Provoking Possibilities
Join Certified Hypnotherapist and Founder of Possibilities Universe, Lauren Best, each week as she shares intentional conversations with curious individuals who have dared to follow their heart and intuition amongst the unknown, along with her own insights through personal reflections on new ways of being authentic in a world that seeks perfection.
The purpose of this podcast is to inspire you to open your mind to new possibilities that will empower you to create a life you love while nurturing your mind, body, and soul.
Provoking Possibilities
Unlocking the Power of the Subconscious Mind
Let's take a moment to imagine diving into the deepest corners of our minds – those cozy nooks filled with dreams, memories, and untapped potential. It's like discovering a hidden treasure trove within ourselves, just waiting to be explored. And you know what's truly magical? When we venture into the world of the subconscious mind, there's absolutely no ceiling to what we can uncover and achieve!
Think about all those emotions, experiences, and beliefs that reside beneath the surface, patiently biding their time. It's as if our minds hold a secret garden of possibilities, ready to bloom. As a certified hypnotherapist who's deeply passionate about unveiling the remarkable power of the subconscious, this is where I step in.
In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtains to reveal the true essence and powers of hypnosis. When we use hypnosis properly, we unearth a world of possibilities that can really redefine the very essence of our existence!
Yet, this journey is more than just rewiring our thoughts; it's about embracing compassion, exploring the depths of self-discovery, and nurturing personal growth on a profound level. So as we venture forward, remember that every step you take is a step toward a more compassionate and connected world – both within and around you. 💞
Links: https://linktr.ee/laurenbest_co
Website: https://lauren-best.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenhollybest/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@laurenbest_co
Free Hypnosis Audio: https://www.lauren-best.com/dreaming-during-uncertainty-hypnosis-audio/
Welcome to provoking possibilities, where we reflect on pivotal life moments, ask thought-provoking questions and dream up new possibilities for living a life you loved that may be a little out of your current reality. I'm Lauren Best, a certified hypnotherapist and provoker of possibility, and I've created this podcast for people who are curious about exploring new ways of living, who are looking to connect deeper with their bodies, their intuition, their hearts, and then known, and who are really ready to just embrace their most authentic selves, to move into flow and into alignment. There is just so much that is possible for us when we open ourselves up to exploring new possibilities beyond our wildest imagination. So if you're ready and curious to begin exploring new possibilities, join me every week for a new episode of provoking possibilities on Apple Podcasts, spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's dive in. Hi everyone, it's Lauren Best here, your Confident U Radio community expert, and today I have a little bit different show pun for you. So the last few weeks I've been chatting with different folks that have worked with me, who have used hypnosis to really unlock their own potential to navigate business transformations in ways that feels good, and today I really want to dig back into dig a little further, let's say, into what even is hypnosis? How can you also overcome blocks and limiting beliefs with the power of your subconscious mind? So I'm really really looking forward to inviting you to expand your mind today, to really become open and curious towards the different possibilities that you'll get to experience and have the potential to experience, if you choose to also continuing to expand your subconscious mind. So, as we get started here, I would just love to kind of give an overview for those who are listening.
Lauren Best:This content and what I'm going to be sharing today is really for any individuals who are ready to release any childhood stresses, increased confidence, envision new possibilities, to step into the life you've always dreamed of, and also for entrepreneurs who are ready to say goodbye to old paradigms of doing business, who are interested to expand their wealth consciousness and enhance their confidence and intuition and really see new results in your business. So this also applies to folks who are wanting to create a change in the way they show up, in their work or in their relationships or just simply for themselves, which is actually the most important place to start. So, if you are listening and you're curious to really learn how you can begin overcoming blocks and limiting beliefs with the power of your subconscious mind, then this episode is definitely going to be of interest to you. So really, we're going to dig into exploring how the subconscious mind works, what hypnosis actually is, what is a hypnosis myth or something you've only seen in the movies, because we've all heard about some wild things or seen some wild things on our screens. We're also going to be looking at what are the benefits of suggestibility through hypnosis and what to expect when going into a hypnotic state. So as we get started, I think I'm going to turn back inwards a little bit and tell you all a little bit more about me, who I am, what I love to do and why I love hypnosis so much.
