What Is Hypnosis?
Hypnosis is a process through which we access the ability of our subconscious mind to make positive, lasting changes in our lives. We can transform that which no longer serves us. Any unwanted habit or behavior such as smoking, unhealthy eating, or even negative thinking can all be changed. We can attract new and beneficial experiences to ourselves as well, just by reworking our belief system. All this can be done with the power of hypnosis.
To better understand this power let's look at how the mind works.
The mind is separated into two parts:
The Conscious and the Sub-Conscious.
The Conscious part of our mind develops as we grow with the purpose of protecting ourselves. It is responsible for our reasoning, logic, decision making and willpower.
The Subconscious Mind is as vast as the ocean. It is a collective of all the associations, information and memories we have taken in throughout our lives, which make us who we are today.
Between these two parts is an analytical filter, or a 'gatekeeper', if you will, that allows or disallows any information we process. Sometimes certain negative information can get past this filtering system and become stuck in our subconscious, creating issues that can cause us problems. When we want to eradicate those problems, we can use hypnosis to bypass that filtering system. By getting ourselves into this relaxed state of hyperfocus, we are able to penetrate the subconscious and successfully reinstall new thought processes to create internal transformation and incorporate a new "automatic" behavior.
Many people have some fears or apprehensions about hypnosis. Throughout time we have been given images of Svengali-types who will put us into a trance where we relinquish our control and possibly do or feel things that we didn't really want to. I can personally relate to these concerns. For many years I had strong reservations about hypnosis and being hypnotized. As fascinated as I was by hypnosis and the healing that could be achieved through hypnotherapy, I would never really allow myself to experience it. After having undergone extensive training, I know enough to dispel those fears and I am happy to do so for others with those same fears or apprehensions. Learning what hypnosis really is, including the fact we are experiencing it all throughout our everyday lives helped me see it more clearly.
For example, we are in hypnosis when we miss that exit on the freeway because our mind is hyperfocusing on something else (also known as 'Highway Hypnosis'). When we are caught up in a great movie or hear a song that brings us back to a certain time in our lives, that's hypnosis! The time just as you are waking up or right before you fall asleep, you are in the state of hypnosis. So hypnosis is nothing unusual or foreign to us. It is actually quite natural and basically just a twilight state. You are very much aware. In fact, it is the highest level of awareness one can have. You are in complete control at all times and emerge relaxed, peaceful and even blissful. Think of it as a massage for your mind with deeper, meaningful effects that synchronize both of its parts to weave together the life you most desire.