|
It’s not quite the Year of the Horse yet. In the Chinese calendar, the New Year follows the lunar cycle, which means the next new year begins on February 17, 2026. In Chinese culture, the Horse represents freedom, energy, and a lively spirit, while the Fire element adds passion and intensity. Together, they point to a year marked by rapid movement, bold transformation, and innovation.
By contrast, 2025 (the Year of the Snake) has been a time of shedding the old. The Snake symbolizes quiet transformation: letting go, releasing what no longer fits, and slowly outgrowing outdated skins. For many people, this has been a challenging year, and that weight may feel especially heavy in these final weeks. This moment offers an opportunity to take both literal and metaphorical inventory. What are you holding onto that no longer fits your life? This might include clothes from a former job, goal-weight items you no longer resonate with, or possessions kept out of guilt, perhaps because they were given by someone you care about. And beyond physical belongings, what emotional patterns or lingering guilt are you still carrying? You may notice old reactions resurfacing, responses you believed you had already moved beyond. Rather than seeing this as failure or regression, it can be helpful to view it as information: a signal that something is ready to be resolved at a deeper level. This is where approaches such as IEMT (Integral Eye Movement Therapy) and hypnosis can be particularly powerful. Both work beneath conscious thought, addressing the emotional imprints that keep certain reactions, beliefs, or feelings in place, often long after they are useful. IEMT focuses on how emotions are stored and triggered in the body, mind, and nervous system. Instead of endlessly revisiting the story of what happened, it works directly with the emotional response itself. By gently shifting how those emotions are encoded, people often find that old reactions lose their intensity or disappear altogether. The memory may still exist, but it no longer carries the same emotional charge. Hypnosis works in a complementary way by engaging the subconscious mind, the place where habits, beliefs, and emotional patterns are formed and maintained. In a deeply relaxed and focused state, it becomes easier to update outdated beliefs, release unconscious guilt, and create new emotional responses that feel more aligned with who you are now. Used together or separately, these methods allow for change without force or self-judgment. Rather than asking, “Why am I like this?” the question gently becomes, “How did I learn this response...and what would I like instead?” From that place, transformation feels less like effort and more like permission. As the Year of the Snake comes to a close, this kind of inner clearing creates space for the fiery momentum of the Horse. When emotional baggage is released, energy frees up naturally, making it easier to move forward with clarity, confidence, and a renewed sense of direction.
0 Comments
 I’m not sure where the idea came from that hypnosis will make someone cluck like a chicken. Many misconceptions about hypnosis stem from stage shows, where people do hilarious things. (I personally love watching these!) But a stage show is carefully crafted for the audience’s entertainment. Those participants agreed to be part of a stage show and do goofy things for laughs.
I’ve been a hypnotherapist for seven years now, and I’ve yet to have anyone request chicken impersonations as their therapeutic goal. Why People Actually Seek Hypnotherapy A few people come to hypnosis because they’ve tried it before and had success. Some come because they’ve been recommended by a friend or medical professional. But most people come to hypnotherapy when they’re out of options, when they’ve tried “everything” and nothing has worked, or out of sheer desperation, with a thought of “Why not? I’ll give it a try.” Hypnosis can seem scary because we mostly see it portrayed as a loss of control: people doing silly things, dangerous things, or in many films, horrifying things. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The Reality: Hypnosis Is a Natural State In fact, hypnosis is a natural state you experience multiple times every day: waking up, driving to work, watching a movie, falling asleep. The difference is that you’re usually entering these states unintentionally, rather than with purpose and direction. Hypnosis is a learning state, a focused state of attention where you can intentionally program your mind toward your goals. Think of it as a heightened state of concentration where your subconscious mind becomes more receptive to positive change. What Actually Happens in a Hypnotherapy Session Initial Discussion First, we’ll discuss your goals and what you hope to achieve through hypnosis. In initial sessions, I also explain how the mind works, how hypnosis works, and how you can expect to feel during a session. Most people feel physically relaxed, emotionally calm and comfortable, and mentally wide awake. This doesn’t mean you’ll catch every single word the hypnotist says. Your mind might wander, or you could find yourself thinking about other things. That’s completely normal and doesn’t diminish the effectiveness of the session. Progressive Relaxation Sessions typically move into a progressive relaxation to help your body relax and heighten your state of internal focus. You’ll be gently guided away from outside noises as you relax into a more dreamlike state. This feels very similar to meditation, prayer, or even savasana after a yoga class. Therapeutic Suggestions Once you’ve gone through the relaxation, your hypnotherapist will guide you through techniques to deepen the state, then offer what we call “suggestions.” We use this term because that’s exactly what they are: suggestions, not commands. You are always in control of your own mind, and you are always most suggestible to yourself. In my sessions, I usually add wording along the lines of “you’re open to suggestions that are comfortable and beneficial to you.” Your subconscious mind acts as a filter, accepting what serves you and disregarding what doesn’t. This is why you can’t be hypnotized to do something against your values or will. Your mind naturally protects you, even in this relaxed, focused state. Reorientation After about 15 to 20 minutes for first sessions (a bit longer for experienced clients), you’ll be gently brought back to full awareness. Any important information will be reiterated, and you’ll have time to ask questions about your experience. The Bottom Line Hypnotherapy is a powerful, evidence-based tool for personal change and healing. It’s not about losing control or doing embarrassing things. Instead, it’s about gaining greater control over your thoughts, behaviors, and emotional responses. So no, you won’t cluck like a chicken unless that’s genuinely your goal. And in seven years, I’m still waiting for that first request.  What if I told you that you're already practicing hypnosis every single day, but you just don't realize it?
