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Recently, I have had an influx of clients looking for help with stress related to the death of a loved one. It occurred to me that with each of these client’s there was an underlying sense of guilt. Guilt about not noticing soon enough when their loved one had a life threatening issue, guilt about not being able to fix or control the outcome, and sometimes guilt about turning away when they no longer felt safe due to the condition of the sick individual. More than ever I recognized the need for self hypnosis in their treatment. It seemed as if they wouldn’t have ongoing success without it.

Don’t get me wrong, I teach self hypnosis to the majority of my clients, but in this instance, it was imperative. Unfortunately, at some point, they have taken on the responsibility of the death of their loved one and sometimes they get stuck here. I’ve seen several people come out of this pit of despair with the help of hypnosis among other treatments. The self hypnosis in particular helped them reach their continuing goals.

This past December I lost a young family member tragically and it was this technique (and yoga) that helped me get through the caring for my sister during her loss, trying to find forgiveness and understanding in the situation, and making final arrangements for my niece. While there were previously times in my life that I struggled with anxiety about going to the supermarket alone, with this technique, I faced a new city fearlessly, dealt with its laws and had my first experience planning final decisions for a life. All things that normally would’ve scared me into an anxiety attack. But at no point did my anxiety win, take over or bring me to a place where I couldn’t handle what was in front of me. I was grateful for this technique and wanted to share it with my readers.

Because I am aware of the need for self hypnosis in many cases, I thought I would post about it and share the technique here. Please feel free to practice at home, and if you still need help, reach out! I’d love to hear from you.

Self Hypnosis Step 1:

• Just before falling asleep each night give yourself the following suggestion 10 times:

“Everyday in every way, I get better and better.”

• While you are saying this count on each finger to make sure you do it 10 times.
• Visualize yourself in whatever way you would like to see yourself getting better and better each time you say it. Keep your visualizations positive in nature.
• It’s important to make sure you do this 10 times in a row without falling asleep.

(If bedtime simply won’t work for you, find a time of the day that you can do this technique at the same time each day and really focus on it.)

Hope this helps! Good luck.

Hypnosis can be a very enjoyable and healing experience. Many people seek hypnosis to curb bad habits, begin new ones, to meet spirit guides or to visit a past life. There are however, a few tips I can give you to help you enjoy your experience more thoroughly.

BEFORE YOUR SESSION

Tip #1- Don’t over do it on the caffeine. Excessive caffeine levels can cause a person to be too fidgety or unable to relax so that they can have the best experience possible. This goes for alcohol, marijuana and any stimulants that could change your ability to be in touch with yourself and/or reality.

Tip #2- Wear comfortable clothing. I cannot stress this enough. Whether it is warm or cold, dress appropriately, in unrestricted clothing that will allow you to relax. Nothing itchy or that you will feel suffocated by when sitting for an hour or two. This isn’t a fashion show. It’s really about being comfortable.

Tip #3- Plan your timing well. You do not want to be running late for this kind of appointment as it will cause you to feel flustered and may be difficult to relax once the session begins. This is also a profession where clients may be booked back to back and it would allow you to get the full time of your appointment if you are on time. Also, plan for some down time afterward. Hypnosis can be healing in a way for some people that brings up repressed emotions. You may want to schedule some time after the session to be able to simply sit with your own thoughts in a quiet space. I HIGHLY recommend Yoga or Floating before or after a session to help release any toxins, and connect the body mind even more. This is obviously not required, but I have done it and it seems my thoughts are much more clear when this is done together.

Tip #4- Eat a moderate meal that won’t upset your stomach. You don’t want your stomach in knots while you’re trying to relax, but you also don’t want to be so hungry that you cannot ignore the growling.

Tip #5- If you have questions about hypnosis or wish to explore certain things that you have read about or feel a close connection to, take some time to write down your thoughts and feelings about these things and bring them with you to your session. Also, let go of any preconceptions and expectations about what may happen for you. Trust the process and approach your session with an open heart, knowing that you will go where you need to go and see what you need to see.

AFTER YOUR SESSION

Tip #1- Drink plenty of water, and eat something small afterward to ground yourself. (A small piece of chocolate is excellent for this.) Hypnosis can be dehydrating and cause some clients to feel a bit out of sorts. It is a deep experience which can open up your senses.

Tip #2- Don’t over analyze the session too much right away. Allow yourself time to journal about the session or talk about it with someone you trust, but most of all, be open to the new understanding you will have about yourself.

 

 

Understanding neural pathways of the brain and how to manipulate them can significantly help oneself to change bad habits. Our brains are built like a road map of the city. The more we use a road, the stronger it needs to be. The more work that is done on it, so that we can move with ease, each time we choose that road. 

Let’s say for instance, that you have been eating when you get stressed for your whole adult life. After ten or twenty years of growing this habit, really, even after one year of doing it, your brain has built a road from stress to eating. Suddenly you find that even if you don’t want to, the craving is there. You cry out for HELP! But what can you do? 

Well, fortunately our brains have been found to have neuroplasticity which allows for common roads to be used less and a new, and better, road to be formed. It doesn’t happen over night and there are ways to promote this “new road” to grow more rapidly. 

A state of relaxed concentration on the new road can help to form those neural pathways into better habits. 

Learning a mantra (a statement or slogan repeated frequently) for the cravings or times of trouble, can also help to retrain the brain. 

During hypnosis, a client is brought into a state of deep relaxation where they are then guided to observe and build a new road specific for them. Everyone has trigger words and behaviors linked to their habit that, when specified, can increase the chances of change. Self hypnosis tools are given, or techniques are taught in order to assist the client to continue building the road, on their own, between sessions. Within a few weeks time, most clients have already stopped the old habit and rebuilt the new one. Everyone is different and some people need more sessions than others depending on the work they are willing to do themselves in between. 

To schedule an appointment, visit my contact page or email roxanne.mhp@gmail.com 

New roads are waiting to be built for you! 

Last week I met with a client who has smoked more than a pack of cigarettes a day for more than 40 years. As of a week and a half ago, he now considers himself a non smoker. He chose a date 2 weeks from our initial appointment as his quit date and we agreed to meet for 3 appointments unless he had any setbacks. He had a few limiting beliefs to begin with, which to me, spoke volumes. 

Where had these limiting beliefs come from? 

He had read and heard of different statistics which caused him to believe specific things about quitting that would influence his own drive while quitting. Things that he believed because some one else had written them as fact when they were entirely just a measurement according to their observation. No study was administered, just some person making a claim because of what worked for him or her. During hypnosis we worked on those limiting beliefs, but more than anything we could discuss about statistics or facts, he got a message. The message was from his deceased father. 

Needless to say, when he did mess  up, he did it miserably. Instead of understanding that having one smoke was a mistake, he continued to smoke with the belief that no matter what, he was a failure.

While this client was under hypnosis in his next session, it was suggested that he be visited by a presence and that this presence would have a message for him about his habit. For him, this presence was his deceased father and the message was “Do as I say,not as I do”, as his father had died from cancer and been a smoker all of his life. More profound than anything I could have come up with as the hypnotist, this client visited someone whom he loved and trusted and who he knew would give him words of wisdom for this journey. 

Since that visit, the client has reported that cravings are fewer and further between one another and that he hasn’t made any mistakes since. He also reported that he now knows that a mistake is just a mistake and that he can change just by forgiving himself for the one incident and moving forward with his new life as a non smoker.

If you are interested in quitting smoking, or another habit you have had trouble breaking, please contact me and we can face your limiting beliefs together. Judgement free.