Igor: Gary, would you like to start? Just give a half face so people can see you a little as well. Hey Gary, everyone say hello Gary.
Gary: Hello everybody.
Guests: [Hello Gary].
Igor: It feels like an AA meeting doesn’t it? Gary, do you want to tell us a little about what’s happening in terms of the pain you’ve come to talk about?
Gary: I suffer from chronic pain. The first time I felt an ‘attack’ was when I was 12 years old. I’ve spent most of my life trying to cope with it through medication and meditation. It took 25 years before I remembered what caused this pain, which I’ll share with you. My older brother and I would go out and play on the banks of Cottonwood Creek and I was out there pounding on the rocks with a hammer while he fished. I was pounding so hard I hit my head with the hammer and thought that was amazing, it almost knocked me out.
I was going to go ask my brother if I left a spot and as I walked up behind him he cast his line out into the creek, but the fish hook caught me in the back of the neck. He tried to pull it out but wasn’t able to, so he cut the line and I ran home. Something that’s not clear to me is that there was a woman at my home that was a nurse. I don’t know if she just happened to be there or if she was a neighbor that someone sent out for, but she came into the bathroom where I was standing over the sink with this fish hook in my neck.
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Hypnosis Pain Control Demonstrations ©Street Hypnosis All Rights Reserved She pushed it through so she could cut the barb off and pull it out. When she did that she damaged one of the nerves in my neck, the lesser occipital nerve. I know this because when I was about 25 I had some exploratory surgery to figure out the problem and they found a lot of scar tissue along that nerve, which they cleaned up. That was good for about six months where I didn’t feel any pain, but after that the pain returned.That’s my story.
Igor: Excellent. Are you experiencing it right now or is it something that comes and goes?
Gary: I have some discomfort now.
Igor: On a scale of 1 to 10, where is it right now?
Gary: It’s about a four. It’s kind of the stage that it’s at that if it gets any worse than this I would consider taking medication.
Igor: I understand that’s excellent. If I understand you correctly it comes and goes. In other words, sometimes it’s at like a 1 or 2, sometimes a 9 or 10…?
Gary: Sometimes I’m totally pain free.
Igor: Okay, but sometimes it’s higher than this as well, correct?
Gary: Sometimes I’ve felt a 10 and at that time I have to tell you I want to die.
Igor: There’s a lot we can do with this, hopefully we’ll get to it. I would really like to dive in right now but I would rather give you a method than to dive in, but the temptation is very high.
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Hypnosis Pain Control Demonstrations ©Street Hypnosis All Rights Reserved Gary, can I ask you a quick question? You talked to us about what you had going on in the back of your head because of the accident you had as a kid, right? Where is it right now in terms of the pain level?Gary: It’s about a 4.
Igor: Can you describe the sensation for a moment for me?
Gary: It’s like a burning dull pain.
Igor: Like a burning dull pain, right?
Gary: Yes.
Igor: Could you please close your eyes for a moment? Pay attention to that sensation there. Tell me if it starts diminishing already, but pay attention to whatever is there. Of course, he’s already wise to what’s going on here so either he’ll work one way with it or, if he’s smart his unconscious mind will start diminishing. Has it happened yet?
Gary: No, not really.
Igor: That’s right it hasn’t, very good. Where is it you like to go to relax, do you have some place that you really enjoy?
Gary: Yes, to the beach.
Igor: What kind of beach?
Gary: Sandy beach.
Igor: Sandy beach…so you’re there on that sandy beach and there’s water over there, the temperature in the air and you can enjoy that kind of place can you not?
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Hypnosis Pain Control Demonstrations ©Street Hypnosis All Rights Reserved Gary: Yes.Igor: Now, if a really important person in your life were to meet you on this beach specifically and only to help you with the sensation you had in your head for some time now, who would that person be do you think?
Gary: My wife.
Igor: Your wife, that’s a good choice your wife. So your wife would be on that beach specifically to help you, right? That would be a good thing to have wouldn’t it?
Gary: Yeah.
Igor: Is she there yet?
Gary: Yeah.
Igor: Of course she is, right there. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this but she has something for you, a cooling substance. It could be like a gel or ointment, have you spotted what it is yet?
Gary: Yes.
Igor: It’s a tube of ointment. A tube of ointment, did she make it herself just for you?
Gary: I don’t know.
Igor: You don’t know do you. You really don’t know.
I wonder what will happen if you take what’s in that tube and begin to apply it to the back of your head. Can you feel the soothing coolness there, kind of like a minty sensation or possibly stronger then that? Can you feel that now?
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Hypnosis Pain Control Demonstrations ©Street Hypnosis All Rights Reserved Igor: What’s happening now in terms of the sensation in the back of your head?Gary: It’s cooling the back of my head.
Igor: It is cooling isn’t it?
Gary: Yes.
Igor: Is that cooling process intensifying as you apply it?
Gary: No, it’s just on the surface.
Igor: It’s just on the surface right. So, what level would the sensation in your head be right now? It’s dropped has it not?
Gary: What level, it’s still at a four.
Igor: It’s still at a four, so despite the reduction in burning you’d still call it a four is that what you’re saying?
Gary: Yes, the cooling is on the surface it’s not deep.
Igor: So something is missing isn’t it, to allow that cooling sensation to enter? Something to allow that cooling sensation to enter; you’ve applied it on the top but it hasn’t quite reached the right spot yet has it?
Gary: Right.
Igor: That’s right and that’s why your wife is here. There you go. What’s she doing now?
Gary: She’s rubbing it in.
Igor: She’s rubbing it in. She’s rubbing it in. Can you feel that beginning to penetrate the skin?
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Hypnosis Pain Control Demonstrations ©Street Hypnosis All Rights Reserved Gary: Yes.Igor: Is that a relief?
Gary: It feels good.
Igor: It does feel good doesn’t it? Allow that to continue. Let her really rub in that ointment and feel the coolness that it brings. Is it bringing the numbers down yet?
Gary: No.
Igor: So what is happening?
Gary: It feels good and it’s relaxing everything around the area, but the nerve still hurts.
Igor: The nerve still hurts right, so this is preparing you for the healing. It’s opening things up to make the healing possible, but hasn’t quite addressed the actual cause yet, is that what you’re saying?
Gary: Yes.
Igor: It feels good to be open and ready like this doesn’t it?
Gary: Yes.
Igor: Like you’re ready for something right?
Gary: Yes.
Igor: Yeah, what’s that what just happened? Yeah, that was it. What is that? Let it go, drift it back, let it drift.
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Hypnosis Pain Control Demonstrations ©Street Hypnosis All Rights Reserved Let your mind drift way up and that experience be all the way over there. Let it drift Gary. That’s it much better, let it drift Gary. Are you letting it drift? Talk to me, let it drift, there you go you’re doing great. You’re doing a good job. I know this is intense Gary, let it drift all the way, all the way. Good.This is a really good job. Talk to me, what’s happening now?
Gary: I don’t know what that was all about.
Igor: You don’t need to know, just tell me what you experienced. It was intense wasn’t it? You still feel the aftermath a little bit right?
Gary: I got really hot.
Igor: I understand, you’re doing good.
Gary: I completely overwhelmed with emotion.
Igor: I understand, you’re doing a great job Gary, do you know why? Let that emotion drift off into the distance so only bits come in at a time. One little bit at a time, can you do that? That’s it, just one little bit and notice how with each wave it’s a little weaker, so it’s easier for you to manage.
You’re getting more in control of that process right. You’re doing a really good job Gary. Let that continue, but at your rate and pace. There’s no speed required here. There’s no time required here, because you know that I’m going to stay right here until you’re done right? You realize that.