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Myth-Conceptions
About Hypnosis
by Linda-Ann Stewart
Much of my initial work as a hypnotherapist is to dispel some of the myths about hypnosis. Many people, even when they come in to see me, have a lot of misconceptions about the process. They think I'm going to wave my hand in front of their face, and they'll go into never-never land. Then they think I'm going to take control of their mind, and erase all their problems in one session. Some people want me to do this,
and some are afraid of having me in control. So the first thing I do is
explain
what hypnosis is, what it isn't, what it can and can't do.
Periodically, I even
hold a free hour long mini-class, open to the public, to educate about
hypnosis. Some
years ago, I was at a
party. A man came up and we started talking. What do you do? he asked.
I'm a hypnotherapist,
I replied. Oh. Well, you can't hypnotize me, he said, as he began
scanning the
party for someone else to talk to. You're absolutely right. I can't
hypnotize
you. I don't hypnotize anyone. By following my instructions, they
actually
hypnotize themselves. That got his attention. Some
people are afraid of
letting go. They think it means that someone else will be in control. I
reassure them that they are always in control of the process, and that
they
only go as deeply as they feel safe doing. Generally, a client will
drift into
a light state the first time. The second time I see them, they go
deeper
because they realize that I'm not going to do anything weird, like make
them
cluck like a chicken. For instance, a woman wanting to
lose weight decides to reduce her consumption
of sweets. After hypnosis, she loses her desire for them, but finds
that it was
an enjoyable part of the meal with her husband. She gets mad at me
because I
took away the enjoyment. Or when
you're at the movie theater, and get so involved with the action on the
screen
that you're barely aware of the rest of the people in the audience. Or if you're an artist or
writer, and when
you get so focused on a project that time just speeds by, and outside
distractions fade away. These are all examples of the state of mind
that we
call hypnosis. It's just that I know how to help a person reach that
level of
consciousness deliberately, and know what to do once we get there. Hypnosis
is really just
being able to focus on one idea. Back in the mid 1800's, Dr. James
Braid coined
the term hypnosis after Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep. But after more
experience with it, he realized that the word hypnosis was inaccurate.
Dr.
Braid then tried to rename it to mono-ideaism, for one idea. But it was
too
late. Hypnosis had already caught on, and the other really is a
mouthful to say. For
instance, a stage
hypnotist may ask a shy woman to perform by singing "Over the
Rainbow." Generally, she'd shrink into a corner. However, because her
self-imposed inhibitions have been circumvented, she belts out the song. The critical part of us
that says, "I
can't do that" moves onto a shelf in the corner, and lets the power
within
us come out to play. Hypnosis simply frees us from self-imposed
limitations. Hypnosis is a process of allowing the subconscious to be more in control than our conscious mind. Our subconscious is the storehouse of all our thoughts, actions, beliefs, attitudes, memories, decisions. In other words everything. It's been programmed like a computer. We've been conditioned with our beliefs that "I can't." Our conscious mind is the
logical part of us. It sifts and
analyzes information, draws a conclusion on that information, and then
passes
the conclusion to the subconscious mind. The subconscious then
processes the
information, comparing it with all the other information it has. Then
the
subconscious takes the strongest, most powerful idea, and acts on that.
For
instance, two smokers
want to quit. The first one decides, "That's enough. I don't want to do
this anymore. I have a lot of reasons to quit.
No matter how difficult it becomes, I'm done
smoking." He's made a
final decision to quit, and knows that nothing is going to talk him out
of it.
