WHAT IS HYPNOSIS PARTS 1 AND 2
By Nancy Georges C.Ht
Many people are unsure what hypnotherapy really is. In fact when
I first became certified in hypnotherapy, I was pretty unsure myself. The common
fallacy that a hypnotherapist can "change" someone magically overnight
or has some sort of control over the person is nothing short of craziness.
So what really is hypnosis? First of all, all hypnosis is self hypnosis, so
what does that mean in layman's terms. You will not "go into a trance"
if you do not want to. You will not go into a corner and stand on your head,
unless that is something that interests you. So if you are only going to do,
what you would do in the first place, what is the use of hypnosis you ask? Well,
that is very good question. You see the unconscious mind thinks in metaphors,
and thinks in gestalts, it has the blueprint for us, for perfect health, for
our life's mission, for achieving yearly goals, and it's prime directive is to protect the body.
Don't believe me? Think about this, did you sleep ok last night? You did? Wow,
how did you remember to breath? How did you pump the blood through your veins,
how did your body heal and rest and feel refreshed in the morning? OH, now you
are starting to get it. That's right the unconscious mind did all of that for
you. So now that you know this, what do you do with this information? Well,
think about this for a moment, it is our conscious mind that we use most often
in our waking state, now much of the time our conscious mind is very successful
at carrying out the prime directives of the unconscious mind. However where
we get into a bit of trouble is with our belief systems. For example, the unconscious
mind wants you to stay healthy, but you went to the doctor and he "programmed"
you to believe that since heart conditions "run" in your family, that
you MIGHT, get a heart attack, later on in life and so be careful, NOT to go
overboard, and more of what not to do, and more of what not to do. Now, the
doctor's intentions are all well and good, but your unconscious mind does not
know the difference between a negative suggestion or
a positive suggestion, so the unconscious mind, which takes orders from the
conscious mind says, oh the doctor says I am going to get a heart condition
when I am 56. And Walla magically you create a heart condition and the doctor
was right.
Now, I know that this is a lot for you to digest in one session, especially
when using such an intense example for most people. If you want me to chunk
it down, think about when your mother told you, don't spill the milk... what
did you usually do? That's right, spill the milk! That is how the unconscious
mind thinks. It cannot process negatives.
So what is the difference between the conscious and unconscious mind.
Think of it like this: the conscious mind is left brain, conscious means awareness.
When you are conscious you are aware of something right? You know it and you
are aware of it. You take information received from your sense organs and make
decision, from judgments and think. You conscious mind analyzes, evaluates and
reasons as well as makes comparisons. You conscious mind allows you to make
decisions and exercise the power of choice. It gives you the ability to select
and discriminate between what is desirable and what is not. It then presents
this information to the unconscious mind to store in its memory banks.
So what is the unconscious mind like? Well that is the right brain thinking.
Your unconscious mind consists of associated sense impressions and memories
of all your past events. It is composed of your brain, spinal cord and a network
of nerves that branch out through your entire body. Every single bodily activity
is controlled by the unconscious mind. Unconscious communication goes on day
and night whether you are awake or asleep. Your unconscious mind is dominant
when you sleep, but it is always active. Now not only are the memories of your
every experience stored in your unconscious mind, but also your emotions associated
with those memories, and... Your unconscious mind, remembers EVERYTHING! The
unconscious mind is a problem solver, it is known as the seat of your dreams.
The unconscious minds prime directive is to preserve the body, it thinks is
symbols, functions as a gestalt, does not process negatives, is the domain of
the emotions and enjoys to serve.
Now really I could go on for hours and hours, but the basic premise is that
we use 10% of our minds right? Well the 90% of untapped mental powers is that
of our unconscious minds. So knowing this what do we do with all of this information?
Well, that depends.... depends on what you say, depends on what you want. What
is your outcome? If you are functioning to your satisfaction then fine keep
on doing what you are doing. But however if you have areas you are not so successful
with or even areas you are successful with and you want to be excellent, there
is no better way than to tap into the resources of the unconscious mind.
There is a story about a man who went to see the late Dr. Milton Erickson, the
master of hypnosis and metaphors; in fact it was due to Erickson's efforts that
hypnosis was accepted by the American Medical Association in 1958. Now this
man went to see Erickson for some time with a particular problem, after a while
he stopped seeing him. A friend of his met him while he was out and about one
day and asked how he was, he said FANTASTIC!! And he said how is that problem
of yours that you were having, he said, what problem, oh yeah that... oh that
is totally gone, my life is fantastic. He said well how was the hypnosis did
it help, he said, not really, all he did was tell me stories. What a great example
of how the unconscious mind thinks. When we try to use our cognitive brain to
“understand” our unconscious mind, we fall short. However, open up, and allow
yourself to just be who you are and you unconscious mind and all that it is,
will just be. From there we can manipulate the unconscious mind to achieve
our outcomes.
Wishing you health and happiness,
About The Author:
Nancy Georges runs a
private hypnotherapy practice in