Self-hypnosis is an area of psychology that has been studied for many years, periodically surprising scientists with unexpected facts. How strong is our subconscious, how does it work, is it really possible to heal or achieve incredible heights with the help of self-hypnosis? So, you will learn from the article what the incredible power of self-hypnosis is capable of.
What is self-hypnosis
Self-hypnosis
- This is the psychological impact of an individual on his consciousness. Characterized by an uncritical perception of worldviews and attitudes. A person inspires himself with various attitudes, ideas, feelings and thoughts.
Self-hypnosis can be carried out using autogenic training, which involves independently pronouncing and reading certain phrases - whether this happens out loud or silently. Influences one's own personality.
We encounter self-hypnosis of varying intensity all the time. Example: suppressing anxiety before the unknown, trying to calm yourself before public speaking, and the like.
Self-hypnosis can be divided into active and passive, harmful influence and beneficial. There have been precedents in medical practice when self-hypnosis of harmful effects significantly worsened the patient’s condition, even to the point of paralysis. There are also many stories recorded when conscious self-hypnosis of beneficial effects provided significant assistance in treatment.
Autogenic training according to Schultz
The essence of this psychotechnics is active self-hypnosis and self-hypnosis in a state of relaxation or hypnotic trance. Schultz bases his technique on the ancient techniques of yoga, the sensations of people who have been in a deep trance and other similar methods.
For self-hypnosis, it is necessary to achieve a state similar to the state between reality and sleep. The recommended pose for relaxation is “coachman”. To achieve the necessary relaxation of the body, you need to remember something pleasant from the past. During self-hypnosis, you should be able to combine physical relaxation with psycho-emotional activity and be able to accompany verbal formulas with figurative representations.
To practice autogenic training, you need to completely abandon everyday worries and direct your attention to the subject of concentration. You need to train every day at least once; skipping even a one-day workout will negatively affect the result
What are the methods of self-hypnosis?
Let's take a closer look at several effective methods of self-hypnosis.
Visualization
Visualization is the mental experience and representation of certain imaginary events. Self-hypnosis is what helps us visualize. Why is the method so effective? It's simple: our brain does not distinguish real events from invented, imaginary ones.
How does it work? You begin to create mental pictures in your imagination - the brain believes that this is reality. Purpose of visualization: representation of desired events. Simply put, with the power of thought you transport yourself to the desired situation and stay in it. It is important to imagine everything as if from the inside, and not from the outside. Example: you imagine the car you want not somewhere in the distance - you imagine yourself sitting behind its wheel, looking at the street through its window, and so on. The car does not drive on its own, it is not driven by someone - it is you who drive it and ride in it. Visualize everything down to the smallest detail.
Affirmations
Affirmations are simple statements that you say out loud or mentally. What is their meaning? You simply construct a sentence in which you managed to achieve your goal. Example: “I make good money, I have enough money for everything”, “I bought a new apartment”, “Everyone loves me” and others. Start from your own goal.
How do affirmations work? The principle of substitution applies. The mind can only process one thought at a time. Create a sequence of moments with the same (desired) thought. What will happen in the end? Let's look at a simple example: in front of you is a glass of cloudy water. You bring it under the tap and, without pouring out the previous water, pour new water into it. Gradually, clean water will completely replace dirty water. The cloudy liquid is displaced and the clean liquid replaces it. Gradually, only clean water remains in the container. That is, no matter how the situation around you develops, surround yourself with positive attitudes that will eliminate the negative over time.
Only clean water will remain in the glass. It's the same with the mind. Whatever situation you are in now, start affirming positive thoughts to yourself. Over time, the positive will crowd out the negative.
Gratitude
The method can be called a type of affirmation, but it works even more noticeably. Why is this happening. It is believed that gratitude is one of the strongest emotions. By using affirmations, you intentionally evoke emotions, and with gratitude, they materialize on their own.
Let's compare two affirmations
:
- I bought a lot of new and beautiful things.
- Thank you for the new beautiful things.
