Pretend you or someone you know has a bad habit. A big bad monkey on your back. How did it get there? How did it start? Probably a combination of three things; emotions, authority figures, and repetition.

An example will help explain this.

Now, let’s pick a person for our example. How about you when you were 10-14 years old. And for this example, let’s use the habit of smoking.

So when you were around that age I think we can safely assume you were learning about life and how you fit into it. If you were like most kids, you weren’t as confident about yourself as you would be later in life.

Maybe you felt self-conscious, dependent on others, powerless, not good enough, or something like these. We’ll refer to this as feeling “bad”. Now, this does not necessarily mean you felt miserable, but did you feel as “good” as you wanted to feel? Did you feel as “good” as you believed other people felt?

Maybe, maybe not. If you sometimes felt “bad” you probably wanted to feel better, you wanted to feel “good”. What your mind would see as an answer to this problem would depend upon your experiences and life lessons up to that point. Right?

Experiences that teach you smoking is strong, capable, tough, independent, self-assured, unique, and feels “good”. Experiences that involve emotions, authority figures and repetition. Of course advertisements do this, so do parents and family members. Are these experiences repeated? Of course.

Your mind would develop a craving for the very thing it believes is in your best interest. The thing that will make you feel better. A craving that is a “feeling”, separate from a “knowing”.

Eventually you smoked your first cigarette, and DID feel better, sort of. You weren’t too good at smoking the first time. You had to practice to get good at it. And you did.

Life goes on and you continue practicing your smoking habit. Reinforcing the existing cravings and creating new ones. Like branches on the tree of the first craving.

A lot of people working to quit smoking have thought of these things. A lot have not. But, all of the people that have tried to quit smoking have used a lot of time thinking and analyzing their habit. Trying to argue themselves into quitting. But, you didn’t learn this habit by thinking and analyzing. Why would trying to quit smoking that way work?

It is a lot easier to quit smoking with the same methods you started smoking with. A “hypnotized” state of mind combined with emotions, authority figures and repetition. Often called modern hypnosis.

Technorati Tags: addiction, family, Fitness, health and wellness, hypnosis, quit smoking, smoking, tobacco

Since you may be thinking the same thing, let me point out a few things:

1. Hypnosis never removes choice.

You can’t be made to do something under hypnosis that you didn’t already want to do while fully awake. For proof, just ask yourself if you buy everything I offer. Probably not. Yet I’m the father of Hypnotic Writing. Obviously, you used your power of choice to buy or not, despite any “hypnosis” in my marketing.

2. Hypnosis is not evil.

It is used by dentists, doctors, and psychologists to help people get more of what they want out of life. It’s been sanctioned by the American Medical Association since the 1950s. Anyone still thinking hypnosis is evil is caught up in a cultural myth, which is a kind of trance all by itself.

So what is hypnosis?

My definition of hypnosis is anything that holds your attention. A good movie, or book, is a type of hypnosis. So is a good sales letter, or sales pitch, or infomercial. I’m not talking about manipulating minds, I’m talking about entertaining them.

* Britney Spears is pretty hypnotic. But not everyone buys her music. (I don’t.)

* Dan Brown, author of “The Da Vinci Code”, is pretty hypnotic. But not everyone buys his books. (I don’t.)

* Harry Potter has much of the world in a trance. But not everyone buys the books. (I don’t.)

Bottom-line: Hypnosis is just another tool. It does not control people and it does not give God-like powers to anyone. In marketing, it gives you an edge, but if you use it to try to sell a lousy product, it won’t help you at all.

Kevin Hogan, hypnosis trainer and author of several books, says, “Hypnosis makes life better in most every way. It gives a salesperson or marketer a decided advantage over the competition but not over the client.”

You want to learn hypnotic writing and hypnotic marketing because it helps you get and hold attention. It also makes you a much better communicator.

After all, if you aren’t getting attention, and you aren’t holding it, you aren’t doing any selling, are you?

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Healthy lifestyle trends are popping up in many areas of this country. Many restaurants are offering healthier alternatives, fast food restaurants are disclosing nutritional information and public schools are ripping out soda machines and replacing them with water machines. Attitudes toward exercise are getting more positive, diet has been replaced by the phrase “healthy lifestyle” and the word “organic” is now understood by many. America has spoken, it is time for a change of lifestyle!

