Home Blog

10 Things That Might Surprise You About Freedom

joshhansen29
-
0
10 Things That Might Surprise You About Freedom
Freedom Wired retreat 2022
Freedom Wired Retreat 2022

The primary goal of FreedomWired is to help fast-track your pursuit of lasting Freedom. The intent of this list is to help you speed up the process by opening your mind to new possibilities. Because if we really want to wire our brains for Freedom, it helps to set goals that actually move us toward Freedom. The problem I found on my own journey, was that I didn’t know what I wanted, even though I thought I did. The result was that it took me way longer to find Freedom. 

Here is my list of 10 things that might surprise you about Freedom:

  1. You cannot see the end from the beginning—What I wanted when I began this journey, is very different than what I actually needed to find true lasting Freedom. In fact, the only commonality between what I wanted and the Freedom I now enjoy is that I don’t look at porn. 
  2. Sobriety ≠ Freedom—You might question, what is the difference between not looking at porn and Freedom? You can definitely abstain from pornography without being remotely close to Freedom and vice versa. I have worked with individuals who have gone long periods between setbacks yet experienced very little Freedom. I have also worked with individuals who are much closer to Freedom but have had setbacks. And I would argue that having a healthy perspective shows more progress than a long streak of sober days.
  3. Freedom demands emotional awareness!—It’s not always obvious, but addictive behaviors are just the result of a chain reaction that always starts with emotions. It is easy to blame our behaviors on circumstances, but the reality is that we always have an emotion in between stimulus and response. Theoretically, we could remove the Emotion Center of the brain and any addictions would be gone, but that’s not really what anyone would call a good solution. It’s a much better idea to learn to manage emotions, but we can’t manage what we aren’t aware of. 
  4. Freedom feels natural!—I spent years in “white-knuckle sobriety” because I was terrified that if I lost focus, I’d have another setback. I was trying to force my brain to always be on high alert, but I’ve learned ways to engage different parts of the brain that help wire your brain for Freedom.
  5. I don’t know how long it has been since my last setback—I think I’m approaching 10 years, give or take a year or two. But, the point is, I don’t really care how long it has been because that matters a lot less than how you feel.
  6. Pornography is not the problem—Pornography is not the problem, it is just a really crappy solution to our problems. As human beings, we can drive ourselves crazy trying to find solutions to the wrong problems.
  7. I now see my journey to Freedom as a gift—Don’t get me wrong… I have not always felt this way, and there were years of suck that I would have given anything (almost including my life) to have an easy and immediate escape from it all.
  8. Successful setbacks are really a thing—Most of us enter recovery with the aim of never having a setback ever again. Unfortunately, that is not how it usually works for most people. When we have a perspective that focuses on learning from mistakes instead of just avoiding mistakes, we can really begin to learn and see the growth required for lasting Freedom.
  9. Freedom isn’t a destination—I used to think of addiction as something I could just kick, simply navigate to each checkpoint on a map to find myself at the destination. The reality of the situation is that I had things I had to learn that prevented me from being able to resist the urge to escape to porn. Freedom is the journey.
  10. You can’t see the end from the beginning—Wait… wasn’t that number 1 on the list? Technically yes, but I think it’s a great illustration of what the journey feels like. What works to help you move toward Freedom right now will likely not take you all the way to Freedom. Our brains are complex, so naturally, our journey will be as well. We might have to adjust tools and techniques as we progress because what was helpful in the beginning may not be as helpful in the end and vice versa.

I hope this gives you an opportunity to make adjustments to your perspective on finding lasting Freedom. After all, challenging old thought processes and searching for new ones is how we become FreedomWired. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Write-And-Burns VS Affirmations

Josh
-
0
Write-And-Burns VS Affirmations

I was talking with a client yesterday and we were discussing write-and-burns and what makes them effective. I shared my write-and-burn experience that I had earlier that morning with him. As we were discussing how to do an effective write-and-burn we started talking about what makes a write-and-burn so effective. This particular client has seen massive growth from doing affirmations, so I wanted to compare and contrast the differences between affirmations and write-and-burns. I initially told him that write-and-burns are the “opposite of affirmations” and he was immediately puzzled. He was thinking that the opposite of affirmations would be to tear yourself down, which is technically kind of what happens if you really think about it. (If you’re not familiar with a write-and-burn, it is a technique where you write down all of the negative thoughts you are having about yourself, then burn the paper.) 

