The Transparent Hypnotist

The day has started out with a luke-warm cup of tea and two plumbers in my bathroom. The hot water tap on the sink is all awho and that is no way for a lady to live. We do like our hot water, you know (okay gentlemen, stop your grumbling).

So as they say scary things, the plumbers, this is, I will occupy myself with happier thoughts and talk to you (except as I listen to one of them cough, mine seems to have returned - what an unfortunate suggestion). I am going back to my “forms of hypnosis” jag. At one point I promised to talk to about animal hypnosis, so we will start there.

When I went for hypnosis training at one point, there was a cat that was also present. This particular cat, still a bit of a pesky kitten (okay - psycho kitty), ended up being an excellent indicator in how well we were doing. As we were getting the hang of the Alpha stage of hypnosis (light hypnosis), the cat would begin to settle down. He would end up in the lap of whoever seemed to be most affected by this stage. Settling into a ball of purring fur, he would remain still until the person returned to normal consciousness.

At this time, we were told that animals exist and relate to the world in a perpetual Alpha stage. The possibilities here could be astounding - communication might be possible. Just think of the training implications…

So, I am not sure what I think about this, but it serves a good beginning as we delve into the topic.

If you have any Alpha or hypnotized animal stories, please consider sharing them.

Today it is a cup of Keemun tea. The trick is to not let it steep so long. So, happy Monday.

Yesterday I asked about tools needed for new starts, and I got some really good answers. Michael, as always so it seems, and I are on similar pages (but of course). Acadia’s answer about needing an alarm clock really made me laugh, Lady Rose’s was well thought out (50 points - Lady Rose), Debbie’s was inspiring, and Curt’s was touching.

And if you look to the right of this post, you will notice the weekly poll. As I am just justing use to these accommodations, I am experimenting with the poll. It is a bit different than the old site, so please let me know your thoughts about it - not so much about the content, but the style, etc. If anyone has other options, that would be good to know as well.

Now for the REALLY BIG NEWS!!!

At Hull University, Giuliana Mazzoni, Annalena Venneri and Irving Kirsch have done an amazing experiment about hypnosis. This could be ground breaking in the world of science verse pseudo-science. Using brain scans on those participants in the study who were found susceptible to their (the scientists’) hypnotic suggestions, evidence showed a remarkable thing. When these participants were shown a black and white image and told to see it in color, the scans indicated there was an increase in activity in the part of the brain that helps us perceive color. Interestingly enough, participants who saw the image in color when not hypnotized showed more frontal lobe activity (the area known to be used in logical deduction and problem solving).

These finding will be revealed in a documentary - Alternative Therapies - airing next Monday on BBC2.

Sources:
The Mirror.co.uk
The University of Hull

Let’s make this fun.  Since, in some ways, having my own space on the Internet is a new beginning, that shall be the theme of this blog post.  Ah, stretching out in the open doorway of the unknown - how freeing.  How scary.

So here is the Question:

If you could have a new start, what tools would you use to create the first step?

Ah, thought I was going to ask you what the new start would be, didn’t you?  Nope, new starts are all well and fine, but really, new starts are rather abstract. They are filled with hope and intentions of success.  However, with out the right tools or a plan, it can all go haywire or you can find yourself right back at the point you just left.

For instance, with for the new beginning of this blog, I did bring hope that my readers would follow me here, but I also found my own place (my own domain).  So the tools of control are now in my possession.  The fear of being locked out of my blog has left (unless I forget to pay the bills – then it is my fault).  So, I also bring self-confidence and less fear in as tools for going forward.  Behind the scenes, I also did a lot of meditating to make sure the move felt right and used self-hypnosis to keep the momentum of change occurring. Does this make sense?

So, what about you?  What tools would you use in starting something new?

*Entrecard users - 50 points for my favorite answer. 

Well, isn’t this nice. A space of my own. How odd, really. The space still echoes with newness, waiting to be filled with the sound of my personality. As I sat down, watching the snow fall this morning, there was a bit of something almost sad. Was it leaving the safety net of the known blogger interface or maybe it was just more like leaving an old friend (albeit one that occasionally stabs you in the back).

