Hypnosis for Beginners

by William W Hewitt

  Families of Senior Citizens

  Often, family members of a senior citizen feel their lifestyle is cramped. Or they feel guilty about not doing more for the senior member. Or they feel the person is a bother. There are many reasons why family members feel stress. Self-hypnosis can help handle all of these reasons.

  Use the same general program detailed previously in this chapter.

  The hypnosis induction procedures in themselves do a great deal to release tension and stress. In step 2, include good, loving suggestions for yourself and for the senior person in your family:

  I am a worthwhile person, and I am thankful to be alive.

  (Name of the elderly person) is a worthwhile person, and I am thankful to be associated with her or him, and I love her or him.

  I will show my love and appreciation for (name of person) every day by listening to her or him more attentively and treating her or him with more respect and gentleness.

  I will allow (name of person) to be independent and will not try to impose my ideas and desires on her or him.

  I will encourage (name of person) to engage in whatever activity she or he wants that brings she or he enjoyment and benefit.

  For the visualization in step 3, use the Seashore Trip in chapter 12. While on the beach, visualize yourself happily engaging in conversation or beneficial activity with the senior citizen.

  Remember, senior citizens have a great deal of wisdom and experience to share if you allow it. You benefit from their counsel, and they gain self-esteem from giving it.

  SHUT-INS

  Shut-ins are people who are completely or predominantly confined to a home or institution. Among these are people who are bedridden, people in wheelchairs or otherwise restricted in their movement, prisoners, those temporarily confined due to bad weather; and those who are unemployed with a great deal of time on their hands.

  These people are offered a great opportunity: time.

  Time can work for or against you as you choose. This book shows you how to make time work for you. Anyone can improve their circumstances if they choose to do so. Everyone classified as a shut-in has an abundance of time to devote to self-improvementstart doing so immediately. Because time is on your side, you have a big advantage over those who have a limited amount of time to devote to self-improvement.

  Learn your self-hypnosis technique. Practice many times every day. Become an expert. You can do it in record time because you have time.

  Here are a few suggestions toward correcting whatever physical problems you have, improving your self-image, improving your mental attitude, and discovering and using your hidden talents (for example, in bed you can write, paint, operate a telephone answering service, or do telephone soliciting).

  Some suggestions to give yourself in step 2:

  I am a worthwhile person, and I am thankful to be alive.

  I am making a commitment to myself to discover and use all the faculties I can muster.

  I direct all my innate healing energies to my (name of the part of your body that is ailing), and I am healing one hundred times faster than normal.

  I enjoy life, and I am learning to enjoy life more and more each day.

  I am triumphing over all obstacles, and this is so.

  I send love to all who have been kind to me.

  I forgive all who have been unkind to me and send them love also.

  I forgive myself for all past transgressions.

  Some ideas for the visualization in step 3 are:

  Use the Seashore Trip routine (chapter 12) to send love and forgiveness and to create a happy, fulfilling future for yourself.

  Visualize yourself actively engaged in successfully performing some work or hobby that you enjoy.

  Visualize yourself happy, energetic, and healthy.

  Disabled

  Read the preceding section because all of that can be applied to you. In addition, you have additional capabilities because you are probably able to be somewhat mobile. This means an even greater possibility for jobs and hobbies. Exercise your imagination. Use your self-hypnosis to gain the awareness you need to expand your horizons. It really works.

  An additional suggestion for step 2:

  I am rapidly overcoming my temporary disability and learning to live a more fulfilling and rewarding life.

  NOTE: Use the word "temporary." Even if your physician or someone else says your condition is permanent, do not accept it as your reality. They have made their best judgment, but you have the right to exercise your best judgment too. After all, it is your life. Use your hypnosis to enjoy life within the constraints of your current condition, but never give in to your current condition. Always strive for improvement. If you do not realize improvement for whatever reason, that is all right-as long as you diligently strive for the improvement, because in so doing, you enrich your life in some measure. The only people who fail are those who give up. Devise your own additional suggestions.

  An additional visualization idea for step 3:

  Create your ideal work situation in great detail. See yourself successfully performing. See yourself successfully interacting with others. See yourself doing everything perfectly. Then tell yourself. This is my new reality, and I command my higher mind to manifest it into the physical world.

  Prisoners

  Make your time work for you by becoming an expert at self-hypnosis and creating a new, enjoyable life for yourself. To do so requires perseverance and time; make it happen. There are many things you need to address, including guilt and forgiveness, attitude, self-esteem, enthusiasm, faith in self, self-control, responsibility, and rights of self and rights of others.

  A few suggestions for step 2:

  I accept responsibility for who I am and for everything I have done and will do in the future.

  I am making a commitment to myself to conduct myself in a responsible manner as a citizen of the Universe.

  I am a worthwhile person, and I am thankful to be alive.

  I intend to use the rest of my life in a peaceful, enjoyable way.

