self hypnosis

Cluck Cluck, Bok, Cluck Cluck Cluck, peck bok

(Translation: It seems to have worked, see? I'm a chicken)

Haven't tried self-hypnosis myself, but I've been practicing medititation for around a year and a half. Many of the self-hypnosis sites I've seen deal more with meditative techniques than actual hypnosis. Many offer relaxation exercises as well. A few people have told me self-hypnosis can potentially be rather dangerous, especially to the untrained. Other people have told me it's simply not possible, but I don't know. What is the actual site?

i don't remember the specific site, but there is plenty on the subject out there. I actually went out and bought two books on it that had great users reviews on amazon. I am interested to see what i find out.

I'm interested as well... if anything comes of it(or doesnt) make a thread about it so we can hear how it worked out.

Couldn't you just pretend to hypnotize yourself? I mean, really, who's going to know?

Do you expect hypnotised people to reply to this thread? [grin]

ace

Self-Hypnosis, Jedi-style. It's actually a pretty interesting website if you get past some of the obscurity.

I think the basic idea of self-hypnosis is to relax yourself and try to feel yourself becoming more relaxed or focused or whatever you're trying to achieve. Sometimes believing in something makes it work for you. Like if you believe a certain mantra or ritual will make you more focused, it will.

I've made myself more focused by doing similar things.

i became interested in this subject after doing some reading on the placebo affect. While different from hypnosis, they both illustrate the power that suggestion can have on the mind. Once i do a little reading and experimenting, i will make another post.

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Original post by corrington_j i became interested in this subject after doing some reading on the placebo affect. While different from hypnosis, they both illustrate the power that suggestion can have on the mind. Once i do a little reading and experimenting, i will make another post.

Hypnosis most likely is just a placebo affect with people. Wikipedia has a good quote on it: "This suggestibility has led some psychologists to believe that hypnosis does not actually correspond to any underlying mechanism of the human mind, but is merely a social construct so well-known that strong social expectations are played out by subjects, who believe they are in a state of hypnosis, behaving in a way that they imagine a hypnotized person would behave."

you could always try bwgen.

This and this explain a bit of the theory behind how/(why?) it works.

Because it's amusing and slightly topical:

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A woman comes home from the hypnotist and tells her husband, "Remember those headaches I've been having all these years? Well, they're gone." "No more headaches?" the husband asks, "What happened?" His wife replies, "Margie referred me to a hypnotist. He told me to stand in front of a mirror, stare at myself and repeat 'I do not have a headache; I do not have a headache; I do not have a headache.' It worked! The headaches are all gone." The husband replies, "Well, that is wonderful." His wife then says, "You know, you haven't been exactly a ball of fire in the bedroom these last few years. Why don't you go see the hypnotist and see if he can do anything for that?" The husband agrees to try it. Following his appointment, the husband comes home, rips off his clothes, picks up his wife and carries her into the bedroom. He puts her on the bed and says, "Don't move, I'll be right back." He goes into the bathroom and comes back a few minutes later and jumps into bed and makes passionate love to his wife like never before. His wife says, "Boy, that was wonderful!" The husband says, "Don't move! I will be right back." He goes back into the bathroom, comes back and round two was even better than the first time. The wife sits up and her head is spinning. Her husband again says, "Don't move, I'll be right back." With that, he goes back in the bathroom. This time, his wife quietly follows him and there, in the bathroom, she sees him standing at the mirror and saying, "She's not my wife. She's not my wife. She's not my wife!

So remember, self-hypnosis can bring the love back into your life!

Yep I've done self hypnosis and have hypnotised others. It can really focus your mind.

Selfhypnosis, meditation, praying, baptism, satanic rites, wiccan masses or whatever you want to call it, obviously have effects. Why else would 94.542% of the world population commit to it in one way or another? And obivously it has quite a strong impact on people since they gain faith, hope and beliefs from it, not to mention those that see god in one shape or another.

Just look at people that go to church to pray to god for strength to do deeds that they might have trouble with. Sometimes they even get to the state that they believe god told them to kill people and whatnot. Thats quite a powerful suggestion.

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Original post by Zorak Selfhypnosis, meditation, praying, baptism, satanic rites, wiccan masses or whatever you want to call it, obviously have effects. Why else would 94.542% of the world population commit to it in one way or another? And obivously it has quite a strong impact on people since they gain faith, hope and beliefs from it, not to mention those that see god in one shape or another.

Hypnosis is not the same thing as meditation, although I would say meditation is akin to prayer and the like. With meditation, there is no suggestive thoughts going on - there is no thought (and all thought, to be philosophical). I went to a stop-smoking seminar that 'hypnotized' you into quitting. I could have saved the $50 and meditated at home, for all the good it did me. :(

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Just look at people that go to church to pray to god for strength to do deeds that they might have trouble with. Sometimes they even get to the state that they believe god told them to kill people and whatnot. Thats quite a powerful suggestion.

Many of these people have a little help from more earthly beings ...

