Recently I feel like everywhere I turn someone is taking about hypnosis and how it was life changing for them. How it was a completely amazing experience and they are a whole new person. Now let me begin by telling you I’m not someone easily convinced. I really need to do my own research and usually experience something for myself in order for me to really tell you how I feel about it. So… that’s exactly what I did and I’m here to tell you about my session and whether I’d try it again.
For those of you who don’t know I’m going to give a brief overview of what hypnosis is. Anyone who is well phrased on the topic you can just skip right down to the next paragraph and see what my experience was like. Hypnosis by wikipedia terms is, “A human condition involving focused attention, reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.” It’s basically being in an altered state of mind where you can then be “suggested” to certain emotions or actions. In terms of anxiety, hypnosis is supposed to help you get to a place of calm and tranquility where you can then recall this state of mind during moments of complete panic… in a nutshell. I don’t want to dive too far into it because there is so much research on the topic I can write a ten page blog post here. I just want you to understand that for me hypnosis is usually done by someone with experience who can help you get to a meditative state.
When I tried hypnosis for the first time it was done by my therapist. I knew my therapist for almost 9 months I want to say and I decided to go for it. To be completely honest whenever I thought of hypnotherapy I always would think of those over the top YouTube videos of people walking around like chickens (I’m totally aware that’s a really ignorant frame of thought just being honest here). However, I’m really an open person especially when it comes to new experiences that will possibly help me for the better so I said let’s give it a go.
I won’t lie when the therapist told me to close my eyes and start the process I did begin to smile. I felt a little silly and was skeptical but still wanted to go for it and see what would happen. The whole process lasted about ten minutes and I have to say… I thoroughly enjoyed it. Okay I know, let me start from the beginning. Once the counting down began and the steady breathing, my therapist suggested I envision a ball, now this ball can be filled with any color that suits me that would represent a calm and positive color, I chose blue. Now he wanted me to envision the anxiety part of the bubble to be grey. As I’m listening to his voice and continuing my steady rhythmic breathing, I am told that with every exhale the grey matter is to be released and with every inhale the blue is supposed to fill the bubble, and during this process I am to think about all the amazing things that make who I am so special. I remember that during the process I felt absolutely and extremely relaxed. Honestly, every muscle in my body was totally relaxed and I felt so calm. He began to start counting backwards to get me out of this meditative state and I “woke” up. I smiled the moment I opened my eyes because I felt like I got it. I understood what hypnosis is about, at least what it means to me. I don’t care for the gimmicky showbiz aspect of it, I want the one where you feel like you just did an awesome meditation to help relax you body and mind, and for me it totally worked. I left the office after and the whole rest of the day I was fucking zen. That’s all I remember, feeling I’m awesome and I have nothing to fear I got this. Of course this isn’t a cure. Like four days later I totally had anxiety because life loves to hand you this special little gifts that cause you to want to just curl in a ball and leave, but I remembered my session. And it’s been a few weeks now and I still do it, every time I feel like omg omg omg… how will I handle this I start to think grey out, blue in, grey out, blue in, exhale, inhale. And I know that I will go back for another hypnosis session. Even after just my first session I started reaping the benefits so I see no reason not to go and continue the process.
I know a lot of people will walk away thinking okay ummm I can just envision a bubble and fill it with a color I really don’t need to go and spend my money on someone to do that for me… thankssss. I get it! I would feel the same. But with a professional and someone like your therapist who is someone you trust the experience is completely different. It’s simply not the same as trying on your own. I now feel that I try to do it on my own, (I’ve had another session since then), and I feel that I can do this as a practice on my own in between, but it’s just not the same as when someone does it with you and guides you. That’s the most important part, the guidance through the process.
Let me know in the comments below if this is something you’ve ever tried, are considering to try, or think it’s total BS and would never even consider it. Honestly, I really would love to know. See you next post!
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