Beware of polar bears LURKING IN THE BACK OF YOUR MIND...
TABLER MAGAZINE * Summer 2021
When explaining the primitive versus rational mind to clients – and the reason we sometimes respond the way we do to certain situation – I often use a wonderful metaphor involving... a polar bear.
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Mental health is crucial in these difficult times. Luckily there’s a lot you can do, says Adam Baggs, Cirencester Round Table
A discussion covering caveman and polar bears might seem an odd place to start a hypnotherapy session, but they provide wonderful examples of our primitive mind and the way it reacts under certain situations.
On a recent adventure with his son, Adam Baggs stumbled across a polar bear... in a park! Too good not to write an article about, he says
Unless you happen to work with wild animals, particularly polar bears (my son’s ideal job) then hopefully your reaction to a polar bear outside your front door would be a raised heart rate, blood pumping, sweaty palms and a desire to run – or similar symptoms. Standing there assuming the polar bear wants a cuddle is not an ideal response!
An actual polar bear with big teeth and claws is something we should be afraid of – but much of what else we experience in life is down to individual perceptions and experiences. To some extent we make our own ‘polar bears’ and cause the resulting stress, anxiety and mental health challenges. These metaphorical polar bears, and the impact they have on our lives, is different for everyone, but we do all experience them on some level and in the most basic way our responses take the form of anxiety, anger and depression. Take the caveman (or woman) for example, unable to head outside to hunt and feed the family for one reason or another, anxious due to wild animals (more polar bears perhaps), poor weather and the like. Hiding around the fire with the rug pulled up over their heads
