The Transparent Hypnotist

What does your hammer look like? Yep, that is the Sunday Question. Seriously, what does it look like? I do not mean the one sitting in the tool box in the garage, awaiting a nail to pound into some surface to hold things together. I mean, what is your main tool that you use for healing? Yes, I am talking hypnosis. I am talking meditation, yoga, psychotherapy, anger-management, video games, hiking, cooking…

Do you have something that you think is the be-all-end-all? My yogi comes to mind at the moment. For her, everything, I mean EVERYTHING can be healed and dealt with using yoga. She has given me poses to help clear my allergies, relieve depression, increase the libido, and so on. Her hammer is yoga. I also know hypnotists who believe hypnosis is the only tool worth having in their tool box. I tend to err on this side as well, but my hammer includes not only the part that pounds things down, but has a claw to remove things and as well as a handy-dandy screw driver attached to the bottom (you have to unscrew it). Call it good for traditional suggestion work, therapy, regression, and so on, using various techniques suited for each situation. Other’s use additional modalities such as Reiki, Emotional Freedom Technique, and even massage.

So, I am curious, what does your hammer look like or do you use a whole toolbox?

It’s in the trees. It’s coming.

The crunch of popcorn (like the sound of brittle bones snapping and cracking), the sweet taste of carbonated beverages (sweetened fructose, blood-like), a darkened room (my inner crypt), and a comfy throw to curl-up under - these are a part of my latest craving. They represent details of the larger picture, a movie in fact. I am craving the delights of a terribly, non-scary, B horror movie. I do not want to spend my nights fearing long-haired, yoga-posing demons that come out of the wells of my unconscious mind. No, I want a good old fashioned, over-latexed demon that can remain on the television screen, something from the 1950s to the 1990s would do it. And to top it off, it must have a hypnosis element to it. This is not to say one that engages the mind in sharp concentration, but actually uses hypnosis to further the plot.

In doing some searching, I have come across Night of the Demon. This seems to fit my bill. Apparently there are two (maybe three of them), one from the 1950s (which was reedited into Curse of the Demon) and one from the 1980s. It was the one from the 1980s that caught my original notice. It involves a psych professor who is studying Big Foot. The former version apparently also involved a psych professor but actually dealt with the demonic (more toward parapsychology) as opposed parabiology (Big Foot, Nessie, and the Abominable Snowman). I became aware of the 1980s version from a review by Brain Hammer on www.horroryearbook.com. I will not recapitulate his words, as he has seen the movie and I have not. But he describes a scene that involves hypnosis that sort of sounds like great fun in a terribly depraved way. Apparently the professor regresses another character who remembers having sex with Big Foot (as well as killing her father who destroyed her baby that was the outcome of sleeping with Big Foot). Hmmm.

That led me to look the movie up in Netflicks. Sadly, they do not have that version. Instead they have the 1950 version, which frankly sounds more toward my interest. I really enjoy good demon culture (Jack, are you reading this?). The hypnosis in this one is less pop culture, but helps the plot move along. In this hypnosis scene apparently regression is the format wherein another character remembers foisting off a demonic death warrant.

I have put this on my movie queue and will let you know more when I actually see it. Are any of you familiar with either of these movies?

You will also note the youtube video I posted with this. I was looking for the hypnosis scene in either but found this video instead. I am a big Kate Bush fan and find the synchronicity of finding this timely. In her alternative Hounds of Love song (not the UK version), she sampled sound bites from the 1950s version of Night of the Demon. The video above is robbjmc compilation from the movie and Kate Bush’s videos.

Location: Bradenton, Fl
Cyber Location: www.advancedholistichealth.net

1. Are you a full time hypnotist, part-time or hobbyist?

Part-time

2. Do you specialize in any type of hypnosis?

No, but Past Life Regressions are my favorite.

3. Is there any type of hypnosis you do not do?

Stage hypnosis

4. Do you use self-hypnosis regularly in your life? If so, how?

Yes, the “fear” piece has been big for all self-employed persons in this economy. Removing it has helped me to succeed both personally and professionally.

5. Describe your hypnosis office or work setting.

Relaxed, comfortable, bright, alive with energy and focus.

6. Describe a typical day in your life.

Usually busy by my choice. I work hard and I play hard. I usually do a 12 hour day when at work so that when I play, I can just have fun and play.

