Self Hypnosis

SELF HYPNOSIS

By Mike Coleman Copyright 2012 Mike Coleman Smashwords Edition

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Table of Contents Introduction What is Self-hypnosis?

What does it feel like to be hypnotised?

How can you enter into hypnosis?

Are you hypnotisable?

What can self-hypnosis help me achieve?

Self-hypnosis and your mind How does self-hypnosis act?

Self-hypnosis and eating problems Self-hypnosis and compulsive habits Smoking Alcohol abuse

Addiction Self-Hypnosis and Healing of the mind Stress Guided relaxation Hypnosis and pain relief Overcoming Phobias Self-hypnosis and children Self-hypnosis and self-improvement

Introduction If you have ever felt the magic of self-directed success, you will agree that there is nothing more exhilarating, more empowering and more stimulating than leading the life of your dreams. Sometimes all you need for spectacular success is a good start. You just need to know how to push the right buttons and corresponding results appear before you, almost as if by magic. Even so, selfdirected change is hard to come by. Most of us have arrived at our current ‘state of affairs’ in a haphazard, random fashion. But the more ambitious amongst us are not happy with our ‘accidental’ successes. We want more, a lot more.

If you are reading this e-book, then one thing is for sure: there must have been times in your life when you felt that you are not living up to your full potential. Or may be you are in a life situation where nothing seems to be going your way.

Take heart because you are not alone.

More than 95% of the people you see around you would admit that there is plenty of room for self-improvement in their lives.

Only most people do not think about it too much. They desensitise themselves to their failures and live out a hollow life of half-successes and make-believe. Some people do not even know what is wrong with their lives. There is just this vague sense of discomfort and dissatisfaction; a sad feeling that the best is yet to be.

These people live in their yesterdays or tomorrows while forgiving themselves for the sorry state of their daily lives.

I congratulate you for being different. I know that to come this far, you have definitely gone through the painful process of introspection. You have scrutinized your life dispassionately and decided that a change is due. If you have tried hard

enough, you have probably identified what you want. Not many people have such courage.

However, you know from experience that mere acceptance is not going to change anything. Even if you have correctly identified what you want, you have only taken the first small step towards change. You know that there will be many obstacles on your way. Surprisingly - and not many people realise it - the biggest obstacle you are going to come across is within you. It is your own mind.

A nationwide survey shows that 55% smokers are in avoidance, 30% are in contemplation (thinking about change) and a mere 10% are ready for action.

The above statistics show how difficult it is to initiate change. Smokers know that smoking leads to a number of deadly diseases and conditions like cancer, hypertension and diabetes. Even when their life is in danger, they simply CANNOT stop. Amazing, isn’t it?

Once you live with your problem for some time, it unleashes a chain of events in your life. First, your problem becomes the #1 failure of your life. Slowly it turns an incriminating finger on you to show you that you have lost control of your life.

Then, it becomes your yardstick for measuring your self-worth. Your self-esteem takes a beating and your next battle with yourself - whether it is the same problem or something else - translates into Round 2 of your battle with your mind; a battle that you already know you have lost.

How many times have you felt the need to: Conquer your addictions?

Attract more success?

Lead a happier life?

Set your goals and achieve them?

Master a particular skill?

Vanquish the aches and pains of your complaining body?

Manage your time better?

Make a better life for yourself?

Most of us find it difficult to change simply because our mind is so opposed to change that it throws up all kinds of obstacles in our way. So many thoughts creep up and stop us cold - fear of pain, failure, criticism, rejection, disapproval

and difficulty. Curiously, your own mind – your supposed best friend - works to kill your will for change.

There is no shame in admitting that you want to change yourself. Shame comes when you know and recognize the need for change but cannot or will not take any concrete steps towards it. There is only one small step between the desire to succeed and success – your state of mind. Once you commit your mind to change, the question changes from “Will you achieve?” to “WHEN will you achieve?”

This only goes to prove that the one priceless resource you need to make a change is your own will. Truly, it's all in your mind. If you can persuade your mind to bend to your will, you would achieve mind-blowing success! And you don’t have to look far to see that kind of success. Look at anybody who has made a name for himself, and they will tell you that their success curve began from their own minds. To think that your mind is a gold-mine waiting for you to unleash its power!

Of course, conquering your mind is easier said than done. That is why hundreds of successful men and women fight their self-defeating habits, only to give up in frustration and tears.

What if it were possible to make your mind work for you? What if you could instruct your mind to accept your desires as the norm? Imagine if you had a mechanism that worked for you all times of the day – wouldn’t that be nice?

Suppose you wanted to lose weight, and every time you come across a piece of candy or pie, your internal mechanism would send negative signals to your brain.

Or you would grow to dislike the sight of a cigarette, or have no more debilitating episodes of pain!

There IS such a technique. All you would need are a few simple tools and some minutes of peace and quiet. This simple, painless and completely non-invasive procedure will equip your mind with the strength to achieve what you want.

No, please do not dream of becoming Bill Gates or Superman in one day. This is not magic, and magical results are not what I promise. However, I do promise you this: if you work with this process for some time, you’ll find that your entire thought process has changed. You will find that you have the ability to achieve whatever you set your mind to. Your accomplishments will surprise you and everyone around you. Let me warn you, you will also look back and regret at all the time you wasted trying.

Don’t believe me? I was a sceptic myself until I used this method to control excruciating episodes of migraine. A friend suggested this method. I had already been through so much in the previous months that I thought to myself that one more form of therapy was not going to hurt me. Imagine my shock when this, the least expected of all the medical and alternative procedures I tried, helped me bid goodbye to migraine! I was stunned. I was also sad that a lot of the pain I had gone through was for nothing. Since then, I have achieved amazing changes in my life. I realize that there would be others like me and I want to help those who come looking for a powerful yet simple remedy.

Most people, like me, believe in the power of this technique only after they experience it. This technique is being used regularly to chuck addictions, build better lives, attract more prosperity and success, improve relationships, sleep better or just to feel happier and more content. Corporate offices hold courses in this technique and encourage their employees to practice it. Adolescents who have been using it have amazing self-esteem, achieve outstanding academic results and keep themselves free from self-damaging habits. Why, you are already using some of it, although unconsciously, every time you do things that you know are difficult.

So, what is this technique?

Welcome to the powerful new world of self-hypnosis.

What is Self-hypnosis I remember the first time I heard about hypnosis. The picture that came into my mind was one from a popular TV show - that of a stage artist dangling a locket in front of the glazed eyes of a helpless member of the audience. I am sure most of you have come across these images too. When I heard about hypnotherapy, I was not prepared to believe that hypnosis could help people control their minds.

It took me a few days of intensive research to understand that hypnosis is NOT magic, sorcery, witchcraft or stage antics. To my utter amazement, I discovered that hypnosis is a science that allows a person to touch base with the inner core of his being - that part of us which is called the subconscious mind and is the hardest to reach.

Self-hypnosis is nothing but focused “autosuggestion”. This powerful technique helps a person train his SUBCONSCIOUS MIND to believe in something, so he can easily achieve a particular purpose.

