I am often asked by clients who are desperate for change, how they can take the first step, or what they can do to change. 

Of course one of my first replies is that adding hypnosis into your life is a great first step to take. Now that statement alone, can sound a bit self fulfilling, after all I am in the field of Hypnotherapy, it is how I make my living.  The honest truth however, is that I do believe that the positive aspects of  hypnosis are so rewarding, that it is a shame that most people do not understand how to tap into this wonderful natural resource and use it to create long lasting change within themselves.

One of the things that "we think", we have to be able to fully understand is how hypnosis works.  The trouble is, even scientists are not exactly sure how it works, they just know that through all the studies they have conducted using hypnosis as a tool, the results have been beneficial.

But I have my own theories on how hypnosis actually works.  I am, of course, more then happy to share those theories with you. 

The first thing that I realized is that I had to take all those things that I thought hypnosis was and toss them out, all those preconceived ideas that I had gathered over the years, from what I was told or read about hypnosis.  I have found that most of the ideas that I had developed about hypnosis, were just that, ideas.

 As an example of what I mean, take the following into consideration.  Let's say you are planning on taking a trip, going some place that you have never been before. The first thing allot of us do is go to the Internet, or a book and read about our destination, we look at pictures of the area, we read about its history, its culture and anything else that interests us about this place.  Then we develop our own "mental picture" of what this place is going to be like.

Now through the power of our wonderful imagination, when we think about our up coming trip we add to or take away from our mental picture of the area, and we develop our own personalized vision of what this place is going to be like.  When we actually get there however we may find that the place is nothing like we had imagined it.  Maybe its even more beautiful then we could have imagined, or maybe its not.  

We do things in our everyday lives that show exactly how easy hypnosis is.  For instance let's look at a snapshot.  A picture you have taken with your very own camera.  You get a copy of it, and you look at it, its nice, you like it very much.  So you go buy a picture frame to put it into, once you put the picture into the frame it changes instantly, it looks even more beautiful, or uglier if the frame is not so attractive.  But has the picture actually changed? No.  Its the very same picture, it just looks different because we choose to make it look different by how we have framed it.  Try putting that same picture into several different frames, you will find that your perception of that picture will change each time. 

Now how does that happen?  Well for one thing we have been "conditioned" to accept within our conscious mind that a frame will make a picture more attractive, we see it everyday.  Just take a look at all the magazines at the checkout counter of your favorite grocery store. They show how adding a different color to your bedroom can instantly change the way the room looks and feels.  And you know what, it does!!!!  Why?  Because we choose to believe it can, and we are told it can. But has the room actually changed?  It's still the same size, its still in the same place, it still holds the same furniture.

Now let's suppose you are feeling depressed, or down and out.  What would happen if you could take that feeling of depression and slap a different coat of paint on it?  Or put it into a different picture frame?  I know, I know.... Your saying oh that's silly! You can't do that.  My question to you, is why not?

Since I asked you that question, I will give you the answer.  The reason we believe we can not do that is because our conscious mind believes we can not do that. We have conditioned our conscious mind to believe that we can't do that.  Did you know that your subconscious mind does not have the same belief system or understanding of rules that your conscious mind has?  It will believe and understand and execute what ever your conscious mind repeatedly tells it to believe from the things we learn in our environment.

So to the subconscious mind, if slapping a coat of paint in a room can make it more appealing, make you feel more relaxed, then slapping a different color on an emotion will create the same effect., or placing it into a different frame will make it more attractive.  The feeling is still there, its just that our perception of the feeling has changed, we see it in a different way, our reaction to it changes.

Now for an example:  Think of a feeling that makes you feel blue.  Close your eyes and think about that feeling.  Get a sense in your mind of which direction that feeling is coming from in your thoughts.  Does the feeling seem close or far away?  Does it feel heavy or light?  Does it seem big or small?  Does it make a sound? Try to get as many associations with this feeling that you can, and then open your eyes and read on.

Now. take any one of those associations you have with that feeling and change it.  So. when you close your eyes and you think about that feeling, and if it makes you feel blue, change the feeling to yellow.  If it seems big, just move it back until it feels smaller.  It if appears the thoughts of that feeling are coming from the front of your brain move them to come from the back of your brain......kind of get where I am going with this?

Ok, now close your eyes and think of the very same feeling, only this time use your new association with the feeling.  Once that new association is locked in open your eyes.  

Think about that feeling again. Does the feeling create the same reaction within you that it did before you made that one change?  Or is it somehow different?

And now I would like to congratulate you on your first hypnotic session!  How did it feel?  Was it anything at all like your preconceived thoughts thought it would be?