It is likely that you yourself or someone close to you or someone you know suffers from allergies or asthma. There are more than 35 million such patients in America.
Allergic reactions are extremely diverse in form and severity “from a mild cold to acute urticaria. The breathing of an asthmatic is difficult, the chest is stuffed up, sometimes to such an extent that his life is in danger.
Allergens are so numerous and varied, and reactions are so individual, that it is difficult to suggest any standard method of self-hypnosis that is valid for any case.
The first step is to undergo a medical examination in order to learn as much as possible about your illness.
You can help yourself with self-hypnosis if you are advised to avoid contact with certain substances or animals. Self-hypnosis can help you relax and relieve some of the stress associated with painful reactions.
Milton Erickson helped his clients to look at old problems in a new way by offering to write down their difficulties and experiences caused by physical or psychological stress.
When expressing their thoughts in a trance state, clients were surprised to find that they themselves had discovered a way to solve their problem and thereby help themselves.

Diary

Keep records and monitor your condition. Is your allergy related to the season or is it triggered by certain actions and situations? When did the first signs of the disease appear and how did the development of the disease go over the years? Are there periods when you do not respond to any allergen provocations? Describe your most severe and mild allergic reactions. Ask yourself and write down as many questions as you can about your illness. Often such records help get rid of obsessive thoughts and illness. If something has escaped your memory, look for answers to your questions from family members and acquaintances who have known you for a long time. One can only marvel at how much they notice of what you did not pay attention to.
The diary will help you to know yourself, understand and accept your present state. The next step, of course, is to set yourself up to change the state with the help of self-hypnosis.

The difference between asthma and allergies

With a significant similarity of these diseases, it is necessary to dwell on the differences.
During an asthma attack, the airways are affected, which is accompanied by spasms of the larynx or bronchi, in severe cases life-threatening. Allergic reactions are painful and yet not as massive and dangerous to the body as asthma attacks.
As a result of their research, well-known therapists T.M. French and F. Alexander (1941) came to the conclusion that emotional causes may lie at the heart of asthma.
Asthma can often be caused by repressed emotions such as anger, longing, fear. Not released into the wild, they seem to “suffocate” a person, hence the asthmatic reaction of suffocation.
It is often possible to release pent-up emotions through a self-hypnosis session. Suggestion helps you establish a deeper understanding with your family, with yourself, and with your friends. It is better, as they say, to “let off steam” than to “stew in one’s own juice”.
If you have asthma, try to get rid of the feeling of longing and sadness in connection with any loss. This feeling may be rooted in early childhood, when you failed to openly and fully respond to some kind of emotional crisis, which eventually drove emotions inside and left you vulnerable to illness.
For starters, just eliminating the external symptoms of asthma or allergies will already bring you relief. For asthma, though, it's best to focus on both the symptoms and the cause. If you have reason to believe that this reason is so deeply hidden in the subconscious that self-hypnosis will be powerless, you should resort to clinical hypnotherapy and age regression with the help of a professional psychotherapist.
However, very often your determination and self-hypnosis will be quite enough to rectify the situation.

The best time for therapeutic self-hypnosis

It is best to take classes in the morning, which sets you up for the day and prevents an attack. morning exercises help to clarify the problems left from the previous day, and start a new day with a fresh head.
Repeat the exercises in the evening to build on the success of the day and build a mindset for the next day. Such a movement on the rise cannot but bring a quick and beneficial result.
Remember that prevention is “the most effective part of your fight against allergies and asthma. Learn to recognize the signs of an approaching attack in order to prevent or at least weaken it in time.

Acute attack

Feelings of anxiety, fear, tension aggravate the attack, so you need to relax as much as possible. This is especially difficult during an asthma attack. Post-hypnotic signals for relaxation can relieve the severity of an attack. Let's give some examples.

Suggestions and attitudes to relieve symptoms

Recall those sensations from your life experience that would symbolize the desired state for you if there were no symptoms. With asthma, try to imagine images associated with the openness of the lungs and larynx, and formulate appropriate attitudes. For example:
“I can feel more open, like the tunnel we drove through on our holiday trip.”

Let your imagination run wild:
“I remember the immensity of the canyons and plains that I flew over, and the powerful jets of cold air in the open sky overhead. I feel this openness now.”
If you are busy indoors, you can inspire yourself with the following:
“I imagine how the door to a large spacious room opens, and I see how the wind shakes the curtains on the open window. It’s easier for me to breathe, as if this wind penetrates my chest.”
A plumber or gardener, whether amateur or professional, can imagine a hose inflating as it fills with water, or water pouring into a wide bucket or bucket. Imagine that your chest or larynx expands in the same way. And if your eyes are irritated and watery from an allergy, imagine that they dry up, how dew dries up in the sun, or how spring rains stop and summer dryness sets in.
These exercises will take you 10-15 minutes. Tell yourself what you can get desired result, you just need to imagine the selected image, symbol. During the trance, repeat to yourself that by following the change mindset, you can improve your condition in your real daily life.
You can use the settings and suggestions offered in his work by Don Gibbons (1990). For example:
“When I feel an attack coming on, I can take a deep breath and clench my fists. I feel a change in myself (describe your feelings). I unclench my fingers and with this movement I seem to open my bronchi and lungs.

