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I compare it to working on a computer. You can spend
days trying to change something on the screen, but some- times nothing changes until you go back and change
the program.
Once you change the program, it’s almost like magic. Changes ripple through the entire system almost instantly. With hypnosis, permanent change can occur just that quickly.
Do you remember learning to talk? Of course not. There are thousands of words—and tens of thousands of sights, sounds, and experiences—embedded in your memory that you do not
remember learning.
When you were a kid, did you believe in Santa Claus? That was a kind of hypnotic trance. Do you remember the day when you learned—for sure—that there was no Santa Claus? That’s the day the trance was broken. One moment you desperately wanted to believe—and the next moment you didn’t. Some life-long trances can be dissolved just that quickly.
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What does hypnosis
feel like?
Hypnosis often seems so normal that people often don’t think they were hypnotized. In general, hypnosis is a pleasant feeling of relaxation where you feel very little inclination to move or open your eyes,
though you could if you really wanted to.
Some of my clients say their hands went numb. Some feel a tingling in the hands. Some feel a tingling on top of their head. Some say they didn't hear everything that was said. Some say it feels like daydreaming, where their minds wander off and then come back again. Others say it’s like having a vivid dream that they forgot immediately upon awakening.
In other words, each person's experience is different. It can even vary from one time to the next, because our minds and our bodies will respond to their own innermost needs and experiences at the time.
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Is hypnosis safe?
Hypnosis is one of the safest, if not the safest, of all therapies. It is non-invasive, and has almost no side effects other than leaving you feeling calm and
refreshed. Those are
pretty good side effects, if you ask me.
Hypnosis is one of the oldest forms of treatment, dating back to ancient Egypt. In today’s world, it was approved by the American Medical Association in 1958 as a form of treatment in all areas of medicine and surgery.
Hypnosis is:
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Safe
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Gentle
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Highly Effective
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Incredibly Powerful
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Incredibly Fast
With that said, I think some kinds of hypnosis, such as when
you’re watching TV, can be bad for you. Think of those ads that tell you that a certain brand of food, booze, or cigarette will make you richer, happier, skinnier, sexier. I think that kind of trance can be dangerous.
The one that offended me the most was the Marlboro Man.
You’ve probably heard that smoking can affect the arteries and the blood vessels, right? And can lead to a stroke?
Well, I want you men to pay attention. If you know how your body works, you know that your blood needs to rush to certain parts of your body in order for those parts to function properly.
Since smoking can constrict the blood vessels, guess where that blood does not go after too many years of smoking?
My guess is—that before he died of cancer—the Marlboro Man was impotent. They put a warning about this on cigarette
packages in Canada. I wish they did it in the United States.
By the way, this can affect women too, so stop smoking now!
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Is hypnosis a
paranormal or
supernatural phenomenon?
Nothing could be farther from the truth. Hypnosis is a totally natural state of consciousness that we have all entered many times. Have you ever been driving on the freeway and got lost in thought, and suddenly realized that you’ve missed your exit?
That’s a form of hypnosis. Your subconscious mind was driving the car, while your conscious mind was doing something else.
You experience many trances every day; trances such as frustration, annoyance, depression, anxiety, and a host of others. The good news is that you can de-hypnotize yourself from the trances that you don’t want, and you can create the ones that you do want.
Have you ever been reading a book and suddenly realized that you didn’t remember the last paragraph? So you went back and read it again?—and still didn’t remember? That also is a form of hypnotic trance. There’s nothing paranormal or supernatural about it.
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How does hypnotherapy
work?
One of the best ways of influencing the subconscious mind—of changing that old programming that no
longer serves you—is by way of suggestion. We are all suggestible in varying degrees, and extremely so while under hypnosis or the influence of a strong emotion.
Your subconscious is the best learning machine that has ever
existed. If guided properly, your mind and body will accept change much more readily, leading to more productive ideas, beliefs, attitudes and actions.
With hypnotherapy, you can ask your subconscious to recall past events that are causing problems. Those past problems can then be released and re-framed. You can also visualize future events, giving the subconscious a goal to move towards.
We can use visualization of the future to project better health, to solve problems, to create a stronger, leaner body, to foster financial abundance, or for anything else that we would like to
experience.
