It has been a wonderful week. The sun has continued to shine while in the midst of this heat wave we are experiencing here in England, and on the south coast in particular it has been unbelievably hot and wonderful.
Additionally, here at the Adam Eason School of Therapeutic Hypnosis, it was the final module of this year’s monthly diploma last weekend. As well as presenting certificates at the end, we have our annual Summer Dinner Dance which was a real hoot. We danced and sang and had a lovely time.
Immediately prior to dinner, a small section of those present took part in our own version of the Harlem Shake. Which I posted earlier in the week here on the blog.
In the afternoon of the Saturday, prior to the evening event, I gave a lecture about using hypnotherapy to treat insomnia. The footage will be posted in our Platinum members area in the next couple of weeks. The irony of this lecture being that it was an incredibly hot day to be in a room with no air conditioning and many of those in the audience were struggling to keep their eyes open.
I blamed it on the heat and lack of breeze coming in through the open windows and not my own presenting style!
Even more ironic is that so many people complain of an inability to sleep when it is so much warmer in the evenings at home and I have had lots of message from people, and seen many people saying as much on Facebook.
Whilst discussing it with some attendees in the bar after the lecture, we recalled what it was like at University or at school when fighting fatigue or incredibly boring subject matter. I have also been researching and writing for many hours a day as I complete my latest book. Whilst reading a section of a 1970s book by Arnold Lazarus about mental imagery in preparation for this lecture a few weeks ago, Lazarus himself described using scenarios which were incredibly boring to help lull back to sleep and explained similar scenarios he used with his clients to teach them how to get to sleep too.
As I mentioned in class on Saturday afternoon, many people who experience insomnia often report substantial improvement when they use specific mental imagery processes. These are the kinds of processes that are often advanced and enhanced when combined with self-hypnosis.
The classic ‘safe place’ type of mental imagery has been shown to help people get to sleep. The individual engages the imagination and takes a journey to their safe place of their own design; a place where they are absolutely secure, comfortable and can enjoy sensations of safety due to being so secure in an environment that cannot be breached.
However, a place of complete and utter boredom provides us with a brilliant way of overcoming insomnia too. I am going to use a lecture scenario here today, but you can adapt it to be any environment where you are doing something you find to be totally boring, maybe even imagining doing something you dislike, or struggling with boredom at work, in a classroom, or any other circumstance – then apply similar steps to those I am presenting here today. Who’d have thought that being bored would ever come in so useful?
So if you are lying staring at the ceiling in a warm room over the next week, or if you ever struggle to get to sleep, follow these simple steps while lying in bed.
5 Steps To Use Boredom To Drift Off To Sleep:
Step One: Induce hypnosis.
You can do so by any means you desire or know of. You can use the process in my Science of self-hypnosis book, use the free audio we give away on 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:
Heavy Arm Self-Hypnosis Induction Method
Using Eye Fixation for Self-Hypnosis
The Chiasson Self-Hypnosis Method
Hand to Face Self-Hypnosis Induction
Using Magnetic Hands for Self-Hypnosis
The Coin Drop Self-Hypnosis Induction
However, with this process, an induction is potentially too much activity, so I teach my clients how to adopt a hypnotic mindset and simply have a mindset that is positive and expectant. Again, to really understand the cognitive set of the hypnotic mindset, go grab a copy of my Science of self-hypnosis book where it is explained in simple but comprehensive terms.
Once you have induced hypnosis, move on to step two.
Step Two: Imagine being sat in a reclining arm chair. Let it be made of your favourite material, upholstered in a way that you like, and although it is in an upright position, it is comfortable and relaxing to sit in.
The comfortable chair is in the centre of a lecture hall or lecture theatre of some kind.
Notice the sights around you; the colours, the shade of light, the people around you and the décor of this place. Notice the sounds; the sounds of people moving, breathing, sounds that are distant and those that are closer, most importantly notice the sound of the droning voice of the lecturer. Notice the feeling of boredom, how do you know you are bored? What are the signs? Really notice how you know you are so bored.
All the sights, all the sounds and all the feelings take you deeper into hypnosis, deeper into the boredom and you relax more and more physically. Once you have really got this boring scene in your mind, move on to the next step.
Step Three: Try to focus on the lecturer and the lecture being given. As you listen to the lecture, the voice becomes a monotonous drone. It just goes on and on. It becomes harder and harder to make out the words, it just blends into a moving set of tones, a noise that makes you feel even more bored.
The sound seems to make you feel sleepier and sleepier. Convince yourself that you are there. Believe in the scene.
Notice how you fight and struggle to stay awake, maybe even attempt to shake off the weariness. The boredom grows and it starts to effect your physically.
Heavy feelings spread through you, weighing you down, you imagine your eyelids getting heavier and that heaviness seems to be in your limbs and your head and neck and your head droops from time to time and you struggle to lift it up.
All the time, the sights, sounds, feelings take you deeper and deeper in to hypnosis, making you more physically relaxed, and bored…
Move on to step four.
Step Four: As you gaze vacantly around the place, feeling restless, trying to fight the boredom and fatigue you feel, you notice the other attendees in the lecture have their eyes closed or their eyes are closing slowly. You notice that most have their chairs in the full recline position.
You recline your own chair, and hold your head so that you can vaguely make out the lecturer and you continue to struggle to listen to the droning as it starts to fade… The droning starts to fade…. It fades more and more into the background.
The sights in front of you are fading, they are getting darker and dimmer and you can see less and less detail…. You notice your eyes are closing gradually and surely. You fight it, you try to fight it and not give in.
The heaviness in your body is spreading and deepening. All the energy seems to be draining from you.
You continue to struggle, you struggle to keep focused, you notice the deeper feelings spreading through your body as your senses drift and drift… When ever you are ready, you surrender to it….
Step Five: Sleep…. zzzzzzzzzzz
I struggled to stay awake just writing that process. Practice it and use it in helping you get to sleep. I’ll be back next week … In the meantime, have a great weekend and enjoy using self-hypnosis for getting off to sleep using boredom …
Have some of themes here resonated with you? Then have a read of these pages:
1. Do you need help or support in a particular area of your life?
Coaching with Adam Eason Or Hypnotherapy with Adam Eason
2. Would you like a satisfying and meaningful career as a hypnotherapist helping others? Are you a hypnotherapist looking for stimulating and career enhancing continued professional development and advanced studies?
Adam Eason’s Anglo European training college.
3. Are you a hypnotherapist looking to fulfil your ambitions or advance your career?
Hypnotherapist Mentoring with Adam Eason.
Likewise, if you’d like to learn more about self-hypnosis, understand the evidence based principles of it from a scientific perspective and learn how to apply it to many areas of your life while having fun and in a safe environment and have the opportunity to test everything you learn, then come and join me for my one day seminar which does all that and more, have a read here: The Science of Self-Hypnosis Seminar.
