Hypnosis has been around for thousands of years. Many different cultures throughout history have used altered states of awareness for healing and human advancement.

It is an extraordinary quality of mental, physical and emotional relaxation on one level. On another it is a regular ocurrance that happens frequently throughout our daily lives. We are constantly experiencing different states of trance.

Although it is a subjective individual experience the attributes experienced by many are as follows.
During hypnosis our awareness, (consciousness) is expanded.This allows a higher state of mind, the subconscious and super conscious, (soul mind) to be operative. It is a regular natural state that is experienced commonly throughout the day. When engrossed in an activity, focus allows for the conscious mind,the part of our mind that is aware of our experience in the very moment,to be bypassed and an effortless flow state is achieved through the subconscious and super conscious mind. Fluent typing, driving without awareness of a journey and any other activity where a point is reached when the activity itself becomes effortless are all states of expanded awareness, hypnosis.

In the hypnotic state the receptive parts of the left and the right brain are divided. So much like a stereo system, the left side, the conscious mind,(the chatting analytical part)is turned down, letting the subconscious(the free flowing creative part)the right side become more prominent.
Consciousness never disappears in hypnosis. In the state of hypnosis the conscious mind relaxes, agreeably relinquishes it's hold and stands aside as an onlooker and can intervene whenever necessary.You are therefore always in control. You are always fully aware. You would never engage in any behaviour during hypnosis that is against your beliefs and values.

Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy is the use of the subconscious mind to allow a person to initiate change within themselves.
Cognitive traditional talk therapies work with the mind at a conscious level which can be an appropriate direction for many.
If a behavior has a subconscious need and drive then the behavior will remain in place and it will play out its desire's by repeating what the subconscious believes to be true. A trance state of the problem is then created .As an example a child whose father leaves her mother at a early age and moves out of the home can have the idea within her subconscious that men you love leave you. As the subconscious takes events and ideas literally it knows no right from wrong only what is, it will play out that idea twenty or thirty years later through constant sabotaging of relationships. The conscious awareness of the adult self is in conflict with what the child self believes to be true at the subconscious level, that men you love leave you, so find men that live up to that expectation, pick the best of the worst.
Hypnotherapy allows the re-educating of the subconscious mind by allowing past outdated beliefs and ideas to looked at, understood from an adult perspective and eradicated.
The subconscious is multifaceted and when engaged in it is highly suggestible. By giving the subconscious positive suggestion we are able to override negative ideas that have become part of a person's belief and value system. These ideas and beliefs can become a part of who we are. We can identify ourselves with them. When we become consciously aware of them we are able to seperate our thoughts and behaviors from ourselves and understand that, that is not who I am that's what I do. In doing so being able to embrace change.

By creating a pleasant trance using cognitive hypnotherapy you are able to be awakened from the negative trance that occurs while you are doing your problem.

History of Hypnosis
Hypnosis has been around for as along as humanity has been in existence. The Egyptians used trance states for healing and sleep temples in Ancient Greece were used for the same purpose.
During the middle ages reports of miraculous healings through touch and pray and suggestions given by healers for the sick to be well gave rise to the understanding of the power of the human mind to heal.

The Viennese doctor Franz Anton Mesmer developed the theory of “Magnetism” in the 18th Century. Mesmer believed that the planets had an influence on all of life through their magnetic effects on the “energy” which occupied all space. He was able to induce a trance like state in people and concluded that he himself must be a kind of magnet. “Animal Magnetism” was born out this idea. The French Royal Commission refused to accept Mesmer’s ideas due to the lack of scientific evidence. Hundreds of miraculous healings were accredited to a placebo effect. Science today accepts that Mesmers theory of people have electromagnetic influence as being true. The human aura, (our electromagnetic field) is what we are aware of today.

The English doctor James Braid coined the term “Hypnosis” after the Greek god of sleep
“Hypnos”. Braid along with James Esdaile use hypnosis for countless surgical procedure to induce analgesic,(pain control) for their patients. They experienced much success with their proven methods.

The arrival of the stage hypnotist in the early 20th Century through a dark cloud over the positive effects of hypnosis as a self-help and therapeutic aid. The grandiose and egotistical way in which hypnosis was and in some ways still is projected gave a much distorted view of hypnosis being a serious healing modality.

The British Medical Association endorsed the practice of hypnosis in Medical School education in 1955 and has since become a valuable addition to conventional medical treatment.

The conscious mind is the analytical part of our thinking that sorts, divides and reasons incoming information.It is the part of us that is aware of our behviour in the present moment as we focus on a point of our experience.The conscious mind is the foreground of our awareness.

