Self Hypnosis

As kids we used our imagination a lot. I remember I used to play house and imagine myself and my playmates as grown-ups. I also used to imagine myself as the princess in the fairy tales I’ve been reading about, who would eventually meet her prince charming and sweep her off her feet.

As I grew older, I noticed I’ve been imagining less and less. This is probably because as adults our conscious and supposed to be “rational” mind takes over and causes us to think that using our imagination is engaging in something “unreal” or “unlikely to happen”. Of course, no amount of imagination would suddenly turn me into Snow white or Cinderella. That is not the concept of imagination I want you as adults to believe in, especially in relation to self-development.  

On the other hand, self-hypnosis, which is done by bringing yourself into a trance-like state of consciousness, engages the subconscious mind to bring about the desired effects of prescriptions, affirmations and even visualizations which are fed into the subconscious through post-hypnotic suggestions. While in this trance-like state, the conscious mind’s control is weakened thus it is unable to suppress what we feed our subconscious by labeling it as “unreal” or “unlikely” similar to what it does whenever we use our imaginations as adults.  

You can say that the mind is more receptive to inputs received during this trance-like state because it does away with the need to discern whether what we think about is real or imagined. It just takes the stimulus as it is. Hence, hypnosis or self-hypnosis has a higher success rate when it comes to causing a change in behaviors and attitudes.

However, this is not to say that imagination is an exercise in futility. Used with self-hypnosis, the effect of imagination becomes even more powerful and long-lasting. As I keep on saying, “If you can think you can, you will”, but “think” here is not merely entertaining the thought in your mind, it is “believing” with your mind, your heart and your soul. You can do this by “imagining” or “visualizing” during self-hypnosis that you have indeed been achieving your goals.   

Often used interchangeably with imagination, visualization is actually imagination taken a step further. In visualization, you “see, feel, hear, smell and taste” whatever it is you are imagining. It is pretty much like watching 3D movie going on in your brain.

Your personal attitude or willingness to be positive affects everyone from your family to a stranger you see walking down the street. Optimists see opportunities and a pessimist will see difficulty. 

You need to take a moment and choose what you need to focus on. Choosing poorly will end in you not succeeding or achieving your goals. That is a simple fact.

If you are a pessimist, how can you start thinking positively? There are no natural pessimists, only people who have been trained to look at the darkest part of any situation.

You cannot stop a problem from entering your life, but you can control what opportunity will lie within the problem. You must understand that problems are a part of life, and it is your job to find ways around or through them as quickly and efficiently as possible. If you are upbeat and look for ways to quickly solve problems, it will become simple to be an optimist.

Cynicism is also a large attitude killer. It is like the cousin of pessimism and considers everything suspect and everyone having an ulterior motive. This makes it impossible to get a free piece of candy and simply enjoying it. Instead, the person will be dwelling on the motivation of the person who handed out the candy.

Cynicism exists because people created unrealistic expectations. Most people want great things to happen with zero effort. People want happiness to fall from the sky. As soon as it doesn’t happen, they get suspicious of others who have achieved success instead of them.

Harnessing the power of thoughts and words are critical to creating a successful course. Daily positive affirmation is key because it helps remind you that obsticles or problems are temporary. You must admit to yourself that you have the courage to succeed when others do not and align your visions with life goals.

When you dicipline yourself to constantly do this, you will see optimism and positive energy around every corner. There are no better friends than these when you are starting your path to success.

Self hypnosis has been shown to have a positive effect on a person’s brain wave coherence, decreasing the occurrence of anxiety attacks, irritability, deep-seated depression, and mood swings. It was also shown to have helped improve memory as well as learning ability, increase ability for self-actualisation, increase feeling of youthfulness, rejuvenation and vitality, lead to a positive outlook in life and overall sense of contentment.

And if that’s not enough for you, check out some of these other benefits:

• Overall whole-body relaxation
• Better rest and rejuvenation when starting a new day
• Better healing and control over illnesses that are caused by exhaustion both mental and physical
• More emotional stability
• Improved relationships with others including a relaxed family life
• Enhanced control over brain functions
• Higher levels of creativity
• Decreased addictions and vices such as cigarettes, alcohol, and eating
• Increased sense of self-confidence and willpower
• Increased overall power of the human mind

If you were given an option to improve or change anything in your life right now, what would it be? If I tell you that it can be done, like a genie saying, “your wish is my command”, would you believe me?

If you scoffed at what I have just stated and immediately concluded that I must be some crazy person trying to play tricks with you, then you have already pre-determined yourself to stay where you are and for your life to remain as it is now.