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You can overcome fears and limitations.
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You can make changes in the way
you motivate yourself.
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You can created desirable outcomes.
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You can release the past.
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You can even enhance or suppress your
immune function, and thereby contribute
to healing.
You can make positive–and lasting–changes in your life, and the
answers are already there, in your subconscious.
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Will I lose control?
You will not only be in control at all times, you’ll probably be more aware than normal. You’ll be so aware that you may not even think you were hypnotized. You’ll hear everything going on around you in the room; you’ll hear the furnace or air conditioner, and you’ll hear sounds coming from the outside.
As to mind control, you will not accept any suggestion that is against your religion, your upbringing, your morality, or anything that you feel strongly about.
You may have seen a stage show where someone started quacking, or singing the Star Spangled Banner, or some such. You
want to remember that those people volunteered to go on stage. Something inside them made them want to entertain the audience for a few moments.
However, if the hypnotist had asked them to do something that went against their grain, they would have simply stood there
doing nothing.
You are always in control. Just as you can force yourself to stay awake at night, you can prevent yourself from going into trance. But if you are willing to cooperate, you can learn to let yourself go into hypnosis.
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Can I get stuck in
hypnosis and not wake up?
No. Think about it. With all of the mistakes made in operating rooms ... you know; they cut off the wrong toe; they operated on the wrong person; they left a scalpel in the stomach; they dispensed
the wrong medication ... newspapers thrive on stuff like that.
But have you ever seen a headline about someone stuck in hypnosis? No. Never. Because it doesn’t happen.
There was a movie a few years back— you may have seen it—where the hypnotist suddenly keeled over and died, leaving the client stuck in hypnosis. That was totally misleading.
If I should get hit by lightening during a session with you, and flop over and die, you’ll still wake up. If the clap of thunder doesn’t bring you out, you’ll realize—within two or three
minutes—that I’ve stopped talking, and simply bring yourself
out of trance.
It’s the same with emergencies. If an emergency should arise while you’re in hypnosis, you’ll be able to instantly come out of
trance and do whatever you’d normally do to protect yourself.
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Can the hypnotist make
me do
something I don't want to do?
Not at all. Although your body and mind are both very relaxed, there is a part of you that is always on guard. If the hypnotist
should try to get you to do something against your religion, your morals, or your best interests, you would be able to reject it very quickly and very powerfully.
It’s like being deeply involved in a movie or a daydream. You can become uninvolved in an instant if you
choose to. It’s just that hypnosis feels so good that you want to remain in trance so you can get the full benefit.
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How long does
hypnotherapy take?
As far as I’m concerned, hypnotherapy is easier and quicker (and therefore less expensive) than any other kind of therapy.
The time required depends, of course, on the nature of your challenge, and how motivated you are. But in general, what
used to take months or even years now takes only weeks.
Ask your subconscious to take you to the cause of a problem and it will take you to a memory of an event— usually in your
childhood—that created a conflict, a negative decision, or negative belief, about yourself.
Everything that we’ve ever heard, read, seen—everything—is recorded in our memories. For example, if I asked you right now, to tell me the name of your best friend in grade school, do you think you could?
Most likely. A minute ago, that name was buried in your subconscious. Now you’ve brought it to your conscious mind.
And really, it can be that simple. We’re not necessarily talking about something buried deep within your psyche. It could be just beneath the surface. It could be that when you were five years old—and three feet tall—that you made a decision about how you view the world that no longer applies.
The problem is (or the good news is, depending on whether it was a useful decision or not), that every one of those old decisions is still in there. It's not only still in there, it is determining today’s behaviors.
When you think about it that way, can you understand how those old memories and decisions could be running your life?
You can change those old decisions with hypnosis.
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Can hypnosis help
reduce pain?
Absolutely. Have you ever watched children as they get a shot in the rump? Some of them cry and scream and get red
in the face, right? And what happens? The more they tense up, the more it hurts.
Two things are going on here. One, is that tensing up magnifies the pain physically. Two, is that placing your attention on the pain magnifies it mentally. If those kids had shifted their weight
to the opposite leg, and relaxed the side receiving the shot, the needle would’ve slipped in almost unnoticed.
