I have a confession. I, too, have been brainwashed, and it’s not by some evil cult leader – it’s ME!!!
Each of us repeats our thoughts over and over and we accept them as valid. But they are based on beliefs that we have held or that someone else programs us to believe and the validity might not be proven.
In my trainings to become a Master Hypnotherapist, I learned a lot about hypnotic technique and how it can be used to help someone change their thinking to improve their life. I found hypnosis such a powerful counseling tool that I studied and became a trainer of hypnotherapy. I also learned that some people try to use these principles to change another person’s reality. That’s what we call ‘brainwashing’ and there are a whole host of reasons why that is not a good thing.
Last year, Richard & I walked out of a 4-day seminar on the first day when the seminar leader explained that he was going to brainwash us but only put in good things. Sorry, chum, but you don’t get to do that to me even if I did pay for your seminar! I’m very careful about what goes into my brain! At least he was being honest. [Side note: My angels were with me that day. I went to sit down after a break and felt pushed out of my seat and onto the floor. I turned around expecting that my husband had bumped me and he was not even looking my way. A sign that I was protected! We left at the next break.]
Now here’s the truth about hypnosis. You can’t make someone do something they don’t, at some level, really want to do. If I could, with all my training, don’t you think I’d be working in prisons and rehab centers hypnotizing people to get them to quit crime and drugs? No, hypnosis can’t even get someone to put their hand into an imaginary aquarium holding an imaginary snake unless they really love reptiles! The person on the stage who struts around like a chicken for the stage hypnotist is the same one who, at a party after a few drinks, might put the lampshade on their head and lead karaoke. Some part of them wants to be the center of attention.
But the kind of brainwashing that’s done insidiously brings harm to those who unwittingly believe what they are told, especially when the same language is used over and over and over again so that their brain accepts the repetition as the truth. This is the purpose of so-called ‘talking points’ – say the same words repeatedly and with conviction and the unsuspecting populace will believe it. It bothers me that this modus operandi is being used in the world today and it’s masquerading as ‘news reporting’ and ‘politics.’
But the most insidious brainwashing is that which we are doing to ourselves. We keep telling our story to ourselves over and over and over again as if it is the only reality. In one situation or relationship, we focus on the negative or what’s missing or what we don’t want, and then we keep our attention focused on that by speaking about it.
‘My job sucks.’
‘He is a jerk.’
‘I can’t make any money.’
‘I can’t afford that.’
‘I don’t know how to _______.’
‘She doesn’t understand me.’
‘Nobody pays any attention to me.’
And so on.
We are actually brainwashing ourselves every time we think these thoughts.
STOP IT!!!! Catch yourself repeating a thought and ask yourself, ‘Is this true?’
Think ahead of time what your story is and what you would like to tell yourself instead. Picture what you DO WANT. Then, every time you catch yourself repeating the language about what you don’t want, tell yourself to, ‘STOP IT!!!’ and replace your thought language with the language about what you do want instead.
A little practice and you’ll be de-programmed from the cult of 1!
And ask for help in this if you need it. There’s no shame in needing de-programming after you’ve been brainwashed, even if you’re the only member of the cult.
Now you know.
PS: Please join us today at noon Eastern time as we meditate and activate the energy through this special day and time: Wednesday, 12/12/12 at 12:00. There is no registration for this, just dial in and be there with us!
The number to call is: 1-218-862-1300, and the code to enter is: 143201
Mystic Messages 
The Story is Not the Person! – Richard’s Commentary
April 18, 2013 — Richard“The story is not the person.” And often the story is not the story, at least not the whole story. I think that is one of Rosemary’s points.
I had the great privilege over a number of years to “sit at the feet” of Robert Bly. One of his “lessons” was to examine a story or poem on at least three levels: the concrete, the psychological and the mythical. And even then large swaths of a story can be glossed over or missed entirely.
At the concrete level, the story is never the person. You can’t know much at all from this level. It is superficial at best. To use a well worn cliché it’s like judging a story-book by its cover. I am a great fan of science fiction; I can never guess what a book is about from looking at the typically lurid cover! These days you certainly can’t judge anything from clothes. Styles are all over the map and casual is becoming formal in many venues! For those who are well trained and experienced in sensory acuity there are deeper layers to the concrete level that can be observed. Milton Erickson pioneered the use of body language in his hypnotherapy work and could utilize a subtle movement, twitch or flush to take a patient into deeper trance. And this brings us to the psychological level of the story.
Rosemary’s point that “the story is not the person” is much about this psychological level, the back-story, the underlying elements to a person that are buried behind the external persona. Sometimes this deeper part of the story is hidden even from one’s self. Our layers of beliefs for example are not necessarily something we dwell on to determine our current motivations or reactions to situations. It is this psychological level that gets protected, especially the shadow components of our makeup…and we all have them. Our boundaries protect this area and need that respect Rosemary urges us to observe.
And it is this level that we need to take into consideration when interacting with people. We all have our psychological stories. Some we can feel free and even good about sharing. Some remain hidden, protected behind our walls of privacy. The point here is to realize every one of our encounters with a person involves a hidden layer that needs our understanding and respect. We have our boundaries and they have theirs; let the unrevealed layers be a part of the mystery of the encounter.
It is at the mythic layer to the story where we can have some fun. And I don’t mean to make fun but to be inventive, creative in our approach to interacting with others. At some level we humans are all archetypes; we embody all the mythical gods and goddesses, the legendary figures from history, the stories of golden ages with mythic heroes and heroines from pre-history. Bly’s approach to analyze a poem or a story at the mythic level is to look for the archetypal, the over-arching theme that holds deeper meaning beyond the superficial and even the mental levels; the god-like meanings that underpin the entire arch of the story. And we can apply this approach to our encounter with others. Ask, what part of the greater mythology of human existence is this person playing, in his life, in my life, in the greater context of human evolution!
That’s right! Every one of us is playing a role, our personally designed role, in the expanding story of human evolution, the evolution of consciousness! This is exciting, scary, sobering, even mind-boggling. And it’s true.
So, next time when you meet someone, a friend, an acquaintance, even a stranger, ask yourself what role that someone is playing in the unfolding mythology of humanity!