WHO ARE YOU?

STOP reading this Right Now! And answer this question . . . WHO ARE YOU? Say your answer out loud and then just close your eyes for a few moments and feel what those words mean. Where do you feel that in your body? Is there a sound associated with that feeling? Why are you that and not something else?

If you have ever been to one of my corporate motivational talks, or my group personal improvement sessions you will recognize this question as something that I often open with. The first response that I frequently get often refers to the person’s job or role in society. And there is a very strong reason for this. It is the reason when asked about their job that people will answer – I am a… doctor, baker, teacher, pizza delivery person. We are defined, or better stated, we define ourselves by what we do. It shapes how we see ourselves and how we project ourselves to others we meet. People don’t say I fix cars or I bake cookies, or I cut grass. They say what they are.

The problem is that when our job disappears because we are fired, or furloughed or as in the case of the COVID19 pandemic, the government shuts it down and we can no longer have that job and don’t know if we ever will again, we lose our identity. We no longer know who we are. We lose our self-esteem, we stop being us and the fallout from that loss of identity is devastating. It initiates the most basic of survival mechanisms, fight/flight/freeze. It creates stress, fear and anxiety that cannot be resolved by the means that we have used and learned from our prior experience. The social isolation, the constant bombardment of negative information and reports of higher death tolls places stressors on us that weaken us physically, spiritually and emotionally. I recently wrote about that dynamic and how we as a country, perhaps even as a world community, are witnessing the greatest mass hypnosis of all time (https://www.hypnomarc.com/2020/04/08/we-are-witnessing-the-greatest-mass-hypnosis-of-all-time/). The response I got from that article continues to validate my observations and concerns that the end result of this coronavirus pandemic has forever reshaped our society and in many instances, not for the better.

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This past weekend (April 12, 2020) Chris Bryant (@chrismbryant) wrote an opinion piece for Bloomberg that appeared in the Star Ledger, made some points that those of us in the entertainment and gig industry better sit up and take notice of. Bryant writes: “…Instead of visiting far-flung places and seeking out mass entertainment, I’m sure there will be a bias toward more modest, local activities.” He goes on to opine: “ Looming above all of this is the damage that the lockdowns are inflicting on people’s incomes. The longer the economic shutdown lasts, the more reluctant the world’s consumers will be to spend, period.” The hospitality industries- travel and leisure, cruise lines, hotels and casinos are being reshaped as this continues. Bryant speaks of the changes he sees already happening in fitness and education industries as well as pointing out there will be new opportunities for those who have a vision to look outside the box. (My words, not his.)

In his closing statement, Bryant makes the following statement: Faced with uncertainty or disaster, humans respond by trying to strengthen their communities.” While that is a statement which many may agree with, I believe there is a strong caveat that needs to be added. Humans can only respond with efforts to strengthen their own communities when they are not facing the fundamental imperative of survival. And as Bryant states, the longer it lasts the more reluctant we become. The constant barrage of negativity from the media, the bombardment of the death toll, the inability of state governments to respond to jobless claims and the heavy burdens the restrictions place in the “name of the public good” and to break the back of the virus, are just burying the survivors.

We are, as humans, hardwired to seek connection. Study after study shows that people, especially, infants fail to thrive when they are deprived of human touch. Social touch is a powerful force in human development, shaping social reward, attachment, cognitive, communication, and emotional regulation from infancy and throughout life^[i]. Yet, the social isolation, imposed loss of identity through job loss, unrelenting stress triggers, and continual uncertainty by politicians and fear mongers who continually move the “cheese” as we run through the maze, just exacerbates the deleterious effects on each of us.

As a clinical and stage hypnotist and motivational speaker, I make my living by changing peoples’ focus. Sometimes I am helping them move past a debilitating trauma, other times helping them to forget the pressures of life as they immerse themselves in the insanity of a comedy hypnosis show, but in all cases, what I am doing is simply changing their present focus. I am taking them out of their “head” and moving them into a present moment or experience. David Snyder (@davidsnyder) a respected authority on Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) defines hypnosis as moving from one state of mind to another with a change of absorption and focus. The more absorbed you are, the more focused you are, the deeper the trance you are in.