American’s like to eat out but eating out does not have to mean sacrificing your health or diet. Wendy’s and Subway were some of the first fast food restaurants to offer healthy substitutions for children and adults. At Wendy’s a salad can replace fries for no extra charge. For a kid’s meal, parents can order their children a fruit cup and milk instead of fries and a soda. Subway also has raisins and apples in place of chips. Another chain is seeing their competitors success and making a change! Fatburger recently changed from vegetable oil to soy bean oil to fry their foods therefore reducing the amount of trans fat being served. Fatburger will also start using the leanest beef possible in all of their burgers and they are now offering a Boca patty (soy based meatless patty) substitute for all their burgers according to prleap.com. Even sit down restaurants such as Applebee’s are jumping on the band wagon by offering Weight Watcher friendly menu items.

In past years many chains such as McDonalds had the public guessing about nutritional content but after a large public out cry, fast food and sit down restaurants relented. Now the nutritional information can be found anywhere from their internet websites, pamphlets in the place, or on the actual container such as McDonald’s fries carton. There is no more guess work to be done, consumers know exactly what they are eating, no more mystery meat!

The public is not stopping there, they also pushed for healthy reform in America’s schools. During the 2006-2007 school year, every district in America had a goal to obtain. This goal was to implement a better nutrition and increase activity levels according to aappolicy.org, and nearly every school accomplished this. Soda machines, snack machine and pizza are gone in every American school. They have been replaced by water, granola and a salad bar. Kids can no longer sell junk food for clubs during school hours and all the cafeterias are required to serve balanced meals.

Organic has become a household name for many Americans. In the last ten years, local farmers have more than doubled. Organic products appeals to the new health conscious America on many levels. Consumers want to know where their food is coming form and if it has been chemically treated. When buying food from local farmers, it gives the consumer control and they can find out where the food has come from and what it has been exposed to. As a result many cities across America have local farmers markets which sell only organic foods.

Organic foods are also here to stay! In the last ten years, local farmers have more than doubled. Consumers want to know where their food is coming form and if it has been chemically treated. When buying food from local farmers, it gives the consumer control, they can find out where the food has come from and what it has been exposed to.

Many consumers are also adopting a new type of “diet” called flexitarianism according to CNN.com. Dietitians are defining these dieters as those who eat mainly fruits and vegetables but also eat protein but only three days per week such as chicken, lean beef and fish. It is a diet which is low in saturated fat and high in fiber. Those who follow this diet have lower risk of stroke, diabetes, and heart attack.

America is ready to make a stand. Obesity causes stress for individual families, the pubic and healthcare providers. Of course there will be those out there who love eating their greasy pizzas and triple Whoppers. But for those who do not want to gain hundreds of pounds, there are now options. People are now given the choice when the once did not have one and America responded and healthy living is taking over.

Technorati Tags: alternative, family, Fitness, hypnosis, self improvement, weight-loss

In my job, I’ve helped a lot of people quit smoking. And I’ve heard a lot of reasons why smoking is a good thing.

I’ve been told smoking sharpens your mind, relaxes you, calms you, keeps you from yelling at the kids (or spouse), tastes good with coffee, tastes better after a meal. In short, makes you feel “better”. (I always ask “better than what”?)

You don’t believe these reasons. Not really. If you did, you wouldn’t also want to quit smoking. Right? Actually you CAN have it both ways. You can believe your reasons to smoke at the same time you don’t believe them. It is the difference between ‘knowing’ something and ‘feeling’ something.

The obvious and overlooked part is you must have a strong reason to continue smoking or you would have already stopped. By the way, there is no law that says your reason to keep smoking has to make any logical sense. It rarely does.

You’ve probably already proven your reasons untrue. Smoking might taste better with coffee because the coffee taste on your tongue covers the bad taste of smoking???

And most of the time you’re AWARE it doesn’t make sense. That doesn’t change anything though, does it? Just one more log to toss on the fire of your motivation to quit. A fire that doesn’t have much chance against the ocean of your craving to smoke.

