The Transparent Hypnotist

Photography by sandcastlematt

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. That is the sound of one rice cake being devoured.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. That is the word that runs through my mind as I do my Nautilus-based crunches.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. That is the sound of time, clunking and lurching along as continue all of my goals…especially the one in which I am removing excess fat and flab and turning it into healthy, toned-muscle.

On my other blog theunwindingpath.com, I occasionally write about the my experiences of loosing weight. When I first realized I had gained so much, the pounds silently creeping onto my body, I was truly appalled. The incessant whine of pants feeling too tight, odd gaps in anything that buttoned, and the realization that my food choices were not as wonderful as they could be, grew so loud and cumbersome that I had to face reality - I had let something go. Me. Me who is into yoga, vegetables, and hiking. Me. The hypnotist who makes some of her living helping other people lose weight. Other people, not me, are the ones who need help. 

But alas, my vanity has faced itself in the mirror and seen the truth. Now that I am here, I am actually a bit grateful for the overall experience. It is one thing to preach a healthy diet and exercise; it is truly another to go through the process one preaches. It has given me a new appreciation for the challenges of being thin in a world where going to a happy hour means sitting at home or in the office and typing away to one’s social networks. But on the other hand, it has been interesting to read about so many other people’s weight-influenced quests. It feels like support and any sort of support is a good thing. 

I noticed another blogger Dena of Sungrl Loves to Shop has a second blog and like mine other one, hers is going to be about her weight-loss journey. She wrote about it in her post entitled Big Changes. On this other blog, she plans to do weekly weigh-ins and will offer ideas for making the process of losing poundage more appealing. The big thing that she has to offer is camaraderie (which is something I could personally use). So, if you have been keeping up with my journey or are such a journeyer yourself, please stop by Dena’s blogs and cheer her on as well.

Knowing others who are fellow travelers can be a definite morale booster. Weight loss is such a mental thing. My own personal discovery with is that the more positive I am about it, as well as the more honest I am with myself, the easier it is. It is all a mindset. Self-hypnosis has helped me keep with the lifestyle changes I am in the process of creating, so it has been a big part of my successes. But I know that everyone’s philosophies are different. So let us begin a dialogue about it this Sunday.

If you are currently working on weight loss, have lost weight, or are maintaining your weight, what do you feel is the key ingredient for your personal success?

Photograph by The Labour Party

She comes to me for help in losing weight. Somewhere along her path, somewhere between fast food joints and petrol stations with trail mix (the kind with bits of chocolate), she has gained quite a bit of weight. She travels frequently and finds herself using this as an excuse not to keep up with her exercise or even proper nutrition. That is boring, right? 

She finds her self-esteem also wrapped up in the weight. Somewhat naive and believing the pounds would magically shed themselves, every time she went to a physician and was forced to stand on a scale (finally almost thinking about fending this off with a few well chosen martial arts moves - she knows no such gestures), her heart would sink as the scale, perhaps justly so, told of her bad habits. Her beautiful clothes no longer fit quite right and she began to exist in jogging pants (the skinny little black yoga pants long too small). The mirror also betrayed her, but not as much as the everyday reflections off of glass doors or cars (anything reflective). They were the true enemy. She was no longer able to live with the the idea that every reflection was complete distortion. No, the distortion was in her head. Her stomach sagged a bit over her waist line, she had a bloated look to her, and jowls even threatened to be a new addition to her face. 

This client who desperately sought me out was myself. Since I began with the goal to lose 20 pounds (back in January), seven and a half have been removed - not lost. Have I just used hypnosis in this process? No. I have finally had to take my advice to countless others and practice what I preach - I need a healthier lifestyle. This  new life style includes self-hypnosis (for keeping me motivated and tweaking some of the better habits I wish would come easier), portion awareness, some calorie counting (allowing me to make better food decisions), daily exercise (almost), drinking lots of water, and being patient with myself. 

It has been truly tempting at times to go for diet pills or other trendy diets, but I know in the long-term, slow and steady will win my race back to a size eight. It has been a remarkable experience so far in that now I have a much deeper understanding of what people go through in trying to lose weight. I also find that the more I know about healthy living, the better I do, the better I feel. 

