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Your Body Weight: Reflections of Your Perceptions and Beliefs
December 1st, 2008If you are someone who believes that making changes is difficult, for instance changing one’s eating habits, then you have been trying to change habits on the conscious level only rather then the subconscious level where habits are actually programmed. Traditional diets can work, you can lose weight healthfully and effectively and keep it off if you create these changes in your subconscious mind. When changes are made in the subconscious mind where your long-term memories, beliefs and perceptions are stored, you in turn make changes to your thought process. Change your thoughts and you change your life! That’s right, and as a result, you can actually change your behaviors and your reactions easily with little to no conscious effort on your part. “How can you do such a remarkable thing?” you may be asking. The answer is with hypnosis. A trained professional hypnotist can assist you in accessing your the powerful subconscious mind to help you make your desired changes.
The process of hypnosis by-passes what is called the critical factor, the “line” between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. Your conscious mind is your rational, analytical, and critical area of your brain. Although it needs to operate this way for survival purposes and decision-making, it can also trip us up, getting in the way of our own progress and improvement. The conscious mind acts upon the beliefs that have been imprinted in our subconscious mind.
Studies have been done that estimate that 75% of our beliefs about ourselves have been imprinted into our subconscious by the age of 7. Therefore, the majority of our personality is determined by the time we are 7. In a hypnotic state an individual can experience age regression, a mental journey back into their past safely and objectively to look at their framework of beliefs that were established at a young age. Then the hypnotist will guide you forward (age progression) bit by bit to review what other beliefs were established based on the original beliefs. These beliefs or perceptions can then be changed as necessary to create beliefs that are in line with one’s conscious desires. Future progression often follows, so you can imagine and experience your life with the changes already in place.
If your subconscious mind has been fed negative information, by others or yourself, then that is what it has been programmed to perceive and belief. The subconscious mind takes in whatever in has been given and the conscious mind acts upon it. So if you believe you are fat or worthless, your thoughts will reflect that belief, and your behaviors will reflect and reinforce your thoughts. One may overeat or refuse to exercise as a reaction to the original beliefs that have now been reinforced through thought and action (or non-action). Now you can begin to understand that what you are feeding your mind is as important as what you are feeding your body.
Imagination is the “language” of the subconscious mind. It is very much like the mind of a young child. It creates through imagination and believes what it hears. The subconscious mind takes in whatever it has been given and the conscious mind acts upon it. As W. Clement Stone said ” What the mind can conceive the mind can achieve.” The subconscious mind unlike the conscious mind will accept what it hears and if it has been fed negative information, it absorbs it as fact. If you have been thinking of yourself as fat and that is mainly what you focus on then that is exactly what you experience in life. Therefore, you can understand that what you are feeding your mind is as important as what you feed your body. In hypnotherapy, the hypnotherapist presents positive suggestions to your subconscious mind. Those positive suggestions are what you want for you, not what the hypnotherapist wants for you. We work together to clarify what it is that you want for yourself and we put that in the most positive language possible and feed it to your subconscious mind. Once that new information is in place in the long-term memory of the subconscious, your conscious mind can begin to act upon it. Ultimately you will then act in the new way that is in balance with your conscious desires.
Childbirth – A Healthy Happy Delivery
September 15th, 2008From the time a woman finds out she is pregnant the only thing on her mind is the thought of child birth. The process is a mystery to most and it can be terrifying and exciting at the same time. They know there will be pain, but every woman feels pain differently making it hard to decide how painful childbirth will actually be. Pain can be managed through many different ways.
The OBGYN typically discusses the birthing plan in the first few visits. Some women want natural childbirth, while others want to have drugs or other new methods such as underwater births. The choices are endless and making this decision is on which should not be taken lightly and should be thought through before deciding on a final plan.
You know there are going to be painful things happening during childbirth, just the thought of squeezing a baby the size of a watermelon through an opening the size of a lemon is a scary to say the least. You know there will be pain and it will take hours. You know it will take weeks to recover from either natural childbirth or a c-section and typically you are not able to be on your feet for long periods which is unreasonable with a new baby. Some women become so nervous that they psych themselves out and the whole process becomes unpleasant and the baby is born into an unhappy environment.
