Here it comes…

Practice, practice, practice!

Zap your friends. Zap your family. Zap the checkout lady at the grocery store. Okay, maybe not the last one… without asking first.

And for those of you who are worried that it might not work… remember this little secret. Your subconscious mind doesn’t care if something happens in real life or just an imagined situation. It will treat it as an actual memory (to a degree).

So… as I tell my students; hypnotize your pillow or chair a thousand times. And by that, I mean ACTUALLY pretend that there is a person there and see them go through the process as you practice. See a different person every time, or perhaps every third or fourth time. But see things go differently with different people.

Eventually, your subC will consider that you have done this so many times that it will be able to take you through it easily any time you do it with a real live subject.

Personally, when I was doing this… way back in ancient history… I not only practiced it countless times, in different ways, with everything going smoothly, I practiced it going wrong every once in a while so that I wouldn’t be taken by surprise if it ever happened in real life. (And, of course it did because every person is different… and sometimes when you say ‘SLEEP’ they just don’t.)

Until next time…

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1. “It Didn’t Work!” What happens when you say sleep, and the person’s head just...

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Are you having fun… yet?

This is a very big thing with me regarding hypnosis. If the hypnotist is not having fun then, very likely, the subject is not having fun either.

Whether in class, in public (street, mall, whatever), or in a private session, I am having fun doing what I do with hypnosis.

Yes, I understand that some people come to me with various ‘problems’ that they ‘NEED to have fixed’. The thing is… that doesn’t make what I am doing any less fun. I enjoy the process and REALLY enjoy making them feel better. And I won’t be able to do that if I am stressing over how well things are going.

When you are learning hypnosis, there may be a tendency to worry about ‘is it going to work’ or ‘am I doing it right’.

The answer to that is ‘NO, not if you are worrying about it!” Just do what you know to do. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, okay… there is always tomorrow to do it again or try something different.

Heck! There is always 5 minutes from now to do it again or try something different. So what if it doesn’t work the first time. As some have suggested, view it as an experiment every time and it will just be a matter of gaining information, and not some ‘pass or fail’ test.

You have nothing to prove. Especially if you remember to only work with those who come to you for this. Remember, never chase them down. Mention that you are a hypnotist everywhere you go, and some will come to you to have the experience.

These are the people you want to work with. These are the people who will have the greatest experiences with hypnosis. And these are the ones you will learn the most from working with.

And… have fun with hypnosis! Play with it. Find the folks who are willing and happy to give it a go… and enjoy yourself.

When it stops being fun… you are done for the day.

Until next time…

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What happens when you say sleep, and the person’s head just pops up? Or it drops and you start deepening, and then when you get to the phenomena part and they open their eyes and say, “No, sorry. It isn’t working.”

Well, there are a number of ways to handle this.

My typical response is to first wave my hand down in front of their eyes and say “Very good… just let your eyes close all the way down… that’s right…” Many times you will be able to do more deepeners (or even another induction) and they will go right out.

But sometimes you ‘know’ that you really didn’t get hypnosis.

When that happens, I will typically say to them “Would you just do me a favor, and let me do a full wake up to be sure that you are okay? It’s for my own peace of mind. I don’t want to send you off thinking you are fully out of hypnosis when you are not.” Then I will ask them to close their eyes.

At that point I do a ‘wake up’. This is to be sure that, if there is any hypnosis, the subject is brought out safely and feeling good. If they don’t close their eyes when I ask them to, I will just jump right to telling them that everything is fine, and that they just have too much on their mind to follow the instructions easily. I give lots of assurances that all is well and we can try the next time I am out there.

It has been my experience that this whole scenario will not happen often if you take the time to ‘read’ the person’s interest in hypnosis first. If it isn’t a genuinely focused display of interest, I will casually ease the topic to merely discussing hypnosis and its uses. The benefit here is that this conversation sometimes leads to the genuinely focused interest that I want to see.

And once I have decided to do hypnosis, I follow my rule to ‘Always Assume Hypnosis’ and to give the “… let it happen…” instruction. This pushes things in my favor by a very large margin. Once begun… they are mine. 

Until next time…

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When doing hypnosis, there is a little thing I like to say to start things off with the subject. It sets the context and expectations very quickly.

It goes like this…

“All you need to do is just follow my instructions exactly… and let whatever happens happen… Don’t make anything happen… just let whatever happens happen… and you will have a great time…”

Here is why I think it is so effective:

First, you give a very specific instruction to follow the instructions that will be given to them.

Second, you take the burden off of them to ‘play along’ by telling them “don’t make anything happen”. It’s like saying “you don’t have to fake it.”

Third, by telling them to “just let whatever happens, happen” you are presupposing that something WILL happen, which sets up their expectation.

