Hypnosis

The typical hypnotist section brings this to mind: a patient on the couch and a guy above her swinging a watch saying (usually in a German accent), "You are getting very sleepy." A lot of people rely on a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions about hypnosis; hypnosis is something strange and scary to them. However, that is a mistake. I recently got hypnotized and it has done wonders for me, at least in the short term. It wasn't anything I had thought at all.

Hypnosis is pretty much just a state of deep, deep relaxation, which is usually brought about by a vivid imagery. Daydreaming, for example, is a type of hypnosis although guided hypnosis is usually much better. Hypnosis can be used for a variety of uses such as pain management, the recovering of repressed memories, anxiety and other such things. For my purposes, I am having hypnosis used to help deal with my anxiety and depression

I came to hypnosis because traditional therapy (cognitive-behavioral therapy) wasn't working for me all that well. This is probably because I am already quite great at articulating and analyzing my feelings already and I don't really need another person doing it for me. It's not that traditional therapy wasn't doing anything for me; it just wasn't doing enough. I was doing it again and again and again and I haven't really gotten to the root of my problem. So I started looking for alternatives and I stumbled upon hypnosis.

My hypnotherapist explained to me what it was first, alleviating my fears first. She explained to me that it wasn't anything all that terrible, just what I said above. I would have control over everything that I did and I couldn't be hypnotized if I didn't want to be. She did say that I would be vulnerable to suggestion while I was under but she would be careful to speak positively. She started me off with a basic imagery scene at a different session to try to remove my inhibitions.

I didn't have a watch swinging in my face; I didn't find myself doing anything crazy when I was under hypnosis. A lot of the stereotypes I had didn't really apply to me. She used a pen, for one, to help relax me down and get me to that better state.

But it was one of the most relaxing, most pleasurable experience of my life. She did start with the pen, telling me to only focus on the tip of the pen and not blink until it touched my nose. It was so trippy doing it as my eyes focused and readjusted on it until all I saw was pink. And then I closed my eyes.

She started by having me walk down a flight of stairs. Three flights, actually, separated by landings. She asked me first what I was wearing and I said I was wearing a certain pair of flip-flops from my closet. She asked me what the stairs were made of and I said concrete; the railing was steel. She led me down the stairs one by one.

And then there was a big recliner at the bottom of the stairs. I took a seat and arched the chair back. I let my body  feel heavy and warm like she was telling me it was.

That was, of course, until she tapped my left arm and told me that it was light, lighter than all the others. It was light as helium, ready to float away. And then strangely enough, it did feel strangely light and it started to feel like it was floating, floating away and she had to press it back down.

She drew my attention to all of the negative thoughts (the hopelessness and helplessness within me) and imagine that it was sludge, poisoning my veins and attaching itself deeply in my heart.  She told me to give it a color and I gave it gray, murky gray because it was the first thing that came to mind. Then she told me to let it evaporate through my pores, just let it go, go, go.

But, of course, that gray had to be replaced by something. So she told me that there was a nurse next to me and that nurse had to inject me with this strength serum intravenously  Serum that would make me confident and happy and secure, that would make me see how special that I really was, that I would be like a superhero and believe in myself. What color was the strength serum? she asked. I said red. What was it called? she asked. I said "Superman Juice". She told me to imagine the juice shooting through my veins, right to my head and heart where I would need them the most. She just kept telling me to feel it, feel it rushing in and I did. I saw it slowly leave the bag and as it did, I became more and more energized.

Eventually, she had me open my eyes but my energy didn't leave me still. I was happier than I had been in a long time and I was ready to conquer the world. I believed I could do anything.  I'm still feeling the effects now.