Every time you tell yourself "I'm so stupid" after making a mistake, or repeat "I always forget things," you're actively hypnotizing yourself. The question isn't whether you're using hypnosis; it's whether you're using it intentionally to support your goals, or accidentally to reinforce patterns that hold you back. Understanding the Nature of Hypnosis Here's a fundamental truth that might surprise you: all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. Even when working with a skilled hypnotherapist, you're the one doing the work. A hypnotist is simply a guide, helping you access states and resources that already exist within you. We are always most suggestible to ourselves, which is precisely why the internal dialogue we maintain matters so profoundly. Think about it. When you catch yourself saying things like "Why am I such a dummy?" or "I forgot again! What's wrong with me?", you're not just venting frustration. You're actively programming your subconscious mind, reinforcing neural pathways that support the belief that you are forgetful, incompetent, or inadequate. Your subconscious doesn't judge these statements as true or false. It simply accepts them as instructions. This is the double-edged sword of self-hypnosis. The same mechanism that allows negative self-talk to damage our self-concept can be harnessed intentionally to create profound positive change. Programming Your Mind for Success Self-hypnosis is the practice of consciously programming your mind to align with your current goals and values. Instead of allowing random, often negative thoughts to run the show, you take the director's chair and deliberately choose what to reinforce. Want to sleep better? Reduce stress? Feel more confident at work? Build healthier habits? Self-hypnosis offers a direct pathway to communicate these intentions to your subconscious mind, the part of you that controls approximately 95% of your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. The Foundation: Working with a Practitioner First While anyone can practice self-hypnosis, there's tremendous value in first working with a skilled practitioner who specializes in subconscious behavior. Think of it as learning to drive with an instructor before heading out on the highway alone. A qualified hypnotherapist can help you: Achieve a reset to your authentic self. Before we internalized limiting beliefs about who we are and what we're capable of, we existed in a more natural, authentic state. Tools like Integral Eye Movement Therapy can help desensitize problematic emotions and negative beliefs, essentially clearing the slate so you can work from a healthier foundation. Develop familiarity with the hypnotic state. Many people worry they "can't be hypnotized" or won't know if they're doing it right. Working with a practitioner helps you recognize what the hypnotic state feels like in your own body and mind, making it significantly easier to access that state independently. Learn proper techniques. Just as you'd learn proper form in exercise to prevent injury and maximize results, learning self-hypnosis techniques from an expert ensures you're using methods that actually work. Address deeper patterns. Some beliefs and emotional patterns require the skilled guidance of someone trained to navigate the subconscious landscape. Once these foundational issues are addressed, your self-hypnosis practice becomes exponentially more effective. The Hidden Practice You're Already Doing Most people practice self-hypnosis all day long without any awareness of it. Every time you zone out during your commute, lose yourself in a good book, or get absorbed in a task, you're entering a light trance state. Every time you imagine a future scenario (whether positive or negative) you're engaging your subconscious in visualization. The difference between unconscious and conscious self-hypnosis is intentionality and direction. When you incorporate self-hypnosis into a mindful self-care practice, you're wielding this natural ability with purpose, directing it toward specific outcomes that support your wellbeing and goals. The Magic Hours: Leveraging Key Times of Day Your brain operates differently at different times of day, and there are specific windows when your subconscious mind is particularly receptive to suggestion. The two most powerful times are: The moments before falling asleep. As you transition from waking consciousness to sleep, your brainwave patterns shift from beta (active thinking) through alpha (relaxed awareness) to theta (the hypnotic state). This is prime time for positive programming. The first moments upon waking. Before your conscious, analytical mind fully kicks into gear, you experience a brief theta state window. What you think about and imagine during this time has amplified impact. Yet what do most of us do during these valuable moments? We ruminate about our day. We worry about tomorrow's to-do list. We replay difficult conversations or imagine worst-case scenarios. We're practicing self-hypnosis, all right, but we're programming anxiety, stress, and limitation. Imagine instead using these moments to visualize your best possible outcomes. To mentally rehearse confidence and success. To visit a future version of yourself who has already achieved your goals. This isn't just positive thinking. It's strategic reprogramming of your subconscious mind so that it works in alignment with what you actually want to create in your life. Beyond Visualization: A Holistic Approach While there are multiple methods for practicing self-hypnosis, I'm particularly drawn to approaches that integrate the emotional body, physical body, and intellectual mind. True transformation doesn't happen in just one dimension of our being. It requires all aspects of ourselves to come into alignment. An effective self-hypnosis practice might include:
When these elements work together, self-hypnosis becomes more than just mental exercise. It becomes a full-body, full-being experience that creates lasting change. The Ripple Effect of Conscious Self-Hypnosis When you commit to a regular self-hypnosis practice, the benefits extend far beyond your specific goals. You develop:
Perhaps most importantly, you reclaim power over the narrative you tell yourself about who you are and what's possible for you. Taking the Next Step If you're intrigued by the potential of self-hypnosis but unsure where to start, know that this is a learnable skill. You don't need any special abilities or talents; just curiosity, willingness, and guidance on proper technique. Learning self-hypnosis is an investment in yourself that pays dividends every single day. It's a tool you'll carry with you for life, one that grows more powerful with practice. Your mind is already creating your reality through the thoughts you think and the beliefs you reinforce. The only question is: will you take conscious control of that process, or leave it to chance? The choice, as always, has been yours all along.  Every January, it's the same ritual. Your feed becomes inundated with advertisements about creating a new you for the new year. Transformation promises fill every corner of the internet. This year, be different. This year, finally become who you're meant to be.
