Further scripts for self-hypnosis
‘Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’
ALBERT EINSTEIN
For the past 100 years hypnotherapists have guarded their suggestion scripts like prized possessions, refusing to sell them even to other hypnotherapists because they were so valuable and it would have created competition. Carefully worded suggestions with just the right terminology ensured success and these well-formed suggestions were like gold to the hypnotherapists who found them. They felt it was the difference between the hypnotherapy being successful or not.
Thirty years ago, when I started in practice, there were considerably fewer hypnotherapists than there are today. It was difficult to get hold of good scripts, even in hypnosis training books, while they were virtually non-existent in academic books. Until the advent of self-publishing, there were few non-academic books published on the subject of hypnosis and fewer still that included scripts. Doctors and psychologists have always wanted to avoid teaching the public to hypnotize, which led to an air of secrecy around the whole subject of hypnosis.
Trainers on hypnosis courses would sell each script for a handsome amount and the hypnotherapist would then keep it to himself or herself, like a chef not sharing a secret personal recipe. As my practice grew, I realized I needed more scripts for various client issues than those I had bought catered for, so I started creating my own, and had amazing results with them. I shared them with people I trained as part of my hypnotherapy course and they had similar success.
When I wrote my hypnotherapy books I made sure I added plenty of scripts that would be useful, not only to readers, but to hypnotherapists whom I also wanted to read my books. My first book, Self Hypnosis, was called their ‘Little Gem’ by the publisher’s managing editor. It consistently sold well month on month and was reprinted many times. Not only was it published internationally and translated into five languages but it was also chosen as recommended reading by many of the training courses in the UK, ensuring regular sales year after year.
Now all my books have been adapted into apps and are sold all over the world, but the point I am making is how important good suggestions are, and what makes the scripts in this book so valuable is that they have been tested over and over again in group therapy and in teaching self-hypnosis, which means they have all been thoroughly tested professionally with clients and so you can be assured of great results.
Nowadays the Internet is a huge resource for scripts. You only have to Google ‘hypnosis scripts’ and you will be faced with a multitude of pages offering them for sale and even a selection for free. But by learning the rules on how to construct a script in Chapter 6, you will be able to choose the workable scripts with confidence. What you can be sure of is that the scripts included here haven’t just been made up to sound good, but are carefully worded for maximum impact.
The scripts in this chapter are designed to get the very best out of your self-hypnosis – to help you overcome all sorts of negative thoughts and behaviours by improving any aspects of your life you want to change.
The general rules for creating suggestions are covered in Chapter 6, and the rules say not to use too many negative words. This should be monitored with common sense, as there is a mistaken belief that the inner mind won’t accept negative words and disregards the word ‘not’ or ‘don’t’. For example, if you were trying to program the idea ‘I never overeat’ or ‘I will not smoke’, the theory is that the mind eliminates the negative word ‘not’ or ‘don’t’, leaving you with the instruction ‘I overeat’ or ‘I smoke’. However, in my experience this is not the case. For years I have had negative words in my ‘Stop smoking’ script and I’ve been able to show a 95 per cent success rate. Another example is the stage hypnotist who tells their volunteer that they can’t get out of their chair or unlock their hands and, as hard as they try, they find they can’t, due to the inner mind literally accepting the negative suggestion. The result is that they are unable to unclasp their hands until the hypnotist tells them to. Therefore you may find that there are a few negative words in some of the scripts; however, their use is limited and they are strong, effective and proven to work.
As mentioned earlier, your success rate for using these self-help methods depends considerably on your commitment, the script you use, the seriousness with which it is executed and whether a problem is trauma-related or not.
As mentioned in Chapter 7 (see Switching off), people nowadays spend a lot of time using their mobile devices, which can interfere with social occasions and quality time with partners, friends and family. Use this script if you want to reduce the time spent using your mobile phone or tablet and claim back that valuable time.
Because you want to have a life . . . some freedom to enjoy your time . . . you have decided to choose certain times to be switched off from the Internet . . . you find it is so easy to retrain yourself to stop constantly checking your messages, news and social media. Now you have freedom . . . lots of freedom . . . in fact as much as you choose. What a relief that everything is properly done! . . . You have finished all your work online . . . you are so relieved now . . . nothing bothers you any more . . . you have no more need to worry . . . you have finished writing your emails and checking your social networks and it is now time to switch off . . . literally switch off all your gadgets . . . the gadgets mean . . . you computer, your smartphone, your tablet, etc. . . . whatever you use for checking . . . You have chosen a time that suits you to switch off . . . You can leave your landline on if you wish but all other phones can be silenced or switched off completely . . . No more temptation to look and check . . . this is your special time to get a life . . . Your time to live and become free of the habit you have learned . . . The good news is that because you learned this very bad habit of constantly checking . . . you can learn not to do it any more . . . your subconscious now helps you and reprograms your inner mind to know what is important and what isn’t . . . you learn to trust your subconscious. The result will be plenty of spare time to enjoy your reading, sports, TV, radio, or hobbies. You now have a life.
