The Transparent Hypnotist

Let’s get philosophical today. After reading about the esoteric robbery and hearing various peoples’ thoughts on forums and such, where do we stand with our views on hypnosis and mind control. Most therapeutic hypnotists say that one cannot be hypnotized to do something against one’s will.

The question is:

Do you believe in mind control, that someone else can control another person’s thoughts, actions and reactions?

Answer this however you desire. It can have hypnosis undercurrents or blatant NLP processes…or not.

For me, I would like to believe that one could break any sort of manipulations if one desired, so no, I do not buy in to ultimate mind control. Others can manipulate you, but once you are keen to this and do no longer want to be “controled,” it may take a little while, but you can get out of it.

Your turn.

Yesterday, we discussed what to do with large files and how to get them to others via the Internet. Paul provided another source, which is helpful because choice is always good.

This got me to thinking about large files and the idea of backing-up data. Because I do keep digital files (both video and audio), it starts to take up a lot of room. Currently, I have external hard drives at home and at the office for these (I have heard that by burning them to CDs or DVDs degrades the data). But you know what, this is such a pain! Sure enough, I will be working at home in the early mornings and need something that is on the storage drive at work or vis versa.

So, I have been looking for a larger solution for this and may have found one in a backup site online called Anytime@Anywhere. They offer different storage options for various size needs. The files are also encrypted, so they are pretty secure. This is done on the client (mine or yours) machine so not even Anytime@Anywhere has the passwords. And they are Mac (and most operating system) compatible.

I am going to try their free trial and see how it goes. Feel free to also try Anytime@Anywhere offsite backup. I would like your take on this as well.

Perhaps this would make a better section on the blog entitled “In the News,” but I am not so sure this story involving hypnosis truly would deserve such a label.

Apparently this week in Marlborough, New Hampshire (this would have been more fun if it had been Marlborough, Massachusetts) there was a robbery involving hypnosis. So, if you were anything like me, upon hearing the subject of the story, you might have said to yourself something that would involve the notion that “well, you can only be hypnotized if you want to be,” blah, blah, blah.

Read on. I found a fairly in depth article about it from a local New Hampshire station. Click here to read it and see the surveillance footage. Turns out the robbers did some handy, dandy little magic tricks and a bit of blackmail, along with a dab of hypnosis to convince the owner of the convince store to hand over $1000. They had told the owner that they were guruji, a form of Hindu priests and could read his mind. With what sounds like a fairly normal parlor trick (I had a waiter show me this on a cruise once) and probably some NLP knowledge, they were able to convince the owner that they were mind readers. It is not clear in the video what was actually said (bummer), so it is hard to tell. I guess they gave enough suggestions and NPL to convince the the owner he wanted to give them the $1000.

Any thoughts?

My last task today is to send out a few audios to various clients. The biggest issue with audios is that they are typically larger files than most email programs can handle. And even if you can keep them under the 10MB that most programs allow, these files can really bog down email.

I have found a solution (other than burning a disk, printing a label, printing a mail label, figuring out postage and sending). It is a file sharing site that can handle files up to 500MB, and has free storage for up to 2GB (a jiffy back-up system if you do not have one for your computer). The site is called Driveway.com and they offer a variety of services that are pretty handy (most for free). Sadly, since I am a Mac user, I cannot utilize the plug-in as it is for Windows and such, but if they ever do a Mac version (hint, hint, hint), it would be terribly useful. Basically, you can click a few things and it uploads the file without registering, etc. There is also a desktop widget available for various Microsoft programs, as well. This means that others can directly edit data stored on driveway via browser using standard Microsoft Office applications.

So why do I bother, you wonder? Ah, simple. They have web widgets that work on web sites and such. All I have to do is give a particular URL to my clients and presto, they can download the file. This is great for generic audios. Otherwise, you share files through a browser interface.

Driveway.com also makes collaboration on large projects possible. There are options to “Send Files for Read” or “Send Files for Edit.” This is valuable when you are dealing with others on things like manuscripts, marketing campaigns, and who knows what else.

But use it wisely. With great power comes great responsibility (okay, I will stop with the movie puns).

