Does the faintest whiff of cigarette smoke cause uncontrollable coughing? If you have ever sat beside someone with very strong perfume, you may have experienced the frightening feeling of being about to pass out because you couldn’t get any air. If you’re familiar with either of these situations, chances are you have been diagnosed with asthma.

Your doctor probably told you that asthma is a medical problem in which the airways of the lungs become very small and tight because of an allergic response to certain chemicals or substances. This tightness makes it difficult to breathe in and out. Some of the most common allergies people have include sensitivities to mold, dust, animal dander, and pollen.

It may at first seem farfetched to think that hypnotherapy can do anything at all to relieve the symptoms of an allergic response. In fact, however, hypnosis is very effective at helping victims combat the anxiety that usually accompanies an asthma attack. This anxiety can actually be more than irritating; it can be deadly.

People don’t think clearly when they become extremely anxious. They lose the ability to concentrate and focus. This ability to center one’s thoughts and remain rational during crises such as asthma attacks can be crucial to survival. Individuals who succumb to panic attacks cannot think clearly enough to remember where they left their inhalers or even dial 9-1-1 for emergency medical assistance.

Through relaxation techniques such as Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) anchoring, the Flash, and hypnotic relaxation, hypnotherapists can help asthma sufferers to learn to reduce their stress levels overall. When an attack is imminent, asthmatics can often learn to remain calm and concentrate on breathing techniques that will help them abort an impending attack.

Finally, if the attack becomes too severe to manage, people with asthma can remain calm and focused long enough to find and use inhalers, or call for emergency medical help.  If you or someone you knows suffers from asthma, these NLP and self-hypnosis techniques just might save your life!

Learn how to start managing asthma with hypnosis and NLP.