Hypnosis
Hypnosis is an altered state. Using a combination of guided relaxation and focused concentration, one learns to relax the physical body and reach a deeper state of awareness. Hypnotherapy is a process of guiding people into a comfortably relaxed state in which the potential of the subconscious is available.
Whether it’s used to program the mind for success or achievement, to improve memory (for example, to memorize the lines of a script or prepare for an exam), to improve your sports performance, or to believe in achieving one’s career goals, hypnosis can reprogram the mind for change.
In addition to programming, there is also deprogramming, which in many ways is even more powerful. If somebody programs their mind consistently but holds equal and opposite thoughts, such as negative beliefs about themselves, life and its possibilities, those negative thoughts act as a kind of “anchor” to their ship and the ship can’t move. Deprogramming, i.e. visiting early memories to heal and bring peace to them, is a key aspect of what makes age regression work so effectively.
In the conscious waking level, the brainwaves move more quickly whereas in REM, whether achieved through hypnosis or dreaming, these brainwaves slow down. When one is either in a state of hypnosis or meditating, the brain functions more slowly—hence the relaxation associated with these states. One can even learn to enter a very deep level called the delta state. Yogis and Tibetan Buddhists regularly reach this state.
One of the key benefits of hypnosis lies in its stress-reducing capacity It is always relaxing, no matter what your specific goal might be--whether it is weight loss, smoking cessation or sports enhancement, there is always the gift of relaxation as part of the experience.
Hypnosis is an altered and yet completely natural state, similar to being engrossed in watching a movie and almost forgetting your own identity. You become so involved in the characters’ lives that you find yourself laughing and/or crying in empathy.
Every time you dream, you are naturally entering an altered state. Lorraine has taught numberous courses on dream analysis and helps her clients learn to interpret these nightly adventures.
Hypnosis can be described as a form of focused selective attention. When Lorraine is working with a client who wants to quit smoking, they can go in hypnosis to the root of where the smoking started, and not to the root of some other problem or issue. The process is very specific.
People frequently hypnotize themselves negatively without being aware that they’re doing it. A woman working on weight loss, for instance, might say “I was really good until yesterday when I ate those three cookies.” The truth is, the woman was “good” before eating the cookies and just as good after she ate them. “Goodness” has nothing to do with cookies, or body weight, for that matter. But by convincing herself that she’s “bad”, the woman will indeed cause herself to feel bad … so bad that she’s likely to eat three more cookies! One of the valuable tools Lorraine shares with her clients is how to monitor and modify thoughts and self-talk into a more positive direction.
