Clinical Hypnotherapy as Part of Migraine Treatment

0:00 um so our agenda I’m going to explain a
0:01 little bit about um clinical
0:04 hypnotherapy we’re going to talk about
0:06 what it is really briefly how it works
0:09 um I am by no means an expert this is
0:12 something that’s actually fairly new to
0:13 me um I took a training a couple of
0:16 trainings on it um this past spring and
0:20 summer so I’ve been doing it short of a
0:22 year now um and I found that it can
0:25 greatly improve the quality of life for
0:27 a lot of the people that I’ve been
0:30 working with and I’ve also used it on
0:32 myself um but with chronic illness and
0:35 chronic pain that’s really difficult to
0:37 treat I found it particularly helpful um
0:41 as kind of a complimentary therapy and
0:44 so that’s when I’m I’m hoping we can we
0:46 can talk about tonight and I’m I’m
0:49 hoping that we can approach this as kind
0:51 of an experiment because I know this is
0:53 a little you know woo woo for a lot of
0:56 people a lot of people are very you know
1:00 they don’t know what to make of
1:02 practices like this so I’m just inviting
1:04 you to be experimental and very
1:08 open-minded
1:10 um and to kind of feel this out a little
1:12 bit with me
1:16 tonight um so you all know a little bit
1:19 about me they did a a bit of an
1:22 introduction um these are my two
1:26 favorite dogs Gordon and Ruby
1:30 um I’m also an animal lover in addition
1:33 to all of the work stuff that I’m doing
1:35 but yeah I’m I’m working on my
1:37 dissertation right now that talks about
1:40 women’s experiences with migraine care
1:43 um I’m also a migraine patient myself
1:46 I’ve had chronic vestibular migraine um
1:48 for a long time now close to 20 years um
1:53 and so I myself have been a patient in
1:55 various settings and have had to try a
1:57 lot of different treatments and
1:59 strategies used to learn how to manage
2:01 my symptoms over the years um so I’m not
2:04 just speaking to you as someone who’s
2:06 studying this or looking at it from the
2:08 outside but I’m also talking to you as
2:10 someone who’s who’s been there
2:13 thems so what is clinical
2:16 hypnotherapy
2:18 um people certainly have
2:21 images and thoughts that come up for
2:23 them um when they hear the word
2:25 hypnotherapy right so some people start
2:29 to worry about is this something that
2:32 requires someone to have control over my
2:35 mind am my handing over control over my
2:38 mind when I’m doing hypnotherapy with
2:40 someone and and some people um
2:43 automatically think about stage
2:45 hypnosis um some of you maybe have been
2:48 to a a stage show before where they’ve
2:50 done hypnosis and you might wonder if
2:53 the person hypnotizing you is going to
2:55 ask you to do something silly like
2:57 like a chicken um so these are some of
3:00 the stereotypical thoughts and images we
3:03 have come up for us when we’re thinking
3:04 about what is
3:06 hypnotherapy um but clinical hypnosis is
3:09 nothing like
3:11 that
3:13 um so I have here a couple of
3:15 definitions these are just basic
3:18 definitions that describe um what we’re
3:21 talking about today as we talk about
3:23 hypnosis and very simply it’s really a
3:26 technique used to help us enter a St of
3:30 Trance where we can tap into our
3:33 subconscious mind and we do that for
3:36 various
3:39 reasons so considering a lot of our
3:42 behavior and habits are rooted in our
3:44 subconscious mind or at least that’s how
3:48 hypnotherapy um that’s that’s kind of
3:50 the foundation that they build
3:52 hypnotherapy on this technique is really
3:54 valuable um a few years ago I did a talk
3:58 for Mig greine Canada
4:00 um and also a public talk in Hamilton
4:02 about migraine and mental health and I
4:04 discussed classical conditioning um and
4:07 how traumatic
4:08 experiences um like having repeated
4:11 migraine attacks in public spaces for
4:13 example might cause someone to develop
4:16 um a traumatic response right they might
4:19 have agoraphobia afterwards or they
4:21 might develop OCD type behaviors and
4:23 response to that trauma and over time
4:26 these behaviors and thoughts and how we
4:29 see
4:30 ourselves
4:32 um in our own story so to speak become
4:35 more ingrained and habitual so
4:38 hypnotherapy might be a way to shift our
4:42 perspective a bit so that we can alter
4:45 those states of being and it can also
4:47 impact how we think about and perceive
4:49 pain or other disabling symptoms that
4:52 are part of the migraine attack for many
4:55 people um because pain really does start