Hypnosis: Where to start and how to proceed

To begin with, you need to accurately identify which parts of your body are most susceptible to asthma and allergies. Try using the picture on this page. Paint over the “affected” parts of the body with one color, and the “healthy” parts with another. For sore spots, you can apply colors that are unpleasant or annoying to you, perhaps it will be orange or red. May be suitable for eye irritation yellow, and blue is likely to be associated with a feeling of suffocation or difficulty breathing. Well, a pink nose means it's most reactive to the allergen.
The choice of colors should be prompted by your imagination, by the way you mentally see your body. If you can't see colors with your “inner eye”, then pick something suitable “the first thing that comes to mind.
Imagine how the colors change and gradually the “bad” ones turn into good ones, how stiffness disappears and relaxation comes.
Try to imagine your allergy in terms of color and smell. By changing the subconscious vision of your disease, you can change the body's response to it. Try to associate some neutral, non-allergic image with your allergen, be it a substance or an action. This will help lower your body's sensitivity threshold for that allergen.

Example:
“Often, when a cat is next to me, my eyes begin to water and itch. I will try to respond differently in the future. Let it not be the smell of a cat, but the smell of a fur coat that I once had (you must remember this smell). After all, my fur coat did not cause allergies, so is it worth reacting to a smell that resembles my fur coat.
With repeated suggestion, a post-hypnotic set is developed that can change your response.
You can add suggestion related to appearance cats:
“When a cat is near me indoors, I should note how different these animals are from each other. So my reactions to them can also be different, and since reactions can change, they will begin to weaken if you think about the diversity of cats.
This approach gives you a choice, and self-hypnosis allows the mind to talk to the body, allowing it to relax and experience new things.

Exercises

For a self-hypnosis session, you should:
1. Relax and calm down. Follow your breath. To go into a trance, use any of the techniques given earlier.
2. Let your mind become something like a radar for your body. Try to feel your body as thinly as possible, relaxing it in parts, gradually, if desired. Then examine the affected areas. Compare and contrast them. Carefully study the changes that occur during an attack, not missing even the most insignificant. Imagine mentally that you are having an attack, and then feel how it subsides. A similar technique of hypnosis is used by patients with epilepsy to catch the approach, the precursor of an attack, and then prevent this moment of approach. Continue the exercise for several minutes.
3. Use imagination and suggestion to change your understanding of the factors that cause allergies. Change your reactions to them.
Think, for example, about the fact that a long-haired cat can be turned into a short-haired one: “What is easier, take it and cut it.” You even see how you cut the cat.
During the session, you can imagine a flower that is unpleasant for you, and then imagine how it turns into a completely different plant or a piece of tissue paper, in short, into any object that is harmless to you. Imagine that instead of strawberries you have a carrot in front of you, and carrots have never made you feel bad. The exercise with transformations will take you about ten minutes.
Note. If you suffer from several allergens, then the exercises should be carried out with each of them, preferably one at a time. First achieve a weakening of the reaction to one, and then move on to another.
4. The next step will be conscious contact with the allergen. You develop the ability to decide for yourself when you should break off this contact. You learn to develop and consolidate your positive achievements. Practice daily.
5. Finally, bring together all your suggestions. Strengthen your desire for change. Repeat post-hypnotic setups.
Challenge yourself to go into trance more and more easily. This should be part of every self-hypnosis session. End the session with the setting for sleep or vigorous well-being. At the end of the session, immediately get down to your business. Suggestion will be more effective the less you analyze it. Self-hypnosis activates the subconscious mind, no need to interfere, and the results will please you.

Hypnosis: When to expect results?

By exercising every day, in the first weeks you will feel calmer and more confident, say, by 10%. The longer your illness, the longer it will take to improve your condition, so you should set reasonable, moderate goals.
In a month or two, your health will improve by 20%. And in six months, you can hope for all 50. But remember that your success depends on the chosen motivation, the severity of the disease and its cause.
If after a month there will be no improvement, you should look even more carefully for what binds you to the disease. Do not be afraid to experiment and, if you feel the need, change the wording of the suggestion, look for new metaphors and attitudes.

Hypnosis: Be patient with yourself

Don't lose faith in yourself. It is likely that the disease has exhausted you and you are hoping for a long-term result. The longer you are sick, the more stable the pathological pattern. It is not eternal, but it takes time to destroy it.
Set your own pace. Articulate your metaphors and images with humor. Don't think of the sessions as purely therapeutic, but rather as a game to let your imagination run wild.

