Inside the Self-Hypnosis Workshop

Inside the Interactive
Self-Hypnosis Workshop

Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht
Lifestyle Change Educator
Clinical Medical & Sports Hypnotherapist
President & Program Designer
Sarasota Medical & Sports Hypnosis Institute

Curriculum Vitae

This area of our website will give you the opportunity to observe the teachings of Interactive Awareness © & Interactive Self-Hypnosis ©. If you would like to work with me in this special way, please send me an email about your interests in this subject matter & I'll get back to you. You can choose to work with me in any area of your life. Your name & confidential information will always be protected. We will simply work on the issues involved in managing the needed change.

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I met up with John who is interested in improving his game of competitive darts. I was so impressed with John's desire to "take the bull by the horns" , that I decided to begin this area of my website with the correspondence between John & myself. The CD programs I suggested for John include focus, flow, awareness, winning the mind game specific for darts & the interactive self-hypnosis workshop. Audio Shopping & Descriptions

John: The biggest enemy for me is anxiety ( which I am told is really FEAR), I don't know what I am scared of when I play in front of a packed pub. Maybe it is the FEAR of being shown up or embarrassed or something. I would estimate all dart players suffer from this but in varying degrees.

Eliz: It’s important to observe what we play on our internal radio stations & inner VCR. In other words, observing what is “on your mind.”. As we get better at this we can begin to see our little mind programs, that often have very big impacts on our outcomes. In this example, John sees his emotional states as his “enemy” & so… they turn out to be just that.

In our work emotional states will be our best friends, & especially useful when they appear in “enemy state uniform.” In this “uniform” we can recognize them easily & as John becomes better at “interactive awareness” he will also be able to spot them earlier, when they are smaller & much easier to manage. He will also be able to “pre-program” his mind for “usual negative-based emotional states” & provide them with new programming even before they present themselves in their “enemy state uniforms.” © 2003 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN Audio/CD

Mind Work: The first thing on our agenda is going to be learning a special mind tool called disassociation. John will be working with this technique on his CD programs, but he will also be practicing it ongoing during the day. One thing for sure, we all have plenty of emotions to practice with !

Anxiety & fear are emotional relatives. Emotions are clusters of chemicals that play out in the body, rather like chemical cocktails. Like any other cocktail, some are stronger than others & can be quite toxic, or at the very least take us away from our goals. When we work with the tool of disassociation, we are going to image our emotions as "our child-self" who wears tee shirts. On the front of the tee shirt you will find the "presenting emotional state." In this case it could be either "anxiety" or "fear." We can take this image work a step further & place a dial on the tee shirt. This will be the "emotion adjuster dial." Turn it to the left & the emotion will decrease & get smaller & to the right where the emotion will increase or get bigger.

It helps us to be able to have names for emotions. We cannot change what we do not see & so as we attach frames or names to emotional states, we can actually "wake-up" to them earlier. I'm going to teach you some techniques to manage the emotional states, once you are awake to them. Just being awake isn't enough & can actually "scare" you even more, but once you have a tool for managing them, then you don't have to worry about noticing or waking up to them.

We have to practice "inner seeing or inner knowing". I also call this " fractionation awareness meditation." I'll be referring back to this often. Find a quiet place to practice. You will need a chair for sitting up straight. Be sure that you won't be interrupted for five minutes or so. Take a deep yawn breath in & allow it to travel slowly up your body & settle in your mouth. Hold it for the count of four & slowly exhale, allowing your body to sink into the chair, as if magnets were pulling you down. Close your eyes & tilt them up just about 20 degrees, as if you were sitting in the second row of a movie theater. Place your finger tips on your lower abdomen, allowing your fingers to sit gently & riding up & down on your abdominal breath. Your mind will wander as you practice this. This is normal & expected. Each time you notice that your attention is drifting, bring it back to the fingers riding on the belly breath. You will begin to notice the thoughts that arise, as well as the corresponding emotions. In the future you will pay attention to their name on their tee shirt. They have particular ways of speaking to you. These are inner mind programs & it will be your work to take command & edit these. © 2003 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN Audio/CD

John: Sometimes I can play really well in practice and then as soon as they say "GAME ON" my performance declines drastically. This may also be to do with "trying too hard" and not "letting go". It is better not to think too much when playing darts because that gets in the way of your real Brain which knows how to play darts perfectly. It's just that the mind and "thinking" always gets in the way.

