The brain is like the hard drive of a computer, and much like a computer we have stored programs contained there. These ‘programs’ are constantly running, and are made up of our life experiences, belief systems, default behaviours and environmental factors. You could even say our soul behaviours are stored here.

Habits, feelings and thoughts are also like programs that are set to run almost automatically. Which is great when all is going fine, and those programmes are the ones we would choose to have, but not great if those habits are born of triggers such as anxiety, stress or traumatic events.

But there are ways to change the script on what programs the brain runs, as well as how therapeutic input can bring so many wonderful changes to our overall well-being.

In this the first article in our series ‘sacred therapies’, we will aim to show you some of those ways and also how they can help.

We start this week with hypnotherapy, how it works, and what type of things it can help with.

When in a hypnotic state, the brain is moved into a theta brain wave state, for the hypnotherapist to access and instruct the subconscious mind. In doing so, the conscious mind is allowed to be more like it would be in a dream state, or a hypnagogic state, which is that state where we are half awake and half asleep.

Children up to around the age of seven are in theta brain waves, which then become more fixed as Beta waves as we move into adulthood and is the main state of normal wakeful consciousness.

Hypnotherapy is like taking a jelly which has set, which has things in there that are unwanted, making it liquid again, removing the unwanted items, then resetting the jelly without any unwanted effects.

The person experiencing hypnotherapy will become unaware to a great extent of their environment, and focus solely on the voice of their therapist

To get technical for a moment, it’s an area in the brain called the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex which has been found to became less active in a hypnotic state, as this area is what helps people to stay vigilant about their external environment. So as this brain activity slows down, it allows for no distractions from the external world to disturb the session.

When the theta wave state is achieved, the therapist can get to work with suggestions to change habits, problems, reduce fears, or increase things like confidence. This is achieved through a process of steps.

There are many things that hypnotherapy can help with, and there are also various types of hypnotherapy, such as timeline regression, to go back in the person’s life to resolve something that is still affecting them, and even past life regression.

Another good thing to know is that if you want to change a behaviour or pattern of emotions, you have to sit with it 3 times, and then the brain begins to recognise it as important, and will offer that as the default over time. Hypnotherapy can be seen as a way to fast track this process whilst potentially removing any barriers to progress.

There are so many ways that hypnotherapy can bring balance, a sense of peace, removal of trauma and better habits, for lasting change and great ways to be for great spiritual well-being.

This is just one of the ways to achieve a healthy balanced mind-set