Among the diseases, in the mechanism of occurrence of which nervous system occupies an important place is bronchial asthma. This disease is manifested by sudden onset of asthma attacks that last minutes, hours, and sometimes days.

Back in 1863, A. Rodossky represented bronchial asthma as a disease of the whole organism and attached great importance to mental experiences and negative emotions in the occurrence of asthma attacks. He wrote: "Moral shocks - anger, fear, offended pride, unsatisfied passions, increased stress - easily cause asthmatic attacks." This often occurs if there is already a predisposition in the form of infection, intoxication or allergies.

In our clinic, it has long been noticed that on the basis of unconditioned reflexes various reflexes can easily form, even when the toxic-infectious focus in the lungs has already been eliminated, and the attacks nevertheless continue. As an example of the fact that the conditioned reflex mechanism plays a large role in the manifestation of asthma attacks, the following can be cited. There is a case when a woman had attacks of bronchial asthma from the smell of roses. One day this woman was shown a bouquet of paper roses and had an asthma attack!

In another case, a groom had to quit his job at the hippodrome because he couldn't stand the smell of horse sweat. Once at the cinema, he saw footage from a movie showing a stable and horses. He had to leave the cinema hall, as he developed an asthma attack (an attack of bronchial asthma). Many such cases could be cited.

On the other hand, there are forms of bronchial asthma, where the respiratory tract infection is the leading one. Naturally, in the presence of an infection, hypnosis will be useless, while in the case of a conditioned reflex mechanism of asthma attacks, the effect can be striking.

Patient X., aged 62, was admitted to the clinic with a diagnosis of bronchial asthma. She fell ill in 1943. The first attack of bronchial asthma occurred at the time of reading the letter, which reported the death of her sister with her husband and child, shot by the occupiers. Attacks began to repeat 2-3 times a night at a strictly defined time. The patient woke up from suffocation and was forced to take a forced position with an emphasis on her hands. The frequency of seizures was also facilitated by new psychic traumas (the news of her husband's death at the front) and difficult life situations (the return of her husband, who was considered dead). Medical therapy was ineffective.

In 1943, hypnosuggestive therapy was started, to which the patient was referred by the attending physician. After the 18th session of hypnotherapy, the asthmatic attacks stopped and the absence of attacks lasted for 5 years.

In 1948, due to new personal experiences, she again began to suffer from attacks of bronchial asthma. Severe mental trauma soon followed, after which attacks began to occur both during the day and at night, 6-9 times a day. All emergency drug therapy had no effect.

Since October 20, 1951, due to the complete ineffectiveness of medical therapy, she was referred to us for hypnosuggestive therapy. Already after the 5th session, the complete disappearance of asthma attacks was noted. A total of 28 hypnotherapy sessions were conducted. Good condition traced for 2 years and 3 months. No asthma attacks.

From the above case history, both the significance of the psychic trauma and the success of hypnosuggestive therapy are clearly visible, which in this case, unlike drug therapy, twice had a lasting positive effect.

As an example, let's give another illustration, which also clearly shows the neurogenic mechanism (the meaning of mental trauma) in the occurrence of asthma attacks.

Patient L., aged 61, was admitted for treatment with a diagnosis of bronchial asthma. She fell ill in 1946. Shortly before the illness, a severe mental trauma was suffered (the daughter married unsuccessfully, in the same month the son, as a result of the wound, became blind in both eyes and lost his arm). The first asthmatic attack arose at the moment of a quarrel between the daughter and her husband. In the future, attacks of suffocation became more frequent and began to occur 10-12 times a day (between attacks, an asthmatic condition persisted). Later, the patient noted that the attacks began to occur when her daughter cooked food or sorted out things covered with mothballs. Soon the asthmatic condition began to arise from the smell of naphthalene or the smell of food, and later from other smells (kerosene, flowers, etc.).

On March 2, 1952, at the request of the attending physician, hypnosuggestive therapy was started due to the fact that conventional therapy had no effect. With the help of hypnotherapy, it was possible not only to stop asthma attacks, but also to eliminate the negative impact on the patient of weather changes and various odors. An increase in weight of 4 kilograms was noted. The patient returned to work. The result was followed up for 2 years and 4 months.

When analyzing this case history, the role of mental trauma (as a resolving factor) that caused the first attack of bronchial asthma is also noticeable.

In the future, a conditioned reflex factor joins the mechanism of repeated attacks. The advantages in this case of hypnotherapy over other methods of treatment are clearly visible.

It should be noted that in all cases (200 patients) of successful treatment with hypnosuggestive therapy in patients with bronchial asthma, there are clearly positive changes in all laboratory and instrumental data (blood, sputum, fluoroscopy of the lungs, etc.) that occurred in patients under the influence of hypnosis treatment.

