I was actually going to email you soon and plonk it on ftp but this is easier Im impressed with your WWW page although Ive only had a quick glance anyway here it is Ill email you once Ive updated it again Although SH is about as safe as waking up in the morning, for legal reasons all the exercises in this article are carried out at your own risk (and benefit), this article can be freely distributed but should not be altered/added or amended without the author (Charles Vald) consent. V2.2a SELF HYPNOSIS ============= PLEASE READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE TWICE BEFORE DOING ANYTHING Why hypnotise yourself? In our stressful lives sometimes we don't have time for ourselves to sit back and think and relax, at the least hypnosis can help you unwind as I continue further I will show the other aspects of hypnosis from helping you to stop bad habits to making things go better in life, remember its not a miracle cure but may help contribute in helping you take the daily grind of life. What is self hypnosis? Self hypnosis deals with hypnotising yourself rather than someone else hypnotising you, so the only person you have to trust is yourself rather than take your trust and give it into somebody else. By relaxing your body and mind, you open yourself up to suggestions. These suggestions in Self Hypnosis are generated by YOU, whereas with a hypnotist, THEY generate the suggestions. This does not mean that hypnotism does not have its place in a clinical surrounding, in my view it should be used more than it is but that you can hopefully help yourself in certain areas. Isn't it harmful? I am sure you have seen stage hypnotism before, I advice anyone NOT to go up on stage not that I have any conclusive proof that its dangerous but it is not really the way hypnotism should be used, i.e. to make fools out of other people it may be funny but does not help hypnotism in its more beneficial uses. The worst side effect you can get from self-hypnosis is falling asleep. I would caution people who suffer from EPELEPTIC FITS or take any kind of hard drugs NOT to practice self hypnosis without consulting a doctor first. In hypnosis, you CAN NOT do something which you are basically against, you are always in control in Self Hypnosis. What is hypnosis? That's a good question some people say its a different state of consciousness other of a shutting down of one side of your brain it doesn't matter what your view is on this if you wish to research this area please do but is of little consequence in the actual use of hypnotism. OK you are now ready to hypnotise yourself, it is advisable to go to the toilet if needed before continuing any further as you can get very relaxed. What happens if something happens when I'm hypnotised? If say the phone rings or someone comes into your room you will just wake up its as simple as that. Any external stimulus which you think is important will do the same. Where should i hypnotise myself Most places (within reason) will do but you may find a quiet room in which you can darken (e.g. closing the curtains). Make yourself comfortable e.g on a seat (in which you wont fall out of) , lying down on the floor, or on your bed (some people find lying on your bed just makes you full a sleep :-) ) Take off your shoes if you want and anything else that will make you feel more comfortable Put your arms on either side of you, you are ready to begin. The induction ============ PLEASE READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE TRYING IT OUT The light trance is the first stage of hypnotism and for most things it is the only state that you need to reach that is not to say that you may not reach other levels. What follows are various different methods of getting yourself into such a trance some work better than others on different people please experiment on what works best for you. Before starting any of the methods deep breathing should help you relax. This can be done by breathing in for a count of 5 and then slowly exhaling the air. Repeat this a few times. In all these methods you will be saying to yourself statements. It is best to say these statements to yourself as if you were someone else e.g. rather than saying you are feeling sleepy (i know that line is a bit cliche) you would say charlie, you are feeling sleepy. All statements should be said slowly and repeated twice at the least. Before you start any of the methods below you might want to start by taking a SLOW breath in, then letting it all out. repeat this a few times - about 5 or so - then go on. Method 1 Close your eyes Concentrate on your left foot then say to yourself "relax your left foot all the tension in your left foot is melting away". Repeat this message slowly a few times and then continue to your left leg in the same way concentrating on your left leg and saying to youself "relax your left leg ...", then go on to the right foot and leg then hands, arms, head and all other limbs. Method 2 Put on some slow music, music by STING or in BAROQUE style are examples the tempo should be slow, make sure that the C.D. or tape does not repeat the same track over and over again and that it actually does end rather than go to the first track again once