Let alone being able to move to Los Angeles from another country and trying to settle down, I didn’t realize how much stress and pressure I was creating within my mind and body while studying hard to get my master’s degree. Then this rough journey was followed by looking for jobs continuously and working in positions that weren’t exactly the best fit for me. Especially looking for a dream job for a while in the highly competitive marketing industry had been especially stressful. Constant thoughts of “is it because I am not qualified enough?” “is it because I don’t have a big network here?” and so many other doubts accompanied me as the days went by. As a result, for the first time in my life, I started biting my nails.

Sound familiar? These are some of the stressful times that many 20-somethings are experiencing nowadays. That was me at the time or maybe it is you right now. Understandably, not everybody will end up with a “nail-biting” habit but many find themselves dealing with high levels of anxiety, eating problems, increased fears or even physical problems that are caused by high levels of stress.

What is nail-biting a sign of?

Nail-biting usually signals a nervous reaction or not being able to deal with stress effectively. It is usually an unconscious habit where people find themselves picking on their nails as they go by their day. Some people pick on their nails out of boredom or under high pressure and anxiety. It becomes a coping mechanism with these powerful emotions.

Nail-biting was absolutely not the best presentation for me because as a woman I cared about how my hands look but also it also gave me a really unprofessional appearance during job interviews and networking events. It was a nervous response to my thoughts as I was joining one-on-one interviews. I was stuck with 2 problems: I was trying really hard to find my dream job and I was constantly reminded of my stress by this new nail-biting habit. As I was looking for ways to improve and stop my nail-biting, I tried so many things (bitter nail polish, rubber band, meditation, getting manicures more often) and I wasn’t able to get a permanent result. Along the way, I heard about self-hypnosis and it transformed my life in every possible aspect including my work life and nail-biting habit!

I found out about a self-hypnosis class at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute which I later came to find out that is the only accredited college of hypnotherapy in the US. Looking for ways to improve myself and having nothing to lose, I immediately decided on joining.

What does Self-Hypnosis feel like?

In the class, we rehearsed self-hypnosis and learned a lot of details. During the self-hypnosis, I was very calm and relaxed physically and mentally. It felt like I was deeply focused on my goals and intentions. I was able to monitor my thoughts and lead my mind to a space where I could give myself “suggestions”. “Suggestion” is the term that hypnotherapists usually use to replace ‘positive affirmations to lead you towards your goal’.

Can you hypnotize yourself?

As I practiced more, I learned that the true gift of self-hypnosis comes from conditioning yourself to the state of hypnosis. I also learned that hypnosis is nothing but a very focused state of awareness when you can actually tune in to your subconscious mind rather than ignoring it as we all do in our daily life. Slowly, but persistently, I did self-hypnosis every single day for about 2 months. I realized that I was building up my confidence again and I was able to take more courageous actions. In about 2 months, I was free from this habit of nail-biting which interrupted my success.

As I learned more about hypnosis and self-hypnosis, I also transformed mentally and started tuning in with myself and my unique values. In time, when I realized that I have so much power over my mind and body, I can actually change negatives in my life into positives, I asked myself “What else can I use this power in my life?”. I became more curious about hypnosis and hypnotherapy. Eventually, I joined a 1-year program about hypnotherapy and I started helping people change their lives just like I did to myself!

What is Self-Hypnosis really?

Self-hypnosis is a different form of hypnosis that you perform on yourself daily in order to achieve your targeted goals such as decreasing your fear/phobia, stopping bad habits like nail-biting, increasing your motivation, managing your physical pain easier or even eating healthier.

The main difference between hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis is that during hetero-hypnosis, the person is guided to a relaxed feeling of hypnosis, and, on the contrary, in self-hypnosis, the person regulates his/her thinking patterns and takes himself/herself down the path to hypnosis. In other words, during self-hypnosis, your conscious mind is more awake to lead you down to the specific state.

What is the difference between Self-Hypnosis and Meditation?

During self-hypnosis, the mind is in a state that is very similar to meditation. However, unlike meditation, it is done to achieve a specific goal. It actually helps many mind-wanderers like me to organize thoughts. For example, before I tried self-hypnosis, I had been doing Kundalini Yoga for quite a while and I always found that the biggest challenge was keeping my focus on a certain “thing” such as breathing, thought, candlelight, etc. During self-hypnosis, because the mind is busy with leading you, it is really hard to wander off to unrelated topics such as laundry, work, food, to-do list, etc.

Who can benefit from Self-Hypnosis?

Many people can benefit from self-hypnosis as long as they can rationalize the problem that has been going on. It can help with almost anything but, the moment that you are not being objective towards yourself and your issues is the moment you won’t be able to see the benefits anymore. This is why not everyone and every area can be helped with self-hypnosis. Other than this exception, it may also help ease symptoms for almost anything. For example, for someone who has a fear of flying, it can help manage the anxiety that comes along during flying or before the flight.

I found out that the most important reason as to why many people fail to succeed with self-hypnosis is consistency. It requires daily practice and consistency. Think about conditioning your mind to a couple of cue words that will signal you that it’s time to relax and let go. It would take time, right? It is important to give yourself and your mind enough time for this conditioning process. It’s a matter of having 15 minutes a day for yourself.  

How does Self-Hypnosis work?

Following the class I attended, I started by picking the 2 cue words that sound and feel positive to me. The first step is teaching yourself how to relax by following the same keywords. By giving positive suggestions to myself and repeating them multiple times until I could almost feel the suggestions, I started the healing process. As I got comfortable, I switched to using my imagination to accomplish my goal to stop my nail-biting such as imagining my hands manicured beautifully with fun jewelry on it. The more positive emotions you can trigger and create, the higher the success rate will be.  

Final words…

All-in-all, with the simple steps of self-hypnosis, I transformed myself from believing that hypnosis is nothing but mind control to becoming a hypnotherapist myself. How many beliefs that we all have that are not quite right? And how much do they affect our lives? It’s been a truly healing journey for my mind and body. Plus, now I have a positive impact on others’ lives by teaching them how to manage their very own mind!