Several of my readers have expressed an interest in learning more about self-hypnosis. [disclosure I am a certified hypnotist] I will start with a caution. If you have a medical condition that you are seeing a doctor about you should read the following article Scientific American - The Truth and the Hype of Hypnosis and discuss with your doctor.

Lets start with what hypnosis is. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis and I like to use the phrase focused attention. The bottom line is a hypnotist cannot hypnotize anyone. If we could then I would become very rich by choosing 200+ people and sending them out to rob a bank, turn the money over to me and then having them forget about it. Instant Wealth.

A hypnotist is more like a coach who helps a person become hypnotized. The key ingredients are a pleasant voice, the ability to modulate pitch and inflection in their voice, the ability to form a bond of trust and rapport, and a practiced delivery. The rest is up to you. Some of us work better with a coach and others like to take care of it ourselves. That is simply a matter of choice.

Not everyone has the same ability to be hypnotized. Some people find it easy and in fact can enter it on their own easily by listening to music, reading, watching a movie or simply by relaxing while others find it difficult to get into a state of focused attention. It is an inherent ability and rarely changes with practice.

Self-hypnosis can be a great tool for aiding us in accomplishing goals by helping to stop our "yes, but" mind chatter and integrating our emotional and spiritual aspects with mental thinking about our goals. We can feel what it would be like for us as if the goal were already accomplished. That increases the likelihood of it actually happening and strengthening our persistence towards reaching the goal despite set backs.

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