Mindfulness Hypnotherapy

What is ‘Mindfulness Hypnotherapy’?

It is the blending of Mindfulness practice that is widely used in meditation and how it relates to hypnotherapy and use for therapeutic change.

Mindfulness has been described as ‘the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment to moment.’

It has long been of central importance in the Buddhist tradition and the methods of cultivating mindfulness through meditation have been in use within that tradition for two and a half thousand years, but is being embraced as a secular healing tool.

Until recently, mindfulness has been relatively unfamiliar in Western society, particularly within healthcare. The work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, however, has drawn on Buddhist teaching by offering it in such a way as to make it acceptable to the medical, psychological and scientific world. His major contribution has been the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programme.

Over the past twenty years, the approach has blossomed into a popular and validated means of alleviating suffering. Over two hundred and forty hospital clinics in the United States and abroad were reported to be offering stress reduction programmes based on mindfulness training by the late 1990s.

Recent studies and research into Mindfulness have shown how it can help with reducing stress, lowering blood pressure and is even being used in schools to help pupils to focus, learn and handle confrontation more effectively. Although historically meditation practices were associated with hippy movement and Buddhism, it is now being taken seriously and become more accessible through medical professionals, academics and therapists.

How Mindfulness Hypnotherapy help?

Brenda uses the principles of mindfulness as a tool to help her clients to be more ‘clear and present’. This means being aware and conscious and in the present moment. The approach blends years of practice and knowledge of how we create problems in the now by linking our past memories and significant emotional experience, how we imagine our futures and focus our minds.

Brenda teaches the principles of mindfulness to clients to help them to become consciously aware of how their thoughts affect their feelings and subsequent behaviours. When the client can be clear and present, they are able to perceive their problems with new insight — helping them to choose more empowering behaviours. The meditation practice is encouraged and Brenda has created many audio guides for her clients to use.