Transforming Cravings Into Ick

I’ve been helping a lot of clients lately with quitting “bad habits” they’ve wanted to break and the number one thing that comes up over and over and over again is how to deal with the cravings.

As you may know, my first introduction to hypnosis was really in quitting my 40 year addiction to diet coke over the course of a 10 minute session.

I answered someone’s question on cravings today via text and thought to myself, oh I really should share this on the blog! :) So here it is.

Hey! I'm a hypnotist and I used hypnosis to cut my 40 year addiction to diet coke. There are lots of cool ways you can use hypnosis/play with the way your brain creates habits to break the cravings.... I'll walk you through one of them, this one is actually my personal favorite but there are LOTS and it's just a matter of playing around with them, seeing how you and your brain respond.

But this one is pretty damn powerful - If you have like 5-10 minutes... this is a pretty cool way to help get rid of those cravings.

One of my favorite sessions I ever did was with someone that used this technique to make herself associate wine with dumpster sludge to cut her cravings! Anyway...

So first I'd recommend getting somewhere comfy, where you can kind of settle into the space, take a few deep grounding breaths, close your eyes and just .... relax. Take a few deep breaths, and just chill.

Then, with your eyes closed, I want you to imagine a cold, fresh diet coke (or whatever your "thing" is heheheh). If you were to see an image in your mind, where is it? (I know that sounds nebulous but, our mind creates space around us, so when we imagine something, is it straight in front of you, off to either side, up high, down low, etc....) You might even notice yourself kind of point at it.

If you were to imagine it there, what is it like?
Is it in color or black and white?
Is it a movie or a still shot?
Notice everything you can about it. (If this were a one on one session, I'd ask you these questions and we'd chat through it but for all intents and purposes, this still works great.)
Is there a feeling with it? How does that feeling move?
Is there any sort of internal dialog with it?

Take your time and really notice. Then, once you have a really good sense of how your brain "paints that picture" of the thing you're craving...

Take a second and physically shake it off a bit. Move your body, shake out your arms, shrug your shoulders, take a big inhale and audibly exhale it out and sit up straight in your chair before we go any further.

Now I want you to close your eyes again, settle back into your space and relax. Few deep grounding breaths and you're back.

Now imagine something that is just totally repulsive for you. Like the thought of it just makes you gag. Maybe it's another drink (water even hehehehe) or maybe it's a food or the smell when you've forgotten to take the trash out after having cooked fish a few days prior... just anything freakin' gross.

Where does that show up in your mind?
Notice those same things as before...
Is this one in black and white or in color?
Is it a movie or a still shot?
Is there a feeling with it?
Does it have any movement??

Noticing where and how it appears in your mind. (and, wild fun fact... everybody is different but it often "appears" in a way almost "opposite" of the thing you normally crave.... wild, right??)

So now, again, take a second and physically shake it off. Move your body a little, wiggle it out.

And, now, one more time, settle back into your space, close your eyes, couple deep breaths... and just chill out and relax. ohhhh yeah... cozy.

Now from here is where the fun really begins.

I want you to again imagine that cold juicy diet coke and in your mind... then I want you to send it waaaaaaaayyyyy off into the distance, and, almost like a boomerang, imagine it coming back from the depths of space but this time slamming it right back into that other position, the position of the gross stuff.

And just notice what comes up for you.

Then, you're going to repeat that process 4 or 5 times... each time, taking the diet coke, throwing it waaaaayyyyy out into the distance of your mind, and then, like a boomerang, calling it back and slamming it into the position in your mind that associates with the nasty stuff.

And each time, ask yourself "what am I noticing now?".

After 4 or 5 times of slamming that diet coke into the nasty spot in your mind... I'd venture to guess it sounds a little nasty all the sudden. And you'll know you can stop when it does. Like when it just really sounds repulsive to you... you've done it. congrats!

Again, in a one on one session, we can talk through each of these steps more and play around with what you notice and how things come up for you and tailor it just exactly to what's coming up for you in that moment. AND doing it on your own can be incredibly powerful too.

If you use that process, I'd LOVE to hear how it goes! Feel free to msg me or write back here! Good luck! You can absolutely do this!

ALSO - this is an extra note to all my lovely readers here on the blog… I’m running a killer special all summer long on my CUT THE CRAVINGS single sessions to do this work (plus much much more ‘cause this is just one of the many amazing tools and techniques I have to help cut cravings!)