Leila was a 32-year-old young woman when she first came to see me. She was dealing with migraines and didn’t know what to do. Even the medicine that she was prescribed for migraines wasn’t helping much.

Leila was a young mother who recently had her first baby, who was 1.5 years old at the time. She adored being a mom and was very happy to see her baby’s smiles. However, things quickly got stressful for her since she was juggling between work, chores around the home, and her baby. Her husband was helpful as much as he could, but he also was working long shifts.

When Leila had terrible headaches, she would call her mom or mother-in-law for babysitting. She would take some solo time in her room in the dark and watch TV as a distraction. That helped with lowering the intensity of the headaches.

As much as it was hard for her to admit, migraines were helpful for her because thanks to migraines she was able to get a much-needed break from her intense motherhood journey. 

Welcome to the world of physical ailments, where your body speaks louder than logic and even though you may try to suppress your emotions, you can’t suppress your body.

 

  

What is a physical ailment?

Physical ailment is a term that captures both physical illness and pain-related problems chronically.

Dictinoray.com describes physical ailment as “a physical disorder or illness, especially of a minor or chronic nature”.

Some examples of physical ailments can be obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, migraines, cerebrovascular diseases, chronic pain, autoimmune diseases, cancer or respiratory diseases.

 

 

What causes physical ailments?

If you take a moment and conduct a Google search about physical ailments, you will quickly realize that there is an emotional distress factor involved in physical ailments. 

In the article “Science-Supplement” which was published on Science.com, it’s stated that the emotional and mental problems behind the physical ailment are often far more concerning than the physical ailment itself. 

Often times it is found that the psychological state of these patients worsens the disease or the symptoms that they are feeling; making it even more difficult to heal.  

In the same article, the author mentions that in the Cornell Clinic, about 150 patients came to the clinic with the physical ailment complaint and interestingly, also had emotional issues going on in their lives: fear of disease, worry about their condition, unstable personality, grief, sexual issues, disease in a relative, doctor’s statements, financial worries, and unhappy marital situation.

That is to say, even though one may go to the doctor concerning a physical ailment, the physical problem may have an underlying cause, pointing out an emotional issue that needs just as much help.

 

 

How can hypnosis help with physical ailments?

The truth is, the symptoms of the physical ailment may mean much more than the pain. Hypnotherapy can help with dealing with the symptoms of the discomfort as well as addressing the main issue that may be causing the pain.

 

 

1.     Lowering anxiety of physical ailments with hypnosis 

When someone is living with chronic pain or disease, it’s very common for them to have anxiety. Anxiety is often caused by worrying if and when this pain will end, worrying about death or other sicknesses, or maybe because of the discomfort that is felt in the body. 

Problem is that anxiety exacerbates the discomfort that is felt. In other words, a toxic cycle starts to appear: pain leads to anxiety and anxiety leads to more pain.

Hypnosis helps with breaking the anxiety cycle by releasing unnecessary worries subconsciously. Additionally, hypnosis is a calm and relaxed state in which anxiety cannot exist. The powerful positive feeling can open the doors for retraining the mind to replace anxiety with a calm response.

 

 

2.     Regulating the nervous system with hypnosis

We now know that there is a very strong correlation between trauma and physical ailments. When someone experiences trauma, their sympathetic nervous system is activated which is the fight-flight-freeze response.  

Fight-flight-freeze is a very powerful reaction that is supposed to be employed only in the short term. However, when someone gets stuck in this reaction, that’s when they may start to experience emotional or physical difficulties. 

The decision to protect the mind and the body as well as to activate the fight-flight-freeze response is made unconsciously in the subconscious mind. Hypnotherapy can help with reversing this nervous system reaction and helping the person to operate from the parasympathetic nervous system: rest and digest.

Hypnosis is an excellent state to retrain the subconscious mind to acknowledge the safe environment the person is in now!

 

 

3.     Improving the mind-body connection with hypnosis 

Hypnosis is a subconscious therapy that reinforces the mind-body connection. What goes through the mind can affect the body and what goes through the body can affect the mind. Even though when dealing with a chronic condition, the body and mind may feel out of control, it is possible to reacquaintance the mind and the body. 

During hypnosis, with direct suggestions and imagery journeys, it is possible to direct the body toward healing and repair. The body is just the physical manifestation of the mind. When the mind feels in control, the body will follow too.

 

 

4.     Re-coding trauma with hypnosis

Often times physical ailments represent emotional trauma in disguise. Without working through the core issue, it may be challenging to heal completely.

Hypnotherapy offers great success in releasing the negative emotions and triggers attached to the trauma, making it possible to approach the trauma neutrally. Subconscious desensitization to events and triggers is a powerful hypnotic technique that can transform the trauma at its root.

  

 

5.     Improving lifestyle with hypnosis 

Lifestyle habits can affect physical ailments significantly as well. For example, eating and activity habits can worsen obesity, or smoking and alcohol habits can affect the organs negatively. Changing toxic lifestyle habits is key for long-term relief from the pain.

However, changing a day-to-day habit may not be as easy as one may think. Most of these habits have been a part of us for a long time. It may take time, effort and subconscious change to do it.

Hypnotherapy can help with rewiring the mind to be open to new positive habits. With the help of hypnosis, you can find the subconscious inner motivation to accomplish your new habits.

 

 

Final words

Living with a physical ailment may be more challenging than expected. As always, visiting your physician and making sure that you receive the necessary treatment is the first step to healing. If you find that you need more support and resolution to a deeper core issue, hypnotherapy can be just what you need towards your journey of healing!