An article in the Daily Mail on 21st May 2009 outlines how a 35 year old British mother of three underwent hypnotherapy to be given the suggestions that she has had a gastric band fitted.
She was taken through every step of the medical procedure under hypnosis in the clinic in Spain, and now feels that she has a gastric band in place and that her stomach can only take small amounts of food.
The hypnotherapy has been so successful that she has reduced her weight by four stone and her dress size has dropped from a size 22 to a 14.
She was taken through every stage of the procedure over five sessions of hypnosis, including introducing the smells of a hospital into the therapy room, at the Elite Clinic in Fuengirola, gaining the ability to lose up to 3lbs a week due to the belief that she had had the band fitted
Thursday, 28 May 2009
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Is Hypnosis Safe and Will It Work For Me?
Everyone quite naturally enters a hypnotic trance several times during a day - on waking and falling asleep, if you become engrossed in a book or a TV programme, or if you arrive home and find you cannot remember the drive! Being in a trance is very relaxing, you will be aware of everything around you and will be able to end the session at any time if you choose to.
One of the more frequent questions that is asked is whether the person will get ‘stuck’ in the trance and not be able to be roused. The answer is no. As the hypnotherapy session comes to an end, the hypnotherapist will 'emerge' you from the trance and bring you back to your normal level of consciousness. The worst thing that could happen is that you relax so well that you fall asleep and then wake up quite naturally.
It is important to remember that the hypnotic subject is in charge of their experience at all times. They can come out of the trance and terminate their appointment at any time, and if there was an emergency, such as an alarm going off, they would rapidly emerge from the trance and be able to respond as appropriate.
Another frequent fear that is voiced is that the subject will find themselves ‘clucking and flapping like a hen’ when they are walking down the High Street or find themselves performing some other embarrassing feat in public. This is highly unlikely to happen, as even if the hypnotherapist had given you suggestions to do this, your subconscious would reject anything that it did not mesh with your moral compass and usual behaviour. It is also important to bear in mind that a professional, well qualified hypnotherapist would have no reason or desire to give these kinds of suggestions – it would soon be the end of their practice!
There is also a belief that being in a trance is a bit like being unconscious, and that nothing from a session will be remembered. There may be parts of the session you do not remember, or you may experience some time distortion where either time seems to speed up or slow down, but you will mostly be aware and remember what you experienced during the session.
People are also often sceptical that they can be hypnotised; that they will be unable to go into a trance. In fact, most people can be successfully put into a hypnotic trance and thereby gain the benefits of the positive and beneficial suggestions given by the hypnotherapist, and intelligent, well educated people often find it the easiest as they have the ability to concentrate.
One of the more frequent questions that is asked is whether the person will get ‘stuck’ in the trance and not be able to be roused. The answer is no. As the hypnotherapy session comes to an end, the hypnotherapist will 'emerge' you from the trance and bring you back to your normal level of consciousness. The worst thing that could happen is that you relax so well that you fall asleep and then wake up quite naturally.
It is important to remember that the hypnotic subject is in charge of their experience at all times. They can come out of the trance and terminate their appointment at any time, and if there was an emergency, such as an alarm going off, they would rapidly emerge from the trance and be able to respond as appropriate.
Another frequent fear that is voiced is that the subject will find themselves ‘clucking and flapping like a hen’ when they are walking down the High Street or find themselves performing some other embarrassing feat in public. This is highly unlikely to happen, as even if the hypnotherapist had given you suggestions to do this, your subconscious would reject anything that it did not mesh with your moral compass and usual behaviour. It is also important to bear in mind that a professional, well qualified hypnotherapist would have no reason or desire to give these kinds of suggestions – it would soon be the end of their practice!
There is also a belief that being in a trance is a bit like being unconscious, and that nothing from a session will be remembered. There may be parts of the session you do not remember, or you may experience some time distortion where either time seems to speed up or slow down, but you will mostly be aware and remember what you experienced during the session.
People are also often sceptical that they can be hypnotised; that they will be unable to go into a trance. In fact, most people can be successfully put into a hypnotic trance and thereby gain the benefits of the positive and beneficial suggestions given by the hypnotherapist, and intelligent, well educated people often find it the easiest as they have the ability to concentrate.
So Where Do We Start Our Weight Loss Quest?
