Trance Topics

The Color of Noise

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Noise can be distracting and block us from sound sleep.  Fortunately, certain types of noise can mask other sounds that can keep us from getting the sleep that we desire.

\"\"White Noise:The most popular type of masking noise is white noise.  White noise is useful in covering up unexpected and random noises that can rob you of a good nights sleep.  It is created by combining sounds of various frequencies together in a random fashion.  When many frequencies are heard at once, the human brain is unable to single out each frequency range.  This creates an effect where all other sounds seem diminished, hence the ability of white noise to seemingly filter out the things that go bump in the night.  White noise is a hissing sound that is similar to the sound one would find while flipping between radio stations.  

 

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\"\"Pink Noise:   Pink noise is similar to white noise in that it is a good masking agent.   Whereas white noise is a random combination of various frequencies, pink noise applies each octave band equally.  This is an effect commonly found in nature.  For this reason, many people find pink noise more comforting than white noise.   It is certainly less harsh sounding.

 

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\"\"

Brown(ian) Noise: Brownian Noise (also known as red noise) was discovered by Robert Brown.  It is theorized to be the noise produced by the Brownian Motion.  This noise is similar to white noise except that it is recorded at a lower frequency. 

 

 

 

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Wishing you many nights of restful sleep,

Sheilah

P.S.  Do you have a request?  Contact me and tell me about it!

I Welcome Requests!

 

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Ask a Hypnotist – What Is Your Favorite Hypnosis Book?

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Are you interested in learning about hypnosis? 

These are books that the leading hypnotists recommend:

.

.

.

Aline Hoffman
Coventry, CT
www.solutionalternatives.net

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
Art of Hypnotherapy by C. Roy Hunter
Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan
The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma
Molecules of Emotion by Candace Pert
Monsters and Magical Sticks by Heller & Steele

Michael Miller
Atlanta, GA
www.millerhypnosisatlanta.com

Art of Hypnosis by Roy Hunter
The Art of Hypnotherapy by Roy Hunter
Trance-formations by Richard Bandler and John Grinder
Hypnotherapy Handbook by Kevin Hogan
Transforming Therapy by Gil Boyne

Greg Turner
San Francisco, CA.
www.SFBayHypnosis.com

Trance-formations by Richard Bandler and John Grinder
Training Trances by John Overdurf
Trances People Live by Stephen Wolinsky
The Symptom Path to Enlightenment by Ernest Rossi
Solution Oriented Hypnosis by Bill O\’Hanlon
Taproots by Bill O\’Hanlon

 

Are you a hypnotherapist with a recommendation for this page? 

We\’d love to hear from you!   Comment below and be sure to tell us where you\’re from and leave your URL!

Thank you!

Make Up Your Mind to be Healthy: Your Thoughts Influence Your Health

affirmations, All Posts, Confidence, Herbert Benson, hypnosis, law of attraction, magnetism, mental, relaxation, response, Trance Topics / By / / Leave a Comment

Each and every day, we are exposed to many pathogens, including bacteria, fungi, germs, and viruses that are responsible for a wide variety of illnesses. Fortunately, not every person exposed to these infectious agents will become ill. There are healthy people who tend to catch colds, get the flu, or get sick more frequently than similarly healthy people who share the same environment and are exposed to the same pathogens. Our level of resistance to illness depends, in part, on our attitude and emotional well-being. Our minds exert a powerful influence over our bodies.  Emotional states can impact immune system function, by either improving immune function or reducing it.

In order to gain an awareness of the power that the mind holds over the body, read this simple visualization.

Take a deep breath in and imagine in a way that is right for you, that it is a hot summer day and you are standing in your kitchen near the refrigerator. Take a plump yellow lemon out of the refrigerator and hold it in front of you. Notice the texture of the lemon\’s waxy yellow skin and how good the weight of the cold fruit feels in your hands. Raise the lemon to your nose and picture it in your mind’s eye until you can smell its lemony fragrance.

Now, place the lemon on a cutting board. Pick up a knife and slice the lemon in four pieces. As you hear the knife slice the fruit, you see the juices run and strengthen the smell of the lemon\’s fresh scent. Pick up a thick slice of the lemon. Feel the juice trickle down your fingers as you slowly bring the lemon towards your mouth and take a deep bite of it. Imagine the taste the tart juice as it bursts in your mouth.

As you were imagining this scene, did you experience a physical reaction? Did your lips pucker? Did your mouth water? For most people, the visualization causes significant salivation because the autonomic nervous system promptly responds to our mental imagery. This simple exercise demonstrates that our thoughts can produce physiological changes within our bodies.