(7 votes : 4.1 out of 5 )

Before modern man living with a weak psyche in a stream of stressful events, a number of methods are revealed that promise to quickly and effortlessly cope with his problems: mental, psychological and even physical illnesses. Often, doctors and psychologists suggest that the patient be treated with the help of hypnosis. How to treat such proposals, what consequences of treatment with hypnosis can be expected? Priests and doctors talk about this.

Priest Grigory Grigoriev about hypnosis

The answer to the question about hypnosis on the air of the Soyuz TV channel in the program "Conversations with the Father" dated January 2, 2014.

Priest Grigory Grigoriev - Honored Doctor Russian Federation, doctor of medical sciences, professor, psychotherapist, narcologist.

- As for hypnosis, I want to say that I have never done it. The accusations against me come from a misunderstanding of what hypnosis is: only about twenty percent of people can enter it, the rest do not succumb to it. This is a practice that was accepted a hundred years ago, but gradually moved away from it.

Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko, censor of the Holy Synod, professor at the pre-revolutionary Kyiv Theological Academy, wrote in his book: hypnosis should not be perceived as something mysterious, it is a form of attracting attention, a physiological property of living objects. For example, when a driver drives down the road for a long time and looks at the lights of the car in front, he falls into a similar state. Such a hypnotic phase sets in, and this phenomenon is characteristic of all living organisms. But we have never done anything like this in our work and have never used it. Real hypnosis is when a person turns off consciousness. Moreover, a person cannot be instilled with what he does not want.

Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko says in his book that in order for suggestion to turn into autosuggestion, it is necessary that it correspond to the level of consciousness.

In psychology, in general, there are four methods of influencing a person. The first is inspiration, when someone inspires someone, the second is imitation, the third is persuasion, the fourth is suggestion. Suggestion is the ability to perceive information without criticism. For suggestion it is necessary that the first three forms be realized.

I have never practiced hypnosis, not because it is bad, but because it is ineffective. Pavel Ignatievich Bul, one of the greatest hypnologists, worked at my institute, who was involved in the treatment of bronchial asthma in children and hypertension in adults using hypnosis. By hypnosis, he removed the children's fear of the pressure chamber, which they needed.

Professor Buhl participated in a TV show with a group of students in the sixties, during which he invited viewers to test themselves for hypnosis. After a number of viewers remained under the influence of the command given by the professor for a long time (“your hands are glued together”), and he had to personally go home to remove this effect from hypnotizable viewers, it was decided that such influences on the television audience were inadmissible and a ban on such transmission.

Kashpirovsky, who appeared on television in a difficult era when the Soviet Union was falling apart, had to distract people. He knew about the existence of this prohibition and violated it. Kashpirovsky began to do what no self-respecting doctor would do. But that doesn't mean he didn't help anyone. The fact is that if people believe in something, then the system of self-hypnosis turns on, and they treat themselves, attributing this, for example, to Kashpirovsky. But what happened then around these programs looked like madness and was completely unacceptable.

At that time, Professor Bul, Professor Vladimir Ivanovich Lebedev, and Yuri Gorny were actively opposed to this "television psychotherapy". On television in the city of Norilsk, they conducted an experiment with the aim of exposing and prohibiting "television psychotherapy", and this was achieved.

How it was? They came to the Norilsk television, brought an ugly head made by them from papier-mâché and said that supposedly this was a cast of the head of the famous Professor Zombie, who lives in the mountains of Tibet and has such a strong biofield that it is impossible to communicate with him personally, but the cast of the head charged by him and voice recording can heal a variety of diseases. Then they were asked to conduct a wellness session for the residents of Norilsk. The viewers were told that as a result of the session, they would not only be healed of many diseases, but also if they put broken Appliances they will start working again. The session began, and a huge self-hypnosis of people began from the impact of this roughly molded head of a non-existent professor and the sound of his voice, which in fact was a recording of the slurred speeches of three representatives of the Muslim peoples.

If you put any person in front of a multi-million television audience, then the effect of mass potentiated influence on each other, induction, occurs. It affects people with various mental illnesses especially strongly, and it can be very dangerous.

Actually, Kashpirovsky showed us what the media are. Such experiments increase the number of self-hypnotic people in society, which is an extremely unfavorable situation. What Kashpirovsky did was not hypnosis, it was loosening the internal system of psychological defense. Hypnosis can't do that. Here, a person begins to be manipulated, and he begins to believe in some kind of doctor who replaces God. This is a violation of the first commandment "Do not make yourself an idol." We have no right to evaluate the personal qualities of Anatoly Ivanovich Kashpirovsky, maybe he repented a long time ago, takes communion, because the Lord forgives a person all sins.