You know your friends will be looking forward to hearing from you . . . knowing that you have taken the trouble to keep in touch . . . but not overdoing it.
The German government has become worried about their workers' mental health. So much so that they are now considering making it illegal to email colleagues after 6 p.m. They found there to be a strong connection between constant availability online and the increase in mental illness.
Because you no longer fear the unknown . . . the benefits to your social . . . domestic . . . and work life are limitless . . . You are happier each day because you enjoy meeting people and being in their company . . . and you enjoy and look forward to being in new places or situations . . . new places excite you.
With this new-found freedom you find that your personality is able to develop . . . exactly how you want it to be . . . you may want to be dynamic . . . you may want to be a good listener . . . you may want to be more up front . . . whatever you choose you find you attract and enjoy the company of the type of people you wish . . . who give you the friendship and companionship you are seeking.
You are happy in the knowledge that you have a more contented . . . exciting and dynamic lifestyle . . . as you find it more and more easy to go out and socialize with friends of both sexes.
The world is a happy, friendly and safe place to enjoy . . . a place to meet people and to achieve fulfilment . . . a place to enjoy a new-found confidence in yourself.
As you enjoy the company of your friends . . . they also enjoy your spontaneous and confident humour . . . you are realizing your full potential.
It is because you wish to be happy . . . accepting yourself . . . that you want to age gracefully . . . ageing gracefully . . . is an art form . . . and has little or nothing . . . to do with looks . . .
All your life you have known . . . that you can’t judge a book by its cover . . . and you have found . . . that there are far more meaningful criteria . . . than looks . . . that make up a person’s worth.
We live in a society . . . obsessed by sell-by dates . . .You have become aware of this . . . and those obsessed with beauty and youth spend absurd amounts of money . . . trying to be something . . . that they are not . . . You have really begun to appreciate . . . that a person who is healthy and happy . . . is richer than any fool . . . who comforts themself . . . displaying the status symbols and money . . .
You can now see that this state of affairs . . . is made by the most deluded . . . paying others to bolster their vanity . . . unfortunately this quest . . . for the elixir of youth . . . prevents our society from ageing gracefully . . .
Sooner or later they will learn . . . putting their money to better use . . . but in the meantime . . . you honour your body’s needs . . . You eat a varied . . . healthy and exciting diet . . . and you maintain a lifestyle . . . that allows you to exercise regularly . . . and enjoy the company of good friends . . . You sleep well at night . . . and you pick your friends carefully . . . As you know . . . Your worth is in your experience . . . in what you have learned . . . and what you can share . . . It’s how you are . . . not what you pretend to be . . . and you know that every line on your face . . . has earned its place . . .
They say a face without lines . . . is the face of the fool . . . a facelift can’t change . . . the person inside . . . and poor is the man . . . whose skin is his pride . . .
This is a very good time to take stock . . . a time to truly seize the opportunity to help yourself . . . a time to be thankful for just how good life has been . . . For in those times when we think we’ve given up hope . . . things still work out fine for us . . . at the time we feel crushed by self-doubt . . . all that . . . is now in the past.
It is now in the past . . . because that is how it was meant to be . . . For our highest possible learning . . . times of doubt . . . present to us the best possible way to learn the value . . . of making calm decisions . . . Now you understand that time is on your side . . . not against you . . . and you have learned that by speaking up early you can prevent problems later on . . . from a place of calm . . .
You don’t speak up because you have something to prove . . . you speak up because what you have to say is important . . . it is important because you have considered your message and you do not wish to devalue the importance of your words . . .
You have finally learned to assert yourself . . . because you know that your opinion is as valid as anyone else’s. You have now learned that the people are convinced by your honest, logical and calm manner and words . . . They are more than happy to discuss your views . . . The panic that you have felt in the past has acted as your teacher . . . it has taught you to observe . . . and more importantly, it has shown you . . . how easy it is . . . to be one of the sheep . . .
No more . . . No more and never again will you be a sheep . . . You once felt panic because you felt powerless . . . now you know that because you are now taking more time to notice everything . . . taking time in a calm and even playful way . . . that you are able to express your feelings quite clearly . . . Every day you are able to use fewer words to say what you want . . . every day you are becoming more eloquent . . . and as a reward this makes you appear . . . even more attractive.
The greatest gift anyone can learn from panic . . . is clarity . . . this gift is yours now . . . and it rings out like the shepherd’s bell . . .
Picture yourself now . . . so very relaxed . . . you have practised relaxation so that you find it is easy to slip into a relaxed state . . . and to your surprise, when you think of the dentist you no longer feel anything but calm . . . knowing that you can just calm yourself whenever you feel the need to do so . . .