It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it. ~Hans Selye

Stress is the human response to the challenges of life. The body’s response to acute stress, known as fight or flight response,  has evolved over time as an adaptive response allowing us to obtain the energy necessary to work through potentially threatening situations.  A stressful situation engages our sympathetic nervous system, the part of the nervous system that is intended to provide the bodily energy and resources needed to respond effectively to the threat, either real or perceived. The sympathetic nervous system was not intended to be engaged continually, as in chronic stress, because prolonged states of stress can create poor psychological and/or physical health.  Psychological stress increases our susceptibility to viral infections, such as the flu. One early study investigating the connection between stress and respiratory illness, found that after exposing healthy subjects to one of five respiratory viruses, the rates of infection were positively correlated with exposure to psychological stress. Subjects exposed to stress displayed increases in infection rates from 74% to 90%, and clinical colds rose from 27% to 47%. (Cohen, Tyrrell, & Smith, 1991).

Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop. ~Ovid

The relaxation response, a term coined by cardiologist Herbert Benson, elicits a biological state opposite that of the stress response as it causes physiological changes including a decreased respiratory rate, decreased heart rate, and decreased muscular tension by acting on the autonomic nervous system which regulates our respiratory, cardiovascular and immune systems. The relaxation response can be achieved through meditation, chanting, praying, physical activity, breathing exercises, and even through the performance of mindless repetitious tasks such as knitting and crocheting. Of course, relaxation is generally an integral component of hypnotherapy.

Hypnosis helps immune function in several ways. First, most people find hypnosis to be relaxing.  Relaxation turns off the stress response hormones that are detrimental to the immune system. Secondly, any positive statements and suggestions given while in hypnosis usually creates a positive responses within the body. The placebo effect is proof that the body generally responds to positive expectations in a positive manner and can help a person alter limiting beliefs into more resourceful thoughts.

The simple truth is that happy people generally don\’t get sick. ~Bernie Siegal

Every day, we experience various reactions based on our perceptions of events, expectations, and people within our world. Our reactions form the basis of our emotions, which combined with and our thoughts and behaviors, can have a substantial impact on that our level of stress.  Stress evokes hormonal changes within the body that can decrease immune system function over a long period of time which, in turn, makes us more susceptible to illness.  Hypnosis enlists the aid of the subconscious mind in the journey towards wellness.  Hypnosis can not only help us learn to relax and manage their emotions, it can easily teach via imagined experience and alter personal expectations to increase the odds of positive outcomes.  What we expect tends to be realized.  To be sure, our personal perceptions can influence our psychological and physical health, for better or worse.  Our beliefs really do become our biology!

Need a break? 

Click here to download Ten Minute Relaxation Break for FREE

Free downloads courtesy of OpenDrive.

Resources:

Benson, H. (1996). Timeless healing: the power & biology of belief . Rockland, MA: Wheeler Publishing, Inc.

Cohen, S., Tyrrell, D.A., & Smith, A.P. (1991, August 29). Psychological stress and susceptibility to the common cold. The New England Journal of Medicine 325(9), 606-612

The Three Levels of Mind: How they Create your Habits, Expectations,and Experiences

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The human brain is a complex organ comprised of billions of neurons and synaptic connections that work together to regulate and monitor the body’s actions and reactions. This organ is the seat of the human nervous system and responsible for performing millions of routine tasks.

Human beings don’t generally think about their breathing, their eyes blinking, or their heartbeats. These bodily functions continue to perform without thought underneath conscious awareness.  People have the ability to hear their own thoughts and respond to their environments in a personally unique fashion. We think about some aspects of our existence yet filter others out of our awareness. These actions are a product of the remarkable human brain or more specifically, the human mind.

Whereas a reference to the brain is a reference to the physical organ, the mind does not exist in a physical sense. The mind is a term used to describe the various functions and roles of the brain; such as self-awareness, behavior, perception and memory.

There are three parts to the mind; the unconscious mind, the conscious mind, and the subconscious mind. These facets of mind are interdependent yet each has its own role and function. Together, these aspects of mind respond to and interpret lived and internal experience.

 A common description for these layers of mind is the Iceberg Metaphor. The mind, like an iceberg, is a complete and cohesive unit. \"\"When looking at an iceberg, one only sees a small portion of the object – the bulk of the ice remains beneath the surface hidden from view.

Similarly, the conscious mind, the analytical part that we use to navigate our daily experiences, is just a small portion of the mind. Two other important facets of mind remain hidden beneath the surface. Our unconscious mind controls our bodily functions while all of the thoughts, memories, emotions, and feelings held outside of our conscious awareness are stored within the subconscious mind.

 The Unconscious Mind

The unconscious mind is the part of the mind that controls all automatic functions so that there is no need to consciously attend to them. This level of human mind holds the control of the basic functions of the human body such as breathing, immunity, heartbeat, digestion, and reflexes. It works underneath conscious awareness, even though the conscious mind can influence some of these functions.

 The Conscious Mind

 The conscious mind is the analytical part of the mind; the part of the mind that people utilize during most of their waking life to relate to their environment. It analyzes information, rationalizes our behavior, deals in the realm of willpower, and provides us with working short-term memory.

