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by Valerie Grimes, CHt Clinical Hypnotist
How can someone truly enjoy their 50s and look forward to their 60s and beyond?
Some say it is the wisdom and experience gained that helps one find peace and enjoyment in the later years. Some say there are people that are just lucky and have a more positive attitude, but are the rest of us are worried about our health, finances, personal safety and wondering if we will find true love, and how to retire?
Did you know worry is a negative form of hypnosis? It persists and manifests without your conscious awareness. So, what is the opposite of worry? Perhaps it’s the excited anticipation of goodness, fun, and joy. A positive winning attitude others may call it. This attitude is what I have experienced for the past decade because of hypnosis. What was life like before that? Well, I just have to hint that the rug got pulled out from under me before I made the transformation.
But first what is hypnosis?
HOW HYPNOSIS WORKS: It is very similar to the state we are in when we are deeply engaged in something, like watching a movie, reading or cooking, we are conscious of our whereabouts, but we are not constantly thinking about stuff. In this state, we are relaxed physically and mentally and allowing our creative subconscious mind to create the experience or enhance it. Did you know the brain does not know the difference between something real and something you are imagining (like a movie or a book)? Think back to worry and how our thoughts often feel so real.
It is a state of mind (trance) where the subconscious is open to new ideas, concepts, images, and sensations that allow us to build new positive productive behaviors and beliefs. These new behaviors and beliefs move us forward easily with our goals, as opposed to consciously trying to do so which can be difficult.
Unfortunately, hypnosis is one of the most misunderstood and controversial methods of behavioral treatment. Most of the myths and misconceptions surrounding hypnotherapy stem from people’s ideas about stage hypnotism, which is essentially a theatrical performance that has little in common with bona fide clinical hypnosis.
More about hypnosis https://theflowcenter.com/how-hypnosis-works/
Now why did the rug get pulled out?
In 1996 I drank everyday. I didn’t realize why I was drinking or that it was even a problem. As a child, I had watched my father, the life of any party, drink scotch. High school lake parties were all about booze. Now, I owned the ad agency my dad started and it was customary to take clients to dinner and drink. I worked 12-hour days, often skipping lunch and fueling myself with coffee. In the ad world, our philosophy was client first and family/self second.
Read enough? When I found myself without a company in 2000, divorced and addicted to booze, a hypnotist found me. I was in the advertising business and she needed a brochure. After our project was complete, she encouraged me to come for several sessions. I agreed. First she worked on my recent stress and losses, other sessions addressed my addictive cycles and others my relationship with my father. Throughout the years I have returned to hypnosis for business success and to mend some heartaches.
The biggest influence hypnosis had on me was connecting me to my best self, the full potential self that got pushed away at 5 years old. From that ‘new best self’ perspective life is just more colorful, harmonious, happy and full of excited anticipation for goodness, health and prosperity. It’s become my normal.
Now it was not a quick fix, I have been in the field of hypnosis myself now for 16 years and return to my own hypnotist at least once a year to keep me on my beautiful golden life path. Do I sometimes worry, get angry, or become sad? Yes, I’m human, but those emotions are fleeting. Emotions are normal, however, it is the chronic ones that create hardships in our lives. Hypnosis helps to transform those chronic emotions and make space for something new.
Valerie Grimes, CHt Clinical Hypnotist
Valerie is a master at helping people overcome their negative belief systems, false opinions, and self-defeating habits that reside in their subconscious mind. Those blocks consistently sabotage people’s relationships, health, and opportunities for success in business and other important realms of their lives. She is a 2002 graduate of the Dallas Hypnosis Training Institute, and certified by the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners, and founder of The Flow Center in Dallas.
Previously she was the president of Alexander/Scot, Inc., a business-to-business advertising agency based in Dallas. She is also the author of Licking Honey Off A Razorblade, a book about alcohol dependency and how to overcome it with hypnosis. She is a Dallas native, mother of two, grandmother of four boys. You can reach Valerie at 972-974-2094 or valerie@theflowcenter.com.