“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can
achieve.” - Napolean Hill
Hypnosis is an enjoyable, easy and effective way to change our
bad habits into good ones and our negative feelings into
positive ones. All of our emotions, beliefs, and habits reside
in the subconscious mind and hypnosis provides direct access to
the subconscious mind to replace any negatives with powerful,
positive beliefs.
While many people think of it as “deep sleep”, hypnosis is a
comfortable and relaxed state that focuses attention and
concentration, bypasses the conscious mind filter, and allows
the subconscious mind to be open and receptive to positive
suggestions, tapping into the power of the body-mind connection.
Most people experience a heightened state of awareness when they
are hypnotized, while only about 10% will enter into a state
where their mind is so relaxed that they do not remember the
session.
People experience this natural, normal state at least twice each
day - before they go to sleep and when they wake up. If you have
experienced arriving somewhere and can’t remember actually
driving there, or if you have missed a freeway exit then you
have been in a natural hypnotic state often referred to as
“highway hypnosis”.
Natural hypnosis may also occur when you become so involved in
an activity, reading a book, or watching a movie that everything
else seems to be blocked out, even to the point of not hearing
people who talk to you. Whenever concentration is intense, it’s
easy to slip into a natural hypnotic state.
Hypnosis has been used for thousands of years as a powerful tool
to help and heal. Early records mark the Egyptian sleep temples
and the Temple of Aesculapius in Greece as sites where hypnosis
was used as an important part of the healing treatment.
The ancient Hawaiian Kahuna’s, healing masters, routinely used
hypnosis in their healing practices. A resurgence of the use of
hypnosis began in the 1700’s with the work of an Austrian
physician named Franz Anton Mesmer. In the 1800’s Dr. James
Braid brought hypnosis to the medical arena with his work in
hypnoanesthesia.
Hypnosis was used as an effective and rapid treatment for “shell
shock”, now referred to as post-traumatic stress disorders,
following World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.
The American Medical Association approved hypnosis as an
effective treatment in 1958 and recommended that training in
hypnosis be included in medical school curriculum. Hypnosis and
guided imagery continue to be integrated into modern medical and
health care systems.
The National Institute of Health recognizes hypnosis as a
Complimentary and Alternative Medicine treatment modality and
continues to fund research to validate the importance of
hypnosis.
Research results have shown dramatic results in a variety of
areas, particularly as an adjunct to conventional cancer
treatments and for pain management. Moving even more into the
traditional arenas of medical care, hypnosis remains as one of
the most powerful healing modalities by utilizing the power of
the subconscious mind in motivating the mind-body connection for
balance and health.
Hypnosis is probably best known for breaking habits with stop
smoking and weight loss success and yet it has been found to be
effective in reducing and managing stress, achieving deep
relaxation, increasing energy, overcoming fears, overcoming
insomnia, and reducing the experience of pain.
Hypnosis has also been shown to be effective in overcoming test
anxiety, improving test performance, improving sports
performance, improving motivation, setting and achieving goals,
improving memory and concentration, increasing self confidence,
and building self-esteem.
Most of us have habits or feelings that we’ve tried to change
and yet nothing we do seems to make a difference. We know how we
want to act and feel, but our decision-making and will power
doesn’t seem to be enough to have any lasting effect. Although
our conscious mind has made a decision to change, the beliefs
and ideas held in our subconscious mind won’t allow the change
to take place. Hypnosis allows the subconscious mind to move
into agreement with conscious desires and goals so you can live
a life of freedom and success!
Debbie Friedman
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/demystifying-the-powers-of-hypnosis-2514.html