Now this may seem like a bit of a contradiction. You would assume that your mind already believes in what you want. Sorry, that is not true. In a normal person's mind, there are too many conflicting and converging thoughts shooting back and forth. Your conscious mind may be telling you to do something, but you do not know what is happening in your subconscious mind. Due to the various distractions around us, we have lost the ability to focus on any one thing – let alone our subconscious minds - with the desired intensity. Hypnosis corrects this.

Hypnosis only means intense concentration. It is a method in which you return ‘inward’ into your own mind.

What does it feel like to be hypnotised?

This is an important question because most of our misconceptions about hypnosis are a direct result of what we perceive. Popular TV programs have done enough mudslinging by showing pictures of men and women losing control over their minds and bodies when hypnotized. This is probably the #1 reason why ordinary people shy away from hypnosis. They fear that they may lose control. Let me ask you a question: Do you lose control of yourself when you are completely intent on a TV show? The same is true for hypnosis.

One of the most amazing capacities of the human brain – without which we could not function – is its capacity to be aware of the peripheries. This is what makes it possible for you to listen to music, hold a conversation and work on your computer at the same time. If any of these peripheral activities change, you become aware of the change; but your concentration in the task at hand does not wane. For instance, if the record player were to stop playing you would probably get up, change the disc, and get back to your work even without realizing what you did. If you go one step further and focus all your attention on any one activity, you become partially or completely unaware of other peripheral occurrences. In that case, the record player would stop playing and you would not even realise it.

You shut out all the noises and distractions around you. When such an intensely absorbing activity ends, you take a few seconds to reorient yourself. Well, that’s it! This is a simple example of the ‘hyper-focusing’ that precedes hypnosis. ‘Deep trance’ or hypnosis is an extension of this ability to focus intently on something.

Some people believe that hypnosis is sleep. This is not true. While many adults prefer to be hypnotised with their eyes closed, keeping your eyes closed is not necessary to enter the hypnotised state. Actually, young children show a preference to be hypnotised with their eyes open. However, it is true that when you focus all your attention on your mind, you tend to lose partial or complete awareness of what happens around you. Why, you may even dissociate yourself from your body!

From the above you would have understood that there is no dividing line between the normal state and the hypnotic state. Sometimes people give up on hypnosis precisely because of this. If you expect the hypnotic state to be a flash of awareness or a sudden puff of energy, your experience with hypnosis will disappoint you. Be forewarned: you will NOT experience anything out of the ordinary when you are under hypnosis. Hypnosis is a pleasing state of complete relaxation and acute inner awareness.

Would you believe me if I told you that you have already experienced some forms of hypnosis? Have you ever travelled through a long and familiar route and upon reaching your destination wondered what happened during the course of your journey? If you have, then you have already experienced hypnotic amnesia.

If you have ever felt yourself ‘switching off’ while listening to a piece of favourite music, you already know what hypnotic dissociation is.

So you see, you will not ‘know’ when you enter the state of hypnosis. Some people feel an altering in their sensations. Others describe it as a sense of heightened concentration when other things become less important. That is why hypnosis is also called ‘parallel-consciousness’. That is, even though you focus intently on your mind, you continue to exist within the reality that surrounds you.

Only the cacophony of daily thoughts slowly melts away and you gain access to the deep and invigorating silence of your psyche.

How can you enter into hypnosis?

A person can be hypnotised in two ways: Clinical hypnotism Self-hypnosis A clinical hypnotist is actually a master of communication. He will induce complete and total relaxation in his patients through words. Then he proceeds to focus your attention on your mind. Once your attention is completely focused on any one incident of your past, it is natural for you to become so engrossed in that incident that you may cry or a laugh or do anything that is NORMAL in that circumstance. For a while at least, this incident is your reality. Through your reenactment of your reality, the hypnotist picks up important clues to your problem.

He then devises a solution, which he non-intrusively slips into your subconscious mind. Even so, you have complete control over yourself and can stop the session whenever you want to.

Self-hypnosis is a skill, although I believe that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis because finally it is up to you – the person undergoing hypnosis – to decide when

to let ‘go’ of your mind. In self-hypnosis, you make use of certain techniques to attain complete relaxation. As in professional hypnotism, you have to guide your mind towards complete relaxation. You have to focus on your entire body, part by part, to achieve this state of complete relaxation. Hypnosis statements or scripts will lead your mind to total relaxation. You may use your own script or rely on a script prepared by an expert. The second option is quicker and may yield better results because experts know which buttons to push.

Are you ‘hypnotisable’?

Anyone – I repeat – anyone, with an open mind can be hypnotised. However, if you believe that you cannot be hypnotised and take it upon yourself to challenge the medical fraternity, then probably you cannot be hypnotised. That is because your mind is set against it. To explain this better, consider your state of mind just before you drop off to sleep. If you try to catch the exact moment you drop off to sleep, you will remain awake all night. On the other hand, if you allow nature to take its course, you will drop off to sleep effortlessly.

What can self-hypnosis help me achieve?

Just about anything, you set your mind to!

Hypnosis is actually a natural state of mind. Millions of people all over the world have used self-hypnosis to: Overcome long-held phobias.

Chuck addictions like smoking, drug addiction and alcohol abuse.

Overcome damaging conditions like obesity, anorexia and bulimia.

Overcome clinical depression.

Undergo surgery without anesthesia.

Accelerate the healing processes of the body.

Get relief from pain.

Lower Blood Pressure.

Achieve greater confidence and self-esteem.

Reduce stress.

Improve the quality of their life.

Attain instant learning.

Develop a photographic memory.

Adopt new life habits that help them attract more prosperity, success and happiness.

These are just a few of the benefits of self-hypnosis. Did you know that many sports champions like Larry Bird, Evander Holyfield and Tiger Woods regularly use self-hypnosis to get amazing and consistent results in the fields? Famous stage artists use it regularly to calm their minds and increase their concentration while performing. In short, anybody with spectacular success is already using this technique in every area of his or her life!

Hypnosis aims are training the mind and taming the subconscious. Every selfhypnosis program has certain instructions to start the wheels of change turning the way YOU want it to. We will talk more about how self-hypnosis helps you achieve all these amazing results in the next chapter. For now, understand this: your subconscious mind controls all your activities. This one unknown entity yields a lot of power over you. It influences all your decisions and decides the course of your activities. Through self-hypnosis, you will be able to access this mysterious yet powerful part of you. For probably the first time in your life, you will taste self-directed success. You and your subconscious mind will control your thought processes. How big a change this can bring in your life is limited only by your imagination!

Self Hypnosis and Your Mind From what you have read so far, you would have understood that hypnosis has something to do with your mind. You may not yet understand how it affects and influences the mind. However, to appreciate the true power of hypnosis it is essential that you understand the ‘modus operandi’.