His question helped us explore the mechanics of the two processes and how they each work, so I shared the boat analogy. It’s a really cool analogy that helps convey the underlying mechanics. If you want to make a boat go faster, there are two approaches you can take. You can either increase the power or decrease the drag. Or obviously, you can do some combination of the two. Both will enable the boat to move faster through the water. 

In this analogy, doing affirmations is like strapping a turbocharger to the engine of the boat. A turbocharger forces more air into the engine so that you get more a powerful explosion in the pistons, which means more power output. This will definitely make the boat go faster. 

Write-and-burns take the opposite approach, which would be like reducing drag or resistance. A good example of reducing drag would be pulling up the anchor. Both are good options but could have very different impact levels depending on the current state of the boat.

So let’s say that you are ready to make your boat go faster, which approach should you choose?

I would suggest that rather than spending a whole bunch of time analyzing, just try them both and see which gives you the biggest return on your investment. My biggest recommendation is that you really dive in deep with whichever approach you try. Try and make your affirmations powerful by saying them out loud and involving as many of your senses as possible. Or don’t be afraid to write any of the garbage that comes to your head when doing the write-and-burn.

I hope this helps you see the value in both approaches, and I hope you give them a shot! 

Thanks for showing up for you and for me today! You’re a good person!

Write And Burn Example

Josh
-
0
Write And Burn Example

Yesterday, I was talking with some friends in an accountability group and they pointed out to me that I had some limiting beliefs about writing. I am absolutely not a fan of hanging on to beliefs that set limits on our capabilities. These beliefs aren’t always easy to recognize, so it’s really helpful to have good people around who will call them out when they see them. (Thanks Scott!)

Okay, so I’ve identified a limiting belief, so what do I do about it? Another good friend challenged me to do a write-and-burn about my belief that “I’m not a writer”, then write a post about it. (Thanks Justin!)
 
Here’s how I do it in 3 easy steps:
  1. Identify the limiting belief.
  2. Start writing all of the negative feelings and thoughts that you have had that support this belief.
  3. Burn the paper to send a clear message to your subconscious that belief is gone. 
It’s a pretty straightforward process, and wow does it feel good to let go of the garbage beliefs.
 
Some people might argue that doing a write-and-burn isn’t going to instantly make me a great writer. I would absolutely agree, however, that isn’t really the point. The point is that my brain can now approach writing, which may still be a difficult task, with a whole new perspective. I can absolutely say that today’s blog post was far easier to write than yesterday’s. Yesterday’s post took me an agonizing hour and a half to write. Compare that to today’s post which is currently about the same length as my post yesterday but I’m only into it 20 minutes. Numbers aside, there is a night and day difference in how it felt to write each post. 
 
I could wrap this up now, but I think it would be helpful to you to see some of the additional benefits of write-and-burns. 
 
They make it easy to dig up the additional negativity you are carrying. For example: When Scott said that he recognized a limiting belief about writing, I said something like, “Your right Scott, I need to change my perspective about writing.” Another friend, Gregor, even reminded me that it takes writing to become a writer. I used Gregor’s words to challenge my limiting beliefs about writing, which was helpful, but there were a lot of deeper emotions tied to my beliefs about writing. (Thanks Gregor!) They were still lingering below and were obviously still having a significant impact on my ability to write. I would not have found them without the write and burn.
 
I don’t recommend that you keep your write and burns because we want to release the garbage. However, I have decided that actually seeing what mine looked like may be helpful for you, so I took a picture of mine before burning it.
 
Before burning it, I will sometimes re-read it so that I can find new affirmations to use. I spent some time yesterday trying to identify new affirmations about writing but was having a difficult time. I look at the recurring themes I see in what I’ve written and reverse them. It’s pretty cool because I’m able to find affirmations that directly speak to the parts of the limiting beliefs that carry the most weight.
 
Here are some affirmations I was able to create simply by reversing the words that “stung” the most.
 
I am Josh Hansen, and I will never give up! I am an efficient writer with a powerful story. I gladly invest time to improve my writing. I embrace the growth that comes from failure. I fail fast and I fail often!
 
I hope this was helpful for you. I’d love for you to try it and let me know what you learn from it.
 
 
Thanks for showing up for me today and letting me be vulnerable. You’re a good person!
 

 

 
Write and Burn Example
Write and Burn Example

What if Affirmations are hard for me?

Josh
-
0
What if Affirmations are hard for me?

