Your Personal Rhythm...

My battle with the gym and exercising ended today. I am celebrating the end of war, because I resolved the conflict. I want to share this with you. Not only is my discovery enlightening; but also it is physically invigorating.

I have had a gym membership for years. I would go to gym, take classes, run the treadmill. Yet, I often felt exasperated and formed quite a bit of resistance toward gym. I would get on a treadmill and couldn’t wait for it to be over, I constantly looked at the time. I really hated it. I thought and I could even say that was possessed with the idea that I needed to exercise to loose weight and be skinny. I pushed too hard and never felt happy and so I often quit and wouldn’t go to gym for months, while I kept paying for my membership.

Today, I felt quite low on energy and thought about going to gym, but then this thought came to mind: I really don’t enjoy it anyway, why go? I then, said to myself, just go and enjoy, this time you don’t need to exercise to be skinny or to lose weight. You are exercising to move around and stay healthy. Do it slowly.

I got on a treadmill and started very slowly, just feeling my every muscle moving. Feeling my breathing. I decided I would not rush. I would not push it. I would just move slowly and feel comfortable, no matter how slow or fast I wanted to go. I simply shifted my focus to a new single idea: I exercise for my body now.

As I moved, I began to find my own rhythm, which felt comfortable to me. There were a few times that I would start pushing myself, like I did in the past and going against that newly found rhythm. When that occurred I would say to myself, “stop, just listen to your body, go long with it now.” Yes, I was slow, but that didn’t matter – my body still exercised and even more - I was beginning to feel good.

I felt the heat spreading naturally from my lower back all the way up to my shoulders, neck and into my arms. It dawned on me: even in exercising you ought to find your rhythm, which feels comfortable to you. The same rhythm you must find in life. In life, you can’t ever rush things; they come to you once you are fully in unison with the rhythm of your own self (your body, mind, thoughts- call it whatever you want, your life, your purpose, your being.)

Twenty minutes went by really fast on the treadmill today. I enjoyed it for the first time. My whole attitude has changed. I will now exercise for my body and health, the rest will come with time….

Hypnosis and Pain Management: Myth or Real? ( Part I)

            I remember I used to have headaches a few years back for about a year, they were quite painful and consistent, occurring at least once a month. Even two tablets of Advil wouldn’t help me rid those headaches. After while I figured that the only way to  stop such pain would be to put a cold wet towel over my forehead, close my eyes and drift into a sleep state. As a practicing Hypnotist I of course knew the tricks of making myself fall asleep despite any distractions or even insomnia. My self-hypnosis techniques always worked. I usually would use a part of a Dave Elman Induction by visualizing the numbers from 200 going down by one, after each number I would silently within myself say the words : deeper relaxed. Before I reached 170-150 I would quite naturally and unexpectedly enter a light state of trance and eventually fall asleep. Sometimes,  I would visualize golden strings graciously pulling the pain out of my head, just drawing it further away from my physical  awareness.  Next morning I would wake up feeling great, free of any pain and totally refreshed.

            James Esdaile, a Scottish surgeon was one of the pioneers in using Hypnosis for pain control. Esdaile performed about 3000 painless surgeries while working in India. There is one twist though: at that time ( beginning of 19^th century) they weren’t using the word Hypnosis. The term Hypnosis was coined a little later in 1842 by another Scottish surgeon James Braid. Before that Hypnosis was known as…. Any guesses? Mesmerism, of course. This term originated with a well known Austrian physician and faithhealer Anton Mesmer. Just bear with me readers, don’t go away. Mesmerism is somewhat different from Hypnosis and yet very much the same. What was different about mesmerism, with which Esdale was able to perform so many painless surgeries? Mesmerism worked on the power of suggestion just like Hypnosis, however it worked because patients were lead to believe as if the doctor or a surgeon possessed some special power. That in turn would induce trance in patients.  Interestingly enough both Mesmer and Esdaile also believed in their special abilities to connect with some universal healing fluid. How entrancing!