4:58 in the brain
5:00 and our perception of events and things
5:02 that are happening to us can amplify our
5:05 Sensations or can calm them
5:10 down so we use a lot of um or we use
5:14 hypnotic techniques to interrupt
5:16 patterns of behavior that we believe
5:19 clients um we believe that clients have
5:21 all the resources and the answers that
5:25 they need inside of them um to figure
5:28 their way through a proc problem right
5:30 so hypnosis just unlocks the door to
5:32 those answers and resources that’s all
5:35 it does and at the end of the day we’re
5:37 talking about
5:38 hypnosis I’m going to use this word
5:41 Placebo because this is a type of
5:43 placebo medicine um and I don’t use that
5:46 word in a negative way um I’m actually
5:49 using it in a really positive way I
5:51 think Placebo is is some of the best
5:54 medicine we have um we’re really tapping
5:58 into the side a that we can harness the
6:01 power of the mind to manage something
6:05 that’s happening with inside us that’s
6:08 really what it’s
6:10 about and that can be a really powerful
6:13 thing so our mind can really be split
6:18 into two categories right so we have
6:20 this thinking mind which is our critical
6:23 Consciousness and then we have the
6:25 subconscious part of our mind right and
6:29 the thinking mind is really focused we
6:31 use it for all kinds of things like
6:33 analysis or decision making and new
6:36 learning um working through memories
6:38 that are brought to the surface or
6:40 short-term memory and for those of us
6:42 who tend to be anxious um you know this
6:46 is the part of the brain that doesn’t
6:47 like to turn off this is the part of the
6:50 brain that keeps you up until 3:00 a.m.
6:52 you know Googling random things on your
6:55 phone
6:57 um yeah so that that is the critical
7:00 Consciousness but the subconscious mind
7:03 is responsible for a lot of things that
7:06 we might not be aware of right so often
7:10 when I’m working with clients I like to
7:12 ask them about um and explore things
7:14 like core beliefs and values which is
7:17 really the frame framework that lays the
7:20 foundation for many of our behaviors and
7:23 thoughts um so we really take that
7:26 framework for granted and also do a lot
7:29 of psychodynamic work which is a fancy
7:32 way of saying I work with clients around
7:34 trying to figure out how our problems
7:36 started in the first place um because
7:38 usually issues like anxiety or
7:40 depression or relationship challenges
7:43 are rooted in very early experiences
7:45 that we kind of
7:47 suppress we don’t really think about
7:51 them consciously but those experiences
7:54 are stored in our mind and our body and
7:56 they influence many aspects of our life
7:58 right that’s just a part of the process
8:03 so when we use hypnosis to tap into that
8:06 space we can work to shift some of those
8:09 core beliefs and feelings in ways that
8:12 are motivating or that might support um
8:16 other change processes that we’re
8:18 engaging in consciously so hypnotherapy
8:22 might be really good when paired with
8:25 things like cognitive behavioral therapy
8:27 or exposure therapy um when you’re
8:30 trying to work through particular
8:35 issues um so I put this in here because
8:38 I think it’s really important to reflect
8:40 on before we’re going into
8:43 hypnotherapy um because the main
8:45 takeaway that I want you to have tonight
8:48 is thoughts don’t need to control your
8:50 life and I know that’s really difficult
8:53 sometimes for us to to wrap our minds
8:55 around and I I think you know the next
8:58 webinar where uh Kelly’s talking about
9:00 brain retraining I think that’s
9:02 something she’s going to talk about
9:03 quite a bit as well um because we
9:05 develop a lot of thoughts around our
9:07 pain or concerning our pain and our
9:10 illness over the years and I think the
9:13 more chronic or intrusive symptoms are
9:16 the more intrusive and debilitating your
9:19 thoughts or
9:20 perceptions of what you’re going through
9:24 can be um and by all means I don’t want
9:27 to diminish anyone’s lived EXP
9:29 experience or perception of disability
9:31 because obviously that’s very real um
9:34 but I I do want you to reflect
9:37 on where and
9:39 when your
9:42 disability is
9:44 truly
9:46 disabling and when and where could your
9:49 perception be adding to that disability
9:52 because I think those are very different
9:55 things okay and I know from my own
9:57 experience um just in my own life but
10:00 also working with people in a helping
10:02 capacity for the past 20 years thoughts