Here is a comprehensive list of some of the most compelling habits that people continuously try to overcome: Smoking Weight Management Issues Biting Nails Grief Management Self Esteem Stress Management Insomnia Trauma Procrastination Fears and Phobia Anger Management

Relationship Management Sexual Problems Parenting Problems Forgiveness Issues Look at the issues above. You will notice an interesting pattern here – these are all issues that originate from the mind. They are also stubborn problems that refuse to go away. Some people spend their entire lifetimes trying to fight them; others try to find ways to live with their problems. However, this does not have to be. You do not HAVE to compromise on the quality of your life because you don’t know the solution. If you look at it from that perspective, aren’t you just allowing sheer ignorance to sabotage your life?

Self-hypnosis can deal with any problem of the mind. So let us take a moment to understand this mysterious, shadowy and tricky entity called the human mind.

The human mind is divided into two distinct parts: the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. Consciousness is that part with which we think. In layman’s terms, your conscious mind is the voice in your head. This part of the mind governs confines, obstructs and limits your actions. For instance, suppose you were standing at the edge of a breathtaking valley. You are so taken in by the beauty around you that you feel like flying through the air. But your conscious mind intervenes and tells you that the breathtaking beauty before you is really not worth dying for. You listen and you agree. It is mundane, but the conscious mind makes life possible and safe.

Thankfully for us, we also have a more dynamic, imaginative and resourceful part of the mind just beneath the conscious mind. This part of the mind makes it possible for an ordinary human being to dream and perform seemingly impossible tasks. All the so-called ‘path breaking’ experiences and accomplishments in life originate from the silent recesses of the subconscious mind. So you see, your subconscious mind gives you that unique ‘human-ness’.

It is this part in a person that makes John different from Harry or Kate.

Now let us probe a little further and understand how the subconscious and the conscious parts of the mind operate. For all practical purposes, it seems as if the conscious mind is controlling all our actions. This is true to a limited extent.

Your subconscious mind has a life of its own. It can and will act without the permission of the conscious mind. Interestingly, there is no open line of

communication between these two parts of your mind. So sometimes these two halves of your mind work in diametrically opposite directions. This is the reason why some of your important conscious decisions get disregarded.

Even though the subconscious mind plays such a big part in our lives, isn’t it amazing that we know little about the going ons in this part of the mind? We do not know it processes or its strengths. We would not take it so lightly if we knew that most of the problems we face on a day-to-day basis are the direct result of a sick and helpless subconscious mind pleading for help.

The subconscious mind is difficult to cure, mould or change because we cannot access it easily. Its task is to keep subconscious processes ‘sub’ or unconscious because the human mind is designed to keep its two halves unaware of each other.

Another tricky issue is the fact that the subconscious mind does not record messages or instructions that we (the conscious mind) want it to. Many of the messages that go into your subconscious mind are those that have slipped in by accident. Therefore, these messages are not examined, censored or moulded by the conscious mind. Damaging messages stay in the subconscious mind and fester causing considerable damage.

How does Self Hypnosis act?

Self-hypnosis helps you to influence the messages that go into the subconscious mind. You achieve greater inner mastery. Now, instead of racking your mind for your problems, you can access the real seat of power: your subconscious mind.

When you find a way to bypass the conscious mind and plant helpful and positive suggestions in your subconscious mind, you can initiate any change you want.

Self-hypnosis includes methods in which you can question your subconscious mind to get to the root of your problem. For instance, when an obese man is constantly bingeing on food, his conscious mind understands that there is a problem. It also tries to impose a solution by telling the man that he should say no to food. However, the situation does not improve and the conscious mind aggravates his pain by making him feel guilty or ashamed. Once you probe the subconscious mind, you will realise that excessive eating was only an extension of some of the deeply held fears of the man. Expunging these fears and planting healthy suggestions in the subconscious mind enable the man to get rid of his eating problem once and for all.

This is the power of self-hypnosis.

Self Hypnosis and Eating Problems When was the last time you met someone who is 100% satisfied with how their body looks? Such species of human beings are becoming rarer as days go by.

Not surprising considering that more than 3.8 million people in the United States weigh over 300 pounds! Surveys show that an alarming 400,000 people in the US and 320,000 people in the UK carry more than 400 pounds of flesh on their person. The average adult female weighs a whopping 170 pounds. China, Japan, India and the emerging economies are reporting an alarming increase in their import of plus size dresses. This, in spite of a robust and evolving 100 billion dollar weight loss industry!

Surveys show that a permanent solution to weight problems is not in any particular diet program. You can go on an all-carb diet, all-fruit diet, all-juice diet, all-protein diet or even an all-fat diet and still remain where you are – at the farthest end of the weighing scale! Or maybe you’ve chosen the other extreme you could be a victim of bulimia, anorexia or excessive exercising. Either way, there is something fundamentally wrong in your equation with food.

As we have travelled from cave man to civilized life and from civilized life to super-specialised life, we have somehow messed up our relationship with food.

There was a time when food appeased physical hunger only. That food was rich, fat-ridden, raw and tough; but the body devoured it because it was taken in only as fuel. If you look back at the writings of the 1900’s or before, you rarely come across the current obsession with weight, measurements and body figures. At that time, people accepted that it was OK to be a little rounded in the middle and a little ruddy in the cheeks. It was OK because they were healthy, and health was their main concern. To be beautiful was to have rounded, rosy cheeks, soft arms and buxom figures.

Our current obsession with reed thin bodies, six pack abs and itsy bitsy bikinis started in the last century, with the evolution of TV and cinema. Here was a new standard to live up to – a difficult and sometimes impossible standard, but hey, if they can do it, so can we! Therefore, we officially entered the era of junk food, crash diets, energy shakes and diet drinks. Gyms and body spas mushroomed everywhere. Miracle drugs and quick weight loss programmes became the ‘in thing’.

However, the funny thing is - we are still where we started. Weight management has become a bigger problem today than it was 50 years ago, and it continues to grow at an alarming rate. Bulimia, Anorexia, obesity and compulsive eating are

just some of the more serious eating disorders we know of. There are hosts of other eating disorders that just do not have a name. Nevertheless, they do exist and medical conditions resulting from weight problems have climbed to epidemic levels. To find out whether you have an eating problem, answer these questions: Do you eat when you are not hungry?

Do you feel guilty after you have eaten?

Do you feel a compulsive need to exercise even when you are dropping from exhaustion?

Do you find that you need rigid self-discipline when it comes to food?

Do you run to the bathroom scale the first thing in the morning?

Have you been losing and gaining weight in predictable cycles?

In your daydreams, do you see yourself sinking your teeth into luscious pieces of creamy tart or juicy steak?

Do you suffer from cravings?

Do you wolf down food without tasting it or even realising that you are eating?

Are you bulimic?

Do you suffer from anorexia?

Do you eat when you are not hungry?

If you have answered in the affirmative to any of the above questions, then your relationship with food needs to be examined.

You do not have to be overweight to suffer from weight problems. If your life revolves around managing your food and controlling your eating, then you have a problem – even when you are within your correct weight limits. We all know people who naturally eat the types and portions of food that keeps their bodies energized and slender. Your aim is to enjoy the same kind of freedom and energy that they enjoy.

