Hi
Hypnosis has become well accepted as a treatment method within boththe alternative medicine community and the traditional medicalcommunity. Hypnosis has been proven effective in dealing with manyphysical, emotional, and mental concerns. These include paincontrol, insomnia, weightloss, and smoking cessation, to name justa few examples.
Hypnosis is a process in which a person enters a trance, or a stateof deep inner focus. In this state, the person remains in controland aware of their surroundings, very attentive, although theirfocus is directed inward. A trance can be induced by anotherperson, a recording, or by the person her or himself, which islabeled self-hypnosis.
Self hypnosis is similar to meditation, with the self directedinner focus, however the purpose is different. With meditation theaim is often to quiet the mind, while with hypnosis the goal is toeffect a positive behavioral or mental change in the hypnotizedperson.
Techniques to induce hypnosis often include muscle relaxation andguided imagery, repetition of a word or phrase, or counting slowlybackwards. The desire is to bring the person to a very calm relaxedplace, where the conscious mind has let go of control and thesubconscious mind can be accessed directly. It is widely believedthat the subconscious mind is more receptive to suggestions thanthe conscious mind, allowing change to occur more rapidly.
Although much about hypnosis remains a mystery, it has become avery credible and gentle option for creating positive change in ourlives.