
When I look at something, when I hear, smell, taste or touch something I have to keep reminding myself that it is I who is creating what I perceive. My brain is deciphering the electrical signals it is receiving into the the thing I see, hear, smell, taste or touch. If our eyes were designed to see X-Rays imagine the kind of world we would perceive! The same goes for the other senses. Our five senses are designed to only allow a very narrow frequency of wave to be perceived by our brains making it impossible to be aware of anything outside of this field of ‘vision’. It is as if we are looking through a pinhole at the world and through this narrow perspective we live our lives oblivious to all that is not accessible to us through our five senses.
Coupled with this narrow perspective are the feelings we attach to everything we see, hear, smell, taste or touch. The fuchsia bush outside our window is not just a bush with hundreds of red drooping bell shaped flowers. It reminds me of my mother. The taste of strong sweet coffee reminds me of my father. The smell of the sea reminds me of Dun Laoghaire Pier in Ireland. The sound of leaves rustling in trees being blown by the wind reminds me of walks through Kimmage Manor in Dublin. The feel of brushed cotton reminds me of bed sheets I slept on as a child.
Everything we see, hear, smell, taste or touch is firmly grounded to our experiences in the past so instead of looking through a pin hole now our perception is further limited by the past which no longer exists but continues to influence our perception in the now.
Imagine then how the perception of someone who has been traumatised is affected by their experience in the past. Imagine how limited the perception is of someone who has been abused physically or emotionally or both. Imagine the connections to the past traumatic event they are subconsciously making to everything they see, hear, smell, taste or touch in their present.
Analytical Hypnotherapy is an effective way to sever these limiting connections to the past so that people who were traumatised are once again able to function without being paralysed by what they experienced in the past. The experience is not forgotten but merely filed away as any other experience is so that it no longer remains open to activation each and every time the person sees, hears, smells, tastes or touches something that reminds them of that past trauma. The sound of footsteps, the smell of after shave, the sight of toothpaste in the sink, the touch of a stubbled chin from a kiss, or the taste of porridge can just be that rather than the horror they once reminded them of. It is the past that colours our pictures of the now but we can control which connections we choose to hold on to and which to release.
For more information and to find out how we can help you resolve issues from your past which control your present why not book a free initial consultation by contacting Setanta Hypnotherapy Clinic.
Hypnotherapy to Change Self Perception by Xavier and Mary Nathan
Links to Related Articles
The Three Windows of Perception: Past, Present and Future
Hypnotherapy as Antivirus for the Mind