How I used Self-Hypnosis to prepare for the Covid-19 Vaccine

Many people don’t know that I have an auto-immune disease, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.

They say it’s incurable, I say watch me. I don’t present like I have an auto-immune disease. The typical response is fatigue, joint pain, aches and brain fog and if you know me at all, I’m none of those things. Why? Because I refuse to believe them as my guidepost.  I used to have all of those things, but in listening to my body (my subconscious mind communicating with me) and making adjustments, I no longer experience them, even though my bloodwork shows auto-immune antibodies. What we believe psychologically, we become physically, remember?

I recall my entrance interview for Clinical Hypnotherapy training and they asked me if I felt the Hashi’s would be problematic, given the program was advanced graduate level intense training. My response was “What Hashi’s? What kind of problems?” My assigned interviewer laughed and said “Meg, you’re going to do so well in this program.”

I’m not ignoring my disease, in fact I’ve needed it to help me really pay attention to where I needed to make changes. I think of those antibody blood results as my special little gatekeeper. It’s been a powerful messenger in my life, a wake-up call for sure, as any diagnosis is. You see, I’m an absolute workaholic, and if you sit and work 14 – 16-hour days every day, even though you love it, you lose balance. My beautiful thyroid was telling me that I needed to rest and play and move as well as work. Life is a circle and a cycle and we all need to take stock of how well balanced our circle is.

Draw a circle and divide it into 8 pie slices. On each slice write the following sections:

1. Diet -Nutrition
2. Exercise
3. Prayer- Meditation (connection with self)
4. Socialization (connection with others)
5. Joy (play, fun, remember as a child you just had fun for fun?)
6. Passion & Purpose (service, hobbies, creativity)
7. Work (day job- rate yourself separately from #6 – if retired rate yourself on your daily routine of running the house, paying bills, taking care of necessities, etc.)
8. Rest-Rejuvenation-Self-care.

Rate yourself between 0 – 10. Zero being none, you do nothing in that section. Ten being fantastically, fantastic. Couldn’t do more, couldn’t be better.

Now draw your circle….

You begin to see where you need to make adjustments and improvements in your life in order to form a well-rounded circle. That circle is a metaphor for your life, respect it and make adjustments accordingly. All illness helps us see where our life is out of balance. They are profound messengers from our subconscious mind, communicating through our body, to help us understand what we need to find our balance again.

Where Hypnotherapy really drives results is in the discovery of why we are out of balance and what old programming (strong beliefs that are now habitual behaviors) is running our circle. When we discover those and begin to reprogram them and provide the self-love and self-empathy we need, we feel more confident and comfortable to take the actions needed to rebalance.

My vaccine appointments were set up about an hour away from my home at a State University wellness center run by Dr.’s and nurses. They were incredibly friendly and organized. There were so many volunteers there just wanting to help get people vaccinated and feeling safer and less anxious about living their lives. There was a mandatory 15-minute wait after your injection, with paramedics close by on standby.

So, here’s where my Self-Hypnosis practice came in. Prior to going for the first vaccine, I spent 30 minutes doing my custom affirmations I wrote for myself and my immune system, and I listened to my free self-hypnosis audio (that is on my website at the bottom of the home page.)

Most people have very little response to the first injection, so I wasn’t all that concerned. I had low level pressure in my chest, a bit of a cough and a slight rash on my arms and neck. My immune system was functioning as it should but not over functioning as an auto-immune disease system might. That is the concern Dr.’s have stated with auto-immune disease, our immune systems might over respond to the vaccine and create a cytokine storm (over produce white blood cells and cause an over-reactive inflammatory response.)

Prior to my second dose I again did 30 minutes of affirmations the night before while lying in bed, then listened to my self-hypnosis audio. The morning of, I awoke and listened to one hour of my self-hypnosis (basically I let it run 3 times on repeat) and added in my custom programming.

I arrived, and while in my car did another round of affirmations. I went in, got my injection and again everyone was so organized, friendly and attentive, I felt safe, cared for and cared about. This goes a long way for your mental wellness, when someone looks you in the eye and listens to your responses to their questions. It builds a form of trust.

I drove home and approximately 4-5 hours later I started to feel a bit nauseous and dizzy. I felt a flush of heat, like a low-grade fever and knew my body was doing exactly what it was supposed to be doing. My powerful, immune system was reading the message RNA vaccine protein and responding by creating an army of white blood cells and antibodies. I put myself into a hypnotic state and visualized my immune system creating powerful, healthy and abundant antibodies, while my body remained comfortable and relaxed. I stayed in this imagery for about 30 minutes. My symptoms did not progress. At 8pm I decided to go to bed and do more self-hypnosis. I listened to my audio recording again for one hour, adding in my visualization and my custom affirmations. I slept for 8 hours, woke and felt great. I waited and monitored, I noticed that if I over exerted (I worked out that day) I felt a bit more tired than usual, so I opted to read my book, sip some tea and practice self-care with rest.

I never had to do any further self-hypnosis work. I had integrated the vaccine and my body felt wonderful. In fact, since getting my second dose and using self-hypnosis, I actually feel like it gave my immune system a reset point. Since that day I have been craving more vegetables, fruits, smoothie bowls and exercise. All the things this workaholic requires for balance. I feel vibrant and have more energy.

Hypnotherapy works. It’s just that simple. When we are in the right state, with the right programming, our subconscious minds respond and our bodies follow. It’s not a magic wand, but it’s pretty darn close in my opinion.

But, I’m rather biased, I am after all a Clinical Hypnotherapist.

Wishing you a healthy, calm, relaxed and joyful life,

xxMeg