Once upon a time there was a young woman who was walking through the forest. During her travels she came upon an old oil lamp which she opened, whereupon a genie emerged!
The genie thanked her for freeing him and offered to be her eternal servant, but under one condition. She would always have to keep him occupied or he would devour her. She laughed, believing it would be easy to keep him occupied and agreed to his terms.
Her first request was that he make her a dress worthy of a princess. Within moments he completed the gown while reminding her to, "keep me busy or I will devour you."
So she then she asked him to build her a palace, figuring that would keep him occupied for a good long while. However in what seemed like no time at all he completed that task and demanded more to do.
This pattern repeated both day and night and before long she was frantic and exhausted from trying to keep the genie occupied. He kept getting larger and more menacing, always with the reminder, "keep me busy or I will devour you!"
Eventually she had had enough and tried to run away, but he remained in hot pursuit, never letting up with his demand to be kept busy. Luckily she ran into the wise old woman who lived in the forest and told her of her dilemma. After carefully listening carefully to her tale, the wise woman advised, "let him catch up with you and then tell him to do this," whispering the rest of the instructions into her ear.
At first this solution seemed too simple but the girl was desperate and felt she had nothing to lose. So she walked toward the genie who was now gigantic, his voice bellowing, "GIVE ME SOMETHING TO DO I WILL DEVOUR YOU!"
Composing herself, she calmly told him to build a 100 foot pole. He did this quickly and then asked, "NEXT?"
Her reply, "go climb up and down that pole until I tell you stop." Obediently he began to follow her directions and she experienced some pleasant and much needed relief. Afterward when it suited her, she would have him come down from the pole and have him take care a task she wanted completed. When he was done she would send him back up the pole until he was needed, so he didn't start causing trouble once more.
This story beautifully illustrates the conflict that often comes up between our right and left brain hemispheres-which have different functions. In many anxious states the left hemisphere, which is analytical, critical and prone to worry and a more recent evolutionary development, becomes overactive. At the same time the right hemisphere, which is intuitive and imaginative, all but shuts down. In many ways the left brain becomes like a tyrant and the result is a very unpleasant state of mind and body.
This imbalance becomes very noticeable when we can't get to sleep because of the constant looping of thoughts or feel stuck in life because of the well known 'paralysis by analysis' effect-the constant 'what ifs?'
In order to be our best we have to achieve a balance within ourselves. By using hypnosis and related techniques and calming the conscious mind, we are able to more easily rest, heal and establish a connection with our deeper intelligence.
If you would like to learn more, please consider attending my Anti-Stress Toolbox Class on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 at 7 PM. You will learn some amazing practical techniques so that you can put your genie back in the bottle. This is class is suitable for both newcomers to mind/body healing practices and those who could use a refresher course. Details can be found at the Upcoming Events Page.