Imagine the fading of reality around you and your absorption in the voice of the hypnotist. That is called hetero-hypnosis. Take away the hypnotist; fade away the reality again while you are absorbed in your own pre-planned positive thoughts. That is self-hypnosis.
Beginners experiencing hetero-hypnosis or self-hypnosis often worry that they are not hypnotized, or that the suggestions (instructions) for health, happiness, success, or self-control will not work. This self-doubt eats up mind power energy, the ability to focus and concentrate on the positive life change instructions.
As the person stops questioning their level of success, feels more comfortable and confident in their hypnotic ability to enter trance easily and quickly, their concentrated absorption becomes stronger. The general reality around them fades and the trance depth increases with the possibility of more dramatic results.
The goal is not just relaxation or meditation, but a powerful ability to hold attention steady, to concentrate confidently and effortlessly. Depth of trance and absorption improve with the use of the imagination, what you imagine seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling and tasting-using many senses with your imagination. Some people may imagine a hypnotist speaking to them. To reduce thinking in the trance, and thereby increase the power of the motivational instructions, it is best to go into self-hypnosis with a clear idea of what you want to suggest to yourself by writing a list of self-suggestions, before hypnosis. You want to basically turn off your thinking mind in hypnosis. While self-hypnotized, some people simply focus on just one image, word, or phrase that reminds them of all the intended self-suggestions.
Some people start self-hypnosis by gazing at one spot, above eye level, letting their eyes begin to feel heavy, tired, and then allow the eyes to close as they “go inside themselves”, relaxing deeper with each breath, melting down with each descending floor of an imaginary escalator or elevator, etc.
The more someone struggles to achieve or control self-hypnosis, the less the success that is experienced. With practice, you can create a trigger thought, word, phrase, or action that rapidly returns you to the self-hypnotic trance, at will. It is a pleasant and enjoyable feeling like a big daydream, and you can come out whenever you decide to do so.
Before you begin self-hypnosis, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish by having a closer connection to your subconscious mind. As you feel deeply absorbed in your inner experience, depth of trance may vary over time in the same session. A daily practice of self-hypnosis increases your ability, depth and success with the technique. Self-hypnosis begins to feel more normal, more natural, deeper and more focused.
Often the fastest way to learn self-hypnosis is to be hypnotized by a hypnotist or recordings, and then be given instructions that you can re-hypnotize yourself anywhere, anytime at will.
Hetero-hypnosis and self-hypnosis are similar to relaxation techniques and are also associated with lowered blood pressure, respiratory rate, and heart rate. There is a shift to an “internal world” inside yourself. Hetero-hypnosis is often called guided self-hypnosis.
During daydreaming, eyes become fixed, go out of focus, or shift to the left. The experienced daydreamer learns to control their thought stream, intensify their personal imagery and to take pleasure with the process.
Again, doubts or anxiety about being successful with the state must be eliminated. Trusting yourself, your abilities, and believing you are doing well goes a long way here. After giving your subconscious the instructions to reach your goals, it is best to let it go, thus totally trusting your unconscious mind to do whatever needs to be done. Any doubts here will interfere with success. As Dr. Milton Erickson described it: “OK, unconscious, do your stuff.”
Like being guided to ride a bicycle, and then you ride on your own, hetero-hypnosis is often the best way to learn self-hypnosis, then you can later do it on your own without a hypnotist or recording. As greater trance depth in self-hypnosis is achieved, you have to keep yourself from drifting off to sleep, unless that is what you desire.
You can even imagine that a balloon is pulling your right arm up, floating in the air, then the strings are cut, and your arm drops to your lap, touches your leg, and you go deeper into trance. As you do that, consider the color of the balloons, many balloons, reflections of light on the balloons, drifting, floating, lifting, rising. To make the experience more real, also focus on the smell of the balloons, the large size of the balloons, and the feeling of the strings on your wrist. Forget about your arm, let it have a mind of its own, but focus on imagining the balloon pulling your wrist higher and higher. The floating and falling of your arm can be outward, visual proof that you have entered hypnosis.
Self-hypnosis can be used in emergencies such as an accident, or everyday experiences such as before a meal to reduce calories. For example, in self-hypnosis, you can give yourself instructions (using many senses) that your favourite soft drink has 15 teaspoons of sugar in the bottom of the bottle, along with the visualization of spiders, cockroaches and rat droppings. Strong visual images, especially if repeated, can work remarkably well. With experience, a self-instruction like this can be completed in seconds.
In fact, self-hypnosis should be taught to anyone losing weight and every student in school, even children. Psychological research shows children have used self-hypnosis to treat anxiety, asthma, body cast immobilization, burns, enuresis, hair pulling, insomnia, learning difficulties, nausea, pain, poor self-esteem, stuttering, tension and increased self-control. Like any skill, proper instruction and practice result in the mastering of self-hypnosis. Realize that you are responsible for your own practice and praise yourself for your successes. Adults can share the experience together with children as a relaxation, stress management tool.
All you need to do to bring yourself out of self-hypnosis is to count silently to yourself from 1 to 5. Tell yourself that at 5, you will be wide awake, fully alert, feeling great. Again, the highest level of skill with self-hypnosis will come from starting your training with a live hypnotist or self-hypnosis training recordings. With practice, you will soon be able to do self-hypnosis without any external aid from a hypnotist or recordings. You will also learn how to deepen hypnosis on your own. Then, you can use self-hypnosis alone, anywhere, anytime, whenever needed. A man from Northern BC told me at my seminar that he had found the self-hypnosis he learned from me to be useful when a bear attacked and mauled him.
Whatever you do, you can do it better with self-hypnosis and enjoy a feeling of self-mastery. For example, a change in your feelings, in your beliefs, in your ability to cope with chronic pain can give rise to a dramatic change in self-image and enjoyment of life. Self-hypnosis allows an extension of treatment by a hypnotist. That is, whether weight loss, smoking, stress or something else, the client now has a tool in his own head that he can use whenever needed.
In both hetero-hypnosis and self-hypnosis, people experience a high degree of focused mental absorption on new ideas and beliefs, together with a fading of the external environment. Self-hypnosis, with vivid mental imagery is excellent for all personal growth, enhancement and the development of creative potential. Your confidence in using self-hypnosis will increase with practice.
You will gain control over many aspects of your life hypnotizing yourself and giving yourself positive suggestions in seconds, even with your eyes open. I often do this standing in a grocery store line.
If you want to learn more about self-hypnosis, read my book: The Wellness Journey. This is a complete self-hypnosis manual. Also, my two recorded CD sets, Self-Hypnosis and Mind Power have excellent instruction, plus many hypnosis sessions to condition you for self-hypnosis. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Wishing you fulfillment!
Warm regards,
Vance Romane