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EFT and Hypnosis

2008-04-15T01:44:00.000-07:00

I have recently taken a close look at EFT (Emotional Freedom Training).
Now I have been an advocate and practitioner of hypnosis for many years, and, as such, I was a little skeptical of the claims of EFT.
Hypnosis has a long history, admittedly a little tarnished in places, but is nowadays widely accepted as being a proven and viable form of treatment for ailments, enhancement of performance and general means of relaxation. It is even accepted as being a science by many.
EFT on the other hand is a relative newcomer in the mind-energy field.
EFT is glowingly recommended by its proponents (who are many), and yet merely dismissed by others as a simple example of the effects of positive-thinking.
The only way of validly commenting on EFT, I figured, was to try it for myself. After all, there is no difficulty in finding both supporters and detractors of EFT, but whom do you believe?
I downloaded Gary Craig’s free manual and after an initial perusal of it I concluded that although it was all very interesting, it sounded a bit far-fetched, away with the fairies even, and not worthy of serious consideration.
I gave it a bit of a go however, but didn’t really notice anything of great note happening. I tried it on my wife when she had a migraine and it seemed to help stave off the migraine, but we both assumed the tablets she had taken were really responsible.
I forgot about EFT for a few months, though continued to receive Gary Craig’s weekly newsletters, some of which I read.
Now I enjoy pretty good health most of the time, but the other day I developed a shoulder pain which I didn’t seem able to shake off. My first thought was to use self-hypnosis, which I knew would work, but I rejected the idea as I was about to go to work and didn’t really have time to do it. My second thought was to take an aspirin, of which we had none. So, I thought, let’s give EFT another go!
So I tap, tap, tapped for a couple of minutes, jumped in the car and headed off to work. I was about half-way to work when I realized that my shoulder was no longer giving me grief. I wasn’t convinced that EFT was responsible for the absence of pain but the experience did re-awaken the desire to find out more about EFT.
I didn’t rush out and order the DVDs, I didn’t start extolling the virtues of EFT to everyone I met, but I did study the web and read many accounts of the use of EFT, and, more importantly, I started using the basic EFT recipe on anything and everything I could think of!
Net result?? Well, at this stage, I would say I do feel more relaxed than usual, I do feel happier than usual and I do feel more positive than usual. My shoulder pain hasn’t returned either. Not a bad start for a week’s effort! After further deliberation and study of U-tube presentations on EFT, some of which, (but not all) are very convincing, I have decided to bite the bullet and buy the DVDs. These are pretty cheap really and even if they are half as good as I am hoping them to be, I will be a very satisfied customer!
Watch this space for further information…..

Mesmer - con-artist or visionary?

2007-12-02T21:05:00.000-08:00

Franz Anton Mesmer is still considered by many to have been basically a con-artist, but he could also be viewed as a man ahead of his time, or maybe even a visionary, albeit somewhat flawed.
Whatever viewpoint you take, it has to be conceded that Mesmer represents the father of modern day hypnosis, because he was the first to recognize that the power to heal lies within people themselves, as opposed to the previously accepted view that gods and cosmic forces were alone responsible.
Mesmer was not a modest man by any standards but he was intelligent, articulate and forceful in his opinions. He developed his theory of ‘Animal Magnetism’ after coming across a woodcutter who had injured his leg which was bleeding badly. Mesmer observed that the flow of blood decreased as he neared the woodcutter and it resumed bleeding as he moved away. On further investigation he found that if he just passed his hand over the wound the bleeding would also stop.
‘Animal Magnetism’ was, in Mesmer’s view, an invisible, universal fluid, with magnetic properties, which pervades the universe. If a person was ill, then he saw this as meaning that the person’s distribution of the universal fluid within them was out of synch.
Mesmer also believed that some people, including himself, could store this universal fluid and then redistribute it correctly, thereby resulting in a cure.
Mesmer did lose the plot a bit with his ‘Animal Magnetism’ though, resorting to theatrical type behaviour where he cavorted around dressed in flowing purple robes with a long glass wand, whilst exhorting his patients to grasp iron rods protruding from a magnetic bath filled with iron filings - all in order to effect a cure. Not surprisingly, cures did occur, thanks to the power of suggestion, and such became Mesmer’s popularity, that he soon found he had a logistics problem concerning the size of his magnetic bath and the number of would-be patients. His solution to this was to start magnetizing trees as well (of which there were plenty), in order to accommodate everyone.
Eventually though, as with most good things, it all ended in tears. A government committee was set up to investigate Mesmer and they managed to observe him mesmerizing trees. Mesmer’s patients were hugging the mesmerized trees and many seemed to be cured as a result. However, one astute committee member noted that several of the ‘cured’ patients had just hugged ordinary non-mesmerized trees. Mesmer was publicly discredited as a result of this, labeled a fake, and he henceforth faded into obscurity.
Now although the antics of Mesmer may seem a bit on the wacky side, it is interesting to compare his theory of ‘Animal Magnetism’ to current-day thinking. As an example, take the recent hugely popular book ‘The Secret.” In this remarkable book, much is made of the all-embracing energy pervading the universe, how everything, including us, is composed of this energy and how everything we do or say therefore has an immediate impact on everything else in the universe. Further, the basic premise behind “The Secret” is the ‘Law of Attraction,’ which states that we tend to attract what we think about, much as a magnet attracts. If you think thoughts of ill-health, you will attract ill-health.
The terminology is maybe a little different, but change Mesmer’s ‘universal fluid’ to ‘universal energy’, change his ‘animal magnetism’ to ‘law of attraction’ and his ideas sound distinctly similar to present-day theories.
Maybe Mesmer was a visionary and he too, knew 'The Secret'!

