Greetings and happy new year!
With all the transitions taking place around the world, my mind has been thinking about many things.
One thing that keeps coming to mind is employee shortages.
it seems people are fed up with the mindless, meaningless tasks they call a career.
I wonder if you are having any of these thoughts?
- Why am I doing this?
- What is my purpose?
- There has to be more than this!

Do you want to change this and live a life of purpose and meaning?
If your answer is yes, then read on. If not, then go back to the life you have.
To make a change, first begin by turning off your television, radio and social media.
Great! Now you can begin to rediscover YOU.
Consider your strengths and what gives you a reason to get out of bed in the morning.
Begin to explore ways you can do these things and get paid.
Did you know, not so long ago, people had careers that were their entire life?
The butcher lived above his store and did his job every day because his passion was cutting meats.
The teacher was single and lived at or near the school, so she or he could focus on their passion of teaching young minds.
The grocer knew you by name and knew what you purchased often, because his/her passion was providing delicious food to customers.
The priest or pastor devoted their entire body, mind and soul to being the best spiritual support to the church.
Have you ever watched a chef or bar tender who has a passion for their job? They have energy, and watching them work is like watching a well oiled machine of dedication to detail, or like a hypnotic dance.

What is your passion?

Next, find yourself an affirmation to focus on.
Write it down and put it somewhere you will see it, then go out and live it.
Rich people don’t sit at home thinking, “I am rich….I am rich…I am rich…” They go out and live a rich life.
I wouldn’t be a hypnotherapist if I just sat at home dreaming about being a hypnotherapist. It took effort, dedication and passion.
My passion for hypnosis led me to do things I never thought possible. When things got difficult, I would look at my affirmation and remember what my passion was. If the difficulty was part of achieving that passion, then I found a way to embrace it, which changed the level of difficulty and made the process a memorable experience.
If you learn and know what your passion is, it will help motivate you to live it.
If your looking for a new rewarding career, consider adding hypnosis to your skill set.
Above all, stop comparing yourself to those around you.
Every great; athlete, chef, musician, teacher, doctor, etc all have one thing in common. Each one became the best they could be. They modeled the qualities of other great professionals and leaders in their field, but they didn’t try to become them. Each person became the best they could be.
You can only be YOU everyone else it taken!
Happy Trance-forming:)
​Jessica

