Carly Cummings is the co-founder (along with her mom and friend) of Hyp-Yoga, which is a blending of hypnosis and yoga and an emphasis on the union of mind and body. Here, she explains how Hyp-Yoga can help you with stress relief, pain management, prenatal concerns, weight loss and even addictions.

Q: So what is Hyp-Yoga?

A: We started the program back in 2006. I'm a yoga teacher and a hypnotherapist, and I was working with those clients separately. Yoga is very relaxing and gentle and it opens your mind and body to change. Once we figured out we could put these things together, we got so many more results and people were making small and big changes, including losing huge amounts of weight. We use NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), as well as affirmation and visualization - anything that ties the mind and body together. We've also worked with people who have pain management issues, triathletes and prenatal needs.

Q: How much of it is yoga and how much hypnosis?

A: You wouldn't want to do the entire class out of it so you're only hypnotized part of the time. The yoga part is about 45 minutes of a one-hour session. You're always in a flow state, starting with the breath work, when you do yoga, and that puts you in the very lightest form of hypnosis. At the end, we'll go into a relaxation pose, and we'll relax the students and then do the hypnosis along with suggestions for healthier living. You can have a big class of students and they don't all need to be working on the same things.

Q: What kinds of challenges can you address with this type of hypnosis?

A: It's a light form of hypnosis, so we're not dealing with childhood pain or anything. It's mostly health and wellness, light pain management, and helping athletes with mind-body issues.

Q: Does it just put you into a deeper state of relaxation, or can this help you with something like quitting smoking?

A: You can definitely stop smoking with Hyp-Yoga - especially since it's something you can do regularly and it doesn't cost as much as a regular hypnosis session. It's a lighter stage of hypnosis, so it's not the kind of thing you would see on a stage show, but it's still really effective and you can make changes a lot quicker. We say that it takes maybe 21 days to really establish a habit, but with your subconscious mind you can bring that down to 3-7 days.

Q: What are some of the mental and physical benefits of doing Hyp-Yoga?

A: Right away we see a lot of behaviour change, like with weight loss. If someone comes in and they've been addicted to French fries, they find that they're able to just give them up cold turkey. We also see a lot more people who are just more conscious of how they're living and how they're treating themselves. The majority of people who come to us are women - which is typical for the yoga industry - and a lot of them are in their 40s and 50s and either their children have just left or they're in a place where they're finally taking care of themselves. We see a renewed sense of purpose and consciousness and true enjoyment of life.

Q: Any simple exercises people can try at home as an introduction to Hyp-Yoga?

A: We use all of the basic yoga poses, so the yoga's not different. What's different is the hypnosis tools we integrate into the yoga. That deep belly breath is like a reset button for your body, so if you're at work and stressed out, we have a visualization technique called The Eye of the Hurricane, where we just picture ourselves as the strong, steady centre as everything else is swirling around you. Just close your eyes, take five deep breaths and send those breaths all the way down to the bottom of your belly so you're expanding your belly out while you breath in, and visualize being in the eye of the hurricane. It can really reset your body, get your metabolism back on track and take away fight or flight hormones.