BABY ON BOARD

2007-11-27T00:15:00.000-08:00

Have you seen them? Of course you have. You know, those signs you see stuck on the rear window or bumper of cars. Not the slightly witty or smart signs, like “Be careful, I drive the same way as you do”, or , “If you can read this you’re too darn close”, or “My other car is a Lamborghini’, but the ones that baldly state: “BABY ON BOARD.”
Now, exactly what information is the person driving this car trying to impart?
Is it meant to be a literal message ‘Don’t rear-end me or you’ll injure the baby I have left lying on the back seat’? Or is it just meant to be ‘Slow down, you moron!’
Maybe it is a sort of cryptic way of saying ‘Please be more careful than usual anywhere near this vehicle because the driver is pregnant and could act a little irrational if you get too close.’ Who knows?
Now I may be in the minority here, but I find BABY ON BOARD signs to be rather meaningless, boring and they seem to have a somewhat hypnotic effect on me, causing me to actually speed up and drive a little more reckless than usual.
I think the time is ripe for some more interesting versions of BABY ON BOARD don’t you?
How about some of the following?
BABE ON BOARD
LARGE CHILD ON BOARD
CHEESE ON BOARD
ALL ON BOARD
BITCH ON BOARD
SNAKES ON BOARD
FORENSIC SCIENTIST ON BOARD
BORE ON BOARD
BRAT ON BOARD
MICRO-ORGANISMS ON BOARD
DAVID BECKHAM NOT ON BOARD
Anyone add to this list? There must be thousands more, some even more interesting!

Hypnotic Christmas

2007-11-24T22:09:00.000-08:00

Well, its that time of the year again. "Snoopy's Xmas","Felise-narvy-duh?" and other perennial, mindboggling ditties ad nauseum on the radio. Frenzied, red-eyed shoppers filling malls to the gunwhales, grabbing wildly at anything and everything that's for sale and being served by majorly stressed shop assistants close to breaking point. Credit cards stretched to the utter limits of their credibility. Christmas decorations festooning everything - shops, houses, public buildings, public outhouses, all groaning under the weight of lights, tinsel, nodding reindeer, jolly Santas and the like. Mountains of high cholesterol food and alcohol being stockpiled in each and every home, as if in preparation for an imminent world disaster. And, worst of all, radio and TV announcers throwing in their contribution by giving us an unsolicited countdown of shopping days left to THE BIG DAY.
Hypnosis, self hypnosis, hysteria, trance states - it's all happening out there folks! Anyone still reckon they can't be hypnotized?
CHRISTMAS! I LOVE IT!

