HYPNOSIS
WHO IS A GOOD SUBJECT?
We all have the ability to be hypnotized, but many of us don't want to be hypnotized. Others want to be hypnotized, but are unwilling to relax and give up control of themselves. Basically, they do not trust the hypnotist. If one is a "control freak", it will be difficult for one to let oneself go enough to become hypnotized. One will be fighting with the hypnotist for control. If one illuminates ones fears of hypnosis, one will be able to become hypnotized.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE?
Before one hypnotizes a subject, agree with the subject regarding the purpose and intention the hypnosis is to achieve. Is one trying to get the subject to stop smoking or drinking? Is one trying to uncover things that the subject has hidden about his or her past? Is one trying to get the subject to relive a portion of his or her life so that he or she can reevaluate previous receptions or observations? Be sure to carefully define the purpose and method you are going to use in order to achieve the agreed upon objective. Hypnosis should never be used to induce any type of religious experience, this is "brainwashing."
There is a reason why hypnosis is not allowed in a court of law. This is because a subject can fabricate stories under hypnosis. Recantations of future or past lives while under hypnosis are based on expectations and imagination. Although they are interesting and may reveal something about the subject, past-life regressions and post- life progressions should be taken with a grain of salt regarding their truth. Again, calling upon the imagination in this way would more likely create obstacles to illumination rather than remove obstacles.
HOW TO HYPNOTIZE A SUBJECT
The person getting hypnotized is called the subject. Before hypnotizing a subject, the subject should be made comfortable. Instruct the subject to lie down, close his or her eyes, and uncross his or her arms and legs. The room should be dimly lit. Speak in an even, relaxed, somewhat quiet, yet controlling monotone voice to the subject. The key is to repeat phrases, which induce relaxation, over and over again, while suggesting to the subject that they are in fact becoming more and more relaxed. Creating a condition in which the subject is reliving the same moment over and over again as he or she is instructed to relax more and more will create the conditions necessary for hypnosis. The subjects mind is told that it is relaxed, sleeping, and remembering, and the next thing you know, it is! Control is what it is about. So, be "in charge" in such a way that the subject is comfortable with the degree of authority one is exercising.
Here is one example of a hypnosis script that works to induce hypnosis:
SCRIPT
HYPNOTIST SPEAKING TO SUBJECT:
"Just let yourself relax. Let relaxation flow into you and as it flows into you, let all the tension in your body flow out. Feel the relaxation enter your feet, relaxing your feet and
moving up your legs, there it is, to your knees, feel it, and up to your waist. You can feel the relaxation replacing the tension and stress in your body feel it as it moves up to your chest, into your shoulders, there it is, down your arms, and into your arms and hands. Let the relaxation flow into your head pushing all tension out of all of your body. Feel it go. There it goes. No worries or fears. You are completely relaxed and comfortable. Feel the relaxation flowing into you more and more. Feel it now. As I count from one to ten, you will become ten times more relaxed. No worries or fears, just completely relaxed and comfortable. One. Two. Becoming more relaxed. Three. Four. Five. Relaxing more and more. Six. Seven. Eight. Letting yourself go. Nine. Ten. You are now completely relaxed. No worries or fears. Completely relaxed and comfortable. As I count from one to ten you will become fifty times more relaxed. Relaxation coursing through your body, letting yourself become one with the relaxation. One. Two. Three. Letting yourself go. Four. Five. Becoming one with relaxation. Six. Seven. No worries or fears. Eight. Feeling the relaxation. Nine. Ten."
(Subject should be limp and relaxed at this point. Repeat the above script section encouraging deeper relaxation until subject is no longer moving around, deeply relaxed, and ready for the next portion of this script. This should take anywhere between 5 to 15 minutes.)
"You are becoming sleepy. As I count from one to ten you will be drifting off to sleep. One. Two. Becoming sleepier and sleepier. Three. Letting yourself go. There you go. Four. Five. Sleepier and sleepier. That's it. Six. Dozing off. Seven. Letting yourself go. There you go. Eight. Nine. Sleepier and sleepier. Ten. As I count from one to ten you will be sleeping. One. Two. Three. Letting yourself go. Four. Five. Deeper and Deeper. Six. Seven. Eight. Letting yourself go. Nine. Ten."
(Subject should begin to breath deep heavy breaths automatically. If not repeat a couple times and move on.)
"As I count from one to ten you will be dreaming. Picture yourself lying on a beach near the ocean. Completely relaxed. No worries or fears. You can hear the sea gulls. You are completely relaxed and comfortable. One. Two. Three. Letting yourself go. Four. Five. Seeing the ocean. Six. Laying on the beach. Seven. Eight. Watching the gulls. Nine. Ten."
(Subject's eyes should be moving around under his or her eyelids- this is a sign that the subject is in a R.E.M. type sleep, deeply under, and ready for suggestion. Repeat until eyes can be seen moving beneath their lids.)
ROOM DISTRACTIONS
If the environment is noisy, tell the subject that they "will hear nothing but the sound of my voice." This will keep them from being distracted by noise in the room.
GUIDING THE SUBJECT
The subject is now hypnotized. Now that the subject is under, one may suggest that the subject is a certain age, that he or she is reliving a certain time in their life, etc.
