The Secret Movie and Hypnosis

Great Minds think alike!

Despite of read the book many times, I only watched ‘The Secret Movie’ recently. The movie really put inspiration in my not so inspiriting life. I always feel like the words in the movie digging so deeply in my mind. In a way it almost like I was hypnosis.

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The Secret Movie and Hypnosis

Published on the Banyan Hypnosis Mall.

Well, it is becoming less and less of a secret; people from all over the world are watching the new phenomenal movie, The Secret. And, more and more people are turning to the power of hypnosis to make the "Secret" work for them.

What is that movie about? It is about using the Law of Attraction to bring things into you life and how understanding the "Law" will help you to stop bringing unwanted things into your life. Simply put, the Law of Attraction says that which you focus your attention on tends to be drawn to you. This works for both the things that you do and do not want.

Now more and more people are seeking hypnosis training to learn how to do this for themselves and to help others. You see, the problem is that we have these old patterns and painful emotions that are inside of our subconscious minds and these thoughts and emotions have been living there for a long time. They have a life of their own and tend to be generated automatically, even habitually.

The Secret movie, which has been popularized by interviews of contributors to the movie such as Joe Vitale on the Larry King Show, on CNN and others television programs as well. This is moving The Secret into the world consciousness and more people are using the Law of Attraction, and it seems like everyone is proceeding at the best rate that they can to change their point of focus and how they feel about different things in their lives.

Now, insiders are learning that hypnosis is the best way to quickly change from the inside out, enabling them to do what The Secret movie is teaching, to mindfully select thoughts that will attract what you want, rather than what you don't want. It is a process of changing your vibrational frequency to match the positive things that you want, rather than hanging on to those old negative vibrations that keep on producing the same results.

Advanced techniques like 5-PATH® and 7th Path Self-Hypnosis® are especially effective in helping people to implement these positive changes. 5-PATH® will enable a properly trained hypnotherapist to help his or her client remove those automatically generated negative thought patterns and emotions faster than any other approach. 7th Path Self-Hypnosis® also works incredibly well, because it will do the same thing without the need to work with a hypnotherapist face-to-face, and will provide the practitioners with exactly the kind of positive thoughts that will bring the kind of positive things into our lives that we have always wanted, and even open our minds to more positive possibilities.

There is also a new email group on Yahoo where people are talking about The Secret movie and discussing how they are using the powerful Law of Attraction made even more powerful through the use of hypnosis and self-hypnosis. Here is a link to that group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesecretmovie. I hope you will stop by the group on Yahoo and find out more about what all of the "fuss" is about. I think that you will be glad that you did!

More free Meditation/Relaxing Music Download

Robert Norton is one of the best inspired musician. His music is very good to play in the background when working or meditating.

He give out Free MP3 with no cost when you sign up at his website.

Well, it may come with future newsletter in your inbox but also more Free lovely MP3 music so I don’t complain

You can get your Free MP3 at : www.robertnortonmusic.com

Typical Mistakes Made in Formulating Suggestion for Self Hypnosis

I had been searching for the articles for this blog. Then I found this eye-catching Title : Typical Mistakes Made in Formulating Suggestion for Self Hypnosis.

Well, at least it was eye-catching for me. The article was about the hypnosis-patient(or client) who had problem with normal hypnosis method.

It was kind of educated even if it made me feel like it wasn’t really finish.

But…Where is self-hypnosis! Why can’t I find it mention in the article!

If you are interesting, here is the article:

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Typical Mistakes Made in Formulating Suggestion for Self Hypnosis
by Richard Kuhns

My first visit with the client, Jane, with whom I developed this technique that demonstrated 80% success rate, left my office with a full blown anxiety attack--not a good start. I thought I’d never see her again and hoped I wouldn’t hear from her attorney in the form of a law suit. Actually as apologetic and embarrassed as she was, a law suit was a very remote possibility. But I wonder how many clients in similar situations might not be considering law suits against clinicians using inward focusing techniques that can bring on panic attacks. Then again, their personality is not that of a trouble maker and as long as they continue suffering from anxiety, they would never allow themselves to be in a court room for fear of having an anxiety attack and having to run away or lose control.

