Sleep & Relaxation

In this third post of the series, I would like to address the WHEN of hypnosis and hypnotherapy. This aspect incorporates two parts. Let’s look at the first part here.

Many times, at the end of our first session, a new client will ask me how often and when they should practice going into the alpha state. This answer will vary from person to person. As you read in Part One of this series, stress chemistry is generated while we are in the beta brain wave state. Since we tend to be in this state 99.999…% of the time we are awake (in our harried and stressed-out western culture), we are carrying a big load of stress chemistry in the system in an on-going way. Sleep does not efficiently clear out this chemistry, so it tends to accrue over time. This is what results in overwhelming stress which can represent in extreme cases as system breakdown in one or more of the dimensions of being. In other words, in the physical body you might have a breakdown in one or more body systems. This can be disorders such as asthma, IBS, high-blood pressure, lupus, or even more extreme conditions like heart attack, cancer, and stroke. In the mental aspect, you might have disorientation and ‘brain fog’ or a total mental breakdown. In the emotional aspect you may experience anxiety or phobias, or a complete nervous collapse.

You begin to see the range of effects of prolonged, unremitting stress upon the being. So the first step in determining when you should access into the alpha state is determining how high your stress load is. Once you have a sense of that, it will guide you in your practice. If you are already experiencing serious repercussions of your stress, then the answer will be ‘as often as you can every single day.’ This means looking for opportunity in your daily schedule and making opportunity. It is not something you do ‘when I have time.’ It becomes a priority. Remember, even short periods spent within the alpha state can have a tremendous benefit. When you learn to access this state quickly through consistent practice, then even a short break will provide a huge benefit. This will need to be practiced consistently throughout the day until the stress load has been brought down to a manageable level.

I personally feel that every one of us will benefit from a longer alpha session before going to sleep every night. The reason is that the stress chemistry interferes with the proper functioning of the organism during sleep, so it will facilitate the benefits of sleep if we ‘clear the decks’ first. For instance, if we are highly stressed and we take that stress to bed with us, it will prevent us from achieving into the deepest stage of sleep, called the delta state, or stage four of sleep. This is where the brain generates the Human Growth Hormone needed for repair and regeneration of the cells. This means that not only will healing take longer, but aging will be accelerated. This is only one small example of how stress can disrupt the work of our sleeping bodies.

Often, my ‘type A’ clients will protest that there is no way they can make this much time in their schedules for alpha practice on a daily basis. My response to this is two-fold. First, there is no way you can afford not to make this time. Secondly, the paradoxical thing is that the more time you make for alpha, the more time you will recoup in beta. This is because the alpha state will clear the mind and restore energy to the body, the net result being more focus, better prioritization, better problem-solving ability, more creative solution finding, and much more energy to implement your ideas and work.

So, to recap the first aspect of when to practice alpha, the idea is to commit to one longer session (twenty to thirty minutes or more) before sleep every day, with as many shorter (ten to twenty minute) segments as you need to bring down your stress load to a manageable range.

The second consideration on the WHEN of hypnosis and hypnotherapy is to look at when you want to consult with a professional to help you learn and utilize the many fabulous tools available for maximizing the internal resources of the subconscious mind for creating change in your life. The answer to this is simple: when ever you are ready to make a change for the better, when you are ready to commit to your success, when you are ready to act in your behalf, when you are ready to let go of being stuck, when you are ready to expand, learn, and grow, then you are ready to pick up the phone and make an appointment. I will leave you with a few words of wisdom on this now:

It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.–Rene Descartes

The world we have made as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of thinking at which we created them.–Albert Einstein

Change only favours minds that are diligently looking and preparing for discovery.–Louie Pasteur

There are two separate aspects of the HOW of hypnosis. One is the how do you get into the hypnotic, or alpha state in the first place, and the other is how you work with it once you get there. Let’s consider the first aspect briefly. There are many ways to get into the alpha state, and probably every hypnotist and every Hypnotherapist will have their own favorite ways of helping or teaching clients to access this state. Fixed-eye inductions are what most people think of when they think of hypnosis. These are the ever popular ‘stare at this spot….’ or ‘look at the spinning disk…’ or ‘follow my hand with your eyes…’ type of induction techniques. This is also what tends to happen in ‘highway hypnosis’ which is why you want to keep your eyes moving when you are driving to stay alert. This type of technique works pretty well for people who are visually-organized. However, not everyone processes information primarily through the visual channel, so there are many other techniques as well. Because the way I work is to teach my clients how to access this state on their own, I prefer to have them close their eyes and do a progressive relaxation, leading into visualization. This technique brings in auditory, visualizing, kinesthetic, and olfactory cueing as well. When I am working directly with a client, I will ‘load’ the sequence with their particular modalities. On CD, I spread it across the board so that the most people will get the most benefit. Let’s move on to talk about the second aspect of the HOW of hypnosis.