​For a long time I have known about the gut-brain health connection, but only recently have I gained new insight.
Listening to a random 1 hour long YouTube video titled: Gut bacteria and mind control: to fix your brain, fix your gut!  By Professor Simon Carding: the video began to answer a few personal mystery’s for me.
Mystery 1: What happened to me after the death of my first husband?  (This is an umbrella question, and this answer only provides insight into one small area)
According to the video, by changing our eating pattern, or even by fasting, we alter our gut bacteria, which in turn alters our behavior and mood.
If I am honest, as I look back on that time, I was not eating well, and at one point during the worst of it, was eating nothing at all, not even drinking water. (yes, it got that bad) How my body survived, I do not know!  It was only after my family removed me from my home and took me to live with them, fed me and made me drink water, that I began to think clearly again.  I am still in awe and slightly afraid of the experiences I had during this time.
Many of the things that happened were borderline nervous breakdown, or paranormal. Throw in the fact that I had been drugged and raped while on vacation, and we have a total disrupt of life.
Looking back, it seems the rape set up the cascade of fearful thoughts which led to not drinking water or eating food.  Being continually on alert also overloaded my body, causing my gut to stop producing certain bacteria. Adding more fear and stress were the paranormal things that were happening in my home (which are on recorded closed circuit cameras). When my body was depleted due to stress and fear, it began to break down my mental capacity and may have opened doors into other realms.  It just kept getting worse and worse, until there seemed no way out.
Glady, for me, being around people, eating good meals and drinking water, brought back my health.  Some of the fear lingered as I set out on my own again.  It took me a long time to venture out of my apartment very far.  There was still that fear of being raped.  And I could only eat the food I prepared, out of fear of being drugged. Any alcohol was out of the question!  
But one thing that the video brought up was that once this biome has been changed in our gut, we are predisposed to go back there, if we do not maintain our physical and mental health.  We need to keep our stress low, nutrition high, and thoughts positive. 
Having been through this experience, I now have reference points which serve as reminders.  There are times I feel afraid, or begin to have those paranoid thoughts, then I stop and think: “Did I eat enough?”  “Did I drink enough water today?”  “Did I take my supplements?”  Usually any of those old feelings begin to subside after I eat some food or drink some water.
Mystery 2: I am not the same person I used to be, where did she go?
I used to be more outgoing and outspoken, but now it seems I am less of those and more content to just do my own thing and not need anyone else.  This could partly be due to being married again, and having less stress now, allowing myself to relax more.  Or something could have changed inside of me.
There was a time on the hospital, after my husband’s stroke, that I looked in the mirror and did not know who was looking back at me.  I think this was when the change happened. I was under the most stress I had ever been in my life!  The person in the mirror was a stranger to me, I did not know my own reflection, but did ask her, “Who the hell are you! and where did Jessica go?”
According to the video, there is a real possibility that something did change inside of me to make me this way.  In all honesty, I do have my days were I still bite off more than I can chew, speak my mind, and kick ass, but those are more calculated. In these moments I feel the old me inside somewhere, but she doesn’t stay long.
In the video, there was this study which was about gut bacteria and personality. They took rats which were outgoing and rats which were very shy, and did a fecal matter implant from the outgoing rat to the shy rat and vis versa. Interestingly, the outgoing rat became less apt to escape its cage and explore, and more content to just be a regular rat. The shy rat was now escaping its cage and exploring.  These two rats had changed personalities by being given fecal matter transplants from each other.   
You’ve heard of the organ transplant and personality change, but this was much faster and without rejection. When the fecal matter from other shy rats was studied, it was found to contain different bacteria than that of the outgoing rats. 
After hearing this, I put two and two together and thought, “Of course!  After being under new prolonged stress, which began when my first husband had the stroke, until I was raped, my gut bacteria had changed!  It had changed so much that I was really not my old self at all anymore.  Only at times, when the bacteria are just right, do I feel the old me.  But to be honest, I sort of like this new me better.  She’s more settled and can let go of things better.
Mystery 3: Arthritis pain.
I’ll be honest, my physical health was never that great from birth!  I was born a blue baby, almost died several times due to not being able to breath at age 2-3, had several other episodes of not being able to breathe, had a severe rash for a few years which nothing could relieve, could never participate in sports, turned red anytime I exert myself, died from a medication, and react to any medication I’ve ever been given.  Add to this, severe arthritis in my body, most days a pain scale of 10, but I have a high pain tolerance – yeah me!
After listening to this video, a huge light went on.  I have really been working on my personal health since the whole Covid thing started, because I really like hypnosis and want to teach it to other people.  I mean, what else do you do when you’re stuck home for months on end? 
I have studied herbals, mind body health, and most things alternative health, for a very long time, since my body does not react to most of them.  Recently, I began to notice how I suddenly have less over all body pain, to the point I really overdo it and make my husband upset with me.  I hadn’t even noticed the pain wasn’t there, because it always was!
Thinking back, it started to disappear when I began to hit the enzymes and probiotics heavy – taking them daily or several times per day.  I also have so little stress now, that I wonder if I should be feeling something else!  (there are things that bring stress, but I can more easily just let it go) It turns out, in the lab studies, the gut bacteria has been found to eliminate chronic and auto immune diseases. 
The video also added that to eliminate the diseases, it also took a shift in thinking, lowering stress, and supplementing the healthy gut bacteria; which in turn changed as the gut health improved.  They found thoughts and gut health were linked.  They also found that as gut bacteria changed, so did all the habits.  To keep breeding, these new bacteria, change our taste buds and emotions, likes and dislikes, so they can keep breeding more!
All of this leads me to marvel at what we do as hypnotists.  We help a person change their thoughts, and change them long enough that their body in turn begins to change the bacteria which is being produced in their gut.  When the thoughts are changed long enough, their whole gut biome changes, which causes a ripple effect and you have a changed person, literally!
So, those old saying are true: “Stinkin thinkin.” and “Shit for brains.”
“Change your thoughts and you change your world” Norman Vincent Peale.  What if your world actually changes from the inside out! There are whole other ramifications if you toss in quantum theory and multi universes.  I mean, do we change dimensions by changing our gut health and thoughts?  Okay, I won’t go down that rabbit hole, but do consider it…
By changing your thoughts, and taming your tongue, you change your gut bacteria, which produces more bacteria, changing your diet, to support the thoughts, words, and life you want!
You owe it to yourself to take one hour of your life and really listen to this video.  Maybe it will anger you, maybe it will inspire you, or maybe it will change your gut bacteria.  One thing is for sure, you will learn something, professor Carding covers so much more than I have begun to describe here. 
I wish all of you happy Trance-Formation, inside and out!
Jessica L Hanson