10:05 can keep us really stuck and perceptions
10:09 of what is happening with us can keep us
10:12 really really stuck and it can limit us
10:14 it can limit what we do in the actions
10:16 that we take and there are many factors
10:18 that affect our ability to be resilient
10:21 and function or not function um but
10:25 sometimes we end up doing that to
10:27 ourself by
10:30 um limiting oursel with our with our own
10:33 beliefs or or thoughts about our own
10:36 story so I just I want you thinking
10:38 about that and again I know that can be
10:40 really difficult because there is a
10:42 balance right if you’re really dizzy and
10:45 have vertigo and and really intense pain
10:48 I mean that’s going to take you out at
10:51 times but I’m talking about situations
10:55 where I know for myself I have come up
10:59 with these these narratives that if I do
11:02 certain activities I’m going to trigger
11:04 my
11:05 migraine and it’s held me back and the
11:09 reality is when I’ve pushed myself to do
11:11 those things and move past the fear I
11:14 don’t know what trigger a migraine
11:16 attack so I had to really think about am
11:18 I holding myself back because I’m
11:21 protecting myself or maybe am I holding
11:26 myself back from certain things
11:28 unnecessarily
11:30 that gives you maybe a bit of an example
11:33 of what I’m talking
11:36 about um so as we’re moving into the
11:39 process of
11:40 hypnotherapy all of my work with clients
11:43 is collaborative no matter what but
11:45 hypnosis should be collaborative so if
11:47 you’re doing hypnosis with someone if
11:49 this is something that you decide to
11:50 explore maybe you’ve been to a
11:52 practitioner before um you should be
11:55 doing this work with someone
11:57 collaboratively they should be asking
11:58 you about um input what is it that you
12:02 actually want to work on they should be
12:04 coming up with a plan of action with you
12:08 um and if they’re not wanting to do that
12:10 that would be a red flag for me I tend
12:12 to use scripts for hypnosis that are
12:15 tried and true scripts um and that’s
12:18 because I’m new to this practice um
12:21 practitioners that are further and long
12:24 they will often write their own scripts
12:27 based on what the client is wanting to
12:31 work on um that’s part of the technique
12:34 that people learn over times and there’s
12:36 different components to the actual
12:39 hypnosis process right so interventions
12:43 can vary tonight we’re going to do a
12:46 very simple one
12:49 um that’s geared towards managing the
12:52 symptom of headache but for some people
12:56 that might be a we in for other people
12:58 other interventions might be more
13:00 appropriate maybe they want to focus on
13:02 relaxation or relieving tension maybe
13:05 they want to focus on relieving other
13:08 symptoms of migraine such as nausea or
13:11 vertigo um so this can be a very
13:13 individualized
13:16 process hypnosis shouldn’t be done um in
13:21 certain circumstances I just wanted to
13:23 throw this in hopefully no one is going
13:25 through any of these things tonight I
13:27 would hope not but if you are please
13:29 seek out support but I would never do
13:32 hypnosis with someone who is acutely
13:34 suicidal or who’s under the influence of
13:36 drugs or alcohol or who is experiencing
13:40 psychosis some things to keep in mind as
13:43 we’re going through this um as we’re
13:46 winding up to our
13:48 demonstration so the first thing is
13:50 hypnosis is this very natural state and
13:54 I I learned this this past year that
13:56 it’s actually something our brain does
13:58 every 90 minutes or so it’s very very
14:02 natural you can think about experiences
14:05 where maybe you’ve been driving quite a
14:07 while in the car and you go into highway
14:10 hypnosis that’s because that’s a natural
14:13 part of our um our brain cycling you
14:17 know there are times when you might
14:20 experience a a moment of disassociation
14:23 maybe you’re concentrating on something
14:25 really hard and all of a sudden you kind
14:26 of have a blip and you tune out for a
14:28 minute that again would be a natural um
14:32 Rhythm that your brain is in where every
14:34 90 minutes you you do go into a hypnotic
14:38 State okay um I also want you to keep in
14:42 mind as we’re going through this that if
14:44 we go through the demonstration tonight
14:47 and you’re restless and you’re really
14:49 struggling with it I just want you to
14:51 know it takes time to get good at
14:54 something like this um so if you were to
