Fear of Driving Hypnosis

Welcome to the Hypnotist, the show that gives you inside access to cutting-edge hypnosis with real clients facing genuine issues. Brought to you by the hypnotherapist demanded by celebrities, CEOs, and even royalty, Adam Cox. These recordings took place live from Adam's clinic in London's world-famous Harley Street. This podcast features powerful hypnosis, so do not listen while driving or operating machinery. This recording is not suitable for those with epilepsy or severe mental health issues. So, get yourself comfortable and enjoy today's episode of The Hypnotist. Hi, it's Adam Cox here. So normally I work with clients from my clinic in Harley Street, but for the episode that you're about to listen to, I was actually doing it over video conferencing, so I use Zoom. This was a client that was actually based just south of Chicago. Now, this is a gentleman that had an anxiety attacks, very severe anxiety. When he was driving on a multilane motorway or expressway, as he called it, and effectively it was thoughts popping into his head of driving off the road, potentially causing an accident to himself or other people. And the thought of that would actually create such anxiety, because it was based on a presupposition of false belief, because he was thinking of that, or a part of his unconscious mind was thinking that thought, that it might actually happen, that he couldn't trust himself to drive the car, and that caused the anxiety. So in the episode that you're about to listen to, this is a real recording of the actual hypnosis session that I did with this gentleman, who effectively it's using something called parts therapy. So the presupposition here is that there was a part of his unconscious mind that was trying to help in some way, but by helping was actually causing this anxiety. It is not uncommon, this happens in a lot of cases. And normally the unconscious part responsible for a phobic response anxiety is normally to protect, but they protect at such an extreme level, they become hyper vigilant and actually makes things worse. So you're going to hear quite an interesting induction. His relaxing place was a vacation holiday in rural Scotland. So when I asked him about that, that was the image that came to mind. So we use that as the place for the induction, use several levels of dissociation, and effectively then introduced a metaphor to communicate with the part responsible for what was perceived to be reckless behavior. It turns out it wasn't reckless behavior at all. And then something interesting happens when there's a breakthrough, but I don't want to spoil it for you. So this is going to be useful for you, not only if you have a fear of driving, but it's also going to be useful for you, if you have any kind of fears or anxieties and perceive there to be a part responsible. So you can tell this in the language that people use. If they say, well, there's a part of me that really just wants to do this thing, but there's another part that really wants to avoid it. That's a good example of a fragmented or conflicted part. So it might be useful if you psychologically just substitute his issue with your issue, you might find some value from that. But if not, just know that it's a useful way of thinking about a positive intention and that it's not necessarily being interpreted in the right way. And when I work with clients, I always like to. I ask them the question, I say, is there a person in your life that is. they're hearts in the right place, but whenever they try and help, they make things worse. And in everyone's life, they can think of someone like that. And just imagine if that person wasn't a person, but it was a part of your unconscious mind, it was inside your own head. So it's really trying to help, but by helping, it's making things worse. So that should give you a nice metaphor to evaluate your own motives and assumptions about your ability to get on well with yourself, if that makes sense. So the episode is about to start. So if you want to enjoy this, make yourself comfortable, switch off any devices that could interrupt you. And there will be a couple of minutes worth of music, relaxing music, before the hypnosis actually starts, but it's a good one, so enjoy. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] So all I want you to do, take a nice deep breath in, and then on the out-breath close your eyes. And I want you to use the power of your imagination, so that as you breathe in, just imagine that you're breathing in a sensation of relaxation, breathing in relaxation, and breathing out tension. And I want you to imagine that in the same way that when you breathe oxygen, that oxygen goes through your nose, down your windpipe, fills your lungs, and miraculously your body has the ability to take oxygen from the air that you breathe, and distribute that to every single cell in your body. And I want you to imagine that this warm feeling of relaxation has a color, maybe a bright, vibrant or warm color. And as you imagine breathing in that warm color in through your nose, down your windpipe, filling your lungs with that feeling of relaxation, I want you to imagine that your heart has the ability to do what it does with oxygen, to extract that feeling of relaxation, and to distribute it to every cell in your body. Now sometimes when you're doing exercise or thinking in a