Later on this year I will be celebrating my 40th Birthday. On that day in August I am going to post a picture of me in just a pair of shorts. Not because I have finally lost the plot or because I am attempting to get a modeling contract and appear on the front page of Men’s Health magazine, but because I want to prove that I achieved something that I set out to do prior to being 40… Having a six pack.
On that day, I am going to write up and present, completely for free, everything that I did to achieve it in the 12 weeks I am allowing myself – diet, exercise, supplements, psychological processes, the lot.
There, I’ve done it. I’ve gone public. I am holding myself accountable.
One issue I face is that as a marathon runner, my running usually creates a lot of cortisol, the stress hormone, which makes it more difficult to get a particular physique. You never really see runners looking like they have muscular six packs. The elite runners tend to have no fat on them and so you can see the stomach muscles, but they are not similar to those on display with the cast of the film The 300… But pah! Maybe I am just offering up an early excuse….
I’m going all out and have planned it for a while. I am not running currently due to injury and so am doing a different exercise regimen that includes very little cardio and I have started a particular dietary regime yesterday which will take me on through the next 12 weeks and onto my August Birthday date. I’ll not be mentioning this again until then.
Today I thought I’d (albeit prematurely) share one of the psychological processes I am doing using self-hypnosis to help make the changes. It combines some classic ideas with a couple of my other favourite processes from related fields. Though it contains a number of core principles within the mental imagery, this process has no evidence base outside of my own subjective experience and my limited experience of using it with clients.
With my own penchant for sci-fi, this process is made easier and more attractive a session for me. If you are unfamiliar with themes and images that occur in sci-fi films and TV shows, then you’ll need to imagine holographic images and control panels which if you have no previous reference of, you can simply invent and create in your own imagination. The rest is self-explanatory, I recommend you read it all through a couple of times prior to actually doing the session.
Here we are going to use self-hypnosis, go into space and make some changes while there. The drifting into space is part of inherently altering perspective, which is important when attempting to change or update your internal perspective of your own body.
Simply follow these 7 Steps for Outer Space Body Shaping:
Step One: Get yourself into a comfortable position and one whereby you are going to be undisturbed for the duration of this exercise. Make sure your feet are flat on the floor and your hands are not touching each other.
Then in that position, induce hypnosis.
You can do so by any means you desire or know of. You can use the process in my Science of self-hypnosis book, use the free audio we give away on this website to practice or have a look at the following articles as and when you need them; they are basic processes to help you simply open the door of your mind:
Heavy Arm Self-Hypnosis Induction Method
Using Eye Fixation for Self-Hypnosis
The Chiasson Self-Hypnosis Method
Hand to Face Self-Hypnosis Induction
Using Magnetic Hands for Self-Hypnosis
The Coin Drop Self-Hypnosis Induction
However, with this process, an induction is potentially too much activity, so I teach my clients how to adopt a hypnotic mindset and simply have a mindset that is positive and expectant. Again, to really understand the cognitive set of the hypnotic mindset, go grab a copy of my Science of self-hypnosis book where it is explained in simple but comprehensive terms.
Once you have induced hypnosis, move on to step two.
Step Two: Develop a heightened awareness of yourself. Become aware of your body, the sensations within it, your breathing, and just observe yourself in this moment. Don’t try to change anything, just watch and observe yourself in this moment. Become so aware of yourself that you can imagine what you look like in that seated position that you are in.
Then imagine that you are watching yourself as you relax in that position. When you are aware of watching yourself as you relax in that position, as if you are seeing yourself from the outside, then move on to the next step.
Step Three: Now as you look at yourself start to float upwards and away from your body, leaving it there in the chair.
Leave the building your body is in and as you float up, imagine going deeper inside your own mind and all the time going higher. Start to notice the surrounding area, notice the life going on and the movements of traffic.
Then start to notice more of the landscape as you travel higher. Start to see the larger land mass and even the coastline as you travel higher, you see less detail of the streets and more of the general surrounding area.
As you float higher, move through the clouds and beyond the atmosphere and take all the time necessary to float up and into space until the entire planet Earth is there is front of you that you can look at in all its beauty and magnificence.
Notice the colours of the planets, the clouds around it and see it from here in space. Spend all the time necessary to do this step in a thorough and enjoyable way, making sure that you notice the different perspectives as you move further away from that point where your body remains. As you float imagine you are getting lighter and lighter.