14:58 start practicing ing meditation or
15:01 hypnotherapy with someone you would
15:05 practice it um on a regular basis you
15:10 would work towards strengthening your
15:12 brain’s ability to do this type of work
15:15 it’s like working a muscle out at a gym
15:18 it’s something that takes time so when
15:21 I’m working with a client for example
15:23 and we talk about doing this to to
15:25 address a particular issue I might start
15:28 with suggest in hey um for the next
15:32 couple of weeks I’m going to record or
15:35 send you a a meditation and I want you
15:38 to do this short five minute meditation
15:40 once a day and just see how that goes
15:43 for you and then we’ll review that and
15:45 see where they’re at and if they’re
15:48 mastering that ability to do that
15:51 meditation then we would move on from
15:57 there so now that have a idea of what
15:59 hypnosis does emotionally potentially
16:02 and cognitively um let’s talk about the
16:05 body for a minute we mindfully
16:08 activating your parasympathetic nervous
16:10 system and so this is the part of the
16:12 nervous system that relaxes us right
16:15 call it rust and digest part of the
16:17 nervous
16:19 system and through hypnosis what we’re
16:22 really doing is we’re tapping into
16:23 different frin wave States so the first
16:27 frin wave state beta is what you’re
16:30 probably all in right now it’s the alert
16:33 thinking um part of the brain you’re
16:36 concentrating on something um but as we
16:39 move into the alpha brain waves those
16:44 are the brain WS that are more
16:45 associated with things like
16:48 relaxation and even light hypnosis so
16:51 the type of light hypnosis that might
16:53 come up for people when they’re doing a
16:57 meditation and it’s Poss possible um
17:00 arguably that anyone can achieve this
17:02 state right we all go into this state
17:05 but our goal for hypnosis is to try to
17:08 move into what is called the Theta brain
17:10 wave state and this is where deep
17:13 hypnosis can take place um so I try
17:17 explain to my clients to think about
17:19 that comfy Place between being awake and
17:23 being
17:24 asleep and for me what comes up is when
17:28 I’m lying in bed at night and I I often
17:31 fall asleep with the TV on and I can get
17:36 to this place where I can still hear the
17:38 TV but it sounds like it’s way off in
17:41 the distance and I don’t really know
17:43 what they’re saying anymore on the TV I
17:45 just I’m aware that it’s there but I’m a
17:48 bit
17:49 disassociated um so that is the place
17:52 that we really want you to try to get to
17:55 when we’re doing hypnotic work
17:59 hypnosis also activates our brain’s
18:01 limic
18:02 system um that becomes more active and
18:05 it’s responsible for emotion and memory
18:08 motivation and behavior and in the
18:11 prefrontal cortex um when the system is
18:14 activated during hypnosis you might be
18:16 able to learn how to change automatic
18:18 responses to situations right because
18:20 that’s what we’re trying to get to your
18:23 habitual um automatic reactions to
18:26 things
18:31 so if you’re thinking about what is the
18:33 process and what are we actually going
18:35 to do
18:36 tonight um this is basically what we’re
18:41 going to go through we’re going to move
18:43 through a hypnosis process I’m going to
18:45 do a bit of a
18:47 demonstration um hopefully all of you
18:50 are somewhere comfortable and quiet
18:53 maybe at home maybe sitting in a comfy
18:56 chair or in bed and we’re going to move
18:58 through this process normally I would
19:01 build rapport with the person that I’m
19:04 doing the hypnosis with um obviously in
19:07 the situation it’s a little bit
19:09 different and I can’t really do that um
19:12 but hopefully you’ve gotten to know me a
19:13 little bit maybe some of you have heard
19:15 me speak or or know
19:17 me um you know from the research or
19:21 other things that I’ve done so hopefully
19:22 you feel comfortable um doing this with
19:24 me
19:25 tonight um but the first thing we’re
19:28 going to do is we’re going to go into
19:29 something called an induction and so the
19:33 induction is what we do to start to slow
19:36 down those brain wave states that I just
19:39 talked about it’s technique there’s a
19:42 lot of different ways of doing
19:45 inductions um I’m going to do a
19:47 lengthier induction tonight uh the whole
19:50 thing is going to last about 20 minutes
19:52 the whole hypnosis
19:54 session and the induction technique that
19:57 I’m going to use is going to have have