And it is this deep trance that has been created by the constant beat of the drums, the actions of the media and politicians, to keep us hypnotized so that we cannot take those important steps of clearing the fog from our minds and begin the process of rebuilding our lives, our community and nation. I saw a meme recently that spoke more truth that most are oblivious to – “Quarantine is when you restrict the movement of sick people … Tyranny is when you restrict the movement of healthy people.”

Sadly, people will die from this virus. How many more are going to die or be destroyed by the trauma, isolation, stress and anxiety that is unrelentingly heaped upon them as this continues without end? How many will die from alcoholism or drug abuse or depression and suicide brought on by the impact of hastily imposed actions in what was originally an honest effort to protect society? This is not about right or left, about Democrat or Republican. No, it is far more important than that. It is a recognition that in order to recover, we must wake up now and be able to answer the fundamental question that I asked at the beginning of this article WHO ARE YOU?

If you would like to know what it would be like to move past the stress, anxiety or fear and can imagine what it would like to live in the present and learn more about how I can help you move past these feelings, I invite you to reach out to me and see how hypnosis can help you or to schedule an interview by using the link below. It is time to start moving forward and rebuilding our lives … Isn’t It?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hypnotist, Author & Motivational Speaker, Marc Marshall

Marc Marshall is a certified clinical and stage hypnotist, medical hypnotist and certified mind-body specialist, author and motivational speaker at the New Jersey Hypnosis Center in Summit NJ. He specializes in dealing with trauma, sexual trauma, pain, medical hypnosis and works with clients to empower and teach them how to improve their lives through hypnosis and mindfulness practice. For more information or to schedule an appointment or interview, email info@hypnomarc.com or visit his website – www.hypnomarc.com

[i] Social touch and human development

Carissa J.Cascio^ac DavidMoore^b FrancisMcGlone^bd

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2018.04.009

#hypnotherapy, @chrismbryant, @davidsnyder, #covid19, #Coronavirus, #pandemic, #anxiety, #NLP, #hypnosis, #marcmarshall, #quarantine, #hypnotherapy, #democrat, #republican, @govmurphy, @jonbramnick, @ReopenNJ,@tomkean, @njdotcom, #americaworkstogether, #americastrong, #godblessamerica, @realdonaldtrump, @stevehiltonx, @lauraingraham, @seanhannity, @judgejeanine, @jessiebwatters, #covid19, #coronavirus, #hypnosis, #masshypnosis, #fear, #stress, #anxiety, #obesity, #marcmarshall, #newjerseyhypnosis, #newjerseyhypnosiscenter, #njhypnosis, #hypnomarc, #health, #stress, #hypnotherapy, #hypnotize, #covid19hypnosis

April 8, 2020April 8, 2020Interesting

We Are Witnessing The Greatest Mass Hypnosis Of All Time

Yes! You read that right – We are witnessing the greatest mass hypnosis of all time. Three weeks ago, I released a video on my vlog channel, Hypnosis Hangout, where I talked about the end of the world as we know it. That message was specifically directed at hypnotists as a wake-up call to start making changes to the way they do both stage and clinical hypnosis. What I missed at the time of that video were the signs of an event that even the best hypnotists in the world didn’t even see and are still missing.

In hypnosis, we know that the state of trance hypnosis is achieved in only one of two ways; either overload of the central nervous system, or fatigue of the nervous system. The current Covid19 crisis has created both of these conditions and as a result, it has caused the most suggestible state that a person could ever be in. Whether by design or accident, the result is the same, it is the transformation by the formation of this trance, that our futures are being shaped and we don’t see it or are so tranced out that we don’t care.

Please understand that I am not talking about conspiracy, although there will be many others that do. I am simply observing a phenomenon that I see every day in my work as a clinical hypnotist to help people change behaviors or my work on stage entertaining people by having them engage in a host of zany and fun skits. They hear what I am saying, they understand they are doing the things I ask and willingly do so. In both those situations, I am using my skills to bypass what is known as the critical faculty of the conscious or rational mind and move right to the subconscious mind. It is the subconscious mind that truly controls all of our behaviors and since this is now open to the continued suggestions by the constant messaging, people are being forever changed.