When you think you can, you will. Conversely, when you think you can’t, you won’t. That is the essence of what I am saying to you. Telling yourself that you are bound to fail even before you have started is willing yourself to fail. Conditioning your mind to think that all your efforts will be for naught will make it very hard for you to succeed at anything. Fortunately, this is where hypnosis may be able to help you.

Hypnosis, more particularly self-hypnosis, is a powerful tool to counteract the “negativity” that your brain has been so accustomed to. Once you are able to control your thoughts, you can begin the process of “willing” yourself to improve and be the better you.

For example, if you want to lose weight you must first try to find out what causes you to overeat in the first place. Ask yourself if you have unresolved emotional issues that is causing you to turn to food to fill that “void” you have inside of you. When you have identified the real issues, it is easier for hypnosis to be of use to you.

Another typical problem that hypnosis can help with is “passive dysfunction”. It is when you know that there is something wrong with your habits or with your life in general, but you are not too eager to do anything about it. This occurs because you are letting your subconscious get in the way of change.

Using hypnosis, whether through a professional or by yourself, start by probing when the problem started, what causes or triggers the behavior and how the behavior supposedly makes you feel.

Finding out the cause of the unwanted behavior can help you or the hypnotist create suggestions or prescriptions to your subconscious mind to deal with the problem head on and open yourself up to change. Hypnosis will only work if you are treating the real reason for the problem and not just the symptoms.

Hypnosis, as it is being practiced professionally by trained hypnotherapists, does not involve making fun of people by hypnotizing them to think they were chickens pecking on seeds on the ground or ducks quacking about. More so, self-hypnosis is nothing like that… unless you really want to make yourself act, feel and be a chicken. 

“Real” hypnotism is more similar, than different, to meditation. It is simply a state of extreme concentration and focus where you are conscious during the entire session, hearing everything going on around you and remembering everything that happened after. Contrary to popular belief, you will not get stuck or be unable to return from a hypnotic state. You also will not lose your sanity at the end of the session. Instead, you will finish your session and slowly come back to the alert mental state you were in before, perhaps only calmer.

During hypnosis, you will always retain complete control over yourself. Professional hypnotherapists will not make you do anything that you wouldn’t do under normal circumstances. Strictly speaking, as in self-hypnosis, the hypnotist is simply making suggestions to your subconscious in order to become a better person.

Your personal attitude or willingness to be positive affects everyone from your family to a stranger you see walking down the street. Optimists see opportunities and a pessimist will see difficulty. 

You need to take a moment and choose what you need to focus on. Choosing poorly will end in you not succeeding or achieving your goals. That is a simple fact.

If you are a pessimist, how can you start thinking positively? There are no natural pessimists, only people who have been trained to look at the darkest part of any situation.

You cannot stop a problem from entering your life, but you can control what opportunity will lie within the problem. You must understand that problems are a part of life, and it is your job to find ways around or through them as quickly and efficiently as possible. If you are upbeat and look for ways to quickly solve problems, it will become simple to be an optimist.

Cynicism is also a large attitude killer. It is like the cousin of pessimism and considers everything suspect and everyone having an ulterior motive. This makes it impossible to get a free piece of candy and simply enjoying it. Instead, the person will be dwelling on the motivation of the person who handed out the candy.

Cynicism exists because people created unrealistic expectations. Most people want great things to happen with zero effort. People want happiness to fall from the sky. As soon as it doesn’t happen, they get suspicious of others who have achieved success instead of them.

Harnessing the power of thoughts and words are critical to creating a successful course. Daily positive affirmation is key because it helps remind you that obsticles or problems are temporary. You must admit to yourself that you have the courage to succeed when others do not and align your visions with life goals.

When you dicipline yourself to constantly do this, you will see optimism and positive energy around every corner. There are no better friends than these when you are starting your path to success.

When someone says that you are a critical thinker it is actually supposed to be a good thing, unless they were trying to make a fool out of you. It means you are not swayed easily by somebody trying to sell you their opinions or that you are not duped as easily as a simpleton would be.

Critical thinking involves a more in-depth or thorough processing of ideas, thoughts, problems or situations and it takes a “developed” mind to go through this process on a consistent basis. Critical thinking requires an inquisitive and alert mind that is able to view an event or a situation for more than what it presents itself to be.

Far from being overly scrupulous, critical thinking enables a person to think ahead of the common information presented in the mind, yet the person still solely depends on whatever information the mind has recalled as to what results will develop. That is to say, the outcome still has to logically follow the premises inputted in the mind of the critical thinker.

When a person is able to do critical thinking, he or she begins to build self-awareness and consciousness. That person now can easily identify the most important part of the problem. Appropriate solutions are then made and continuously refined.