The second one sounds more realistic. You may argue that this is self-deception, but there is no problem here, because we constantly engage in self-deception, which has a more destructive effect on us. Example: “They treat me badly, but I deserve it,” “I don’t deserve such a guy,” and so on. Why is such self-deception, with a negative connotation, allowed, but positive deception is not?
Impact
How does self-hypnosis work? It has helped against diseases more than once, so scientists decided to conduct a detailed analysis of its effect on the body, what happens on the physical level. By scanning the patients' brains, they discovered the following: in response to taking a placebo and being assured of the effectiveness of the therapy, neurons began to produce endorphins - natural narcotic substances that can relieve pain by blocking nerve endings. As a result, the person immediately felt much better.
It is a well-known fact: people use only a small part of the capabilities of their own brain, so it is not surprising that ordinary self-hypnosis can sometimes truly work wonders, saving patients even from a complex form of cancer. Of course, auto-training does not always help. For example, he is completely powerless in cases where people with mediocre intelligence have convinced themselves that they are geniuses. One way or another, there are hidden reserves in each of us, so we need to try in practice any method that promises to get rid of an obsessive illness.
How to get rid of an illness using self-hypnosis: basic rules
Self-hypnosis is a very effective technique for getting rid of certain diseases. His strength has been proven more than once. The method is effective in situations where medicine can no longer help. For example, V. Bekhterev believed that the healing effect of prayer is based on self-hypnosis.
Many scientists have come to the conclusion that the maximum effect of treatment occurs when the patient himself believes in future healing. Probably, many have heard about amazing cases when the power of faith turned out to be much stronger than medications. How to help yourself heal using self-hypnosis.
Give yourself the following guidelines.
My body can heal on its own
The direction of our thoughts has a decisive effect on the functioning and condition of our body, the cells of which are constantly renewed - some daily, and some once every few months. That is, in just a few months you will have a new physical body - all the cells will be renewed. If you are overcome by a certain illness, try to focus on it, talk to it, imagining how your cells are constantly renewed. Imagine that you are already living in a practically renewed body.
I'm on the road to recovery
It is very important to create positive attitudes. Think about what attitudes have become an obstacle to getting rid of the disease. Perhaps you are convinced that the cause of your troubles is poor heredity? Or maybe you think that living in a city with a bad environment, you can never become a healthy person? Or do you repeat to yourself that the years are taking their toll? It is possible that you live with negative attitudes, convincing yourself that health is not for you. The capabilities of the body have no limits, and the beliefs we create are gradually translated into reality. Example: You imagine yourself getting younger, not older. Try it and see the result. There will be a release from long-standing habits and established patterns. Prove the power of thought, surprise yourself.
I listen to my body
Illnesses indicate that thoughts harm the body. It is trying to convey that attitudes need to be changed. Are you sick? This means that there are problems with the way of thinking, the perception of reality. Listen to the body's call, don't ignore it. Analyze what it says about your needs. Example: you want to have a snack. Think about it: are you really hungry, will your food choice benefit your body or harm it? Approach every action consciously. Love yourself, your body - the response will come immediately.
The autotraining method is effective in the treatment of patients suffering from mental disorders and diseases of the genitourinary system. Helps overcome harmful addictions and excess weight.
Self-hypnosis demonstrates noticeable results in disease prevention. It has a positive effect on the overall strengthening of the body and improving mood. Psychotechnics are recommended for apathetic states, emotional disorders, and serious shocks.
Example: breakup. The emotional pain even from the breakup of a long-term relationship lasts no more than a few hours. Subsequently, we “feed” our suffering with negative self-hypnosis.
conclusions
- Self-hypnosis is an effective psychological method for improving physical and mental health, working on aspects of your personality (increasing self-esteem, getting rid of shortcomings).
- But self-hypnosis can work both for good and for harm: we are talking about the daily use of incorrect negative attitudes (“I’m a loser,” “I won’t succeed,” etc.). Therefore, it is important to constantly monitor what mental beliefs you give yourself.
