DebbieDona

Hypnosis is natural

Written by: Debbie

Hypnosis is a natural state, one that we experience daily. So, while people are often wary of hypnosis, thinking that it is an altered state and one is out of control, quite the opposite is true. You are in control, in fact it it is an intense state of focus. Driving a familiar route to work is a common example of operating on autopilot, without thinking about it.

Although heart rate and respiration may slow down, this is due to the relaxation involved in the “induction”process,often used progressive relaxation. Those symptoms are not the hypnotic state itself. Research into the hypnotic state has shown that there are different brainwave levels that are involved.

According to science.howstuffworks.com, “The most notable data comes from electroencephalographs (EEGs), measurements of the electrical activity of the brain. Extensive EEG research has demonstrated that brains produce different brain waves, rhythms of electrical voltage, depending on their mental state. Deep sleep has a different rhythm than dreaming, for example, and full alertness has a different rhythm than relaxation.”

Understanding how natural hypnosis is

What Are You Grateful For?

Written by: Debbie

What are you grateful for at this time of giving thanks? I am grateful for hypnosis in my life. It has allowed me to experience so many wonderful changes in my life as well as the lives of my clients. I feel as though I get to experience miracles on a daily basis. What could be any better than that?

I have met so many people through hypnosis as well. When you are a hypnotist, it is always fun when polite conversation gets around to, “So, what do you do for a living?” The variety of reactions I get is wide and usually fun. People are just naturally curious about hypnosis. Furthermore, most people know of someone who has used hypnosis successfully and are excited to reassure me that hypnosis works! I love that people are so willing to affirm me in that way.

Every job has its perks. Certainly, it is obvious that as a hypnotist I am lucky enough to use self-hypnosis on a regular basis. I have been able to drop some weight, overcome a resistance to driving long distances and improve my healthy habits. (I NEVER get sick!) My colleagues are awesome, so anytime we get together, it is a trance fest!

Whenever there are polls about what is your dream job, guess what? I already have a dream job, so I don’t need to try and figure it out.

Thanksgiving is approaching and we are all about to take time to reflect upon what we are grateful for. I can place hypnosis near the top of my list. My family is at the top, but hypnosis falls into place right after that. I always tell people I fell in love with hypnosis at first trance and it is a love affair that is still going strong! So, again I ask, what are you grateful for?

Great American Smoke Out, Time To Quit

Written by: Debbie

I can list a dozen reasons for people to stop smoking, related to health, cost and even the smell. Most likely none of the reasons are news to a smoker. Furthermore, it is not my business to guilt anyone into quitting. My job is to assist others in reaching their goals, not judging what the goals are or when they should happen.

When a smoker is ready to quit, they are ready for reasons of their own. For some it is an extreme health event such as a heart attack that convinces them it is time to quit. For others, it can be a blessed event such as the arrival of a new baby in the home. It doesn’t matter the reason, as long as it works for the person ready to quit. Once the decision has been made, I am ready and able to assist.

This coming Thursday, November 20, 2014 is a day that many make the decision and take the first step to stopping smoking. It is officially the Great American Smoke Out. It is a day that was created by the American Cancer Society to promote the need to quit and encourage people to do so.

Research has found that people are more successful when there is support available. Knowing this, I encourage people who want to quit, enlist a friend whenever possible. I offer the follow up support of several audios for those who work with me in order that they can reinforce what they learned and experienced in the session.

I also ask the individuals I work with to sign a contract. It is a personal contract made with the intent of committing at a deeper level. Again, this is based on research that proves when we sign our names to anything it becomes a stronger commitment than not signing.

Thursday evening I am holding a group stop smoking session in the Dunedin office of Dr. Cesar Lara. If this is your time to become a quitter, please join us.

When: Thursday, November 20, 2014 at 7:00 pm
Where: Dr. Lara’s Curlew Center, 2323 Curlew Road, Dunedin, FL 34698
Cost: $40 for current patients, $50 general admission
RSVP: [email protected] or call 727-446-3021

Your Healthy Holiday Contract

Written by: Debbie

It’s that time of year when the holidays keep us busier than usual with the shopping, crafting, cooking, parties, and a huge array of activities geared to remind us about friends and family. While it may all be good, it is easy for us to forget our goals and intentions for creating good health. I have created and used this Healthy Holiday Contract with my clients as a reminder to stay healthy. Anything signed will become more a part of our commitments. So, please, print this out and sign it. Put it somewhere you will see it often and read it regularly!

