Contents
What are Hypnotic Suggestions?
Hypnotic suggestions are the main and most important part of a hypnotherapy session or hypnosis audio. Hypnotic suggestions are ideas and instructions in the hypnosis session that will influence the subconscious mind to change thoughts, reactions, behaviors and feelings. There are many different types of hypnotic suggestions but they generally fall under two broad categories; direct and indirect hypnotic suggestions.
Direct or Indirect Hypnotic Suggestions
When to Use Direct Hypnotic Suggestions
Direct hypnotic suggestions are almost always used in a hypnosis session or audio. They form the main point of the hypnotherapy and include direct instructions to the subconscious to make the changes that are desirable. In our hypnotherapy audios we use a range of hypnosis methods, including direct and indirect hypnotic suggestions. A direct hypnosis suggestion is one that is addressed to the listener directly, and is clear and straightforward, for example, “you enjoy eating heathy foods”.
When to Use Indirect Hypnotic Suggestions
The benefit of indirect hypnotic suggestions is that they are subtle and can go relatively unnoticed by the person being hypnotized. Because an indirect suggestion is less obvious to the listener it can be very helpful in issues where anxiety or overthinking is a problem. The anxious mind can sometimes reject direct suggestions inadvertently because of a tendency to think the worst. The anxious mind may react to a positive statement with a thought like, this isn’t going to work. Often anxious people respond best when they persevere to a point where they go into a deep hypnotic trance. They can then hear the suggestions in a much more passive way, with the conscious mind relaxed and the subconscious mind taking it all in.
Use indirect hypnotic suggestions when the hypnotic subject is:
- Over-analytical
- Anxious or depressed
- Skeptical of the process
How Indirect Hypnotic Suggestions Work
Using indirect suggestions can be helpful in bypassing the conscious critical faculty, especially if the listener is relaxing well and going into a trance, but it can work even in a broken, intermittent or light trance. Indirect suggestions are woven into the script so that they are less obvious, sometimes blended in with descriptions of visualizations or examples of modelling and future pacing. After getting familiar with a hypnosis recording the indirect suggestions can become more obvious but by this time, they may well have had the beneficial effect they were designed to achieve.
How to Ensure Hypnotic Suggestions Will Work
Forming the suggestions in a way that sounds appealing will go a long way. Suggestions (whether direct or indirect) work best when the listener likes what they hear. When this occurs, the suggestion is being accepted. The subconscious mind absorbs the information that feels good but then there is the question of how does the change come into fruition? How does it develop from an idea into a response, a change of behavior or a feeling?
Repetition
One way in which hypnotic suggestions take a firm effect is through repetition. Our hypnosis downloads have been designed with this in mind. The suggestions are not literally repeated over and over but are presented in different scenarios and with different words, metaphors and visualizations. The benefit of a hypnosis download or audio is that you can listen over and over and therefore reinforce the hypnotic suggestions easily, listening as many times as is needed to get the effect you are seeking.
Acceptance
As mentioned previously, if you like what you hear then it is a very positive sign that the result will come. This is not to say that every word needs to meet this criteria but that some content fits the purpose and sounds good to you. Deliberately accepting the ideas helps a great deal. If you are doing this consciously it shows that you are in a light trance. When you go into a deeper trance you may not consciously remember what you have heard but the subconscious will hear it.
Putting it into Practice
Once you have heard and reinforced the hypnotic suggestions by using the hypnosis audio several times over it is then time to test it out properly. Take your time with this, especially if it is a phobia or anxiety issue as small steps are the best way. For example if you have been using a hypnosis audio to help overcome a fear of Heights (Acrophobia) then you might start by looking at some images of tall buildings. After a gradual process you may move on to going up a few levels in a building. You might be surprised at the powerful results when you test out the effect.
Our Hypnosis Audios
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