{"id":9830,"date":"2022-12-21T15:53:28","date_gmt":"2022-12-21T15:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yogajournal.com\/?p=107582"},"modified":"2022-12-21T15:53:28","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T15:53:28","slug":"i-used-self-hypnosis-to-cure-my-insomnia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/21\/i-used-self-hypnosis-to-cure-my-insomnia\/","title":{"rendered":"I Used Self-Hypnosis to Cure My Insomnia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Insomnia is an eerie experience. As night falls, all the other apartments are dark, but in yours, a light burns and you are wide awake.<\/p>\n

All my life, I had slept instantly. Sleeplessness was new. It started with COVID-19. I had reason to worry. I\u2019m a heart transplant recipient prone to infections. I\u2019m also single with no family close by. When the virus was spreading like bushfire, nonstop chatter kicked off in my head: I\u2019ll never survive if I\u2019m infected.<\/em> Then my sister contracted the virus. She was in critical condition and I was on edge for three days and three nights. By the time she turned the corner, I had lost my sleep altogether.<\/p>\n

My cardiologist prescribed an anti-anxiety drug for a month. \u201cYou must sleep. Your heart needs rest,\u201d he said. After 30 nights of good sleep, I stopped taking the medicine and lay down expecting a miracle. But sleep did not come.<\/p>\n

I consulted a tele-therapist. \u201cThe pandemic has affected everyone,\u201d he said, and prescribed a tranquilizer for another 20 nights. When I discontinued that medicine, sleep anxiety ballooned inside me once again. I began to feel strange in the head.<\/p>\n

I had been trained in self-hypnotic meditation 26 years ago, and have used it when seeking answers to my problems\u2014often with surprising results. Frustrated with my condition, I decided to see if it would help me identify the root of the problem.<\/p>\n

What is self-hypnotic meditation?<\/h2>\n

Sigmund Freud, the \u201cfather of modern psychology,\u201d reasoned that emotional and psychological problems such as pain, depression, and anxiety often lay buried in the conflict between the conscious and unconscious mind. He used psychoanalysis<\/a> to bring what exists at the unconscious or subconscious level up to consciousness.<\/p>\n

In India, yogis were used to penetrating the unconscious mind long before Freud. They knew it was the repository of all our life events, memories, and emotions. My meditation teacher, Mohan Pawar, had trained me to meditate in 1996. He taught me how to hypnotize myself and recall the hurtful moments, responses, and frustrations in my life.<\/p>\n

Many people think of hypnosis as some sort of magic trick or side show. But the National Cancer Institute<\/a> defines hypnosis as \u201ca trance-like state in which a person becomes more aware and focused on particular thoughts, feelings, images, sensations, or behaviors.\u201d Hypnosis is a commonly used technique for pain relief, stress reduction, and anxiety. You will see it offered to help people quit smoking or lose weight. It can also help patients access repressed memories and traumas.<\/p>\n

A person under hypnosis may feel calm and relaxed. They may respond to suggestion more easily. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis because ultimately it is you who controls the process. No one can hypnotize you against your wishes, and you can come out of it at will.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you concentrate, you focus on your breath and relax your mind. If, in that state, you surrender yourself to the subconscious, and ask questions, it gives you the answers,\u201d my teacher said.<\/p>\n

How I used self-hypnotic meditation for insomnia<\/h2>\n

I lay down in Savasana (Corpse Pose), closed my eyes, and focused on my breath. Soon, I began to loosen and relax. As I meditated deeper and deeper, I experienced intense concentration for a while before entering a trance-like state. My mind had moved to a subtler plane where I was no longer aware of my physical body.<\/p>\n

In that state, I addressed my mind softly: \u201cYou hold all my memories secure with you. Please take me to the cause of my insomnia.\u201d For a while, there was complete silence; I don\u2019t know for how long, because time flies for me during meditation. As if searching on the internet, I could see my mind surfing, probing. I waited respectfully.<\/p>\n

The answer, when it came, knocked me down. I explicitly heard my mind tell me: \u201cYou\u2019ve kept yourself safe from the infection. So stop imagining and feeling anxious you\u2019ll catch Covid-19.\u201d As I heard those magic words, instant relief flooded me.<\/p>\n

I had suffered for 11 years. First with cancer, followed by chemotherapy-induced heart failure<\/a>. The transplant had given me respite from that harrowing existence. I dreaded falling ill again. At the conscious level, I could not recall when the niggling thought had sneaked itself into my subconscious and triggered insomnia, but my unconscious, in meditation, had ingeniously retrieved it. When I came out of my hypnotic state, I was at peace. I have slept well since.<\/p>\n

Viney Kerpal is a writer and former professor based in Pune, India.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

The science behind hypnosis<\/h2>\n

According to the Sleep Foundation<\/a>, hypnosis is a shift in consciousness wherein people are no longer aware of what\u2019s going on around them and seem to be in a kind of trance. You may appear to be asleep, but you are focused in a way that seems \u201czoned out.\u201d Under hypnosis, your brain function shifts so that you become more receptive to suggestion, but you\u2019re still able to control your decisions.<\/p>\n

While more studies are needed, research supports hypnosis<\/a> as a promising treatment for sleeplessness. You might think that it\u2019s the hypnosis itself that puts you to sleep. It\u2019s not. Instead, the process helps change thoughts or habits that interfere with your rest; it can also help you maintain better sleep habits. It can be combined with cognitive behavioral therapy or other treatments. The goal is to help you sleep better after hypnotherapy, not during a session.<\/p>\n

To begin a typical session, the hypnotherapist explains the processes. Then you\u2019ll be asked to visualize images or think relaxing thoughts as the hypnotherapist guides you on how to enhance your attention and deepen your focus. Once you are in the trance state, they can make suggestions to help address your insomnia. You may be encouraged to let go of anxiety about sleep or to adjust your sleep schedule. When it\u2019s time for your session to end, you are guided back to full wakefulness.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible for you to learn the technique, so you don\u2019t have to rely on someone else to hypnotize you. Self-hypnosis with a video or audio recording may help insomnia. A recent study that focused on menopausal women<\/a> found that self hypnosis helped them sleep more soundly.<\/p>\n

Self-guided meditation and hypnosis are generally safe, but if you have experienced trauma, these techniques should be done with a trained hypnotherapist or only if you\u2019ve mastered the technique with a qualified trainer.  \u2013-YJ Editors<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"I<\/figure>\n

Research shows that hypnotherapy can help break the cycle of sleeplessness.<\/p>\n

The post I Used Self-Hypnosis to Cure My Insomnia<\/a> appeared first on Yoga Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[37,35,36],"class_list":["post-9830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ayurveda","tag-blogs","tag-yoga","tag-yogacourseware"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}