Anger is a natural yet at times destructive emotion that every person experiences at some point in time. It can be brought on by a mere thought and can range from feelings of mild irritation to full blown rage.  Underlying most feelings of anger are feelings of disappointment and hurt.  Often, hurt is camouflaged as anger in people who believe that expressing their hurt, or admitting to having such feelings, makes them weak and ineffectual.

 Explosive Anger

Some people have a harder time dealing with anger than others. Some people are simply more “hot-headed” than others and become angry with very little provocation.  Because they already feel overwhelmed, it is very easy for them to be set off by things that to another person might be considered “small.”

 Passive Aggressive Anger

Others deal with anger by trying to suppress it.  They pretend that it doesn’t exist and re-focus their attention on something else.  Anger suppression is an extremely bad idea. It doesn’t work because the anger is still very much present and often comes out in other ways. Without an outlet, it turns inward and festers inside and can cause long term emotional damage.  It can also affect a person’s health.  Tell tale signs of anger suppression can be seen in passive-aggressive behaviors and in personalities marked by cynicism and hostility. Such people have a hard time forming lasting and fulfilling relationships.

Hypnosis For Anger Control

Hypnosis can help you take control of your emotions by addressing, resolving and then retraining the mind to perceive situations differently.  Hypnosis gives you a healthy outlet to process feelings.  During a session, we are able to identify root causes making it possible to alleviate feelings of hurt and rage.  Through specific techniques, you are able to communicate your needs without yelling or berating another person.  By asserting oneself in such a calming way the mind becomes more at ease as the physiologic responses to anger, namely the increased heart rate and the rush of adrenaline through the body are eliminated.

Dealing with anger takes time and training, but with consistent hypnosis and practice, you can reach your goals.  I like to give my clients tools to help them remain calm in any situation.  For example, you will be taught how to use self hypnosis and breathing as a means of bringing yourself to balance.

Anger management can indeed be a challenging proposition, but with Hypnotherapy you can make the process of learning to keep a cool head much easier.

Sources:

http://www.apa.org/topics/anger/control.aspx#

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anger_management

Me from the viewpoint of a child

Some of my funnest clients tend to be kids. This is a picture that one of my youngest clients drew for me.  It’s interesting to see how he views me. His mind has composed a picture that takes into account what he knows.  In his mind things like the magic are very much real.  That’s because young children do not fully know the difference between imagination and reality.  To him, I must be a magician because in his mind, I work magic.  He’s given me a magic hat and some kind of dress-like gown.  That’s probably something that he’s seen on Harry Potter.  Kids have amazing imaginations which make them great candidates for hypnosis.  For many children, correcting unwanted behavior at an early age can really give them an advantage in life.  My understanding is that his teacher said that whatever I had done had worked.  She could see the difference.

According to the National Cancer institute, “Obesity and physical inactivity may account for 25 to 30 percent of several major cancers.”  

When it comes to studying the effects of obesity, much is known about how being overweight can affect women, but very little is known about how it affects men.  One reason for this is that women tend to be over-represented in studies aimed at weight loss.  This may change in the future because the numbers of obese men have been increasing over the last decade.

In recent years, some obesity studies have discovered some disturbing facts about how obesity affects men.  Like their very heavy female counterparts, blood samples and stress tests showed that heavy men are less able to process carbohydrates.  They were even shown to have less stamina than women.

Men tend to accumulate fat in their upper bodies, where women tend to accumulate it in their hips and thighs. Think of the classic beer-bellied man as opposed to the pear-shaped woman.  Obesity related illnesses such as heart disease and type II diabetes tend to occur more in people whose weight distribution is more in the upper body region rather than the lower body.

Another fact uncovered in recent studies is that obese men tend to have lower testosterone levels than normal weight men.  In addition, having low testosterone levels is positively correlated with having type II diabetes.  Leading endocrinologists are now suggesting that all men with type II diabetes be screened for decreased testosterone levels.  Men who lost weight saw their testosterone levels return to normal.