I've seen countless posts promoting 2026 as The Year of the Horse, even though the Chinese zodiac doesn't actually begin until February 17. The symbolism is compelling: horses represent freedom, power, forward momentum. Who wouldn't want to gallop into their best life? Then there's the complete opposite perspective. Posts proclaiming that the new year actually starts in spring, that winter in nature is a time for planting seeds, for hibernating, for reflection. Rest before you run. Dream before you do. That second approach resonates more with how I want to live my life. But here's what I've learned through my work: there's an even more powerful third option. The new year—and the new version of you—doesn't have to start with a calendar page or a particular season. It can begin at any moment when you feel the call to create a positive change for yourself. The pressure to be constantly improving can feel insurmountable. You're supposed to be better every quarter, every month, every week. More productive. More optimized. More evolved. It's exhausting just thinking about it. But in my work, I've discovered something fascinating: it's not that we need new habits or to create new beliefs about ourselves. More often than not, what's truly transformative is letting go of old ideas. The Beliefs Driving Your Behavior This might sound like therapeutic mumbo jumbo, but stay with me. Our negative behaviors stem from our negative beliefs about ourselves. If you believe deep down that you're unworthy of love, that you aren't a good person, that you're someone who self-sabotages and procrastinates, then you'll unconsciously behave in ways that support those beliefs. Your subconscious mind is essentially a supercomputer with incredibly powerful programming that keeps you following certain patterns and behaviors. We're wired for survival. In the absence of saber-tooth tigers wandering around, that survival instinct gets triggered by things like traffic jams, arguments with family members, disagreements about work projects. And here's the kicker: your subconscious mind is operating off a very old system,one that was built in your childhood and continues to operate in the same manner today, very often without any updates for your current reality. Think about that for a moment. The operating system running your life was written when you were five, or seven, or twelve years old. No wonder things feel glitchy sometimes. You wouldn't run your business on software from 1995. So why are you running your life on programming from childhood? Understanding Your Why Changes Everything Your goals will be achieved much more quickly if you take the time to understand your underlying patterns. Examining why you want what you want is often the first step in a genuinely interesting journey. Let's say you want more money. But why? So you can buy a house? Take a dream vacation? Build a safety net? Or is it that you want the freedom and security that you believe more money can give to you? Once you know that it's actually freedom and security you're craving, you can start to look at how you can feel more free and more secure right now, even without the big raise you're chasing. Maybe freedom means setting better boundaries at work. Maybe security means having difficult conversations you've been avoiding. Maybe it means finally dealing with that thing you've been putting off for months. Approaching your goals through the lens of how you want to feel in your life, instead of what you want to have, can be a powerful way to start reverse-engineering your goals to create that successful future. This is the work that actually creates lasting change. Not another planner. Not another productivity hack. Not another vision board (though I have nothing against vision boards, I love using them myself. Make one if it sparks joy). Discovering Your Authentic Self, Not Creating a New One This spring, I'll be exploring these concepts more deeply in a free online workshop I'm co-hosting with my wonderful colleague and dear friend, Emma Toms. Our workshop, "Why You're Stuck: A Nervous System Workshop for Real Change," will address how those common patterns people often find themselves stuck in were once brilliant survival strategies (and how to start shifting them). Because here's the truth that no January transformation campaign wants you to know: you don't need to discover a new version of yourself. You need to discover the authentic version of you that's been there all along, buried under years of outdated programming and survival strategies that no longer serve you. That version of you isn't hiding behind your next goal. It's not waiting for January 1st or the spring equinox or the Year of the Horse. It's available to you right now, in this moment, once you understand what's been keeping it locked away. The journey isn't about becoming someone new. It's about becoming who you actually are. Ready to understand what might be keeping you stuck? Take my quiz to discover which stuck state might be driving your life right now, and get some practical ideas for how to start shifting it. No January deadline required. |
Archives
February 2026
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
HoursMonday - Friday
9 am - 5 pm |
Telephone571-248-0695
|
|