Chapter 13 - Practical Applications of Self-Hypnosis - A Practical Guide to Self-Hypnosis

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Chapter thirteen, Practical Applications of selfHypnosis. With hypnosis on the March,
there is practically no limit to itsuses in the field of medicine, and
new applications are being discovered every day. It should not be necessary to add,
however, that some of these usesshould remain as they are in the

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hands of professionals with years of experiencein the area. One of the themes
of this book has been that laymenshould use hypnosis discriminately and intelligently. No
responsible therapist would ever recommend masking orremoving a symptom which was indicative of organic
disease. For that reason, thepractical uses of self hypnosis will be limited

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to measures that can be taken safelyby the layman. The only possible exception
to this will be instruction on howto curb obesity, but even here it
is suggested that a physician be consultedbefore embarking on a weight reducing program.
The foremost use of hypnosis has beenfor relaxation, and it becomes more and

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more important as world tensions, anxiety, and strain increase daily and millions seek
vainly to get away from it all. Inasmuch as all methods of hypnosis discussed
in this book utilized relaxation as thefirst step. It should not be necessary
to go over this material simply reviewthe many induction techniques. Lung cancer has

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become a very real threat to manypeople today, and the professional hypnotist is
besieged with men and women who wishto curtail or quit smoking. This is
easier said than done, because smoking, although there are no physical withdrawal symptoms
when one stops, is a strongcondition reflex and cannot, except in rare

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instances, be accomplished by the willalone. The best way to stop smoking
is to make it an impossibility,and that is exactly what you do when
you follow the method touched on inan earlier chapter. All of us have
tasted or smelled certain foods or medicinesthat nauseate us. The subject who wishes

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to quit smoking is asked to conjureup the vision and the actual taste and
smell of the substances which upset hisstomach and offend his nostrils, transferring its
properties to cigarettes. This, ofcourse, must be done under hypnosis.
The subject then conditions himself in thefollowing manner. One this cigarette taste and

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smells just like mention name of repugnantsubstance. Two, it is the most
vile and repugnant taste I have everencountered, and I shall not be able
to continue after the third puff.At the third puff, I will develop
a paroxysm of coughing. Three,I cannot smoke the cigarette any longer,

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and I will have to put itout. This like a simple procedure,
and yet it has worked for thousands. Some switch to chewing gum or candy,
but the cure essentially lies in substitutingone condition reflex for another. This
is comparatively easy with hypnosis because,unlike narcotics, barbiturates, or alcohol,

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smoking is purely a psychological addiction.There is no need for tapering off stopping
drinking. Unlike smoking, doesn't involvemerely the creation of physical aversion to the
drug. The patient's entire personality shouldbe changed and more mature viewpoints substitute it
for the unrealistic and infantile viewpoints whichled to the addiction in the first place.

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The subject should give himself suggestions thathe will be able to face up
to the problems of everyday life withoutrecourse to the crutch of alcohol. It
is a well known fact that nothingis as bad as we think it is
going to be once we confront it. One of the strange aspects of drinking
is that it is actually a formof self hypnosis, and the cure lies

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in substituting a new viewpoint for theold. This fact can be demonstrated by
the fact that drinking is begun inthe first place so that the individual can
be one of the boys, orbecause it is the thing to do.
Those who do not drink at leastas a social lubricant, according to this
code, are squares. Because ofthis, self hypnosis must be directed toward

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reorienting one sense of values. Soberreflection should convince any one that the truly
intelligent person does not drink to excess. Nail biting is an unsightly habit,
one that may even hinder one's socialacceptance. The help lies in a therapeutic
approach similar to that for cigarettes.It is not hard to predict that many

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of those reading these pages are sufferingfrom overweight. With thirty million Americans in
this category, it has become oneof the nation's chief health problems, and
it is the predisposing factor in manyother diseases, such as heart trouble,
diabetes, hypertension, and atherosclerosis.If you are overweight, it is well

