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There are a plethora of weight loss management methods, but one that you might not know much about is hypnosis. There are many negative stereotypes surrounding hypnosis: that it is mind-control, a magic trance, or that is simply hodge-podge that doesn’t work. However, hypnosis is a genuine therapeutic practice that can be used to treat many mental health disorders and various addictions. Let’s take a brief look at what hypnosis is and then discuss how you can use it as weight loss management.
Hypnosis is a mental state of absorption and heightened focus that is brought on by hypnotic induction, which is a long series of questions and instructions given by a hypnotherapist. Hypnosis allows people to be more aware of their thoughts and feelings and gives them the ability to re-focus their habits and actions. It is not a form of sleep-walking or magic, contrary to the pervasive depictions in popular culture.
Hypnosis has become a popular method for weight loss management, particularly because it is so centered on re-shaping habits. Many hypnotists who help their patients lose weight use a two-fold process:
1. Understanding: The hypnotists first gets the patient to understand his or her behavior. For example, the hypnotist gets their patient to understand that they are overeating and the ways in which they are doing it. They also help patients identify the underlying reasons for their overeating: depression? Child abuse? There are many factors that play a role in excessive weight gain.
2. Suggestions: Once the hypnotists and patient have processed the habits and the underlying reasons for their formation, the hypnotist then uses hypnotic induction to suggest new habits. The hypnotist suggests that the patient, deeply ensconced in a state of heightened focus and awareness, change the way that they eat, replacing cakes with carrots and so forth. These suggestions become the basis for the foundation of new eating habits by the patient.
The steps above are just one way that hypnotists use to help their patients lose weight, but they provide a good example of how hypnotherapy identifies root causes and then re-shapes bad habits and behavior. Overeating is a bad habit, and unless you can get your habit under control, or create a new and healthier one, no amount of exercising and crash dieting can help you lose weight. Creating healthy eating habits in combination with exercise and implementing healthy eating practices is what leads you to health and fitness. Hypnotherapy can help you with weight loss management because it teaches you to take control of your actions and reinforces positive behaviors and habit creation.
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