Lauren Best:So I am Lauren Vest and I am a certified hypno therapist, and it was about a year ago now when I started my journey of becoming certified, or actually I think it was almost a year ago that I did become certified, but before then I had started to design my own business, pivoting from the worlds of consulting as a service designer and helping businesses transform to then coaching folks to discover new possibilities for designing their work around their lives. So I had helped other solopreneurs, established business owners and organizations to really design their businesses and, for one reason or another, I just couldn't seem to really get going for what felt like months and months and months on my own business. So I eventually realized that I could design the perfect strategy, like I had done many times before, and the perfect business for myself, but really without having the mindset to match. I would continue to really find myself in a place where I was stuck. I was stuck in this place for a really long time. For me, becoming a certified hypnotherapist was a no-brainer because of how instrumental it had been for me. When I was in that stuck place, I found a hypnotherapist through an online summit. I was curious about it and then I showed up to the summit and there she was. I just thought my goodness, this is exactly what I need. I began working with her to really look at what are my limiting beliefs that are really stopping me from acting on the strategy that ideally should be perfect for me or has worked for other folks that I have designed for in the past. It really became an instrumental tool and that missing piece for me to really be able to see and do things differently, and it is exactly how it's helping my clients as well in their own lives. This has really been my missing puzzle piece for supporting other folks to really challenge those limiting beliefs, explore new possibilities to use their own unique superpowers because we all have them and to find the confidence that they need to take the right action towards purposeful work or intentional work that is really designed around the life that they want to live.
Lauren Best:Let's begin by looking, or just understanding, a bit more about the subconscious mind and how it works. I'll tell you a bit of a story here. As a young designer, I remember being continuously encouraged to think critically. So before getting into the world of business design, I was a trained product and furniture designer and the theory that really carries through from that modality into this world of service design and business design and not necessarily designing physical products is that it's problem solving. So I remember this young designer being continuously encouraged to really think critically and question everything to really get to the root of the problem, so then we could explore the different possibilities to eventually land at the best design solution. So that's pretty much classic problem solving.
Lauren Best:So while the critical thinking skill is incredibly valuable, it wasn't until I stepped outside of the design world that I began questioning the limits of what critical thinking can have on our ability to grow professionally and as well intellectually, by looking at our minds as if we were an iceberg. Or as if our minds were an iceberg. We know that the tip of an iceberg, the part that we can see floating above the water, is only a small, small part of what the entire iceberg is, and we know that the largest bulk of the iceberg is not visible and is merely floating below the surface right. So we can think of the tip of the iceberg as the conscious part of our minds. It's in our conscious part of our minds, this tip of our minds, the front of our minds, the tip of the iceberg, that our critical thinking, our willpower, our long term memory, our working memory and logical thinking lives, and this only makes up 10% of our minds. It really is the tip of the iceberg and, knowing this, you can only begin to really imagine all of the possibilities available to us in exploring the unconscious part of our mind or the part of the iceberg that we do not usually see or can have access to. You can really begin to imagine the possibilities that we can become available to us once we dip below the surface and it's within our subconscious minds that our beliefs, emotions, our habits, values, protective reactions, our long term memory, imagination, intuition and limited working memory capacity lives. And we have the primitive area of the brain so this is also known as the reptilian brain which controls how we detect and respond to threats and helps us to protect ourselves and stay safe. So when we're acting out of survival mode, our behaviors are really driven from this part of the brain. When we react in a certain way that may not be logical or may not make sense for the situation, it's because of something that is already embedded in your subconscious mind. Crazy, right. So you can continue to just really imagine all of the possibilities available to us in exploring the unconscious mind to really build new capacity and depth of mind towards the beliefs that we want to live out in our lives, while also letting go of those old beliefs that are really holding us back.
