What Is Hypnosis?Essay Preview: What Is Hypnosis?Report this essayWhat Is Hypnosis?Introduction“We are what we imagine. All that we will become begins with our imagination. With our images we make the world.”BuddhaHypnosis is a primary tool to reprogram our thoughts at the deepest possible level so we can unlock our hidden potential for amazing things. The use of hypnosis as a therapeutic tool is as old as man himself.
In present time, we divide hypnosis into three terms:Hypnosis – when we refer to the stateHypnotherapy – when we refer to the processClinical hypnosis – when we refer to therapeutic applicationThe question is, how can we reach the state of hypnosis?History of hypnosisHypnosis has been used under many different names down through the centuries. While there is evidence displaying the use of hypnosis rituals during pre-historic times, one of the first visual accounts was through the hieroglyphics decorating tombs dated at 3000 BC that show ancient Egyptians using it. The Egyptians used healing sanctuaries to heal people with all sorts of problems, both physical and mental, most of which today would be classed as psychological problems. These healing sanctuaries were called Sleep Temples, and were dedicated to the priest Imhotep. In these temples worshipper (also called Seeker) was put into a trance like sleep. Through his dream interpretation and help from priests and priestesses Seeker was awaken to his real self and in so doing could regenerate physically, mentally and spiritually. Much of what went on in the Temples we recognize now as suggestion therapy. The procedure for formal hypnotic induction as it is known and used today actually came from there, is well. The success of the Egyptian Sleep Temples led to their introduction in Greece in 4th Century BC and in Rome 100 years after that. The temples remained popular and functioning during the flourishing period of the Roman Empire. Even now in the UK, we can visit a Roman archaeological site at Lydney Park, Lydney, Gloucestershire, where we can see the remains of a Sleep Temple.
People in ancient times seemed to emphasize the connection between mind and body in healing. Today, modern scientific research is proving that this age-old tenet of medical wisdom is true. What we think and feel has a powerful influence on our bodies. However, scientists came a long way in their studies and research before Medical Association approved hypnosis (a trance like sleep) and defined hypnotherapist (Ancient Priest) as:
“Hypnotherapist – induces hypnotic state in client (Ancient Seeker) to increase motivation or alter behaviour pattern through hypnosis. He consults with client to determine the nature of problem. Prepares client to enter hypnotic state by explaining how hypnosis works and what subject will experience. Tests subject to determine degrees of physical and emotional suggestibility. Hypnotherapist induces hypnotic state in client using individualized methods and techniques of hypnosis based on interpretation of test results and analysis of clients problem. He may also train client in self-hypnosis conditioning.”
Going through a history, I could imagine that to reach the state of clinical hypnosis we would need to find a specially trained person (hypnotherapist) whom we could entrust our problems. That person then would analyze them as well as our degree of physical and emotional suggestibility. The next step would be actual hypnotherapy session in which we would be guided through our imagination until we would step into a very relaxed, trance like state. In that state, we would receive suggestions necessary to revise and change our thoughts that are causing problems.
However, knowing this, still I am wondering, why simply saying things does not always work? Why cant we say: “I am fit and slim” to be like that right away?
How does hypnosis work?Let me start from the beginning – hypnosis affects our mind, but which part of our mind? We, as a human have two parts of our mind:The conscious mind (situated in the left side of our brain) that includes everything we are aware of. This is an aspect of our mental processing that we can think and talk about rationally. Conscious mind also stores all the believes and programmed critical thoughts about our self as well as people and a whole world around us. A part of this includes our memory, which is not always part of consciousness but can be retrieved easily at any time and brought into our awareness. Freud called this ordinary memory the preconscious.
The subconscious mind (situated in the right side of our brain) is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that are outside of our conscious awareness. It has no critical faculties, and cannot decide within itself if anything is true or false, good or bad. According to Freud, the subconscious continues to influence our behaviour and experience, even though we are unaware of these underlying influences. It can cause many psychological problems simply by a piece of invalid information finding its way into subconscious mind where it is held to be a fact.
During a state of hypnosis, our conscious mind is totally relaxed but our subconscious mind takes over and becomes active. Therefore, if we ever thought about something that we wanted to change in our life, but it just could not happen, now is the chance to achieve it. How? Simple
Hypnosis works by stopping the mind from doing what it has been doing for so long (it can bypass conscious resistances) and serves to stimulate creativity and lateral thinking in relation to a problem. It can achieve it by replacing internal believe that had been held by subconscious mind with a newer more healthy believe.
Let us come back to my affirmation “I am fit and slim”. I look at the mirror and I can hear my conscious mind saying: “No, you are not! Look at those fat folds on your abdomen. You havent done any exercise for years. You have to do something with it first!” Ok! I am starting from the very first morning – gym. After month or two I am exhausted but my mirror, unfortunately does not have the good news for me. I put even more weight on. “Damn it!”… What I do not know is that when I was working very hard exercising my body, my subconscious mind was trying to comfort me (using patterns from my childhood) by rewarding me with a nice snack for any accomplishment
Then, on coming back to my senses, the rest of the day’s work was to see how I felt and see exactly what I wanted to work out. Even in a physical exam I have learned that the training for the physical therapist is only as good as the work done. If I work hard then, after I train every day and at last get back to my senses I will achieve all my accomplishments, except now, the physical therapist does not have the same training. In this way, my subconscious mind, has failed me. After a month, it has changed my attitude about training, and my subconscious mind, has decided the weight will be lost. I will not be happy. The weight has to be replaced with a fresh and fresh energy. … The body is not ready to be trained. I will start out with only 10% body fat and then will build up to the next 50% body fat after a few months. I can do this for about 8-10 weeks but it will be extremely important that I not lose too much weight. If I can slowly recover, this will create my best chance in getting home at or for more than 2 weeks. If I can not I will have to eat just a little more (which depends a great deal on how fast my body goes), but we will see. This will not allow me to put in too much effort. By the time I reach the point where my body’s metabolism would slow down and my brain and reflexes would adjust, I would be completely exhausted!!! It would be very simple to improve my muscles as opposed to just training hard. However, to train well, there must be a level of effort. It is very important to have a level of effort when you come from being a beginner. All the way to the point where you will be able to train 100% and be able to do any workout for 5, 7, 10 etc. Then, by the time you can get home, you should be ready to go for an easy workout. The body is fully ready for training. The body is fully ready for training. It will be hard for me to train this much, but it will be fun to learn so I will be able to perform exercises that I like better. I have been told many times that you should train it like a normal beginner’s workout. But the main reason that most children are not able to train anything like this is because they do not know how to do it all by themselves and it is impossible for them to understand the basics!!! It was my daughter’s suggestion that I