Toltec wisdom speaks of “mitote”—a thousand voices talking at the same time in the mind. You might have experienced this when you hear I can’t do it, I am not good enough, I’m not smart, or no one listens to me. The inner critic speaks and you feel disempowered, sad, frustrated, or perhaps hopeless. We are basically hypnotizing ourselves into believing these voices. It is important to note whose voice is speaking. Is it your voice or one of your parents? A teacher? Friend(s)? Romantic partner(s)? Who told you couldn’t do something? This voice prevails and latches into our fears—the fear of being perceived as dumb, invaluable, unlovable, or unworthy. Your heart desires to be accepted and loved. In a hypnotherapy session, we begin to unravel the feelings associated with the voices—the tape that repeats over and over in your mind. If appropriate, we go through a timeline of memories associated with the voice. While in trance, we start to change the voice by listening to your needs, acknowledging your feelings, and providing you with tools and resources to listen to the voice of Spirit.
Another example of mitote can be social media. Everyone is talking, but no one is listening to each other. And no one is listening to you. With numerous posts, reels, and tweets, how do you know what you want and need? What is important to you and what do you value? Who do you listen to? For this reason, it is important to take breaks from social media and be with yourself. You can be surrounded by people and still you feel lonely. You feel they are not listening to you. You feel unheard and that is not a good feeling. Believe me, I’ve had my share of feeling unheard. I can make a pile of books for all the times I felt unheard. I prefer to burn the mountain of books. I learned to accept I am a word aficionado, so I like to collect, eat, and create words to weave and story tell. Although, at times, I feel I am in the middle of a tornado—a whirlwind of voices. They are not all bad, some are well-intentioned, others are teachings, words of encouragement, and advice from elders, mentors, loved ones, ancestors, plants, spirit guides, and ascended masters. How do we turn chaos into order in our minds?
Take time to listen to yourself. Meditate. Do deep breathing exercises. Seek a hypnotherapist to differentiate between the voice of ego and voice of Spirit. Create art and music. Garden. Sit by the ocean or in a forest. Anything which allows you to sit quietly, undisturbed, ground and center yourself. We can quiet the whirlwind of voices and become aligned with ourselves. To come into our body and have clarity of mind does take practice and patience. Listen to the inner voice of Spirit. Let it guide you and support you in aligning to peace and love.
I created this art piece with all the voices swirling in my mind. The voice of ego stating, I was not good enough, I am not an artist, I don’t even know how to paint, I am wasting my time etc etc and on and on. The background of writing mirrors the various types of voices in the mind. However, the voice of Spirit prevails which is illustrated by the merkaba, sacred geometric shapes, bold colors, and the rose. If we listen to the voice of Spirit, we can create beautiful, extraordinary things.
