Hypnotize Yourself Using the Best Me Technique

The "Best Me Technique" is a form of hyperempiria, or suggestion-enhanced experience, which involves your whole person in the content of a suggested event. Every letter in "Best Me" corresponds with an element of suggestion, and these elements can be applied in a variety of ways: to place yourself into self-hypnosis, to pre-experience the accomplishment of a goal, and to end your self-hypnosis session. It's the versatility and thoroughness of these elements that makes the "Best Me Technique" distinct from meditation and visualization exercises, and from other forms of hypnosis and self hypnosis. Instead of merely picturing something in the mind’s eye, the Best Me Technique enables you to paint upon the canvas of experience almost any masterpiece you may desire.

If you are one of the experientially gifted who respond well to suggestion, this article will show you how to use "Best Me" suggestions to pre-experience the rewards of future goals now, at full strength in the present when they are most needed for motivation, lessening or eliminating the need for will power. Instead of having to push yourself to do the work, you will be free to push the work alone. (It's also a great way to relax and fall asleep, or take a power nap!)

Steps

 * 1)  Unless you actually intend to do so, choose a time when you are not too sleepy or tired, so that you are not likely to doze off.
 * 2)  [[Image:Dark Room.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Dark]]Find a quiet place with subdued lighting, where you are not likely to be disturbed for at least half an hour.
 * 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.
 * 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..
 * 5) Guide yourself through the elements of the Best Me Technique. After reading over the following script a couple of times to get the idea, go through the steps of the Best Me Technique yourself, using words and images with which you feel most comfortable, and at a pace which allows you to get the most out of the experience. Just as we combine words and pictures on wikiHow pages in order to communicate more effectively, we often pair words and images together in hypnosis in order to strengthen the effect of our suggestions. The present example uses imagery of lying in a grassy flower covered meadow beside a gently flowing brook to help you relax as you go through the elements of the Best Me Technique in your mind, but not everyone responds equally well to the same images. Regardless of the words and images you actually use (see suggestions in the Tips section below) Your purpose is not to achieve a trance (which only a few people actually do), but to put yourself into a relaxed and pleasant frame of mind where your imagination can operate more effectively.
 * 6) * Belief systems: Imagine that it’s a warm summer afternoon, and that you’re lying on a blanket in a grassy daisy covered meadow, about a Twenty feet from a gently babbling brook. If you accept, believe each detail of the scene as you describe it to yourself, without trying to think critically, your imagination will allow you to experience the situation just as if you were really there.
 * 7) * Emotions: Let your body absorb the peacefulness which is all around you, as the clouds float by making shapes and the sun shines warmly down, driving out all of your worry, all of your tension, and all of your care, and leaving you filled with perfect, infinite, boundless peace, calm, and tranquility.
 * 8) * Sensations and physical perceptions: Feel the cool breeze upon your skin, and savor the freshness of the pure, country air. Listen to the twitter of the birds in the distance, and the sound of the water quietly splashing against the rocks you gently melt into the blanket, and that warm, golden glow of the sunlight relaxes you completely from head to toe.
 * 9) * Thoughts and images: It’s so calm, and so peaceful there on the meadow with birds and bees busy at their work, that all you want to do is keep drifting, and dreaming, and floating on, and on. Then, you can just drift on into, peaceful, state of self-hypnosis by silently counting backwards from ten to one, repeating in time with your breathing after each count: "Sinking down, and shutting down, and sinking down and shutting down. And the deeper you go, the more peaceful the experience becomes."
 * 10) * Motives: At this point, you can either keep repeating these suggestions to yourself until you drift off to sleep, or you can use the building blocks of the Best Me Technique to pre-experience the rewards of a future goal. If you are in the Mortgage Business, for example, you might proceed somewhat as illustrated in the breakdown which follows this section, using words of your own choosing to provide the greatest meaning. As you proceed through each step, take a moment to clarify and intensify it in your mind, so that you feel each portion of the experience as strongly as possible.
 * 11) * Expectations: As you go through each step, believe it will happen, expect it to happen, and feel it happening, just as strongly as if you were willing it into being at that very moment. The exact number of repetitions is not as important as the clarity and conviction with which you feel like you are willing your convictions into existence.
 * 12) If you are inclined to doubt whether or not you have achieved self-hypnosis after a few minutes, you probably have.
 * 13) *Decades of research have shown that people vary considerably in their responses to hypnosis. For many people, there is no such thing as a "hypnotized" feeling.
 * 14) *An induction procedure is like the theme music to a motion picture or a television drama. It allows us to shift our thinking from a strictly logical mode of thought to a more flexible, more imaginative way of looking at the world. And we can all do that!

