Uh-Oh, I’m Not Good at Following Directions

Every so often one of the moms in our class has a hard time following directions during hypnosis exercises.  While there is some debate on this issue, most hypnotherapists agree that if you’re good at visualizing and at following directions, you’ll be a natural for hypnosis.  Even if you’re not good at one or both of these things, there’s still hope.  Milton Erickson, MD, a famous psychiatrist and hypnotherapist, used to tell the story that his best hypnotherapy client took 300 times to get into hypnosis.  Most people easily get into the hypnotic state on their first attempt.  We travel through the hypnotic state at least twice a day, when we move from being asleep to being awake in the morning and from being awake to being asleep at night.  It’s part of our natural everyday experience, so for most of us, it’s a piece of cake.

Now, if you find that during hypnosis practice, you’re off at the beach instead of creating glove anesthesia or exploring a forest instead of releasing your fears, you may be part of the group that has a harder time following directions.  Here are some ideas to assist you in your hypnosis practice:

• Concentrate on really listening to the instructions being given.  Do your practice sessions during the day when you are not tired, this will help you keep from drifting to sleep, making it harder for your mind to drift.
• Modify the scripts slightly to fit your needs, while following the purpose of the script.  For example, if you’re listening to Rainbow Relaxation and the rainbow visualization doesn’t work for you, try something one of the moms in our class did, change the rainbow to rainbow colored flowers or something similar that works for you.  If you’re working on glove anesthesia, you can modify the approach to work for you, but make sure you are in fact practicing creating glove anesthesia.
• Practice Special Place as this may become an important technique for you during labor.  Special Place is a technique where you are guided to create a special environment of your own design and then get engrossed in it like a good movie.  This gives you the chance to get deeply relaxed while following your own path and using your creativity.  Track 1, Special Place, on your Birthing Zone CD will guide you through this practice.