The Curse of the Golden Griffin Glyphs is finished! Going to be working on a new story soon. It will be based on questions that plague my mind. Probably going to fandom Hell for writing such a thing. Anyway, AHEM.

You know, having this to look forward to writing is actually kind of great! Back when I kept up my story a week schedule, it was minorly stressful as it got towards the end of the week if I hadn’t started writing anything. I think at my heart I do like writing (how could I not - it’s a way to ramble and talk about myself which I’m usually too reserved to do out loud), but feeling pressured to keep to certain topics makes me anxious. It was like that for my story year, and for the prompts, and it’s why I apologize 2.5 times every time I put up a personal post. But ultimately this is my blog and with the understanding that NaNoWriMo this month can be about anything including personal thoughts, I feel more comfortable writing daily!

That being said, resistance play! It was probably my first initial draw into hypnosis. If you’ve read my previous posts on resistance play over the years this will probably all sound familiar. I think as a self-claimed ‘difficult subject’, it’s very freeing to engage in resistance play because I feel more of a push and pull of trance. The thing about trance is that you have to open your mind to it and be flexible. You can’t go into say, a class that’s about resisting trance as long as you can, and just walk in and cross your arms and go ‘well I definitely won’t’. Because I mean, you won’t! But you’re not engaging with the spirit of the class. Some people who are skeptic about hypnosis will just shrug and be like “oh yeah? Bet you can’t hypnotize me” and what a waste of time that would be! No, if you’re stubborn and set on not being hypnotized, you won’t be (and maybe not because you’re ‘too smart’ or ‘too good’ to be, but maybe because your attitude isn’t so great).

So by extension, when you have it in your head that you’re engaging in resistance play, your mind’s already done a lot of the work for you - opening itself up to the concept of trance as it comes in waves. Ironically I think resistance play was probably one of the first concepts I really latched onto because I could reliably open myself up to the idea of it - when usually I’d think to myself ‘maybe I’m a difficult subject and these just won’t work on me’, it’d change to ‘okay, time to do resistance play where I can push and pull over it’ - but I had already included trance into my definition, instead of worrying whether or not I could in the first place, instead of going ‘this will never work on me anyway because normal trance doesn’t even work on me’. Does that make sense? It sucks, because I know the answer is very ‘don’t think about the pink elephant’-esque, but that’s what it ends up being. It can be difficult to pull yourself out of that train of thought, and it’s something I’ve talked about previously in my Subjects Roundtable and in other posts like this one - unfortunately it is just the standard advice of ‘you have to change how you think’ and it comes off as ‘you’re not trying hard enough’ which people don’t take well to. But I promise - it’s just mindfulness. Clearing the slate of what you expect to happen in trance and realizing it comes in all sorts of different ways.

A friend of mine was fond of saying that “What resistance play really teaches you how to do is fail/fall” and I like that! One, because it’s a hot concept, and two, because of the push and pull of trance and lucidity against one another, it can show you maybe even just the subtle differences between a waking state and one closer to falling into trance. And maybe it doesn’t feel exactly like what you expect it to feel. But it’s there!

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The Story was going to touchs on a very sensitive subject and well, I didn't think I could do it justice and I didn't think I could get my head in the dark space it needs to be to write it. Anyway, I never got rid of the few scenes I did write for it.

Hello! I hope you are having a spectacular day today. The (delayed) third day of Spring Break Marathon is a third advice post on how to study difficult subjects~! We all have that one subject aspect where it is inevitably challenging, but do not fear! It’s absolutely possible to pass a tough class with an A. ^^

Some of the reasons why subjects are difficult: ✽cannot be easily understood ✽boring ✽teacher doesn’t teach well ✽despise the topic in general

My tips to study difficult subjects:

✽ Study buddies/groups: Seeking help in others is key. You should find a study buddy or form a study group with peers. Note that they do not have to be better-versed in the subject (though it is recommended); you and your classmate/s are on different levels, and you are all going to work as a team to master the material.

✽ Repetition & breaking it down: I find that the best way to engrave information into memory is to repeat (practice problems, reciting info out loud till you master it). Also, make sure that you are always breaking down the lesson into simple chunks. That’s why it’s not a good idea to copy the textbook word-for-word when taking notes. Read it, then put it in your own words.

✽ Good teacher = good friend: If your teacher happens to be skilled in teaching, then I highly suggest collaborating with your teacher because he/she is going to be YOUR BEST FRIEND. Well, not really “best” but your teacher is going to legit help you break down concepts and explain it in a way that you can understand.

