The Mind and Hypnosis
The Mind and Hypnosis
You are always conscious and in control when hypnotized as the hypnotist is merely the coach or guide helping to bring you along to where you want to go. Hypnosis is safe, because of the protections that exist in each part of our mind. No matter how deeply you go into hypnosis you will always be able to protect yourself.
If you are presented with any suggestions you don’t like, you will automatically reject them and if the suggestion is something you really don’t like, you may just emerge completely from hypnosis.
Research has shown that if you understand the fundamentals of hypnosis, you will have a much better outcome in achieving the positive result you are seeking.
I would first like to point out the three components of the mind the Conscious, Subconscious, Unconscious and explain each of their specific characteristics which is valuable for you to understand.
It is comforting to be aware that each level of the mind has a protective function. So, when you are in the deepest levels of hypnosis you are always secure, because the conscious, sub-conscious and unconscious parts of the mind are always working to keep you safe.
Unconscious Mind:
Let’s review this in detail starting with the unconscious mind, your body’s consciousness, or Autonomic Nervous System.
We are born with instincts, an inner knowing of how to operate our body – the unconscious mind is responsible for such things as, respiration, heartbeat, digestion and all the other things we don’t need to think about for our body to function.
The unconscious mind has a limited ability to change, but it can change, and it can learn however, it isn’t very good at it.
As an example, the commonly known “Dr. Ivan Pavlov Dog Experiment where Dr Pavlov rang a bell as he gave his dog some food and after much repetition of this event, all the Dr. had to do was ring the bell and the dog would salivate, as though the dog was about to receive food.
This is an excellent example of when you compare stimuli with some other occurrence, demonstrating the unconscious mind can actually learn.
Through hypnosis you can re-educate the unconscious mind and rid yourself of pain, such as migraine headaches which emanate from the unconscious part of the mind.
Another interesting part of the subconscious mind is that it generates how emotions feel, for example, if you feel happy there is a certain physical sensation that goes with happiness or joy. And if you are feeling sad or angry your body reflects those feelings, as well. So, it is the unconscious mind that generates the physical attributes of the emotions that we call feelings.
Even at the deepest levels of your mind you have a protective function, no matter what you are doing or thinking the unconscious mind is always protecting you. It guards against infection through your immune system. It protects you through your automatic reflexes i.e. if an object was heading towards your face, before you had time to think about it, your reflexes would automatically react to protect you.
Now let’s talk about the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind, “is who we really are,” it is all of your habits, behaviors, beliefs and it is the exceptional part of you.
It is the storage point for any recent memories needed for quick recall, such as what your telephone number is or the name of a person you just met. It also holds current information that you use every day, such as your current recurring thoughts, behavior patterns, habits and feelings.
Subconscious Mind:
When our bodies act naturally without thinking we are using our subconscious minds. When we have done something over and over it can become automatic. When we have learned something so well that we don't have to think about doing it, we have relegated it to our subconscious mind to accomplish all of the automatic functions of the body i.e. the golf swing can become second nature. Our minds do this because it would be overwhelming for the conscious mind to accomplish all of the various automatic functions of the body in a golf swing.
Now, let’s go through the subconscious mind in some detail. The subconscious mind starts out empty and as you go through life you have experiences and as you accumulate these experiences you start to build a database of information. All of those experiences in life, evolve into your system of beliefs and habits. Once you have developed your beliefs and habits system it will “resist” change, because you now have formed a personality and a consistent way of understanding and behaving.
This resisting of change is good news and bad news. The good news is, you behave with consistency and you have a particular personality. The bad news is when you want to make changes to your beliefs and habits system, it is very difficult to make these changes, unless you have a protracted experience over time or unless hypnosis is used, then hypnosis can have an immediate positive effect for change.
Hypnosis allows you to go directly into the subconscious mind allowing you to work with this greater “database of information.” Through this process you can have an effect on your habits and beliefs much more easily and swiftly, it is particularly useful in being able to change any limiting beliefs that may have held you back in the past.
The subconscious mind is also the part of your mind that generates your emotions, based on your beliefs and experiences in your life; you will respond to them in an emotional way, for example, if you feel a person should treat you in a particular way and they treat you unfairly, the subconscious mind will begin to generate a feeling of anger or disappointment.
Another interesting thing about the subconscious mind is that it appears to be unlimited in capacity. No one has ever filled it up; unless there is a trauma to the brain or disease you can always learn something new and the “information in your database of information” is always accessible.
People in their oldest years can tell you about their childhood and in hypnosis, it is very easy to access that information. That is why hypnosis is sometimes used in court trails to uncover information about a crime, by helping a person to access their database of information and recall events in greater detail.
The subconscious, where emotions are generated, has a protective function to protect you against known dangers and it motivates you to fulfill your need to protect yourself. If something is a known danger, the subconscious will generate the emotion of fear and that will motivate you to react to the situation to keep you safe.
Now, let’s go to the conscious mind. The conscious mind is logical and analytical, it is the part of us that thinks and it is our point of focus. This point of focus has a home place and that is in the now. Right now, you are focusing on this presentation.