Lauren Best:And throughout so many moments that I experienced in designing my new business venture, I have had to really challenge my own critical thoughts. There was a really big belief for a long time that business is done best in a traditional sense, even though I had gone to design school and worked in some really fun creative agencies where creativity leads you to a place that is not traditional or is you know you're using tools that aren't necessarily traditional. There was still part of me that believed that business is really done best traditionally, because I had learned that somewhere in my past. So I really had to challenge my own critical thoughts to believe. You know, I want balance in my life and I don't have to put in 40 plus hours a week. It wasn't what was supporting me physically, emotionally. I just didn't want that 40 hour plus week of working. So another belief that I had to really look at as well is that, with that, success is only reached if you work really, really hard. That those two beliefs kind of really went hand in hand for me. So I wanted to throw that belief away and I replaced it with the idea that success can be easy and fun and it can also feel natural when you're using your superpower.
Lauren Best:Another again kind of snowball of that was this belief that people will judge me if I start doing things differently. So here I was, you know, throwing away these beliefs, but yet there is still this fear of judgment, and I replaced that belief with I am different from everyone else, so I should absolutely do things my way. And then there's the client facing fear that I had that only clients will see my value if I give them different add-ons and artifacts and systems to use. And that was really connected to my self-worth and lack of self-worth and the value that I placed on doing and performing and showing. And I wanted to replace that belief and I have with value is offered in how you do something differently than anyone else. It is quality over quantity and showing up uniquely as you. It can be based on the value you bring and not by the hours you put in. So all these beliefs were superling together and it was just life changing for me when I could really reprogram these beliefs, get over these limiting beliefs and replace them with the ones that I really really wanted.
Lauren Best:So sharing this concept of business as usual that I threw away versus this business you designed, which supported my new beliefs, is that I've seen some of these beliefs in my clients and colleagues too, even if you're not a business owner, listening, you can, I'm sure, begin to identify how these limiting beliefs might be showing up in your life and can begin to imagine the new possibilities that you might want to replace them with instead. At the end of the day, we're all human and we all have limiting beliefs in one shape or another, and it's just doing that work sometimes to identify what they are for you and what those look like, and going through that process of saying, hey, I actually don't want to own these beliefs anymore and I want to replace them with something else. And we get to this point now, just sharing my story, a little bit of what I went through. You might also be wondering now how can we build more capacity in our subconscious minds, how can we upgrade our mindsets and also challenge the conscious and critical part of our minds that are holding us back from living the life we want? So you're listening now, but I just want you to do a little check-in and I encourage you to answer this to yourself honestly, and I want to ask you the question of have you done subconscious expansion work, or building your subconscious mind capacity, or work on your subconscious mind regularly as a practice? So you just take a moment to think about that. Do you work with your subconscious mind regularly? So if you haven't come out with a resounding yes or no, you might be a little confused. I just want you to now take a moment to ask yourself have you ever used your imagination? Have you ever daydreamed? Have you played make-believe? Have you zoned out when reading a good book or watching an interesting program on TV? Have you kept a journal of some sort? Have you practiced meditation or listened to hypnosis audios on YouTube? If you have done any of these things, these really are all ways in which we can connect and expand and upgrade our subconscious minds.
Lauren Best:But let me highlight the three ways that you can actively reprogram your subconscious mind as well. So there's these three ways. The first is that it is done automatically from the time you were born until the age of seven, so you can think of your brain like a sponge, really absorbing the thoughts, the ideas, the experiences from our surroundings, our family members, our communities. So if you're over the age of seven, we're a little too late to tap into programming our subconscious minds in this way. That's perfectly okay, don't worry, there's more ways. So I mentioned there's two more options. The second way is reprogramming our minds through journaling, meditation, reprogramming our thoughts one by one, through practicing gratitude, breath, work, adapting our habits, reading fiction, getting enough sleep. So, although these are great tools that have ways in which we can reprogram our minds, they really can seem to take forever. So the third way, which is so much quicker, is actually through hypnosis. So this has been scientifically proven to work faster and be exponentially more powerful than any other way of reprogramming the mind. Amazing, isn't it? So, in fact, hypnosis is the most effective and fastest route to solve emotional blocks and mindset issues, with a 93% recovery rate after just six sessions, and this is compared to the behavior therapy with 72% recovery after 22 sessions, and psychoanalysis with 38% recovery after 600 sessions.
