The office was as big as your spare bedroom, and while walking through the door the eyes fall squarely upon a La-Z-Boy that someone's uncle has rocked in for several years. It was easy to settle into the chair and into ice-breaking conversation with Rick. Rick's hypnotherapy is a second income but a first passion, which is good since the pricey services (to the tune of $85-$140 per session) are generally not covered by insurance and probably keep the customers to a trickle.
Since my understanding of hypnosis involved dangling watches, he taught me quite a bit about the reality:
1. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. Hypnotherapists simply teach technique.
2. There are six levels of hypnosis. I reached level 2 during a 22-minute session. Experienced practitioners can reach level 6 almost instantly.
3. We remember every experience of our lives; some are just more often accessed via the neural pathways in our brains than others. Hypnosis has the capability to retrieve any of it.
He surveyed me about my family, medical history, work, fears and goals. Although my stated goal was positive thinking, he suggested that we shoot for something more specific. He talked about waking up with purpose in the morning, visualizing the successes of the day, then spending a few moments after work doing the same. While I'm ahead of the average person in the setting of goals, this did lead to an area of improvement I'd not thought of: sleep habits.
Like my old man, my sleep schedule is as predictable as the lottery. Each day might include an evening nap for an hour or three; during some weeks I might conk out at 10:00, other nights at 1:00. When my head hits the pillow I might shut down instantly, or wade mentally from one topic to another for hours. Rick talked about being proactive, and filling the mind with dreams of goals coming true. Not a bad remedy!
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