Learn to Hypnotize People, or Yourself?

Maybe you do want to learn to hypnotize people to influence your friends and family to see things your way occasionally, or allow you to do more things you enjoy.

Maybe you want to learn to hypnotize people just for fun. There's still a big appeal for party hypnosis, where someone volunteers let you try to hypnotize them, with each of them all the while pretending quite a bravado as if there's just NO way you're going to make him squack like a chicken, or make her sing "Endless Love" in front of a group of people.

This can be a lot of fun as long as you don't abuse the power you have when you do get a subject who's very susceptible to suggestion.

But another great way to use the information you get here is through self hypnosis. You can use the power of affirmation and self-persuasion to change your life for the better. Many people use this skill to help themselves lose weight, quit smoking, cut back on the coffee, be more patient, exercise more often, be more assertive, and for many other things.

You can learn to hypnotize yourself to give yourself more confidence and self-esteem, to let yourself sleep better, stop worrying so much, overcome anxiety and panic attacks, become a better salesperson, become more compassionate . . . the applications are endless.

The first step in learning to hypnotize people, whether you're doing it covertly or in front of a crowd, is to get the person relaxed. They might not know you're relaxing them if you're using conversational hypnosis where you simply listen to them and gain their confidence, getting them to relax around you, but you know.

So get in a comfrotable position, and start to relax yourself. It's not quite as easy as telling yourself, "You're relaxing now . . .now you're relaxing . . . " as a stage hypnotist might. Instead, close your eyes and concentrate on the top of your head. Really feel the top of your head and now focus on relaxing it. Imagine that you can feel a breeze against it, or a slightly tingling as if it might be about to go to sleep.

When you can imagine this well, move down yoru head on all sides. Feel that buffeting breeze and tingling trickling down your forehead, the back of your head, over the tips of your ears. Feel the relaxation spreading its way down from the top of your head. Now it's important to picture it as a pleasant sensation, otherwise by the time it gets past your nose and mouth you might feel like you're suffocating if you have an excellent capabilty for imagery. Don't picture is as molasses, for gosh sake!

Try a clear, sparkling force field that's as soothing as water but that you can breathe through as easily as air. It massages you and relaxes you as it spreads down your shoulders, arms, torso . . . you get the idea. Finally, the last thing you'll imagine is this warm and comforting relaxation covering your toes.

I should point out--the first few times you try this you might fall asleep, so be sure you're somewhere you can sleep or you have some way of waking up if you need to. Doing it at bedtime would be ideal, just in case!

Now you're in a relaxed state and your mind is susceptible to suggestion, even from you. You could have a CD or MP3 of affirmations ready to play now, even one you recorded yourself, if you feel strange talking to yourself. But it's best if you simply say the things you want to influence yourself. Stick to one subject per session and use several affirmations all centered on the same idea. For instance:

I am healthy person who loses weight easily. I enjoy fruits and vegetables. I don't overeat and stop eating before I'm full . . . .(And any number of other affirmations on the same topic)

I am confident and I don't allow coworkers to take advantage of me . . .

I express myself easily and confidently . . .

I speak in front of a group with authority and ease . . .

I don't crave cigarettes sugar carboyhydrates bread chocolate . . .you name it!

I fall asleep easily and sleep well throughout the night . . .

Whatever it is you want to reprogram your brain to allow you to do, tell yourself you ALREADY DO IT.

You might not see results the very next day--that's an unrealistic expectation. But if you stick with it, make it your bedtime routine or and do it faithfully, you will see a difference in a pretty short amount of time. Sometimes it starts working in only a few days, sometimes it takes longer. A lot has to do with how long you've been telling yourself other things like:

I'll never lose weight, I'm hopeless, I can't stop eating . . .

I can't standup to him, I can't handle confrontation, I'm afraid I'll get in trouble . . .

I can't live without cigarettes, I'm so addicted, I have to have one . . .

I'll embarrass myself if I give a speech, I'll look stupid, I'll stammer . . .

Remember, you're undoing years of negative talk. Give it time. Learning to hypnotize yourself is probably one of the most rewarding side-effects when you start studying to learn to hypnotize people.

Self-Hypnosis or a Licensed Hypnotherapist?

Have you ever considered being hypnotized to lose weight, stop smoking, gain friends and influence people or just have more confidence?

Hypnosis is touted as being capable of helping you do all those things and more.

But most of the people who make those claims are the ones who want you to pay them to hypnotize you or sell you information on how to do it yourself. So, is the idea of hypnosis as self-improvement total BS?

When I was in high school, a friend of mine had herself hypnotized to lose weight. And she lost weight, dramatically fast. Was that because the hypnotherapist did this amazing thing in which he put suggestions into her mind that she'd rather have salad than a Snickers bar? Was it because she believed that she had been hypnotized and that it would work?

Most people believe that hypnosis works because of both the hypnosis itself and the person's belief that it will work.

If that disappoints you, it shouldn't! After all, it's still mind power that creates the result, and it should show you how powerful your OWN mind is. The placebo effect--that a sugar pill can ease a person's pain because that person BELIEVES it will work--is a powerful tool.

So, my friend who lost weight? She gained it all back within a year or so, and then some.

Was it because the hynposis wore off, because she stopped believing in it, or because her particular addiction was just stronger than both the technique and her belief?

Maybe regular visits to the hypnotherapist would have acted like an immunization against her overeating.

The benefit of a self-hypnosis program you can use on your terms becomes clear in a case like hers. If she had a tape or a book or something she believed capable of helping her, then when she felt those old urges coming back she could have used it instantly and maybe managed to keep the weight off.

So if you can learn to hypnotize yourself, you can keep giving yourself that needed boost to follow through with your goals. That's definitely a concept worth considering.