Ridiculously Simple Hypnosis

2007-11-13T23:43:00.000-08:00

Have you ever tried self hypnosis? No? A surprising number (estimated at 35%) of people have, but very few of these people continue to use it more than several times. Why is this? The main reasons seem to be that:
(a) It takes too long to do it -they simply don't have enough time in their day.
(b) They don't get the results they expect, or don't know what to expect.
(c) They just lose interest and have a couple of glasses of wine instead.
How do you get around all that? Easy.
All that people are looking for is a simple, quick and enjoyable method THAT WORKS!
Well, I've got some good news and some bad news..
First the good news. A simple, quick and enjoyable method DOES exist.
Now for the bad news. You need to have a reasonably sound imagination for the method to work properly. So, if you are a civil servant or government employee then the method probably won't work for you. (just kidding)
The Method. Here it is...
First, put away the bottle of wine.
Now, close your eyes and take a deep breath. As you breathe out, imagine you are falling, falling into a wondrously soft, fluffy, white cloud. Continue breathing deeply and see yourself floating, utterly relaxed on that cloud. Doesn't it feel good to just totally relax?
That's it! Try it, practise it, use it. Anywhere, anytime. Just do it! It works!

Is this just a female thing?

2007-10-18T13:31:00.000-07:00

Over many years experience I have noted a rather strange phenomenon which seems to pertain only to the female gender.
I think it's something to do with the cleanliness ethic, an ethic which us mere males don't seem to be particularly imbued with.
It goes further than just an obsession with cleanliness though, it also involves TEMPERATURE.
Let me explain. On the absolute coldest days of the year, my wife (whom I love dearly, I might add), has this bewildering habit of opening every window of our house as widely as possible, for as long as possible. I have also observed this strange ritual being carried out by my mother, mother-in-law and others of our female species.(in their own homes, of course.)
In reply to my apparently naive question of "Why?" my partner tells me in a sort of half-exasperated tone, "It's to freshen up the house!"
Now, in my opinion, I'm a very tolerant person. I can produce evidence of this. I allow our dog to sleep on our bed. I tolerate my wife watching shopping programs on TV in the bedroom while I am trying to go to sleep. I allow my wife to produce vast amounts of garden waste for me to dispose of. The list goes on...
But, how, (in my obvious ignorance of such matters), I ask, does freezing to our very core for several hours at a time, in the depths of winter, restore cleanliness, freshness, or whatever else you want to call it, to our humble abode? Is there a strong correlation between coldness and cleanliness?
There doesn't appear to be any rational answer to this. My wife, in the same half-exasperated tone as before, says, "It just does!"
Now, being an avid amateur hypnotist, I think I'll try and secretly hypnotize my wife into a more humane way of looking at how to achieve freshness in the home. I don't really like my chances of success,and I'm not 100% sure on the best way to approach it, but I figure it's worth a go, even if the end result is that our windows are only partially opened on wintry days!
Stay posted.

Feeling a bit inferior lately?

2007-09-21T01:46:00.000-07:00

So you think you've got an inferiority complex do you?
Well,have I got news for you!
An inferiority complex is actually a problem that only superior people have!
People who really are inferior, either mentally or otherwise, never have a complex about it!
After that little revelation, if you are still feeling a smidgen on the inferior side you will be pleased to know that your problem can easily be solved by hypnosis.
The self-concept of anyone can easily be modified, changed or improved by a combination of intense hypnotic suggestion using graphic detail, and self hypnosis.
The speed of the solution does depend pretty much upon the motivation of the subject though. This can be aided by subconscious indoctrination and provision of some form of self help technique.
Self concept motivates every form of our behaviour, whether it be normal, deviant, delinquent or anything else! Since hypnosis can directly influence the self concept, it's pretty clear that its use is a logical choice for solving many of our problems!

Hypnosis and Bodybuilding

2007-09-15T02:15:00.000-07:00

Hypnosis and Bodybuilding
All sport tends to be very competitive at top levels. The sport of bodybuilding is no different. The muscularity and definition between the dozen or so top title contenders at competitions is often not that great. What can make a real difference though, is mental attitude, focus and toughness, and these usually reveal themselves in competition as stage presence. It’s the same old story really, and we’ve heard it all before ad nauseum – ‘Think like a winner and you’ll become a winner’, ‘Whether you think you can, or you can’t, you’re correct.’ etc.
OK, so what do we have to do, apart from think positive?
Well, the surprising thing is that it’s actually very simple!
Most of the internal dialogue we have with ourselves is negative in nature. In bodybuilding this may show up as having thoughts like, “I’m not gaining enough muscle,” “I’m not getting enough protein,” “I should be training harder,” or, worse still, on stage, “He’s much bigger than me.”
Obviously we need to reverse these destructive thoughts, but is that all that is needed?
If you are determined and persistent, then, yes, it is possible.
An inspiring example: The greatest bodybuilder of all-time, (5 time winner of Mr Universe), Arnold Schwarzenegger, said, “It’s all in the mind. When I was young I used to visualize myself being and having whatever I wanted. Mentally I never had any doubts about it. Before I won my first Mr Universe, I walked around the stage like I owned it. The title was already mine – I had won it so many times in my mind that there was no doubt I would win.” Positive thinking was certainly involved here, along with strong visualization.
For the average person though, positive thinking and visualization tend to be rather drawn-out processes and even with the best of initial intentions, people often give up on the whole idea long before changes take place. It can take a good while for the message to sink through to the subconscious. On the other hand, if we enlist a bit of help from hypnosis, the message to the subconscious will be much speedier!

