Wake Up!

by Vanessa Wesley
first published on Nov 19, 2007

Did you know you are often in a trance?
In some circles it would be called “unconscious” or “sleeping or “unaware”, or just plain confused. But whatever it is called, we are in it much of the time. Yep, most of the time we are walking around in a trance, even with our eyes wide open.

So what does this mean? It means that many of the decisions you make, moment-to-moment, day-to-day are below your level of consciousness. We move, act, and think habitually. In last week’s article, From Confusion to Clarity, clarity was shown to be simply doing what is next. Even with all of the confusing information we are surrounded with, by simply waiting for the energy of “what’s next” to arise we can know exactly what to do. But, that isn’t so easy if you aren’t first aware that you are in a trance.

So let’s begin there. Let’s begin with a few questions to set the stage. Are you doing work you don’t like? Do you feel stuck in a routine, or in some areas of your life? Do you wish you had more money or time to do the things you would like to do? Have you told yourself you were not going to act or do something just to find yourself acting or doing it anyway?

Did you answer yes to any of these? This is a trance. We are all preoccupied with the stories of our lives. We have already decided on what is important to us and what isn’t; what we will place our attention and focus on, and what we won’t. This is called the trance of conditioning. We have conditioned ourselves to think, be, or do what we have always done before. Did you know that if you put a frog in hot water it will jump out? But, if you put a frog in cold water and slowly increase the heat the frog will remain in the water and eventually boil to death.

That is what conditioning does to us. We acclimate to the condition of our lives, to the beliefs that we hold and cherish, and we continue to operate within them even if there is evidence (hot water) that tells us to change. Here’s the clue that you are in a trance.

If you feel a strong desire to change, but it is decidedly difficult to do so, you are hypnotized. Sounds strange, doesn’t it?

Savvy advertisers and marketers know about trances. Really! They even study them. A smart advertiser marketing a particular product will determine the trance his market is experiencing. The headlines of these ads usually bark out the trance you may be in. For example, a recent one reads, “Tired of Car Insurance Rates Going Up?” In order to get you to change your behavior and buy their product, brilliant marketers will meet you in your trance. If you are tired of car insurance rates going up, or wondering how to pay increasing insurance costs, then you will pay attention to that headline.

Then you have the headlines like, “How I Fell in Love with Fat” that are designed to snap you out of a trance and make you pay attention, at least long enough to draw you into the information. This headline will make you say to yourself, “You mean there is something to love about fat?” If it holds your attention long enough, the text of the ad will put you into another trance, if cleverly written.

There are all kinds of trances. There is the “I hate my job” trance. There is the “Men are jerks” trance. Then there are the seemingly harmless ones like, “I work better at Starbucks” trance. If you have that one (like I do) then an ad that shouts, “Studies show you get more done with coffee!” will probably claim your attention, at least for a moment.

So you may be wondering what does any of this have to do with the Whisper and with confusion. The Whisper shows up in ways that pull our attention out of the trance we are in and puts it into the present. When the Whisper shows up as a sudden urge to do something we hadn’t planned, we are pulled out of the trance. We move into the sensation of Urge. The Whisper places our attention directly on what is going on in the moment, and says, “Do this.” The high energy sensation of Urge does not come with an explanation, although your mind will sure try and find a “reason” for the feeling. Instead, we are moved to take an action, or not.

Here’s what I mean. I love to write these articles while sipping coffee at Starbucks, which is only a mile from my house. The whole ambiance of people walking in and out, others nearby working or talking on the phone, the piped in music, the whishshsh of the cappuccino machine, all make fine background noise for article writing. When I know I need to write something I automatically go into the trance of getting dressed and ready to go to the coffee shop. This morning though, knowing I would write about trances, I stopped and checked inside. Literally, I waited for the sensation of the Whisper to direct me. There was no urge or energy to go. None. . . Nada. Nope.

My mental thoughts said, “go get some coffee, you know you like to write there, what are you waiting for, this way you’ll be dressed and up and about, come on! What’s taking you… get going… Hey you’re not dressed yet……. You’ll never get that article finished….

Can you hear the trance? That’s what a trance sounds like in your head. But, there was no sensation of Urge, or Inspiration, or Knowing, or any of the six distinct ways the Whisper shows up. My thoughts were arguing with the sensations, and if I listened and followed those thoughts I would certainly have become confused. This is confusion. So here I am in my pajamas at my kitchen counter tapping on my laptop keyboard. And it’s quiet. No cappuccino machines. No buzz of chatter. No confusion.

To break the hypnosis of conditioning, doing the same thing over and over, hoping and wishing for things to be different or change, you must go inside where the wisdom of love sits, waiting to guide you. And it’s really easy to wake up to this. I call it being hypnotized by the Whisper and falling in love with you! So here a few tips on how to break your trances and wake up:

1. Become aware that most of the time you are in a trance. This isn’t bad or wrong. We simply believe what we believe and think what we think, and often we don’t question this. Just saying to yourself, “I may be in a trance right now” will do wonders for opening up your awareness.

2. Notice what you are thinking about. Begin to notice your patterns and habits. Do you always sleep on the left side? Do you eat according to what time it is? What occupies your mind? Money? Work? Children? Simply begin to notice.

3. Choose just one pattern or habit to alter. Notice it says alter, not break. The thought you have to break a habit will immediately throw you into another trance! Thoughts will rush in that say, “That’s too hard”, or “I don’t want to break my habits.” Instead, gently alter your behaviors. For example, if you always get up at 6:00 am when your alarm clock rings, try setting it for 5:45 or 6:10, or better yet, try waking up naturally and getting up when you awaken. Another simple thing to do is switch something around in your house. Put the forks where you usually keep the spoons. If you place the toilet paper so it rolls on the outside, switch it so it rolls on the inside. Go to the grocery store or the office using a different route. This can be lots of fun. Take a moment, go inside, and ask what to switch up? Eat spaghetti for breakfast!

4. Breathe. Stop several times a day and become aware of breathing. Just stop what you are doing and notice your breath. The air expanding your lungs and the air leaving your nostrils. It’s impossible to be fully present with your breath AND in a trance!

5. And finally, listen for the sensations of the Whisper. The Whisper has the distinct sensations and feelings of abiding peace (even amidst confusion), energy and certainty, and love. When you cannot feel those sensations you can know you are sleep-walking.

Wake up to the Whisper. Practice feeling the abiding Love of inner guidance. Don’t wait for the water to boil . . . jump out of the pot while the water is heating!

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