And that’s is that. I am spent. See you tomorrow.

I am going to sit here, write some more, and hold onto to the credit card just a bit longer to make sure all those things am I about to buy on the Internet (for the office, of course) are really good choices. I have a hazelnut flavored coffee and all seems well. How are you doing? Has it been a good Friday for you?

Hopefully you will indulge me a little more in the lucid dreaming area. I am going fullspeed into this. Are you with me?

I have actually seen this mentioned a couple of times, but it seems like good advice. It is the idea of planning for lucid dreams. This could only enhance the experience and concrete the idea a little more. This is not scheduling it (but we have already covered ways to increase the likelihood of lucid dreaming), but knowing what to do once you get there, realize you have a certain awareness and can participate in the dream experience.

The question is, what will you do once you are there? Apparently, for newbies like me, it is very easy to come out of the lucid dream state just by the realization you are in it and not quite knowing what to do in the circumstance. So, it is good idea to have a plan of what happens next once you are aware.

So, what would you do? Or what do you do?

Would you fly? Would you turn day into night or vice versa? Would you turn the dream into a musical?

Me? I would look for a body of water and walk across it. Not to be blasphemous here, but I have always been fascinated by that idea.

But what would I do the moment after realizing I was an active participant? I would probably try to fade into the background and just observe.

How many of us have, during the course of our pre-talks, done the “try” to shake my hand routine? And of course when the client goes to shake the hand, we say that is “doing,” not “trying.” We do this to make a point when our clients say, “I’ll try…to be a non-smoker (etc.).” There is no try, either there is or there is not.

When discussing this with my partner one evening, in high wisdom, he emulated our favorite wise-one, Yoda, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

How fabulously perfect. So, for a while I have been known to quote Yoda rather than shake hands. And it is always fun to see who is a Star Wars fan, and who is clueless. Their eyes either light up, they think I am crazy, or they think Yoda is akin to Socrates.

So, at gift giving holiday times, I find myself collecting Yoda figurines and such. But, I have found something wonderful that trumps even the most detailed figurine (excluding the handmade sculpture I received from a young client, nothing beats homemade).

In looking for a theme for a special “child’s-view” office, I have found a center piece. I have found the Yoda monument. Yep, a fiber glass monument that stands 27 inches. And one could say it is an investment for the practice (it is part of a limited edition of 1000).

I found Yoda at a place that sells really cool toys at low prices. If you do cater to children at all, they have some interesting things from electronic toys to the ever-necessary Legos (they aren’t just for client kids, you know - they can be a great stress reliever).

Do not let the name of the site fool you though - shoplift.com. They cater to hobbies as well, and have some interesting arcade-like games and pinball (even we serious types need an outlet). I am still trying to work out a pinball induction. Let me know if you have any ideas.

Now I just have to decide on the rest of the furniture.

Okay, this dream recall thing is strange. Do you have it down or do you still find them sliding away in the morning like they never happened at all?

This week I have played with a variety of techniques and have found a few to be helpful. So, I thought I would share them with you. If you have any others, please feel free to mention them.
Steps for Recalling Dreams

1. When you awaken from a dream, do not turn over. This apparently causes the mind to also turn away from the dream. I cannot find the direct citation for this, but know it was in some Association for Research and Enlightenment materials.
2. Play the dream back in your mind immediately. Do not let other thoughts get in the way of this.
3. Playing the dream back should be the first thing you think about before anything else. Keep the mind focused. I sort of put this in here twice because it is key to the process.
4. Write down the dream immediately. More will probably be recalled as you write the dream down.
5. Do not stress out about it. The more you try it, the easier it becomes (so they say).

Time for a night cap and I am thinking seriously of heading off to bed as soon as possible. It has been a long day and my eye has been bothering me. Nothing more fun than bright car lights in the dark and a light-sensitive pink eye.

Slowly but slowly, we have gotten more in depth with the concept of lucid dreams. On the last lucid dream post, we discussed using auto suggestion to help create a lucid dream. We may also want to use auto suggestion for dream recall.