Nowadays, of course we as hypnotists do not use any of these bogus stories to put our clients to trance. There are many inductions, breathing techniques, guided visualization and imagery that hypnotists use to achieve a receptive state of mind in a client. I think this is where the power of a good hypnotist lies: in the abilities to detect limiting beliefs, formulate proper suggestions and finally to induce trance to “install” these new suggestions in one’s  subconscious mind. In other words, clinical Hypnosis has nothing to do with any special mysterious or divine power of a Hypnotist. It is just a skill, which a good hypnotist acquires with practice and knowledge. By the way anyone could learn that, it just takes years of studying and practicing.

I use Hypnosis and NLP when I work with clients to help them stop stop addictions, with success motivation, weight loss and more. Most of the time, especially with smokers, you don’t need deep levels of trance,like theta or delta ( there are four known levels: beta-wake state,alpha- heightened state of focus, theta- trance state and delta- deep trance, coma).

When working with pain management I found that inducing deeper levels of trance (theta) and lingering there a bit longer  would really benefit the reduction of pain much more. While in those states I would usually guide clients into visualization of various metaphoric healing images (like strings, or cleansing water, or beams of light). Throughout this long lasting pleasant trance I would  give them very positive suggestions and sometimes very specific instructions to remove triggers and associations with pain.

 

So, what exactly is so powerful about these long lasting trance states?  I will chat about that in my next post. In the meantime, I welcome any questions or comments here.

 

 

 

 

 

Self-Hypnosis Based Meditation

           Last year I was shooting my documentary film Zaritsas: Russian Women in New York. I followed five girls around during their daily activities and interviewed them for six months! It was an unforgettable experience. Of course, there were ups and downs throughout the process, but each minute of it was  a worthwhile experience.

          As a Hypnotist I often practice self-hypnosis  or exchange NLP sessions with my colleagues for personal self-improvement. I am constantly looking for new effective ways of trance inductions and ways to plant positive suggestions. My colleagues and I often exchange a lot of information and ideas. As Thomas Jefferson once said “If two individuals get together and exchange a dollar, they each walk away with one dollar. If the same individuals  get together and exchange an idea, they both walk away with two ideas.” 

          This past summer I discovered a new powerful self-hypnosis technique which I would like to share with  all of you. It is called Self-Hypnosis based Meditation. I discovered it while filming for three days in Sufi Camp in New Mexico, as one of the girls in my film stayed there for two months.

          Sufi is a spiritual practice that originates from Islam, kind of like Yoga from Buddhism. Sufi involves various modalities like dance, movement, meditation, chanting, singing and so on. It is very artistic and creative in its base.

           On the last night of my trip I was invited to participate in one of the sufi workshops with everyone else. That night we were doing a sufi meditation. I was in a hall room full of people. The Sufi instructor Adnan Sarhan inserted a tape into his old stereo. It began playing  a mantra ( a short Arabic phrase) loudly into the speakers without any music. Just plain words. We were instructed to repeat it over out loud in unison with the tape recorder.

           I began saying my mantra out loud, occasionally looking around trying to capture my surroundings. Everyone sat silently on the floor obediently repeating the mantra. I closed my eyes again and continued repeating these two Arabic words just like everyone else did. I was not supposed to stop.

         I knew that this was one of the ways many people meditated: repeatedly focusing on a mantra. I heard about it so many times and read in books. I may even tried it a few times in the past, but never got any effect from it.

         So, this time  in Sufi camp sitting on a floor with my legs crossed I didn’t have much expectations, other than expecting to be very bored. Ten minutes later I was still repeating the mantra out loud and kept on thinking what was coming next and when this tape  would finally end on this old man’s stereo.

         About ten more minutes passed and I couldn’t believe we were still doing it. I peaked around at people. I noticed some of them  were swaying slightly from side to side and gently lowering their heads down and up. I looked ahead of me and saw a young girl stretched on the floor moving her body slowly, almost in ecstasy. It was captivating to watch.

        I close my eyes again. Bored, and even more: I was beginning to feel angry at myself thinking that I wouldn’t get anything out of it anyway. My lips were getting very tired. I stuck to the mantra. The more I tried to keep my lips moving, the more tired they felt. Then they felt more lazy, my face feeling relaxed. Then I felt  this drowsy feeling and relaxation spreading around  my mouth and into my face even more, then slowly into my body. I began to feel a pleasant sensation of trance-like state flowing into my whole body again and then into my awareness.

