 Hypnosis is one of the most effective tools for weight loss. It is also one of the most misunderstood. It is a 'tool,' not a magic wand (although it can often work almost as well as one...)
If you think of how many times you have tried to lose weight, either through dieting, exercise, or both...what stopped you or made you go back to your old habits? I can tell you it probably wasn't the diet or the exercise. It was most likely your thinking.
I have been a hypnotherapist for 18 years and I have heard it all... "Hypnosis is dangerous," "You have to surrender your will to the hypnotist," "Who knows what they might make you do under hypnosis," etc... NONE of these are true. Hypnosis cannot make you do anything you do not want to do, it is not dangerous, and not only do you not have to surrender your will to the hypnotist, hypnosis doesn't even work with the will. Now that we got that out of the way...I will tell you how hypnosis DOES work for weight loss:
Your will is simply what you want. So, you want to lose weight. You are REALLY going to do it this time because you have "will power." So you start your weight loss plan with every intention on doing it right. You start out well enough, but soon you start to lose momentum. You start thinking things like "I am fat," "I am never able to stay on a diet," "What is the point? I never really do it anyway...I will probably always be fat." Things like that. Then you find yourself back to your old ways, gaining back all the weight you lost and more. What happened?
One thing that you need to know if you want to lose weight permanently is that "willpower" is not very effective. The reason it is not effective is that there is something even more powerful that could be working against it: your imagination.
Your imagination in closely linked with your subconscious mind, which contains information about all the times you have dieted, lost weight and gained it back, every time you gave up, all the times that you have said "I'm fat," etc... The general rule is that when the will opposes the imagination, the imagination wins, every time. Why? The imagination has more "ammunition" than your desire to lose weight.
Hypnosis works with the imagination, not the will. The general idea is to get the imagination to begin 'seeing' what you DO want (your will), rather than what you don't want. If you are constantly saying things like "I'm fat," and imagining yourself as being fat, you are sending a message to your subconscious that this is what you ARE and will actually begin creating exactly what you don't want.
Using hypnosis, you can teach the conscious mind to start 'seeing' and imagining yourself the way you want to be, which will send the message to the subconscious that this is how you are now, and it will begin to motivate you toward what you DO want, rather than what you don't want. This makes losing weight much easier and more effective.
In the hypnotic state, seeds of success are planted in the garden of the subconscious mind. The more you listen to the suggestion (like watering your garden)the more it grows into a natural behavior, making weight loss almost effortless.
I am in favor of either a live session with a hypnotist, or a personalized, or custom made cd over these generic programs. This is because hypnosis is much more effective when your cd's are made with your words and the way your phrase things. Suggestions are much more likely to be accepted when they are made specifically for you.
Remember: you can diet and lose weight. You can exercise and lose weight. But if you are not in the right state of mind, your imagination might sabotage your efforts. I suggest getting a few sessions with a hypnotherapist and lose weight for the last time.
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