Artem writes: “Hello, Father Gregory! Please answer the question that worries me: can a psychologist who is Orthodox Christian, use hypnosis in your work? My name is Artem, I entered the university as a psychologist, I also studied hypnosis. Searched for information on the internet. Priests in their interviews do not approve of this method, except for Father Dimitri Smirnov. I want to know your opinion, since you are a priest and a psychotherapist.

I understand that some hypnotic techniques can be spiritually dangerous, such as mentally turning to a "wise being" in trance for advice. But can hypnosis be acceptable with careful selective work with it by a psychologist? My concern is whether I am hurting myself by using hypnosis on people, and hurting people by the mere fact of using hypnosis? Really looking forward to your reply!"

– Dear Artem, in order to study this problem that interests you and other people, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the two-volume book by Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko. Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko before the revolution was the censor of the Holy Synod, a professor at the Kyiv Theological Academy. In his book, he says that hypnosis should not be taken as good or evil, it is a physiological property of living beings. In practice, we know hypnosis, when fakirs, magicians, circus actors take, for example, a chicken and dramatically change its state. They take her by the paws and lay her on her side, and she falls into a hypnotic sleep.

Strictly speaking, hypnos is sleep. When we drive down the road at night and look at the lights of the car in front, we enter a kind of drowsy state. This, in fact, is the prototype of hypnosis. In modern medical practice, hypnosis is practically not used in working with people due to its low effectiveness. It is impossible in a state of hypnosis to influence a person's personality. Here is an appeal to a mystical being, as you write, this is no longer hypnosis, these are occult sciences - of course, this is absolutely unacceptable. But if you pray to the Guardian Angel, read Orthodox prayers, then, of course, this will not harm you.

The Holy Fathers said that the spiritual world is hidden from us by our All-loving and All-good Lord Jesus Christ “with seven locks and seven seals.” A person should not climb there, because, according to the words of St. Seraphim of Sarov, "the smallest demon can pierce the earth with one claw." That's why you shouldn't look there. The will of a person is relevant in the visible world, and in the spiritual world the will of a person will be either under God's shield or under the enemy's. Therefore, one should not go to the spiritual world with one's will. We will immediately meet in this world with dark forces, therefore, of course, the Lord protected us.

Hypnosis can relax a person, remove such monosymptoms as spasm, pain - this is more psychosomatic than psychology. I do not think that you will seriously need hypnosis in your practice as a psychologist, but at least you have an idea about it in the learning process. And in general practice, you will not have to use it. I don't think you need to use it. We got acquainted with him - who is warned, he is armed.

Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov on the treatment of diseases with hypnosis

Suggestion and hypnosis are one and the same. If you are afraid of hypnosis and not afraid of suggestion, then this is rather strange. Before you climb into the water, you need to recognize the ford ... Hypnosis has long been known and used and used, for example, by many tribes in Africa as a method of treatment. You need to look at what diseases to treat with hypnosis. For example, there is such a disease as hysteria, in which hypnosis helps if a person succumbs. Hypnosis also helps with alcoholism. It's clear that if a person's leg hurts for some reason, no matter how much you inspire, the pain can go away, but the disease itself will not go away.

How does Orthodoxy relate to neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), which many are now passionate about?

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers:

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is aimed at manipulating not only consciousness, but also the inner world of a person. Hypnosis is most commonly used for this. NLP founders Richard Bandler and John Grinder write in their book " Trance induction ": “If you apply the same hypnotic induction to a group of people, then only some of them will go into a trance. This is what traditional hypnotists do. But we will study non-traditional hypnosis. We will study what is called Ericksonian hypnosis, following Milton G. Erickson. Ericksonian hypnosis means developing the skills of a hypnotist to the point where you can put the person into a trance in a conversation that doesn't even mention the word 'hypnosis'. I learned a long time ago that it's not so much what you say, but how you say it that matters. If you deliberately try to convince someone by getting the better of him, then this causes him to have a reaction of resistance directed against you. There are people who don't resist when they get the upper hand and go into a trance. But neither resistance nor cooperation proves anything, except that people are capable of responding. Every living person can react. The only question is how and for what. When you do hypnosis, your job is to notice what the person responds to naturally.” What this leads to can be found in another book by the same authors: “In our last seminar, we dealt with strategies. We programmed one woman so that she forgot her name. One man then said: “There is no way by which I could be made to forget my own name!” I asked: "What is your name?" And he replied, "I don't know!" I replied, "Congratulations on your subconscious, even if you don't have one." It amuses me that hypnosis is now so systematically ignored. I think this is because the mind that uses this method does not trust it. But in every form of therapy that I have studied, there is a trance experience. Introductory NLP training course). Representatives of NLP do not hide the fact that “in a certain sense, these are the skills of unlimited power over a person, power over the state and mood, thinking and behavior of the people around you” (R. Bandler. Creation of beliefs).

