Posts Tagged ‘time’

Long ago and far, far away…

The stone carvings of ancient Egypt offer pictorial evidence that, as early as 1000BC, ’sleep temples’ provided a sanctuary for healing. The temple priests used formal inductions for trance which form the basis of the techniques we use today. Sanskrit writings also tell us of the ‘healing temples’ in India. Europe soon followed and such temples flourished during the period of the Roman Empire.

The practice of ‘laying on of hands’ began to gain popularity and became fashionable as Edward the Confessor (1042 – 1066 A.D) practiced his ‘royal touch’. His healing procedures were even formally recognised by the Church of England.

So, during the Middle Ages, as royalty lost interest, fashion changed and the concept of ’suggestion healing’ became synonymous with tales of sorcerers and the dark arts. It was at this time that many of the misconceptions about trance and suggestion we hear today were formed.

This brings the tale into the 1500’s, when a Swiss MD named Paracelsus began to use magnets for healing. Magnets were also used as healing devices by Valentine Greatrakes during the 1600’s. Healing magnets remained prevalent into the 1700’s. In 1725, a Jesuit Priest named Maximilian Hehl used magnets for healing. It was one of Hehl’s students, Franz Anton Mesmer MD, who really brought the healing power of magnets into the public eye.

Mesmer coined the term ‘animal magnetism’, referring to the magnetic energy within the patient rather than the magnet. Mesmer left his home in Vienna and moved to Paris and during the late 1700’s his client list was the who’s who of French aristocracy. However, Mesmer’s glory days were to come to an abrupt end when the medical community began to challenge his methods.

A Board of Enquiry was convened, the most notable contributors being the chemist Lavoisier, Benjamin Franklin and an MD expert in pain control named Guillotin. The Board censured and discredited Mesmer’s work and he returned to Vienna to practice out of the public eye. From 1795 until 1985, the idea of utilising energy as a conduit for healing was discarded by Western medicine and psychology.

The date is now 1840 and an English physician named James Braid became interested in mesmerism after watching a carnival demonstration. Intending to discredit the technique, he initiated a study which captured his imagination. He noticed that eye fixation and pre-framing were important elements in trance induction and coined the phrase ‘hypnosis‘ for the first time.

The word ‘hypnosis’ is derived from the Greek ‘hypnos’, meaning sleep. By the time Braid had realised that this term was inaccurate, it had stuck. Could he have imagined it would still be used in the 21st Century?

Around the same time, while working in India, Dr. James Esdaile, began to experiment with hypnotic anaesthesia, with outstanding success. Whilst the Indian culture conditioned people to respond to hypnosis, the same was not true when he returned to England, and he was discredited by the British Medical Society. With the introduction of chemical anaesthesia in the mid-1800’s, healing through hypnosis returned to the sideshows.

1864 and two medical doctors named Liebault and Bernheim established the Nancy School of Hypnosis in the city of Nancy, France. A young Sigmund Freud studied at the Nancy School for a while, before abandoning Hypnosis for his new ‘talking therapy’ which became psychoanalysis.

In the early 1900’s, a French pharmacist named Emile Coue made an important discovery, the power of autosuggestion. His famous formula was, ‘Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.’ Coue noticed that suggestion only works if it is accepted by the client, thus, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis.

The world of hypnosis was very quiet for the next 50 years, although studies did continue, the most notable being Clark Hull who, in 1933 wrote ‘Hypnosis and Suggestibility’, Boris Sidis wrote ‘The Psychology of Suggestion’ and Milne Bramwell wrote ‘The History of Hypnosis’.

In 1958, the American Medical Association approved the therapeutic use of Hypnosis. This was a turning point worthy of note.

The great hypnotherapists and writers on hypnotherapy of our time followed. George Estabrooks, Andre Weitzenhoffer, Dave Elman, Leslie LeCron and Milton Erickson. Erickson practiced hypnosis on a daily basis between 1920 and 1980, sometimes seeing 14 clients a day. His learnings changed the face of hypnosis forever.

Today, Jeffrey Zeig and Ernest Rossi keep Milton Erickson’s legacy alive at the Erickson Foundation in Phoenix, USA.

With all of this rich and colourful history, how is it that Hypnosis is still so widely misconceived in the year 2011? The distinction between what we see on the stage and the TV and Hypnotherapy to enable personal change and transformation with professional, experienced and well qualified Hypnotherapists is still very blurred. Let’s take a look at some of the most common misconceptions.

Hypnosis is the domain of the weak-minded and gullible. The truth is that the most intelligent people with strong imaginations and a flair for the creative are usually the best hypnotic subjects. They are able to wilfully suspend their disbelief and break through the critical faculty barrier which separates the conscious and the unconscious mind.