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to remember that unless you are onein a million, you cannot blame your
glands. The plain truth is thatyou eat too much. We know today
that overeating for some is an emotionalproblem, stemming from feelings of rejection and
insecurity. Individuals who feel unloved,whether this is truly the case or not,

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make up for this lack to themselvesby stuffing in large quantities of food.
It would even appear that these peopleare masochistic, making themselves even more
unloved by their gross gastronomical habits.A big factor in overweight in women is
rating the refrigerator while doing their housework. Many of them do this so unconscious

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that they swear they eat less thanmost people. There are a number of
appetite curbing drugs on the market today, but they should not be necessary for
anyone who has acquired self hypnosis.If you have learned to visualize yourself visual
imagery in different situations, you willhave no trouble in picturing yourself having a
slim, attractive figure exactly as youwere when you felt you looked your best.

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Keep this figure ever in mind,and use it along with conditioning yourself
against certain fatty and starchy foods.A trick used by some hypnotherapists is to
have the subject purchase a dress orsuit several sizes too small, and then
work toward being able to wear it. This actually has worked in many cases

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because it adds the element of petitivenessto the procedure. Not all people overeat
because of emotional problems. Some comefrom families where licking the platter clean was
the rule because food was scary.Others come from rich families where overeating by
the parents established a habit pattern inthe children. Certain races and nationalities look

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on fat as a badge of wealthand prestige, and children in such an
environment are likely to be deliberately overfed, regardless of the reason for overweight.
However, the use of self hypnosisis one of the answers to the problem.
Simple headaches, arthritis, neritis,and other painful symptoms yield readily to
hypnotic suggestion. If physicians have givenup on the problem and placed a subject

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on a maintenance drug dosage for pain, hypnosis can potentiate the drugs or even
obliviate them. Two of the majoruses of hypnosis are in child birth and
for intractable pain of cancer or someother incurable diseases. Although patients usually start
with hetero hypnosis, they are puton self hypnosis as soon as possible,

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and there are many cases of womenwaiting too long and having their babies at
home painlessly through self hypnosis. Thefather invariably is the only one excited in
such cases. The mother knows thatshe is an excellent subject and has been
instructed in prenatal classes about every contingencythat could arise. Inasmuch as stopping the

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birth pangs is similar to stopping otherpain, the method should be learned so
that it can be accomplished in aminimum of time. The best way to
stop pain is to let your rightarm slowly rise while you are under hypnotic
suggestion. Do not help it.If the suggestions are strong enough, it
will float up. As soon asthe arm is straight overhead, you should

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give yourself the suggestion that it isas rigid and unbending as a bar of
steel. Following this, a suggestionis given that the hand is beginning to
tingle and become numb. As soonas the numbness has spread throughout the entire
hand, it will be insensible topain. The hand is then placed against
the part of the body where thepain exists, and you will feel the

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numbness flowing from the hand to theaffected area. This happens as a result
of your suggestions and is the methodfollowed by most subjects. Only a deep
somnimbalistic subject is able to remove painby direct suggestion to the painful part.
There are many people today using selfhypnosis in the realm of sports, and

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an entire book has been written onimproving one's golf game with this method.
It is called How You Can PlayBetter Golf Using Self Hypnosis by Jack Heiss
Willshire Book Company publishers. Doctor HuberGrimm, team physician of the Seattle University
basketball team, recently related the resultswhen Dave Mills, a six foot five

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inch junior forward, asked for hishelp because he froze during competition. He
had been benched on the eve ofthe West Coast Athletic Conference tournament in San
Francisco. Spectators made Mills so fearfulthat he was afraid he would make mistakes,
and in this frame of mind,of course he did. Under hypnosis,

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Doctor Grimm suggested to Dave that hewould be unaware of the spectators,
be completely relaxed, and would playexceedingly well. Doctor Grimm asked coach Vince
Cazzetta to allow Dave to play,and the result was astounding. Mills scored
sixty points and cleared sixty three rebounds, and his brilliant play led to his