One of the biggest problems psychoanalysts face today is the problem of emotional eating. Interestingly, hunger is NOT the #1 reason for eating. On examination, 100% of the people dealing with weight problems suffer from emotional imbalances. People eat because they want to appease their emotional appetites. They indulge in food because they want to offset their emotional problems. This kind of eating only serves to unleash a vicious circle. Their true sickness is never discovered, and they continue on their self-destructive patterns for life.

If you want to be free of your eating problems, you have to realise that you have a problem – not in your body, but in your mind. Then you have to attack the roots of your problem. To do that, you must probe the depth of your psyche and identify the lingering emotions and the pain. It could be a childhood of rejection or some stray incident in your long-forgotten past that is traumatising you from within. Whatever it is, you have to unearth it before you can heal yourself.

Self-hypnosis helps you identify and cure underlying problems so that you are not stuck in superficial strategies that do not produce long-term results.

The first step towards healing is to understand that wrong eating habits are not random errors that can easily be corrected through education and self-discipline.

Through analysis and questioning, you need to confront the mental fixations ruling your mind. Expert self-hypnosis programmes come tailored with a question module that help you isolate your problem and examine it in their proper perspective.

The second and equally important part of the programme is to explore the metabolic processes of your body so that you can eat what your body naturally needs and not wear it around your waist, hips or thighs.

A well-crafted self-hypnosis programme will lead you into a hypnotic trance that allows you to understand all the pain and hurt your body has been running from.

You will return to your first experience of stuffing your feelings with food. You will find the natural outlet for your pent up emotions, so that you do not need to resort to food to release your pain in bits and pieces.

Through hypnotic suggestions, you will also experience the healing that your condition requires. These suggestions will implant the feelings of bliss and positive reinforcement that your subconscious mind has been yearning for. The process of eating will be infused with happy feelings. Suggestions are embedded into the mouth, the stomach and the heart so you learn to chew your food properly, enjoy its taste and stop when your stomach is pleasantly full. You will experience – probably for the first time in your life - the emotional fulfillment that people enjoy when they eat without the burden of emotional baggage.

The empowered adult who rises from the hypnotic trance will begin to accept that food can only answer the body’s physiological needs, not emotional needs.

Counter-programming your mind to accept obvious and logical realities is what hypnosis aims to achieve.

In just a few sessions, you will change lifelong eating habits. You will put an end to addictive food habits and begin to act upon your newly established principles about food and eating. Once you begin to understand the true role of food in your life and realize that your weight management problems result from an imbalance in your equation with food, you are free. You will no longer need to worry about food or weight problems. Best of all, you will naturally lose excess weight and keep it off forever. You will not need psychological counselling or therapy to get over episodes of bingeing, purging or uncontrolled exercising. Your mind and your body will resume their natural interactions with food and you will pave the way for a physically satisfying relationship with food.

Self Hypnosis and Compulsive Habits Max was in his twenties and like any young man of his age, he believed in enjoying life when the time was ripe. It was at a party that Max met Gwen. She was beautiful, smart and funny. Max knew from the moment they started dating that he was falling deeply in love. Soon, they were living together and as soon as Max managed to get a decent job, they decided to get married.

Three years after marriage, Max who was working on a construction site, had an accident. He fell and shattered his right arm and leg and had to undergo twelve operations to fit it back. After the accident, all hard physical labour was off limits.

Even driving a heavy-duty truck was taboo.

With Max unable to find work and unwilling to try something new, Gwen started her job hunt. Soon she found a good job that made it possible for the family to pay their bills. With Gwen working and nothing left to do, Max started drinking. At first, he would nurse one drink throughout the day and finish it in sips. It was a matter of time before one drink became a drink too many. Gwen began to worry when Max started drinking in the evenings. She noticed that Max’s attitude had shifted alarmingly. He was no longer the soft spoken, sweet tempered charming young man she had fallen in love with. In the span of 16 months, Max had transformed into a callous, depressed man with blood shot eyes and unkempt looks. Worst of all, Max just didn’t seem to care.

Gwen approached her family doctor and friends for help. She was on the verge of divorce when one night Max broke down in front of her and pleaded with her to stay. That night, Gwen persuaded Max to enlist the help of a rehab centre. He agreed and went to the rehab in high spirits, believing that this was the beginning of the end of his problems. 8 months later, Max returned home a changed man.

He had been dry for 6 months and felt strong enough to deal with the world.

Max stayed away from alcohol for the next 4 months. Then, at a friend’s party, he sipped his first drink in a year, and that drink did him in. He hit the bottle harder than before, finishing off one drink after another in passionate frenzy. “It was almost as if Max was afraid that leaving the bottle might kill him”, Gwen remembers. This time Max refused to go to a Rehab center. He had lost faith.

Besides, he was afraid to leave the house. Many times, he would cry like a baby and beg Gwen to let him be.

It was around that time that an old friend came for a visit. She was shocked to see the condition of their hitherto immaculate home. The changes in Max were unbelievable. “He was a healthy, attractive man and in just four years, he had grown a paunch, was losing hair and had stale breath”, she recalls. Knowing that Max was against rehab, she recommended hypnosis. She had herself undergone hypnotherapy for stress management and she felt that Max could be cured if he was willing to try. After listening to her passionate appeal, Max agreed to give hypnosis a try.

Two years later, Max is a changed man. On their eleventh wedding anniversary, Max who is now a deliveryman says that he has been to hell and back. And he attributes his recovery to the power of hypnotherapy! “Rehab helped me see that I could throw away the bottle. But it did not equip me to say “no” forever.

Hypnosis gave me that ability. Today, I am stronger than before. I spend twenty minutes every day with my self-hypnosis CDs and come out feeling strong and levelheaded. That and Gwen’s support is what pulled me back”, says Max. Smoking, alcoholism and substance abuse – these are three of the most dangerous ‘diseases’ of the twentieth century. They are also probably the most dreadful diseases because there is no guaranteed long-term cure. In fact, research shows that more than 67% of addicts return to their addiction at some point or the other! Let us look at these addictions one by one.

Smoking: Tobacco is a dangerous drug. What makes it even more dangerous is that it is a legalised drug that is widely available. Nicotine from tobacco is directly linked to lung cancer, heart disease and other major illnesses. Even passive smoking can lead to serious illnesses. So, whether you or a member in your family smokes, you run a high level of risk.

According to studies, there are 3 separate components to the addiction to tobacco. Two of them are psychological, only one is physical. Here are the three components:

Smoking relaxes and pleasures you: When a young baby cries, its mother usually pacifies the baby using a pacifier or a bottle. The baby mellows down, finds comfort and drops off to sleep. This sequence of events repeats itself over and over again in our lives. For instance, as you grow up and try to catch your mother’s attention, she may give you a cookie and ask you to play quietly while she gets her work done. In the end, we begin to associate pleasure and relaxation with something that is put into the mouth. As you grow into adulthood and watch people smoking, you automatically transfer your feelings of relaxation and pleasure to the act of smoking a cigar or a pipe.

