Self hypnosis, intro Part 1 the Theory and a beginning practice suggestion.
All hypnosis is self hypnosis. Here is one way to do it using mindfulness based breathing, which will put you in a focused relaxed state, making your mind more available to respond to helpful suggestions, which is the essence of all hypnosis.
This is what you will do: Stay in the present moment, focus only on your breathing, accepting each breath for what its, not changing it or controlling it, allowing its wave like nature to unfold, as you feel the physical sensations over and over, and again and again. This will put you into a relaxed calm and focused state, and as you practice this you will be distracted and this is to be expected and is normal, and when this happens, just return again and again to feeling the breathing sensations. Both your focus on the breathing and your returning back to the breathing when you are distracted will result in progressively increased concentration, calm and relaxation. With practice and time your mind will be more and more ready for helpful suggestions. The mind accepts suggestions when it is ready and they are available from the present reality.
Here are some possible steps in the process:
1. Notice your mental state, in terms of what you are feeling, thinking and how your body feels and get off auto pilot,
2. Next, become aware of your breathing,
3. Then breathe in a mindful helpful way,
4. Breathe to gain more and more concentration and calm and until you are focused and relaxed
5. When concentration is strong and stable you are ready to add some suggestions.
It makes sense to practice giving your first suggestions as they are connected with the actual breathing process as you are doing it, in the present moment, as you are experiencing it. This allows the mind especially the unconscious mind to be more likely and available to accept the suggestions. Start where you are and suggest what is readily available and apparent and what you are already experiencing. Build on what is happening and what your are experiencing. Notice as you are breathing that in the in breath, as you take the air in, the is as sense a feeling of increased alertness and being more awake, and on the out breath a s you let the air out, there is a sense and feeling of relaxation and calmness. Practice this and check it out, in breath feel the alertness and on the out breath feel the relaxation and calmness.
One turns this into a self hypnotic exercise by literally saying to yourself either out loud or quietly what is actually happening as it is happening, reinforcing it with your actual thoughts and or words. Do this by saying something like the following.
6. Here are some beginning suggestions.
A. As you breathe in say “ I notice and feel more alert and awake,” and
B. As you breathe out, say “ I notice and fee more relaxed and calm.”
Connect this with actual experience and feel of being more alert and awake having more energy as you take the air in, and with the actual experience of feeling more relaxed and calm as you let the air out and the lungs and your breathing causes actual physical relaxation and mental and emotional calm. As with anything the more your actual practice this the easier it will be, the faster you will feel the effects and the more powerful will be the results.
There are at least two main reasons why you may not practice this or any other exercise, one is lack of Effort which we will discuss latter, and the second reason is distractions, we can become any thing from a simple nusance to the major reason why you won’t or cannot proceed in your practice. First how to deal with distractions.
7. No matter how hard you try you will be distracted by something, this normal and to be expected, just note the distraction and go back to the practice of mindfulness based breathing, gaining more and more concentration and calmness , until you are ready again to give yourself the suggestions. Practice , practice and more practice as you breathe over and over. The formula is:
Breathe, over and over, gaining concentration and calm, get distracted, note it, then go back to breathing, or
Simply, breathe, breathe, get distracted, back to breathing, until distracted again, then back to breathing
8. the breathing with the focus on feeling its physical sensations over and over, become your home base your anchor, no matter what happen, getting distracted is the second part of the process, the distracted must be accepted, with mindful awareness and then letting go of the distraction, leading to more concentration and calm.
9. as you practice this over and over you will experience with and without the actual words and thoughts the something like the following :
“With the In breath notice feeling more alert awake, feeling more energy, feeling better, and on the out breath, more relaxed, and calm, as you let go, and feel better. Over and over, more and more alert , more and more relaxed and calm, feeling better and better, more energy, more alert, more relaxed, calmer and calmer. “
How does this process we call self hypnosis work? Both hypnosis and meditation can open up pathways into parts of the mind we usually don’t have ready and conscious access.
Only a very small part of what we do feel and think is available to our conscious mind and awareness. For the most part most of us walk around in a self induced trance state, that we call auto pilot resulting in automatic repetitive behaviors. We usually not aware we are functioning on this auto pilot. It is to our advantage to become aware of this auto pilot state, find out what we are thinking, feeling and what our body is sensing and doing, and what is motivating us to do what we do. To do this we need the initial awareness and then have good and stable concentration to stay in this aware state so we can study it. Both hypnosis and meditation can help this process. Hypnosis tends to be quicker using some conscious “mental short cuts”, more specific in its aim, but is less comprehensive and complete in its actions and thus long term results.
The self hypnotic process allows a blending and cooperation between the conscious and unconscious mind and the automatic auto pilot mind and the autonomic nervous system mind , and between the thinking doing mind and the experiencing feeling mode of the mind. This results in a balance in and between thinking, feelings and body functions that lead to health and healing of the body, mind and emotions, that will spill over to relationship, and at work, school, and leisure time activities. The alert yet relaxed and calm mental state that self hypnosis and meditation cultivate open up these pathways to health and happiness. To be effective they must be practiced over and over again.
Do these self hypnotic exercise frequently using mindfulness based breathing to help yourself with anything.
Do this when you thing about it throughout the day, anytime anywhere.