Hypnosis for Healthy Living a Hit with Social Group

Volunteers give hypnosis a try at Sunday's event.  (Photo source: 20s/30s Going Out Group)

“I really want to try it,” she wrote in the comments section.  “I am just scared after watching ‘Stir of Echoes.’  I will wait to see the feedback after the event.”
 

Released in 1999, Stir of Echoes stars Kevin Bacon as a husband and father who through hypnosis enters a violent world of ghosts and spirits.

The misconceptions about hypnosis propagated through movies and television continue to dampen enthusiasm about the power of positive visualization to achieve meaningful change.  In addition to Bacon’s Echoes, films like The Manchurian Candidate, The Shadow and Trance portray hypnosis as a vehicle for the devious and crooked.

This past Sunday I presented at an event hosted by the 20s and 30s Going Out Group, one of the largest and most profile social organizations in the Washington, DC area.  Rather than an entertainment-oriented stage show, this version of my “Hypnotic Experience” show focused on health, wellness, self-confidence, stress management and empowerment.

Numbering nearly 60 young professionals, the audience was fabulous – engaged, attentive and genuinely committed to positive living.

After a 45 minute pre-talk with plenty of entertaining anecdotes, I took a group of about a dozen volunteers through a basic hypnotic induction.  To my pleasant surprise, nearly every attendee in the audience also participated in the induction.

What was the response to hypnosis?  I’ve included below comments from attendees post event.

---------------------------------------------------

 

“Great time!  It was done in a very mature and professional way, and I was extremely relaxed at the end.”

“Fun, excited and opened our minds to practice positive thinking whenever we can.”

“I've had problems falling asleep before midnight, but I was able to fall asleep at 11pm and sleep like a baby after the event. Marc was an excellent presenter. He was engaging and entertaining, and I highly recommend this to anyone interested in improving their lives.”

“Good tips on a breathing and getting a better night sleep.”

“No expectations going in. Learned a lot hope to build on it.”

“Excellent workshop, will recommend hypnosis to anyone looking to improve their lives.”

“I came in a skeptic without any expectations, but I had a great experience & it was fun! This actually worked on me from the very first demonstration. I look forward to using hypnosis to enhance various aspects of my life.”

Student Stress - One School's Focus on Mindfulness

On Friday I had the pleasure of spending an hour with an educator at Walt Whitman High School as part of my preparation for a presentation I’ll give later this month to a 150 of her students enrolled in honors health education.  The theme of my talk:  hypnosis as a tool for stress management and healthy living.

A couple of interesting observations about this productive conversation:

-In general, high school students today deal with a myriad of personal stressors (real and perceived) that can impact their academic success, personal relationships, and overall health and well being.  This is particularly true in high performance school environments, where the expectations for excellence placed on kids by their parents and peers can be extreme.

-School administrators and educators have taken action to help students more effectively manage this environment.  Whitman High School’s principal has made “mindfulness” a priority and has encouraged teachers to incorporate appropriate discussion into their curriculum.

-At Whitman, mindfulness is viewed as a “powerful tool to help students manage their stress by becoming more aware of personal thoughts, feelings, and perception, and not passing judgment on them.”  A few days prior to my visit, the school’s speech and debate team is hosting a fundraiser entitled Lower Stress & Greater Motivation: Why a Sense of Control is the Secret to Teen Success.

-The practice of self-hypnosis as a tool for stress mitigation and healthy living is an unfamiliar approach for the majority of the students.  Accordingly, much of my presentation will focus on defining hypnosis and its applications, and addressing misconceptions portrayed in movies, TV shows and Vegas-style acts.

My visit to Whitman later this month builds on the excellent relationship I’ve established with high schools in the Washington, DC area.  Last November I presented to a group of athletes in a leadership class at Whitman and in December I gave a demonstration of hypnosis to more than 100 students at Walter Johnson High School. 