Smoking is an automatic response: If you’ve heard of Pavlov and his widely known experiment with dogs, you already know that Pavlov was able to condition his dogs to salivate when he rang a bell. This experiment demonstrated that like humans, animals also exhibit automatic behaviors when certain triggers are pushed (the ringing of the bell, for instance).

Suppose you smoke while you enjoy a cup of coffee in the evening. Your mind acts like a Polaroid camera and takes a picture of you with the cup of coffee in one hand and the cigarette in the other. It then links this picture with the feeling of calm and relaxation that you feel. As a result, every time you have a cup of coffee you feel the urge to smoke. This conditioned response is one of the biggest reasons why smokers experience the urge to puff during the same time every day.

Smoking leads to physical dependence on tobacco: The physical component of tobacco dependence is real but it is the weakest part of the addiction. Some people develop headaches and other physical discomforts when they stop smoking. They return to their addiction because they cannot handle the physical discomfort.

Experts say that more than 90% of addiction to smoking is directly linked to the mind.

What this means is that if you can eliminate the anxiety and the craving that a smoker experiences when it is time for his next puff, more than 90% of your problem is over. To achieve that, you need to Dissociate the feelings of pleasure and relaxation from the act of dragging on the cigarette.

Erase conditioned response of cigarette cravings associated with activities like eating, driving, watching TV or having a cup of coffee.

You may have witnessed firsthand or heard from others that breaking the tobacco habit is one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish. A smoker will tell you that the most difficult part of giving up is to say no when his mind is clamoring for one drag. This is true to a large extent.

Self-hypnosis targets this seemingly uncontrollable urge. By taking care of the first two components of tobacco addiction, self-hypnosis makes it easy for a habitual smoker to quit smoking once and for all. The best part is, he can do this without the serious tug-of-war between body and mind, without anxiety attacks and depression.

Self-hypnosis scripts attack the root of tobacco addiction. Once feelings of pleasure and relaxation have been dissociated, the healing process can begin.

Suggestions play an important role in this stage of therapy.

Suggestions reprogramme the subconscious mind. The effective use of suggestions helps the addict to etch new goals in the mind and reinforce them (in this case, quit smoking and finding relaxation in some other way). Suggestions also motivate you continuously so you do not need to have super willpower or resort to other addictive activities like overeating to get through the de-addiction phase. Thus, chances of relapse are almost zero.

Alcohol abuse: Surveys show that in the UK, one adult in every thirteen is dependent on alcohol.

After smoking, alcohol causes more number of deaths than any other drug or accidents put together. Most people know that alcohol is like slow poison. It seduces as it kills and it kills not just the body, but the will, emotions, relationships and all aspects of life that were once normal. Alcohol abuse has dire consequences at the physical and psychological levels. It leads to liver and kidney damage, hypertension, cirrhosis, anemia, pancreatic infections, hepatitis, infertility, weight and heart problems. It also leads to behavioral changes and psychological breakdown.

Have you ever wondered why only 48% of the people who drink alcohol become addicts? How can the rest of the population take a swig and leave it at that?

What compels this slice of addicts to return to their bottles in increasing frequencies?

Alcohol dependency strikes every age – the young are as much into it as the middle aged. In the UK and parts of Europe, more than 50% of the teenage, school-going population is drunk. Surveys show that over 42% of people who start drinking in their teens become dependent on alcohol. These statistics are just the tip of the iceberg and provide a small clue to the enormity of the problem.

Do you have a drink problem? Often, the first step in therapy is to accept your problem. If you start drinking early in the morning and feel the need for your regular shot of ‘Dutch’ courage, and conceal or deny how much you are drinking, then you do have a drinking problem.

As with other kinds of addiction, alcohol abuse begins with the association of pleasure and relaxation with the act of drinking. The addict kick-starts his addiction by promising himself release from anxiety. He believes that alcohol will bring an end to his problems and usher in more confidence, relaxation and pleasure. His subconscious mind links the act of drinking with the emotional fulfillment that he craves. Most people do not enjoy being alcoholic but there simply is no way out of it for them.

Self-hypnosis sessions for alcohol addiction start with relaxation techniques that calm the mind and relax the body. This is followed by a deep trance where emotional blocks are explored and cleared. You are taken into your past where you get a chance to identify the root of your problem. In this way, you realise the equation between alcohol and your psyche. Your subconscious mind is made to relax and you are finally able to ‘see’ what is happening inside you.

After this stage, healing starts. Suggestions and positive reinforcement help you gain mastery over your regressive mindset. Your mind begins to accept that alcohol is NOT a means to escape the rigors of your life.

Withdrawal symptoms, doctors say, are the biggest barriers for alcohol addicts.

Most alcoholics complain that they feel real physical pain, anxiety, nervousness, shaking and strain when they stop drinking. A good hypnosis script works towards dissociating the negative feelings of fear, anxiety or depression linked with the cessation of drinking. With hypnotherapy, healing provides the mind with ample and sufficient strength so it can say no to the next glass of drink. Because of this, an alcoholic who is trying to chuck his habit through hypnotherapy does not feel the intense pain of withdrawal symptoms nor does he feel the irresistible urge to hit the bottle.

Another interesting and powerful advantage of hypnotherapy is that an alcoholic who returns to the straight and narrow path through hypnosis becomes free of the urge to drink even when he sees others drinking. His mind has cut the invisible links between pleasure and drink so he does not experience any craving for it. Besides, positive suggestions keep working throughout his life turning him away from temptation and keeping him motivated.

Addiction: Just about 90% of the people in our society suffer from addiction to some substance or the other. Addiction can take many forms: Substance addiction: Drug addiction, addiction to prescription drugs and pain medication, caffeine, sugar and carbohydrates.

Process addiction: Addiction to TV, computer, workaholics, making or spending money, shopaholics, pornography, gambling, self-mutilation, exercise, sleep or excessive ruminating. (This is not an exclusive list) Addictions are the direct result of damaging beliefs in the early part of life. Some of the most damaging beliefs that lead to addiction are: I am not worthy of being loved.

I cannot handle my own pain.

I need attention from outside.

When we use any activity to avoid taking responsibility for the pain inside us, we become addicts. Addictions become emotional crutches that help us overcome the pain caused by false beliefs. When we are young, most of us have limited skills in managing pain. Parents and caregivers act as role models and they teach us to manage our pain in constructive ways. So, when we grow into adulthood, we recognise pain for what it is and know how to deal with it.

However, in cases where children are neglected or left alone to handle their pain, pain management becomes a matter of burying pain through distraction. There is no permanent healing and old wounds do not disappear completely. Such children grow into adults who become addicted to some activity that numbs out the pain, the hurt and the guilt they are carrying around.

To move beyond self-destructive addictions, self-hypnosis assists the subconscious mind to develop the attitude of an inner parent who can heal your wound. This newly created loving adult self is capable of giving a person the kind of love and support they were denied when they were young. So, the next time

the inner self faces extreme cases of rejection, pain, loneliness, depression or terror, the person is not compelled to resort to addictions to tide over the pain.