- There are different self-hypnosis techniques (Emile Coue's method, self-hypnosis, affirmations, meditation and others). A specialist will help you choose the most suitable one.
Features of the Emile Coue method
The technique of the French pharmacist Coue has become widespread among other self-hypnosis techniques. How did this happen? Selling medicines and noticing the positive results from their use, he believed that the reason for healing was the “power of imagination” of patients.
The pharmacist learned the technique of hypnosis and opened a clinic in Nancy, where he treated people using his own method. Periodically, he gave lectures about them in France and England and published a book.
According to Coue, even suggestible people can remain indifferent to suggestion if they resist and do not transform it into self-suggestion. Therefore, his thesis says: there is no suggestion - there is self-suggestion.
Not being a doctor, the Frenchman called his clients students, inviting them to make full use of the “innate power of nature” - self-hypnosis. Coue convinced the client of the incredible power of thought. When he succeeded in this, the student received a new task: close his eyes, not think about extraneous phenomena, but concentrate on the diseased organ. Example: The client experiences intermittent abdominal discomfort. Coue recommended that he give himself the following instructions: “Today I will have a restful sleep without disturbing dreams, in the morning I will have good stool, my appetite will come, the pain will subside.” The patient also had to convince himself that every day his condition would improve until it was completely normal.
The Frenchman insisted that this should be instilled mechanically, without much thought. For the best effect, it was suggested to sort through the knots of string or talk to each unhealthy organ separately.
Relaxation plays a key role in the process of self-hypnosis. The pharmacist stated that our beliefs were formed without any serious effort. This means that the formation of new attitudes should proceed in the same way. Excessive efforts often bring undesirable results.
It is noteworthy that the Frenchman’s method is still quite popular - it is successfully used in modern psychotherapy. Many respected representatives of the scientific world summarize that Coue became the forerunner of behavioral psychotherapy. The pharmacist proposed a method of controlling thoughts, focusing on the power of positive thinking. Also interesting is the fact that despite this, many contemporaries were skeptical of Coue's experiments - some even called him a swindler.
How suggestion is carried out: psychological mechanism and features
Mental contagion, or, to put it more scientifically, induced psychoses, has been known since time immemorial.
There are all sorts of them - from the ecstasy of St. Vitus’s dance to the vulgar hiccups, which suddenly “sickened” the whole village. During the First World War, movements were observed among the troops - motor echoes, repetition of movements, grimaces - this is also a form of mental epidemic. Psychiatrists have described in detail how such suggestion is carried out: one person, excited by an idea, seems to infect those around him with it, inspires it - and they commit actions dictated by this idea. Similar epidemics spread among mentally healthy people, but when isolated from the inducer, people quickly recover from this psychosis. They develop a critical perception of what happened. Happiness is when the consequences of this “zombification” are reversible.
An inductor is a person who spreads a mental epidemic around himself, as a rule, enjoys authority in his environment, is overly active, and has the ability to persuade. But, as practice shows, the psychological characteristics of suggestion are that such a person does not always have to have a particularly high intellectual level. Old authors of monographs on psychiatry described many cases in which the most primitive, often mentally ill, person induced much more developed people. For example, maids in rich houses, often mentally ill, instilled in their mistresses an obviously delusional idea, and they were easily infected by it.
Research on suggestion as a method of psychological influence shows: the content of an “infectious” idea, its insignificance or, conversely, greatness, its falsity or justice are not of decisive importance. This could be the complex psychological motives of demonology and the Inquisition of the Middle Ages or the widespread infection of epilepsy. Today presents us with an assortment of mental epidemics - the “White Brotherhood” and other totalitarian sects. Rocking in front of the TV, from which numerous “healers” and psychics broadcast, an explosive mixture of ideas of resurrection and transmigration of souls, the existence of otherworldly forces, and so on.
And you should not think that you can avoid this mental contagion, because, as the classics of psychiatry argued, there is no hysteria as a disease, but only hysterical reactions, which in themselves are not painful - every person is more or less prone to these hysterical reactions.
Man as a social being is suggestible in principle, and his subordination to a currently existing social idea or an idea fashionable in his microsociety is a natural thing. And, of course, not every induced psychosis ends in crime. But, nevertheless, the specialists of the Center named after. V.P. Serbsky argue: never before has people’s tendency towards mental contagion turned into such bloody, cruel crimes as they have recently.
The power of self-hypnosis: examples from life
There are many examples from life that demonstrate the power of self-hypnosis. Initially, we will consider a theoretical example, and then we will talk about real facts discussed by many historians.
How the power of thought could hypothetically operate. A simple example that has happened to almost everyone. For example, you are walking down the street and see a dog on the side of the road. She is quite impressive in size and looks at you carefully. It’s a rare person who will pass by without reacting internally to this circumstance. At first we are confused, then we continue on our way, convincing ourselves: “I’m not afraid of her, I’ll calmly pass by, and she won’t touch me. I don’t care about her, and she doesn’t care about me.” We pronounce approximately these phrases mentally. This is self-hypnosis. If we don’t connect it, but are really afraid of the dog, then we’ll hardly be able to take even one step. Self-hypnosis pushes us.
Remembering examples of self-hypnosis, many psychologists periodically talk about the actor I.N. Pevtsov. He had an unenviable feature for an artist: a stutter. However, when going on stage, Pevtsov seemed to forget about his speech impediment - it simply disappeared. Illarion Nikolaevich inspired himself, going on stage, that he was a different person - a character. Since in the story the hero didn’t stutter, Pevtsov didn’t do it either - it’s as simple as that! .
Many years ago, the French doctor Motier decided on an interesting experiment, telling patients that a medicine would soon be delivered from Germany that would quickly cure tuberculosis. At that time, the disease was not treated. The doctor's words had an amazing effect on the patients - they did not allow the idea that the doctor was making things up. The power of suggestion turned out to be incredible: many patients felt relief after taking the “medicine”, and others were even healed. The placebo effect in action! In reality, Motier offered ordinary water to the sick. Subsequently, the doctor’s experience was repeated by other specialists, and systematically these experiments demonstrated impressive results. Many scientists still argue about this feature, but the fact remains that self-hypnosis works in different areas of life.
The Placebo Secret
Considering all of the above, doctors began to actively use suggestion. They came up with a placebo - a so-called dummy (solution, injection or tablet) that does not contain drugs. They were given to patients, assuring them that with the help of a miracle cure they would definitely be able to overcome their illness. Taking a placebo, people actually got better - this was the effect that self-hypnosis had on recovery. The American anesthesiologist Henry Ward Beecher first used a pacifier in 1955. He fed simple sugar pills to patients, telling them they were powerful painkillers. And indeed, in a third of cases, the pain went away and people felt better.
Or, as an example, we can cite the practice of the Italian doctor Fabrizio Benedetti. He treated for Parkinson's disease, but instead of the usual medicine he gave the patients a solution of table salt. The effect was similar: most people experienced positive dynamics. It is clear that before the start of such an experiment, doctors weighed the pros and cons and held consultations so as not to harm the health of the subjects.
Where do they teach?
Self-hypnosis cures all diseases... One can argue with this statement: sometimes the situation is critical and nothing can save the patient. But in most cases, self-hypnosis still brings positive results. The main thing is to master its technique, the main components of which are will and patience. In order to competently conduct therapy sessions, it is better to undergo training from a specialist: basic methods are taught in rehabilitation centers, oncology clinics, and specialized hospitals. These institutions employ qualified psychologists who will help you master the basics of self-hypnosis and purposefully use them at home.
The course for a young fighter lasts about three weeks. Upon completion, you can independently put into practice all the types of self-hypnosis described above. It will be good if your loved ones, relatives and friends support you in this simple game and constantly emphasize that you will definitely be able to get rid of this ill-fated disease.
