Greater Abundance through Self-Hypnosis

Karin Stanley

Atlantic University

     For most people when the term "hypnosis" is brought up in conversation, it is generally associated with those people who get up on a stage with a hypnotist and end up clucking like a chicken or doing some other silly act that provokes much laughter from the audience.  Although certain hypnosis techniques are certainly utilized during these stage acts, it is unfortunate that, because of this, hypnosis loses it credibility as a useful tool to enhance our well-being.  Techniques similar to what we refer to as hypnosis today have been around in some form for thousands of years and were used around the world.   Through much research since the late 1700's, the legitimacy of using hypnosis, and self-hypnosis, to aid in our well-being, continues to push through the swirls of controversy and misunderstandings to find a respectable place in mainstream society.  So what exactly is hypnosis and self-hypnosis?  How does it work? And how can it be used to benefit our physical and mental well-being in our day to day life? 

     Hypnosis, and the hypnotic trance state, can be described as that of being similar to being asleep with one primary difference.  In hypnosis, we are not actually asleep.  We are completely aware of the hypnotists' voice and other noises. In fact, we are able to still talk, think, respond to suggestions and questions, and move in any way.  We are in complete control of what can happen while in trance.  During hypnosis a person enters into a level of electrical brain activity referred to as the alpha state.  This state is otherwise normally experienced as we are entering the sleep state and again just before waking.  By utilizing the techniques, whether through guided hypnosis or self-hypnosis, the mind is able to shift from its usual conscious and critical thinking state, to the subconscious and the intuitive, creative, and visual state.  It is here, in the subconscious, where we can make use of positive suggestion to help improve our lives in any area we choose.  By actively working toward a set purpose, making use of visualization, and making practical and positive suggestions while in the alpha state, we are engaging in both right and left brain functions.  This balance and simultaneous activity gives us the ability to bypass negative conditioning and reprogram the mind to respond in a more positive manner to greatly improve our lives. 

     Throughout my life I have experienced a cast of positive and negative forces that have influenced and challenged my way of being in this world.  These forces have enhanced, as well as, clouded my ability to create and receive abundance into my life.  When most people think of the term "abundance" immediately it is generally viewed in terms of financial gains.  Certainly, I am no exception; however, I also recognize that abundance is ultimately a state of mind that allows one to experience, by creating and receiving, a greater sense of well-being in life.  While it is clear to me that I have been able to create and receive some abundance throughout my life, I also know my experience in this area has been hindered by pre-conditioned patterns and negative thoughts, and possibly karmic patterns.  With this in mind, I experimented with the method of self-hypnosis to see how through positive suggestions I could begin to have greater abundance in my life. 

     My goal with this exercise was to create a personal self-hypnosis script and tape recording, use this tape regularly and consistently for a period of two weeks, to note any changes in my physical body, to monitor my internal thoughts, to notice my relational responses and my overall state of being during this time period; and to compare the results with a post week of no self-hypnosis activity to note my true progress using this technique.  The following is a personal account showcasing my experience with this process.

     The process I took to create my personal self-hypnosis tape was to first write a script that allowed me to exercise and focus on several forms of abundance.   These forms included aiding my physical body to live in a healthier state, to work as a healer and to attract & receive financial rewards for this effort, creating greater harmonious relationships, and to achieve a quiet inner peace and greater sense of well-being. I start the script by utilizing the use of my breath to quiet the mind and begin to relax the body.  This includes focus on the breath  --  leading it to be slow and rhythmic.  Once this is established I add the aspect of grounding my energy with the Earth.  This deepens my ability to relax and leads me into the alpha state.  Once this is achieved, I focus on suggestions and imagery to release any pre-conditioned patterns, negative thoughts, and karmic patterns that I believe to be hindering my ability to achieving a higher level of abundance in my life.  Once this has been done I use very specific positive suggestions and imagery to fill my mind, body, and spirit to create a new environment in which to live by, ultimately setting the stage to achieve my desired goal of achieving greater abundance in my life.  I end the script with a few closing statements that prepares and eases the body back into its normal waking state.  It is important to do this so that the body is not shocked coming back from the alpha state.  Once my script is completed I am now ready to make my personal self-hypnosis tape.  I keep the length of my tape to approximately 30 minutes.

     With script in hand, I start to play the instrumental music I have chosen as background.  The music helps me to feel relaxed as I prepare my voice for recording. It is also designed to help achieve the alpha state of hypnosis more easily.  I play this music as background so that it becomes a part of my script on the recorder.  As I read my script into the recorder I use a soft and gentle voice that matches to the slow rhythm of the music.  It is important for me to speak in a clear, calm, and monotone voice.  This will keep my mind and body relaxed and settled throughout the session.   

     Throughout the two week time period that I established for this exercise I made sure that I used my tapes regularly and consistently.  This ensured that I practiced with enough repetitions to have a measurable effect to chart my progress.  With each session I noticed several things happening as I learned how to achieve the auto suggestive state.  First, during the initial couple of sessions I had the experience of either falling asleep or going into such a deep state of trance that I was no longer aware of the tape playing, or of any other outside noises.  However, each time I awoke it was always just as my voice was using the counting technique to bring me completely out of the hypnotic trance.  I was instantly awake and out of trance.  I believe that I did in fact go into a deep level of trance, and was not asleep as I felt completely different than when I come out of a normal sleeping state.  Due to this particular experience I decided to give myself a conscious auto suggestion as I went into each session so that I would remain "awake and aware."  This proved to work well for me. 

