Latest / The Hypnotist / Alcohol Hypnosis to Reduce Mindless or Emotional Drinking

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Alcohol Hypnosis to Reduce Mindless or Emotional Drinking · The Hypnotist

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  Welcome to The Hypnotist, the show that gives you inside
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  access to cutting edge hypnosis with real clients facing genuine
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  issues. Brought to you by the
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  hypnotherapist, demanded by celebrities, CEOs and even
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  royalty. Adam Cox.
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  These recordings took place live from Adam's clinic in London's
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  world famous Harley Street. This podcast features powerful
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  hypnosis, so do not listen while driving or operating machinery.
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  This recording is not suitable for those with epilepsy or
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  severe mental health issues, so get yourself comfortable and
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  enjoy today's episode of The Hypnotist.
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  Hi. It's Adam here, and you're about
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  to listen to a hypnosis session all about reducing alcohol,
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  particularly in two specific situations.
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  So we're not talking about social drinking and we're not
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  talking about celebratory drinking.
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  What we're talking about here is mindless drinking or emotional
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  drinking. And I would say that the average
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  person that drinks alcohol, this is about 70 or 80% or higher of
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  the kind of drinking that they're doing.
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  So mindless drinking is the opposite of mindful drinking.
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  Mindless is that you're watching TV, you're having a
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  conversation, and you're drinking without even realizing
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  that you're drinking. No attention to the taste or
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  really the experience. It's just happening on autopilot
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  and quite often you see people doing that.
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  They're lost in conversation or they're immersed in watching ATV
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  show, but the drink goes up to the lips and they're drinking
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  completely on autopilot. So mindless drinking could be a
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  way that people have excess alcohol and all of the
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  consequences, health and emotionally that that incurs.
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  And then the other side is emotional drinking, and it's
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  very different if you're enjoying a glass of wine or a
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  beer in good company on a good occasion, celebrating something
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  or just really enjoying the time.
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  But a lot of people use alcohol to deal with stress, to deal
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  with overwhelm, to deal with frustration.
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  If they're annoyed or angry or upset, then they'll have a drink
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  to kind of calm their nerves. Some people do it if they are
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  really nervous or anxious. And it's that Dutch courage.
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  The problem is, is that alcohol does kind of work in those kind
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  of situations. It just doesn't work for very
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  long. And that creates the very
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  foundation of an addictive loop because if it feels like it's
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  working, you're going to do it again when you're in a similar
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  situation. So if someone feels very, very
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  stressed, you know, and a couple of drinks helps, they're like,
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  oh, this works. And then that creates that
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  automatic habit or pattern in the future.
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  So this hypnosis session is designed to deal with that type
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  of drinking. So this is useful for the kind
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  of people that don't want to be teetotal.
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  It's not that they want to quit alcohol, they just want to drink
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  less. Now here's the interesting
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  thing. If you were to reduce the amount
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  of mindless drinking and emotional coping drinking and
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  keep the drinking that isn't that, well, actually your
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  enjoyment of drinking would remain the same for the drinking
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  that you have, but you would be losing the emotional drinking
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  and mindless drinking that isn't giving you that much pleasure
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  anyway. So you could reduce your amount
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  that you're drinking by about 70 or 80%, but not reduce the
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  pleasure connected to drinking at all.
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  Obviously, this session was created for a client that I was
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  working with, so some of the suggestions might be perfect for
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  them and not quite right for you.
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  So if you do like the idea of working with me directly, look
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  at the link in the description and you can schedule a free
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  consultation call so that we can explore what that would be like
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  to work together. For now though, find a quiet,
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  comfortable place where you won't be disturbed.
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  Relax and enjoy the session. Take a deep breath in, and as
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  you breathe in, breathe in that slow, long breath of relaxation.
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  And as you exhale, just allow any feelings of stress and
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  tension to slowly feel like it's leaving your body in your
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  outward breath, breathing in that relaxation.
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  And as you exhale, just allow your eyelids to close.
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  That's it. And the moment they close,
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  become aware that you can listen to the sound of my voice even
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  more intently. The deeper you breathe, the more
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  relaxed you become. And the more relaxed you become,
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  the deeper you breathe. As your body relaxes, your
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  imagination awakens and I wonder if you could imagine a trail
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  that leads to a secret garden. Just imagine a sunny day, blue
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  skies, a gentle breeze. Imagine perhaps a path that is
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  surrounded by trees seems to be taking you somewhere, somewhere
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  important and allow that trail to take you to a garden.
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  And in this garden is various vegetable patches for all
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  different things to grow. I want you to think of all the
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  seasons being condensed in this one garden of your imagination.