Experiencing the Rewards of a Future Goal

 * 1) [[Image:Incresing Income_776.jpg|right|thumb|If you can believe in it, you can believe it. And if you can believe it, you can make it happen!]]Choose the goal. This example illustrates the accomplishment of a specific goal. You can increase the incentive value of the Best Me Technique still further by pre-experiencing other rewarding aspects of your goal, such as celebrating at a success party with friends and family, or relaxing on the deck of a cruise ship as you treat yourself to a much-deserved vacation after your goal has been achieved. You may also want to pre-experience the rewards of sub-goals along the way, secure in the knowledge that you are on the way to a pre-determined and inevitable success.
 * 2) Take all the time you need in order to thoroughly pre-experience the attainment of your goal, using whatever order and wording you prefer, as long as you include all of the "Best Me" steps. Allow yourself to experience each step as strongly as possible, but don't just daydream. Hyperempiria is like riding a bicycle. It takes a while to get the hang of it, but after a bit of practice it feels very natural. You can generally tell how well you are doing in your BMT experience by how good it makes you feel.
 * 3) *(B) Imagine yourself in the future, at the very moment you recieve your statement showing your income.
 * 4) *(E) Feel the admiring looks of your friends and family upon you, and enjoy to the fullest your sense of pride and accomplishment as you dwell on the glow of your success.
 * 5) *(S) See it happen, hear it happen, and feel it happening, as you allow yourself to experience this thrill of achievement throughout every part of your body, from head to toe.
 * 6) *(T) Visualize this goal so clearly that it feels as if you were actually willing it into existence.
 * 7) *(M) Let yourself believe that you are headed toward a certain and inevitable success.
 * 8) *(E) And as a result, allow yourself to act, think, and feel as if it were impossible to fail.

Concluding Your BMT Session

 * 1) When you have finished, you can simply allow yourself to drift off into a natural sleep, or you conclude your self-hypnosis session by using suggestions similar to the following. (You don't need to memorize them, as long as you include each step of the Best Me Technique in a way that you feel comfortable with.)
 * 2) *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.
 * 3) *Emotions: You are going to be feeling thrilled and delighted by the exciting experiences you have had.
 * 4) *Sensations and physical perceptions: Your entire body will feel happy, rested, and refreshed.
 * 5) *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.
 * 6) *Motives: And each time that you return to these peaceful dimensions of self-hypnosis, 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.
 * 7) *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.
 * 8) Now you can silently count to yourself from one to five, telling yourself that at the count of five you will be back wide awake and feeling wonderful, using words like this: One. Beginning to return now, as your mind begins to return to its normal level of functioning. Two. You will be smiling, happy, and confident as you prepare to resume your life’s adventure. Three. Coming back more and more now. Four. Almost back. Five. You can open your eyes now, feeling wonderful. You can open your eyes now, feeling wonderful.