I have always done research or tried to find sources for my clients. Since I am now one of them, I find myself always looking for women’s health resources. I have always been tempted, when grocery shopping, to go for foods that say fat free or low calorie, totally buying into the marketing of specific products. It is not a practice that is very consumer conscious really. I had no idea what those terms meant, only that they sounded good in a healthy sort of way (Oh, Ode to Olestra). But then I go to web sites such as www.womenshealthbase.com and find out that well, it is not quite as fuzzy wonderful as I would have hoped. There is math involved (I am not a fan of math, though I see its necessity). There are certain amounts of this or that in those products that may not be so helpful to my cause. But, now I have a better idea of what to look for in nutrition as well as some healthier options.

It is amazing what we think we know compared to the reality. Sometimes you just have take off those mental, rose colored glasses, take a long hard look (put on those reading glasses and gaze upon the ingredients and nutrition information of potential eating pleasures), take a deep breath and make another choice. The road is long.

Photograph by hegarty_david

I am slow. Really. Here it is December and I am just now planning January events at my office. But, in my own defense (take that psyche), ideas just began to gel about this new project. Well, new may “new” is not the word for it - maybe “continuation” would be more suitable. When I started thinking about writing yesterday’s post about how photographs can be misleading when it comes to seeing weight loss final results (based on the photographer, lighting, angles and lens), I went back through comments and email from my weight loss clients.

Over a year ago, I blogged a bit about a hypnosis weight loss group I formed. We had a lot of fun, and the synchronicity of ideas that made the experience enjoyable was more than I had ever hoped. Beyond the hypnosis work we did weekly, we also walked together, had a healthy meal a week together, and danced together. So, what has happened to that original group? Did they reach their weight goals and maintain their goals? Well, mostly. Most made the lifestyle changes needed to keep their healthy weight and their families also received the benefits (one family lost a total of a hundred some pounds just based on food choices). But there was some slippage, as well. There were a few that succumbed to bad eating habits due to stress (one blames the economy). One could not get her support system in balance and her husband gave her such a hard time about changing the family diet, she felt completely sabotaged. Talk about a self-esteem buster.

Most of the group has more or less stayed in touch and have asked if I would hold a monthly meeting for all my weight loss clients.They feel they can really help one another and even just hypnosis for relaxation would help them continue on their healthy path. The idea that they became a support system for one another was fairly important and when the group stopped meeting, in some case (see above paragraph), the results fluctuated a bit.

So, maintaing a support group is my next endeavor for January.

The music surrounded me and I was not lost. There was no surrender to the external rhythm, no movement within my soul. Instead I stood there, mountain air flowing around me, the morning begging for something more from me - a letting go, a freedom needing to be experienced. I tried to give in and be a part of the moving on, listening for the beat and trying to express it. Nothing.

This experience happened the Monday before last during a morning movement session at my retreat. I pondered about it at the time, watching all the others writhing about without inhibition on the grand porch. Was it inhibition? No. I have always been the type to be the first on a dance floor, even if it meant dancing alone. I just could not find the flow. And I realized that I had become static in life - more rigid than normal in my routine. Sure I walk or do Yoga most days, but both of those have become more internally centered than externally experienced. I go within, work on breathing and relaxation when I engage in it. Not that this is wrong, but to come out of it and experience the world around me suddenly seemed incredibly odd when called to do so and I am not so happy about it.

So, to sooth my inner dancer, ragging at the lose of external connection, it is now time to expand my horizons and make some changes within my exercise practice. Sure, I could use self-hypnosis for motivation, but at the moment I am startled enough to find I need to reengage, so that should be enough. I spent yesterday looking for movement type classes, but I kept coming up with excuses not to sign-up. Bad timing, what about my knees, too far away, and the protest kept flowing. So, then I thought about DVDs and the inner protest was silent. Videos and like have always been a great inspiration to me for trying new things. It is how I began my yoga training (from a month of video, I joined a class, received private lessons and now am mostly on my own).

Movement. Action. Flow. Those are the key words for me. Whoa. There is one more - groove. I need the music. I need to feel my body and mind lost in the groove of motion and sound. And this thought led me to XFLOWSION, trainer Eric Paskel’s combination power yoga, martial arts, and ah yes, sweet music, dance. Live band (well, when they filmed one of the DVDs), surround sound, and the idea of toning up some of the stubborn softness that the walking and yoga never seem to touch. It sounds doable, dare I say it - even fun.