  I vow to myself to act with honor, success, distinction, and integrity in all present and future endeavors.

  I forgive myself for all errors in judgment and behavior and I am determined to do better.

  I forgive all others without reservation for their errors in judgment and behavior.

  I command my higher self to bring me the awareness and ability to create a better life for myself and for others.

  Some visualization ideas for step 3:

  Use the Seashore Trip (chapter 12) to send forgiveness and love. Also use it to close the door to the past and open the door to the future. When you are on the beach facing the sea of life, the door to the past is on your right, and the door to the future is on your left. Go to the door of the past, shut it, lock it, and throw the key into the sea where it cannot be recovered. Then go to the door of the future, unlock it, open it wide, and put the key in your pocket (you hold the key to your future). Look through the door to the future and visualize yourself as you wish to be.

  Visualize yourself shaking the warden's hand and walking away from the prison as a free person.

  Visualize yourself interviewing successfully for a job and getting the job. See yourself performing competently on the job.

  Even while you are still in prison, visualize yourself getting along well with the other prisoners and the prison officials. See yourself as a person who is respected by all.

  If tapes and a cassette player are not available to you, you will have to memorize the procedures and say them back to yourself mentally. I realize this takes more time, but you have the time. Good luck!

  Bad Weather Blahs

  Being inside because of bad weather is a blessing in disguise. Instead of grumping about being captive at home because of what you perceive as foul weather, be glad for it. First, the truth is that all sorts of weather are needed whether you see the need or not. Second, the weather gives you an excellent excuse to use the time to y
our benefit by enriching your life through self-hypnosis.

  Some suggestions for step 2:

  I am a worthwhile person, and I am glad to be alive and to be exactly where I am at this moment.

  I welcome the opportunity to improve my life through self-hypnosis.

  Today's weather is needed for some good reason, and I am glad for it.

  Engage in self-improvement by giving yourself suggestions for anything you have in mind, be it improving your Bridge game; improving your relationship with family members or neighbors; seeking a new job; or improving health.

  Your visualizations in step 3 can be anything already discussed or something new. Let your mind run unfettered. But whatever you visualize, always see yourself happy and successful.

  Unemployed

  Use suggestions from the "Increasing Self-Confidence" and "Improving Work Success" sections of chapter 9.

  Visualize yourself successfully interviewing for a job and getting it. See yourself happy and performing well on the job of your choice.

  PAIN CONTROL

  There are four kinds of pain: headaches; persistent chronic pain such as from arthritis or a nagging backache; sharp, usually shorter duration pain such as from a cut, burn, or stubbed toe; and pain caused by various illnesses that can range for short duration to long duration. Hypnosis can relieve or greatly reduce all of these.

  For pain control, first learn your self-hypnosis procedure and practice it daily, even if only for a few minutes every day. That way, when you experience a pain, you can alter your state of consciousness within seconds and deal with the pain.

  Here is what the scenario might be

  If you did not know a self-hypnosis routine and had to rely solely on tape recorded procedures, the following scenario might take place:

  1. You burn your finger on the stove while cooking. It really hurts.

  2. You look for your cassette recorder.

  3. You search for a blank tape.

  4. You look for your copy of this book and find the induction procedure.

  5. You record ten induction procedures, the suggestions for "no pain," the visualization instructions for perfect healing, and the closing hypnosis routines.

  6. You rewind the tape, sit down, and play it back to hypnotize yourself.

  It's a ludicrous scene-by the time you are ready to deal with the problem, thirty minutes have lapsed. In the meantime, your burn blistered and you had the pain or discomfort the entire time. Obviously, this is not the most intelligent way to handle this kind of emergency pain with hypnosis.

  The intelligent way is to already know your selfhypnosis procedure by memory so you can deal with the problem within seconds, avoiding prolonged discomfort. Reread the Cut Chin Case in chapter 11 to see how to deal with this kind of situation.

  If you have chronic pain, such as from arthritis or frequent migraines, prepare a tape in advance and have it ready to go when you need it.

  The best way to handle all pain is to memorize the short self-hypnosis procedure so you can use it anytime, anywhere instantly.

  Injury and Healing

  The preceding section also applies to injuries and healing. But knowing self-hypnosis by memory also enables you to help someone else on the spur of the moment. You never know when an opportunity to help someone else will occur (such as helping the little girl with her ear ache described in chapter 11). Here is another spur-of-the-moment case where I was able to help a woman with a medical problem.

  My wife, Dee, and I frequently go to estate sales. We see many of the same people over a period of time and develop a casual speaking acquaintance with them.

  Estate sales are chaotic. Dozens of people run around, look at merchandise, talk, and fall all over each other. Workers move large pieces of furniture and yell for people to clear a way for them.

  At one of these sales, my wife noticed one of our casual acquaintances sitting in a chair in the corner of one of the most chaotic rooms. The woman usually bustled with energy and smiled, but now she sat with an expression that said something was very wrong.

