I invite you to enjoy today’s guest post by Bob Martel, professional hypnotist, and author. His recent book, The Magic of Aesop, will bring a new dimension of success to your change work. Check out his book! I recommend that you get it and take his 30-day author’s challenge! – Richard.
Slow and Steady wins the race. Probably the most well-known moral, from Aesop’s story, The Hare and the Tortoise. Kindness always wins; The North Wind and The Sun. Work hard and play hard; The Ant and the Grasshopper. You have your favorite, and it is likely that some have guided you and you have probably shared some with your children or nieces and nephews at bedtime. What is it that is so magical about foxes, crows, rabbits, turtles, eagles, dogs, mules, mice, and assorted animals telling stories for human consumption? Hmmm. Read on. I wonder if Aesop crafted a hero’s journey within his fables. Hmmm. There is a protagonist, and a lesson in most of his fables. Your client is ultimately the protagonist in their story, agree?
Before I launch further into my blogging topic, a special thank you to Richard for this guest blogging opportunity. I hope you find my message valuable in your client transformation work, and perhaps also in your own journey of progress toward what it is you seek. I hope it moves you to tell better stories and add a new dimension of storytelling to your clinical change work! That’s my true goal for you, and if you approach the idea of speaking Aesopian with the same openness that we ask our clients to maintain, you’ll discover a tool that delivers rapid progress.
So, imagine you, a fabulous fabulist, just like Aesop was 2700 years ago, a master at subconscious communications, applying centuries of storytelling magic. After all, professional hypnotists have a lot in common with Aesop in that, like him, we are compelled to tell good stories that reach deep into the mind. Good, short, tightly structured, high impact tales that deliver suggestions and meaning that the subconscious mind will assign.
Yes, you can channel Aesop and become as magical as he, and the great news his stories are proven to offer lessons and morals still used around the globe, in all cultures. Better yet, they are ‘done for you’. I was so inspired by Aesop’s magic, I recently published a book that you might enjoy, as Richard stated. The Magic of Aesop: How to Use the Wisdom of Aesop’s Fables to Spark Your Transformation Change teaches you how to speak Aesopian with your clients.
I’ve always been fascinated by Aesop’s Fables and, yes, that includes the old humorous “fractured fairy tales” from the 1960s television era. Zooming ahead to right now, I guess it all started for me professionally years ago when I handed a client a book of illustrated Aesop’s Fables. I sent her home with the book, suggested she read all 21 selected fables within, and to precede that assignment with a little self-hypnosis. I explained, that with her intention in mind her subconscious would find and assign value – and extract the message that would help her stop the habit she was struggling to end. She was consuming 12 cans of soda each day, seven days a week. She returned the following week and the urges and cravings for soda were gone. Problem solved. Thank you, Aesop, whatever resonated with her! Handing her a book of fables seemed too easy and I wondered if more magic was to be discovered.
You can probably speak Ericksonian to some degree, especially if you’ve acquired Richard’s book with the same title. I encourage you to add that book to your library and become a bit more Ericksonian in your practice. Maybe you’ll grab mine, too! Your clients will thank you for your Ericksonian (and soon to be) Aesopian approach. After all, the Milton Model and the Aesop Model are quite similar, meeting the client where they are on their own journey.! Metaphors, similes, anecdotal stories we share or create to guide the client’s progress can now be supported with a fable. One of my favorites is the Fox and Grapes, and the metaphor of reaching for low hanging fruit. Interpretation is yours and your mind will assign meaning, as in all good stories.
Just like there is evidenced-based, scholarly work supporting hypnotism so, too, is storytelling well-studied in brain research labs. So, a quick word here is in order about the effects of storytelling on the brain. Aesop knew the power of a good story. He was causing a neurologically fascinating experience for his listeners, triggering a release of oxytocin in the brain. He was hypnotic before the word was even created, and he knew, just like the elders telling stories around a fire that stories bring brains together. He used his fables throughout his life to advance his cause and make a point. Even as the citizens of Delphi were conspiring to toss him off a cliff, he spun his last fable in a futile attempt to save his life.
Ah, but Aesop lives!
As I see it, everyone involved in transformational change work needs to hone their storytelling skills for maximum effectiveness. Fables offer a short, attention-getting, magical story that helps suggestions bypass the critical factor. Use the Magic of Aesop’s Fables to capture attention, build rapport, lower resistance to suggestions and you’ll witness profound results.
Go to Amazon and “look inside”. Read the foreword in the book description (by the distinguished storyteller James Hazlerig). Then decide if you should own the book. Take my 30-day “author’s challenge” and join me in my book’s Facebook Group: The Magic of Aesop. And, keep telling great stories!
Many professional hypnotists offered advanced praise for the book, including comments from Roger Moore, Larry Garrett, Dr. Kevin Hogan, Jason Linett, Patricia MacIsaac, Karen Hand, Captain Ron Eslinger, and Dr. Richard Nongard. Go to www.bobmartel.com/books to order the book and to read what others have to say about The Magic of Aesop!
About the Author: Bob Martel is a professional hypnotist at Positive Results Hypnosis, in Holden, MA. He is an author, speaker and consultant, helping his clients soar to new heights in life and in business. Host of the weekly radio program, Mind Magic Radio, he takes to the airways to share the benefits of hypnosis and other mind hacking techniques to help people improve the quality of their life. Bob is a veteran of the US Navy’s submarine service, and also operates a commercial hot air balloon ride business. Reach him via email at [email protected] or visit www.bobmartel.com to join his Mind Magic Newsletter list. If you are on Facebook, you can join in the discussion about Aesopic storytelling at his group, The Magic of Aesop. Find it here.