Today, students deal with a myriad of stressors. (Photo source: Oregonlive.com)

    

Confidence and Attitude: Winning Combination in Sports

Washington Wizards' Bradley Beal and John Wall.  (Photo Source: NikeTalk.com)

With the game tied and the clock counting down, the Washington Wizards’ Trevor Ariza grabbed an offensive rebound and passed the ball to John Wall who was more than 20 feet from the basket. 

Although not recognized as a great outside shooter and having an off game from the field, Wall calmly swished a three pointer that proved to be the game winner.

When interviewed by ESPN after the game, Wall shared some insightful thoughts, “I felt like I had some good looks, just like I did the other night and I just couldn't make them,” he said.  “But I stuck with it and kept playing defense, and didn't let it get me down."

Wall’s teammate, Bradley Beal, is known for his deft shooting stroke.  However, like all athletes, he goes through phases when he isn’t playing as well as he’d like.

Here is how he described his approach to the Washington Post, “Before, I would always get down on myself because all the shots I miss, I feel are easy shots for me to make. Shots I know I’m capable of making,” said Beal. “Whenever I have amnesia, it’s just forget about it. Just continue to shoot, continue to have fun and continue to play the right way.”

The confidence, focus and positive attitude demonstrated by Wall and Beal represents the mindset required by athletes at all levels (recreation, high school, college and pros) to achieve their potential.  It’s true in the classroom, on the job and in other endeavors.

When sharing the practice of self-hypnosis with athletes, the message I emphasize is that it’s a tool that can instill and reinforce confidence and a positive attitude.   Adversity is constant in sports.  How a person rises above it is something that can be learned.

Here are links to a few other articles I’ve written about hypnosis for athletic performance:

Whitman High School Athletes Give Hypnosis a Try

Hypnosis Sharpens an Athlete’s Mindset for Recovery

Hypnosis for Exceptional Athletic Performance

It's Magic, Right? More on Hypnosis for Healthy Living

Each January finds a renewed commitment to health and wellness.  Gyms fill up, more veggies and fruits get consumed, and undesirable habits like smoking get kicked.
 

I also find a higher level of interest in hypnosis as a tool for healthy living.  This time last year I co-hosted an event entitled “New Year, New You:  How Self-Hypnosis Can Help You Stay True to Your Resolution.”   

Here is a link to my write-up about the session, and here are comments from attendees:

Marc did a wonderful job of leading us through a powerful hypnosis session and teaching us the tools to use self-hypnosis in our daily lives! I will definitely repeat this event in the future. (From the event organizer)

This was a great introduction to the group. Thank you for organizing this meet up. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

Thanks for a nice introduction to hypnosis!

On February 5, I will be featured speaker at an event in Bethesda, Maryland hosted by the Wednesday Morning Group.  I’ll focus on the practice of hypnosis to empower health and take volunteers through a basic hypnotic induction.

If you find the topic of hypnosis for health and wellness interesting, I encourage you to check out this article published yesterday by USA Today.  One of the hypnotherapists interviewed echoes what I preach during my shows:  Hypnosis is not magic.  Meaningful change takes work and commitment.  

Volunteers at last year's fundraiser for Operation Renewed Hope Foundation.  A deeply relaxed hypnotic trance.

Accelerating Potential with Hypnosis and Visualization

My Hypnotic Experience show blends comedy and entertaining anecdotes with a basic hypnotic induction for volunteers and demonstration of the power of visualization.  Unlike a Las Vegas style act with is solely for humor, my goal is for the audience to have a great time and come away with a positive view of hypnosis as a tool for exceptional living.

Although every show is unique because of the imagination of the volunteers, there is a constant with every audience.  I always have a couple of people who stick around after the show to talk about a specific goal or change they desire.