So, here we are on an esoteric Saturday. And what better way to acclimate ourselves here with a little hypnosis, a little art. To be exact, my focus today is Matt Mullican’s work in the Whitney Biannual 2008. This particular artist combines two forms of hypnosis in his work. The first is in the performance vein - he is a performance artist whose medium seems to be “trance.” Then on occasion, he creates a tangible piece of art while in the trance, so he uses hypnosis for creativity. Brilliant. He apprently can go on for hours and has been known to do such bazaar stuff as pace, drink coffee (weirdo - LOL), rant, chant, and create. I am being a little tongue in cheek, but perhaps his performances are actually a really positive concept - maybe showing a bit of reality in the world of hypnotic myth.

Sadly, I am no where near New York, so I cannot see his work first hand, but if any of you happen upon it, please feel free to comment your thoughts. Also on March 25, 2008, he will give a seminar on his process at the Whitney. I would love to see that. I would love to have a guest blogger who does go to it and reports back.

Source: The Whitney

So this is it - the totally Ellie, totally transparent hypnotist.  The original blog, kindly hosted at blogger (or the big blue G), is almost a year old.  So, to celebrate, we (the royal “we”) bought the domain “transparenthypnotist.com” (and have it all on own hosting site at The Unwinding Path).

We will still have our regular features such as 10 Questions, Esoteric Saturdays, The Sunday Question, and whatever else comes into our awareness.

I am still unpacking, but pull up a crate, garb a cup and tea and join me for a while!

I have recently had some Internet problems. My high-speed connection crawls, sometimes it goes down completely, or maybe it decides it has had enough of the transparent hypnotist. Rather than providing an advertising op for the company in question, I shant mention their name.

Like a rational person, I am surveying the playing field and looking at the competition. Oh how it flirts! In the fine art of seduction, the smooth velvety voice of temptation offers faster, faster, and so fast the page loads during my blink. And then, the sweet rustlings of interest begin - an auction for lifetime high-speed Internet. Now it does beg the question what is “life-time?” But, like most first blushes, these questions are pushed away with promises of winning a Nintendo® Wii™. Mmm. Golf at the office. Ellie’s 18, perhaps?

Yes, I admit it; I am human (as we saw in today’s earlier post). I would love a Wii, but with everything else, I am not sure I could justify purchasing it. One could make an argument that after working with clients on sports motivation and concentration; they could use the game before the hypnosis session and after to see potential change? In theory, it is a cool idea, but I am not really sure how the Wii translates into reality.

Wondering how I went from the Internet to the Wii? Did I mention that Charter High-Speed® Internet is sponsoring this contest to win the Wii and also the auction for lifetime Internet.

Click Here for a Chance to Win a Nintendo® Wii™!

One of the hardest things to do when maintaining a transparent blog is to admit mistakes. Sometimes it would be much easier to not mention them and let them go unannounced (with the false ego-based assumption that I remotely appear infallible -lol). However, mistakes are a necessary part of life and are not really that negative in some realms. Rather they are opportunities for learning. Learn I did and maybe my experience will stop this from happening to someone else, maybe even you.

I totally missed the boat with a potential smoking cessation client this week. Often I get calls from people who seek my services for smoking cessation. Many do not make appointments directly, instead they tell me they are going on holiday the following week, giving a dissertation, or going to court and they chose to make the appointment following whatever event. So this time, I was asked if it would be better if they waited until after after the stressful event next week. Rather than creating a positive suggestion and saying “no, you will be tobacco free by next week,” I said “Let’s do it the week after.” (And I am booked this week, which I neglected to say as well). So, they promptly told me they would call me back later the schedule the appointment - which they have not.

I am not beating myself up over this, but in hind sight, I think they were looking for reassurance and I did not give them anything to boost their confidence and I may have made them lose some belief about hypnosis that may have been important to their success. Lesson learned.

As I sit drinking coffee first thing this morning, I am trying to decide where to go with this post. There was a story out on Monday (yes, another one) that has been itching at me. It was another negative slap to hypnosis, so I though I would just ignore it, but it will not let me. So, sadly, I must pass it along.

I am not sure what happened on Monday that caused the press to suddenly feel the need to write disparagingly about hypnosis. Maybe it was that there was a certain time that certain people did things to get caught fanning the fires.

And so, for you Tampa, Florida hypnotists, you carry the burden of another soul’s double dealing. From what I hear, Florida has several laws about who can and cannot practice hypnosis. That is tough enough. Then there is counseling. Very often as hypnotists we find clients who want us to fill this role as well. For those who are licensed counselors or psychologist, this is a moot point. But for those of us who do not have the background and proper paperwork, it is a bit illegal for us to provide such services. I have known several hypnotists who become ordained ministers to get past these licensing issues (I speak from no-experience in this realm).