        At that moment I  became  aware of a familiar state of the hypnotic trance that I had experienced before many times in sessions ( when exchanging sessions with colleagues.) Except this time I entered this deep state with this strange mantra myself and quite unexpectedly. My thoughts slowly started to melt away.

         I continued seeing various images in my head, as if I was streaming through a beautiful colorful tunnel. I stopped saying the mantra for a moment. Then, forced myself  to utter it again in a very low voice. I could feel an euphoric feeling traveling through  every limb  of my body and mind. I was just enjoying the ride of deep hypnotic trance.

         The next day when I was leaving camp I was going into the airport and thinking about this beautiful experience. I kept asking myself: Do campers actually know that they go in and out of deep trance every day during their workshops?  Do they know that they could use these states to direct their thoughts and give themselves suggestions for powerful changes? 

         From what I knew, they only used these states to relax and feel a purification and oneness with the Infinite Intelligence. It is very spiritual. Also, I know that the workshops and overall experience in the camp helps many campers improve in various areas of life and even quit bad habits. ( I have a theory why, which I will explain another time.)

         As a Hypnotist I began looking  at my trance experience in sufi camp  from a practical point of view. These trance states that campers go in and out during the day in a sufi camp - are the kind of  states we, as Hypnotists work to induce in our clients in order to plant suggestions for a positive change. For some clients it can be very easy to reach that deep state, for others it may take a while ( a few sessions) before they get there. Even though we don’t always need a very deep state of trance in order for suggestions to reach the subconscious, still, I personally always loved the deep states and found they work powerfully for me.

         When I came to New York, I began practicing meditation more often. I either used a mantra or simply focused on my breathing for a long time to help me enter a deep meditative state. The more I practiced the better I became at it. Today it can take me anywhere from ten  to twenty minutes before I slip into a trance.

What do you think I do then? Any guesses?

        I use my inner voice to feed my mind with positive suggestions, hence the invention of my new technique Self-Hypnosis Based Meditation.

        Here is how you can do it too:

 

1. Chose one or two positive suggestions you want to “download” into your subconscious mind during your meditation. For example: “ I am a successful writer,”  “ I am an excellent public speaker”, “ I am a happy person”, “ I am fearless in..( whatever)”, “ I improve my relationships”,  “ I have a high self-esteem”, “ I am a non-smoker”, “Tobacco is poison”, “ I no longer bite my nails, I am healthy”, “ I am in control” and so on. 

Make sure that your affirmations ( suggestions) are always stated in positives. And try not to use more that two affirmations while in trance, because your mind can only remember one or two items while you are deep in trance. I actually recommend using one good suggestion, which can also become a mantra for you during trance.  Your mind will hear it, accept it, and believe it! Eventually your mind will turn in into your reality when you are in a wake state!

 

2. After you chose your suggestion, begin by going into a trance. Be patient. Use your breathing or a mantra if you know any. Or you can simply just count from 200 and down saying the words “deeper relaxed” after each number. It may take you about 15-30 minutes before you enter a deep meditative state. It takes practice. You might have a tendency to get up and stop. Don’t do that. Continue by pushing your thoughts away. Use whatever technique you want to meditate ( there are plenty of spiritual books on that)

 

3. Once you are in that deep meditative state, feeling physical relaxation and stillness of your mind, begin by saying your affirmation( suggestion) inside yourself silently. Don’t say it out loud or you will awake yourself.  Keep on saying that suggestion and really hear your inner voice. Notice where it comes from. Do it for as long as you feel comfortable.  Your new positive affirmation will begin to securely plant in your inner mind, replacing the other old limiting belief. You will know when to stop.

 

 

4. Slowly open your eyes, feeling invigorated and refreshed. Your newly installed positive affirmation is your new positive belief now! You attitude and behavior will change accordingly to this new belief.

 

See, it is very simple. The entire self-hypnosis based meditation may take anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour. I usually do it for one hour a few times a month. It works wonders!  Let me know if you have questions!

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