Wednesday, February 17, 2010

WHY HYPNOSIS IS ABOUT TAKING CONTROL NOT LOSING IT: NEWSLETTER ISSUE 2, ARTICLE 2

Why Hypnosis is about TAKING control, not losing it – using your own mind to control your own body.

Many people believe that when under hypnosis one loses control. The reason for this common view is simply a lack of knowledge and an abundance of stage hypnosis. Almost everyone has seen a stage hypnosis show on television or in a pub. These shows give the impression that the hypnotist has control of his subjects. Many news articles also give this point of view. This is however not correct. The subjects in a stage hypnosis show are in full control of their actions. There are various reasons why they do what they are asked but control is not one of them.

Hypnosis is in fact about taking back control. Many people see a hypnotherapist to learn how to take back control of their life. Other people are able to do this themselves and some do not even realise they have an opportunity to do so!

Weight loss is a massive issue in our country today. Almost everyone you speak to is trying to lose weight or at least ‘watching their weight’. Many of my clients are seeing me for weight loss; often they think that I am going to put a magic spell into their head that will make them suddenly slimmer. Unfortunately it is not quite as simple as that. My job is initially to help find the reasons for the over eating and then teach my client how to take back control of their body and mind. When we over eat it is due to a lack of control. For lots of people, no matter how much they know they should not eat whatever is in front of them they cannot stop themselves. Taking back that control of your mind and body means that you can stop yourself.

A study has been conducted to show that only 1 in 5 gym members use the gym at least twice a week, what is the reason many people cannot get the motivation to go to the gym? Again - a lack of control in their own mind and body. As you learn how to take back that control you can use the power of your mind to motivate yourself to exercise more often. More exercise and good healthy foods, less of the bad stuff or just less in general can only result in one thing... you goddit!

I also see a lot of people experiencing panic attacks. Panic attacks are not a result of an actual fear but a fear of the fear itself, the physical manifestations of high anxiety. It may begin with you going into a shopping centre and getting lost. You panic and feel terrified. The next time you go to the shopping centre as soon as you walk in you have a panic attack. The memories of the last time you were in this place cause your subconscious mind to feel panic and your heart starts to beat fast, you sweat, shake etc. A week later you need to go to the shopping centre again. In the days running up to this you begin to worry that you will have a panic attack again. This worry starts the heart racing and before you know it you’re having another panic attack. The thought of getting lost is gone. The fear is now all about the panic attacks. You begin to become someone that “suffers from panic attacks”, every time you have to go out you start to worry that you will have a panic attack. Although this can be quite a long process, before long you stop going out unless you have to, simply because you are afraid that if you do you will have a panic attack. Another perfect example of a lack of control.

If I had a client experiencing this I would initially take them back to the first panic attack and try to find out the reason that they panicked so extremely in the first place. I would help them to realise that there was no need for the panic. They were in a safe place, there would have been many information points in the area to ask for guidance and they had their mobile phone with them so they could have called a friend to ask if they know where the exit is. It could have been that the reason for the panic is a childhood experience, I will explain later, but I use hypnosis to find the reason. Once understood and reframed the brain no longer looks to the previous experience to know how to react. I then teach the client tools to take back the control, they can learn how to slow their heart beat down, they can learn how to stop shaking and sweating they just need to learn how to use their own mind to control their own body.

Does that mean that hypnotherapy is only about learning how to take control?
No it is much more in depth than that. As I explained in my January newsletter (please see my blog if you did not receive this) in hypnosis we can clear the subconscious mind of any emotions that may be affecting our day to day behaviour. Ordinarily to try and change something about ourselves we must use will power, to quit smoking for example or to keep up an exercise program. Will power is a product of the conscious mind. Although the conscious mind likes to think that it is in control it is really our subconscious mind with all of its past experiences that is controlling our behaviour. Every thought we have has an impact on us, negative or positive. No matter how much conscious effort we put into changing our habits the subconscious mind floods the body with messages that have been ingrained for years. So, in a normal hypnotherapy session I would use a technique known as hypno-analysis to reach the reasons that cause us to do the opposite from what we really want to do whilst at the same time teach you a large variety of techniques to help you deal with the problem symptom until it disappears forever.

I recently had a client, for the purposes of this we will call her Jenny. Jenny had recently started having panic attacks at 50 years of age. Jenny had always suffered from claustrophobia and although the panic attacks were not happening in claustrophobic situations they were giving the same feeling. Using hypno-analysis we went through a series of childhood memories in which Jenny felt that same feeling. It was always in the dark but not necessarily in confined spaces. The recent panic attacks were always happening at night, in the dark. Finally Jenny came to a memory of being 2/3 years old and playing in the garden shed. She then remembered getting stuck under a table, it was dark and confined. I asked Jenny if she felt the same feeling then but she said no. What she did feel however was extreme fear that she would be told off for playing in the shed. In the memory she could hear her parents calling her but was too terrified to emerge. Of course when she was found they were just happy, they had also been terrified that she had fallen in the pond. From that day on Jenny’s brain linked dark confined spaces with sheer terror and panic. Whenever she was in a place that resembled the space under the table she would feel afraid. Unfortunately this then grew into the panic attacks that she had started experiencing. Understanding why she was feeling like this and reframing it has allowed Jenny to take control of the panic attacks and no longer experience them.
Although I haven’t specified here why someone is not out of control when in hypnosis, it is interesting to note that medical professionals have determined that when a person is in a state of hypnosis they actually have more control over their mind and body that when not in hypnosis.

If you’re expecting black capes and fancy magician words that will make you do things against your will, you’ll be sadly disappointed. Hypnosis is a legitimate practice that is recognised by medical forums everywhere, and is a safe and healthy alternative treatment. Start asking around, I bet you know someone that has experienced hypnotherapy and will tell you how they now know how to use their own mind to control their own body.

One good way to begin to take control of your mind and body is to start saying I feel instead of I am. I feel stressed; I feel tired; I feel sad. YOU are not stressed; YOU are not tired; YOU are not sad. These things are just feelings that you may be experiencing. As soon as we let these things take over us we begin to lose control of ourselves.

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