Healthy Eating Tips For Weight Management

Written by: Debbie

Dieters often think they’ll feel dissatisfied if they make healthy choices but usually they actually feel MORE dissatisfied when they end up feeling badly about eating unhealthy food. It may be difficult (in the moment) to decide to eat healthy, but the lack of regret after feels great! Healthy eating is a way of life, not a quick trick to fool the scales.

National Eat Better, Eat Together Month

Written by: Debbie

October is National Eat Better, Eat Together Month. That is a time for families to eat together. According to Washington State University making time to eat together is not only important to the family unit, the meals tend to be more nutritious. There are even more benefits including:

Children do better in school and have fewer behavior problems
Teenagers are less likely to use alcohol or drugs
Communication between children and adults improves
Children better understand their families values and traditions
Children and teenagers appreciate the sharing of information about other family members activities and the opportuity to laugh together

Sitting at the table should be a pleasure time, not a battlefield. I advise parents of young children to encourage good eating habits by example. Take time to savor the aromas, the appearance of the food and the textures as well as the flavors. Enjoy and appreciate the preparation of the food as a part of the experience. Keep conversations positive and include everyone at the table. This allows for improved digestion.

Eating together doesn’t mean the meals have to be fancy. It is about the time together that counts! Not sure if you can fit eating together into your hectic schedule? Below are some ideas to help you get started.

How to Start to Eat Better, Eat Together

Ease into it: Try setting a goal of eating together once or twice a week.
Start simple: Prepare a meal ahead of time. Just store it in the fridge until it’s time to reheat and eat it!
Create calm: Phones, TV, computer, video games and even the radio can interrupt your meal. Turning them all off will help everyone relax.
Get everyone involved: Let your family help you shop, choose their favorite dinner, set the table and make the meal.
Relax and connect: Talk about problems after dinner.

Include all of the family in planning and preparing meals. It adds to the fun when each person has a specialty they can contribute. However you find the way to fit eat together, eat better into your family, give it a try. You will discover the many benefits of a family meal. Make eat better, eat together a year long practice!

Hypnosis In Treating Obesity

Written by: Debbie

It never fails that when I tell people how I make my living—as a hypnotherapist hypnotizing people slim—they inevitably ask: Does it work; does hypnosis really help with weight loss? My answer usually brightens their eyes with something between excitement and incredulity because most people don’t realize that adding trance to your weight loss efforts can help you lose more weight and keep it off longer. Although hypnosis predates carb and calorie counting by a few centuries, I often hear from desperate individuals that this is their last hope. Because of stage and screen portrayals of hypnosis as mind control or at the very least parlor tricks the benefits of hypnosis has long been misunderstood. It isn’t until everything has been exhausted and people are feeling out of control that most people are willing to try hypnosis. Once they realize their goals, I hear “I should have called you first.” If only people understood that hypnosis is a non-invasive tool that can be used for focus and reaching goals. Hypnosis is also helpful in uncovering and discovering underlying, unconscious emotional factors that cause overeating or making poor food choices when stressed, anxious, bored, depressed, and so forth. Once these emotional eating factors are made conscious, hypnosis is then used to assist changing to more positive motivators and better choices. I understand that most people really want to do the right thing. They start diet after diet only to go back to old unhealthy habits when faced with the demands of everyday life. Most of my clients know every calorie or carb count, what exercises burn the most fat, etc. Ask anyone on the street about his eating or exercise habits and chances are, he’ll tell you he knows he should eat better and get more exercise, but … and they follow up with a litany of excuses. I hear excuses every day, yet those excuses aren’t changing the scales. When people call me about hypnosis for weight loss, I explain that I have several protocols I can follow. The Virtual Gastric Band has a huge 95% success rate according to test groups (my success has been similar). There are other methods that can be used as well, depending upon the needs and goals of the individual. There are as many ways to approach hypnosis for weight loss as there are people needing to make the change. My job is to find the proper fit for you, your job is to show up and be honest.

Excuses

There are also as many excuses for not committing to change as there are people. I have heard many of these excuses, repeatedly. It’s always easy to come up with reasons to avoid getting started with a healthy eating or weight-loss plan. But all too often, these reasons are really just excuses. “I don’t have time to cook or exercise, I have too much stress to keep on a diet, it’s in my genes, I travel too much, etc.”

