The Embodied Brain: Hypnosis and the Gut

By William T Batten

Your brain exists outside your skull. Clusters of nerves are everywhere throughout your body. They speed up reactions, enhance motor control and even process emotions. The enteric nervous system lines the walls of your gut, playing a role in your daily experience and the hypnotic process.

This gut brain is a fascinating piece of your puzzle. How many common experiences come from here, from gut instincts to butterflies in the stomach? Our language is spot on here. It turns out that the enteric nervous system handles a lot of our unconscious thinking.

The question is: what kind of thinking goes on in the gut?

Some of it relates to balance and reflexes. The enteric nervous system halves the distance from your feet to your head brain, speeding up reactions. This might be why body language experts say that our legs are more honest than our faces. For example, if someone looks interested but their feet point towards the door, then they want to leave. Letting them go earns instant kudos.

The legs are also critical in the freeze, flight or fight response. When danger looms, either you go very still or you move very fast. You don't even consciously think about it.

But the gut brain does more than keep you safe and balanced. Despite having about 0.5% the number of neurons your head-brain does, it produces half your dopamine and almost all your serotonin. A happy, balanced stomach leads to a happy, balanced human.

If you want to enter a hypnotic trance, then don't neglect the abdomen. Deep diaphragmatic breathing massages your internal organs. Allow yourself to release any tension in your core muscles. Keep an upright and relaxed posture to improve the flow of nerve signals and nutrients.

You can do any of these within minutes. To improve your overall gut health; change what you put in it. Everyone is different but your mood depends on what you eat. Choose fresh, whole and nutritious ingredients. Include probiotics and prebiotics in your diet. If you want your brain to work for you, you have to look after it.

As a hypnotist, this gives you things to watch for. Do they breathe more in their chest or their abdomen? Notice the rate and depth of their breathing. Breath-rate and thought-rate influence each other - slowing one usually slows the other.

Hypnosis doesn't require a relaxed subject, though it certainly helps. This is one of the reasons why - when you think throughout your body, you want information to flow. Eliminating tension and keeping yourself aligned improves all of your bodily functions, including going into trances and doing amazing inner work.

The hypnotic arts are holistic. They draw on everything you have to offer and enhance everything inside of you. This is why it's one of the most effective therapies around. All of your problems arise from your body and mind, which means the solutions are hypnotic.

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