Other effects of obesity on men include: erectile dysfunction, low sperm count, reduced sperm motility, benign prostatic hyperplasia (enlarged prostate,) and kidney stones.  The most surprising fact is that a whopping 2 out 3 adults (men and women) in the United States are at risk of getting and possibly dying from cancer because of their obesity.  Some of the most common cancers in men include liver, gallbladder, pancreas and gallbladder.

In addition to all of these physical effects, being obese also affects men’s self-esteem and potential for career advancement.  Data from recent studies show that, like women, overweight men tend to suffer confidence issues and are less likely to be hired or promoted than normal weight men.

For many, weight gain starts in the mind.  Food is often seen as a coping mechanism or as a source of comfort instead of fuel.  Hypnosis can help those suffering from negative eating patterns to stop overeating and start eating normal portions of food.  The best candidate for hypnosis is a person who is fully committed to creating change in their lives.  For an obese person, reaching ones natural weight is a process and that is completely acceptable.  The most important thing is that one reaches their goal in the time frame that is right for them.  Hypnosis can help make that a reality.   Call Now!

Sources:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20050711/severe-obesity-may-hit-men-harder

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/obesity

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36919773/ns/health-mens_health/t/obesity-tied-low-testosterone-men

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/41038.php

http://www.longwoods.com/content/22428

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/07/health/la-he-cancer-obesity-20110307

Doctors show asked me to do some weight loss hypnosis for their “6 different ways to lose weight” show.  They had me hypnotize Monica Martin, who explained that she was determined to slim down; her goal to lose 60 pounds.  Monica went into hypnosis beautifully and as you can tell in the footage, the experience was very relaxing and she felt safe.

I gave Monica suggestions to eat healthy, eat smaller portions, to exercise as well as to feel confident.  One of the things the show didn’t mention is that for issues such as weight loss, it is suggested to do a few sessions so that through repetition, the mind learns to think and behave like a slim person.  Monica’s first session gave her a powerful start to a better way of living.  She is serious about losing the weight and keeping it off and she looks forward to being able to fit comfortably in her clothes.  In fact, she has agreed to continue coming in for sessions so check back in to find out how she is doing.

I’m glad that The Doctors show successfully showed that hypnosis is valid for weight loss. In the same way that a computer has programs that either work or don’t work well, so do our subconscious minds.  Hypnosis give you the ability to comfortably and safely input new positive ways of thinking and behaving into your mind.  Imagine being able to do the things you’ve been wanting to do.  That is what hypnosis can help you do.
Sasha Carrion, Cht.

I love traveling to places during festivals because in my ever growing pursuit to understand people, I find that I get a better understanding of what is important to people by witnessing their rituals. I recently visited Tibet, timing my journey in order to experience their yogurt festival which for many Buddhist believers takes a religious tone. The Drepung Monastery in Lhasa created a huge Thankga, which in this case is a religious painting of the Buddha that is painted onto the side of a large hill. Devotees make their pilgrimages to see the painting, pray and give offerings.

Chinese officials had closed off the streets for blocks away so not only did we have to practically climb the hill to the Drepung monastery but we also had to do more walking than is normal to reach our destination. Because Lhasa is at a high elevation, there isn’t as much oxygen to breathe making the climb more difficult than normal and to boot; you really feel the sun’s rays. Most people have either a hat on or an umbrella. After taking hours to get to where we could witness the thankga, we started our descent. On the way down, we passed a scattering of tiny “hole in the wall” establishments that sold food. I knew I really needed to refuel. Even so, I was leery of what these little places offered. One thing for sure was that I wasn’t about to eat Yak meat since I don’t eat red meat. My guide assured me that he would order me a vegetarian bowl so I sat down next to everybody else and began to wait.

