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Hypnotherapy can help to prevent, alleviate and in some cases completely improve physical illnesses.
In order to understand this more fully it is beneficial to have knowledge on how the mind and body are connected.
EVOLUTION OF MAN
Early man's basic instinct was to survive, so when he was confronted with danger the autonomic nervous system went into fight or flight mode. During this time the muscles tensed, adrenaline was released and the digestive system ground to a halt. This ensured that the body could respond quickly and early man quickly recovered when the danger had passed. The autonomic nervous system controls everything that is not under voluntary control e.g. the digestive system, muscles, the respiratory system and blood pressure.
As time progressed and the brain became more developed, emotions affected the response to dangerous situations. Social and religious expectations added another dimension and censorship - guilt.
Think about when you ask your manager for a pay rise, you may feel inwardly tense, stressed, anxious but due to social and cultural conditioning it would seem inappropriate to run away. So now when faced with this perceived stressful situation you act in a way that is not instinctive. Perhaps the manager refuses your request and you brood about this for a few weeks and get angry. During this exchange with your manager and by reliving the problem in your mind your biochemistry changes e.g. adrenaline is being released, just like early man. If there is no healthy release and these emotions are kept alive for prolonged periods and other problems compound the stress, then physical illness may occur.
There are two parts to the Autonomic Nervous System:
Sympathetic Nervous System - fight or flight (accelerator)
Parasympathetic Nervous System - slows the body down and relaxes (brake)
The subconscious mind is striving for balance, to bring the body back to its normal state (homeostasis).
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Hypnotherapy can help your body return to homeostasis in a number of ways:
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Relax your mind and body
You can have a positive impact on the health of your body by learning self-hypnosis. It has been scientifically proven that positive visualisation can enhance your health. Hypnotherapy is even more powerful than visualisation, so once you have mastered the techniques you can prevent and alleviate physical illness.
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Tune your immune system
A good immune system is vital for keeping you healthy and well and is your body's defence system. When you are stressed your immune system becomes compromised and that is why you are more prone to colds and other illnesses. Being relaxed will enhance your immune system and during hypnotherapy your immune system can be directly influenced by using imagery/direct suggestion to ensure self-healing takes place on all levels within the body.
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Boost 'feel good' chemicals
During hypnosis it is possible to enter a phase of 'ultra' relaxation and release those 'feel good' chemicals such as endorphins. This is extremely beneficial because it can help elevate your mood, reduce pain and ensure your immune system works at it's optimum level.
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Get a good nights sleep
Hypnosis can help you get that much needed sleep that you need.
During sleep, cells actually regenerate, this means that your body needs a good 8 hours of sleep to repair and heal at the cellular level.
The less sleep we get the less cells become repaired. This can lead to an increased chance of illness.
During hypnosis your mind and body will learn how to deeply relax and activate the
parasympathetic nervous system - that slows the body down and relaxes.
You can train your mind to take you into a wonderfully restful sleep, therefore keeping your mind and body healthy.
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Release from psychosomatic illnesses
A common misconception with psychosomatic illness is that it is imaginary or 'all in the mind'. Psychosomatic simply means that the body and mind are inseparable. If you have a physical illness that cannot be explained then an emotional or psychological state may have created the illness. In some cases of irritable bowel syndrome, there is no physical reason for the illness. There is nothing imaginary about the symptoms of IBS but in some cases it is the mind that has triggered a host of biochemical responses, through worry and stress and activated the sympathetic nervous system - fight or flight response.
Hypnosis works with the subconscious part of your mind that is responsible for all the automatic functions in your body, so any psychosomatic illness can be alleviated and in some cases good health is restored.
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In simple terms, as the brain became more sophisticated and modern man has learnt to over-ride his instincts and to repress emotions such as anger and fear, thereby creating an imbalance. When this happens all the biochemical responses are still continuing in the body and can cause physical health problems such as high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, skin conditions and some research suggests even some forms of cancer.
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There has been some research that suggests that cells within the body are able to retain memories connected to trauma e.g. after a car accident. These can be called a number of things 'body memories' or 'tissue memories'.
When an injury occurs, alongside a strong emotion then that part of the body may become sensitised. This may be triggered by future emotional feelings or situations, for example a 'pain in the neck' may occur every time you feel fear, due to the feelings experienced during the car accident.
Tissue memories can create pain syndromes and physical illness long after the trauma has passed. This suggests that at some level you are re-living the trauma after the event and that memories are held in the cells and tissues.
Traumas can be deeply imprinted on a physiological level and can manifest themselves as a physical pain or a physical illness, ask any war veteran who suffers flashbacks after being injured in battle or witnessing a traumatic incident.
The theory about tissue memories proves easier to believe when you consider that the immune system has a 'memory' i.e. it remembers when it has been invaded by a virus, producing antibodies to get rid of the virus. If the body comes into contact with the same virus again it retains a 'memory' of the invader so that defences can be rallied instantly.
There have even been cases when organs have been transplanted into a patient and they have experienced some of the donor's memories.
Also, consider 'phantom limb'. Some people who have lost a limb can still experience pain in that area, long after the limb has been amputated. The pain is very real as the mind retains a memory of pain in that area.
We are only just beginning to understand the intelligence that is held within the mind/body communication system and how each and every thought impacts on this.
Hypnotherapy can help in a variety of ways to activate the physical and emotional healing resources to restore the mind/body to balance.
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