Skin and Self-Hypnosis (podcast $)

“Unlike many other organs in the body, the human epidermis has an immediate reaction to mental stress, so that several authors aimed to demonstrate the so-called ‘brain-skin connection.’” — Carmela Mento, et al. (2020)

Medical Hypnosis

This is an explanation of medical hypnosis and an introduction to an audio piece called Skin and Mind, a recorded self-hypnosis induction that will strengthen your relationship to your skin, your psychologically and socially most important organ. A link to this audio file appears at the end of this post.

Medical hypnosis involves altering your subconscious mind to have a salutary effect on your body. Certain channels afford this connection, but the strength of the effect differs between individuals. Because we don’t know the mechanism, we can’t predict the extent of the effect for any individual or any physical issue. The connections must be explored anew for every individual.

We have some theories about the mind-body connection but we don’t know much. We know many mechanical connections at the structural, metabolic, and biochemical levels, but not so much at the neurological level and nothing at the level of consciousness. That’s because we don’t know anything about consciousness, and this can’t stop us from trying.

In its simplest form, medical hypnosis tells a person to heal their illness and hopes they can do it. Beyond that, we know that certain ways of leading, coercing, suggesting, and entrancing are typically more or less effective in certain types of physiological conditions. Not surprisingly, the conditions most amenable to being influenced are those most closely connected with the nervous system and due to an imbalance of the nervous system.

Mental Power

We would not expect physical trauma, viral infection, or genetic vulnerabilities to be amenable by the application of one’s mental powers. However, the body’s systems are entirely interconnected so that every system has the power to affect every other system, and while some of these connections may be remote, like one’s ability to relax affecting one’s ability to fight infection, our bodies have ways of turning small opportunities to great advantage.

You might think of the mind-body connection as reciprocal. That means that whatever physiological condition can affect your mind offers a channel for your mind to affect the condition. This is contrary to what you would assume, which is that the body is mechanical and the mind simply relies on it.

Consider a physical trauma or a viral infection. You would not expect your mind could fix these. On the other hand, it isn’t too much to accept that healing can be accelerated by comfort and attitude and these are largely functions of the mind. But it goes beyond that.

The healing of physical trauma and viral infection both rely on blood flow, the immune system, and the repair of tissues. All of these are controlled by your nervous system which is affected by your mind. Some people are able to double the speed at which they heal from physical trauma and cure otherwise incurable viral infections using some vaguely understood mental power. With some individuals, we’re able to harness this power through hypnosis.

Physical Trauma

There is a long list of physical traumas whose healing is aided by the mind. On the face of it, this isn’t saying much since rest, sleep, diet, and attitude are obviously helpful and obviously mental. But there are healing powers beyond the obvious that either some people have or involve a combination of circumstances.

Beyond psychological mumbo jumbo and witch doctoring, hypnosis still boils down to telling a person to heal and having them do it. This provides no explanation but, for some people in some circumstances, it works. What’s more, for most people in most circumstances it helps. But further than that, using one’s mind to heal one’s body seems to be a learned skill.

The Power of Focus

Consider this example of proactive rather than reactive hypnosis where we have a better understanding of how it works.

Older people are prone to broken bones and these can lead to serious complications. We’re told this is due to osteoporosis, decreased balance, lack of flexibility, and reduced muscle tone. What we’re not told is that balance involves sensation, particularly in the soles of one’s feet, and sensitivity degrades with age.

We’re advised to exercise to maintain tone and flexibility but we’re not told to exercise to maintain sensitivity. You can’t simply tell a person to be more sensitive, but we can use hypnosis to lead people to focus on sensations. We can redirect a person’s attention in ways that exercise perception and, in a direct and plausible way, improve their balance and reduce their risk of injury.

If you doubt this, then try walking on a balance beam. If you don’t have a balance beam, walk on the edge of a sidewalk. Obviously, this could be dangerous, but that’s the formula: you must push the system if you want it to change. Practice for 15 minutes for 2 weeks and your balance will improve.

Is this a function of your attention or your perception? That’s an interesting question, probably both, but it’s irrelevant. You are now at less risk of falling.

Skin

“Your skin (is) highly sensitive to emotions; it can be more in touch with your innermost needs, wishes, and fears than your conscious mind.”
— Ted Grossbart (1992), from Skin Deep

Rashes, warts, eczema, psoriasis, cold sores, shingles, moles, boils, acne, and herpes are viral, bacterial, chemical, immune, and internal afflictions. Burns, scrapes, punctures, lesions, eruptions, and cuts, whether superficial or not, demand our attention. When they go beyond superficial, they are unquestionably serious. Despite being thin, our skin keeps us alive.

Your skin is your largest organ and its function as both a barrier and a container is unique. It’s also unique in its connection to both your body and your mind.

Physiologically, your skin is clearly dependent on your health and metabolism. Because your skin’s most active process is regeneration—it regenerates itself each month—it’s sensitive to your overall health and psychological resilience.

A membrane is the primordial structure for the beginning of life, protecting every living thing from the chaos of its environment. Despite its immediate importance, we rarely see our skin as more than a sensory organ.

“Your skin is the boundary between the inside of your body and the outside world; a sore or eruption seems, in fantasy, as if these internal contents have spilled out.”
— Ted Grossbart (1992)

Mentally, your skin is your public and self image. This reflects your psychology and your history. If you’re judged by the quality of your skin, then your quality of life will be strongly connected to it.

The connection we build between each other involves our skin. Touching, hugging, and hand shaking as well as posture, perspiration, presentation, how much skin we show and how we show it all convey messages we would have trouble putting into words.

The expression “skin deep,” which means superficial, reveals how we dismiss skin deep thoughts. What would it mean to have feelings or thoughts of our skin?

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To speak to me personally about issues of your skin, schedule a call:

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Calming Down and Spreading Out

“Research shows that 13 percent or more of dermatology patients have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety makes the skin ‘more sensitive and penetrative.’”
— Helen Taylor (2019)

Your skin is the most psychosomatic organ of your body. However normal or sane you think you are, your skin is neither. It is a somatic lens that responds to a crazy world. Your skin's condition is a more authentic reflection of your world than the rationalizations you tell yourself; more responsive to your life than you are.

Diseases of the skin can be more than dysfunctions of the organ, they reflect dysfunctions of the world. But you cannot cure the world. The most you can do is find balance and protect yourself. Start by believing you deserve a healthy life and healthy skin.

“The strong correlation between skin diseases and anxiety… (means) psychological intervention for patients with skin diseases, especially young patients, is essential.”
— Chao Sun, et al. (2023)

Skin and Mind is a self-hypnosis audio designed to heighten your perception, attention, and emotions relating to your skin. The idea is that skin health will benefit from a greater subconscious connection to it, creating a personally important metaphor linking your skin to the quality of your life.

We normally project our troubles onto our bodies and our environment. In contrast, the purpose of this guided visualization is to express your wiser self through your skin. Click this link to download the audio file or to listen to it from this device: