Happy New Year! So, what will the Year of the Tiger bring?
This year, Chinese New Year falls on 1st February, with celebrations lasting from January 31st until February 15th. Also known as the Lunar New Year, it is celebrated at the second new moon following the Winter Solstice. So, the good news is that this festival marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring!
So, we welcome in the Year of the Tiger, the first since 2010. The tiger is considered to be the king of all beasts in Chinese mythology and, as a zodiac sign, it symbolises willpower, courage, bravery, confidence, leadership and strength. The Tiger also represents a release of fears and standing up for truth, justice, and integrity which seems more important right now than ever.
Each animal year is associated with one of five elements and 2022 is the Year of the Water Tiger, so this means we have an emotional tiger on the loose.
Just like us all, each animal has negative and positive traits. For Tigers, the positive qualities include being kind, adventurous, brave and enthusiastic. Flip the coin and their negative attributes can show up as being aggressive, short-tempered and anxious. The Tiger is also associated with Yang – a masculine energy. Tigers do things their own way and hate being told what to do…
The year is due to be about making big changes, risk-taking and adventures and we are warned to expect things to rapidly change. Some of us might thrive through taking great leaps of faith, while others might crash and burn. So, while it’s great to follow our intuition and realise our dreams, we are advised to keep our egos in check. There is enthusiasm again, both for ourselves and for others, leaving us fired up, generous and with a passion for social progress. Bring it on!
If you feel this might all be irrelevant or too mythical, interestingly, the Year of the Rat (2020) was about survival, and the Year of the Ox (2021) was about anchoring ourselves in a new reality. Hindsight is a fabulous thing.
Many people celebrate this festival by letting paper lanterns off into the sky. But what might we do to throw ourselves into spring with some new tiger-like vigour? Can we access our courage, confidence and strength?
After two years of a global pandemic which is still lingering, many people are understandably feeling very far from bold and strong. So many people have taken a pounding - lost loved ones, lost jobs, lost confidence in those governing us and ourselves, suffered ill-health, loneliness and are still experiencing the increased anxiety that naturally comes with an uncertain future. Plus there is the constant reminder that the forces of nature are way stronger than we are.
Need Help Tapping into Your Tiger?
If you feel that you would benefit from some support to tap into your inner Tiger, Cognitive Hypnotherapy can help remind us of our inner resources and encourage our more latent strengths. Through opening up our unconscious mind, deeply set negative behaviour patterns and beliefs can be changed to reveal a more positive mindset.
The changes can also be long-lasting because when the unconscious mind is in charge, it can unlearn unhelpful thinking. It is not surprising that many of our behaviour patterns and our sense of identity are developed as children. These run mostly at an unconscious level and colour our actions, decisions and often knee-jerk responses to life’s challenges. These beliefs act as a ‘filter’ for how we deal with situations and, over time, these become believed as ‘true’ and can become deeply ingrained in our unconscious minds.
Cognitive hypnotherapy techniques include exercises that can rewire the brain to focus on qualities. Someone with low self-esteem will be able to list a whole load of flaws but will struggle to realise their qualities. The brain is trained to find those perceived flaws but it is possible to train it to do the opposite.
It can take some Tiger-like courage to seek help, but the rewards can be life-changing. If you’d like to find out more, take a look at my website:
www.alisonscottcognitivehypnotherapy.co.uk