Eliz: John has spotted the "emotional trigger." In this case it is "GAME ON." Notice that John wrote this in capital letters to indicate it's importance to the emotional child-state. Anyone with imagination can see the child freaking out in this moment. This is called performance anxiety & the child-emotional-self has a mind program for this. The stress chemicals are pumping away & when this happens the level of concentration is hampered greatly. Keep in mind that John knows how to play darts. He does well in practice. All of his skills are located in his subconscious mind, but when the stress chemicals are triggered, he cannot reach those files. In order to reach subconscious mind files, the mind & body must be relaxed & focused.
© 2003 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN Audio/CD

Mind Work: Hopefully John has been practicing " fractionation awareness meditation." In this very moment he should be breathing from the lower belly & allowing his body to relax deeply. His mind will wander during this mind & body warm-up, just as it did during his practice, but now he knows what to do. He gently brings his focus back to the belly breath & instructs his body to deepen or become heavier, just like with the magnets. In fact, he will be applying this tool throughout the game, even when it isn't his turn. More about this later on.
© 2003 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN Audio/CD

John: One of the most important physical skills when playing darts is to develop a lovely smooth rhythmic action when throwing darts under pressure. This feeling, when you have it, promotes confidence in your game and feels very good. Conversely, when players, including myself are feeling anxious, you can see it in their throw. The throw becomes jerky and nervy and they tend to snatch at the dart which in turn makes you feel more scared and anxious. There is a mind/body link there somewhere.

Eliz: John needs to know that he "doesn't have to develop" this lovely smooth rhythmic action because he already has it. It is programmed in his subconscious mind. It is important for his inner librarian to have this clarified. When John practices his focus/flow work with his belly breath, he tilted his eyes up, just as if he was in the second row of a movie theater. In fact, this is his theater & that is his mind screen up there. We all have our own. This is where the inner programming is presented to the subconscious mind librarian. © 2003 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN Audio/CD

Mind Work: Let's practice. Relax deeply into the chair where you practice your focus/flow " fractionation awareness meditation." Take a few breaths to get settled in. Tilt the eyes up & locate the mind screen. I'd like to suggest to John that he divide the screen into two separate parts. On the left he will place the image of the jerky throw. Now I'd like him to dim it somewhat.... un-focus it so it isn't clear. Now just with the mind shrink it down. On the right side of the screen, I'd like him to place an active image of the smooth, rhythmic action. Make it perfect & bring the focus clearer & more forward towards the front of the screen. Mind-write the word "YES" on the mind screen & energize the image. Study it.... literally fall in love with it. Notice that it has taken up the entire mind screen. Each time John practices his focus/flow belly breath work, I'd like him to finish off with this mind screen work. © 2003 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN
Audio/CD

John: Another skill, which may be linked to the above if the skill of "focusing" or "concentration" on the game in progress. It is necessary to have some kind of tool to focus you mind on during a match and to block out nerves and distractions from the crowd. I think some people use breathing, others focus on a small point on the dartboard when throwing. If your opponent is playing well, it is also necessary to block that out and carry on playing your usual game regardless of how your opponent is playing. This is called "playing the board" and not the player.

Eliz: Interactive self-hypnosis © allows us to manage our world in a very special way. For all intents & purposes there are two areas. One is the emotional world, or the "real world" as we know it. The other area is our personal focus center, or as I like to call it, our "inner world." When we are in this world, we are not in the outer, emotional world. We are free to be very relaxed, very focused & to present our highest desires to our subconscious mind librarian. or inner coach. That's all there is. As one becomes better at noticing & practicing this skill, it becomes much easier to be in the outer world, for it no longer binds us. When we notice or become aware of difficulties, be they practical or internal, we do know how to remove or disassociate ourselves from that world & move into our inner place where we are in charge.
© 2003 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN Audio/CD

Mind Work: In our work I will suggest that John utilize the lower belly breath as his focus. He is working with it in focus/flow practice & " fractionation awareness meditation" on the CD programs, as well as separately. His subconscious mind knows all about what he is doing & it is just a matter of putting all of this into action. After awhile it will become automatic, but for now we have do "etch" it into the subconscious mind. The more John listens to the CD's, the more etching he will do. But, we still have to work "in the moment." There is no escaping that & there shouldn't be any desire to escape because the tools are so powerful that one should enjoy utilizing them at every turn. Relax deeply & tilt the eyes up. Bring in the mind screen & divide it into two parts just like before. Only this time place the outer world on the left & the inner world or focus place on the right.

