Hey Friend!

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrases:

“What goes around, comes around.”
“Treat others how you’d like to be treated.”
“Judge not lest you be judged.”
“Everything happens for a reason.”
“The karma bus always arrives on time.”

Lately, I’ve been contemplating the spiritual idea/natural law of karma, trying to understand how best to navigate my life to create more balance, joy and peace.

In his phenomenal book, The Seat of the Soul, Gary Zukav, suggests, “When you choose wisely and responsibly while you are angry, judgmental, etc., you enter into the evolution of your soul consciously…Karma is not a moral dynamic. Morality is a human creation. The universe does not judge. The law of karma governs the balancing of energy within our system of morality and within those of our neighbors. It serves humanity as an impersonal and universal teacher of responsibility.”

For example, someone “that takes advantage of others creates an imbalance of energy that must be righted by the experience of being taken advantage by others.”

Looking at karma as energy that needs to be balanced, offers a clear way of understanding the idea that what we put out into the world comes back to us; Zukav writes, “the soul must balance its energy. It must experience the effects that it has caused.”

Therefore, every choice to be more compassionate, accepting or loving, provides the karmic exchange of positive energy. And, of course, every cruel, selfish and hateful choice provides the karmic exchange of negative energy that needs to be balanced.

Zukav offers 3 ways to become more consciously aware of your karmic exchanges:
1. Journal on these questions: How many times this last week did I feel angry, resentful, betrayed, superior, inferior, etc. and acted on that emotion? Have I ever said, “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?” Write down examples. How many times have I felt hurt and wanted to hurt the person I felt was responsible? When something doesn’t go my way, do I look for the lesson or do I play the victim?

2. Implement a monthly Week of Kindness: Go out of your way to see how you can be friendly and kind to people that you encounter during the week. Extend this kindness to people you talk to on the phone, email, or write. Then notice how you feel and what effects you notice in your life.

3. Practice non-judgmental justice: When we judge, we create negative karma. Non-judgmental justice is a perception that allows you to see everything in life, but does not engage your negative emotions. Non-judgmental justice relieves you of the self-appointed job of judge and jury because you know that everything is being seen–nothing escapes the law of karma–and this brings forth understanding and compassion. So, practice seeing what you see and experiencing what you experience without responding negatively.

These exercises help us become more aware of our responses to life, and they remind us that everything we say and do carry consequences for ourselves and others.

To help you further, here’s a quick Hypnosis Recording on Karma and practicing non-judgmental perception. Grab your headphones and listen below:
Conscious of Karma

Every moment is an opportunity to consciously be more of the change we’d like to see in the world. A keen awareness of karma calls us to be more responsible and compassionate, for as Zukav writes, “when you understand that your experiences are karmic necessities, you are less likely to take them personally–to react with anger, righteous outrage, judgment, etc…creating fewer painful and more joyful experiences for yourself.”

Much love and happy editing,
Robin

Hey Friend!

I’m currently experiencing a lull in business productivity. I haven’t been on social media much over the past few weeks, and I haven’t been creating much content.

Instead, I’ve been reading books, visiting with friends, going on day-dates with my husband, and taking long walks. I’m not going to lie, it’s been hard at times to enjoy this downtime, I often feel the sharp pangs of urgency, restlessness, and guilt that I’m not doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

This isn’t surprising to me. We live in a society that sees productivity, as a measurement of worth, success and goodness.

But, is being unproductive really even possible? I mean, after all, we are always doing something. Even sitting down doing nothing is doing something, right? So, why is that labeled good or bad/right or wrong? And, really, isn’t a person’s doing ultimately a personal thing, unique to each of us?

It’s up to each of us to decide then, whether binge watching TV on the couch is a restorative act of self-love or an act of self-sabotage.

Consider also, who’s voice is in your head when you are taking some downtime? According to whose rules or standards are you judging the success of your life? Are your actions derived from a place of rejuvenation, joy, alignment and growth or are your actions a form of avoidance, keeping you from the life you desire? How do you know for sure?

