Managing Weight Loss Through Hypnosis

In the many years I’ve assisted people using hypnosis, one of the many issues I’ve helped people address are those surrounding weight loss. Besides quitting smoking, this is the single most reoccurring reason people request hypnosis consulting in my office. I’ve discovered that balancing ones busy work schedule, and maintaining a healthy focus on taking care of one’s self is a huge part of the dynamic. In addition to that, the on/off component of dieting; the “ I was good today, but cheated some later in the week” mind set erodes ones self esteem, and in my observation goes a long way to sabotaging even the best laid out plans. One of the things I seek to do is help people reframe the way they think about it. Rather than the mean spirited harsh goal oriented approach, I help them to consider it more of a process. Goals, although a great thing to have in life, tend to be organized in the mind as and event. The problem with thinking of weight loss as an event is that once you arrive at a certain level of achievement there is a tendency to revert back to the old behaviors. As one begins to consider it as a process, rather than a destination at which one ultimately arrives, it becomes much easier to manage.

Allow me to give you an example that distinguishes between an event and a process, which by the way, regardless of the circumstances is a useful one to make in life. Although cleaning your house is an event, keeping your house clean and neat is a process. I use to start in the back and clean everything until I stepped out of the front door. ” Excellent, this house is clean.” Of course, then there is a huge opportunity to micro manage every possible action that could make it messy again. This is an example of the upset of confusing a process for and event. Sound familiar ? Several other simple examples of how a process confused for an event can create upset and procrastination is mowing the yard, paying taxes. I could continue to distinguish places in our thinking where the confusion of a process for an event or an event for a process can cause us stress and upset. By the way, since our subconscious mind is a creative system, in fact the very amazing creative system that is responsible for all of the invented stuff in the world of physical reality around you, the insistence that change should occur instantly as an event is a bit silly. Remember, that little piece of magic you are holding in your hands as you consider hypnosis was once smoke signals. There was a lot of process between the pony express, morse code, and telephones, to computers inside of telephones that we carry everywhere with us. Although there were many events along the way, computers didn’t ” happen,” they were created. They were created thru process over time.

Hypnosis, which I define as the application of suggestion in trance, is a system by which an individual can tap into this marvelous deductive mechanism. It can be profoundly helpful in moving us forward towards the changes we want to make in life. In part, my work with clients in my office is both as a coach to assist people to think more clearly, and assist the individual to effectively tap into the creative process of the subconscious mind.

TC