Depth of Trance, Who is in Control?
It is a common misconception, based on the representation of hypnosis on TV and in films, that a hypnotized subject is like a zombie under the Svengali-like control of the hypnotist. This image is also reinforced by the routines of stage hypnotists, whose use of a deep somnambulistic (similar to sleep-walking) trance states make for an entertaining show. The therapeutic use of hypnosis is quite different. In a therapeutic setting the depth of the trance is not nearly so important and mostly at the discretion of the subjects, whether they know it or not.
The hypnotherapist is basically a facilitator and guide; it is the clients that are ultimately the judge of what they need. For some, the experience they require for positive change is a deep, almost hallucinogenic trance state and that’s what they will naturally go to. For others, a simple game of “close your eyes and make believe” is exactly what they need and that’s what they will naturally go to. Both extremes and everything in-between can and will work for the clients if the hypnotherapist just allows them to go where they need to go and then just helps them deal with what comes up.
As is often said, all hypnosis is Self-Hypnosis. Either consciously or unconsciously, it is always voluntary. The process of calling, setting the appointment and sitting down with a hypnotist is a significant part of the initial hypnotic induction. Yes, I, like most hypnotherapists, will start with some basic inductions and tests. This gives me a feel for how the client responds (where they want/need to go), but more importantly, it gives the client’s unconscious mind a reference point for the tools and experience of hypnosis that has already begun just by being there.
Wes Graham C.C.Ht.
Why are we all so messed up?
Cholesterol, Hypertension, Stress Disorders, Obesity, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Nervous Disorders. We have pills for this, therapies for that, on and on and on. Why are so many of us so messed up? It seems that as we develop as a civilization, we’re collapsing as a living creatures.
I recently attended a meeting of the Dallas Holistic Chamber of Commerce . At one point in the meeting we were having a round table discussion about how our different disciplines approached the subject of anti-aging. Listening to the different practitioners talk about their different approaches, my mind drifted (as it often does) to all the different maladies collectively we seem to be suffering.
It seems the more advanced we become technologically, the worse our general health becomes. Now this brings the counter argument of “but our life-spans are so much longer now,” and that’s true, but not as much as one would think. If you negate infant mortality and basic hygiene, our ancestors were almost as long lived as us. More surprising is the relative absence of some of the modern world’s biggest health issues. Our ancestors, as far as we can tell, had very low cancer rates, not much diabetes, heart disease, a lot of today’s big issues.
The thought that came to my head was this: One of our ancestors living 10,000 years ago lived in very much the same way as one living 3,000 years ago, or even 500 years ago in much of the world. Basically, the rate at which the world changed, and the rate at which we migrated around it, was slow enough that we, the human animal, could physically adapt. Groups of people settled in different regions and their bodies changed to accommodate local conditions. After many generations, people who settled in cold climates developed subcutaneous layers of fat to help control their body temperature. People who settled high in the mountains developed larger lung capacities and higher red blood cell counts to maximize oxygen uptake. The general pace of life was slower. Their problems were just as dire and their lives were by no means as easy as ours, but it was rare for things to radically change. That all ended in the late 1800s.
Starting in the late 1800s the pace of life started to accelerate radically. People started migrating around the world en masse. Consider someone whose ancestors hadn’t traveled more than 20 miles from their village in Scotland for 10 or 15 generations. Suddenly, this someone was placed on a sailing ship and sent to the other side of the world to Australia. Someone whose ancestors had lived as rural farmers in central China for 1,000 years was now digging a railroad tunnel through the Rocky Mountains. And the pace of change accelerated. Someone who was born in the age of sailing ships lived to see aircraft carriers. My grandmother was born before the Wright brothers flew and she saw Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. Guglielmo Marconi sent his first radio transmission in 1885. By 1985 we swam in a sea of electromagnetic waveforms, covering the spectrum from ultra-long wave transmissions used to communicate with submarines to microwaves that could bake a potato.
The reason we use so many prescriptions and have so many diets and health fads, the reason we need hypnosis, meditation, yoga, exercise, vitamins, etc., etc. is this: The rate at which our minds have changed our world has vastly outpaced our body’s ability to adapt to the changing conditions. This adaptation used to be a natural process, but in this rapidly changing world we need to be mindful and help our bodies along. As individuals and as a society we need to be mindful of what we change and make sure to slow down every now and then and let ourselves catch up.
Wes Graham C.C.Ht.
Rational Irrationality
On a recent trip to Austin TX. I visited Natural Treasures, a store that specializes in stones, crystals and various “New Age” accoutrements. They often have different alternative practitioners doing sessions in the store. On this day there was a gentlemen, Kramer Wetzel, doing Astrological readings and on a whim I decided to give it a try.
Now, I generally look at the world through what I consider a very rational, almost scientific, lens, I try to understand why and how things work. There is no way my rational mind can wrap itself around the proposition that the position of the planets and stars, cross referenced with the time and date of your birth, can tell you anything about your past, your future or your current circumstance, it’s just irrational. That being said, I received a very accurate reading. I detected no “cold reading” technic or any other misdirection or tricks.
This got me thinking, when you think about it; we seem to live in an irrational universe. The fact that some sub-atomic particles can simultaneously exist and not exist, or have no location or mass until someone decides to measure it seems pretty crazy and irrational to me but it has been tested again and again and proven to be so.
When we wake up every morning in a universe where rational logic says we should be able to walk through walls because they (and us) are 99.999999999999******% empty space, is it that much of an intellectual stretch to say that “something” ties us to the stars, or the tarot cards, or the tea leaves, whatever. I suspect that what we now consider irrational is no such thing. We have only existed as a species for an incredibly short period of time. By universal standard we only figured out fire a tiny fraction of a second ago, maybe what seems irrational now is just stuff we haven’t figured out yet.
I never want to just believe something offhand, so I always refer back to Arthur C Clarke’s 3 laws, especially law number 3.
1.When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2.The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3.Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Wes Graham C.C.Ht.
The Message is now available on Google Play
The Message is now available on Google Play as well as on iTunes and Amazon.com. The new link is at the bottom of the page.
In this world you can have anything you want; the hard part is knowing what that truly is.
The Message is a guided meditation with a nice long hypnotic induction. The purpose of The Message is to open a channel of communication with an individual’s own unconscious mind. To help that individual to discover what their unconscious mind is really trying to tell them.
While The Message does not employ many of my Hypno-Energetics technics, it does use some of the latest wild crafted sound I’ve recorded. I’ve also included a bonus track, a subliminal loop to play while sleeping. It contains positive affirmations for self-esteem and self-confidence.
Download it from Google Play http://bit.ly/1dXUyTf
Download it from iTunes http://bit.ly/14LFfIb
Download it from Amazon.com http://amzn.to/1cQIjuG
What is Hypnosis?
What is Hypnosis, that’s a good question. This is the explanation of the basic concept of hypnosis that I use in some of my recorded programs.
Thanks for listening,
Wes Graham C.C.Ht.
hypnoenergetics 