I’ve been trying for a while now and I seem to get into a trance, but only just, however I’ve never been hypnotised so I’m not entirely sure (one of the things I try is imagining my arms are tied to my bed with rope, I find it slightly difficult to lift my arms and can feel them being pulled down, but I’ve never actually got it so I can’t physically lift my arms). I do deepeners such as the staircase method too.
Hi there,
We need to clear up something here 
… depth of trance is (IMHO) a misleading term (that academics and such have used and we all sort of have bought into).
Perhaps it is more useful to ask what ‘effect’ are you trying to achieve? All of those ’signs’ that are traditionally used to ‘measure’ depth of trance are things that I can get from most people, whether they are standing with their eyes wide open or they are sitting deep in a relaxed state on a chair.
If you are linking "not being able to lift your arms" with depth of trance then you might be on the wrong track.
By the way, I can guarantee that you have been in a deep trance before … you just weren’t aware of it. In fact I’ll bet you’ve been in one today … we all do all the time (it’s a natural state).
With all that said, here are a few tips that might help you achieve whatever it is you are trying to achieve:
1. Try to have one arm go weightless only as fast as the other one goes heavy … you get to focus on difference and this can be very effective in amplifying the process.
2. Try recording your own ’script’ over some trancy background music and play it to yourself in a comfortable relaxed environment (you just need to follow along then),
3. You probably are already doing a form of progressive relaxation … and it is really good to train your muscles to let go. Try the following progressive relaxation exercise on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1nJpxoiPjA&feature=related … I’ve followed along and found it pretty good.
3. Try a guided visualization as a deepener where you imagine you are lying on a lilo, floating on a pool, then imagine you float outside of your body and you can look down at it from way above … floating in the air …. and see if you can get that body down there to move it’s arms or not (warning … this might be powerful so perhaps you will want to record this and also the reintegration into your body bit at the end … don’t want you to be too disassociated from your physical self when you come out of this.)
I could go on but the thing is to not worry about ‘depth’ but about effect … what is it you want to achieve … then creatively experiment with approaches until you get the effect you want.
Good luck
Hi there,
We need to clear up something here
… depth of trance is (IMHO) a misleading term (that academics and such have used and we all sort of have bought into).
Perhaps it is more useful to ask what ‘effect’ are you trying to achieve? All of those ’signs’ that are traditionally used to ‘measure’ depth of trance are things that I can get from most people, whether they are standing with their eyes wide open or they are sitting deep in a relaxed state on a chair.
If you are linking "not being able to lift your arms" with depth of trance then you might be on the wrong track.
By the way, I can guarantee that you have been in a deep trance before … you just weren’t aware of it. In fact I’ll bet you’ve been in one today … we all do all the time (it’s a natural state).
With all that said, here are a few tips that might help you achieve whatever it is you are trying to achieve:
1. Try to have one arm go weightless only as fast as the other one goes heavy … you get to focus on difference and this can be very effective in amplifying the process.
2. Try recording your own ’script’ over some trancy background music and play it to yourself in a comfortable relaxed environment (you just need to follow along then),
3. You probably are already doing a form of progressive relaxation … and it is really good to train your muscles to let go. Try the following progressive relaxation exercise on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1nJpxoiPjA&feature=related … I’ve followed along and found it pretty good.
3. Try a guided visualization as a deepener where you imagine you are lying on a lilo, floating on a pool, then imagine you float outside of your body and you can look down at it from way above … floating in the air …. and see if you can get that body down there to move it’s arms or not (warning … this might be powerful so perhaps you will want to record this and also the reintegration into your body bit at the end … don’t want you to be too disassociated from your physical self when you come out of this.)
I could go on but the thing is to not worry about ‘depth’ but about effect … what is it you want to achieve … then creatively experiment with approaches until you get the effect you want.
Good luck
References :
I’ve been experimenting with trance and hypnosis for over 25 years plus I am a qualified hypnotherapist. http://howtohypnotise.net
August 30th, 2009