When my food arrived it was accompanied by a pair of chopsticks. I quickly explained, “I don’t know how to use chopsticks.” I had tried numerous times to use chopsticks in the past – including during a trip to Hong Kong many years earlier but I couldn’t quite get the hang of it, so I got used to politely asking for a fork. My request for a fork was met with a “There are no forks here and there are no western style restaurants close by.” This made sense since the monastery is on the fringes of the city. I sat there looking at my bowl. For a brief moment I thought, “Well, I guess I’ll have to wait to eat.” But then my very logical side kicked in reminding me that I had no more energy and that I still needed to get down from the hill.

At that moment, my mind went into survival mode – demonstrating to me that survival mode has a higher mental priority than negative belief mode. I automatically stopped telling myself that I did not have the ability to eat with chopsticks and replaced that idea with a new one: “If I don’t use these chopsticks, I am not going to eat. I need to eat. I have to eat.” There were no ifs ands or buts about it. “I can do this,” I told myself. It was almost as though a switch flipped to on in my head and even though I fumbled about clumsy with those chopsticks, I found myself beginning to have success in picking up veggies. One chopstick serving at a time, I ate all the vegetables and then started attacking the noodles. I couldn’t believe it. I could do it! I could use chopsticks. I had gone from never having been able to eat food using chopsticks to successfully making it happen.

Even though it might seem like a small thing, that day’s accomplishment reminded me of how important our mindsets are and how the past can keep us from moving forward if we let it. In my case, it took a moment of perceived urgency to stop being limited by the past.

Take what you can from this story and the next time the words “I can’t” pop into your mind, my suggestion is to rethink it. Just because something has happened a certain way in the past doesn’t mean that it has to happen the same way in the future. When the time is right and your mind is open to a new possibility, you will be able to break free from whatever pattern you have been experiencing and move into a place of “I can.” Take it from me… It feels much better there.

Sasha Carrion, Cht.

Not all stress is bad. In fact, in some situations, stress can be what causes you to take necessary action. For example, it can drive you to change your life for the better because you can no longer take being stressed out. The fight or flight response, or the stress response, is a biological survival mechanism that prepares you to take action in the presence of a perceived threat to your life and safety. Chemical reactions inside the body increase oxygen and nutrient flow to the muscles, speeding reaction time and increasing physical strength. This reaction is meant to last only as long as the threat exists. If it persists after the threat is past, or becomes a long term state for the body, then stress becomes bad and can be harmful to your health. Prolonged high levels of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol can cause changes that contribute to high blood pressure, storage of fat in the abdomen, certain cancers and etc. Everyone responds to stress differently. However, there are some tell-tale signals that your body sends that will let you know that something needs to change.

Aching Head and Body

One of the things that happens is that your muscles tighten in readiness for quick action, whether it is to flee from imminent danger or to stand and fight it off. When the body remains in constant readiness for action that never comes, the muscles form knots and tighten further, causing pain. That is why it is not uncommon for people to have neck, shoulder, back pain and headaches.

Sick To Your Stomach

Ranging from feeling like there are butterflies fluttering in your belly to feeling like you are going to throw up, feeling sick to your stomach is a common reaction to stress. This happens because as the body prepares to defend itself, it shunts nutrients and oxygen away from those areas not essential to that task. Blood and oxygen flow is slowed to the digestive system during times of high stress, leading to those ill feelings.

Others may make themselves sick to their stomachs by eating out of anxiety. Instead of seeing food as a source of energy, the mind starts to see it as a coping mechanism causing an increase in weight and a loss of self esteem.

Insomnia

The inability to get a good night’s sleep is another hallmark of high stress levels. Racing thoughts that run through your mind can keep you awake or cause you to awaken numerous times during the night. This can leave you feeling constantly tired and overwhelmed. Insomnia can also cause you to lose your focus as well as your ability to think clearly making you lose productivity and drive.

Muscle Tics

Those involuntary tics and twitches that you may feel in your muscles may also indicate stress. Like muscle aches, these tics are also related to your muscles staying in constant readiness to leap into action.

Short temper and Irritability

Do you find yourself snapping at your spouse for no reason? Having a short temper and feeling irritable is another indicator that you have too much stress in your life. This is a product of the high levels of adrenaline flowing through your body.

