Ask anyone and it seems likely most would agree: Life is stressful. The signs of stress are easy to find. Whether it’s trouble sleeping and irritability or reliance on habits like smoking or overeating to cope, stress can get in the way of feeling happy.

That’s where “Master” Behnam Saghafi comes in. A hypnotist and life coach, his goal is to teach people to live better lives — which may or may not include leaving behind their bad habits.

“Sometimes they don’t quit smoking or they don’t lose weight, but they learn how to be happier with themselves,” he said.

Saghafi has a doctorate degree in clinical hypnosis and instructs several classes at the State University of New York at Buffalo and is a grandmaster in Tae Kwon Do. The success of his clients is his way of “paying it forward.” He inspires his clients to make positive changes and in turn they inspire those around them.

Those interested in gaining more information on hypnosis and its applications can contact Advanced Hypnosis at 836-7777 or visit them on the web at www.master-mind.us.

His hypnosis is not what you see in the movies — Saghafi does not wave a watch back and forth and snap his fingers to have his clients awaken believing they are someone else. Rather, hypnosis is simply a method to relax clients so he can delve deeper into their minds, Saghafi said.

“That point right before you fall asleep, when you hear the water dropping — you didn’t hear it all day but all the sudden right before you fall asleep, you can hear it,” he said.

As for hypnotizing someone to act like a chicken, forget it. Hypnosis will not cause someone do something they don’t want to do or that does not fit their values, Saghafi said.

Hypnosis means getting people to listen to themselves better — the answer to everyone’s problems lie in their own minds, Saghafi said.

“I try to let them visualize what they want to be,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you have the best architect, if you don’t visualize what you’re going to build, it won’t be built.”

If his use of hypnosis didn’t highlight the uniqueness of methods, a visit to his office might. At his Town of Tonawanda office, he teaches martial arts in a studio up front while hypnosis sessions take place in a smaller office in the back.

Born in Iran, Saghafi came to the University at Buffalo to study engineering. But after his mother was killed in an apparent robbery and his sister died due to illness after she wasn’t allowed to leave the country, Saghafi decided to stay in the U.S. where he discovered hypnosis through his love for martial arts.

He knows his methods are avant garde, but that’s part of why they work for people when traditional methods won’t.

“A lot of times people go to a nutritionist and they give them wonderful ideas of what to eat,” he said, “but they don’t have the will to do it because their mind is not set to do it.”

One of Saghafi’s career highlights, he said, was helping a man walk after being confined to a wheelchair for 10 years. Desperate to find a way to help their son, Tim Morgan’s parents in Olean contacted Saghafi last year to help their son. After his first session with Saghafi, Morgan was able to walk with the assistance of his wheel chair, his parents told the Gazette last year.

“It was his mind — he had a fear of walking because he fell many times so I used different techniques to motivate him,” Saghafi said. “But walking is not the key point. The key point is to be happy in your life, even if you cannot walk.”

Saghafi does encourage his patients to seek the advice of physicians for medical conditions, but also says traditional methods can be a dead-end for many.

“If you keep looking at the rear view mirror, sooner or later you’re going to get in a car accident,” he said. “I think traditional methods look at what an individual has done in the past and the future is determined by your past. The way I look at it, I say you decide what you want to do today and we’ll help you achieve that goal today.”

When people come into his office, they need to be open-minded about making real changes, Saghafi said.

“When most people come in, they’re not looking to be hypnotized,” he said. “They’re looking to have a life-changing experience.”