Stress is our body's reaction to any demand placed on it; the way one internalizes and reacts to unhealthy stress, determines the effect it has on them. With out a doubt, Americans are experiencing epidemic levels of emotional and mental stress! Toxic stress is at an all time high, it is affecting people's health resulting in burnout, weight gain and disease. Stress can directly have an effect on your family, your finances and your relationships. When a person feels like they are loosing control, negative stress can become a dominant ‘director' in one's life. Despite a multitude of wellness education and weight loss programs available, if unmanaged, stress can override our emotions causing us to turn to food and alcohol for comfort. Adult and child obesity continues to rise. With stress management and behavior modification we can control our perceived thoughts and reasons that promote our stress. We do have control over significant segments of our lives. We can control our food choices and portion sizes and not consume the deadly fruit of negative stress! For anyone struggling with noxious stress, weight gain or obesity, please recognize that you do not have to dig your grave with a fork and a spoon; you can successfully break through these walls. It has been said, “Where the mind goes, the person follows”. By being receptive to shifting the way you think and responding to stressful situations, you can create positive thought patterns and transform your life. Because of new insight, you more easily learn how to flow with situations that you previously found very stressful.
To understand ourselves better, let's take a moment and look at the mind. We have three very separate and very distinct minds—each with different functions. The unconscious mind controls the strength or weaknesses of our immune system and it also controls our body's functions, i.e., heart beat. Understanding that the conscious mind and the subconscious mind have difficulty inter-relating and communicating with each other, helps us to understand why we are frequently unsuccessful when attempting change.
The conscious mind is our level of awareness; it is the part of the mind where we spend most of our time. It basically does four things: analyzes, rationalizes, houses our willpower and it is our working memory (short term memory).
The subconscious mind—the ‘real us'—lies below the conscious mind. We can use the subconscious mind to make remarkable changes because it is the most powerful part of us; it can make us into anything we choose to be. It functions on the same rules and regulations as an electronic computer; it adds up our ‘internal computer' and makes a decision about us based on the information or programming that has entered there from many sources. One might even think of it as a video camera because our permanent memory resides here. Everything that we have ever done, seen or heard is located here - we act upon the information that is stored here because we have deemed it believable. Our emotions, feelings, and excuses come from our subconscious mind; it is the laziest part of us and it does not like change. Our habits live in this area as well. Because our subconscious mind is our self-protector, it will not share things with us until we are ready to receive and understand them. There is a gold mind of potential hidden deep within every person; by tapping into and using the most powerful part of your mind (the subconscious mind) you can successfully make desired changes. Hypnosis is a valuable tool that can produce desired beliefs, thoughts, potential, attitudes, and positive actions.
Hypnosis is an altered state of relaxation and the means of communication between the subconscious and the conscious mind. Hypnosis is older than medicine itself and has been around since the beginning of man. This modality assists you with identifying and understanding the root cause of your issue and why you have not been successful in making a desired change. Hypnosis permits you to bypass the blocking part in the conscious mind. It is a vehicle that allows positive suggestions to enter and be accepted within the subconscious mind. Keep in mind this is the place where positive change can occur. If one does not deem a given suggestion as believable or valuable, that suggestion will not be accepted. To accept a suggestion in hypnosis, one must have the correct mental attitude, “I like the idea of that suggestion and I believe that it will work for me.” That individual always determines if the suggestion will be accepted, they must like that suggestion and believe that it will work for them. The individual must want to be hypnotized for the suggestion to be accepted. Because hypnosis is a natural state of mind, one enters some form of hypnosis several times each day. Hypnosis is 100 % consent state and the person in hypnosis is alert and aware of their surroundings at all times.
The American Medical Association approved the use of Hypnosis by properly trained professionals in September of 1958. Because hypnosis has a positive effect on a large segment of the population and is a holistic approach that targets the mind and the body, clergy, physicians, and other allied health professions successfully use hypnosis in their practices to banish a variety of problems seen with both children and adults. Many human deficits—habits, stress, and emotional patterns—can be traced to the individual's interpretations by the subconscious; which when understood by the conscious mind – can determine, reduce or resolve exact (root) problems that interfere with one's everyday life and relationships.
The main reason stopping smoking attempts and 'diets' have not worked for many individuals, is because they were not mentally prepared, the attempt was probably done via willpower and in all probability, fear of failure most likely got in the way. Willpower is located in the conscious mind, not the subconscious mind and willpower only lasts until it weakens. Folks, sound familiar? Take a closer look at the first 3 letter in the word D-I-E-T. Using 'willpower' will not make permanent changes. Because we do have control over significant portions of our lives, when properly used and providing the individual desires beneficial change, hypnosis can alter your life considerably. Although hypnosis seems magical, it is not magic; please remember, for change to occur you must like the idea of change and you must be committed to making change long term, if not, change will not occur.
Be encouraged, do not allow your previous or current mistakes – fears, bad decisions, unwanted habits and thoughts, or past family history affect your future any longer. To make change, the first place to start is by being committed to positive change and examining what ‘mental tapes' you play each day; learn how to change them so they are positive and benefit you. What areas of your health, life and relationships do you choose to enhance? A professional hypnotist will team with you to address your desires, concerns, needs and goals. Become further educated in how you can uncover and release the root cause of your issue(s) and develop the vast potential that lies within your powerful, subconscious mind. With the correct mental attitude, you too can make positive change for good. Contact a professional hypnotist today and discover how to turn your possibilities into reality.
Polly Humphreys is a Certified Hypnotist specializing in stress management, fears, weight loss and smoking cessation and is the founder of Alternative Wellness & Beyond. She does see people for additional issues as well. Free consultations, gift certificates, Emotional Freedom Technique sessions and pediatric and adult hypnosis sessions, and can be scheduled for either day or evening appointments by calling (336)988-5750. Expect success!
