Archive for June, 2007

A typical dictionary definition of hypnosis states that it is: a state that resembles sleep but that is induced by suggestion. However, anyone who has tried hypnosis (and any self respecting hypnotist) will tell you that this is a very simplistic view of the subject!

A much better description comes from the Free Online Dictionary which states that hypnosis is: an artificially induced state of consciousness, characterised by heightened suggestibility and receptivity to direction. So what does this mean and how can it be used to your advantage?

Well, the subject of hypnosis has been discussed and pondered since the late 1700s. Many explanations and theories have come and gone though science, however, has yet to supply a valid and well-established definition of how it actually happens. It’s fairly unlikely that the scientific community will arrive at a definitive explanation for hypnosis in the near future either, as the untapped resources of our ‘mostly’ uncharted mind still remain something of a mystery.

However, the general characteristics of hypnosis are well documented. It is a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, deep relaxation and heightened imaginative functioning. It’s not really like sleep at all, because the subject is alert the whole time. It is most often compared to daydreaming, or the feeling you get when you watch a movie or read a captivating book. You are fully conscious, but you tune out most of the outside world. Your focus is concentrated intensely on the mental processes you are experiencing – if movies didn’t provide such disassociation with everyday life and put a person in a very receptive state then they would not be as popular (nor would TV advertising be as effective!). Have you ever stated that a film wasn’t great because you just couldn’t ‘get into it’???

This works very simply; while daydream or watching a movie, an imaginary world becomes almost real to you because it fully engages your emotional responses. Such mental pursuits will on most occasions cause real emotional responses such as fear, sadness or happiness (have you ever cried at a sad movie, felt excited by a future event not yet taken place or shivered at the thought of your worst fear?).

It is widely accepted that these states are all forms of self-hypnosis. If you take this view you can easily see that you go into and out of mild hypnotic states on a daily basis – when driving home from work, washing the dishes, or even listening to a boring conversation. Although these situations produce a mental state that is very receptive to suggestion the most powerful time for self-change occurs in the trance state brought on by intentional relaxation and focusing exercises. This deep hypnosis is often compared to the relaxed mental state between wakefulness and sleep.

In this mental state, people feel uninhibited and relaxed and they release all worries and doubts that normally occupy their mind. A similar experience occurs while you are daydreaming or watching the TV. You become so involved in the onscreen antics that worries and everyday cares fade away, until all you’re focused on is the TV. In this state, you are also highly suggestible. That is why when a hypnotist tells you do something under trance; you’ll probably embrace the idea completely. However, your sense of safety and morality remain entrenched throughout the experience and should either of these be threatened you immediately wake!

A hypnotist can not get you to do anything you don’t want to do.

So while in such a state, when we are highly suggestible and open to new beliefs, a skillful hypnotist, whether in person or via a recording, can alter life-long behaviours and even give us new ones!

About The Author

Michael McGrath is the owner of several successful Internet businesses, a university computer graduate and he has over 21 years experience with personal development. His most popular sites are Personal Development – The personal development industry put to the test. We only review personal development products that work!

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“If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” Sounds obvious doesn’t it? Very true though and is a presupposition of NLP. How about putting some change into your life today with these amazing insightful and simple ideas for enhancing your wellness.
Many people would say that it is absolute madness to keep on doing the same thing, time after time, expecting to get a different result or for something different to happen. Alternatively, many people, especially those in the personal development, NLP and wellness fields of varying natures, would describe it as intelligent to have a goal and be wonderfully flexible about how you go about achieving it.
It is this intelligent idea of enhancing wellness that I want to highlight today with NLP. If what you’re doing isn’t working or increasing your wellness, do something else;
I was working with a corporate client recently and had been working with one of their senior managers using NLP and various other techniques. He had wanted his team to carry out a piece of project work in a certain way. He said to me that he had told them again and again (12 times in total), but they still weren’t doing what he wanted. I pointed out that if he wanted them to change what they were doing, he might have to change what he was doing; I suggested that he be more flexible. Together, We explored some alternative approaches and things started to change.
If you are fed up with getting the same results to certain things over and over, with whatever it is that you are looking to change, use this notion to begin to disrupt your existing pattern. If you are just following the idea through in some way, by definition you are perceiving it differently and doing yourself lots of favours. You’ll be increasing your wellness. So, firstly, identify an area where you’ve been doing the same thing over and over hoping to get a different result. Or an area that you want to increase your wellness. It may relate to a behaviour, habit, circumstance or situation; just choose something that you want to change the outcome of.
Then secondly, clarify your goal, that is, clarify what you want to achieve. Do this by asking yourself what you want and how you will know when you have got it. Thirdly, construct or create a list of the different approaches and behaviours you have tried already in order to achieve this goal or increased wellness. Or note down what it is that you are doing currently. Finally and most simply, put together a nice list of some alternative behaviours you will use to achieve the goal and increase wellness. Enlist some help ifyou feel it would help. When you have compiled a good list (put stuff down on that list that may well not seem right for you, it is good to explore avenues that in the past made you feel uncomfortable from time to time). Then, of course, look at starting to do the things that are on your list; do them.
What I am wanting to get across here is the idea of being more bendy.
Your mind and your body really are a single system, so it follows that physical flexibility can often lead to greater mental flexibility. There are certain activities which can greatly increase physical flexibility, including things like Yoga, Martial arts, Dancing, Swimming and lots of other general forms of exercise.
Practicing any of these will increase your overall behavioural and mental flexibility and level of wellness. In addition, find opportunities to break habitual patterns. For instance, most mornings when I shave, I do it in a different way. This requires me to stay aware and vary my patterns. The more flexibility you have, the more flexibility you can bring to situations involving others. Often, when people are seeing me for reducing their weight, I might suggest that they look at the doing things like swapping their knife and fork hands around for a week.
So, go ahead and identify a habitual pattern and change it to enhance your wellness. Especially if it is something you are not entirely happy about.
Here is a list of some things that you can do to interrupt your existing patterns and increase your wellness, you can be as creative as you want with these things.
-Eat a food that you never usually eat -Go for a walk at an early hour in the morning -Watch a TV show you would never usually watch -Take a different journey home from work -Take a cold shower -Answer your phone with the opposite hand to usual -Laugh and smile for no reason
The sooner you start doing this, the more fun you’ll have with it. Then often, the higher your increase in wellness. So many people I encounter, know all this stuff or read it and still don’t do these things and wonder why they are not getting what they want. Do soemthing different today and you’ll be amazed how your wellness rockets.
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About the Author
Adam Eason is an author, consultant, trainer and motivational speaker in the fields of hypnosis, NLP, personal development and human potential. His website is filled with information, stimulating articles, resources and uniques products and can be found here; http://www.adam-eason.com

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