Did you know that, including when we’re sleeping, per day we take approximately 20,000 breaths?
How many of those breaths are we really conscious of?
The human body is fascinating. We’re always breathing in and out on our behalf, keeping the heart beating as we live our day to day lives.
While under hypnosis, breathing becomes even more essential. It’s part of the enjoyment of a good session, helping your body to calm, to relax.
Mindful breathing after a hypnotherapy session can help extend the benefits that I have seen happen via sessions, and makes us more aware of our surroundings.
Let’s go further into the importance of breathing in and outside of hypnosis together.
Why Breathing Matters So Much for Hypnotherapy Sessions
An important part of the induction process of hypnosis is deep breathing. When we exhale, it’s natural to relax, because that’s our bodies’ natural response. Breathing deeply and slowing down the frequency of our breath helps calm our inner selves and shift our awareness and subconscious.
What about when we’re excited, scared, or full of energy? Of course, our breathing speeds up. When we control our breathing, we tell the body to slow down, like when we’re asleep. In hypnosis, slowed breathing is an indicator we’ve entered the hypnotic state.
When our breath is relaxed and rhythmic, without the need for us to focus on it and control its speed and frequency purposely, our mind has entered hypnosis. Concentrating on your breathing pattern creates an awareness of your internal experience, which is a key feature of hypnosis.
At the beginning of your hypnotherapy session, I will ask you to take several deep breaths to transition from the normal waking state and move into relaxation. By concentrating on your breathing, you become aware of your internal experience, a key aspect of your session. You won’t breathe the same as your next door neighbour, so do what is most comfortable for you. To help emphasize the change in your breathing pattern and strengthen your focus, it is best to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.
I will ask you to relax, breathe in and breathe out, and this is the most important thing I will ask of you. With each exhale, you will become more relaxed, and your unconscious mind will become more open to suggestion, where the benefits of hypnosis can start to take place.
How Mindful Breathing Can Help Outside of Hypnosis
We breathe. How much are you aware of your breath though? Mindful breathing allows you to pay attention to the sensation of your breath as it comes in and out of your body. Without trying to change it, take notice of your breath, especially how and where you feel it in your body.
Mindful breathing is deep breathing. It uses big breaths and controlling the length to achieve a desired outcome, such as falling asleep or reaching relaxation while in meditation or hypnosis.
The benefits of mindful breathing, outside of your hypnotherapy session, include:
- Pain relief
- Reduced stress
- Reduced anxiety
- Less negative thinking and negative self-talk
- Increased compassion and positive emotions
- Improved cognitive functions such as memory, attention, and focus
- Improved sleep
- Improved brain health
- Greater emotional regulation
- Do you need a minute to practice breath meditation at your desk at work?
- Mindfulness is a practice you can take literally anywhere.
In a hypnotherapy session, we experience all kinds of feelings and emotions; we are working towards healing ourselves. Thus, once the session is finished, we may feel a bit drained. We still have to do the work our hypnotherapy session has set us out to do.
However, we are still experiencing some of our symptoms from before the session, such as pain, whether it be emotional or physical.
Focusing on our breath takes us away from areas of pain. We disconnect from worrying stories we have told ourselves we associate with that pain.
Breathing matters because it teaches you how to observe your pain as a result of training yourself to pay attention, as you become present in the moment, not thinking of past or future.
Mindfulness is to see, notice qualities, not react, and be observant.
Detaching from the emotion of pain will reduce the sensation of discomfort.
I look forward to showing you more about how breathing truly matters during a hypnotherapy session. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