There are two important sides to this. The feeling that smoking will make you feel better and, the feeling you want to feel better than. That’s what needs to be changed.

If you’re thirsty you crave something to drink. If you’re hungry you crave food. If you feel bad (tired, stressed, overwhelmed, angry, lonely, whatever…) you want to feel good. And, whatever your mind has been taught feels good, you will crave.

This is simple explanation of a craving. Some smokers have more than one type of craving, the ‘first thing in the morning’ craving might feel different than the ‘on the phone’ craving.

So how to help this situation? I can spend a few articles explaining it (and I have, look for them) But, it comes down to changing the feelings, motivations and beliefs involved.

First, the bad feeling needs to be helped. If it’s about stress, get it managed, if it’s a difficult situation, do what you can to take care of it or get some help. If it’s a bad feeling you get that is beyond what the situation deserves, behavior modification might be what you need.

Second, the belief that smoking makes you feel good (it is often the mistaken, and understandable, belief that smoking equals being an adult, in control, strong, capable, etc…) The fact is, smoking is some plant leaf and chemicals wrapped in paper. The good feeling you’re looking for, and sometimes experience, is created by YOU. YOU make yourself feel better when you smoke. You can make yourself feel just as good when drinking a glass of water. If, your mind believes it.

And that’s the trick. Quit smoking is mainly about modifying behavior. That’s why the success rate of medication and nicotine replacement alone is so poor. The only current exception is Chantix and even Pfizer, the makers of Chantix, recommend behavior modification along with the medication.

Technorati Tags: addiction, family, Fitness, health and wellness, hypnosis, quit smoking, smoking, tobacco

Stress is a state of mind and the best way to combat stress and its effects on the mind is through relaxation. Stress can cause many problems such as concentration issues, lack of good judgment, negativity and lack of productivity as well as many health issues such as heart attacks and chronic headaches. The best way to combat these feelings and factors of stress is through relaxation. Relaxation takes as little as ten minutes a day and can be as simple as breathing exercises, or as challenging as a kick boxing class, the choice is yours.

Work, marriage and money are just a few things which can cause stress in peoples day to day lives. Often people get so busy and think they have no time to relax. They can also be fooled into thinking that they need to do something extreme or go someplace such as going on vacation to relax. These people are mistaken, relaxation can happen at home, in the office or while driving. The key is to train the mind to relax.

Finding the best method can be the hardest challenge on your road to relaxation. First you need to decide what sorts of things you enjoy. It could be a range of things such as surfing the web, reading, meditating or walking.

One of the best ways to relax is to escape to a different world, and since not all of us have passports, an easy way to do this is through music, reading and watching TV or movies. These visual stimulators offer a break from the boring day to day lives in which so many of us live. They each create an alternative world that is entirely your own.

Meditation can help you learn to control your body’s reaction to stress through reflection and deep breathing exercises. These techniques must be learned and practiced regularly to insure maximum results. You can achieve full relaxation through ten minutes of meditation, and most people have ten minutes to spare in their busy lives.

Other people prefer to hit the gym to relax. Some like to run, walk or lift weights. Others might prefer a cycling, kick boxing or tai chi class. Running and walking burn off excessive built up energy, however not everyone wants to run a marathon. For them there are other sorts of classes which sole purpose is relaxation such as yoga. Many people choose to skip the classes and gym all together and simply walk their dogs in the park.

The most important thing to remember when it comes to relaxation is practice. It is important to have patience! Listen to your mind and body, learn what is working for you and make note of what is not. Keep yourself motivated by remembering you are on your way to a happier and healthier lifestyle, also remember how good it feels to be doing something enjoyable.

Teaching your body something new is always a challenge, however once you get the hang of it, it is like riding a bike, your body won’t forget how. It is important to find an activity which you enjoy and know you will stick with, but you must make a conscious effort to remind and train your body to relax while performing this task. It may take time, but in the end the rewards will be fantastic for your mind, body and lifestyle.

