I’m going to let you in on a little secret: the process of entering hypnosis is easy. You don’t have to spend years studying to be begin getting the benefits of self-hypnosis. You can begin right now. Today!
First of all, what is hypnosis?
Hypnosis is a natural, relaxed state of body and mind where the critical faculty is bypassed and a person becomes more open to positive, healing suggestions. It is not sleep. There are actually at least two times a day when you are in a natural state of hypnosis: just before you fall asleep and just as you’re waking up. Through a series of simple techniques you can create this state for yourself.
While in hypnotic trance you will be able to
- Relieve stress
- Promote a good night’s sleep
- Boost your confidence
- Manage pain
- Enhance creativity
- Promote healing and wellbeing
Here are the basic steps that you can try for yourself.*
Step 1: With your eyes open, pick a spot on the wall or ceiling and fix your attention on it. Take a few slow, deep breaths and when you are ready close your eyes and begin to relax
Step 2: Bring your attention to the feelings of relaxation around your eyes. Notice how your eyelids are feeling so heavy. Now send that wonderful feeling of relaxation through your whole body.
Step 3: Now, to deepen these pleasant feelings of relaxation, imagine you are at the top of a beautiful staircase with 10 steps. When you are ready, begin walking down the staircase one step at a time. Count each step as you go down, and with each step experience yourself going deeper and deeper into hypnosis. Feel yourself releasing and relaxing all the way down until you reach the bottom.
Step 4: You will now be in a state of hypnosis. Allow yourself to simply enjoy the peace and rest, or you can give yourself positive, encouraging suggestions to help you with a specific issue or question you have in your life.
Step 5: When you are ready, you can bring yourself out of trance by imagining walking back up your staircase or simply count from 1 to 5 (the numbers don’t really matter). When you reach the top or that last number, you will be able to open your eyes feeling refreshed and wonderful in every way.
And that’s it. Of course, there are many other techniques that can be used to enter and deepen this wonderful, healing state. You may find that it takes a couple of times going through the above steps to achieve a really deep trance. One thing is certain though, the more you practice this technique the better you will get at it.
*Remember to only enter into hypnosis when you are in a safe place and not driving or doing anything that requires conscious attention.
