Hypnotic Thoughts.

Michael Jackson Joins Heath Ledger in Death Related to Poor Sleep

Michael Jackson's death, according to the preliminary findings of the LA County coroner, was due to the use of propofol, a powerful anesthetic that his personal physician administered Jackson so he could sleep.  From what I have read, it's not a drug that should be used to help people sleep, though.  It's really supposed to be for sedation in surgical procedures.  It appears that several other drugs were given to Jackson before the propofol in an attempt to help him sleep, but when they didn't work the physician went to it as a final measure.  The idea that a person would have to try to take a cocktail of drugs like what is listed in the report in order to sleep is so sad.

If you have problems sleeping, consult with your physician before trying any kind of treatment on your own.  If there is a biological reason that you are not sleeping, then testing should be done to determine that.  You might go to a sleep lab for observation.

If you have trouble falling asleep, but stay asleep just fine once you get there, hypnosis might be a way to help you get to sleep more quickly.  Many people who struggle with falling asleep report difficulty "quieting the mind" or slowing down their thought process.  They just keep thinking and thinking and can't slow down to transition into sleep.  Hypnosis is a great way to calm and quiet the mind.

We live in a culture where pills and drugs offer shortcuts, quick fixes, but Michael Jackson and Heath Ledger are two tragic examples of how the abuse of drugs as sleep aids can have terrible consequences. Your mind has a natural ability to take care of itself, if you just learn how to use that mind more effectively.  That is the great potential of hypnosis. 

Forget the PS3 Slim! YOU can get Slim with Hypnosis!

I've struggled with my weight most of my life, so I know what it's like to go through repeated attempts to lose weight, only to gain weight back, start over again, and continue that exasperating process.  I've lost as much as 50 pounds in one go-round, and over the course of my life become as much as 100 pounds overweight.  Finally I discovered hypnosis.

Weight loss is a touchy subject for a lot of people.  There's a lot of baggage that comes with it, namely the repeated failure that makes people feel even worse about themselves.  There's the guilt of being overweight in the first place, the poor self-esteem that comes from being fat, and the stress of how being overweight makes it harder to find comfortable clothes, travel on airplanes, and lots of other lifestyle issues.

What I've learned from working with weight loss clients and working on my own weight reduction is that if you want to reduce your weight you have to look beyond the weight, beyond the food.  You have to examine what is driving the behavior, not so much the behavior itself.  If all you needed to do was look at the behavior, it would be simple:  eat less, and exercise more.  That's easy!  So why doesn't it happen for people?

Eat less, exercise more is a rational, logical way of looking at the issue.  Unfortunately, the logical part of our brain is not the part that makes decisions about when we eat and how much we consume.  It's the emotional part of our mind that makes those decisions, and that part of the mind wants to feel good, wants to feel safe, and wants to fill whatever emotional spaces are vacant.  Food becomes a great way to do that.

Hypnosis helps us re-train the mind the find a better alternative to food when it comes to getting emotional fulfillment.  Reducing your weight becomes easier when you have an idea in your mind that is more appealing, more fulfilling, than the quick fix of eating.  Hypnosis can help you figure out the path that will bring you to that point, increasing your motivation and desire to feel better in every way.  Thinner, happier, and more successful.

Favre's Return to Football an Example of Addiction

Sources today have reported that Brett Favre is on his way to Minnesota to join the Vikings for the 2009 season.  The saga of will-he-or-won't-he has played out for months, with Favre announcing three weeks ago that he would not return to football.  Many fans believe that Favre has tarnished his legacy as a sure Hall of Famer because of his inability to let go of the game.  I think Favre's behavior is a great example of how addictions aren't just to substances like alcohol and drugs.

Every pleasurable feeling we experience is really just a chemical reaction in our brains.  Imagine what it must be like to experience the stimulation that an NFL quarterback feels when he walk onto a field in front of 50,000 people.  Now imagine what it's like to be one of the most popular and successful quarterbacks in NFL history.  If you're Brett Favre, you've been getting that rush for 253 consecutive regular season games, more than any quarterback in NFL history.  275 games if you count the playoffs he's been in.  How do you walk away from that?

