How Self-Hypnosis Works

In our early years of life we are able to easily focus on one task at the time without being constantly interrupted with all the distractions of our sub-concious mind that typically occurs in adults. Just imagine a young baby. Within the first year of life, they will learn crawling, walking, spoon-feeding, talking, just to mention a few. Compare that to an adult who has suffered serious head injuries in an accident. It will take him or her many years to re-learn what the baby did in just months. When we are young, our mind is not pre-occupied with “other things”. It stays on the task until it is completed, without distractions. However, as we get older we start learning more and more things such as, putting my hand on the hot stove really hurts, and this becomes one of our many beliefs, which can be very hard to ignore.

As adults we have many limitations in our mind, things we simply believe is impossible. It is very hard, if not impossible for a 350 lbs man to believe that his scales will ever show 150lbs. Is it impossible? No. But this man has tried to lose weight consciously so many times that his sub-concious mind has labelled it that way. Through self-hypnosis he will be able to delete some of this sub-conscious labelling and teach our brain that it is in fact not impossible. It is our sub-conscious mind that shapes our personality and decides of what drives us.

Hypnosis is a technique that has been around for a long time. I am sure you all remember pictures of the swinging pocket watch that eventually puts someone to sleep. Self-hypnosis is not like that at all, but rather a technique to rid ourselves of whatever might be holding us back and preventing us from experiencing optimal well-being. You might want to lose weight, quit smoking, maybe you are shy and have a fear of speaking in public. All these things can be changed with self-hypnosis, through focusing on a specific thought that will help you change your habits.

I'm sure you have heard someone say “I bet he couldn't hypnotize me”. I believe that anyone can be hypnotized, but how effective it will be for you depends solely on how much you accept the process of hypnosis. If you have an open mind to it, chances are you will succeed.

There are several basic steps to the hypnosis process. How these steps are accomplished is what differs from one technique to the next. Step number one is achieving complete relaxation. This does not mean sleep, but somewhere in between sleep and being fully awake. Step number two is to focus your mind on an idea, suggestion or a specific phrase you have decided on. In this step you focus all of your concentration on this idea and it typically comes with a heightening of all of your five senses. This is referred to as “hyperawareness” and is a natural part of the process when you can focus you concentration whilst relaxing completely. It is not uncommon to experience what is called REM, short for rapid eye movement during this stage, but it does not mean that you are asleep. During self-hypnosis you can wake yourself up at any time, which is not the case for normal sleep.

The big key to self-hypnosis is to change the habits you don't like or struggles you have and allow your dominant willpower to force you into submission. The sub-concious mind will start this process off, but your conscious mind will have to provide the actual willpower. Without the willpower, big changes in your thinking could not take place and hypnosis would not be possible without persistence and commitment to keep going until you succeed.