In the book, Turtles All the Way Down, by Judith DeLozer and John Grinder, I have been reading about “stopping the world”. It’s an NLP technique which teaches you to step into other awarenesses.
And YES, I bought the book because it has the word “Turtle” in the title!
In the book John and Judith give the seminar participants an assignment of “stopping the world.” The participants are to use a buddy system as they learn the method.
As a late mentor liked to say, “the universe has a sense of humor…”
After reading this chapter of the book (which is great, by the way) my husband and I went to play disc golf. It’s a 9 hole course, so we play it twice to get our 18 holes in. Round one went well. I was getting par on almost every hole.
However, on round 2, hole 7, I “stopped the world!”
On hole 7 I hit a tree branch, nothing unusual about that! But as I was about to line up my shot I was hit from behind.
Suddenly I was very aware of a burning sensation near my right shoulder blade and nothing else. It was like I could watch myself in slow motion. My hands were trying to pull my clothing away from my back and I was saying something. Then I noticed buzzing and felt a burning sensation on the top left side of my head. My arms were swinging my disc wildly and my head was moving like I was head banging to a good rock song. My body just kept moving until the buzzing stopped.
Suddenly I was aware of my surroundings again. I was nearly half way back to the tee pad, my hat was in one hand, a disc in the other, and my hair was a mess. Think I even said, “I’ve been hit.”
My husband went the other direction and we walked to the last tee pad. On the way I asked if he got stung? And if he was allergic to stings? Then he handed me my pink disc, which I wasn’t aware was missing.
We played the last hole and went home.
Nothing like a nest of angry bees to “stop the world”! I’m not sure how long I stopped the world, but it felt like a long time. I’m not sure what motions my body went through to avoid getting more stings. Part of me was very focused on not getting stung. It just sounded like I was surrounded!
Funny how awareness changes; I was VERY aware of the 3 places I was stung, but only vaguely aware of the rest of my body. I couldn’t tell you if I walked or ran, what was in the space around me, or how I got there, but I covered some ground!
As my body absorbs the venom and the welts go down, I can reflect on how bees can bee teachers on how to “ stop the world”.
I think I may have skipped a few steps in the process or did them all simultaneously. I’m not really sure bee-cause I was in a heightened state of awareness and didn’t have an experience buddy to guide me, or learning cues set up, like the people in the book.
As we drove home, the Beatles song, Let It Be, began to play in my mind! Not sure why, maybe to distract me from the stings. But then you’d think my mind would give me a song sung by Sting?
May-bee next time I “stop the world” I can have a better experience, like one in the book, and bee more aware of experiencing both states of consciousness.
Happy Trance-Forming!
Jessica

If you want to see a Hypnosis Stage Show, there will be one at the 2021 Kandiyohi County Fair.
It is worth seeing if you’ve never seen a hypnosis stage show.
Just keep in mind that this is hypnosis for entertainment.
Go and enjoy. Discover the entertainment side of hypnosis!
When you are ready to make a change in your life, call my office and experience the healing side of hypnosis.
If you want to learn Hypnosis and do Stage, Integrative Medicine, or enhance your current skill set, then sign up for my certification class this fall, to start a rewarding career!
HappyTrance-Forming!

My summer reading book is, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, by Caitlin Doughty.
A copy was given to me. I’ve wanted to read it for a while. Caitlin discusses death and grief and how society has sterilized and hidden death. She writes beautifully about her experience working in a crematorium- her thoughts, history of death, rituals and her encounters with both dead and living.
A wonderful read to demystify the inevitable.
Honestly, if I wasn’t a hypnotherapist, the funeral industry would be my next career choice.
After my first husband died, a widow and mortician, Carleen Helgison, befriended me. I learned so much from her!
The folks at the local funeral home also were very open to talking and answering questions.
In America death is sterilized. In most othe countries it is embraced as part of life.
At the cemetery, 3 of my step children stayed to see how things were done after the committal service. Having disabilities, I wondered how they would react. As the covering were moved from the ground, they were over joyed to see their mom's cremation box! They had many questions and were excited about what they got to see!
Helping people navigate grief is a passion of mine. Aside from birth, death is one of the most sacred moments of a persons life.

Mental health is more than just depression, anxiety, and medication. Mental health is about our whole body health.

When our mind is processing information and circumstances in a healthy way, then our body is also healthy, because your mind and body are one in the same.
An example is; have you ever had a pet or loved one die? Did you feel strange and want to sleep a lot? Or did you have a rough day at work and just want to curl up and eat junk food?

