One of the biggest challenges that clients have before they “make the shift” is starting an exercise routine and keeping it going.

When I struggled with my weight, every night I would go to bed swearing I would wake up early the next morning and get up and exercise.  “I will get up and exercise!” I would say to myself, but that was about it.  I went to bed without another thought about it until the next morning when the alarm sounded, and I groggily remembered in some hazy distant memory something about exercise. “Hmmm,” I would say, as I hit the alarm. “Let me just think about that for a moment…” as I drifted back to sleep and my barely worn sneakers would spend another lonely morning in the back of my closet.

Why was it so hard for me to get started on my new exercise routine?  My intentions were good.  A part of me, my conscious mind, would say, “Rita, get up and exercise!” The problem was that there was a bigger part of me, my unconscious mind that had gotten used to sleeping in and really could only see me staying in bed and hitting the snooze button on my alarm.  Consequently, the smaller part of my brain was saying “exercise,” and the bigger part of my brain was seeing “stay asleep”.

It was a case of “say” versus “see”.

Seeing ourselves doing something engages our imagination.  It forces the brain to create a picture.  Our unconscious brain works less effectively with language than it does pictures, metaphor and symbol.  Seeing myself getting up and exercising forces my brain to see it and then proceed to figure out how to achieve that outcome. That’s why “seeing” yourself doing something is a much more effective way to get your resistant unconscious brain motivated and eager to achieve the outcome than just saying “I have to exercise” which is saying, and saying has very little impact on the unconscious mind.

When I finally understood this and started seeing myself wake up and exercise, I was able to begin to get up and exercise. Now you can, too.  I am going to teach you a super simple self-hypnosis technique that I call MIND TV that you can use to get yourself “seeing” and begin an exercise routine.

Look at your Weekly Planner and the exercise sessions that you have scheduled. Where do you think you might come up against resistance? Use the following technique to ease yourself into getting started…

MIND TV SELF HYPNOSIS TECHNIQUE

1. Get comfortable in a chair or in your bed (you can do this before you drift off to sleep at night or in the morning as you are waking up).
2. Close your eyes.
3. Take a nice deep Shift Breath.
4. Next, tense every muscle in your body tightly and hold for the count of three. Relax.  Repeat this twice.
5. Now, create an image of yourself sitting in a comfortable chair and also imagine that in front of you is a large screen TV.
6. Imagine that you have a remote control device in your hand and that you now turn on the TV.
7. Imagine that on the TV is an image of you just before you would get ready to exercise. Make sure you are very specific about when and where this would be, what time of day it is, and what you are wearing BEFORE you get ready to exercise.
8. Next, see yourself in the chair, press START on the remote device, and see the image on the screen of yourself beginning to get dressed to exercise and starting out exercising.
9. Continue to PLAY the image of yourself as you move through your exercise, see yourself feeling good, looking happy performing the exercise. Be specific as to how long you will exercise and what exactly you are doing. (NOTE: You do not have to imagine the exercise for the length that you will perform it in real life. Just be specific.)
10. See the image of you in the chair watching the scenario of you on the screen finishing your exercise and feeling proud of yourself for having shown up for yourself.
11. Now see the image of you hitting REPEAT on the remote device and PLAY the same exercise scenario on the TV screen again. Repeat this same scenario three more times for a total of 5 times.
12. Now step into the TV screen and become one with the you on the screen and imagine yourself being in your body from before you start exercising as you are getting ready, through your starting to exercise, and now being in the middle of your routine--feeling your heart breathing and your lungs breathing and how good it feels to be in your body exercising, and now imagine finishing your exercise and feel that feeling of pride and how healthy you feel.  TURN UP THE VOLUME ON THIS GOOD FEELING.

Experience the good feelings get stronger. Want those good feelings and focus on how rewarding it will be to have those feelings every day. You are getting your reward brain focused desiring to exercise to achieve this feeling.

Take a nice deep breath and open your eyes. (If this is before sleep just continue to drift off to sleep.)

There, you have the technique to begin your very own exercise channel.  Use this technique often, and soon you will find that it is much easier to engage yourself willingly in moving your body.  You can also use this technique to create a powerful vision of seeing yourself a year from now exercising at (or closer to) your ideal weight. This will also help keep you motivated.

OTHER SHOWS STREAMING ON MIND TV
 The Mind TV self hypnosis technique also is useful for other things you may be resisting:

• Pushing the plate away when you have had enough
• Avoiding the candy jar at work
• Stopping after one glass of wine
• Etc.

DOS AND DON’TS

• Do keep trying this technique as it may take a few times to get the result.
• Do try to feel the feeling of how good the outcome will feel when you achieve it. This also helps the brain to create the outcome.  See it and FEEL it!
• Do have fun!
• Don’t do this while driving.
• Do enjoy the show! Enjoy the results!

Have a Shifted Day 3!

ox Rita