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.
You are going to create two Mind Movies to play in your imagination when you are listening to your download. Your download will tell you when to play them.
You are going to create two Mind Movies to play in your imagination when you listen to your download.
Trauma Delete Mind Movie
Relaxation Trigger Mind Movie
Follow the steps below to create your Trauma Delete Mind Movie.
Your download will instruct you in how to use your Mind Movie to remove this “trauma program” from your brain.
Follow the steps below to create your Trauma Delete Mind Movie.
This Mind Movie will show moving images representing the experience which caused your trauma.
Identify the experience which caused your trauma.
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 – just like in a movie – representing the traumatic 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 (as this will make it less distressing to “watch”).
Your Mind Movie should be 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 pausing it, fast forwarding it, and rewinding it while you watch it.
Example: Military Trauma
Antony fought in Afghanistan where he witnessed the death of his best friend in combat with enemy forces. He felt guilty for being unable to save his friend and found himself reliving the moments around his friend’s death whenever he closed his eyes. He was unable to sleep or function as a husband and father.
He made a black and white Mind Movie of the incident: the movie started when everything was okay (he visualised their hiding place behind the broken walls of houses), moved on to his friend’s death (he imagined their hide out being discovered and his friend being shot in the chaos) and ended when things had calmed down (he escaped, carrying his friend’s body).
Example: Birth Trauma
Rajni had a traumatic birth where one of her twin son’s died through lack of oxygen. She became neurotic about the safety of her surviving child and often convinced herself he was dead when he was asleep in his cot. She found herself regularly waking him up in a panicked state.
She made a black and white Mind Movie of the experience: the movie started when all was fine (she went into labour), moved on to the twins’ birth and the death of her son (she made the imagined scenes grainy in quality to minimise her distress), and ended when she was holding her surviving son at the funeral of his brother.
Example: Attack Trauma
Aaron was attacked by two men and his wallet was stolen. He felt ashamed of his response during the attack which was to freeze unable to make any attempt to defend himself. After the attack, he found he had lost confidence in all areas of his life, especially his relationships.
He made a black and white Mind Movie of the experience: the movie started when all was fine (leaving his work place), moved on to show the attack (the approach of the two men and his lack of response), and ended when the two men ran off.
Example: Accident Trauma
Shannon was in a car accident after texting on her phone whilst driving her mother to hospital. No one was hurt in the accident but she felt deeply guilty for causing the accident and relived the moment of impact whenever she got into the car.
She made a black and white Mind Movie of the experience: the movie started when all was fine (she was chatting to her mother in the car), moved on to the accident (she heard the sound of a text on her phone, she started replying as she drove, the car hit a parked car) and ended when the car had come to a stop and she could see her mother was unhurt.
Example: Abuse Trauma
Diana was sexually abused by her uncle when she was a child. She was struggling with nightmares about the abuse and felt unable to connect emotionally to her sexual partners.
She made a black and white Mind Movie of the experience: the movie started when all was fine, moved on to the worst occasion of the abuse (she made her visualised scenes of the abuse grainy to minimise her distress), and ended when her family moved away and no longer had contact with her uncle (she imagined sitting in the safety of her room in her new house).
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.