Whe most people think of hypnosis, they think of stage hypnotists like Paul McKenna or TV shows like those by Derren Brown. But did you know that hypnosis can also be used as a powerful force for self improvement?
What Is Hypnosis?
Hypnosis is when a person is put into a trance and given suggestions.
A trance is not the same as being asleep. A trance is a state of relaxation where the mind becomes incredible receptive.
During this trance, the hypnotist can give the subject a series of suggestions and then awakens them. These suggestions can have profound and long lasting effects.
So How Can We Use Hypnosis For Self Improvement?
OK, so we know that hypnosis can be used for amusement or to cure irrational fears (e.g. a fear of flying) but what else?
Let’s start with major problems:
If you are overweight and need to lose fat then hypnosis can help.
It is also said to help with addictions although I personally believe that it has only limited effect in most cases (I’ll save my argument for another time).
Anxiety and anxiety related problems (e.g. premature ejaculation) can be cured with hypnosis.
OK, enough of the problems, how can a regular, “normal” person be helped by hypnosis?
Self confidence – you cannot get enough of this!
Success – Most people do not achieve anywhere near the potential because of their own self-imposed limitations e.g. lack of belief in their potential. Hypnosis can help with this.
Motivation – Similarly, many people lack the motivation to achieve their potential. In this modern day and age, many of us have grown lazy. For instance, watching too much TV (a HUGE topic that I am going to write more about soon!).
How To Get Hypnotised
There are many hypnotists (or “hypnotherapists” as they like to call themselves) so where do you start?
The ideal way is based on recommendation, but how many of your friends have had hypnosis? Failing that you might look further afield by searching on the internet for recommendations.
Ultimately, your best bet is to phone up a few hypnotists in your nearest large city and interrogate them about their methods. Tell them what your expectations are and ask them how they intend to help you. Eventually, you should just go with whoever you have the most confidence in.
An Alternative: Self-Hypnosis
Of course, you can try self-hypnosis, also known as autosuggestion. Of course, you cannot put yourself into a deep trance but you can still use this method to great effect.
You start off by entering a state of deep relaxation. You can even replicate the hypnotist’s reverse count from 10 down to 1 to help you.
Then you start to repeat a series of phrases that you prepared beforehand. Mostly, they are you talking in the present tense about what you want or wish for. These are also called affirmations.
The idea is that by repeating this each day, these phrases become a part of you. What you desire almost becomes a part of you. Your belief is continually reinforced in those statements. Here is a good wikiHow article that goes into greater depth: How to Perform Self Hypnosis.
You don’t even need to follow this process if you don’t want to. For instance, I have several short term goals that are important to me so I created a picture in Microsoft Paint that shows me in amongst all my achieved goals (e.g. wads of cash). By looking at this every day, it has helped me to believe that I can achieve these goals, no matter what the obstacles.
If you’re cringing right now at what you think is a load of BS, all I can say is that I used to think like you but you need to try it for yourself before you knock it. There are many rich and successful people out there who use their own variation of self-hypnosis.
Many people also find that using audio programs can really help them to enter a deep state of relaxation. There is a method called binaural beats, which is a type of brainwave entrainment that uses a series of specific frequencies to safely put the brain into a receptive state.
There are also other general self-hypnosis MP3s that contain narrated affirmations and save you having to make your own.
Final Comment
I hope the above has at least given you food for thought and some pointers for futher investigation. Personally speaking, I’m going to use self hypnosis to help me lose weight and to increase my confidence and I’ll be sharing my results over the next few weeks so please stay tuned!
Click here for a FREE 10 minute binaural beats sample.