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selection on an all tournament team.All I did was free his spirit.
Doctor Grimm reported. He was inneed of confidence, and I gave it
to him through hypnosis. The AssociatedPress told the story as follows. Dave
Mills, a vacuum cleaner off thebackboards, led a fast breaking Seattle University

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team to victory last night. Itwas hard to recognize Mills as the same
player who has been with the Chieftainsall year. Doctor william S. Kroger,
a pioneer in hypnosis, undertook toimprove the batting of a professional baseball
player with equally sensational results. Theplayer had been banned and his fear of

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a reoccurrence was so strong that hebecame plate shy. He had changed his
batting stance so that he always hadone foot in the bucket so that he
could back away from the plate morequickly. He was given a post hypnotic
suggestion that such an event happening againwas exceedingly remote, and this was amplified
by suggestions of confidence that he wouldimmediately start slugging as well as ever,

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his batting average soared immediately. Doctormitchio Achaea, professor of physiology at Tokyo
University, and doctor Arthur H.Steinhaus of the George Williams Laboratory, a
physiological research in physical education, Chicago, have proved that track men can far
surpass their best previous times under hypnosis. Their tests incidentally proved that there is

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no danger of an athlete going beyondhis physiologic limit while bettering his former marks.
They attribute the superior performances to theremoval of inhibitions which psychologically prevent an
athlete from doing his best. Thisreport was made before the International Congress on
Health and Fitness in the Modern Worldheld in Rome during the last Olympic Games.

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All reports, as a matter offact, show that athletic performances are
improved by psychological not physical means,and that built in automatic reflexes protect the
athlete against the danger of overexertion atall levels of awareness. Hypnotic or non
hypnotic psychologists are using hypnosis more andmore to facilitate concentration and learning, and

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it is likely this use of theancient science will become even more popular than
its medical applications. The reason onelearns so quickly under hypnosis is because of
time distortion, which allows you toobtain the equivalent of many hours of study
in a relatively short length of time. Undoubtedly you have had experience with time

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distortion in your daily life. Rememberhow slowly time goes when you are not
interested in what you are doing,and how fast it speeds by when you
are. And the drowning man whosees his whole life go by is an
excellent example of this. Enough peoplehave been saved to know that this actually
happens. The point is that thesubconscious mind does not record the passage of

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time the same way as the consciousmind. The conscious mind records time physically
by means of a clock. Itis objective, and it tells you that
a thought or movement requires a certainnumber of seconds, minutes, hours,
or days. Your subconscious mind hasan entirely different concept of time that has
nothing to do with the physical world. It is called subjective because your own

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sense of the passage of time isused. Personal time varies according to the
circumstances in which you find yourself.Haven't you noticed that when you are happy
or extremely interested in something, timepasses quickly. On the other hand,
if you are sad or anxious,time seems to drag. This is called

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time distortion. When you continue ina happy state, time is automatically shortened.
When you are in a state ofunhappiness, pain, or anxiety,
time automatically lengthens. This explains whythe drowning man can review his entire life
within seconds. Psychologists know this ispossible because your subconscious mind contains a complete

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record of everything that has happened toyou since birth. Therefore, in moments
of extreme distress, your subconscious hasthe ability to distort and manipulate time.
If you have ever encountered danger orhad a narrow escape, you probably experienced
time distortion. Everything about you wentinto slow motion, and time seemed to

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stand still until the action was over. At that point, objective time started
up again, and everything returned tonormal. Many of you, no doubt
read and associated press report from Chicagoon February eleventh, nineteen fifty eight,
which reported how movie actress Linda Darnellhad used hypnosis to help her with her

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first stage role. She had beenasked to do the part on short notice
and had no time for preparation.Miss Darnell telephoned her California physician for aid.
He flew to Chicago overnight. Throughhypnosis, Miss Darnell learned her part
and astounded the cast by knowing everyone'slines. Not only did she learn the

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part, but she was coached inthe character of the artist she was portraying.
As a result, Late Love wasa hit play. Miss Darnell was
under the impression she had been learningthe part for a week, although only
about forty eight hours were involved andthese hours were not continuous. After her
first performance, she said, Inever felt so secure about playing a role

