The Progressive Relaxation Induction

One of the simplest ways to hypnotize someone is the "progressive relaxation" technique.

1. Have the person you're working with sit or lie down in a comfortable position.
   
2. Talk slowly in a soothing voice (it doesn't have to be monotone).
   
3. Say "Take a deep breath and as you let it out, close your eyes and begin to feel yourself relaxing." (If their eyes are already closed, leave the eye closing out)
   
4. Have your subject put their awareness on different parts of their body and relax them. You can use language such as "Now become aware of your arms... now relax your arms... let them grow more and more comfortable... let the muscles become loose and limp and even more relaxed". Repeat this type of instruction for all areas of the body.
   
5. Sprinkle your language with plenty of positive reinforcements such as - "That's right, good, you're doing just fine."
   
6. Repeat if necessary: Depending on the person, you may have to repeat the whole procedure a few times. For most people 10 or 15 minutes is enough.
   
7. When you're ready to emerge them just say "I'm going to count to five, when I reach five or before, your eyes will open and you'll feel relaxed and refreshed". Count up to five slowly with your voice getting a little less soothing and a little more "awake" with each number. When you reach four, if their eyes aren't open say "On the next number your eyes will open and you'll feel relaxed and refreshed. Five, eyes open, feeling relaxed and refreshed."

Believe it or not, it can be this simple!

Things To Explain First

These are good to explain to your subject before hypnotizing them. It will make it much easier.
Hypnosis is a naturally occurring state, it happens to you many times each day, it will probably feel very natural
Expect to feel relaxed, not necessarily "hypnotized"
You can't get stuck in trance any more than you could get stuck sleeping
In a trance your moral character and value system remain in place (you won't do anything against your morals)
In a trance you will most likely hear everything and be aware of things going on around you in the environment
Many people remember what goes on inside trance

Things To Know First

Before I show you one way of hypnotizing let me warn you about a couple of things.
Don't ask a person to do anything in hypnosis that might be harmful. A good rule of thumb is not to ask them to do anything in a trance that you wouldn't ask otherwise. People do not have super-human qualities in hypnosis.
Some people will tell you they didn't "feel" hypnotized. Since hypnosis is a naturally occurring state, it feels normal to most people. Oftentimes people expect a profoundly odd feeling to occur in trance.
About the only thing that can keep a person from attaining hypnosis is fear. If someone is afraid of you or of hypnosis it will not be easy.
Here are some signs of hypnosis.
Fluttering of the eyelids
Increased redness or wetness of the eyes (upon opening them)
General relaxation and loosening of the muscles
"Flattening" of the facial muscles (they look very relaxed)
Waxy skin tonus (the person will begin to look more like a mannequin - this is very subtle)
Feelings of warmth or coolness or tingling sensations
It may take a slight effort for them to swallow
Changes in breathing rate and depth
Fingers, arms or legs twitching slightly
You may expect to find some or all of these with your subject.

Does Hypnosis Really Work?

Often when people learn what I do they ask "How do you hypnotize people?" or "Does it really work?"
Let's face it, most of us have seen the ads in the back of comic books "Learn How To Hypnotize!" Most of us have seen movies in which hypnosis is portrayed as a way to get others to do our bidding. It's far-fetched ideas like this that have slowed the acceptance of hypnosis by the general public.
Few people are aware of the overwhelming scientific evidence for hypnosis as a way of reducing or eliminating pain, accelerating healing, achieving goals or breaking habits.
The simple fact of the matter is that hypnotizing people is a lot easier than most people think. In fact, you are most likely in a hypnotic state several times each day! Any time you're daydreaming or engrossed in a book or movie, any time your thoughts wander, you may be in a state very similar to hypnosis. It's a natural state which can feel somewhat like falling asleep or relaxing and drifting off on some train of thought..

The External/Internal Self Hypnosis Technique

Get Comfortable -
Look forward, breathe slowly and easily, relax.

State Your Goal -
Tell yourself your purpose in going into self hypnosis. "I am going into a trance for the purpose of _____________ . (Filling in the blank with what you want to achieve.) During this self-hypnosis session my unconscious mind will make the adjustments so that _____________ (Filling in the blank with what you want to achieve) occurs naturally and easily.

How To Feel Afterward -
Tell yourself how you want to feel when you complete the process and how long you wish to be in a trance, "In twenty minutes, I'm going to feel __________".

The Induction -
Notice three things (one at a time) that you see. Go slowly, look at each one for a moment. Now pay attention to your auditory channel and notice, one by one, three things that you hear.Next, become aware of your feelings - notice three sensations. Go slowly from one to the next. You can use sensations that normally are outside of your awareness, such as the temperature of your ankle, the feeling of the bottom of your feet, the weight of some piece of clothing, etc.Continue the process using two things you see, then two sounds and then two feelings. Now one visual, one auditory and one kinesthetic.

Close your eyes.
Picture something. You can make an image up or just let one happen.Pause and "imagine" a sound.Next, imagine a feeling. Repeat the process with two images, then two sounds, then two feelings. Repeat using three images, sounds and feelings. If you don't get all the way through, relax. In fact, it's a sign that you've gone deep enough if you lose track of where you are in the process. Just let your mind wander where it will and trust that your unconscious is carrying out the suggestions you gave it.Allow yourself to come out of trance whenever it feels appropriate. You'll often find that you come out very near the time you suggested.

Introduction to How Hypnosis Works

When you hear the word hypnosis, you may picture the mysterious hypnotist figure popularized in movies, comic books and television. This ominous, goateed man waves a pocket watch back and forth, guiding his subject into a semi-sleep, zombie-like state. Once hypnotized, the subject is compelled to obey, no matter how strange or immoral the request. Muttering "Yes, master," the subject does the hypnotist's evil bidding.

This popular representation bears little resemblance to actual hypnotism, of course. In fact, modern understanding of hypnosis contradicts this conception on several key points. Subjects in a hypnotic trance are not slaves to their "masters" -- they have absolute free will. And they're not really in a semi-sleep state -- they're actually hyperattentive.

Our understanding of hypnosis has advanced a great deal in the past century, but the phenomenon is still a mystery of sorts. In this article, we'll look at some popular theories of hypnosis and explore the various ways hypnotists put their art to work.

What is Hypnosis?People have been pondering and arguing over hypnosis for more than 200 years, but science has yet to fully explain how it actually happens. We see what a person does under hypnosis, but it isn't clear why he or she does it. This puzzle is really a small piece in a much bigger puzzle: how the human mind works. It's unlikely that scientists will arrive at a definitive explanation of the mind in the foreseeable future, so it's a good bet hypnosis will remain something of a mystery as well.

But psychiatrists do understand the general characteristics of hypnosis, and they have some model of how it works. It is a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination. It's not really like sleep, because the subject is alert the whole time. It is most often compared to daydreaming, or the feeling of "losing yourself" in a book or movie. You are fully conscious, but you tune out most of the stimuli around you. You focus intently on the subject at hand, to the near exclusion of any other thought.

What Is Hypnosis?

Hypnosis is a relaxing, naturally occurring state of mind which happens to us every day. Each time we read a captivating novel, float off in a daydream or see an engrossing movie we are in a natural state of hypnosis.

For thousands of years people have recognized the power of hypnosis to enhance learning, heal emotional scars, improve performance, change habits and speed the healing process.