Now what does dream recall have to do with lucid dreaming and why is it an important skill to develop if you want to lucid dream? Intellectually dream recall and lucid dreaming seem to go hand in hand, but I have had a hard time understanding why. Now I know. According to the Dream Institute, dream recall helps one’s conscious mind to be in sync with the dreaming (subconscious?) mind. Apparently one has a whole different world of people, places, and feelings in the dream state. By recalling these, your conscious mind or the mind that reasons will be more present in dreams. When in the dream state, while experiencing the dream, you will now be more apt to recognize the unfamiliar (wait….what?). Darn it, I almost had it. I am tired. Maybe it does make sense but I am too tired to understand. Or perhaps this post is part of a lucid dream. Hmmm. My hands still look the same (could use a little hand cream, but yes in fact, they are mine).

Okay, enough. To Bed I go. Goodnight.

Every now and then you may notice that I arise even earlier than my normal coffee time. Some times I stay awake and get a lot done at home. Sometimes I go back to bed. It is often when I do this that my dreams are odd and vivid. This seems to be pretty normal.

From what I have read, it is this condition, the idea of getting up earlier than your normal awake time, becoming lucid in normal consciousness and going back to bed that provides great opportunity for lucid dreaming. This is one of the techniques The Dream Foundation gives for having lucid dreams.

Other suggestions they give include using auto-suggestion before falling asleep. This is probably similar or the same as setting your intention. Expect to have a lucid dream. As I dream I am aware that I am dreaming and can consciously do anything I want to do increasing my confidence (or something like that).

Also, I find this an interesting concept, as well (quoted directly):

Perform reality checks as a habit: Always Test First and then Decide when you have even the slightest inclination that you might be dreaming. In this way you won’t miss valuable lucid opportunities. Also, throughout the day, ask yourself as often as you can remember, whether you are dreaming, and perform a test to find out. This may seem silly, but it will carry over by habit to the dream state, and you will be very glad (for once) when you find that your check has bounced! The best test is to read some text, look away and quickly look back. If the words change - you are dreaming! It helps to try to get the words to change. A digital watch is excellent for this. If there is no text nearby, look at your hands for a good 5-10 seconds to see if they appear wavy or odd in any way - as they most often do in dreams.

Interesting stuff!

The other problem children? The one I think most of us deal with in one way or another is those wanting hypnosis for weight loss. Now, I have complete and utter empathy here (’cause I love food). There are so many factors with weight issues. Now these people, so far, have never really been hateful, though I hear a lot of self-loathing.

There seems to be two camps when it comes to weight loss hypnosis or just weight loss in general - how one measures the results. Some say to measure the waistline and such and others prefer scales. I tend to go with the one the client feels the most confident with, but add a lot of codicils (muscle causes weight gain, women can bloat up to five pounds or more a month at various times in their cycle and so on).

So, I have been looking at scales for the office. I am rather infatuated with a particular brand at scalesetc.com. These are Phoenix line bathroom scales from My Weight. They do have ones that talk, but I think that might be unnecessary for the office. Not only do they show body weight, but they decipher body fat percentage and water percentage. In my mind this takes care of the muscle and water retention issue nicely. Oh, and they have a lifetime warranty in the US (thought I might say the UK, didn’t you?).

A quick note about these, though. If have clients using the scale that have certain implanted medical devices such as a pacemaker or have one yourself, using a body fat scale is not recommended. The scale may cause interference with the device. So, I think a traditional non-digital scale is a good thing to have as well.

Another useful tool for clients who are dieting (weight loss, weight gain, diabetics, etc.) are the food scales. Not only do they give the actual weight of food, but by using an index and punching in the code numbers for various food items, the scale can tell you exactly how much fat, salt, calories, carbohydrates, cholesterol, and proteins are in that item. This can be a real weight saver in the diet planning stages…and if you have one at the office and are working with weight loss clients, you can always have a few things to demo to give them an idea about what they are ingesting (compare a candy bar to a few grapes).

Scalesetc.com also offers other digital scales, as well, including postage (hand for those of us with merchandise that gets shipped out) and pocket scales (you can measure that grape at a restaurant).