However, you can talk about the past and the conscious mind can refocus on the past or you can talk about things in the future, like how you might use hypnosis to change your life and you will start thinking about that in the future.
For the moment, I would like you to think about the conscious mind as primarily what you are focusing on right now.
Your conscious mind is your problem-solving mechanism as it is logical and analytical. It’s your ability to assess a situation using your experiences to come up with a solution. For example, if you are working out a mathematical problem, you are using your conscious mind.
The conscious mind’s protective mechanism is constantly protecting you against perceived dangers. The perception of these dangers is based upon what are rational and analytical assessments of your prior experiences.
An important acknowledgement about the conscious mind is that it has a limited capacity.
Whereas the subconscious mind is unlimited, scientific research shows the conscious mind is limited and can only hold about 7 to 9 bits of information at a time. This is why trying consciously to make important and substantial changes in your life usually fails.
In summary, this is how the hypnotist thinks about the conscious and subconscious mind.
It is important to be aware that between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind is the “Critical Factor.” This critical factor is a comparing mechanism. As new information comes to your attention from your senses, it has to be acknowledged and then get through this Critical Factor before it can become a belief or effect habits within your database of information.
When the information comes in, your critical factor compares that new information with what is already in your subconscious mind, if it matches what is there it automatically goes into your database and it reinforces those beliefs and habits and they become more firmly ensconced in your mind.
However, when some new information comes to your attention and it doesn’t match what is already there as part of your belief system, it goes into your subconscious and it becomes “stuff” you now know about, but it doesn’t have any effect on your beliefs, habits or your life.
Th U.S. Government defines hypnosis as the by passing of the critical factor and the acceptance of acceptable selective thinking.
An example of this is when information comes in; hypnosis allows us to by-pass this comparing mechanism, the critical factor. So that information can go directly into the subconscious mind and immediately effect our limiting beliefs and make powerful changes in the habits we desire to change.
The hypnotist works with you and understands what you want to achieve and will start with a hypnotic induction and this helps you to relax and focus your attention. You do not sleep during hypnosis, you are relaxed in mind and body, but you are fully aware of your surroundings and you hear every word said by the hypnotist. When a hypnotist uses the word, sleep think of it as “eyes closed, go deeply relaxed.”
Somnambulism is the hypnotic state of mind, similar to the state of mind just before you go to sleep at night; you are fully relaxed in both mind and body.
In Summary: Your conscious, unconscious and subconscious parts of your mind are not separate entities in that they are blended together beautifully and work as one unit. When you learn to use all of your mind, the logical, reasoning part and the emotional, imagining part together life seems to flow seamlessly along. You are integrated.
SPORTS PERFORMANCE
Sports hypnosis has many advantages. In addition to assisting you in accessing your "zone", hypnosis can help you develop self-mastery in developing strategies for managing sports anxiety.
All high-level athletes understand that they need to prepare themselves mentally for their challenges ahead. Here are a few advantages of sports performance hypnosis:
- Reinforce established sporting goals
- Control nerves
- Assist with relaxation
- Improve concentration
- Control pain
- Overcome the fear of failure
- Overcome the fear of success
- Stay in the moment and eliminate distractions
HYPNOSIS FOR SPORTS SUCCESS STORIES
- Jimmy Connors (Tennis)
- Ken Norton (Boxing)
- Phil Mickelson (Golf)
- Tiger Woods (Golf)
- Michael Jordan (Basketball)
- Steve Hooker (Pole vaulting)
Resume
Distinguish Toastmaster / Toastmasters International
NGH Board Certified Hypnotist
NGH Certified Sports Hypnotist
Practitioner of Neurolinguistics Programming
Graduate of Providence College BA Economics
-Actor and singer, appeared on the Broadway Stage in more than 425 performances
-Performed our National Anthem at every NHL home game for the NY Islanders for 15 years
-More than 1000 combined performances at the Nassau Coliseum, Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, The Meadowlands, Madison Square Garden and many other venues with audiences of 10,000 to 50,000 and on Nationwide TV in US and Canada.
-35 year career as an investment advisor and worked in positions of senior management as a Senior Corporate V.P. with major firms in New York City and Florida
-Smith Barney Manager of the Year 1989
-Past radio personality on WSTU and WPSL on "Looking Back with Joe and Jack" and "The John Pearson Business Show"
-Past Board Member of Stuart/Martin County Chamber of Commerce
-Past President of Cobblestone Country Club
-Past Member Board of Advisors Indiantown Bank
-Past Board of Director of The Historic Lyric Theater
-Past President of Treasure Coast Toastmasters 2009-10
-Past Area Governor for Toastmasters International 2010-2011
-Past Division Governor for Toastmasters International 2011-2012
Mission Statement
It is my mission to help your subconscious mind influence your behavior, in order to affect the events of your life, by empowering you to achieve your dreams and goals.
The subconscious mind is a goal oriented machine, dedicated and driven to the fulfillment of a programmed path.
All events in our lives, including "luck," both good and bad, are a manifestation of the energy that emanates from our subconscious mind.
The subconscious mind continually strives to fulfill the agenda for which it is programmed. We can easily program the subconscious mind to be congruent with the desires of the conscious mind.