Inward focus techniques are generally what most professionals use--it's having the client focus on relaxing one's breadth, muscles, thoughts... to learn relaxation. However, in reality, it's these type of techniques that contribute to anxiety attacks.

Within a few days, Jane did call again. She was too fearful to come to the office—she blamed her anxiety attack on my small 12’X12” treatment room which is more than three times the size of most treatment rooms. She asked if I’d consider in-home sessions. Reluctantly I agreed.

A few days later I arrived at her home with an Galvanic Response (GSR) biofeedback instrument in hand. I didn’t want a repeat of our first meeting so I avoided using any relaxation exercises that used inward focus. I took more time to get to know Jane. I got the feeling that she could talk for hours about her symptoms, but I wanted to know more about what stressors led to the beginning of the anxiety attacks. According to the Homes-Rahe Stress Scale, I’d be looking for some rather significant life changes six months to a year before the onset of symptoms.

Yes, her panic and anxiety started about six months after she and her family moved back to NJ from the Florida Keys. “Ah ha,” I thought to my self although I didn’t know what to do with this information at the moment. I learned that she was unhappy living in Florida. She had no close friends and she missed the camaraderie of her sisters and mother back in NJ.

It was so much of a problem that eventually she convinced her husband to change jobs and move back to NJ with her teen age son in expectation of life being the way it used to be. But much to her disappointment, her sisters were married with other interests and the relationship with her mother was different—the camaraderie she remembered was gone. The result was that she was no happier in NJ with her family than she was in the Florida Keys.

To me it seem obvious that she'd want to run away from this whole disappointing mess. How could she explain to her husband the move was for naught? And her teen age son was getting into some trouble with drugs—another disappointment for which she was unprepared.

I explained my take on her plight by asking her, “OK, you were unhappy in Florida, convinced your husband to uproot the family, change jobs, and move back to NJ so you’d be happy with your family only to find that your relationships with your sisters and mother has changed and that your son was getting into trouble. Wouldn’t you just like to run away from this whole embarrassing mess?” She acknowledged that she’d like to escape the whole entire mess, but it's not her nature.

I explained that her brain was simply taking action on that desire. I explained the fight/flight reaction to stress—how when we feel threatened the unconscious intelligence gets us ready to fight or run—even a threat to our egos, family status…--and that since she is not a fighter (personality wise), there’s plenty reason to unconsciously want to run away. But being a responsible person, she would never allow her self to run away.

OK, then we talked about diet and how certain foods can trigger anxiety—sweets, refined carbohydrates, caffeinated beverages…

All this was nice, but she still had trouble understanding how she was ever going to gain control of anxiety since it just happens “out of the blue.”

Essentially, this is the first step—educating the conscious mind. I left her home without ever using the biofeedback instrument and focused on the challenge of making a difference in her life—how to shift her from the conditioned response of anxiety.

First it was apparent to me that the panic anxiety label her primary doctor gave her was in the absence of understanding much about her background. She came to a conclusion that she had a problem and no one knew how to cure it—certainly took her mind off her real problems in life—anxiety was an escape.

In summary, personality factors of being highly responsible led Jane to want to escape the seemingly impossible situation in which she placed her family--a move for naught. Add to that hi-sugar eating habits, a suggestion she gave herself re another family member having had anxiety attacks, and the fight/flight wanting her to escape her family status, and voila, she created agoraphobia and anxiety panic attacks. See the resource box for more information on how to overcome panic and anxiety.

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The article was found at : www.articlecity.com

Can You Hypnotize in Print?

I found this article. The author believes that people can hypnosis when they read. While the article is not very information and the link is broken, I find my self thinking. Is it true?

I tend to believe it. Sometime when I(and I believe you as well) read I feel something left inside myself. Sometime I feel my mood changing, finding myself with more inspiration or more depression. The same happen with some movies too.

It actually makes sense. Reading and watching require focus. Our mind must be committed to that we read or watch or we can’t understand the word. If we can remember what we don’t play attention, what do you think happen to what we really play attention? It must be written very deep in our minds.

