Hypnosis or hypnotherapy is becoming an increasingly popular treatment for many mental conditions such as depression, anxiety, addictions and phobias. It’s claimed hypnosis can help you quit smoking, or get over your fear of just about anything.
There are also many skeptics of hypnosis. Just last night, I watched The Chaser’s War On Everything here in Australia. One skit was about a self proclaimed hypnotherapist in the US (Steve something? Can’t remember the name), who claimed he could help people get over things like bad breath and smelly feet through his hypnosis CDs. He also charged up to $50,000 a session. I can see why the Chaser took the mikey out of this guy – he was obviously a scam artist, and there are many out there. But are they just giving the other, real hypnotherapists a bad name?
I personally have been seeing a psychologist who specialises in hypnotherapy since the start of this year. I sought this help to deal with depression. I’m not a fan of artificial drugs to deal with a mental condition, so I decided to try something new. Many people are extremely skeptical about hypnotherapy, probably because of dodgy people like the guy I mentioned earlier. Many people see hypnosis as a “magic trick” where someone swings a pendulum in front of you and makes you cluck like a chicken. The real point of hypnosis though is to enter a trance-like or sleep-like state, where you can directly access your subconscious. You access this state through meditation.
I have found hypnosis very helpful. Within two months I have gone from being classified as “severely depressed” to “mildly depressed” and almost completely better.
My psychologist tells me hypnotherapy is also helpful for weight loss. You can change those subconscious behaviours to get rid of your cravings for bad food, and to instill a desire to exercise and eat well. It helps overcome the root causes of why we gain weight in the first place, which 9 times out of 10 is to do with our emotions.
Its common in society and the diet industry to be told you just need to eat less and exercise more if you want to lose weight. But, if that is true, why is the majority of the western world overweight? I have a theory about this which is a little complex but basically, I think the reason is that we are so far removed from our core selves and what it is to be a person. We live in a constantly changing society. We no longer hunt and gather for our own food, we now twitter on our iPhones and drive through a fast food joint in our car to get some manufactured, packaged thing which vaguely resembles real food. I think many people struggle with a removal from their core being, their true self. There is so much franticness in this world, a constant need to be better, bigger, more successful, have more possessions. Want, want, want. Everything is upsized. Is there any surprise we are also becoming upsized?
Anyway, I’m getting off-topic here. The point is, hypnotherapy aims to appeal to our subconscious and therefore is claimed to be a useful tool in weightloss. The Gabriel Method which I wrote about earlier uses a meditation CD which you listen to as you are going to sleep – i.e. entering your trance or “SMART” state. The messages on the CD appeal to your subconscious.
There is also another book (which I have not read yet – not sure if I will) by Paul McKenna called “I can make you thin” which is very similar in its principles to the Gabriel Method. Paul McKenna apparently helps many celebrities and even british royals to lose weight. He also has uses a CD with his weight loss book, which I understand you listen to first thing in the morning. From what I understand, his approach is pretty basic but uses common sense many people have forgotten in our hectic modern lives. His four principles are:
1. When you are hungry, eat.
2. Eat what you want (not what you think you “should”.)
3. Eat consciously and enjoy every mouthful.
4. When you are full stop.
Seems pretty simple right? He also has his own TV show in the UK..
I’ll be undergoing some hypnotherapy sessions specifically related to weight loss. I’ll keep you posted as to how this goes for me.
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