| God and Self Hypnosis - Will Your Faith Be Stirred or Shaken Apart? by Forbes Robbins Blair Do you feel self hypnosis might cause you to slack on your work with the Holy Spirit or even eat into your prayer time? Is self hypnosis even important for people who are religious? I'm amazed at the numbers of religious people who have the wrong information about self hypnosis. One of my christian friends even said she didn't "need hypnosis" because she "solved her problems in life through prayer and the Holy Spirit" alone. She "feared for me" because my work as a clinical hypnotherapist would have me substitute "hypnosis for prayer - or even deny the power of the Divine." She compared using hypnosis to using Ouija boards. She simply didn't see how hypnosis and God could coexist. Hypnosis: What's the Truth Behind the Perceived Caricature? Because there's still so much mis- or non-information about the self hypnosis, there's a fog that surrounds it. Many people ignore the many studies about the benefits and soundness of self hypnosis, even though they come from many of the world's best medical institutes and universities. Here's what my studies of self hypnosis have shown:
thousands of solid studies done from all over the world dating back over more than one hundred years. In the last several decades more and more universities include courses in hypnosis. I've had many client referrals from noted psychologists and psychiatrists who felt that their patients would benefit greatly. Hypnosis will not "take you over." It helps you to focus your attention to create positive change with the help of your unconscious mind. It's not something supernatural. Is it mind control? No. During the whole procedure you'll have full awareness. In fact, often people feel as though they were not hypnotized. Some religious people become vague and circular in their smoke-filled arguments against self hypnosis. Instead of searching for good evidence against hypnosis, they protect their religious beliefs with emotion-filled attacks, half-baked arguments and fear. (Of course scientific hypnotherapy didn't exist when the sacred scriptures of the world religions were penned.) Do God and Hypnosis Mix? As a man with an abiding connection and faith in the Divine, I know that self hypnosis and God can coexist. Many of my negative feelings about my moral habits and challenges have been reconciled by using hypnosis-related techniques. Since hypnosis is used as a tool for change by millions, and God has encouraged us to try to reach and then maintain our goals, where's the problem? For more than five decades modern hypnosis has helped psychiatrists cure the mentally ill, medical doctors alleviate pain and the rest of us reduce our stress and overcome bad habits. I say let's keep all that going. When Does Hypnosis Need the Help of Spirit? There are times when no amount of hypnosis can surmount some problems. It's those time I turn to things like prayer combined with self hypnosis. And that's a powerful combination! Hypnosis and Spirit have much in common. When we pray earnestly we enter into an altered state of consciousness which is the same as certain levels of self hypnosis trance. But here's the difference: with prayer we hope to open up the line of communication with the Divine and invoke assistance -- whether for ourselves or for others. That's when hypnosis needs some help. The Hypnotic State v. Possession by Demons Some religious people wrongly conclude that even healthy people could be possessed or obsessed by demons. They worry that certain "forces" could "take over." But I can assure you that there are built-on subconscious mechanisms that prevent each of us from going against our built-in moral codes during the hypnotic state. There's no need to fear that the Boogie Man will gain entry into your soul through self hypnosis. That just will not happen, unless you have serious psychotic-schizophrenic tendencies. If it were me,and I was suffering from serious mental problems, I'd go to the mental health professional first and my spiritual counsellor next. I've been practicing self hypnosis and clinical hypnotherapy since the mid-1990s and I have never been possessed by demons. Nor have I seen any of my clients or self hypnosis-practicing friends suffer that way. In fact, hypnosis makes my prayer life more wonderful and effective. In Summary Self hypnosis is a gift from the Divine. It's a safe, easy and effective way to work on your challenges. It does not replace prayer or spiritual connection. The Divine wants us to become our best. And self hypnosis is a tool to get there. Self hypnosis and God both can balance our alignment and sense of wonder with all the possibilities of the now and the next. _________________________________________________________________________ +++ You may reprint this article if you include the resource box below... Visit his website and get a free hypnosis mp3 called "Healthy Choices, Healthy Body" by subscribing to his ISH Email Updates here: http://www.forbesrobbinsblair.com Forbes Robbins Blair is the author of three self-hypnosis books: the popular Instant Self-Hypnosis, The Self-Hypnosis Revolution and More Instant Self Hypnosis. He produces his own series of hypnosis audios. Mr. Blair works in private practice as a hypnotherapist and offers distance hypnosis (hypnosis-by-phone). |
copyright 2012 Forbes Robbins Blair |
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