyche and nervous system.
But we worked on helping her turn self-hypnosis into a tool to rewrite the narratives of self-doubt and fear. There is nothing fancy about it. You can do it too.
She has built her resourceful state following the steps below and then REMEMBERED to shift to it everytime self-doubt and fear started whispering into her ears. Sara retained her sanity and tapped into resilience that is a must to have for an ever evolving entrepreneur.
Three Simple Steps to Start Using Self-Hypnosis
Step 1: Set the Scene:
Create a serene space for self-hypnosis - 10 - 15 min - whenever you have them.
Dim the lights, silence notifications, and find a comfortable spot to reflect.
Either use a guided meditation (I have a collection of 11 of them here and a free one to download here) or simply breathe and relax your body a bit more with every breath you take.
Step 2: Positive Affirmations and Visualizations:
Craft affirmations tailored to your journey as a female entrepreneur.
Think of the belief you want to embody (f.e., “I am safe, I am loved”) and use the questions below to build a state around it:
What would I notice when I am embodying this belief?
How would my actions be different?
What thoughts or self-talk would I engage in?
How else would I be?
What other indicators would confirm my progress?
Who would be the first person to notice the changes in me? How would they know? How would I show it? What differences would they observe?
What changes would occur in my perspective?
What signs would my body give me when I am embodying this powerful belief?
Answer these questions VIA YOUR IMAGINATION to “paint” a picture. “Paint” in quotation marks because you do not have to visualize necessarily, especially if visualization is not your forte. Feel into these questions. We need to get the feelings going for it to WORK.
Step 3: Relaxation and Repetition:
Give the state that you end up with a NAME and GESTURE that you will use to evoke it.
Say the name, do the gesture (like a self-hug, hand on heart, index to thumb fingers) and allow yourself to feel that resourceful state fully.
Make an intention to use this CUE = Name + Gesture every time you need to shift into a better state.
And that is it.
And omg, it is good for everything! 👇👇👇
I am laughing as I am writing this but the last time I used my cue “I am safe and I am loved” when I was on my way to a social gathering …. with a huge pimple ready to pop!
I am sorry if it is too graphic for ya haha
But just imagine how I felt. I felt like the most ugly monster.
But only for a second. Until I remembered:
“Wait! I do not have to feel so shitty! I can shift”
And while my husband was driving, I put my hand on my heart, took a few deep breaths and whispered: “I am safe and I am loved. I am safe and I am loved”. A wave of relaxation washed over me. I had a great evening from that point on.
Yes, ultimately it comes down to deep seated beliefs like that:
“If I have a pimple/I am not perfect then I will be judge”
It takes more self-work than just choosing how to direct my being in the moment.
The good news that that deep work can also be done with self-hypnosis and we will dive into this topic in the next blog post!
Stay tuned!
