Hypnosis at Home: How To Heal Your Soul

Feeling overwhelmed and fearful is part of our new normal. When “The Kid” comes to visit, we chat outside and stay six-feet apart. It kills me. I’ve always been a hugger, but I also want to protect him, our daughter-in-law (who works in the E.R.), and our grandchildren. You may be experiencing the same thing with your family. These feelings of helplessness can have a profound impact on us. The world is collectively grieving. None of us are immune.

What if I told you that you had the ability to escape?

It’s true. The power lies within your subconscious. All you need to learn is how to tap into that energy. So, rather than share a cool, new forensic technique (I’ll share it next time), let’s concentrate on healing your mind, body, and spirit through a technique called hypnosis. Don’t let the word freak you out. Somewhere along the way “hypnosis” gained a bad rap. One persistent myth is that you lose control, that you fall into a trancelike state, unable to break free, and are made to do stupid things like prance around like a clucking chicken.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Hypnosis Simplified

Ever get lost in a good book? Hours later, you ask, “Where’d the time go?” Because you’re so focused on the story, you were blissfully unaware of your surroundings. Authors go through the same thing while writing, otherwise known as “the zone.” In both scenarios we’ve actually entered a hypnotic state.

Hypnosis has been widely recognized as a valid medical therapy since the 1950s. A wide variety of health care professionals integrate hypnosis into their practice: psychologists, psychiatrists, MDs, anesthesiologists, dentists, nurses, and chiropractors.

Believe it or not, hypnosis can reduce stress, anxiety, allergies, high blood pressure, nausea and vomiting, phobias, migraines, and improve emotional well-being. It’s been used to treat OCD, Raynaud’s Syndrome, self-esteem issues, smoking, weight loss, insomnia, sleep disorders, fibromyalgia, eating disorders, problems with concentration and focus (like many are experiencing now), dermatologic disorders, depression, chronic pain, etc., etc., etc.

The benefits of hypnosis also include an increase in productivity, confidence, and creativity. Some of the most successful people of all-time used hypnosis, folks like Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Mozart, and Winston Churchill.

Hypnosis is different than merely deep breathing, but I do want to mention those exercises, as well. Controlled breathing improves overall health, calms the brain, regulates blood pressure, improves memory, feeds the emotional region of the brain, boosts the immune system, and increases energy and metabolism levels.

Brain’s Breathing Pacemaker

A 2016 study accidentally discovered a neural circuit in the brainstem that plays a pivotal role in the breathing-brain control connection. This circuit is called “the brain’s breathing pacemaker,” because it can be adjusted by alternating breathing rhythm, which influences our emotional state. Slow, controlled breaths decrease activity in the circuit while fast, erratic breathing increases activity. Why this occurs is still largely unknown, but knowing this circuit exists is a huge step closer to figuring it out.

During the hypnosis session below, the hypnotherapist walks us through a deep breathing technique, with a voice that lulls us into tranquility. She’s amazing!

Breathing (and Hypnosis) Decrease Pain

Specifically, diaphragmatic breathing exercises. Ever watch an infant sleep? Their little tummy expands on the inhale and depletes on the exhale. They’re breathing through their diaphragm. We’re born breathing this way. It’s only as we grow older that we start depending on our lungs to do all the work.

Singers and athletes take advantage of diaphragmatic breathing techniques. While living our new normal, many are hunched over the keyboard for too long. When this occurs, take a few moments to lay flat and concentrate on inflating your belly as you inhale through your nostrils. Then exhale while pulling your belly button toward your core. It takes a little practice to master the technique. Once you do, you can diaphragmatically breathe in any position. The best part is, it works!

Count Breaths for Emotional Well-Being

In 2018, another scientific study found that the mere act of counting breaths influenced “neuronal oscillations throughout the brain” in regions related to emotion.

When participants counted correctly, brain activity showed a more organized pattern in the regions related to emotion, memory, and awareness, verse participants who breathed normally (without counting).

Controlled Breathing Boosts Memory

The rhythm of our breathing generates electrical activity in the brain that affects how well we remember. Scientists linked inhaling to a greater recall of fearful faces, but only when the participants breathed through their nose. They were also able to remember certain objects in greater detail while inhaling. Thus, researchers believe nasal inhalation triggers more electrical activity in the amygdala (brain’s emotional center). Inhaling also seems key to greater activity in the hippocampus, “the seat of memory,” according to Forbes.

Relaxation Response

The “Relaxation Response” (RR) is a physiological and psychological state opposite to the fight-or-flight response. RR therapy includes meditation, yoga, hypnosis, and repetitive prayer, and has been practiced for thousands of years. These stress-reducing practices counteract the adverse clinical effect of stress in disorders like hypertension, anxiety, insomnia, and aging.

Yet, research on the underlying molecular mechanisms of why it works remained undetermined until a 2017 study unearthed a fascinating discovery. Both short-term and long-term practitioners of meditation, yoga, hypnosis, and repetitive prayer showed “enhanced expression of genes associated with energy metabolism, mitochondrial function…” and more efficient insulin secretion, which helps with blood sugar management.

Relaxation Response also reduces the expression of genes linked to inflammatory responses and stress-related pathways. In simpler terms, controlled breathing, meditation, and hypnosis helps boost the immune system and improve energy metabolism.

Meditation vs. Hypnosis

Both are beneficial, deeply relaxing, and produce calming states of mind. But are they the same? Meditation with guided visualizations that relax you before taking you on an imaginary journey with a particular purpose in mind—to find peace and tranquility, guidance for a cause (quit smoking, for example), to reconnect with parts of your personality, etc.—then they’re essentially the same thing. Other meditation techniques involve reciting a mantra and/or concentrating on an object, and that type of meditation veers away from hypnosis.

Let me be clear, though. Self-care isn’t one-type-fits-all. Any type of exercise for the body or mind is beneficial.

Creativity

This probably goes without saying, but I’m mentioning it anyway. Good brain health increases creativity.

Now that you know the benefits of hypnosis or deep meditation, would you like to try it?

Anne R. Allen recently posted an article about Why It’s so Tough to Write Now, which I recommend to all writers. In the article she shared a guided imagery file from hypnotherapist Gila Zak C.Ht. And she’s given me permission to share it with you.

Hypnosis Leads to Healing

There will be more devastation on the news. Give yourself permission to start healing now. You are worth it. Your health and well-being matter. It’s okay to be good to yourself. Women, especially, tend to forget that. 🙂

Are you ready to let go?

Your beautiful journey starts HERE. You may need to download the full hypnosis session. When I first tried the link, the recording ended early. It wasn’t until I downloaded the full session that I experienced hypnosis in all its glory.

If you do nothing else today, slide on the headphones and let yourself escape for a while. You might find it’s the perfect life raft to keep you afloat during this turbulent time.