You travel to the dentist you begin to feel the luxury of calm . . . floating over you . . . as you enter the surgery . . . you do not mind waiting . . . you can easily use the time reading or daydreaming of pleasant memories . . . this is your special time . . . When you are called into the surgery to have the work done you feel very calm and relaxed . . . the sight of the instruments or room just serve to allow you to be calm and comfortable . . . knowing you are looking after your teeth . . . As the dentist starts to work on your teeth you relax even more . . . any work that the dentist does . . . brings no discomfort at all . . . you just notice the work and the sounds with idle curiosity . . . you allow yourself to relax even more and daydream about wonderful memories or wishes you would like to bestow on yourself . . . If the dentist talks to you . . . you respond easily and effortlessly . . . He or she may be surprised by your calmness . . . and may even say so . . . you just find the whole procedure easy and relaxing, knowing that the work is necessary and that you will be happy with the results.
You find that you can relax now whenever you would like to . . . when you are in a situation that before might have caused you anxiety when there was no need for it . . . you take a deep breath and a wave of relaxation flows through your body . . . As you feel so calm and relaxed, you imagine you are setting off for the airport . . . you are surprised and happy to realize that you feel relaxed and comfortable about the journey . . . you imagine the trip to the airport . . . you arrive at the airport and check your baggage in and you feel so calm and relaxed . . . ready for the flight and looking forward to arriving at your destination . . . it is now time to go to the departure lounge . . . as you walk along, you casually look out of the windows and see the planes taking off and landing . . . some are parked ready to take on more passengers . . . you find the sight relaxing and as you take a deep breath, you find yourself even more calm and relaxed.
The time goes very quickly as you await your boarding call . . . when it is announced you are looking forward to getting onto the plane and making yourself comfortable for the flight . . . you feel very comfortable and relaxed as you walk along the corridor to board the plane . . . you board the plane and find your seat . . . you feel very calm and relaxed as you watch the flight attendant giving you your instructions . . . the plane starts to taxi to the runway and you look out of the window and, as you do, a wonderful feeling of calm flows through you . . . as the plane revs its engines ready for take-off, you feel confident . . . the engine noises relax you even more . . . as the plane takes off and settles into flight, you feel a wave of relaxation flow through you . . . and you realize you feel content and comfortable . . . you may decide to doze or read, have a conversation or even watch the in-flight film . . . whatever your choice is, you find you are enjoying the flight and you take advantage of the comforts offered.
The plane now begins to make its descent ready to land and, as you take a deep breath, you relax and enjoy the descent of the plane . . . the plane lands and as you prepare to disembark, you feel refreshed and enthusiastic . . . you look back on the flight and realize you have enjoyed the journey.
Because you want to lose weight and become healthier and fitter . . . each day you eat the food that you know is good for you . . . You enjoy healthy food . . . You no longer crave high-calorie rich foods and enjoy eating low-calorie healthy foods . . . Your subconscious knows which foods are good for you and allows you to lose weight at the rate suitable for your body . . . Day by day you eat only when you are physically hungry . . . and you eat and want only those foods that are good for your body . . . You always sit down when you eat and enjoy drinking water . . . You find it very cool and refreshing and you like the taste . . . Your stomach is smaller . . . and getting smaller with every day that passes . . . You visualize your stomach as small.
The moment you recognize you want to live a full life as a healthy person . . . your life changes . . . you broaden your horizons and enhance the quality of your life . . . second best, no more . . . you can wear nice clothes . . . enjoy a better lifestyle . . . have self-confidence . . . and no limits . . . that’s what’s in store for you.
A suitable change emerges . . . you are happy to trade rich food . . . for a richer life . . . making a decision and sticking to it not only enhances your life, it also raises your self-esteem . . . you’ll be amazed at just how many things in your life will change so effortlessly . . . the thought of exercise actually becomes appealing and it’s as if you are getting younger . . . You always leave food on your plate . . . and day by day you are enjoying a new eating habit . . . You only think of the bite that is in your mouth . . . and because you think only of the bite that is in your mouth, you enjoy the taste of it much more . . . Your taste buds become more sensitive . . . and you get much more satisfaction from each bite . . . You eat more slowly . . . you eat much less . . . but you enjoy it more . . . You are looking better and you are feeling better . . . You feel good about yourself.
Comfort eating is like an addictive drug . . . you are on a short ‘high’ when you satisfy your cravings, but it then leads to a vicious circle . . . sugar gives you this quick high . . . but too much is so very bad for you . . . it is addictive . . . it is in so many savoury foods now . . . you have decided to check the labels for sugar in your food . . . you can get hooked so very easily . . . That is why type 2 diabetes is now an epidemic and due to too much sugar . . . many sparkling drinks can have as much as nine teaspoons of sugar in them . . . The sugar in real and organic fruit is not the same . . . it is digested properly and naturally . . . it is the processed sugar and too much of it that is your enemy . . . you have now decided to look after your body and cut out so much of the sugar you have been eating . . . it is easy . . . you find you no longer want too much sugar . . .
This script is suitable if you want to give up alcohol altogether. When I worked in Malaysia there were a lot of expats who drank very heavily, and it was affecting their work and even their social life. I gained a reputation for helping these heavy drinkers quit. I was able to check with my clients after 10 years and they were still not drinking. One client, who became rather unpleasant when he drank, even bought a bar. He didn’t even have the urge to drink but just enjoyed his life more and was very sociable, which delighted his friends.