Lauren Best:So the best part about hypnosis really is that you don't have to think too much about it, and that's something that I hear a lot from people is like am I going to do it right? Am I going to make the most of it? I work with a lot of perfectionists as well, who have that, you know, want to have that control over everything they do, and they want to do things perfectly. And you know, the less you think about it, the more you can just let things be, let things happen, connect to your mind during hypnosis and really, you know, do the work to upgrade your mind. So I've kind of put together my own definition of hypnosis that I love to share with folks as well, and to me.
Lauren Best:I really see hypnosis as a self-development tool that uses extreme suggestibility. So it really gives you the space and guidance to enter such a relaxed state where you feel safe enough to surpass your critical mind. So again, that critical mind was the top of the iceberg, the tip of the iceberg. That 10% that really, you know, makes us question everything. So, using hypnosis, it really allows you to tap into your subconscious mind to rediscover what you already have inside of you. That will help you overcome any limiting beliefs or negative emotions and really upgrading your subconscious mind or expanding your subconscious mind. Using suggestibility through hypnosis can help you to release childhood stresses. It can help you to reconnect with our inner child. That is such a powerful experience. It can help you increase your confidence. It can help you heal from the past and program in these new beliefs that we want to believe. So it really can empower you to explore new possibilities for yourself, to really design a life that you really love.
Lauren Best:And getting back to this place of you know, all these things that we see on TV or have heard in the online or whatever it is. I think now is a really good time for me to try out my Mythbuster hat for a moment, to really share with you some facts versus fiction and what are some of the things you've seen in the movies, right? So one of the first myths that comes to mind is that when you are in hypnosis, you are sleeping. So while in hypnosis you are in fact not sleeping, you are just so deeply relaxed, which can be easily compared to being in a sleep like state, which will welcome you into a state of extreme suggestibility where we can access the subconscious mind and really explore your limiting beliefs, your blocks and fears and, you know, rewrite them to what you want to believe. So it does not mean that extreme suggestibility can be the key for the hypnotherapist to make you do anything that you want.
Lauren Best:There's a lot of myths around that and you might be thinking that you've seen people in the movies who were under some sort of mind control or spell, were being ordered around doing all the things by someone who's instructing them. The truth is that there's nothing that I myself, as a hypnotherapist, or another hypnotherapist can make you do. You are the one in control and it is your experience that myself or another hypnotherapist has the responsibility of simply guiding you through. Again, it gets to be your experience. There's nothing that I can make you do under hypnosis that you wouldn't want to do out of hypnosis.
Lauren Best:For example, this is such a common one. If you're under hypnosis and I told you that you are a chicken now and you should jump up on your chair and start quacking, quacking like a chicken, it's not something that you will just jump up and do, unless perhaps you've always dreamed of being a chicken. And I've met a woman once who just loved chickens and I thought I wonder actually if that would work on her or not. That I would ever try, but it was really funny. But again, it's just not something that wants a hypnosis. If it's not something you've always wanted to do, you're not going to do it. And again, it's not part of the experience that myself, as the hypnotherapist, has the responsibility to really disguise you through the experience that you want.
Lauren Best:So if you've seen this on TV, there is a version of hypnosis that is stage hypnosis and in this scenario, the folks that you see under hypnosis have been carefully selected based on how highly suggestible they are, and they are selected based on their dermatographic facts. So if they pulled just about anybody out of the crowd, you wouldn't see these same results or behaviors. So these are all the things that really are so, so common that I hear all the time from people that I just really wanted to give you a new sense of confidence, to know that these things are mis and, on the other hand, what is fiction. And I'd love to share with you next as well, what you can expect when going into a hypnotic state. I don't know what you specifically will feel, because each person experiences hypnosis differently, but a lot of people say they are sinking and they feel heavy. Others will say they feel so very light, as if they're floating. A lot of people feel the flicker flutter of their eyes. You may experience deep breathing, the desire to swallow, perhaps tingly feeling on their fingers and hands.
