In
my work as a hypnotherapist, I often hear concerns expressed
that if one allows oneself to be hypnotized, that a person will
lose control of themselves and do things against their will
and not remember anything that happened. This is what is called
deep trance.
I
think the Revine's of the world and old fiction movies have
done this powerful therapeutic tool a great disservice. The
people they pick through a series of suggestibility tests
are only those who do not mind behaving in a silly or ridiculous
manner. What a hypnotist can never do is make you do something
against your values.
For
instance, if you are sleeping you may hear familiar noises
such as the fridge going on, your dog or cat scratching, the
hum of a radio or TV. But if an unfamiliar sudden jarring
noise is heard, you instantly wake up with your senses fully
alert. And, if it is against your values to rob a bank, you
won't.
Most
trances are actually quite light, such as when you are meditating,
daydreaming, listening to a boring speaker or right before
you go to sleep. Even jogging or Tai Chi has been called meditation
in motion. It is something you do quite often all on your
own. It is in this light trance state when you are relaxed,
that your conscious mind can more easily communicate with
your unconscious.
What
few people realize is most of your life is unconsciously determined.
However, the unconscious is not necessarily unchangeable.
All of the experiences we have today affect our unconscious
mind as well as our conscious mind. If I read something that
inspires me, my unconscious mind has been changed. If I have
a meeting with a person who is important to me - my unconscious
is changed. Trance is where learning and openness are most
likely to occur. It is where we are aware of the vividness
of inner mental and sensory experiences, and where external
stimuli such as sounds and movements assume less importance.
In
the trance state physiological processes slow down allowing
us, both at a conscious and unconscious level, to really concentrate
on the task at hand; to access experiences from the right
side of the brain and to understand our problems differently
with the left side of the brain. Critical judgement is reduced
to allow for new insights and new understandings.
Nutritionists
say we are what we eat. Psychologically speaking we are what
we believe. Bees have bodies much too heavy for their wings,
but don't know it, so they can fly. Your unconscious is your
best therapist - the problem state is attached to the conscious
mind, the resource state to the unconscious mind. You have
all the resources you need and you may need to access some
in your unconscious to find solutions you are looking for.
Quantum
physics says we do not change slowly over time, rather we
leap from one state to another. Interestingly, movies are
shown at the rate of 32 frames per second. If we were to slow
that down and show one frame every hour, would it even make
sense? Our conscious mind is very slow. By getting in touch
with the vast reservoir of our unconscious, we are speeding
up the probability of change many fold.
Your
unconscious is a powerful tool and a very useful one to add
to your toolbox of resources which then can assist you in
making changes and moving forward in your life. After all,
if you only have a hammer everything starts to look like a
nail. Pretty hard to build a house with only a hammer.
Monika
Nygaard is a Certified Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
Trainer, Time Line Therapy® Master Trainer and Hypnotherapy
Trainer. She can be reached at nlp4change@shaw.ca
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