Deeper and Deeper....

Tonight was a success, if only because E. ( names removed to protect the awesome) succumbed to hypnotherapy.
This evening we started Hypnosis 101, designed to give all of us Doula wannabes some tools in the form of relaxation techniques. I also feel like tonight was the night I started to get to know the girls a little better.
E., the mama bear of our group, who has truly seen it all, had confided in me on Day One that she was not a believer. She had tried, and failed in the past to use hypnotherapy with any result for herself but obviously understood it can work for others. She's the boss at an extremely high- pressure night shift job. Life or death decisions fall into her lap repeatedly. She must always be in control, and help others to maintain theirs. Taking this class when she would be sleeping, we'll give her the (big, fat) benefit of the doubt that Jennifer only got her because she's so tired.
She definitely got me.
I have to admit, now, that my own experience of hypnosis was much more different than I thought it would be. There were no pendulums swinging. I was not told to loooook deeeep into anyone's eeeyeeeeesss.....
It was simple, yet powerful. There was a brief moment, under the power of suggestion, that I was not able to move my hands apart. Later, I was absolutely flooded with a mouthful of lemon juice. Our maestro made it seem so flowy, effortless. When we broke into pairs to try it ourselves, I found my concentration was broken easily, and it would take hard work and lots of practice to make it sound like she did!
My partner was T., who quickly put me at ease and was very brave for going first. She and M., who was kind enough to try and explain to me the phenomenon that is "Twitter", make a huge commute to be here every night, and are probably still driving home as I write this, snug under my blanket. L., who sits next to me, is a canny lassie who may have come from Vulcan. She used Jennifer as her Doula when she gave birth to her son a few years ago, and is still high on the experience. It's wonderful to reflect that her birth was such a satisfying moment in her life that she's still celebrating it by becoming an agent of birth herself! A. is my kind of girl. She arrived wearing a shirt that proclaimed "Reading Is Sexy", and when asked to visualize what the fridge in her kitchen might contain she replied "Beer." As fun and interesting as this course and all it entails is, I have a feeling that all the girls are making some sort of sacrifice to spend the time learning from Tracy and Jennifer. Be it lost sleep, long drives, or time away from those who need us, we've all paid our fees knowing that what we will get out of this will be priceless. If the old saying is true, and reputation comes from the company you keep, I'm all smiles.