Lauren Best:Extremely relaxed is the number one thing that I hear from people, and some people came to you know these sessions, or come into these sessions thinking that they're going to be in such a deep sleep, light state, like an outer body experience. But this isn't always right as well. You might have other thoughts coming into your head, and that is perfectly OK as well. Your subconscious mind is just really supporting you and if you hear any outside noises, that means you might feel a little heightened and I'll just help you relax even further. I think that's also kind of a worry that some people have If you're not in the most quiet environment. You know, I encourage you to be in a really comfortable, quiet environment, but if you're not, that's OK as well. You can just allow those outside noises to really relax you further and just really during the process you can just simply listen to the voice of the hypnotherapist, listen to my voice and just let them guide you through the experience. I know something I experience quite often is I feel, towards the end of my sessions, a new burst of energy in my body and sometimes my feet are moving around, and I thought it was really funny the first time it happened. So it happens from time to time and that's perfectly OK. So, whatever it is you experience, just know that you will be safe. It is the job of the hypnotherapist, job of me, to make sure that you feel so incredibly comfortable and safe, and it gets to be your experience. So those are the main things that I wanted to share with you today in terms of what to expect.
Lauren Best:What is hypnosis? What can you put off in a story as just a myth or something that is actually, in fact, true? So I do encourage you, if you're interested, to try out hypnosis. If you haven't tried it before, I would love to invite you to a mini private hypnosis session with me. I do them complimentary for 30 minutes. You can book in one of those with me or, if you're still, you know, wanting to try a different version of that, I do do group hypnosis sessions every month, or you can simply download the audio that I share with folks, which is a free hypnosis audio, to really begin tapping into your subconscious mind, to really explore all the possibilities for visualizing a life you love, because, at the end of the day, why I do what I do is to really show people how to love their life.
Lauren Best:For some people it is, you know, with that focus around themselves, and for others it can also be through their business as well. So if you're not a business owner, I would love to still chat with you and see if it's something that I can support you to reach your goals or get rid of some of those limiting beliefs and work through your subconscious mind to really unlock your potential in the way that it's going to look like for you. So please again, feel free to reach out to me to book in one of those private mini hypnosis sessions where we can not only go through you know and just chat about what it is you're looking to achieve, but also you'll be able to experience hypnotic suggestions, or join me for one of those group sessions, or download the visualizing a life you love hypnosis audio. I am so looking forward to continuing to share more delights, more experiences around the subconscious mind and around hypnosis. So if you have any other ideas of what you want to hear as well, you can always reach out to me through my website, which is lauren-bestcom, and I love to hear what you guys want to hear. So keep me updated and we'll connect again with our subconscious minds.
Lauren Best:Thank you, are you ready to let go of waiting for other people to tell you who you are, what to do and how you should show up? If you are, I want to invite you to join me in a small group of women to design your own version of what giving yourself more permission to be you could look like, what it could feel like and what it has the potential to unlock within your life. Beyond waiting for the world and people around you to give you the permission to do so, permission slips will be that awesome group of girlfriends cheering you on to unlock the most magical parts of yourself, and you'll just feel so loved and supported to receive, without the pressure or loneliness of having to figure it all out on your own. Visit my website, lauren-bestcom. Slash permission dash slips to find out more.
Lauren Best:Thank you so much for joining me on this journey of exploring new possibilities and embracing your most authentic self.
Lauren Best:I appreciate you and your willingness to open your mind and your heart to new ideas and ways of being that are beyond your current reality.
Lauren Best:So if you found value in this episode, please take a moment to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to this podcast. Your support helps us to spread the message of compassion, self-discovery and personal growth to more people who may benefit from it. And if you're looking for additional support on your journey of self-discovery and transformation, I invite you to visit my website at lauren-bestcom, where you'll find resources, courses and coaching services to help you navigate life's challenges with more ease and joy and confidence and support. So please check that out. And, more than anything, I hope you'll remember that you're not alone on this journey. We are all in this together and by embracing our most authentic selves we can create more compassion and connection to the world. So please keep dreaming, keep exploring and keep provoking possibilities with love and intuition. I'll be back soon with more thought-provoking questions, inspiring stories and powerful insights and conversations to support you on your journey, but until then, take care of yourself and others and remember that you are worthy of love and possibility.
