The Bloom of the Present Moment

The Bloom of the Present Moment

Change takes place in the present. The way we come into the present is through being in touch with our bodily experience, moment by moment.

If your client is mostly attuned to their spinning mind, then the work isn’t going to be effective as if they can come down into their bodies, bringing their awareness to what is happening in this moment, not worried about the future, or ruminating about the past. Fresh.

That’s why, at the beginning of the session, we give the simple suggestions to bring awareness to the breath, the sensations of contact between the soles of the feet and the floor, or the sensation of support in the backs of the legs as they rest against the chair.

But, we don’t stop there. Many people need more help than that, and so we offer the words and phrases that allow them to ‘settle in and settle down’ more fully. Milton Erickson was well known for deeply engaging his clients through his pacing, utilizing what they brought in language and phrasing, and adding confusional techniques, which allow the mind to rest.

Here are a few confusional phrases that you can include in your sessions. Each one will help your client to get out of their heads and into the present.

“…and you can become so relaxed that you don’t even know if you’re in the relaxation, or the relaxation is in you.”

“…and you can remember to forget (to smoke, eat chocolate, any other behavior or thought they want to change) and forget to remember…”

“…and you can become so small that you can get inside the knot of the problem” (When someone has a serious problem, they feel that they have to be bigger than the problem. This phrase suggests that they can become so small that they can see it from the inside. Any shift in perspective loosens the hold of the problem, and bringing a sense of play and flexibility into the session.)

Then, your client is more fully available for the transformative work that follows. Their whole selves are available for the work- able to bloom into their true nature instead of living out the patterns of past learnings.