Time & Space Integrative Counselling

What Happens in Your Brain During Hypnosis?

Our brains are constantly changing, shifting through different patterns of electrical activity as we concentrate, relax, daydream, meditate and sleep.

But is there actually a particular brainwave associated with hypnosis?

Even though hypnosis has been studied for hundreds of years - we still have lots to learn!

In this post, we're exploring brainwave activity and what researchers are discovering about hypnosis.

Read the full article here:

What happens in your brain with hypnosis? Our brains are constantly shifting through different patterns of electrical activity as we think, relax, daydream and sleep. But what happens during hypnosis? Explore the fascinating world of brainwaves, everyday states of consciousness, and what research reveals—and has yet to discover—about th...

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Being emotionally regulated doesn't mean you don't feel angry, frustrated, or uncomfortable.

It means being able to experience those emotions without feeling compelled to react impulsively.

It means creating enough space between what you feel and how you respond so that your actions can remain aligned with your values, even when your emotions feel intense.

Emotional regulation isn't about suppressing what you feel. It's about maintaining the capacity to choose how you respond.

You can be angry and still be kind. You can be uncomfortable and still be compassionate. You can be frustrated and still communicate with intention.

The goal isn't to feel less. It's to remain connected to yourself, even when you're feeling a lot.

Mercury is astonishing 🪐

It is the smallest planet in our solar system, the closest to the Sun — and the fastest.

Mercury races around the Sun at nearly 47 kilometres per second, completing an entire orbit in just 88 Earth days.

Humans have been watching this little wanderer for thousands of years.

The Romans named it Mercury, after their swift messenger god — the Roman equivalent of the Greek Hermes. Clever, quick and constantly moving, Mercury carried messages between worlds and became associated with communication, language, travel and exchange.

In astrology, Mercury carries remarkably similar themes.

Mercury represents the conscious mind: how we think, process information, communicate, learn and make sense of the world around us. It can speak to our wit and curiosity, our reasoning and logic, and the particular way our mind moves from one idea to another.

Where Mercury sits in your birth chart can tell us something about the nature of your mind — how you think and how you communicate what you know.

And once again, I find the resonance fascinating.

The planet associated with thought, messages and mental movement is quite literally the fastest planet in our solar system — a small, swift world perpetually travelling close to the Sun.

Science gives us one way of knowing the planets. Astrology offers a way of contemplating them. Somewhere between the two, there is plenty to explore ☺️

Image from: NASA

Earth is majestic 🌎

Our planet is travelling around the Sun at roughly 107,000 km/h, while rotating beneath our feet once every 24 hours.

Deep within Earth, the movement of molten iron in its outer core helps generate an enormous magnetic field. This creates a vast magnetosphere around our planet, helping shield life from charged particles streaming from the Sun — and contributing to the beautiful auroras we see near the poles.

But Earth holds a particularly interesting place in astrology.

Whatever ancient sky-watchers understood about Earth's place in the cosmos, they observed the heavens from here — from a particular place, at a particular moment, beneath a particular sky.

Astrology preserves this Earth-based perspective through the **Ascendant, or rising sign**

Your Ascendant is the zodiac sign rising over the eastern horizon at the precise time and place of your birth. It anchors your birth chart to Earth — and sets the orientation of the entire chart.

In this way, your Ascendant speaks to your particular vantage point and your experience of being here:
**this place, this moment, this life**

Before astrology became symbols on a screen, there were human beings standing on Earth, looking out into the cosmos; and I think it's worth remembering that we still are 💫

Science gives us one way of knowing the planets. Astrology offers a way of contemplating them. Somewhere between the two, there is plenty to explore ☺️

Image from: NASA

Have you ever been in a trance?

Probably more often than you think.

Davidicus Wong, MD, writing for the Canadian Society of Clinical Hypnosis (BC Division), describes the hypnotic or trance state as “an altered state of consciousness we naturally fall in and out of each day.”

