A Self Hypnosis Primer- The Truth Of Hypnotism
The Basics of Hypnosis: How it Works
When you hear the word ‘hypnosis’, you tend to think of magic and ‘woo-woo’.
We’ve all seen stage hypnotists encouraging their participants to believe they’re chickens or otherwise make a fool of themselves and we’ve all seen hypnotists in films who seem to be able to cure any ailment and solve any problem with the power of their minds.
Some people believe that hypnotism is a form of brainwashing like this and that it can be used alongside the ‘dark arts’ for all kinds of villainy.
Others don’t believe in it at all… so what’s the reality?
The Reality of Hypnotism
To understand what hypnotism really is, it can help to consider another term for it: persuasion.
Hypnotism is sometimes referred to as ‘the art of persuasion’ which is an accurate description as that’s really all it is.
When you hypnotize someone you are persuading them that something is true – whether that’s the idea that they don’t want another cigarette or whether it’s that they’re really a chicken.
The problem is, that when someone tells you something is true, you generally tend to reject it until you’re given proof.
No one could really persuade you that you were a chicken using conventional means for instance, which is where hypnotism comes in.
And generally you’re still not going to convince anyone they’re a chicken unless they want to be a chicken or they’re already particularly persuadable.
In general, hypnotism is best used as a kind of ‘nudge’ to get someone to think in the correct way and is most effective when they’re ‘playing ball’.
How it Works
So how then can you persuade someone to believe something they wouldn’t normally?
There are a few methods but generally the idea is to get in ‘under the radar’ by speaking almost directly to that person’s unconscious.
The first way to do this is to get that person to feel completely at ease and relaxed so that they drop their guard.
This is what you call putting someone in a ‘suggestible’ state. The right language can then be used to make that person trust in what the hypnotist is saying and to gradually ‘lead’ them.
Careful phrasing is then also weaved into the subsequent ‘script’ in order to plant subtle ideas in such a way that the person does not ‘reject’ them.
And when they then come around, the patient will likely have adopted those ideas as their own – almost like inception!
How to Hypnotize Yourself Using Scripts
Self-hypnosis is a form of self-directed hypnotism that can be used for a variety of different ends.
Self-hypnosis essentially means using subtle suggestions to alter the way we think about something, which in turn can then be used to help overcome a phobia or an addiction, to change the way we feel about ourselves or for a range of other benefits.
Normally, getting hypnotized would mean going to visit a hypnotist who would talk to you in such a way as to get you into a relaxed and highly ‘suggestible’ state.
From there, they would then be able to talk you through a series of suggestions that would gradually change your beliefs on a particular topic until you eventually came away feeling different and better than you did before.
But how would this work if you were both the patient and the hypnotist?
There are a few ways you can practice self-hypnosis but one of the most effective and the most similar to getting hypnotized professionally, is to use scripts.
What is a Script?
The idea with a script is simple: you’re going to be writing down the part that would normally be spoken by your hypnotist and probably then recording it so that you can play it back to yourself.
Now you can sit somewhere quiet and relaxed and simply listen to the recording as though it were a professional hypnotist talking to you.
Alternatively you might decide to memorize and repeat the script to yourself like a series of positive affirmations, or you could even read it to yourself.
Most though will choose to pre-record the script in a spoken form though and go through it that way.
How to Write Your Script?
The difficult part is knowing how to write your script and what you want to put in it.
Of course this is up to you but you can find a lot of guidance online to help. It should start in most cases with a section designed to help you relax and get into a ‘suggestible’ state.
This might be achieved through the use of visualization, breathing techniques or ‘tensing’ and relaxing your body.
After this point, you begin with the script designed to have some kind of effect by getting you to take certain beliefs on board.
You can achieve this for example with phrases designed to subtly ‘weave in’ statements as presuppositions within the statement.
Saying ‘you feel confident’ may be met with resistance by your unconscious mind, whereas ‘you love the feeling you have of being confident which is happening more and more’ is much more gentle and more likely to have an effect.
Creating Your ‘Happy Place’
Visualization is an incredibly powerful tool that you can use during self-hypnosis, meditation or even creative pursuits.
Either way, when performed correctly you can use it to ‘simulate’ an environment or stimulus almost as though you were there and to thereby fool your brain into thinking that whatever you’re imagining is real.
This can then be used to experiment, to remember things or to calm yourself down.
It’s that latter use that we’re going to be dealing with here, which can specifically be achieved by visualizing a ‘happy place’.
This is a place that you can ‘go to’ in your mind’s eye that will make you feel calm and at ease.
This can be used on its own for therapeutic ends, or it can be used to get yourself into a calm and suggestible state for self-hypnosis.
What Should a Happy Place be?
When you inevitably get to the point on a hypnosis script where you’re told to ‘go to your happy place’, it can be jarring and even stressful if you don’t know where that is. To start with then: how do you choose where your happy place is?
The first thing to do, is to think what automatically comes to mind when you think ‘happy place’.
