It is my pleasure to introduce you to Paul Eliseo – a hypnotherapist, mentor, inspiration and friend! Paul is progressing hypnotherapy in a whole new direction, and successfully changing many lives along the way (including mine)! Paul is compassionate, insightful and leading the way – so why don’t you take the time to get to know him a little…
What is your approach to / view of ‘health’?
My approach is different to what a lot of people think health is! For example, some people think just because they aren’t sick that they are healthy and this is a very dangerous approach because most of the time you have a disease for some time before you even get the symptoms and notice you are sick. By the time the symptoms show up, your body has already been under a large amount of stress and that damage didn’t just occur over night, so the conditions that created the problem must have been present for a while.
I think most people also mistake fitness for health. Fitness is a small piece in the big picture of health! I have seen a lot of people get really fit but sacrifice their health in the process. Some people don’t recover from training properly and it is also common for people to try to out-exercise their bad diet and ‘burn off’ their big weekends, which is very dangerous. Your body is made from and gets energy from the food you are eating. If you are eating processed high calories foods with no nutritional value, you are asking for trouble.
It takes energy to make energy, and it also requires a lot of nutrients to process the food you are eating and turn it into energy. If your food lacks nutrients, then your body will not be able to metabolise and detoxify the waste products that your diet is creating. It will also rob nutrients from your body and steal your vitality to try to deal with the ‘food’ and turn it into something useful.
You can’t rebuild a body from crap material and expect it to function properly. If your body doesn’t recognise or know what to do with it and if it wasn’t around when we evolved, then it will probably put more stress on your body and cause inflammation and toxicity in your system.
Another common problem with people that think the fitter they are the healthier they are is over exercising and training themselves into adrenal fatigue, over use injuries, etc.
I believe that true health can only be achieved when you have a balance in all these areas:
- Mental – Positive identity, positive self image, positive self talk, aligned values, empowering beliefs, goals and dreams.
- Emotional – Balanced emotions, ability to relax and switch off.
- Body – Healthy organs, vitality, proper breathing mechanics, healthy bowel movement, Pain free body.
- Movement – Exercise, play, self expression.
- Diet/hydration – Real food, balanced, variety, organic, water.
- Environment – Family, friends, work, and getting outside in nature.
- Spiritual – Sense of purpose and a belief system that is empowering and supporting.
It seems like a lot but if you don’t take any of those areas in to consideration, that could be the area that can cause you a big enough problem that everything else gets affected.
Regarding overall health, how important is the mind-body connection?
Well, you can’t have one with out the other. The mind and the body are inseparable! Mind “is the embodied process that regulates the flow of energy” – we feel with our nervous system which extends to every cell of our body, every thought and emotion has a neurochemical effect on the whole body.
Every time you move your body it affects every other system in your body. More and more science is showing that cells have a consciousness; also it is shown that organs can ‘think’ e.g. the heart and the gut have been called the 2nd and 3rd brain. The gut produces around 85% of the serotonin in the body, and the heart has a bigger electromagnetic field then the brain.
People think our brain is there for thinking but the truth is it is developed through movement complexity. I believe the way we do anything is the way we do everything. When people only move in certain limited movements, they will tend to have limited thinking patterns and vice versa.
Our body is an expression of our mind and a by-product of all your past thoughts and actions. You would have heard the saying “if you want to know what your thoughts were yesterday look at your body today, if you want to know what you body will be like tomorrow look at your thoughts today”.
Can you share a little with us about your personal journey and how you got to where you are now, successful in your own business (Evolve)?
Well, I guess we can start from when I a kid. I was always the ‘fat’ kid, but once I found sport I flourished, excelled and lost weight; not because I was trying, but because I loved being active and competing and trying to get better. I had a lot of trouble with learning. I had problems with spelling and didn’t learn to read until late and didn’t even know I couldn’t until a teacher asked me to read and after I had finished the story she asked me where I had got the story from and I told her that I just look at the pictures and make up the story (that’s what I thought reading was… apparently not). I never really liked study or learning because I had some negative associations and beliefs about my ability. Then in my late teens (as most people do) I didn’t really know who I was or what I wanted to do and started hanging with the wrong crowd. I had my first girlfriend cheat on me and things just went downhill. I got into a job I didn’t like, had family issues and everything seemed dark. I started getting extremely bad paranoia, panic and anxiety attacks, I had IBS, started to gain weight and got to the point where I couldn’t leave my house or room due to social phobia.