I want you to picture yourself throwing all the alcohol away . . . see yourself pouring the alcohol down the drain . . . accept that you are killing yourself with alcohol . . . and you want your body to look after you . . . and you want your body to be fit and healthy – not disturbed by manmade chemicals, that only serve to disrupt your mind’s balance and your body’s working.
To you alcohol is a poison . . . all alcohol can give you is a shorter life and poor health . . . and getting old before you need to . . . Alcohol is a depressant . . . it can’t give you anything because it is a depressant. Why do you think some people cry when they are drunk – because it is a depressant. You will accept yourself as a teetotaller . . . You don’t want to drink any more. You can get high with your friends without alcohol; you can get high on the atmosphere and ambience. You find you enjoy drinking water . . . it feels cleansing and healthy.
Accepting that you don’t need it any more . . . you feel wonderful and when someone offers you an alcoholic drink . . . you say ‘no thanks’ and you feel exhilarated.
You are now and forever a confirmed teetotaller. Your final decision is made and agreed to, and every day that passes reinforces it.
Picture in your mind someone offering you a drink. You always answer, ‘No.’ You say that proudly. Every time you refuse an offer of a drink, you feel an invigorating sense of power and pride. You are proud of being one of those envied people that have the ability and the drive to see drink as the depressant it is . . . and do not want it. You have the guts and the motivation to not want it.
You always enjoy the pleasant, relaxed feeling of self-hypnosis, and you have an overwhelming desire to go into self-hypnosis every day. You always feel completely rejuvenated and refreshed when you come out of hypnosis, because the complete, restful relaxation causes your body to become completely normalized.
Your blood pressure is normal . . . your glands are working in harmony with one another . . . your body chemistry is balanced . . . and you feel good.
Now just relax even more and enjoy a moment of silence . . . during which all of these true ideas and concepts make a deep and lasting impression upon your subconscious mind . . . never to be removed. This moment of silence starts now . . .
It is because you now wish to savour life to the full . . . taking advantage of all the opportunities that come your way . . . that you have now chosen to reclaim your life . . . allowing an old habit to drop . . . into permanent retirement.
There have been times . . . when things just seemed to get out of hand . . . times when you didn’t feel in control . . . and a bit of anxiety crept in . . . it happens to everyone . . . it’s a very important lesson that we all have to learn . . . Sooner or later we all have to learn about focusing our energy . . . in our everyday lives we have tasks to overcome . . . some have obvious solutions . . . whilst others will require us to learn and grow . . . The greatest cause of anxiety is a lack of familiarity . . . over time, all things become familiar . . . over time we become proficient . . . as if we’ve done these things all our lives . . .
We distress ourselves by worrying that we or someone we care for . . . is not yet ready for certain tasks . . . We needn’t worry because in this life . . . we tend to learn as we go along . . . and the proof is in the results . . . You are now in that wonderful place of self-acceptance . . . ready to go forward . . . living without anxiety . . . Deep down you already know that worrying is a waste of your valuable energy . . . You are becoming more and more aware that when you move your energy towards a solution . . . your energy either makes things simpler . . . or more complicated . . . worrying always complicate things.
In the future you will instantly become aware of when you are anxious . . . and you will find yourself remembering it is never worth worrying . . . and that every time this happens your life will change . . . because important events are about to take place.
You are now aware that in every situation where you must choose between two options . . . that there is always a third option . . . which is to do nothing . . . Often things sort themselves out fine . . . without us having to tinker with them . . .
You have also learned not to presume that there is a problem . . . where none exists. Virtually all the world’s greatest discoveries have resulted from accidents or unexpected outcomes . . . Learning to appreciate the gift of the unfamiliar is the very quality shared by those . . . most considered to be geniuses . . . Now that you can recognize the feeling of the unfamiliar approaching . . . you are better placed than most . . . to keep your eyes open for the potential opportunities about to blossom . . . What was once your biggest worry . . . is now a major key to your happiness and success . . . and life just gets better and better . . .
Imagine in your mind’s eye . . . that you are reclining in a comfortable garden . . . on a very comfortable garden bench . . . The temperature is just right . . . for you . . . And you feel so comfortable . . . You have decided to go to sleep . . . and are now going to help your inner mind . . . get into a new habit . . . of easy . . . comfortable . . . safe . . . sleep. After a very short time . . . you will find you do not need . . . to practise . . . you will just lie down . . . and close your eyes . . . and drift into a beautiful sleep . . . but this exercise is to retrain you . . . to sleep quickly . . . and easily.
You use an awful lot of energy staying awake . . . now if you sleep and rest yourself thoroughly . . . you have an oversupply of energy when you awaken.
