Wouldn’t it be great to swing a gold watch in front of your eyes and be memorized into weight loss? Just imagine, “You are getting very very sleepy…and very very skinny!” Before you laugh this off as just another wild goose chase in the race to lose weight and fit into those skinny jeans or the perfect black dress, consider the benefits of self hypnosis techniques when you want to lose weight.
What exactly is hypnosis?
For many people their first thought is a stage magician in a Vegas show that puts people into a trance and makes them dance like a chicken. This type of stage act has been very good at bringing hypnosis to a main stream audience, along with many misconceptions of its real power.
Did you know that hypnosis is also used in the medical community?
Psychotherapists have used it on their patients to overcome problems such as bed wetting, smoking, and negative behavior. It is also used in oral surgery allowing a dental patient to have a root canal with no pain medication. In the early days of surgery, before anesthetics, successful surgeries such as leg amputations experienced better recovery and survival rates with the use of hypnosis.
So as you can see, hypnosis is powerful when the benefits are property harnessed. So why couldn’t it be helpful for weight loss too?
Self hypnosis involves putting yourself in a state of mind where your conscious barriers are relaxed. In this state you are able to let your subconscious mind, the one that wants to you succeed in weight loss, come out to play.
Your conscious mind is telling you that you can’t; your subconscious mind knows that you can, you should, and that you deserve it! Who do you want to listen to?
So let’s talk about some techniques for self-hypnosis you can use for weight loss.
First, you need to have a few quiet uninterrupted minutes. Sit in a comfortable position and take a few deep, cleansing breaths. Relax. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Relax your eyes, your neck, your shoulders, your hands. Feel the tension release.
In this state of relaxation, you want to clear your mind. Many people get frustrated because random little thoughts seem to pop up when they are trying to relax. Thoughts about what the kids are doing, what you are going to eat for lunch, whether or not you remembered to turn off the coffee pot, or if those shoes will still be on sale. Don’t get frustrated, you’re not “failing”. Just let the thought pass by. Give it as much attention as you would a passing cloud.
When you feel you are relaxed it’s time to give yourself some positive self-talk. This is when you are going to give your brain a new picture about how your life should be and how your body should look. With this picture embedded in your subconscious mind, it will get to work. How?
Well, as you walk through your day and the reality or your life doesn’t match this picture you’ve given your subconscious mind, then there is kind of a little alarm that goes off. Your subconscious mind says “hey, climbing these stairs shouldn’t be so hard…I’m fit and healthy!” As a result your subconscious goes to work to make that (fit and healthy) your new reality.
Affirmations you give yourself in this trance like state are powerful. All affirmations should be spoken out loud in a positive form and repeated. For example:
- My body craves delicious, colorful vegetables
- I have boundless energy and enjoy working out
- Making good food choices is easy
Next, envision what you say with positive images. A picture speaks a thousand words, right? Give your brain a mental picture of you in perfect health, achieving your weight loss goals, and glowing from the inside out as a result of your improved diet.
End your self-hypnosis session with some powerful suggestions such as “When I wake up I will be full of energy, my mind will be clear, and I will have complete focus on what I want to accomplish today. I will crave the foods and exercises needed for healthy weight loss.”
After this, slowly take some deep breaths and bring yourself out of the trance. By bringing yourself into a relaxed state of mind, repeating positive affirmations and envisioning the life you want, you bring a very powerful tool to your weight loss goals. The mind is powerful. Allow it to work with you to achieve the life you want.
