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You can start by settling into a comfortable chair, recliner, or sofa. You may wish to cover yourself with a quilt or light blanket to prevent chilling, because your body’s metabolism may slow down. Take a few minutes to settle down and adjust your breathing to a slow, relaxed rhythm. As you exhale, imagine that you are releasing all the accumulate tensions of the day. Silence your mind and allow your body to relax. The process takes time, but this is a special and important time for you. As you relax your body, you may notice your awareness increasing. You may find your senses growing sharper or more acute. Sounds that you would not ordinarily notice may become distractions. Play soothing background music to mask over unwanted noise—sounds of traffic or voices in another room. Finding a quiet time of day for self-hypnosis—bedtime for instance—will reduce the chance of distractions. So resign yourself to going slowly at first and don’t expect your first sessions to produce instant miracles. Using self-hypnosis is a lot like exercising a muscle. The more your work it, the stronger it gets, and the more you will be able to accomplish over time. Self-hypnosis begins by relaxing your body, adjusting your breathing to a steady rhythm, and allowing yourself to simply slow down. Once you have settled down, you can begin guiding yourself into a deeply relaxed and highly receptive state. In this quiet, still time, take a moment and become aware of your body. Do your fingers show signs of curling? Are your hands tight? Are they clenched? If so, let your fingers uncurl and relax your hands. Are your legs crossed? Uncrossing them allows for better circulation. Are there any parts of your clothing or shoes that feel tight? Loosen them for your own comfort. Allow yourself to slow down a little more. Begin to slowly take a few deep breaths. At this point you will want to relax your eyelids. A good method for doing this is counting slowly downward from ten to one and just blinking your eyelids slowly with every number. You may count silently or aloud; it doesn’t matter which method you choose. At the count of one, you may close your eyes and keep them closed. Allow this feeling of relaxation that is now in your eyes—this tired, heavy feeling—to spread outward, as in ripples or waves, to your entire facial area. Then continue to imagine this relaxed feeling going down to the rest of your body. Think of it as going first to the head…then the neck…to the shoulders...the arms...and slowly on down your entire body, step by step. This process is called progressive relaxation because after you completely relax one area, your go on to relax the next area. As your whole body relaxes, imagine or think about some beautiful scenes or pictures in your mind. Visualize or think of yourself at your ideal place of relaxation or any place that you would like to go to get away from it all. If you like the ocean, picture or think of yourself at the seashore, walking barefoot on the warm sand, the rolling surf murmuring in the background. If mountains are more to your liking, imagine or think about yourself high on a mountaintop. Think about the sounds of the wind, and how cool and refreshing it feels against your skin. Imagine or think about the white clouds floating by. Remove yourself from your everyday cares. You can adapt the following script to your own words as you count backwards again from ten to one: I’m going to count backwards now from ten to one. As I do, it becomes easier and easier for me to imagine or think about sights, sounds and feelings in my beautiful peaceful place… Number Ten – deeper and deeper, relaxing physically…With each breath, it’s easier to imagine or think about my peaceful place… Number Nine –deeper and deeper, relaxing mentally…With each sound, it’s easier to imagine or think about pleasant sights, sounds and feelings… Number Eight - deeper and deeper, relaxing emotionally…The deeper I go, the better I feel, and the deeper I want to go… Number Seven – deeper and deeper, relaxing totally…The deeper I go, the easier it is to go even deeper, imagining my peaceful place… Number Six – every nerve and muscle relaxes completely…as if I’m becoming a part of the peace that I imagine… Number Five – each number is making it easier and easier to go deeper and deeper...and it feels SO good to just relax... Number Four – as I go deeper, it becomes easier and easier to imagine or think about sights, sounds and feelings that are so calm, and so peaceful... Number Three – just drifting into total relaxation…into my place of total peace…where I can enjoy being anywhere I wish now… Number Two – just relaxing at my ideal peaceful place now… Number One – waaaaaaaaaay down deep…Relaxing into a very deep, inner peace…a very deep. Inner peace… As I touch my finger to my thumb, or take a deep breath and think the word RELAX, it’s an automatic reminder of my inner peace. (Touch a finger to your thumb, and take a deep breath.) Whenever I do this in the waking state, I feel calm and composed, free to think with a clear mind…but for now, I can just enjoy going even deeper into relaxation…deeper and deeper… With each breath I take, it’s easier and easier to enjoy my freedom of imagination, to go to a favorite vacation spot now… and imagine my IDEAL vacation…doing what I enjoy doing, and relaxing as well… It might be helpful to record the script on a cassette recorder and listen to it while you are relaxing. At this point, you might find your body starting to feel heavy or light, warm or cold. Different people feel different sensations, while others experience no unusual feelings at all. Some people notice a small flickering in their eyelids. This rapid eye movement (REM) can also occur when dreaming or daydreaming. Others may experience a gently rocking or swaying motion. Like REM, this is a normal and natural experience. Still other people may experience time distortion. In hypnosis time can appear to shrink or expand. Thirty minutes can seem like five, or vice versa. While you are in this relaxed state, tell yourself that your subconscious mind will accept and act upon the suggestion(s) you will now give it. Then proceed to give yourself mental suggestions that affirm your ideals and purpose. These beneficial suggestion(s) should be positive, simple, believable, and measurable, and should be stated in the present tense. For example, “Every day, in every way, I get better and better.” It would be helpful to use a 3x5 index card for your suggestion(s). Repeat these suggestion(s) several times. With time and practice, you will achieve your optimum depth level and improve the technique of giving yourself these suggestions. Remember to keep them positive and to the point. In time, you will see your goals reinforced and soon accomplished. Tell yourself that you can return to this state of relaxation at any time you desire by simply taking a nice deep easy breath, saying to yourself, “I feel calm, I feel relaxed and in control….” Twenty-five to thirty minutes is the average time most people give to their self-hypnosis sessions, but only you can decide how much is best for you. It is not important how much time you spend on each session, but how many sessions you experience. Repetition is the key. The more you do it, the easier reinforcing your success becomes. To complete the session, suggest that you will slowly open your eyes and awaken. Or count up, this time going from one to ten. Tell yourself that you will feel wide awake, clear headed, refreshed and happy. |