So let us begin . . . I want you to imagine . . . that just in front of you . . . are some steps . . . that lead to a lower part . . . of the garden. You notice there are about ten steps . . . and a few feet away . . . at the bottom of the steps . . . you will notice . . . a large . . . oak . . . door . . . that is surrounded . . . by a very large stone wall . . . You cannot see behind the door . . . but instinctively you know that it is a special . . . place . . . for you . . . you may prefer . . . to be by the side . . . of a lake . . . a soft running stream . . . or even by the ocean . . . or you may prefer the countryside . . . whatever you choose . . . you just know . . . that the special place behind the door . . . is exactly what you want . . . now I want you to go over to the steps . . . and instinctively knowing that . . . with every step . . . you will go deeper . . . and deeper . . . into deep . . . calm . . . relaxation, . . . even deeper . . . than you are right now . . . and each night you hear these . . . suggestions you find . . . it is easier . . . and quicker . . . to relax . . . and you may find you go to sleep . . . before the end of these suggestions . . . and you may even find that just lying down to listen to the tape allows you to go sound asleep. So let’s begin . . . In your mind’s eye . . . put your foot on the first step . . . and feel yourself going into a deeper . . . and deeper . . . and deeper . . . into relaxation . . . Now putting your foot on the second step . . . feel yourself going even deeper . . . and deeper . . . now . . . onto the third step . . . going deeper . . . and deeper and deeper . . . relaxed. Each step doubles . . . your relaxation.
Down onto the fourth step . . . going deeper and deeper . . . now putting your foot onto the fifth step . . . going even deeper still . . . Stepping onto the next step . . . takes you even deeper . . . onto the next step . . . going deeper still . . . onto the eighth step . . . deeper still . . . down onto the next step . . . and as you reach the bottom step . . . you notice a big oak door . . . You walk over to the door . . . and as you gently push it open . . . you feel a feeling of peace . . . and relaxation . . . as you notice how beautiful . . . your special place is. You imagine yourself lying down peacefully asleep your breath rhythmic and comfortable and you sleep soundly . . .
Now notice the colour . . . of the flowers . . . the drifting clouds . . . the birds singing, the rustling of the leaves . . . the pleasant warmth of the sun . . . continue to visualize your special place . . . picture yourself comfortably . . . lying down . . . watching the leaves . . . as they fall from the trees nearby . . . reminding you that it is possible to let go of all your problems . . . and worries . . . allowing them to drop away . . . just like old leaves dropping away from trees making way for new growth. And as you concentrate on your breathing, you drift comfortably into deep relaxation and sleep.
You now look forward to going to bed . . . you look forward to climbing into your bed . . . Visualize your alarm clock it may be one you have where you sleep or it may be one that you create in your inner mind . . . bring it forward in your inner mind so you can see it clearly . . . Now stick the hands on the clock at the time you want to wake up.
Fix your eyes on that spot and focus them on that spot for a few moments . . . instructing your subconscious mind. Your subconscious will select the special depth of sleep to ensure you awaken totally refreshed . . .
You look forward to experiencing that beautiful restful sleep which enables your body and mind to work in a beautiful balanced harmonious way.
Stress can creep in at any time and can be due to a large number of factors from work to personal issues, such as relationships or money worries and the pace of modern life leaving you feeling overwhelmed. However, whatever the reason, suggestions in self-hypnosis can improve your enthusiasm to succeed and give you the confidence to do so. Before using the following script, try the Orange Liquid suggestion, to detox your mind then you may want to consider adding something that is personal to you.
I want you to picture yourself emptying your mind of all the unpleasant . . . memories . . . and feelings . . . and worries you have . . . I want you to discard them . . . throw them into a container . . . seal it up . . . and have it taken away . . . Now you have a chance to start anew with your life . . . with control . . . no unpleasant thoughts that corrupt your thinking . . . You now have control of your life and you have choices . . . Experience how it feels . . . how good it feels . . . Any new problems that arise . . . you find easy to deal with. Instead of problems you think of them as challenges and let you inner mind find solutions that are easy and comfortable. You don’t even have to work at it . . . Your inner mind does it for you while you are getting on with your life.
Picture yourself emptying your mind of all the unpleasant thoughts, memories and feelings you have collected through the years . . . you can do this by imagining you are using a gigantic suction vacuum cleaner . . . sucking all the negative thoughts out of your mind . . . there is now plenty of space to fill up with wonderful thoughts . . . This is easy . . . all you do is instruct your subconscious to do a search in your mind for all the positive and constructive thoughts that will be useful to you . . . The mind is so sophisticated it can do this in a split second . . . Now use your imagination and pretend that you only have nice thoughts . . . let your imagination start to roll. Imagine your life . . . your future with just a positive outlook. Picture yourself with this positive attitude . . . and now look at what your imagination has come up with . . . explore this wonderful area . . . Your inner mind will be able to show you the way forward . . . take a moment to let your imagination picture your future filled with positivity and pleasure . . .
[Pause for about a minute.]
Whenever you wish to look at your life more clearly you can use this technique to allow your mind to advise you . . . Remember your inner mind has all the answers to your problems. It has the information to give you the best advice . . . take advantage of this facility . . . take some time out of your day to build your plan . . . Your inner mind will be there at any time to help you.