certain way, sometimes parts of your body needs more oxygen than other parts. And right now there might be certain parts of your body that require more of this feeling of relaxation than other parts. And I want you to imagine that your body knows exactly which parts need more relaxation, and normally the clue is that they are holding onto more tension than other parts. For some people there is more tension in their neck and their shoulders, or in the muscles around the eyes, and there might be less in fingers or toes. And as you scan your body to detect where tension is, I want you to imagine that you're somewhere else. I want you to imagine that you are in a large country house, very far away, perhaps in a different country, perhaps even in Scotland. And ordinarily, you may have been in this house with other people, but I want you to imagine that you're in this house on your own. It's a sunny day. And perhaps you're in the garden area or outdoors, and you're breathing in that fresh, clean air, getting a sensation of the warmth of the sunshine on your skin. And I want you to imagine somewhere outside is the most comfortable chair that you've ever seen. either the evoan, or even if you've just been in this chair for just a few minutes. But I want you to imagine that that comfortable chair is outdoors with an incredible view. And I want you to imagine taking a seat in that comfortable chair outdoors, feeling the warmth of the sunshine on your skin. And as you breathe in, I want you to imagine that you're breathing in a sense of tranquility and relaxation in that warm color, and that your heart is distributing it to every cell in your body that needs that relaxation right now. And as you imagine resting in this comfortable chair, I want you to focus on the tiny muscles in your eyelids and around your eyes, as you breathe in that feeling of relaxation. Imagine that color is being distributed to those muscles in your eyelids around your eyebrows, around your eyes. Increase the tension temporarily in those muscles. And then as you breathe out, release and let go of all that tension. That's right. I want you to now focus on the muscles in your forehead. Really pay attention to those muscles in your forehead. The same muscles that you would unconsciously use to communicate expressions like curiosity, intrigue. Become aware of those muscles, increase the tension, and then as you breathe out, release that tension. That's it. And now focus in the muscles in your jaw. There are some people that exist that have so much tension in their jaw that when they sleep they grind their teeth. Now for you there's nowhere near that level of tension, but there might be a fraction of that tension. And as you breathe in that warm feeling of relaxation, as you feel the warmth of the sun in your skin, just imagine it's melting away any and all tension in and around the jaw, taking you deeper and deeper relaxed. That's right. I want you to imagine you're in this comfortable chair in the countryside breathing fresh air, feeling the sunshine on your skin, and now focus on the muscles in your neck and your shoulders. And I want you to use the power of visualization to picture any and all tension in your neck and shoulders, being like crystals or shards of ice. And at least once in your life you've seen what it's like to leave an ice cube outside in hot sunshine, knowing that it just slowly but surely melts away. And as you picture any and all tension around your neck and your shoulders, as crystals of ice I want you to imagine is you breathe in that warm feeling of relaxation. And you also imagine the warmth of the Scottish sun on your skin, just imagine it's melting slowly but surely any and all tension around your neck and your shoulders, taking you deeper and deeper and deeper relaxed. That's right. Allowing that relaxation to spread all the way down your arms, right down to the tips of your fingers. As you breathe in that feeling of relaxation, imagine your lungs filling with this warm color of relaxation. And it's starting to relax even internal organs, your heart is relaxing. Your lungs are relaxing, your stomach's relaxing, your diaphragm's relaxing, even your gut is relaxing, and that relaxation goes all the way down into your legs, all the way down, deep down, right down into the tips of your toes. And I want you to imagine that something strange is about to happen. I want you to imagine what it would be like to imagine falling asleep in that chair, in the countryside in Scotland. And as I count down from five to one, I want you to imagine what it would be like to fall asleep and then see yourself in a dream seeing you asleep in that chair. Five relaxing four, feeling like you might yawn three, getting deeper and deeper relaxed two, one. And imagine you can now see yourself in that same chair, looking around, perhaps seeing that big country house, seeing the greenness of the landscape, the blueness of the sky. But imagine that the conscious part of your mind is asleep in that chair. And I want you to walk to a part where you've got the perfect view of the sky. And perhaps is a blue sky with just a few fluffy white clouds. And I want you to imagine what it would be like for those fluffy white clouds to actually make a word in the sky made of fluffy white clouds. And that word is relaxed, R-E-L-A-X, relax. Now this is an unusual thing. Why would clouds be spelling out a word in the sky? And that activates the logical, critical, analytical part of your mind. To wonder why clouds are spelling out words in the sky, relaxed, but each and every time you read the word, relax, you feel more deeply relaxed. Even if you were to spell the word, R-E-L-A-X, you feel relaxed. And then that word changes to a number. And that number made of fluffy white clouds in the sky is 998 made of fluffy white clouds in the sky. The logical, analytical part of your mind again is been used by Fuddled, bewildered as to how it can be that fluffy white clouds are now a number in the sky. And that number starts to count downwards. 