19:59 you countdown in an elevator um I just
20:02 like to tell people that ahead of time
20:04 in case people have some phobias or
20:06 fears around
20:08 elevators um but I really like this one
20:10 because it’s slow and it can really help
20:14 you get into that more relaxed State and
20:17 then we do something called a deepening
20:19 technique which continues to build on
20:21 that right so we’re we’re working
20:24 towards relaxing you um as much as we
20:27 possibly can and getting you into that
20:30 place where again you’re not asleep but
20:32 you’re not quite awake you’re
20:33 disassociating you’re in a really
20:35 relaxed mellow Zen State and then we get
20:39 to something called uh suggestion ego
20:43 strengthening tonight what I’m going to
20:45 be using is a again a tried and TR
20:49 script um specifically for
20:52 headache um and we’re going to see how
20:55 that goes over it and again for some of
20:56 you this is going to work really well
20:58 some of you might have a headache right
21:00 now um or a migraine based on the crazy
21:03 weather that we’ve been having although
21:04 it is a beautiful day where we are in
21:07 Ontario um but for some of you this
21:10 might not really be what you need
21:12 tonight and again that’s okay this is
21:15 just about demonstrating what could be
21:18 and I think what anyone can take away
21:21 from this demonstration tonight is to
21:24 feel relaxed um to feel less tension and
21:29 it’s too bad we couldn’t have more of a
21:31 debrief because I’m really interested to
21:33 know what what some of your thoughts are
21:35 and what comes up for some of you as
21:36 we’re moving through this
21:38 demonstration and then we’re going to
21:40 conclude I’m G to I’m going to count you
21:43 out um and then hopefully you you come
21:46 to feeling refreshed and and awakened
21:49 afterwards and we can go into some
21:51 questions and and maybe a little deep
21:53 brief we’ll see how that
21:55 goes so I think
21:59 we’ll move into the
22:01 demonstration like I said hopefully you
22:04 all have a comfortable place that you
22:07 can be right now um you can keep your
22:11 eyes open or closed it’s up to you um
22:16 but treat this like you would treat a
22:19 really deep guided meditation because
22:23 essentially that’s what we’re
22:24 doing um I like to start off by asking
22:28 people to set an
22:31 intention so if you can do that right
22:33 now think about what do you want to get
22:36 out of this practice think
22:38 about what it is you came looking for
22:42 tonight and it could be something as
22:44 simple as I just want to be open to
22:47 something new I’m open to experimenting
22:50 with something new tonight and I just
22:52 want to see what happens because I’m
22:54 really curious right
22:56 now so maybe that’s your
22:59 intention take a moment just to think
23:01 about
23:08 that and hopefully now that you have
23:10 that
23:11 intention I want you to settle into your
23:18 space and allow yourself to move
23:21 naturally into a more relaxed state of
23:25 being we’re going to move into it now
23:29 take your time to
23:32 commit to move to a slower
23:35 pace and as you do that settling into a
23:39 slower Pace a more relaxed space in
23:43 whatever way you choose to do that you
23:46 can close your
23:48 eyes and mentally relax the muscles
23:51 around the
23:53 eyes and in the
23:55 jaw the neck
23:59 and all the muscles around your head and
24:02 forehead and the
24:05 eyebrows it’s really just a process of
24:09 softening softening the face almost as
24:12 though you were smiling gently
24:14 [Music]
24:15 Inward and let your shoulders
24:18 drop and let go of a little more tension
24:22 around the shoulders and the neck and
24:26 the head and the face
24:29 and take a nice breath
24:31 in and breathe
24:34 out and on the next breath in count
24:37 mentally for an inhale of
24:40 four 1 2 3
24:46 four and do that again and see if you
24:49 can exhale to a count of
24:51 four so the inhale is a slow deliberate
24:55 count of four and the exhale is a slow
24:59 deliberate count of
25:02 four just practice that for a couple of
25:06 times and as you do that you might begin
25:09 to become more and more focused on and
25:12 aware of your internal
25:15 experience and of course you are also
25:18 aware of the external sounds and
25:22 distractions but they don’t have to be
25:25 distractions they can simply be the
25:27 sounds of of the heartbeat of life that
25:29 continues on around you and brings you
25:33 comfort and safety anchoring you more
25:36 and more deeper and