Commitment to Building Self-Confidence

Written by: Debbie

Although I have a commitment to building self-confidence in myself as well as my clients, I understand I am a work in progress. During this month of working on self-improvement, I find myself perusing all types of notes I have stored away for a rainy day. Ironically, as I am posting this, it has been a very rainy day. Part of my intent was to continue with my theme of clearing out clutter. Part of it was to continue my Happiness Habits and part of today’s perusal was due to the rain. I found the list below and I am not really sure where I first came upon it or who the author is. Most likely, Napolean Hill, as it seems like his style of writing. Regardless, I thought with this month being National Self Improvement Month and as building our self-confidence can only help us improve, this was worth sharing.

Commitment to Confidence Building

1. I know that I have the ability to accomplish all that I undertake. I know that to succeed, I have only to establish this belief in myself and follow it with vigorous, aggressive action. I will establish it.

September Is The New January

Written by: Debbie

Did you know that September is National Self Improvement Month? So, while we may not be the ones getting those new school supplies and backpacks, there is still no doubt about it – September has an energetic, back-from-vacation, back-to-school feeling. This is the month we want to make changes, embrace a fresh outlook and take advantage of all the new opportunities ahead of us. Really, do those memories of making this school year the best one yet ever go away?

As human beings, we are our own worst critics. Most of us are guilty of focusing on our weaknesses instead of our strengths. Luckily, because September is National Self Improvement month, it is a powerful month for changes and taking action. It is a part of our nature to want to improve; we just want to be careful not to become too critical of ourselves. If you are going to be using this month to accomplish the goals you created back in January, first take the time to reevaluate those goals. Are they realistic? Are they manageable? Did you just give up too soon?

Happiness Happenings

Written by: Debbie

This month is my birthday. I have decided to make it a whole month of Happy, as in happy birthday. It is after all, America’s birthday too. So, I decided to do something every day this month that would make me happy. Sounds simple, right?

Before I made this decision, of course, I had to research what actually creates happiness and what doesn’t. (There goes the simple!) Something I discovered, much to my husband’s delight, is that buying/acquiring new stuff is only a momentary happy, nothing that lasts very long. In fact, buying something new can become part of the new normal and have no impact or worse, there are reasons that it can actually rob you of happiness.

So, what does make one happy? Having a connection with others is first on the list. This includes our families and friends. Improving those relationships helps to improve our lives. Good health is another contributor to happiness. It is actually a drain on our happiness when we avoid taking care of our health. Getting our finances in order is helpful. It isn’t that money can buy happiness, but rather that creating a budget and living within it lessens our stress. Eliminating clutter can leave us more time and space for creative thinking and living. Having and fulfilling a purpose is important. Each of these concepts can be further broken down and that is what I am working on this month.

Day one of July, I made my Happiness Proclamation. I decided that I would do one thing each day for the sole intent of creating a happier life. I was about to embark on my personal Happiness Happenings. I posted this on Facebook, making it “official”. Next, I decided to go out to lunch with my husband. This would help me begin my effort to improve an already good relationship. We had a delightful meal and actually ran into someone who knew us when we first met. This allowed for some fun reminiscing.

Knowing that good health is important, I went for a bike ride. The ride was a good amount of exercise in the sun. I ended up at my favorite dolphin watching spot and was mesmerized by the dolphins.

Day 2 of my Happiness Happenings I remembered that spending money on others brings more joy than spending it on yourself. It is almost the 4^th of July holiday and I hold sessions in a doctor’s office where there are several women, many of whom have young children. On my way there I stopped at a fireworks tent. I bought a few things for each of the employees. As I delivered them, I told each person that this was my Katy Perry impression of Firework. They all smiled and laughed and I felt happy!

De-cluttering is on my list. During the month of June, with Let It Go Day being a special day, I began the practice of 3 a day must go away. Every day I found at least 3 things to give away or throw away. By months end, not only had I eliminated 90 items from my home; I would venture to say it was more like 900. Still, there is more to be released. Therefore, I am continuing the 3 a day through the month of July.

I am writing this very new into my Happiness Happenings process, I plan on updating what I have done. However, I ask you dear reader, what makes you happy? What small changes in habits can you start in order to bring more happiness into your life? If you were to be happier, regardless of how happy you are right now, how would you be different?

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