You've likely experienced a natural trance when you're:
Completely absorbed in a movie or book...
Daydreaming or lost in thought...
Driving a familiar route and suddenly realizing you've arrived ... Deeply immersed in music ...
So relaxed that your awareness of everything around you seems to fade into the background...

I will sometimes compare the feeling of hypnosis to getting a really good massage.

You're deeply relaxed. Your body might feel wonderfully heavy and you really don't feel like moving. But you could move if you needed to. And if your massage therapist asks you a question, you can absolutely answer them—even if summoning the energy to form words feels mildly inconvenient😂

Of course, there is no physical contact involved in hypnotherapy.

It's simply a familiar example of how we can be deeply relaxed while remaining aware and responsive.

Hypnosis works with this natural human capacity for focused attention and absorption intentionally, rather than trance being something mysterious that is “done” to you.

So if you've ever wondered what being hypnotised might feel like—you may already be more familiar with trance than you realize.

When do you notice yourself becoming completely absorbed or losing track of time?

Want to read more? Check out FAQ by the CSCH:
https://hypnosis.bc.ca/about-clinical-hypnosis/faqs/

Image:
A victim of the air loom’s influencing rays, by James Tilly Matthews, 1810
Public domain via Public Domain Image Archive

Mars is fascinating 🔴

For thousands of years, humans have looked up and seen a distinctly reddish wandering light in the night sky.

The ancient Romans named it Mars, after their god of war — its blood-red appearance evoking violence, battle and fire.

Today, we know Mars gets its colour from iron minerals in its rocks and soil that have oxidized — essentially, the planet is covered in rust.

And despite its fiery reputation, Mars itself is a bitterly cold, dry and barren world. Its average temperature is around -60°C.

In astrology, Mars represents willpower, drive, passion and action. It speaks to how we pursue what we want, assert ourselves, take risks, compete and fight for what matters to us. Traditionally, Mars is considered fiery, hot and forceful.

Where Mars falls in your birth chart can tell us something about what ignites you — and how you direct your will and energy into the world.

I love the contrast.

A freezing, barren planet that appears blood-red in our sky — named for the god of war and associated for centuries with heat, passion and conflict.

Behold the fire and "iron-y" of Mars ☺️

Image from: NASA/JPL-Caltech

A very happy Autumn Equinox to my fellow 'ber folk out there; and for those who aren't quite ready for Fall, I gotch you ☺️

Please enjoy this new 15-minute guided body scan focused on slowing down, softening, and releasing some of the tension we carry in the body.

Inspired by the rhythms of autumn, this practice invites us to notice what we may be holding onto, create a little more space, and gently turn inward.

This will be one of three Autumn Release meditations: Body · Mind · Spirit.

Find a safe and comfortable place to rest, take a breath, and join me 🍂

Autumn Release: For the Body | A guided body scan Inspired by the Autumn Equinox and the changing season, this 15-min...

Jupiter is massive🪐

It is the largest planet in our solar system — more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined.

Its immense gravity has shaped the movement of comets and asteroids throughout the solar system, while its magnetic influence extends astonishingly far into space. Jupiter's magnetosphere is so enormous that, if we could see it from Earth, it could appear two to three times the size of the Sun or Moon in our sky.

And surrounding Jupiter is a vast family of moons — essentially its own miniature solar system.

Jupiter was named for the king of the ancient Roman gods.

In astrology, Jupiter has long represented expansion, abundance, wisdom, faith and growth — the principle of more: whatever Jupiter touches, it tends to enlarge.

Where Jupiter falls in your own birth chart tends to be a “big deal” — highlighting an area of life where you may be called to expand and grow.

I just love that the planet that ancient tradition associated with greatness and expansion turned out to be the giant of our solar system — massive enough to shape the space and bodies around it.

Science gives us one way of knowing the planets. Astrology offers a way of contemplating them. Somewhere between the two, there is plenty to explore ☺️

Behold the magnificence and enormity of Jupiter 🪐

Image from: NASA