25:39 deeper into an external experience
25:42 that’s your very
25:44 own just by breathing in and
25:48 out and in your mind’s eye now create an
25:51 image of an
25:54 elevator you may visually enter the
25:57 elevator
25:59 or you might imagine that you see an
26:01 elevator it’s fine either way but if you
26:05 do it imagine the elevator doors opening
26:07 up and you move into your elevator and
26:11 you become aware of how this is indeed
26:13 your
26:16 elevator almost like your own little
26:18 elevator room just for you it’s a
26:22 perfect place of relaxation and comfort
26:25 and as you decorate the elevator walls
26:27 in your mind the elevator walls further
26:30 insulate you in your own internal
26:33 reality deepening your experience of
26:36 going
26:38 inward your Custom Design elevator space
26:41 is so comforting to you there may even
26:44 be a place to sit or meditate or lie in
26:48 a special cozy one-of-a-kind elevator
26:51 just for
26:53 you breathing in and breathing out
26:57 something about that Simplicity can feel
27:00 simply
27:01 peaceful and you can also become aware
27:04 of perhaps buttons on the elevator wall
27:07 by the
27:08 doors or maybe some sort of panel or
27:12 system that indicates what floors you
27:14 will be visiting as the elevator moves
27:17 downward and even though it is not
27:20 moving yet you become
27:22 aware or imagine you were aware of what
27:26 the panel looks like how you will know
27:29 that you are on each
27:31 floor will it be buttons that light up
27:34 what
27:35 colors will it be voice command that
27:38 indicates each floor whatever system it
27:42 is design it now in your mind’s eye
27:46 really take a few moments to carefully
27:48 craft and create this wonderful internal
27:51 experience of your custommade
27:54 elevator your Haven your signal to your
27:58 UNC conscious mind that all is well and
28:01 it is time to proceed on a journey that
28:03 is already
28:05 begun take your time and so imagine now
28:09 that you are on the 20th
28:12 floor and I will count down and on each
28:15 count you will imagine stopping at each
28:18 floor but the doors will not open you
28:21 will simply notice a gentle stopping a
28:25 deep pause and moving down again again
28:28 gently at a perfect pace for
28:31 you so you move down from the 20th floor
28:35 very naturally very gradually to the
28:38 floor 19 and as you do that because you
28:41 stop briefly at 19 you feel
28:45 calmer you move to 18 and it’s calmer
28:48 yet and 17 even more relaxed and
28:54 16 noticing you notice as you notice
28:58 less and less and moving down even
29:01 further into relaxation and a peaceful
29:04 sense of letting go to
29:06 15 and noticing and maybe even relishing
29:10 this deep level of relaxation and moving
29:13 even further down to 14 and
29:17 13 more and more very deeply relaxed you
29:22 might even be surprised by how relaxed
29:25 you are at 12 and perhaps how more and
29:29 more deeply aware ins sightful as you go
29:31 down moving from 11 to
29:34 10 deeply down now from 10 to 9 becoming
29:39 less and less concerned with external
29:42 realities you can remember to forget or
29:45 even forget to
29:46 remember because it doesn’t even matter
29:49 the main thing is the peace that
29:51 Embraces like a warm blanket that wraps
29:54 itself to a level of your perfect
29:57 comfort as you peacefully pleasantly
30:00 drift down to eight peacefully deeply at
30:04 your own pace enjoying freeing that
30:07 sense of
30:08 seven in your own way for a change
30:12 six five so natural it is now to let go
30:17 and to give yourself
30:19 permission and I wonder if you can go
30:21 just a little bit deeper for four and
30:25 three very deeply now to a beautiful
30:29 sense of Stillness and wonder to level
30:32 two because you can look forward to
30:35 letting go all the way down to level one
30:39 and at one the doors
30:43 open and you’re aware now that you were
30:46 in a building feeling very peaceful in
30:49 this peaceful beautiful building perhaps
30:52 there are windows you even notice sounds
30:55 or if you hear any sound As you move
30:58 across the floor away from the elevator
31:01 now moving towards doors that lead
31:04 outside and you put your hand on the
31:06 door which leads you outside to a wide
31:09 open fresh
31:10 air you find yourself on a
31:14 sidewalk and wherever you are in your
31:16 mind is perfect for you and so you
31:19 continue walking along the sidewalk
31:22 noticing what you notice peaceful walk
31:25 peaceful walk and gradually the sidewalk
31:28 becomes