Marlee Grace’s book, Getting to Center, offers relatable and easy to follow advice for incorporating ease and aligned work into your life. Here are two of her valuable insights:

NOTICE HOW “DISTRACTIONS” SHOW UP
While Grace’s book will never shame anyone for watching mindless or “trashy” TV, as she recognizes that “distractions often serve to protect our overworked minds,” she does argue that, “we must stay committed to the daily maintenance of our lives off the screen to share our findings at a slow and non-urgent pace…to stay in rather than drop out.”

In order to determine whether your action is actually avoidance, ask your self these questions:

-Is there some big other commitment to self I said I would do today that I am avoiding?

-Am I using this distraction because I don’t want to face myself?

-Is this distraction a pivot moment where I get to relax and find pleasure before returning to my work?

Depending on the answer, the “distraction” might actually be a nourishing time for you to recharge or an opportunity for you to overcome the distraction (instead of reaching for your phone to scroll social media, call a friend, go for a walk outside or do some journaling instead to break the cycle of avoidance).

TAKE THE GUILT OUT OF GUILTY PLEASURES
Consider giving yourself full permission to just experience pleasure. Grace writes, “Rejuvenation for me is just about paying attention to my own rhythms, bodily and mentally. When I am going too fast or too slow. Listening to my body and mind in terms of what it needs…to rejuvenate is to say what is and to say what isn’t and to not hate myself on the journey of finding it all out.”

Here are some ways to rejuvenate:
-Sauna
-Bath
-Go be alone somewhere
-Take a trip and not work for 3 days
-Go be with other people somewhere
-Pray (follow Anne Lamott’s 3 prayer ideas from Help, Thanks, Wow, pray to ask for help, be grateful or be in awe)
-Go outside
-Be intimate with a partner or yourself
-Create art
-Do nothing

Getting to Center isn’t anti-productivity, but it’s a way to consciously manage work and ease into our lives without guilt or shame. Instead of telling people to find balance, Grace prefers to say get “back on the beam.” She writes, “We will always get knocked off, and we may get knocked off when we least expect it. You might picture the beam where gymnasts do amazing tricks. They flip and spin through the air, and then, with a mix of luck and skill, they stick the landing in their sparkly leotards and throw their hands up…I’ve built tools into my life to help me get back on the beam faster…And if we don’t stick the landing and instead break both ankles and crumple into a ball, we’re going to figure out how the hell to start over again.”

I’ve been focusing my self-hypnosis practice on extricating my worth from my doing and focusing on what makes me feel calm and most alive. I’m going to make this the focus of our upcoming Group Hypnosis recordings. If you’d like to be added to the list to receive this and any additional free monthly hypnosis recordings, click here or comment below saying “add me to the list.”

I hope you find the tools to help you honor your cycles of productivity, combat shame or anxiety when you need rest, and bust through avoidance to face what needs facing. And, through any ups and downs, may you “get back on the beam” stronger and more energized than ever!

Happy editing,
Robin

Hey Friend!

As the weather warms up and we find ourselves venturing out more and more into the world, I’ve noticed an increase in advertisements for fad diets and calls back to gyms so we don’t miss out on our Hot Girl Summer. In other words, “Diet Culture” is back in full swing.

Our society is OBSESSED with weight, and, not surprisingly, the diet and weight-loss companies have become a $71 Billion dollar industry. There is money to be made from you hating your body and forking over your money for the products and services that are guaranteed to “fix” you.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been hyper-aware of my weight and body image since I was a teenager. Growing up in the 90’s, the ideal “it” body was one described as “heroin chic,” a super skinny, bony,  and pale body. But now, I’m at a point in my life where I just want to be free from what poet, activist and transformational leader, Sonya Renee Taylor, describes as “body terrorism.” I’m ready to try another way.

In Taylor’s book, The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-love, she offers these questions to help you uncover some hidden or not so hidden beliefs about bodies:
– Do I believe it’s okay to be bigger, just not too big? How do you define “too big”?
– Do I make assumptions about people’s health based on their weight?
– Do I believe that healthier bodies are better bodies?
– Do I use the word fat pejoratively to describe myself and others (including internal dialogue)?
– Do I believe that being fat is fine for others, just not for me?
– Do I believe fat people could lose weight if they just tried hard enough?
– Am I afraid of becoming fat?
– Do I dislike my own fat?

