Hypnotherapy can help with almost any aspect of our lives.  It can help with issues such as stress, relaxation, anxiety, phobias, addictions, weight loss, and confidence issues.  It is a wonderful resource for relaxation.  Even when I am treating patient s for issues such as smoking cessation, they often report what a wonderfully relaxing experience they had.

Hypnosis can be expensive, and a good hypnotherapist can sometimes be difficult to find for people in some areas.  There are many professional and well trained hypnotherapists around, but unfortunately there are also a few charlatans that are inadequately trained.  If you want to relax, then why should you stress yourself out trying to find a competent hypnotherapist?!

Finding a competent hypnotherapist need not be a problem because it is entirely possible to hypnotise yourself.  You do not actually need a hypnotherapist.  A hypnotherapist does not actually hypnotise you.  They guide you, they help you to go into a hypnotic trance.  However it is up to you to actually go into a trance, it’s you that ultimately makes it happen.  It is perfectly possible to guide yourself into a hypnotic trance, and I will show you how.

First let’s discuss what a hypnotic trance is.  The best way of describing it is like daydreaming.  When you daydream you are actually going into a hypnotic trance.  A hypnotic trance is a perfectly natural and normal state of mind that most of us slip into several times a day.  We slip into a trance when we are engrossed in a book or TV, where people try to talk to us, or significant things happen around us that we remain blissfully unaware of because we are so deeply absorbed.

There is also the phenomena of ‘highway hypnosis’.  This is where we slip into a hypnotic trance when driving.  This is actually not as dangerous as it sounds.  In fact we are probably better drivers when we are in this state of mind as it accesses our powerful subconscious mind.  This is similar to the mindset that sportspeople often experience when they are ‘in the zone’.  Have you ever driven a journey and daydreamed to the point of not being able to remember a significant portion of the route?  If you have, then you will have slipped into a hypnotic trance.  It is actually quite common, and perfectly safe.

With practice your skills of going into trance should increase.  With a little patience and persistence you should soon be able to go into a hypnotic trance quickly and effortlessly.

Here are some tips on how to hypnotise yourself.

It is important to make sure that you will not be disturbed for about an hour.  Turn off all phones, and tell family and friends not to bother you.  If you don’t do this, then the possibility of you being disturbed may prey on your mind.  Find a comfortable place.  Subdue the lighting if this helps.  You can be seated, or led down, whichever you prefer.  Make sure that your legs are not crossed, as you could end up going numb after some time.

Now take your time, and follow these 5 simple steps.

1)      Relax and close your eyes.

2)       Take 5 slow deep breaths in through the nose, and out through the mouth. Say to yourself the word ‘Relax’ on each out breath.

3)      Imagine yourself at the top of 10 steps with a door at the bottom.  With every slow step you take down, feel yourself becoming deeper and deeper relaxed, until you finally reach the door.

4)      When you reach the bottom open the door to your ideal place of relaxation.  It could be a beach, a garden, anywhere you want.  It could be somewhere real, or imagined – your own unique special relaxing haven.

5)      Use as many of the senses as you can.  Take a good look around.  Pause and listen to any sounds.  Perhaps you can hear the call of a bird, or the breeze gently blowing.  Maybe you can smell the sweet scent of flowers, or the salt from the sea?  Touch objects and make the experience as real as you can.

6)      Explore your personal relaxation haven, and enjoy it for as long as you wish.

This is a great technique to help relaxation, and your ability to relax will improve the more you do this.  Most of us do not relax anywhere near enough, and this can damage our health in many ways.

If you are struggling with this technique, persevere.  Getting into a hypnotic state is a skill that will improve over time.  Don’t expect too much.  Hypnosis is not the ‘magical state’ that the media often portrays at as being.  You will probably still be aware of what is going on around you, and may well think ‘is this it?’.  However you will notice the difference when you wake up.  It may be worthwhile visiting a clinical hypnotherapist, or buying a recording at least once, in order to experience the feeling of a trance.  When you have experienced a trance a few times, you will be more informed as to what the state of mind is that you are seeking.  Enjoy!

Jon Rhodes is one of the UK’s leading clinical hypnotherapists.  If you enjoyed reading this, then click here for more hypnosis articles.

When I perform a past life regression on a subject, usually most of the details come straight from a history book. Things they talk about are usually things that are widely known. They may have been a soldier in the battle of Hastings, or painted pictures of Henry VIII. I have never heard people talk in foreign languages that were previously unknown to them, or completely different accents either. I have never personally seen anyone demonstrate any ‘lost’ skills that they had in a past life. So nothing has totally convinced me of the validity of hypnotic past life regressions. Had someone I knew well started to speak fluent old German for example, then I would be convinced once and for all.

However just because something has not been totally proved yet, doesn’t mean there is no validity in it. It didn’t mean that bacteria did not exist several hundreds of years ago, just because it had not been discovered and proved yet.

In my mind the jury is still out as to whether we even have past lives. Many think that we do, which they are perfectly entitled to believe. I understand that to these people, they will see hypnosis as a possible way of assessing this missing time on earth, which can be comforting and therapeutic.

I experienced a past life regression several years ago. This was during my training as a clinical hypnotherapist. After being guided into trance, I was regressed backwards through my life, making me younger and younger. Eventually I was regressed back further, to a point before I was born.

I recalled being a hunter gatherer in a forest, providing for my family. I remember being aware of sporting a beard, and using a wooden spear, and bow and arrow. It was all very Robin Hood, but did seem quite ‘real’ at the time. I did not have to put any effort into these details, they just flowed into my mind. I simply relaxed my mind, and allowed these thought to come, no matter what they were. I do know that the subconscious part of the mind is very creative, and more than capable of making these sorts of details up, without any conscious effort at all. However I was still a little intrigued.

I was then took to the point just before dying in that life. I remember lying on the forest floor with a wound to my right shoulder, slowly dying. I knew I was dying, but was in no pain. I realised that I had been attacked by some animal that had horns or antlers, although I did not see this happen. As I led there staring up at the trees, I felt a sense of loneliness. I was dying on my own, without anyone to comfort me. I knew my family were not far away, but I could not go to them for comfort. This made me feel a tinge of sadness.

When I woke up, I was fairly convinced that I had experienced some memories from a past life of mine. It was so vivid, and so emotional. However as time passed, I became more sceptical, thinking that it is very possible that it was all fabricated by my subconscious mind, in order to satisfy what was expected of me during the session. This is very possible, but who knows?

I cannot say for sure whether hypnosis can help you access a past life, or even that we have had a past life. Perhaps this does not really matter. It was a worthwhile experience. I somehow felt a little wiser because of this. I remembered how lonely I felt as I stared upwards from the forest floor, yearning for the comfort of my family. This made me realise how precious people in your life are, and how I should not take people for granted. The experience of being a bearded hunter taught me this lesson several years ago, which I will never forget. To this day I bear this in mind, and I am grateful to him whoever or whatever he is.

Jon Rhodes is a well respected clinical hypnotherapist from the UK. If you would like to experience hypnosis right now, then please click here for details of his downloadable hypnosis MP3 audio sessions.