From the point of view of Orthodox spirituality, this is prohibited. Being in a state of hypnosis, a person almost completely loses control over himself: both body and mind. The highest suggestibility occurs in the deepest phase of hypnotic trance (the so-called paradoxical phase), when weak factors (for example, a word) act more strongly than strong ones (acute pain). A person in this state can be inspired by feelings and thoughts that are contrary to his convictions (including moral and religious ones). In a state of hypnotic trance, a person becomes accessible to demonic influence.

Word hypnosis(Greek hypnos - sleep) was introduced by the English physician James Braid (1795-1860) in 1843. This concept denotes a state that outwardly resembles a dream or half-sleep, caused by suggestion. It is accompanied by the subordination of the will of the sleeper to the will of the sleeper. The oldest written monuments testify that already the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians used hypnosis for the purpose of magical influence. Undoubtedly, many occult phenomena of sorcerers, shamans, spellcasters in all ages have been based on the use of hypnosis. The concept of hypnosis is often found among modern occultists.

Holy Scripture strictly forbids any occult influence on a person. The activities of wizards, soothsayers, questioners of the dead, summoners of spirits, fortune tellers, charmers are named in the Bible abomination(). Hypnotic occultism was apparently practiced charmers(; and etc.). Word charmer in the Synodal text the Hebrew word is translated chabar. This word has several meanings: bind, conjure, unite. The hypnotist just binds the will of a person and manipulates him. The Holy Fathers attune us to spiritual sobriety. Let us beseech God to grant us purity and humility of mind, the fruit of which is spiritual reasoning, faithfully distinguishing good from evil!(St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. A word about the sensual and spiritual vision of spirits. Conclusion).

Psychiatrist D.A. Avdeev about hypnosis

Unfortunately, hypnosis is widely used by official medicine, psychotherapists. There are among the latter those who use hypnosis out of religious ignorance. Others consider themselves atheists. There are also conscious servants of evil.

Orthodoxy is alien to methods that forcibly influence a person. Adepts of the use of hypnotic trances talk about opening special psychosomatic channels during the use of hypnosis, about influencing the human psyche, bypassing criticism (“without brakes”), about revealing the reserve capabilities of the body, about amazing therapeutic effects.

As a specialist, I declare with confidence that there are no exceptional effects. And if there is any “benefit” from hypnosis, then it is not known how it will come back to haunt in the future ... More precisely, it is known, and even with certainty. Hypnologists, at best, do not think about this.

Hypnosis is violence against the human soul. For example, in the 3rd stage of hypnosis, the somnambulist (hypnotized) in everything unquestioningly obeys his "guru": he can see, hear, feel non-existent objects, people (hallucinations); may not feel pain; expose hidden thoughts, feelings, desires. By the way, there is a so-called effect of post-hypnotic suggestion. This is when the instructions of the hypnologist are carried out after a certain time after the session.

How justified is it to deprive a person of criticism and reason, even for a short time, even with a seemingly good purpose? There is no excuse for this. Man is the greatest mystery, and it is simply not given to us sinners to know and see what the soul experiences in a hypnotic state, what happens in the depths of the human spirit. Not a single saint resorted to healing a person in an altered state of consciousness. Meekly and humbly, the saints of God showed the gift of healing to people, which they received from the Lord for the holiness of life.

It should be said that hypnosis eventually acquires the role of a drug. The same people go from hypnotist to hypnotist, tend to experience “extraordinary” states more often. What a pity for these people! And how criminally do those who lead them to such addiction.

IN last years In the specialized literature, many publications have appeared that testify to the disorganization of a person's mental activity after the frequent application of deep hypnosis to him.

Optina elders about hypnosis

“This hypnosis is a terrible thing. There was a time when people were afraid of this deed, they ran away from it, and now they are carried away by it ... they benefit from it ”(Rev. Nectarios).

“And the whole trouble is that this knowledge enters our lives under the guise of something that seems to be able to give mankind enormous benefits” (he).

“Hypnosis is an evil, non-Christian force” (St. Barsanuphius).

“If you, leaving God, resort to magnetism, an unnatural means, then I can’t tell you anything” (St. Macarius).

The effect of hypnosis on children

I will give just one example. Professor V. Lebedev reports: “2015 schoolchildren were examined, 93% were involved in Kashpirovsky sessions. During the sessions, obsessive movements, hysterical reactions, hallucinatory phenomena and other mental disorders are noted. In 42%, hypnotic sleep was noted, after the sessions, various forms of mental maladjustment were revealed in 7% of children. There was a clear trend towards an increase in suggestibility and an increase in hysterical reactions. As a result of television sessions, some children fell into a state of catalepsy at the sight of only a photograph of Kashpirovsky.