The above list is not inclusive of all of the symptoms of being over-stressed. It is just a list of the most common reactions people have. If you find that you are experiencing one of more of the above, you may want to consider doing something that will help you to relieve that stress. Hypnosis is often used with great success. During your hypnosis session, you’ll enter a highly relaxed state in which your mind is able to find solutions or at the very least, help you to cope better. Hypnosis gives you the ability to bring yourself to feeling calm and comfortable again.

To get help call: 310-720-7786

From time to time, I receive some of the most beautiful emails from my clients. Sometimes they are just a few short but utterly powerful sentences and other times, my clients go into details explaining all of what has transpired. A year or two after our initial sessions, they tell me of the changes that they’ve experienced and the long term positive effects that our sessions have had on them.

I think it’s important to note that some of these people are people who when they first walked in were hopeless because they doubted that they could reach their goal but were so desperate that they had to try hypnosis. I completely understand because I was at my wits end when I called to enquire about hypnosis. Now a hypnotherapist myself, it’s a wonderful thing to be able to help a person transform themselves into the person they want to be.

Recently, one of my clients outlined the different areas in his life that had improved. As he covered how things had changed for the better, I remembered our earlier sessions. This feeling of pride really set in because he had come so far. He had literally reached every long term goal that he had come in for a year and a half earlier. I have to say that it wasn’t hypnosis that made this a reality, it was him. Hypnosis merely helped him to tap into his power. I felt happy to know that in some way, I had contributed to his success.

From my hypnosis sessions, I have learned that, “Other’s people’s happiness can also make you happy!” Sasha Carrion, Cht.

Hypnobirthing refers to the use of hypnosis, most notably, self-hypnosis, during active labor as a means to achieve relaxation and pain relief. Actress Jessica Alba used this technique when she gave birth to her first child, daughter Honor Marie. She is due to give birth to her second child in the fall and she recently revealed that she’ll be using it again. Jessica says that using hypnosis during child birth is very relaxing, which makes for an easier labor experience. She describes it in this way: “It’s a relaxation technique that allows you to avoid going into panic mode and tightening up. If you are calm and relaxed, your body will just do what it has to do.” From her experience using it during her first labor, she goes on to say “I didn’t scream. The labor was more like meditation. I did Yoga breathing.” Her husband Cash, present for the birth, was surprised that she was so relaxed. “She didn’t make a sound,” he says. “It was amazing.”

Hypnosis during labor is not exactly a new technique. It had its inception during the start of the natural childbirth movement, first described by obstetrician Grantly Dick-Read in the 1930’s. “Natural childbirth” is simply the view that childbirth is a natural process that should be allowed to naturally progress as much as possible. This means using little to no pain medications or other medically intrusive treatments. One of the alternatives to pain medication suggested by Dr. Dick-Read and others was the use of hypnosis. Although much had been written about “natural child birth,” it wasn’t until the 1980’s that it gained traction.

Two important studies have validated the use of hypnosis during labor as a way of reducing pain and inducing relaxation in the expectant mother. The first is a 1993 study conducted by M.W. Jenkins and M. H. Pritchard entitled “Hypnosis: Practical Applications and Theoretical Considerations In Normal Labor.” This study showed that when hypnosis was used in conjunction with education regarding the childbirth experience, it made the labor period shorter and lessened the need for pain medication. The second study was published in the British Journal of Anaesthesea in 2004. It was conducted by A. M. Cyna, G.L. McAulliffe, and M. I. Andrew and it showed that hypnosis lessened the need for pain medication during labor. The reason that hypnosis may work to reduce pain and labor time is that it fosters a deep relaxation. The more relaxed the expectant mother is, the fewer the spasms of pain, and the easier the progression of labor becomes, culminating in the actual birthing.