Self-hypnosis is one of the most effective tools in overcoming compulsive addictions because: It shifts the focus from avoiding responsibility to accepting your feelings as they are and learning more about yourself. This simple act takes you from focusing your inner energy on the wounded self to gaining control over what you experience and why you experience it.

It teaches you to use the power of suggestions to implant an inner loving parent within you. This loving force within you now acts to break the force of your pain.

Thus it helps you identify your addiction for what it is. It also empowers you to reject addiction when you face difficult experiences.

Finally, self-hypnosis keeps your mind motivated. Your subconscious is flooded with the right messages. This enables it to function in a normal and positive manner. Once the subconscious mind learns to be happy, you will not feel the need to go back to your addictions, ever.

Fundamentally, addictions are our way of coping with the twists and turns in life.

We pick them up accidentally. We subconsciously associate them with pleasure, relaxation and peace. We indulge in them because they make us feel good, but we never stop and analyze why they feel good or what pain they’re supposed to expunge. Since the pain is ongoing, addictions also go on for life. Fortunately, self-hypnosis is able to break this vicious cycle by repairing the pain caused in the past. It equips the individual with the power to understand and cure his own pain. Thus it sets you free from addiction for life.

Self Hypnosis and healing of the Mind Stress: Do you ever feel stressed out? Do you feel as if you’re just about to lose control or that you are on the verge of a breakdown? Do you multitask continuously but feel that things are getting worse while they should be improving? You may not realise it, but you could be suffering from stress.

Stress is defined as a condition that a person experiences when he or she feels that demands exceed their personal and social resources. In other words, when you are asked to give more than you feel you can deliver, you begin to stress out.

Stress management is a crucial factor in our lives. Managing stress is a vital factor in staying healthy for every individual whether it is a stay-at-home mom or a jet setting corporate CEO. Suppose your child has just managed to drop his entire glass of milk on the floor and then dragged your costly handbag through the mess, you will no doubt hit the ceiling and give your child a dressing down.

You may then clean up and feel the need to take a break. You may go out for a walk or talk over the telephone to put the incident out of your mind. You are doing these activities to cope with your stress before stress begins to tilt your perspectives.

Stress and anxiety become serious medical conditions when they are not treated.

Medical conditions like hypertension, palpitation and heart problems are associated with stress.

Stress can result from: Work Overload Unrealistic targets Problem jobs Problem people Difficult work environment Unrealistic expectations Self-hypnosis and stress management have a long and happy history. In fact, one of the earliest and most popular uses of self-hypnosis is to induce a deep sense of relaxation. This in turn leads to effective stress management.

There are two phases involved when using self-hypnosis to manage stress: Stress leads to two instinctive responses in the body. The first is the ‘fight or flight syndrome’, which is somewhat similar to our response to physical threat. For instance, suppose your normal working hours start with a round of meetings. You know these meetings usually leave you with a headache. They drain you out emotionally and often make you feel depressed. But what are the signals sent out by your body when you are in the meeting? If you observe minutely, you will see that high stress environments make your heart beat faster, make you break out in sweat, make your breathing shallow and give you an adrenalin high. Your body’s defense mechanisms are on red alert and you will feel excitable, anxious, irritable and jumpy. This reduces your ability to work effectively. Self-hypnosis stress-management programs enable you to detect your body’s stress alarms.

Detecting increasing levels of stress enable you to take a break or distance yourself from the environment so you are better able to cope. Most people

develop stress related health problems because they are unaware of their stress levels.

The second instinctive response caused by long-term exposure to stress is burnout. So the second step in stress management is to manage stress in a positive manner so that burnout does not happen.

Self-hypnosis uses certain techniques to help a patient manage stress. These are: Direct language: Autosuggestions will enable you to induce a relaxed state of mind when you speak certain sentences to yourself. For example, repeating a sentence like ‘I’m totally in control of my feelings now’ will help you overcome climbing stress levels.

Guided imagery: While the patient is in a hypnotic trance, specific images or set of images are planted in the mind. These images are then associated with feelings of great pleasure and relaxation. Focusing on these images automatically brings down stress levels in patients.

Thought awareness: When you are stressed, you automatically begin to think negatively. You criticise, yell, doubt and put yourself down. This can further damage your confidence and lower your performance levels. Self-hypnosis enables you to become aware of your thoughts. Once you become aware of your negative thoughts, you are able to counter these negative ‘performance-busters’ with positive suggestions.

As you can see, self-hypnosis offers you one of the best tools to handle and manage stress. Once you are able to distance your emotional and physical responses from the triggers that lead to high stress, you will be able to reduce or overcome the effect of stress on your life.

Guided relaxation: You are in the middle of an important meeting and you feel irritable and exhausted. Learning to relax in the middle of a taxing situation is the cornerstone of stress management. It is also the stepping-stone to personal success.

Guided relaxation can help you Manage stress.

Fall asleep.

Boost your energy levels.

Boost productivity.

Manage pain.

Overcome phobias.

Increase your feeling of general well being.

Guided relaxation is the process in which the mind is made to relax in slow degrees until it becomes totally suffused with peace and quiet, ‘as limp as a leaf full of dew and as light as a feather blowing in the wind’. Self-hypnosis is one of the most effective tools to lead your mind into total relaxation. To help you achieve this, scripts first guide you to achieve total physical relaxation. Selfhypnosis induction tapes and CDs use phrases and words that can automatically lead to relaxation. People tend to have strong associations with these words and phrases. So, they slip into relaxation automatically.

Hypnosis is a brilliant way to achieve guided relaxation. Through self-hypnosis, you learn to relax easily and quickly, anytime, anywhere and in just about any situation.

Hypnosis and pain relief: A study conducted in 2002 split 40 patients suffering from chronic headaches into two groups. All of these patients had responded poorly to conventional treatments and were regularly using medication to alleviate pain.

Of the two groups, one group received hypnotherapy in addition to conventional treatment. The other group received no alternative treatment. After a few weeks, the group receiving hypnotherapy experienced up to 30% reduction in the intensity of pain. Their pain related episodes also decreased and episodes that were beyond their pain threshold levels were relatively fewer in number.

According to Dr. Spierings, “This kind of a difference in such hard-to-treat groups is a significant achievement”. In another test conducted in Idaho, self-hypnosis was much more effective than the use of placebo or propranol in reducing pain cycles and frequency of migraine attacks in children between the ages of six and thirteen years.

These studies only confirm what physicians of the nineteenth century already knew and practiced – that the mind has a much bigger hold over the body than what we give it credit for. Physical conditions can be controlled and altered, to a great extent, by manipulating the subconscious processes in the mind. The greatest advantage of hypnotic pain relief is that you can use it anytime, anywhere and in any situation. Even today, doctors use hypnosis to manage pain when the use of painkillers or anesthesia can cause complications.

