As you probably realize, hypnosis makes use of symbolic language.
For instance, to calm down, you might be asked to imagine descending a stairway.
To go through an imaginary door, you might be asked to look for a key.
These are examples of symbolic language, where a symbol represents a thought, emotion, or state of being.
Symbols are useful because they help you face things you might not normally be able to face.
Hypnotic Symbolic Language and Mind Bending Language when used together give you an even more powerful way to calmly address issues that might be traumatic or distressing.
It works because the symbols can stimulate your unconscious mind, which only deals in symbols and abstracts anyway.
That’s where your creativity and vision are located, so symbolic language also helps to fire up your imagination.
On top of that, Mind Bending Language is a technique designed to help you imagine better, both in the abstract sense and in the concrete sense.
It’s particularly useful when applied within the confines of Conversational Hypnosis.
You can find out more about the Hypnotic Symbolic Language System by reading this Hypnosis Training Academy article.
But what about Mind Bending Language? What is it and how does it work?
A Definition Of Mind Bending Language & Its Uses
First of all, Mind Bending Language (MBL) isn’t a new or different language. It’s simply a way of presenting mind bending ideas to someone.
The point is to move their attention away from their problem and towards possible solutions.
It sort of jolts them out of one reality and into another, so they’re able to see things from a new perspective.
There is an element of confusion involved in the way the language is constructed, but confusion is not the main purpose.
Instead, it’s to open their mind up to new possibilities, and a little bit of confusion can help to do that.
You can use Mind Bending Language for anything that hypnosis is used for, but it is particularly useful for breaking down rigid mindsets.
In other words, when people are stuck in a rut and can’t find a way to move forward. They’re trapped in a negative loop that’s limiting them and stopping their progress.
Mind Bending Language cuts right through the problem by bypassing the obvious constraints. Its purpose is to alter a subject’s mindset by opening their eyes to new and fresh possibilities.
That explains why they feel confused at first, because you’re destroying one reality and dropping them into a new reality.
And in this new reality, their “problem” filters are removed so they can see new options they haven’t noticed before.
So Mind Bending Language is basically a form of Symbolic Language that uses abstract ideas rather than concrete symbols. Every idea is a symbol of something, and sometimes it’s more concrete like a teapot while other times it’s more abstract like happiness.
The secret to Mind Bending Language is to try and make the abstract concept feel concrete to the person. That’s when they get their mind bent, because they get to have an experience they didn’t think they could have.
You need to bring them a point where they can see their problem in a totally different context, somewhere where the problem can’t exist as it did before.
So how do you do that?
Examples Of Mind Bending Language In Action
MBL involves the use of language in a way that your brain isn’t used to hearing.
How might you use it to help people solve problems?
Well, typical problems fall into the “I can’t” category. You’ll often hear people say:
“I can’t do it.”
“I can’t learn to drive.”
“I can’t find a job I enjoy.”
“I can’t speak in front of a crowd.”
“I can’t be myself at parties.”
Whenever someone says “I can’t” you can draw several conclusions, namely:
- They’re fixated on the problem
- They feel disempowered
- They’re stuck and unable to move forward
As Henry Ford once said, if you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.
So as long as you focus on the problem, you’re unable to see the solution.
MBL helps get you unstuck so you can see options for making progress.
For instance, imagine someone who avoids going to parties.
They feel awkward and never know what to say.
They’re afraid of being judged and of saying the wrong things.
Just thinking about the party makes them uneasy.
Using MBL, you might say to them: “What are you not thinking about when you feel awkward at parties?”
This will take them by surprise as they consider what they’re not thinking about, which might include:
- Their good points
- Their friends and family
- Their unique talents
You could follow up with a question like this: “What are you not afraid of that is parties?”
Questions like this send their brain into a spin.
They’re not afraid of being on their own. They’re not afraid of working hard. They’re not afraid of chatting to people they know well.
Thanks to MBL, their thinking patterns have been changed, forcing them to look at things from a different perspective.
A great analogy for this is to imagine your brain as a house with a lot of rooms. The problem is just one room with the door shut.