And it's not just the roar of the crowd that can be addictive.  The adrenaline of being in the moment of play must be a powerful stimulant, as well.  When your whole life has been largely centered in competition, that rush of being in the moment of play must be incredibly hard to be without.  Few of us understand what it's like to be in that kind of situation on that kind of scale.

I don't like the way that Favre has handled his retirement situation, but I can try to empathize with him.  He really faces a kind of addiction, one that must be incredibly difficult to break free from for athletes like him.  If you need a little hypnosis, Brett, my door is always open.

Sanford "Addicted" to Mistress? Can You Be Addicted to a Person?

"I have learned that these affairs are almost like an addiction to alcohol or pornography. They just can't break away from them."    -Jenny Sanford, wife of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford

Can you be addicted to a person?  It's an interesting idea.  When people become addicted to something, it's all about the chemicals that are being released in the brain.  Neuro-transmitters like dopamine create the pleasurable sensations that we experience when we eat chocolate, or make love, or laugh.  It is the feelings created by these chemicals that we get addicted to, not the things we consume which cause our brains to release those chemicals, but since we know using a substance or activity creates the release, we have a strong association between the person or thing and the feeling that goes along with it, so in that sense we form an addiction to the item.

Addictions can be incredibly powerful, but they can also be changed and abandoned.  Hypnosis can help.  There are ways to use hypnosis to re-train the brain so that it doesn't associate the chemical release with the negative influence anymore, but with something more positive instead.  If you have a serious addiction, always consult with a medical professional before starting any new program.  Should you choose to consult with a hypnotist, make sure that person is a credentialed professional. 

For Hypnotists: Using Blogs to Promote Your Practice

Thanks so much to everyone who attended my seminar at the 2009 NGH convention.  If you would like a pdf version of the slides I used, it is attached here.  Download UsingBlogs

NGH 2009 Convention: Day 3 Re-cap

10:15 a.m.  I'm in a seminar all about the NGH Member Forums, the online forum that the Guild maintains for it's members to discuss issues around hypnotism, share ideas, and get answers to questions.  There are six people in the session.  Too many Guild members ignore the power of the internet.  The membership is dominated by boomers, and every session I've gone to this weekend that involves technology has had lower attendance.

10:40 a.m.  The new forum is quite nice. I had fallen out of touch with it while they were changing from the old platform to the new one. Just re-registered for the new one.  Looking forward to exploring.

11:20 a.m.  I present, for the first time at this convention, at noon.  So excited.  I'm talking about blogging.  Remember the comment I made earlier about how members respond to stuff about the internet?  A little nervous about attendance.

1:05 p.m.  Had about 20 people at my seminar.  Got high marks on the evaluation forms.  I'm thrilled, and even more excited that most of them were the boomers I said usually avoid this type of stuff.

2:15 p.m.  I'm in Norman Posner's session on anchors.  Norman has a lot of experience and is putting on a solid seminar.  Anchors can be so useful and powerful when properly applied.

3:11 p.m.  Mark Schwimmer is talking about how to turbocharge your conversations with potential clients.  He integrates his knowledge of hypnosis with years of experience in sales.  Not the most exciting guy, but he's got decent content.

NGH 2009 Convention: Day 2 Re-cap

Slept like a baby last night.  I love the beds at the Hampton Inn.  It's a short walk from the hotel to the convention center, which is actually great because it's the only chance I get to stretch my legs all day.
There's plenty being offered today.  Here's what I'm enjoying:

"HypnoClutter" by Beverly Taylor
A self-professed clutter freak, Beverly has developed an approach to help people living under a mountain of clutter get life more organized.  And it's not just an organization program.  It looks at the emotional drivers and behavioral influences that led people to become so cluttered in the first place, helps them understand these things, and then gives them the resources to make changes.  I had no idea that clutter so profoundly affected people, but after hearing Beverly's presentation I have a new appreciation for this area of client work.

1pm--Just a thought...

