Becoming Your Own Inner Detective

Book Clips from It's Time to Stop Nail Biting...4 Steps to Success
An Innovative Program for Adults & Children by Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht & Joseph Bohorquez, M.D., Originators of Interactive Awareness & Interactive Self-Hypnosis



KNOWLEDGE HOOK

We are complicated beings, but it is, indeed, possible and extremely worthwhile to get to know ourselves better. To begin, do know that whatever we notice is good. This awareness, even though it may be small, means that we are waking up and the subconscious mind intuitively knows tht we are ready to get on with the inner detective work. In nursing this is called assessment, and once this has been accomplished, it is possible to develop a plan of action. This is exactly what the person in the above box needs, because until she knows what needs to be changed, she can't change it.

Most of us live in a mess or utter confusion. Few of us truly know where we are and for those of us who do, it is often very frightening. Most likely you can identify with this person's statement. This type of living can be dangerous as well, often leading to stress-related diseases and other chronic conditions.

Imagine for a moment that you have entered a house that depicts the level of mess in your life. Now.....on your mind screen make it worse....because the truth of the matter is that we can't truly evaluate our inside mess. Here's an example of what I mean. This morning I met with a 49 year old man who besides biting his nails to the quick, has been smoking from the age of 5. When I asked him why he wanted to stop these behaviors now, he said that he "wanted to feel better." Ouch! He was definitely not seeing or sensing the level of his mess. His statement was far too emotionally bland, almost like he wanted to get rid of my question by the easiest route. I might give him the benefit of the doubt, at least a little bit. Perhaps he is more aware than this, but he wasn't letting on, and he certainly didn't appear focused or frightened enough. But, this was soon to end. He was plenty frightened when he finished our first session. Fear is a great motivator, but you have to know where to attach the fear, and that is where careful assessing or detective work comes into play.

When working with habits such as nail biting or skin picking, we have to plan in very special ways. We need information about ourselves that may not be in our current memory bank. These memories, however, are waiting for you in your subconscious mind library. Some of these things will pertain to your family of origin, as well as from your own health history, starting from the time you were born, and right up through today. You will also want to reclaim memory files about your beliefs, as well as where they came from so you can know whether or not they are blocking your recovery from your undesirable habits or other lifestyle change behaviors or addictions.

MIND EXERCISE

Spend a few moments to relax your body physically. You already know that you don't have to be in deep trance to be successful with these mind exercises. This is a matter of locating your center of focus, and then fully intending to enter it. Today let's use the golden egg image. Once you have entered, settle in and turn on your mind screen. Bring up an image of yourself surrounded by clutter. Most of us have no difficulty at all with this image, but if you are an exceptionally neat person, just go ahead and build some clutter for yourself. Now notice that the clutter extends into your mind. I call this mind clutter. Notice that I'm handing you a big eraser. Take your time and begin to erase the outer clutter. If you like, you can keep some things that are present, but arrange them in some logical order. Next, do the same with your mind clutter. I like to have my thoughts line up, like kids getting ready to enter school. That's it....simple as that. Your subconscious mind now has a program for both inner and outer organization, erasing what is not needed or wanted.

Nail biters and skin pickers are often overly-stressed individuals. The actual biting & picking can act as a stress-releaser or self-hypnosis induction. Ask your subconscious mind librarian to alert you by way of your mind-screen, if this is so for you. If you get an affirmative answer, simply place a large black X over the image. This will communicate to your subconscious mind that you do not wish this program to play for you in this way. Instead, place your fingers on your lower abdomen, allowing them to ride up and down on your inner merry-go-round horse, noticing how your body relaxes as it enters a healthy trance state.

ACTIVE AFFIRMATION - I clear my environment, both inner and outer of clutter. I enjoy organizing my world and my life. My body and mind release my need to nail bite or skin pick.