Have you noticed how many words starting with the letters "Re" have a positive meaning or interpretation? Reset, retreat, relax, reward, restore and recover being just a few examples. These are probably things you associate with self care, wellbeing and generally all the good stuff.
Reframe is a further example that I use a lot with my hypnotherapy clients. In this instance its not just a positive meaning word but quite a powerful therapeutic tool.
This approach is essentially about taking a negative feeling, event or situation and reframing it into a positive empowering belief. I've seen many times in sessions how transformative this can be, bringing an awareness to the interpretation or meaning we are applying to events or situations can really help us make the switch. Some of the examples my clients often use are below;
Nervous - Excited
Procrastination - Motivation
Tense - Relaxed
Anxious - Calm
Fear/loathing - Indifference.
Flipping or reframing from feeling nervous to excited is a brilliant example to illustrate this point with. If you observe someone on a fairground ride from a distance away you see them gripping on tight and screaming. But you can't tell on the surface if those screams are fear or pleasure!
In fact the two emotions present in very similar ways.
Perhaps you have a job interview and the nerves kick in, your breath might be shallow, your stomach jittery and churning, you may even shake with nerves?
Or imagine you have a date with someone your really attracted to and you become excited in anticipation. Your breathing may again shorten, you may get butterflies in your stomach and you may shake with excitement.
As you can see the physical sensations we feel for nerves and excitement are in fact almost identical. Its just in the excited state our mind is opting to interpret the sensations in a positive way.
So maybe the next time you have a pressured situation like an interview or date and you start to experience these sensations, choose to interpret them as excitement. Literally tell yourself "I am excited to be going for this new experience" by reframing the situation you will feel significantly empowered.
If you would like some help reframing your challenges please do reach out to me and find out how hypnotherapy could bring amazing changes into your life.
Liz x
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