Hypnotist and author Mark Stephens drops in to The News to chat with, and hypnotise, senior journalist Bree Harding while on a tour to promote his new book, Pain Free.
Mark Stephens’ journey with meditation began when he was encouraged by a medical doctor to engage in the practice as an eight-year-old suffering chronic asthma.
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He learned powerful breath work, which helped manage his condition after making a daily ritual out of it.
He was so fascinated with the method that he became a meditation teacher himself.
Also, a hypnotherapist, a Jiu Jitsu black belt, a Tai Chi teacher and a best-selling author.
He’s currently on a 40-day, 5000km journey to promote his new book, Pain Free, which he says is a manual for people to learn the simple scripts to manage their own pain.
While Mr Stephens trained extensively to become a hypnotherapist and has been practising mind control for 50 years, he says all hypnosis is self-hypnosis.
“Who’s doing the relaxing? The person. Who’s thinking the thought, peace? The person,” he said.
“Clinical hypnosis is a method of relaxation that allows you to tap into the unconscious or subconscious mind and imagine certain things as real. The mind is powerful.
“One of ultimately the best hypnosis scripts for pain relief in the book is one that was created by doctors and used by doctors in World War I and World War II when they ran out of chemical anaesthetic.
“They were trained to do hypnosis to make an area numb, so they could then amputate without the chemical anaesthetic.”
Mr Stephens, who has hypnotised many high-profile athletes, TV celebrities, and been credited with helping one of Australia’s heaviest men to lose a record-breaking 207kg, has trained under who he says are “the best hypnotherapists on the planet”, including Tibetan and Shaolin monks, and Japanese Zen and Samurai masters.
Mark Stephens has released another meditation-hypnosis self-help book focusing on pain relief.
In Pain Free, he shares more than 100 guided scripts for pain relief, relaxation and self-hypnosis, backed by case studies of people who have transformed their lives — including those who have overcome years of debilitating pain in just hours.
“Pain can feel like a prison, but the mind has the key,” Mr Stephens said.
“By reducing stress hormones and activating the body’s natural painkillers — dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins — we can take control of pain rather than letting it control us.”
Despite the author’s faith in the practice of hypnotherapy to control pain, he stresses that it’s a relief method, not a cure for the root cause, having faced his own battle with life-threatening lymphoma in 1990.
“I’m a huge fan of doctors,” Mr Stephens said.
“My life was saved by chemotherapy, so one of the things that I’m really clear about is to make sure you talk to your doctor to let them know you want to incorporate hypnosis and meditation into your treatment plan.”
Mr Stephens says the simple methods in his book are perfect for time-poor people, as mindful meditation can be practised while drinking a glass of water, eating an apple, washing the dishes, or “walking from A to B”.
More than 3.6 million Australians live with chronic pain, which impacts their ability to work, sleep and enjoy life.
Mr Stephens says pain isn’t just physical; it’s tied to stress, emotions and the way the brain processes discomfort.
“Even though the book’s called Pain Free, it could just be called ‘happy healing hormones’ for every problem in life, because it’s really teaching breath work, meditation, self-hypnosis and mantras, so that people can dial down stress and anxiety,” Mr Stephens said.
“Pain creates more pain and a flood of stress hormones reduces the brain’s ability to produce happy healing hormones.”
Pain Free is available worldwide where books are sold and online.
Our senior journalist Bree Harding was surprised by her short hypnotherapy session with Mark Stephens when he visited The News in March.
Read News senior journalist Bree Harding’s experience of being hypnotised by Mark Stephens when he dropped into the office last month here.
Watch him perform some of his practice with Bree below.
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