7. Where did you get your training in hypnosis and are you certified?

I am certified by Janis Ericson of Lightwork Seminars Intl. in both hypnosis and NLP.

8. Most fabulous hypnosis technique you use?

A combination of hypnosis and energy healing work that produces fabulous results. See the testimonials on my website. I also do Theta Healing, Esoteric Healing and Reiki.

9. Worse moment ever in a hypnosis setting that ended up being a valuable learning experience.

I had one client that I could not hypnotize. It was a valuable lesson in learning to look into the matter deeper and to look for fears, past and present. This client wanted the instantaneous fix and when she learned that she needed to participate, she just shut down. I now know that her issue was fear of past issues that she had never discussed with anyone else. She didn’t have the trust level at that time to talk with me about it and fear took over.

10. Any words of advice to potential clients or other hypnotists.

Always trust your intuition before doing this work and use the client’s words to strengthen the delivery. Do your work with honesty and integrity.

Photograph by unrelaxeddad

Typing furiously, sipping my coffee as I pause, typing some more, I delete all the words. I repeat the process and find myself in something of an odd loop. Today the words do not flow as easily as is my norm. I know the words are there, piling up, pressing forward, but remaining behind the barricades of thought and rethought. They drivel out, one word squeaking under the pressure of the crowd, past the police tape of my mind. It is a word that really is more made up than a real word - bat’d.

Maybe bat’d conjures up imagery of flapping, creepy bird-mouse creatures or maybe for those of you who are no as dark minded as me, maybe there is the image of a Little League participant, awkwardly holding a device to send the ball, often fowl, sometimes not, back to the pitcher. Or maybe, just maybe you are a total optimist and see the grand slam (I see Cal Ripken), sound of metal and ball colliding, bat flying backward, and the slow motion run of a player begining the run to safety.

But for many others, you will have recognized the word bat’d for what it really is - an acronym for beta, alpha, theta, and delta. For one class or another, I realized I often mixed-up the order of brainwave activity. Hence, bat’d is my school girl solution.

It seems timely to discuss this now, since on Tuesday we discussed the alpha-theta machine, which helps people to experience the alpha and theta states of mind. But what does this really mean? As with the pulse that is inherent within the earth, think tidal influences and heart beats, the brain has a similar pulse. This pulse, which is what is tracked with Electro Encephalo Graph machines, has some distinctive rates that indicate different levels of consciousness.

This is where bat’d comes into play:

• Beta - (13-40 cycles per second) - this is probably the state you are in currently. It is the wakeful state of being.
• Alpha - (8-13 cycles per second) - this one is akin to a light day dream-like state, relaxation or effortless awareness. This is a good place to be for auto-suggestion (hypnotic suggestion) and for learning.
• Theta - (4-7 cycles per second) - This is the state one experiences when dreaming (REM), being totally engaged in the creative, and deep meditation. Some would say this is the area of the subconscious.
• Delta - (1/2 - 4 cycles per second) - this state is deep sleep. It is also thought to be the level where one can experience the collective unconscious.

Bat’d. Simple, easy to remember and useful when discussing consciousness.

Sources:
Brainwaves and Consciousness
The Learning Web
Psychic 101

I have had a rather late start today, but it was not all drinking tea and eating toast. No, I was reckoning with two beast - my loss of page rank and a need to do something different. I managed to wrestle with both by finding a video competition for creating a Scour Commercial . Scour.com, a social search engine, is seeking entries for a 45 second or less commercial. It is a great opportunity to potentially win $500 as well as gaining some exposure on their site.

Well, I was inspired to do my own (but do not let me stop you from creating your own video and entering). My little cartoon eyes represent me, the essence at least, fairly well, so I decided to conintue on in my series of short animations. Leave a comment here if you have entered this contest. It is always fun to see how other’s approach such things!

Photography by lilivanili

Every now and then my fancy gets sparked by some technical toy. I crave a pleasant interface, good design, user compatibility, and something to make me marvel at the wonder that is man (man in the human sense, not just gender). When I did yesterday’s news round up, I came across the 404 podcast, which interviewed hypnotist Paul Ramsey. Paul actually stopped by this blog as well and left a comment about the induction he did on the show using an alpha-theta machine. First, let me say that the induction results were very impressive. Using a standard step-down deepener, he gave his participant a suggestion to bring the feeling and effects of Novocain to his mouth. Then he had the participant speak and one could hear the Novocain in his voice. I know this is nothing unusual for hypnosis, but since the alpha-theta machine was used, it was interesting to witness the results.