In this modern age there are many treatments out there for mothers who want a pain free natural childbirth. An epidural can sometimes leave the mother out of it or sometimes the mother can be allergic to the medication and not know until the epidural has been administered. Natural childbirth can cause tension and anxiety which can create high blood pressure causing danger to both mom and baby.
Hypnoanesthesia is a new form of childbirth that many women are experimenting with. Hypnosis allows you to no use drugs and enjoy hearing your babies cry for the first time. You will not be allergic to hypnosis or have an adverse reaction to it as you may have with drugs. It helps you to relax, ease tensions and anxiety about childbirth. You will not have to worry about high blood pressure and hypnosis is thought to decrease labor time by three hours and help you not be so tired after labor. The mother will experience shorter recovery and a mother can choose when to feel labor and when not to, simply by hypnosis and the ability to control your mind.
The hypnosis technique can be transferred to a nurse, husband or other partner and they will be able to help the mother maintain the state of relaxation through different cues and suggestions which will help her in labor.
There are ways out there to clam yourself through childbirth but they do not always have to involve drugs and you do not always just have to deal with the pain. Child birth is a happy, exciting and beautiful experience for all new mothers. As a new mother it is your choice how you want to delivery your baby, but before you make a decision for your baby, you need to decide what will put both of you at ease, research all your options before making this important decision.
Gastric Bypass Surgery and You
September 11th, 2008According to Obesitysurgicalcenter.org, 127 million adults in America are over weight. Of those 60 million are obese and 9 million severely obese. Gastric bypass and other similar surgeries are among the fastest growing elective surgeries in the country, next to breast augmentation. Gastric bypass is reserved for those who are morbidly obese, and for them, the benefits are endless. According to Obesehelp.net, a web site which explains the surgery, 75% of patients can expect to lose up to 80% of their body weight, 80% will be off hypertension medications and 90% with type two diabetes will be off medication as well, just to name a few.
It is important to understand, not everyone who has this surgery is successful in weight loss for many reasons and it can be dangerous. During the surgery, a section of stomach is sealed off to reduce the amount of food which can be eaten, if the seal is broken by over eating, the results can be serious. This is why many patients have follow up care which usually includes an overview of a healthy lifestyle. It touches on food choices, diet and exercise plans. Unfortunately many clinics neglect long term post care, however there are other ways of maintaining your healthy lifestyle.
Often people become obese because they do not understand what a healthy lifestyle is and why they eat so poorly. A healthy lifestyle is easy to learn all a patient has to do is visit with a dietitian and understand better choices. The hardest part is to put the tools into action and begin making a better choice. Learning why you eat so poorly is a whole other ball game. Some people eat when they are upset or depressed and some might simply be bored. Maybe there is a happy memory associated with food which makes you crave certain foods. Many have Gastric bypass surgery and are unsuccessful because they have not addressed all their issues with food, which requires help.
Many post Gastric bypass patients choose to use hypnosis as a sort of maintenance care to the surgery. Hypnosis works with the mind in different ways. One way is by addressing problems or emotions attached to food. Rarely does post care touch on the emotional bond a patient might have with food. Hypnosis researches and finds out why food has taken on such a huge roll in your life. Another way is by combating cravings for favorite foods and replacing those cravings with better healthier options such as exercise and health foods.
Some may feel a counselor, dietitian or physician would be a better choice for post surgical care instead. A post surgical patient should by all means take these measures as part of their post operative care. However hypnosis is equally ideal for long term goals of weight loss and helping to work through food emotions. You will gain a better understanding as to why you feel the way you do towards food and how you can regain control of your life and help make your Gastric bypass surgery the best it can be in a non threatening way.
Losing weight is difficult enough without all the fad diets, gimmicks and infomercials telling you to buy their new super diet product. However, it is important to research all the new methods and diets out there before making a final decision for something extreme like surgery. If you do elect surgery, consider using hypnosis as a tool in addition to your arsenal again your battle with the bulge.
Weight Loss-Do it the Right Way
August 29th, 2008Obesity in America is out of control. According to the CDC, in 2006 only four states had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. This trend is happening not only here in America, but abroad as well. People gain weight for many reasons. Often they do not know proper portions, enjoy snacking or have emotional attachments to food, or could suffer from a food addiction. Weight loss can be intimidating, especially if you have a significant amount of weight to lose. However, weight loss can be easily attained if you go about it the right way.
