Develop the Ability to Use All of Your Senses in Hypnosis
Often the term visualization is used to refer to the effective use of your imagination for the purpose of accomplishing your desired results with hypnosis. Using visualization and using your imagination doesn't relate only to your ability to create mental images, but rather to effectively use each one of your senses separately or several of them together. Ideally, when you work on any of your goals in hypnosis, you want to bring it fully to life so that it feels as real or even more real that the situation or a condition you'd like to change.
Some people are convinced that they are unable to visualize - but that is not really true. It's just that they are unaware of the fact that they are visualizing because the imagery is out of their conscious awareness. Here's an example - if someone parks a car in some spot, the only way he'll be able to locate it if somewhere in his mind he retains the image of where he parked is car. To help such a person to realize that he is indeed visualizing, you may ask him to describe the place where he lives. In order to describe how the place looks like, he'll have to use "visual words". It is common in hypnosis to tell a person to "visualize" or "imagine something". If a person insists that he is unable to visualize and imagine things, you can simply say "think about ...".
When you close your eyes, you will not be visualizing or imagining with your physical eyes, but with your mind. On the other hand, eye movements can help you to access parts of your brain that process the information in a specific way. So, whenever you desire to access the part of your brain that processes visual information, all you need to do is turn your eyes slightly upward - as if you had an imaginary blackboard floating slightly above your eye level.
Perhaps you have seen the images of people in prayer with eyes turned even more upward toward the top of the head, like this:
What happens when you turn up like that is that you are accessing your higher consciousness - your superconscious mind.
There are few other ways to direct your awareness inwardly to find yourself immediately in a state of hypnosis - by turning your attention toward the middle of your brain or what some people do in the beginning is - imagine that you have an orange placed on top of their head a little bit toward the back (as if you drew a diagonal line that goes from your chin up and little bit back of your head).
If you turn your attention inwardly to your brain (this part of your brain is called "reptilian" brain) , toward to bottom of your scull on the back of your head (in Taoist alchemical practice called "Jade Pillow"), you'll have other interesting experiences - one I have discovered spontaneously under what felt as extreme pain. As my attention shifted to that part of my brain - all sensations of pain immediately ceased. I was infinitely grateful for this accidental discovery.
For the sake of the visual exercises on this page, it is enough that you just lift your eyes slightly upward - as if you were looking through the middle of your forehead (your third eye), as if the object you are attempting to focus upon is floating in front of you at the level of your forehead.
You should begin with the first exercise and proceed to the each following exercise only after you've been able to maintain perfect focus working with a particular exercise for at least five minutes. You can use stop watch to time yourself.
Exercise 1 - Develop Your Ability to Create Images with Your Mind
If you have difficulty intentionally and consciously creating an image in your mind, you can take a drawing or an object and place it in front of you. Look at your drawing or an object for a while, then close your eyes and attempt to re-create the image in your mind.
In the beginning you can begin your practice with very simple geometric shapes - circle, triangle, square, etc. You can also get colored paper and just practice imagining different colors - yellow, red, blue, green, violet, purple, white, etc. When this is easy for you, then you can pick simple objects like cup, spoon, pencil, box, plate, and then move on to more complex objects.
The object of this first exercise is not only to re-create a specific image in your mind, but also to maintain your focus upon that image for at least five minutes. Maintaining focus means that you do not allow anything else to enter your mind and that the only thing that exists for you while you're focusing is the object you're focusing upon.
In this first exercise you should focus only on the image to the exclusion of any other senses.
Exercise 2 - Develop Ability to Create Sounds with Your Mind
Eye position that accesses part of your brain which processes auditory information is at the straight level to the right, to the left, as well as down to the left. Generally when your eyes are turned to the right you are in the process of "creating" new sounds, imagining how would something you never heard of sound like; when you eyes are turned to the left you are remembering sounds that you heard before. When your eyes are turned down to the left (this is also called "telephone position") you are having an "internal monologue" - in other words you're talking to yourself.