Hypnosis means letting go of personal power and revealing secrets. Not so, whilst experiencing any level of hypnotic trance you are actually more aware than in the normal waking state and able to select information accordingly. Your unconscious mind becomes acutely focussed on learning and initiating the required personal change. It hears what it wants to hear and sees what it wants to see in a highly selective manner.

Hypnosis represents a risk of humiliation. We’ve all heard about or been witness to stage hypnosis. A group of very willing individuals submit to hypnotic trance in order to entertain the audience. The individuals who volunteer their involvement are very carefully selected and are completely willing to do something silly in the name of entertainment. Those who are not are quickly identified and sent back to their seats. Stage hypnotists are very skilled at what they do and the best are extremely proficient at initiating rapid inductions. Stage hypnotism is entertainment and we should view it as such. The truth is that your unconscious mind is a very moral mind and if you object to any suggestion, you will choose to ignore it and not comply.

Hypnosis means a loss of control. During an Hypnotic trance, you are totally in control and fully aware of yourself and your environment. In fact, your senses become heightened and attuned to everything that happens around you. You can stop the trance at any time of your choosing, you are totally in control.

Hypnosis is something to fear. The history of hypnosis has clearly demonstrated why there remains a residual fear of hypnosis and its long ago association with ‘the dark side’. The hypnotic state is a normal, natural, relaxed state and is experienced on a daily basis. For example, the driving trance. Every driver, at some time has missed their turning or made a journey without being able to remember the entire drive. This is an example of a light trance state. If an emergency occurred whilst in this state, the unconscious mind would react immediately to keep you safe, as the awareness remains heightened and alert. What about the TV trance, when you have been so involved in a programme, that you have been unaware of someone talking to you? We all enter into a light trance every day, it’s a completely natural state.

Hypnosis means sleep. The only feeling associated with hypnosis which is different from the normal, waking state is one of complete relaxation. Whilst it is true that people who respond really well to hypnosis and are able to reach really deep states of trance may drop off into an energising and revitalising sleep, the general experience is of deep relaxation. Hypnosis is really not about becoming ‘zonked out’ or unaware. As we have already discussed, trance represents a heightened state of awareness. There is also a misconception that there may be an inability to awaken from trance. Remember, hypnosis is not sleep and you can come out of the hypnotic state at any time.

Hypnosis is a gimmick and has no real benefits for personal change. Hypnosis is a wilful suspension of disbelief and a vehicle for communication with the unconscious mind. Once great communication links have been forged with the unconscious mind, change becomes easy. Any unwanted and unhelpful states, behaviours or habits can be modified or removed easily and effortlessly, through clear communication with the unconscious mind.

Hypnotists are manipulative. This assumption is a non-truth because of the evidence that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, you just follow instructions offered to you by the hypnotherapist. The hypnotic state is about learning to go into the hypnotic state. Those who boast that “I can’t be hypnotised” are absolutely right. Hypnotic trance is something that you choose for yourself. Nobody can force hypnosis on you, you have to choose to accept it. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis.

Hypnosis is brain washing. Brain washing is a very specific 5 step process, definitely not achievable with hypnosis. Firstly, a person is removed from their normal environment, then they are deprived of their senses. They are punished when they disagree and rewarded when they agree and chemical interventions are employed. Definitely nothing to do with hypnosis!

So, your misconceptions allayed, hypnosis is an amazing experience for total relaxation and for enabling incredible transformative personal change. It is a process which is self-initiated, self-controlled and certainly not to be feared. Experience it for yourself. Choose a well qualified and experienced hypnotherapist and ask to see their Ethical Code. Then relax and enjoy.

About The Author

Christine Dawson, Managing Director of Quest for Success Ltd is an ABNLP Certified Trainer of NLP, Time Line Therapy(R) and Hypnosis. Time Line Therapy(R) Practitioner and Master Practitioner Training Courses are available to Certified Practitioners of NLP with Quest for Success Ltd.

Please visit http://www.qfscoaching.co.uk for more information.

In my role as a web developer for HypnoBusters I have noticed a few certain trends recently in regards to peoples’ use of hypnosis. For one many more people seem to be more comfortable experimenting with the effects of hypnosis, and once they do they often become repeat customers. Secondly our Nail Biting Hypnosis MP3 has become one of our very most popular sessions – and I think I know why.

From childhood I myself was a nail biter and it was through self hypnosis that I was finally able to put the nail in the coffin of the habit. Right there is why hypnosis has become such a popular form of treatment as a cure to nail biting, it actually works. Unlike a lot of the old wives’ tales that leave you with a bad taste in your mouth (often, in this case, quite literally) hypnosis has proven to be an effective form of behavioral modification.

