Many people are surprised to learn the many benefits of hypnosis to help them live a better life.
In the 18th century, a German physician named Franz Mesmer discovered that he could alter his patients’ state of consciousness and retrain their thought processes. Hypnosis wasn’t named until the 19th century, though, when James Braid began to practice it. While it isn’t as widely practiced in current times, the benefits of hypnosis are still prevalent and are gaining popularity.
Hypnosis patients enter an entranced state as if sleeping peacefully, but they still have some awareness. As patients enter a trance-like state, hypnosis helps increase focus using mental imagery and verbal repetition. It can help people become calm and relaxed while also helping them gain control of their life.
Hypnosis can help with changes in perceptions, thoughts, sensations, or behaviors. Additionally, there are many other benefits of hypnosis that can help your physical and mental wellbeing. You shouldn’t let just anyone hypnotize you, though, as finding a trained and licensed healthcare professional is the most effective and safest option.
Hypnotherapy can successfully treat a variety of ailments. The American Psychological Association describes it as a clinical procedure to use along with other treatments. It helps you become more open to suggestions and discussion and can help you overcome certain conditions.
Nine Science-Backed Health Benefits of Hypnosis
Here are a few health issues hypnosis can help.
1. Hypnosis Helps Improve Your Sleep
Around 25 percent of adults in the United States struggle with insomnia, but hypnotherapy can help. It can help you let go of the things that keep you up at night and help you relax into a peaceful mindset. Additionally, hypnosis can help with other sleep problems too.
If you want to sleep better or increase the amount of time you sleep for, hypnotism can help you. Researchers measured the brain activity of a group of people that listened to hypnotic suggestions and a group that listened to neutral text. The results showed that those who listened to the hypnosis experienced more time in the deep, restorative sleep phase.
Without enough high-quality sleep, it can impair your decision-making and memory. It can also lead to health conditions like heart disease, depression, or obesity. Using hypnosis to help overcome insomnia can improve your overall health long-term.
2. Hypnosis Helps Relieve Anxiety
Studies from the American Psychiatric Association show that anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders in America. Anxiety can be debilitating, so finding a way to ease the symptoms is essential to living a fulfilling life.
When you’re in a hypnotic state, your levels of tension and fear dissipate. It will help you let go of thoughts and feelings that increase your anxiety symptoms. Hypnosis stimulates your ability to naturally relax by lowering your blood pressure, slowing your breathing, and promoting an overall sense of well-being.
Hypnosis can help identify the root of your anxiety, making it easier for you to overcome. If you struggle with a phobia, hypnosis can help relieve those feelings, too. Being hypnotized can help you adjust your expectations so that you can minimize the fear and phobia.
3. Hypnosis Helps Relieve IBS Symptoms
Studies show that using hypnotherapy to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) significantly and quickly improved symptoms. Since stress worsens IBS symptoms and hypnosis reduces stress and anxiety, it helps prevent flare-ups. Hypnosis not only helps relax you, but it also helps you subconsciously learn to control your symptoms.
A study of people with IBS yielded results showing that more than 70% of participants reported improved symptoms after hypnotherapy treatment. Many years later, participants were asked for an update and, of the ones who gave one, 81% continued to have less severe symptoms.
IBS is uncomfortable and can be debilitating if it gets bad enough. The primary and secondary symptoms are sometimes just as bad as the IBS itself. Using hypnotherapy to find relief will help you physically and mentally. Plus, it will save you money on doctors’ visits and other treatment methods.
4. Hypnosis Help Ease Chronic Pain
People with chronic pain from health conditions like arthritis, cancer, sickle cell disease, or fibromyalgia can find relief in hypnosis. Even those with chronic back pain, migraines, or other debilitating pain can alleviate the feeling with hypnotherapy. As one of the many benefits of hypnosis, easing chronic pain can help you live a more fulfilling life.
