The Effects of Hypnosis on Health and Healing

What positive effects does hypnosis have on physical health? There have been many studies done on the mind-body connection that suggest that it can actually have a profound effect on physical health.
When the mind is still, it has a direct effect on the body, and the mind is more open to suggestions. At this time it is then able to cooperate with positive images and suggestions that may enhance physical and emotional healing.
Research suggests that the positive physiological impact from deep relaxation may be due to its’ effect on a hormone called Cortisol. This hormone is released during the "fight or flight" response and is helpful during those times, but prolonged release during the response to everyday stress can slow healing and tissue repair and inhibit the immune system.
Hypnosis works on both the body and the mind, can ease stress, and promote a sense of tranquility, even during stressful situations. This process uses the "power of the mind" to help the body relax, heal, and maintain health. It can help create a balance of body, mind, and spirit.
Research has shown that deep relaxation, such as being in a "hypnotic state" can:

*Enhance sleep

*Reduce stress and anxiety

*Decrease blood glucose levels (especially helpful with diabetes)

*Decrease pain

*Decrease blood pressure

*Promote a sense of well-being

*Enhance ability to deal with stressful situations

*Enhance self-confidence

*Enhance overall quality of life

*Enhance physical and emotional healing

*Slow down a busy, racing mind

*Reduce the need for certain medications

The following is one of my favorite examples of the power of hypnosis in utilizing the mind/body connection for healing:

Several years before I became a hypnotherapist, my sister had a bone marrow transplant (1987). Before the transplant, she was taught visualization and a form of self hypnosis by a nurse. This nurse told her to imagine the chemotherapy drug as "pac-men" swimming through her bloodstream and eating all the "bad cells." This was my first introduction to hypnosis.

During her stay at UCLA medical Center (about a month), she constantly visualized herself as healthy. She imagined that my bone marrow (I was her donor) was taking hold in her bones and creating her new immune system. She drew probably a thousand pages filled with little circles. She said that each circle represented a healthy white blood cell and she imagined them growing healthy and strong.

She is not only alive 21 years later, she never got what is called "graft versus host disease" (a type of rejection) that most people got back then (bone marrow transplants were still considered experimental in 1987), and she has had no complications and no sign of the leukemia that almost killed her at age 17.

Was it the medicine that cured her? Was it self hypnosis? Was it the visualizations and picture drawing? Was it her positive attitude and will to live that kept her alive against the odds? I believe that it was a combination of all of the above, but I also believe that if she had not learned self hypnosis and visualization, she may not be where she is today.

Hypnosis is a powerful tool for healing. It is a natural state of mind that most people go through several times a day. It is during these times that the subconscious mind is most susceptible to suggestions. A skilled hypnotherapist can induce the hypnotic state and help you "plant" seeds for healing.