The subconscious mind is the storehouse for all our learning and recall. It is also known as the feeling mind.It retains information in the background of our awareness.It knows no right from wrong. Its perception of reality is direct, unbiased and literal. It simply perceives, processes and reacts to what is. It is also the part of us that holds our greater potential as human beings.Stories of peolpe performing extraordinary feats of strength and courage come from their ability to tap into their subconscious mind in an instant. We only use a fraction of our mind power and when we are able to bypass any rational reasoning to obtaining a outcome and just do it, we are able to get ourselves out of the way.

The subconscious mind at an early age is easily impressionable as it is the hardware that becomes programmed by the parental voices, beliefs, ideas and values that others project on to us. The conscious reasoning of a child does not become active until the age of seven to ten years. When we clear the subconscious from any limiting ideas we become free to be more in a healthy flow of life.

"The subconscious" also regulates all automatic functioning within the body. It beats the heart, it blinks your eyes when you need fluid to release from your tear duct to keep your eyes moist. It heals wounds by activating the healing process within the body. By having direct access to the subconscious through hypnosis we are able to influence the healing mechanisms within the body.

This is our higher self. Our soul mind. It is the part of us that connects to the collective consciousness. Accessing the soul mind we are able to distinguish our soul contract and purpose. Through the super conscious we can see the bigger picture of life.

It is in the mind that we create our reality, our perceptions, beliefs and values. It is in the mind that we have the ability to change them.

Using hypnotherapy we can realize that we are responsible for our own realities and can choose to re-create our perceptions and beliefs to create a reality by choice, not mere acceptance of what we believe we must accept. This “consciousness of self” or awakening of awareness is one of the highest rewards of hypnotherapy.
We are able to touch and accept the inner child by releasing blockages to transform the creative vital force within the adult through hypnotic re-education.

Through the use of hypnotherapy and creative visualization we can create positive perceptions by recreating our attitudes in the now. Our present experiences are influenced by past memories contained in the subconscious mind. When we change the cognitive remembrance of these events, we also change our current attitudes, beliefs and motivations towards our current reality.

We can manifest a creative and successful present and future by viewing any negative childhood events from an adult perspective.Therefore changing any limiting views of old stored in our subconscious mind. As a child we could not choose the belief structure or conditioning we received from our parents, peers and environment. As adults, we have greater awareness thus giving choice to review or re-write past scripts and roles being played in the present. Re-creation is a dynamic process which works simply and gently to help one manifest a fulfilling present and future.

Conventional medicine always deals with the symptoms of an illness. Using the mind we can approach illness from a more holistic view. The illness process is evidence that something is amiss in the workings of the mind, and that is where the power to effect change resides. Dealing with symptoms is palliative rather than curative. Hypnosis and other healing modalities can allow us to deal with the emotional aspects to a person’s dis-ease. Integrating the mind lets healing take place on another level of being as appose to just on a physical.
Hypnotherapy makes no distinction between mind and body,between psyche and soma. It bridges the gap between psychology and psychiatry on one hand and medicine on the other. With hypnotherapy you can learn to influence the autonomic nervous system that are involved in the disease process-including psychosomatic illness. Psychosomatic simply means that the mind and body are one, and what affects one affects the other. As we are well aware that fear,nerves, worry and anger can and do cause physical symptoms.

When emotions such as fear and anger are expressed fully,either through being acted out or through conscious control, the body returns to balance. This release of emotional tension is called "catharasis" When emotions are not fully expressed it may become chronic, and the symptoms caused by the chemical reaction in the body may become chronic there too.

It is always important to work with all modalities of healing. Working with conventional medicine gives us a double edged sword to which we have greater leverage to assist in the healing process of the mind, body and spirit.

Please consult your doctor if you have a medical problem.

Further reading: How hypnosis can help with medical problems.

Pain is a label that is given to bodily sensations. Although it is an important signal that tells us there is something wrong in the body, it can be transcended by the mind applying a different meaning to the sensation.
Most of us have experienced a time when we had cut ourselves and not realized until we noticed the blood. Then came the pain. This happens because our conscious mind is bypassed. Using hypnosis we can bypass conscious awareness and control pain.

Using hypnosis we are able to manage pain through disrupting and redirecting the signals that travel through the nerves to the brain. This is extremely useful in helping with child birth. The birthing process is natural, and the body produces a vast amount of chemicals that are natural anesthesia. By relaxing into the process using hypnotic techniques women are able to let the body take over and do its natural thing. The use of hypnosis allows for a person to gain greater control over bodily sensations.

Pain of illness is a signal that something at another level needs to be addressed. It is extremely important to acknowledge the body’s signals.