the REN DAO Wellness Center Blog

By Joan Perez

Something Old – Something New. Actually hypnosis is a pretty old practice that is being given new applications. The ancients understood the process of “speaking” to their inner conscience mind and giving it suggestions or commands. Hypnosis was used in shamanic practice as well as in ritualistic ceremony. The Chinese used (and still use) hypnosis as a natural analgesia for healing purposes. The Australian aborigines used self-hypnosis as a tool to insulate themselves from the cold. Sleeping temples were commonplace in ancient Greece, Egypt and India and the word itself comes from the Greek deity Hypnos, the god of sleep. Sleep is the state in which we are at our most vulnerable and open to suggestion.

Hypnosis today. Hypnosis is the bridge used to access our restful unconscious state (alpha, delta, theta). It is a proactive and interactive tool which aids in behavior modification. Hypnosis is used successfully for smoking cessation, weight management, sports/exercise enhancement, stress reduction, phobias, addictions, forensic recall, past life regression, and the list goes on.

To quack or not to quack? Stage hypnosis is fun and oftentimes seems to work because of the very nature of its setting and venue. While someone may lose their inhabitations long enough to do the funky chicken on stage it would be impossible to make that same person do the chicken dance in the middle of a board meeting. Thankfully we have been engineered with safety brackets that protect our subconscious from acting out in any manner foreign to our nature. So – you absolutely would not be capable of doing something - ANYTHING -reckless, immoral, plain stupid or reprehensible, that you would not do in your conscious (beta) state, or as we say in my neighborhood, “your right mind!”.

Et tu, Brute? Have you ever been driving and seemed to have zoned out and found yourself on autopilot and not sure how you got to where you were? Have you ever counted sheep to get to sleep? Or backwards from 100? Have you ever fallen asleep repeating a mantra or affirmation – speaking to your silent self? Then you’ve experienced self-hypnosis. Mesmerizing isn’t it?

Joan Perez is a Consulting Hypnotist certified by the National Guild of Hypnotists (NGH). Her practice covers lower Westchester, Bronx and Upper Manhattan.

Join Joan at the RDWC, Thursday evening November 20th (6:15pm to 7:00pm), for a fascinating free lecture on how hypnosis can benefit you.

Joan will conduct a Past Life Regression workshop/group hypnosis on Sunday afternoon November 23rd, and Sunday December 7th, at 2:30PM.  Seating is limited for the workshops so early registration is recommended. Suggested donation is $15