For some people it might be a forest, for others a tropical beach, for others a quiet log cabin. Whatever comes to mind immediately, that can be a good thing to start with – don’t try and force it.
If nothing is coming to the fore, then you can also try asking yourself questions.
For instance: when was the last time you felt truly happy or truly calm? Or is there a place you go often in real life in order to calm down?
Bringing Your Happy Place to Life
Once you’ve got an idea of at least what your happy place is like you can then go about bringing it to life and making it as real as possible.
One way to do this is by drawing on real experiences you’ve had to color the image in your mind – you can even base the happy place on a real place you’ve frequented.
Another strategy is to try drawing your happy place.
This is a good way to decide on the physical dimensions and layout which can help to keep the space more ‘real’ in your mind.
Don’t forget to concentrate on your other senses though – populating your happy place with sounds and smells will make all the difference.
The Most Powerful ‘Altered States’ for Self Development
When you hear the term ‘altered state’, you might be forgiven for presuming the subject is going to be ‘mind altering drugs’.
Often these terms are used together but in fact they can describe very separate phenomena.
Drugs are just one way of achieving one kind of ‘altered state’ and not a particularly healthy or useful one at that.
There are many other altered states then besides those you might achieve with drugs and these should be of much more interest to anyone who would like to improve themselves in any way.
Let’s take a look at some examples…
Meditation
Meditation is perhaps best thought of as any exercise in mental discipline.
We tend to presume that meditation necessarily means trying to ’empty your mind’ but in fact that is just one possible objective.
In ‘mindfulness’ meditation on the other hand, the aim is to keep thinking and to try and take note of the content of your thoughts as they pass through your mind.
Meditation varies greatly depending on your goals and on the kind you are using but across the board it has been shown to improve mental discipline in waking life too, by encouraging calm and by giving you the mental tools to deal with whatever life may throw at you.
Hypnosis
If you should use self-hypnosis or see a hypnotist, then you will likely first aim to reach an altered state of heightened suggestibility.
What this effectively means is that you’ll have ‘dropped your guard’ to the point where you will be more inclined to believe what you hear and to take it on board as an aspect of your personality.
This way the hypnotist or the script is able to speak almost directly to your unconscious mind.
Lucid Dreaming
Lucid dreaming is a type of dreaming where you – as the dreamer – are aware that you are in fact dreaming.
This then means you’ll be able to control the direction of those dreams, not only allowing you to use your dreams as a ‘testing ground’ but also letting you experience things you couldn’t in real life for therapeutic or other ends.
Hypnagogia
Unfortunately, not everyone is capable of lucidity in their dreams and it takes a lot of practice.
Easier is to try and maintain a state of ‘hypnagogia’ which is the moment just before you fall asleep.
This is something that many great thinkers are said to have used historically to generate ideas as you will be in a state of heightened creativity.
It’s a great type of altered consciousness for self-development and you’re probably in it at least twice a day already!
Self-Hypnosis and Placebos
The ultimate objective of self-hypnosis is to help you retrain your thinking for any number of ends.
Whether you want to become more confident, to be more adept at speaking in public, or to give up a habit like smoking – self-hypnosis can potentially make a big difference.
And the potential effects of self-hypnosis can be even more impressive when combined with the power of placebo…
What is a Placebo?
A placebo is essentially any potent effect that results from the belief that you are doing something different.
The most common example of this is the ‘sugar pill’ – which is simply a pill that is made entirely from sugar with no active ingredients.
Patients will take this pill, believing that it is some kind of medicine and as a result, they will often get better or see improvement despite the fact that there’s nothing in it.
Likewise, placebos can help people to get over addictions, to overcome phobias to become more confident… sounding familiar?
How They Work
But how can a pill made of sugar possibly result in someone becoming smarter, fighting an illness or even combating psoriasis?
Well it’s all to do with the power of the mind and specifically the impact of neurotransmitters and hormones.
Simply, if you believe that you’re getting worse, then you produce stress hormones like cortisol and norepinephrine which actually tax your body and result in you getting worse.
On the other hand, if you believe you’re getting better, then you will produce positive neurotransmitters like serotonin and endorphins which can help to strengthen the immune system and to fight pain.
You’ll sleep better, you’ll be more optimistic and you’ll be less likely to focus on all the negative thoughts that get in the way.
For something like ‘confidence when speaking’ a placebo gives you ‘permission’ to forget your inner critic and to just be your best without second-guessing yourself. Surprise, surprise, this leads to better performance!
This is also related to the ‘law of attraction’ which states that if you act a certain way then you will eventually become a certain way.
For instance, if you believe you are very successful and act as such, then eventually you’ll be more successful.
Why? Because your belief will make you act more confident, it will make you take more chances… it will even change the way you dress and all that will help you to become successful eventually.
There’s only one caveat: you need to really believe in a placebo for it to work, which makes it remarkably difficult to placebo yourself…
Which is where self-hypnosis comes in!