1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,599 Speaker 1: Well, Hello, they're Healthyish listeners. Thanks for joining us today 2 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:06,360 Speaker 1: on this Body and Soul podcast. I'm your host, Felicity Halle. Now, 3 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:09,880 Speaker 1: hypnosis has had a pretty bad rap over the years, 4 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: but my guest today wants to change the public perception 5 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: and he's got the credentials to back it up. Doctor 6 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:20,239 Speaker 1: David Spiegel is the Associate Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral 7 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:23,760 Speaker 1: Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, the director of 8 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: Stanford Center of Stress and Health, and has published over 9 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: four hundred and eighty journal articles, written thirteen books. He 10 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: joins us today from the US to discuss the power 11 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 1: of self hypnosis. Now make sure listening to Extra Healthy 12 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: Ish where we go a bit deeper into the whole 13 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: topic of hypnosis and self hypnosis. I assure you that 14 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: is a very interesting episode. You should listen to it. 15 00:00:45,479 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 1: You can catch it wherever you get your podcasts. David, 16 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: thank you for joining us today all the way from 17 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: the US of A. 18 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 2: How are you. 19 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 3: I'm fine, Thank you, Felicity. Glad to be here with you. 20 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, me too. 21 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: I'm excited to chat to you, particularly about self hypnosis. 22 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: I feel like we, you know, we've all got a 23 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: view of hypnosis, which will talk a bit more about 24 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: in Extra Healthy Ish. But what is self hypnosis? 25 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:20,480 Speaker 2: Exactly? 26 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 3: Well, feliciting all hypnosis is really self hypnosis. It's people 27 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 3: learning to use this shift in consciousness that we're not 28 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 3: aware that many of us have. You know, we're endowed 29 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 3: with this remarkable three pound organ on the top of 30 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 3: our shoulders that is connected every part of the body, 31 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 3: controls things going on in every part of the body, 32 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 3: and census things from every part of the body. But 33 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 3: we don't usually use it to its fullest ability. We 34 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 3: don't get a user's manual on it. And hypnosis is 35 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 3: a naturally occurring shift in concentration. Have you ever had 36 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 3: the experience of getting so caught up in a good 37 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 3: movie that you forget you're watching a movie and you 38 00:01:57,760 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 3: enter the imagined world. 39 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 2: Oh all the time happened to you all of the time. 40 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, and that it enhances your enjoyment of the movie. 41 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 3: Hypnosis has been called believed in imagination, and what it 42 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:13,800 Speaker 3: really is is a state of highly focused attention the 43 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,360 Speaker 3: way you feel in a movie, coupled with dissociation. You 44 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 3: put out of conscious awareness things that would ordinarily be 45 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 3: in consciousness. Right now. For example, you're sitting in a chair. 46 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 3: Your body has sensations touching the chair, but hopefully you 47 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 3: weren't even aware of that until I brought it to 48 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 3: your attention. If you were, we could just stop the 49 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:36,359 Speaker 3: interview right now. So in order to focus, we have 50 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 3: to regulate the amount of input, and we have enormous 51 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 3: input all the time from our body, from the world 52 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,919 Speaker 3: around us, thoughts about the past, thoughts about the future, 53 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,640 Speaker 3: and to function we have to narrow the attention and 54 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 3: in hypnosis you do that in a more extreme way. 55 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 3: And one of the other things you do in hypnosis 56 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 3: is you disconnect from your usual way of being. One 57 00:02:57,639 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 3: of the coolest things about it, one of the things 58 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 3: that helped people change is that you can try out 59 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 3: being different and seeing what it feels like. And normally 60 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 3: people think of that in a bad way. They think 61 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 3: of some hypnosis show they saw where the football coach 62 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:13,920 Speaker 3: was made to dance like a ballerina. I don't like 63 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 3: using hypnosis or anything else to make people feel silly, 64 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:19,239 Speaker 3: but there is an important message in it. If you 65 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 3: want to see what it would be like to be different, 66 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 3: dry being hypnotized and see what happens. 