Still I don’t want to say they are a true hypnosis. Not only the methods are different but the results are also not the exactly same. Actually I think we should have special name for them.

What do you think it should called?

Your can find the article I refer at : www.contentmart.com

Free Meditation Musis

Sometimes I like to meditate in the silent for it bring me closing to myself as well as the universe. Other times I like to meditate with music so I could feel the harmony of the world as well as the connecting to all.

What do you like?

You could download the Meditation Music for free at : http://www.radiosrichinmoy.org

I like Flute version the best.

How To Accomplish Anything You Want In Life

I found this article from searching ‘www.contentmart.com’. It is one of a very long but useful article so I summed it up(not much because I like most of it.). You can find the link to the full article at the end of this post.

PS. Step 4 is about getting in the state of relaxing. It is one kind of meditation or hypnosis. Check it out!

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HOW TO ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING YOU WANT IN LIFE

Take a look at yourself - inside and out. You can accomplish anything you want in life - that’s true. Once you have a particular goal, you can fulfill that desire by straightforward commitment and total conviction.

No goal is too small; no dream is too big. And even if you aren’t clear on your desires, you can tap into your subconscious mind to get the answers and to find the paths to success.

The most successful leaders and artists throughout history have followed specific paths and attained their hearts’ desires. Keep an open mind and a hopeful outlook - then change your thinking. Put on the clothes of success. Act as though you already have accomplished your desires. Then let the reality catch up.

1. WHAT DO YOU WANT?
If you search your true desires, you might find that there are a few things you want more than others. And, if you keep going in your search, you’ll find one desire that has been with you your whole lifetime and is the one path you need to follow.

2. CATCH UP WITH YOURSELF
Now’s the time to evaluate your life and your desires. Try to find out what your inner desires really are. Once you know, you can formulate a plan of action, and then achieve your goals.

Write down three things you want. Don’t spend time thinking about them - just write them down. You may be surprised at what you want. Can you see any relation to the types of desires most sought for?

Without dwelling on failures, mistakes, or past ill feelings, quickly list the important accomplishments or your life.

Put a star next to the most important accomplishments of your life. Is there any correlation with the list of the three things you want most?

3. MAKE PLANS
Make a list for your future. Write it down - don’t just think it. What would you like to accomplish in the next ten years?

Break that list down into those things you’d like to accomplish in the next five years. Then make one further division into the next six months.

GOAL SHEET
My most important desires are: I
n my lifetime, the most important things I’ve accomplished:
If I looked back on my lifetime in 20 years, I’d like to have accomplished: Within 10 years, I’d like to achieve:
Within 5 years, I’d like to achieve:
In the next six months to a year, these are the things I’m going to do to work towards by goals:

Give yourself credit for your past accomplishments, and give yourself credit for your future achievements. You can and will attain all your goals if you approach them in a step-by-step fashion and if you believe that they are worthwhile for you.
YOU ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN YOUR LIFE.
First consider yourself. Your well-being, your happiness, your success. Make a pact with yourself right now that you will achieve your goals. And make them realistic to reach. Then one by one, make your own life the success it deserves.

*4. BEFORE THE RACE - RELAX
An important step in achieving goals is to be able to relax. You’ll get nowhere is your body and mind are nervous and flitty, jumping from one place or idea to another. In order to focus on your goal, you must center your being.

Relaxation is the balance of the mental, spiritual and physical aspects of yourself. Set aside time each day for deep relaxation - not sleep, but relaxation. The state of deep relaxation is a state of meditation. There are no thoughts in your mind. There are no physical ills or discomforts. You breathe in deeply, allowing the lungs to fill with fresh air, and you exhale all used and stale air. The blood circulates amply throughout every part of your body. You drift through space, ever towards your true destiny.

Exercise or sports is a good way to get into relaxation. The body needs physical stimulation to pump blood into all its extremities, and to give the heart a good workout. Exercise is a wonderful way to let the mind relax, as you place your thoughts on the way your body moves. For many people, sports and exercise are enjoyable ways to feel alive, youthful, and fulfilled.