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Original post by stylin Hypnosis is not the same thing as meditation, although I would say meditation is akin to prayer and the like. With meditation, there is no suggestive thoughts going on - there is no thought (and all thought, to be philosophical). I went to a stop-smoking seminar that 'hypnotized' you into quitting. I could have saved the $50 and meditated at home, for all the good it did me. :(

Well I disagree. Maybe I am wrong but, imho meditation is as suggestive as any of the other above stated methods. Just look at Buddah and his nirvana and whatnot. I believe that the state of calmness, insight and whatnot are a product of suggestion like all the other methods. Only that the suggestion is rather a lack of anything then a presence of something.

Rather then having emptying your head, you create the suggestion that it is clear.

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Many of these people have a little help from more earthly beings ...

Indeed. And I do not think that there is anything wrong with it either. Im acctually happy to see that people get help and comfort in their religious beliefs.

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Original post by Zorak Well I disagree. Maybe I am wrong but, imho meditation is as suggestive as any of the other above stated methods. Just look at Buddah and his nirvana and whatnot. I believe that the state of calmness, insight and whatnot are a product of suggestion like all the other methods. Only that the suggestion is rather a lack of anything then a presence of something. Rather then having emptying your head, you create the suggestion that it is clear.

There are many ways to meditate, and many methods used. In my studies I have not come across one that is suggestive in nature. It implies that you don't have control - and with meditation the whole point is that you do have control. I look at meditation as a probe, or a key. You're not trying to paint, you're trying to view - and I don't think it's just a matter of linguistics here.

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Quote: Many of these people have a little help from more earthly beings ... Indeed. And I do not think that there is anything wrong with it either. Im acctually happy to see that people get help and comfort in their religious beliefs.

I fully agree. I was just saying that many murderous zealots are not murderous mainly because of the belief - they are taught to hate.

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Original post by stylin There are many ways to meditate, and many methods used. In my studies I have not come across one that is suggestive in nature. It implies that you don't have control - and with meditation the whole point is that you do have control. I look at meditation as a probe, or a key. You're not trying to paint, you're trying to view - and I don't think it's just a matter of linguistics here.

I see where you are getting at. However, I have a hard time agreeing with this. Believe me, I have had this discussion several times with my exroommate who keep stating the very same thing as you.

However, _every_ time I see someone going into the state of meditation they have their rituals and whatnot. All of which I believe is part of the suggestion. Be it darkness, a special pillow, insense, a temple or whatever they use, every time they are about to meditate. And most often they have read about it in books, how to do it etc. If you get the knowledge about how you meditate from an external source, you are bound to be put into suggestion from that source. And all the trinkets you use around it and all the things you do before you start or while meditating are a kind of ritual that helps you get into a suggestive state.

IMHO that is. I have no sources of this. Just my own thoughts.

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I fully agree. I was just saying that many murderous zealots are not murderous mainly because of the belief - they are taught to hate.

Oh, no. What I meant by taking up killings in the name of some god or another as just how strong the suggestions can get. Not that they become murderers by the acctual prayer or whatever :).

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Original post by Zorak However, _every_ time I see someone going into the state of meditation they have their rituals and whatnot. All of which I believe is part of the suggestion. Be it darkness, a special pillow, insense, a temple or whatever they use, every time they are about to meditate.

The tools you use relate not to how you use them. I would venture an educated guess that the methods used to initiate meditation are similar to those of hypnosis, but the two entities are very different, both in form, and in practice.

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And most often they have read about it in books, how to do it etc. If you get the knowledge about how you meditate from an external source, you are bound to be put into suggestion from that source. And all the trinkets you use around it and all the things you do before you start or while meditating are a kind of ritual that helps you get into a suggestive state.

It most definitely is a ritual - for some, meditation cannot be performed (practiced) otherwise, especially for the first 5-6 months. With more practice, the rituals become more and more unnecessary. Again, you're talking about the means (tools), not the ends (meditation/hypnosis).

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Original post by stylin The tools you use relate not to how you use them. I would venture an educated guess that the methods used to initiate meditation are similar to those of hypnosis, but the two entities are very different, both in form, and in practice.

What makes them different? They both are used to change the state of your mind using suggestion as a tool. They both alter the way you percept your enviroment, yourself and your senses. The goals are of both to improve yourself and your well being.

Im curious what you mean is different in form and practice and where the differences start.

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It most definitely is a ritual - for some, meditation cannot be performed (practiced) otherwise, especially for the first 5-6 months. With more practice, the rituals become more and more unnecessary. Again, you're talking about the means (tools), not the ends (meditation/hypnosis).

The tools is a part of the suggestion, hence a part of the end, the suggestion. I make no difference between meditation/hypnosis/prayer or whatever. Its all a suggestion to me. And again IMHO, the reason less tools are used when you've "brainwashed" yourself enough to not even need a introducing ritual to get into the state of where you are being widely open to suggestion. The intresting question here is, where do the suggestions come from?

You can see the similarities with people in sects. In the beginning they need to be exposed to different ways of soften their mind. In the end they are widely open for any suggestive statement a sectleader proposes.

On the other hands you have monks living in temples most of their lifes meditating always using the same rituals and even prayers when meditating.