67 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 2: How is it different? 68 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: You know, your description there is a lot like flow state, 69 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: even visualization. 70 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 2: You know, and. 71 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: How is it different or is it just semantics? Different 72 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: ways of approaching it. 73 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 3: Well, for listening, if you kind of combine the two, 74 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 3: you get close, so you can visualize being somewhere having 75 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 3: an experience or doing something different. But if you do 76 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 3: it in a state of flow where doing it is 77 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 3: its own reward, where you're totally engaged in the experience, 78 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 3: I knew checks Chick sent me Hi, who wrote the 79 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 3: book Flow, He called it an auto tel experience, one 80 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 3: where you naturally you keep doing it just to do 81 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 3: it because it feels so good to do it. And 82 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 3: that's one of the cool things about hypnosis is you 83 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 3: get fully engaged in what you're doing, and you most 84 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 3: of the time enjoy what you're doing, and so you 85 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 3: do it more intensely. The intensity helps us in our lives. Now, 86 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 3: we're so scattered in different directions, fragmented that it's hard 87 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 3: to enjoy anything because you're always constantly being nagged at 88 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 3: on the side to pay attention to something else. And 89 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:31,480 Speaker 3: hypnosis you just allow yourself to be immersed in the 90 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 3: focus of what you're doing. 91 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: I mean, we generally know hypnosis for things like you know, 92 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: ceasing smoking or losing weight. How can it help, you know, 93 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:41,680 Speaker 1: talk to us a bit more about how it can 94 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:43,839 Speaker 1: help us with other areas of our health, you know, 95 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: particularly focus as you just mentioned there. 96 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:49,359 Speaker 3: Well, yes, part of what it does is it teaches 97 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 3: you to coordinate what's going on in your body with 98 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 3: what's going on in your mind so that you can 99 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,279 Speaker 3: make the most out of whatever experience you're having. So 100 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 3: you allow yourself to focus on what matters and put 101 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,720 Speaker 3: aside the things that don't. So, for example, the coach 102 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,679 Speaker 3: of the Stanford women's swimming team, we have a fantastic team. 103 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 3: Many of the swimmers wind up in the Olympics, but 104 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 3: the coach noted that they were doing better in practice 105 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 3: than they were in meats. Their times were quicker, and 106 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,719 Speaker 3: he realized that they were distracting themselves by worrying about 107 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 3: what the women in the neighboring lanes were doing when 108 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 3: they were swimming in a meat. Now you'd think being 109 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:27,840 Speaker 3: in a meat you're at your most, you're at your peak. 110 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 2: You know, adrenaline's pumping, but it. 111 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:34,160 Speaker 3: Was actually disrupting their knowledge of their bodies and how 112 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,480 Speaker 3: to best use them to move through the water as 113 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 3: smoothly and quickly as possible. So I had them practice 114 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 3: self hypnosis and imagine themselves swimming their best possible race, 115 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:49,360 Speaker 3: and their times got better because they were ignoring the distraction. 116 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 3: You don't worry about the goal, you fully engage yourself 117 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 3: in the process. 118 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 1: So did you hypnotize them or did they use self 119 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: hypnosis as the tool? 120 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 3: I taught them self hypnosis. So we all met as 121 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 3: a group and they learned to practice it for themselves. 122 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 3: All hypnosis, as I said, is really self hypnosis. It's 123 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 3: using a skill that you have but may not be 124 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 3: aware that you have. It's kind of a hidden power 125 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:18,040 Speaker 3: that people have that they don't often utilize fully. 126 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 2: Oh we like that. We need any superpower that we've got. 127 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:21,919 Speaker 3: How do you? 128 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, do you? How do we actually do it? 129 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,279 Speaker 1: I mean you've developed this app called Reverie. How do 130 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: we actually put ourselves into this state? 