Many time people get hungry between meals, so they snack. Often people aren’t eating the right things at meal times, and become hungry quickly. You need to know what foods are good for you and why you are hungry in the first place. Some times people snack when they are not hungry, maybe because they are nervous, bored or stressed. These are known as emotional attachments to food. It is important to address these issues before you can be successful in weight loss.
Snacking between meals can be another problem. Some people deal with their emotions by snacking. Think about times you may have been snacking, were you nervous, were you bored or maybe you were stressed. These emotional connections often cause you to turn to food and snack when you are not hungry. Once you learn to control these feelings and can identify the triggers associated with them, you will find weight loss easy to attain.
An over looked weight gain issue is food addiction. Food addicts have a hard time identifying that they have a problem or what the problem is caused from. People who are food addicts are usually completely out of control and unable to know if they are truly hungry or simply having a craving. Often times, food addicts have become so because of a habit. Once you address this habit, you are able to regain control and focus this energy on something else such as weight loss and exercise.
It is difficult to figure out why you over eat, make bad food choices or snack without help. Hypnosis has proven to be a highly effective tool in the battle against weight loss. Hypnosis is not a short term fix, many have experienced long term success because hypnosis deals with the actual triggers and attachments to food that could hold you back with other short term plans. It confronts food addiction head on by giving an answer to the “why am I eating so much” question that many food addicts deal with day in and day out. This treatment deals with all the behaviors you are unable to deal with through regular diet and exercise.
Hypnosis helps you to crave other things such as exercise, healthy food and other activities. You will notice your energy returning, you will feel more happy and relaxed that you are doing something about your problem instead of doing nothing at all. You will no longer feel the need to eat unhealthy things and sit at home on the couch. It is a wonderful feeling indeed.
Finding a plan that works for you and your lifestyle will help you reach your goal of weight loss. Instead of doing nothing about it, it is time for you to do something. Think what your life could be like while you are losing weight, think of all the energy you will have. Don’t be one more in the obesity epidemic, be one more on the road to a better, more healthy you.
Weight Loss and Income Level
August 12th, 2008Obesity rates among the poor reached a 147% increase in 2002 obesity according to medicinenet.com. This made those at the poverty level the fastest growing obesity group. Being obese for those at the poverty line is due to make circumstances which are out of their control. Some of the more common reasons why this group is so obese can be attributed to lack of exercise, food choices and no access to health food stores or supermarkets.
Living in government assisted housing, commonly known as “projects” is something many of the impoverished live in everyday. The projects are home to gangs, shootings, and other more serious crimes. Many children and families report this as the number one reason they do not get out an exercise. Projects often do not have playgrounds, sidewalks or lawns where families or children can play. If there is a playground near by often it is a central meeting place for gangs and gang activity, again making it a less than ideal hang out for children or individuals looking for a place to exercise.
Imagine living off of Cup O’Noodle, macaroni and cheese and Hamburger Helper every night for dinner. This is a reality of those on food stamps or other food assistance programs. Trying to eat healthy on food stamps is near impossible. Often those who use foods stamps have many mouths to feed and they need to stretch the money as far as it will go. The Department of Human Services suggests buy cheep staple foods. Families who are on food stamps do not care how healthy or unhealthy a dinner or lunch is as long as their families are eating.
Poor families are not generally thinking about buying organic foods and other food substitutes such as Egg Beaters or tofu as they are too expensive and food stamps generally do not cover expensive items when there are other alternatives such as real eggs. Many times low income families don’t even bother with a grocery list of items as there are no grocery stores anywhere near their homes and lugging $400.00 worth of groceries on a bus alone is not easy.
Large cities such as New York, Chicago or Atlanta often lack a supermarket or health food store in close proximity to inner city living. Many project tenets find groceries at Circle K’s or Quickie Marts which generally stock cheep foods but they are not always healthy foods. Sciencedaily.com reports that one of the leading reasons of obesity among the poor is lack of grocery stores in their neighborhoods. There are no farmers markets offering organic produce or health food stores with tofu, these people get what they can at corner markets.
