A Hypnosis How-To: Self Hypnosis
- Hypnosis is about changing your life. You must have a strong desire to make a change. Think about why you want to change your life, and visualize how you can do it. Your creative imagination is an essential part of this step. You need to be able to see how the change will come about. Have faith in yourself. If you don't believe you can change, then you won't change. If you don't believe the hypnotism will work, it won't.
- Writing down your self-hypnosis script before you begin will help you organize your thoughts. Otherwise, your hypnosis sessions may be chaotic and scattered, which is less effective. When writing your script:
Write in the present tense. Instead of saying, "I am going to lose weight," say, "I am losing weight." If you are using hypnosis to calm yourself, you might say , "I am relaxed," or, "I am in a peaceful state."
Be positive. Hypnosis is about making positive changes, so all of your statements should focus on the positive. Instead of saying, "I won't be negative toward others any more," say, "I am positive in my interactions with other people." You are talking to the suggestible part of your mind, so you don't want to bring in any thought of the negative.
Maintain your focus. One hypnosis session should focus on one goal. Don't mix your desire to quit smoking with your desire to lose weight. Stick with one specific goal and write all of your affirmations about that one goal.
Use clear speech and short sentences. You will be talking to yourself in a highly relaxed state, so you don't want to confuse yourself with complicated speech patterns or ideas.
Use visualizations. Your subconscious mind will respond to images better than words, so try to paint a picture for yourself.
Use powerful words and phrases, such as "I can," "I am" and "I choose." Take control of your goals, and repeat your desire often in order to reinforce it.
Your script should be approximately 1/2 page long, short enough to memorize easily. Work on remembering your script so that you can recite it to yourself during your hypnosis without having to open your eyes to read it. Or, if you want, you can record yourself saying your script and then play that tape during your self-hypnosis. - Now that you have prepared yourself mentally and have written out your script, you are ready to begin practicing self-hypnosis.
Get comfortable. Lie down on a bed or a couch, or stretch out in a recliner. Position yourself in a quiet room where you can be alone, away from distractions of any kind. Avoid crossing hands and feet.
Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Closing your eyes eliminates visual distractions and turns your attention inward. Imagine waves of relaxation running down your body, from head to foot. Breathe in and out in a smooth and rhythmic motion as you imagine relaxing every part of your body from the top down. You can imagine yourself descending slowly in an elevator from floor 10 to floor 1, descending into the interior of yourself. When your session is over, remember to come back up in the same elevator.
Recite your script to yourself. A typical hypnosis session can take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. If you taped yourself, use the tape during this time. It doesn't matter if you use your script word for word; as you practice hypnosis more frequently, it will get easier to remember. Bring yourself out of your hypnotic state by gradually returning to alert consciousness.
If you wish, you can also find hypnosis mp3 tracks online and at iTunes; you can put yourself into the relaxed state and then play these scripts for yourself.