     Secondly and generally speaking, I felt it was easy for me to achieve the auto suggestive state during each of my sessions.  This was indicated by experiencing several things as I progressed through my tape. I could feel my body become heavier and heavier and tension leave my body.  I was able to cut out the usual chatter in my head and focus solely on my voice on the tape as my trance continued to deepen.  It was also clear to me upon waking at the end of each session that I had reached the alpha state as my physical body still felt heavy and it felt like I had been out of my body for awhile. It oftentimes felt a little difficult to actually open my eyes and move my body right away.  

     Additionally, during the process of utilizing and working both the left and right brain functions, I noticed that with continued practice of going into the auto suggestive state, it became easier and easier to more fully experience the simultaneous stimulation of the verbal and visual suggestions.  This was indicated through the physical slowing of my breathing, seeing and feeling the Earths' energy moving throughout my body as it became grounded, noticeably feeling the lightness of my body, mind, and spirit as I cleared out the negativity that was held inside of me, and seeing and feeling the embodiment of the energy of abundance within me as I embraced it's essence and allowed myself to become one with it.  

     It is important to note that to adequately achieve this state, it was important for me to work through the process slow enough to ensure that I was able to receive the suggestions fully.  Without allowing for the ability to receive, they are just words being spoken with no impact.  I also accentuated and reinforced my suggestions with such verbs as "basking, radiating, embracing, and ever-present" to punctuate the stimulation in my body.  At the end I provided statements that also ensured that I did not have any blocks to the flow of abundance into my essence.  Each suggestion made use of the positive using present tense verbiage to reinforce the idea that each is a current force in my life.  In all of my auto suggestions I consistently used the present tense such as "I am, Now, It is, I allow." As I engaged actively in the above process of allowing the flow of abundance and focused on the present, I am fully aware of the warmth, happy, and peaceful feeling throughout my Being.     

     My objective in using the self-hypnosis technique was to see what kind of affect this method would have on my ability to achieve greater abundance in my life.  In so doing, I actively used my self-created hypnosis tape repetitively for two weeks.  To give a level of comparison I also took a week off from initiating any self-hypnosis.  During the two weeks of active use, I was clearly able to identify positive changes in my physical, mental, and overall well-being.  In contrast, I diminished quickly without its influence.  The impact became obvious on both counts. 

     The impacts I notice first with the active use of my self-hypnosis tapes is that with my physical body.  With a body that is often times plagued by low energy and full sinuses that also cause noticeable puffiness in the face, it was easy to identify a lighter feeling in my energy, and sinuses that were much clearer with less puffiness in the face.  This was a welcome relief for me and made me look and feel better on the physical level.  This coincided with my objective to achieve a healthier physical body as a measurement of abundance in my life. 

   Secondly, I was able to clearly identify the betterment in my mental thoughts regarding my current endeavors of working towards becoming a healer using hypnosis as a means to do help others; and feeling positive about receiving financial gains for this work.   While on one hand I generally have an overall positive feeling when I make a decision to move in a new direction, it is also not uncommon for negative thoughts to creep in causing self-doubt in the success of my pursuits.  During the two week period where I was actively using the self-hypnosis techniques, I did not have any self-doubts and felt really good about my abilities and receiving financial gains for my current endeavors.  This coincides with my objective to clear out any negative thoughts about receiving abundance, including financial rewards for my endeavors as a healer.

     Lastly, I was able to measure a noticeable difference in how I was relating to other people and my overall well-being.  I felt calmer and more at peace within myself during the two weeks of active use with the self-hypnosis method.  This resulted in helping me to feel less stress and improved my ability to relate to others that I, at times, have some difficulty with.  In contrast, during the week that followed, with no active use of self-hypnosis, the positive results I had been experiencing suddenly begin to diminish.  Within a few days of not using my tapes, my physical body relapsed into the heavier energy and fuller sinuses and puffy face.  Overall I just looked and felt worse again.  My self-doubts about my endeavors and the success as a healer soon increased. Lastly, I became more stressed and less calm causing some relational difficulty with those directly around me.  My overall well-being diminished very quickly.  The results of this exercise clearly indicate that I need to continue to utilize my tapes and this method of self-hypnosis to create positive changes in my life.  Using it regularly and consistently will be the key to achieving optimum results and one in which will have lasting internal effects in my way of being in this world.

     In conclusion, it is clear to me that hypnosis is much more than just merely making someone "cluck like a chicken" for entertainment.  Scientific research and the increasing use among practitioners, continues to make this a most relevant field of study and practice, pushing it further and further into the mainstream of society.   For me personally, I have found self-hypnosis to be a useful tool that I can use daily or as often as I like to enable me to live in balance and achieve greater abundance into my life. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bolduc, Henry Leo. Self-Hypnosis: Creating Your Own Destiny. Independence, VA: Adventures Into Time Publishers, 2000.