The Media, Manipulation and News Coverage

One of the things I spend a LOT of time doing in my practice is dispelling myths.  People think that as a hypnotist I must be able to control minds and make people swoon to my will, and that is the farthest thing from the truth.

A hypnotist would find it very hard to get a client to be manipulated simply because the client is aware of what they are there to do, in other words, they know the agenda and anything out of the ordinary will raise an unconscious flag that alerts the mind to something outside of the norm.

However, there are people who have their own agenda, one that is NOT known, that can easily be used to manipulate and control your thinking, your mood, and your level of enjoyment of life.  The media, news, Television, Radio and papers are among those with agendas. Now, I am not suggesting some conspiracy theory, nor am I damnin all news coverage to the rank of malicious manipulation, on the contrary i realize that an intelligent adult must be informed on an intelligent level about what is happening in the world at large. 

I would argue however, and I doubt most programmers could disagree with me, that those media have an agenda above informing- MAKING MONEY.  Every form of media is in their business to make money, not as a community service.  The exception to that is NPR, National Public Radio, and one will note an exceptionally different tone to their reports. The media WANTS you to be riveted to the television...  Emotions sell! Emotions keep you coming back, and FEAR is the easiest emotion to use against you.

Every day, the news is reporting on world events, and doing so using specific words, language, tone of voice and images that are designed by their very nature to elicit a reaction in your MIND and in your heart.  If that is not hypnotic manipulation I am not certain what is.

No doubt you have noticed in yourself, or in those around you at work a growing every present level of anxiety, stress, worry or fear. YES it is a good thing to be aware and informed, BUT the fight or flight syndrome can ONLY be maintained in the body for a short period of time before the chemicals associated with it begin to cause damage.  People get sick. Ulcers grow. over all quality of life begins to falter.  Isn't that JUST what a terrorist would want???

So, what can you do?  Watch the news, read the paper, with a critical eye and ask yourself, "Now what do they REALLY mean by that- and what is another LESS commercial way I could word what they just said?"

S simple technique borrowed from hypnosis and NLP that will work in your favor is this:  Remember a time where you were VERY skeptical.  A time where you listened to what you were told, but you were skeptical, centered and kept really questioning what you were being handed.  In your mind, go back to that memory and watch it like a movie.  Then, step IN to your body in that memory and feel what it was/is like to be in that skeptical space.  Relive that memory from inside your body for a few minutes, and when you are there fully, "anchor" that by squeezing your right knee, holding it, taking a deep breath and then releasing.  Now get up and walk around for a minute. Repeat.

Next, do the same process using a memory of a time where you were VERY calm, clear headed and relaxed.  Anchor that using the exact same knee squeeze. What this does is to connect those two states of mind- Skepticism and Centered relaxation- to the signal of the knee squeeze. Repeat.

Set aside a specific time of day to watch or review the news, and 5 minutes before that, squeeze your knee, and take a deep breath before releasing it.  Your mind will access that combined state of skepticism and calm and as you review the news notice with some interest how different it is this time.  If at any time you notice yourself being sucked in, and feeling stressed or manipulated, stop, close your eyes, squeeze your knee again and take the deep breath to re-access that skeptical calm centered state.

A SIMPLE technique to help you avoid being a puppet for the media!

If you want additional self hypnotic help, visit my download page for a free hypnosis audio program "Coping with Terror, War and the Media."