A Cool Question
It is hot. It is very hot. The air conditioner is not working and I am aware of how reliant we humans have become on our creature comforts. I spent yesterday at the movies (Iron Man), but today I have life to live here in the heat.
A little while back, Michael mentioned creating a comfy space for he and his girlfriend to visit when they are challenged physically by the distance between there living environments. As I awoke this morning, sweating without exertion, it occurred to me to take a hint from Michael. If he can create a comfy space, I can create a cool one. Self-hypnosis might just be the thing. I have yet to invoke the igloo of comfort, but am about to depart for a cooler mind climate. For many, a temperature drop is normal when enjoying the process of hypnosis, but I tend to get hot flashes, so it’s time to bring on the coolness of suggestion.
Now here is the question - when you use hypnosis (or meditation or relaxation work), do you experience any physical phenomenon (like a temperature drop or heat flashes) and if so, what?
June 8th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Wow, Ellie … I’m so flattered to have inspired this question. ;^)
I once saw hypnotist/comedian Flip Orley use hypnotic suggestion to help someone on stage who complained of being too cold. He instructed her to find her body’s control room, go to the control for her metabolism, and simply speed it up a little to generate more body heat. That demonstrated pretty effectively for me that such things are absolutely possible.
In my daily bus commute I’ve occasionally used self-hypnosis to create the illusion of a cooling breeze on a hot day, or of turning up the heat on a cold morning, with reasonable success. I can often “feel” the breeze on my arms or face, which surprised me the first time because I’m not generally that good at kinesthetics. The benefits of practice, I suppose.
Unless I specifically go looking for something, though, I don’t usually notice any physical reaction to self-hypnosis itself aside from the standard relaxation and “heavy” feeling that comes with it. WIth clients I’ve seen quite a few develop an increase in color around the face and neck and they often mention feeling warmer after the trance is over.
It’s 94 outside right now where I am (Maryland), but my air conditioning is working (knock wood). Stay cool and have plenty of iced tea on hand.
<MR>
June 8th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
That’s impressive, about the cooling breezy. My igloo did really well for a while, but no breeze. May your air condition remain stable and cooling.
June 12th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Haven’t tried hypnosis yet, but have certainly applied mind over matter. I’ve noticed it seems to be much easier to make myself warmer than it is to make myself cooler. Maybe it’s because I am always too warm. Just wondering if you have noticed a trend, is it easier for most people to get warmer or cooler?
I will certainly try to find the room that houses my metabolism. Perhaps this could help with weight loss too.
June 13th, 2008 at 6:17 am
In a hypnosis setting, I run across more people who get cool than warm, but I think in regular consciousness it is the opposite. Michael’s idea of the control room could work with a variety of changes and would be helpful with with loss, I suspect.
Thanks for commenting!