These different eye positions are called "eye accessing cues" in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP, for short).
In this second exercise you're going to practice recreating sounds in your mind. At first you can use some simple sounds or recordings containing these simple sounds - such as the sound of falling rain, the sound of blazing fire, the sound of wind blowing, the sound of ocean waves, the sound of church bells, the sound of telephone ringing, etc. - and then without any external stimulation just attempt to recreate the same sound in your mind.
Just like in the previous exercise, here, too - you should not only be able to focus on the specific sound to the exclusion of any other senses (you are not to involve the imagery, only the sound), but you should also be able to maintain complete focus upon your chosen sound for five minutes. You can use stop watch to help you with timing.
Exercise 3 - Develop Your Ability to Create Sensations with Your Mind
Eye position for accessing the part of your brain which processes kinesthetic information is down to the right. When your eyes are turned down to the right, you are accessing feelings and sensations - and this includes your sense of touch, your sense of smell (olfactory) and your sense of taste (gustatory).
In this particular exercise you will focus only upon different sensations that relate to touch and to feelings. Some examples for practice are - how it feels touching different textures: wood, silk, metal, flower petals, stone, sand, leather, something smooth, something rough, etc. You'll also practice with the sensations of the elements - how it feels being warm (as if you were sitting next to fire), how it feels being cold (as if your hand was dipped in a bucket with ice-cold water), how it feels feeling the gentle breeze caress your skin, etc.
And just as in the above exercises, you are to practice until you are able to maintain focus for at least five minutes on any chosen sensation.
Exercise 4 - Develop Your Ability to Create A Specific Scent with Your Mind
For this exercise, you can initially place in front of you bottles or other containers with different scents, then close the container and re-create the scent with your mind. You can practice with a scent of a rose, a scent of vinegar, a scent of mint, a scent of lemon, a scent of chocolate, etc.
Exercise 5 - Develop Your Ability to Create A Specific Taste with your Mind
For this exercise, you can initially taste that which you desire to re-create in your mind - something sweet (sugar or chocolate), something sour (lemon or vinegar), something salty (salt), something bitter (grapefruit and numerous herbal teas), then practice with different spices.
Exercise 6 - Develop Your Ability to Engage Two or More Senses with Your Mind
While in all of the above exercises your practice involved only one sense to the exclusion of any other senses, in this exercise you are going to engage two or more senses simultaneously. For example - as you focus upon the idea of the rain falling, see and hear the rain in your mind. If you're imagining smelling a rose, then see the rose in your mind, become aware of its smell and you can also imagine how it would feel if rose petals were touching your skin and what sound would they make and yes, you can imagine also how would rose petals taste (Have you ever eaten roses? No? Maybe you should try some - the edible variety, though, without pesticides).
Exercise 7 - Develop Your Ability to Visualize Animals
For this exercise, you should begin by imagining and holding in your mind different animals first in a stationary position - either as a picture from the book or as an animal simply resting, and then you should imagine the animal in motion - walking, running, jumping, flying, swimming, eating, etc.
Exercise 8 - Develop your Ability to Visualize Places
For this exercise, you can begin by imagining familiar places - location you have visited, including the place where you live, and then you should attempt to imagine places you've never been to and have never seen - allowing your imagination to take over. The places may be real or fictional.
Exercise 9 - Develop Your Ability to Visualize People
For this exercise, you can begin by imagining familiar people and then move on and practice visualizing strangers, people from different cultures, different races, even fictional characters (ok - here come those aliens and fantastic creatures). And in this exercise also, you can begin by visualizing people in stationary positions and then engaging in different activities.
go to Mind-Training Exercises
If you'd like to listen to hypnosis recordings for mind training, you can get Super Mind series of recordings here.
c) 2004, Dr. Laura De Giorgio,
www.hypnosis-kids.com
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