Guided Imagery

For Hypnotherapy and or Hypnosis to be affective, there must be some Imagery and or Visualization taking place in the mind. Visualization is the seeing of an activity in the mind but Imagery is experiencing the activity in the mind with all, most or some of the senses involved – actually doing it, as if being part of it.

Imagery is a right brain activity which means it is a creative process verses the left brain which is the analytical side. Imagery is a flexible approach that strengthens the Nero Pathways, the brain responders, so by using Guided Imagery one can practice in the mind seeing and doing what one wants to be, change or accomplished.

Here is an example of a Guided Imagery used during Hypnotherapy:

First, sit in a comfortable position and get relaxed by taking three deep breaths and then three more.

Now with your eyes closed, start to visualize or image in your mind being at your favorite place in the world.
This could be any place that is safe, calm, relaxing and beautiful – you decide where it is – or create it now.

It could be a place you have been before or a place that you want to visit or where you are right now – you decide.

Now, be there as you begin to feel the breeze, the air, as you smell the smells and hear the sounds around you.

What colors do you see, who is there with you, what animals or beings do you see or are you alone? – you decide.

What does the ground feel like, the air the water the trees, are there any trees, mountains, valleys or are you inside?

Now, what do you feel – the positive feelings inside your body?  Calm, relaxed, happy, free, joyous, peaceful, creative, focused, powerful, out of your body…

Keep feeling the positive while staying in this place – enjoy this brief time of solitude as your continue to be good to yourself.

Be aware of your breathing as you continue to take deep long breaths into you belly and exhale slowly as the mind drifts.

Enjoy this time as long as you possibly can with each deliberate and slow wonderful and powerful breath to the next one (take time here to just sit and become even more relaxed as you let your mind wonder from one wonderful thought to the next).

Now, start to come back to this place where you are in your body at this time and bring yourself here now back to the present.

Begin to open your eyes and feel your body where you are and count up from 0 to 5 – 0,1,2,3,4, and 5 eyes open wide awake.

You could have someone else read this to you or you could record it and play it back or even memorize it and say it to yourself but it is always so much better and more effective when you are professionally guided to this wonderful place.

With Hypnotherapy, the Hypnotherapist is able to gain access to the subconscious part of the mind of the client who has given permission to do so.  This is done through motivative suggestions of guided imagery and visualization for the client to reference as they begin to relax into this deepened  calm state.

All of this is quite simple on the client’s part, nothing is asked of the client but to begin to get comfortable and begin to relax and listen to the positive calm suggestions that will be related to the issues that they want to work on.  Before the hypnosis begins, the client is encouraged to talk about their issues and or anything they would like.  Also, the client does not have to talk about anything if they choose because with hypnosis, the Hypnotherapist does not need to know the reasons why a client has an issue or even how their issue started.

You are in control while in hypnosis and you can do or saying anything you want to and even get up if you choose but all my clients report such a great feeling of relaxation that they just want to be calm and listen to the positive suggestions.  And no, we are not going to find out any deep dark secrets about you because you are not going to do or saying anything that you would not ordinarily do or say.  And yes, every client is counted up and out of  hypnosis to a conscious but still relaxed state before they leave.

As a Hypnotherapist, I become that motivative support that helps my clients see how they can help themselves toward their own positive change for the self-improvement that they are seeking.  I am also there to listen and see the change as they discover a wonderfully powerful part of themselves that they may not have ordinarily had the chance to explore.

So, you see, it is a simple way to get relaxed as you de-stress while being a positive and motivating way to be a better healthier person as it brings self-improvement.  Hypnotherapy has changed my life in so many positive ways and I love sharing this amazing modality as I continue to practice on the willing who desire positive change to occur in their lives.

Basically, Hypnosis is a deepened state a relaxation and most everyone has experienced hypnosis in their life without even knowing it.

An example of this is when we are watching a great movie and are so engrossed in it that we don’t notice or hear anything else around us.  If it is a really great movie, that we relate to or that really scares us or pumps the adrenaline, some people get into it so much that when the movie ends they don’t even realize where all the time has gone.

And this is  why we love the movies, they can transcend us and take us away from our daily lives into another world where we can explore as we go to places that we might not be able to visit in real life.

So, when this occurs, what is happening is that the mind is getting overloaded to the point that the subconscious part of the mind is now trying to take over.  We are in our subconscious mind a lot of the time and we don’t even realize it.  Just think about breathing, well, not much to think about when you are doing it because the subconscious mind is handling it for us.

The mind is a wonderful thing and through the subconscious part of it you can explore deeper and see why you do the things you do while learning how to change what you would like.