Taylor continues, “If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have some internalized fatphobia to work on. Here’s the good news…of course you do! It would be a feat of supernatural proportions for you to grow up in a fatphobic society and not have internalized fatphobic ideas.”

Taylor argues that the only way to defeat diet culture is to practice radical self-love for our bodies. To help combat hurtful ideas and beliefs about bodies, Taylor suggests a few important changes:

Make Fat Familiar
“Become familiar with the lives and experiences of fat people. Are your bookshelves lacking fat protagonists…Who are the fat heroes or heroines on your television…are they empowered or do they spend their lives chasing thinness…how about your social media feed…You are better positioned to challenge fat bias and weight stigma when you have proximity to the lives of fat people.”

Actively Disrupt Fatphobia and Weight Stigma
“Intuituve Eating and Health at Every Size (HAES) are two alternative models for moving us away from diet culture and toward providing your body the nourishment and care that are best for you.

Know Your Body Shame Origin Story
To root out shame, we have to know where it resides in our minds. I’ve adapted an exercise from her book into a healing self-hypnosis session:

Get into a deeply relaxed state and then “recall your first memory of body shame; it’s likely that your story would have at least one of the following:
-Developed in your youth*
-Was a response to rapid or unexpected body change*
-Occurred when you became aware of difference*
-Led you to assume there was some “should” about your body*
-Was reflected or enforced by familial, social, cultural, and political messaging and systems of body-based oppression*
-Was attached to a story or belief about your value and worth in the world”*

Once you’ve identified the story, hold onto the memory and the feelings that come up and give yourself some healing. There are a variety of ways to do this; you can comfort Little You in that memory (give her a hug, explain why she didn’t deserve that, etc.), you can confront the bully/offending person(s) on Little You’s behalf, you can flood the memory with forgiveness and compassion until the memory loses its emotional charge, or you can let the past memory go and visualize yourself being joyful, having fun and looking great exactly as you are now (this helps build feelings and beliefs of worthiness). Remember that the self-hypnosis session is happening in your mind, a place of endless possibilities, so give yourself a healing in whatever way feels right for you. Repeat this exercise often. See what daily actions you can take to feel happier and more loving towards your body. You can also listen to these guided self-hypnosis recordings from our Group Hypnosis sessions on Body Confidence and Forgiveness and Letting Go.

Remember, YOU have the power radically love yourself exactly as you are. You deserve health and vitality, and true health comes in a variety of different shapes and sizes. There is not one way to look or be. By creating new neural pathways of thoughts and beliefs that reinforce your worth and value at any and every size, you break free from the pain, shame and “shoulds.”  Wishing you lots of joy and love in your amazing and powerful body!

Happy editing,
Robin

Hey Friend!

I talk a lot with clients and friends about busyness and burnout, because they tend to go hand in hand. And, I’ve found that because, culturally, we tend to judge a person’s success and value based on what they “do,” it goes without saying that we overbook and overexert ourselves in a mad rush to constantly try to measure up, to be good enough, and to be worthy.

Best-selling author of Do Less, Kate Northrup, writes, “It’s recently come to my attention that I have a habit of, or perhaps even an addiction to, proving my worth through constant activity…

How many meaningful conversations in the car with my husband have I not had because I was checking my email for the twentieth time that day?…

How many breaths have become shallow from being caught in the spin of constant activity?…

How many precious moments of stillness have I missed because I feared what might come up during the pause?”

Northrup offers the following list as signs you might be addicted to busyness:
– As much as you crave white space on your calendar it also gives you anxiety.

– You notice yourself checking your phone obsessively throughout the day, particularly when you are tired, overwhelmed, or anxious.

– More than once, a close friend or family member has said something about your compulsion to engage with your phone or computer and how it affects your relationship.

– When someone suggests that you relax and do nothing, you say to yourself or out loud, “What the heck does that even mean? What do people do when they do nothing?”

– When you do find yourself doing nothing, you feel guilty that you aren’t being productive.

– You mentally tally the number of productive hours you’ve had at the end of the day and judge how you feel about yourself by how full your day was.

– You find yourself “complaining” about how busy you are while simultaneously feeling proud of having so much on your plate that you can barely breathe.

