The key to transforming our lives doesn’t lie where we think it does. We make the mistake of believing that getting to where we want to go means working harder or striving more. In reality – no matter whether we’re wanting to heal our relationship with food, end the arguments in our home, grow our business or meet the man or woman we want to spend the rest of our lives with – the underlying skill that is by far the most valuable, rather strangely, is the ability to relax. (And by relaxing I don’t mean watching daytime television in pajamas, but rather dropping into the body and out of the busyness of the thinking mind).
Learning to relax into what shows up means that when anxiety, fear, boredom, anger, indecision, loneliness or despair strike, we know how to sink deeply into the physical sensations of those experiences. Doing so transforms them and as a result we function more effectively; it suddenly becomes possible to not raid the fridge, to stop taking our anger out on our spouse, to stop being paralyzed by fear.
Whilst relaxation may be the answer, the question of how to achieve it remains. Meditation is often cited as the key to living a stress-free life, but it isn’t a good fit for everyone. We live in a world of over-stimulation where things are moving very fast. Forcing ourselves to focus on our breath or a mantra can be like bringing a speeding train to a halt. It can feel uncomfortable (or boring) and when something isn’t rewarding or fun it’s usually hard to sustain.
This is where hypnosis comes into the picture. Just like meditation, it produces a state of heightened relaxation. However, because there’s a voice guiding the journey and because the words and images are tailor-made to the listener, it feels less like hard work and more like taking a luxurious afternoon nap.
The beauty of hypnosis is that once we’re in a very relaxed space, the unconscious mind is more open to suggestion – it becomes possible to rewire the way we think and act. With a tailor-made hypnosis audio, we can click play and remind ourselves on a daily basis of what we already know is true, but tend to forget when life gets hectic or overwhelming.
This doesn’t make it a magic bullet. Whilst some people do have overnight transformations with hypnotherapy, I prefer to think of it more as a relaxation technique rather than a quick-fix. It works particularly well as an adjunct to psychotherapy. After all, it’s one thing having a major breakthrough or realisation during a 50 minute psychotherapy session, but it’s a different ball-game integrating that into day-to-day life for the other 10,030 minutes of the week!
If you’re interested in finding out more about hypnotherapy or self-hypnosis (all sessions come with a free audio download) please don’t hesitate to email me at info@sabrinaweyeneth.com.
If you’re interested in hypnotherapy training, I highly recommend the Hypnotherapy Training Institute in California, run by “The Teachers of the Teachers”, Randal Churchill and Marleen Mulder. Website: http://www.hypnotherapy.com