Work Life Tips

Breathing Induction -Hypnosis The Induction Tips

You can use deep breathing as an induction. Do this seated.

Put your feet flat on the floor and your hands in your lap, in any way you find comfortable and relaxed. Fix your eyes on the floor, looking down about 45 degrees. Breathe deeply and easily, from your diaphragm. (Your abdomen should move out when you inhale and in when you exhale.)

After a couple of minutes, you will enter a light trance. Close your eyes and continue with the self-hypnosis procedure.

An alternative is to use rhythmic breathing. Try breathing in to a count of 5, pause, then breathe out to a count of 7. Try different rhythms. What is natural for you? Don’t force it. Don’t rush it. You can also try just taking a few deep breaths, then starting rhythmic breathing.

Most of us do not breathe deeply enough in everyday life. There’s also a tendency to hold your breath when you are concentrating on something. Make sure you breathe deeply and easily during self-hypnosis. It will help you to breathe more deeply and efficiently during the day as well.

Handshake Induction -Hypnosis The Induction Tips

This induction is a variant of a technique popularized by the famous hypnotherapist, Milton Erickson. It is called the “handshake” technique because of the position of the hand at the beginning.

Extend your hand in front of you as though you were going to shake someone’s hand. It’s rather a limp handshake, because your wrist is very loose. You can either close your eyes or fix your eyes on your hand. It’s up to you.

You will notice that you have a lot of options in self-hypnosis. There are many “right” ways. This makes sense, because everyone has different preferences and experiences, so trying to force everyone into the same mold is unrealistic. You are in charge.

After assuming the handshake position, hold your hand out and pay attention to your breathing. Then notice how your hand is dangling in midair. Imagine different ways your arm might be suspended, such as floating in water or being suspended by balloons.

When you’re ready, notice that your arm is beginning to feel heavy. You may want to count backward from 20, feeling your hand get heavier.

Any movement in your arm makes you more comfortable. If your hand falls in your lap as you finish counting, you will enter a trance. If your hand decides to go up and touch your face instead, that will signal you are in a trance. If your hand is still extended in front of you, you can finish the induction where you began it and continue on with the rest of your session.

You will notice that Erickson is not too strict, but allows you to use what works best for you. You shouldn’t be too strict with yourself either.

Sticky Hands -Hypnosis The Induction Tips

You have to do this induction in a sitting position. Close your eyes. Sit up straight and press your hands together, in any position you choose.

Press the palms of your hands together tightly, as you tell yourself your hands are beginning to stick together. Feel all the surfaces of your palms touching each other. Do you feel your hands getting warm?

Try to pull your palms apart, and you will find they are stuck together. See if you can concentrate on your hands and make them feel cooler.

When you are ready, tell yourself your hands will no longer stick together. Drop your shoulders and relax your hands so they just fall into your lap. Feel them cooling off. Continue with your session. Breathe normally for this one.

As an alternative to the sticky palms induction, interlace your fingers and try to pull your hands apart with the same routine. When you are ready, spread your fingers and let your hands come apart.

Quick Inductions -Hypnosis The Induction Tips

There are a number of quick inductions you can use when you are proficient in self-hypnosis.

You can use the quick relax routine as an induction.

You can give yourself a post-hypnotic suggestion. Here’s how it works. Use the standard induction plus some relaxation. Give yourself the suggestion: I enter this wonderful state of relaxation every time I count backward from twenty to one. (Use something you’re not likely to do by accident.) Repeat this over several days.

You can use a quick induction with a regular suggestion, or when you just want to spend a little time in a relaxing trance. This is especially useful at times when you haven’t had enough sleep or are going to have to be awake and alert at a time you’re not used to.

Here’s one more example, though you can come up with your own.

Sit behind a desk or table. Put your fingertips of both hands on the desk. Feel one hand becoming very light and the other becoming heavier and heavier. It doesn’t matter if your hands actually move, though it’s fun if they do. Then take a deep breath, drop your shoulders, and put your hands in your lap. Feel your hands tingling as the energy moves through them. Then continue with your session.

The advantage of quick inductions and relatively brief self-hypnosis sessions is that you are more likely to do them.

Recovering from Injury – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

If you are recovering from an injury, for instance an ankle sprain, put yourself into a trance, and replay the accident that caused the injury in your mind. The pain will get worse at the point in the replay when you actually hurt yourself, but will quickly subside. For pain relief, do this two or three times, and the pain will be less each time. When you bring yourself out of hypnosis, you will find that the ankle hurts less than it did before. It will also heal more quickly after this mental exercise.

Pain Relief in the Brain – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

Researchers used positron emission tomography to show that there are actual brain changes when hypnosis is used for pain relief. Hypnosis reduced the activity of the anterior cingulate cortex, an area involved in pain, but not the somatosensory cortex, in which the sensations are processed. This indicates that hypnosis pain management occurs in parts of the brain other than that where the pain is registered. (Scientific American, July 2001) This doesn’t fully explain how hypnosis works in pain relief, but it indicates that it does.

Hypnosis and Pain Relief During Childbirth – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

Hypnosis helps many women during childbirth. Some clinicians believe that 10 to 20 percent of the general population can be trained to use hypnosis as their primary analgesic. However, a larger percentage of the population can use self-hypnosis to allay their fears of pain (including labor pain). This helps to keep them calm during the stages of early labor before they can be given an epidural — stages which can last quite while.

Preventing Muscle Damage – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

Here’s a pain relief technique that can keep you from making a minor injury worse: Let’s say you are out for a run. You feel a pain or cramp in your leg. Slow down gradually while you concentrate on that area in your leg and tell it to relax. (Yes, you can talk to your body.) This can relieve the tension in the muscle and keep it from tearing. Slow to a walk and see if the pain is gone. If not, you can deal with it with the appropriate first aid or ride home if necessary. If the pain is gone, you can continue on your way.

Migraine Headaches – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

For migraines, here is a good tip for headache relief. When you feel a migraine coming on, relax and visualize your hands becoming very warm. Migraines are thought to be associated with dilation of blood vessels in the brain, so warming your hands will bring more blood to the extremities and let the coronary arteries return to normal, thereby relieving the pain.

Reducing Pain – Hypnosis Pain Relief Tips

For pain management, imagine a thermometer on its side, something like what you see on your computer screen when a page is loading. Put a 1 at one end and a 10 at the other. Now place your pain at a spot along the scale, with 10 being the worst you can imagine and 1 being hardly any. Put yourself in a trance and relax. Visualize your pain subsiding as the thermometer marker moves slowly down the scale. You may not get to 1, but if you move your pain from 7 to 4, you will feel much better. Don’t force it beyond where it wants to stop.