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in my life. Hypnosis has helpedme feel the part completely. Imagine how
much more we are going to beable to learn when study under hypnosis becomes
widespread, And the best part ofit is that the learning is in your
mind for a long time. Forgettingor mental blocks that interfere with your recall
of information at any time are reducedto a minimum. In conclusion, I

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should like to recommend the entire fieldof self hypnosis to everyone. It is
a therapy which is positive, dynamic, and constructive. An excellent example of
this is contained in the autobiography Rokmanoff'sRecollections. In this book, A Mortal
Rokmanoff describes in detail his success inovercoming a severe case of mental depression.

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He had stopped composing and kept tohimself, seldom leaving his room. After
meeting with failure using the available therapeuticremedies available at that time, he was
persuaded by his relatives, the Satins, to seek the help of a hypnotist
called doctor Doll. With much reluctance, he agreed to see doctor Doll and

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betreat it specifically with hypnosis. Rakmanoff'sown words read as follows. Although it
may sound incredible, hypnosis really helpedme. Already at the beginning of the
summer, I began again to compose. The material grew in bulk, and
new musical ideas began to stir withinme, far more than I needed for

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my concerto. I felt that doctorDoll's treatment had strengthened my nervous system to
a miraculous degree. Out of gratitude, I dedicated my second concerto to him.
As the piece had a great successin Moscow, everyone began to wonder
what possible connection it could have withdoctor Doll. The truth, however,

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was known to doctor Doll, theSatins and myself. Does this story sound
incredible? You have the word ofone of the world's greatest musical composers that
hypnosis alleviated his severe despondency. Thisis proof that the emotions of the individual
can be changed by the ideas hebuilds up about himself. Doctor leland E

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Heinsey, professor of psychiatry, ColumbiaUniversity, writing in his book The Person
in the Body W. W.Norton in Company, states, in some
persons, the fear of disease isoften the only damaging evidence of disease,
yet it can be so strong asto disable the person in all his daily

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activities. The entire field of psychosomaticmedicine, which deals with the inner relationship
between body and mind, has asone of its basic tenets that suggestion not
only can cause psychological personality disorders,but many physical disorders as well. It
is therefore logical to conclude that thesystematic use of positive mental attitudes and an

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organized, progressive self improvement program canbe a vital influence in helping you lead
a healthier life, both emotionally andphysically. Many people in need of help
are at a loss as to wherethey can locate reputable hypnotherapists in their area.
You may consult your family physician,county Medical Society, or mental hygiene

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society. The chairman of the psychologydepartment at your nearest college or university would
usually have this information. I maintaina file of over four thousand doctors located
all over the world who practice hypnosisand would be pleased to refer you to
doctors located in your locality. Thefollowing national organizations maintain a specialized list.

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American Academy of Child Psychiatry three thirtyfive South Franklin Street, Wilkes Barre,
Pennsylvania. American Academy of Psychoanalysis,seven fifty Park Avenue, New York,
twenty one, New York. AmericanGroup Psychotherapy Association, two East one hundred

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and third Street, New York,twenty nine, New York American Psychiatric Association
seventeen hundred eighteenth Street, Northwest Washingtonnine D C American Psychological Association thirteen thirty
three sixteenth Street, Northwest Washington,d C American Speech and Hearing Association,

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one hundred and eight O one RockvillePike, Rockville, Maryland, two O
eight five two National Association for MentalHealth, ten Columbus Circle, New York,
nineteen, New York National Association forRetarded Children, Incorporated, ninety nine
University Place, New York. ThreeNew York National Council on Alcoholism Incorporated,

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two East one hundred and third Street, New York, twenty nine, New
York National Health Council, seventeen ninetyBroadway, New York, nineteen, New
York National Institute of Mental Health,US Public Health Service, Bethesda, fourteen,

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Maryland Veterans Administration Psychiatry and Neurology Service, Department of Medicine. End of
Chapter thirteen recording by Andrea Fiori.End of A Practical Guide to Self Hypnosis
by Melvin Powers,