Pain can stop you from experiencing new things and getting out in the world, so alleviating it will make a difference. Hypnosis will help you gain more self-control and pain tolerance, making it easier to manage. As an all-natural remedy, hypnosis can replace a prescription of over-the-counter pain killers for your pain, and the benefits last longer, too.
5. Hypnosis Can Help You Quit Smoking
If you want to quit smoking, hypnosis can help. For hypnotherapy to work, you must want to quit smoking. Hypnosis for smoking cessation can help you quit in a couple of different ways.
The first way that hypnosis helps you stop smoking is to help you find a healthy replacement. Once the healthy replacement has been identified, hypnosis will guide your subconscious toward the habit. Then, when you would once crave a cigarette, you will now crave something healthy like a walk or a glass of water.
The second way that hypnosis helps you stop smoking is by training your mind to associate it with undesirable feelings. You might think of the bad taste of cigarettes or the foul odor it leaves on your clothes and hair. Associating smoking with these negative feelings will stop your urge to smoke.
6. Hypnosis Can Aid In Weight Loss
If you’re eating healthy and exercising but still not losing weight, hypnosis can make a difference. Studies show that when people add hypnotherapy to their diet and exercise plan, they lost weight faster than others. This research proves that weight loss begins in the mind as gaining control over your thought process improves results.
Hypnotherapy focuses your attention, and you become more likely to change your behavior. This behavior change includes eating healthier, resisting unhealthy cravings, and exercising more often. Plus, it will help you avoid overeating as you become more mindful of how much food you take in.
Medical hypnosis isn’t a replacement for a healthy diet or exercise regime, however. You must use it along with a healthy lifestyle to see the results.
7. Hypnosis Can Help Relieve Hot Flashes
Studies show that women who experienced hot flashes reported 74 percent fewer episodes over 12 weeks after starting hypnotherapy. On the other hand, women who used other treatment methods only experienced around a 17 percent decrease. This difference shows how much more effective hypnosis is for relief from hot flashes, making it one of the leading remedies.
Since hot flashes can interfere with your quality of life, finding a way to control them is essential. They can negatively impact your sleep quality and wake you up often throughout the night. Plus, they can make you uncomfortable during events and gatherings, ruining the fun you should be having.
Getting the hot flashes under control can improve your overall wellbeing and help you feel more energetic. Plus, you won’t experience irritability from the hot flashes as often, either.
8. Hypnosis Reduces Stress
If you experience high stress levels, you might have a strong desire to find inner peace. Hypnosis can help with this, as it reduces your stress levels and brings feelings of serenity.
Hypnotherapy can help you become aware of your suppressed emotions, allowing you to free the negative feelings. Once you know the root of your stress, you can focus on alleviating the issues and living a calmer life.
You will also develop better coping skills as you move away from your suffering. Once you begin to let go of these emotions, you will experience a sense of balance and tranquility in your life. Hypnosis can benefit your health as it helps you change negative mental habits, detrimental thinking, and unhelpful obsessions.
9. Hypnosis May Treat Depression
Depression can leave you feeling helpless or lonely, obstructing your path to happiness. Entering a hypnotic state can help you gain control over these feelings, though. It can help you eliminate negative energy in your body, and it can change your mindset.
Hypnotherapy will help determine the cause of your depression and allow you to work through the underlying issues. You will learn to live in the moment rather than ruminating about the past or worrying about the future.
Hypnosis can also help you increase your emotional intelligence. As you gain intelligence, you will have more strength to overcome your depression and work towards healing.
Final Thoughts on Science-Backed Health Benefits of Hypnosis
If there is anything in your life that you would like to change but struggle with, hypnosis might help. The effectiveness of hypnosis depends on the individual seeking treatment. With the extensive health benefits of hypnosis, it’s worth looking into and trying. You can overcome bad habits, live a healthier life, and experience an improved sense of wellbeing.
Use hypnotherapy to gain control over your life, including your emotions and willpower. Knowing the many health benefits of hypnosis can help you feel confident and keep an open mind as you begin your first hypnotherapy session.
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