Another step deeper, is that your thoughts also affect your body. If you go around all day thinking about how bad things are “going to be” or “could be” then your body will respond accordingly, by keeping you on high alert for bad things; making you tired, and craving junk food, to keep up with the high calorie demand, to keep you on high alert.

Having feelings is normal. It is only when these feelings last longer than is helpful that one needs to be concerned about their mental health. It is okay to feel sad or depressed after the death of a pet, the breakup of a relationship, a medical diagnosis, or loss of a job. If the sadness persists longer than a week and does not improve, then it is a sign you need some help.

There are exceptions to the timeline of feeling sad; after the death of a family member, it is healthy and normal to experience grief for 1-3 or more years afterwards. The length of time grief takes depends on how close you were to the individual and many other factors. Grief is not a once and done process, it is like the waves on the ocean. Right after the death, the waves of grief are huge and disabling, leaving you tossed about in a sea of emotion. After a couple months, these waves begin to smooth and begin to come less and frequently, but they still come. For some people who never allow themselves to grieve, these waves of grief can last a lifetime, and become debilitating.

For many generations, mental health was a taboo subject. In everyone’s family history there are stories of some relative who was “committed” to an asylum. Just because they were admitted, does not mean they were mentally defective! Chances are, these people had a, nutritional or chemical imbalance, or they were not able to express their emotions properly. Suppressing abuse, emotion, or keeping a deep dark family secret, for long periods of time is not healthy. Some were even admitted because they got pregnant at a young age out of wedlock. These people were not “crazy”, they were pregnant in an era when even pregnancy was a disorder – and still is today!

Can you spot mental illness? NO! Actually, according to the DSM (the diagnostic manual used by therapists) everyone of us has a diagnosable mental illness! Everything you do on a daily basis, which you call “routine”, is listed in the DSM and is considered diagnosable.

So, now that we are all on the same level, what do we do about it?
Accept it!

Some of the most intelligent people have diagnoses of: manic depression, schizophrenia, hoarding, obsession, neurosis, etc.
These are the people who create the machines and medicines which improve your life. These are the people who; defend your rights, operate on your cancers, prepare your food, teach your children, preach on Sunday, and more. If they didn’t have a quirk, they couldn’t excel at their job and wouldn’t be who they are!

If you want to meet a messed-up person, get to know a therapist, especially psychiatrists and psychologists. People in the mental health profession are in it to find answers for themselves. Because they’ve lived it, they are well versed in the subject, and therefore are able to recognize it others and help them along the way. Their talent is to easily recognize the symptoms in others.

The old sayings go, “a builders house is never complete” “a mechanics car is always broken”, this is true, because these people have the ability to see their need in others, and know how to fix it. By fixing it for others, they are attempting to fix themselves.

We are ALL beautifully broken! Yours truly is no exception to the rule. I have my own struggles and see them in my clients. When I help a client, I am also helping myself. We are all getting well together! If you want a fancy term, it is called “mirror neurons.” It comes from the saying, “what you hate about another, is only a reflection of what you hate about yourself.” It takes a strong person to admit it, but it is very true!

From time to time, when something happens, I seek the help of another therapist. I do not have all the answers, so even I need support from time to time.

May is mental health month. I want you to know that, IT IS ALWAYS OKAY TO ASK FOR HELP! Not all help comes from a pill or medication. Some of the best help comes by improving your coping skills, or by just doing something different- such as getting outdoors, sitting by a campfire, spending a few hours in nature, etc.
Other mental health activities are: hobbies, walking, fishing, cooking, having coffee with friends, or anything which helps you to feel better!
It takes a strong person to admit he/she needs help, but asking for help and accepting it is a superpower! Use your superpowers wisely!

Happy trance-forming!
Jessica L. Hanson

​Lately, I have been working with several clients and relationship issues.  One theme that has come up in the sessions is, Vows.  All this time together, has really brought underlying issues to the surface in peoples lives. In it is a simple reminder for all of us.
 
When you said your vows; for marriage - traditional or self-written, or oath of office, you made a promise to another person(s). What you do not realize is that you also made a promise to yourself to uphold those vows personally.  To fully honor your oath/vow, you must keep them personally before you can keep them for another.
 
When I became a Certified Hypnotherapist, I signed an oath to an organization that I would practice within my scope of training, follow the rules and bylaws they have in place, and as a representative of the organization, conduct myself in a professional manner.  In exchange, the certifying organization has promised to certify me as a Hypnotherapist, provide for me further education/certification opportunities to expand my scope of practice, answer questions, and provide a place to belong.
 
