Wednesday, February 17, 2010

SELF HYPNOSIS: NEWSLETTER ISSUE 2, ARTICLE 3

Self hypnosis is something that is a really useful tool. I hope that my newsletters are starting to teach people why relaxation is so important. Just a short burst of self hypnosis can help you with many aspects of your life. Follow these simple instructions and start noticing the benefits today!

1. Take yourself somewhere quiet and comfortable. You could lie down on your bed, your sofa or if you fear you may fall asleep sit somewhere snug. Make sure you are not going to be disturbed, turn off your phone and ask others not to disturb you.
2. Close your eyes and try to rid your mind of any feelings of fear, anxiety or stress. If thoughts pop into your mind just allow them to stay for as long as they need then slowly let them disappear.
3. Begin to focus on your breathing making sure you are taking deep breaths in and then exhaling fully. You could try 7 – 11 breathing. Breathing in for a count of 7 and out for a count of 11. Begin to visualise breathing out tension and anxiety and breathing in calm and relaxation.
4. Start recognising the tension in your body. Start with either your head or toes. See the tension in the area. Allow it to float away with the next out breath. See the area calm, relaxed, lighter and lighter. If you are a visual person you may like to imagine a healing light around you that you suck into your body, see it swirling around calming each area it travels through but remember to see that tension leaving with every out breath. Move on to the next part of your body once the area you are focusing on has relaxed. From your head down or your toes up. With each breath feel yourself sinking deeper and deeper into the surface beneath you.
5. Once you have relaxed your entire body see yourself at the top of a 10 step staircase. Slowly walk down the stairs in your mind, relaxing more and more deeply as you step down each stair. Really see each step and feel more and more relaxed as you go further down. Counting down from 10 – 1 as you go.
6. Once you have reached the bottom allow the visualisation of the stairs to simply drift away. See yourself in your favourite place. This could be lying in the middle of a football pitch or relaxing on a beach. Just allow yourself to remain in that place for as long as feels comfortable.
7. When you are ready and you feel that it is the right time to continue the rest of your day simply get the image of the staircase back in your mind. Slowly and steadily walk back up the stairs in your mind, feeling more and more awake with each step that you take. Count up the stairs from 1 – 10. When you reach 8 say to yourself at the count of 10 you are going to open your eyes feeling fully refreshed and invigorated. On the count of 10 open your eyes. Take some time to appreciate the feeling, when you are ready get up and continue with your day.

For those that want to use this practise it regularly and next month I will add in some work that you can do for specific problems. It is important to practise though as self hypnosis is a learnt skill.

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