Or…Super-learning and more.
What Is Uptime Trance?
Uptime trance is a different kind of trance than the one most people experience in a hypnotherapist’s office. While the traditional trance experience may be internally focused and have little movement, uptime trance is focused externally, you can walk, talk, be animated and be responsive.
In my NLP Practitioner training we did a revealing exercise. First, we were told to stand 3 or 4 feet away from another student and describe them. Then we followed a procedure designed to put us in an “uptime trance.” Then we described them again. When we looked back at the quality of the two different levels of description, the difference was remarkable. I for instance, initially described my partner as having blond hair and wearing a blue coat. On the second go-around I noticed that one hair was out of place!
In my “normal” state, I noticed big-picture things. In uptime trance I noticed not only all the big-picture stuff but an incredible level of detail as well.
What is Uptime Good For?
That’s what uptime trance can do for you. It’s useful any time you have a lot of information you need to take in all at once—especially if you have to deliver information at the same time. I use it when I teach or otherwise speak in public. It’s so much easier to track how 30 students are doing when you’re in uptime. You can see and track expressions, micro movements that indicate understanding or the lack of it and in general, have a great deal of information as to what’s going on in their minds. At the same time, you can interact and deliver information. Being able to interact and respond in this way can make a huge difference in the quality of your performance.
I believe most any professional athlete, musician and any other person who’s really good at what they do probably uses uptime trance while they’re doing it!
Uptime Trance Procedure
Here’s one way to get there…
1.Pick a spot on a wall and look at it (if you’re not near a wall just look at anything upon which you can focus).
2.Now, let your awareness expand so that, although you’re still looking in the direction of the spot you’re not looking at it. Allow yourself to get the sense that you can almost see 360 degrees—that you have awareness in all directions. You’ll feel a shift as you do this.
3.While keeping this visual expansion, let you attention go to your hearing and realize that your awareness of sound also extends out from your body in every direction.
4.Now add your kinesthetic sense. Imagine that you can feel and are spatially aware of everything in your environment—in all directions.
It’s a good idea to practice going back on forth from looking at the spot, to the uptime trance. As you become more adept at recognizing the feeling of uptime trance you also become more adept at creating it for yourself!
Enjoy,
Keith
Obviously I have used “uptime trance” for some time without really being aware of it. I teach Tai Chi to large groups of people (50-75) at one time. It almost seems impossible to keep track of all of them at once.
However, when I find a focal point somewhere in the room, I expand my senses beyond belief. I can see, hear and pick up the slightest movements, sounds and mistakes in the choreorgaphy of eveyone in the room simultaneously. My students are totally amazed when I pick them out for correction when I wasn’t even looking in their direction!
Now, it’s good to know that I can put a label on what I have been doing for so long!
Thanks so much for this article. I have seen mention of this before but never knew what it is called. It sounds very easy to do and effective! I have been trained in both hypnotherapy and NLP but never received training in this. I am excited to try it.
I’ve tried this at different times and, maybe it’s the ADHD, but I find it a big strain and anxiety-provoking to hold my focus open like that. The minute I relax, my brain shoots down to one thing, and grabs and holds it like a pitbull. It defaults to hyper-focus. I’m great at flow, but lousy at changing from one activity to another. I have to work hard and constantly to keep channels open the way you describe.
I’m a hypnotist and work very successfully with a great variety of people, yet my own brain seems to work very differently, not responding at all to the stuff that works for my clients.
Any ideas?
Hi Corkjester,
Good to have you aboard. Whenever I run into a situation where I, or one of my clients feels some anxiety or any other feeling that might be perceived as negative, I think “pay dirt!” If you can get hold of any feeling that’s getting in your way, you can find the source of it. That’s another way of saying, this is an opportunity to improve your life in many ways.
Sometimes people learn a strategy that doesn’t work for them. As an example, I once had a student who, whenever she started to feel good, a feeling of anxiety would overtake the good feeling. Turns out she had had something good happen to her many years previously. Soon after, something bad happened. Her mind made the connection–she felt good events were followed by bad ones. So, when something good happened–she needed to watch out.
It’s possible (and I’m just guessing) that your mind has made some sort of connection in that way. It very well could be something minor. Maybe you hated math tests and you went into a similar state when you took one. At any rate, an uncomfortable feeling seems to be attached to that particular state.
Off the top of my head, I’d suggest the affect bridge to trace that emotion back to where it got started. Then use whatever techniques you know to resolve it.
Keith
Hi Keith
This is so true! Ive been using this for years in my Taekwon-Do and Tai Chi classes, as it helps immensely. At the beginning of class I focus on a spot on the wall, drop into trance and learn very quickly in a relaxed state. The initial moment of focussing has become the Trigger of the learning TOTE and leads into a Uptime Trance in which not only can I do all the things you brilliantly described above, but also I open my mind to learning the complexities of patterns of behaviour and physical movement. Great topic
Hi! Keith
Thanks for this article, because of this only now i know what is Uptime Trance. It’s very easy to do effective.
Thank you
This is very interesting. I just tried this and I think I have done this off and on many times in my life. Recently I began to do it while driving and walking as a way of cultivating presence–a kind of meditation. I often have the sense of walking or driving towards something–the focus being on the destination–my monkey mind off someplace else. When I drop into this state (I didn’t know it had a name!) I am aware of moving THROUGH the world and being IN the world as opposed to moving towards it and I settle more into my body and notice all the details of the landscape etc., my peripheral vision opens up and it seems like all of my senses are more alert.
This sounds a lot like what they teach in HUNA (Hawiian spirituality). Hokalau (sp?) is a state of heightened awareness where you widen your vision by increasing your attention to your peripheral vision. I use this with clients to get them into a heightened learning state. Very similar to uptime.
Great post. This looks like a great site for getting great tips for helping clients. Thanks!
Totally zen! 🙂