Can "Self" Hypnosis Really Work?

After a hypnosis client has a breakthrough, thanks me, and shakes my hand vigorously, I ask a question he or she does not expect:

"Now are you ready to learn self-hypnosis?"

Some respond with an immediate "Yes!" but a surprising number get quiet.

"You can't really hypnotize yourself, can you, really?" they finally ask.

I know it seems crazy. How can you be the hypnotist and the hypnotizee simultaneously? Can you split your mind that way? Doesn't it take a lot of effort? How would you say the right things and relax at the same time?

I had the same questions when I first learned about hypnosis. You may be as surprised as I was to discover that it is possible, even simple.

Self hypnosis capitalizes on a natural state of mind you've often encountered, perhaps without noticing it.

Here's what I mean: you get into the right mental attitude for hypnosis many times a day naturally, without trying. Or even knowing that you're doing it.

An example: Every time you tell yourself something about how something will be in the future, or repeat the same words over and over in your mind, or conjure up the same mental pictures-you are informally self-hypnotizing.

This can be even more powerful when you're already in a dreamy, meditative state, a state that is hypnotic.

So why not take the ability you already have and use it to your advantage? Sounds smart, doesn't it?

-Refine Your Natural Technique

Because self hypnosis is quite effective, tell yourself only the things that you desire, not what you fear, despise, or want to avoid. Same goes for the mental movies you run. Show yourself the future you desire, not the one you're worried may occur.

Stop telling yourself "I'm going to lose my job." Instead say: "Every day I'm learning, sharpening my skills, and making myself a valuable asset at my current job and for future jobs."

Apply this approach to any aspects of your life (romance, home life, parenting, sports) and you can "hypnotize" yourself into improvement and happiness.

How to get started?

-Recall And Make Use Of Your Good Times

Self-hypnosis usually involves picturing what you want. To make that easier, simply borrow thoughts, feelings and memories from good times that already occurred.

Example: Before I give a speech, as I walk up to the podium, I recall that time I spoke to 550 realtors who were excited and grateful to hear my message. Those 90 minutes in front of an energized room is every speaker's dream.

I use that experience in this way: Before I give a talk, I imagine myself standing in front of that large, enthusiastic crowd of realtors. I recall the eager faces I saw. Feel the happiness in my chest. Hear their loud clapping. It only takes a moment, but it lets me present myself to any group, whether five people or five hundred, with the same feeling of confidence and excitement.

Find your moment. It doesn't have to be a big moment, just one that makes you feel the way you want to feel. Use it relentlessly.

-Put Your Mind On A Diet

When on a diet, smart people put healthy, low-fat goodies in their cupboards and toss away fatty and sugary saboteurs. Do the same with your thoughts. Steer clear of self-blame, ridicule and stories about negative incidents of the past.

Think of them only long enough to decide what you want instead. "Instead of a supervisor who belittles me, I am now looking to work for someone who is fair, helpful, shows me my good points and objectively directs me to improve."

-Edit Out What You Shouldn't Be Telling Yourself

Self critique is smart if it's objective, useful, and quick enough to make its point and move you to what you want-to be, do, and feel.

Run an audit of your thoughts to notice the damaging or unproductive thoughts you've been saturating your mind with. Quickly ask yourself: "What am I trying to teach myself with these thoughts?" Look for simple, sensible nuggets.

A client realized that self-berating thoughts like "You're so fat, you're busting out of your clothes," "You'll never get a great guy like this," and "You're ruining your knees with all this weight" were simply indications of a desire to protect and improve herself.

She changed the ideas to: "You look great when you're lean and your clothes fit well," "You attract a guy who likes you the way you like yourself to be," and "When you're lean, your body feels good and supports you best."

Within three months of changing her thoughts, she lost 30 pounds and was casually dating several men whom she enjoyed being with.

-Make It Feel Real So It Becomes Real

When you allow yourself to sense that, inside, you are the person you want to be, and your outsides (appearance and ways of speaking and behaving) are beginning to follow suit, it feels real. It begins to become real. And soon enough, your goal is fully realized.

