Think Yourself Thin, See Yourself Slim: The Magic of Hypnosis
- By Z. Stanley
- Published 11/1/2008
- Wellness, Fitness and Diet
- Unrated
What would say if you could use the power of your own mind to create weight loss? No more weight loss books or diets. And more importantly, no feelings of guilt if you do indulge in the forbidden!
This is possible. It is possible to harness the power of your mind to think yourself thin. By seeing yourself slimmer and thinking thin, you are conditioning the subconscious mind to bring about a change in eating habits. That’s it – no trickery, no magic pills. Hypnosis is being used to demonstrate how an ability to see yourself as you want to be can be programmed and therefore, achieved. All you have to do is believe in yourself and that change is possible.
What’s the term that comes to mind when you try to squeeze into a dress for a date and you are unable to pull up the zipper or the buttons are so stretched, they could pop, you know you think "I'm so fat; I don’t want to be fat anymore" – the word fat needs to be eliminated from your vocabulary. Why? Because when you use the word fat, your subconscious mind thinks "okay, fat=cream cakes, chocolate etc." and so you have set up a negative thought process. On the other hand, "I want to be slimmer" is more positive because the subconscious mind now has to think "what is slim, slimmer=better food choices, exercise".
How many times have you eaten something fattening and thought "why did I eat that". With hypnosis you become more aware of what you eat. A mantra such as "I can take it or I can leave it but I'd rather leave it" and give you control. You have made the decision that you really don’t want to eat. It is about learning to listen to your body. What does your body crave. When pregnant, women give into their cravings because they feel the baby wants it. Watch children, they eat what they want when they want. They have not yet been conditioned to eat according to the clock until they go to school and then they learn responses to the bell. So we too are like Pavlov’s dogs (a scientist who conditioned dogs to saliva to the sound of the bell rather than food). Look out at week-ends and all the food service areas have lines of people waiting to eat between the hours of 12 – 2. Why? Because this is a common lunch hour for the majori
ty of 9 to 5 workers.
The aim of using hypnosis is to break the emotional connection with food. Part of this process is visualising yourself as you want to be – the seeing yourself slim. Thinking thin relates to the idea of thinking like a thin person – I can take it or leave and I’d rather leave it. Do I really want this now? Is it my mood? What caused my mood? So examining the emotion that drives the response to eat unconsciously.
The following little exercise is a great way to demonstrate to yourself about the power of your mind and how it can influence your choices.
Take a deep breath and hold for the mental count of 4 and release the breath. Do this 2 more times and gently close your eyes on the 3rd round.
Count down from 1 to 10.
Tense and release your muscles starting from your toes and feet and working up to the very top of your head.
Think the words "calm and relaxed".
Imagine a table full of all the foods and drinks you know are bad for you. Note the dullness of the foods – the various shades of brown.
Near to the table, there is an incinerator and it is on fire and ready for use.
Now thrown all the food and drink from the table into the incinerator – all the foods and drinks you know are bad for you.
When the table is clear, see all the foods you should be eating and notice the water – notice all the vibrant colours and feel the energy coming from these foods.
Now place a frame around the image and place a big tick beside it – this is a demonstration to your subconscious mind that these are foods that you now desire.
Now see yourself as you want to be – thinner, shapelier, looking fabulous.
Place this image beside the good foods.
Hold this image and where do you feel good about this image. Notice in your body – is it your head, your chest, your stomach and make the feeling bigger, brighter and full of colour.
Feel wonderful.
Count up from 10 to 1 and return to full awareness. Take a moment to fully orientate and take stock of the image of the good, colourful foods and water and that wonderful image of yourself as you can be, as you are becoming.
So think yourself thin and to see yourself slim, look to hypnosis to help you develop this image.
This is possible. It is possible to harness the power of your mind to think yourself thin. By seeing yourself slimmer and thinking thin, you are conditioning the subconscious mind to bring about a change in eating habits. That’s it – no trickery, no magic pills. Hypnosis is being used to demonstrate how an ability to see yourself as you want to be can be programmed and therefore, achieved. All you have to do is believe in yourself and that change is possible.
What’s the term that comes to mind when you try to squeeze into a dress for a date and you are unable to pull up the zipper or the buttons are so stretched, they could pop, you know you think "I'm so fat; I don’t want to be fat anymore" – the word fat needs to be eliminated from your vocabulary. Why? Because when you use the word fat, your subconscious mind thinks "okay, fat=cream cakes, chocolate etc." and so you have set up a negative thought process. On the other hand, "I want to be slimmer" is more positive because the subconscious mind now has to think "what is slim, slimmer=better food choices, exercise".
How many times have you eaten something fattening and thought "why did I eat that". With hypnosis you become more aware of what you eat. A mantra such as "I can take it or I can leave it but I'd rather leave it" and give you control. You have made the decision that you really don’t want to eat. It is about learning to listen to your body. What does your body crave. When pregnant, women give into their cravings because they feel the baby wants it. Watch children, they eat what they want when they want. They have not yet been conditioned to eat according to the clock until they go to school and then they learn responses to the bell. So we too are like Pavlov’s dogs (a scientist who conditioned dogs to saliva to the sound of the bell rather than food). Look out at week-ends and all the food service areas have lines of people waiting to eat between the hours of 12 – 2. Why? Because this is a common lunch hour for the majori
The aim of using hypnosis is to break the emotional connection with food. Part of this process is visualising yourself as you want to be – the seeing yourself slim. Thinking thin relates to the idea of thinking like a thin person – I can take it or leave and I’d rather leave it. Do I really want this now? Is it my mood? What caused my mood? So examining the emotion that drives the response to eat unconsciously.
The following little exercise is a great way to demonstrate to yourself about the power of your mind and how it can influence your choices.
Take a deep breath and hold for the mental count of 4 and release the breath. Do this 2 more times and gently close your eyes on the 3rd round.
Count down from 1 to 10.
Tense and release your muscles starting from your toes and feet and working up to the very top of your head.
Think the words "calm and relaxed".
Imagine a table full of all the foods and drinks you know are bad for you. Note the dullness of the foods – the various shades of brown.
Near to the table, there is an incinerator and it is on fire and ready for use.
Now thrown all the food and drink from the table into the incinerator – all the foods and drinks you know are bad for you.
When the table is clear, see all the foods you should be eating and notice the water – notice all the vibrant colours and feel the energy coming from these foods.
Now place a frame around the image and place a big tick beside it – this is a demonstration to your subconscious mind that these are foods that you now desire.
Now see yourself as you want to be – thinner, shapelier, looking fabulous.
Place this image beside the good foods.
Hold this image and where do you feel good about this image. Notice in your body – is it your head, your chest, your stomach and make the feeling bigger, brighter and full of colour.
Feel wonderful.
Count up from 10 to 1 and return to full awareness. Take a moment to fully orientate and take stock of the image of the good, colourful foods and water and that wonderful image of yourself as you can be, as you are becoming.
So think yourself thin and to see yourself slim, look to hypnosis to help you develop this image.
Z. Stanley
Zita Stanley is hypnotherapist/psychotherapist practising in Dublin and Portlaoise, Ireland. She has appeared on RTE (Irish television) and has been published in many newspapers and magazines. Visit www.ZitaStanley.com for more help and information.
View all articles by Z. Stanley