Look at How You Are Thinking and Talking To Yourself - for us humans everything starts in the mind. You will find it much easier to lose weight if you are happy and thinking positively. Avoid using the words ‘weight loss’ as our subconscious minds tend to have very negative associations with the word ‘loss’. Always try to think of everything you will gain by being slimmer. Always think in the positive and concentrate your mind and thoughts on how you want to be; visualise the slimmer you enjoying your life and all the things that you want to do. Be kind and gentle when you are talking to yourself; and again always use a positive voice. Often we are much harder on ourselves than we would ever be on others – would you call one of your friends a ‘fat pig’ for instance? When talking with others, do not dwell on being overweight – talk about how slim you are now, all the things you can do now that you could not do before, and how much you are enjoying your new eating habits and exercise regime.
Affirmations are very useful; repeated out loud or silently to yourself and always positive (if you include the word not, as in ‘I will not eat lots of chocolate’ your subconscious will knock off the word not for you, and you will find yourself wanting eat even more of it!)
I achieve my goals regarding my weight effortlessly and joyfully
I choose the weight that I want to be
I choose to eat healthy and nutritious food
I am happy that I am the weight that I choose to be
I enjoy exercising and am pleased at the benefits it brings me
Set Your Goal – how much do you want to lose? Be realistic about how much you would like to lose and how long it’s going to take you. Work out your BMI and see where you really are on the charts. Very few women are naturally a size 8, and none are healthy at Size 0. The average size for a woman in this country is a 14-16. Remember, being underweight poses as many, if not more health problems as being overweight. In addition, you want to build a healthy eating plan that you will be able to keep up and, very importantly, enjoy for the rest of your life.
Start a Food Diary – write down in a notebook everything you eat – even the half of fish finger you took off your child’s plate – you will probably be amazed at what you can get through in one day. Also note down how you felt before you started eating and what types of food you chose to eat based on those feelings
Eat Three Meals A Day – and one of them has to be breakfast! If you want to snack have fresh fruit, nuts, or seeds. Do not skip meals, as this will lead to fluctuations in your blood sugar levels.
You Can Eat Everything – there are no ‘bad’ foods. You can still enjoy chocolate, cakes, pasta and potatoes but not all the time and not as a substitute for proper meals. Three packets of crisps, a Mars Bar and two glasses of wine a healthy dinner doth not make!
Get Enough Sleep – there is a lot of current research that says that getting enough sleep is crucial if you want to lose weight. Lack of sleep causes the ‘hunger hormones’ to malfunction which leads to an increase in appetite and an inability to recognise when we have eaten enough. Lack of sleep can also lead to sugar cravings. One study showed that the increase in appetite caused by not sleeping enough can cause people to consume an extra 1,000 calories a day. Another has shown that those who regularly sleep between seven to eight hours a night have the lowest BMIs. (See http://www.horlicks.co.uk/ for Dr Stanley’s sleep report)
Up Your Exercise Levels – the equation is really quite simple; if you consume too many calories that are not burned off, you will convert these calories into fat which will be deposited somewhere in your body – usually where you would least like to see it go! Try to boost your activity levels; walk if you can, take the stairs rather than the lift, don’t use the remote but change the channels on the set, go swimming, join a gym. Again, it’s important that it’s something you enjoy; if you don’t enjoy it you will not keep doing it for long.
Drink Plenty of Liquid – quite often we misinterpret thirst for hunger. Before you reach for the biscuit barrel, have a large glass of water, as you may just be thirsty. Try to keep well hydrated all the time by drinking plenty of plain water – remember alcohol dehydrates you, and coffee and tea are diuretics which help you lose water from your body.
Affirmations are very useful; repeated out loud or silently to yourself and always positive (if you include the word not, as in ‘I will not eat lots of chocolate’ your subconscious will knock off the word not for you, and you will find yourself wanting eat even more of it!)
I achieve my goals regarding my weight effortlessly and joyfully
I choose the weight that I want to be
I choose to eat healthy and nutritious food
I am happy that I am the weight that I choose to be
I enjoy exercising and am pleased at the benefits it brings me
Set Your Goal – how much do you want to lose? Be realistic about how much you would like to lose and how long it’s going to take you. Work out your BMI and see where you really are on the charts. Very few women are naturally a size 8, and none are healthy at Size 0. The average size for a woman in this country is a 14-16. Remember, being underweight poses as many, if not more health problems as being overweight. In addition, you want to build a healthy eating plan that you will be able to keep up and, very importantly, enjoy for the rest of your life.
