Hypnosis Certification Course
Basic Hypnosis Certification
    Saturday May 24 & Sunday May 25, 2008
Learn how to work with...
  Weight Loss, Smoking Cessation and Stress Relief.
Click here for details.

Hypnosis is a proven and time-tested way to help you achieve your goals. Throughout history, millions of people have benefited from its power to help them make positive changes in their lives. Some notable users of hypnosis have included Albert Einstein, Jackie Kennedy-Onassis, Henry Ford, Kevin Costner, and even Mozart.

Hypnosis can help you to better understand yourself. It can help you to change bad habits into good ones. It can help you turn your negative or sad feelings into positive or happy ones. It can help you to effortlessly focus on almost anything in your life that you would like to change, while leaving you unburdened by analytical or pessimistic thoughts.

Unfortunately, hypnosis has long been portrayed in a negative light by television, films, and other media. Most people are familiar with the image of hypnosis as a traveling stage show in which people are made to bark like dogs or run around like chickens. People have also been led to believe that, while under hypnosis, the subject is unconscious and unaware of their surroundings. These and other misconceptions could not be further from the truth. A person of normal intelligence can only be hypnotized if he or she is willing to follow the hypnotherapists instructions. And, of course, the vast majority of hypnotherapists  practice in offices rather than in circus tents, and are deeply committed to helping people as opposed to making them bark out loud.

To understand how hypnosis works, we must first learn about how our mind works. In simple terms, our mind consists of two components: The conscious mind, and the subconscious mind. Our conscious, or logical mind performs analytical duties, rationalizes, uses willpower in attempts to change personal habits and serves as our short-term memory. The conscious mind also contains what is known as the critical factor, which operates automatically when you are using your conscious mind. The critical factor can be thought of as protecting the status quo of your beliefs and must be bypassed in order for you to accept any suggestion that conflicts with your existing beliefs.  

Read some testimonies...

On the other hand, our subconscious mind is where our brain deals with habits, emotions, long-term memory, and self-preservation. It is the part of the mind that the hypnotherapists will focus on, and the part through which it is possible to bypass the critical factor entirely in order to open the door to positive change in your life. A good metaphor is to refer to the subconscious as your hard drive, as in a computer, and to the hypnotherapist as a re-programmer. When you have targeted a specific glitch, such as a bad habit, in your programming, the hypnotist is able to guide you into a relaxed yet aware state in which it is possible to reprogram your subconscious with positive suggestions that replace negative elements.

Our conscious mind finds it difficult to change bad habits. For example, when a person decides to try and quit smoking, he typically thinks he can accomplish this through willpower alone. However, a student of the mind knows that willpower simply initiates the desire to change, and is usually unsuccessful at eliminating the problem. The subconscious mind, however, is able to change bad habits by readily accepting positive suggestions. Therein lies the secret to the effectiveness of hypnosis: Through positive suggestion, hypnosis changes your beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors, which you would like to improve.

---

Some things that you can accomplish with the help of hypnosis are: 

Build self esteem: Your ego is healthy and you approach all of life's tasks and challenges with ease and confidence.

Change your eating habits: Through the power of suggestion, you find yourself craving healthier foods. You no longer feel the need to reach for more food in times of stress.

Put an end to sleep problems: You drift off to sleep every night as your head hits the pillow, and wake up in the morning feeling refreshed, confident, and energized.

Stop smoking: While willpower alone rarely lasts long enough to affect permanent change, and nicotine patches and gums do nothing to solve the chemical addiction, through hypnosis your cravings simply disappear as bad habits are replaced in your subconscious with good ones.

Manage stress more effectively: When you feel stress, many parts of your life can suffer, such as relationships, school, your career, and even your physical health. Through daily relaxation exercises, hypnosis does away with unhealthy stress levels.

Conquer phobias: You are no longer controlled by your fears. You learn to let go of traumatic experiences and start enjoying parts of life that have been out of your reach.

Improve athletic performance: Step on the field, course, or court knowing that you deserve to win. Your confidence soars, you are oblivious to outside distractions, you feel no performance anxiety, and your total body relaxation allows you to move with effortlessness and athletic grace.

If hypnosis is going to work for you, it is crucial to understand that a doubtful or negative response to given suggestions leads to their rejection. On the other hand, if you really want the change and focus on the suggestion with a positive attitude, the suggestion is accepted and positive change happens. Trusting and believing in your own powerful subconscious mind is the first step to a successful new you!

HOW HYPNOSIS WORKS

I. Conscious Mind / Logical Mind

A. Analytical Reasoning · This is the part of us that looks at simple and complex problems and gives us the best answer.

B. Rational Reasoning · This part must give us a reason why we behave in any particular fashion. · Unfortunately the reason is never original.

C. Will Power · Will power is the fuel that initiates action towards a given goal. · Will power is always short lived.

D. Working Memory · The working memory is the place we store the information that has been drawn from the long term memory · The working memory is located in the conscious mind for use at any given moment

 II. Subconscious Mind / Computer

A. Long Term Memory · This is where we store the memories of everything that has ever happened to us. · Everything that we have every heard, seen, smelled, touched or tasted since our brain was formed. · It is the information that determines how we react to any situation.

B. Habits · Good Habits - Saying thank you, getting exercise, and keeping clean. · Bad Habits - smoking, eating wrong foods, and biting fingernails. · General Habits - How we respond to the phone ringing or a doorbell.

C. Emotions · We can be happy. · We can be sad.

D. Self Preservation · This part of our subconscious protects us from any harm - real or imaginary.