Create The Right Atmosphere - Find a quiet room where you will not be disturbed, preferably a bedroom with no telephone. Dim the lights or turn them off. You may choose to play some relaxation music quietly in the background. Use anything which helps you to create a relaxing atmosphere. Then make yourself as comfortable as possible, either in a chair with a head rest or by laying down on a couch or bed.
Prepare Yourself - Set aside private time when you are going to do self-hypnosis. Then tell yourself how long you want to remain in the relaxed state. Fifteen to twenty minutes is fine to begin with however, after a few weeks practise you may decide to make it last longer. Have a prepared image and set of words. Use simple keywords to match your image. Imagine a happy and proud feeling and expression on your face. Imagine in detail. Notice how calm and relaxed you are before you are introduced. See and feel the confidence as you present your speech. Now add to that keywords like, feeling confident, naturally comfortable, well prepared, natural gestures, energy, etc.
Start With Relaxed Breathing - Close your eyes and begin to breathe very slowly and deeply, in through your nose and out through your mouth. At the top of your breath hold it for three seconds, then count to five on every out breath. As you breathe out imagine you are breathing away any nervous tension left in your body.
Continue this breathing pattern for 3 - 5 times, or as long as it takes for you to feel completely relaxed.
Clear Your Mind - Allow your mind to go completely blank. Don’t worry if you still get any unwanted thoughts in your mind, tell yourself not to fight them, as they will soon drift away again. Imagine the thoughts are like air bubbles that float out of your mind, one by one until they are all released.
Deepen The Trance state - By now you will already be in a light trance state. A good technique to guide yourself deeper into trance is to imagine yourself going down 10 steps into a beautiful garden, count down with each step, going deeper with each number.
Using The Trance State - When you reach this stage you can either just relax and drift or better still you can give yourself some positive suggestions or affirmations. The wording of which you decide upon before you start. You can also use powerful imagery .
Wording Your Affirmations Correctly - When deciding on the suggestions beforehand always state them as if they are a reality and in the present. This is very important, as your unconscious mind believes exactly what it is told.
For example : Do not say……….‘’I want to be a confident speaker’’.
Do say……….‘’I am a very confident speaker’’.
You must make the suggestion completely unambiguous and always Accentuate The Positive.
For example : Do not say……….‘’I don’t want to be shy’’.
Do say……….‘’I am always confident and self assured when giving a presentation’.
Using Imagery - You can also use imagery as well as words when in the trance state. For example, if you are going to give a presentation to a group of people you don't know and you have been feeling nervous, you can visualise yourself going into the meeting feeling composed and full of confidence and conducting yourself in a very positive way. You accept there will be a small degree of nerves but you are in control of the level of anxiety you feel, and you use that anxiety to keep you focussed and on the ball.
Run the images in your mind like a short film using as much detail as possible. See the shape and size of the room, notice the colors of the walls and carpet, feel your clothes against your skin, notice the fresh smell of the room, the softness as you sit in the chair. Make the whole picture bright and clear and use as many of your senses as you can, the more vivid your imagination the better. Most importantly, always see yourself in a completely positive light, expressing yourself clearly and confidently and feeling very calm and composed. Imagine yourself giving a great presentation and see all of the people enjoying your speech. Hear the applause as you finish.
Remember - your unconscious mind cannot tell the difference between what is real and what is imagined, so the more you imagine a positive future situation or event the more you compound your inner belief that you are calm, confident and in control in these situations. It is much like programming a computer with positive information.
Bring yourself back to full consciousness - When you feel its time to wake up from the trance all you do is slowly and mentally count up from 1 to 10. When you reach the number 10 your eyes will open and you will be wide awake with a feeling positive and refreshed.
Practice makes perfect - It is OK if you try self hypnosis and you don’t think much happened at first or you could not see much in the visualisation, as the mere fact that you went somewhere quiet and centered yourself by closing your eyes and relaxing will have benefited you.
However, you will be surprised how effective a suggestion can be even in the lightest of trances - the power of the subconscious mind works in a very subtle way. The most important thing to remember is to enjoy it and have faith, because as with all things the more you practice the better you become!