Let me pull back the curtain a bit on how this process works and show you what has happened and is continuing to happen in this current emergency. Many of you have witnessed what hypnotists call an instant or shock induction. These are the dramatic inductions that many stage and street hypnotists use to induce a trance state (hypnosis) in their volunteers. It literally takes just a few seconds for this to happen. What the hypnotist typically does is cause a firing of that portion of the brain known as the amygdala. We literally hijack the amygdala which is responsible for the “fight/flight/freeze” mechanism of our bodies. It is in this split second of time, that the subconscious mind is looking for a program that will provide an appropriate response. Nancy Moyer, MD., describes it as “When stress makes you feel strong anger, aggression, or fear, the fight-or-flight response is activated. … It happens when a situation causes your amygdala to hijack control of your response to stress. The amygdala disables the frontal lobes and activates the fight-or-flight response.[i]” It is this most basic of instinctual responses that is responsible for our survival as a species. It is caused by the release of cortisol, a powerful stress hormone.

There are several extremely critical parts of this phenomena of amygdala hijack that are the essence of what I am seeing and which concerns me. As stated above, the amygdala disables the frontal lobe of our brains. The frontal lobe is the part of the brain that controls important cognitive skills in humans, such as emotional expression, problem solving, memory, language, judgment, and sexual behaviors. It is, in essence, the “control panel” of our personality and our ability to communicate.[ii] We lose our ability to make rational judgements, our stress increases and dramatic physical changes take place in our bodies. Most importantly, we become and remain highly suggestible in this highly aroused state. Our subconscious minds are seeking to find that “program” that will free us from this threat and we take that cue from the perceived leaders.

Language matters and the language of this coronavirus epidemic, is truly concerning. It is concerning not just because of the fear and uncertainty that it is stoking, but the amazing subtleties of language that are being introduced and nuanced in the process. We have heard the experts and the media speak of concepts of herd immunity and social distancing. The unspoken message is striking here! The masses are no more than a herd that can be shepherded into controlled behaviors. We have willingly and without question given up fundamental rights and liberties. We are told that we need to do this for the protection of the community until we develop a herd immunity. And since our frontal lobe judgement has been shut down by the stress and trance state we are in, people are generally unable to access their problem solving abilities. And people take the solutions they are given by the “experts” because they are paralyzed by uncertainty. They are, in every sense frozen.

The rapid spread of this pandemic, was the “shock” induction into this hypnotic state. The continued uncertainty. the loss of lives, jobs, forced isolation, fear created by the infection numbers and death count is creating a type of fractionation, what hypnotists commonly refer to as a deepening of the hypnotic state through continual wakening and reinduction of trance. We are being fatigued by the numbness of isolation, the restriction of the very activities that would counteract the harmful physical effects of constant stress and reduce the cortisol loads in our bodies. People can no longer access walking and running parks because state, county and local municipalities have closed them. These are the very activities that physicians know reduce stress, increase immune responses and most importantly improve our overall ability to physically, emotionally and spiritually deal with the pandemic.

Our children are isolated, afraid and stressed. They will carry the scars of this experience for the rest of their lives. Their very sense of safety and security has been shaken. It is now more important than ever that we reduce the stress and fear. Medical experts speak to us about the increased risk factors that place those infected with Covid19 at greatest jeopardy. These factors include, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. These are the very things that result from high cortisol levels. High cortisol is also responsible for increased anxiety, increased irritability, rapid weight gain and muscle weakness. These are all conditions that can be counteracted by increased activity and responsible use of our open spaces.

As a clinical hypnotist, my job is to help people find a path to improve their lives and resolve the traumas that have crippled many of them. I will continue to help them deal with pain, both physical and emotional. I continue to help them find those resource states that will empower them to be an even better version of themselves. And while this truly may be the end of the world as we know it, I sit here today fully confident that I will continue to help people be better. I know, without any doubt, I will continue to help people to love and laugh again, and to deal with the challenges of this pandemic.

Every hypnotist knows these words are true: “What the Mind Conceives, the Body Achieves.” I believe that we have a unique opportunity to be an even better version of ourselves. I believe that when we all awaken from this imposed state of hypnosis, that we will do so with a new vision, a new resolve and a new understanding of how amazing we can be. 1! 2! 3! WIDE AWAKE!

**Hypnotist, Author and Motivational Speaker**

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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[i] Amygdala Hijack: What It Is, Why It Happens & How to Make … (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/stress/amygdala-hijack.

[ii] Frontal Lobe Anatomy & Pictures | Healthline. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/frontal-lobe.