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  Some things are just seeds and other things are fully ripe,
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  ready to harvest. You intuitively know that if you
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  plant a pumpkin seed, only a pumpkin can grow.
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  That what you reap you will sow, and what you sow you will reap.
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  And I want you to get a sense that that is as true in your
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  life as it is in a garden. And I want you to imagine that
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  long, long ago, a seed was planted deep in the soil of your
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  unconscious mind, a seed of an idea that took root, that
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  perhaps alcohol or a glass of wine was useful, was necessary,
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  was helpful in certain situations.
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  And for many children, that seed is planted when they see someone
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  they love or respect drinking alcohol.
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  In those kind of situations, the seed is planted.
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  And maybe you know when that very first seed was planted for
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  you, or maybe you don't. Maybe the seed was planted
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  without you even knowing it. I want you to get a sense then.
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  Sometimes there is a big difference between our
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  intentions and the strategies we use to meet those intentions.
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  I want you to get a sense then your intentions all along have
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  been positive. Your mind, your unconscious, has
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  been trying to protect you, to help you.
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  They give you more good feelings and less bad ones.
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  But what if the intentions are wonderful and the strategy just
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  not quite right? As you stare into the soil of
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  that vegetable patch, I want you to think of a seed that was
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  planted perhaps 18 years ago. And maybe that was someone else
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  drinking more. And you feel perhaps a
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  expectation, an obligation, or just drifted into a habit of
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  drinking more and more. And I want you to think that
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  knowing what you now know, if you could go all the way back to
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  that moment, you might give yourself a boundary.
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  And that boundary probably wouldn't be no alcohol.
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  It would be alcohol when you desire it, perhaps alcohol when
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  it enhances inexperience, not just to fit in or keep up or
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  because it's there. Don't need to get a sense that a
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  boundary would have kept you in that perfect equilibrium of
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  moderation and not dependency. Stare into a different part of
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  that vegetable patch, see something growing, and think
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  back to three years ago at a time when you were going through
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  difficult moments. I want you to get a sense that
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  perhaps knowing what you now know, a boundary would also have
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  been useful. A boundary that would stop you
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  drinking to numb difficult emotions.
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  Perhaps it wouldn't mean that you stop drinking altogether,
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  but what if you refuse to drink? If it felt like it was self
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  medication, maybe that would be a useful boundary, but you get
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  to decide what boundaries would have been useful for your past
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  in order to figure out a useful boundary for you now as you
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  breathe in and breathe out there in that garden of your mind.
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  I want you to get a sense then if a boundary would have helped
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  18 years ago and a boundary would have helped three years
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  ago, it's highly probable that a boundary will help you right
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  now. And there's a Chinese proverb
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  the best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago, and the second
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  best time is right now. And if knowing what you now
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  know, you would have been forced or introduced a boundary in your
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  past and didn't, then it probably makes sense to
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  introduce a similar boundary now.
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  And just imagine the idea of a boundary being a seed that you
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  plant in that soil and imagine it taking root.
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  A new way to find the right balance for you and the future
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  you desire. I want you to get a feeling that
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  you're going deeper and deeper, relaxed.
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  And I want you to imagine that there is a chair, a comfortable
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  chair in that garden, the garden at the end of the trail.
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  Make yourself comfortable in that chair.
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  Maybe a comfy chair, declining chairs, something you can deeply
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  relax while looking at the incredible plants growing in
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  this garden of your mind. I want you to get a sense.
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  Then you're beginning to discover there's a new way, a
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  better way to honour those unconscious positive intentions.
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  You might find it easy now to recognize the difference between
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  drinking consciously and mindfully and drinking
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  automatically. Because when you are celebrating
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  with friends, laughing and connecting, or perhaps on a
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  special date night, feeling the magic or the connection of that
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  evening, or maybe when you're on a trip or a vacation, relaxing,
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  just enjoying the richness of life, having a glass of
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  Chardonnay becomes a conscious choice, a moment of joy and
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  presence that enhances your life.
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  Not to numb pain, not to regulate your emotions.
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  Because it consciously and discerningly adds value.
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  And that can feel good, and it can feel right.
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  Because it's a choice made with awareness and with love.
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  I'm talking about something on the other side of that boundary,
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  perhaps a familiar urge to drink, that habitual drinking,
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  autopilot drinking, perhaps from a need to numb, to escape or to
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  cope. I want you to get a feeling that
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  in those moments, just imagine finding it easy or at least
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  possible to pause, to breathe, to listen to your true needs.
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  I want you to get a centered in the same moments that you used
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  to drink. You realize that you have so
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  many beautiful options and alternatives.