Coincidence? When I wrote my first book Self Hypnosis in 1992 my stop smoking therapy was so successful that I went round the world training the technique. Whilst working for a few years in Malaysia I became so famous for helping people quit smoking that the Health Minister publicly endorsed my stop smoking therapy. That was over 20 ago and now one of my talented students is a leading teacher of hypnosis specializing in stopping smoking. With his dedication and a lot of hard work, he too has just earned an award as recognition for stop smoking therapy, also presented by the current Minister of Health of Malaysia.
This main script has been used, unaltered, for years and forms a part of my ‘Stop Smoking In One Hour’ technique.
You have now made one of the most important decisions of your life . . . to save your life . . . by giving up smoking . . . giving up polluting your lungs . . . your lungs perform one of the most important functions in your body . . . without them you cannot breathe . . . you cannot live . . . it is essential for you to keep your lungs clean and fill them with fresh air . . . so you can live . . . and be healthy.
Your body has to cope with pollution from the air that you breathe . . . your lungs are adaptable and can cope with this . . . but the extra strain that smoking brings about . . . the extra concentrated pollution you are sucking in from each cigarette . . . is weakening your insides . . . your mouth . . . your throat . . . your lungs . . . your stomach, and your blood . . . are just a few of the victims of your carelessness . . . but also the dangerous chemicals that are used in the pesticides sprayed on the tobacco as it grows are used to kill insects . . . and now are slowly but surely killing you . . . you have been forcing people around you . . . even young children . . . to breathe in your extra pollution . . . you have been ignorant of how unsociable it has become . . . no more . . . now you care about yourself and the people around you.
From now on . . . you will find that you are more and more conscious . . . that smoking is bad for you . . . you are more and more aware . . . of the damage it is doing to your health . . . that it is increasing . . . by many times your chances of dying . . . a horrible and painful death . . . from cancer or heart disease . . . you imagine yourself fighting and struggling for breath . . . or suffering with severe damage to your limbs and arteries.
You may fool yourself . . . that this . . . is a long way off . . . but you know it may . . . catch up with you eventually . . . if you carry on smoking . . . you know that smoking is doing serious damage . . . to your limbs and arteries.
You may fool yourself . . . that this . . . is a long way off . . . but you know it will catch up with you eventually . . . you know that smoking is doing serious damage to your general level of fitness . . . you hate the unpleasant taste in your mouth and throat . . . you hate the way that smoke makes your hair and clothes smell . . . especially when you know that other people around you . . . are noticing it, too . . . so many people have been able to give up now . . . and they notice it more when you smell of smoke . . . even being beside you makes their own clothes smell.
You know how much smoking is costing you and how much better you can spend the money on other things . . . you know that deep down you are lying to yourself . . . when you tell yourself that smoking calms and relaxes you . . . it’s only a crutch – you can cope easily without it . . . you know it is really only making you more tense . . . it is no longer sociable, in fact the smoker is now a misfit . . . a danger to non-smokers . . . forcing them to become passive smokers . . . against their will.
You find the thought of a cigarette . . . so disgusting . . . that you do not want to even pick one up . . . from now on you cut off any urge to have a cigarette . . . before it even strikes you . . . by relaxing . . . and slowing down your breathing . . . as you do this the urge to smoke . . . disappears . . . your subconscious is finding ways to get rid of your smoking habit . . . redirecting the satisfaction . . . to a good habit . . . more advantageous to you . . . you have no desire at all from now on to smoke . . . your craving has gone . . . forever.
The whole idea of smoking is offensive to you . . . you just don’t need it any more . . . your inner mind finds safe and effective ways to rid yourself of this . . . revolting habit . . . and as your complete mastery . . . over your former smoking habit increases . . . you become proud of your self-control and willpower . . . your lungs and throat . . . feel so much clearer . . . you have much more energy . . . you feel so much more relaxed . . . even food tastes so much better . . . and you enjoy it so much more . . . although you find your appetite doesn’t increase . . . you feel more like eating healthy foods . . . and so you find you are able to maintain your desired weight much more easily . . . while protecting your body . . . from the poison of further smoking . . . your inner mind automatically balancing your food intake . . . to keep you fit and healthy . . . your resistance to illness and disease increases steadily day by day . . . now just take a deep breath . . . and relax . . . now take a deep breath . . . and relax.
Anxiety can create panic attacks, and panic attacks can be linked to an unspecified phobia. Panic attacks, phobias and anxiety go hand in hand. Fear of cars, driving, sex, motorways, bridges, tubes, planes, spiders, snakes and new phobias are rife now because of our busy world full of technology and change. Hypnosis has always been the most successful of all the therapies so this can be your chance to get rid of that irritating phobia.
Relax your body . . . let your body go limp . . . and comfortable . . . allow yourself the luxury of releasing all the tension . . . help yourself along by slowly . . . and lavishly . . . taking in a deep breath . . . now gently and slowly let that breath out . . . emptying your lungs completely . . . breathe in slowly once again and now let that breath out calmly and comfortably . . . Once again, breathe in slowly and notice how you feel so much more relaxed . . . and you now begin to release that breath . . . see your body loosening . . . floating through what is happening . . . that wonderful . . . pure . . . relaxation . . . allowing time to pass . . . and perfectly willing to let the time pass . . . detach yourself from any feelings and thoughts about what is happening . . . let your inner mind instruct your body that there is nothing at all physically wrong with you . . . all that has been happening is that your over-sensitive nerves are playing tricks on you . . . and you are misreading them . . . Just like sometimes excitement can be mistaken for fear . . . so many other feelings can be mistaken.
