About Hypnosis
What is hypnosis ?
If you take a minute and listen to your internal dialog you will notice that you have an opinion about everything and
those conversations in your head almost never stop.
Most likely you are in a state of the conscious mind.
Consider hypnosis as a very powerful tool that enables an access to your memories and eliminates noise of constantly running thoughts.
In hypnosis your conscious mind becomes a quiet observer and you shift into subconscious state of mind. This allows you to
increase self-awareness and achieve more clarity.
Each of us naturally drifts in and out of hypnosis state several times a day, without really noticing it.
When, for example, we nap or daydream we are in the state of hypnosis.
Hypnosis is not a woo-do magic or a spell. Hypnotherapy is a simple logical process of reprogramming our unwanted
behavior or emotion, which uses hypnosis as a tool to achieve calm and focused state of the mind.
You CAN become a master of your mind and your life. You CAN choose to awaken, to better understand yourself and the world
around you.
"Your mind can be either your prison or your palace. What you make it is yours to decide"
― Bernard Kelvin Clive, Your Dreams Will Not Die
History of hypnosis
Though Dr. Franz Mesmer is considered to be a "father of hypnosis", historic records show that hypnosis,
as a tool for health, had been used in ancient India, Egypt and Greece.
Persian doctor Ibn Sina Avicenna recognized and wrote about hypnosis in "The Book of Healing" already in 1027!
Around 1770, Mesmer was the first to propose a rational basis for the effects of hypnosis and to develop a
consistent method for hypnosis, which was passed on to and developed by his followers.
In the early 19th century priest Abbé Faria introduced oriental hypnosis to Paris. Already then he had realized that it
'generated from within the mind' by the power of expectancy and cooperation of the person.
In 1820-ies Dr. Recamier, Dr. James Esdaile and others reported numerous painless surgical operations that had
been performed using Hypnoanesthesia.
For years hypnosis had been used by doctors, psychologists and neurologists.
Among them were Sigmund Freud, Pavlov, Clark L.Hull and others.
In 1956, even Roman Catholic Church, represented at that time by Pope Pius XII gave the approval of hypnosis.
Modern school of hypnosis
Modern hypnotherapy is mostly based on the theory and techniques in hypnosis that were developed by• Milton Erikson
• Dave Elman
• Charles Tebbetts
• John Kappas
The human brain
Building blocks of the brain
Human brain is made up of cells called neurons. In order to communicate with each other neurons transmit
and receive information from one neuron to the next. This process utilizes both electrical signals as well as chemical messengers.
Curious to know more about neurons? Go to
What Is a Neuron? to learn more.
Brain waves
When millions of neurons sending electrical signals, it produces an electrical activity in the brain. This activity can be detected and recorded as a wave using an EEG and other medical equipment, which is measuring electricity levels over areas of the scalp.
Brainwave frequencies
The brain wave changes depending on what the person is doing. The slower the brain activity, the
slower the frequency of the wave, the lower the number of Hz.
The brain wave changes depending on what the person is doing. The slower the brain activity, the
slower the frequency of the wave, the lower the number of Hz.
Traditionally, brain waves are divided into 4 types:
• Beta
• Alpha
• Theta
• Delta
| Cycles per second | Wave Type | Associated Mental State | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||
| 12hz - 38hz | Beta | This is the mental state most people are in during the day. It occurs when we are working, actively thinking, problem-solving, etc. | ||
| 8hz - 12hz | Alpha | In this is the mental state we are calm and relaxed. Alpha state is very receptive and absorbent. This state is effective for self-hypnosis, meditation and self re-programming. | ||
| 3hz - 8hz | Theta | In Theta we experience light sleep or deep relaxation. Theta also is used for hypnosis, self-reprogramming and meditation. | ||
| 0.2hz - 3hz | Delta | Delta is the slowest brainwave. This brain wave is produce during deep sleep when our body is healing itself. | ||
What the mind is where it is located
"Biology gives you a brain. Life turns it into a mind."
― Jeffrey Eugenides,
Middlesex
We see the mind as a complex system that includes thinking, perception, understanding and many other functions. The relation between mind and the brain can be compared to the software (mind) and the hardware (computer itself).
Conscious and subconscious
About Conscious
Wikipedia definition of the conscious: Consciousness is the quality or state of being aware of an external object or something within oneself. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind.For simplicity we will use a term "conscious" as a mental state and the executive control system of the mind. Conscious mental state occurs in Beta. In this state we spend most of our life.
About Subconscious
"There are some things your mind has been hiding from you."― Obert Skye, Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo
Term subconscious is replacing the unconscious and defines psychological processes, which are unseen in the
conscious and thus are not controlled by it.
Another term of subconscious is preconscious.
Preconscious is applied to thoughts which are unconscious at the particular
moment in question, but which are not repressed and are therefore available for recall and easily capable of becoming conscious.
We consider subconscious as a repository of repressed feelings, automatic skills, subliminal perceptions, thoughts, habits,
and automatic reactions, complexes, hidden phobias and desires.
Want to read more about what is subconscious? Click here
Speed of subconscious
According to information from The Biology of Belief by Dr Bruce Lipton in the subconscious state
of mind we can process 20 000 000 bits of info per second.
While in the conscious state of mind we can only process 40 bits of info/sec.
While there are some arguments on the exact numbers among the scientists, the most streams agree that about 95% of our life is
controlled by subconscious and only 5% by conscious mind.
From 0 to 6 years old
It is very important to understand the biggest part of our subconscious beliefs is formed in early childhood.
Until age 6 (approximately) children are constantly live in the subconscious state and there is no mistake when we
say that "children like a sponge" – they "download" and "install" all the information that they are exposed to
Memory
The access to memory
"The mind has to be empty to see clearly."
― J. Krishnamurti,
We see the mind as a complex system that includes thinking, perception, understanding and many other functions. The relation between mind and the brain can be compared to the software (mind) and the hardware (computer itself).
Why to go to the memory
"Without freedom from the past, there is no freedom at all, because the mind is never new, fresh, innocent."
J. Krishnamurti
The way we perceive reality and ourselves today is based on our previous experience. The biggest part of our views and belief system are formed in early childhood. Most of us either do not remember all those moments that formed our beliefs or do not associate it with the current behavior.
Often, we reproduce the emotions and feelings related to the repressed experiences, especially of childhood,
and redirect those feelings to the current situations. This phenomena is called transference and happens unconsciously.
We are absolutely unaware when transference happens and we are unable to explain why we react in a particular way.
In other words, when we do not feel in integrity with our feelings/reactions, but unable to change it there is a high possibility that this is a fixed behavior, which is often taken as given and reasoned in a way "because I am that type of person".
In the subconscious state of mind we have all the associations and properties of the previous experiences and the current situations. This gives us an ability to find the root cause of the issue.
Read more …