[img]560|left|Nicholas D. Pollak||no_popup[/img]Have you ever been hypnotized? Hypnosis is a state like no other, and you don’t know what you are missing.
Persons under hypnosis appear soundly asleep, but they are extremely alert to everything around them.
If you have been hypnotized, you will agree. You still can walk, talk, sit, move, hear, smell, touch, even lie under hypnosis. Most of all, though, is the completely relaxed feeling. The energy that comes later makes it so effective.
Hypnosis is not a mystery, though many stage hypnotists want you to believe they possess the power to make you submit to commands while under hypnosis.
I assure you never would do anything that you would not do in a normal waking state. No one can make you jump off a 20-story building. You would not do it when awake nor when hypnotized.
Hypnosis is not a power given to the hypnotist. A hypnotist understands what hypnosis is and how to create it. Good ones will teach you to hypnotize yourself so you no longer are dependent on them.
Anyone can learn. What counts is what you do with it.
Mesmer, an Austrian hypnotist from whose name the term “mesmerize” is derived, believed hypnosis was a magnetic power. He filled bathtubs with iron filings to create a hypnotic effect. He held that hypnosis stemmed from magnetism and that electrical currents within our bodies were influenced by magnetism.
In the late 1800s in Paris, he drew large crowds that would stir the iron filings in a bathtub and move around it in a rhythmic circle. Sometimes a thousand people participated. We now know bathtubs and iron had nothing to do with hypnosis, but the rhythmic walking and chanting did.
A panel of five scientists in Paris disproved Mesmer’s theory of magnetism. The panel took a piece of wood and painted it so that it appeared to be metal. They gave it to Mesmer and asked him to hypnotize a volunteer, using the “iron bar.”
Mesmer was successful in hypnotizing the volunteer. When shown that the “metal bar” was wood, he could not understand how the hypnosis had worked.
The panel was more confused than before when the hypnosis worked without the metal.
As time progressed many more hypnosis experiments were conducted and as a result we now have hypnotism as it is practiced today.
Hypnotism has moved out of the realms of charlatanism to an accepted practice, though not as widely accepted as this author would like. It is an amazing tool to assist clients in many different ways. The Mayo Clinic says the following about Hypnosis:
Hypnosis, also referred to as hypnotherapy or hypnotic suggestion, is a trance-like state in which you have heightened focus, concentration and inner absorption. When you're under hypnosis, you usually feel calm and relaxed, and you can concentrate intensely on a specific thought, memory, feeling or sensation while blocking out distractions.
Under hypnosis, you're more open than usual to suggestions, and this can be used to modify your perceptions, behavior, sensations and emotions. Therapeutic hypnosis is used to improve your health and well-being and is different from so-called stage hypnosis used by entertainers. Although you're more open to suggestion during therapeutic hypnosis, your free will remains intact and you don't lose control over your behavior.
Hypnosis is intended to help you gain more control over undesired behaviors or emotions or to help you cope better with a wide range of medical conditions. Hypnosis isn't considered a treatment or a type of psychotherapy. Rather, it's a procedure typically used along with certain treatments and therapies to help a wide variety of conditions. Hypnosis may be used for:
• Pain control
• Smoking cessation
• Reducing stress related to medical procedures
• Mental health conditions
• Allergies
• Asthma
• Surgical preparation
• Childbirth
• Weight loss
• Athletic performance
• Dental procedures
• Coping with chemotherapy
• Skin conditions
• Gastrointestinal problems
In addition to those items listed above I would like to add my area of specialty, which is eliminating panic and anxiety.
As we know, the Mayo Clinic is a highly reputable organization and they have found Hypnosis to be of great value for many of their patients. You may also find useful information regarding Hypnosis listed on WebMD.com
Let me encourage you to see a Clinical Hypnotherapist, whether the person that you see is another Hypnotist or myself. Let Hypnotherapy help you to gain the quality of life that you want, and with the amazing power of your subconscious. Create and gain the happiness, success and prosperity that you want for the life that you want.
A clinical hypnotherapist, handwriting analyst and expert master hypnotist, Nicholas Pollak may be contacted at nickpollak@hypnotherapy4you.net
