Does hypnosis work for weight loss? Well the problem most of us have is not only staying on a diet but also maintaining our weight loss once the diet ends. So that’s where hypnosis comes in – or does it? What exactly is hypnosis (or hypnotherapy) and how does it work?
What is Hypnosis?
We all have two minds – our conscious mind that is logical and analytical and our subconscious mind that is literal and accepting. With our conscious mind we make our daily decisions, such as to walk to the bus stop, to drink that cup of coffee or to work out our budget. The conscious mind controls all of our voluntary or conscious actions.
Our subconscious mind, on the other hand, controls our involuntary or subconscious actions, such as our breathing and heart rates. It also controls our emotions which is why we can be overcome suddenly with an emotion that we really wouldn’t choose to feel right at that moment. Our memories and beliefs are also controlled by our subconscious mind – and that is where hypnosis works.
Hypnosis is a state of total relaxation, it is a way to side step our conscious, busy, analytical mind and talk directly to our accepting subconscious. When we say that this diet is just too difficult and this one piece of cake won’t hurt, that is our conscious mind talking. But our subconscious mind is listening and now believes that what you have just said is the truth – that cake is acceptable and this diet is too hard to maintain.
How does Hypnosis work for weight loss?
Once your subconscious has a belief in place, even if they are negative beliefs, then that belief overrides all conscious decisions. How many times have you heard your friends say that they want to lose weight? And it doesn’t happen? Then all of a sudden you see them a few months later and they have lost so much weight!
When asked how they did it, many will say that they had just decided that enough was enough. That it was time to lose weight and they stuck to the diet and just did it.
That is the power of hypnotherapy. They may not have been to a hypnotherapist but their belief systems changed. They consciously decided to lose weight and their subconscious mind, because it is accepting, followed suit.
Hypnotherapy works in the same way, except that it bypasses our conscious mind and speaks directly to our subconscious which is very receptive to suggestions. Under total relaxation, the hypnotherapist will speak to your subconscious mind and implant constructive suggestions about changing your eating habits and improving your exercise regime, both of which will lead to long term weight loss.
So if you have wondered how hypnosis works for weight loss, it simply speaks to your subconscious mind and updates your belief systems, just like updating a computer!