The Transparent Hypnotist

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.

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.

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.

The other problem children? The one I think most of us deal with in one way or another is those wanting hypnosis for weight loss. Now, I have complete and utter empathy here (’cause I love food). There are so many factors with weight issues. Now these people, so far, have never really been hateful, though I hear a lot of self-loathing.

There seems to be two camps when it comes to weight loss hypnosis or just weight loss in general - how one measures the results. Some say to measure the waistline and such and others prefer scales. I tend to go with the one the client feels the most confident with, but add a lot of codicils (muscle causes weight gain, women can bloat up to five pounds or more a month at various times in their cycle and so on).

So, I have been looking at scales for the office. I am rather infatuated with a particular brand at scalesetc.com. These are Phoenix line bathroom scales from My Weight. They do have ones that talk, but I think that might be unnecessary for the office. Not only do they show body weight, but they decipher body fat percentage and water percentage. In my mind this takes care of the muscle and water retention issue nicely. Oh, and they have a lifetime warranty in the US (thought I might say the UK, didn’t you?).

A quick note about these, though. If have clients using the scale that have certain implanted medical devices such as a pacemaker or have one yourself, using a body fat scale is not recommended. The scale may cause interference with the device. So, I think a traditional non-digital scale is a good thing to have as well.

Another useful tool for clients who are dieting (weight loss, weight gain, diabetics, etc.) are the food scales. Not only do they give the actual weight of food, but by using an index and punching in the code numbers for various food items, the scale can tell you exactly how much fat, salt, calories, carbohydrates, cholesterol, and proteins are in that item. This can be a real weight saver in the diet planning stages…and if you have one at the office and are working with weight loss clients, you can always have a few things to demo to give them an idea about what they are ingesting (compare a candy bar to a few grapes).

Scalesetc.com also offers other digital scales, as well, including postage (hand for those of us with merchandise that gets shipped out) and pocket scales (you can measure that grape at a restaurant).