~* my adventures in the world of hypnosis, yoga and reiki *~
I'm not a huge fan of alternative treatments, but I'll try most (well, some, actually) things once.
Some methods, such as yoga or reiki, have really provided me with a higher level of energy, tranquility and a sense of peace. At least for a moment. While some other stuff I've tested have failed miserably...
[caption id="attachment_5955" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="a meditative state of mind"][/caption]
My sweet friend Noora often gives me reiki treatment. It's quite a magical thing actually. Mystical even. Noora says that every person has a kind of a... taste to them. Something she can feel during reiki. Something unique for each person.
For me, she says, it's a deep warmth. For someone else, it could be sweetness, etc.
I have absolutely no clue of what Noora does during reiki, but she sure does it well. Each reiki session relaxes me very, very deeply (and practically nothing relaxes me). The feeling also stays within me for the longest time.
Once, more than a decade ago, a friend recommended that I should try hypnosis to help me with an issue I was dealing with at the time. Against my better judgement I decided to give it a try. But what an utter and complete disaster it turned out to be...
I was in fact quite frightened of the whole idea of getting hypnotized, of giving this strange person some degree of access into my mind. And therefore, I just couldn't relax ONE BIT during the session.
My doctor, on the other hand, was resolute that everybody could be hypnotized and he didn't intend to fail with me.
So I lay there stiff and wide awake, while he was doing circular motions with his hand in front of my eyes, repeating something like "you're tired relaxed feeling light..." again and again with and annoyingly fake calm voice. After an hour or so, I noticed that his hand wasn't quite so stable anymore and his voice was growing rather irritated. While I still stared right back at him, totally alert.
I realised that he wouldn't stop before he could convince (at least) himself that he had been right. Everybody could be hypnotized.
I really wanted to go home. So I pretended to relax a bit and even closed my eyes for a moment.
Needless to say, my experience with hypnosis wasn't all that helpful.
Yoga, on the other hand, I love. The intense and sweaty kind. And it actually works - on me.
My current teacher Sofia, a professional dancer, knows the human body better than any teacher I've ever practised with. Sofia has also studied Buddhist texts quite extensively which enables her to intertwine the body and the mind - to work and to relax them both.
After a class of yoga with Sofia, my mind is light and positive. If a negative thought arises, I can kind of feel it from a distance and block it away, without even identifying what it was.
Normally I can do nothing of this kind - but after a powerful class with Sofia, it happens naturally.
Tabula rasa.
A happy one.
~*~