He throws out his cigarettes and that's that. He has very little
trouble. We've
all heard of people doing this. The second smoker wants to quit, but
thinks
"I want to quit, but I really like to smoke. And it's going to be so
difficult. I don't know if I can do it." He puts his cigarettes in a
drawer. As soon as the craving hits, he's digging them out. The first smoker made a determined decision. It was stronger than the desire to continue smoking, and he committed himself to it, no matter what. His subconscious mind picked the most dominant thought. His choice to quit was stronger than his outdated choice to smoke, therefore his subconscious made the process relatively painless. The
second smoker's belief that it was going to be hard set up a
self-fulfilling
prophecy. And he wasn't dedicated to quitting smoking. His subconscious
recognized that he hadn't decided to quit no matter what, so it figured
that
the old programming was what was really desired. His cravings were
overwhelming, and he gave into them, to the familiar path and to his
old
conditioning. Our subconscious goes wherever our attention is. Just like driving a car. When our intention is to drive straight ahead, then our reflexes aim the car along that course. If our attention wanders to look at the beautiful mountains to our right, and continues to gaze at them, the instinctive impulse is turn the car in the direction of where we're looking. With the smokers, their
subconscious minds
delivered to them whatever their attention was fixed on. The one smoker
had
decided to quit no matter what, so he got to quit. The other smoker was
afraid
it would be difficult, that he wouldn't succeed, and he was giving up
something
he liked. His subconscious gave him what it thought he wanted, to
continue
smoking. With hypnosis, we focus on one idea, such as giving up something we don't want anymore, and keep our attention on what we do want. This is a process that we use in our daily life all the time. Whenever we break new habits, learn new skills, change the way we think about life, are creative, we are focusing on what we want. Hypnosis just makes use of the process that we're already using. It's like inputting data into a
computer. We use the keyboard (conscious mind) every day to enter new
information into the hard drive (subconscious
mind) of the computer. The hard drive has all the old information,
and the new information, in it. Hypnosis is simply an auxiliary
keyboard that
bypasses the conscious mind to place new data into the computer. For instance, I may tell a client that if she smokes, her cigarette is going to taste absolutely awful, and the subconscious complies by making the smoke taste vile. But if she really wants to continue puffing on a cigarette, then her conscious decision can counteract my suggestions, no matter how disgusting the tobacco might taste. However, if that same client
really wants to quit smoking, then she must make a
conscious commitment to follow my instructions. Such as taking three
deep
breaths, and getting involved with something else, to take her mind off
smoking. Her decision reinforces the suggestions to carry out the
result she's
chosen. Hypnosis
balances the
conscious and subconscious. The conscious, analytical part of us quiets
down
and quits picking things apart, while allowing the subconscious to come
out and
play. Have you ever looked for the answer to a problem, and started
throwing
out solutions, no matter how silly they were? Many times, there's a
seed of an
answer in one of the silly ideas. That answer would never have been
found if
the critical part that says "That's nonsense" had been involved. There's a time for the
logic, and a time for unrestricted thought. Writer's and creative
people are
very aware of the analytical part versus the creative part. Our
critical aspect
sabotages our work by tearing down every idea we come up with. When we
get
immersed in our project, and set the critical voice aside, we are able
to be
innovative. This is hypnosis. Later, we use the critical part to assess
what
we've done, and decide how to make it better. Hypnosis helps a person get
in touch with abilities they have that they haven't been able to
contact
consciously. A person can quit smoking cold turkey, but hypnosis makes
it much
easier. We all know of people who have put down their cigarettes and
never gave
them another thought. They've convinced themselves that when they quit,
that
was it. The subconscious mind knew that, and it followed their decision. Another example is that
everyone has the ability to block pain. Consider the person who was in
an
accident, and saved others without realizing he was injured, too. Only
later,
when the crisis was over, did he begin to hurt, and discover that he
had a
broken leg. With hypnosis, a person can access that natural ability
that we all
have. Usually, our conscious, critical I can't get in the way. Hypnosis
moves
that self- defeating thought aside. We've been hypnotized all of
our lives. "You're stupid," "I'll never succeed at
anything," "Life is hard," "Quitting smoking is almost
impossible," Every time I even pass a bakery, I gain weight,"
"I'm a klutz," and on and on. We've been using hypnosis to program
ourselves every day of our lives. Review the beliefs and attitudes you have. You probably accepted them without question, without your logic evaluating whether those concepts were true for someone else with your abilities. All hypnosis does is de-hypnotize a person of self-limiting beliefs, and impress the ideas they choose. Hypnosis is simply a process that we're already using anyway. Why not use the process to achieve the results we want? Copyright © 2009-2023 Linda Ann Stewart As a focus coach, hypnotherapist, and speaker, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, freedom, wellbeing and prosperity. Watch her FREE training video on Set Your Course to Success: 4 steps to strategically achieve your goals with confidence and ease. Register for the video and accompanying action planning guide at www.SetYourCourseGuide.com. You can contact her at LAS@Linda-AnnStewart.com or 928-600-0452.
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