Why is relaxation the core of hypnotherapy?

Author: 
Katin B. Imes, CCHT

If you are new to using hypnotherapy or self-hypnosis as a tool for improving your life and health, you may be wondering why the core of it all seems to revolve around relaxing and relieving stress and tension.

Most of the inductions (hypnosis sessions) that you can download online or on CD uses a progressive relaxation process to reach a deep state of trance. Many free downloadable sessions are only focused on deep relaxation and releasing stress and tension from around the body - and nothing else.

Why is that? In today's modern world we expect direct, efficient, cause-and-effect, software-controlled, exact science and results-driven approaches and methods. You may have a dozen issues you would like to address directly with hypnosis, why waste time on this basic relaxation stuff?

A good quote is from Dale Carnegie's book, "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living":

“Seventy per cent of all patients who come to physicians could cure themselves if they got rid of
their fears and worries.”

Stress and tension suck resources out of your body, mind and life. They tax your immune system, they shut down the frontal lobe of the brain (where we think), they invite and support disease of the body and mind. Hypnotherapists know that there isn't much capacity or energy available to make big changes in your health or life if stress and tension are dominating the days.

The simple process of relaxing deeply, connecting with the body and consciously releasing the built-up stresses and tensions takes only 20 minutes but it can rejuvenate you like a well-deserved vacation. The effectiveness increases over time as well: the more often you choose to relax and de-stress, the easier-faster-better the process gets.

Many health and life problems that are caused by stress and tension. Eliminate the stress and tension and those problems go away. Now, without those problems, and without the daily drain of the stress and tension, you have double the capacity and ability to deal with the problems that weren't based in stress and tension. Progress is usually quick and satisfying when you have the ability, energy, health and mind to solve problems and make progress.

When working with a professional hypnotherapist, then of course all kinds of new possibilities for amazing and seemingly magical things become possible after the mind and body are deeply relaxed. Relaxation is a key to opening doors to capability and capacity as well as a key to health.

And THAT'S why hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis starts with and revolves around relaxing deeply in both mind and body. Get good at relaxing, and you've got a power skill that will serve you for life.