Hi, I’m Natascha, The Health Lodge’s dedicated Hypnotherapist!
I’m all about helping you boost your health, energy, and lifestyle and in today’s blog I want to talk about digital health — so let me start by asking you some questions.

Are you catching yourself scrolling through social media instead of getting stuff done?
Are you glued to your phone, rushing to make it to appointments at the last minute?
Do you find yourself reaching for your phone just to get that quick dopamine hit?

If you answered yes to these questions, this blog is for you.

Hypnosis for Digital Detox: Finding Inner Balance in a Hyperconnected World

Hypnotherapy can be an effective approach to help individuals reduce their dependence on their phones and other digital devices by addressing the underlying behaviours and thought patterns associated with excessive use. Social media addiction, for instance, can be a behavioural disorder that hypnotherapy can help overcome. Hypnotherapy can increase feelings of peace, inner balance, and happiness through several interconnected mechanisms supported by research.

Firstly, hypnosis often involves techniques for progressive relaxation, deep breathing, and visualisation of peaceful settings, which can directly induce a state of calmness and reduce tension. This relaxation response, possibly linked to a shift towards a more dopaminergic and/or cholinergic mode and a relative suppression of noradrenergic input (associated with stress), can foster feelings of peace and inner balance.

Here are some ways hypnotherapy can assist in finding inner balance:

Working with the Subconscious Mind:

Hypnotherapy aims to directly address the subconscious mind, which is understood to control a significant portion of an individual’s life. By instilling positive suggestions at this level, hypnotherapy can help create desired behavioural changes. Furthermore, hypnotherapy supports individuals to address inner conflicts that contribute to excessive phone use and to find positive internal support for change.

Trance-like State and Brain Chemicals:

There exists a similarity between the state experienced during social media use and hypnosis, where focus and absorption increase, leading to a distortion of time. This suggests that individuals prone to social media addiction may be more receptive to hypnotic suggestions.

Social media can trigger dopamine release through the anticipation and reception of rewards such as likes and notifications, as well as through the engagement in novel content and social connections. Rather than relying on this “quick fix”, hypnosis can improve mental well-being in the long run.

Dopamine enhances attention, focus, and motivation — key factors in mental health. By activating dopaminergic pathways, hypnosis may improve cognitive function, reduce stress, and promote healthier habits, which is helpful in managing anxiety and depression. Additionally, dopamine’s role in the reward system can reinforce positive behaviors, potentially aiding in reducing social media use.

Empowering Self-Control:

A key goal of hypnotherapy is to empower individuals and foster a sense of mastery and self-control over certain aspects of life, such as spending more time in the real world. This involves helping individuals reduce negative habits without causing side effects. Hypnosis can encourage relaxation, commitment to change, self-control, mood management, and the development of a healthy lifestyle, which can naturally lead to less reliance on devices.

Reducing Negative Emotional Responses:

Hypnotherapy can help enhance emotional regulation. It aims to help clients release negative emotions that hinder change from excessive phone use.
When individuals try to limit their phone use, they may experience stress and anxiety. Hypnotic treatments can help reduce levels of stress, anxiety, and depression by influencing hormone levels and modifying brain chemicals. It can change negative thinking patterns associated with online connectedness.

Self-Hypnosis:

Clients are often taught self-hypnosis to help them relax when they experience stress and anxiety. This can provide a coping mechanism that reduces the urge to reach for the phone. Clients report being increasingly able to manage their social media use healthily and experience a reduction in anxiety and nervous tension.

Sounds like something you need?

My passion is guiding you through those “aha!” moments that spark real change, whether you’re ready to break free from a scrolling habit and kick procrastination to the curb, or dive deep into some of the root causes, or want to feel more balanced and purposeful. With clients from all over the globe, I bring a trauma-informed, personalised approach to help you. Ready to take that first step towards your next level?

Here are your options:

• Book a one-to-one session with me.
• Register your interest in a Digital Health Retreat where we immerse ourselves into these strategies for maximum transformational impact – TAKING EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST NOW.

Email: retreats@thehealthlodge.com.au