Then take time to relax. Lie down on your back with your arms out, palms up. Your feet should be about two feet about. You might clench your muscles first, then relax them. Allow your thoughts to drift, but don’t get caught in them. Watch them go by, as if they belong to somebody else.

If you have a special problem, tuck that in the back of your mind - don’t dwell on it up front. Let yourself and your emotions go. Breathe out the negative feelings and emotions; breathe in positive, life-giving air. Float freely. Relax. ASSUME THE BEST. Expect to achieve; expect to accomplish your desires; expect to win. Accept less, but push on to attain more. The higher your goals, the further you’ll go.

The moon is no problem, nor are the neighboring planets. Soon human beings will see close-ups of other star and galaxies. Don’t go for less that your full potential. Shoot for the universe. You owe yourself nothing less.

And aside from the universe, keep yourself on Earth, in your office or studio, working closer to those goals you want to attain. You have a right to be happy. You have the means to be successful. You can succeed in what you desire. Always keep in mind the fact that you are in transit, attaining your goals, moving through life as though you are an actor, and the setting is a stage.

Keep your thoughts firmly planted on prosperity, good fortune and lucky breaks. Assume that you will, in fact, nearly have accomplished your goals. It is with that attitude that successful people achieve.

6. REAP THE REWARDS CONSTANTLY EACH STEP OF THE WAY.
Set goals that you can achieve. Divide them into little tidbits that you can accomplish every day, every month, every year. Set your goals for success.

Pat yourself on the back for a job well done, then move on. Start immediately to accomplish the goals you have set. Dwell on the idea that you are compelled to accomplish your goals, and live and breathe them until you have them.

Visualizing yourself as a success in your field of endeavor is the inside tip in accomplishing anything you want.

7. LEARN YOUR TRADE
Almost any goal you requires learning. There are countless opportunities to learn more about your own industry or to learn about a new skill. Not only do you have the colleges and universities, but there are many trade schools, correspondence schools, and special groups that teach skills - at very reasonable prices.

8. STOP WASTING TIME
Understand what’s important to achieve and do those things first. Let go of all the busywork for paperwork that piles up.

Make lists of things you want to accomplish and do them.

Concentrate on what you’re doing and do one thing at a time. But do it quickly and handle the next thing.

And take the time for physical exercise. It will energize you - not take away from your effectiveness. It relaxes your mind and stimulates your capacity to achieve.

9. LOOK WITHIN If
your subconscious mind has tapped into your goal and believes it is good for you, your energies will direct themselves towards that goal.

Let yourself look within. Release the handicaps of fear and anxiety - even for a moment. You’ll be relaxed and refreshed.

10. USE AFFIRMATIONS
Constant repetition of the goal and the belief that you can attain it.

Form the habit of accomplishment. With every step you take and every decision you make, bring yourself closer to your goals. Walk through your life with this sense of direction and they will come to you.

Develop self-confidence and esteem. Assert yourself and acquire all the excellent qualities and traits you admire most. Visualize the place you live in. Consider your physique, your hair, the condition of your body. Then think about the things you do. What sports do you play, what groups do you belong to?

11. BECOME YOUR FULL POTENTIAL
Keep your goals and ambitions to yourself Write them down and refer to them. Look back at what you wrote in a month, then in a few months. Work on them constantly, and don’t be afraid to revise and rewrite. Goals are always changing.

Think in possibilities. And go for it. Push yourself to go further. The rewards are greater.

Live each day as though you have already reached your goals. There are always new ones to place in front of yourself. Don’t announce your goals.

Don’t chastise yourself if you don’t make it. It may have been unrealistic or you may not have tried hard enough.

Do it yourself. There is nobody better to help you achieve your desires than you. Tap into the power of the subconscious and practice being your own fantasy.

Then go ahead. Act on your convictions. Follow them through with devotions and then reap the rewards. You CAN accomplish anything you want in life.

Full Article : http://www.contentmart.com

Self Hypnosis...What? Why? And How?

