Let's go back in time.

Return with me to my first college stage performance in 1977. You will be sitting in the audience. Picture yourself sitting in a large circular college activity center, located at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. It is a Saturday night and there are about 7000 people in attendance. There are the students, and faculty of Loras College as well as students from other schools located nearby. As you look up on the elevated stage you notice just one-man present and 18 empty, metal folding chairs located behind him. You wonder as you look up on stage, "Who is going to volunteer to be put in the hypnotic trance? Once they are in that hypnotic trance, what are they going to do?"

The stage hypnotist is now asking the entire audience to participate in a live experiment involving suggestion, the basis of hypnotism. The stage hypnotist, Wayne F. Perkins, raises his arms to get your attention and says: "Here is an experiment in suggestion you all can participate in right from your chair located in the audience." He continues: "Close your eyes. Take three slow deep breaths. Each time you inhale, breathe in life sustaining oxygen. Each time you exhale, push all of the tension completely out of your lungs. Now open your eyes and focus your attention at me, here on stage."

The stage hypnotist is now holding a large, yellow lemon in his left hand. He is holding it high in the air for everyone to see. Wayne continues: "Before you, I hold a large, sour, bitter, juicy, yellow lemon. It is such a sour, bitter juicy, yellow, lemon. Now a take a knife out of my pocket and I cut into this sour, bitter, juicy, yellow, lemon. As I cut into the lemons some of the sour, bitter, juice drops to the floor. Now, I take the sour, bitter, juicy, yellow, lemon to my mouth. I begin to suck on this sour, bitter, juice." Wayne adds: "Notice how your mouths tend to fill with saliva." You have experienced hypnotic suggestion."

In this chapter, you will learn some very important hypnotism theory. In most hypnotism books you find these principles located in the first few chapters. I feel strongly that by having you develop your own techniques based on the limited theory I presented in chapters one and two, you will have success and goal achievement before you are presented with more advanced theory.

Since all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, your success is directed by the gut feeling you have in applying my text up until now. By presenting other theories relating to self-hypnosis, you will be able to refine your techniques and be able to diagnose any problems in your self-hypnosis style.

Let's begin!

Suggestions are words and/or ideas that cause our body to react physically. For example, if you smell you favorite dish cooking, your salivary glands will secret. You will begin to water at the mouth as your body anticipates tasting and breaking down the foods you only smell at the moment. If someone tells you that you look sick, you may begin to feel sick. Even if you were feeling great at the time, enough of those you-look-sick suggestions may cause physical illness in your body. If someone that you admire tells you how great a song is, you may listen and feel the same way. Again, this may happen even if it isn't the type of music you would normally listen to. Can you think of a time when this happened to you?

Suggestions don't always apply to hypnosis in the classic sense. Suggestions also refer to subtle influences or direct influences one person exhibits over another person. When you raise your voice in anger and direct it toward your spouse or your children, you cause their behavior to change (at least temporarily). When you give a person a reward, "Hey, I will give you $20.00 if you quack like a duck," some people for $20.00 would quack like a duck. When you are at a sporting event are you more likely to stand up and yell for your team, if everyone at the game is participating than if you are watching the game by yourself at home? This would be an example of a subtle suggestion. Other people are helping you temporarily, change your behavior.

There are many types of suggestions that affect human behavior.

Direct suggestions are statements to encourage you to act automatically and immediately. When I was in the Army, if my drill sergeant would shout at me to duck, I would duck without question. The penalty of looking around instead of ducking may be injury or death. Even though I have been out of the Army for over 30 years, if someone were to stand behind me and shout, "Duck!" I would be the first to unquestionably hit the ground!

Indirect suggestions are much subtler. Sometimes you are unaware that they are even happening at the time. For example, if a person in your workplace or classroom yawns, you may yawn as well. If a stranger comes up to you and smiles, you may automatically smile at the stranger. Shaking your head no, or shaking your fist at someone, will also get an unconscious response.

In a previous chapter, I discussed prestige suggestions. These are suggestions we accept as fact because we truly believe in the person giving the suggestions. A famous clergy person is telling you how great you are, a teacher is telling you that you are a remarkable student, a famous entertainer is complimenting you on your music or art skills. All of these suggestions are accepted into your subconscious mind as prestige suggestions.

Listening to music or looking at fine art to get into a certain mood, are examples of non-prestige suggestions. Certain music may suggest dance, laughter, sorrow, relaxation, etc. Certain pieces of art also suggest feelings that the subconscious mind begins to act upon. Are may have a calming effect or one which stimulates your creativity.

When your body seems to react automatically to these suggestions, the hypnotic condition is produced.

