Manage Stress Using the Best Me Technique

The Best Me Technique provides an action plan for reducing stress in many different ways and on many different levels. Every letter in "Best Me" corresponds with a different area of experience. The Best Me Technique uses Belief systems (who and where you are and what is going on around you), Emotions, Sensations and physical perceptions, Thoughts and images, Motives, and Expectations. Best Me suggestions may be presented in any order and repeated as often as necessary, with considerable repetition and elaboration as needed to accomplish the desired effect.

Steps

 * 1)  Choose a time when you are not too sleepy or tired, so that you are not likely to doze off.[[Image:Rest Without Completely Sleeping Step 1.jpg|center]]
 * 2)  Find a quiet place with subdued lighting, where you are not likely to be disturbed for at least half an hour[[Image:Make Your Room Seem Cleaner Step 13.jpg|center]]
 * 3)  Turn off your cell phone or pager, if you have one, and take the telephone off the hook or put it on answer mode with the ringer turned off.[[Image:Own a Cellphone Without Your Parents Knowing Step 4.jpg|center]]
 * 4)  Sit down or lie down in a position which will enable you to relax deeply. If you should find yourself becoming uncomfortable during the session, it should not disturb you to gently adjust your position in order to keep yourself as comfortable as possible. Then, guide yourself through the elements of the Best Me Technique, as using whatever combination of words and images feels natural to you, as illustrated in the following example. (The elements are easy to remember because they correspond to the first letters of the words, "Best Me.")
 * Belief systems. Just imagine, or picture in your mind, that you are sitting or lying on a sandy beach, by the side of the ocean. If you accept each detail of the scene as you describe it to yourself, your imagination will be free to allow you to experience the situation just as if you were really there.


 * Emotions. Let yourself absorb the peacefulness which is all around you, on that sandy beach, late on a warm summer afternoon.


 * Sensations and physical perceptions. Listen to the sound of the gulls in the distance, and the gentle waves breaking on the shore, and savor the freshness of the pure salt air. Feel the softness of the sand beneath your blanket, and the cool ocean breeze blowing softly across your skin. As your body absorbs the gentle warmth of the setting sun, you can feel a heavy, relaxed feeling coming over you. It’s so calm, and so quiet, and so peaceful there, that you can just let go and relax completely, as every suggestion carries you deeper and deeper into a peaceful, beautiful state of hypnosis.


 * Thoughts and images. Sinking down, and shutting down, and sinking down and shutting down. Sinking down, and shutting down – shutting down completely, as you enter a new dimension of reality, beyond the limitations of time and space as we know them, with a beauty which is beyond the power of words to describe.


 * Motives. And the deeper you go, the deeper you want to go. And the deeper you go, the deeper you are able to go, and the more beautiful the experience becomes.


 * Expectations. Your capacity for growth in experiential trance is truly without limit. And as you continue to return to these blissful depths, it can change your life forever, and turn each day into a thing of wondrous beauty.[[Image:Reduce Heavy Menstrual Cramps Step 8.jpg|center]]

Self-Suggestions for Stress Relief

 * Belief systems. Now, you are reaching down into the vast untapped depths of your potential, and releasing powerful feelings of calm, peace, and tranquility.


 * Emotions. Great waves of peace, calm, and tranquility are flooding out from the innermost depths of your being, growing stronger and more beautiful and more intense with every passing second.


 * Sensations and physical perceptions. The waves of peace and happiness are bathing and healing and cleansing every muscle, and fiber, and nerve of your entire body, driving out all of the tension, and all of the worry, and all of the care, and leaving you filled with energy to accomplish whatever tasks you have before you.


 * Thoughts and images. Your mind is filled with such beauty and such joy that it is impossible to think of anything else, and all you can do is feel these waves of joy washing over you., growing in beauty and intensity with every passing second.


 * Motives. Feel the power of this energy driving out all of the worry, all of the doubt, all of the self-distrust, all of the fear, and all of the despair that you have ever felt.


 * Expectations. And with this inspiration to guide you, there is no end to what you can accomplish, or what you can become.

Concluding Your Best Me Session

 * Belief systems. Whenever you are ready, you can silently think to yourself that you will gradually emerge from self-hypnosis as you silently count from one to five, telling yourself that by the time you get to five, you are going to be back in the everyday state of consciousness in which we spend most of our waking lives.