I just find this article (don't known why it's called 'Self Hypnosis for Musicians' though, when it actually for everybody).

I'd known most of us already know about self hypnosis(may be more than I). But! I like how the author explained thing as well as answered some of my long-time questions such as:

• What's happen when I asleep when self hypnosis?(I still want more answer of how to avoid that. Any suggestions?)
• Why do I have Stage-fright?

Just browsing around. Maybe you find it interesting as I am. Also if you known any more interesting articles, please tell me. Thank you!

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Self Hypnosis for Musicians

by: Sam Brown

Perhaps you are interested in using hypnosis to help you achieve the goals you have set for yourself, or perhaps you are just curious and interested to learn more. If you are thinking of trying some of the many hypnosis products that are out there but find yourself being sceptical, or even nervous, about what happens in hypnosis then read on.

Firstly What is Hypnosis?

Hypnosis is a state of mind we have all experienced before. It is a naturally occurring state between wakefullness and sleep. Scientists will tell you that your brainwave pattern will be in the Theta-band (as opposed to Beta, which is wide awake, and Delta which is asleep), but as far as you are concerned it is best described as being in a daydream, or ‘trance’ if you like. There are lots of examples of everyday trances - here are a few:

• When you day-dream you are in a light trance - you’ll remember that detached feeling you had at school when you gazed out of the window in a really boring Geography lesson.

• When your eyes are fixed on the flames in a log fire after a long day. You wont even feel like blinking.

• When you are ‘glazing over’ during a conversation with someone really boring and then having to appologise: “Sorry, I was miles away. What was that you were saying?” You are ‘there-but-not-there’.

In each of the above examples you will be momentarilly focussed on one thing - it might be the shape of a cloud in the sky, the flickering flames, or the mole on the guy’s chin - for a few moments your mind filters everything else out, except this one thing, whatever it may be. This filtering phenomena is the key to understanding trance and we will learn more about it later.

Imagine you are at the movies. The film is fantastic, its exciting, exhillerating, emotional, terrifying... Why? It’s only a projection on a screen. The more focussed on the film you are, the more the fact that it is a projection on a cinema screen is kept at an unconscious level. Pretty soon you become so caught up in the story that you are ‘entranced’ by the film. All the emotional content of the film is going straight to your unconscious mind without being vetted by your conscious mind. You believe it, you laugh and you cry. Lots of things will be kept at the unconscious level. The smell of stale pop corn will still be there, but that filter mechanism will decide not to trouble your conscious mind with such a trivial bit of sensory information.

And it doesn’t stop there. For the duration of the film all those niggling worries about money, relationships or work will be kept at bay - and what a relief it is! Some people call it ‘escapism’ - I call it trance. If its a good enough film you will even filter out pain or discomfort - that’s analgesia. I expect in the really exciting bits of a film you have had your hand freeze half way between the bag and your mouth, this is ‘catelepsy’. These are both scientifically recognised states found in profound hypnosis - and here we are experiencing them in the cinema on a Saturday night!

Trance really is an everyday occurrance - and one we can use to great benefit.

So, you are in the cinema watching the film and you are totally absorbed. Your brain is still moitoring your surroundings, but it is not sending this information to your conscious mind. Your unconscious mind, however, is still aknowledging everything. If the smell of pop corn was to change to the smell of burning, your unconscious would sense the possible emergency and break you out of your trance. Your unconscious mind is your guardian angel - it keeps a constant vigil, day and night, protecting you from danger and keeping you safe. Many people can sleep through violent thunder storms because the unconscious mind knows that, although noisy, it is not a threat. Therefore it choses not to send the information to your conscious mind and wake you up!

It is this filtering process in the brain which is the key to understanding Hypnosis. Using the guidance of a skillful hypnotherapist, or the voice on a CD, you can deepen this daydream state.

So the next question is:

How is this trance state useful?