Autogenic training (as a form of self-hypnosis)

From the standpoint of Orthodox spirituality, auto-training is not soulful. The author of this method of psychotherapy is a German scientist and practitioner Johann Schulz. In the thirties of our century, Dr. Schulz, based on his impressions of his stay in India and acquaintance with yoga, synthesized something similar for Europeans and proposed his own method for the prevention and treatment of a wide range of diseases, as well as for the purpose of mental self-regulation of the state of mind. Describing the essence of autogenic training, it should be said that it does not contribute to the innermost work of internal purification, the fight against vices and passions. Lulling self-relaxation is rather a departure from reality, an illusion of well-being. About humility and sobriety as the basis peace of mind, not mentioned. It is important to remember that the method has yogic (read Buddhist) roots.

All of the above referred to the first stage of autogenic training. And then, when a person learns relaxation, he is invited to master the techniques associated with the artificial evoking of some images or pictures. The basis of the second stage is sensual imagination. The Holy Fathers warn us against all sorts of sensuality, daydreaming, fantasizing. Thus, the method of autogenic training should be postponed as unnecessary and in view of the danger of damaging one's soul.

Trance states

Currently in psychotherapy great amount a technique using trance (similar to hypnotic) states. For example, there is (horror!) the so-called reincarnation psychotherapy. Its users, being in a trance, remember their "former lives" (they write these words without quotes) and try to find the causes of their problems in them. The so-called transpersonal psychotherapy is actively developing. If you do not go into details and say simply and clearly, then it will look like this: first, fans of such psychopractice enter a trance, and then communicate with demons.

Psychics and other occult "healers" use special states of consciousness in their practice. Moreover, they consider them an indispensable condition for a successful result. Father Anatoly (Berestov) and academician neurophysiologist S.V. Krapivin, having studied the work of the brain of people who were in a state of meditation (hypnosis, self-hypnosis), came to the following conclusion: “It is believed that the state of meditation has a beneficial effect on human health, since the rhythm of respiration, heart rate, blood plasma lactate level, muscle relaxation occurs. It is even believed that such an unusual state exists best holiday. However, upon detailed examination of electroencephalograms, it is clear that this is not rest at all, but a very special and strange state of the brain - a dangerous mobilization of all brain resources, all the physiological forces of the brain.

So, through this special state of consciousness, when the “gates” of the soul are opened, the hypnotist or occultist becomes a conductor of dark forces and serves Satan. That is why the Orthodox Church defines hypnosis as "a conscious service to evil", calls it a phenomenon "destroying the human spirit". It is emphasized that the dark forces of the spiritual world are used in hypnosis (Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, No. 12, 1989).

Hypnotherapy. Practical Guide Carl Helmut

Asthma

Many authors point out that hypnotherapy is very suitable for the treatment of asthma. It usually turns out that no matter how obvious the allergenic factor is, the psychological aspect plays a significant role in this disease. Asthma attacks can be triggered by proximity artificial flower of the variety which, in the patient's opinion, causes seizures, of course, if the patient considers the flower to be real. Similarly, if a patient who is allergic to grass pollen is inadvertently told that he should wander in a summer meadow, this can immediately lead to an attack of hay fever or asthma. Asthmatic episodes are usually closely related to life events and the emotional state of the patient in this moment time.

With asthma, it is recommended to take some precautions in the use of hypnosis. While the patient is having difficulty breathing and is in a state of bronchial spasm, the induced relaxation can threaten the continuity of breathing.

General relaxation, release of tension, revealing hidden anxieties, frustrations and anger can be very helpful in reducing the likelihood and severity of asthmatic episodes and, to a greater or lesser extent, bronchospasms. In addition, the use of imagery that is directly related to the release of the bronchi and pectoral muscles can help the patient gain a certain degree of personal control over his own body, especially when he feels that an attack is coming, and can use such imagery for prevention.

In virtually all conditions and experiences associated with pain, anxiety and tension, hypnosis can be beneficial, if only by alleviating the emotional suffering of the patient. In many cases, anxiety or other negative emotional manifestation creates an additional obstacle to the improvement of the condition or a positive response to the therapeutic effect. The reduction and elimination of such an emotional manifestation will contribute to a faster and more complete recovery. If the attitudes, expectations, feelings and imaginations of the patient, as shown by some scientific reports and experience, can indeed directly affect the functioning of the body, then much more success can be expected. We consider it proven that emotional states and cognitive processes affect such manifestations of the body's activity as blood circulation and its distribution, digestion, heart rate, blood pressure, etc. Therefore, changes in cognitive and emotional processes can be deliberately used in order to to influence such processes in the body that reduce the harm caused by illness or injury, and thereby promote healing and recovery. Such an intervention primarily consists of relaxation and release from tension, and more specific direct or indirect suggestion, for example, through metaphors, can help accelerate normal healing and recovery.