Technorati Tags: addiction, family, Fitness, health fitness, health wellness, hypnosis, illness, quit smoking, stress, tobacco, treatments, weight-loss

Obesity in America is out of control. According to the CDC, in 2006 only four states had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. This trend is happening not only here in America, but abroad as well. People gain weight for many reasons. Often they do not know proper portions, enjoy snacking or have emotional attachments to food, or could suffer from a food addiction. Weight loss can be intimidating, especially if you have a significant amount of weight to lose. However, weight loss can be easily attained if you go about it the right way.

Everyone could benefit from knowing what a proper portion is. Every time you eat at a restaurant, you are greeted by large unrealistic portions. Take a “dinner salad” for example, it can contain two portions instead of the implied single portion. By eating more portions than you should can obviously cause you to gain weight.

Portions are out of control everywhere. No one knows what an ounce of chicken truly is, many put their trust in restaurants to give them proper portions, and sadly this does not happen often. The portions found at restaurants are grossly exaggerated, and now more than ever people are eating out which fuels this problem. This issue obviously causes you to gain weight.

People who are food addicts are usually completely out of control and unable to know if they are truly hungry or simply having a craving. Food addiction is an issue that is finally making its way into the forefront of weight gain. Often times, food addicts have become so because of a habit. Once you address this habit, you are able to regain control and focus this energy on something else such as weight loss and exercise. Unfortunately people who suffer from this have a hard time identifying this as the source of their weight gain. Unless you identify the problem you can not find a solution.

It is difficult to figure out why you over eat, make bad food choices or snack without help. Hypnosis has proven to be a highly effective tool in the battle against weight loss. Hypnosis is not a short term fix, many have experienced long term success because hypnosis deals with the actual triggers and attachments to food that could hold you back with other short term plans. It confronts food addiction head on by giving an answer to the “why am I eating so much” question that many food addicts deal with day in and day out. This treatment deals with all the behaviors you are unable to deal with through regular diet and exercise.

After your first session you will instantly feel rejuvenated and energized. Hypnosis helps you to crave other things such as exercise, healthy food and other activities. Your energy will return to allow you to find joy in new activities and hobbies. You will feel more happy and relaxed that you are doing something about your problem instead of doing nothing at all. You will no longer feel the need to eat unhealthy things and sit at home on the couch feeling helpless.

Think about how different you life will be, think of all the fun things you will be doing instead of eating and the new attitude you will have toward food and food choices. You need to find a plan that fits with you and your lifestyle. Don’t allow yourself to be one more in the obesity epidemic, be a better healthier you. There is no time like to present to make a decision to change you life.

Technorati Tags: alternative, family, Fitness, hypnosis, self improvement, weight-loss

Directed conversation is done to induce hypnosis in people. It is called a conversationally hypnosis. Yet, there is a difference between conventional hypnotism and conversational hypnosis. In the first one, there is an engagement between the hypnotist and the patient. The connection in this case is made directly as a casual interaction. It is so different from the other traditional lying-on-a-couch approach. The conversational hypnosis is appeared stronger and may be used successfully at dealing with some especial traumas. It is applied also, in difficult situations during the life.

Conversational Hypnosis - The Power of Communication

The idea behind conversational hypnosis is interaction, wherein the hypnotist encourages the client to reach a state of altered perception regarding the problem or situation of discussion. In other words, a hypnotist will strive to ask questions or make statements that drive the client to rethink his situation or the problem at hand thereby allowing alternative solutions or thoughts to remedy the situation.

This process can be summarized in three steps, as follows:

1. Affinity: initially, the hypnotist ought to gain the trust of the patient by listening to him and showing sympathy. As an example, if the patient was afraid of crowds and tries all his best to overcome it, the hypnotist ought to facilitate the situation and showing his understanding. He ought to see the situation exactly through the eyes of his patient.

2. Distraction: the step two is including the distraction of the customer’s mind. Some questions may be provided to occupy the mind of his customer to be stimulated to things. One of these questions is like: “Consider you become the only person of the Earth, what you see the matter be like?” This question refers to a simple way to share the customer his fear of crowds and his wish to be alone. The customer will see the full understanding from the hypnotist. The matter will look like opening a door in front of flowing thoughts, including the solution of the present problem.