From now on . . . slowly and comfortably . . . you will find you can venture out into the places that once made you nervous . . . you find that each day that passes you feel comfortable and more at ease . . . very relaxed and calm in these places . . . You even feel pleasantly excited . . . and look forward to going out . . . the more you venture out the easier it becomes . . . and the calmer you become . . . your confidence grows and you feel so very proud of your achievements.
You can go outside your house whenever you want to . . . when you are outside you are calm, relaxed and in control . . . your heartbeat is steady and your breathing is regular . . . you are confident and happy outside in the fresh air . . . you picture yourself going to visit friends and enjoying their company.
Your home is a comfortable place to be . . . but you accept that you can go outside happily and confidently whenever you desire to do so . . . picture in your mind someone asking you if you are staying at home today and you say . . . ‘No, I am going out’ . . . you say this proudly and mean it.
You no longer focus on people’s attention . . . if people seem to look at you it just won’t bother you at all . . . it will seem just as if they are observing you with some slight interest . . . it will not bother you in the least . . . you have no need to feel self-conscious because you are so calm and relaxed . . . and whenever you need to do something quickly you find that is easy too . . . You take pleasure in observing other people and life in general . . . Now you find all you need to do to relax . . . take a deep breath . . . and allow that relaxation to soothe your body . . . and mind . . . allowing you to enjoy where you are . . . and deal with any obstacles that arise . . . Your mind clears and you find it easy to do all the simple things . . . that were once so easy . . . and have become easier again . . . You take control of any situation easily . . . whenever you need to . . . without a second thought . . . it comes so naturally . . . Very soon all the worries of the past will be in the past . . . and your future is bright and at the pace you feel comfortable with.
As you relax deeper and deeper you find that the resources are within yourself to help you lose that old unwarranted fear of heights . . . Picture yourself climbing towards the top of a ladder . . . watch yourself shake with fear and see your fright . . . now allow yourself to see that the effects of fear can look very comical . . . Imagine a grown adult scared to death of a tiny spider . . . running away in a panic and squealing . . . Your fear is just as funny to a person who is not afraid of heights . . . You may have felt in the past that your fear is protective . . . but you know it to be destructive . . . now picture yourself in a real past situation when you were high up and it frightened you . . . imagine yourself reversing the process . . . like running a video backwards . . . to where you began before you were high up . . . Do this three times . . . and then rerun a new picture of yourself climbing up with ease and without any discomfort . . . See yourself happy and enjoying the experience . . . knowing that your natural protection is always there . . . you have just erased the unnatural protection . . . that has been causing you such distress in the past . . . no more . . . now life is much easier and your world is so much safer. Practise again with your ladder now, noticing that you can get higher easily . . . without fear . . . each time you practise in your imagination . . . you realize there is no fear left . . . and this is now your reality.
The fear of public speaking is one of the most common phobias people have and yet one of the least complicated to clear, as generally much of the fear has been created and reinforced by people being told it is difficult. It can affect people in many contexts, not least of all in the workplace. For this reason the script ‘Fear of public speaking’ can be found in Chapter 7.
This script is for anyone who feels very uncomfortable at making friends at networking events.
Because you want to use your personality and persuasion that you use in your business and social life . . . with friends . . . you find that you become comfortable and confident at networking events that can bring you more business and contacts . . . Your good persuasive talk . . . that people like and find attractive in business . . . can now apply in your networking meetings . . . You find that when you are networking that you confidently give out your cards or brochures and look and feel confident and comfortable . . . instead of feeling shy and reserved you kick into the way you are with friends . . . you find a way of breaking the ice . . . You do this as you would in your business or with friends . . . you find the right conversation or questions to ask to put the person at ease . . . Like in business you may make mistakes at first . . . but you soon learn what is good for you to break the ice . . . then you can talk easily to new contacts and do your business talk . . . Making use of networking . . . rather than being disappointed . . . and not enjoying it . . . and wanting to leave as soon as possible . . . instead a wonderful calmness and easiness and challenge replaces the negative feelings . . . It becomes as natural as talking to your favourite friends . . . easy and natural . . . allowing you to enjoy networking events . . . in fact you look forward to them and to experimenting with your business talk and closing . . . Instead you enjoy the challenge.
Imagine you are speaking to one of your closest friends and feeling at ease with what you are saying . . . As you are talking a few people start to enter the room . . . It is a large room and there is plenty of space . . . You realize that this room is set out for a meeting, with plenty of chairs . . . and the people coming in are preparing to settle down on the chairs for a talk . . . Because you feel so relaxed . . . you realize that people strolling in are not bothering you at all . . . in fact, you feel more relaxed . . . knowing that the people coming in are friendly . . .