The person inside the room thinks they’re alone, that there’s nothing else, and that they can’t get out. MBL opens the door to the problem room.
All of a sudden, there’s a house full of rooms to explore. There are plenty of options and there’s no need to ever go back into the problem room again.
Hypnotic Symbolic Language & Mind Bending Language
So Mind Bending Language “opens the door” to possibilities and options. It does that by helping you concretize an abstract idea.
For instance, unless you’re a millionaire or a billionaire, you can’t concretize incredible wealth. You can talk about it as an abstract idea, but you can’t actually imagine what it would be like.
Your mind doesn’t know how to conceive the actions that generate it.
Likewise, if you’ve never done any gardening, you won’t be able to concretize industrial scale farming. You can discuss it as an abstract concept, but you can’t actually imagine what it would be like.
With MBL, however, you can help turn an abstract notion into a concrete one.
For example, suppose someone tells you they’re “too dumb” to do something. You might ask: “How would you like to be different?”
They’ll probably say they want to be smart, so you ask: “What kind of smart?”
You’re trying to get them to concretize by attaching associations to the idea of smart, because until now it’s been an empty concept for them.
You’re stretching their mind, which is mind bending.
Think back to the people mentioned above who say they can’t do something. They’re in a state of inability, and you can use MBL to move them from inability into ability.
For instance, you might ask:
“When could you be happy?”
“Can you be happy or do happiness?”
Next, get them to think of a situation where they can’t be happy, and then go on to the third question.
“So when you can’t be happy like this, what can you be?”
This breaks the stranglehold of inability. It’s their inability that constrains them, and this kind of language dissolves that constraint.
Mind Bending Language & The Need For Questions
MBL is a questioning technique that exploits the ambiguity of language.
The questions you ask serve several purposes.
1. They elicit information from the other person
2. They help to bypass the critical factor because you have to go inside yourself to find the answers
3. They help to stimulate the unconscious mind, which deals in abstract ideas and symbols
As a rule, your questions should get them to think in abstract symbols. Turning abstract symbols into concrete symbols is what makes it possible to present new perspectives and different options.
That’s why you refer to states such as “happy” because it is an abstract idea.
If they can’t be happy in one particular situation, then in which situation can they be happy?
These kinds of questions force them to imagine other possibilities, other circumstances when they could be happy.
Such as perhaps when they are working on their hobbies. Or when they are gathering together with friends and family.
These are concrete concepts that they will come up with themselves, concepts that will lead them to see other options.
And all you have to do to help them get there is ask a few mind bending questions.
Conclusions & Key Takeaways
Mind Bending Language is simply ordinary language used to present mind bending ideas.
It uses the ambiguity of language to create surprise, novelty or confusion.
You can use Mind Bending Language for anything that hypnosis is used for, but it is particularly useful for breaking down rigid mindsets.
It’s an invaluable tool when someone is stuck in their thinking and can’t find a way to resolve a problem.
When MBL is used together with Hypnotic Symbolic Language, you get a powerful method for addressing issues that might be distressing or traumatic.
It works because the symbols are able to stimulate your unconscious mind, helping to fire up your imagination.
Mind Bending Language helps you imagine better, both in the abstract and concrete senses.
It’s particularly useful when applied within the confines of Conversational Hypnosis.
The point of MBL is to move someone’s attention away from their problems and towards possible solutions. It creates a bit of confusion, just enough to open their mind up to new possibilities.
Mind Bending Language allows you to make abstract concepts feel concrete, giving the other person an experience they didn’t think they could have.
When people are unable to solve their problems and make progress, it’s usually because:
- They’re fixated on the problem
- They feel disempowered
- They’re stuck and unable to move forward
MBL gets them unstuck so they can see options they never considered before. It opens the door to possibilities.
At its heart, MBL involves asking questions, which serve a number of purposes.
1. They elicit information
2. They help to bypass the critical factor
3. They help to stimulate the unconscious mind
As a rule, your questions should get people to think in abstract symbols. Turning abstract symbols into concrete symbols is what makes it possible to present new perspectives and different options.