– You say that you’re too busy to meditate, move your body, nap, hang out with your girlfriends, make love, prepare healthy food for yourself, or go on dates (with yourself, your spouse, or new people).

In our busyness, we’ve subconsciously created behavior patterns and habits that make our busyness feel “normal,” while making downtime and rest feel uncomfortable and unfamiliar–hence, we resist it. Only by creating new habits and behavior patterns can we break free from the pull and overwhelm of busyness.

5 New Habits/Practices to Help You Slow Down, Use Your Time Effectively and Feel More in Control of Your Day
1. Schedule at least one engaging and fun activity that you can do every single day. Put it on your To Do list and treat it as a priority. This way, attending to your needs and desires, no matter how small, becomes part of your daily routine. Also, this communicates to your subconscious that your needs/wants/desires matter. To help with this, take this affirmation through your daily hypnosis practice: I make space for what matters most.

2. Don’t over-commitment to social engagements. Time with friends and family is important, but when you spread yourself too thin, these engagements begin to feel taxing and draining. Learning to say no, without guilt or shame, will help to create healthy boundaries for restoration and downtime, keeping your social events about connection rather than obligation and/or resentment. To help with this, take this affirmation through your daily hypnosis practice: I am at my best when I am rested and recharged. It is safe for me to take a break.

3. Create more space in your day by learning to work more efficiently. Perhaps, you can batch calls and meetings so that you’re not switching gears all day long or you can make tasks easier to complete by getting a handle on your perfectionism. Brené Brown recently posted this quote, “Perfectionism, the 20-ton shield we lug around hoping it protects us from experiencing judgement, shame and blame, when all it really does is keep us from being seen, and it’s heavy AF.” It’s important that we know our limits and allow ourselves to complete and let go. To help with this, take this affirmation through your daily hypnosis practice: Being is just as valuable as doing. Downtime is valuable time.

4. Wake up naturally on your own, without an alarm, as often as possible. To help with this, take this affirmation through your daily hypnosis practice: My creativity is fueled by rest.

5. Start or end the day with a 10 minute hypnosis recording:

Along with helping to reprogram your subconscious mind, this practice will also help manage stress and deepen your breathing. It’s important to our health (mind, body and soul) to quiet our mind. A hypnosis practice will keep you grounded, relaxed and motivated. Consider this hypno-affirmation for your practice: Doing less allows me to have more of what matters in my life.

I hope you find the time to practice doing less of what overwhelms you and more of what brings you joy, presence, connection and peace. Remember, working with the subconscious will help you stay aligned with what really matters to you in your life–helping you stay more aware of patterns that deplete your energy.

Change takes time, but showing up as your most aligned and rejuvenated self deserves a spot on your calendar!

Happy editing,
Robin

Hey Friend!

I don’t know about you, but time seems to be flying by these days. Summer is upon us, and now is a great time to regroup, reassess and realign. I’d invite you to journal on or ponder these questions:

– What goals did I set for myself back in January?
– Did I accomplish or am I close to accomplishing my goals?
– If not, what resistance is coming up, and what is that resistance telling me?
– Am I still in love with my goals? Do I need to pivot?

One thing that I’ve noticed about my “goal-setting process” is that I often get really attached to the outcome; I feel “pressure” in my body and myriad negative feelings when things don’t go the way I wanted.

In his book, Letting Go: The Pathway to Surrender, David Hawkins, MD, PhD, exposes how harmful those attachments can be to us and how that pressure and those negative feelings thrust us into a vicious cycle of Suppression, Expression and Escape:

Suppression – “The feelings that we select to be suppressed or repressed are in accord with the conscious and unconscious programs that we carry within us from social custom and family training. The pressure of suppressed feelings is later felt as irritability, mood swings, tension in the muscles of the neck and back, headaches, cramps, menstrual disorders, colitis, indigestion, insomnia, hypertension, allergies and other somatic conditions.”

Expression – “The expression of negative feelings allows just enough of the inner pressure to be let out so that the remainder can be suppressed…[but what really needs to happen is] the repressed impulse or feeling [has] to be neutralized, sublimated, socialized and channeled into constructive drives of love, work and creativity.”