That’s where hypnosis helps. When we’re in pain, we tense up almost automatically. Hypnosis helps overcome that automatic
reaction. As you relax your mind, you reduce your anticipation of the pain. And as you relax your body, you lower the amount of pain while, at the same time, raising your pain threshold.
You can also distract yourself from the pain. Have you ever seen a little boy fall down and bruise his knee, but hold onto his tears until he gets home, and then let loose with a bellow?
He was so intent on getting home that he controlled his pain.
By the same token, have you ever been so busy, or
having so
much fun, that you didn't feel a bruise until things quieted down?
Hypnosis can help create that kind of distraction. You can be almost pain-free for as long as you wish.
Hypnosis can also help lessen the anxiety and depression that often accompany pain. Many dentists use hypnosis to reduce
fear and the need for anesthesia.
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Will I go to sleep?
Not unless you were already so tired that you wouldn't have been able to keep yourself awake anyway. Actually, hypnosis is not sleep at all. It’s simply a relaxed, focused, state of mind.
First you relax the body; then you relax the mind. Everyone can experience hypnosis—everyone.
Sometimes just closing your eyes and taking a deep breath will put you there. It’s really
self-hypnosis.
During hypnosis, you are aware of your surroundings in a detached sort of way, while being more receptive to acceptable
suggestions. Your mind concentrates on the suggestions and pays very little attention to anything else.
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Will I remember what
happened?
Some people remember everything that happened during the session, but usually people remember some parts of the session while forgetting others.
I’ll often ask the client how long they think they were in hypnosis. Let’s say they were in hypnosis for 20 minutes.
Some clients will know almost to the minute; others will guess only 5-10 minutes.
Now, if a client should have an extreme reaction to a particularly traumatic memory, then it might be best for them to not remember. In that case, I’ll ask their subconscious to simply forget that part of the session. But in all cases, it’s based on what is best for the client.
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Isn't hypnosis like a
placebo?
Some people would say that. But so what? If it works, it works! Do you remember when you were a kid?.. And you fell down and hurt yourself? .. And Mommy kissed the boo boo?.. And you got better? ... That was a placebo ... And it worked!
That’s what so great about the power of suggestion. It works! And when you get down to it, that’s what hypnosis is all
about—suggestion.
The power of suggestion really shows up in medical research when they’re testing a new drug. In such research, they always use a control group. People in one group are given the real drug.
Those in another group are given a placebo - something that looks like the real drug but is inert. Sugar pills are often used
as placebos.
A large percentage of the control group usually responds to the placebo just as well as those who have taken the real drug.
The power of suggestion is so great that they dare not tell the
researcher administering the drug which people are receiving the drug and which are getting the placebo; otherwise, the subjects manage to pick up on it.
Whatever you call it—suggestion, placebo, or something
else—anything that can enable someone to go into surgery, or have a face lift, with no anesthesia other than hypnosis, is one powerful placebo.
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Will I involuntarily
reveal secrets?
No. Well, as long as you remember the word "involuntarily." Because I often have clients who choose to
bring up an issue that they've kept secret for a long time. But I don’t make them do anything; it’s totally voluntary.
They’re often not aware of the real issue when they first call for the appointment. Consciously, they want to lose weight, or stop smoking, or some such. But they sometimes have
so much stuff bottled up inside that they’re about to explode.
After they’ve been around me for awhile and realize that I’m safe, then maybe—and it’s just a maybe—they’ll mention an
issue that they may not have allowed even themselves to see.
This can be an "aha" moment, and can be the beginning of healing.
I always feel honored when someone feels safe enough to share this kind of information with me.
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Is relaxation
necessary for hypnosis?
It's nice if you can be relaxed, sure, because it makes it easier for me. But it is not required. Take children. Kids are usually extremely active during hypnosis— fidgeting, scratching, moving around—sometimes they even keep their eyes open. And yet, hypnosis works very well with kids.
Or look at people in pain. Someone who has just been in an accident and has a broken leg, or lacerations, or major burns,
can by no means be considered relaxed.
But they make great subjects because they’re truly motivated to relieve that pain NOW!