Pain relief: Hypnosis is increasingly used as an alternative to or in conjunction with traditional medicine for: Post surgical pain management.

Arthritic pain management.

Reducing the intensity and occurrence of pain caused by conditions like migraine, knee pain, hip injuries, phantom limb and fibromyalgia.

Reducing and managing labour pains.

Hypnosis is very effective when it comes to relieving pain. It aids pain management by reducing stress and relaxing the body. Additionally, studies show that hypnosis can actually interfere with the pain signals being received by the brain and thus reduce pain.

Hypnosis for pain relief is completely natural, has no side effects and is noninvasive. Surprisingly, hypnosis was used widely in childbirth, dentistry and operations before the discovery of anesthetics. Some enlightened doctors and surgeons use it even today.

We feel pain when our sensory nerves carry the message of pain all the way from the affected part of the body to the brain. Physicians have been using this knowledge for many years to assist them through medical procedures when they use local anesthetics. Through the use of anesthesia, the sensory nerves carrying pain are numbed. So the brain does not receive these messages at all. It is as if the pain does not exist.

This process is replicated in hypnosis. Hypnotic techniques can actually reduce the intensity of pain you perceive. It does so by teaching the brain to ignore the signals of pain released by the sensory nerves. Studies show that hypnosis can instruct the brain to ignore pain signals.

Arthritic pain relief: Hypnosis can assist with arthritic pain relief and help patients manage long-term pain. Hypnosis uses methods like metaphor, scaling and dissociation to bring about pain relief. These methods allow you to ‘switch off’ pain without using painkilling drugs that have serious side effects.

Phantom limb pain relief: An intriguing use of hypnotic pain relief comes in the case of phantom limb pain relief. People who suddenly lose a limb often complain of aching, burning, shooting and excruciating pain in the limb that is not there. Studies show that in these cases, the brain does not register the absence of the organ and still expects to receive pain signals. To put an end to this perceived pain, the brain has to re-map its territory. This takes time. Hypnosis assists the brain to re-wire its territorial map.

Migraine pain relief: Migraine is a throbbing, intense pain on one side of the head. The specific cause of this pain is unknown but heredity is a strong predisposing factor. Migraine can attack people across age groups. People who suffer from migraine know that certain food items, situations, drugs or even exercise and stress can trigger an attack.

Tests prove that during an attack, the temperature of the patient’s hand can come down to as low as 70 degrees from 90 degrees. By using visualization and relaxation techniques in hypnosis, patients are able to redistribute blood and thus control or reduce the intensity of their episodes. Patients can usually predict the onset of an attack from various symptoms. The migraine sufferer is taught to understand these warning signals and begin deep relaxation and visualization techniques as soon as he senses the onset of pain.

In conditions like migraine induced headaches or stress and tension induced headaches, the mind is the main cause of ailment. In these cases, the mind-body relationship is altered through hypnosis and the mind is empowered to take control over the body.

Overcoming Phobias: Over 10% of people experience some simple forms of phobia in their lives at some point or the other. Some people are afraid of heights, others cannot bear the thought of spiders, insects or creepies and yet others fear closed spaces.

According to doctors, phobias have no explanation, which also means that there is no solid cure for them.

Phobias are limiting because they often stop you from enjoying life to its fullest.

They greatly bring down your accomplishments and cap your risk taking ability.

Phobias can best be described as a gripping, paralyzing fear that has no roots in the logical mind. So even when victims know that their fears and unfounded, they cannot control the psychological and physical responses to fear. Panic attacks

are a common byproduct of gripping phobias and together, these episodes can lower a person’s confidence to dismal levels.

Some of the deep-rooted fears that can be effectively cured using self-hypnosis are: Fear of heights and flying.

Fear of closed spaces like an elevator.

Fear of rejection.

Fear of new social situations.

Dental phobia.

Fear of the dark.

Exam nerves.

Fear of needles and hospitals.

Fear of water.

Claustrophobia.

Fear related to sexual performance.

Wedding nerves.

Fear of death, dogs, physical sickness.

Bathroom anxiety.

Fear of being alone.

Performance anxiety.

Most of these fears are responses to incidents that have occurred during the early periods of a person’s life. Some incidents form an unholy association in the mind and this translates to phobia of the particular situation. Let’s say that you have been accidentally locked in a small room in the dark when you were young.

As a result, you begin to associate the feelings of fear and desperation with the dark. Any time the lights go out, you experience the same incapacitating fear – it does not matter if there are people around you or that you do not remember the original incident. Your fear is real and it takes hold of you.

Happily, hypnosis can be used to overcome a number of limiting mental blocks that manifest as phobias. Hypnosis turns your mind to the root of your phobia.

Once the causal event is identified, it is possible to desensitize the mind.

Hypnotherapy then changes the way in which your mind interprets these situations. By inducing deep relaxation, it teaches the mind to respond in an altered way to the feared situation or object.

The number of sessions needed to overcome fears and phobias will depend upon the personality of the clients, age, maturity, desire for cure and the longevity of the problem. However, on an average, people usually take 3-5 sessions to overcome their fears.

Any person who has suffered from a phobia knows how incapacitating and inconvenient a phobia can be. For many, the effectiveness of hypnosis in overcoming phobias comes as a pleasant surprise because people suffering from phobias begin to believe that they will never get over their fears. To such people, overcoming their fears is not only empowering, it is also the ultimate expression of freedom.

Self-hypnosis and children Hypnosis is not for adults alone. Children can benefit greatly from the use of hypnosis for self-improvement. Better grades, better discipline, overcoming problem behaviors, attitude problems, addiction and effective stress management are some of the benefits children can derive from self-hypnosis.

According to some clinical psychologists, children make better patients because of their faith and their willingness to accept. They are more open to suggestibility and have less complicated problems to deal with.

Self-hypnosis CDs can help children resolve issues like: Bedwetting: There was a time when doctors prescribed medicine to stop bedwetting. Now, more and more doctors realize that bedwetting has deeply rooted psychological stimuli that can be cured through hypnotic suggestion.

Anxiety Pain: Children who are undergoing cancer treatments or other therapy find it easier to manage their pain when they learn to divert their focus.

Exam fear Asthma: Children suffering from asthma are made to recognize the signals of the attack. Then when they feel their throats constricting, they can stay calm with the help of hypnotic autosuggestion. This greatly reduces the strain and pain associated with asthmatic attacks.

Nail biting and hair pulling: These are some of the embarrassing habits that children pick up when they are young. They indulge in these habits to cope with stress and form a lifelong relationship with these habits. Curtailing these habits is easy when the child is young. Hypnosis breaks the association children unconsciously form between a habit and the feelings of relaxation and peace.

Thus, when faced with stress or boredom, a child no longer feels the need to bite nails.

Easy retention Attitude problems Children respond faster and better to hypnotic suggestions because they have an active imagination. Most children see marked improvements in 2-4 sessions.

Besides the obvious benefits, hypnosis also makes children aware of the power within them. They become aware of their subconscious mind. This helps them develop into well-balanced adults.