 * Emotions. You are going to be feeling thrilled and delighted by the exciting experiences you have had.


 * Sensations and physical perceptions. Your entire body will feel happy, rested, and refreshed.


 * Thoughts and images. Your mind will be clear and alert, and you will easily be able to concentrate on anything that you have to do.


 * Motives. And each time that you return to these blissful dimensions of multimodal trance, you will find a deep, inner core of peace and happiness at the very center of your being, that nothing can weaken, nothing can dislodge, and nothing can overcome, which will give you the faith and the strength that you need to accomplish your goals, and turn each new day into a thing of wondrous beauty.


 * Expectations. And because you can unconsciously sense your own needs better than anyone else, each time that you return to these blissful dimensions of multimodal trance, it will improve your life in many different ways and on many different levels, some of which you may already be aware of and some of which you may not yet realize.


 * Now you can silently count to yourself from one to five, and at the count of five you will be back wide awake and feeling wonderful. Five. Beginning to return now, as your mind begins to return to its normal level of functioning. Four. You will be smiling, happy, and confident as you prepare to resume your life’s adventure. Three. Coming back more and more now. Two. Almost back. One. You can open your eyes now, feeling wonderful. You can open your eyes now, feeling wonderful.

Tips

 * If other thoughts should start to distract you during your BMT session, just passively observe them and let them go, as one might do while practicing meditation.
 * •	Some people may prefer to have a trusted expert guide them through the steps of the Best Me Technique, much as a skilled personal trainer might be able to provide the optimum amount of pacing and encouragement during a physical workout. Still others might do best using a combination of self-hypnosis and Best Me sessions directed by another. You may need to experiment a bit to find which method or combination works best for you.
 * If you are inclined to doubt whether or not you have achieved self-hypnosis after a few minutes, you probably have. Decades of research have shown that people vary considerably in their response to hypnosis. And for many people, there is no such thing as a "hypnotized" feeling. Your purpose is not to achieve a trance (which not everyone does), but to strengthen the power of your imagination.
 * Many other types of imagery are appropriate for use with the Best Me Technique: floating around high above the earth on a soft pink cloud, entering a cathedral, etc. -- or you can just systematically and thoroughly relax your body from head to toe as you go through the BMT elements one by one. Your aim is to find the kind of imagery or procedure which enables you to shift from the logical, left-brain type of information processing to a more fluid, right-brain orientation which allows your imagination to function at its best.
 * Notice that the building blocks of the Best Me Technique need not be conceptually "pure." The purpose of the Best Me Technique is comprehensiveness; and each aspect of a Best Me experience may contain elements of the others.

Warnings

 * Do not use self-hypnosis to eliminate the sensation of pain, except under appropriate professional supervision. Pain is a natural warning signal from your body that something is wrong (or that something may be GOING wrong). And unless you are a physician yourself, there are probably a large number of potentially serious conditions that you have never even heard of.
 * Self-hypnosis is not a cure-all, and it should not be used indiscriminately. In particular, self-hypnosis should not be used to treat a physical or mental condition, or to recover old memories, except under the direction and supervision of an appropriately qualified and licensed health care professional.
 * You should not stop taking any type of prescription medication while using self-hypnosis without talking to your doctor.

Things You'll Need

 * A safe, quiet place to relax, where you are not likely to be disturbed for at least half an hour.
 * A willingness to follow your own instructions.

Related wikiHows

 * Deal With Stress
 * Be Calm in a Stressful Situation
 * Hypnotize Yourself Using the Best Me Technique
 * Perform Self Hypnosis

Sources and Citations

 * Information on additional uses of the Best Me Technique can be found at http://www.hyperempiria.com.
 * Gibbons, D. E. (2005, August). Kicking it up a notch: Multimodal hyperempiria. Paper presented at: the annual meeting of Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Charleston, SC.
 * Gibbons, D. E. (2003, July). The Best Me technique for constructing hypnotic suggestions. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the British Societies of Medical, Clinical, Dental, and Experimental Hypnosis: Royal Society of Medicine, London.
 * Gibbons, D. E. (2001). Experience as an art form: Hypnosis, hyperempiria, and the Best Me Technique. San Jose, CA: Authors Choice Press.
 * Gibbons, D. E. (2000). Applied hypnosis and hyperempiria. Lincoln, NE: Authors Choice Press (originally published 1979 by Plenum Press).