Affirmations are an extremely powerful tool for helping our brains think more healthily. Over my years of helping others find freedom from addiction, I’ve noticed that not everybody understands the impact the story we tell ourselves has on our lives. It’s actually really interesting to observe the reactions of individuals when I share that affirmations were one of the most powerful tools in my being able to find real FREEDOM. It’s not uncommon for somebody to try challenging the idea. You may even be challenging the idea right now. You may be even starting to question whether or not you want to keep reading… But this natural response to reject something that we don’t think could possibly be true is actually a manifestation of this concept being played out. I find it fascinating that the people who are initially the most opposed to this idea often get the greatest reward for challenging their own ideas.

I think there are many reasons that this seems to be the case, but from my perspective, there are two that stand out. The first is that these people are the most thirsty for it. Like a man wandering through the jungle desperately in search of a river. (The only water source he currently knows) Once he finds the vine that contains a limitless source of water, he will drink the most deeply. The second is less obvious, but probably just as impactful, is that their stubbornness immediately becomes a strength. They are slower to forget that the vine is there once they find it.

As someone who has seen many people transform, almost before my eyes in some situations. It is one of my greatest honors and deepest privileges to see someone who has been so thirsty for so long, start drinking deeply only to find that they are worthy of love.

How Trauma with Emotion Changes the Brain

Josh
-
0
How Trauma with Emotion Changes the Brain

Today I was reading an article about how traumatic events physically change our brains. These changes are not a result of physical injury. That certainly can happen, but that would be considered a traumatic brain injury… not what the article was about. It did however suggest that the brain appears to rewire itself after these experiences in two ways. The first is that the person rewires the brain to develop new patterns of thought that fall into the realm of unhealthy thinking, like PTSD. The second rewires the brain through different parts of the brain that help with executive functions, a much healthier and more productive approach.

What was the key factor in determining which route the brain takes? 

Experiencing the emotion of fear! 

Yep, fear was the determining factor in how the brain rewires itself after the trauma. The article focused more on the concept of feeling threatened, but fear is definitely in the same wheelhouse.

I’ve always found it so fascinating that two people can go through the same exact experience and have completely different outcomes. When we understand that there are differences in how the brain is rewired, it makes so much more sense. The person whose experience is wired through areas like the Amygdala (which is highly involved in emotional processing) would naturally process those memories with a more emotional response like those suffering from PTSD. While others may be able to continue functioning completely normally because their experience is wired through parts of the brain used in higher-level functions of the brain.

So how does this apply to someone struggling with an addiction? I think it highlights one of the underlying principles of mindfulness… the idea that we can take our minds to another place.

Let me give you an example. I had a retreat last summer and one of the activities was a really intense battle that involved me yelling and screaming at the attendees like a drill sergeant. Not tearing them down in any way, but helping each person step into the mindset of a warrior. The task required each participant to give “100%” and push themselves to the point of exhaustion. Some may even describe the level of intensity as potentially traumatic levels. But nobody came away from the exercise feeling traumatized. Why? Switching into a “Warrior Mindset” allowed them to push their bodies to that point without stepping into a place of fear. It gave their minds a place to go that could solidify the memories of the experience with the emotions of empowerment rather than fear.

I’m hoping to do another retreat soon to help others learn these tools as they relate to finding real FREEDOM! Maybe we’ll get to try this or something similar to it together.  

For those of you who were there (at the epic 2022 retreat) and got to experience this firsthand, feel free to weigh in with your take on the warrior process in the comments below. 

Comparing My Approach To Change And James Clear’s

Josh
-
0

Today I was reflecting on the approach that I took to finding freedom. I was thinking about the principles and concepts that are discussed in James Clear’s book Atomic Habits, but primarily the concept of believing or even voting for yourself to be the kind of person that doesn’t look at porn. My case was a little different than most because I had already gotten to a point where I could go for a year at a time between looking at porn, so for me, I can more clearly see how the application of the concept had a big impact on my journey when I look at it in relation to me starting to believe that I could step into real freedom. For many years I believed the notion of, “Once an addict, always an addict” and it felt very comfortable to me. It almost provided me with a level of safety because it was the world I knew. However, when I was able to embrace the possibility of no longer being an addict, despite it being scary and unknown, I was able to start buying into the idea that real freedom was actually possible. It was an absolute game-changer for me. It didn’t fix everything, in fact, I was faced with new challenges, but I was now facing them as James Clear describes it, as “voting for myself” to become a new man. Its been interesting to examine my journey while reading Atomic Habits because I can see so many of the principles he explains. It’s also very interesting to compare and contrast the way he describes his principles vs the way they made sense to me. It gives me a new perspective with which to see myself and even helps me to simplify the way I can share with others.