31:30 grassy and you’re aware that you’re
31:32 moving into a more natural setting less
31:35 concrete more Grass more field you move
31:39 more and more into the field and you
31:42 gradually become
31:43 aware that in this field this expanse
31:47 there’s a
31:48 pathway and so now you’re walking that
31:51 pathway notice how pleasant this is how
31:55 you feel now and with the Pleasant
31:58 pathway looks like perhaps you have a
32:01 sense of how you’re dressed and maybe
32:03 what’s on your
32:05 feet so you walk along the pathway and
32:08 you’re aware that this pathway is
32:10 leading somewhere and even though you
32:12 don’t know exactly where there’s a sense
32:15 of looking forward to following along
32:18 looking forward to walk your path you
32:21 have a vague sense of the commitment it
32:23 takes to walk your path and for a moment
32:27 you might hesitates about that after all
32:30 you came from you can always turn
32:32 back but you make a decision now on how
32:36 to proceed to continue walking your path
32:39 and you do
32:41 so and notice how nice it feels to move
32:44 forward along the path eventually
32:48 wherever that path is straight or narrow
32:51 or wide or windy or hilly or rocky
32:55 however that path looks whatever sh
32:57 shape it takes you follow it and you
33:00 follow it and you follow
33:03 it and eventually it leads to a fork in
33:06 the road a branching off into two
33:09 directions so you stop here and pause
33:12 for a moment not sure in which direction
33:15 to
33:16 proceive right or left this way or that
33:21 and you’re also aware that somewhere
33:23 ahead on the path is a very beautiful
33:26 beach and you very much want to get to
33:29 the beach and it Dawns on you that if
33:32 you take one branch From the Path it
33:34 will lead directly and quickly to the
33:37 beach and you are aware that the other
33:40 branch is another path that also leads
33:44 to the beach where the sand is soft
33:47 where the water is clear and the sun
33:49 brightens the sky so
33:52 clearly you decide right then and there
33:55 which path you will take you really are
33:58 committed to walking this path and so
34:01 you proceed One Foot In Front of the
34:03 other you proceed because it feels good
34:06 to move forward and you proceed even
34:09 though at one point there is some hilly
34:11 terrain and it gets tiring climbing up
34:14 that hill and negotiating the terrain
34:18 and even though you may be aware that it
34:20 might be easier to turn around you’ve
34:23 made a commitment with focus with
34:26 intention and so you simply anchor in
34:28 this commitment as you climb to the top
34:30 of the
34:32 hill there’s a large bird flying
34:35 overhead and you can hear its calls and
34:37 sense its Majesty with all of nature
34:40 beckoning you encouraging you to
34:43 continue until you were all the way on
34:46 top of the
34:47 hill and from the top of the hill you
34:50 have a bird’s ey spectacular view of the
34:52 beach and you’re so close now so close
34:56 you can almost tase the smell of the
34:58 beach in the
34:59 air and feeling so much more confident
35:03 now that you’ve made it this far and so
35:06 the only choice is to keep going and the
35:09 sun seems to shine brighter as you
35:12 celebrate that choice that success
35:16 knowing the success of reaching the top
35:18 of the hill was born out of a long
35:21 journey and a difficult climb upward but
35:24 all that is behind you now as it fades
35:27 completely from your mind Fades
35:29 completely out of your visual screen it
35:32 doesn’t even matter it’s as though it
35:35 didn’t even
35:37 exist all that matters is where you’re
35:40 going and you’re picking up your pace
35:42 now and feeling so much more confident
35:45 so much more liberated so free to almost
35:49 run now towards the beach feeling your
35:51 feet on the sand as you make contact
35:54 with your
35:55 destination enjoying that
35:58 you may even hear the waves gently and
36:00 beautifully lapping on the
36:02 shore and the reward of Liberation
36:05 proceeding with confidence and so really
36:08 really feel and see yourself now on that
36:12 gorgeous beautiful expanse of beach and
36:16 sun and the Rays of sun warming your
36:19 skin your face even your hair and your
36:23 hands and the perfect temperature of the
36:26 water and and the perfect sounds and
36:29 smells around you and breathe in all
36:32 this beauty and here you become aware
36:35 that this is a very special place and
36:37 time for you meant just for
36:41 you now I want to picture I want you to