Maybe you are wondering why I am sharing these thoughts with you on a hypnosis blog? Several reasons, really. First, I promised to share with you some of my consciousness experiences from last week’s retreat and this was definitely a consciousness where I need to reconnect. Second, I am setting an intention here by allowing the words out of my head and onto the blog. As hypnotists we are often stuck in the mind and it is good to occasionally pay attention to the body. The third point is that hypnosis practices often include the idea of creating a health body. If we just listen to what our body really wants (going past the couch-sitting-I’d-rather-sleep thoughts), we can reach our goals. We can use exercise to relax (gosh knows I go there with yoga), to feel alive, and to be moved.

Perhaps at some point, I will reengage the unwinding path blog and see how the Xflowsion series of DVDs, books and audios do for me. I will keep you posted.

With the big eating day looming before many tomorrow, and with answers on the holiday stress poll, it appears that we could all use a little help to maintain our stress and perhaps our eating habits. I recently was able to focus on the fact that when I get frustrated, I start craving the worst of the worse when it comes to junk food. With this I was able to utilize self-hypnosis to help me through some of the more pronounced frustration triggers.

But what if you need help figuring out if you are an emotional eater and you do do not have a hypnotist handy? Here are some questions to ask yourself.

• Do you find that hunger comes on quickly or urgently?
• Do you crave unhealthy food (who me)?
• Do stressful or unpleasant events cause you to want to eat?
• Do you find yourself suddenly eating and have no conscious memory of eating so much?
• Do you continue to eat even after you are full?
• Do you feel hunger anywhere other than your stomach?
• After you satisfy your hunger, do you have feelings of regret?

These are the signs of emotional eating as specified by Dr. Roger Gould, a board certified psychiatrist who is one of the world’s leading authorities on emotional eating and adult development. He is also a pioneer in online programs for weight issues. If you find that your eating fits any of these questions, you may have emotional eating issues.

So you are probably saying, “Great. Now what?” If so, he has an interactive (you answer questions) website to help you understand your emotions and eating habits in relation to holiday stress. Then he offers a free Holiday Survival Guide .

I am a big believer in every little thing helps. To those of you on the poll who mentioned stress being a part of your holidays, this may offer a little relief.

Let me know what you think.

Ah, a cup of tea, a fire large in the fire place; one can almost look forward to the winter. Maybe.

I had an interesting client yesterday. She wants to change her eating habits before they cause problems. But she is a person definitely into the New Age school of thought, and I so enjoy those. I guess this is because I tend to fall on that side of philosophy. Well, it was a fabulous session. I guided her to a location where her issue was housed. And there it was, in the second chakra (here is the thing - I know little about the chakra’s - only what Ken Wilber has written about them in his book Up from Eden - and I am only on chapter four). And the answer to helping herself with her eating habits is the word “baby.”

It is so tempting and hard sometimes not to interpret these mind messages for others, but I tend to believe it is a message only the client can decipher. However, it will not stop me from writing about it here (my dearest client from yesterday, stop reading here. Just kidding). What interest me is that one could take it literally or not. It had not really occurred to me that when doing this type of hypno work, the mind maybe (and is) sending symbols to be deciphered. Puzzles, if you will. It reminds me a little of dream interpretation and all the potential symbols that Jung believed were delivered to us (I just cannot completely go with Freudian sexuality in everything). In my client’s case, she just had her first child. The child was a bit unexpected but welcomed none the less. However, it has been a bit difficult on many levels for her, and now she describes the second chakra as being an empty void. It is fascinating how many things that “baby” could mean in terms of this emptiness.

I think we tend to look at literal translations when we get these sort of messages, wanting them to be black and white. But I suspect they are rarely anything but grey.

The other thing I have going this week is my mini-session weight loss group. We are using meditation and guided imagery, but it is also beginning to feel like “pop culture” weight loss. Doesn’t that sound less scary than hypnotic weight loss? I am almost kidding here.

Well, after talking with the group last week, exercise is definitely something that seems fairly absent. There is predictable moaning about the subject. It isn’t fun. I don’t have time. It doesn’t feel good. I hate exercising alone. And so on. You get the picture.

I personally am in somewhat agreement. Running hurts my knees. There is such little time in the day. I am not dressed to exercise. Excuses, excuses, excuses. They are every where. However, I prefer my exercise in doses of fun or relaxation - I like it disguised as something else. I am faithful to Yoga and dancing. You have heard about the yoga, but probably not the dancing. I have a personal desire to get into competitive ballroom dancing (tango, thank you very much).

