Hypnosis Exercises: (Read with enthusiasm!!)
EXERCISE 1
- Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, your arms hanging loosely at your sides. Close your eyes and relax.
- Imagine you are holding a small suitcase in your right hand. Feel the moderate heaviness of the suitcase and the way the suitcase pulls your body to one side.
- Imagine someone takes the suitcase and hands you a medium-sized suitcase. This suitcase is heavier and bulkier than the small suitcase. Feel the handle in your hand. Feel the heaviness of the suitcase weighing down your right side.
- Imagine someone takes the suitcase and hands you a large suitcase. This suitcase is incredibly heavy, so heavy you can hardly hold on to it, so heavy it pulls your entire body to the right as the weight of the suitcase sinks toward the floor.
- Keep feeling the weight of this heavy suitcase for two to three minutes.
- Open your eyes. Are you standing perfectly straight, or has your posture swayed, even a little bit, to the right?
EXERCISE 2
- Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, your arms hanging loosely at your sides. Close your eyes and relax.
- Imagine you are standing outside on a small hill in the middle of an expansive prairie. The breeze is blowing and the sun is shining. It is a beautiful, clear day.
- Suddenly, the breeze begins to pick up, and the wind starts to blow. You are facing into the wind, and as it blows harder and harder, gusting around you, you feel it pushing you back, blowing your hair back, even blowing your arms back a little.
- The wind is now so strong you can barely stand up. If you don't lean into the wind, you'll be knocked backward! You've never felt wind this strong, and each forceful gust nearly pushes you off your feet!
- Feel the strength of the wind for two to three minutes.
- Open your eyes. Are you standing perfectly straight, or leaning into the wind, even just a little?
EXERCISE 3
- Stand with feet about shoulder-width apart, both arms straight out in front of you, parallel to the ground. Close your eyes.
- Imagine someone has tied a heavy weight to your right arm. Your arm has to strain to hold up the weight that hangs from it. Feel the weight. Imagine how it looks hanging from your arm.
- Imagine someone ties another heavy weight on your right arm. The two weights pull your arm down and down. They are so heavy that your muscles have to tense and strain to hold them up.
- Imagine someone ties a third heavy weight on your arm. The three weights are so heavy that you can barely keep your arm raised. Feel how the weights pull down your arm.
- Now, imagine that someone ties a huge helium balloon to your left arm. Feel the balloon pulling your left arm higher and higher, tugging it skyward.
- Feel the weights on your right arm and the balloon on your left arm for two to three minutes.
- Open your eyes. Are your arms still even, or is your right arm lowered and your left arm raised, even just a little?
If your body didn't respond at all to any of these exercises after several tries, hypnosis may not help you. If you still want to try it, however, of course, try it! The mind is powerful, and wanting it to work is half the battle. Many researchers believe almost anyone can learn self-hypnosis.
Activities for Teaching Altered States of Consciousness
John C. Mohl
Cheltenham High School
Arm Movement Suggestibility Test -1
Have students stand or sit with both arms stretched out in front of them, left arm with the palm facing up and the right palm facing down. Ask them to close their eyes and describe the following:
I want you to imagine that I have before me one of those old huge dictionaries. You know, one of those dictionaries with thousands of pages. It must weigh 40 pounds! Also imagine that I am holding a bunch of balloons. Many balloons. So many that you may wonder whether I might just float away just holding them. In a moment, I am going to place this heavy dictionary on top of your left hand. How heavy it will feel. I wonder how much effort you will have to exert just trying to hold on to that book. Just feel how heavy that book is as I place it on your hand now.
Pause for a few seconds, and then continue:
Now as you feel that heavy book, it is quite natural for your arm to grow tired and heavy trying to hold up that book. The heavier the book gets, the more tired your arm becomes, and the more tired your arm becomes, the heavier that book is.
In a moment, as you struggle to hold up that book, I am going to tie those balloons to your right wrist. You may find it quite odd that those balloons are going to pull your right hand up in the air as if your arm is as light as a feather. Just experience how light your arm feels as I tie those balloons to your right wrist now.
Pause for a few seconds, and then continue:
As the left hand gets heavier holding that dictionary, your right hand grows lighter as the balloons pull it up, and as your right hand grows lighter, your left hand gets heavier. In fact, in a moment, I am going to place another dictionary on your left and tie another set of balloons on your right wrist now.