36:44 picture yourself swimming in the water
36:46 away from the
36:48 shore I want you to picture yourself now
36:51 as a dolphin swimming lazily along just
36:54 below the surface of the sea
36:57 feel the water above you gently warming
37:00 your back and feel the cool water
37:03 beneath you as you swim lazily
37:06 along just let yourself continue to swim
37:09 slowly along concentrating on the images
37:13 and the sensations which you feel as you
37:16 continue to listen to my
37:18 voice and soon you will be able to
37:20 experience everything I described to you
37:23 just as if it were actually
37:25 happening you think how refreshing it
37:28 would be to dive down all the way to the
37:31 bottom let yourself begin to dive now
37:35 diving easily and gently all the way
37:38 down to the bottom feel the cooler
37:40 currents against your face as you angle
37:43 your body towards the bottom and feel
37:46 yourself beginning to adjust to the
37:48 increasing depth and pressure of the
37:50 water around you as you continue to
37:55 descend any previous discomfort Fort you
37:57 may have felt is fading away now as you
38:01 feel the cool soothing currents rushing
38:04 by as you sink deeper and deeper and
38:07 your system continues to slow down in
38:10 response to the increasing pressure and
38:13 cold the water continues to grow even
38:17 colder now as you continue to sink but
38:20 your body adapts to it easily and
38:23 comfortably you continue to drift down
38:26 and down sinking past seaweed forests
38:29 and deep Coral Canyons sinking all the
38:32 way down to the
38:34 bottom almost
38:37 there now you find yourself drifting
38:40 slowly along exploring the bottom of the
38:42 sea just Savor the experience for a few
38:46 moments and enjoy the cool freshness as
38:48 you swim
38:49 along in just a short while I’m going to
38:52 return you to your normal sense of time
38:55 and place but after you you return this
38:58 feeling of peace and well-being will
39:00 remain with you and all traces of your
39:03 previous headache will have
39:05 vanished even after you return to your
39:08 normal sense of time and place you will
39:10 continue to feel just as good as you do
39:12 right now so just continue to let
39:15 yourself explore this undersea world for
39:18 a moment or two experiencing all the
39:21 enjoyments and pleasure that goes with
39:23 it and soon it will be time to return
39:26 you to the environment which you
39:31 left I’m now going to count you up from
39:34 1 to 10 but know that you can always
39:36 very quickly easily and effortlessly
39:39 return to the core of yourself to your
39:42 Infinite Wisdom that is beyond all
39:44 thought beyond all emotion beyond all
39:47 external circumstance you can return
39:50 easily and effortlessly at any time to
39:53 your core
39:54 truth 10 taking your time to gradually
39:58 integrate all of the new
40:00 learning nine gradually reorienting
40:03 yourself to the present moment eight
40:07 bringing your mind back into your
40:09 body seven a nice healing and refreshing
40:13 breath
40:15 in six moving into regular Consciousness
40:19 now with a gratitude and a new sense of
40:21 renewed to your
40:23 path five feeling your body here now
40:26 feeling your your arms and
40:29 legs or coming more and more back with
40:32 your mind fully in your body now feeling
40:35 refreshed and alert take another
40:38 refreshing breath in three feeling your
40:41 fingers and your toes giving them a
40:44 wiggle feeling so happy for the journey
40:46 that you’re on feeling grateful and
40:49 recharged two fully aware revitalized
40:53 refocused excellent feeling wonderful in
40:56 every way one all the way back now a big
41:01 stretch all the way back in open your
41:04 eyes and come all the way
41:07 back
41:10 okay so that was the demonstration and
41:13 to give you a moment to hopefully
41:17 stretch and realer yourself I’m hoping
41:22 that that was refreshing for
41:24 everyone I’m curious about how people
41:28 feel after doing that exercise what
41:31 stood out to them what maybe came up for
41:34 them during the hypnosis I don’t know I
41:37 was going through that and I was I was
41:38 feeling like this is a really powerful
41:41 process I’ve done this one on-one with
41:44 people I’ve never done this as a large
41:46 group um and there’s quite a few people
41:49 tuning in tonight so I feel like there’s
41:51 this like really powerful thing that we
41:53 just did where we were all in in the
41:56 comfort of maybe our own homes but
41:58 tapping into um this moment of
42:02 relaxation and calm