the 12 days of hypnosis

Old Chicago Roundup, image found at http://negative-g.com/old-chicago-amusement-park/reader-contribution/Old-Chicago-Round-up.jpg

Well, on Wednesday morning in the rain my beloved one and I packed up everything and left the rest on the curb in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Today it's Sunday and I'm just crawling out of the moving boxes and finding myself curiously back home in Minneapolis--like Dorothy making her way upon that big landing in Oz. Nervous and excited...and looking out for good witches, of course.

Which brings me to the reason for this entry. As I get sea legs and see what will become of this Integrative Nurse Coaching practice, I want to offer an opportunity for anyone who'd like to try

a hypnosis session (or several) this month, and I even thought up a little gimmick. Allow me to introduce...

the 12 days of hypnosis!

Starting next Saturday 12/12, for 12 days (12/12-12/23): hypnosis sessions for 12 dollars a pop.

I'm a Certified Practitioner, and big personal fan, of Ericksonian hypnosis. This type of hypnosis is specifically not intended to make you involuntarily lose control, or to make you do anything, for that matter. (For more, check out the What is Ericksonian hypnosis? blurb on the website: http://www.betsyranum.com/#!ericksonian-hypnosis/dkjqe.)

Together, we'll simply create the conditions to go to a deeper, quieter, and still part of yourself--at your own pace and on your own terms. Sometimes, it's just relaxing. Other times, people find a deeply relaxed place offers up images, or sensations, or a memory that holds a gentle answer or a clue to a current problem or question. The cool part is, you don't know until you try it!

So why try hypnosis? What might it be good for, or helpful with during these

12 days of hypnosis?

--stress (hypnosis tends to quiet down the nervous system)

--taking time for self-care during this notoriously busy and overwhelming time of year (deep relaxation also boosts the immune system)

--getting a new perspective on an old pattern or problem

--imagining a creative way to manage triggers (ex: family issues, money, food, etc.) that often come out in full force during the holiday season

--concrete things, like a gift idea

--deeper, intuitive wisdom about any idea, issue, concern

--cultivating gratitude (feels good, and improves health in myriad ways)

--i don't know what else..whatever you can imagine!

*An example from a self-hypnosis session I did in the stressed-out, wired last weeks before moving: a vivid memory came to me of being on the Roundup ride (anyone remember??) at the Minnesota State Fair when I was about nine. It was so vivid that my first thought was "this is so stressful...get me off of this ride!" Then I became curious: "why in the world did I used to like these rides so much?" As I recalled the sensation of spinning around in the air, centrifugal force pressing me to the wheel, I finally remembered: as a kid, I loooved these scary rides because they were "stressful." Being in that moment, the adrenaline rush, the fear, felt great! Slowly, the message of the memory became clear: this transition is stressful, there's no way around that. Rather than trying to get off the ride, the best way for me to get the most of this time is to just be in it, feel the exhiliration, and when it's time to get off, get off of it. As I scrambled to finish up work, say goodbye, organize logistics, dismantle our apartment and fit it in the back of a small truck, I often called up this image of being on the Roundup, and it helped to put the frenzy of the moment in perspective.*

If you, or anyone you know, wants to partake in these 12 days of hypnosis, contact me: 612.298.1339 or betsyranum@gmail.com. I can come to you, or you can come to a temporary, improvised, lovely office at my mom's house in southwest Minneapolis, tricked out with a little couch and makeshift noise-reduction for privacy. If you don't have the 12 dollars, holler anyway--it's just a gimmick, after all!

xo

betsy