Often people make many excuses why they have become obese. Sometimes it is because they are too busy and can’t find time to eat right an exercise. However being poor should be no excuse for being over weight. The odds are defiantly against those in a low income bracket. It has become more important then ever to take care of yourself regardless of your income level. The rising costs of health care are not going down, and by being obese you are not part of the solution.
Easy Stress Relief
August 9th, 2008Relaxation plays in a key roll in leading a healthy happy life. Without relaxation it is difficult to stay on task, make good decisions, and be productive. Relaxation also has many physical benefits which include lower blood pressure, reduce muscle tension, and increased blood flow to muscle groups to name a few. Some people think relaxation takes hours, but relaxation can take place in as little as ten minutes a day.
Relaxation can happen anywhere, at work, at home or on a little deserted island off the coast of Mexico. Unfortunately not everyone can take a nice vacation to that dream island or a seven year sabbatical. Many need to learn to relax in the comfort of their own homes and lives. The key is to find something you enjoy and teach your mind to relax when you do it.
There are many ways in which you can relax. Finding your method is really your biggest obstacle, but it is easy, just think about what you enjoy most. Maybe you like listening to music, reading, meditating or walking. Any of these activities can be a relaxation method and can be scaled down to as little as ten minutes.
One of the best ways to relax is to escape to a different world, and since not all of us have passports, an easy way to do this is through music, reading and watching TV or movies. These visual stimulators offer a break from the boring day to day lives in which so many of us live. They each create an alternative world that is entirely your own.
Meditation can help you learn to reflect on situations and to control your breathing to calm your mind. These techniques need to be learned and practiced in order to achieve the maximum result. Once mastered, you can relax at the drop of a hat and find inner control in as little as ten minutes.
Other people prefer to hit the gym to relax. Some like to run, walk or lift weights. Others might prefer a cycling, kick boxing or tai chi class. Running and walking burn off excessive built up energy, however not everyone wants to run a marathon. For them there are other sorts of classes which sole purpose is relaxation such as yoga. Many people choose to skip the classes and gym all together and simply walk their dogs in the park.
The most important thing to remember when it comes to relaxation is practice. It is important to have patience! Listen to your mind and body, learn what is working for you and make note of what is not. Keep yourself motivated by remembering you are on your way to a happier and healthier lifestyle, also remember how good it feels to be doing something enjoyable.
Teaching your body something new is always a challenge, however once you get the hang of it, it is like riding a bike, your body won’t forget how. It is important to find an activity which you enjoy and know you will stick with, but you must make a conscious effort to remind and train your body to relax while performing this task. It may take time, but in the end the rewards will be fantastic for your mind, body and lifestyle.
Hypnosis to Download
August 9th, 2008A hypnotic state can be achieved many different ways. Simply watching TV or driving can be considered a hypnotic state. However it becomes difficult to produce this state on command. Learning to slip into this state on your own takes time, training and practice. There are many products online which offer to teach you hypnosis, however you may find it best to have a few sessions before purchasing costly materials.
Figuring out how your mind and body will react to hypnosis is critical and why an actual session is recommended first. Since we are all different, our bodies and mind will react differently than another. Some feel “tingly” or like they are floating while under hypnosis. The mind may feel numb or blank while you are under. Others might not feel these things what so ever. For first timers who have not been hypnotized, you might be unsure of what you are supposed to feel which can be intimidating.
Personal sessions also help you to experience how you work through your issues. Hypnosis can sometimes uncover issues which you were unaware you had and you may not know how to react to them. Not everyone reacts or has the same experiences which lead them to hypnosis. Some people may relive a tragic event in their past which lead them to gaining weight, while having a one on one session. This can be unnerving and scary if it happens at home and you are alone. If you have a one on one session, the hypnotist is able to help you work through the issue instead of dealing with it yourself.
Ultimately we all want the same thingprogress. A professional will provide a plan and a tracking method so you can see if the hypnosis is working or not working. The hypnotist can formulate a program and talk with you about your progress and if need be, change the plan. If you uncover something new you want to work on, your hypnotist can work that into your plan as well. Progressing in treatment is important, if you are not seeing progress, it becomes more difficult to stay with the program.