When we talk about how to work with hypnosis, we are now into the realm of hypnotherapy. It is one thing to get into the alpha state; it is another to know what to do once you get there. This is where working with a trained Hypnotherapist can make all the difference for a client who desires to make specific changes in targeted areas of his or her life. The client and the Hypnotherapist comprise the WHO of hypnotherapy. Many skills are involved in successful hypnotherapy. For a brief overview article on this, please see http://www.transformfast.com/tools_of_the_hypnotherapist.htm. Here, let me just mention a few of the procedures that may be employed to illustrate the broad range of techniques that are available.

• One of the most basic tools is called a ‘reframe.’ What this means is simply helping the client shift their perspective to see their issue from different points of view. This is more easily achieved in the alpha state than in ordinary awareness because the ego is less dominant. The alpha state provides for an ‘expanded’ awareness that can see more options and possibilities than are normally apparent.

• Sometimes, the Hypnotherapist will work with metaphors or archetypes to help the client understand their situation in the context of a parallel or larger story.

• In other cases, the technique will be working with aspects or parts of self which may be in conflict, by helping the client ‘broker a deal,’ which can provide a context for all the parts to be in alignment.

• Time Line work is another modality for working with patterns and unresolved issues, sometimes by helping the client trace the roots from the past and ‘projecting’ the results into the future to see probable outcomes if change does not occur in the now.

• At times, working in the trance state can be similar to working within a waking dream with the sub-conscious guiding the unfolding of the understanding within the client. In such cases, the role of the Hypnotherapist is to ask skillful open-ended questions which are carefully timed to continue providing opportunity for the unfolding process to expand.

Each client and each issue is unique. No one technique will work across the board. This is why the Hypnotherapist must be able to tailor every session to the person and the circumstances presented. The few techniques briefly outlined here represent a very tiny sampling of the various methods which may come into play within a session.

This is why, when choosing a Hypnotherapist to work with, you want to find someone who continually upgrades their skills. This is not a profession for someone who wants to work in a routine manner. Because hypnotherapy deals primarily with the sub-conscious mind, and the ‘operating system’ of this aspect of the consciousness field is very different from that of the conscious mind, it is truly a dissimilar therapeutic model from standard ‘talk’ therapy with a counselor or psychiatrist.

In my next post, I will discuss the WHEN of hypnosis and hypnotherapy.

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I can generally tell by the way people react when I tell them what I do whether they truly know something about hypnosis or whether they have a lot of misconceptions about it. People who actually know something about hypnosis ask me interested questions and we then have a great conversation. People who are holding a lot of misconceptions tend to get a glazed look, a frozen expression, and start sidling away as fast as they can, as if they have just discovered that I am some kind of evil sorceress! Because there are still so many misconceptions about hypnosis and hypnotherapy out there, I decided to write this series of posts, and hopefully clear up some of this stuff, if not once and for all (wouldn’t that be nice?), at least for you curious readers who have ventured thus far. So, here is WHAT hypnosis is:

• It is the best method for accessing into the alpha state of consciousness. The alpha state is simply an AWAKE, inwardly-focused, deeply relaxed state of awareness. It is one of the normal states of consciousness we all experience, and it is where the true relaxation response is generated. Generally, we tend to pass into and out of this state very quickly in our rushed and busy lives. Hypnosis is one way to access into this state deliberately with the intent of relaxing, harnessing our internal resources, and developing our focus. Since the alpha state is part of our original design blueprint, so to speak, and since it is the organism’s best ally in balancing our stress load, it is curious to me that so many people subvert the wisdom of the design (and the designer?) by deliberately avoiding the alpha state.
  
• Hypnosis is a healing modality that has been recognized by the American Medical Association since 1958. It is an incredibly powerful agent for relieving stress, managing pain, speeding healing and recover from surgery, releasing phobias and anxiety, lifting depression, facilitating healthful sleep, letting go of bad habits and instilling good habits, reducing blood pressure, addressing skin conditions that do not respond to standard therapies, bringing babies into the world in a peaceful and relaxed way, and so much more.
  
• Hypnosis is safe. Those in the alpha state retain control of their minds and only accept suggestions that they wish to accept. Mind control is one of the ‘fears’ many people have about hypnosis. The irony is that a consistent alpha practice will only strengthen your mind and your own control over your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. It also provides insight, understanding, and protection against the insidious forms of ‘mass programming’ that happen to us culturally and societally, through advertising, propaganda, biased news reporting, faulty educational agendas and more. The kind of mind control that some few people mistakenly associate with hypnosis is only achievable through torture and extreme brainwashing techniques.
  
• Besides being the key to unlocking the relaxation response, hypnosis is also the best tool we have for effecting personal growth and achieving what we desire for ourselves in our health, our careers, our relationships, our spiritual development, and in all aspects of our lives.
  
• Among hypnotherapists, the saying goes: ‘ALL hypnosis is self-hypnosis.’ What this means is that you must be a willing subject in order to access into the alpha state. Someone cannot come up to you and put you into a trance unless you are willing at some level to allow that. I personally teach all my clients in their first session to access into this state on their own. This is YOUR birthright. It is YOUR best tool, best ally, and best defense in a stressful and demanding world. When my clients learn to get themselves into this state on their own, successive sessions can be spent doing targeted work on specific issues, and again, I teach my clients to use those tools for themselves as well.
  
