Inner Wanderings ~ Janet Dwinells ~ Nov 1 2019
Did you know that you can have a conversation with your subconscious? And it has much it wants you to know.
Like, how to release some old angry energy you’ve been holding onto from a nasty old neighbor in your childhood, or what that right ankle pain really wants to tell you. It’s amazing how much wisdom it has for your life.
Your Subconscious is Your Friend!
Many people think of the subconscious as the bad guy, the enemy running the show, filling us with fears, and nightmares, holding onto dark shadow energies, addictions and unhealthy habits. But I’m here to tell you that your subconscious is really your friend. It wants to be an ally so it can help you heal your life. Its mission is to release the shadow energies so you can look at them and heal them.
When we start listening to our bodies and our dreams, through which the subconscious speaks, we can have a conversation with the depth of our soul and uncover healing resources we never knew existed.
An Overview of Hypnotherapy Techniques
Direct Suggestion (Clinical Hypnotherapy)
Medium to Deep Trance State. Directive: Gives an order to the mind. Do this. Very Effective
Secret Process (Neurolinguistic Programming -NLP)
Reframing. Client doesn’t talk, nods are used. Therapist doesn’t know what’s going on inwardly for the client.
Metaphorical (Ericksonian Hypnosis)
Milton Erickson created this form of hypnosis using metaphor. Non-threatening. Often uses amnesia to bypass the conscious mind.
Interactive Process (Alchemical Hypnotherapy)
Medium trance state. Conscious mind stays available. Emotions come up. Therapist engages with the client asking what is coming up and uses therapeutic processes to transform energies. Not for children. You need an adult self to do this work.
Imagination and the Right Brain
Alchemical Hypnotherapy is based on the understanding that it is within the client’s own subconscious mind that we can do the inner work of transforming habits, inner personalities, beliefs, and fears to effect emotional, mental and even physical healing.
It is a different form of hypnotherapy using an interactive process in which the client is in a light trance. state. The conscious mind is relaxed enough to allow access to the subconscious mind but the conscious mind is always available. It is like being in two places at the same time and the client is always able to choose to return to conscious awareness. Just knowing this, allows the trust necessary for a client to allow the deeper access into the interior realms.
Since the subconscious speaks in the language of symbols, feelings and memories it is helpful to have someone to guide you so that you can interpret the session afterwards (never during).
The therapist simply acts as a guide through the landscape of the subconscious mind and helps the client traverse the unknown terrain safely and with a light to guide them. If a past memory of something fearful comes up the therapist can make it safe for the client by removing them from the scene and having them watch what is happening as if in a theater or even behind plexiglass. The beauty of subconscious work is that in your inner world, anything is possible. You can even bring along a sacred guide or spirit animal to walk with you on your journey.
I always tell people that this is their journey and that whatever comes up for them is exactly what they are supposed to work with at that time. There is nothing I have not seen and it’s most important not to censor anything.
For example, one time when I was the client, I had a severe headache. During my process I noticed there was a bear in a cave in my head. Well that’s kind of a strange thing to say and my conscious mind certainly can’t make any sense of that but I knew the importance of working with the symbols so I said, “Well this is really strange but there’s a bear in a cave in my head.” After coming out of the trance, I realized that this bear stood for introspection and that I needed to honor his place in my mind. He was now a symbol for me to remember to go inside, meditate and honor him. My headache was gone when I came out of the trance and now I had a power animal to guide me into meditation.
I also tell people to think of this as a dream. It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, it could just be a metaphor helping them to understand what it is they need to recognize. "Trust your subconscious and your subconscious will become your ally." As Edgar Cayce said, as you honor your intuition, more will be given. I truly believe that as we pay attention to our inner guidance, we activate its helpfulness gene to connect us to more wisdom.
Many times, it is our bodies that speak to us and we work extensively in Alchemical Hypnotherapy with this as well. Our subconscious speaks to us through our bodies, with memories of past hurts and traumas storing themselves in certain parts of our bodies. I often use gentle massage and energy work to trigger emotions or past memories that need to be released.
One time I was working with a client and she had an ache in her thigh. As I began gently massaging it her entire leg shot up straight in the air as tight as a board and a memory of a trauma came bursting from her. As we worked through transforming the trauma her jaw began to ache. With gentle touching of her jaw her mom came to her and she remembered a time when she had not been allowed to speak her truth. I had her go into that moment and speak her truth to her mom (out loud with emotion and honesty). When she was done her jaw and thigh were back to normal and she felt empowered for finally standing up to her overbearing mom.
Alchemical Therapy Toolkit
Etheric Plan Communication: is one of the practices that we rely upon, which was demonstrated in the previous example. This allows us to communicate honestly with another without face-to-face confrontation. According to David Quigley, the founder of Alchemical Hypnotherapy, the etheric plan is “a universal ocean of feeling which unites all beings through their emotions and subconscious images.” It is part of the collective unconscious that Jung speaks about and to which we all have access. We can even complete communications by crossing the borders of death.
Running and Changing Incidents: So much of the work we do is rewriting the past. This tool involves returning to a past incident (this life or in a past life), allowing yourself to run that incident, sometimes with your energy involved and sometimes as a bystander watching the scene. As you do, you have the ability to change the outcome. In one past life I returned to, I actually rewrote a vow I had taken back then in which I had promised to take care of my husband forever. Well forever is a very long time and this vow was clearly affecting my present life. So I rewrote that vow and was finally able to get the divorce I wanted. That one vow was holding me back from being the woman my soul needed me to be.
Emotional Clearing: This is a huge part of this practice and can be frightening for some. I remember one rather large man who came to work with me and after I described emotional clearing he was sure that when we were done I would not have an office left. I assured him he would express himself safely and he did. Often times it is touching the heart and although that can be scary, the work is done in unconditional love and acceptance. Most times releasing these pent up emotions is the first step to healing your life.
Inner Child Work: I would venture to say that most of us have unresolved issues from our childhood and this is often holding us back in the world. We are often seeing life through the lens of our child, instead of our adult self. Connecting with our inner child and making it safe for him/her to come out and speak it's truth is key to creating a healthy ego-self, which is necessary for soul work.
Developing Resources: I will always make sure you discover a resource that you can take with you to embody that empowerment in the future. It may be a totem, a gift, a color you resonate with, a symbol, a power animal, a feeling, a song, a word, or whatever your subconscious chooses. This is your process from beginning to end. My role is to make sure you are safe along the way, and to make sure you come out empowered at the end.
Conference Room: is a technique we use to listen to and create agreements between our inner personalities. It's based on Robert Assagioli’s work in Psychosynthesis. Understanding the voices in our heads, where they came from and how they are impacting our lives is key to clarifying our own true beliefs and values, and not allowing others to rule our lives forever.
Let me help you release the blocks and transform old stagnant energies, habits, belief systems and wounds into empowering resources so you can move into your future with new energy and commitment. Join the conversation!
Janet Dwinells, MA, CCH
visionkeeper.com