Having lost my mom 10 years ago, growing and birthing two kids (6 & 3 yrs old), running a business for the last 9 years, and just plain getting older, I have progressively gained more and more weight. I was never an active athlete, and have always struggled with gaining weight. I know that I should dedicate more time to my own health and wellness, but I just couldn’t seem to find that time or make it a priority. Until I signed up for the weight management support from our hypnotherapist Taryna.
I have always loved using wine as my stress reliever…socially acceptable, makes me more funny and so much more easy-going, and takes the edge off. But the side effect of that choice is hard on my liver (which detoxifies my blood) and inevitable weight gain. Not to mention the shitty feeling I have the next day when I drink a little too much. The fact is, wine allows me to dissociate with reality, to stop thinking about my to-do list that’s playing on repeat. I have tried to stop this vicious cycle before, but without much success. If it wasn’t wine, it was replaced with chocolate. Or cookies. Or whatever possible thing I could find that would soothe these feelings of uneasiness.
Enter hypnotherapy. I had an open mind with the hopes of success when I tried my first session with Taryna. We chatted for the first half hour about the who/what/when/where/why’s of my stress-fueled wine addiction. This gave her the clarity she needed to formulate our game plan of what words and phrases she needed to use to replace my old habits and reformulate new ones that were health-enhancing. As I reclined the chair and prepared to begin, I wondered if this truly would have the desired effect I was hoping for, even though I wasn’t really sure of what that meant.
The start of the session is similar to a guided meditation…relaxing each part of your body individually, and building this relationship of trust with her voice. She asks you to envision different scenes of descending down stairs, entering beautiful gardens, gently gliding through still bodies of water…each session has been a little different. This is what feels like the gateway into my subconscious. Once we have arrived, the game plan shifts a bit and she begins implementing some of the phrases and ideas that we talked about in the first part of our session. At this point, I find myself drifting a bit…in and out of consciousness. The amazing thing about hypnotherapy is that my conscious brain doesn’t need to be present (so if I fall asleep, the work is still happening because it’s with my subconscious mind). And I record the sessions on my phone, so I can use these tools whenever I need to.
The most profound effect I have noticed is that I DON’T DRINK WINE ANYMORE. Just to clarify: I have drank wine since starting my hypnotherapy journey (I have had four sessions so far), but each time it is less and less desirable, and consistently a smaller amount. And I haven’t replaced it with chocolate, cookies or anything else! It is so bizarre. I don’t have this uneasy feeling inside anymore that needs wine salve…it just isn’t there. (Sidenote: I now can see how any addiction can be helped by hypnotherapy.) Last night at a restaurant, I decided to have a social glass of wine along with everyone else at our table. The result? I couldn’t even finish the glass. Like seriously. And I ordered salad instead of some other meal that would have left me feeling like I was in a food coma. Who IS this person??!!!
The major difference is that my new ‘program’ in my subconscious mind consists of making healthy choices for me, whatever way that shows up. Like also going to bed on time, instead of staying up late trying to finish things on my to-do list. Choosing healthy foods, exercise, mental health days, joyful activities, forgiveness for my parenting blunders, etc. are all part of this new program for me. My clothes are fitting better/looser, so I’m sure I have lost some weight (although I don’t weight myself). Am I where I want to be? Not yet, but I feel confident that I am on the right path of choosing health and wellness, using tools that will last a lifetime.