From now on you feel free . . . All the constrictions you have been aware of in the past disappear . . . and you can enjoy the pleasures of being in the outside world free from fear . . . It is not a dangerous place and all unnecessary fears will disappear . . . You can imagine them being put down a waste chute . . . thrown away in the rubbish bin or locked away in a trunk . . . or you can create a method yourself now . . .
[Pause for 30 seconds.]
You find that this new strategy clears your mind . . . so you are able to use your instincts . . . to protect you from people or places that would cause you distress.
The freedom from fear will release you . . . and enable you to enjoy places you go and people you meet . . . Your natural joy and sense of humour will replace your fears and you will automatically become more light-hearted and confident . . . This will attract people to you and you will make friends easily.
The following are suggestions to get you back into meeting people after you have done some of the phobia work immediately above.
Because you no longer fear the unknown . . . the benefits to your social . . . domestic . . . and work life are limitless . . . You are happier each day because you enjoy meeting people and being in their company . . . and you enjoy and look forward to being in new places and situations . . . new places excite you. With this new-found freedom you find that your personality is able to develop . . . exactly how you want it to be . . . You may want to be dynamic . . . you may want to be a good listener . . . you may want to be more up front . . . whatever you choose you find you attract and enjoy the company of the type of people you wish . . . who give you the friendship and companionship you are seeking.
You are happy in the knowledge that you have a more contented . . . exciting and dynamic lifestyle . . . as you find it more and more easy to go out and socialize with friends of both sexes.
The world is a happy, friendly and safe place to enjoy . . . a place to meet people and to achieve fulfilment . . . a place to enjoy a new-found confidence in yourself.
As you enjoy the company of your friends . . . they also enjoy your spontaneous and confident humour . . . You are realizing your full potential.
The next few scripts deal with the common fears of animals, spiders and snakes. For the animal one, you may want to insert the name of the specific animal or animals you feel phobic about.
Imagine the animal standing behind the bars of a cage . . . just like at the zoo . . . imagine this vividly . . . now say the word ‘relax’ in your mind . . . breathe slowly and deeply . . . allowing your body and mind to relax . . . Now the animal is closer . . . less than a metre away . . . Now you are the animal . . . take the place of the animal . . . It is calm and relaxed in your company and you are just part of the scenery and it gets on with its life . . . knowing that you are not a threat or harmful . . . and so it can relax and get on with its little life . . . As the animal, create an image of how the person ahead should behave . . . Now change places back and bring with you the information from the animal . . . now observe the information . . . consider it and realize how clever and sophisticated your answer is . . . You feel so relaxed now . . . knowing that you are able to live in your world with the species that once frightened you . . . You know you take sensible precautions when dealing with any animal or insect . . . But you know now there is no need for any unwarranted feelings except calm . . . and happiness.
It’s because you want to live your life to the full . . . getting the most out of every day . . . followed by nights of blissful sleep . . . that it is now time for you to take charge of your life.
It is time to drop the irrational behaviour that no longer serves you . . . there is no longer the need to be concerned about insects . . . no need for sleepless nights, no need to look silly and helpless.
Spiders and other crawling insects have all got one thing in common . . . they’re all cold-blooded . . . that means, to them, you may seem a positive furnace! Certainly, with spiders we make their ‘hairs’ stand on end in fear . . . in truth, they are very frightened of us and, not being aggressive, they run as fast as they can to get away from us . . . when we chase them. They are so scared that they roll themselves into a ball and play dead . . . hoping we will move out of their now terrorized life . . . if they can avoid you they will . . . your world and their world exist side by side, but they want to have nothing to do with you . . . they just want to get on with their lives.
We know so little about their world . . . and if we did . . . we wouldn’t fear them . . . many insects do really useful jobs for us, like eating woodworm . . . always remember that to them . . . we may even look like gods . . . compared to them we are huge . . . immense beings . . . to be avoided at all costs.
There is no need to kill them . . . because they cannot harm you . . . recognize the real situation . . . instead of your unreal fear . . . just let them be . . . going about their simple lives . . . or if the situation requires it . . . put a glass over them . . . gently slide some paper under the glass . . . taking care not to harm your small, wondering friend . . . then you can carry him to a place outside . . . your lives are separate again, as, indeed, your worlds will always be.
Remember that . . . FEAR . . . stands for Fantasies Envisaged As Real . . . negative fantasies are the source of all fears . . . ‘being’ in reality means that you cannot feel fear . . . you can only respond to a situation in an appropriate way.
You need never react in unnecessary phobic fear again . . . from now on you can respond as a conscious being . . . responsible . . . and completely in charge of the way you live your life . . . from now on, you choose your life . . . THIS IS FREEDOM . . . and it feels great!
Remember these are only some examples of scripts that I’ve used with clients over the years with great results. If you look on my website www.selfhypnosisthebook.com you’ll find more suggestions that you can use as they are or personalize to your own liking. It is a good idea to reread Chapter 6 to remind yourself of the rules of formulating suggestions when personalizing them. It is easy to forget an important point that might make all the difference between a script that just works rather than one that will bring about great results.