Ones suggestion is actually controlling the subject's observations. Ask the subject where he or she is. If the subject does not respond, encourage the subject to speak up. The subject may think they are responding. This is because rerunning sense receptions in the mind does not rely on the senses themselves. Thus, the subject thinks he or she is talking, but they are not using their voice. They think they are walking but they are not moving, etc.
Tell the subject the time and place the subject is in and then ask the subject to describe what is going on. One may then ask the subject to reevaluate his or her perceptions. Ones purpose in hypnotizing the subject is to illuminate beliefs and their underlying premises.
The times in the subject's life that are important include those times that the subject changed his or her beliefs, especially those regarding God. Often people get close to God, but may have wandered away later in life. Expose when this may have happened and identify those things that caused this. Keep careful notes or record the event with a tape recorder or video camera because a subject may not remember these things when he or she awakes. One may need to confront the subject with this information when he or she is awake.
If the hypnotist asks the subject for knowledge which does not exist, the subject will invariably create such knowledge using his or her imagination. Since imagination rarely uncovers more truth, avoid asking such questions.
When one is ready to bring the subject out of hypnosis, one just reverses the entire process. In our example, the hypnotist would say:
WAKING UP THE SUBJECT
"When I count from ten to one you will begin to wake up. You will remember everything. You will feel terrific, renewed and awake. Ten. Nine. Eight. More and more awake. Seven. Six. Feeling great and waking up. Five. Four. Three. Two. Opening your eyes. One."
If the subject does not want to wake up, try nudging him or her a little as you order them to wake up. Even though one may have suggested that the subject will be wide awake and remember everything, the subject seldom awakes this way. A subject usually awakes by opening their eyes, yawning, and stretching. Sometimes they remember nothing at all and may say, "Sorry I fell asleep on you." Because a subject rarely remembers all of their experiences, a video camera can really come in handy. It is difficult for the subject to remember the hypnosis if they make a quick jump from the subconscious to the conscious. The subject will remember more if they wake up slowly, or if they are not hypnotized deeply.
SCRIPT THEMES
The script theme is the general phrase the hypnotist repeats over and over to induce a hypnotic state in the subject. In the example above, the script theme was "becoming more and more relaxed" and "sleepier and sleepier". However, there are many different script themes that can be used to induce hypnosis. Some of the more traditional script themes are:
"You're getting lighter and lighter"
"You're getting heavier and heavier"
"You're sinking deeper and deeper"
"The light is getting brighter and brighter"
"You're becoming more and more relaxed" AS IN OUR EXAMPLE
"You're becoming sleepier and sleepier" AS IN OUR EXAMPLE
"You're moving further and further away"
"You're going higher and higher"
"You're letting yourself go more and more"
CONTROL PHRASE
Often the script theme is followed by a control phrase. The control phrase implies that the theme is actually happening, which, by suggestion, causes it to happen. Typical control phrases are:
"Feel it now"
"There you go"
"One. Two. Three..."
"That's it"
"There it is"
"O.K."
"Begin"
"Now"
"Alright"
"That's good"
CALMING PHRASE
Letting go of oneself, and giving control of oneself to the hypnotist, can be scary to someone who has never been hypnotized. Thus, a hypnotist may often follow either the theme or control phrase with a calming phrase such as:
"You're completely safe and comfortable"
"No worries or fears"
"Everything's O.K."
"You're safe and sound"
"O.K. You're fine"
TESTING TO SEE IF SUBJECT IS UNDER
Heavy breathing and rapid eye movement (R.E.M.) are the best test to see if the subject is deeply under hypnosis. Suggesting a dream is one way to check for R.E.M. In the example above, a dream about lying near the ocean with sea gulls was used. If the subject is deeply under at this point, the hypnotist should be able to see the R.E.M. The hypnotist need only ask the subject what he or she sees. If the subject is not dreaming at this point they will usually let the hypnotist know and the hypnotist may go back and repeat the previous portion of the script.
POST HYPNOTIC SUGGESTIONS
While the subject is under, the hypnotist may wish to induce new observations called "post hypnotic suggestions". A new observation can mean a new decision and often is a suggestion that the subject is to do something after he or she wakes up. It is not to be taken lightly, because this suggestion is in fact an induced belief. What the hypnotist does is create associations between observations. If one tells the subject that when he or she awakes, he or she will no longer desire smoking, then one has induced a post hypnotic suggestion. One may go further and suggest that every time the subject desires a cigarette he or she will think of his or her lungs getting blacker and the cigarette's unpleasant, bitter, taste. If one can get the subject to believe that they are a "non-smoker", then this would also be a post hypnotic suggestion.
The power of the post hypnotic suggestion varies from subject to subject, some subjects will not exhibit any form of post hypnotic suggestion, others will completely comply. Post hypnotic suggestions "wear-off" quickly though, usually when the subject becomes aware of what he or she is doing and makes a new decision about it. A true post hypnotic suggestion, or induced belief, will not stick to an ignorant core belief. If the subject had a core belief that they are a smoker and you simply told them not to smoke, they would not quit smoking. One quits smoking when one considers oneself a non-smoker.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
The hypnosis script need not be limited to sound only. If one can be hypnotised through the ears, one can be hypnotized through ones other senses as well. Patterns of light, touch, smell, and taste can produce similar response in a subject.
