Have you ever wondered what actually happens to your brain in hypnosis?
Hypnosis is often described as a state of deep relaxation, and neuroscience suggests there’s a great deal more happening than that.
What brain imaging shows
Research using brain imaging has found changes in the way areas involved in focused attention, self-awareness and our internal thought processes communicate during hypnosis.
Put simply, when you enter hypnosis, your attention can become more focused while some of the usual mental chatter, analysing and questioning becomes less dominant.
And that creates an interesting opportunity.
Why this matters for your unconscious patterns
So much of what we do every day is driven by unconscious patterns: the thoughts we automatically think, the emotional responses we automatically have, and the behaviours we repeat without consciously deciding to.
Hypnosis gives us a way to work with those patterns differently.
Self-hypnosis: using your mind more deliberately
For those of you who have trained with us, remember that hypnosis is also something you can use on yourself, well beyond your client sessions.
You can use self-hypnosis to deliberately direct your attention, rehearse new responses, reinforce suggestions and spend time mentally experiencing the thoughts, behaviours and outcomes you want to create more of.
And if you haven’t learned hypnosis yet, this is why I find it such a fascinating skill. Hypnosis is about learning how to use your mind more deliberately, and you stay in charge of it the whole way through.
One question to ask yourself today:
What is one pattern in your thinking, emotions or behaviour that you’d like to stop rehearsing, and what would you rather begin reinforcing instead?
Interested in hypnosis and how you can use this incredible tool to create deep and lasting change? Join our upcoming 3-Day Modern Hypnosis Certification Training. Find out more here.