Escape – “Escape is the avoidance of feelings through diversion. We can avoid our own inner selves and keep our feelings from emerging by an endless variety of pursuits, many of which eventually become addictions as our dependency upon them grows. Enormous amounts of energy are required to keep down the growing pressures of suppressed and repressed feelings.”

When we feel pressure and the negative feelings that come with it, we need to get it out, neutralize it and let it go. So, how do we keep from suppressing our feelings? How do we let go?

Hawkins asserts, “Letting go involves being aware of a feeling, letting it come up, staying with it, and letting it run its course without wanting to make it any different or do anything about it. It means simply to let that feeling be there and to focus on letting out the energy behind it.”

“The first step is to allow yourself to have the feeling without resisting it, venting it, fearing it, condemning it, or moralizing about it. It means to drop judgement and to see that it is just a feeling…Let go of wanting to resist the feeling. ‘It is resistance that keeps the feeling going’…a feeling that is not resisted will disappear as the energy behind it dissipates.

His book encourages us to live in a surrendered state, “free of negative feelings in a given area so that creativity and spontaneity can manifest without opposition or the interference of inner conflicts…it allows us to experience the basic nature of the universe, which, it will be discovered, is to manifest the greatest good possible in a situation.”

Lately, I’ve been practicing letting go and surrendering outcomes. I’ve been using it in my hypnosis practice, and it’s been helping abate that “pressure” feeling. Here’s something that you can try during your next self-hypnosis session:

– Focus on an area of the body that feels tense or focus on a negative feeling that’s coming up.

– Get curious about the tension or the feeling.

– Ask it questions, like where did you come from, what are you protecting me from (remember, the subconscious is always trying to keep you safe, even if it’s actually harmful to you)?

– Really feel the emotion or pressure.

– Visualize it dissipating. Break it up with bright healing light, light it on fire and watch it burn to nothing, blow it up with a glitter bomb, pour some “love peroxide” all over it and hear it fizz into nothingness.

– Then feel the weight of the pressure and feelings lessen, feel the lightness, the freedom, the happiness, the peace that fills that space now. Sit with that peace and that lightness for as long as you want, and then open your eyes.

Keep in mind that you may experience some resistance to letting go. No worries, Hawkins reminds us that it’s normal and usually a sign of a limiting belief in the subconscious. Have you heard any of these sayings before:

– “We only deserve things through hard work, struggle, sacrifice and effort.”
– “Suffering is beneficial and good for us.”
– “We don’t get anything for nothing.”
– “Things that are very simple or easy aren’t worth much.”

To help you break up these limiting beliefs, it helps to focus on your deservingness and enough-ness. Perhaps your Hypno-affirmation for the month can be:
-I am worthy of a beautiful life.

-I deserve to feel good in my body

-I am in control of my reactions, I am resilient

-I easily and effortlessly feel my feelings and let them go—my feelings do not control me

-I let go of the outcome and focus on doing my best each day

-I am so grateful for all the blessings in my life and I am open to receiving more

Let’s start the summer right, by letting go of the pressure we put on ourselves and of the negative feelings we’ve “Suppressed-then Expressed (but not neutralized)-then Escaped.” Sure, goals are great motivators, but it’s real easy to get attached to those future outcomes and, in turn, miss the other possibilities all around you.

Much love and happy editing,
Robin

Hey Friend!

Did you know that 95% of your thoughts are repetitive? And, of the 60,000-80,000 thoughts that we think per day, 80% of them are negative and focused on our shortcomings.

If our thoughts are negative, two things tend to happen:
1) we focus only on the negative thought to the exclusion of everything else
2) negative thoughts have harmful effects on our bodies; negative thought patterns cause our breath to quicken, forcing the body into “fight or flight mode” and causing the secretion of cortisol to mobilize the body for action. Chronically increased cortisol levels wreak havoc on our mind and bodies.