Online products and individual session while used together can increase your success rate. The CD’s DVD’s can help you learn to put yourself in a hypnotic state quickly and while you practice achieving this state, it will become easier to go under at your session. You will also learn to understand how it feels to be hypnotized and how your mind reacts to hypnosis. Once you are at your one on one session you will not be nervous about being put under making the session more useful. For the time between sessions the CD’s help clients to continue practicing and help them to maintain their progress.
Some might feel the private sessions are a waste of time and money since there are products online. While it may be true, online products are cheaper, however private sessions are invaluable for advancement and achieving results quickly. Private sessions are tailor made for each your individual progress and personality.
Try it out you have nothing to lose. Talk with your hypnotist about the CD’s or DVD’s you found online. Try a private session and see how you feel afterwards. There are many different ways of being hypnotized and the best way all depends on you. So do your research but think about the importance of a personalized session before making the decision to not try it at all. The choice is yours, but don’t short yourself.
Drug and Alcohol Abuse – A Symptom of Something Deeper
August 5th, 2008According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 22.8 million Americans need help for drug or alcohol abuse. Of those people only a small percent completed rehab successfully. Students took the same survey and of those students, 2.3 million ages 12-17 reported they needed help for drugs or alcohol. Only 8.2% actually got help from a rehab center. Whatever your choice of addiction is, they have one thing in common, low self esteem.
Drugs and alcohol are usually just a mask to hide the real problem, low self esteem. According to Selfesteeminternational.org, recovering addicts and alcoholics indicate that low self esteem is the biggest problem in their lives. They feel alcohol is only a symptom to the alcoholic’s real disease. Low self esteem causes and contributes to anxiety, neurosis, defensiveness and ultimately drug and alcohol abuse according to Selfesteeminternational.org.
Selfesteeminternational.org surveyed some 18 year olds who reported using drugs or alcohol heavily. They reported using when they were as young as seven. They indicated feeling alienated by their families, not good enough, anxious, unhappy and overly impulsive. 66% of high school seniors surveyed reported using drugs or alcohol heavily in order to fit in and fill a personal void.
Sometimes the pain of low self esteem is so difficult to deal with that people turn to destructive behaviors such as drugs and alcohol. They self medicate in hopes that the pain will go away. Addicts use their addictions to help them work through to pain of self hate, or so they think. By drinking or using drugs a vicious cycle of more self hatred starts and before you know it, your life is completely out of control. One drink turns into two, two turns in to three and before you know it your life is all about drinking. You family doesn’t want you around, you have spent all your money and lost your job. Your actions only lead to more self hate and disappointment in yourself.
People have low self esteem for many reasons. However, low self esteem is not caused from one isolated incident but by repetitive criticism over many years. The criticism can come from anyone, a parent, a sibling, teacher or society in general. It is difficult to estimate how many people are experiencing low self esteem, but it is safe to say many people suffer from at least one of the symptoms. Maybe you are happy to see someone fail, overly aggressive, do not recognize your own good qualities, or try to please others because you do not know how to say no.
One of the most important factors in recovery is acceptance of the disease and being able to identify why you choose to be an addict in the first place. Often it is difficult to address years of low self esteem in a twelve week program. That is why follow up counseling and treatment is recommended. One new treatment that is being recommended is hypnosis. Hypnosis works with the subconscious mind to identify painful memories causing the low self esteem and help the patient work through the memory and develop new self confidence. Hypnosis is done in a safe environment and is chemical free which appeals to many recovering addicts.
Some people feel therapy and counseling is the best and only treatment needed to help recovering addicts. Addicts are encouraged to attend AA meetings, however, according to Drugrehab.com, 45% of addicts do not return after their first AA meeting. Nation wide Alcoholic Anonymous as a 5% retention rate. 97% of rehab programs are 12 step or AA based. It is important to have a treatment plan that will help to identify why you started abusing drugs or alcohol in the first place, and this is difficult to do with a counselor or in group sessions. Often addicts have little trust in anyone let alone counselors and are more censored when talking until they get to know the counselor. Since hypnosis works with the subconscious mind, it allows the addict to think and speak openly about low self esteem issues. Hypnosis combined with a 12 step program can allow for a higher success rate.