What turned it around was one night I was invited to my best friend’s house, just me and him, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get myself to leave the house. I broke down and on the way back to my room I walked past a mirror and realised I couldn’t even recognise the person in front of me. I stood there and looked myself in the eyes until I could see a part of me again. Then once I reconnected with myself, I promised myself that I would do whatever it takes to turn it around. To cut a long story short, I started to read and learn and found out my mind may be the reason why I was getting IBS, so I started to keep a thought journal and quickly realised that when I was worrying or getting anxious my stomach would play up. SO I realised how powerful my thoughts were!!! I realised the more I learned and applied, the better my life got. Since then I have been addicted to learning and that has really helped me to get to where I am today.
In your opinion, why is hypnotherapy such a powerful and successful method in making changes and improving the quality of peoples lives?
I think hypnotherapy is so effective because when done properly it deals with the root cause of the problem. Most people only work at the conscious level to try to make change and this can be frustrating because you are fighting against your programming and will feel conflicted, like you are forcing the change. They are only working with what I call the ‘tip of the iceberg’.
When you use hypnotherapy to make changes at the unconscious level, you are working with the part of you that controls around 97% of your behaviours, thoughts, emotions, etc. So it really has a more profound, easy and long-lasting effect.
What is unique about what you bring to the world of hypnotherapy, and what direction are you taking Evolve?
Well my approach is very holistic and integrates the mind and the body; the sicker the body the more we revert to a survival mode (fight or flight) and respond more with our reptilian brain, and in that state no-one is going to want to go out and change the world or achieve their dreams. So it is vital to also build a person’s vitality and create homeostasis in the body so that that they can access the neocortex and use the higher functions of their brains.
Think about this: when you have had a big night out and your body is drained, you’re tired, and dehydrated etc, do you feel like making a difference? What about when you have been eating good, training and getting enough sleep, how do you feel about your ability to create what you want then? It’s not that the person doesn’t want to achieve, it’s that the body is in chaos so the foundations for the thoughts and actions are not the achievement.
Also I use a more dynamic style of hypnotherapy than the traditional stale, stagnant script based approach. I work with my client and tailor the session to suit them and let their problem or situation determine the direction we take.
More and more people are finally become aware of hypnotherapy but for those that are still unsure about it, what would you say to those people?
Well my favourite thing to say to people that don’t believe in it is…. “Who or what hypnotised you to believe that?”, then I explain that to believe anything you would have to make a decision at some stage based on some ‘evidence’ that you experienced and from then on your nervous system will filter your experience of the world to reinforce the decision you made. This will also create a ‘negative’ association to it. The belief itself is not actually the ‘truth’. People hypnotise themselves to believe all sorts of things. So one of the things we really do as hypnotherapists is help them to remove the ‘beliefs’ and associations they have created that are creating problems or stopping them from achieving, and then help them to create new positive beliefs and associations that can help them achieve.
Why is helping people to change and improve so important to you?
Because I know what it’s like to be stuck, lost, feeling trapped and like there is no hope, but I know what people are capable of and how easy it is to change. I just want to help more people to free themselves and get happy and healthy so they can help others to do the same. If we all did that, the world would be a better place for everybody.
What is one very valuable lesson you have learned on your own personal journey?
Keep learning, moving and look after your body and mind. Set goals, challenge yourself, and get out of your comfort zone. Life changes when you change; the better you get, the better it gets.
What advice do you have for people wanting to make change and improve their lives?
Work out what is important to you in life, find things you enjoy doing and do more of it and have fun (it really is the best medicine). Get as healthy as you can, it will make everything in life better and easier. Get a coach to help you through roadblocks and to keep you accountable. Set goals and check them regularly.
Don’t try to change your life over night – small consistent actions will win long-term! Remember the tortoise and the hare: the tortoise wins by going at its own pace. By taking this approach you won’t get burnt out, instead you will see yourself improving, build new habits and create a change that is sustainable.
Check out Paul’s Webinar, Facebook or Website, or simply contact him by email (info@ready2evolve.com.au) or phone 0400 110 447
Thank you PAUL ELISEO of EVOLVE for sharing your holistic health views. I wish you endless success, health and happiness.
Chantelle Xx