Therefore, it’s imperative to be aware and in better control of your thoughts. In her article, “Personal Strategies to Reframe Your Negative Thinking,” psychologist Norma Lent Auerbach offers a list of the most common negative thoughts. Scroll down the list and see which negative thoughts might resonate with you:

-I’m a failure.
-I’m not pretty.
-I’m not handsome.
-I’m so dumb.
-I never have enough money.
-I can’t do that.
-I’m damaged.
-I’ll never be a success.
-I missed my chance.
-No one likes me.
-What if I fail?
-I’m so fat.
-I’m ugly.
-I’m not good enough.
-I’m not talented enough.
-I don’t know what to do.
-Nothing ever works out for me.
-I’m destined to be single.
-What if I get hurt?
-I’ll never get it.
-I’m such a loser.
-I can’t do anything right.
-I don’t deserve that.
-I’m not worth it.
-Something’s wrong with me.
-It has to be perfect.
-It’s too late for me.
-I’m so unhappy.
-I’m too picky.
-Life is hard.
-I can’t forgive myself.
-They won’t like me.
-I suck at this.
-I hate dating.
-I’m too shy.
-People will laugh at me.
-I’ll never be able to do this.

It’s CRAZY that we think some of these negative thoughts on loop over and over again every. single. day. Think about how much these thoughts might be holding you back, stuck in limiting-beliefs. Yikes!

Luckily, due to neuroplasticity, the brain has the capacity to change its structure. YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR THOUGHTS! In her article, Auerbach offers these tips:

Be Aware of Your Thoughts
Keep a notepad handy and write down any negative thoughts that pop up throughout the day. You’ll begin to see your patterns. This knowledge is so useful, as you can now start the process of reframing your thoughts.

Say CANCEL CANCEL or DELETE DELETE
While it takes time to change thought patterns internally, “you can start to immediately shift your perspective. Once you hear yourself repeat a negative comment, say out loud ”cancel, cancel” [or “delete, delete”] to alert your subconscious mind to disregard that thought.”

Change Negative Words/Phrases into Positive Ones
Replace the words that work against you, like instead of saying “I hate ______ ” say “I prefer ______”. And, replace global words like “always” and “never” with a statement like “I’m open to that experience” or “I’ll do it next time.” Same goes with how you phrase sentences: “I’m not good enough” becomes “I’m worthy of love;” “I’m broken” becomes “I’m healing;” “I’m so stupid” becomes “everyone makes mistakes;” “I can’t do this” becomes “I’ll figure it out; It will be okay.”

And, if you find yourself strongly attached to a negative thought (resistance is totally normal, you’ve been thinking some of these thoughts for decades), ask yourself, “What is the evidence for this?” and “Is this always true?” Slowly, but surely, you will start to break down this negative belief and see that it’s actually not the truth.

Keep a Gratitude Journal
A gratitude journal helps you to deliberately focus on positive thoughts and feelings, moving you out of a lack and limited mindset into an abundant, positive mindset. You get more of what you focus on and this is a tool to keep you grounded and open to possibilities.

One of the BEST ways to break negative thought patterns is to change them at the subconscious level, where they live. A daily hypnosis practice will help you feed your new, reframed thought(s) to the inner mind when it is most suggestible. To help you accomplish this, here is a quick 10 Minute self-hypnosis recording:

Positive thought patterns will not make your life perfect and free of any pain or hardship, but they will empower you to take action in the areas of your life that you can control and to be resilient in the areas that lie outside of your control. Negative thoughts close you down to opportunities and possibilities, while positive thoughts open you up. May you live your life to the full!

Much love and happy editing,
Robin

Hey Friend!

I don’t know about you, but I have mixed feelings about social media. As a business owner, sure, it’s a great way for people who don’t know me to learn more about me and my work. And, personally, I love finding cool artists, yoga instructors, activists, vegan chefs and other wellness practitioners through social media.

But there is also a real shallowness to social media and when I consume too much of it, I begin to feel insecure (compare and despair) and guilty for wasting so much time. It’s for those reasons that I purposely limit my time on the platforms.

Jeff Orlowski’s Netflix documentary,The Social Dilemma, exposed the horrifying reality that WE ARE THE PRODUCT the SM companies are selling; our attention, privacy and activity is being tracked, targeted and sold at profit margins never before seen in the history of commerce.

And now, there is a new trend by tech and social media companies to throw around terms like “ethical persuasion.” It’s like a PR campaign designed to mitigate their role in using people’s precious time for profit. In her book, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, artist, writer and educator at Stanford University, Jenny Odell, explains that companies are now working on ways to “make persuasion more ethical…using ‘harmonious designs that continuously empower us instead of distracting and frustrating us.’” She goes on to argue, “I can’t help but ask: Empower me to do what? Good for me according to whom? And According to what standards? The idea that I’ve already lost the battle of attention doesn’t sit right with me, [I’m more] interested in gaining control of my attention rather than simply having it directed in ways that are deemed better for me.”

