My question is what are the best ways for a budding hypnotist to practice?
You see my current job is as an accountancy clerk – so my job is pretty quiet and there’s not that much chit chat if you know what I mean!
I like your spirit. You are absolutely right – there is NO SUBSTITUTE for actual hands-on, real-life practice!
Now it appears that you’re in the same kind of dilemma that I was in when I was a lawyer at Linklaters (one of the premier UK law firms) – all work and not much chance to play… or so it seems!
The first mistake I made when I started off there was to put my nose to the grindstone and work all day. I figured that this was what I was paid for right?
Not quite – you see the “idle chit chat” has an important purpose. It builds relationships, relationships that will be important when you’re in a jam and need a hand.
Now the chances are that you already know this and practice it (I was a little dense it took me a while to work it out!) So here is the first opportunity you have to practice.
As I see it you have two choices with your colleagues: The Deep End or The Slow & Subtle Approach.
The Deep End requires a bit of guts, but is highly rewarding. It tends to be my preferred approach to life – though I recognise that its not for everyone.
If you want to follow this path, simply tell EVERYONE you meet that you’re studying hypnosis (for self improvement or personal interest). Talk to your colleagues during the coffee break, tell your boss over lunch, tell the accounts clerk sitting next to you.. EVERYONE.
Now if you’re anything like me, then right about now your heart should be beating a bit faster, and you should start feeling all the “excuses” why this won’t work churning in your belly.
Good.
Its only natural. You’re about to break some social conventions that are restraining you. The good news is that when you do it with conviction, you come out at a better place than you could ever imagine right now. You will discover one of the KEYS to all forms of hypnosis – Personal Power.
The only way I know to get this is to challenge yourself. Everytime you are afraid to do something, do it anyway and chip away at the internal restraints that try to keep the status quo.
Now chances are that as soon as you tell someone that you do hypnosis, you’ll get a strong reaction: Fear or Fascination.
It is very rare that you get a so-so response.
Again this is good.
With the people that are fascinated, you offer a quick demo. Make sure you treat it as any other first time induction and:
- Handle any potential fears – eg you will not be clucking like a chicken, you will not tell me about the body you buried in the back garden and if I should die half-way through, you will just fall into a natural sleep and awake refreshed after a little while.
- Reframe hypnosis – eg you’ll probably hear everything I say and remember the experience. You’ll feel very comfortable and have great experience.
- Agree the limits up front: as a first time I’ll just show you how pleasant it is and maybe give you a chance to experience some simple hypnotic phenomena, like automatic movement. I won’t do anything else (then STICK to your promise – never step outside the ambit you agreed). Then launch in to whatever hypnotic procedure you want to, bearing in mind not to exceed the experience you promised. Typically my first session I will do comfort/relaxation, simple hypnotic phenomena (locked hands, arm levitation etc) and maybe round it off with a charming hypnotic dream or letting them remember a spontaneous memory.
I like to use phenomena as it inspires the others watching when they see something “weird” happening. Often you now get inundated with volunteers.
Now if you should get the Fear reaction, that is good too! Just tell them they have it all wrong and hypnosis is quite natural (give examples like Highway trances, TV trances, PC trances etc), then:
- Handle any potential fears – eg you will not be clucking like a chicken, you will not tell me about the body you buried in the back garden and if I should die half-way through, you will just fall into a natural sleep and awake refreshed after a little while.
- Reframe hypnosis – eg you’ll probably hear everything I say and remember the experience. You’ll feel very comfortable and have great experience.
- Agree the limits up front: as a first time I’ll just show you how pleasant it is and maybe give you a chance to experience some simple hypnotic phenomena, like automatic movement. I won’t do anything else (then STICK to your promise – never step outside the ambit you agreed)
Typically I would give them 3 or 4 mini trances to show that its really not frightening. The first might be just close your eyes and feel comfort. Then have a brief chat. The next might go a little deeper etc.
The Non-awareness set (from SHM 02) can be woven in to this approach very naturally.
The Slow & Subtle Aprroach
Ok this one will focus on INDIRECT or CONVERSATIONAL hypnosis, so there’s no need to reveal your cards. If you already have my Conversational Hypnosis Home Study Programme I give you minute details and exercises for using hypnosis in ordinary conversations so that whenever you open your mouth becomes an opportunity to practice hypnosis.
If you don’t have that (BTW I do recommend getting a copy of it someday) then you can try the following as a starting point:
- Hypnotic Eyes: from now on resolve to double the unbroken eye contact that you have with people in ordinary conversations. This takes more mental effort than you might think. Remember unbroken means unbroken – no quick darts away to relive the emotional pressure. You want to BUILD that pressure/tension, not relieve it. At the same time you must learn to do this in a socially acceptable way. So no manic staring, no “angry intensity” – you must somehow learn to adjust your attitude so your gaze is both friendly and “strong”. This is one of the best “personal power” exercises I know of – highly undervalued by those that don’t understand it properly!
- Tell stories: In SHM 03 we will explore the power of hypnotic storytelling. This is probably one of the pinnacles of conversational hypnosis. And you’ll get a chance to explore this area in detail. If you already have the Conversational Hypnosis Home Study Programme, you’ll notice a little overlap with the Hypnotic Storytelling segment in that, but it is relatively minor as I explore the same territory from 2 different poins of view to give you more clarity and depth. Study SHM 03 and do the exercises and start telling lots and lots of stories.
- Introduce hypnotic language into your everyday speech patterns. If you know the NLP Milton Model, then use it in your day to day work. If you have my Street Hypnosis Deck its already primed to help you do this. Simply choose one of the cards and put it in your purse. Then everytime you speak to someone challenge yourself to include that language pattern in your conversation – its surprisingly easy and can have amazing results: one of my corporate clients (a large manufacturer of domestic products) was told by an important supermarket chain that they would not stock one of his products. What’s more the person responsible for the decision refused to talk to him. So he pulled out 3 cards from the deck, he sent her a carefully worded email inspired by the 3 cards… and got a call back 10 minutes later by that woman, apologising to him for not including that product. 15 minutes later she changed her mind and took an order there and then!
These are some simple examples of how you can turn your office life into opportunities to use hypnosis overtly or covertly. There are of course more.
And I haven’t even mentioned the rest of your life: family, friends, the man sitting next to you on the bus, the couple next to you in the restaurant… strike up a conversation, have fun and they WILL want to talk with you. These are golden opportunities to tell people that you’re studying hypnosis and to give them a free demo out of the goodness of your heart!
Finally, something that I found very useful in the beginning is to cheat.
Simply get together with a hypnosis friend and practice everything you learn with each other. Doing it with “fresh” targets each time is of course something you will learn much more from, but the confidence and the naturalness you’ll get just from sheer repetition with a friend are totally worth while.
I hope that these ideas give you something to start with. I look forward to hearing the results of some of your adventures with these or other approaches on the form!
All the best
Igor
Answer from Igors Private Hypnosis Club