998 becomes 997. It stays there for a few moments, descends again to 996. And it occurs to the logical, analytical part of your mind that this cloud is now a giant countdown timer. Counting down one by one by one. And I want you to allow the logical, analytical part of your mind to keep counting down the cloud in the sky. But there is another part of your unconscious mind that wants change. A part that has felt anxiety, vigilance, when driving and doesn't want to feel that anymore, that part will continue to walk away. And as you walk away, you can turn around and see the logical, analytical part counting giant clouds in the sky. Downwards by numbers. And you can also see a conscious part fast asleep on a very comfortable chair in Scottish countryside. But the part that wants change walks away, breathing in that fresh Scottish air, feeling the warmth of the Scottish sun on your skin, feeling relaxed and completely tranquil. And somewhere nearby is going to be a wooden cabin. It's modern, it's well built, it looks safe. And I want you to approach that wooden cabin. And I want you to know that inside that wooden cabin is the part responsible for these reckless thoughts. Every now and then there would be thoughts about things that you would never do, but have popped into your head anyway. And the part of your unconscious is a different part that is normally in control and that part will be in the cabin. This part would have been created normally at a significant point in your life. This part of your unconscious is just a part of your unconscious but we can imagine what that part would look like or could look like if it had a physical form in the same way. But if I said, imagine meeting a child like part of your unconscious mind, you might imagine a small child. And if I said imagine the adventurous part of your unconscious mind, you might imagine a hero. This part will also have the ability to have a physical form. And I want you to walk to the door of the cabin. That inside that cabin is the part responsible for these reckless thoughts. These parts, which have caused the reckless thoughts, which then created the anxiety that impedes your ability to just drive in the normal way that you would want. I want you to imagine that you're holding the key to the cabin door. And you're in front of that wooden cabin door and you can see the material it's made from. You're outside knowing that the part responsible for these thoughts is inside. And I'll count down from five to one. And when I reach one, you will enter the cabin. And you will walk to one corner of the cabin. Knowing that on the opposite corner, will be the part responsible for these reckless thoughts. Starting to count five, putting the key in the door four, rotating the key three. Hearing the click to signify that the cabin door is now open to pulling the cabin door open, one walking through the cabin door, zero closing the cabin door behind you. As you walk to one corner, you're able to see on the opposite corner, a part of your unconscious mind represented by something physical. This might be human, this might be a cartoon character, this might be something that has a physical form and possibly a face. And if you can see that part on the opposite side, just let me know by nodding your head. That's right. And all I want you to do is to make eye contact if possible with that part and recognize that you appreciate and detect its presence. In the same way that you worked if you walked into any room and saw another person there, You wouldn't necessarily need to communicate them, but you might make eye contact and signify that you're aware of their presence. And as you do that, I want you to detect their vision to you being aware of their presence because perhaps they're neutral or perhaps they're defensive. And even though you might be feeling relaxed, you can still talk and you can still describe what you see and I want you to describe very briefly, what it kind of looks like in that part on the opposite side of the corner. [Music] Hmm. And all I want you to do is I want you to, as strange as it may sound, express your gratitude to that part. For an intention that you don't quite know what it is yet. I want you to make eye contact with that part and you can communicate not necessarily verbally, but through thoughts it's just another part of your unconscious mind. Communicate with that part that you're grateful for the positive intention. That you know that they are trying to do something positive for you and even though you're not sure quite what that is yet, you're grateful that they have a positive intention. And as you communicate that, allow it to be received in the same way that you intend it to be received, which