On January 2nd, 2020, I was really excited to start the year with a plan in place for getting done all the things I hadn't been able to do in my business during the almost three year break I had to take. However, it wasn't going to be quite as simple as I thought it would be. Sometimes life just gets in the way!
By mid-January, we started to hear about the pandemic that had found it's way here from China. When it started no-one, myself included, thought this would ever last all year. In March we were hearing that people had started dying and we were told those over 65, especially if you had a secondary condition, were affected the most and, the older you were the worse it was probably going to be. Then we heard that we had to take specific precautions to stop it spreading. This was real!
I’m 79 only 6 months from turning 80 and have COPD so if I came into contact with anyone who had it or they could be asymptomatic and not know, it would be very easy for me to get it too and maybe end up in ICU, even on a ventilator, which if I remember correctly started happening to people around that time.
All I kept hearing was don’t go out, don’t go anywhere, it’s too dangerous for you. I watched intelligent women go from feeling confident and powerful to being mired in fear and anxiety and they wouldn’t go beyond their own front door. Was I going to allow that to happen to me too? I have six teenage grandchildren, I certainly didn’t want to die.
I listened to all the experts, I researched how I could keep myself as healthy as possible, added Vitamin D and Zinc to the regime I was already taking and, I gave my children instructions about what I wanted them to do if I was unlucky and I got the virus. Then guess what…….I didn’t allow fear or anxiety to get in my way. I became my own client.
I was never afraid of this pandemic from day one.
I’ve been a certified clinical hypnotherapist, success coach and NLP practitioner as well as a stress management counselor for nearly 30 years teaching people, women mainly, how to decrease stress and overcome fear and anxiety. I was now in a position to be very grateful for all that training and all the work I continue to do myself every day. If I had not known how to walk my talk, so to speak, I too might have been one of the women who got mired in fear.
I learned about breaking down the areas of the mind when I was training to get my certifications back in 1990. It was a year-long training that included many different aspects of the mind and how it can affect us on all levels both psychological and physiological. I know that it’s possible to create pain in your body with your mind but not realize that’s what you are doing. It’s the same with stress, fear and anxiety, it’s all created in your mind. The body/mind connection is very powerful.
You may have already heard this but sometimes lessons bear repeating. Your mind works on two levels: The conscious and the Unconscious. Your conscious mind, which represents 10% of the brain, retains and remembers the events and feelings of approximately only the past one and a half hours. Your subconscious, which is actually split three ways, holds memory from conception to present day and this is what runs your life but much like an iceberg you may not be aware of this.
However intelligent you may be, however logical you think you are, your subconscious is bigger and much more powerful than your conscious mind. This 90% has no filter system and has been taking in every message of any kind all your life. It’s also where your belief system is created and it basically runs your thinking and the actions and results you achieve in life.
Until you learn how to become very consciously aware and stop that chatter box in your head that often tricks you, it continues with the same messages over and over and it can make your life a positive or negative experience.
Changing Thinking and Habits
Although now I primarily work with women over 40, who want to redesign their lives so they become the authentic self they were born to be, I’ve taught many hundreds of men and women how to let go of fear and anxiety, how to increase self-confidence so they build successful businesses and how to create their own power so they have successful relationships and lead lives that they love.
Hypnosis is a very deep form of relaxation that allows me to have access to the subconscious area of the brain which is where old messages are changed. I’ve helped people to change negative thinking, so….was I going to take my own advice or do what everyone else was doing and become afraid. What do you think?
I decided I was not going to become a prisoner in my own home. Once I made the decision it was a done deal! If I want to go out, I put on a mask, take sanitizer with me and off I go. To the market, the bank, to get gas and wherever else I need to go. I visit my children so I see my grand-children and wherever I go I do social distancing.
I even see one client in my home office because he prefers that and since it’s someone I’ve known since I was in private practice 25 years ago, I’m not concerned about him coming here. He’s been tested and we take very strict precautions.
One of my favorite things to say to myself is, “I am the me I choose to be. I choose to be a magnet for everything positive and I stay healthy.”
For nearly 30 years I’ve been coaching people how to create success in life and in business and often added hypnosis so changes could be made faster. Now of course it’s very easy to coach clients and do hypnosis on Zoom. I am a clinical hypnotherapist not a stage hypnotist. You won’t get to act like a chicken. Sessions are to help you with whatever it is you want to change.
There are dozens of behaviors and habits that can be changed with hypnosis. When I was diagnosed with fybromialgia back in the 90’s, I found that pain meds. Just made me loopy so I used hypnosis and meditation to alleviate pain and I still do this.
I’ve gone with clients who were afraid of surgery, into the operating room until they went under anesthesia, then I leave. I’ve worked with couples who didn’t know how to communicate, teenagers with ADHD who had challenges focusing.
I’ve helped people to stop procrastinating, release excess weight, decrease stress, change self-limiting beliefs, overcome fear of open spaces, take tests successfully and conquer fear of speaking in public. I’ve even waited in the wings of a theater to help actors to overcome stage fright.
I’ve helped people with cancer to go through chemo without having any nasty side effects. It's really amazing to help people go through one of the hardest things in life and to know that they are kept more comfortable while doing it. (I create recordings they can use throughout each session of chemo. This is custom work.)
Your mind has more power than you would ever know and if you are going through any kind of challenge, coaching with hypnosis allows you to become consciously aware of your thoughts so that you can immediately change them before they take hold. I'm very grateful to have seen so many amazing changes happen for clients over the years, often when they had given up and thought nothing would work.
Now my life goes on! Things may be different but I only look at the many positive things that haven't changed. Remember everything is about energy so whatever thoughts you have that's what you will attract. My suggestion of course is that you always do your best to think positively so that you create a life filled with possibilities.
I invite you to register for the free EBook, The Power of Positive Thoughts. You will also receive the Weekly Wisdom on Mondays to jump start your week. Additionally, I offer a complimentary 30 minute Zoom or phone discovery session that you can use for anything you choose.
“I have been doing hypnosis with Hazel for a couple of months now. I was totally skeptical about the whole hypnosis concept and really didn't believe I could be hypnotized. Not only can I be hypnotized, but it really works!!!!! I have made great strides in my personal growth since working with Hazel. She really knows what she is doing. If you have any areas in your life where you are stuck or insecure, please give Hazel and her amazing skills a try. You won't be sorry you tried something new. Hazel is also a certified business/life coach, with so much knowledge and experience behind her, Hazel is truly a gem among the rest. Thank you Hazel.” Heather Priamos. Owner, Secret Garden Hair Studio, Studio City, CA