Six-Step Visualization Process
With this form of self-hypnosis, you create your own simple script that includes the following six criteria. Once you have created your script, sit in your comfortable place that you use for hypnosis, close your eyes, and take three deep breaths. Once your eyes are closed and you are relaxed, recite your script over and over. Prepare your script so that it will be easy for you to visualize or imagine it. As you recite your script, you may find that you skip or forget some of the words. That is not a problem as long as you are using your imagination and seeing yourself accomplishing the task that is on your script. Replay the scene over and over in your mind for approximately three to five minutes, after which time you will come out of hypnosis by counting to three and opening your eyes.
Following are the six criteria you need to create your self-hypnosis script. Take a few moments to study each one as they are very important to your overall success.
Create a script that is very simple so it is easy to remember once in hypnosis. Writing one sentence is good, and two sentences are adequate; however, three sentences are too many. When writing your script, think whether it would be too much for a four-year-old child to remember. This will help you to keep it simple.
To make a script that is successful, make sure that the goal you have in mind is attainable. Do you believe that you can attain this goal? If you are going to hypnotize yourself to be able to run a marathon but you have difficulty running to your mailbox, then your suggestions would not be believable. You may want to make suggestions for running back and forth to your mailbox a few times, and once you have attained that goal increase it in small increments to build up to running a marathon.
Here's a famous bit of wisdom: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! If you try to eat an elephant all at once, you will find that it is unattainable. You will choke on it. It is beyond your reach. You have to take it in increments and eventually you can finish it.
Keep in mind, however, that if you break down your goal into smaller increments, once you have attained the downsized goal you could reach a mental plateau. This means that once you attain the goal that you set forth, your mind will remain there until it is given a new goal. Therefore, you will have to remember to change the goal to a new plateau. In the case of the marathon, you may want to increase it to a half mile. Once you attain that goal, then increase it to a mile.
This is especially true in the area of weight loss. For example, say someone wants to lose 200 pounds; that is an extremely large goal that may be unattainable. However, if the goal is broken down to twenty pounds at a time, once you lose the first twenty pounds, you may find that you will remain at that weight until the plateau is removed and a suggestion for another twenty pounds is inserted in its place.
Whatever goal you want to accomplish, be specific as to how you are going to do it. It must be measurable. The more detail that you put into a suggestion, the more attainable it will be. If your goal is something that can be measured by ounces, pounds, time periods, repetitions, or days, break it down to those specific measurements.
For example, “I want to walk on my treadmill every day” is not a measurable goal. Exactly what day of the week and how far are you going to walk? You may want to walk every weekday. Then how far are you going to walk each day? If you simply say “I am going to walk on my treadmill every day,” then by simply turning it on and walking three steps will satisfy your subconscious mind that it has attained your goal. Are you going to walk one mile, two miles, more? You must be specific. What time of the day are you going to walk? If you simply say “When I get up in the morning,” that will not be sufficient because if you are late for work you will not take the time to walk. Be specific with what time you will begin. Putting it all together, you may want to say something like, “Every weekday at 6
Remember that the subconscious mind is like a four-year-old child, and, like a child, it will take the path of least resistance. If you leave an easy way out so that you do not have to exercise, your mind will take that path. Also remember that the conscious mind, being a creature of habit, fights against change. Therefore, taking additional time to exercise each day may be difficult at first due to your natural resistance.
Any suggestion that you create, whether for exercise or another type of script, should always be positive. Never create a negative suggestion. Scare tactics or other negative statements, such as “cigarettes taste like rotten cabbage,” have no place in positive conditioning.
In addition to creating all of your suggestions in a positive manner, try to make them overly positive. Rather than saying a statement like, “every day I am exercising …,” change that statement to, “every day I am excited to exercise …” With overly positive statements you will notice a great difference in both your desire to accomplish your task as well as your success.
Your suggestions should always be in the present tense. For example, “I am drinking water.” By making the statement in the present tense you can actually visualize yourself in the action. Present tense statements carry action with them. If you make a statement in the past tense (“I have been drinking water”), then your mind will feel that you have accomplished the task and has nothing left to do. If you say, “I will be drinking water,” then your mind will say, “Okay I'll just wait.” Using the present tense will greatly aid you in imagining and visualizing your goal.
Every statement should carry a reward with it, something you can give yourself once you have accomplished the task. Remember that the subconscious mind is like a four-year-old child. If you were to confront a four-year-old and tell him to pick up all his toys in his room, chances are you would not have much success. However, if you were to tell the same child if he picked up all the toys in his room you would give him a bowl of ice cream, chances are that the room would be cleaned up very quickly. Your subconscious mind works the same way. If you give yourself a reward, you will be much more likely to work toward your goal.
Your reward should be appropriate to your goal. For example, if you want to lose twenty pounds, you may not want to reward yourself with a Twinkie every weekend. A good reward would be to buy yourself a new suit, dress, scarf, or even a pair of shoes.
In many cases the goal itself is reward enough. For example, “Every weekday at three o'clock I am walking from my house to the high school and back and feeling healthy, happy, and strong.” In this scenario, the “healthy, happy, and strong” are the goals.
Here is another example of a completed suggestion following all six criteria. “Every day before lunch and dinner I am drinking a sixteen-ounce glass of water, which helps me to eat less, and I feel great.”
