Do you remember a time when your mind drifted off, when you were daydreaming, perhaps when you were taking a journey or reading a book or watching a movie? That’s pretty similar to hypnosis – though there’s a difference, which we’ll cover later.
Ask most people what hypnosis is, and they’ll be drawing upon ideas from the movies or from something they’ve seen on TV or on stage. Now I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t like to get my ideas of how the world works from Hollywood or from Neighbours! If you work in a profession that’s often shown onscreen, such as the police or the health profession, you’ll know for sure that things really don’t happen as they’re presented for our entertainment. And hypnosis is no different.
Daydream believer…
So think instead about that last time you daydreamed. Think about what was happening in your mind. Most probably your thoughts drifted, as your mind wandered… and pretty soon, before you knew it, you were miles away, with no idea how your thoughts took you to that point.
That’s really what the experience of hypnosis is like. And what’s that got to do with helping you to stop smoking, or stop biting your nails, or overcome anxiety or anger? Well, there is one major difference between daydreaming and hypnosis, and it’s this: hypnosis is guided daydreaming. Rather than your mind just drifting off on its own track, it’s being led by your Hypnotherapist, who is taking advantage of your deeply relaxed state to make suggestions to your subconscious.
You see, it turns out that our beliefs and values are deep down in the mind, often formed when we were kids and long before we were aware of what was happening. And it makes a lot of sense that those values and beliefs are hard to access and even harder to change – otherwise, if they could be easily changed, they wouldn’t be values or beliefs!
Imagine if in the morning you were deeply religious and a true believer, and then by mid-afternoon you were an atheist, and then again by the time you went to bed you were back to being a believer again! That wouldn’t be a smart way to live, because your behaviour is driven by your values and your beliefs, and if they switch about every hour, then your behaviour becomes very inconsistent and hard to predict – even for you to predict.
So, your values and beliefs are deep down and hard to access… usually. But it turns out that, if we switch off that busy, active, conscious mind of yours, then we can directly access those values and beliefs and begin to make suggestions that can change them.
What next? Why not book in for a free phone appointment to discuss how you can get back on track with what you want from life?