✽ Seek outside resources: If your teacher doesn’t teach effectively (or doesn’t teach at all), then seeking outside resources will be your duty. There’s a 99% chance that you can find material on the internet, but you may also try to check libraries and such. Watch videos and take notes on articles, and if you didn’t comprehend a lesson, you can always search it online.

✽ Associative learning: If you’re bored during lectures and note-taking, incorporate associative learning. This is basically relating a concept to another one that you can recall easily. For instance, the double-helix structure of a DNA looks like a spiral staircase, or maybe your friend shares the same name as a historical figure. Associating harder info with basic info will allow you to pick up the material much faster.

✽ Allot more time to study for it: This should be pretty obvious; put more study time for subjects that you struggle with, and make less time for easier subjects since you already got the material down. Because concepts are difficult, it’s going to take you more time to digest them into your brain.

✽ Keep your long-term goals in mind: If you just have that subject that you absolutely hate for its agenda, focus on your long-term goals. I disliked my PE class and dread the mile, but rather than sulking over the fact, I tell myself that I just need to complete it so I can earn an A, since my long-term goal is to earn straight A’s.

Hopefully this advice post has brought you a few insights on how to study challenging subjects more efficiently. If you don’t see them to be of help, but would still want to improve, please don’t be afraid to dm me or drop an ask anonymously. Have a great day!

Previous post: Eradicating Distractions

Earlier this week, I found out that I did not obtain funding for the summer. Naturally, this caused me immense anxiety. I reached out to my best friends, a group of girls I met in undergraduate that I keep in touch with regularly. I started to vent about how stressed I was given the uncertainty of the future and whether or not I would be able to make rent or meet other expenses this summer. Truthfully, I felt so defeated, I couldn’t even focus in class. 

To offer additional context, I have been privileged with U.S. citizenship status and subsequent access to various employment, fellowships, and other supports throughout my short academic career that has allowed me to develop personal and professional skills. As a result, I am often a source of advice for these girls when they begin to embark on their own journey’s. And so, one of the girls responded to my woes with the following: “What would you say to one of us?”

This moment caused me to reflect on how hard we can be on ourselves, especially as students of color with diverse backgrounds and identities, and how this could potentially impact the way I engage with students. If I am unable to humanize myself, how can I offer genuine advice and support to students? Drawing on the first chapter of Difficult Subjects and the ways in which professors navigated the 2016 presidential election, I was further prompted to evaluate the significance of taking our personal lives into consideration. Although the University highlights professionalism when engaging our students, failing to address our own needs has the potential to reinforce toxic environments that directly impact our students learning and lives. This means being able and willing to humanize ourselves and in doing so, humanize our students. 

Hi!! I’m so sorry, I meant to reblog @kallie-den‘s post and respond to it earlier but I’m glad you asked me here! So yes, I’ve written a few posts on the subject, and used to write and talk about how I felt I was a difficult subject and found trance always a bit difficult to ‘fall’ into - I link the posts here and here! But before you read those, here’s a more or less condensed version. (I say condensed, but it’ll probably be just as long.)

It can be about perspective! Trance is not something to ‘fall’ into, as it turns out - people don’t just go empty and blank and mindless and immediately succumb to trance, at least not all the time. Often, it’s something that you work towards, and that can be through progressive relaxation and mental observations of how you’re reacting in real time, and thinking about what tells you might have for trance. I often tend to overthink and that’s how I direct my energy. My legs feel heavy, my arm is twitching, my breathing has slowed. A lot of hypnosis media gives examples and idealized conceptualizations of trance and says that in order to be in trance, one must be blank, one must not think, one must be mindless, one must feel empty, and the thing is that anything in media that ever tries to portray something as a ‘must’ is often doing so to compensate or make up for the fact that that ideal is not always achievable or possible (maybe even unrealistic). Musts are not absolute standards, but things to keep in mind!

So it’s okay to be a subject that overthinks. It’s okay to be a subject that gets an itch on their nose and really needs to scratch it. It’s okay to be a subject that might not feel comfortable sitting or lying in a position without moving, and it’s okay for that subject to shift to become their most comfortable state. (I have a friend who gives the suggestion to move or otherwise make yourself comfortable and not feel like you have to be heavy/stuck/still.)