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  I want you to imagine feeling that overwhelming sense of
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  stress or anxiety and feeling that you've got different
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  choices. I want you to imagine being in
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  the same situation that you would have drunk before, but
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  this time imagine stepping outside, feeling the fresh air
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  the sky wide above you, or listening to music that just
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  resonates with your frequency, your vibe, either at home on
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  speakers or through headphones, wherever you are.
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  What if you can find release at the elevation and the frequency
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  of sound and what it just wants? That works better than a glass
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  of wine ever would. And the more you practice this
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  pause, this loving reflection, the easier it becomes.
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  What if the autopilot of the past fades away, the automatic
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  drinking becomes a thing of the past and new autopilot responses
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  are introduced? Feel that you are activating
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  your neuroplasticity, your ability to form new neural
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  pathways or awaken old ones, the ones that know how to feel good
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  with no need for alcohol. What if your future is more
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  conscious, joyful celebration, discerning drinking of wine, not
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  dependent drinking of wine. Because you're not giving up
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  anything you truly love, you're protecting it, preserving it so
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  that sooner or later it will be the case that when you do drink
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  a glass of wine, it's part of something desirable, wonderful,
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  something that enhances your life, something chosen,
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  something that enriches your experience and you can honour
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  the intention behind. What you used to do what you
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  used to do. But what if you meet your real
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  needs with better strategies and gifts that you can give
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  yourself? Every healthy choice you make?
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  Maybe a long walk, time in fresh air, time spent with friends or
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  listening to music. I want you to feel that there
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  are so many different things that you can do that are ways to
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  regulate your emotions, to feel that you are being kind and
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  loving to yourself. Things that make you feel in
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  control. And I wonder if you might
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  already imagine, in the days and weeks ahead, a moment where you
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  lean into the emotion, to pause, to reflect, to choose
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  consciously an alternative. And you can enjoy wine when it
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  fits the moment. A celebration, a connection, a
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  memory in the making. The boundary is to protect you
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  from those mindless drinking. Not the mindful drinking, the
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  coping, the numbing, the distraction.
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  If it feels like you're doing it to self medicate, to numb, to
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  change your state rather than enhance it, consider it on the
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  other side of that boundary and you can picture that boundary
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  like a brick wall or an electrified fence or the other
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  side of a river that you can't reach.
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  Turn the metaphorical boundary into a physical boundary and
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  know what is on your side of the boundary that you want to keep
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  and what is on the other side. Then knowing what you now know
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  you feel is a better boundary to keep the pleasure and reduce
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  that mindless drinking that wasn't really helping anyway.
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  Because so many other things would work more effectively.
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  Because you have so many ways to care for yourself now, so many
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  ways to live fully and well. And each conscious choice
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  deepens your confidence, your joy, your sense of living with
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  heart and meaning. Because you are learning, you're
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  growing, and you are taking your life in a wonderful new
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  direction. The direction where you keep the
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  good stuff and enhance those things that were leading to
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  loops of dependency. As you think about your future,
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  look at these moments that would have led to a glass of wine or
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  even poured into a paper club as an opportunity to dry up old
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  streams and introduce new ones to reawaken the rivers in your
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  mind that enhance the quality of your life.
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  I want you to imagine leaving that comfy chair in that garden
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  of your mind and see that seed of an idea of a new boundary
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  already starting to sprout. And you will nurture this new
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  habit with sunshine and rainwater by taking the
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  opportunity to nurture this new boundary.
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  A delicate, vulnerable plant needs support.
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  And a delicate, vulnerable new habit needs your nurturing and
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  protection until it gets to a certain size that it doesn't
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  need protecting at all. It can just grow and grow until
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  that's just the way it is. You start to leave the garden
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  back down the trail. I want you to notice two or
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  three weeds and allow these weeds to represent something
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  from your past that is still connected to an emotion.
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  And imagine pulling these weeds out by the roots, and in doing
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  so feel that you can remember certain moments of your past
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  without being emotionally connected to them.
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  You retain the wisdom, but not the pain.
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  And you leave that garden, walking down the trail all the
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  way back to the here and the now.
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  So take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your
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  nose. Wiggle your fingers and wiggle
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  your toes. Connect and calibrate into the
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  here and the now. That's it.
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  As I now count from 1:00 to 10:00 to awaken you.
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  Starting to count 123 waking up 456 more alert 7-8.
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  Open your eyes. Open your eyes 910 Wide awake,
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  Wide awake. Wide awake.
• 26:40
  Thank you for listening to The Hypnotist with Adam Cox, the
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  show that gives you inside access to cutting edge hypnosis
• 26:47
  with real clients facing genuine issues.
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