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Stress relief through hypnosis, and other articles

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You Can Take Charge of Stress More Than You Think

A Commentary by Marie H. Beach, C.Ht., CI

Hypnotism is ancient in origin going back to the sleep temples of Egypt. Yet the profession has had lots of ups and downs and been through periods of disfavor as well as heightened interest. Currently, it is the subject of research by an arm of the National Institute of Health, the NCCMA , (an acronym for the National Complementary & Alternative Health division) for medical utilization. The results are extremely encouraging. Its use for stress created by medical conditions, particularly for auto-immune diseases has been very successful. In diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome for which no cause has been established, hypnosis was found to be the most effective approach. ** Additional successful uses of hypnosis can be found on our Research page.**

At our center we believe the best way to handle a medical condition is to prevent it. And that means taking charge of the stress in your life. Here’s where hypnotism shines – through two methods we teach, conscious breathing and self-hypnosis our clients take charge on how much stress they allow into their lives, and consequently how sick it will make them. Some people thrive on stress and competition, some it mobilizes. Get in touch with your handle on stress. What turns you on and what turns you off in the marketplace called your job? Until you practice conscious breathing you can’t possibly imagine how it alleviates stress. When smokers say smoking relaxes them it is something they’ve hypnotized themselves into believing. It is the breath they take in and then exhale that relaxes because smoking constricts the blood vessels making the heart pump harder so relaxation is impossible.

Next gambit to counter stress is taking charge of your thinking and your words; start noticing how you talk to yourself and what words you use. Guaranteed it’s full of negativity. Through these two channels you become the creator of most of your stress by your interpretation of what happens to you. Certainly not a new concept: Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor, commented on thought’s power as have legions since and you will see some of their assessments in the quotations at the bottom of this article. What you tell yourself – self-hypnosis – will be true for you. Research is showing that the left part of the brain will justify and rationalize even the most aberrant of behavior – killing someone for instance. Addictions are one such behavior.

Not to pick on smokers but many expect to quit a habit of 30 years, couple packs a day habit in one session. I ask, could they reasonably expect to forget their habit of driving or any other long -term habit in one session? Hypnosis is not “abra-ca-da-bra” tomfoolery. It actually causes a chemical change in the brain. And someone with an addiction has a psychological component to that addiction - be it cigarettes, alcohol, food, drugs (painkillers included) shopping or sex. It’s a fact, cigarettes or any addiction is used to disguise many toxic emotions. When a smoker sticks a cigarette in their mouth, it does one of two things: it distracts them from uncomfortable thoughts or it thwarts the smoker from saying or thinking or doing something they will regret.

This leads us to a discussion of emotions. Suppressed emotions cause blocks. Blocks stop us from moving forward in life, keeping us stuck, depressed or resentful or any other myriad of emotions. Sooner or later suppressed emotions, as researcher Candace Pert writes in her book, “Molecules of Emotion”, can cause disease and repressing emotions is tantamount to causing physiological dysfunction. As the Georgetown neuroscientist concludes , “all honest emotions are positive emotions. To repress these emotions and not let them flow freely is to set up a dis-integrity in the system, causing it to act at cross-purposes rather than a unified whole. Pert explains it thusly: “repressing negative emotions creates stress and forms blockages and insufficient flow of peptide signals to maintain function at the cellular level and ultimately the weakened conditions that can lead to disease.”

Makes sense, doesn’t it? Dis-ease leads to being diseased. Does this mean blaming ourselves for illnesses. No. But we can make it a more positive experience for inner growth, realization or a change in attitude. Having an illness or disease creates enough stress but being angry, sad, guilty, depressed over it in the long term will worsen the condition. It is at this point a human being has a choice on how s/he deals with it. And that makes all the difference as Christopher Reeve taught us so heroically.

Lee Atwater, the once feared and often vengeful Chairman of the National Republican Committee during Nixon’s administration, attributed his vengeful “take no prisoners” approach toward political enemies for being vulnerable to cancer. “I operated under the notion that those who were not for or with me were against me.” Dividing half the world into one full of enemies obviously doesn’t auger well for getting well.

The idea of suppressed emotions causing illness or disease makes more sense when we consider episodes of anger, depression, sadness, bitterness, resentment, or even vengeance. Think what it did to you physiologically: blood pressure rose, stomach churned and tightened, muscles became tense, head ached, maybe a bit of hyperventilating occurred or you were so upset you had diarrhea or nausea. If strong emotions evoke of this magnitude in a solitary situation, then consider what damage years of it can inflict.

What’s the point here, what message are we trying to get across? It is this: do your best to de-clutter your mind by letting go of resentments, guilt, vengeance, anger, and unforgiveness for they are truly toxic to your system. . Do your work. Let go of the past. Stop being afraid and running away from looking within. As you will discover - it’s the most selfish thing you can do for yourself. Not to mention your loved ones benefiting, too. We offer quotations by noted personages below on the link between mind and body – as well as spirit.

***IF YOU ARE A DO-IT-YOURSELFER, CHECK OUT OUR RADICAL RELAXATION CD IN OUR STORE CATALOGUE TO HELP YOU TAKE MORE CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE. IT’S A GREAT ONE!

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And here are the quotations:

“There was an aura of sickliness about her, the kind of decay that begins in the heart and works its way out to the eyes.”
—Pat Conroy
(author of Prince of Tides, Beach Music in describing an unhappy character)

“There is nothing more potent than thought Deed follows word and word follows thought. The word is the result of a mighty thought And where the thought is mighty and pure the result is mighty and pure”
—Gandhi

"Our cells are constantly eavesdropping on our thoughts and being changed by them. A bout of depression can wreak havoc with the immune system; falling in love can boost it. Despair and helplessness raise the risk of heart attacks and cancer, thereby shortening life. Joy and fulfillment keep us healthy and extend life. This means that the line between biology and psychology can't really be drawn with any certainty. A remembered stress, which is only a wisp of thought, releases the same flood of destructive hormones as the stress itself."
—Deepak Chopra, MD

"Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, the whole nervous system, and profoundly affects heart action."
—Dr. Charles H. Mayo

Note: If this article interests you, see Radical Relaxation our hypnosis audio session on the topic.

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