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Affirmation of the Week

"Ego is a social institution with no physical reality. The ego is simply your symbol of yourself. Just as the word “water” is a noise that symbolizes a certain liquid without being it, so too the idea of ego symbolizes the role you play, who you are, but it is not the same as your living organism."

-Alan Watts (British-American spiritual author and speaker)🌼

This Week's "Subconscious Success" Tip

"I saw myself being in a large body of open water...felt like I was drowning...and there was nowhere for me to rest."

Someone shared this with me after we were debriefing their hypnosis session.

"What does it mean?" they asked.

Now remember, our subconscious communicates to us in metaphors.

Turns out, there as some types of metaphors that are more common than others (as I learned in the Metaphors of Movement course taught by Mark Andreas, where we learned about subconscious metaphors and how they shape our experience of life).

When someone has a metaphor appear to them (either during a relaxed state when they're visualizing or in dream time) where they're surrounded by water, that's called an "immersion metaphor". In my client's case, they were in the middle of the ocean or some other body of water where there was no land or boundary in sight (i.e. unbounded).

Unbounded immersion metaphors usually signify:

• Overwhelm from external circumstances

• A lack of support

• Not having an "under"standing...nothing solid or firm to "stand on"...maybe can't even take a stance

• No steps that this person can take (they're not in control of the outcome)

• Feeling inundated - not meeting other people's expectations

Now, a person in this situation could technically get "rescued"...but if they do, they'll likely find themselves repeating the pattern of getting "immersed" again...unless something changes in their identity.

Why? Because embedded in this metaphor - is the notion that we are somehow operating from a "false self" in our life and we're trying to stay afloat in this.

The real you probably wouldn't swim out into the middle of the ocean, right?

So what's "the solution" to this person who's in the middle of the ocean trying to stay afloat?

Eventually, it's to surrender and experience a metamorphosis (i.e. a metaphorical "death").

If you think about it...the ocean is a "solution". It's a mixture of salt and water. The "solution" is all around the person. It's not the solution that we want (which is the false self), but it's the solution that's there.

So...this is about integration of the false self...becoming one with the environment that we thought we should be separate from.

Not an "easy" solution by any means, and a lot of people will do everything they can to keep themselves from "drowning".

Gahhhh so much nerdy GOODNESS, I tell yah! So much to contemplate and unpack here!

How to Apply This Tip

To keep this on the simple side...if you ever think about your current circumstances and feel like "I'm trying to keep my head above water - and there's nowhere to rest or swim to in sight", notice if anything I said above resonates with you.

A few additional questions to ask yourself:

• What have I been clinging on to in life that I already have the intuitive sense is falling away or is not sustainable in the long term?

• What might be the qualities of my "false-self"? What identity qualities (societal roles or titles) have I been holding on to in fear of letting go?

• Who do I think I "should" be?

• Is there shame involved here? About what?

• How could I cultivate "security" and "support" from the inside?

• Check out my blog here about "seeing things differently" from different perspectives. Then ask yourself - what do I notice now about this situation? What's the metamorphosis really happening here?

I really liked what my client said too, "maybe it could also be about relaxing and floating and allowing the current to gently guide me." Might not work in all circumstances of course...but I just think this stuff is so fascinating!

Why it works (the short version)

Eliciting a subconscious metaphor for our life's challenges is a brilliant way to gain some clarity on a situation.

These metaphors often show us how our strategies are not actually working for us and what might work better.

Perhaps most importantly, metaphors can show us where we're starting from so we know which strategy would get us to where we want to be.

Think about it, if you wanted to go to Hawaii, and you live in California, you probably wouldn't buy tickets where the plane departs from New York, right? Same with this.

Ready To Try It?

If the "boundless immersion" metaphor I shared today resonates with you, ask yourself the questions from the "how" section (or send them to a friend).

If not - and you have a tricky situation where you feel kind of stuck, trying eliciting a metaphor for it. Just ask yourself "what's this like?". Maybe draw a picture. See what wisdom you can get through this simple exercise...and, also, know that a private session - might gain you even more insight. Set up a chat with me if you're interested.

That's it! Have questions about this week's tip? Want to share something with me? Connect with me!

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Cheers to your success!

-Alina Nikishina

Transformational Coach & Mentor

P.S. Does this resonate with a current situation you're in? Or perhaps you've experienced a "false-self" integration in the past? Let me know if what I shared today lands.

Click here to connect and share with me!

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