Start a Food Diary – write down in a notebook everything you eat – even the half of fish finger you took off your child’s plate – you will probably be amazed at what you can get through in one day. Also note down how you felt before you started eating and what types of food you chose to eat based on those feelings
Eat Three Meals A Day – and one of them has to be breakfast! If you want to snack have fresh fruit, nuts, or seeds. Do not skip meals, as this will lead to fluctuations in your blood sugar levels.
You Can Eat Everything – there are no ‘bad’ foods. You can still enjoy chocolate, cakes, pasta and potatoes but not all the time and not as a substitute for proper meals. Three packets of crisps, a Mars Bar and two glasses of wine a healthy dinner doth not make!
Get Enough Sleep – there is a lot of current research that says that getting enough sleep is crucial if you want to lose weight. Lack of sleep causes the ‘hunger hormones’ to malfunction which leads to an increase in appetite and an inability to recognise when we have eaten enough. Lack of sleep can also lead to sugar cravings. One study showed that the increase in appetite caused by not sleeping enough can cause people to consume an extra 1,000 calories a day. Another has shown that those who regularly sleep between seven to eight hours a night have the lowest BMIs. (See http://www.horlicks.co.uk/ for Dr Stanley’s sleep report)
Up Your Exercise Levels – the equation is really quite simple; if you consume too many calories that are not burned off, you will convert these calories into fat which will be deposited somewhere in your body – usually where you would least like to see it go! Try to boost your activity levels; walk if you can, take the stairs rather than the lift, don’t use the remote but change the channels on the set, go swimming, join a gym. Again, it’s important that it’s something you enjoy; if you don’t enjoy it you will not keep doing it for long.
Drink Plenty of Liquid – quite often we misinterpret thirst for hunger. Before you reach for the biscuit barrel, have a large glass of water, as you may just be thirsty. Try to keep well hydrated all the time by drinking plenty of plain water – remember alcohol dehydrates you, and coffee and tea are diuretics which help you lose water from your body.
Saturday, 16 May 2009
What is Hypnosis
There are many definitions of hypnosis and the definitions have changed and evolved over time as our understanding of the hypnotic state has grown, from Franz Mesmer’s beliefs in the 1700s that a ‘magnetic fluid’ surrounded the body, through James Braid’s development of and coining of the phrase ‘hypnosis’ and the growth of the psychoanalytic movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through to the work of Milton Erickson and Dave Elman
The online information source Wikipedia states that ‘hypnosis is often thought to be a wakeful state of focused attention and heightened suggestibility and diminished peripheral awareness’. Therefore it is a focussed state that can occur spontaneously, such as happens when driving or walking when a person ends up at a destination without any clear recollection of how they arrived there or when someone becomes very caught up in a television programme that they are watching, or can be induced by a hypnotist. In this state of focussed attention the hypnotist can give beneficial suggestions that will be taken on board more readily as the state of hypnosis allows for a greater suggestibility and there are no outside distractions filtering through.
Dave Elman stated ‘Hypnosis is a state of mind in which the critical faculty of the human is bypassed, and selective thinking established’ [Dave Elman, Hypnotherapy, 1964:26].
This mirrors the US Federal definition. This is probably one of the best definitions of hypnosis, as our critical factor come into play with our very earliest thoughts and our self-image is formed by the age of four. Our conscious minds cannot remember or retain every memory or piece of information that we are presented with on a daily basis, so the Reticular Activating System in our brains rejects things that the subconscious mind is not prepared to accept. These include all the things that do not fit in with our belief systems, so that if we hold a belief that we are overweight and destined to remain so, any comments on how slim we are looking or what a good figure we will be filtered out. It is very difficult to get someone to change their view of themselves purely through addressing the conscious mind. Hypnosis can be used to bypass this ‘critical faculty’ and to embed more positive suggestions in the subconscious that will better serve the hypnotic subject in life.
Another definition of hypnosis is that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. The subject has to allow them self to go into the trance state, and the hypnotist is the navigator. The subject is the one who chooses to stay in the trance and can emerge from it at any time if they want to. With this definition it is the subject who chooses to respond or not respond in the trance, and to have a positive outcome the subject must be motivated and willing to succeed. Therefore, if a subject comes for hypnosis to be able to lose weight and have control of their body weight, they must first have to have a strong desire to be the size that they desire and a positive belief that the hypnosis will be able to help them. In addition, no hypnotist could make a subject do or believe something that they do not want to, as they are ultimately in control in the trance at all times.