In fact, many hypnotic trances were created during times of almost zero relaxation. Look at irrational fears. Most irrational
fears were developed during a time of extreme agitation. That’s what makes
them so powerful. When something happens to you during a time of great emotional stress, those emotions shoot straight to the subconscious mind. And there they stay,
creating a walking trance. Part of my job is to help people get out of their everyday trances.
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Can hypnosis help me
perform
impossible feats of strength,
endurance, and sensory acuity?
Sorry. Hypnosis can help people focus and concentrate better, which enables them to perform better.
That’s why many golfers use hypnosis. And that’s why many football teams, and other sports teams, have hypnotists on their staffs. But there’s nothing superhuman or impossible about it. Hypnosis merely helps them tap into the abilities that were already there.
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Is self-talk a form of
trance?
Yes. Positive self-talk is great, while negative self-talk can hurt us physically. I know a hypnotherapist in Houston by the name of Ed Martin. He had a client who was constantly
constipated.
When none of the normal medical treatments seemed to help, the client
decided to try hypnosis. Turned out that one of the guy’s favorite sayings was, "Well I’ll be damned." He had damned himself up.
Later, while Ed was sharing this story at a seminar, a man in the audience began laughing and laughing—and his wife began sinking into her chair.
Her face got red and she put her hand over her eyes. Turned out that one of her favorite sayings was, "No shit," and she had spent most of their married life being constipated.
That’s what self-talk—the power of suggestion—can do. With both
people, a one-hour hypnosis session took care
of the problem.
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Does my ability to
enter hypnosis
depend on the skill of the hypnotist?
It depends on how you look at it. People already have—or don’t have—a talent for hypnosis before they come to me.
But how well they’re able to make use of that talent does indeed depend on the skill of the hypnotist.
That’s why (naturally), I think I’m the one you should come to.
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Does it mean that I'm
not very smart
if I allow myself to be hypnotized?
Actually, it’s just the opposite. The smarter you are, the easier it is to accept suggestions. That’s how we learn—by accepting
suggestions. Being suggestible is an asset.
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Are certain
personality types
more likely to be hypnotized?
Yes. Some people have much more of a talent for hypnosis
than others, but in my experience, every person in the world is hypnotizable. What’s funny, is that the people who think they can't be hypnotized very often make the best subjects.
Why would you not go into hypnosis? Well, you might not yet feel safe with the hypnotherapist, so you don’t allow it to happen. Or you might have unanswered fears. There could be any number of reasons.
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What if I'm not
hypnotizable?
As I said above, everyone is hypnotizable. However, some people are more hypnotizable than others. As with so many other things in life, it works on the Bell curve. About 20% of
the population has a huge talent for hypnosis.
Some people have such a talent for hypnosis that they can go into surgery under hypnosis—with no other anesthesia.
That’s one side of the curve. Then there’s the biggest part of the curve, where about 60% of the population lies. I have to work a little harder with them, but they respond to suggestion very well.
When it comes to the final 20%, those are the ones who put me through my paces. But again, anyone can learn to let
themselves go into hypnosis ... because it’s really self-hypnosis.
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Can hypnosis help
relieve chronic pain?
Most definitely. As you probably know, every thought or idea
causes a physical reaction. Our thoughts affect all of the functions of our bodies. Worry triggers changes in the stomach that can lead to ulcers. Anxiety and fear affect our pulse rate.
(The fight or flight thing.) And anger stimulates our adrenal glands, which can cause many bodily changes.
Negative ideas held in the subconscious can disrupt the function
of an organ or other part of the body and can continue to produce the same bodily reactions over and over again.
Medical experts estimate that more than 70% of all human ailments are functional rather than organic. If you continually fear ill health, or constantly talk about your "nervous stomach" or "tension headaches," in time organic changes must occur.
This is where hypnosis helps. If we want to change or eliminate
chronic negative bodily reactions, we must reach the subconscious mind and change the original idea.
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I worry a lot. Can
hypnosis help?
Yes. The brain and nervous system respond to mental images. It doesn’t matter if the images are self-induced or from the external world. The mental image becomes the blueprint, and
the subconscious mind uses every means at its disposal to
carry out the plan.
