How to use Self-Hypnosis to get to sleep
Hypnotizing Yourself
People who have difficulty maintaining sleep
How to use Self-Hypnosis to get to sleep
Self-hypnosis ( like meditation ) is possible because of two Dominant Laws of Suggestibility . ( These laws of suggestibility , of which there are five , are literally how we learn everything .) The Laws of Association and Repetition are what make self-hypnosis possible .
Hypnotizing Yourself
Step One is to make sure your body is relaxed . Relaxation occurs when there is an absence of tension in the muscles . A good technique to accomplish this is to sequentially tense and release the muscles in the different areas of your body . Starting with the area of the feet up through the knees , first tense , then release the tension . Next , concentrate on the thighs through the hips , again , tensing and releasing the tension . Then bring your focus to your abdomen , chest , and shoulders , and do the same ( tense and release ), followed by the areas from your shoulders down through the arms and hands , all the way to your fingertips . Lastly , do not tense the mouth and jaw areas , but simply release any unnecessary tension there .
The next three steps replicate the physiological ( body ) changes experienced by anyone entering hypnosis . Take a really deep breath , hold it for a moment , then slowly exhale . ( The brain and body require more oxygen to enter hypnosis .) Now create a swallow ( you can do this by pretending to swallow something .) Next , roll your eyes up ( eyelids closed , looking up into the forehead ). This causes the eyelids to " flutter ," replicating the Rapid Eye Movement ( REM ) of sleep .
There are several options for this next step . You could visualize or imagine your " fantasy " stage , as mentioned above , noting that it is very important to control your thoughts and stay in the visualisation . Another option is to concentrate on your breathing and , only on the exhale , repeat a series of words , such as : peaceful , restful , sleep or beautiful , deep , restful , sleep . With either option , you have by now , indeed , hypnotised yourself , and that state of mind will draw you into unconscious sleep .
People who have difficulty maintaining sleep
Let ' s ask a very important question : What would cause a person who has fallen asleep to suddenly be reawakened to consciousness ? The usual culprit is something I call toxic worry . When we are worried about something that will occur the next day or about some important issue going on in our lives , it can interrupt our sleeping through the night . It is similar to children who are excited about Santa coming on Christmas Eve . They have difficulty getting to , and maintaining , sleep . I call it toxic worry because during those hours when