We all have habits or things we want to improve or change. The motivation behind this urning is usually us wanting to improve something about ourselves, hoping this outcome will bring us joy in some way.
Some folks want to change important things such as smoking which can cause us and those around us death, others want something less quantifiable like getting up in the morning with a feeling of bliss.
But why can’t we simply make these changes on out own? Knowing these changes will bring us health, more money and usually improve or lives, yet we still fight this block that we hold on to.
Often times we deem ourselves as lazy or think we are lacking structure, but the truth is our hardship in regard to changing, is due to neural plasticity in the brain, which is the brains ability to change by creating or deviating neural pathways.
We spend decades in the same routines, same thought patterns, we have the same dreams and hopes for years, these all form pathways in our brain. We usually are not even cognitive of these habits and are in a ‘reaction form’ of living. Most people aren’t aware that they aren’t aware,they ate something until after the fact, because they were in a routine. This is your neural pathways taking over for you.
When we think about our brain, think about an ice berg and at the top, just that tip sticking out of the water is our conscious brain, then there are two more layers under the water, those areas are what is truly keeping the iceberg afloat. This is your unconscious and subconscious. This is where we need to do the work in order to change those pathways.
Let’s break this down; the subconscious is the part of the consciousness that you cannot directly access or not in focal awareness. The unconscious is not easily available for introspection and includes thought process, memory, affect and motivation. The two are similar but yet different.
Hypnosis works with both, but the major focus is on your unconscious. Both have deep seeded neural pathways that must be addressed in order to truly change. Can you do this on your own, YES!, but it does take a huge load of determination and as we know our determination ebbs and flows. Motivation takes a large amount of energy to keep up, for anyone. Think of hypnosis as an assistant to helping you bypass the lows.
But how does hypnosis work to change the neural pathways? When your brain is in a hypnotic state, your unconscious is easily accessed and your true desires can replace the old pathways. This only works if it is something you truly want. For example, if someone comes to me and says their spouse really wants them to quit smoking, but they like it, then it is not going to work long term.
Now, if someone comes in and has a true desire to quit, it can be as easy as one session. (please note: the withdraws will still happen, but your determination not to act is what propels you to not give in to them).
So what is a bad habit? Simply stated, a bad habit is anything we deem in our life that is holding us back from our true potential. In order to reach our best life, sometimes we need assistance with changing this habit. But if you have had a life long monkey on your back and are honestly motivated to change, then hypnosis can assist you. Contact me if you have other questions about long lasting changes.