I am forcing this upon my poor weight loss group. Once a week, during happy hour, I am clearing my floor and cranking up the sound system. Welcome to Ellie’s Very Small Dance Hall. And dance we shall. Thanks to DanceCrazy.com, we can use their dance videos to learn all the right steps. Started by SalsaCrazy.com, they have expanded their repertoire. A little disco (do the Hustle), a little swing (it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that…), and heck, maybe even a measure of ballet (just kidding, but it is a possibility). It is step by step, world class dance instruction.

Anyway, Rumba sounds more fun than running. Salsa sounds satisfying. Waltzing maybe just wild. It will be a great way to let off steam and a few pounds without noticing the pain.

So, I sit there listening to the group discuss weight woes. The tea pot has boiled the water hot and I have offered this small group of hypno-weight loss devotees each a cup of green tea (and it is not as if I am being uncivilized, there is skim milk, lemon, honey or even pure sugarcane to top it off). Yet, here I sit, drinking my green tea black, alone, while one drinks a diet soda, one has a large litter-like, disposable, fast food beverage, one has a loaded energy drink, and one, bless her heart (and praise be) has bottled water - with saccharine flavoring.

They are bonding over their common issue - the need to lose a few pounds and honestly, if they could just watch their diet a little more and say, well, exercise every so often they would all be in great shape. Yet, these are the stereotypes who seem to come to my weight loss hypnosis programs. As they continue their struggle, and a struggle it is, it beginning to sound like a commercial for Subway. My big but comes from having a nine to five that binds me to the chair and all those fries go straight to the butt. My love handles? I love the extra burger and side order of grease on my sandwich. And if I eat cottage cheese, won’t the cottage cheese on my thighs be worse, cottage cheese is a cheese after all.

I am not sure which at this point really would be more helpful to them - twenty minutes trancing out to my voice or just playing with the new Subway site. It has more rapport and commonalities with them than my skinny-legged self. As they continue to bond and share the horror stories (and when the hurricane hit, I couldn’t even get a candy bar at the convenience store), I actually pull up the site.

There is the familiar drive through. There is the hysterically appropriate “Burger Town” guy to take the order. As they talk, I click on the menu for an order of “badunkadunk but” and out comes the dripping sarcasm. The group, once chatty, now becomes very quiet. I click randomly on the menu for a dish of condescension. There is actually a moment when I feel guilty. The group looks appalled, faces war torn from fad diets and exercising binges.

“What are you doing?” one of them finally ask and I turn the laptop around and show them. They crowd around, and initially after a hair raising moment, smile, then laugh. One writes down the site URL. Ice broken. Luckily, the site also offers some good advice on healthy eating and exercise. Jared is their hero and I wonder briefly about the likeliness of him coming to hang out with us.

Now they are pumped, ready to go, all committing to this program. I wonder if I really even need to give self-esteem or decreasing craving suggestions during the hypnosis or perhaps sharing the site was enough. At first, I feel a little threatened. Why come to me when there is always a Subway down the street?

Then I realize what an interesting tool it makes. The session ends. They all say they feel so relaxed and inspired. They agree that after the next meeting, they will have lunch at Subway and then go power walking in the park.

Goodbye badunkadunk but.

Mmmmm. I am indulging in fresh whipped cream in my coffee (the kind you beat yourself with no sugar).

So, as I am adding the caloric intake to my drink, I think we will settle on weight loss hypnosis this Sunday.

Here’s the question:

What has been the most helpful and successful way (suggestions, duel modalities, etc.) to lose and keep off weight that you have found in your life and/or practice? Was it suggestions given during hypnosis, sheer will power, drinking more water, exercising more, lifestyle changes or something like sleeping better?

I will let you answer this one. You can talk about hypnosis successes and not so successful instances or anything related.

Good morning! Coffee, coffee, coffee. So, let’s see. I think today we will address the trivial news side of hypnosis. That is not really being fair, it is not trivial to the person involved, and its been a nice thumbs up for hypnosis.

I am talking about Lily Allen’s recent jaunt from a size 12 to size eight using hypnosis. Not familiar with the creative compositions of Ms. Allen? Well, I cannot leave you wondering…

According to the DailyRecord.co.uk in their article How Stars Turn To Hypnosis And Other Diet Techniques Lily paid £300 an hour for hypnotic suggestions to increase her desire to exercise. If she does not exercise, she feels bad.

So, kudos to Lily!

The article also features some other ways in which celebrities engage in weight loss. The purple diet…hmmm….