All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. Yes, you read that right. You don’t actually need the hypnotist to get you “into the zone” or to put you “into a trance”. You can do it all by yourself. In fact, most of us do this on a regular occasion and we just don’t know it or at least we don’t know how we got there.

Have you ever been driving on a route you know all too well and simply “wake up”, realizing you are already at the turn? Have you ever sat down on the couch after a day of work, zoned out and realized it’s time to get get dinner started? These are both states of hypnosis and you got there all by yourself. How did you get there? Well, you were in a safe space, somewhere you felt comfortable. You knew you were able to turn off your critical thinking because the day was over or because you have driven that route a million times that you could do it with your eyes closed. Your subconscious is your unique autopilot and you basically allowed it to take over.

However, zoning out and going to see a hypnotist are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Zoning out is your autopilot, tailored specifically to you whereas a hypnotist is your guide, helping you get to a specific goal, (whether it be clucking like a chicken or overcoming your lifelong phobia of spiders). Either way, both extremes are achieved through you getting yourself there.

Hypnosis can help with a multitude of problems that you can take into your own hands, be it anxiety, an inability to sleep or relax or to get rid of headaches and migraines, among many, many other illnesses. It is with issues like these where you can benefit from self hypnosis without having to dish out any money. In less than three weeks, you can change your entire life. But like with everything, it takes practice before you can reap the rewards. So let’s get started.

• THE BASICS

Find yourself a quiet, comfortable space either sitting or laying down, where you will not be disturbed for the next hour. Unplug your landline, turn off your cell, send the kids to the neighbors… whatever it takes to get some time for yourself. Allot yourself an hour of time, but in the beginning it will likely be much less, until you have grasped all of the steps.

• STEP 1 – PHYSICAL RELAXATION

In this first step, you want to relax your body. Close your eyes and take a long, slow, deep breath in through your nose and hold it for a moment. Then slowly exhale through your nose. Do this for a total of 5 breaths. Take special notice of how your body has already begun to become one with the surface on which you are on.

Notice how heavy your eyelids have become, almost as though there are little weights keeping them shut. Test yourself by imagining trying to open your eyes. You can relax after having tried for a moment. This is the relaxation that you want to spread over your entire body, like a warm, weighted blanket. With every breath in, spread this relaxation out to each limb.

Continue practicing step one until you are successfully able to enter this deep state of physical relaxation, which may take a few days for some.

• STEP 2 – MENTAL RELAXATION

Now that you have successfully relaxed your body, it is time to calm your mind. To do this, you must first desensitize yourself to the sounds around you. I prefer to do this in step 1, breath 3, however while getting used to the steps, keep desensitization in step 2. You can desensitize yourself by either calling out a few sounds you know you will hear (traffic, sirens, barking, clock ticking etc) or by keeping it general with “any sound you hear, take a moment to acknowledge it, accept it and allow it to let you go deeper into relaxation”. Certain sounds are hardwired into our brain that keep us safe, such as that of a fire alarm. Your subconscious knows this and will instantly alert your consciousness of a possible danger.

Your body is relaxed and your brain should no longer be jumping to anything from the external environment. Now, let’s focus on keeping your internal environment – your thoughts – at bay. We do this by giving your conscious mind something to think about. For this scenario, let’s count backwards from 30. Picture the numbers in a similar fashion as the introduction to Star Wars “In a galaxy far far away…”. See the numbers come from behind you, starting small and growing larger as they pass your eyes. Then growing smaller and more distant as they travel away from you. Some people may need to start at 50 whereas others may start right away at 10. Beginners should start at a higher number as they need to keep their conscious mind busy. If numbers don’t work for you, try the alphabet. If you catch your mind wandering, start again from the last number you remember.

Step 2 is the step that will likely take the longest to master. You can practice throughout the day by taking 30 seconds to yourself, closing your eyes and counting backwards from 10 in the same fashion.

• STEP 3 – USING YOUR IMAGINATION

Congratulations, you made it to step 3. Your hard work is finally paying off and now you get to reward yourself by using your imagination. In step 3, you want to create an environment for yourself that is safe, calm and relaxing. Whatever space you choose for yourself, you want to be sitting or laying down. If you are at the beach, do you hear the waves crashing on the shore? Do you feel the warmth of the sun kiss your skin? Can you feel the sand in between your toes? If you are laying down on a bed of clouds, do you hear the wind wooshing around you? Can you feel the crisp cool breeze on your skin and the support of the clouds beneath you? Use your senses to make this place as real to your imagination as possible.

When you are ready, feed yourself some positive suggestions; you feel deeply relaxed, you have a new outlook on your day, you feel invigorated etc. You can repeat to yourself some positive affirmations as well. It is at this point that your subconscious is really listening, so take full advantage and say what it is that you need to say.

After this, allow yourself a couple of minutes of relaxation to relish in your experience.

At one point, your conscious mind will click back on. Do not open your eyes just yet. Take a deep breath and count yourself back up from 1 to 5.

1. You are becoming aware of your surroundings
2. You feel yourself having more energy
3. You are getting movement in your fingers and toes
4. Becoming more present
5. You can open your eyes, stretch and say aloud “Wide Awake”

At this point you can slowly start to register how you are feeling by doing a quick checkin with yourself from toe to head. Slowly begin to get up and go about your day.

If this was meant to put you to sleep, during the positive suggestions mention that you are in a safe, comfortable place and you allow yourself to fall to sleep and wake up in the morning feeling refreshed. Do not wake yourself up by counting to five.

• TIPS

Many people find it difficult to talk to themselves in their heads and keep a linear thought going. If this is the case with you, it might be beneficial to you to record yourself and listen to the recording.

If you live in a busy or noisy area, play some calming chakra music from Youtube. This can help drown out some of the sounds. Make sure however you are signed out of Facebook and your email, as you do not want to hear any notification sounds.

You may find it helpful to do one session with a hypnotist, to understand the process. It is sometimes very hard to learn things on our own.