Wired for Freedom

Josh
-
0
Wired for Freedom

Addict: 

Verb (used with object)
To habituate or abandon (oneself) to something compulsively or obsessively

I used to tell myself… “Ok, that was the last time! I’m never doing that again!” But, with nothing more than a blind declaration, it never lasted long. My brain was hijacked.


Brain Hijacking


At its core, addiction is simply the hijacking of the normal processes of the brain. Essentially, each component of the brain is doing what it is intended to do, but for the wrong reason. Which is why addictive substances/practices are… well… addictive.


If you or someone you know is looking for freedom from addictive behaviors, one of the most beneficial things that can be done is to become educated on what is actually happening in the brain.

If you aren’t aware of what normal functions in the brain look like then it can be extremely difficult to understand what is happening when the brain stops functioning the way we want it to. You can put a gallon of Neosporin and 1,000 bandaids on a cancer patient, but it will do nothing to help the cancer patient. Without an understanding of the underlying factors, our attempts at fixing the problem are usually futile. Your brain is an extremely complex processor of information, BUT even understanding some basics can take you a long way in taking your brain back.


So let’s discuss some of the key players or parts of the brain that are hijacked when someone experiences addiction.


The Limbic System and the Prefrontal Cortex. (Key Star-Trek sounds)
Limbic System is Like Captain Kirk – Makes quick decisions in intense situations.
Prefrontal Cortex is like Spock – Slower and more thorough evaluations with consideration of the long-term impacts of the decision.


Both are critical parts of the brain. One for quick and intense situations and one for logical thought processing.


I remember many instances of telling my wife that I had had a relapse. They often went something like this…
Me: “I had a relapse.”
Wife: “What were you thinking?”
Me: “I don’t know… it’s like I wasn’t.”


Which is partially true. I was thinking, BUT only with part of my brain. The Prefrontal Cortex wasn’t really being included in the decision-making process. Why is that?


It is because of the intensity of the emotions at play here. Pornography (or any addictive substance or activity for that matter) is an extremely intense experience. Similar to what would happen if you were being chased by a terrifying creature, your Limbic System kicks in and says, “This involves intense emotions, so I’ll take it from here.” Immediately stopping the Prefrontal Cortex from giving input like, “Hey, this is not a good idea! This is going to feel good for a moment, but we are going to regret this decision!”


This is what makes addicting things… well… addicting. Addicting things are specifically designed to be intense experiences that create neural pathways to intense emotions which result in a hijacked brain.


Understanding Triggers

Early on in my recovery, I often contemplated running away into the wilderness to cut off any access to the destructive influence of pornography. That sounds like a great idea right?… Cut off from a loving family, a warm home, and pretty much all of the connections I enjoy daily. To everyone who has not experienced addiction, this sounds absolutely bonkers! … But not to me, a man who desperately wanted pornography removed from my life, it seemed like the only way possible to find freedom. From my perspective, triggers were my problem, they seemed to bring about automatic destruction any time I encountered them. All I knew was that triggers seemed to bring about explosions that hurt me, and more importantly, the people I loved most. I felt like I had lost all control of my life. What I didn’t realize is that triggers aren’t really bad by themselves, we just typically think of them that way because we don’t see everything that goes on between the trigger being actuated and the explosion at the end.


In all actuality, triggers are generally neutral. The standard everyday mousetrap is a great example. It has a catch or trigger that releases a holding bar which then releases the hammer that is powered by a spring. The intended purpose is to kill mice, which from a mouse’s perspective is horrible and scary. However, to a student assigned to make a self-propelled car for a Jr. High science project, it is not scary at all and can be the key to getting a good grade.


So what really makes a trigger scary isn’t necessarily the trigger itself, but what it is connected to.


This is why to someone who has struggled with pornography, simply having a computer can be extremely scary, but to someone who never has, it is just a computer.


Why is that? What makes the difference?


The difference is in the neurological pathways of the two individuals. The first individual has a web of neural pathways leading to memories of intense experiences and emotions. (Intense emotions = Limbic System takeover) The second individual has a web of neural pathways that may lead to cat youtube videos or spreadsheets (No intense emotions = Prefrontal Cortex) Very different, right?


One of the interesting things about these networks is that they aren’t just connected to the images, but also to the emotions that were experienced with those images. For example, the person who has struggled with pornography will not only feel the excitement of an image but also the emotions that they felt surrounding the experience that initially drove them to that image. Like shame, anger, frustration, or fear.