is a genuine form of gratitude that you have absolute appreciation, not for the result but for the intention. And let me know its response to that positive intention. Still neutral. At this point you've communicated. You've communicated that you appreciate it's trying to do something positive for you. But now what I want you to do is I want you to communicate and I can't you can do that in your own language through thoughts. Just imagine you're having a conversation with that part and I want you to communicate all of the consequences, all of the problems, all of the issues that have directly been caused by these very brief occasional thoughts that occasionally you've given credence to, that have created a feeling of anxiety and I want you to describe the anxiety, describe how it makes you feel, describe how it's made other people perceive you or you perceive yourself. All of the things that make this something unwanted, undesirable, detrimental. Describe that to that part. And as you do so, be very genuine, authentic and sincere. You're not making it worse than it is, but you're not downplaying it either, communicate to that part exactly as it is and more importantly how it's impacting your life. I want you again to kind of look at the expression of that mid-twenties version of you on the opposite side. And it may be, quite possibly be, that this part had no idea that it was having this kind of an impact. And if that's the case, let me know by nodding your head. That's right. Because if it did have an idea of it causing this level of distress and inconvenience and impact, it probably would never do it in the same way that maybe as a child, as a teenager, maybe even in your early twenties, you may have played the occasional prank, the occasional joke. And it may be, it may be that your intention was just to do something that you thought was funny. But every now and then, perhaps you may have scared someone or shocked someone or caused some kind of offence or pain. And it may be that this part has no intention to do these thoughts, maybe in the same way that as a child, a child might show another child, a spider, especially if they think they're afraid of bugs and creatures. Because they think it's funny to scare them. Now we don't know what the actual intention is of this different part. But I want you to ask the question. And it may be that in the same way that sometimes children just do things and don't really know why they do things. It may be that this mid-twenties version of you doesn't really know the intention, but equally it might know the intention. And I want you to ask the intention now and to see if that part knows why it's been coming up with these reckless thoughts. If it can give you a reason, let me know if not. Hmm. Yeah. And a large part of what the unconscious mind is doing is trying to protect. If you think of how complex driving is, it's not possible for every part of your conscious mind to be aware of every single possible variable. They've tried to program robots to actually drive cars. And some cars like a Tesla, for example, is reasonably good, but they've invested incredible amounts of money trying to do what a human can do without thinking about it. And it must occur to you at some level that your unconscious mind is there to protect in many different ways. If, for example, your day dreaming, while driving, and then maybe the car in front slams on the brakes within a second you can go from unconscious to conscious very, very quickly. I want you to imagine that this unconscious part perhaps is trying to protect. Even if you don't know why or how, but I want you again to express that gratitude for the intention of protection. And as you do so, again, notice that how that is received. The part has not been intending to cause distress or disruption or inconvenience, but it feels validated that you appreciate the positive intention of protection. I want you to ask that part if it's okay if I communicate directly with that part. Okay, what I want you to do is I want you to imagine switching perspective so you can leave that part in the corner and I want you to jump into the part that has been trying to protect you, even if you don't know why. And when you feel like you've taken possession of that mid-20s version of you, that younger version of you, just let me know by nodding your head. That's right. I would like to echo Andy's thoughts of gratitude. I know that you've had this positive intention even before we ask for that positive intention, because you like any other part of the unconscious mind have a desire to do something good. And it's also the case, I believe, that you had no idea of the negative consequences of your positive intention. You didn't know that it would cause so much distress, disruption, anxiety. And if that's the case that you had no idea, just let me know by nodding your head. And even though, you're not sure how you're protecting, I do believe that you are trying to protect. And I would like to propose a win-win situation where you still get to protect, but you get to protect in a way that doesn't have these negative consequences. One of the most effective ways of protecting is to anticipate the future. In the same way that if you're planning a route, you might anticipate what kind of things you might need. If it was the case that you're driving in particularly cold