When you are in trance you can comunicate with your unconscious mind. And why would I want to do that, I hear you ask. Well, firstly lets really define what the unconscious (or as some people would call it: ‘subconscious’) mind actually is:

You have probably heard statements like: we only use 5 percent of our brains. Well, if that were the case why is it the size that it is? Obviously the rest of the brain is still being used for something. It might be safer to say that our conscious mind only uses 5 % of our brain. Perhaps our unconscious mind uses the other 95%.

Now, think of all the things you never think about: Breathing, pulse rate, sweating, growing, healing, digesting, blinking, even waking up in the morning. The subconscious mind looks after all of this for you, and loads more. There are millions of things right now that you might not be conscious of until I mention them: like the feeling of the back of the chair on your shoulders, the sound of the fan in your computer, the memory of your first bicycle... As I mentioned them to you your brain’s filter diverted the information to your consciousness. Your brain monitors the sum total of everything that you are experiencing and only sends the important, relevant information to you, your conscious mind. The conscious mind can handle about seven bits of information at a time; the unconscious mind handles millions of bits of information every second. Here are some examples:

• Imagine you are in a crowded room where everyone is chatting away creating a hubbub of noise. If someone in the room starts taking about you and mentions your name, your filter will pick that out of the noise and alert you to it.

• You are scanning through a broadsheet newspaper and suddenly you just know that you saw the name ‘Britney’ somewhere on the page. “I saw it there somewhere... I just know I did...” You then have to spend ten minutes trying to find it. Your unconscious takes in the whole page usong your periferal vision and will filter out the relevant bits and send the information to your conscious mind. Your brain is, at this very moment taking in a staggering amount of information. If you were aware of all of it, with no filter in place, it would be like trying to listen to a thousand different radio stations at once! Thank goodness we only use 5% of our brains!

Your subconscious also stores your emotions. And I’m sure you already know how difficult it can be to over-ride emotions. The subconscious always wins. Walk across a plank spanning 2 tall buildings and your emotions will very quickly present themselves to you, even though your conscious mind knows you are perfectly capable of walking in a straight line. Similarly, if you have been nervous for an audition or performance before, you probably subconsciously believe that you will be again next time. This we can change using hypnosis. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to go into any performance situation feeling confident and in control? And so long as you prepare properly there is no reason why you shouldn’t. We just need to over-write some self-limiting beliefs with some empowering new ones. And this is when we do it - when we are in trance.

If the brain’s filter mechanism focusses on just one thing (could be your breathing, or a sensation, or a thought, all the other sensory information that is being monitored by your brain is not being forwarded to your consciousness - including the suggestions given to you in hypnosis. Your brain, amazing bit of kit that it is, still ‘hears’ the words - it just does not see the point of alerting your conscious mind to them. It hears the suggestions, thinks “Hmmm, I like the sound of that”, and accommodates it into your new beliefs and habits.

Now you would be forgiven for thinking that that you could go around hypnotizing people to give you all their money, or get them to tell their boss that he is an Orang-Utang, but fortunately the unconscious mind has another function: it is your very own guardian angel. It will under no circumstances accept any sugestions that are potentially harmful or against your code of ethics. It’s such a shame that Hollywood has misunderstood hypnosis and portrayed it so woefully in-accurately. You cant be brainwashed, you cant get stuck in trance forever and you will not quack like a duck unless that is something that you really want to do.

What happens in a hypnosis session:

• 1) The induction. This talks you down into a deeply relaxed state. When the body relaxes, so too does the mind. You experience a tranquil peacefulness - your mind balanced between being awake and asleep, but still 100% aware. You’ll perhaps know that your nose itches, but you cant be bothered to move your hand to scratch it. Just 2 or 3 minutes in this trance state can be as refreshing as a two hour nap!

• 2) Next the suggestions go in. “I feel confident”, “I exude a powerful stage presence” and so on and so forth. When using comercial hypnosis CDs and tapes, there are often multiple suggestions coming from both sides of the stereo image. The conscious mind will only be able to track one or two sentenses at a time, leaving the third to slip through to the unconscious ‘under the radar’ so to speak. With some CDs ‘subliminal’ suggestions are recorded very faintly in the background - you cannot hear them ‘consciously’ but many believe that the unconscious mind will pick them up and act upon them. I personally believe that there has to be some evidence that these subliminal suggestions are actually there. You do not need to catch every syllable of a sentence to understand its meaning and if a CD has faint voices burried in the mix, I believe that the unconscious is accute enough to home in on these suggestions and act upon them.

