An Historical Perspective of the Foundations of Clinical Hypnosis and its Relationship with Neuroscience
In the 1980’s, Master Saghafi, a well known specialist in the science of hypnosis, presented a new technique that he referred to as the ‘mental shower’. This theory was first presented to the public through an article that appeared in the Buffalo News paper. The term “mental shower” was employed by Saghafi in reference to the process through which most people felt they had been washed while in the twilight zone of hypnosis, that is the state between wakefulness and sleep.
The ‘Mental Shower’ in the hypnotic Process
Some of the observation made by Master Saghafi were quite revolutionary at his time. He also mentioned that many of the subjects felt very refreshed after the session as if their minds have been wiped clean of the day’s problems. Saghafi compared this to the act of washing, where the external layer of the skin is washed and cleansed from the dirt and dust, only here the mind was being washed clean of the tiredness and the stress.
This ‘mental shower’ was considered as a form of cleansing of the mind whereby people were able to focus and relax their minds. Despite the fact that Saghafi’s knowledge was based on the scientific knowledge of that time, many people became interested in the possibilities of hypnosis to improve mental and emotional state.
The Scientific Breakthrough: Brain Waves and the Glymphatic System.
Four decades after the concept that Saghafi put forward, the scientific community started discovering the physiological processes that could underlie the “mental shower” effect. Recent studies at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have revealed some important information about the brain’s automatic cleaning mechanisms that take place during the sleep – information that is shockingly similar to Saghafi’s theory from the 1980s.
These researchers discovered that while in deep non-REM sleep, the neurons in the human brain fire in a coordinated pattern thus creating slow waves of electrical activity. These brain waves are very important in the activation of the glymphatic system which is the recently discovered waste clearance system in the brain. The glymphatic system accomplishes the process by pumping the CSF through the interstitial compartments of the brain where it clears out metabolic waste products, toxins and abnormal proteins that are produced during the wakefulness.
The Process of the Brain Cleaning Itself: How It Works?
Thus, the glymphatic system can be considered as a natural ‘shower’ for the brain. The cerebrospinal fluid flows through the brain during sleep and cleans out toxins including beta-amyloid which is a protein that is linked to Alzheimer’s disease when it builds up. This process not only detoxifies the brain but also helps in maintaining proper health of the brain and does not let toxic substances to accumulate which may lead to neurodegenerative diseases.
This finding has far–reaching consequences regarding the importance of sleep for the well–being of the brain. The brain waves that help the glymphatic system work smoothly show how crucial deep sleep is in the brain’s ability to cleanse itself and prepare for the next day. Interferences to the sleep, especially the deep sleep, may affect this process of detoxification; this may cause cognitive dysfunctions and increase chances of neurological diseases.
Drawing a Line between Past and Present
This evidence from the contemporary science of brain cleansing can be seen as a rather interesting parallel with Master Saghafi’s earlier ideas of the “mental shower” based on his observations of his hypnotized subjects.
Saghafi’s work, however, was more advanced than her contemporaries in that she implied that the mind is Cleansing. Today, the glymphatic system’s function in brain health can explain this phenomenon and links the 19th-century concepts with the 21st-century neuroscience.
The Timeless Concept of the “Mental Shower”
The concept of the ‘mental shower’ can thus be regarded as a useful message about the importance of cross-fertilisation of different fields in science. Some of the physical and psychological aspects of hypnosis which Master Saghafi wrote about in the beginning of his work pointed to other layers which science has only recently discovered. His idea has lived on and is even backed up by more recent studies that have been done on the brain’s natural cleansing system.
As we go deeper in the understanding of the human brain, the concept of mental shower shows that sleep, mental health, and the brain and body are intertwined. This point emphasizes on the fact that apart from our mental activities and psychotherapy, the brain also needs rest as a way of cleaning it and this is done through sleep. It is as much as effective as getting 8 hours of sleep to have a short session of hypnosis with a professional.