Apparently the machine uses flashing lights and sound frequencies to induce an alpha and theta state of mind, which is appropriate for hypnotic suggestion. Awhile ago, I had posted about making a home-made version of an alpha-beta, but it was called The Dream Machine. It was used in the context of helping people have lucid dreams. I had almost forgotten about it, until I saw the 404 podcast. It is nice to see such a device used in straight (technical hypnosis, hmm…another form of hypnosis?) hypnosis.

Before I get you too enamored with this device, if you have not read Paul’s comment from yesterday, it should be considered:

The 404 targets a tech-savvy audience, so I brought along the alpha-theta machine thinking it would interest them. It was fun to demo it to them. I haven’t used it with a client in over three years. It is good to use with clients who can’t stop analyzing what you’re saying as you’re doing your induction. For average clients, though, I favor an Elman induction, quick and simple.

Okay, so he favors the voice approach, but the gadget is still cool. I think the idea of using something that blocks out visual reality and focuses sound is interesting. It may play into the myth that hypnosis needs a quiet, non-chaotic environment, but I often wonder if it is not be worth-while to have such available for clients. I have had a few clients who have eventually come back to me and told me that the brightness of my session room (day light) or the sounds of the offices around it were distracting, even though they were given suggestions for those ideas to help them relax even more. I sometimes think totally removing certain people from reality in every way may lead to a more satisfying experience.

Just my thoughts for the day. And darn it, I want one of these machines…

Photograph by licepopkorn

It is Monday. I have my green tea, my bowl of oats, and my laptop. So what I am really wondering is if it is really necessary to write an introduction into my weekly hypno world news?

The Good

Dani Dudek - now there is a girl for you! She is the point guard for Stevens Institute of Technology basketball team. What an amazing person! In the fifth-grade she was diagnosed as having Post-Strep Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. Did it hinder her? Well it probably did for a little while, but not anymore. While a freshman in high school she learned self-hypnosis from Dr. Gary Walco at Hackensack University Medical Center. She uses self-hypnosis to deal with the pain involved with the arthritis. Now rather than fearing pain or being hurt in the game, she says she embraces the notion because she knows she can deal with it (www.nj.com).

There has to be something in the fact that just after reading about Dani, the next article that I came across had to do with Zen meditation for pain management. Because I do practice both hypnosis and meditation, I think this is worth mentioning (I find there is a very thin line between hypnosis and meditation). While torturing (my word) study subjects, the University of Montreal found that those who were experienced in Zen meditation felt little to no pain. The article does suggest that it may have something to do with breathing as a pain inhibitor (U.S. News and World Report).

New Hanover Regional’s new women’s and children’s hospital had its first hypnosis birth last year. Gina Policari used hypnotist Charlotte Andrews to help her through the birth.

‘I had the epidural without having the epidural. I didn’t feel the pain,’ she said. ‘People say it’s mind over matter, and I think that’s what hypnosis ends up being.’

Rebecca Batts of Trinity Holistics is also cited in the article. She is a hypnobirthing practitioner. The article gives two different perspectives in that Andrews was actually present at the birth, whereas Batts usually is not present but prepares the mothers-to-be and their partners for the actual event (www.starnewsonline.com)

How can hypnosis benefit you? Read Cindy Locher’s five ways it can help anyone (www.healthywealthywise.com)

How refreshing - an article about a hypnotist that does not begin with “you are getting sleepy.” Kudos to Melissa Gasca of the the-signal.com for writing about hypnotist Virgil Vasquez. Instead she wrote about the class on hypnosis that Virgil recently presented in a way that talked about the experience, not the cliches (not that I am ungrateful to any article that sheds positive light into hypnosis…).

Simon Wesson of www.whtimes.co.uk decided to give hypnotist Mark Vasey’s “pound busting” group hypnosis a go. And how did it go? You will just have to read his words on that.

