Staying calm and making people calm is sometimes harder than you think. A lot depends on the communication around you and how you communicate yourself. Hypnotic communication can help you stay calm
Hypnotic Communication
Hypnotic communication, what is it? First, you can look at communication. Communication is conveying information. You do this verbally, through what you say, and nonverbally, through such things as your body posture and the tone in which you speak.
Then you also have energetic communication. This doesn't necessarily apply to this blog, but it's throwing up what you're talking about.
Hypnosis is another interesting phenomenon. For example, I believe that everyone is in hypnosis. We all believe something different and this is because after you are born in the first seven years you pick up all kinds of suggestions from your parents, your school, maybe a religious institution, your environment, your friends and the culture you live in. This hypnotizes you into a certain person. I am Edwin and believe what I believe in because of all these factors. Because of this I also act the way I do, but if I had been born somewhere else I would have become very different. The factors would have been different, so I would have believed in different things and therefore acted differently.
I might even have looked physically different. For example, if I had grown up in China and spoken Chinese, my jaws would have stood differently to pronounce that sound. I would have liked different food. For example, most Chinese people don't like licorice, I wouldn't have liked that either.
So who you are and how you develop is mostly down to your environment and upbringing; it's hardly down to your genes. This all has to do with suggestions and experiences that you interpret. This makes you believe and see different things than other people.
As a result, you live your life in a certain hypnosis. For example, you believe you can't do something, so it doesn't happen. While someone else (who is similar) does believe they can do something and therefore it succeeds.
This is all super interesting, I could go into much more detail about that, but then we won't get to staying calm.
But hypnosis, then, is about influencing yourself and others. You do this through your thoughts and what you say to yourself. Then you have communication to others: hypnotic communication.
Suggestions to help people be calm
For example, I saw a post from someone wondering how to stay calm or make other people calm.
For example, when you purposefully engage in a conversation, you try to calm people down. You might then say, "Be calm." This is a direct instruction, but in hypnotic communication you are actually trying to get this done indirectly.
When you watch politicians, such as Obama's speech when he is sworn in, you see that they use an awful lot of hypnotic language. His speech is controlled for this.
Why are they doing it now?
This use of language works better than telling someone directly what to do. Direct and specific language does not work well, but indirect and general does.
As in the following sentence:
"Everyone has something that works for them to relax," says Mr. K., who is also a member of the community.
You're probably thinking, "Yes, I do have a way to relax." You think about it and maybe you start to relax a little yourself. Before you really relax, you feel in your body that things are calmer, perhaps in a spot in your body.
As you relax a little more you may notice that things are starting to get a little hypnotic.
This form of communication.
Perhaps you feel the text attracts you....
Just because it feels so relaxed.
So relax...
And you are completely at ease.
This, especially when heard rather than read, is a form of beginning a hypnosis session.
Many people think this is similar to guided visualization, and that's right, it's very similar. But hypnosis is often a bit more purposeful. You also often get direct instructions when you are in hypnosis, but hypnotic indirect language is used to get into hypnosis.
When you say, "Gee, what would it be like if you felt calmer?" To understand that sentence, people are already starting to feel calmer.
The hypnotic part is then, "What would it be like if..."
Another thing you can say is, "The more you listen to my voice, the more you can relax."
The hypnotic part then is, "The more..., the more..." You can also build this out to additional "how meers."
Then you also have the suggestion that you read minds:
"I know you are starting to feel a little calmer now, I also know that you are gaining more knowledge through this anyway, and you are curious about what else may come."
If you weren't already, you probably became one by "suggestion."
The hypnotic language may therefore be: "You may be wondering how you can become a little calmer."
These suggestions are all based on the Milton model. This is Milton Ericsson's model; he was a hypnotherapist during the last century. He did a lot with indirect suggestions and language patterns.
From specific to non-specific
Then you can also be general rather than specific. With specific language, people are more likely to drop out.
Politicians often say, "What we care about is more blue on the streets. So a safer living environment." You agree with that and vote for them.
Then you find out that more blue on the streets means two more cops in Rotterdam Zuid, because that's where they need the police the most. Then you live somewhere else and didn't get anything out of it, but it's true. There is more blue on the streets somewhere.
But they keep it as general as possible, because more people can then get into it. You're going to attach your own associations to it. The expectation that you will get more neighborhood cops or that those loitering youths will finally be dealt with is something you think of yourself when you hear such a statement.
Of course, when they specifically say where additional agents are deployed and you don't live there, you don't vote for it.
You can become artfully fuzzy yourself to communicate hypnotically and get people on board with your idea.
If you want to help people further, for example to become calm, it is important that you master this. You can then give good suggestions about meditating or mindfulness, for example.
"You may be wondering how relaxing a group meditation is," says Dr. K. K., "but I'm not sure how relaxed it is."
Then you want that person themselves to come up with the idea of meditating together with someone who gives a guided meditation to become calmer.
Also check out this video:
Staying calm in a crisis
So you can give all kinds of suggestions to help people stay calm. For executives in a crisis, it's also important to stay calm so that staff don't get caught up in hypnosis about all the bad aspects of a crisis.
After all, the crisis is a very average thing, but you don't have to be a part of it.
By staying calm and radiating optimism, you also give people around you a goal to pursue. You do this staying calm, for example, by being aware of how you yourself react. How does this affect your body and thoughts? This awareness in turn makes you see problems as something that can be solved and learned from[1].
You can then apply self-hypnosis. You can reframe a problem as a situation from which there is something to learn. That way, the threat of the situation falls away and you can stay calm more easily.
In the process, you also ignite those around you with your calmness, so you may not even need to use hypnotic suggestions. This is especially true if you have a group project and you are in charge of it.
Meta thoughts
In addition, in a crisis situation, you need to make a kind of split of yourself, in your mind. You may have your fears and concerns, but in addition you have your experience and factual knowledge about the situation. By looking at the objective side of the problem first, you can override your instinct to flee, fight or freeze, so to speak.
You then acknowledge that you are afraid, but at the same time you try to look at the situation as objectively as possible. Scientists call this metacognition, meta-thought. This is because you are then thinking on multiple levels.
Setting an intention
As mentioned, hypnosis has a purpose, a particular intention. For yourself, too, having a particular purpose or intention can help you stay calm in tense situations.
Want to learn more about how hypnosis can help you stay calm and help other people become calm? Come to the free online master class.
Are you a coach, psychologist or psychiatrist interested in helping people with hypnosis? Then enroll in one of our training courses. Great for expanding your repertoire.
[1] https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Business%20Functions/Organization/Our%20Insights/How%20to%20demonstrate%20calm%20and%20optimism%20in%20a%20crisis/How-to-demonstrate-calm-and-optimism-in-a-crisis.pdf
