I want to introduce you to all the tools available to you to help you in your weight loss journey, one is hypnotherapy.
I was introduced to hypnotherapy a few months ago. To tell you the truth I was very skeptical, but after meeting with Rosanne, a Certified Hypnotherapist, and attending her weight release workshop, I can see the benefits of hypnotherapy. One of my favorite sayings are; “Food is Fuel for my Body, not an Emotional Pacifier!” Logically we all can agree on this, but habits like over eating are hard to break, and we may need professional help to get past them.
What is hypnotherapy?
The term "hypnosis" is derived from the Greek word hypnos, meaning "sleep." Hypnotherapists typically use exercises that bring about deep relaxation and an altered state of consciousness, also known as a trance. Many people routinely experience a trance-like state while they are watching television or sitting at a red light. A person in a trance or deeply focused state is unusually responsive to an idea or image, but this does not mean that a hypnotist can control the person's mind and free will. On the contrary, hypnosis can actually teach people how to master their own states of awareness. By doing so they can affect their own bodily functions and psychological responses.
What is the history of hypnosis?
Throughout history, trance states have been used by shamans and ancient peoples in ritualistic activities. But hypnosis as we know it today was first associated with the work of an Austrian physician named Franz Anton Mesmer. In the 1700s, Mesmer used magnets and other hypnotic techniques (hence the word, mesmerized) to treat people, and while he achieved a number of dramatic "cures" for blindness, paralysis, headache, and joint pain, the medical community was not convinced. Mesmer was accused of fraud, and his techniques were called unscientific.
Hypnotherapy regained popularity in the mid-1900s due to the notoriety and career of Milton H. Erickson (1901 - 1980), a successful psychiatrist who used hypnosis in his practice. In 1958, both the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association recognized the therapy as a valid medical procedure. Since 1995, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has recommended hypnotherapy as a treatment for chronic pain.
Other conditions for which hypnotherapy is frequently used include anxiety and addiction.
How does hypnosis work?
When something new happens to us, we remember it and learn a particular behavior in response to that circumstance. Memories stored in our brains hold the original physical and emotional reactions that occurred when the given memory was first formed. Each time similar events occur again, the physical and emotional reactions attached to the memory are repeated. These reactions may be inappropriate or unhealthy. In some forms of hypnotherapy, the trained therapist guides you to remember the event that led to the first reaction, separate the memory from the learned behavior, and reconstruct the event with new, healthier associations.
During hypnosis, a person's body relaxes while their thoughts become more focused and attentive. Like other relaxation techniques, hypnosis decreases blood pressure and heart rate, and alters certain types of brain wave activity. In this relaxed state, a person will feel very at ease physically yet fully awake mentally. In this state of deep concentration people are highly responsive to suggestion. If you are trying to quit smoking, for example, a therapist's suggestion may successfully convince you that in the future you will have a strong dislike for the taste of cigarettes.
There are several stages of hypnosis. The process begins with reframing the problem; becoming relaxed, then absorbed (deeply engaged in the words or images presented by a hypnotherapist); dissociating (letting go of critical thoughts); responding (complying whole-heartedly to a hypnotherapist's suggestions); returning to usual awareness; and reflecting on the experience.
This sounds very interesting. Although I have not fully gone through this process myself, I have spoken to many people who have benefited from hypnotherapy. If you have gone through hypnotherapy I would like to hear of your experiences. Please contact me.
If you would like to look further into hypnotherapy please feel free to contact Rosanne or visit her website:
Rosanne MacDonald, C.Ht.
Hypnovitality, Inc.
www.hypnovitality.com
(805) 496-1989
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