Other applications of hypnosis in childbirth are to address past trauma and deep-seated fears associated with pregnancy and labor. These fears are often hidden in the subconscious mind where they provoke anxieties and other negative emotions. The source of these is often a mystery to the individual. In the hyper-suggestible state of hypnosis, the mind is extremely receptive to suggestions that the fears and anxieties be replaced by positive emotions and thoughts. Whether you call it hypnobirthing or some other term, there is a growing body of evidence that hypnosis during labor does make the birthing process less painful and easier. A less painful labor is less stressful and that means a happier, healthier newborn.

Sasha Carrion, Cht.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnotherapy_in_childbirth

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/27/fashion/thursdaystyles/27hypno.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_childbirthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Leclaire_O%27Neill

http://celebritybabies.people.com/2011/05/17/jessica-alba-how-hypnobirthing-helped-me/

http://rixarixa.blogspot.com/2008/07/jessica-alba-hypnobirthing.html

I work with several personal trainers – some of the best in helping their clients to shed stubborn pounds. These fitness professionals understand that for successful long-term weight loss to happen, an individual must combine regular exercise with healthy, balanced eating habits. They know that while they are able to help their clients get the best workouts, it is ultimately up to the client whether they are going to eat correctly or not.

Recently, I had the opportunity to give a presentation at the Easy Fitness gym located in Marina Del Rey (Yes, they also have a Santa Monica location). I’ve helped many of their clients with a variety of issue from smoking cessation to anxiety eating. My main focus was on explaining how eating sugar affects us on all levels and why it can be so difficult to stop.

When eating is done for comfort or as a reward instead of for maximizing health, it can develop an unhealthy pattern that the mind constantly tries to replay. Our minds like patterns, so it is important to be aware when a negative one is playing out. This would be evidenced by your behavior; such as eating an entire half-gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream when you feel upset.
Making things worse, sugar has a physical addictive component to it which is not unlike that seen in heroine. It stimulates the pleasure centers of our brain making you want more to just feel good. For these reasons, I often find myself using hypnosis to help people stop being addicted to sweets. In the process, my clients usually find themselves losing weight.

When I was done explaining sugar’s role in inhibiting weight loss, I hypnotized the group. Everybody laid down on their yoga mats and off they went into a very deep state of relaxation where their minds were highly suggestible to the healthy eating suggestions that I then gave them. I’m looking forward to hearing some feedback on their experience. By the time we were done, they were so relaxed that nobody said a peep! : )

Working out alone can only do so much if you are not making the right food choices. Hypnosis can make it easier. To learn more about my weight loss through hypnosis program visit my weight and sugar release page.

Hypnosis is a powerful tool that actors have been known to use to help them with various challenges. Hypnosis has been able to help Hollywood stop addictions such as smoking, lose weight, get past acting blocks and increase self-esteem.

One of the main reasons actors enjoy Hypnosis is because it helps them to detach themselves from the characters that they have played on either TV or the big screen. It is particularly important if the last role played was a very dark or negative role. This is because when a person acts, they literally put themselves in a kind of Hypnotic state in which they are able to channel the energy of that particular role. They both physically and emotionally become the character that they are playing. That is how they are able to make everything look so realistic. In their minds, it is. While this makes for great movies, an issue arises in the fact that everything you do has an effect on you. Often than not, the lines between an Actor’s identity and that of their character, often become blurry. Unbeknown to the public, this situation takes a toll on a person. It can cause all kinds of imbalances in a person’s behavior as well as their physical health. That is why Hypnosis is so highly sought after by Hollywood.

Hypnosis / Hypnotherapy allows actors to center themselves and tap into who they truly are so that they can detach themselves from their roles when they need to. It also gives them the control to easily enter into a Hypnotic Acting State which will allow them to give Oscar Winning performances. And for those who need to quickly move from one role to another, Hypnosis helps Actors to let go of their past role and move into their new one with ease.

Hypnosis also allows Actors to figure out who they are as opposed to who they are “supposed” to be. This allows them to keep themselves focused on their acting careers as well as on what makes them happy. There is a part of each and every person that knows all their problems and all their solutions. Hypnosis allows you to tap into that part of you.

Sasha Carrion, CHt keeps high standards of confidentiality so that all information is 100% confidential.