How Does Hypnosis Work? All About Hypnosis Therapy
How Does Hypnosis Work?
How does hypnosis work? Find out all about hypnosis therapy and how it works.
What should you expect from hypnotherapy sessions and self help hypnosis...?
More information here....
All About Hypnosis Therapy
Hypnosis is actually a more ancient therapy than you might think….
’Healing trances’ have been used by the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, and many other ‘ethnic’ and ‘tribal’ cultures too…
Hypnotherapy in its more modern form developed from the work of surgeons in the 19th Century, who began to use hypnosis for pain relief during surgery!
The introduction of more ‘conventional’ anaesthetics, such as ether and chloroform, soon meant the use of hypnosis faded away for a time…
…but it began to re-emerge as a serious therapy again, around 50 – 60 years ago
About Hypnotherapy
Are you wondering how does hypnosis work?
Hypnotherapy works on the idea that the mind has several different levels of consciousness:
Fully asleep
Awake and fully conscious
A ’subconsciousness’ - a trance like state, somewhere between wakefulness and sleep
In this state, the body and mind are perfectly relaxed.
The brain produces alpha waves, like it does during sleep. But, during the trance-like state of hypnosis, the alpha waves are much more intense, and the subconscious mind is alert, in a way that it isn’t during sleep.
This is a very similar state of mind to that found during meditation - which is a state recognised to give much physical, psychological and spiritual benefit to its participants.
During this very relaxed subconscious state of mind, the mind is very receptive to suggestions made.
This means that the hypnotherapist can ‘suggest’ or ‘explain’ things to the subconscious mind, which the mind, and consequently the body, can easily accept and take on board.
This means you can learn to make many positive changes with hypnosis.
The subconscious mind is the part of the mind that controls all the things we do every day – like:
breathing
blinking
controlling temperature
falling asleep
This does mean that this part of the mind can have a very strong physical effect on the body, as well as on the conscious part of the mind, and the emotions.
This is how hypnosis therapy can gradually influence very physical functions of the body, such as the response to pain, and cause the body to heal itself.
How Does Hypnosis Work?
You might think that hypnosis won’t work for you …. But it is believed that are around 90% of the population as a whole are capable of being hypnotised.
But only around 10% of these people can go into such a deep trance that minor operations can be performed on them, without anaesthetics.
So how does hypnosis work then?
The ability to be hypnotised depends mostly on whether you are actually willing to be hypnotised…
You have to fully trust the person who will be hypnotising you …. The subconscious mind will not accept what it considers to be an ‘unreasonable’ suggestion.
So, you do not need to worry unduly that you are handing over control of your mind, or that you will be forced to do anything that you are not happy with.
It is thought that it is easiest to hypnotise:
Imaginative people
People who can easily become closely absorbed in tasks
It is easy to see how hypnosis can help with confidence issues, or feeling anxious or unhappy, but what about actual physical illnesses - how does hypnosis work for things like that?
Physical Benefits of Hypnosis Therapy
How does hypnosis work to heal physical illnesses?
Medical studies show that the body can show physical signs under hypnosis, that are very similar to the physical signs the body would be undergoing, if events were happening in real life…
For example, suggestions while in a hypnotic state that you are cold (or warm) can actually lead to real temperature changes in the body – so this just shows you how powerful the subconscious mind can be – and how it might work, to be able to heal illnesses and bring about positive changes, through hypnosis.
Hypnotherapy has sometimes been used, even in modern cultures, instead of anaesthetics, in simple dental, or medical procedures – so this shows tht it can easily affect responses to pain.
Hypnosis therapy is quite often used to treat illnesses, such as allergies…
Patients are treated very successfully by offering suggestions to their subconscious, that their body simply ignores the ‘inappropriate’ reaction to allergens.
Although patients reporting feeling no more allergy symptoms, blood tests do confirm that the allergen antibodies are still there – it is just that the subconscious is powerful enough to learn how to ignore, and overcome, unwanted reactions!
It is the same idea as fire-walking - the mind can control physical aspects of the body, and stop physical burning and pain.
Once we realise exactly how powerful the human mind and subconscious can be, we can start to harness its power, and allow it to work for us, and not against us…!
Always remember to consult your healthcare provider before taking any decisions regarding your health.
Watch these short video clips for more information about hypnosis therapy...
Simply click on an image to start the video player...
If you are interested in trying hypnosis therapy for yourself, you can:
Do you have any tips and experiences in using hypnosis therapy, to share? How does hypnosis work for you? Tell us about your experiences...
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