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Hypnosis for Menopause: Real Or Scam?
Wendy Lapidus-Saltz
August 01, 2008
If someone says he or she can stop menopause, and turn the
clock back 20 years, don't buy it. I know it's tempting. And
maybe a decade from now it will be possible, or even sooner.
But not just yet - no matter whether the product on offer is a
drug, vitamin supplement, or hypnosis session.
On the other hand, don't be too surprised if a hypnotist,
whose clients are primarily women forty and up, mentions
that hypnosis can relieve or alleviate many symptoms of
menopause, both physical and emotional.
It's true - if we are speaking about a reputable, competent
hypnotist (or hypnotherapist) with a deep understanding of
hypnotism, women, and menopause itself.
Because, as you know from experience, your mind can
absolutely affect your body, creating positive or negative
results. That mind-body connection is as strong as the mind
is powerful, and as convincing (especially to the person
thinking the thoughts).
Ever hear that your friend's dog has masses of fleas and
recall that you spent a few hours at that friend's house
yesterday, and upon thinking these thoughts, immediately
begin to itch wildly?
Ever play hooky from school with a fake stomach-ache - only to
start feeling achy or nauseous an hour or so later after
telling Mom you were sick?
The good news is that just as your subconscious mind can
create feelings of illness or pain, it can also help relieve
them.
Patients have endured injections without a single zing of
pain, and even undergone full surgeries without anaesthesia.
In April of 2008, a UK hypnotherapist named Alex Lenkei
hypnotized himself to go through an 83-minute arm surgery
without anaesthesia, as reported in the Daily Mail, online
version.
He could hear the surgeons talking and even asked them
nonchalantly how things were going!
The notion of successful surgery with only the patient's
mind to create a numbing sensation can help you understand
how the mind can alleviate many uncomfortable menopausal
symptoms with hypnotism.
Which menopausal symptoms can hypnosis allay? My clients
have reported improvements in all of these:
1 - Hot flashes. Hypnotists experienced in menopausal concerns
can help you with hot flashes in two ways: by teaching you
to turn down the heat sensation on demand, and by helping
you reduce the stress that is partly culpable in creating
the flash (or flush).
2 - Negative mindset about the physical and emotional elements
of menopause and aging.
3 - Feelings of sadness, moodiness, lowered sense of self
worth.
4 - Lowered or nonexistent sex drive. Hypnosis is a great help
in increasing feelings of desire and also attractiveness if
the woman is willing. If her relationship is deeply
unsatisfactory in other ways, she may truly not be willing
to "want to want" sex with her partner.
Those issues will need to be dealt with first. Once
resolved, however, hypnotism can spice up a couple's sex
life with many positive side effects.
5 - Belief that she is no longer attractive or worthy of love,
affection, or attention.
6 - Weight gain. In the first place, menopause need not cause
weight gain at all. Any weight-creeping can be alleviated
with exercise if caught immediately. And hypnosis is often a
powerful partner in a weight-loss program for weight
watchers of any gender or age.
Hypnosis can serve as a strong motivator of exercise, a very
strong factor in how easily, quickly and permanently weight
can be lost.
7 - Stress. In and of itself, stress is a great problem in
contemporary life. We have accepted it as a given,
aggrandized it ("I'm so stressed because I'm the only one
who can do my job!")
8 - And there are probably others. If a symptom is connected
to the way one is thinking about herself or her
circumstances, and taking a relentless hopeless view,
hypnotism can be of help. It depends largely on the client's
willingness to allow the possibility and participate fully
and openly, even if not thoroughly convinced.
Naturally, results vary, hypnotherapists should be thought
of as adjunctive help and not as replacements for medical
doctors, and a client's own attitude and participation level
affects results.
More than three decades ago in the U.S., a popular TV
commercial carried the theme line "A mind is a terrible thing
to waste." That same thought applies here.
The mind, conscious and especially subconscious, functions
as interpreter of experience and decision maker (among other
roles). Use it to create unlimited potential for yourself in
the areas of your own choosing, but please don't waste it.
©2008 by Wendy Lapidus-Saltz. All rights reserved.
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