As an example: ‘A client, Peter, had a goal of winning a Regional body-building competition on 20th August. He had been a bodybuilder for 10 years, had entered a number of local competitions, winning several of these and within the past year had placed third in a Regional qualifying round. In discussion with him prior to a hypnotic induction we had scheduled, he expressed the following thoughts:
‘I haven’t got enough body mass to compete, and if I did, I’d end up looking under-developed compared to the others.
I need to train a lot harder than I am but I get short-tempered and grouchy when I train hard.
Food is a problem because I find it difficult to eat the same food (eggs, chicken, rice, vegetables and fruit) day in and day out.
I never seem to get the combination of protein and carbs right to peak on the day’.
After a short hypnosis induction with Peter, I reversed all of these unhelpful thoughts by giving him the following positive suggestions:
‘You are bigger and stronger than ever before. Day by day you add further to your size and mass by a combination of intense training and correct nutrition.
You eagerly look forward to each training session because you know that every day brings you closer to winning the Regional title.
Although your gym training is intense, you remain calm, even-tempered and relaxed in your day-to-day life.
You plan a careful diet designed to give you the exact combination of protein and carbohydrate you need to bring you to a peak by 20th August.
Each night you sleep deeply as your mind and body rest. You recuperate fully and awaken refreshed and enthused because you know that with each passing day you rise to greater heights of physical performance.
It is now August 20th and you can visualize yourself ready to make your entrance on stage. You can smell the scent of oil you’ve rubbed into you skin to highlight your body’s amazing muscularity. You are in peak condition, your body is rippling with muscle and you are in the best shape you have ever been in your life.
You walk on stage with total confidence, and you can feel your leg muscles powerfully contracting and relaxing with each step. You smile broadly as you hear the tremendous applause from the crowd.
It is the end of the competition. You hear your name called out as the winner of the Regional title and you graciously step forward to accept the trophy, knowing that you fully deserve to have won because of your dedicated and thorough preparation.’
I also gave Peter a phrase to symbolize the above suggestions – ‘Supreme shape and size.’ and gave him a post-hypnotic suggestion to the effect that prior to and during every training session he would close his eyes, take a deep breath, and as he exhaled to mentally repeat the phrase: ‘Bigger and stronger.’
(Footnote… Peter subsequently went on to win the Regional title.)’

Hypnophobia

2007-09-14T00:16:00.001-07:00

Hypnophobia
This is the fear of being hypnotized. However, as hypno also means sleep, hypnophobia can also literally mean fear of sleep. Fear of sleep is not a common phobia, as you would expect, as sleep is a natural process, but fear of being hypnotized is a phobia alive and well among the general populace.
As you are no doubt aware, many phobias stem from early childhood experiences, but hypnophobia has different origins.
Mesmerism, one of the oldest forms of hypnosis, worked by creating a negative trance in which the subject became very disturbed and usually went into convulsions. Franz Mesmer was of the opinion that this was required to effect a cure. Mesmer’s views were discredited eventually by the scientific community of the time.
Some present day hypnotists still employ a similar authoritarian approach in an effort to bring on an instant trance, but these hypnotists tend to lose their popularity eventually, as they struggle to get volunteer subjects! We all have heard of this sort of negative induction, whether it be from the reputation of the mad hypnotist, Svengali, or the evil Russian, Rasputin. Many people have also witnessed negative inductions first –hand at stage shows. Some people are so affected by all this to the extent that they become hypnophobic, dead scared of being hypnotized!