On Monday, Tampa Bay Online reported a story about a man who was on the board of directors at a Unity church (it does not say he was ordained) who was arrested because “he passed himself off as a mental health counselor to treat members of the church, even though he was not licensed to do so.” This carries a one year sentence. Well, that is a no no, but why am I up in arms about this? Once again hypnosis is used in an odd way. I quote:

There were six victims in all, with their ages ranging from 18 to 40, and they were either former or current members of the church, Proffitt said. O’Toole often used hypnosis to treat them.

It is too bad he did not tell people he was a “coach.” I doubt that would have changed the statement about hypnosis, though. But good grief, it mentions hypnosis like it is a woogie treatment (I could not think of another word and woogie wanted to come out). That is really unnecessary. I suspect he also used “talk-therapy.” You do not read about that in such a way.

Well, just…just…YUCK!

Source: Tampa Bay Online

A day late, but no matter. Did you know that this week is National Sleep Awareness Week. I almost snoozed right through it. LOL. Are any of you participating or doing anything for it? If so, feel free to mention it in the comment section of this post. Needless to say, I am doing little more than blogging about it here, but at least that is something.

It is sort of odd, too. Normally I have clients around who see me for help with sleeping better, but currently my roster is free from those. I work a lot with sleep issues because inevitably some one will come to me with a different problem and after the first session they will call me back to work on the sleep stuff. It seems that the night directly after their session was one in which sleep did not evade them. In fact many say their best sleep nights are after a hypnosis session (and sessions not necessarily related to sleep issues).

Here’s a great quote you can use in your material. It comes from the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office of Communication in a press release they sent out on February 28, 2008:

Nationwide, an estimated 50 to 70 million people suffer from chronic sleep loss and
sleep disorders. Sleep loss is associated with health problems, including obesity,
depression, and certain risk behaviors, including cigarette smoking, physical inactivity, and heavy drinking.

We often spout these types of facts, but now you have a source in which to attribute it.

So, anyway, happy National Sleep Awareness Week. The National Sleep Foundation, who sponsors the activities of this week, has a lot of interesting resources. They offer the Sleep Challenge (you can win one of those fancy beds) to see how much you know about sleep.

For a Monday, it is quite beautiful - warm and sunny. The week ahead seems well paced. And yet there is this ugly dark cloud above us. That is right - above US, not just me, but you and I. It is small, so it is probably nothing more than an irritation, but I am not one to enjoy an irritation, no matter how petite.

This cloud is in the form of words - hideous and reeking of misinformation. No, no one has fouled my name (as of today -LOL), but it fouls the good name of honest hypnotists. It comes in the form of a short article in the Lancashire Evening Post with the headline “Man used ‘hypnosis’ on girls.” Granted, this does not say much, but it has a sinister bent (the juxtaposition of Man and girls) and sure enough, it is dark.

The basis story is this: a man played a game with a couple of little girls, “pretending” to catch them and hypnotize them, after which, he kissed and touched them. Perhaps you just breathed a sigh of relief (those more concerned with the good name of “hypnosis” - there is no sigh of relief for the perpetration of a heinous crime) and thought, “he was just pretending to ‘hypnotize’ the girls - he did not really use hypnosis.” However, in my book, there is another crime that has been committed other than the one of sexual nature. It is a crime of ignorance and one that the media is promoting. Perhaps that is actually two crimes.

Here is the break down. The crime is in the misrepresentation of hypnosis. First,when the average joe reads the article, chances are, it will be skimmed or read lightly. Will he or she get that is was just a game and he did not hypnotize the girls? The other horrible side of it is how the idea of hypnosis was used in the game. It sounds as though he (the man) takes on the persona of an Ogre, catches the girls and hypnotizes them. The hypnosis is to…what? Is it to get the girls to do things against their will? Am I making a paranoid leap here? If it is indeed the idea of having someone do something against their will, well, let us take two steps back. Once again, the media’s pull is strong when proliferating the myths of hypnotic arts. Yes, for all of you non-hypnosis-knowing people that maybe reading this, it is a myth that you will do things against your will when in hypnosis. This is at the heart of what is bothering me about this small little cloud of an article.

Source: Lancashire Evening Post