Among the diseases, in the mechanism of occurrence of which the nervous system occupies an important place, is bronchial asthma. This disease is manifested by sudden onset of asthma attacks that last minutes, hours, and sometimes days.
Back in 1863, A. Rodossky represented bronchial asthma as a disease of the whole organism and attached great importance to mental experiences and negative emotions in the occurrence of asthma attacks. He wrote: "Moral shocks - anger, fear, offended pride, unsatisfied passions, increased stress - easily cause asthmatic attacks." This often occurs if there is already a predisposition in the form of infection, intoxication or allergies.
In our clinic, it has long been noted that various reflexes can easily form on the basis of unconditioned reflexes, even when the toxic-infectious focus in the lungs has already been eliminated, but the attacks nevertheless continue. As an example of the fact that the conditioned reflex mechanism plays a large role in the manifestation of asthma attacks, the following can be cited. There is a case when a woman had attacks of bronchial asthma from the smell of roses. Once this woman was shown a bouquet of paper roses, and she developed attack asthma!
In another case, a groom had to quit his job at the hippodrome because he couldn't stand the smell of horse sweat. Once at the cinema, he saw footage from a movie showing a stable and horses. He had to leave the cinema hall, as he developed an asthma attack (an attack of bronchial asthma). Many such cases could be cited.
On the other hand, there are forms bronchial asthma where the respiratory tract infection is the leading one. Naturally, in the presence of an infection, hypnosis will be useless, while in the case of a conditioned reflex mechanism of seizures bronchial asthma the effect can be amazing.

sick X., aged 62, was admitted to the clinic with a diagnosis of bronchial asthma. She fell ill in 1943. The first attack of bronchial asthma occurred at the time of reading the letter, which reported the death of her sister with her husband and child, shot by the occupiers. Attacks began to repeat 2-3 times a night at a strictly defined time. The patient woke up from suffocation and was forced to take a forced position with an emphasis on her hands. The frequency of seizures was also facilitated by new psychic traumas (the news of her husband's death at the front) and difficult life situations (the return of her husband, who was considered dead). Medical therapy was ineffective.
In 1943, hypnosuggestive therapy was started, to which the patient was referred by the attending physician. After the 18th session of hypnotherapy, the asthmatic attacks stopped and the absence of attacks lasted for 5 years.
In 1948, due to new personal experiences, she again began to suffer from attacks of bronchial asthma. Severe mental trauma soon followed, after which attacks began to occur both during the day and at night, 6-9 times a day. All emergency drug therapy had no effect.
Since October 20, 1951, due to the complete ineffectiveness of medical therapy, she was referred to us for hypnosuggestive therapy. Already after the 5th session, the complete disappearance of asthma attacks was noted. A total of 28 hypnotherapy sessions were conducted. Good condition traced for 2 years and 3 months. No asthma attacks.

From the above case history, both the significance of the psychic trauma and the success of hypnosuggestive therapy are clearly visible, which in this case, unlike drug therapy, twice had a lasting positive effect.
As an example, let's give another illustration, which also clearly shows the neurogenic mechanism (the meaning of mental trauma) in the occurrence of asthma attacks.

Patient L., aged 61, was admitted for treatment with a diagnosis of bronchial asthma. She fell ill in 1946. Shortly before the illness, a severe mental trauma was suffered (the daughter married unsuccessfully, in the same month the son, as a result of the wound, became blind in both eyes and lost his arm). The first asthmatic attack arose at the moment of a quarrel between the daughter and her husband. In the future, attacks of suffocation became more frequent and began to occur 10-12 times a day (between attacks, an asthmatic condition persisted). Later, the patient noted that the attacks began to occur when her daughter cooked food or sorted out things covered with mothballs. Soon the asthmatic condition began to arise from the smell of naphthalene or the smell of food, and later from other smells (kerosene, flowers, etc.).
On March 2, 1952, at the request of the attending physician, hypnosuggestive therapy was started due to the fact that conventional therapy had no effect. With the help of hypnotherapy, it was possible not only to stop asthma attacks, but also to eliminate the negative impact on the patient of weather changes and various odors. An increase in weight of 4 kilograms was noted. sick returned to work. The result was followed up for 2 years and 4 months.
When analyzing this case history, the role of mental trauma (as a resolving factor) that caused the first attack bronchial asthma.
In the future, a conditioned reflex factor joins the mechanism of repeated attacks. The advantages in this case of hypnotherapy over other methods of treatment are clearly visible.
It should be noted that in all cases (200 patients) of successful treatment with hypnosuggestive therapy in patients with bronchial asthma, there are clearly positive changes in all laboratory and instrumental data (blood, sputum, fluoroscopy of the lungs, etc.) that occurred in patients under the influence of hypnosis treatment.