Hypnotherapy And Motion Sickness

Most people have experienced motion sickness at one point or another, whether that was while at sea, on a plane, on a rollercoaster or in a car. Isn’t it strange how we used to love rollercoasters and then somehow they can lose their appeal and you spend the whole ride wishing it would stop.

What is motion sickness?

According to Wikipedia, the definition of motion sickness is when:

“a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system’s
sense of movement”

Presumably therefore, when I feel seasick, my inner ear can sense the motion of the ship on the sea but my eyes are seeing the still cabin area, and my poor brain can’t work out what’s going on, hence the resulting nausea, dizziness and cold sweats.

Treatments

There are sickness drugs you can buy to help you through it, however, some people experience side effects and some of the stronger ones can result in drowsiness.

For those who prefer to avoid drugs, you can also buy acupressure wristbands that have a ball on them to apply pressure to the correct point on your wrists.

Another possibility to try is hypnosis. Hypnotherapy has worked for many people

How?

The hypnotherapist will talk to you about how you experience motion sickness and when. Different people experience it differently.

During hypnosis, there are several methods that a hypnotherapist can use. A hypnotherapist will usually take two approaches. The first is to help prevent motion sickness in the first place, using suggestion and positive reinforcement, helping you to visualise yourself going through the situation without the symptoms and re-training your unconscious mind.

The second approach is aimed at helping you to regain control of the situation in the event that you find yourself experiencing motion sickness. The methods are ones that you can undertake yourself and are described below. Self hypnosis can take practice to learn. You can try these techniques yourself and you must practice them to reap the benefit. A hypnotherapist can communicate with your unconscious mind and help to embed the visualisations firmly. If they are deeply embedded within your unconscious then you will be able to access them easily and effortlessly.

Self-Hypnosis

There are also various techniques and aspects of self-hypnosis you can use during motion sickness and many find these help.

Symptoms of motion sickness are created or made worse by the stress we experience. If you’ve had motion sickness before and are about to enter a similar situation, you are likely to become stress in anticipation.

So the first step is to consciously relax your body. You need to practice this before the situation or trip to maximise its effectiveness. This can take some practice but start by closing your eyes, breathing deeply and visualising yourself in a beautiful, calm place. The stronger you can make this visualisation the better, and if you do visit a hypnotherapist they can help you to place this visualisation firmly in your unconscious so you can revisit it at will more easily.

As you calm yourself, place your finger and thumb together. This acts as an anchor and helps to trigger the calm feeling. You need to practice this regularly for it to work and again, in hypnosis you can make this stronger.