As of this writing, we are still in the grips of the
COVID-19 pandemic. While things seemed to have cooled down somewhat and safety
protocols have been put into place in hopes of mitigating the spread of the
virus, there are still many factors that are causing us to experience anxiety.
As a hypnotist, I receive several calls every day from
people who are simply feeling overwhelmed. From parents worried about their
children going back to school, to the furloughed employee going back to work
after packing on a few extra pounds, to the casual drinker who realizes they
are now drinking two bottles of wine a night, there’s certainly no shortage of
stressed-out folks right now.
Fortunately, I understand how stress works; after all,
that’s my job! Without getting all bogged down in technical jargon, I’ll just
say it’s basic neuroscience. You have a stressful thought and it goes down a
neural pathway in your brain, causing a physical-emotional response. Have the
same thought again, the neural pathway gets a little more defined. It’s like
taking a shortcut through the woods behind your house as a kid; what starts as
a simple path becomes a clearly defined trail in no time.
The same thing happens each time you have a different stressful thought. In addition, thanks to something known as Hebb’s Law, the neural pathways of similar stressful thoughts begin to light up at the same time. As the saying goes, “neurons that fire together, wire together.” Ultimately, this means the one tiny chain of neurons created by that one stressful thought can very quickly become a hyper-connected stress superhighway in your brain. Ugh!
Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to easily stop those stressful thoughts dead in their tracks. One way is to use a simple technique called “Bi-Lateral Stimulation.” I first heard about it in the amazing book The Anti-Anxiety Toolkit by Melissa Tiers (https://www.amazon.com/Anti-Anxiety-Toolkit-Rapid-techniques-rewire/dp/1466451726/).
Just grab any small object you can comfortably hold and toss
from one hand to the other (such as a bottle of water, an apple, or your keys).
Now think of something that is causing you stress. Notice where you can feel it
in your body, and rate that level of stress on a scale of one to ten.
Begin tossing the object back and forth, side to side, from
one hand to the other. Make sure you cross the mid-line of your body with each
toss, as this will stimulate both hemispheres of your brain. Keeping one hand
in front of you while swinging the other hand to the side with each toss will
help increase the speed of the effect.
Do this for one minute, then stop and take a deep breath.
Scan your body; you may find that the stress has disappeared. What? How? Simply put, by activating both
sides of your brain, you are flooding it with electrical impulses and blood.
This causes the stress cluster to dissolve.
Now, think of the same situation again and see if you can bring up any stress. If so, rate it on the same scale. Toss the object from hand to hand for another minute, then scan your body. Repeat until the stress is completely gone.
The great thing about this technique is that you can do it
anywhere, anytime – and no one knows you’re doing it! Just remember to move both
of your arms and cross your mid-line with each toss.
That’s it for this month. Until next time, keep thinking
good thoughts!
By James Scott
Board Certified Hypnotist
Director, Chesapeake Bay Hypnosis
James Scott is a world-renowned professional hypnotist,
comedy stage hypnotist, mind reader and influence trainer. For more than 25
years, he has been entertaining audiences all over the world with his
mesmerizing hypnosis and mind reading shows.
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