Can you really reprogram your mind to think and act differently? or is it just a sham?
Since hypnosis was first discovered and used back in the late 18th century by the ‘Father of Hypnosis’ Franz Mesmer, it has been used by several A-list celebrities, entertainers and world leaders to help improve their performance and to quit bad habits such as smoking cigarettes.
It is reported that Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts credit hypnosis with over coming stuttering when they were younger.
Even Ellen DeGeneres brought hypnotherapy to the limelight while allowing renowned hypnotherapist Paul McKenna on her show to help her quit smoking.
Golf legends like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have publicly stated the powerful effects that hypnosis and visualization have had on their legendary careers.
Several gold medalists and top performing athletes have also given credit to hypnosis as a tool for their incredible success and achievements.
It is great that so many people that we admire have used hypnosis and self hypnosis to achieve success and over come bad habits.
But will it work for you?
Brief History of Self Hypnosis
The English term “hypnotism” was introduced in 1841 by the Scottish physician and surgeon James Braid. According to Braid, he first employed “self-hypnotism” two years after discovering hypnotism, first teaching it to his clients before employing it on himself.
It has been known through out the years by different names such as ‘conscious autosuggestion’ and ‘autogenic training’.
The primary steps required for self hypnosis include:
Motivation — unless you are motivated to make a change, it will be difficult for self hypnosis to be of benefit to you.
Relaxation — you must be able to set aside a special time to completely relax with no distractions
Concentration — you must be able to focus and concentrate while in the hypnosis trance state
Directing — you must then direct your mind to visualize your desired end result
My Experience with Self Hypnosis
My first experience with hypnosis is when I was about 11 or 12 years old.
I had found a book that my dad had about hypnosis and decided to read it.
I didn’t know anything about hypnosis except for what I had seen on TV like ‘close your eyes..,. you are getting very sleepy’ type of thing.
After reading the book, I thought that I would test out my new powers of hypnosis on a girl that I liked. I tried to hypnotize her to give me a kiss.
She acted like I had hypnotized her but when I went in for the kiss, she started laughing and saying that it didn’t work. Well damn.
I gave up on hypnosis after that until I was grown.
I had always been fascinated on the subject, however, I always felt like I couldn’t be hypnotized and it wouldn’t work on me.
Desperate Measures
How I began to discover the power of self hypnosis happened during one of the lowest times of my life.
When I found out that my wife was having an affair with one of her co-workers, it felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest and my life was shattered into 1000 pieces.
It was the most excruciating pain that I had ever experienced and I didn’t know what to do.
In vain, I turned to alcohol to help drown my sorrows.
After months of self pity and being down on myself, I knew that I had to get a grip and take back control of my life.
I began to read books on self improvement and came across a man named Dr. Robert Anthony who has a program that teaches you how to instantly hypnotize yourself.
I was skeptical at first but I was desperate to try anything that would help me get over the pain and hurt that I was experiencing.
The techniques that he taught were easy to follow and use. I decided that I would hypnotize myself to believe that nothing that my wife can say or do will bother me anymore.
We would have arguments and fights over the phone and she would always throw it in my face about her new boyfriends she was sleeping with and this was like driving a dagger in my heart.
So I decided that if I could only hypnotize myself to not be hurt by her anymore then I would be ok. I didn’t know if it would really work but I had to try something.
I kept practicing self hypnosis everyday and after about 2–3 weeks, it finally clicked.
It’s like I almost felt a shift inside my mind and I truly believed that nothing that she could say or do could bother me anymore. I felt a strong sense of relief like I had never felt before. I started to feel at peace with the situation.
I began the healing process and started to take back control over my life.
I credit this to my practice of self hypnosis and give thanks to Dr. Robert Anthony for leading me down the path.
If At First You Don’t Succeed…
I’ve continued to practice self hypnosis with many other aspects of my life.
I’m beginning to understand that you have to really have a strong desire to make the changes within yourself and also you have to believe that it is possible to change.
I’m also learning that some things take much longer and more persistence in practice before you begin to see the changes that you desire to make in yourself.
I think we get disillusioned with hypnosis and its power from what we see on TV with stage hypnotists. In my experience, it doesn’t quite work the same way, but I do believe that it works with practice, patience and persistence.
You can use self hypnosis to help change your thoughts and beliefs on things that you feel are holding you back. You can deliberately take control of your mind and have it work for you instead of against you.
In Conclusion
If you are interested in learning more about self hypnosis and seeing if it can work for you, I recommend a great book that I read on the topic called 'Reprogram Your Subconscious' by Gale Glassner Twersky.
In this book and accompanying audio, she takes you by the hand and guides you step-by-step through the self hypnosis process to help you feel comfortable with it.
She also provides useful scripts that you can use to perform your own self hypnosis sessions.
I also recommend Dr. Robert Anthony whose process to helping you achieve a hypnotic trance state easily and effortlessly has been very helpful to me over the years.
I believe that self hypnosis does work and is not a sham.
As long as you learn the right techniques, you can have amazing success with it.
You might not see immediate overnight results, however, with practice, patience and persistence you will definitely begin to see results you desire to achieve.
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Guest blogger AnThony Legins is a life coach and mentor who enjoys writing on topics relating to mindset, money, real estate, finance and motivation. Read more articles and posts by AnThony at: www.themillionairemindset.net and follow on IG @anthony_legins
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