The way that hypnosis works is both simple and complex at the same time. In layman’s terms though hypnosis helps to relax the conscious mind so that the subconscious can accept suggestions given to it by the hypnotherapist. In this case the suggestions would be made to help the client quit nail biting.

This is all well and good of course, but most people don’t have the money to hire a hypnotherapist to treat a bad habit like nail biting which is unhealthy but certainly not deadly like smoking or overeating. That is where websites like HypnoBusters come in. While I run the technical side of things we have a clinically trained hypnotherapist called Jon Rhodes who digitally records real hypnosis sessions into the MP3 format. Because one of these MP3s can be sold to multiple customers it allows us to sell them at much more affordable prices. For example our Nail Biting Hypnosis MP3 is currently just $9.95.

Like any tool though it is important to use a hypnosis MP3 in the right way to maximize the results. Whenever you listen to a hypnosis session you should be in a safe environment where you feel warm and comfortable, and won’t be disturbed for the duration of the session. Other than that, all you have to do is follow the hypnotherapist’s instructions and you will find that the time flies by. While you are in a hypnotic trance you aren’t asleep or unconscious, you are merely incredibly focused on what is being said to you. When the session is over you will feel very relaxed and probably remember bits and pieces of what was said to you. At HypnoBusters we recommend that you listen to our Nail Biting Hypnosis MP3 once a day for a period of a month. Should you ever find yourself slipping back into old habits after this period of time you can simply start the program again. Since you own the MP3 there is no extra cost to this, you can use it as much or as little as you want.

Now you know how to stop nail biting with hypnosis from HypnoBusters I hope you decide to give it a try. It really works.

Author Bio

Stop nail biting once and for all with this Nail Biting Hypnosis MP3 from HypnoBusters. If you’d like to know more about hypnosis try this hypnosis guide that’s both free and easy to follow.

Everyone has at least one bad habit that they are aware of and would like to get rid of. Some smoke, others bite their nails, many overeat, and a number of people procrastinate to the point of never getting things done. It sounds almost unbelievable that there is one kind of treatment that can be used to successfully rid a person of any or all of these bad habits but time and time again hypnosis has been used to solve every one of these problems – and many more besides.

If you regularly watch The Ellen DeGeneres Show you may remember when she had famous hypnotist Paul McKenna as a guest. During the episode they discussed how Paul had helped Ellen to quit smoking. Ellen isn’t the only celebrity to harness the life changing power of hypnosis to overcome a bad habit either. Winona Ryder, Ashton Kutcher, Billy Joel Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have all used hypnosis to quit smoking while Lily Allen, Sophie Dahl and Geri Halliwell have lost weight thanks to hypnotic suggestions. It’s not just celebrities either, millions of people around the world have visited hypnotherapists or used hypnosis programs to achieve their goals.

There are some who are skeptical about the effects hypnosis has, and understandably so. For many years hypnosis was thought of as a “trick” you’d see at a stage show or as a kind of mind control. However the most recent scientific studies have all been very favorable towards hypnosis and its ability to create real life changes in the people who use it. One study in 2009 at Hull University showed that the effects of hypnosis are actually visible on a brain scan – certain areas are less active when hypnotized. In the UK the National Health Service has even started to employ hypnotherapists to help treat patients with IBS as well as relieve symptoms of pain.

“How does hypnosis actually help someone to overcome a bad habit though?”, you might ask. Well during the initial stages of the hypnotic process your subconscious mind is primed to receive and accept suggestions. Depending on your goals these suggestions could help you to quit smoking, lose weight, stop biting your nails or whatever else you wish to change. The hypnotist makes these suggestions and repeats them until they’re satisfied that they’ve got the message across. The subconscious is a very deep level of your mind which holds yours deepest desires. So by making suggestions to this part of your mind you are changing yourself at the core of your being.

How long this takes depends on the problem, the cause of the problem, and the experience and skill level of the hypnotherapist at work. For example, with a hypnotherapist with experience in the specific field it may only take one or two sessions for the client to successfully quit smoking, whereas it could take four or five sessions with a more inexperience hypnotherapist. That is why younger hypnotherapists often charge less to make up for the extra time and sessions the treatment will take.

There are also a number of audio programs available online which have become a popular method of using hypnosis. Due to the nature of the internet a hypnotherapist can record a program to CD/MP3 and then sell it to a large number of people. This is why you can find such programs for as low as $10 when a personal session would cost much more.

If you are looking to make a change in your life, give hypnosis a try – you won’t be disappointed.

Bio

Discover how you can lose weight with hypnosis at Gather.com. You may also be interested to see which celebrities use hypnosis.