How To
Create Your World by Controlling Your Thoughts! The Power of Hypnosis.

We are powerful beings, yet we give away that power all the time. We are bombarded with advice from friends, family, and the media that creates fear, leaves us lacking, or with feelings of inadequacy. In a society full of shoulds, shouldn’ts, instant results, and quick fixes, we learn to run after false desires. Then we wonder, why am I unhappy? Why do I feel incomplete or disconnected? Why am I sick? Why am I here? What is my purpose? How can I feel more balance, abundance, joy, peace and harmony in my life? How can I be healthier?

Each and every one of us has ‘within’ the power to fulfill all our true needs and desires. But first we must examine all the false beliefs, patterns, and scripts that run our lives both consciously and unconsciously. Through hypnosis we can examine who we really are, and what we really want out of life. We learn how to take back our personal power at all levels to create the life we want. We gain the ability to live each day with peace, love, harmony, abundance and happiness. When we live with our Creator’s love and self-love, we gain the peace to live healthier lives. Hypnosis can assist us in realizing our greatest potential to fulfill our life’s purpose.

All hypnosis is really self-hypnosis. Hypnosis is a natural, yet altered state of mind that allows us to tap into our subconscious and our divine self. It is a form of meditation, just like serious prayer. Many great teachers like Jesus Christ and the Budda regularly prayed and meditated to access higher states of awareness and receive divine guidance. There are some myths around hypnosis. Some people believe that if they are hypnotized they are losing control. They believe the hypnotist has some mystical power, like brain washing. Because hypnosis is a natural state, we can not be controlled by anyone else while in hypnosis. Brainwashing requires trance with deprivation. There is no deprivation with hypnotherapy. As a matter of fact, we gain more control of ourselves when in hypnosis. During hypnosis we have access to our conscious and subconscious at the same time. Many examples of how we gain more control are explained below in defining the areas where hypnosis has helped people.

It is also important to mention that our values can not be violated while in hypnosis. The individual has to agree with any suggestions given in order to follow the suggestion. The real benefit of hypnosis is examining our beliefs at both conscious and unconscious levels. Then we consciously decide whether that belief still works for us or whether it is time to change our thoughts to create a better life. Bandler and Grinder are two researchers who made important contributions to our understanding of human responses. They found that each of us hold within, the resources to achieve any change that we might wish to institute. With that belief, is that no matter how bizarre and self-damaging a behavior is, there is some part of us that thinks the behavior has a positive context. Through hypnotherapy we work to find the positive intention, develop the understanding that the behavior and sometimes the intention is now obsolete, and then write a new pattern that helps us achieve our goal.

Another myth I hear is “I will tell my darkest secret, that one thing I don’t want anyone to know about me.” Hypnosis is not truth serum. Because hypnosis is dual mind, you have access to the conscious mind which can still edit and withhold information from the hypnotherapist. During hypnosis you gain access to memories that have been lost to the conscious mind. Information you were not aware of. However, memory retrieved during trance, like all memory, is a mix of fact, perception, and imagination. Trance commonly generates selective awareness, as well as increased functioning of the senses. This heightened sensory awareness often leads to input that is intuitive. The well known psychic Edgar Cayce, was called the “sleeping prophet” because he did his 14,000 recorded psychic readings with his eyes closed while in a state of hypnosis.

Hypnosis To:

Improve Creativity

Many of the great minds of our time used self-hypnosis to tap into their creative potential. Mozart is reported to have been in a “hypnotic spell” when he wrote the famous opera Cosi fan tutte. Einstein talked about riding a beam of light while in a state of trance which helped him develop his theory of relativity. Many others, such as, Tennyson, Emerson, and Edison, used self-hypnosis to access their creative intelligence. Hypnosis can help when our creativity is blocked, or if we want to cultivate more of our creative potential.

Improve Performance

When a person wants to make changes in their life but lacks the motivation, will-power, or know-how to change, hypnosis can help find what is standing in the way. Through self-hypnosis and positive self-talk new behaviors can be achieved. This can mean performing better at work, in your relationships, during sex, in sports, or any other area of life.

Improve Health

After almost thirty years of research Dr. Jana (Ph.D.) has found that hypnosis can direct the functions of the autonomic nervous system of the human body. Many people have used hypnosis to eliminate or manage pain, symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), fibromyalgia, and hypertension. Hypnotherapy is not a replacement for medical treatment, however, done in conjunction with traditional medicine can produce remarkable results in symptom alleviation and management.

Pain affects over 75 million people every year. The American Productivity Audit of 2002 estimates that pain costs our economy over $78 billion in lost productivity each year, and accounts for 80% of lost time within the workplace. The Pain Care Act of 2003 provides recognition that pain is a priority health problem in the U.S. Most clients that come for pain management have mild or moderate chronic pain and hypnotherapy is very effective at eliminating this type of pain. People with severe chronic pain, as in cancer patients, or bouts of pain with fibromyalgia or arthritis, get relief by dialing the pain down to a comfortable level. People with pain must always see their medical doctor first, since pain can be a physical symptom of something wrong in the body. We don’t want to eliminate the pain until we understand the cause and can rule out the possibility of future damage to the body.

Fibromyalgia is a dysautonomic illness, which means dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. The theory, from a non-medical person, goes something like this. When we are born our autonomic nervous system is not functioning correctly. Over time it learns how to function. Just observe a new born. She will forget to breath from time to time, have trouble regulating her body temperature and she will not know how to eliminate waste from her body. But as the baby grows the unconscious systematically learns how to function properly. After a few months, the subconscious programs are learned and put on auto pilot, hopefully for life. But sometimes trauma or emotional events will cause the autonomic nervous system to fall out of alignment. For some people it’s one big event, for others it’s a series of smaller events, and yet others it’s a seemingly insignificant event that strike in just the right way that causes the misalignment. Then the autonomic nervous system begins to malfunction. With hypnosis we use metaphors and suggestions that retrain the subconscious again. The goal is to realign the muscles, nerves, and systems of the body to function normally again. We also assist the person in finding the event that caused the misalignment, if the event is unknown to them.

