What is hypnotherapy?
Suppose you have an inner and outer world. In your inner world you have thoughts, feelings and sensations. In your outside world there are trees, houses, people, and so on. Suppose you want to focus your attention on your inner world. Why? To get an idea or an insight, to solve a problem, to remember something, to come up with a plan, to "feel" something - you do this all day long. To be able to focus your attention very clearly on what is going on in your inner world, you can shut out the outside world for a while. For example, by sitting in a cave, or on the toilet, or going for a walk in nature - away from the stimuli, because they are distracting. The more you can focus your attention inwards, the clearer it all becomes and the more space you make within yourself to gain clarity. Hypnosis is that state of inward focus where your intuitive intelligence and deeper knowing has a chance to come through. And then you can do all sorts of aha! moments and beautiful insights.
How does it work? All hypnosis is ultimately self-hypnosis. It is you who turns inward, and if you also relax in doing so, then your body will settle down on its own - almost in a state of dreaming. And so just like when you sleep, your system is not focused on the outside world and all attention can focus on what's going on inside. It's a bit like sitting in front of a movie or TV show. You relax, focus inwards, and see what comes up. The joke is that you go through this state several times a day, for example just before you fall asleep. Your brain waves are then in theta frequency. If you picture your brain as a radio with an antenna, it is like tuning your radio to a station in the bandwidth or modulation type that we call hypnosis. So not FM or AM, but MM (mind modulation) - or something like that.
What programming is there on your MM channels?
It could be anything. For example your memory. Imagine that your memory is a very large library with many floors. In your awake state, you may only have access to the first floor. In that state you are on the channel of beta or alpha frequencies. All your other memories are neatly stored on other floors. Through the hypnosis state you can, as it were, tune into the right floor with the memory you need for insight and clarity. Your intelligence also has a similar spectrum. In your active waking state, you have access to part of that spectrum, relevant to the experiences you are having at the moment. By tuning in to your inner world and deepening your level of body relaxation, you can discover the different channels. So you have channels for memories, ideas, solutions, wisdom, emotions, visions and so on. Channels for the past, present and future. For example, scientists have received information that led to inventions and about the origin and structure of the universe. Even the story of Star Wars comes from such a channel. And if you believe in it, then there are also channels for memories of past lives or between lives and future lives. Maybe that goes a bit too far for you or you find other interesting channels. Many people have now experienced everything in that state of being. I'm sure you've experienced that yourself - an intuition, a premonition or a dream. Ultimately, your own experience with it will give you more clarity about its possibilities and truth.
How do you find the right channel?
Suppose there is a TV guide in which you can look up which channel a certain program is on. Then you already have the program you want to see in mind. This is how you can approach your hypnosis. You take in mind the subject on which you want clarity. That TV guide is also there in you, and by focusing on that subject, you search that guide until the right channel is found. You can also browse the TV guide to see what catches your eye and focus on that. Or you just turn on the TV and zapped around to see what's playing now.
How is it to be in hypnosis?
You are completely there and in control. Contrary to popular belief, you don't dance like a chicken or share deep secrets without wanting to. You're just completely there. It is comparable to when you are very deeply absorbed in something, such as a movie, book, thought or driving a car - and you lose sight of the environment for a moment, the sense of time changes - it is like a waking dream.
What might come up?
What if that dream turns out to be a nightmare? If you've had traumatic experiences, those memories may surface. Then that is because those experiences are relevant to what you want to gain clarity about. If there are unprocessed experiences, or you have learned conclusions from past experiences, that are now in your way, then through hypnosis you can revise your perspective and thereby detach the experience from the emotion. Sometimes that is quite intense and hard work. In cooperation with a skilled supervisor you will experience that you do not present yourself with anything that you cannot handle in that moment. You show yourself the necessary information to get the clarity and movement you are looking for.
How long is a hypnosis session?
It depends. It can be 20 minutes and also 6 hours. You can imagine that if you give yourself 3 hours to be with yourself and go within, you can come to some insights. How often do you give yourself that time to yourself to be able to take the next step?
Then what is meditation?
Meditation is also a state of inward focus and is also experienced when you are very focused on something in the outside world. It is then often described as being completely in the now. Many people think that meditation is sitting still and thinking nothing. You don't have to experience it that way. Just like in hypnosis, there can be a lot of activity in your inner world. The point here is to delve into what you focus your attention on. Meditation is a form of gaining deeper insight into yourself and into the world - by dwelling on it, with attention.
And what about plant medicine?
Suppose there are many floors in your library and a radio channel for each book. In the beginning it can be quite difficult and tiring to go up and down all those stairs. You need training for that. Plant medicines such as truffles, magic mushrooms, Ayahuasca, San Pedro and LSD are like an elevator to get from one floor to another - or in the example of the radio - the automatic station finder. The plant brings substances into your body that are similar to the substances you produce when you are in deep meditative hypnosis. That takes you nice and fast to floors and books you need. You may end up on another planet outside your building yourself. Who knows. If you take a good dose of it, you will fly - and that will feel like someone else is flying the plane.
It's not that new
Being in the state of hypnosis, meditation or trance has long been a tool for getting information to you. You probably already did exploring your inner world as a child. Why turning inward seems a bit scary in this day and age is perhaps because we have forgotten what it is like and how to do it. There is an opportunity to explore whether it can enrich your life. It has already proven that to many people.
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