THE POWER OF NOTHING

By Dr. Philip Holder

NOTHINGNESS

            In Taoist philosophy (Lao Tsu / Tao Te Ching) it is said that “a truly good man does nothing yet leaves nothing undone. A foolish man is always doing yet much remains to be done”. As hypnotherapists, we know one thing that will prevent significant depths of hypnosis from occurring (possibly any hypnosis at all) is if the client “tries” to be hypnotized. In fact, one of the most difficult concepts for people in western culture to understand is that of “doing nothing”, yet for hypnosis to be most effective, this is exactly what we need.

            You can greatly enhance your success rate by having a plan in place to teach your clients how to do nothing. This may sound simple but the fact is that most people have no idea of how to do nothing. Our culture promotes the idea that to be productive we must always be doing something. Without prior “nothingness training” most clients will either try to think themselves into hypnosis, or they will try to help you in other ways (by listening attentively to you etc.). Trying is a product of the conscious mind. Hypnosis is achieved by encouraging the conscious mind to step aside so that we can make suggestion to the subconscious mind, without that message first being filtered through the conscious mind. It follows then that anything that would bring the conscious mind back into play will deteriorate trance. Therefore, the person who tries to go into hypnosis will not.

            Before inducing hypnosis I ask my clients if they are ready to go to that special place within their minds and make the positive changes they have come to me for. Sometimes the reply is “I’ll try”. I’m sure that most of you have received that same response at one time or another. How do you answer that statement? Do you say great lets get started? If you do, you just shot yourself right in the big toe. Try is the disciple of defeat for a number of reasons. In this particular instance it is because trying requires conscious thought process. My response is… “Oh no, I don’t want you to try. What I want you to do is enjoy. Let me do all the work. That’s what you paid me for. I want you to take a trip without leaving the farm. I want you to enjoy a massage for the mind. I want you to take a mini mental vacation and leave everything to me”. It is important that your client have permission to do absolutely nothing.

THINGS CLIENTS NEED TO KNOW

            Your clients need to know what you mean by doing nothing. Here are some analogies and examples that may be useful in explaining it to them. I won’t go into the full dialogue that I would use with my clients because that would be too lengthy, but you’ll get the idea and then you can add your own personal touch.

1.  Massage Analogy

Dr. H: Have you ever been for a massage?

Client: Yes

(Note: If the client says no ask if their spouse, significant other, mother, pet goldfish etc. has ever rubbed or scratched their back for them. You’ll likely get a yes from that.)

Dr. H: Well, when you were getting massaged, you didn’t stop to think, deltoids relax, now bicep relax, all right now quadriceps relax. You just zoned out and enjoyed the massage and before you knew it you were deeply relaxed. That’s what I want you to do today.

2.  Beach Analogy

Dr. H: Do you like the beach?

Client: Yes

Dr. H: I want you to recall the last time you were relaxing peacefully at the beach. You know… When you’re lying there in the warmth of the sun drifting away into a dreamy state of mind. There may have been hundreds of people around you talking or playing in the sand but to you they only registered as background noise. If someone were to have said to you, “What did that person next to you just say”, you probably couldn’t have told them. The sounds around you simply weren’t important to you. That’s where I want you to go today.

3.  Permission NOT to listen with the conscious mind:

            Often client’s think that they must be listening attentively to get the message. Here is what I tell them.

Dr. H: I’d like you to know that you don’t have to listen to me. If you hear every word I say that is fine so long as you are not “trying” to listen to me. If you don’t hear me, that is fine too. Your subconscious mind will always hear me. Do you have kids?

Client: Yes

Dr. H: Well, you know then, that you could be in the deepest sleep at night, and if a car horn beeped out on the street, or someone was talking outside it wouldn’t disturb you. But if your child whimpered in the night you’d be out of bed in a flash… right!

Client: Right

Dr. H: That shows you that your subconscious mind doesn’t miss a thing. It’s always on duty. So you don’t have to listen to me in the conventional sense. Your subconscious mind will always hear me.  I want you to simply enjoy this like a mini mental vacation. Just enjoy. Pay no attention to me.

(Note: If the client doesn’t have kids I’ll go back to an example like the beach. When you’re zoned out, all of the people around you become background noise, however, if someone yelled “Shark”, you’d jump right up… Right!

Client: Agrees

LETTING GO

            In western culture we are generally schooled that when something goes wrong we ask what else we can do to make it better. I suggest instead that you ask what you can let go of. What is it that is causing the conflict in your life? What burden are you allowing upon your shoulders. What barriers have you placed in your own path? Rather than adding more clutter, you need to get rid of that baggage. What you need to do is to peel away the layers of the onion until you get to the heart.

            We humans love our stuff. It can be material possessions or emotional baggage. Often when our stuff has no purpose in our lives we still hold on to it. I guess that’s why you see $40,000.00 cars sitting in a driveway while the person’s garage is full of worthless junk that he or she just can’t part with. We do cling to our stuff.

            The key to opening up to our full potential is in nothingness. It comes by letting go of all that which tethers us to the place in which we find ourselves “stuck”. As long as your client thinks he or she has to do something they will find only limited success at best. Rather than taking on tasks within the session, they must accept that it’s okay to simply let go and enjoy. Encourage them let go and allow their imagination to be their guide. Like when they were children and a cardboard box could easily become a car, a train, or a rocket to the moon. That is the part of them that will give them great power. Prepare your client to do nothing, and everything they ever dreamed up will become available to them.