The conscious mind is the intellectual part of mind. It thinks in a linear fashion and uses deductive reasoning, evaluating and judging the environmental stimuli that it acquires through the five senses. It is the logical, analytical part of the mind that helps us make decisions based and draws conclusions about the best course of action based upon the information it processes. It also gives us motives for the things that we do. In this way, our conscious mind rationalizes our behaviors based upon the judgments it has made about our interaction within the environment.

In addition to processing environmental stimuli, the conscious mind serves as the gatekeeper to the subconscious level of mind. It filters the information that reaches the subconscious mind, deciding which beliefs, thoughts or feelings will pass to the subconscious mind.

 The Critical Factor of the Conscious Mind

 The critical factor of the conscious mind filters the information allowed into the subconscious; it makes decisions about the validity of input based on the way it perceives information from the past.

The conscious mind must do things in a logical fashion and always has a reason for everything it does.  It must have a reason to allow any information through to the subconscious mind. If the input from the environment does not mesh with prior programming the incoming information (such as a hypnotic suggestion or an affirmation) will be rejected.

 The critical factor evaluates incoming information, including affirmations and hypnotic suggestions, to determine whether or not it matches with current beliefs. If it does, the information slips through and becomes a part of the person. If not, the incoming information is rejected.

It is possible for new information to slip past this innate defense of the conscious mind by suspending the critical factor of the conscious mind so that new information can reach the subconscious. Once a suggestion, affirmation or new idea is accepted by the subconscious mind, it must happen.

\"\"The Subconscious Mind

The word subconscious literally means below the conscious.  The subconscious mind exists and operates beneath the conscious mind. It is the most powerful level of mind.

The subconscious mind is often compared to a very complex computer program. Unlike the conscious mind, it is not analytical and does not make decisions based on rational judgments.  The subconscious mind simply functions off of the programming that it has received via life experiences, personal belief systems, thoughts, and ideas.

All of our life experiences make us the unique individuals that we are. These experiences and our perceptions about them form the basis of the programming installed in the subconscious mind. Every life experience is recorded and their memories are stored permanently within the subconscious mind.

The subconscious mind records every experience and all of the information picked up from the environment. It uses each of our five senses to record everything heard, seen, smelled, tasted and touched and stores this information with all memories, facts, ideas and thoughts beneath the surface of the conscious mind. Our conscious mind provides working memory; our subconscious mind stores everything else.

Our memories are recorded based upon our perceptions surrounding the event at the time it occurred. Our beliefs, ideas, perceptions and opinions all color our lived experience, and as such, they influence our memories.

Unlike the conscious mind, the subconscious mind uses inductive reasoning, viewing the environment and stimuli based on its prior programming. It never analyzes, judges, or rationalizes; it merely accepts all information that is passed to it without analysis. It has no ability to analyze information or reprogram itself. It simply acts based on what was programmed into it. Most of this programming occurs early in childhood. Young children use the subconscious level of mind as their primary mode of awareness until their conscious minds begin to develop and gain dominance. The large amount of information taken in by the subconscious mind during these years will form the basis of the belief systems that will be carried with them for a lifetime.

Another task of the subconscious mind is to carry out all of our habituated patterns of behavior, thought, feelings and reactions. This includes our daily rituals, our personal idiosyncrasies, our posture, facial expressions, and even habits such as over-eating or smoking.

The subconscious mind is where the emotions reside and emerge. The conscious mind cannot deal with emotions; these are the realm of the subconscious mind.  Any situation involving emotion is automatically processed by the subconscious mind.

Emotions are the root cause of human behavior. They can create pain and pleasure, as such; our emotions determine our propensity towards certain behaviors. The strength of our emotional response is what gives the subconscious dominance over the conscious; our feelings will always overrule any analytical judgment. If there is a conflict between the conscious and subconscious mind – it is the subconscious mind that triumphs. Our memories are intertwined with our emotions. Current experiences often evoke memories from the past with a similar emotional feeling.

\"\"The subconscious is also the protective part of the human mind whose primary intention is to protect its host from danger, either real or imagined. It minds cannot differentiate between an imagined event and a realistic one. Any event imagined by the subconscious mind is processed just as though it were actually happening. As a consequence, every suggestion accepted into the subconscious mind is processed as though it were real. It will impact behavior and create change.

Our subconscious mind makes us who we are. It is a catalog of all of our experiences, perceptions, beliefs, and ideas. These provide the programming for our subconscious mind. It must operate based upon the programming placed into it. If that programming is changed it must operate based on the new information.

This is how hypnosis and affirmations work for you.  They work to suspend the critical factor of the subconscious mind by route of trance, subliminal pictures, subliminal sounds or repetition to enter the subconscious mind and reprogram old patterns of beliefs.