About Hypnosis:

Dentist Victor Rausch of Waterloo, Ontario, knows something about the power of hypnosis, as does his surgeons. These same doctors removed Dr. Rausch's gallbladder during a 75 minute operation during which the dentist would periodically take off his headphones and converse with the flabbergasted surgeons. You see, the only anesthesia used by the patient was self hypnosis and Chopin's Nocturne in E-flat.  His vital signs and blood pressure remained stable throughout the entire operation, after which he further amazed his audience by hopping off the operating table and riding the elevator down to his room.

Dr. Rausch's startling feat was reported in the July 1998 medical journal Hippocrates along with other surprising uses for medical hypnosis including the remarkable case of a man who had sustained a third degree burn after immersing his leg in a vat of  molten aluminum at 1750°.

Psychiatrist and Plastic Surgeon Dabney Ewin, M.D. from Tulane Medical School, who treated the patient with hypnosis in the emergency room, has pictures of the initial burned extremity and the patient's remarkable recovery to prove to his skeptical colleagues the power of hypnosis in response to one of the worst types of injuries known to man. Not only did the patient leave the hospital in record time (three weeks instead of 3 months) but the severely damaged skin grew hair later on, an almost miraculous indication of burn recovery.

Hypnotic states have been observed since the dawn of man. Scientists speculate trance states are a naturally occurring biological phenomenon and have evolved to ensure and enhance the survival of man. How? Confronted with danger, man automatically enters a type of hypnosis. Immediately, his/her pain tolerance increases--witness a solder suffering horrendous amputations without feeling pain. Muscular strength is amplified by trance--an athlete's "second wind" or the "little old lady" who lifts the car off the child. The ability to clot blood is enhanced thru hypnosis--history speaks of Rasputin using hypnosis to prevent the bleeding into the joints of the hemophiliac Royal Heir to the Russian throne, and altering the course of world history in the process.

David Livingstone, the famed African missionary of Stanley and Livingstone fame, was attacked by a lion, shaken about and bitten. Later, he remarked that during the attack, he felt anesthetized, as one "who knows all but feels not the knife." He speculated that the peaceful state he experienced could be "a contribution of our benevolent Creator" in response to a traumatic injury and death1. (see Hypnosis: The Application of Ideomotor Techniques, David Cheek, MD).

Dr. James Esdaile, a surgeon practicing in India in the 1840's, lowered his surgical death rate from 50% to 5% using a technique of mesmerism learned from the medicine men from the mountains of Assam. A deep hypnotic state was induced prior to major surgical procedures after the tedious task of passing hands over the subject for periods of up to an hour or two--a task routinely assigned to an assistant.

What Freud didn't know...

Sigmund Freud was captivated by the beneficial effects of hypnosis, but unfortunately, he was a poor hypnotist--more as a result of the authoritative and rude techniques of his day--and abandoned it as he found it unreliable. He eventually set upon the rather tedious and labor intensive--not to mention expensive--approach of psychoanalysis.

Today's enlightened medical professionals use a technique of hypnosis called ideomotor signaling. One could only imagine Freud's response to a typical demonstration of such a technique: A 40 year old dentist volunteered to be a subject at a meeting of medical professionals learning hypnotic techniques. His problem was a bit surprising: he couldn't brush his back molars since childhood because of a severe gag response.

Once a light state of hypnosis was induced, small movements of his fingers indicated "yes", "no" and "I don't care to answer" responses from his unconscious mind. The instructor asked him if he remembered the cause of gag response. He shook his head "No" while his finger indicated "yes"! The therapist instructed him to find his inner strength, review any event that might explain his strange problem, and lift his yes finger once he was aware of the cause.

After a few minutes of what appeared to be inner turmoil, the dentist smiled and exclaimed, "I've got it." His hypnotically tuned mind brought back an unpleasant recollection of his tonsillectomy as a 4 year old child. He was beguiled into the hospital under the ruse of going out for ice cream. As a result of post-op bleeding, he spend a very terrifying night with large surgical clamps in his mouth. Two years later, this same dentist testified that his gagging problem resolved the same day as his revelation and had not returned.

Self Defeating Behavior: A barrier to academic excellence? It's a sad fact known to therapists: a majority of individuals suffer from poor self esteem and low self worth. Unchecked, these impulses cause individuals to unconsciously perform poorly on exams, procrastinate papers and assignments, and escape via over the top behavior--usually designed to efficiently self medicate the anxiety of, well, screwing up!

Sound familiar? Whose to blame? Our highly advanced brain and the tremendous learning curve required to master the problems of being human ranging from the mundane (walking) to the sophisticated (reading). Most observant children automatically feel intimidated by their older peers who are further along that curve. Throw into the mix an abusive parent or sibling and witness the emergence of powerful, unconscious self defeating tendencies.

The Zone Solution...

So, what is the zone and how might it help? The zone is a mindset for success that uses hypnosis to tap into your minds hidden abilities. Purchasing My Academic Zone downloads and listening to the recordings on a daily basis will: 1. increase your academic success via hypnotically enhanced learning 2. help you to overcome self defeating behaviors 3. Encourage a healthy balance between study, exercise, restful sleep and play. Why join? Why not just borrow my friends recordings? The recordings are hypnotically programmed to benefit only members of My Academic Zone who have purchased the downloads. Besides, if you had the answers to an upcoming exam, would it be wise to share it with your competition? 

Hidden Abilities...

Psychologist have discovered that the human mind is multilayered, with most of our abilities residing in our unconscious. The smart Surgeon is respectful and careful as to word choice during surgery because the patient records what's being said. Many a patient has come out of surgery angry with the surgeon and unsure why . An honest surgeon will admit to insulting the patient carelessly during the operation and will soon learn from his/her mistake.

So too, students who attend university lectures are recoding words and ideas both consciously and unconsciously, in addition to the observing the myriad clues given by the instructor. I was always a bit puzzled by an observation I made in medical school. The best students diligently attended classes while the students who performed poorly skipped classes and spent their time focusing on the verbatim transcripts of the lectures. Kudos to the power of the unconscious mind.

The Zone encourages unconscious learning and seems to facilitate unconscious recall of the correct answers, especially with multiple choice formats.  In addition, published medical studies demonstrate that hypnosis is also successful for the confidence and recall required for extremely stressful oral examinations. Eleven medical doctors who had failed stressful oral fellowship examinations attended two 50 minute hypnosis sessions designed to increase confidence and overcome exam anxiety.

Two measures of success were utilized: examination pass rate and self reported anxiety levels. Ten out of eleven doctors passed and nine out of ten perceived significantly less anxiety with the second examination (American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis Vol. 35, No. 3, January 1993 pgs. 198-204).

Perhaps the most exciting benefit to emerge is a hypnotic awakening to one's own inner strength. Experienced medical hypnotherapists have demonstrated the surprising existence of this unconscious element of our psyche. Sandy was a young woman suffering from longstanding depression. While in a light state of hypnosis, I asked her if her inner strength could find a solution to her dilemma. "No" she answered, "I see no solution" while her inner strength answered yes with a lift of her "yes" finger. She looked at her "yes" finger lifting and gasped. I asked the question again and the yes finger dutifully lifted. Within a few months, her depression had resolved and she had a whole new outlook on life. The Academic Zone is not a substitute for necessary medical care for serious depression or other medical conditions. Yet, the recording are especially designed to put you in touch with a God given dynamic part of your unconscious that serves as an autopilot for your overall well being.

So, why delay? Purchase and download The Zone Advantage today for only $9.95