The online information source Wikipedia states that ‘hypnosis is often thought to be a wakeful state of focused attention and heightened suggestibility and diminished peripheral awareness’. Therefore it is a focussed state that can occur spontaneously, such as happens when driving or walking when a person ends up at a destination without any clear recollection of how they arrived there or when someone becomes very caught up in a television programme that they are watching, or can be induced by a hypnotist. In this state of focussed attention the hypnotist can give beneficial suggestions that will be taken on board more readily as the state of hypnosis allows for a greater suggestibility and there are no outside distractions filtering through.
Dave Elman stated ‘Hypnosis is a state of mind in which the critical faculty of the human is bypassed, and selective thinking established’ [Dave Elman, Hypnotherapy, 1964:26].
This mirrors the US Federal definition. This is probably one of the best definitions of hypnosis, as our critical factor come into play with our very earliest thoughts and our self-image is formed by the age of four. Our conscious minds cannot remember or retain every memory or piece of information that we are presented with on a daily basis, so the Reticular Activating System in our brains rejects things that the subconscious mind is not prepared to accept. These include all the things that do not fit in with our belief systems, so that if we hold a belief that we are overweight and destined to remain so, any comments on how slim we are looking or what a good figure we will be filtered out. It is very difficult to get someone to change their view of themselves purely through addressing the conscious mind. Hypnosis can be used to bypass this ‘critical faculty’ and to embed more positive suggestions in the subconscious that will better serve the hypnotic subject in life.
Another definition of hypnosis is that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. The subject has to allow them self to go into the trance state, and the hypnotist is the navigator. The subject is the one who chooses to stay in the trance and can emerge from it at any time if they want to. With this definition it is the subject who chooses to respond or not respond in the trance, and to have a positive outcome the subject must be motivated and willing to succeed. Therefore, if a subject comes for hypnosis to be able to lose weight and have control of their body weight, they must first have to have a strong desire to be the size that they desire and a positive belief that the hypnosis will be able to help them. In addition, no hypnotist could make a subject do or believe something that they do not want to, as they are ultimately in control in the trance at all times.
Monday, 11 May 2009
How To Cope With Anxiety
For us humans, anxiety develops from fears and concerns about the future. However, the future is unknown and none of us can accurately predict what will happen. What we do, though, is treat the future as a given, as if we do know what is going to occur and have a belief that we can control or change it. Just a quick scan across all the variables and possibilities of things that can or might happen during a day shows that this is just not true and that we have to deal with what comes our way – in one week in our house a pigeon flew down the chimney and the ceiling fell in! So there is no point in worrying about it, right?
So what does anxiety feel like?
Typically when people get anxious they start to hyperventilate, which is breathing faster and/or deeper than necessary, which brings on feelings of light headedness, dizziness, sweating, chills, nausea and trembling. Someone who is anxious can experience chest pain, feel like they have a constant lump in their throat, become very pale, develop skin rashes, indigestion, heartburn, diarrhoea or constipation.
So how do we go about combating anxiety?
One of the keys to combating anxiety is to relax. As we relax our bodies respond by slowing down the heart rate, slowing down the breathing rate, the muscles of the body become less tense, your blood distributes itself evenly throughout your body, your digestive tract returns to working normally and you find it easier to let go of your fearful thoughts.
So how do we relax?
When you start to feel anxious or frightened, the first thing you need to do is to bring your attention to your breathing.
Start to breathe slowly through your nose using your diaphragm and abdomen. Do not breathe through the mouth, and concentrate on exhaling slowly. Do not take excessively deep breaths, as this may exacerbate the symptoms.
Also, when you start to feel scared and anxious, the way you talk to yourself is very important. To help yourself to relax and become calm, again, it is very helpful to repeat some positive, coping statements to yourself. Some examples are:
‘I will relax and accept what is happening to me’
‘I can be anxious and still deal with the situation’
‘I will let my body relax into whatever is going on. This will pass’
‘This does not feel good, but I can handle it’.
‘I choose to be calm and confident in every situation’
If you feel that you are anxious or stressed a lot of the time, doing visualisations could be very helpful for you. These can be undertaken two or three times a day or, if your situation allows it, when you start to feel scared or anxious. Sit upright on a chair, with your feet on the ground and your hands resting loosely on your knees. Keep all legs, arms, fingers or toes uncrossed! Mentally relax your muscles and take some nice deep breaths before you begin.
Below you will find an example of a visualisation that you can use. You can find many more on pre-recorded CD’s, downloads, in books and on the internet. It is useful to record them somewhere that you play back and follow while you are visualising. You may also want to write your own and record them; using imagery and settings that appeal to you and that you know that you can relax in.