Drug and alcohol abuse is a very serious problem, but what is more concerning is the underlying behavior of self hate. Until that issue is dealt with, the thought of alcohol and drug abuse is always there for the addict. There are many ways to help improve self esteem but why not do it in a safe environment and start dealing with the real problem today.
Quit Smoking the Easy Way
August 5th, 2008A quality quit smoking hypnosis session can look a little complicated, if done correctly. A behavior modification process addressing a variety of aspects in your life. The nice part is you don’t have to worry about putting it together. It’s all done for you. You’re left with the job of using it to help yourself.
You know what your smoking habit is like. You know what makes your craving to smoke the strongest. You know what daily problem areas make you struggle for control the most.
A well formed hypnosis program can address your unique cravings directly. It can de-fuse the emotional triggers so they no longer happen. If you’ve fought with smoking long enough, it might be difficult to even imagine what it would feel like to NOT have a craving.
But, that’s not good enough. It can be made even easier for you by beginning actual cravings for water, exercise, and fresh air. Distractions to fill-in this hour of free time you suddenly have. Time you used to spend smoking, if you had a regular-old pack-a-day habit. That sounds pretty complete, doesn’t it? Makes things easier for you?
Stress that builds up might make your cravings stronger. Hypnosis helps with stress directly and indirectly.
Increasing your confidence would be nice to, right? A little hypnosis to build or re-build how you feel? In particular, building the confidence and belief that you CAN quit smoking this time, and feel great while you do it. (One of the ways we learn habits is repetition. I’m fairly certain this is not your first try to quit smoking. Did failing in previous attempts make a little doubt that it will work this time? Better use hypnosis with that also.)
While you’re becoming healthier, you might as well use hypnosis to control a big worry for many people that quit smoking. Hypnosis can help you keep control, or, improve your eating habit. Addressing this concern can do a lot towards keeping a calm mind during the quit smoking process.
If you have this kind of help, combined with your own desire and motivation to quit smoking, what’s stopping you? There is all kinds of help out there. Make sure you get all the pieces of the quit smoking puzzle that you need.
Quit Smoking Before Elective Surgery
July 25th, 2008Surgery is complicated enough without all the side effects. Typically there are pages of consent forms to sign listing everything that could go wrong. Surgery, whether elective or required is something many will face at some point in their lives. Patients should understand many complications can not be foreseen. However there is one complication that can be avoided and it is in the patient’s control and that is smoking.
Certain protocols are in place to help insure the patient’s safety during surgery. Some of the more common protocols are no food or water twelve hours before and take a shower to minimize the risk of infection. For smokers there is another requirement, no smoking at least two weeks before and two weeks after. Some surgeons may even ask the patient for as long as four weeks before and after the surgery.
According to Anesthesiologyinfo.com, smoking has many seriously concerning risks which can occur during surgery. Smoking increases carbon monoxide which attaches itself to hemoglobin in the blood, decreasing the amount of oxygen getting through the body. The nicotine will make the body need more oxygen which will put stress on the heart, lungs and body which is already under distress from the anesthesia. The heart will not function properly because of the increased carbon monoxide causing the blood to no circulate as it should.
Second, the lungs are more likely to collapse because smoke causes the small airways in the lungs to not function properly as well. Smoking makes more mucus which can leak into the lungs, making the lungs unable to clear it. Smokers are more prone to bronchospasms and lung infections which can be fatal. Smoking has been linked to dozens of side effects from heart attacks to poor wound healing in surgery patients, by as many as six times more.
Leading a healthier life and having a successful surgery is something all doctors wish for their patients. Doctors do not want their patient to have complications before, during or after surgery. This is why they ask for smokers to at least take a break before going under any anesthesia. Making smoking secession a top priority is something all patients should be doing, regardless if they are having surgery or not.
Quitting has become much easier over the years, mostly because of the availability of treatments. Some of the more common are over the counter, such as the nicotine patch and gum. Others choose to try homeopathic treatments such as herbal remedies, acupuncture and hypnosis. Prescription drugs such as Zyban and Wellbutrin have gained popularity as well. Often treatments are combined so the patient can be as successful as possible.
The most important thing to do is talk with your physician and discuss your options and find out which plan will suit you best. Since there are many choices and options available to help you quit, there can be no more excuses. Do not wait until you need major surgery before trying to quit, quit before you get there.