I’ve been listening to self-help hypnosis recordings for about 10 years now and I have a pretty good idea of how things work. No one knows how it really works but you’ll see what I mean. I’ve compiled a few basic exercises together so you can run through them yourself and see what this is all about.

Stretching and relaxing the body: A few generic stretches are really important so make sure you do these first. Then, sitting or lying down, you should relax each muscle group one at a time. Start from the feet, if it helps, imagine a bright warm light from the sky moving over each part of your body and then relax each muscle group as you go. When you reach the face, really really relax your face muscles. Imagine that your head is a handful of rubber bands, really really loose and floppy.

Breathing: Breathing is one of the key focuses when hypnotizing yourself, the breathing technique is very simple. Relax and breathe all the way out until you can’t breathe any more. Then let go and your lungs will fill with air. This technique is very useful for singers as well as it uses the diaphragm.

Focus: You must always have something to focus on, like when you see the old films with the stereotypical hypnotist with the pendulum, they are creating a focus for the subject. You can close your eyes or focus on a spot on the wall or ceiling. Sometimes counting backwards from 1000 can also be really good. Another great way to focus is by using your third eye. Close your eyes and look up to about where your hairline starts. Imagine an imaginary eye that makes a triangle with your actual eyes. Focusing on this spot is another really good way to help yourself fall into trance.

Music and other stuff: If you find that it helps you then put on some panpipe music, or traditional Chinese qui gong music. Any kind of incense that helps you to relax is also good, be sure to have the incense near a window so you don’t breathe in the smoke. Aromatherapy oils are safer and much better.

I would recommend Steven Halpern’s Sound Medicine, you can get it as cheap as 5 or 6 dollars on amazon. Here’s the link.

Part Two will deal with the imagery and the actual hypnosis itself.

Hope this was helpful!