For people trying to conceive with the assistance of IVF
Congratulations. You’ve downloaded the hypnosis you will listen to every day (or more!) for the next two weeks (or more!) to reset your mind to be more hopeful about your fertility.
The next step is to power up that hypnosis by making your personalised visualisation. You are going to create an instant “relaxation trigger” so that you can relax your mind and body at the moment of implantation (or at any point you need to relax in the fertility process).
A Mind Movie is a visualisation in the form of imagined moving images – like a movie – which you create to watch inside your mind.
Follow the steps below to create a your Relaxation Trigger Mind Movie.
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.