Albert Einstein once said ¨the only source of knowledge is experience¨.
This world is full of a vast array of things we can do, be or have and when it comes down to it, all we have is experience itself.
An entire life can be built around the idea that to encounter or undergo a particular event or occurrence will fundamentally bring a lasting happiness. This is unconscious in the true sense of the word and because we are innocently doing our best to feel better, it’s totally natural to move away from pain and towards pleasure.
It could be the pleasure of a new relationship, a new car, and a holiday in a beautiful place…or it could be the search for ¨meaning¨ in life: the raising of a family or the building of a successful business built on our genuine values.
Or it could be the search for ultimate spiritual experience. The BAM (Big Aha Moment) where insight trickles down and turns into pure light, bliss and happily ever after.
There is a question that is often asked in the world of coaching: ¨what do you want?¨.
The answers people give such as ¨a new relationship¨, ¨a sailing boat¨ or even ¨enlightenment¨ are almost always, without doubt about one thing: feeling states.
If you dig deeper into the intention behind the desire, it is almost always a feeling in the body.
When you think about whatever it is you desire in your life, ask yourself this question ¨what will/does that give me? ¨. Keep asking that question until you get to the root desire: the feeling you want to have.
Often people find out that what they want in that new relationship is the inner feeling of connection or excitement that they believe they cannot experience in the moment. That sailing boat will bring a feeling of freedom, and experience of ¨spiritual enlightenment¨ will bring them a feeling of ¨oneness ¨ or ¨bliss¨. I have found that fundamentally these are all feelings in the body.
We all look for experience in the world, expecting to find it in objects. People, things, substances… It is true that these sometimes bring a certain measure of relief as we satisfy whatever desire started us on our search. But more often than not, after the honeymoon phase is over and the holiday buzz comes to an end, we begin craving for those states again (and often in addictive ways).
One reason that I became so interested in hypnosis, was the idea that anything that we experience in our subconscious mind or ¨unconscious¨ our body immediately begins to reproduce as if it were totally real. Often in hypnosis, people can begin to feel those profound states of freedom, excitement and union in ways that they can literally only imagine.
Through having ¨inner-mind¨ journeys, you learn in a direct way that wherever you go, you take your mind with you. Through knowing your inner-world of thoughts (the very building blocks of experience) in this personal way, your mind become something truly profound for you…something that stays with you and something that changes your view of what is possible. Actively engaging in this way begins a relationship with your deeper sense of self to the point where you can go beyond simply surface level of experience.
When you have the relief or pleasure (or any other state) that one can from exploring this, you begin to realize something: often our learning in life is thrust upon us; people have deep, life changing shifts in perspective from the trials presented by our circumstances. We learn from hard times and can be tested, time and time again.
And then there is the learning that we choose, first hand…the deeper learning that comes from relaxing and diving deep into our inner experience.
If having new, profound and possibly game changing experiences is something that calls to you, the Experiential Hypnosis sessions that I conduct are the perfect way to begin that journey.