Pause for a few seconds, and then continue:
In a moment, I am going to ask you to open your eyes, there will be no more balloons and no more dictionaries, your right hand will no longer feel light and your left hand will no longer feel heavy. Your arms will be back to normal, but you will see how much your arms moved. Open your eyes now and see how they have moved. Again, your arms are completely back to normal, but notice how much they have moved.
Some students arms will have moved considerably, the left arm may be all the way down and the right arm all the way up. Some students’ arms will have moved somewhat, while others not at all. Generally speaking, the more one’s arms move, the more suggestible (and hypnotizable) one is.
Arm Movement Suggestibility Test -2
Have students stand or sit with their arms stretched out in front of them with the palms facing inward. The hands should be about a foot apart from each other. Then ask them to close their eyes and tell them the following:
I want you to imagine that there is a force attracting your hands together. It is as if your hands have been magnetized or something is pushing them together. There is some force that is just bringing them together. And as you think about this force, your hands will actually begin to move closer and closer together. Your hands might move slowly at first but you will find that the tendency for your hands to move will become stronger and stronger. The more that your hands move, the stronger the force becomes, and the stronger the force becomes the faster your hands move closer together.
You may find that the movement will be so strong that your hands will actually touch one another. Just thinking about that makes that force become even stronger, as your hands move more and more closely together.
Pause for about 10 seconds. Then tell the students the following:
Now, open your eyes and see how far your hands have moved. There is no more force. Your hands are back to normal, but see how much they have moved.
Some students’ hands will actually be touching one another. Some students’ arms will have moved somewhat, while others not at all. Generally speaking, the more one’s hands move (in a non-voluntary fashion), the more suggestible (and hypnotizable) one is. Among those whose hands actually touched: the faster the hands moved, the more suggestible one likely is.
A Form of Dissociation
Tell students the following:
Put your hand out in front of you at hip level with the palm facing downward. In a moment, you are going to lift that hand deliberately but slowly. Try to lift that hand as slowly as you possibly can. Then after you begin to do that, I want you to find a spot in the wall or ceiling and count from 1 to 7 and then say the alphabet from A to G and then repeat the numbers and letter continuously.
Now, start to lift your hands very slowly.
Let the class do this for about ten seconds. Then, in unison, say the numbers and the alphabet. Continue doing this for about a minute. Afterwards tell them to stop, ask students if they “lost track” of their hands. Some will report that their hands "moved by themselves". This is an example of a dissociated movement: when one loses awareness, in this case, the part of the body.
Not all dissociation is pathological. We all experience it from time to time.
Self-talk Activity
Instruct students to stand up and then sit back down (“Control Condition”). Ask them to make a mental note on how easy it was for them to get out of their chairs, using a scale of one to ten, with one being the hardest and ten being the easiest.
(“Negative Self-Talk” Condition): Then tell them the following:
You know how sometimes before difficult test or project you tell yourselves "This is not worth it", "I am no good at this", or "I am going to fail this"? I want you to actually tell yourself those same things, but this time about getting out of your chair. Tell yourself quietly that you are unable to get out the chair. That it’s hopeless. That you are terrible at getting out of your chair. Say to yourself with the same conviction those same mantras before a tough test or project.
Let them do this for about 10 seconds. Ask them again to get out of their chair. Then have them sit down (note: some may actually be unable to get out of their chair). Have them to rate again on a scale of one to ten how difficult it was for them to do that.
(“Positive Self-Talk Condition”): Then tell your students the following:
Now tell yourselves that you can easily get out of your chair. That is super easy. That you are proficient in getting out your chair. Tell yourself that you are a virtuoso at it. Tell yourself that nothing can stop you from doing it!
Let them do this for about 10 seconds. Ask them again to get out of their chair and then sit down. Have them to rate one last time on a scale of one to ten how easy it was for them to stand up.
Some students will report that it was more difficult for them to get out of the chair, as indicated by a lower number compared to the original "control" when they gave negative self-talk. Some students will also report that it was even easier for them to get out the chairs compared to the “control” condition when giving positive self-talk.