3. Proposition - Once the client has considered other thoughts that are related to his problem (but not he problem itself) the hypnotist is free to introduce propositions to help the client deal with his situation. He may conclude his conversational hypnosis session with the crowd-fearing client by suggesting what the future might look like if he chooses to be more friendly to people. Conversely he may describe what might happen should the client cut himself off from people entirely.

Hypnosis’s conversation - a way without a train

Conversational hypnosis is about helping someone arrive at a certain conclusion and making positive decisions based in what he can visualize. It is a “getting-there” act that works only if the hypnotist and client are equally engaged. The discourse is the train ride, so to speak. The techniques involved are merely the elements in making progress possible.

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Quitting smoking is a task which smokers fear, however they know by quitting they will be healthier. Not only does smoking have an adverse effect on the body it can also cause many serious health problems such as heart disease, cancer and COPD. Both the smoker and their doctors should put tobacco secession at the top of their lists. Not only do doctors fear for their patients’ health, they fear what will happen should their patient need surgery.

Certain protocols are in place to help insure the patient’s safety during surgery. Some of the more common protocols are no food or water twelve hours before and take a shower to minimize the risk of infection. For smokers there is another requirement, no smoking at least two weeks before and two weeks after. Some surgeons may even ask the patient for as long as four weeks before and after the surgery.

According to Anesthesiologyinfo.com, smoking has many seriously concerning risks which can occur during surgery. Smoking increases carbon monoxide which attaches itself to hemoglobin in the blood, decreasing the amount of oxygen getting through the body. The nicotine will make the body need more oxygen which will put stress on the heart, lungs and body which is already under distress from the anesthesia. The heart will not function properly because of the increased carbon monoxide causing the blood to no circulate as it should.

The lungs also prone to collapse because the small airways do not function as they should because of smoke and nicotine. Smoking causes more mucus production and the lungs are not able to clear it as quickly as they should, making the patient more prone to serious lung infections such as pneumonia and chronic coughing. Bronchospsams and other infections in the lungs can be fatal and should be taken seriously. Smoking has been linked to dozens of other side effects, ranging from heart attacks to poor wound healing by as many as six times more in smokers versus non smokers.

Doctors want their patients to lead a healthier life and have a successful surgery, so generally surgeons and physicians ask their patients to quit for two weeks before and two weeks after surgery. Many surgeons have asked for as many as four weeks before and after to insure their patients are fit for surgery. However, ideally physicians and surgeons want their patients to make smoking secession a top priority.

Quitting has become much easier over the years, mostly because of the availability of treatments. Some of the more common are over the counter, such as the nicotine patch and gum. Others choose to try homeopathic treatments such as herbal remedies, acupuncture and hypnosis. Prescription drugs such as Zyban and Wellbutrin have gained popularity as well. Often treatments are combined so the patient can be as successful as possible.

The most important thing to do is talk with your physician and discuss your options and find out which plan will suit you best. Since there are many choices and options available to help you quit, there can be no more excuses. Do not wait until you need major surgery before trying to quit, quit before you get there.

Technorati Tags: addiction, family, Fitness, health fitness, health wellness, hypnosis, illness, quit smoking, stress, tobacco, treatments

Giving up smoking is notoriously difficult to do, so many people use stop smoking aids to try to make it a little bit easier. Many of these aids are available, including nicotine patches, nicotine gum, nicotine inhalers, pills, and homeopathic remedies.

When most people think about stop smoking aids, they think about the patch. The nicotine patch is a popular and well known stop smoking aid. It is available in most drugstores and was made with the intention of helping smokers quit smoking by lessening the discomfort they experience from withdrawal symptoms.

Many smokers suffer from withdrawal symptoms when they are quitting smoking. These symptoms may include things like headaches, cravings, tiredness, short tempers, and increased anxiety. Using a patch can help alleviate these symptoms, especially in controlling cravings. Nicotine patches can be used to deliver nicotine doses to those trying to stop smoking. To be effective, they must be used every day for about ninety days. Approximately twenty percent of dedicated quitters can stop smoking with the aid of a nicotine patch. Nicotine patches can cause skin irritation and difficulty sleeping. It is recommended that those trying to stop smoking also start therapy along with a nicotine patch to improve their odds of success.