When you have done this, move on to step four.
Step Four: From this place in space, totally removed from the planet Earth, viewing the earth and all the life that exists within it from this place in outer space, start to imagine you are sharing and benefiting from the wisdom of the universe. That you are gaining insight, wisdom and perspective from being here in space for a while.
You can then start to think about things you wish to achieve; the size, shape and weight you wish to be.
Here in space, start to imagine that moving towards you is an object and as it draws closer, it looks like a high-tech satellite with a screen of some kind with a range of lights, indicators and switches on it and around it. It is a thin unit with a large screen.
As you look at that screen, a light beams from the top of the unit and scans your body. The light gathers up precise and exact details of your current physiological make-up. Once it has moved through and scanned you in full, move on to the next step.
Step Five: Having scanned every facet of your being, the unit begins to compute and make some noises and then an image of your body flashes up on the screen. It is a holographic image with a grid overlaid on it.
The words, “touch screen to edit blueprint” are flashed upon the screen.
As you reach out and move nearer to the screen, you can move your fingers over and around the holographic image to alter and reshape it. You start to edit, reshape and develop this holographic image. You remove any unwanted excesses, add contours to exactly how you’d like your body to be.
Take all the time necessary to develop and create the ideal, realistic body shape that you wish to achieve. Imagine that as you make changes, your mind is becoming more aware of this becoming a realistic way of you perceiving yourself and you find yourself believing that this is more and more achievable.
As you do that, you notice that the screen is computing and developing a programme of some kind, it is building a code that represents the kind of attitude, level of activity, appetite and thought processes that accompany this body. It has all the ingredients required for this kind of body to be realised.
Once you have created the body and reshaped it exactly how you wish it to be and the computerised screen has finished creating the code, then move on to the next step.
Step Six: As you step back and look at what you have created, the words “step inside” flash up onto the screen.
So you float forward and step inside the screen and step inside the holographic image. You see through those eyes, hear through those ears, feel with this heart. You step into the shoes and become that image of yourself that you created earlier. As you do so, you feel for a brief moment a flash of light and sensation running through you as the code is inputted into your brain, and the blueprint of how this body is gets inserted into your mind. As you look around you and move in this body, you notice the screen and computerised satellite unit has disappeared and all that is left is you wearing and being inside of your new body. You move in it and feel how it feels. You notice your thoughts, attitude and approach is that of the owner of this body. Get used to it and enjoy it for a while here in space.
Equipped with that insight and perspective, you now start to return to your place on the planet in front of you. Take all the time necessary to move all the way back down, through the atmosphere and towards that place where you began. Do it thoroughly and at a pace you are comfortable with. As you float back down, you bring with you all the learnings and lessons, the new approach, the new attitude and your mind brings with it the new blueprint of how you choose for your body to be.
Believe in it. Believe in your ability to achieve this. Learn how it fells to have this body. When you arrive back in the chair where you began, move on to the next step.
Step Seven: Once you return to your body, start to feel your own sensations and wiggle your finger and toes, get a sense of where you are, take a couple of deeper, energising breaths and open your eyes to bring the session to an end.
Have a good think about what insights and wisdom you brought back with you and choose to take some action in relation to that. Start to think of yourself as being very close to achieving that desired outcome for your body and start to allow that image to inspire and drive your behaviours from here onwards. Believe that is who you are choosing to be and start to behave, think and feel like that is who you are.
I’ll be back soon…
Have some of themes here resonated with you? Then have a read of these pages:
1. Do you need help or support in a particular area of your life?
Coaching with Adam Eason Or Hypnotherapy with Adam Eason
2. Would you like a satisfying and meaningful career as a hypnotherapist helping others? Are you a hypnotherapist looking for stimulating and career enhancing continued professional development and advanced studies?
Adam Eason’s Anglo European training college.
3. Are you a hypnotherapist looking to fulfil your ambitions or advance your career?
Hypnotherapist Mentoring with Adam Eason.
Likewise, if you’d like to learn more about self-hypnosis, understand the evidence based principles of it from a scientific perspective and learn how to apply it to many areas of your life while having fun and in a safe environment and have the opportunity to test everything you learn, then come and join me for my one day seminar which does all that and more, have a read here: The Science of Self-Hypnosis Seminar.
