Congratulations: you’ve downloaded the hypnosis you will listen to every day (or more!) for the next two weeks (or more!). The next step is to power up that hypnosis by making your personalised visualisations.
A Mind Movie is a visualisation in the form of imagined moving images – like a movie – which you create to watch inside your mind.
You are going to create two Mind Movies to play in your imagination when you listen to your download.
Follow the steps below to create your Phobia Delete Mind Movie.
This consists of moving images representing the experience which sparked your phobia of the dentist or, if you can’t remember this, the worst episode connected to your phobia.
Identify the experience which sparked your dentist phobia.
If you can’t remember this, identify the worst experience you’ve had relating to the dentist phobia.
Find somewhere comfortable to relax.
Close your eyes.
Take five deep breaths (inhale through your nose for four or five counts, exhale through your mouth at a slower pace).
Then breathe deeply in a way that is comfortable for you, taking breaths from low down in your abdomen. Place your hand on your stomach to check that it is moving up and down as you breathe.
Create a Mind Movie of imagined moving images representing the experience.
Have the Mind Movie start just before the event happened when everything was fine, then move on to show the experience happening, and then finish when everything is fine again.
The images should be in black and white and grainy in quality (this will make it less distressing to imagine).
Your Mind Movie should be about 30 seconds.
Imagine you have a control board in front of you which allows you to play with your Mind Movie.
Practice pausing it, fast forwarding it, and rewinding it while you watch it.
Jonny had a phobia of the dentist. His phobia had started after a frightening experience at school with a rough dentist.
He made a black and white Mind Movie of that experience which started when everything was fine (he was lining up to have his teeth checked), moved through to the painful and frightening experience with the dentist, and ended when all was fine (the treatment finished and he was able to leave the room).
Follow the steps below to create your “Relaxation Mind Movie”.
This Mind Movie will show moving images (just like in a movie) representing a relaxing experience you have enjoyed.
We are going to use your brain’s “conditioning” function to bring on feelings of calm relaxation to use when you want to feel calm and relaxed.
What is the trigger? Pressing together your finger and thumb.
Our lives contain experiences which, if repeated, trigger an automatic response in our behaviour. In the most famous example, Pavlov, the Russian scientist, rang a bell every time he fed his dogs. After a while, just hearing the bell would trigger his dogs to salivate. An otherwise neutral stimulus like a bell ringing took on a positive meaning for the dogs.
Other examples of classic conditioning might be: standing up when the school bell is rung; or feeling tearful at the sight of a needle because of past painful injections; or a song from the happy moments in the past putting you in a good mood. Put simply, two stimuli are linked together to produce a learned response.
Identify a time when you felt happy and relaxed.
It might be an imagined experience in the future or a real experience from the past.
Example:
Dancing on holiday; on your wedding day; lying on a beach; walking through a forest.
Find somewhere comfortable to relax.
Close your eyes.
Take five deep breaths (inhale through your nose for four or five counts, exhale through your mouth at a slower pace).
Then breathe deeply in a way that is comfortable for you, taking breaths from low down in your abdomen. Place your hand on your stomach to check that it is moving up and down as you breathe.
Create a Mind Movie of moving images (just like in a movie) representing this positive, relaxing experience.
Don’t forget to include the emotions which go with it.
(For example: calm, relaxed, in control.)
Your Mind Movie should be in full colour and last about 20/30 seconds.
Imagine you have a control board in front of you which allows you to play with your Mind Movie.
Practice watching yourself on the screen, as well as experiencing it through your own eyes (jump into your body in the movie).
Trigger: when you watch your Mind Movie, press together your finger and thumb.
Your brain will make the association between this finger press and the feelings of relaxation in your Mind Movie. It means that, wherever you are, you have conditioned your mind to bring on those relaxed feelings whenever you press together your finger and thumb.
Play your “Relaxation Mind Movie” repeatedly.
Work it into your every day activities: e.g. when you brush your teeth, your hair, when you have a hot drink, or take a loo break and so on.
Remember to press your finger and thumb together whenever you play your Mind Movie.
Example:
Kai made a Mind Movie of himself lying on a beach in the sunshine with his wife and children.
Example:
Yasmin made a Mind Movie of herself skiing down a mountain with the wind in her hair.
Example:
Sam made a Mind Movie of himself in bed chatting to his partner after a night out.