5 Reasons I Use Hypnotherapy as an Entrepreneur (Plus An Easy Hypnosis How To)

Hypnosis is often misunderstood and misrepresented in media and entertainment. But in reality, it is a simple and powerful tool for self-development that can also help you as an entrepreneur. Let’s look at some of the myths surrounding hypnotherapy, how it works, and how it can help you as a business owner. Plus, I’ll share a simple hypnosis how to so you can get started using hypnosis techniques on your own!  

Hypnosis — Not As Seen On TV 

If everything you know about hypnotherapy or hypnosis is what you’ve learned from movies or television — and that would be totally understandable — you might be surprised by what you’re going to discover today! 

Unfortunately, the entertainment industry has portrayed hypnosis in an often unfavorable, and usually unrealistic way, creating misunderstanding and even fear about this incredibly useful and powerful therapeutic tool. 

Today, I hope to clear up some of the misconceptions about hypnosis and show you how hypnotherapy can be an amazing tool for personal growth, why it’s useful to you as a business owner, and how simple hypnosis techniques can bring calm, clarity, and confidence. 

Dispelling the Myths About Hypnotherapy

A lot of the fear about using hypnosis stems from the misconceptions about what it really is, so let’s start by clearing some of that up.  

1. You can’t be hypnotized against your will. Despite what we’ve been led to believe by that sneaky villainous snake Kaa from The Jungle Book, you cannot be hypnotized without your consent. 

2. When hypnotized, you can’t be convinced to do things that are against your will. Just as you can’t be hypnotized if you don’t want to be, once you are under hypnosis, you can’t be forced to do anything that is against your will. You do not lose control of yourself or your actions. It’s crucial to understand that your subconscious is designed to keep you safe, and it has your back. With an ethical, professional hypnotherapist, you’re going to know what’s happening at all times, you’ll feel fully in control, and you’ll feel completely safe.

3. Hypnosis is real; it’s not just a trick for entertainment. Hypnotherapy is very much a real and powerful therapeutic technique that has been in use since the late 18th century. This isn’t to suggest that ALL hypnotherapists are ethical and that you should believe the stage performances where people are made to cluck like chickens — you should be very skeptical of anything that makes hypnotherapy look like external mind control or something scary or dangerous. THAT version of hypnotherapy isn’t real. 
   
4. You don’t “feel” hypnotized, because it’s not a dramatically different state. Sometimes people say, It’s not working! because they’re expecting something more dramatic, like the scenes they’ve seen on TV. Yes, it is a shift in mental state. But in reality, being hypnotized just feels very natural and relaxing. And, yes, it’s still working.

What is Hypnotherapy + How Does Hypnosis Work?

So now that you know what it’s not, maybe you’re still wondering, What is hypnotherapy? How does hypnosis work? And how can it help me?

If you ask Google these questions, you’ll get a lot of answers. Some of them even seem to support the misconceptions we’ve already covered. 

The simple answer is that hypnosis is a technique for directly accessing your subconscious mind. Once you’ve created this access to your subconscious mind, you are able to make suggestions that in essence reprogram your thoughts towards whatever goal you have. Hypnotherapy is the process of using the state of hypnosis to help you achieve those goals. 

Hypnosis is a changed state of awareness and increased relaxation that allows for improved focus and concentration. Inside of this changed state, you feel deeply relaxed, calm, and focused. Hypnosis works by recruiting the subconscious mind inside of this deeply relaxed state to affect your conscious mind, your thinking, and your actions in your day to day life.

(See below for a simple hypnosis how to that will take you through easy hypnosis techniques you can do on your own.)

Understanding the power of the subconscious mind

In our daily lives, we often feel like we’re making fully conscious choices. This is why it can be so exasperating when we try to, say, change an unhealthy habit, and it feels like all the “willpower” in the world isn’t working. Why can’t I stop doing XYZ?? Why can’t I start doing ABC??

Here’s the thing we often don’t understand about how our minds work: our conscious choices are driven by deeply unconscious beliefs and ideas. So, for example, we might feel completely confused as to why we can’t make more money, even though we’re working super hard. But if you have an engrained subconscious belief that money is “the root of all evil” or that having money will make you a bad person — that subconscious belief will overpower your daily decisions.