Traditional marriage vows go as follows:
I, ________, take you, ________, to be my wife/husband. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish, till death do us part, according to God’s holy ordinance. This is my solemn vow.
 
As you and I both know, after the thrill and newness wears off, we often really do not remember what we said when we said our vows.  We remember the motions, but now the words. 
 
It was after the death of my first husband that the pastor pointed out to me, I lived all of my wedding vows during my short marriage of 1 ½ years.  He re-read the vows my husband and I had promised to each other, then asked if I kept my side of the vows?  This brought about the realization that I did not need to feel the regret any longer.  My vows were, “till death do us part”.  I had fulfilled my vows and my husband fulfilled his. 
 
Take your high school graduation as an example; you were on the verge of adulthood, freedom and responsibility.  You had a head full of high hopes and dreams.  The ceremony probably seemed to take as long as the 12 years of education which made this occasion possible.  You remember going through the motions, but not the words.
 
It is only later in life, career, or marriage that we are forced to pause and remember why we are in the position we area in.  For the professional, it is called “burnout”, in a marriage it is called “affair” or “falling out of love”, in life it is called, “midlife crisis”.
 
At this point in every relationship, one must pause and rediscover their vows or oaths, which they made to another(s) and to themselves.  Are you still upholding your side?  Are you true to your words to yourself – “…from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish, till death do us part…This is my solemn vow” ?
 
If not; What changed?  Who changed?
Why?  Were you not prepared?  Do you need help? 
 
Do you still stand by and believe the words you said? 
If not; Why?  What changed?  Who changed?
 
Everyday you have a choice. Everyday you choose by your; thoughts, words, and actions, to honor your vow/oath, or to dishonor your word and yourself.
 
In times of personal frustration, I look at the ring on my finger and remember the vows I said and how blessed I am to have this person in my life!  (After being widowed, your perspective changes drastically! Most issues you have are not with the other person, but with yourself.)  
 
In times of professional frustration, I look at the certificates on the wall in my office, and remember why I chose to earn them – all the time and money I chose to invest.  Every day I chose to be true to the words I have spoken, not only to the organizations, but to myself.  I also look at the pictures of my mentors, teachers, and colleagues.  As part of organizations, I am representing these fine practitioners, because they are why the organization exists.
 
By taking a professional oath, I have to hold myself to higher standards, which challenges me to change and grow.  By saying marriage vows to my husband, I am challenged to learn about myself and about all the facets of love, loss, riches, poverty, life and death; which reach far beyond material things. 
 
I say all of this to let you know that it is okay to struggle.  To struggle means you are engaged in life and all it has to offer.  When you face an obstacle, it is there to help you grow.  Consider these words by Victor Frankl:
 
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
 
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
 
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
 
            “Ever more, people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.”
 
And from Milton Erickson:
 
            “Life will bring you pain all by itself. Your responsibility is to create joy.”
 
            “Change will lead to insight more often than insight will lead to change.”
 
            “It is really amazing what people can do. Only they don’t know what they can do.”
 
“A goal without a date is just a dream.”
 
My permissive suggestion is: When you find yourself at a crossroads in life, marriage, or career; the best thing you can often do is close your eyes, go inside, and remember why you chose to be there in the first place.  Remember your vows/oath.  Look up the words, look at the pictures, and really focus on the meaning of them.  Then the choice is yours – stay or leave.  No one can make that choice for you.
 
If you need to hear a direct suggestion: “Shut up, sit in that chair, and go into a deep trance.” (Milton Erickson) Review your vow/oath. Now the choice is yours – stay or leave.  No one can make that choice for you.
 
Happy Trance-forming!
Jessica L Hanson, CHt

There is a lady I hardly know. I’ve only seen her in person a few times. From time to time I have extra items she can use, so I send them to her through a family member.
Today she sent me this little quilt through her family member.
It was lovingly hand made and carries several messages besides the one written on the paper.
It also reminds us to look within ourselves and remember who we are deep down inside. In life, we can easily forget that we are a person who has gifts and talents.
Remember, no matter what your age, race, or religion, you have value and purpose.
Find a special item to carry with you as a reminder that you are special. It can be a coin, stone, bead, ring, necklace, keychain, or anything else, as long as it reminds you that you are loved and have value.
(if you want your own “Pocket Prayer Quilt” send me an email and I’ll see if my friend can make you one too😊