Retraining the digestive system using hypnosis has been quite effective for IBS. Over 90% of the clients using this approach report a 50% alleviation of their symptoms with 83% of those becoming symptom free.

October 7, 2003, the Wall Street Journal published an article which quoted Carol Ginandes a Harvard researcher along with other sources, on the benefits of hypnosis when you need surgery. Theyindicate that using hypnosis before surgery, listening to suggestions during surgery, and having suggestions delivered after surgery reduce postoperative pain and complications, as well as speeds recovery. Ginandes, found that when hypnotherapy was used with patients who had fractured ankles they “healed weeks faster than usual.” The goal is to reduce pre-surgery fear and apprehension, while focusing on feelings of cooperation, optimism, and calmness. During surgery, imagery and suggestions for the body to cooperate with the doctor, and pain control are played for the client using headphones. The post surgery protocol is, tapping into the inner healer, pain control, reducing inflammation, and other suggestions specific to the clients healing.

People with long term illness can learn self-hypnosis to access their inner healer, to keep a positive focus, and to eliminate or manage pain.

Hypnosis can also help people improve memory or motivation for following doctor’s orders such as, timeliness on taking medication and doing physical therapy.

Eliminate Bad Habits

Hypnosis can help a person find the positive intention for negative behaviors. Once the positive intention is found, which is often in the subconscious, the ability to change our behavior to reach our new goal becomes easier. Hypnosis can also help with motivation to continue the new healthier patterns. We then gain control to lose weight, stop smoking, minimize our alcohol consumption, sleep through the night, stop biting nails, etc.

Reduce Stress

Today we know that emotions like fear, anger, and pain trigger the “fight or flight” response in the body. Excessive stress affects the equilibrium of the body’s chemistry (Alman & Lambrou, 1992). If this response remains in the body for long periods of time it causes “distress”, which wears down the bodies immune system (Hans Selye, 1978). This type of chronic stress can come from pressures of work, raising children, financial concerns, and other domestic concerns. The body provides early warning symptoms like a tension headache or upset stomach. But if we pop a pain pill or antacid and ignore these early signs of stress our immune system begins to break down. This leaves us vulnerable to infectious agents. Practicing self-hypnosis daily to bring the body back to homoestasis (in balance) prevents distress and allows us to hear what in our life needs to change. Self-hypnosis provides one with a tool to relax the body during a stressful situation. The person who practices self-hypnosis knows how to control the body with thoughts, and deep breathing to allow the tension to leave the body.

Relieve Anxiety – Test Taking, Public Speaking

If you are one of those people who experiences sweaty palms, a dry mouth, or mental images of failing just thinking about taking an exam, public speaking, meeting new people or encountering new situations hypnosis can help you. In the safety of hypnosis you will see what you are really afraid of and redefine the experience to succeed. You also learn how your thoughts control the physical responses and how to use your thoughts to reach the level of relaxation that allows you to perform at optimal levels.

Improve Memory

The more you practice the better you will get at putting yourself into hypnosis and returning to full awareness quickly. While you are practicing you will need to schedule approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Once you become proficient at it, you can use downtime during your day to pop into hypnosis and reaffirm your goals. For example while sitting under a hair dryer at the beauty salon, waiting for a doctors appointment, flying in an airplane, sitting in church before the service begins, and other similar situations. Although driving a vehicle may be down time to you, never put yourself in trance while driving.

Tips to develop your skills and abilities for self-hypnosis :

• Select a comfortable, quiet place: in your bedroom, study, den, sitting in your parked car, leaning up against a tree, etc.
• Be sure you will not be disturbed: turn off the phone, ask family members to give you this 20 minutes of quiet time, a place free of outside noises, etc
• Schedule the time so that you can practice often, at least 3 times a week.
• Use a relaxed sitting position. Lying down makes is easy to fall asleep. Of course, if you want to fall asleep right after your hypnosis, than a lying down position will be best.
• Most people prefer to close their eyes, but his is totally up to you. Many people skilled in self-hypnosis can easily go into trance and remain there with their eyes open.
• Take three deep relaxation breaths as you focus on one stop, either on the ceiling or the wall in front of you. Breathe deeply through the nose, pushing out the diaphragm, and filling up your lungs completely. Hold the breath for a few seconds. Then exhale through parted lips, just allowing the breath to come out at first and then contracting the diaphragm to push all the air out. Focus on breathing in peace and relaxation, and exhaling all the stress and tension as you do this. On the third exhale let your eyes close down.
• Count from 7 down to one as you imagine a passageway (stairs, tunnel, path) taking you deeper and deeper into your own subconscious mind.
• Enjoy this perfect place of relaxation for as long as you like. If thoughts pop in just gentle let it go, keeping your mind quiet as much as possible.
• When you are ready to come out, simply say to yourself “When I reach the number 5 I will be fully aware, refreshed, and ready for the rest of the day.” Then count from 1 to 5, open your eyes, stretch and smile.
• Create a post hypnotic suggestion that conditions you to return to self-hypnosis easily and quickly. For example: “I can return to this wonderful state of peace and relaxation any time I want, by taking three deep cleansing breaths and imagining myself on the seashore.” Or, “Sleep Now, is your signal to drift into hypnosis. Each and every time you practice hypnosis, you respond more profoundly. Each and every time you go in hypnosis, you go deeper and faster.” Say this to yourself before coming out of hypnosis.