Finally, you are telling them that going along with this will have a ’reward’. Specifically, that they will “have a great time” or “it will be awesome” or “you will have fun” or whatever ‘reward’ you choose to put there.

NO… I am not claiming that this is original or that I just thought it up. Stage Hypnotists have been using this line for a very long time.

Some discount the value of it. But I say anything that makes the job easier is a good thing, so, use it EVERY TIME!

Remember, the two things necessary for hypnosis to happen are `context’ and `intent’. Once you have stated that you are a hypnotist, and have a volunteer / client / subject in front of you, this will `lock things down’, so to speak.

It simplifies the process for the subject. And `simple’ leads to good hypnosis.

Until next time…

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If you have seen the YouTube videos or have purchased my course, you know that the single most important aspect of the process is…

INTENT!

Intent doesn’t begin when you start doing hypnosis. It begins before you ever step out on the street, in the office, whatever. Make up your mind before you ever start that there will be hypnosis and it will be a great experience for both your subject and yourself.

And my ‘trick’ is to Always Assume Hypnosis. I know… I know, “When you assume….” Well, frankly, I don’t care. (Those who have taken my course will understand that…)

Before you begin, assume that it will, of course, work out perfectly and the subject will go into hypnosis. Once you begin, assume that everything is going perfectly and is leading the subject into hypnosis. Once you do the induction, assume that it worked perfectly and that they will be in hypnosis until you bring them out.

Intent doesn’t end at the moment you say ‘SLEEP’ and the subject’s head drops. It runs through the entire process, right on through the part where you say “That’s it… WIDE AWAKE!… Feeling great… feeling fantastic!”

And, if you follow the previous advice I have given about having a sign or name badge, and you work with those people who approach you first, you will be working with great subjects anyway.

Until next time…

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There are a lot of people out there that don’t want amateurs doing hypnosis. Many of them are ‘professionals’ in the business. I am not really sure why some of them are so adamant about this. Frankly, I think it is the rare bird, indeed, who has the courage to actually go try doing street hypnosis without having taken a class or having done a great deal of practice on friends and such first.

It brings to mind the rather arrogant position of some of the historical greats in the hypnosis field. Milton Erickson and Dave Elman both believed that hypnosis should be reserved for those in the medical profession.

I believe that this is the surest way to kill hypnosis. Medical professionals - well meaning medical professionals - dismiss hypnosis every day. It doesn’t fit in with what they have been taught. That is not meant as a criticism. Rather, it is accepting a fact. People… even doctors… fear what they don’t understand.

As a hypnosis professional myself, I believe that hypnotists should have a role in medicine, working alongside the doctors. Every day there are new evidences that hypnosis can be of great value to the health industry.

People stop smoking – health gets better.

People lose weight – health gets better.

People de-stress quickly – well… you get the idea.

Where the problems come in is when hypnosis professionals attempt to get into the medical profession’s turf. I have no problem telling someone to see a doctor so they are certain of what their condition is. I NEVER tell anyone to quit taking any medication. I do pain relief ONLY when I know the person is under a doctor’s care. And then I still don’t remove pain. I turn it into something that is bearable and yet still indicates that something needs to be treated by a medical professional. (Pain is there for a reason.)

All of that to say this; learn, really learn how to do hypnosis. And don’t be afraid to go out and practice at every opportunity.

You can never get good at something that you don’t practice. (Well, almost never. But that is for another type of blog altogether.)

And don’t let the ‘big boys’ tell you that you need to spend hundreds and thousands of classroom hours before you go out and play. I took an NGH certified course years back. Actual hands-on hypnosis only happened 3 times during the entire course… and then only for a few minutes to practice inducing and waking them up.

I take my students out on the second day of class and we just have a good old time zapping people on the street. And that is why my students go home and jump right into business, or doing parties, or just zapping friends and family.

Because they know they can!

Until next time…

[Info on my classes: http://www.wlmhypnosis.com/signup ]

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One of the most common things I find with new hypnotists is that they have not thought beyond the induction. It is the ‘holy grail’ to “drop someone”. I know… I was there once. It leads to the inevitable question, “What’s the best induction?” The answer is, of course, the one that works.

I cannot tell you how many young hypnotists tell me, “I have done one induction after another, with all kinds of people, and when I say sleep the subject’s head drops and comes right back up.” Now, here is the sneaky little secret that accounts for this phenomenon. Intent!

That’s right, the only two things that need be present for hypnosis to occur are context and intent. If these two are in place, hypnosis will occur. However, this does not mean you are going to get the ‘hypnosis performance’ that you were hoping for. That will only occur when your intent goes beyond the induction. By that I mean, if you go at the session / hypnotic event with the intent to ‘put someone into hypnosis’, then when the head goes down you have succeeded and the event is over.