Using visualization and affirmation techniques along with self-hypnosis, anyone can get into the habit of critical thinking.  Start by visualizing yourself as becoming more and more aware of points in time that you used your critical thinking skills. Use affirmatives to clarify the information you have received and used to deduce your outcome.

By practicing critical thinking using visualization and affirmations, you will start to develop awareness and you will begin to feel that your point of view gets increasingly wider. You will also most likely develop the liking to continue learning to discover more facts that support your claims and build your convictions.

With the proliferation of exaggerated ideas about hypnotism because of what they see in movies or stage shows, people often fret going to a hypnotist even if it offers excellent treatment for various psychological problems. From stress reduction to weight loss problems, undergoing hypnotism has been proven to help people do more than change their bad behaviors for a day. As a matter of fact, hypnosis changes the way you think and even helps you make permanent changes to last your lifetime.          

If you can effectively do something by yourself, would you spend money having someone else do it for you? I don’t think so, and many others think the same way about self-hypnosis. If you are guaranteed to achieve the same results by yourself why would you need to pay a stranger renting an expensive office? The thing is no one can give this absolute guarantee of success, especially if the one doing self-hypnosis does not really know how to “professionally” do it. But there are ways to up the success rate of people doing self-hypnosis. Let me give you a couple of tips.

Firstly, get to know the “practice” by heart. Hypnosis, whether done person himself or by a professional, follows set guidelines. Get to know these guidelines and all you can about the people practising the craft. Be zealous about your research before actually trying it on yourself to limit the risk of turning yourself into a croaking frog (exaggeration provided for emphasis). There is now an abundant supply of reference materials available on the internet, all you have to do is start a search and read away. The more specific your search is the better your chances of not wasting your time reading a re-hash of the general stuff.

Also, get to know the people who practice the craft. A very good way of finding out how things are done is to ask the actual people who are doing it. Supplement your online search or the information you get from hypnosis books or magazine articles by getting to know people who are into self-hypnosis. You don’t have to scare them into seclusion by asking them if they “practice the craft”, some people do not even know that what they have been doing is actually “self hypnosis” because it is called by a different name. The thing is, if they are into visualization techniques, self-help stuff, thinking positive, attracting good vibes, getting favors from the universe, they are into self-hypnosis. They probably just don’t know about it. But anything that calls on a person’s “better self” is or can be considered “self hypnosis”. Anyway, what you would want to know is their techniques, how they get “in trance”.  

Practiced properly, self-hypnosis can be an effective means to improve different aspects of your life and the only way you can practice it properly is if you know everything there is to know about it.

You’ve probably heard how hypnosis can help someone quit smoking, lose weight and reduce stress as well as tons of other issues. If you’re thinking about using hypnosis yourself, you may be wondering how to go about it. Should you buy that hypnosis CD that you saw on the internet or are you better off seeing a Professional Hypnotherapist in person. As a Hypnotherapist, I’m often asked "Which is better Hypnosis CDs or one-on-one Consultations?". Now, there are pros and cons for both, so lets explore those then you can make up your own mind.

For specific issues CDs can be remarkably powerful. The main benefit of Hypnosis CDs is the decreased cost and the opportunity to listen to them as many times as you like. The subconscious mind is extremely complex and the repetition of a Hypnosis Program can increase the Program’s effectiveness dramatically. You also have the convenience of using the program where you want to, when you want to (unless you’re driving or operating heavy machinery, of course!). And if privacy is important to you, then this is a great option.

While they are inexpensive and convenient, an "off the shelf" Hypnosis CD will not take into account your personal situation and specific needs. And in some cases you will require more personalised attention and guidance to help you resolve your issue.

Of course, the most effective way to use Hypnosis to address issues is with a Clinical Hypnotherapist in person. They can design a program that suits your particular goal and fine turn it based on your feedback. During the consultation, they can respond to your reactions and adjust the hypnosis session accordingly to achieve the best possible results.

However, a good Clinical Hypnotherapist can be expensive and, in most cases, you will need more than one session to resolve an issue. You also have to find time to travel to their consulting room and, if they don’t see clients out of business hours, you may need to take a couple of hours off work.

A great compromise is to have a Hypnotherapist create a customised hypnosis recording for you. This way, you can have the recording tailored to your specific needs, while saving money and time. However, not all issues are suitable to this format of personal work. For example, with issues such as severe depression or drug addiction, it’s better to see a Clinical Hypnotherapist in person who can work in conjunction with the appropriate Health Care Professional to ensure the client’s safety and well being.

So, which is better? It depends entirely on you. Make your decision based on your particular situation and the issue you want to address with Hypnosis.