Buproprion, or Zyban, is one drug many people use to help them quit smoking. This pill is an antidepressant and is actually used for people who are clinically depressed. It has been proven, however, that this pill will help people trying to quit smoking, because it helps to suppress withdrawal symptoms from nicotine. In some clinical studies, Zyban was twice as effective at helping stop smoking as the nicotine patch. In addition, you cannot become addicted to it, and it is easy to use. Although side effects may include insomnia and dry mouth, Zyban is worth trying.

Stop smoking aids include nicotine gum and nicotine inhalers. Nicotine gum helps smokers quit smoking by giving their mouths something to do. Many smokers who quit smoking end up gaining weight because they tend to eat more food or snacks in order to compensate for the lack of a cigarette. Nicotine gum, in this case, is most useful for those individuals who are scared to quit because they fear gaining weight. Nicotine gum also helps people get over their cravings during their withdrawal period, as smokers chew nicotine gum instead of smoking. Nicotine gum is best used for three months.

Nicotine inhalers are stop smoking aids that allow smokers to take a nicotine dose whenever they feel it’s necessary. The inhaler imitates the nicotine effects of smoking, and helps make quitting smoking easier for those trying to stop smoking. Throat and mouth irritation are some of the side effects.

It is important to remember, however, that stop smoking aids can only work when individuals want them to work. That is, individuals must be fully dedicated to quitting smoking. This inner drive and motivation is the only way smokers will be able to quit smoking. Though stop smoking aids such as nicotine patches, nicotine pills, nicotine gum, and nicotine inhalers can help smokers quit, nothing can help them quit permanently except willpower.

Technorati Tags: addiction, aids, cigarettes, hypnosis, nicotine, remedies, stop-smoking, stress, tobacco, zyban

For all the reasons people gain weight, there are just as many reasons to lose weight. According to the CDC, in 2006 only four states had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Obesity is at an all time high in America and beyond and the reasons for this epidemic are endless. There are many reasons people gain weight, it could be snacking, portion issues, or food addiction.

Snacking between meals is very common. Often people aren’t eating the right things at meal times, and become hungry quickly. You need to know what foods are good for you and why you are hungry in the first place. Some times people snack when they are not hungry, maybe because they are nervous, bored or stressed. It is important to address these issues before you can be successful in weight loss.

Snacking between meals can be another problem. Some people deal with their emotions by snacking. Think about times you may have been snacking, were you nervous, were you bored or maybe you were stressed. These emotional connections often cause you to turn to food and snack when you are not hungry. Once you learn to control these feelings and can identify the triggers associated with them, you will find weight loss easy to attain.

People who are food addicts are usually completely out of control and unable to know if they are truly hungry or simply having a craving. Food addiction is an issue that is finally making its way into the forefront of weight gain. Often times, food addicts have become so because of a habit. Once you address this habit, you are able to regain control and focus this energy on something else such as weight loss and exercise. Unfortunately people who suffer from this have a hard time identifying this as the source of their weight gain. Unless you identify the problem you can not find a solution.

There is good news when it comes to dealing with the battle of the bulge. Hypnosis has proven to be a highly effective tool. Hypnosis is not a short term fix, many have experienced long term success because hypnosis deals with the actual triggers and attachments to food that could hold you back with other short term plans. It is difficult to figure out why you over eat, make bad food choices or snack without help. Hypnosis can help with this. This treatment deals with all the behaviors you are unable to deal with through regular diet and exercise.

Hypnosis helps you to crave other things such as exercise, healthy food and other activities. You will notice your energy returning, you will feel more happy and relaxed that you are doing something about your problem instead of doing nothing at all. You will no longer feel the need to eat unhealthy things and sit at home on the couch. It is a wonderful feeling indeed.

Think about how different you life could be in just a few short sessions. Think of all the things you could be doing instead of eating. You need to find a pan that fits with you and your lifestyle. Don’t allow yourself to be one more in the obesity epidemic, be a better healthier you. There is no time like to present to make a decision to change you life. There are plans out there than can help you, make your choice.

Technorati Tags: alternative, family, Fitness, hypnosis, self improvement, weight-loss