What is self-hypnosis & why is it so beneficial?
Well, it’s very similar to meditation but with intention and a clear focus using specific motivation and suggestions towards a goal. For example before you sit down to practice your self-hypnosis you would write down a resource or feeling that you want to connect more with such as CONFIDENCE, after sitting and centering yourself through connecting to your breath for 5 mins or so you would then repeat the word CONFIDENCE to yourself with every out breath. (I will outline the full steps for this basic self-hypnosis practice at the end of this piece for you along with a link to an IG LIVE I recorded on this topic as well so you can give it a try later.)
When practicing self-hypnosis you are opening up a dialogue with your subconscious mind and in doing so and nurturing this relationship with ‘self’ you can use self hypnosis and especially visualisation in order to let go of and release unwanted negative mindsets, programming & experiences and reconnect with your inner resources and authentic self.
If you are someone who has never experienced meditation or focused your attention on your inner world then this may all sound very alien to you and may even be making you feel a little uncomfortable. Are you feeling dismissive of the idea of looking within for answers? Or are you feeling open-minded? Curious as to what may or may not be revealed when you start to look within or blocked and feeling resistant to the very idea of it?
If, like so many of us have had to do, you have spent years and years building up excellent defences to keep the outside world from getting in, the result can often be a complete disconnect from your true-self and your inner world.
Starting to explore the practice of self-hypnosis is one of the most important and key foundations in building good mental health and nurturing the relationship with ourselves.
Hypnosis and Self Hypnosis utilises the trance state, which is something that we all experience throughout our daily lives without realising. Driving a car, zoning out in front of the tv, being completely absorbed in a task or conversation, these are all various levels of trance state - it is essentially a highly focused attention but in hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis this focus is directed inwards.
Before I talk about how to go about the how of self-hypnosis lets talk about the WHY.
Creates and improves dialogue & relationship with your-self.
Relaxation and Breathwork in itself are beneficial and transformative
Helps with anxiety, sleep, smoking, self-confidence, IBS … or anything you are trying to overcome
Visualisation means you can mentally rehearse tasks which in turn affects changes in our chemical, physical, psychological and emotional parts of ourselves.
So the first and most important one of the above list, in may opinion, is the dialogue and relationship with your-self which happens to be the most important relationship of your entire life and one that you may have invested little or no real time into up until now.
Most of us have ‘internal dialogue’ the voice within our heads that can be either positive or negative, often it will be both but when things get bad it can tip over into predominantly negative and it can be VICIOUS. Unfortunately we tend to believe every single word of it as if it were the gospel Truth.
This voice is not who you are…. It is the voice of your EGO, YOU are who is listening to the voice…. You are the witness to the voice the voice IS NOT YOU. I will let that sink in for a minute….as when I first discovered this it was a huge shift for me. YOU DO NOT have to believe what it says.
Your ego is developed through your formative years as a way to make sense of and navigate the world - if you were criticised or not given the space to express your emotions then this ‘critical voice/s’ from your childhood may well now live in inside your head making sure you ‘stay in your place’ and stay safe…. Its job is to protect you but these coping mechanisms/defences can become counter productive in adulthood.
Self-hypnosis - How To Guide:
INDUCTION
1. Find a quiet, private place where you feel comfortable and secure that you wont be disturbed. I recommend a seated position (unless you are using S.H to aid sleep in which case lying down is best).
2. Lighting low & create as relaxed an atmosphere as possible.
3. Schedule it in your diary as time for yourself e.g mid-day is a great time to do it to re-charge/energise yourself for the afternoon.
4. Start with some long deep breaths - IN -OUT - close your eyes - then focus on a specific breath count such as IN for 3 - HOLD for 3 - OUT for 6 - HOLD for 4. I recommend IN through the nose and OUT through the mouth…
5. Repeat the words ‘LET GO’ to yourself with every OUT breath and imagine you are breathing OUT any tension from your body.
6. Progressive relaxation - mentally scan your whole body head to toe, focusing on each part of your body relaxing.
7. When you are feeling that your whole body is relaxing really connect with that feeling and sense of warmth - give it a colour, is it pink/orange, like a sunset? Create an image that you associate with this feeling that you can then use too re-enforce and reconnect to this feeling more easily every time you think of this image.
Once you have accessed the TRANCE state of focused internal attention you can either use:
MANTRA
8. A very simple and effective was of creating the changes you want to see. BEFORE you start, identify key words or a phrase that embodies how you want to feel. Eg CONFIDENT or CALM or ‘The more relaxed I am the more successful I will be’
9. Repeat this to yourself in your head or out loud for as long as you FEEL you need to - I suggest setting a timer for allowing 15-20 mins for the process from beginning to end, as you are consistent with your practice you will spend less time on the induction and more time on the Mantras - this will be intuitive.
OR
VISUALISATION
10. There are 2 types of visualisation you can use for working towards a goal : the first is visualising the process/actions of achieving the successful outcome OR the second is Visualising that the desired result or goal has already occurred.
Eg: Mentally rehearsing delivering a successful pitch at work - step by step - OR visualising celebrating having landed the contract and receiving the bonus/promotion.
11. IMAGERY is the LANGUAGE of the SUBCONSCIOUS - we use imagery to create or re-create emotions. To make imagery more effective you need to connect with not just the visual picture BUT also the smell, sounds, touch, temperature and even taste of the image you are creating.
12. Our body does not know the difference between a real event - a memory or a visualisation - physiologically the response is the same….
END
13. When you are ready to come back to the HERE & NOW then you can just count backwards from 5 to 1 and when you are ready open your eyes.
You can find info on IG Live that I did on this subject here : https://www.instagram.com/tv/CKTtwVfJhvT/
If you would like to have a chat about how self-hypnosis or hypnotherapy may be able to benefit you I offer a FREE 30min phone consultation which you can schedule here :
https://calendly.com/carolinemichaeltherapy/30-min-consultation-call
Like any new skill you try to learn it may take a little time to feel comfortable doing it and for it to feel like it comes naturally, it is called a practice because you do need to practice it… the key is consistency and remember it will feel different each time you do it but you can’t do it wrong. Any questions give me a shout, I am here to help.
Caroline
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