Hypnotherapy works it’s wonders simply through the power of suggestion. It is used by some to emotionally escape into a beach, feeling warm wash of the waves and smelling the salt air. A short while into my first hypnosis session in his comfy leather seat, I fell asleep with hypnotist Lance Pohling of Butterfly Hypnosis in Riverhead. I expected to quiet the internal editor and list maker within my head and to quit biting my nails.
I awakened 15 minutes after as readily as scaling a short set of stairs to Pohling’s voice telling me that at the count of five I’d come from my trance. My eyes opened, and he handed me a CD of the session to exercise at home.
A day later, I lay on my living room sofa, and gave the CD a listen. I held my breath and did as he said, to look up under my eyelids. I was standing on a beach with seagulls, as I exhaled. By my sixth attempt using Lance’s CD, I could feel the waves of the ocean and I started to smell the salt air. He supported me on my journey to be kind to myself and suggested I replace my negative thoughts with positive ones. I was fully able to concentrate for the short session, maybe 10-15 minutes or so, scarcely drifting from the sound of my breath or the shore picture within my head. I’ve duplicated this ritual daily since, finding myself on different segments of shores that are distinct. Each time relaxed and when I’m done, my head is clear. I’m wide awake, concentrated, and serene.
A doctor at the National Institutes of Health, Daniel Handel, describes hypnosis as feeling just like seeing a film that creates one to lose track of time or reading a great novel.
While hypnosis certainly may not work for everyone, for me it was a truly excellent experience. Those who are trusting, intuitive, creative can be hypnotized readily, Pohling says.
The process is not astonishingly complex. To begin, Pohling had my eyes shut and simply asked me to hold out both index fingers. Then I just pictured the two of them floating to touch and simple as that my fingers were attracted to each other. It was all about having the mind control more of my actions.
For me, I would say for sure that I saw the benefit of using hypnosis to treat my anxiety, and Pohling noted that at his office in Riverhead he often treats patients quite successfully for a number of symptoms including weight loss, stopping smoking, irritable bowel syndrome, and even some skin irritations.
For more information about the benefits of hypnosis, or to speak with Lance Pohling, you can find him at https://butterflyhypnosis.com