Last week, I mentioned Lisa Jamison who went to Joe Smith of Mindgate Hypnosis for help with smoking cessation. Her progress is being followed by wfmz.com. It has apparently been a month since the session. How has she fared? She is a non-smoker. Smith brought up a good point - hypnosis has an expiration date. It has to be reinforced. For those of you shaking your head and thinking, “I knew it, it is not a one time thing” hold your horses. Smith goes on to explain that the reinforcement can be affirmations or even acknowledgment. This could include feeling proud of being a non-smoker when one sees other smokers.

The Bad (So Cool)

Question: For what reason did Lily Allen use hypnosis? Does anyone know (her hypnotist has not responded to my questions)? Every now and then, Lily’s stint using hypnosis hits the press. First she may or not have used it for weight loss then smoking. Here is a quote from The Sun:

Some reports suggested she had hypnotherapy to shed the pounds. Lily says: “No, I did have hypnosis to stop smoking though. It worked for a bit. I run three times a week — if there aren’t any photographers outside my house.”

What? I am hoping that her statement was abridged. Smoking? Running? Last week it was mentioned that she used it for exercise motivation. So what is the real story? (Sure this may seem gossipy, but if a youth role-model, which she is, uses hypnosis and it does something positive then it is worth the mention. Ah, the things we use for validation) (The Sun).

Now for a little fun - The 404 podcast had hypnotist Paul Ramsay in for a visit. He is a bit high tech, but it is well done interview and experience as he worked with one of the hosts.

Photograph by lilivanili

Truthful.

Useful.

Timely.

According to my partner, after reading a book about Buddhism, these three concepts are all part of the Noble Eightfold Path’s Right Speech. If you are familiar with these you may be scratching your head because truthful, useful, and timely are not specifically mentioned, you are probably correct. These are the three concepts my partner disseminated from the information in the book.

We spent an hour in a coffee shop yesterday discussing these because they keep ringing in my mind, chiming like Tibetan peace bells gone wild. In my non-enlightened way, my mind tries to find loopholes in the concept. If I can take them apart, I can understand them or so I think.

“Remember that really Rubenesque woman we saw at Halloween?” I ask my partner, sipping my coffee and really debate about putting cream in it. Maybe skim milk would be better.

“You mean the 200 pound ballerina in the white leotard. The one who forgot her bra and thought wearing a thong was a good thing?” my partner responds, savoring the steamed milk in his latte.

Funny how he knows where I am going with this, “Yes, that is the one. I did not say anything at the time other than I thought she was brave and must have good self-esteem, but it really was not something I wanted to see. With this Right Speech stuff, would it not have behooved the situation then for me to say, ‘Please put your coat back on. I really do not want to look at you wearing that costume.’ That would qualify, don’t you think? It was truthful, timely, and useful - useful to her because it let her know that she was aesthetically offending me and that it was 30 degrees that night. She could have caught cold.”

I really would never say such a thing to another person (unless there was some sort of situation that truly demanded it and I cannot think what that would be). It is her business how she dresses and I have the option of looking elsewhere. But in thinking about Right Speech, I know that the truth has to be universal, not just personal - so my truth of aesthetic issues is only mine. I guess that would void the whole put-your-coat-on sentiment. Useful? It would have been useful for me and to possibly help her not too catch cold. Yet, it could have been damaging to her. If she cared at all about what other’s think, it could have hurt her.

So maybe Right Speech is more than those words: truthful, useful, and timely. Maybe there should be codicils to it like being kind and non-damaging. Maybe this is what I was really trying to say a few weeks ago when I questioned the need to report on news that can be damaging to a person who has not yet been proven guilty.

Here is one of my attempts today to Right Speech. It is a show of gratitude. Though I am not specifically joining the entrecard crowd in celebrating a new monthly “top dropper day” (which was yesterday), I do have my own form of thanks.

First, thanks to Lofty Matters (she received the Butterfly Award from me last month) - it is a most interesting and positive read. I think she has the whole Right Speech thing down pretty well. Also, she has visited here everyday for the past three months.

There are two other blog that need some kudos, too, since they have dropped their entrecard on me everyday for two months. They are:

• Septagon Studios Inc News Blog - they are an independent publishing company.
• Mr Soleh’s Outburst - this is a blog that I truly wished would be updated more. It seems mostly tech or blogging oriented, but is sincere.

And of course, thank you to everyone else who has visited, dropped ECs, or commented here. It is nice to know I am not alone in the universe.

Now for the Sunday Question - if you were to describe the idea of “Right Speech,” what would your criteria include?