All you have to do is start the process, and allow yourself to notice even the subtlest beginnings of positive change.

-Let Go And Enjoy

Once you get yourself started on these changes of thought and action, let your own subconscious keep that ball rolling. Intervene as needed to correct your course, as sailors do, but do appreciate nature's help in moving toward your goal in ways that are unexpected, subtle and surprisingly easy. ©2008 by Wendy Lapidus-Saltz. All rights reserved.

Wendy Lapidus-Saltz is a hypnotist & mind coach specializing in smoking cessation, love attraction and career issues. She maintains a Chicago office and works with clients worldwide by phone. Wendy's "Secret Self Hypnosis" CD/MP3 teaches people self hypnosis easily and safely. Reach her at ILAPSAL@aol.com or 312-640-1584. Visit her website http://www.nonsmoker4life.com andhttp://www.hypno-attraction.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wendy_Lapidus-Saltz

Self - Hypnosis - You Can Do It

Hypnosis is believed to be an effective way of making you change your perspective in life and to make you stop with your vices just like turning off a switch. If you smoke, you know how hard it is to just quit. Perhaps you've tried everything but you just can't quit the habit. Many have attested to the effectiveness of hypnosis and news is just spreading like wildfire with this new way of finally saying NO to smoking. And it's not just with smoking that hypnosis is known to be beneficial, some even say they start losing weight after having hypnotherapy. Just about anything in your life can be changed through hypnosis. It's a very helpful type of therapy but can be destructive if used limproperly.

So, how do you do self hypnosis? It's different with self hypnosis because you don't have a professional hypnotherapist to guide you through your menta transition and if done improperly, could cause more problems instead of making positive changes. It is best that you do your research first and use the right tools for your self hypnosis.

One of the most common tools used for self hypnosis is a hypnosis CD. Hypnotherapists have developed self-hypnosis CDs so even without being physically present; they are still guiding you through the entire process. Hypnosis CDs will make you relaxed and would bring you to that mental state where the hypnotherapist would then feed commands to you and your brain quickly absorbs this commands and when you wake up, you'd feel a sudden change in you and your brain just simply rejects cigarettes or will just make you stop eating too much.

As long as you get your hypnosis CDs from a reliable source and with accreditation, you will be just fine. Experience this amazing new way of making you reach your goals and with very little effort. Discover your true potentials through hypnosis.

About the Author: Eligio Tapiador Jr. is a a part-time blogger and full-time net entrepreneur. For more information about the hypnosis cd, please visithttp://www.discoverselfhypnosis.com/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eligio_Tapiador_Jr

Seven Steps for Transforming Any Habit - How Life Transformation and Self Hypnosis Secrets Can Work

If you're looking for a way to change your food habits, stop smoking or make any other shifts in your life, there are seven steps that can help you. If you consume too much caffeine or nicotine or sugar and you've made the decision to move to another level of your life, you can do it now.

A woman named Sandra was getting fed up with her habit of buying lattes every day at the local coffee house chain. They were loaded with caffeine and sugar, and she went everyday like clockwork to get a large fix of the legal upper that coursed though her body like a speeding locomotive. She was gaining weight, and she was beginning to worry that she might not be able to let go of this stimulant that had a major hold on her.

One day, she decided that she'd look into letting go. She was anxious when she began, partly because the lattes made her that way, and partly because she carried anxiety around in her anyway; in fact, she thought that the lattes might be helping her to reduce anxiety. She was literally hypnotized by her habit to believe it was helping her.

Seven Steps

There's very good news, though: we can re-hypnotize our responses. We can shift our choices. We can stop doing what we're doing, and we can have a healthy and free life. Here are seven steps to transforming any habit.

Step One: Pay Attention

Sandra looked at her latte habit, and began to observe what was taking place. She looked at her thoughts, feelings, and her body's responses. She was now the witness, instead of the slave or victim

Step Two: Make the Decision

Next, she made a decision. We have moments of awakening in which it's clear that the time to transform is here. Sandra had that "I've had it" moment, in which she knew that her time to shift had come.

