You Are What You Think
by Rita Milios, MSW
Most of us don't spend much time thinking about the way we think. But thinking is a habit, and the way we talk to ourselves in our minds is a habit. Bad habits, such as negative self-messages and put-downs, get bad results: low self-esteem, depression, lack of motivation. Good habits, such as talking to yourself in a positive way, focusing on positive thoughts, and being positive with other people, get good results: success, happiness, peace of mind.
Think Before You Speak
Start monitoring your inner dialogue. Write down each negative message that you notice over two or three days. Then, begin to consciously change those negative messages. Whenever you feel yourself starting to think a negative thought, STOP. Don't finish it. Change the thought a positive one before it leaves you.
Give Yourself a Mirror Pep Rally
Each morning, look at yourself in the mirror and say: "I am a positive person. I look for and see only the positive in every situation. I am thankful for the good that comes my way, and the lessons that I am allowed to learn."
Don't Worry
Like positive thinking, worrying is a habit, too - a bad habit. Here are some tips to help you reduce your worry time:
- Set aside one half hour each day to do all your worrying. During this half hour, worry to your heart's content, playing out all the possibilities to their ultimate catastrophe. But at any other time during the day, you must not indulge in worrying.
- Gradually reduce your worry-time. Start with a half hour a day. After a week, cut it down to twenty minutes, then ten minutes. Then eliminate your worry-time altogether.
- Create an imaginary "safe place" to contain your worries. Label three containers: Doubts, Fears and Worries. Whenever you have a doubt, a fear, or a worry, lift the lid on the appropriate jar and toss the feeling inside.
Rita Milios is a transformational psychotherapist, author and speaker
from Hudson, FL.
Can Hypnosis Make You Thin?
by Rita Milios, MSW
Tired of carrying around those extra twenty pounds? Sick and tired of diets that don?t work? Are you ready to shed that flab once and for all?
Hypnosis may be the answer for you.
But not if you're expecting miracles.
Hypnosis is not a magic bullet. It cannot make you stop craving potato chips or never feel hungry again. It can't make you exercise or make you like vegetables or make you do anything.
What, then, can hypnosis do that "will power" can't?
Hypnosis, a state of deep relaxation and intense mental focus, can help you "re-program" old attitudes and beliefs about eating. While in the state of hypnosis your subconscious (inner) mind is more available to you, more open to receive suggestions that will then become a part of those messages in the "back of your mind" that nudge you toward new behaviors. Like a modern day Jimminy Cricket, hypnotically implanted messages urge you to do the right thing - to follow through with the changes that you decided to make in your life.
Hypnotic messages that suggest new attitudes like "You eat small portions of food and feel completely satisfied. You eat only in response to your body's natural need for food as fuel" can help re-program bad eating habits. Repetition of such suggestions, especially if listened to regularly on a taped message, can boost your determination and enhance your conscious willpower.
Often, however, such messages alone are not enough. It takes a combination of behavioral modification (watching your diet, learning how to eat healthily, exercising regularly) and psychological education (understanding why you have certain eating patterns and how to change them) in order to achieve permanent weight loss. A good hypnotherapist will address these issues as well. Not only should you receive mental suggestions for behavioral and lifestyle changes, your hypnotherapist should explore with you any emotional connections to food and eating habits. Once you realize why you are eating when you are not hungry (and if we all ate only when we were hungry there would be no need for any weight loss programs) you can begin to change that behavior.
A good hypnotherapist will work with positive programming, using your own success to spur you on and not rely on "aversion therapy" or "negative conditioning" to achieve results. Suggestions that stress positive changes (looking the way you want to look, feeling the way you want to feel) and that increase self-esteem are always best.
Mental imagery is another important part of hypnosis. A hypnotherapist might lead you through an imaginary journey where picture yourself wearing a suit that you've grown out of. You might imagine the positive comments of your friends or co-workers. You would be encouraged to use all five senses in your imagery, fully immersing yourself in the imagined scene. Studies show that the more real you make such imageries, the more likely your results will match your mental "programming."
When used as a part of an overall program of behavioral modification and attitude adjustment, hypnosis can add the extra dimension that your weight loss program needs for long term success. While not magic, hypnosis can provide powerful tools to help you fight the battle of the bulge, tools that just may make the difference between success and failure.
Rita Milios, is a psychotherapist and writer residing in Hudson, FL.
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