What is critical thought? Why is it important? When someone commands you by saying, "Sit down," you may first evaluate the situation. You may think, why should I sit down? Why is the person commanding me to sit down without explanation? What do I have to gain by following this person's instructions? You may decide that you don't want to sit down and you may tell the person, that you prefer to stand.

Critical thoughts are those thoughts that are evaluating the other person's commands or suggestions, before we take action. When you are deeply hypnotized, and someone says, "Sit down," you just sit down immediately. Your body reacts as if it had a mind of its own. You respond very quickly and decisively to the command. The suggestion bypasses the critical thought part of our mind.

When you use self-hypnosis, attempt to bypass critical thought. If you are a smoker who desires to become a non-smoker, tell yourself that you ARE a nonsmoker and that each day you practice more and more that you ARE a nonsmoker. If you find that as you are giving yourself this suggestion, you are asking yourself questions like, "why should I? Why am I doing this? What do I have to gain? Stop for a moment and take yourself back to breathing deeply and relaxing. Think of pleasing surroundings, music, art, pleasant smells, etc. Soon a more positive mood will present itself and healing will take place. You will be back on track.

Only, after you relax and clear your mind, do you go back and start on your positive prescription, as your subconscious mind becomes open to suggestion.

Remember when you were a child. Your parents may have mentioned that Santa Claus was going to bring you presents. The thought of getting presents was so appealing to your imagination that you accepted it as fact. Your parents hypnotized you. When you became 7 or 8 years of age, you thought more and more critically. You had more experiences to draw upon and you become more opinionated than when you heard about Santa Claus for the first time. Think more and more as a young child does when you hypnotize yourself. Remember when you were small ALL things were possible. It's only after adult life has beaten you over the head that you remain in a critical mode of thinking.

Think as a child and achieve all things in life.

What is the law of reversed effect? The law of reversed effect was first written about by the great French philosopher, Emile Coue', who stated, "the harder you try to do something, the harder it becomes."

Think about it. Have you ever attempted to do well in one of your studies in school, or in learning a skill in sports, only to fail after you have "tried" it several times? We teach ourselves to "try harder." We try harder only to fail. This is how the law of reversed effect works. The word "try" implies doubt in your abilities. Whenever you are in a situation or you are attempting to achieve a goal, don't "try" to do it. Relax and envision yourself achieving the goal, or overcoming the situation. See yourself very clearly in your mind's eye, already in possession of your goal. If you are starting a new task, relax and feel confident that you have everything you need to achieve success.

Relax, let go, and achieve success. Success will come to you, once you let your guard down and allow it to enter your life.

This time we are going to use an induction that will include convincers. Convincers are exercises that allow you to feel hypnotized. These are exercises that test if you have bypassed your critical thought. They also use Emile Coue's law of reversed effect.

Here is how it works. As you progress through the eyes closed induction, I present, I will give an exercise that will allow you to imagine your eyelids are fastened down so tightly that you cannot open your eyes when you try as hard as you can. When you find that your imagination has fastened your eyelids together temporarily, your subconscious mind will open much faster and become more receptive to your personal prescription. As your critical thought becomes bypassed, you will find yourself going deeper into this wonderful state of mind. I will insert 3 critical thought exercises. Test yourself, than move on deeper into hypnosis. You will always know that you can open your eyes at anytime, however as you pretend that your imagination is causing this to happen, critical thought is being bypassed and you really are sinking down deeper into this wonderful state.

Let's begin.

Get your tape recorder ready and prepare to record this exercise using your own voice.

BEGIN INDUCTION

END INDUCTION

How do you feel? Wasn't that fun? Did you enjoy the "convincers?" Did you see and hear the word "try" to practice the law of reversed effect?

The next time you watch a stage hypnotist, notice how he or she employs the law of reversed effect and uses convincers to deepen the effect of the hypnosis on stage.

Record your reactions and thoughts to this exercise by answering the following questions.

1. What was the first thing you thought about as you finished the exercise?

    

    

    

    

    

    

2. How did you feel during the exercise?

    

    

    

    

    

    

3. How do you feel now?

    

    

    

    

    

    

4. Did you have any unusual sensations as you were listening to your voice?

5. List anything that you feel was "memorable" during the exercise.

In Chapter 11, you learned some basic hypnotism theory. You successfully experienced that theory in action with the hypnotic "Convincer Induction." You are now ready for some great experiences in using the power of your own mind!

You now have learned a wonderful skill. You have mastered the exercises and are achieving your goals.

Part 2 of this book includes more hypnosis theory, the history of hypnosis, and many Internet resources that will help you achieve all of your goals.

I wish you success.