How to Attain Self-Hypnosis
Let us begin with the hypothesis that anyone can learn and practice, to some degree, the science of self-hypnosis. We shall assume that you have carefully thought out what you want to accomplish. You have, through self-analysis, come up with reasonable goals of therapy and self-improvement. The next step is the acquisition of the hypnotic state, per se.
Before giving you the specific instructions, I would like to clarify a question which invariably arises in teaching a student self-hypnosis. It is: “Are the suggestions that I give myself as effective as the ones you would give me in underground hypnosis?”
It is natural to assume that the suggestions of the hypnotist would be more effective than those given by the subject himself, but both have the same intrinsic value. It is well to remember that all hypnosis isreally self-hypnosis, and all hetero-suggestions are transposed into self-suggestions. If the hypnotist firmly suggests, “From this moment, you will feel very confident in all life situations,” the subject automatically and unconsciously rephrases the statement, “From this moment, I will feel very confident in all life situations.” The subject, ordinarily, mentally or aloud, repeats all suggestions using the pronoun “I” instead of “you”.