And now, I will describe for you my experience with hypnotherapy. I embarked on this journey partially for research (what I do for my characters) but I had hopes for improving myself as well. Here's what went down:
First of all, I went in more nervous than I’d expected. Suddenly, the idea of surrendering my will to a stranger seemed a little scary, but my therapist was so kind and gentle that I became comfortable very quickly.
We started off by talking about why I was there.
“I want to stop this addiction to sugar,” I told her and then explained that I’d always been seduced by cakes, cookies, and ice cream. All the calories I’d burned at the gym were usually right back in my body by nine o’clock that same night.
“We’ll tell your long-term memory that you don’t like synthetic sugar any more,” the therapist assured me. “That way, your short-term memory will stop taking over when you’re faced with a cupcake or a bag of M&Ms.”
Hopeful, I was led through a relaxation process until my body fell asleep while my mind stayed sharp. It was a very strange sensation.
My therapist, whose voice was as warm and soft and comfortable as a bubble bath, told me over and over that I no longer wanted sugary foods. When she told me to open my eyes, I thought the whole session had taken about 20 minutes. It’d been in that state for an hour!
That afternoon, I made a birthday cake for my father-in-law. I didn’t eat lick the beaters!
Am I cured? Not yet. It’ll take 4-6 weeks of listening to CDs every night and two more appointments to change a life-long food addiction, and I can feel my mind at war when I see some of my favorite temptations, but I’m going to do my part to take this therapy seriously.
Feel free to ask me any questions! I know lots of you were curious about hypnosis!
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11 comments:
Where do I sign up!!!
Who cares about sugar? Make me a high-quality writing machine!
Sue Ann,
I you can pretend your name is Jennifer, I'll mail you a copy of the CD! :)
If I were a hypnotherapist, I would be tempted to leave my mark on all my patients. "You will no longer like synthetic sugar and... also wink three times at men with Magnum P.I. mustaches." You know, give them what they came for, plus a lagniappe.
How very interesting! I was supposedly hypnotized at some show I attended in college. Looking back I really don't know if I was under hypnotic suggestion or just showing off for the crowd--but I did everything the hypnotist said without feeling the least bit of stress--and it included passionately kissing a stranger, who followed me around for the rest of the night. :)
Hmmm, Julia, did he follow you home, as well?
Well, I'd like to say that this led to an exciting and romantic encounter, but no--I went home with my friend and roommate, Wendy, and we ordered pizza. This has basically been the excitement level of my whole life. :)
Julia, How can you kiss a stranger with passion if you are an automaton?
I've read that the best hypnotic subjects are religious fundamentalists. I think it has something to do with the power of authority and extreme suggestibility.
Julia - the mind can be easily trained! I used the power of suggestion to train myself to dislike sweets when I began to bodybuild with the desire to compete. I simply used affirmations that supported my goals (i.e. I hate butter, butter is bad for my arteries... I love being in the gym at 4:30 a.m., etc).
Needless to say, I'm grateful now that I have other goals! It's been 12 years since my body building days and the benefits of that training still carry over to this day. While I'm not so strict, I still maintain my weight well and my mind is concious of every pat of butter I even consider using.
The downside...I could never buy a Paula Dean cookbook :-(
Diana James
This stuff absolutely works. Nothing like the power of the mind...
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