Unfortunately, worry is a form of programming. Even though it forms a picture of what we do not want, the subconscious mind acts to fulfill the picture. That’s why the things we fear
often come true.
As Earl Nightingale used to say, "We become what we think about." With hypnosis, we can change those old destructive
tapes that we play over and over again in our heads.
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Can hypnosis help
control anxiety?
Yes. Many people suffer from chronic anxiety, which is a subconscious expectation that something terrible will happen
to them. On the other hand, we all know people who seem to
have the "Magic Touch." Instead of a positive mental attitude, they have positive mental expectancy.
Our health is largely dependent upon our mental expectancy.
Doctors see this all the time. If a patient expects to remain sick or die, the expected result tends to happen. With hypnosis, we can remove despondence and negative attitudes and create positive mental expectancy.
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Is it as
effective if I just listen
to the weight-loss CDs but don't
attend one of your clinics? It can be. But you have to be serious. People who come to the class have
the peer-pressure effect, which you won't have if you're doing this at
home, so you really need to be committed to the process. Attendees can
also see that the people who are doing as I suggest are in fact losing
the weight.
Look inward and ask yourself:
"Am I really committed to taking care of
myself?"
"Do I really want to look my best?"
"Do I really want to be
healthy?"
"Am I willing to make the
commitment to listen to
one of the CDs every single day for the next three weeks? And
then once a week thereafter?"
During the class that's
what I ask people to do. And then I ask them - in front of the entire
class - how many days they actually did so. (This is where the peer
pressure comes in.) And again,
they can see that the people who are doing
as I suggest are shedding the weight.
So here's your commitment:
I'd like you to listen to the first CD every single day for an
entire week - then move on to the next one for an entire week. And then
the third one.
Once you've listened to
them all this way, then go ahead and listen to whichever ones seem to
apply to you the most.
If at all possible, you'll want to
continue listening to one of the CDs at least once a week for the next
year. (More often if possible.)
There are two other parts to this
commitment.
I ask each person who comes to the class to write down what they're
going to eat before they eat it.
Before, not after.
This is just for the first three weeks.
We're not talking about counting calories here, or planning your meals
in advance. Just simply put whatever it is that you're going to eat on
your plate, grab a scrap of paper, and jot it down. Nothing fancy. One
potato, one piece of chicken, a bunch of peas, a piece of apple pie ...
whatever.
The whole point is to make you more
aware. I've had people say that they had had no idea how much they had
been eating while standing in front of the open refrigerator until they
did this exercise. And remember, it's only for three weeks.
Then, each week, I ask each person in
the class how many days they were able to do this. (Here's that peer
pressure thing again.) And again, they see that the people who did it
were able to release the weight.
And finally, I ask each person in the
class how many days they were able to do 30 minutes of some sort of
activity (if they're able, and if their doctor says it's okay). It
doesn't have to be all at once. It can be ten minutes here, and ten
minute there, and ten minutes there.
I'm not talking about going to the gym
here, or working out, or anything hard and strenuous. Cleaning the house
counts. Mowing the lawn counts. Taking the dog for a walk counts.
In fact, for those who are physically
able, walking can be one of the best exercises there is. I recommend
getting a pedometer and keeping track of your steps. According to
experts, anything less than 7,000 steps a day is considered sedentary.
Many of my clients are surprised to learn that they walk fewer than
3,000 steps a day.
So there you have it.
If you can commit to doing the above
things, you can have just as much success as those who come to my
clinics.
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What happens if I
go to sleep while listening to the CD?
When I first started, I told people that as long as they heard me
counting them out at the end of the CD, that they were hearing it just
fine.
But now I've learned better. I had a lady
who came to one of my Overlake Hospital classes who recently emailed me.
She said that since the class ended, she listens to a different CD every
night to help her go to sleep.
She shuffles the CDs, so she doesn't know
which one she'll be listening to until the last moment.
She goes to sleep so quickly that she has
never heard the end of the CD ... and in seven months has lost more than
40 pounds.
I'm not going to argue with success.
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How many hypnotists
does it take
to change a light bulb?
Call or e-mail me for the answer.
Life is simple. Make it simple. It will work.
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