Chapter 12 - Slef-Hypnosis

Question 1

**REMEMBER***
Make this exercise a habit, doing it routinely once or twice a day for your own comfort (think of it as “mental floss”). You can also use it when you’re experiencing high anxiety or panic. It’s amazing how much benefit you can get from such a simple method.

Question 2

Hypnosis is a technique based on mental focus and breathing, as are other relaxation techniques such as yoga, guided imageryu, and meditation. Hypnosis allows you to relax by focusing your attention more and more narrowly, perhaps on a single word, sound, picture, or sensation. This allows you to quiet the internal chatter of your mind and relax your body as well.

Question 3

There’s a lot pf ,ystique, myth, and misunderstanding about hypnosis, which leads some people to fear it, but it’s really a simple, natural experience - the same kind of experience you might have while watching a really good movie, responding emotionally, intellectually, and physically as if it were actually happening to you or other people you care about. You can become so involved in a film that you don’t seem to notice the ordinary sights, soundsm and smells around you. Other people, the smell of popcorn, the exit signs, seem to fade out of you consciousnessm yet when the movie ends, you get up and go about your business as before.

The hypnotic experience is similar - IT IS NOT SOMETHING A HYPNOTHERAPIST “CAUSES” TO HAPPEN, NOR S IT A FORM OF “MIND CONTROL”. Rather, it’s something the hypnotic subject (you) ALLOW to happen.

Question 4

Contrary to popular myth, a person in hypnosis can remember as much of the experience as he wants and cannot be compeled to do anything against his or her will. Of couse when you do self-hypnosis, you can feel even more confident that you are in charge, because no one else in involved.

Question 5

INTERESTING

Research has shown that people with panic and anxiety disorders have more than the average amount of hypnotic ability and thus are good candidates to use hypnosis if they choose to do so. A panic attack, as we’ve shown, is actually a “what if” experience in which you think and feel the way you would if something terrible were actually happening. PANIC TAPS INTO YOUR IMAGINATION, YOU ABILITY TO THINK AND FEEL “AS IF”.

THAT IS WHAT HYPNOSIS DOES TOO. It uses the same abilities that make you susceptible to panic attacks, but it does so in a healthy way. “What if… I were relaxing on a sunny beach, drifting in and uot of a peaceful sleep, hearing the ocean waves and the sea birds in the background…”

Question 6

There are many different ways of doing self-hypnosis. This way is simple and straightfoward.

Question 7

Here are a few guidelines to enhance your experience in using this method - and one requirement.

First, the requirement:

Since this is a relaxation technique, practice this only in situations where you are truly relaxed, wiht no important responsibilities or seftey issues requiring your attention. Don’t use this twchnique wile operating any kind of machinery, including cars and other vehicles.

Question 8

** Self-Hypnosis Guidelines **

• Don’t “try hard” at doing this. Don’t try at all. Trying will just get in your way. Simply follow the steps, allowing whatever happens to happen.
• For your first few experiences, practice in a quiet, comfortable setting where you will not be disturbed by others, the telephone, your pets, or whatever.
• If you wear hard contact lenses, remoce them (incase you fall asleep). Remove or loosen any constrictive clothing, If you like, use a fan, aquarium, or white noise machine to provide ongoing, repetitive background sound.
• Don’t evaluate how you’re doing or be concerned with how much or little relaxation you experiencce. Simply allow yourself to go through the steps, and save the judgement for later.
• Relaxation is like sleeping or enjoying a good meal. It doesn’t make sense to try to “make” yourself sleep or to try hard to get enjoyment from your food. You simply create the right circumstances and allow the sleep or the flavor to come. Follow the same process to let yourself relax.
• You can do self-hypnosys with your eyes open or closed
• If you forget what number you’re on, do a step out of order, or forget a step altogether, don’t be concerned. This is not a recipe; it is a process for relaxation that will not suffer if you change it.
• You don’t need to memorize these steps before you begin. It’s enough to read them through once or twice and then refer back to them for guidance as you proceed.
• You can do this with a desire to get as deeply relaxed as possible; or you can do this just out of curiosity, to see what it’s like. Come as you are.

Question 9

PICK YOUR OWN CUE WORD

A cue word is simply a one-syllable word you use to focus your attention. It doesn’t matter what the word is, so long as it’s fairly neautral. I wouldn’t use words such as “kill” or “sex”.

Question 10

8 As yo ubecome more familiar and comfortable with this method, you can begin to use it in a variety of settings. It’s not necessary to limit yourself to a quiet place. You can do this on an airplane, or stanfing in line, or a variety of other locations. The suggestion of a quiet, comfortable place is just to make it easier to get started. I’ve had an occasion to use this in an MRI machine, a particular noisy and uncomfortable situation.

Question 11

VERY IMPORTANT SELF-HYPNOSIS EXERCISE
THE STEPS

1. Begin by sitting comfortably (or lying down, if you prefer; in that case, elevate your head slightly with a pillow). Sigh gently and use that exhalation to relax your shoulders and upper body. Do your bely breathing for a few moments.
2. As you feel your breathing relax, begin to focus on a cue word, repeating it silently and slowly on each exhale.
3. After a few moments of focusing on the cue word (maybe 6 to 12 repetitions, but the number isn’t really important), stop repeating the word and make thje fgollowing suggestion to yourself: “I’m going to let myself relax now.” Simply say or think those words to yourself in a permissive way, without commanding or demanding anything.
4. Continue your belly breathing, count down silently and slowly on each exhale, from 20 to 15.
5. At 15 or therabouts, pause to give yourself another gentle suggestion. You might choose to simply repeat the first one. If you have any special reason for this particular relaxation, you could state it now, for example, “I’m going to let myself float through these panicky feelings.” Use only positive, permissive suggestions. Avoid any suggestions that urge you to make any kind of effort, to achieve a particular goal, or to stop doing something. (Examples of unhelpful suggestions would be: “I’m going to try to relax more than ever before” and “I have to stop worrying about the stock market right now!”)
6. Resome counting down on the exhales, from 14 to 10 or so.
7. At the count of 10 or thereabouts, stop counting. If you’re doing this exercise with your eyes closed, open them now, look briefly to your right and your left, then close your eyes again if you wish, and go back to Step 1, repeating the entire sequencce again. (Or, if you’re doing it with your eyes open, blink slowly several times, look briefly to your right and your left, and go back to Step 1, repeating the entire sequence again.
8. Go through the entire sequence three times.
9. After the third time, give yourself a final suggestion, something that fits your circumstances. If you’re ready to go to sleep, say something about sleeping comfortably. Or you can give yourself a suggestion about the rest of your day - something like: “Now I’m going to return my attention to the present, returning with an alert, focused mind in a more comfortable state, looking forward to the activities of the rest of my day.”