• 3) Finally the Wake-up. Since you are not asleep ‘wake-up’ is completely the wrong term. I prefer ‘outro’ (the opposite of ‘intro’) myself. Here there are often extra suggestions to the effect that you’ll find it even easier to go into trance the next time, or that you’ll be able to go deeper. Then there will be some kind of command to return to the normal waking state. This is often a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. If you find you really drift off very deeply during the hypnosis session you might only hear the last couple of numbers. This is a good indication of a deep trance. If you were very tired when you started the session you might actually drift off to sleep. The suggestions wont be as effective, so try chosing a less comfortable chair and time your session when you have more energy. In fact, if you suffer from insomnia just leave the outro off the play list!

As well as suggestions, you can also use guided visualisations during trance. This is phenominally effective. Sports men and women have been using this technique for years, but we can all do it. The Cosmetic Surgeon and Psychologist Maxwell Maltz was the first to understand that the brain cannot tell the difference between a real action and a vividly imagined action. Think about that for a moment. Your intelectual, rational conscious mind knows the difference, but your unconscious mind doesn’t. When you are not conscious, you’re asleep... and when you are asleep you vividly imagine things, dont you? Yes you do, it’s called dreaming! And dont dreams feel one hundred percent real at the time? I call it real-virtual-reality! It’s true: the brain cannot tell the difference between a real action and a vividly imagined action.

So, if we vividly imagine feeling alert, enthusiastic and confident as we play a few dozen times, then when we perform for real - the brain thinks, “OK, here we go again, I’ve experienced this before”, and you’ll find yourself feeling alert, enthusiastic and confident - just like you imagined. The only rules are that you have to make the visualisation as real as you possibly can, and as often as you possibly can.

Sadly we have all been the victim of negative visualisation! In a recording session 20 seconds before the end of the take, the musician might screw up because he had ‘seen him/herself’ screwing up. They get more and more tense as the take rolls on all the time thinking “I bet you I miss that twiddly bit in the coda”. Sure enough, they do. Negative visualisation is just as effective as positive visualisation. Using hypnosis we can turn that around.

But where did we learn to be so down on ourselves? Humans only have two innate fears: sudden loud noises and the fear of falling. All other fears are learnt, which implies that someone taught us or that we have taught ourselves. Perhaps your teacher at school was a bad comunicator and you did not achieve very much - you might then be of the opinion that you were not very talented. Often when we were children our teachers only told us what to learn and not how to learn. With the right learning strategy we might have achieved much much more, instead we have mentally rubber-stamped ‘mathmatics’, for instance, as being difficult. Stage-fright has to be learnt. As youngsters if we are not prepared for performing infront of an audience, we are like a rabit in the headlights - petrified. A one-off negative emotion like this can be enough to trigger the same reaction every time you perform. The situation triggers the memory, and it does not seem to matter how deeply the memory might be burried in your unconscious, you might not remember the experience consciously at all, the reaction is the same - racing pulse, knotted stomach, sweatty hands - all classic fight or flight responses, all inappropriate, and all preventing us from playing at our best. Imagine having the stage presence of Mick Jagger or the confidence of Buddy Rich, the command of Yasha Heifitz or the focus of John Coltrane. Well why not? You just need to take a few steps toward re-programming your unconscious. It wont replace the need for practise, but often it is not our physical abilities that let us down, it is our mental state. We can all play like gods in our bedroom, but on stage in front of a couple of thousand people it is not so easy!

Hypnosis changes the irrational beliefs we have about ourselves and all of a sudden we break through the bockages that have been there for years. The key is in the imagination and the ability to enter that perfect mental state for learning - ie trance, be it light trance or deep.

For details on the Self Hypnosis for Musicians CD, as well as a plethora of links to other great hypnosis sites and products, visit http://www.sambrown.co.uk/