its gone to the last. This time close your eyes and say to yourself, "relax your body just listen to the music you are feeling relaxed you are floating my whole body is floating up higher, higher and as i go higher the more i relax and the more i relax the higher are go" (you may need to do this quite a few times). Once you have the feeling of rising then try the same falling down. After you have done this a bit just say to yourself now i am completely relaxed Method 3 This one is better who prefer visual things, close your eyes and say to yourself "imagine in my minds eye a staircase see the staircase see the word and winding down as i count from 40 to 1 slowly i will walk down the staircase and go deeper deeper" say that slowly a few times then count slowly from 40 to 1 aloud in or in your mind. Method 4 Close your eyes and imagine your anywhere you know well, a quiet place a garden a field a park anything that reminds you of quiet times visualise it smell it see it totally say to yourself a description of this place and slowly a picture should emerge you may hear the birds singing or the smell of cut grass By the end of each method you will notice that your breathing has become automatic and that you are feeling very relaxed CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE REACHED STAGE 1, you may feel that some of your body has disappeared if not all of it, this is o.k just shows your really relaxed. How do i wake up? To wake up again is easy just say to yourself as i count from 5 to 1 i will wake up, i will feel happy and good about myself i will not be in any discomfort say that a few times then start the counting. If you find your to relaxed and down wake up, just say it again you'll wake up its just your having such a good time you don't want to. If you wake up and you feel rather sluggish, it is most likely because your body is still very relaxed, don't worry it resolve itself in a few minutes. How do i know I'm hypnotised? This is a very good question, and there are a lot of tests that you can try on yourself to find out, don't worry if one of the tests doesn't work there only guidelines everyone person is different and reacts differently it would be boring if we were all the same. Some people are more visual and respond to these kind of stimulus's more, if you can imagine a t.v. in your head and rotate you have good visual skills, if you can play back a song in your head then you have good auditory skills, etc. Similar tests can be done on the other senses. Test 1 Say to yourself imagine there is attached to your left hand a balloon by a piece of string the balloon is rising and as it rises it pushes your hand up, your hand is going up, now two balloons are attached its being pushed up higher higher (by this time your hand and arm should be rising, if not repeat this and really try and visualise the balloons ) now say to yourself the string has been cut and your arm is falling down. It may feel strange that you are not moving your hand yourself but it may help convince yourself that you are hypnotised. Test 2 This one is if you are playing music and is thus more auditory compared to the last one which is visual. Say to yourself listen to music, really listen to the music lift your arm and let it sway with the music really feel the music like you have never felt the music before. And as you sway you feel it more (repeat this a few times if need be). At the end of the exercise just say you can put your arm down. Some people really feel great pleasure in the exercise and feel the music is so much better. Test 3 This method deals with the senses, say to yourself, "imagine a ball of light over my left foot, the ball of light is producing a lovely warmth, feel and see the ball of light flow through your whole body, hear the lovely sound it makes. At the end of the exercise say "Now the ball of light is fading away and the heat, sound disappearing" (You can actually go through all the senses inturn to see which one you find easiest to use and manipulate, or you can use it help train the other senses in taking the input from your mind rather than externally) What next? O.k this is up to you I will list below a few things than you can do but its up to you to sort out what you wish to do, up to your own imagination. Getting into hypnotism quickly OK you will find that every time you hypnotise yourself you get better at it and it will be quicker, if you want to hypnotise yourself really quick then do the following, when in the trance say to yourself whenever i want to be hypnotised not when anyone else says only when i want, I can just close my eyes and say the words i want to be hypnotised and i will get to this state instantly only when i say not when anyone else says. Yes its as easy as that remember that the more you hypnotise the better you will get the same goes for the above exercise you may have to repeat this suggestion in more than one session. Relaxation When you enter a light trance you will be relaxed further to this you can relax yourself even more imagine a nice setting a describe it sunbathing or garden whatever you find relaxing, say to yourself this description say that you are relaxing more and more. Some people find that