Note: Some students will rate the control condition as a ten, but will find it easier to stand during the positive self-talk condition. This is a good opportunity to talk about the ceiling effect and how it can affect research data.
This can serve as a teachable moment: negative self-talk can be quite destructive, while positive self-talk can be helpful. Emile Coue’ told his patients to start their day by saying “Everyday and in every way I am getting better” (well, a version of that in French anyway), with remarkable results.
The Pendulum Test
Materials needed: A small metal washer or nut tied to a 12-inch piece of string. There should be one pendulum per person or group.
Have students hold the pendulum between their thumb and pointer finger with the elbow resting on the table so that the pendulum hangs about a ½ inch above the surface of the table. The weighted end of the pendulum should be as still as possible at the start of the task. Tell the students the following:
Close your eyes. Imagine now that the pendulum is swinging back and forth, that it is swinging back and forth. Perhaps in your mind it will move a little at first and then builds momentum. Just imagine it swinging back and forth. The pendulum is moving back and forth, back and forth.
Continue with this patter for about 45 seconds. Some students’ pendulums will move a little while others will move considerably. Generally speaking, the more one’s pendulum moves, the more suggestible one is.
For some students, the effect works better with their eyes open; if they see the pendulum starting to move in the suggested direction, it shows that it is “working” and will facilitate further movement.
Tell the students that the pendulum is moving side ways using a patter similar to the one above. You may want to tell them (especially for those with their eyes open) that the pendulum may move in a circular fashion before it goes sideways since is started going forwards and backwards. Finally, you can suggest that the pendulum is moving in a clockwise and counterclockwise direction, again using a patter similar to the one above.
Pendulum Biofeedback Test
Note: This should be done after the Pendulum activity.
Identify a student who demonstrated marked responsiveness to the pendulum activity, and ask if he or she is interested in participating in a “lie detector” test in front of the class. If he or she is willing, emphasize that he or she will be asked to answer questions of a personal nature to which most classmates would not know the answer, but not too personal that the participant would not mind revealing to the class (e.g. name of a parent, favorite vacation spot, etc.).
Ask the student to hold the pendulum and tell him or her to think of a pendulum movement (either back and forth or side to side) that would correspond to a truthful statement and a movement to an untruthful statement. Ask the person to visual those corresponding movements.
While holding the pendulum with his or her eyes closed, ask the person to say, truthfully and repeatedly in a full sentence, his or her name. For example: “My name is John. My name is John. My name is John.” The pendulum should move in a particular direction. Then have the person say his or her age repeatedly but untruthfully. For example, if the person is 17, the person may say, “I am 16 years old. I am 16 years old. I am 16 years old”. The pendulum should swing in the opposing direction.
Tell the participant that you are going to ask a series of personal (but not too personal) questions. At least one of the given answers should be true, and at least one should be a lie. Ask the participant to keep his or her eyes closed while doing this activity.
Ask five questions(or however many you want) that are not too personal (e.g. what is your mother’s name, where is your favorite vacation spot, what is your favorite TV show, etc.). Allow the participant to say whether he or she objects to answering; if so, use another question. After each question, give the participant a moment (if needed) to think of answer and whether it will be truthful.
Similar to giving one’s name and age, have them repeatedly say the statement over and over. The pendulum should indicate whether the statement is a truth or a lie.
Postural Sway Suggestibility Test
Note: This activity does involve some minor physical contact (see below)
Ask for a volunteer for an activity that requires you to place your hands on the back on one’s shoulder blades. Pick a volunteer and besure that he or she gives consent. Have the student face sideways from the class. Stand behind the student and place your hands on the volunteer’s should blades. Tell him or her the following.
I want you to imagine yourself falling backwards. Imagine yourself moving backwards. In a moment, I am going to pull my hands back a bit, and you will find yourself falling backwards. Just let that happen. You will only fall back a few inches; I will stop you from falling all of the way back. Just imagine yourself falling, falling, falling. When I pull my hands back, you will actually fall back. Just let that happen.
Pull your hands back about three to four inches. If the person is responsive to this task, they will fall back, sometimes gradually and sometimes immediately. By only pulling your hands back only a few inches, you will be enable them to feel the effect without having them lose their balance. Stop their fall by bracing their shoulder blades with your hands.