This is why anything that you want to change or effect that is managed in some way by your mind can be helped with hypnotherapy — and yeah, that covers a LOT of stuff! Hypnotherapy has been used for pain management, and it’s even been successfully used as anesthetic during surgeries, childbirth, smoking cessation, weight loss, athletic performance, relief from anxiety and depression, addiction recovery, and so much more. 

I personally used one of the most popular hypnosis techniques called Hypnobirthing during labor with my second child, which allowed me to experience a drug-free water birth.

You’ve probably already experienced a type of hypnotic state

Sometimes people fear hypnosis is because they are not sure what it will feel like or what to expect, and it’s human nature to fear the unknown. The cool thing is that you’ve almost surely already experienced shallow hypnosis (sometimes called natural hypnosis), so you actually do already have an idea of what hypnosis feels like: as mentioned above, it feels like a state of deep relaxation and flow. 

Have you ever been engrossed in your favorite television series or a great movie? So much so that you lose track of time and forget all your worries? I mean, this is part of why we immerse ourselves in the stories in movies and on TV, isn’t it? To escape reality for a bit! This state of losing yourself in entertainment is a form of shallow hypnosis.

Hypnosis vs Meditation: What’s the Difference?

While hypnosis and meditation definitely share some similar qualities, they are not the same practice, and they’re used for different purposes.

Both meditation and hypnosis (self-induced or facilitated by a hypnotherapist) involve deep relaxation of the body and mind. Both can create changes in the brain. Both offer a state of suspended, calm consciousness.

Meditation is seen as a long-term practice where the “goal” is really to be present in a state of calm awareness. In a meditative state, both the conscious and the unconscious brain are activated. Over time, meditation works to change the brain and support overall mental wellbeing.

Hypnosis is often more specifically goal-oriented: you’re focusing on a specific issue you want to deal with, a specific outcome you’d like, or a specific type of healing. This is done by accessing the subconscious mind and influencing it with suggestion as a way to affect the conscious mind.

Meditative states are almost always self-induced, and there is a saying in the hypnotherapy certification world: All hypnosis is ultimately self-hypnosis. Why? Because even if a certified hypnotherapist is helping you into a hypnotic state, it’s only because you have given permission.

Hypnosis Near Me (Hint: It’s Always Nearby)

One of the great things about hypnotherapy and hypnosis techniques is that they can be done anytime, anywhere. With a basic hypnosis how to, you can do hypnosis techniques by yourself in your own home. You can go into a clinic and work with a professional hypnotherapist. And you can even do hypnotherapy online with a group or one-on-one with a clinical hypnotherapist.

So if you’ve Googled hypnosis near me and discovered that you live in an area where there might not be a lot of options for in-person facilitation, don’t worry. Hypnosis techniques can be just as effective online as they are in person, and they can be done in the comfort of your own home.

How Hypnotherapy Can Help You As An Entrepreneur 

Hypnosis techniques are a fantastic tool for business owners and entrepreneurs to help manage the everyday problems that might be holding you back from seeing the kind of success you want to see. 

Here are 5 main reasons I use hypnotherapy as a tool for personal growth and why I also find it to be a valuable practice to help me as a business owner.

1. Hypnotherapy reduces stress 

Being an entrepreneur is all sorts of stressful. Even when your systems and processes are automated and your evergreen funnel is built out and it’s all running smooth like buttah, you’ll still encounter stressful situations. Elevated stress hormones keep your mind in a problem-focused state, instead of a solution-focused state, hampering your ability to make the best business decisions. 

Even a brief 10-minute hypnotherapy session can reduce your anxiety and lower your stress hormones, putting you back in a solution-oriented state of mind. 

2. Hypnosis techniques can help you sleep more and better 

Entrepreneurs are naturally driven, hard-working people. Laziness never seems to be a problem in the world of business owners. If anything, we have to make ourselves STOP working so we don’t burn out. 

Even when we do manage to make time to sleep a full 7-9 hours a night, sometimes our brains just won’t calm down long enough for us to fall asleep. 

According to research from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, hypnotherapy sessions via audio recordings were found to help participants fall asleep faster and spend 80% more time in deep sleep. (source)

Deep sleep is critical for everyone to be at their best. Getting enough quality sleep strengthens memory, fortifies your immune system, and restores your energy so you can perform at your highest level. This is another area where you can use hypnotherapy for business success. 

