Hyp Checks

You are more than you think.

…we are, as humans, key players. Because we all—every single one of us—have fire in our bellies. We all, in various combustive forms, have flames at our fingertips.¹

- Leigh Ann Henion

Crazy date night last night.

Soulmate and I caught a live improv show featuring Colin Mochrie of Whose Line is It, Anyway? fame. But the kicker - and the major attraction for us - was this: His co-host was master hypnotist Asad Mecci, and Mr. Mochrie’s fellow cast members were volunteers from the audience who agreed to take part…while under hypnosis, constantly monitored and reinforced by Mr. Mecci.

Twenty volunteers filled twenty chairs set in a line on the stage. Mr. Mecci weaved his initial craft and then winnowed the cast down to six individuals he deemed most amenable to maintaining an hypnotic state. These he reinforced and took deeper. Then they were unleashed into odd situational skits individually, in pairs and en masse. The results were fascinating, uproarious and ultimately inspiring.

Fascinating: Watching a master hypnotist at work is - um - mesmerizing. The human mind is both sophisticated and quite suggestible. More about this in a moment.

Uproarious: I’ve always found Mr. Mochrie funny in an every-man sort of way, and he did not disappoint. And the hypnotized cast was mostly lightning-fast and always in-character, delivering sometimes devastating improvised lines with straight faces and absolutely NO laughter. At the end of the evening, just before the cast was returned to their normal conscious state, Mr. Mochrie turned to the audience and said “I wish you could see their eyes. It is quite unnerving and a unique challenge to improvise on stage with complete strangers who are bypassing their executive function.”

Which is what made the night ultimately inspiring: We watched a stay-at-home mom, a CPA, a therapist, a school teacher and two retirees engage and entertain a 1300-seat theatre audience for an hour-and-a-half without inhibition, nervousness or a moment’s hesitation. They were funny. They were sharp. They were brilliant.

Mr. Mecci had simply helped them get out of their own way to let their inner genius soar.

Synchronistically, a favorite substack I subscribe to, cognitive neuroscientist Julie Fratantoni’s drjuliefratantoni.substack.com/, shared this yesterday:

Repetition rewires

Repetition rewires

Repetition rewires

Your brain rewires what you repeat.

But neuroplasticity doesn’t know the difference between helpful and harmful habits. It strengthens the connection either way.

Pay attention to what you repeat.

That is to say, we continually self-hypnotize ourselves out of creative action, self-regard, inner peace and so much that is possible, desired, spontaneous, good for us and/or liberating. How often have you shaken yourself awake to find you have self-sabotaged, shrunk back or brow-beaten yourself out of an opportunity? How often have you watched your motivation puddle and sink beneath the floorboards from a self-inflicted egoic puncture wound.

Last night Mr. Mecci repeated a few phrases throughout the show:

You are safe.

You feel good.

You maintain your balance.

You take this experiment seriously.

That’s a four-stage antidote for so much in life that ails you and me, administered to everyone in the Smith Opera House last night for something more than just kicks. You could feel all that positive energy spill out onto the darkened streets and friendly sidewalks of Geneva, NY after the show. Can you feel it now, too?

What do you tell yourself over and over? Is it serving you well or holding you back from being more fully yourself?

Last night’s show reminded me of the inner work we do communally at The Haden Institute, training good people to do the work themselves, then help others move deeper along their ego-Self axis - beyond the facade they show the world; beneath the false narratives we repeatedly tell ourselves about who and how we are; down deep to the real root impulses and archetypal energies.

This is the work the world needs from us right now, breaking the constant negative message loops that drive us to distraction, dissatisfaction and quiet desperation. We serve the world best by first becoming more fully ourselves.

Think for yourself.

Dream for yourself.

The world needs you to be bravely, spectacularly, more fully you.

And if you get a chance, catch Hyprov. It’s amazing.

Then again, I’ve just reminded myself of a classic SNL bit:

Hah!

1. Henion, Leigh Ann. Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark (p. 288). ©2024, Kindle Edition.