• Hypnosis is something virtually anyone can learn. Some people will say “my mind is too strong, I am not a good subject.” This kind of statement reflects a poor understanding of what is going on with hypnosis. Actually, the poorest subjects are those who have mental impairments which make it difficult to understand and follow directions, and those people who are so fearful that they are unwilling to flow with the process. Intelligent people who are able to understand the value of learning this technique have no difficulty in doing so. Remember, it is a normal part of your consciousness range. You flow in and out of it whether you realize it or not. The process of learning self-hypnosis is simply to bring your intent to it and practice sustaining the state long enough to gain the benefits of it.
  

Hypnosis (remember: self-hypnosis) offers a direct path into the sub-conscious mind. When we are outwardly involved with the world around us we are in the beta brain wave state (where we experience the stress response) and in our conscious, analytical minds. When we utilize the pathway of hypnosis, we release the focus on the distractions of the outer world, and we bring our awareness to the inner spaces of our consciousness, into the subconscious field. The subconscious is not only a repository of past memories and programming, it is also a profound internal resource for shaping our present life and our future.

The brain wave state and the area of consciousness comprise the WHERE of the hypnosis issue. The HOW comprises the thousands of tools and techniques that can be utilized within this state to effect change. I will address the HOW, the WHO, and the WHEN of the hypnosis issue in future posts. For now, I just want to clarify some things that hypnosis is NOT:

• It is not woo-woo or voo-doo. (Remember, it is a NORMAL part of the consciousness spectrum built into our basic design, and we flow into and out of this state whether we are aware of it or not.)
  
• It is not NEW AGE. Although the term ‘hypnosis’ was not coined until the late 1890’s, accessing into the alpha state is as old as mankind itself.
  
• It is NOT what you see in stage hypnosis acts. REMEMBER: everyone participating in those stage shows on any level is there for one purpose and one purpose alone– entertainment. We all know that the entertainment value is in the wacko stuff some volunteers will be doing up on the stage. Those who volunteer wish to do such wacko stuff at some level or they would not raise their hands. Once up on the stage, the desire not to be the ‘killjoy,’ ‘party-pooper,’ or ‘wet blanket ‘ will be more than sufficient motivation to elicit the desired behavior whether they are ‘hypnotized’ or not.
  
• It is not ‘weird,’ ‘dangerous,’ ‘out there,’ ‘mind-control,’ for the ‘weak-minded,’ or ‘fake.’
  

Hypnosis is empowering, relaxing, safe, fun, simple, effective, and transformative! It is for people who want to have more control over their own minds, emotions, and behaviors. It is for intelligent and motivated people who want to improve their lives utilizing their own innate resources. It is the best way to access one’s inner wisdom, as well as the creative, imaginal, visionary, and intuitive aspects of consciousness. It is the best way to access into the neutral perspective where you can access multiple points of view so that you can be at CHOICE in your life, rather than at EFFECT. At its most basic, it is the most powerful tool for addressing stress in a normal and healthful way that is available to us. Since stress is the common denominator across every aspect of our lives, hypnosis is a tool that can bring us benefits regardless of what the issues are.

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Stress is the common denominator of our lives. We have stress in all dimensions of our experience, whether it is physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. Developing a consistent alpha-state practice has been the road back to equilibrium across all these dimensions for me. The alpha state is simply an extremely relaxed inwardly-aware, normal state of consciousness such as is attained through self-hypnosis or meditation.

Not only does this state bring you into a place where you can gain a larger perspective about the issues in your life, and where you can see things from many different points of view, it connects you to those internal resources for higher guidance in finding solutions, and resolution. In addition, being in the alpha state itself creates specific neurochemistry designed to neutralize the stress chemistry initiated in the brain from being in a beta state (which is an alert, outwardly-focused state) where we tend to spend all our awake time, little realizing this is what is creating the out-of-balance in the first place.

Stress is fragmenting to the being. True relaxation, and the alpha state foster reconnection and wholeness. In our western culture we have little training in activating the relaxation response and are therefore often floundering under a load of stress that will eventually tear us apart if we don’t learn how to cope with it in a natural and healthy way. Learning these simple techniques has enabled me to transcend asthma, IBS, migraines, extreme allergies, chronic pain, crippling grief, and many other debilitating conditions. It has also opened the door to my dreams, and my higher awareness.

Because our western culture has been ‘trained’ to turn to the medical paradigm for a quick fix in the form of a pill to answer these issues, many people do not know that there is a simple, effective, safe, and natural way to utilize the body’s own innate resources for re-establishing equilibrium and health. Managing stress is also the single most critical element in over-coming any habit or addictive behavior pattern.

Once again, I invite you to share you succinct stories here of how self-hypnosis or alpha-state practice has changed your life. If you are moved to do so, you can send expanded versions of your stories to me at trancelady@sbcglobal.net for inclusion in a published project. I believe that many more people have benefited from this type of practice than we commonly know about. It is time to re-empower everyone in knowing about this invaluable resource for healing.
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