Here are the big three I am asked about it:

-Stress management to be happier, healthier and sleep better at night

-Self confidence to make meaningful decisions (personal or professional)

-Performing in the moment  

I have written extensively on this blog about hypnosis for stress mitigation and self confidence.  Here are links to a few of the popular articles:

Hypnosis as a Tool for Relaxation and Healthy Balance

Sleeping Well with Hypnosis

Stress Mitigation is All Personal

What about performing in the moment?

Simply put, the approach many employ to achieve success in school, on the job or in athletic competition is to focus on skill development.  Athletes practice.  Students study.  Workers prepare a report or for a presentation.

Then, the time comes to demonstrate progress and prowess and we stumble, often because of the anxiety created by the need to excel at that particular moment in time.  We have yet to condition our mind to anticipate and expect success.

During the past three years, I have shared hypnosis and visualization with athletes to improve their performance in competition.  I’ve worked with high school students in their preparations for the SAT and other important tests.  And I provided suggestions to professionals as they prepare for an important career-related activity.

Hypnosis is not magic.  The baseline knowledge (or athleticism) and skill development are absolutely required for success.  When they are in place though, hypnosis is a wonderfully effective tool to unleash our potential.

Director Woody Allen once said 80% of success is simply showing up.  It's actually showing with an expectation that you will succeed. (Photo Source: thelowdownunder.com)

New Research Points to Positive Outcomes from Daily Meditation

An evaluation conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins and published in the peer reviewed journal JAMA Internal Medicine concludes that 30 minutes of daily meditation can help a person address mild levels of anxiety and depression, as well as alleviate pain.

The team at Johns Hopkins placed particular emphasis on the practice of "mindfulness meditation," a form of Buddhist self-awareness designed to focus precise, nonjudgmental attention to the moment in hand.

Interestingly, much of the hypnotic induction methodology I employ when teaching the practice of self-hypnosis is based on mindfulness meditation.

Here is a link to an article published by PsychCentral.com that provides more insight on this new and interesting report.

Daily meditation calms, soothes and heals the mind and body.

Conversation about the Spirituality of Health and Wellness

Our life is a unique journey defined by our experiences, our views of the world, relationships with family, friends and peers, and self-awareness.

I was reminded of this just before New Year when I had the pleasure of sitting down for an hour with Shannon Collier of Holistic Helping Hand.  Shannon is a multi-dimensional wellness provider with formal training and expertise in massage therapy, Reiki and postpartum support.

She’ll soon return to school for pastoral training, giving Shannon a deeper background in spiritual and emotional counsel.

Shannon did not initially set out on such a giving path.  In fact, her educational background and initial career focus was in environmental geology.  After realizing a high stress, “always on” policy job was not her calling, Shannon demonstrated the courage to shift her life and reset expectations.

Here are a few wonderful quotes from my conversation with Shannon:

“Wellness training is a personal experience to achieve balance, focus and purpose.  You have to live it.  That’s the only way you can truly help others.”

“I am believer in divine timing.  Your body hurts or issues come up because it is trying to tell you something.  There are no coincidences in life.  Things happen for a reason.”

“Whatever we do in life, we are on the backs of others.”

“Reiki honors the root reality that we are all connected on a fundamental level.  We all share the human experience.  I tie the practice to the belief that each person deserves to be well.”

“Reiki subscribes to the belief in universal life force energy.  Our nervous system, heart and brain all have electricity.  Reiki harnesses this energy to smooth the static of a person’s electrical current.”

We then spent some time talking about the practice of self-hypnosis and its applications for health and wellness. I walked her through a basic hypnotic induction and then asked her how she would describe the experience.  Her answer was a true gem:

“Hypnosis helps make your conscious and subconscious mind align around a common purpose or meaning.”

I typically conclude my Hypnotic Experience show by taking volunteers through a visualization designed to inspire confidence and self-esteem.  I reinforce this feeling by explaining that everything in life becomes sweeter when you realize the person you are is the person you are suppose to be.

Shannon and I are right in-step on the philosophical and spiritual approaches to wellness.  I find that incredibly gratifying.