I like to image the outer world as full of confusion & the inner focus place as a quiet, peaceful area. For own imagery, I'm sitting inside a golden egg shell. The shell is glittering & I can see things outside, but I am not involved in any of them, nor do I care. I'm in a better place, doing better things. Inside my golden egg shell I have my mind screen where I communicate directly with my subconscious librarian by sending her/him inner mind pictures. Should my mind wander, I bring it back on the belly breath. © 2003 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN Audio/CD

John: Conversely, and this is another common problem. If you are not playing that well, it is necessary to suspend all negative self talk and self criticism as this will quickly result in a downward spiral and vicious circle in your game, and therefore a loss of confidence.

Eliz: When working self-hypnotically we program the mind for what we want. Sometimes we get something different. There are many reasons for this. Most of the time it is a lack of focus & the sneaking in of emotions with their own negative-based mind programs. Even the slightest bit of fear changes the body responses. In darts it is necessary to have just the right hold on the dart & just the right release execution. Each play of the dart is a separate mind program. If something doesn't go right, it is most important to correct the mind program "right there & then." It's also important to clear the emotions & to bring in the helper emotions. We have many different kinds of imagery to utilize for this work. It helps to develop a "working discipline." The player must be highly observant & keep moving back into the "golden egg & the working discipline."
© 2003 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN Audio/CD

Mind Work: We practice awareness work in the moment. During the day John is sitting in what I call "fractionation awareness meditation." It's very important to practice this daily & then to carry the same "fractionation awareness meditative tools" into daily life. Let's practice hypnotically now. Relax deeply & employ " fractionation awareness meditation." Tilt the eyes up & locate the mind screen. Bring forth the scene of the actual happening of the dart game where the play is not going well. Locate yourself there. On a side note, when we practice with active imagery, it is not like "real life seeing", but more like thoughts, memories, felt senses, etc. Sometimes it helps to think about it as someone telling you a story that engages you so completely that you are literally "there." Now go up to the screen & simply step in. All action stops. You are recognized as the writer, producer, director of this "happening." Go ahead & correct everything that needs correcting. Obviously the script needs work. Check the emotions that are on-stage & dismiss those that aren't helpful. Call in those that will be helpful. FEEL THOSE EMOTIONS. Your subconscious mind has memory files for them & knows what to do. Your work is to simply "trigger" them. This is how you communicate with the subconscious mind librarian.

You might like to go back a few scenes & locate where all of this began. In fact, it may have started long before the game. You might "ask" the subconscious librarian to show you where it started & also you might ask to be "alerted" in the future about such mind programming. This is very important because this is the moment where you want to instill the new programming. Once you have completed your programming of this scene, step back & watch it play out. If you need to improve this, go ahead & do so. You have now placed a new mind program for correcting a game that is not going as you like. Whenever you have a negative experience, it is very important to edit or correct the mind copy. If not, this will become the active goal for the next time you play. This kind of work must be practiced. There is no escaping it. Those that practice, improve immeasurably. Those that don't.... simply don't.

John: Over the last few weeks I have started awareness meditation and I already have notice a huge improvement in my every day life awareness. Only now do I realize that my anxiety when I played darts is really a reflection of my anxiety in every day life. I feel as if It is the start
of a big change in my life, but would like to know how to take the next steps, not only to increase my performance in darts, but also to lead a richer and more confident happy life.

Eliz: Great Awareness John.... Of course, everything is attached. As you learn
to work with "moments" and edit them.... you will also be in position to program your subconscious mind for whatever you want to achieve... Keep in mind that moments are "things." We want to get a handle on them. Imagery helps you to do this. I have an image for my moments that I'll share with you. They are like separate donuts with doors, sitting on a time line. I can enter the donut & change things. The first thing I always have to "adjust" is the hardness of the moment. I want my moments to be softer because the level of softness is connected to focus & flow. We concentrate best in this type of environment. We soften by relaxing deeply "into the moment." It is in this position that we become highly aware of the body sensations, the emotional component & the thought processes. The softness "allows" us to see clearly. And.... we are now in position to "edit." So.... first we have intention to go into a moment, then we soften, then we see with clarity. And now we are ready for editing or placing a new mind program. © 2003 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN Audio/CD

work in progress
John: So what comes next after awareness meditation? I know that I need to practice letting go of my emotions and re-programming my mind to think confidently, but can you recommend some material for me to use to take my initial start in this subject onto fruition and realize my potential.