The Guild took feedback from last year's attendees, as they do every year, and one change they made this year was the conversion of a men's bathroom in the convention center to a female bathroom.  The Guild's membership is two-thirds female.  Throughout the first day I heard grumbling from the men in the hallways and in sessions, and today I heard that yesterday some men had used the converted restroom anyway and others had written "unfair" on the sign on the door.  Really, guys?  Come on.  It's a fantastic example of how men take their privilege for granted.  It is so much easier for guys to get in, handle their business, and get out than women.  The lines at the men's room have never been longer than eight.  I see women in lines like that all the time.  Suck it up, fellas.

Inside Secrets of Elite Trainers by Will Horton

Horton's experience shines.  He's a great story teller, and presents clear examples of what great trainers do well.  The audience is eating it up.

Become a Golf Guru by John Weir

This is a two hour session, and in the first hour people are peppering John with questions.  It's the most involved session I've seen today, but almost to a fault.  They're de-railing him a bit.  It can be easy to criticize the peole who present at the convention, but you have to keep in mind they're dealing with a lot of factors.

John's an engaging guy, and clearly works very hard to become knowledgeable about whatever he's working on.  He's got a lot of references to what great golfers have done, he's familiar with athletic enhancement studies, and he has such a solid understanding of NLP and hypnotic techniques that really help people change their behavior.

NGH 2009 Convention: Day 1 Recap

What a long day Friday was!  Up at 5am, out of the house at 6:15, and drove an hour and twenty minutes to Marlborough, Massachusetts for the annual NGH convention.  The Guild has workshops and seminars running from 8am to 10pm Friday and Saturday, and until 3pm on Sunday.  Fourteen different choices each hour!  If you want to learn a topic connected to hypnotism, it's probably covered here. 

Dr. Damon gave a fun and friendly welcome to start the day off, and then it was off to the seminars.  Probably the biggest drawback to the convention format is something that's also one of its strengths:  the volume of programs.  By having so many programs, there are tons of choices, and that's fantastic, but there are two problematic aspects that come with this.  First, it's difficult to have that many presenters at a convention and ensure that they are all of high quality.  The reality is that you're going to get some clunkers.  Also, having so many programs going on just results in bad luck for folks sometimes in that they have two things going on at once they wish they could go to.  That's a pretty nice problem to have, though.

From what I chose to attend, here are my highlights of the day:

Daniel Cleary  I attended his one-hour session on "Induction and Intent" and was so impressed with Dan's thoughtfulness that I signed up for his three-hour workshop in the evening, "Creating Change."  He's very mindful and consistent in his message about how to work with clients. 

Tim Shurr Tim presented on how to build confidence with clients, and he crushed it.  Fantastic energy, clear communication, and the best sense of humor from any presenter I saw all day.  He was clearly knowledgeable and did a great job of demonstrating what he was talking about with a volunteer he brought up on stage.

That's it for day one.  I think I'll try to cover day two in something closer to real time.

Pennsylvania Gym Shooter Attended "Self-Help" Seminar

Reports have surfaced that George Sodini, the man who shot and killed three people and wounded nine others at a fitness center outside Pittsburgh, attended a self-help seminar in Los Angeles that taught men covert hypnosis techniques to help them attract women.  The reports are being made in a legitimate effort to relate that Sodini was a man who felt uncomfortable around women, but I worry that people will have a negative association between this incident and hypnotism because the whole incident is so tragic.  So I wanted to share some thoughts about covert hypnotism programs.

Most of them are designed to boost people's confidence in developing rapport with others.  In that way, they can be quite helpful.  Titles like "covert hypnosis" or "hypnotic seduction" are just sensationalized to boost attendance.  Some of them are taught by lousy professionals, but there are poor professionals in every walk of life.  That is not hypnotism's fault; it's the individuals' fault.

Before you pay a bunch of money to learn covert hypnosis, be a wise consumer and look into the credentials of the person teaching the seminar.  Call the professional association they are a member of, and ask if this person is still a member in good standing.  Ask lots of questions that make you feel confident you're getting involved with a person of integrity.

It seems pretty clear that Sodini's problems were severe, bigger than a covert hypnosis seminar was going to do anything for.  Hypnosis has so much to offer each of us, but it's critical that you keep in mind it's just a tool.  Ultimately, his behavior and the fact that he attended the seminar are separate issues.

How do you know you're hypnotized?

Here's a short video explaining some of the common signs of being in hypnotic trance.