The more we give away our attention, the more we are pulled away from the people in our communities, from our own independent thoughts, and from our own intrinsic interests. Technology ethicist James Williams warns that the attention economy, “undermines our capacities for reflection and self-regulation, making it harder, in the words of Harry Frankfurt, to ‘want what we want to want.’ Thus there are deep ethical implications lurking here for freedom, wellbeing, and even the integrity of the self.”

In 1997, theoretical physicist [Micheal Goldhaber](https://econreview.berkeley.edu/paying-attention-the-attention-economy/e) asserted that information is not scarce, attention is. At the end of her book, Odell says, “Sometimes boycotting the attention economy by withholding attention is the only action we can take. Other times, we can actively look for ways to impact things like the addictive design of technology, but also environmental politics, labor rights, women’s rights, indigenous rights, anti-racism initiatives, measures for parks and open spaces, and habitat restoration–understanding that pain comes not from one part of the body but from systemic imbalance.” Odell reminds us that limiting our screen time also allows us to make a bigger impact in the world and especially on the people in our community.

As an advocate for and lover of hypnosis, I use my daily hypnosis practice to bring me back to the present moment, where I can control my actions and behaviors. My practice allows me to listen to my breath, feel aware of my emotions, and connect back to this time and this place. From there, it’s easier to resist the temptation of reaching for my phone out of habit.

Here are 5 additional tips I’m trying to refocus my attention and start cultivating greater attention and presence:

1. Stop using my phone in bed. My phone charger is on my bedside table, so it’s convenient for me to lie in bed reading articles, checking SM and perusing the internet. But, I’ve decided to move the charger into the kitchen, starting today!

2. Allow myself to DO NOTHING. I get anxious sometimes, thinking that I have to constantly be working or producing to be successful, but I’m working on that limiting belief…and instead reinforcing the new belief that I am inherently worthy.

3. Go out into nature EVERY DAY and pay attention to what I see, feel and experience. I sometimes walk my dog outside, while staring at my phone! Now, I will practice taking deep breaths, observing the plants and animals around me, and smiling or greeting anyone who walks past me.

4. Set and enforce a new rule: no phones at the dinner table!

5. Make art and play. I’m going to carve out time in my day to play. Today, I will paint and tomorrow, I will practice playing Taylor Swift’s “Cardigan” on the piano.

6. Post and engage intentionally on SM. Because I know that scrolling through social media can put me in a hypnotic trance, I’m very careful to stay mindful of how I feel and what catches my attention. If it feels icky, I sign off and take a break. Likewise, I only post things that I think will inspire or benefit people’s lives.

7. Turn off notification badges on all social media and set screen time limits through my Screen Time app.

I hope this information was useful and worthy of your attention. I feel like most of us are dealing with negative habits and addictions around our phones and, in particular, social media. I don’t know how practical it is to outright quit all social media. I’m not going that far (yet); I think we all have to decide what balances and benefits our lives.

Happy editing,
Robin

You may have sought out hypnotherapy as a last resort to help you quit smoking, conquer your fear of flying, lose the baby weight or cure your insomnia, but you probably stuck with hypnosis because of the little known side benefit of a daily hypnosis practice: you’ve never looked or felt better in your life!

According to the Mayo Clinic, “When you’re under hypnosis, you usually feel calm and relaxed, and are more open to suggestions…hypnosis can be used to help you gain control over undesired behaviors.” A consistent hypnosis practice, in any form, be it daily self-hypnosis, hypnosis recordings or one-on-one sessions with a hypnotherapist, alleviates stress in the body by prompting the relaxation response, and it changes thoughts, habits and beliefs in the subconscious mind through a process known as neuroplasticity.

