Tell me about self-hypnosis

I bought a book from the net when I was searching for suitable books to cure my OCD. I came upon one and I like the description. I finally got the book with the help of my friend's paypal a few days ago and I tried one of the steps, which is self-hypnosis, indicated in the book to find out what childhood experiences were causing me trauma till this day to cause a mental disorder.

I took a really long time to go into a relaxed state and I felt like my eyelids are subconsciously opening up even though I closed them. Is that normal? Because that happened to me too when I tried meditation with the help of a sound.

I guess I was partially successful after a long while as I see flashbacks of my past. But I was still rather aware of my surroundings. I might be able to recall those memories even without the help of engaging my subconscious because they seemed rather okay to me. But there was a point I almost felt like crying.

I was in the living room of my old house. Seems like my height went back to a kid's height again. I squat down to look at the decorative items in the cabinet and there was no one around. Before that I was probably at other places with no one around too. I turned to look at the kitchen and my parents were arguing. Then the scene changed to where I was at that point of time when they argued really badly - in my bedroom, under my blanket, listening to their quarrel and shouts. One of the flashback consists of me looking at my father sitting on his chair at a taller height but I didn't speak a word to him.

Spoiler for Self-hypnosis steps indicated in the book:

Step by step self-Hypnosis

When practicing hypnosis, rather then waiting for the very moment you enter the hypnotic state, you should simply concentrate on relaxing your mind and body. You are not going to enter a state where you are unaware of your surrounding. This is natural and is all part of it being a SAFE thing to do. Below is given a step-by-step explanation of self-hypnosis. You may find it easier to read through these steps a few times before trying them out.

Step One:

Either sit in a comfortable chair with your legs uncrossed and your hands on your lap or lie down on a bed with your legs uncrossed and hands on both sides of your body. Take as long as you need to settle yourself down with the intention of relaxing your mind and body.

Step Two:

Take a deep breath and hold it in for a few seconds and simply feel the tension on any part of your body such as your chest, face or your shoulder. As you exhale simply let go of yourself. Now take in another deep breath and after a few seconds as you exhale, if you haven’t already, close your eyes and relax. While your mind is getting relaxed if any distracting thoughts enter your mind, don’t try to force it to go away, simply observe it, let it pass and then get back to the process.

Step Three:

Visualise yourself standing on top of a staircase with ten steps. As you take the first step imagine your body and mind relaxing. As you do so, simply let go of yourself. As you take the second step imagine yourself relaxing even further. Take rest of the steps while getting into a deeper and deeper state of relaxation. Once you have reached the bottom of the staircase your whole body and mind will be completely relaxed. Say to your self “Anytime I say, think or hear the word “RELAX”, I go into an instant state of relaxation”. At the bottom of the staircase imagine there is a door. Gently open the door and visualise in front of you, the most beautiful and relaxing scene. It could be a beautiful garden, a meadow, a place you have visited that gives you happy memories. Take a few minutes to really get a feel of the scene and enjoy all the senses possible. Take notes of what you see, what you hear, what you smell and simply enjoy being there.

Step Four:

Once your mind is deeply relaxed the next stage is uncovering the problems. At this stage you may find that old suppressed memories instantly surface as images or flashbacks. You may then consciously start uncovering these memories by using the finger signal (explained below on this page). You may ask whether these memories were caused by a single traumatic incident, when it happened, how you were feeling at that time, was it something somebody said to you, was it something somebody did to you, was it something you heard etc. Using the finger signal you can narrow in onto the moment the problem started.

Once the memory of when it all began comes to you, start asking yourself questions on exactly why you felt that way such as; did you misunderstand the situation as a child? Were you in an emotional state of mind? etc.

In hypnosis when a memory does surface, rather than just remembering the past you need to really feel the emotions. Simply be there and experience the emotions so that you can trace it to the moment it started.

You may not instantly recall the suppressed memories, which is not unusual. Simply stay in the trance state and the memories will eventually surface. As mentioned earlier our subconscious remembers everything. It is just a matter of time till you recall the consciously forgotten memories. Uncovering the past can be sensitive and anxiety evoking. If you feel that you do not want to face the past on your own you can seek a trained health professional. However, you may feel that you are confident in
facing the past and you may use another finger signal to give yourself a specific signal such as a movement of the thumb to signal that you at that moment wish to leave the problem until a later time.

(The finger Signal: While in hypnosis a simple yet powerful way of narrowing down to the root cause of a problem is the finger signal. While in hypnosis if the answer to a question is “yes” you can move the fore finger of your right hand and if the answer to a question is “no” then you can move the fore finger of your left hand. It is a simple and efficient way of going into the past and finding hidden memories, which we consciously may not be able to recall.)

Step Five:

Once the negative thought has been identified the next step is to replace it with a thought with a positive outcome.

Step Six:

Once you are ready to come out of hypnosis, imagine standing at the bottom of the staircase with ten steps. With each and every step you take up the staircase, you become more and more aware of your surrounding. Once you have reached the top of the staircase slowly open your eyes and get ready to get up.

AM I DOING IT RIGHT?

You've certainly been more successful than me in that endeavor. Self-hypnosis, using the above usual steps, never works for me, and nor does typical hypnosis. I do wish it did....would be nice to experiment with. You should also try the self-hypnosis videos on youtube....they came closer to bringing me to a relaxed, deep state.

You're definitely doing it right though - after all, to solve a problem, you must first identify it. :)

For me, ASMR videos will be the only ones that put me into that deep, trance state.

I'm pretty light-hearted since yesterday after I had those flashbacks. Makes me feel my problems ain't just an endless loop of problems. :)