This post will explain about self-hypnosis and how to use it effectively in your life every day

So what’s so special about hypnosis?

Hypnosis, or trance, is a natural human ability. Without going into hypnosis, people wouldn’t be able to learn, to focus attention, undergo religious rites without pain, experience pain-free childbirth and much more. It is time that we all understood just how normal hypnosis is, and just how powerful it can be as a tool for change.

Using hypnosis, you can:

  • Comfortably overcome life-long phobias
  • Get rid of the ‘flashbacks’ that sometimes follow a traumatic experience
  • Learn to be confident and improve performance in situations such as public speaking and sporting events
  • Lower blood pressure and heighten immune function
  • Accelerate the body’s rate of healing
  • Learn to come out of depression and stay out
  • Increase your strength (at least in the short-term)
  • Beat addictions

And so on…

Ever heard of Negative Self- Hypnosis?

Often, if you are experiencing emotional or performance problems, it is because you are using ‘negative self-hypnosis. An understanding of hypnosis and how to use it can free you from this tendency.

Every time you focus down your attention you enter a kind of hypnotic trance.

Right now, for example, you are focusing your attention on your computer or device screen. While you’ve been doing that you have ‘forgotten’ or ‘zoned out’ the sensations of your feet on the floor

This of course is an essential skill as to be effective in any situation we must narrow down our attention so we are less aware of irrelevant aspects of our experience. ‘Deep trance’ is simply an extension of this ability. You may have had the experience of not hearing someone at all, or being ‘semi-aware’ that they said something when you are engrossed in a book or while watching a film for example. So, hypnosis occurs all the time.

‘Negative self-hypnosis’ and emotional problems

One major benefit of knowing about hypnosis is how to spot ‘negative self-hypnosis’ and stop it from happening. Without the ability to focus our attention, we wouldn’t be able to concentrate, learn, remember recall, form memories and so on. And this ability to focus also gets us into trouble. Narrowing down your focus of attention onto something that scares or depresses you for an extended period has been shown to create and maintain that phobic response ( Phobias require a narrowed focus of attention)

The other examples of trance states are

  • Anger
  • Depression
  • High Anxiety or Panic
  • Obsessive or Compulsive Behaviour
  • Addictive Behaviour

Learn to Use Self-Hypnosis Effectively Everyday

Avoiding Negative self-hypnosis

Imagine for a moment that you have been told you have to speak in front of 100 people for an event next Thursday. If you are an under-confident public speaker, you might start with the negative self-hypnosis and you would go something like this:

  1. Be aware of next Thursday approaching.
  2. Focus your attention inward.
  3. Imagine being on stage.
  4. Imagine a hostile audience.
  5. Feel anxious and hence create an association between the event and anxiety.

This might only last for a split second but you’re still training your unconscious mind to respond to the event with anxiety. The many subsequent repetitions of this self-hypnosis will serve to perfectly reinforce the effect.

And lo and behold, when you stand up to speak, your unconscious mind is very well trained. It says: ‘Hey! We’ve been here before and we know what response is required.

A big part of your mental rehearsal has been to feel fear. You have, through self-hypnosis, forged an association between fear and the public speaking event. This happens because the unconscious mind works on pattern matching.

Now you know about avoiding negative self-hypnosis, it’s time to look at using self-hypnosis well.

Preparing to use self-hypnosis well

  • Become aware of negative self- hypnosis-If you are already using self-hypnosis in a negative way, then it is good to be aware of that so you notice when you are doing it. It’s also important to know what to do instead.
  • Rehearse the problem situation whilst feeling comfortable– Although simple, this is a highly effective way to prepare the mind and body to respond in the required manner when the situation arises for real. It can give the subject the feeling that they have successfully negotiated it before, and allow them access to the skills they need. You do not distinguish between actual and imagined reality.
  • A quick exercise in self-hypnosis- practise this simple exercise

Close your eyes and think about a time when you felt very relaxed or comfortable. You may have been on holiday or with friends or are excited about learning something new. Really conjure the feelings of that time up in your mind. Remember or imagine the way the hands felt and notice the way they feel now. Notice what it’s like to recapture something of that feeling.

Now, as you begin to re-experience something of these feelings again, bring your thumb and finger together and let these feelings become more powerful. Take your time whilst doing this. Next, with thumb and finger firmly together, think of a time in the future where having these comfortable and enjoyable feelings will change the very nature of that future experience for you. Within your mind drift into that situation with thumb and finger together noticing what it’s like to be there but with these comfortable feelings. Notice all the things that are different in this situation now that you are different within it.

Well done! You’ve already started to use self-hypnosis to forge new unconscious associations. When you start to see how hypnosis operates in your own life then start to use it in a directed fashion you will begin to notice the benefits. From overcoming fears and old ‘learnt limitations’ to controlling pain and creating more energy, hypnosis is a way to really thrive, develop and enjoy your life.