Exploring Transpersonal Hypnotherapy

As a certified transpersonal hypnotherapist, I find that most people only hear “hypnotherapist” and either assume I’m a magician or a therapist.

Quite the contrary, a transpersonal hypnotherapist is a holistic therapy that integrates mind, body, and spirit to transport clients into the deepest levels of the human spirit. The focus is on the individual and the divine that lives within each of us. We just need a little reminder from time to time on how to tap into that power.

If you’re looking for change, then transpersonal hypnotherapy is a deeply relaxing, non-invasive approach to discovering a new you.

There are extraordinary myths and misunderstandings when it comes to hypnotherapy. So what is it, exactly?

You know when you zone out while you’re driving and suddenly you can’t remember the last few miles of the highway? Or if you’re sitting in front of the TV and you get completely absorbed and suddenly, 10 minutes have passed in the blink of an eye? That’s basically hypnosis. It’s when your conscious mind begins to quiet and your subconscious mind begins to listen.

If you’ve ever meditated or done guided imagery, this is another example of light hypnosis. With transpersonal hypnotherapy, you are in complete control at all times, and you end up in a deeply relaxed state where your subconscious is given an opportunity to communicate through images or sensations, and you can begin to reprogram old behaviors or thought patterns that no longer serve you.

Regardless of what work is being done, or to what outcome, clients always report feeling relaxed, rejuvenated, and empowered at the end of a session.

What’s in it for you, though? What would you employ a transpersonal hypnotherapist for?

If you have thoughts, habits, or behaviors that you’d like to change, then you can tap into the power of transpersonal hypnotherapy to re-program your subconscious. This technique allows access to your higher self and the innate wisdom we all have available to us.

A short list of common programs include:

- Smoking cessation

- Stress/anxiety reduction

- Breaking habitual behavior like nail biting

- Experiencing deep relaxation

- Past-life regression

- Overcoming fears and phobias

- Learning a new behavior or skill

- Dealing with grief, loss, or enhancing relationships with loved ones

- Uncovering a personal truth or to find the answer to a question

- Healing and pain management

- Spiritual development

The sky really is the limit, but the beauty of a transpersonal hypnotherapy session is that you work with your therapist to customize a program that is completely tailored to your needs, likes, dislikes, goals, and personality. You can go as quickly or as slowly as you feel comfortable with and it’s 100% safe.

We’ve had tremendous success with clients and smoking cessation. In each past-life regression, I’ve sat with clients who relive amazing traumas and come out feeling relieved and healed and I’ve witnessed profound change in the period of an hour or two.

For folks with chronic stress or anxiety, transpersonal hypnotherapy can be incredibly empowering and liberating. Pain management begins to seem attainable. Questions that have long gone unanswered suddenly seem to have crystal clear answers or the questions lose their power and focus can be shifted to something useful.

If nothing else, experiencing a past-life regression or simply floating in the deepest levels of your mind can be liberating and insanely interesting.

Hopefully, this answers a few of your questions, but if you have more please let us know and we’d love to share the dialogue with others. And leave a message or email us at caya.comeasyouare(at)gmail.com if you'd like more information about a private session.

Watch for a free guided meditation that we’ll be posting in the next few days. It’s a perfect little session that you can use for times when you are stressed and running out of patience and you just need someone to hit the Reset button. Stay tuned!

Facing the Burrito Demon Through Self-Awareness

Last night in a particularly intense (for me) yoga session, the instructor said something that I found to be incredibly profound:

“Yoga is not about self-improvement. Yoga is about self-awareness.”

Her timing in sharing this little tidbit was auspicious since the intention I’d set for my practice just moments before was “Listen to my body”.

Listen to my body. Easier said than done - tapping into that self-awareness.

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We don’t realize how hard it can be to really, truly, truthfully listen to our body when we spend most of our time rushing from one task to the next at home, at work, in life...largely in denial of neglecting our most precious resource.

I challenge you to listen to your body.

What does it say? What is it saying right now? What does it say when you’re stressed or anxious or angry at the latest turn of events?

-- Does your body sleep peacefully at night or does it protest and toss and turn?

-- Does your body enjoy the fuel you give it through the food choices you make? Does it stay happy for hours feeling strong and fulfilled or does it constantly object through grumblings and hunger pangs or bloating and indigestion?

-- Do you abuse your body with smoking or drinking alcohol or filling it with sugars and chemicals? Or do you lovingly provide it with precisely the fuel it needs for optimal health and wellness – things like water and tea and organic produce?

-- Does your body relax when you give it a moment to release or is there a perpetual tightness that creeps into your neck or shoulders or face?

-- Do you criticize your body for not being slim enough or strong enough or healthy enough or tan enough or smooth enough, wishing for a different body free from these imperfections?

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I have a complex and many-layered relationship with my body.

It is out of shape, overweight, occasionally plagued with low back pain or pinching knees or protesting ankles and constantly tense/tight shoulders and neck. But it has carried me through life with as much grace as possible considering the abuse I’ve laid on it for so many years…over eating, under exercising, neglecting it at every turn.

So, how do I transform this life-long habit of abuse into love and nurturing and compassion and acceptance?

It’s a journey and a slow one, at that.

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Last night, we were doing seated twists but my belly prevented me from getting into the position I wanted in order to get a full twist. I did my best to accept that this is where I am in this moment and I did my best to modify without judgment.

In moments when I’m on the yoga mat doing a yoga practice, I am given permission by my wonderful instructors to sink into this moment called “Now” and to settle deep within myself in order to have an honest dialog.

In challenging poses, I ask my legs for strength, or I ask my breath for precious air, and I do my best to listen to every single cell for cues on how to execute each move to the best of my ability.

Self-awareness comes with a price, though. Holding up a mirror of truth, I begin to see how I got here and it’s not pretty. I am challenged to face my fears, to walk towards them, and then come out the other side wiser and stronger for it. But it’s painful and scary, at times.

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After yoga last night, I began experiencing symptoms of my panic attacks. It starts with a tingling in my left arm and chest so my anxiety attacks present much like a heart attack. This sends me off on a ride of worry – Is it anxiety or is it a heart attack this time?

Then, I plunge into anger and fear chastising myself for the latest poor eating choices or for not exercising more, blaming myself for the heart attack that I am now convinced will take me at any moment.

So what did I do in the middle of this panic and fear and self-judgment? I went to Taco Bell and got a burrito.

Yes. You read that right. I got a burrito and immediately started consuming it like it might be my last.

But, something amazing happened.

Halfway through that burrito, I stopped myself and listened.

I realized that I had just made a choice that was perpetuating this awful cycle of self-destruction.

I was scared and ignoring the fear. This pushed me into a desperate search for something comforting (food) which lent itself to the panic that had originally led to my fear in the first place.

In that moment, I saw the awful cycle that I’d created for myself for all of these years.

And while it was a relief to have this moment of insight, I was completely overwhelmed at the size and scope of this cycle that gripped me so tightly. How do you begin undoing a set of habits that have been a standby since childhood?

It all comes back to self-awareness, to being present, and in listening to my body.

It was a step towards healing. One of one hundred million, but it was one. And one step is profound.

“Yoga is not about self-improvement. Yoga is about self-awareness.”

Through self-awareness, I can begin to identify, heal, challenge, accept, grow, and love everything that is me. I’m not becoming aware of myself for anyone or anything. I am looking at myself with honesty and settling into the imperfections and seeing where I come out on the other side.