Hypnology

2007-09-11T01:59:00.001-07:00

Hypnology is a strange word. Literally it means the study of sleep, but it actually means the science of hypnosis. I’ve been what you might call, fascinated, with hypnology for many years. My interest stemmed from a stage hypnosis show my parents took me to in a little country town when I was about nine. I didn’t get the chance to go up on stage that night, even though I recall pestering my folks to let me. I remember seeing a lot of the local identities going on stage though, and watching them do all kinds of comical things that had us roaring with laughter. In my youthful ignorance of what was going on I naturally assumed that the hypnotist was a very powerful person who had complete control over his chosen subjects and that there was nothing they wouldn’t do under his command.
Later on, as a teenager and even more intrigued by hypnosis, I formed the opinion that anyone who could be hypnotized must be very weak-willed in order to surrender themselves to a hypnotist. The recipe for a rollicking, good stage show, in my view then, would be a domineering hypnotist, preferably with mad, staring eyes, and a group of weak-willed subjects.
Of course I’ve changed my viewpoint somewhat since then, having studied and practiced hypnology as a science in its own right for many years, but it’s funny how many of the general public still think of hypnosis in basically the same terms as I did when I was a teenager!

SMH (Supermarket Hypnosis)

2007-09-10T21:41:00.000-07:00

I don’t venture into supermarkets very often. Loveliness and I have had a sort of tacit understanding that things turn out for the best if I either remain at home or sit in the car with Lust the dog whilst she gets the groceries. By ‘turning out for the best,’ I mean we spend less money this way. By my own admission, I am a bit of an impulse buyer and we tend to come home with quite a few extra items we don’t really need if I set foot on SM premises.
On the odd occasion however, such as when Loveliness is totally incapacitated (eg paralytic drunk/dysenteric/projectile vomitous), then I am the elected person to visit the SM. This happened to me recently, and I must say that although I wasn’t initially ecstatic at the prospect, it did turn out to be a basically enjoyable and cerebral experience.
What made my trip memorable was my observation of fellow-shoppers.
To the eye of a trained hypnotist, such as myself, it was readily apparent that many of the shoppers were actually going about their shopping in a light-to-moderate trance state! Glazed, red eyes and bent heads were the order of the day, accompanied by monosyllabic grunts to partners and children alike as they stuffed their trolleys with all manner of goods.
“What’s causing this”? I asked myself, “Am I unconsciously hypnotizing these good folk?”
After that little brain implosion, I considered again… “What is happening here?”
Well, after a bit of further consideration, I came up with the following four-fold explanation…

Music. The music would probably be classed as nondescript by the uninitiated, but to my trained ear I found it was at a distinct beat, causing 7-14 brain wave cycle per seconds – the Alpha state, right? Very relaxing, very hypnotic.

Subliminal messages. I closed my eyes and listened intently to the music again. Very faintly but still understandable, I heard, “Buy Buy Sugar, but I’ll always love you,” and, further, “If you want it, here it is, come and get it right now.”

Shopping trolleys. Hypnosis requires a narrow focus of attention. Shopping trolleys are designed to be exceptionally hard to steer – total focus of attention on the path of your trolley is needed.

Suggestive messages. Every aisle, every display stand, these were blatant. “Last ones on offer! Be Quick! $4.99 each, or 50 for $249.99” is one I seem to recall.
The first few aisles all had cheap items on offer, with the more expensive items being reserved for the last few aisles, by which time the maximum state of hypnotic trance would have kicked in.

Now I thought, that by being so abundantly observant, I would have been totally immune to all these effects of the hypnosis taking place around me. So, imagine my surprise when I arrived home to discover that although I had purchased everything Loveliness had told me to get, I had also bought 5 tins of Plumcots (cross between plum and apricot), 4 cartons of avocado icecream, 3 packets of deep fried caviar, 2 boxes of frozen Ostrich offal and a partridge-in-a-pear tree!
Not surprisingly, but regrettably, Loveliness has banned me from all SM’s; to take effect immediately.

Creeping flesh

2007-08-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

You’ve heard the expression, ‘It was enough to make my flesh crawl’ to describe a very unsavory or ghoulish experience. Well now you can experience the apparent reality of ‘crawling flesh’ whenever you so desire!

Have you ever watched a hypnotic spiral? If you haven’t, then try the following.

First download a free spiral from the web (there are plenty on offer).

Then go and get a hand-mirror. Watch the spiral closely for about 30 seconds and then quickly pick up your mirror and study your face intently.

If you are a normal/semi-normal member of the species homosapien, then you should notice that not only does your flesh appear to be on the move, but your head seems to be enlarging in size at an alarming rate as well!

If so inclined, you can replicate this little experiment with other parts of your anatomy- your hand for example. However, don’t expect too much in the way of permanent results – didn’t work for me.