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Hypnosis - How Does "It" Work

When you know that hypnosis works, you may start wondering how it works. As several hypnotists consolidate my student loans hypnotherapists out there say about hypnosis, "There Home refinancing calculator no 'it.'" What does that mean?

That simply means hypnosis is a natural state of mind people experience everyday several times a day. This state of mind is common. You experience it when you daydream or watch a movie. Then you're left to wonder how does hypnosis work.

In Your Mind: What's Going On Here?

There are two viewpoints based on the works of Dave Elman and Milton Erickson. Followers of Milton Erickson believe that hypnosis is a process of communication with the "unconscious" mind. The suggestions which the client hears or sees get internalized within the unconscious mind which finds meanings from the past or present experiences and are acted upon unconsciously. Dave Elman taught about the "subconscious" mind as a part of the mind where suggestions work along with beliefs based on past experiences. Both describe what you could call models of learning that bypasses the conscious mind. Both models are useful for creating the change you want.

You may know the saying, "As a man thinketh, so shall he be." or in modern language, "As one believes and thinks, so one will experience life." What you believe about the world and yourself determines the results you get.

Mind-Body Connection

You can begin to understand how hypnosis works when you think of the mind-body connection. The subconscious mind interacts with the autonomic nervous system. Exactly how they do so is beyond the scope of this article. You can tell they do by the research and amazing results people like you and doctors talk about.

How does the mind and body work together to achieve the remarkable effects we hear stories about? Just what magic occurs in our bodies and minds when we heal or accomplish seemingly miraculous feats? Scientists are still puzzling over these questions, yet they have shown that hypnosis, guided imagery, meditation/prayer and what we eat affects our immune systems, our resistance to cancer and our recovery from surgery. Other research shows how hypnosis activates the same brain centers that block our perception of pain. It is well known that hypnosis helps people change unwanted behaviors and establish new habits. How should we explain the placebo effect when inert ingredients and the power of suggestion cause recovery and cures? What about its opposite, the nocebo effect, when pessimistic expectations and pronouncements by professionals can result in ill health?

More correctly, the human system is a "body-mind" connection rather than the "mind-body" connection. You are a body first and a mind second. So many highly intelligent people forget that. Why do we claim you have a body-mind connection? Your body controls your mind. As a quick test to prove this to yourself, just take a deep breath in and hold it. Hold it as long as you can. After a few minutes your body will override your conscious will to hold your breath and force you to exhale and take another breath.

Powerful Emotions

Naturally we all want to minimize harm and maximize health and vitality. Let's consider our emotions. Our emotions have both a biological and psychological basis. We can change our emotions by changing what we think about. Our emotions change as our bodies change during adolescence. Clearly our minds and bodies are part of the same system and what affects one inevitably affects the other. Any separation is artificial. So worry, fear, certain harmful automatic thoughts and habits will affect your health negatively. Also happiness, mental flexibility and variety along with helpful automatic thoughts and habits will improve your health.

Suppose that the mind and body are one system, and that what happens in the mind has a corresponding result in the body and vice versa. We can easily notice that what happens with the body affects the mind when we consider that our experience of the world is conducted through the five senses of the body. Our emotions and thoughts can change when we experience pleasurable or painful sensations.

It only makes sense that our mind affects our body when we remember about the placebo effect, that is the fact people with a disease get better when taking sugar pills or injections of saline solutions. Pharmaceutical companies confirm this placebo effect with every study of a new drug. Their goal is to prove a drug is better than a placebo while their results show the placebo helps a surprising number and sometimes a substantial portion of the group who take it.

Take note, we're not saying that placebos are better than pharmaceuticals, just that they work because the mind influences the body as part of the same system. The mind has much more to do with your physical health than you were probably taught. The reason for this lies in the power of the subconscious or unconscious mind. This inner conscious mind is in control of your heart rate, breathing, smooth muscles like those around our organs. You can think of it as the part of your mind that's below the surface.

What's Inner Mind?

If you want to get more specific, the inner mind uses the parts of your brain beneath the cerebral cortex where neuroscientists have identified structures that are responsible for feeling emotion, normal body movement you know so well they become automatic like walking and processes necessary for survival such as breathing. Because the subconscious mind both influences what you perceive and changes as a result of your perceptions, it involves the rest of the nervous system beyond the brain. This subconscious or inner mind is the seat of your emotions, habits and beliefs, and it involves your memories and experiences in creating your wellness.

That principle of the body and mind affecting each other in one system is one of the presuppositions of neurolinguistic programming (NLP), a method of reproducing excellence based on observing others. It includes strategies of changing oneself, helping others, selling and communicating.

The earliest work on NLP was based on studying the work of the hypnotherapist Dr. Milton Erickson and other excellent therapists in order to teach their colleagues how to achieve remarkable results more quickly and easily. Because NLP and hypnotism are intimately related and have various applications, many people study and use both in their clinics.

(c) 2006 Michael Glowacki

Michael Glowacki of Capital Hypnosis is a Professional Hypnotist with in-depth experience in hypnosis. You can learn more by visiting www.capitalhypnosis.com/Capital Hypnosis in Madison, Wisconsin. He provides custom programs with individualized sessions. Capital Hypnosis teaches people how hypnosis works and provides custom CapitalHypnosis.com/hypnosis-articles/hypnosis-training-programs/hypnosis training. His clinic offers a Written Service Guarantee. He specializes in helping people with weight problems, smoking cessation and various health conditions. To reach Mr. Glowacki about coaching or hypnosis training call his office at (608)288-9800.

posted by datdk @ 4:42 AM