  Dee walked over to her and asked, "Mary, are you all right?"

  "No," she answered. "I'm having a severe vertigo attack and had to sit to keep from falling." She explained that she had suffered from vertigo for many years. At first medication had helped, but now it didn't help at all. In addition to causing her to lose her balance, her eyesight became blurred and she felt dizzy and somewhat nauseous.

  "My husband is a hypnotherapist," my wife said. "Would you like him to help you right now?"

  "I would appreciate anything he could do," Mary answered.

  Dee called me over and explained the situation.

  "Mary," I asked, "would you allow me to hypnotize you right now where you are sitting?" When she agreed, I stood close to her and leaned over so my mouth was only inches from her right ear. I wanted to speak to her in a normal tone of voice and have her be able to understand me over all the noise that surrounded us.

  I told her to close her eyes. I did a ten to one countdown, a head to toe relaxation, and then the staircase routine (routine U).

  While she was in her room in routine U, I filled her with white healing light. I intensified the light between her ears (vertigo is caused by inner ear problems) and told her that the light had cured her vertigo. Then I counted her out from one to five.

  She smiled. "I feel wonderful," she said. The vertigo was gone. She got up and enjoyed the rest of the estate sale.

  Several weeks later we saw her again, and she rushed over to tell me that she has not had an attack since the hypnosis. She said she usually had them at least several times a week and sometimes daily.

  So memorize your hypnosis routines, at least a few of them, so you can help others. If you have a friend who is bedridden while recovering from surgery, ask if you can hypnotize her or him and give suggestions to ease the discomfort and promote the healing (reread the Cut Foot Case in chapter 11 for suggestions).

  If you encounter an emergency situation such as an auto accident and medical help has not yet arrived, use hypnosis to make the injured more comfortable. In this case don't say, "I am going to hypnotize you." Instead, approach the victim and try to make him comfortable with a blanket or coat. Unless his life is in immediate danger, do not move him because you may cause damage. Talk confidently and calmly and say, "I will help you relax and feel better until medical help arrives. Just listen to my voice and follow my instructions." Then go through a few brief relaxation procedures and give the person suggestions for becoming more comfortable and having strength to persevere until medical help arrives. This type of situation calls for improvising and quick thinking. That is why it is important to become an expert in hypnosis in case you can be of help.

  One note of caution: If you assist in a serious accident situation, do not do or say anything to give the victim cause for concern. For example, if the victim says, "I can't feel my right foot. Is it all right?" Do not say, "It is practically severed so you probably can't feel it because the nerves are cut." Instead say, "Don't be concerned about anything. You look all right to me. Let's wait for medical help on these matters. In the meantime, let's concentrate on feeling more relaxed and comfortable." One more thing: if the victim is bleeding, do what you can to stop the blood flow, all the while talking calmly to relax the person.

  BUSINESS USES

  There is probably no greater use for self-hypnosis than in business. The business world is plagued with stress, excessive alcohol abuse (probably because of the stress), health problems such as heart attacks (again probably due to stress), absenteeism, work attitude problems, and mediocre performance. Yet, ironically, business and industry seem to deliberately shun hypnosis as a viable tool.

  I worked as a contract technical writer for three different companies that had the problems mentioned above. In each case I made a presentation to key managers and executives on how hypnosis could effectively reduce or alleviate many of their problems. Since they were al
ready paying me to write, I suggested they allow me to give seminars to teach volunteers how to use self-hypnosis. I offered to deal on a one-toone basis with problem cases. I would not charge any fee for these services. I would put in the needed extra time on my own.

  In each case, I was laughed out of the office. One executive gave polite excuses while fighting to control his laughter. Another was quite nasty. The third just said a loud, defiant "No!"

  How shortsighted these executives were. Unfortunately, their shortsightedness must have run into other aspects of their decision making-all three companies went bankrupt shortly after my contract with them expired.

  If there is one manager, one executive, one person of influence in business reading this book, I implore you to consider the contents in relation to your business. Most of your key problems are people problems; hypnosis can deal effectively with them. The most successful way to fail is to not take a chance. So be bold and take a chance for the sake of your business and for the sake of all the fine people in your business.

  This book gives you all you need to know. There is no need for me to detail additional specific suggestions.

  CONSULTING WITH A HIGHER AUTHORITY

  Perhaps the most valuable tool this book offers is the mechanism for consulting with higher authority for guidance and help. By higher authority I mean anyone, living or deceased, who represents higher authority to you, including your Creator, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Krishna, Confucius, Mohandas Gandhi, the prophet Mohammed, Moses, Abraham, a parent, friend, or business associate, a president, past or present-literally anyone.

  For example, if you are an engineer and are wrestling with a difficult engineering problem, you might want to consult with the great inventor Nikola Tesla. If you are a writer and are having difficulty with the novel you are writing, you might want to consult with Harper Lee or some other fine author. A diplomat might want to consult with Benjamin Franklin. Just follow these four steps: