Creating A Happiness Filter Using Self-Hypnosis
Posted on February 1, 2012 in Personal Development, Self-Hypnosis | No Comments
My Nana used to tell me that there was a lady in the village who wore rose tinted spectacles so whenever we visited them and went into the village or the neighbouring town, I was always looking out for elderly women with glasses that had roses on them… I never saw them, but imagine exactly what I thought they’d be like.
Later on in life, of course I got to know what she actually meant. That there are some people out there who perceive the world in a particular way. I got the impression that my Nana and perhaps lots of other people tend to think that at times this could be a bad thing, or at the very least, it is unrealistic. I get that.
Yet I also think it is very useful to reflect on our lives in a progressive and positive way.
When you look at people who are unhappy or down in the dumps or even depressed, they do tend to perceive the world in a way that reminds them of all they have to be unhappy about. Often people reflect on their life and see only the things they consider to be bad or unpleasant.
There is a well documented and much used process of journaling that therapists often recommend that involves an individual writing in their journal before they go to bed at night, and listing 3-5 things in their day that made them happy.
What this does is points the mind at the stuff that is considered good, laudible and allows us to filter our experience in a way that helps make us happier. For some people this is what they need – to take a period of time out each day and don some rose tinted spectacles as they look at their day…. Then after a couple of weeks of doing this, getting into the habit of doing such, it starts to have a generalising, happiness-inducing effect that I think many people can benefit greatly from.
So todays process on the blog is with this kind of thing in mind, and is simply doing that process of filtering, but using self-hypnosis to reflect and filter and as a result, we get to amplify the good feelings and focus in a deeper manner.
7 Steps To Create A Hypnotic Happiness Filter:
Step One: Induce hypnosis. You can do so by any means you desire or know of. You can use the process in my self-hypnosis book, use the free audio at this website to practice or have a look at the following articles as and when you need them; they are basic processes to help you simply open the door of your mind:
Using eye fixation for self-hypnosis.
The Betty Erickson Self-Hypnosis Method video clip.
Using Magnetic Hands for Self-Hypnosis.
Once you have induced hypnosis, move on to step two.
Step Two: Imagine that in front you is the book of your life and each chapter represents a chapter of your life. Flick through the pages, going deeper and deeper inside your mind as you turn more and more of the pages.
Tell yourself, that as you start from the beginning, turning the front cover over, that each page you turn takes you deeper inside your mind, yet you remain focused and engaged in the process.
Take all the time necessary, do this slowly and thoroughly, maybe even exhaling each time you turn the page over. When you get to todays page, move on to the next step.
Step Three: As you look at the page for today, allow your mind to scan through the page and notice some bits are highlighted, golden and colourful, they really stand out on the page. They might be moments when you laughed or shared some laughter with another person. It might be something that made you smile. It might be a compliment you received, it may be something you felt you did well or even that others recognized, it can be absolutely anything from the day just gone by that you and your mind consider to be a good moment. A golden highlight from that day.
Go to the first one of these highlights of the day, and recall what happened, who was there, what you saw, what you heard, how you felt. Imagine for a few moments that you are there again, enjoying those feelings.
Spend a few moments reminding yourself of that highlight, bask in the feelings of it and when you have noticed those feelings, perhaps even amplified them, spread them through your body, then move on to the next step.
Step Four: Now go to another highlighted area on todays page of the book of your life.
Again, recall what happened, who was there, what you saw, what you heard, how you felt. Imagine for a few moments that you are there again, enjoying those feelings.
Spend a few moments reminding yourself of that highlight, bask in the feelings of it and when you have noticed those feelings, perhaps even amplified them, spread them through your body; maybe as if the feeling is a colour, or a certain sensation that can develop or even as if it is a sound that you detect and can resonate within you. Once you have really enjoyed reliving and reminding yourself of this highlight, move on to the next step.
Step Five: Now repeat step 4 two or three more times. When you have repeated it and enjoyed a total of 3-5 highlights from your day and really engaged in the happiness and reflected positively on your day, move on to step six.
Step Six: You now that each and every day has its ups and downs and you are realistic about life, but today, you had a good day. You have recalled a number of highlights that surely constitute a good day.
Look at the book of your life again and colour the entire page of today gold to signify that this was indeed a golden, enjoyable and happy day, and that you intend to have more and more of these kinds of days. You start to notice the stuff that makes you happier more and more readily and capably.
Once the page is entirely golden and you know it was a good day, move on to the final step.
Step Seven: Knowing what a good day you have had, take a deep energizing breath, wiggle your fingers and toes, open your eyes and bring this session to an end.
Decide to practice this every day for a week, maybe just before you go to bed at night, so that you’ll look back and think – wow, that was a great week, a golden week… Maybe you can even carve out this time in your life as a halcyon era that stands out for all the right reasons.
Choose to make your perception of life contribute to your well-being and have a wonderful day today.
I’ll be back soon.