Tips

 * The building blocks of a Best Me experience need not be conceptually "pure." The purpose of the Best Me Technique is comprehensiveness; and each part of a Best Me experience may contain elements of the others.
 * Many other types of imagery are appropriate for use with the Best Me Technique.
 * You can select any "happy place," real or imagined, which makes you feel safe, secure, and contented -- floating around high above the earth on a soft pink cloud, relaxing in a grassy meadow beside a gently running brook, or a specific memory of a place in your past, and build your Best Me induction suggestions on one of these, using the present illustration as a guide.
 * Or, if you prefer, you can systematically and thoroughly relax from head to toe as you go through the steps of the induction one by one.
 * You can also use hyperempiric inductions (Gibbons, 2000, 2001), based on increased alertness, mind expansion, and enhanced awareness and sensitivity, in contrast to more traditional hypnotic inductions based on suggestions of lethargy, drowsiness, and sleep.
 * If you already know how to perform self-hypnosis, you may prefer to use your own induction at the beginning, and then use the Best Me Technique for goal achievement.
 * If you prefer, you can prepare your mind to pre-experience the rewards of a future goal using the Best Me Technique by meditating instead of using self-hypnosis. In other words, use meditation for induction, then proceed to using the Best Me Technique for pre-experiencing your goal.
 * You should focus on only one goal per session, rather than making up a "laundry list" of things to pursue. Having too many goals at once might tend to interfere with your ability to clearly focus your imagination on the rewards of goal attainment.
 * Regular practice using the Best Me Technique is essential until your long-term goal has been achieved. (When you are driving a car, you don't want to turn off the ignition until you have arrived at your destination!)
 * By including suggestions which define self-hypnosis as a pleasant and beneficial experience in itself, when it is properly done the Best Me Technique should be an enjoyable and beneficial activity from the very start, and not merely another task to be accomplished.
 * 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.
 * With practice, you should soon be able to reach your natural level of self hypnosis rather quickly, and conclude your self-hypnosis session rather quickly, without taking the time to go through all the steps as thoroughly as at the beginning. (If you are using BMT to fall asleep, for example, you don't need to complete the count all the way down to one if you feel yourself beginning to drift off.)
 * Although most experts now agree that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, some people may find it easier to have a trusted friend guide them through the steps of the Best Me Technique, much as a personal trainer might be able to provide the optimum amount of pacing and encouragement during a physical workout. Others might prefer to think of the role of the hypnotist as similar to an Eastern guru or meditation teacher. This will also provide the extra motivation and encouragement of a relationship with another person. As Dr. Irving Yalom (1989) famously observed, "It's the relationship that heals. It's the relationship that heals. It's the relationship that heals. My professional rosary."
 * Still others might do best using a combination of self-hypnosis and Best Me sessions directed by another.
 * Recordings are also used to extend the effectiveness of hypnotic suggestions provided by someone else (or you can make your own).
 * If you prefer to use an extended set of suggestions provided by someone else, a sample script for the graduation ceremony just described is available free of charge at www.hyperempiria.com.
 * You may need to experiment a bit to find which method or combination works best for you.
 * No matter who is actually providing the suggestions, the most important thing to remember as you Define a Problem and compose BMT suggestions to correct it, is that in order to be completely believed, a suggestion must be completely believed in.
 * Regardless of the extent to which psychic abilities are involved when you believe in a goal deeply enough, as some people have claimed, If you can believe in it, you can believe it. And if you can believe it, you can make it happen!
 * If you should find that you need to Build Self Confidence in order to pursue a much-desired goal, and if self-help books and articles are not useful enough, you may need to seek the services of a psychologist, counselor, clinical social worker, or life coach to provide the necessary support and encouragement, and to help you plan as you go along.
 * If you are finding it difficult to put the necessary degree of conviction into your suggestions to Accomplish a Goal, you may need to go back and analyze your goal to see if there are any hidden conflicts which may be preventing you from focusing completely upon its achievement.
 * Don't forget the importance of "environmental engineering." In addition to using self-hypnosis, you need to make whatever changes you have to in your daily life in order to bring your goal to completion.
 * Hyperempiria can also be used to add new dimensions of fulfillment to a wide variety of other experiences, from adding new dimensions to sexual experience and increasing the frequency and intensity of orgasm to facilitating meditation and prayer.