For example, I can ask a group of 10 people if they are afraid of spiders, and typically most of the group will raise their hands. I can then ask them why they are afraid of spiders, and they almost always say things like, “they are just creepy” or “it’s the way they move,” which is often accompanied by a shiver and/or grossed-out facial expressions. Occasionally I will have someone tell me about an experience they had with a spider, but I have never had someone say that they are afraid of spiders because they can be poisonous.


I have asked hundreds of people these very questions, but I have never had anyone raise their hand and give me an answer that would typically be associated with the logic of the Prefrontal Cortex.


It is because the fears associated with spiders are intense emotions, which automatically cause the Limbic System to take over.


Pornography works the same way, not only do we have to learn how to cope with our current situation, but we also have to deal with the emotional garbage of our past. They are all literally tied via neural pathways to our triggers. Fortunately for those seeking freedom, these neural pathways will naturally atrophy over time if they aren’t used. But what if we could speed up that process and remove them?

The Trigger Experience

When you are feeling triggered, you are actually most likely feeling the emotions of past traumas and memories, usually a lot of them all at once. It’s actually very similar to doing a Google Search. You start with a keyword a.k.a a trigger and you get a bunch of results. Let’s say for example that you search for the keyword “Spider”. You will likely get results that look something like this…  
All 475,000,000 results will be relevant to Spiders, but in a variety of forms and topics, and not all of them would trigger fear. (See the diagram below) There are results about what a spider is, images of what they look like, and even games and movies related to the keyword “Spider”. If you were to look at each of them one by one, some of them would be relevant to a fear of spiders, but others would not. Most people who are afraid of spiders wouldn’t have a problem playing Spider Solitaire, but watching a “Spider In Mouth” Youtube video would be an extremely different experience.



So what if we could hit a delete button and remove results from any search that we did? Wouldn’t that be amazing!?!?!

“Spider in mouth” with 15,300,000 results. Delete! Gone!
“Spider Stories” with 24,600,000 results. Delete! Gone!


Drs. Marieke Soeter and Merel Kindt have actually shown that memories can be erased with the use of a beta-blocker (propranolol) based on the notion of “reconsolidation”. This essentially means that memories are like computer files that are pulled up, modified, and re-saved. In the case of their study, they used a drug to stop the memories from being re-saved. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006322315003133


In their experiment, they asked arachnophobic participants to get as close to a big spider as they could which essentially pulls up or opens all experiences (fear/trauma/memories) of their phobia. Then they gave the participants a beta blocker that stops the memories from being put back into long-term storage. The results were astounding! One participant, who looked like his heart was going to beat out of his chest on the first visit because he was asked to get closer to the spider, was actually able to touch that big spider on the second visit. Not only did he touch it, but he compared it to touching a hamster.

Now you might be thinking, what was that drug again?… and where do I get some? But let me tell you that there is an easier way. The importance of my sharing this is that it is proof that tools have been and can be developed to un-hijack our brains.

(There is also a Nova episode that is easier to consume than their article available on Amazon. Nova Series 15 Episode 1. Memory Hackers)


The Subconscious



Have you ever gotten in the car and arrived at your destination only to realize you didn’t put any thought into driving but you somehow got to your destination safely? It’s because your subconscious took over. What we don’t realize is that our subconscious is actually in control most of the time. This is a good thing because our conscious mind typically only processes 40-60 bits of information a second. Whereas the subconscious processes information way faster. (Exact numbers for the subconscious are highly debated, but estimates start in millions and go up into the billions of bits of information per second) The important thing is that we know it is way faster. By comparison, the subconscious is way more powerful at processing information than the conscious mind is but it doesn’t do well at predicting outcomes or processing contextual information surrounding information.

Conscious vs Subconcious

A good analogy would be comparing the subconscious to an elephant and the conscious mind to a man riding that elephant. They both have their strengths and can clear land, but when used together, they can clear a whole lot more. I like this analogy because it helps me visualize how the conscious and unconscious work together. The conscious is constantly checking information against other information and is more rational, but the subconscious doesn’t reason in the same way. The man riding an elephant can tell the elephant to push on a tree that is way too big to push over, and the elephant will go ahead and push on it. Whereas a man would first think through the feasibility of actually pushing the tree over and a slew of other things. This is why regardless of whether it is true or not, talking positively about yourself can build your self-esteem while being torn down by demeaning words can destroy it. Much like an elephant, the subconscious does not fact-check, it simply starts processing the information.