imagining yourself floating helps once achieved staying there for a few minutes may be very beneficial do whatever you feel will relax you let your imagination flow. You may find that you want to relax before an exam or when your getting nervous. Confidence Say to yourself you are feeling better more confident that you can face each new challenge as a interesting exercise that you will be able to approach people better, etc, etc I am sure you get the picture its up to you, you may find the more sessions the better, this is similar in some ways to people saying when they wake up "in every way I'm getting a little bit better" Exams and revision Say to yourself I'm going to revise and understand so much more I am going to enjoy the exam and not be nervous I am going to revise in a second and it will be so easy and I will understand and be able to learn it so well Past This can be used to remember things from your past that you never could before just say to yourself imagine your birthday at 6 or 7 and then visualise it totally the whole atmosphere ask yourself questions then slowly go back to 6 then 5 seeing what you can remember its amazing how far back some people can go. If you dont want to wrap yourself in the emotion then imagine that your viewing it on a T.V screen and you see yourself on the screen. Smoking and other habits. In the case of most habits you should really find out to yourself the real reason that you started ( try using the previous method of going in the past if you can not remember, the reason why you started) otherwise you may just stop this habit and get another habit to replace it. If you are aware of this then you are half way towards solving the problem, I am sure you have seen lots of hypnotism to help stop smoking tapes, well this is basically the same information for free, you can either try saying that the next time you take a cigarette it will taste awful but its better to just say that you will not feel the urge and the next time you take a cigarette you will say to yourself I don't want one. This may take days or weeks to do but will be effective, it will not work if you do not want it to work. Automatic writing Put in one of your hands( the opposite hand to the one usually right with) a pencil or pen and piece of paper, say to yourself that whatever you want to say what ever you feel like saying you will write it down, you can then ask questions about yourself and maybe find some answers you can also just let the hand flow and write things down, you may find that the writing is not syntactically correct, i.e. that the words aren't spelt correctly this is due to your right hemisphere doing the talking rather than the logical side (opposite in most cases if your left handed). Revision and other techniques I think you should be able to understand from the examples given how you can alter the above to be specific in whatever way you wish to help yourself, for example if you want to improve your revision you could give yourself positive thoughts on how easy it is to revise or how enjoyable it is, or how your brain is soaking up the information, or when you go to the exam hall you will feel happy and enjoy the exam showing them all the knowledge you know. E.S.P Whether I believe it or not is not relevant here, if you wish to try it out there are numerous methods that I am sure you can think of some may concern you and a friend hypnotised and then conducting test e.g. trying to send a picture or a scene to each other etc. Alternatives are letting your mind flow to see what you pick up on (each others feelings etc). Deepening methods If you wish to try and go into a deeper state that you are in you can try the following although you may find yourself getting into this state automatically after a while using the above methods as described (the following should be done after getting into the light state) Clear your mind by just listen to your breathing, feel your whole body breath in and out just listen to the air going in and out. If you have any random thoughts just let them come and go dont ponder on them or get bothered by them just let them happen and go back to listening to your breathing. Feel absolutely totally relaxed you can try going through method 3 of going down the staircase again, it may feel different this time, you may also start to feel yourself just floating around and get so relaxed that you find it hard to concentrate, different people may have different experiences in this state, colours may appear distinct sensations and thoughts it can be very personal and special. OTHER THINGS Ive given a few examples of what you can do but Im sure you can understand whereto go from there maybe you want to have a special word you can say to yourself to relax you in tense situations maybe you want to be more postive about something its up to you I do not want to restrict you remember your always in control Ive tried to keep this article brief and to the point. I hope you find it informative and that it helps you as a basic guide into this fascinating subject. ------------------------------------------- Written by Charles Vald (charles@cejv.demon.co.uk) additional information added by Jeff Shaw (jeff@citr.uq.oz.au)