Interactive self-hypnosis gives us what we need to "work" with our emotions.
Yes, we want to release them, but we must know "exactly" how to do that "in
the moment".... and also work with them "in the moment".... as well. Sounds
like a tall order, but it is indeed possible with my interactive
self-hypnosis work.

work in progress... stay tuned
John: Tapes or CD's which have caught my attention are:-
Creating flow - It is important in darts to have a beautifully, smooth rhythmic action when throwing the dart. Focusing - to be able to block out distractions and anxiety. Inner winning etc Maybe you can recommend me some better sports material to help me.

Both the focus & flow are excellent choices. The awareness CD or the emotional management one are also good choices. Now, I would be delighted to design a sports CD for darts... I know enough about the game to do so.... because this is a mindgame CD & not for teaching skills. Actually the listener will be actively participating in the skills "hypnotically" while managing the thoughts & corresponding emotions. I could probably have that written and recorded within two weeks time. If that sounds good to you then the choices would be that one..... flow..... and awareness. You are practicing Awareness Meditation, but taking this a step further into "action"
with the awareness is a tremendous step forward.

John: I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all you help so far. Your website is absolutely brilliant and hits the nail on the head. It is addressing a subject which I have personally wrestled with all my life, but in a way which I can really understand. It all makes so much sense when I read through the topics on your website. However, I guess putting it into action is what counts. I find this whole area absolutely fascinating and would love to get more involved somehow.

John: Just thought I'd let you know that I asked my inner self why I was getting so anxious during certain situations like darts matches etc. I believe I received the answer a few days later. It seem to have stemmed from my younger days.

Up to the age of 10 I was a very confident outgoing natural boy who was the life and soul of the junior school yard. Junior school was one of the happiest time of my life as I felt so uninhibited about life.

At the age of 11 when I joined the senior school a complete change came over my personality. I became very withdrawn, very quiet and shy and started worrying about school lessons, often blushed and felt awkward and embarrassed during lessons etc, and found it very difficult to socialize. From the age of 11 to 19 was the unhappiest part of my life and for those years I completely withdrew into my shell. I don't know what happened to me , only that there was some kind of change which caused me to lose a lot of my social confidence. Maybe it was just adolescence - I don't know.

I feel as if I am awakening, and becoming aware of how I have developed, over the years. I guess now I know where my anxiety has stemmed from ( even though I don't really know why - maybe it was just adolescence), the question is how to become more a more natural relaxed person again - which I believe is the real me.

Eliz:

Elaine is a member of one of my discussion groups & had sent me an email awhile back about inner journaling. We've been writing back & forth through that group for quite awhile now, but most of our discussions have been about the subject at hand & not inner journaling. I recently joined a journaling group for myself & found that others are interested in this subject, so I decided to open a specialized workshop for this. I hope you'll enjoy it. Elaine is working with automatic writing & inner journaling CD/audio programs, but readers of the workshop can learn quite a bit by just following some of our work. If you have questions or would like to join in, simply email me with the name of this workshop in the subject line. Audio Shopping & Descriptions

Elaine: I've been journaling for a long time, but would like to learn more about automatic writing or inner journaling as you called it. Is there a difference? How would one begin?

Justine wrote to me about the problems she was having at work. She is a young executive & has been climbing the corporate ladder for the past five years. She is married & has a three year old daughter. Her life stress had increased to the point of scaring her both physically & emotionally. Instead of enjoying life, she feels she is "just surviving" & somewhere along the way she has lost her essence.... her true self.

Justine: I hardly know where to begin. When I wrote to you I thought it would be so easy to put this into words, but now I find myself mind-blocked. But to be honest, this is what I find in other areas of my life. It's almost like I'm just observing myself & truly not myself. Perhaps you know what this is. I hope so because it is truly scaring me. I used to be very confident & felt almost invincible. People envied my spirit & determination. Now I feel like an imposter. I wonder if they can see what I feel? No one has said anything, but it's like I can see it in their eyes. It's like I'm in some sort of play & I'm watching others observe me. Is this burnout?