Who knew? Your conscious mind has been riding an elephant for your entire life! (Well at least metaphorically speaking)

This makes sense because you often hear that the best athletes use visualization to improve their game beyond what just practicing without it can. But, you may be asking, “what does this have to do with triggers?”
Great question! Well, when I began to understand how I could use my elephant to achieve things that were important to me, I naturally began asking myself the following question. “What if instead of taking a drug when we experience a trigger and then taking a pill, I could just put my subconscious to work to do it for me… in real time?” If athletes can use it to win gold medals or sink more putts, why can’t I use it to rewire my brain? 


Learning to Speak Elephant

Once we understand that we have this incredibly powerful tool at our disposal, it simply becomes a matter of knowing how to instruct it or speak its language. So let’s examine what we know about the Subconscious.


We know that we can experience how it works when we sleep. Yep, those often wacked-out experiences we call dreams are actually expressions of our subconscious.


But what good does that do us? Dreams don’t even make any sense. One minute you are in line waiting to get on the school bus and then you are instantly in a tree talking with a potato. The crazy thing about it though, is that when we are dreaming everything seems to make complete sense. Again, you might be asking, what good does that do us? The key to communicating with the subconscious is not in trying to understand the dreams, but rather in understanding how to speak to our elephant in a way that it can understand what we want it to do.


Here are some of the key takeaways:
  • Dreams are very visually oriented
  • Dreams also involve all of the senses
  • Dreams have feelings
  • THEY DON’T HAVE TO MAKE SENSE

If we want to speak to our Elephant/subconscious we just need to follow these same rules in trying to tell it what we want it to do.

Theoretically, we could follow the same process that Drs. Marieke Soeter and Merel Kindt used but replace it with a visualization of ourselves breaking the neuro-pathways that link a trigger to the intense emotions that cause the Limbic system to kick in and un-hijack the brain. Wouldn’t that be amazing? But it’s just a theory, right? Wrong! I have done it and it was amazing.

My Experience

My life used to be riddled with triggers, and I went to great lengths to try and remove as many of them as possible.


Bringing It All Together

We now understand that a brain can be hijacked, and we know what that looks like in the brain. We know that we would never participate in these harmful activities without the triggers that hijack our brains and cause the Limbic System to take over. We also know that we are going to experience all kinds of triggers and there is no reasonable way to remove all the triggers from our lives. So why not put the subconscious to work and dismantle our triggers instead.

Disarming Triggers

The first step is to experience a trigger. We all experience triggers that bring us unwanted results. Whether it is pornography, or someone not putting the cap on the toothpaste. We all experience them naturally, so unlike the participants in the spider study, we don’t have to go looking for them. If we just go about our normal day, they will find us. So here’s what to do when they do.

Process overview:
  1. Identify the trigger
  2. Visualize attachments
  3. Sever attachments

Here are more detailed instructions
  1. Identify the trigger. (It is best that identify the actual trigger, and not the results of the trigger)
  2. Speak to the Elephant by visualizing what is currently happening in your brain, and how you would like your subconscious to change it. Remember, none of this has to make sense, because the subconscious doesn’t think the way we do.
  3. Imagine where the trigger is located (I generally imagine it as a place in my brain, but it could be somewhere else in your body.)
  4. Imagine the trigger being something tangible. What does it look like? What does it smell like? Is it soft, squishy, slimy, etc.?
  5. Identify a way to examine the trigger. (Pull it out in front of you, or step out of your body, etc.)
  6. Identify how the trigger is attached to the negative emotions. Get familiar with it. Try and use as many senses as possible. How many attachments are there?
  7. Break the attachments with whatever tool suits you. If it proves ineffective, use another tool. If you get stuck, ask yourself “what tool would be able to remove the attachments?” Ensure you have removed all connections.
  8. Come back to the present. Open your eyes, and take a deep breath.
  9. Close your eyes, and step back into the trigger and ensure that you are neutral. If you aren’t, go back to step 6. (Visualizing the remaining unwanted attachments that are causing you not to be neutral)
  10. If you are now feeling completely neutral with all attachments gone, then visualize the connections that you would like to be reinforced when the trigger is activated and visualize that happening.

Although there are triggers that we definitely don’t want to go looking for, there are many that we can anticipate and deliberately hit the delete button.

If you have questions or are interested in hearing more feel free to contact me via Email.
Company
Latest Posts
Most Popular