Of course you don't practice superstition and everything in life is a coincidence, but still it can gnaw at you and superstition can make you incredibly insecure. For example, Pim is one such person I spoke to recently. A flock of crows upset him every night before going to bed, because if crows come near you that way, it is an omen of death.
Not a pleasant thought to go to sleep with. That's why it became important to do something against superstition anyway, and that's where hypnosis came in.
During the sessions, we found out that he did suffer from more superstitions. Walking under a ladder is not done, which in itself makes sense because you don't want that ladder to fall on you either. But if after that you are skittish all day looking for danger, then something more is going on.
He also preferred not to see black cats, which are fairly common anyway, crossing his path. Again, then, he was having a skittish day.
On Friday the 13th, he preferred not to leave his house, but the marketing activities of many companies have already reduced the fear of that day considerably compared to the past. When he didn't even want to leave his bed.
Another example of people being superstitious is that you are in awe of your horoscope. Every day you read what the stars have in store for you, and then you obediently follow the tips to make the most of your life.
What is superstition?
Superstition is the belief that little wisdoms of the past are still true and that the world still contains some magic, such as:
- Knock it off if you have a particular expectation and want it to end well.
- Avoiding a black cat.
- Believing in unhappiness through a broken mirror.
- Don't walk under a ladder because of misfortune.
- Avoiding a black cat due to misfortune.
- Believe in your horoscope.
- Believe in karma.
- Believe in ghosts/spirits.
Superstition is often confused with small rituals of, for example, athletes performing certain actions before a competition. Compulsive disorder can also sometimes be hidden behind superstitions "but I believe I have to do this and this to avoid unhappiness."
Still, superstition is not something that really belongs with anxiety leading to disorders. If superstitions have caused you to develop rituals or fears that you can no longer stop, it really is time to seek help, as Pim has done to get back to sleeping fine and without nightmares .
Why do superstitions affect us so much?
Superstition is something we encounter in childhood. People then joke about certain things. As a child, you might drop a glass, and the comment that this causes bad luck should make you pay more attention as a child.
However, does something really unfortunate happen on that day? Then the belief may arise that dropping glass really does cause unhappiness.
All other "wisdom" seems to gain validity as a result, and before you know it, you're using all the superstitious wisdom to exert control over your life.
Unfortunately, many superstitious wisdoms have something negative about them. Misfortune in particular is something you get from superstitious things. If you believe something is going to happen, it is also often more likely to happen because you focus more on the negative.
Pim, for example, was one such child where superstition developed in childhood. In doing so, Pim was not doing so well the moment the crows came around his house so he thought this was an omen of his impending death.
To still have control over the situation, he did everything for good luck. Lighting candles at chapels. Always carrying salt and panicking when he couldn't find it before heading out the door.
Because the fear and his behavior to have more control over his life was determined by superstition and therefore he could not do everything he really wanted he sought help. Friends of his thought he was acting "weird" and referred him to a hypnotherapist.
Changing superstitions
In fact, hypnotherapy is for changing your beliefs. After all, beliefs determine how you see and experience the world. If you are convinced that black cats bring bad luck and you see a black cat, you are then more focused on accidents. A child falling off a bicycle afterwards would not have fallen if you had not seen that black cat, whereas children do fall off bicycles more often.
With hypnotherapy, beliefs you have are first determined. What role do superstitions play in your life? Why do you think your superstitions are true?
They then work on changing those beliefs. This can be done in multiple ways.
Debunking logic behind beliefs
For example, the logic you have for your beliefs can be debunked. For example, are you convinced that a serious accident happened because you dropped a glass? Then the correlation between the glass and the accident can be investigated.
Accidents happen more often these days because of social media use behind the wheel or on a bike, so then glass like this need not have anything to do with it.
Regression
Regression can also be used to debunk the logic behind beliefs. For example, if you did something as a child that brought "bad luck" and then your parents divorced, this can unconsciously lead to the belief that superstition is true.
Going back with regression allows you to look at the event with more emotional distance, which in turn changes those beliefs. For example, your parents' relationship was already not good.
Ritual Breaking
Have your superstitions created rituals? Then hypnotherapy can help break those rituals. This is done, for example, by visualizing the ritual in a different order.
As a result, the logic of the ritual can already be debunked which can also change the belief about the superstition already so that it has less impact on your life.
Install new beliefs
In addition, it is important to install new beliefs. If you used superstitions to increase control over your life, it is important to make beliefs about control over your life more realistic and stronger.
In many cases, you can use beliefs about influence, self-esteem and self-confidence to reinforce beliefs about control.
This can include hypnotic suggestions such as:
"Life is mostly how you react to events," says Dr. K. K., "but it's also how you react to events."
"You can take steps on your own to achieve goals," he says.
"Adversity is part of life."
"Getting up is part of life."
Visualizations about control
Another way to feel more in control is to visualize that you actually do have control over a situation. For example, if you have the fear of not knowing what to do if you get into an accident or if someone contradicts you during a meeting, you can visualize yourself taking back control. You visualize what this looks like. How this feels (literally), how this feels emotionally and how your environment looks and reacts to you when you do stand up for yourself.
Just by imagining that you are in control of a situation, that you are responding to regain control, rather than standing by, you are much more likely to respond positively to unpleasant events as well. So that it makes you better instead of less.
Focus on positivity
Superstitions often create a focus on negative things in life. Therefore, it is important to shift your focus to positive things.
Suzanne, for example, is someone who always wears a four-leaf clover necklace when she is single, because it ensures happiness and makes her more likely to meet a nice man (at least she thinks so). As a result, she has a more positive outlook on life and the people she meets.
Another way to focus on positive things in your life is to keep a journal where you have to write down 5 positive things about each day.
By challenging yourself to write down as many positive events of the day as possible, you have to pay attention to the positive things in life. Otherwise, you'll never get that journal full at the end of the day.
There are more hypnosis techniques to help you get rid of superstitions if they are really affecting your life too much. Want to learn more about hypnosis and other mental techniques to be more in control? Then come to a playshop and check out Hypnosis Institute Netherlands' trainings .
Sources:
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/psychology-of-superstition