This is where most new hypnotists go off the rails. Fortunately, it is a simple matter to get back on the rails and stay there. Before you begin, set your intent beyond the induction. Don’t stop with I am going to get hypnosis. Set your intent for ‘I am going to use hypnosis to stick this person’s hand to the table, make them forget their name, and give them a hallucination of being unable to see me.’ This uses the thing known as presupposition to establish an intent worth having. Your intent may even be as vague as ‘I am going to do a whole bunch of phenomena using hypnosis with this person.’ Far less specific, but still good enough that it’s not over when the eyes close and the head goes down.

This simple change will make all the difference in the world. So now follow my number two rule for hypnosis; PLAY!

Maybe next time I will tell you how to instantly establish context and what my number one rule is.

Until then…

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Okay, so I am out with a bud of mine at a restaurant that he frequents. Usually it is the 10PM to 2AM time frame for him. I don’t usually stay out that late. We are there at about 6PM, just before the dinner rush starts.

When the waitress walks up to the table she looks a bit harried. When she asks what we would like to drink I tell her ’sweet tea’. She says she will be right back with our drinks. Then I look directly at her, say her name (it’s on her nametag), and say “Take your time, but bring them with a smile.” When she looks at me she smiles and I tap the table with my pen (which I had brought with me, and is laying next to a notepad on the table.)

When she comes back she is smiling broadly and as she places my tea in front of me, she smiles directly at me. I say, “Thank you Sherry.” Then I tap the table again with my pen while she is looking at me. I wait until she is turning to leave and say “Sherry, could I get a few extra napkins?” When she turns and looks at me, I smile and say “What a nice smile.” Her smile increases and I tap the table with my pen.

A moment later she comes back with a small stack of napkins and she is smiling. I say “Thank you, Sherry”, and smile at her. She smiles and I tap the table with my pen.

A few moments later she is walking by, on her way to another table, with their food. I tap my pen on the table and she smiles really big and continues on to take the other table their food. As soon as she has given them their food she comes straight to our table and smiles and asks if there is anything at all that she can do for us (while looking at me). I tell her we are fine and she looks just a little bit disappointed. I smile and say, “Thank you though, Sherry.” She smiles really big and I tap the table with my pen.

The rest of the 2 hours we are there I continue to tap the table any time she is near enough to hear it. Each time it produces a smile and she comes to the table to make sure we have everything we need.

Long story short (or is it too late for that?), she offers us free salad bar, gives us free deserts, and our drink glasses were never below half way down. And, to top it off, when we head out, she follows us to the door (which she did not do with any other patron) to tell us come back often.

Here’s the thing. We can use what we know to just ‘get what we want’ or we can use it to make the world around us a more pleasant place for ourselves and others. The first will give temporary pleasure. The second will give long term enjoyment for ourselves and others. Personally, I’ll take the long term.

Until next time…

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For hypnosis to take place, the two necessities are Context and Intent. Without those there will be no ‘hypnotic event’. But what about getting the most value out of a session? How do you make the change work done during a session ‘stick’?

Congruency is, IMNSHO, the key. Without congruency there is no solid context to begin with. And, similarly, there is not much chance of a solid intent. If I say to someone, “Yes, I can zap you in a few seconds and have you feeling great in less than a minute” but I don’t believe it, then I am not being congruent and it will show. Even if I am a brilliant faker, on some level, the subconscious mind of the subject will pick up on it and the possibility is that they will simply not go into hypnosis.

It’s like when your friend says to you “I had an awesome time at your party!” but his head is kind of shaking side to side, as if to say, ‘no, no, a thousand times no’, that is incongruity. In some ways, congruity and intent are almost indistinguishable.

If I am incongruent when delivering the ‘change work’ part of a session – and sometimes I may not even realize that I am incongruent – then the likelihood of that change work actually working is reduced significantly. That incongruence may have been similarly triggered on a subconscious level. It may be that on a subconscious level I realize that the situation I think I am dealing with is not the real situation that needs dealing with.

This is not to say that the change work will definitely not stick. Indeed, it may well do so. But if you want the change work to stick – and to KNOW that it is going to stick – be congruent. Don’t ‘do it on the fly’. Know what you are going to do. Do it with no doubt that it will be done and effective. If you doubt it… they will too. But if you know that ‘Of course it’s going to work” and it is in your tonality, body language, etc., it will almost certainly work.

I will be coming back to this over and over, as it is the one thing that new hypnotists keep saying; “That is what I am doing. And I do believe it when I say it”, but then they tell me that “It didn’t work.” There is always the chance that the subject will have some overriding influence that they have not made you aware of, that will prevent the change from lasting. But those will be few and far between if you maintain congruency throughout.

So, to sum up… be sure that the context is clear, that your intent is clear, that you absolutely believe what you say throughout the entire session (and any time you talk about it afterwards), and you will be amazed at how simple it is to create thorough and lasting change.

Until next time…

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