Self Hypnosis and Self Improvement Is it possible to attain happiness through hypnosis? It definitely is. What’s more, some companies even invest in training their employees in self-hypnosis to boost their productivity.

From our initial discussions about the power of hypnosis, you must have understood that hypnosis can change your basic philosophies and principles of life, if you so wish. It can literally transform you from a moderately successful, moderately fulfilled and moderately satisfied person to a spectacular story of success. It can allow you to realise your dreams of becoming a better person.

Hypnosis for self-improvement opens you up to more opportunities in your daily life. It can help you set and meet new goals. It can help you make success a habit. It can help you attract immense personal wealth and keep you feeling successful, happy and content throughout life. Hypnosis empowers you to take control of your mental resources so you can easily bring about the change you want. Just like the potter with his clay and wheel has the freedom to mould his raw material into any form, shape or size, hypnosis brings you into direct contact with your subconscious mind. You are free to pass on any message into your mind through hypnosis.

Self-hypnosis makes use of the power of autosuggestion to influence and mould the subconscious mind. An experienced hypnotists use imagery and visualisation in tandem with powerful words and phrases to increase the effectiveness of his suggestions. These suggestions percolate to the depths of the subconscious mind and begin the process of change.

Hypnosis can be used to realise:

Goal setting and goal achievement Time management Increasing self-esteem Improving mental attitude Confidence building Attracting wealth Increasing your sales power Increasing your ability to think creatively Play and perform better Increase enthusiasm Attracting boundless energy Eliminating undesirable and self defeating habits Quick learning and easy memory retention techniques Overcoming perfectionism Building better relationships Mending existing relationships Tension and worry control Elimination of fear of public speaking The altered state of awareness that hypnosis leads to is pleasurable and enjoyable. Through hypnosis, you are able to engage the sub-conscious mind and make it cooperate with the conscious mind to achieve the outcome that you want. So, with the aid of hypnotherapy to assist you, achieving your goals is as easy as visualising them.

Hypnosis can help you fulfill your ambitions and rediscover your sense of purpose in life. It can help raise your self-esteem. Studies show that more than 29% of people suffer from varying degrees of low or negative self-esteem.

Through hypnosis, you finally accept that you are not to be blamed for your misfortunes. You learn to stop putting yourself down. You stop underestimating your abilities. This gentle yet powerful form of hypnotherapy makes it possible for you to be fair to yourself, to be more objective about your goals, to feel calm, think better about yourself and take decisions with confidence.

By realising your dreams, hypnosis can make you a master of your destiny. It can free you from fatigue, depression, worry, tiredness and boredom. You can

then look forward to a life of vitality and verve. You learn to control your impulses and turn your erratic life around. You discover your own worth. You stop singing “yes” to everybody’s tune and find the courage to say “no”, as and when needed. You stop self-sabotage and find the confidence to take the initiative in life-changing situations. You develop the courage to expand your possibilities and start living the kind of life you deserve.

Many sport persons and artists who excel in their fields make use of the power of hypnosis to increase their focus and concentration. Sportspeople often need this kind of concentration and faith in their abilities when faced with tough competition. Some people have an almost superstitious fear of too much success based on an inner block that says ‘the higher you climb, the greater your fall’.

Such people use hypnosis to boost their confidence and visualise their success.

In this way, they make sure that their mind complements the body’s physical training for success.

Hypnosis can help a person feel more attractive. Being attractive is different from feeling attractive. When you feel attractive, it comes across in the way you interact with people. People pick up your effortless charisma and attraction unconsciously. This quality makes you irresistible. When you feel better, you will naturally get better results in everything you do.

Some people fall into the rut because they crave perfection in everything. It is great to have high standards, so long as these are realistic and achievable. But, in the long-term, absolute perfectionism can be a losing strategy. This can lead you to tyrannise yourself and others, put tremendous strain on your relationships and leave you feeling sad and lonely. A perfectionist is only a step away from becoming a control freak. He also runs the risk of clinical depression. Hypnosis helps you redefine your standards of perfectionism and make you more realistic in your expectations.

Hypnosis can help people attract wealth. There are some basic beliefs in the minds of people that really stop them from attracting wealth. Some people believe that you have to be extremely lucky, attractive or successful to be wealthy. These limiting beliefs make them turn away from opportunities to create wealth. Others have certain fears of success that keep them from making money.

By dealing with these deep-seated beliefs and fears and turning them around, hypnosis makes it possible for people to attract wealth. Once these mental blocks are removed, the person is free to think his way to wealth. Clients often express their surprise at the effectiveness of this therapy, whereby immense amounts of wealth or wealth-generating opportunities begin to appear after 2-3 sessions.

This is not magic. It is the subconscious mind finally letting go of fears and recognizing existing opportunities for what they are.

The successful person knows that all success springs from the mind. There is an old Indian saying that if you don’t care to take control of your mind, others will do their best to do it for you. The influences acting on your mind begins with your parents who had their best interests at heart while telling you what to do and what not to do. Then, educational institutions pitch in to do their best to make you a socially productive individual. Finally, the society moulds you to fit in with the system. Somewhere in between, you lose touch with your own belief systems.

Your subconscious mind gets programmed by outside influences. This programming is often self-destructive because it teaches you to compare yourself negatively with others. It tells you all the reasons that keep you down, but reveals nothing of the real power within you. It holds up an impossible standard of perfection and success and tells you that you cannot hope to scale the same success.

When you use hypnosis to re-program your mind, you are finally expunging these messages. You are throwing away the beliefs that have been hoisted on you. At long last, you design a new belief system that is entirely your own. You set down the goals that you want and then proceed to tell your subconscious mind to accept these as your new belief systems. Thus you enable yourself to embrace the vast resources of unrealised power that resides within you.

In conclusion Whether we realise it or not, most of our decisions are taken subconsciously, based on what we have experienced throughout our lives. Often, we remain stranded with our defeating habits because we do not have the tools to change our thinking. Our instinctive responses go way below the conscious mind and we have no method in which we can influence this thinking.

That is where hypnotherapy steps in – to act as a go-between. It acts on your behalf and opens up your subconscious mind to your conscious ministering. It allows you to update your internal programs to suit your current realities. It allows you to delete the vestiges of your old programming so that past forces do not hold you back in your progress through life. Working effective suggestions into your hypnosis sessions fits you with an inner radar system that keeps reminding you of your goal. Finally, it helps you lead the life you dream of. It makes you the captain of the ship and allows you to dictate to your mind. Thus, it makes change possible, not just desirable.

Hypnosis can help you live life on a better plane, even when you are rooted in your current realities. Hypnosis is not to be used as an alternative to any

psychological treatments, nor is it a call to stop any current medication. However, it can be used to turn your subconscious mind in your favour so you have a powerful ally working for you all the time.

### About the author Mike Coleman.

Mike is a local heritage enthusiast and has been involved with local heritage sites, working museums, the records office and libraries for several years.

Discover other titles by Mike Coleman at Smashwords.com: House History – http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/119589