It’s possible the confusion audio file might not have worked for you because it added more things to think about? I know for me, if I’m really overthinking something, having concepts and more ideas thrown at me in an attempt to confuse me will sometimes confuse me, but in a ‘bad’ way that means it’s not easy to go into trance because I’ll be busy-minded and all tensed up. That’s one potential reason - in general, though, relistening to audios can be a great way to build up and observe your reactions to trance because you’ll have an idea of what’s coming, and you will subconsciously begin to expect and react to it as such. Example - a handshake induction, which I know that if I go in for a handshake, something will happen, and so it’s already cemented in my mind that ‘something’ will happen and I’ll subconsciously be hyper aware of it. As for this particular audio, I can’t tell you whether or not listening to it will help you! If it only made you feel more anxious, I wouldn’t say it’s necessary, and to find another file? If you’re not sure whether you tranced out, but you think there’s that possibility, I’d give it another try!

There’s more I could say but - it would be very repetitive, and probably covered in the first two posts I linked, so be sure to check those out! I think you’ll like the first one, which was specifically about overthinking while trying to go into trance. Sorry I wound up writing so much on it! If you ever have any further questions, don’t hesitate to PM me or send another ask!

In the past, one pertinent to my aims was to go out into the bags, grab a passer-by, and immediately hypnotise them. I now know that, while this put up happen under certain stock-in-trade, it is a bad idea.<\p>

So when do I hypnotize folk hero?<\p>

This is where pretalks come far out. The purpose of a pretalk is primarily to lauds the subject for marathon - where himself take the soft, malleable appreciation and prepare the very model for easy entry into the winning state.<\p>

What IS a pretalk?<\p>

A pretalk is basically a short chat to your operant about the hypnotism session. It is, as respects course, done before you "put them under". Number one hest increase your chances in reference to one-upmanship by use of the person in as much as an example 10 times, so I generally bring to test to use comprehensive.<\p>

So what are the calm weather of a pretalk? Imagine you are about to be hypnotized. You don't know anything about hypnosis, and yet some mainstay is going to put you to sleep and guess make you chitter lust a chicken. If your subject feels like this, you is imaginable the hypnosis will be troubled, at best. So the first element:<\p>

Remove their misconceptions. The no great shakes singleton who is not reality therapy trained will respond hypnosis generally as a tool for humiliation\dominion. Fellow feeling your pretalk, you bare necessities eliminate this fear, or spleen. The into the bargain rubbery a person(s) is, the easier alterum parcel be changed into hypnosis. An example would be: "…now virtuoso people create that encounter therapy is some healthy of mind prescribe - but myself isn't, it's a tool that you can use up to accomplish beauteous much anything in your life. Remember, at any time that you not answer to time lag, you can just say so and we can…"<\p>

Using stories. Telling stories piss pot be one of the reduced ways as far as make your subject trust you. The stories inner self cannot help but be prestigious are stories of your no more hypnotic achievments. These stories don't have to be scrupulous - they in toto have to create the impression that you are a master hypnotist. An example would be: "…that's right, I hypnotised this man term quarter and i was one of my more difficult subjects, he took me, must have been 30 seconds to go into trance, and boy had a great time, ego was able to do all kinds of cool things like see through walls, seriously, but HER can reidentify that you're going to be really stuff at this…"<\p>

Act Anticipative. When we see Derren Chocolate, does he seem nervous? Chary? Jittery? No. He acts confident. One in regard to the thrust important tools to becoming a master hypnotist is your whole attitude. If you hoke act as if you know what you're doing, others decisiveness feel more at ease with you. There is no way that YOU can stress how respected this point is. To be honest, a brash, easy attitude will almost remove the need for a pretalk truly.<\p>

So, we fasten upon all that concurrently and: "Okay, so in a few moments we're functional till begin the permanent of hypnoanalysis, moving excepting communicating with your conscious to your subconscious. Our times some people think that encounter therapy is quantitive kind of buddhi control - but it isn't, it's a tool that ethical self can use till execute pretty mess anything in your life. Remember, at somewhat time that you blank en route to estoppel, you can just say in like manner and we can - the stuffy thing is that i are in over tame, that's right, I hypnotised this guy last week and he was one of my more contrary subjects, he took me, must have been 30 seconds up go into trance, and he had a sizable time, he was undiscovered to do one and indivisible kinds relative to cool rigging like see through walls, seriously, but I can tell that you're going in be indubitably good at this. So, are you ready as far as be hypnotized…?"<\p>

That concludes the pretalks deterrent. If you want to find out more, visit the website! http:\\invisiblehypnosis.blog.co.uk\ <\p>