Self talk is the most powerful form of hypnosis, and you have the power to either tighten your mood’s grip on you, or loosen and change it.
If you feel down, anxious, afraid, stressed, etc., the most self-defeating, depressing thing you can do is think of it as something you’re stuck with because it’s just how you are, or it’s a “chemical imbalance,” or you haven’t been able to get out of it in the past, or uncle John has the same problem, or it’s your fault and you deserve it, or God’s mad at you, etc.
This is the #1 way to feed your bad state. It’s like saying, “I accept being your victim, do whatever you want to me, I embrace you, and I suppoprt you to hurt me.”
When you’re in a bad frame of mind there’s a good frame of mind right there at the fringes of your awareness; you just need to tap into it. But if you convince yourself you can’t, then you can’t!
So, how can you change your state of mind?
Here’s one of many ways:
1. Acknowledge and name it. “I’m in a depressed, anxious, fearful, stressed mood.”
2. Close your eyes, breath slowly and deeply, and focus on your breaths for a minute.
3. Now remember a time when you were in an incredibly high, awesome state of mind. Alternately, think of what state of mind you’d be in if you felt great right now.
4. Focus on this uplifting state: See it, feel it, be it, get totally into what it feels like, and amplify it. Spend time with it.
5. Open your eyes and walk around in this new state of mind. Get it into your body.
6. When your bad state tries to return and overpower your good state, or when your inner critic says, “This is just fantasy, it’s a waste of time,” keep saying No. Insist on the good state. You’ll develop inner strength this way, and set yourself up to process the deeper issues behind your troubles.