Warnings
*There is an old saying which goes, "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it." The sudden expansion in the range of what we are able to accomplish is always fraught with danger, because we can never fully predict all the consequences of our actions. This point has been illustrated extensively in fable and in literature. For example,in Greek legend, Icarus fell to his death when, exulting in his new-found power of flight, he ignored his father’s warnings and flew too near the sun, which melted his wings. Macbeth, in Shakespeare’s play, acted upon the prophecies of the three witches to make himself king, only to be impaled upon the sword of his enemy. But our willingness to take calculated risks, to "dream the impossible dream," and, if necessary, to make our own luck -- is part of what makes us human -- and it's what having free will is all about!
 * Self-Hypnosis is not a cure-all, and it should not be used indiscriminately.
 * Self-hypnosis should not be used to treat any type of mental condition, or to recover old memories, except under the direction and supervision of an appropriately qualified and licensed mental health professional.
 * Do not use self-hypnosis to eliminate pain or other physical symptoms, except under appropriate medical supervision. Such symptoms are often a natural warning signal from your body that something is wrong (or that something may be GOING wrong). Similarly, you should not attempt to use self-hypnosis to overcome depression, mood swings, hearing voices or seeing things that do not exist. And unless you are a physician or a licensed mental health professional yourself, there are probably a large number of potentially serious conditions that you have never even heard of!
 * You should not stop taking any type of prescription medication while using self-hypnosis without talking to your doctor.
 * Don't try to use the Best Me Technique to "scare yourself" into achieving your goal, and don't include any shoulds, oughts, or musts in your suggestions. Psychological research has conclusively shown that human beings are motivated primarily by reward rather than by the threat of punishment. Keep it positive!
 * Don't try to use self-hypnosis to to maintain a failing relationship, or to rescue a relationship which is in trouble. This is most likely to be a form of denial. See a therapist or counselor!
 * Be careful using the power and versatility of the Best Me Technique to remember past lives.
 * Though half the world believes in it, we have not been able to find any scientific evidence for reincarnation in laboratory investigations of hypnosis.
 * Lynn and Kirsch (2006, p. 204), for example, after reviewing the experimental evidence, flatly state, “In summary, hypnotically induced past-life experiences are fantasies constructed from available clinical narratives about past lives and known or surmised facts regarding historical periods, as well as cues present in the hypnotic situation . . .”
 * Those who are critical of this research will point out that you cannot "prove a negative." That is, just because you haven't found something in the place where you happen to look for it, this does not mean that what you are looking for does not exist -- somewhere. On the other hand, nobody has ever brought back an ancient coin at the conclusion of a past-life regression session as proof that they were really there.
 * But there is an old Chinese saying which goes, "It doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice. From a clinical point of view, it doesn't make any difference whether hypnotically-induced past-life regression experiences are actually real or whether they are a form of experiential theater, as long as some people report that their problem has been alleviated.
 * As one correspondent wrote who had previously been to several other therapists (including those who practiced past life regression therapy) without success, "It was the absolute professionalism, kindness and profound patience from my regression therapist that enabled me to trust enough to release my fears." And a cure is a cure, regardless of the reasons for it.
 * Don't be fooled by distorted images of hypnosis in the mass media.
 * Hypnosis and self-hypnosis will not weaken your will, leave you susceptible to demonic or occult influences, or turn you into someone else's willing servant.
 * A good source of accurate, up-to-date information about hypnosis may be found on the Web page of the American Psychological Association. Click on "Psychology Topics" at the top of the page, and then click on "Hypnosis."
 * Do not allow yourself to be misled by the exaggerated claims of advertisers, or by or phony or unregulated degrees, accreditations, and "board certifications."
 * Most States do not license or regulate the practice of hypnosis as a separate profession. Diploma mills frequently take advantage of this lack of regulation to set up their own accrediting boards and professional-sounding organizations to certify, license, and accredit each other, regardless of how much or how little training their members actually have.
 * To illustrate the consequences of this lack of professional standards, one psychologist enrolled and certified his cat in several of the larger and better-known organizations which are open to lay hypnotists!
 * Self-hypnosis is not difficult to learn. People can end up paying thousands of dollars to acquire these skills, but they can just as learn master them free of charge if they are willing to put forth the necessary time and effort in order to do so.
 * Many self-improvement projects may require the additional professional assistance of a licensed psychologist, counselor, or social worker for their successful completion.
 * Psychiatrists can perform these services too, of course. But, with a few fortunate exceptions, the demands of today's marketplace have led many psychiatrists to concentrate primarily on diagnosing mental illness and prescribing psychotropic medication.
 * Many insurance companies do not pay for consulting a hypnotist or hypnotherapist if this is their only professional qualification. If you have insurance which covers mental health, you can call your State psychological, counseling, or social work association and ask for the names of members near you who include hypnosis as one of their specialties, or you can check your phone book listings under these headings.
 * You may want to check ahead of time to see whether or not your particular need is covered and, if so, which types of mental health providers your insurance carrier is willing to recognize. You also need to determine whether or not the particular provider you have chosen is in your insurance carrier's network or is able to accept out-of-network reimbursement from that particular provider. Your insurance carrier or your mental health services provider needs to inform you whether or not pre-authorization is necessary, if there is a deductible which has to be met first, how many visits they are willing to authorize, and how much the co-pay, if any, is going to be.
 * We must always retain the ability to recognize when a goal is really not worth pursuing, in order to keep from wasting our lives in futile effort.
 * If we can learn to overcome the discouragement which has protected us in from our own mistakes in goal selection, we have an added responsibility to make certain that the goals which we have chosen really are worth going after, and that they are within the scope of our ability to attain them.
 * The world is full of people whose "impossible dreams" will always be impossible. But there are many others for whom an iron determination can make all the difference, no matter what the odds against them. As we put this powerful new technology into use, it is up to each of us to decide just how idealistic or how practical we choose to be.
 * Finally, just as there are some people who are color blind cannot comprehend the experience of color, some people are hypnosis blind and cannot comprehend the experience of hypnosis.
 * The ability to respond to suggestion is distributed in the general population in much the same way that height, weight, and intelligence are. Some of us have a little, and some of us have a lot, but most of us have enough to get by.
 * But for everyone whose ability to respond to suggestion is extremely low or virtually nonexistent, there is someone else who fits words of the song from the movie, Going My Way: "Or would you rather swing on a star, carry moonbeams home in a jar, and be better off than you are?" Such is the potential and the promise of hyperempiria for those who are able and willing to make use of it.

Related Tips and Steps

 * How to Hypnotize Someone
 * How to Perform Self Hypnosis
 * How to Use Hypnosis or Self Hypnosis to Make a Motion Picture, Stage, or Television Drama Come Alive
 * How to Define a Problem
 * How to Build Self Confidence
 * How to Make Work Feel Effortless
 * How to Accomplish a Goal
 * How to Gain Control of Your Emotions
 * How to Manage Stress Using the Best Me Technique

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