Hypnosis may still seem like a mysterious form of mind control to many
people; however it can be done, by you, to yourself. There are many
books and websites available that will describe how to self hypnotize.
It can seem difficult to do, but it is most important to remain relaxed
and willing to be hypnotized.
You first need to induce a hypnotic state, which can be fairly easy.
This is called the induction. It can be as formal or as informal as you
like. You will usually need a comfortable and quiet place, remembering
that during hypnosis, you will be able to hear and see everything that
is going on, so in front of the TV which your family is watching may
not be the most conducive place, and then to start with a change in
posture, which will act as a physical cue to your body that you are
ready to do this. You will need to breathe calmly and slowly, and
focusing on your breathing and on something onside your body – a
sound or a visual cue.
You need to “shut off” your thoughts. Soothing background
music, or an induction tape that tells you what to do as you are going
through the steps to self hypnotize can help. You can make your own
induction tape or purchase one from a professional hypnotist.
Once you have relaxed into a hypnotic state, you can make suggestions
which will allow you to plant ideas directly into your subconscious
mind. This is called a prescription, or a script. This tells your
subconscious mind exactly what you want it to think, using the power of
positive thinking in order to help you achieve your goals. At the end
of your hypnotic session, you will wake yourself up, which is easily
done just by telling yourself to wake up, or by having your tape
include the instruction to wake up. If you are hypnotizing yourself to
help you fall asleep, obviously you will not want to wake up but rather
drift into the sleep state from the hypnotic state.
You may not be able to hypnotize yourself very well the first time you
try. Some people take longer than others to be able to self hypnotize,
but most can hypnotize themselves fairly well within 3 weeks. Daily
practice is important, both to develop the ability to hypnotize
yourself, and to keep working towards your goal or objective - the
reason why you are hypnotizing yourself. Each daily session will take
up to half an hour, although with practice, sessions can become shorter.