Breathing in Sunshine Guided Visualisation
Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Imagine, visualise or sense yourself sitting in a rolling green meadow, dotted with white daisies and golden buttercups.. The sky above is a beautiful blue and the sun is shining. As you are sitting there, sense that a strong ray of golden sunshine is penetrating through the top of your head. See or imagine the warm, golden light of the sun fill your head and then move slowly down your body, filling all of your body cavity with a wonderful, soothing, golden light. As the light of the sun fills your body, dirty black smoke is being gently forced out of the soles of your feet. This is all the anxiety and negativity being pushed out and cleansed away. When your body is totally full of the glorious sunshine, and all of the dirty smoke has been expelled, let the light leave your body knowing that all your anxiety and fears have also gone. Find yourself in a crystal clear waterfall or pool, and bathe in the pure, cleansing water to wash away any lingering remnants of anxiety or fear. Sense yourself sealing up the top of your head and the soles of your feet and surrounding yourself in a protective cocoon of glowing white light. When you are ready, open your eyes and notice how calm, relaxed and wonderful you feel.
If you would like to learn more about coping with anxiety and learning to relax, contact cmhypnotherapy in Bushey, Hertfordshire
So what does anxiety feel like?
Typically when people get anxious they start to hyperventilate, which is breathing faster and/or deeper than necessary, which brings on feelings of light headedness, dizziness, sweating, chills, nausea and trembling. Someone who is anxious can experience chest pain, feel like they have a constant lump in their throat, become very pale, develop skin rashes, indigestion, heartburn, diarrhoea or constipation.
So how do we go about combating anxiety?
One of the keys to combating anxiety is to relax. As we relax our bodies respond by slowing down the heart rate, slowing down the breathing rate, the muscles of the body become less tense, your blood distributes itself evenly throughout your body, your digestive tract returns to working normally and you find it easier to let go of your fearful thoughts.
So how do we relax?
When you start to feel anxious or frightened, the first thing you need to do is to bring your attention to your breathing.
Start to breathe slowly through your nose using your diaphragm and abdomen. Do not breathe through the mouth, and concentrate on exhaling slowly. Do not take excessively deep breaths, as this may exacerbate the symptoms.
Also, when you start to feel scared and anxious, the way you talk to yourself is very important. To help yourself to relax and become calm, again, it is very helpful to repeat some positive, coping statements to yourself. Some examples are:
‘I will relax and accept what is happening to me’
‘I can be anxious and still deal with the situation’
‘I will let my body relax into whatever is going on. This will pass’
‘This does not feel good, but I can handle it’.
‘I choose to be calm and confident in every situation’
If you feel that you are anxious or stressed a lot of the time, doing visualisations could be very helpful for you. These can be undertaken two or three times a day or, if your situation allows it, when you start to feel scared or anxious. Sit upright on a chair, with your feet on the ground and your hands resting loosely on your knees. Keep all legs, arms, fingers or toes uncrossed! Mentally relax your muscles and take some nice deep breaths before you begin.
Below you will find an example of a visualisation that you can use. You can find many more on pre-recorded CD’s, downloads, in books and on the internet. It is useful to record them somewhere that you play back and follow while you are visualising. You may also want to write your own and record them; using imagery and settings that appeal to you and that you know that you can relax in.
Breathing in Sunshine Guided Visualisation
Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Imagine, visualise or sense yourself sitting in a rolling green meadow, dotted with white daisies and golden buttercups.. The sky above is a beautiful blue and the sun is shining. As you are sitting there, sense that a strong ray of golden sunshine is penetrating through the top of your head. See or imagine the warm, golden light of the sun fill your head and then move slowly down your body, filling all of your body cavity with a wonderful, soothing, golden light. As the light of the sun fills your body, dirty black smoke is being gently forced out of the soles of your feet. This is all the anxiety and negativity being pushed out and cleansed away. When your body is totally full of the glorious sunshine, and all of the dirty smoke has been expelled, let the light leave your body knowing that all your anxiety and fears have also gone. Find yourself in a crystal clear waterfall or pool, and bathe in the pure, cleansing water to wash away any lingering remnants of anxiety or fear. Sense yourself sealing up the top of your head and the soles of your feet and surrounding yourself in a protective cocoon of glowing white light. When you are ready, open your eyes and notice how calm, relaxed and wonderful you feel.
If you would like to learn more about coping with anxiety and learning to relax, contact cmhypnotherapy in Bushey, Hertfordshire
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