The Ugly Truth About Stress

Stress, especially chronic stress, wreaks havoc on our bodies and our lives. In a Finnish study published in 2013, researchers found that men find the faces of women, who have higher levels of cortisol to be less attractive than women with lower levels. In Caroline Beaton’s Vice article, “Anxiety and Stress Are Messing With Your Good Looks,” she elaborates on the results of the Finnish study, stating that, “High cortisol levels make individuals appear less fertile, thereby reducing their attractiveness. Stress inhibits sex hormones, and sex hormones influence physical attractiveness.” But, it’s not only sex hormones that play a role in making one appear less attractive. Beaton goes on to say, “Perhaps most alarmingly, stress may impede digestion, thereby inhibiting absorption of vitamins that are essential for healthy teeth, skin, and hair. Stress can even trigger premature aging on a cellular level.”

Furthermore, In the article for NewBeauty magazine, “The Shocking Ways Stress Directly Affects Our Appearance — And How to Beat It,” by Tatiana Bido, New York dermatologist Julie Russak, MD, stated, “At times of stress, valuable vitamins and minerals are prioritized for our body’s vital metabolic processes and the production of stress hormones.” Most alarming in Russak’s statement is the conclusion that the radiance of our skin is not a priority in a body that is riddled with stress. Russak goes on to state that, “Consistently elevated levels of cortisol…[means] we are breaking down and failing to repair tissues, which leads to decreased collagen and elastin production.” Overtime, a stress-filled body reduces collagen and elastin production, which ultimately leads to dull, wrinkled and sagging skin. Stress ages us, messes with our ability to attract a partner and diminishes our beauty.

Lastly, Bido’s NewBeauty article also reveals holistic nutritionist Jennifer Hanway’s take on the negative effects of stress on one’s health. She states, “We are more likely to overeat at times of stress, reaching for foods high in carbohydrates and sugars that release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that makes us feel good.” It’s no surprise that while under stress, we are more prone to crave comfort food as a way to numb negative emotions, but Hanway warns against this coping mechanism, stating, “studies show that women with high cortisol levels tend to store more visceral fat, the ‘deep’ fat stored further underneath the skin and around the organs linked to metabolic diseases and increased inflammation.” Aside from not looking and feeling your best, finding effective ways to alleviate stress in the body really can be a matter of life and death.

Why Hypnosis is the Tool to Looking AND Feeling Your Best

Unlike many other stress reducing tools and modalities, Hypnosis can access the subconscious mind and over time positively change thoughts and behavior patterns. A consistent hypnosis practice optimizes healthy lifestyle changes by creating new neural pathways in the malleable human brain.

Affirmations and helpful visualizations repeated while in a hypnotic state, which is just a theta brainwave state, can motivate you to stick to a healthy eating plan, move your body everyday or feel more confident about your body. By carving out time every day to practice hypnosis, especially when you encounter situations that would typically evoke a stress response and subsequent negative thoughts and behaviors, you combat bad patterning that no longer serves you and you take back control of your life. With this new awareness of thoughts and behavior patterns, a hypnosis practice allows you to make the changes you want, thinking the thoughts that make you feel good and acting in ways that support your goals for your life.

A daily hypnosis practice can shift your attitude and shape how you show up in the world. Che Garmen, creator of the blog, Affirm Your Life, writes, “The greatest beauty secret of all time is simply this — our attitude towards life is reflected in our face for all to see. Our attitudes are reflections of our beliefs. And our beliefs are created by the thoughts we have repeated throughout our lives. We begin to look exactly how we think and feel.” Incorporating a hypnosis practice into your daily routine will help to create more beneficial thoughts and over time to increase your confidence and self-love — and your inner peace and contentment will shine on the outside for all to admire.

So, it turns out that beauty is actually in the mind of the beholder. When searching for the best beauty tool to combat the stressors of our fast-paced world, look no farther than between your ears. Accessing your subconscious mind through hypnosis is an incredibly effective, easy and painless way to access and upgrade your thoughts and behaviors. It’s really as simple as committing to a daily practice (for just a few minutes a day), and before you know it, you’ll look as great as you feel.

As a hypnotherapist and founder of Mind Edit Hypnosis, I love teaching people how to implement a daily hypnosis practice in their lives. The Mind Edit Hypnosis YouTube channel has 3 and 10 minute guided self-hypnosis videos for you to listen to daily (see videos below). Just grab some headphones and close your eyes.

Happy editing,
Robin