131 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 3: So in Reverie, which is just a simple self hypnosis 132 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 3: app that you can download from the App store a 133 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 3: Google Play, and there I instruct you how to go 134 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:41,800 Speaker 3: into a state of self hypnosis. So if you want 135 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 3: to try it, all you have to do is look 136 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,599 Speaker 3: up to the top of your head, close your eyes slowly, 137 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 3: take a deep breath, let the breath out slowly, let 138 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 3: your eyes relax, let your body float, and if you want, 139 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 3: you can let one hand or the other float up 140 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:58,479 Speaker 3: in your laca balloon and picture yourself floating in space 141 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 3: and a bath, in a lake, a hot and just 142 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 3: allow your body to experience itself in a state of 143 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 3: comfort and relaxation. And then you concentrate on what you 144 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 3: want to concentrate too. You don't have to count upstairs 145 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 3: and downstairs and take thirty minutes to do it. 146 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 2: Watch in front of yourself. 147 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 3: Under a minute. 148 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean that's quite amizing and under a minute. 149 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 3: Under a minute. And one of the coolest things is 150 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 3: you will know whether hypnosis will help you with stress, 151 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 3: for example, or pain. In the first ten minutes of 152 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,040 Speaker 3: the exercise or less. You'll see whether your stress and 153 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 3: pain is better. I was just with helping a woman 154 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 3: who I just met for the first time who's having 155 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,080 Speaker 3: trouble getting to sleep, and her stress levels were like 156 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 3: six out of ten, and within a couple of minutes 157 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:48,239 Speaker 3: she was down to one. She said, I just feel 158 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 3: so much better. Now and she pictured it was wonderful. 159 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 3: She I asked her to think of an image that 160 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 3: would help her get to sleep. And she has cardiovascular problem, 161 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:00,160 Speaker 3: she has respiratory problems, she has sleep at me. She 162 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 3: has all kinds of things that are real reasons for 163 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 3: having trouble sleeping in addition to the emotional reasons of 164 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 3: tension and anxiety. And I had her picture. I said, 165 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 3: what's your favorite image of going to sleep? And she said, 166 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 3: when I was a kid, my father used to take 167 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 3: us to Provincetown on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and he 168 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 3: would have me picture. He would take his imaginary belt 169 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 3: and strap me to Joe Fish, and Joe Fish would 170 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 3: take me for a ride and then take me down 171 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 3: to where his family where Mama Fish and Whitefish, and 172 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 3: I would play with them for a while, and then 173 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 3: I'd come back and I would be asleep. And she said, 174 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 3: why didn't I think of that? You know I've done 175 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,320 Speaker 3: that all my life. She said, I feel so good 176 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:42,680 Speaker 3: right now, and her stress level just kind of dissolved. 177 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 3: So she was trying out being herself as a little 178 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 3: girl in a situation where her father played a game 179 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 3: with her that helped her immerse herself in sleep. 180 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, what a beautiful ses. 181 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 3: So that's an ability that many many people have that 182 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:56,839 Speaker 3: they can learn to use better. 183 00:08:57,120 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you David for joining us on health es today. 184 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 3: You're most welcome for us. 185 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: Rey, I hope you got a lot of that chat 186 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: with David. I sure did. I just get such a 187 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:11,679 Speaker 1: kick out of interviewing people with extraordinary credentials. By the way, 188 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:15,679 Speaker 1: David is offering healthyish listeners. Yes, that's you a special 189 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:18,240 Speaker 1: offer for his app Reverie. I will leave a link 190 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: to that offer in the show notes. If you didn't 191 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:22,719 Speaker 1: enjoy this chat, jump on rate and review it, or 192 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,280 Speaker 1: of course, subscribe to this podcast, share this set with 193 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: a friend, anything else, head to body insoul dot com 194 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:29,440 Speaker 1: dot you for us on socials, grab our print edition, 195 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:31,679 Speaker 1: which is out in your local Sunday paper, and until 196 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:32,680 Speaker 1: tomorrow stay help you