weather, you might anticipate by ensuring that there is warm clothing in the back, you might anticipate in many different ways. But by anticipating future events to help prepare is a positive way in which you can also protect. One of the things that is possible is that it is possible for anyone to imagine falling asleep at the wheel. That can happen if people are stressed or nervous and sometimes it's useful to make a quick picture. Imagine what there would be like if someone did fall. sleep at the will and in fact imagining that can give a boost of adrenaline just enough to make sure that person doesn't fall asleep. I want you to use your abilities to protect but protect in a way that doesn't create severe anxiety. The right balance here would be evaluating probabilities. Things that are very unlikely you don't need to prepare that much for. Things that are highly likely you might have more of an element of preparation. Now what you have been doing is entertaining the idea of reckless behavior or at least something that is being perceived to be reckless even if that is not your intention. Now if your intention is to consider reckless behavior just let me know by nodding your head. Okay which means that your intention was something else but it's being perceived to be reckless behavior. Now I want you to be able to think of different thoughts that better communicate the true intention behind those thoughts. Now it might be that you were entertaining the idea of something to be avoided. Is that the case? What is the intention behind those thoughts? Okay I want to suggest something that may be an intention given to it your motive is protection. Sometimes if you think of a bodyguard which has the duty the responsibility to protect. Sometimes they think about things that they don't want they think of threats and they think of undesirable outcomes to help them stay vigilant and prepare for those undesirable outcomes. Is it the case that occasionally you've been thinking of undesirable things? Not because you want them to happen but because you don't want them to happen. That's right and I want to suggest a compromise here that the consequence of considering undesirable future events means that they've been perceived to be a motivation to do those undesirable things which was never your intention your intention is only an always been to protect. Therefore you can protect by entertaining the idea of the most responsible, desirable outcomes and behavior and any problems that come to mind you will immediately think of solutions and ways to respond to whatever is happening. For example if there is extreme weather you might not have the idea of something negative happening but the idea of how you can best handle that extreme weather. And if that makes sense that you will now suggest ideas about what can be done rather than what must be avoided let me know by nodding your head. That's right. As you breathe in and breathe out I want you to accept that this is having a ripple effect to all different parts of the conscious of subconscious mind. But because you had never the intention to cause distress or anxiety only to help and protect you will now help and protect by focusing on solutions rather than problems. As a child or as someone with low levels of responsibility the adults around you are not expecting you to solve the problems just to point them out is enough. But now you have more experience you have more intelligence you have more wisdom. So now you can process those likely undesirable outcomes and those which are even remotely feasible you can suggest an idea within a split second of something useful and positive that can be done. That will still enable you to protect but without causing distress to any other part of the unconscious mind and if you accept this increased responsibility but with a new way of executing and exercising that responsibility let me know by nodding your head. That's right. You take a deep breath in release that breath and then switch perspective back to the other part the other part that wanted change. And if you can now see that part that was responsible for thinking about things that wanted you to avoid I want you to notice that that part is now changing in terms of its look and its posture it's evolving slightly because it now has a different responsibility in a different way of doing that responsibility. And if that other part is changing in some way I want you to just briefly describe how it's changing. Yeah and what size is it shrunk to? And the reason for this is perhaps because for most people that drive the part responsible for thinking about how to drive in a responsible way and how to solve problems has a very very minor but important impact on their ability to drive whereas if there is a part that is highlighting what can go wrong that actually has a more significant role to play in the experience of driving so as you see that part shrunk in size I also want you to appreciate that it's going to shrink in terms of the impact it can possibly have on your driving. It can help in a small amount by giving you things that you can do and respond to whatever's happening but there is going to have less impact on your ability to drive. And if that's accepted by your unconscious mind let me know if I'm nodding your head that's right and as you entered the cabin alone I want you to leave alongside this