Self Hypnosis

Self hypnosis can be used for:

• Increasing self-rapport
• Relaxation
• Goal Setting
• Insomnia

Stare at the hypnosis spiral below for half a minute, and then look away. You will notice that your vision distorts! Hypnosis spirals used to be used for self hypnosis as they are naturally fascinating to the mind. Try it yourself by looking at the hypnosis spiral for about a minute and stating some goals in your mind. If you’re stuck for ideas, why not try the immortal words of Emile Coue: “Everyday in everyway, I am getting better and better!”

The primary use of self hypnosis is to take you back within yourself, to remove you from the clutter and distractions of your environment. The self hypnosis spiral is useful because it focuses your attention, shutting out everything else. Self rapport is the main benefit. A state of self rapport is essentially the same as meditation, and you can enjoy the same effects. Ten minutes of relaxing self hypnosis can equal an hour of sleep for its calming effects on the body.

Self hypnosis is useful in that you are able to free up more resources in a state of self-rapport. When you self hypnotize, decisions may seem simpler, you can be more in touch with what you really feel about something. New ideas may come to mind, as your subconscious can be very creative when not distracted by conscious routines and expectations. Anxieties and concerns can be dissolved by sinking back into your subconscious. If none of these things are useful to you, you can always use self hypnosis to fall asleep!

Similarly to hypnosis, you actually self hypnotize everyday. Think of a time when you were particularly nervous about an event. Were you not thinking it through in your mind, over and over, visualising what could go wrong, even when trying to get to sleep? More positively, you may remember a particular goal, something you just know you had to have. You likely told yourself through accidental self hypnosis, ‘I want it, nothing is going to get in the way’. These patterns of thought can work for or against us in powerful ways, because you are effectively communicating with your subconscious in these moments. Self-suggestion is a very common, very powerful force which has probably dictated far more of your perceptions and decisions than you would realise.

Self hypnosis is not as powerful as one to one hypnotherapy. This is because when you are trying to self hypnotize, you aren’t conscious enough to notice and respond to yourself, or to be able to direct or question yourself in ways that create new thoughts or feelings. But it is certainly a useful thing to practise, and as with all activities, practising self hypnosis will improve your success.

Things to Remember

It is handy to impose a time limit before starting, so that should you fall asleep, you can wake back up. You can do this by looking at a nearby clock and then visualising the time that you want to wake. The mind has an amazing ability to track time, even when in deep sleep. You may have realised this when waking a few minutes before the alarm clock. Before going to bed, try visualising your alarm clock at the time you want to wake, thinking about the time as vividly as you can, hearing the sound, imagining the light at that time of day. It is more than likely that you will indeed wake within minutes of the time that you think. Try it tonight.

You can also rest assured that your mind will always wake you feeling sharp and alert should you need to, for example for the doorbell or a child crying. You are no less receptive in self hypnosis, and are always in control.

As a last suggestion just before waking, think to yourself how the next time you practice you will be even more ready to relax entirely and quickly, and be even more receptive to your own suggestions. Then, suggest to yourself how confident, relaxed and motivated you feel in just a few moments when you awake.

You may also find it useful to associate a word or an idea to the experience of self hypnosis. I know someone who imagines themselves drawing a big circle around their chair. Once they are in the circle, they sink into a relaxed state to self hypnotize with ease. You may also think of a unique word that you can repeat to yourself. This associates the word and ‘anchors’ it to the experience. Then next time, simply repeat the word to yourself.

You can self hypnotise to relax, to have ideas, or to set goals. If nothing springs to mind, you can simply enjoy the relaxed state and allow your mind and thoughts to wonder upon whatever presents itself. You may be surprised at the things you begin to consider in self hypnosis, when not distracted by your normal thoughts.

Induction of Self Hypnosis

Practicing in a relaxed environment, such as bed first thing in the morning, the bath, or a comfy chair are good places to start. As you get better and begin to trust and know yourself more, you will notice yourself exerting a greater level of creative self-control at any time of the day. You will learn to intuitively enter a state of self-rapport where you know you can communicate to your subconscious and be able to create personal successes.

The following techniques are methods that my clients find most useful. Please share your experiences of what works for you so that others can benefit. You can mix and match elements from any and each of these techniques.

Patience, persistence and concentration are all that is needed.

However if you would like to enhance the effects, or achieve self hypnosis more quickly you may like to read about Binaural Beat CDs and how they can naturally influence brainwaves.

Self Hypnosis Technique #1

This is great for relaxing or falling asleep. With your eyes closed, think about four things that you can hear, no matter how slight or where they are, as long as you can hear them where you are. Then think about four things that you could see, if you had your eyes open. So simply consider four things or perspectives in the room that you are in and think about their colour, shape etc. These only need to be brief. Then think of four things you can feel, such as your hands resting upon your clothes, or a slight breeze, your feet on the floor, a sensation on your back etc.

Then repeat this process, thinking of only three examples for each sense of hearing, sight (imagined) and feel. Then repeat again, for two examples, then one, each time cycling between the senses. If you really run out of possible examples, use something you have used before.

Once this is over, start to repeat it from the start. You should soon feel yourself slipping into a new state of relaxation. I do this all the time, and I never remember getting to the end.

Self Hypnosis Technique #2

Make up your own imagined hypnotic script to relax your body and imagine hearing it from yourself (e.g. ‘now your legs are beginning to feel heavy and relaxed, deeper and deeper’ etc). Incorporate hearing yourself describe your breathing, posture, and feelings of relaxation. Pretend in your mind that you are standing above yourself, hypnotising yourself. You don’t need to ‘know hypnosis’ for this, simply imagine what you think would work, or what you would imagine a hypnotist to say.

For self hypnosis, if you want to create any particular feeling such as relaxation, or numb arms, it is best to think about a time when you actually experienced those things. For example, you may think of a time when you were lying on the beach, enjoying a nice bath, or when your hands were so cold that you couldn’t feel them. This takes advantage of the brains ability to conjure all the sensory information for those events, and associate them with your current experience. Mental pictures carry bodily responses. You may recall feeling itchy when watching close up insects on a television nature program. So use your subconscious abilities to your own advantage!

Self Hypnosis Technique #3

When you feel sufficiently relaxed, with your eyes closed, try to become as receptive as possible to whatever you are experiencing in your internal state. Think about any shapes or colours you can see in your minds eye, think about any thoughts that you have, any memories that come forward, anything at all that is part of the experience. Then try to consider where, or who you are, to be experiencing those things. See if you can take a mental step back to the ‘I’ that is thinking ‘I can feel this etc’. So then, you can be thinking ‘I can feel myself thinking about so and so’. Then try and take another step back, behind whoever is imagining yourself doing so and so. The further back you go inside yourself, the freer you will feel from your normal restrictions and ideas. You can then begin make suggestions to your subconscious, and really feel them. I used this method to generate some amazing changes in my life, that were simply unbelievable in their accuracy to what I had suggested.