DON’T THINK OF AN ELEPHANT!  

You can’t make any sense of my statement otherwise.  I’d just be making mouth noises at you.  So an image of an elephant emerges in your mind and you understand that I’m referencing a large, gray mammal with a trunk.  The “don’t” part flew right past the subconscious mind.  And even if you run over into your conscious mind and process not-elephant and then back over to the subconscious to pull up images of not-elephants, you’re STILL thinking of an elephant as you match up all the not-elephant images to determine whether they are in fact not elephants. Which is pretty exhausting and just about guarantees that the rest of the conversation is a wash.  

At this point, it should be pretty clear that the subconscious mind thinks in pictures. Even people who are not naturally “visual thinkers” still process language in images.  It’s just a little tougher for them to be aware of their images.  

So if I say “Don’t slam the door,” you’re going to pull up an image of a door slamming and maybe even imagine the sound and quite possibly have a sensation of movement, thudding, or air current.   The subconscious mind is experiencing a door slamming.  

And that is what we call a mental rehearsal.  

It is preparation for a live performance.  

The first takeaway?  Tell your teenage son to “Please close the door GENTLY,” and he’ll mentally rehearse closing the door gently.  With enough repetition, he’ll start to act that out instead of the whole slamming business.  

The second takeaway?  The statements you make to yourself are ALSO rehearsals.  

Worry is a rehearsal.  It is using your imagination to create a problem instead of a solution.  It is, quite literally, setting yourself up to fail.  

If you’re ready to let go of worry and rehearse feeling GOOD instead, Hypnosis Frederick can help.