smaller part and I don't know if it's so small that you can pick it up and put it in your handle or your pocket or if it's more like a toddler or a small child, hold walking out of the cabin hand in hand but just know that you're walking out in collaboration whereas before there were two different parts that just had a communication issue that actually both parts wanted the same thing but you were interpreting that positive intention in a very negative scary detrimental way. You leave the cabin together. That's right and I want you to know that you are able to trust this part because now that you genuinely believe it has positive intentions and that it will deliver those positive intentions in a way that's usable and easier to make good decisions based on what to do rather than what to avoid I want you to feel that that part is integrating inside you so that the two different parts are now one and you trust that part will help you to become a better driver. I want you to walk towards another part of you. You're reminded that there is a person that looks exactly like you counting, cloud in the sky, a different number in the sky and I want you to appreciate that this logical analytical part has been distracted all this time but we need the logical analytical part now also to be integrated and I want you to walk inside that version so that again a fragmented part is now working in synergy because you will need the logical analytical part to really challenge any thought that pops into your head. For example just because you think something doesn't mean it's true because you've thought of incredible things in the past you've had ideas you've had fantasies you've had ridiculous ideas and just because you thought them you didn't believe they were true and you didn't believe they were a prophecy that they were going to happen in the future. So sometimes the logical and analytical part can just be there as a safety net, a check just to remind you that thoughts sometimes are just thoughts and if you're unconscious mind accepts the logical analytical part can occasionally remind you that thoughts are thoughts and don't need to be taken as seriously as you have been taking them just let me know by nodding your head. That's right and now all parts are integrated with one final final part remaining and that is that there is a part that represents your fully wide awake conscious part. Looking very relaxed in a very comfortable chair in the Scottish countryside and I want you to imagine. and climbing into that version of you so you feel all relaxed again. You're inside that body where you're feeling relaxed, you're feeling comfortable, you're breathing in that clean, crisp air, feeling completely relaxed. And I want you to imagine getting up out of that chair, looking at the incredible countryside around you. I want you to get a feeling that something significant has shifted, that you've connected with a part that you weren't communicating with before. And all that has been happening is an internal game of Chinese whispers. Where because things weren't communicated directly, something got lost in translation. And a part that was trying to help you were perceiving to be reckless and cause you danger. And now the twist in the story is that that part was never trying to cause danger at all. It was just trying to help you prepare by putting thoughts in your mind of what to avoid. But going forward, that part will give you thoughts about solutions or what to do. You'll be working synergistically with all parts and you will feel that when you drive, it's very much like it was when you drove all those years before. You can drive enjoying driving, trusting your unconscious mind that it is acting in your interest. You've got the ability to consider all the different ways in which you drive and choose the best one. You could choose to drive recklessly, but why would you? You could choose to endanger your life for the life of others, but why would you? And by trusting your unconscious mind to drive in the way that you would want to drive, enables you to just focus on the scenery, focus on driving and enjoying that driving. And trusting that your unconscious mind will steer your attention to things you need to be aware of, if you need to be aware of it. And if you accept those suggestions, let me know by nodding your head. And now I will count from one to ten to awaken you. You will awaken fully alert, fully in the moment, with a new sense of integration and collaboration, working in conjunction with all parts to enable you to think less when driving, but enjoy driving more. Trusting that your unconscious mind will direct your attention to anything you need to be aware of, at the point you need to be aware of it. You will awaken fully alert in this room with all parts, fully integrated alert and awake in this moment. Starting to account to awaken you. 1, 2, 3, waking up, 4, 5, 6, more alert, 7, 8, open your eyes, open your eyes, 9, 10, wide awake, wide awake. Thank you for listening to the Hypnotist with Adam Cox, the show that gives you inside access to cutting edge hypnosis with real clients facing genuine issues. To automatically receive the latest episodes, please subscribe. If you'd like to support the show, please share this episode with just one friend you think it could help. And if this episode helped you, please leave us a five star review.