3. Hypnotherapy can help you reframe and eliminate limiting beliefs 

You’re probably aware of, and likely use positive affirmations to help program your brain for success. Hypnosis takes that practice to a whole ‘nother level. Tapping into your subconscious mind with hypnosis makes replacing negative thought patterns with positive ones much easier and quicker and they are much more likely to stick. 

Hypnotherapists often use guided imagery and future pacing (also called mental rehearsal) to help their clients see themselves as having already achieved their goals. It’s one of the most powerful hypnosis techniques. When your subconscious mind believes something has already happened, it will give up on trying to convince you it can’t be done. 

4. Hypnotherapy can improve your mental health

Entrepreneurs have significantly higher rates of mental illness than the general population. A recent study found that 49 percent of entrepreneurs surveyed were dealing with some form of mental illness, such as depression, or disorders such as ADHD. 

Hypnosis techniques can be a useful part of a treatment plan for mental health issues. As hypnotherapy helps rewire neural pathways, it can shift your attention away from unfocused, depressive, or anxiety-ridden thoughts towards happier, more positive thought processes.

For example, it’s been suggested that anxiety is a negative form of self-hypnosis, so combatting it with hypnotherapy is one of the best ways to access and rewire the subconscious towards positive self-hypnosis instead.

5. Hypnotherapy for trauma and overcoming fear 

Unresolved trauma and fear can hold you back in life. Conquering these negative emotions can set you free to build the life of your dreams. 

For example, maybe because of a humiliating past experience you’re paralyzed by the idea of public speaking, but it’s a skill you really need to master to move to the next level in your business. Many people use hypnotherapy for trauma healing and find that it can be a powerful tool in overcoming your current fears.

One important note: While it’s definitely possible to use hypnotherapy for trauma healing, hypnosis is not a “quick-fix” for serious emotional issues. It takes time, and in this case, hypnotherapy makes an excellent companion for other work with mental health professionals who specialize in trauma.

3 Ways You Can Get Started With Hypnosis Today

Practice self-hypnosis (a quick hypnosis how to)  

The reality is that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. Remember, you can’t be hypnotized without your consent. Without the desire to be hypnotized, no one can force it on you! Professional hypnotherapists simply guide you through the process. 

If you want to try self-hypnosis completely on your own, here is a simple hypnosis how to that takes you through a process you can follow: 

• Step 1: Choose an affirmation. Keep it short and sweet, and stated in the positive. 
  For example: 
  I am a money magnet.  
  I completely love, honor and accept myself. 
  I am worthy of love. 

• Step 2: Close your eyes and take 4 deep breaths.

• Step 3: Clench all your muscles from head to toe. Hold this tension as you count to five, and then release and fully relax your body. 

• Step 4: Count down from 10 to 1 and repeat the phrase “I am going deeper and deeper” after each number. Do this slowly. You can also envision yourself walking down stairs as you do this. 

• Step 5: Repeat your affirmation at least 10 times – more if you have the time or desire. 

• Step 6: When you’re finished, and feel ready, take a deep breath and open up your eyes. 

Listen to a hypnosis recording or use a hypnosis app  

This is similar to pure self-hypnosis, but with an added layer of guidance that can be especially helpful for beginners. A recording or app to guide you through the entire process can help you get comfortable with the steps and help you relax fully into the experience.  

Work with a professional hypnotherapist 

As with all healing modalities, there can be a huge benefit to working with a trained professional.

If you do choose to work with a professional hypnotherapist, it’s vital that you work with someone you trust. Not only do you want to choose someone with the proper training and credentials, chances are someone you don’t fully trust will not even be able to hypnotize you. 

If you choose hypnotherapy for trauma healing, or some deeper, more intense issues, I definitely recommend working with a professional. Someone who can expertly guide you through your healing journey in a gentle, empathetic way is going to get you the best results.

Interested in a Hypnotherapy Certification?

If you’re interested in learning how to guide others in how to use hypnosis techniques for better mental health, better sleep, and improved wellbeing, then you might consider getting a hypnotherapy certification.

As a clinical hypnotherapist, you’ll have to skills to facilitate hypnosis sessions with clients. It’s a wonderful additional skill to have in your toolkit as a therapist, coach, or trainer.

When it comes to using hypnotherapy for business success, I’m excited to let you know that I’m currently in the process of getting certified as a clinical hypnotherapist through the Quantum Coaching Academy. I’m excited to add this mind-body practice to our development and self-care practices inside the Success with Soul Incubator!

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