Step Three: Create a Plan

So Sandra came up with a plan. She decided that she wanted to stop completely--not even a taste. She wanted to be done, and she made that inner commitment, which I call "the healing decision," the decision to be done. She wanted never to step into that coffee shop again.

Step Four: Choose What to Do Instead

She decided on substitutes, what she'd do instead. Walks appealed to her. If she had any emotional issues, she'd walk and pay attention to her feelings. She'd watch and allow herself to "experience her experience." If she became hungry, she'd eat something healthy. She decided to do some self-hypnosis by putting her thumb together with her index finger and saying what was to her a healing phrase: "I AM calm and free."

Step Five: Look at the Obstacles

Next she looked at her inner emotions, the reasons why she might want to continue to drink those stimulatingly sweet lattes. She came face-to-face with her anger, and she did some techniques to release her anger.

Step Six: Reinforce your Choice

She could now witness, release and let go of her judgment and reactivity in her old work situation. She put her thumb together with her index finger and said a healing phrase: "I AM calm and free."

Step Seven: Transform and Actually Do It!

And so it was--complete, done, finished, over. She passed by the coffee shop, and she said to herself, "I'm done with that, totally done." She was calm and free, and she had accomplished her dream of transforming her life.

Want to learn more about life transformation, spiritual growth, and healing? You can download our 100 page free ebook, Extraordinary Healing at http://www.thewisemind.com - You can also subscribe to our wonderful free monthly newsletter, "The Transformation News." Marilyn Gordon is a board certified hypnotherapist, teacher, speaker, healer, school director, and author with over thirty years of experience. Her latest book is The Wise Mind: The Brilliant Key to Life Transformation and Healing. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marilyn_B_Gordon

Hypnotherapy In London, Self Hypnosis At Home_ Addictions Can Fly Out The Window!

Many people's biggest fear of hypnosis is of being in someone else's 'control'. In fact most people associate hypnosis with some form of magic trick rather than with the achievement of a heightened state of physical and mental comfort and relaxation. In the recent BBC investigation series into alternative health it was shown that under hypnosis, the imagining of a physical activity or event can access the same area of brain activity as the real experience, whereas just imagination alone, without the aid of hypnosis activates an entirely different area of brain functioning, associated with the imagination, not the activity. This is then, clearly, a powerful tool for change, if we can access the part of the brain that controls the actual behavioural aspect.

The extraordinary factor is that this fundamental shift in brain activity is achieved merely by inducing a profound state of relaxation, which we call hypnosis. In fact, when you achieve this state of deep relaxation the body can also generate hormones that help with your energy levels and your general mood. Further, this is an additive process - the more times that you can attain this level of heightened relaxation, the greater the effect on your body and mind. So if we are given the tools to access this deep state after we have finished a session of hypnotherapy in London for example, when we are back at home and without the aid of a professional hypnotherapist, these positive effects can be enhanced many times over, for as long as we choose.

Fundamentally, hypnotherapy is about enabling increased levels of self-awareness and self-control, so self-hypnosis is, by definition, a huge asset to that process. All we require are effective techniques to access that deep state of relaxation. Once your hypnotherapist has taught you a clear technique, self-hypnosis can become a tool for life, in almost every area of your life. And of course, self-hypnosis is free!

Hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis are powerful tools, but the really important factor is still you and your determination to get the desired result to change. You need to be ready for the change in your life. It is this fact that will bring the goal closer when you apply self-hypnosis techniques provided by your hypnotherapist.

Any self-hypnosis programme requires a repeat investment of about twenty minutes per day over a period of a few weeks or months (although many achieve their ambition with ease sooner than this) until you no longer feel the need for the support to change. Crucially, by following a self-hypnosis programme, vital support is always with you. Being committed to succeed and repeating the self-hypnosis sessions are daily reminders to reinforce your goals and your achievement. Success will be achieved by those that really want it.

Simon Egerton is a London based hypnotherapist who can help you to cope with the stresses of modern day living. You can find out more about his Hypnotherapy in London practice where you can quit smoking in one hypnotherapy session at http://www.healthandhighlife.co.uk Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Simon_Egerton