Hypn07, Days 9 & 10: Ultimately, it’s all your choice
This covers days 9 & 10 of 30 for the Hypnotherapy Project, which I’m collaborating on with Los Angeles-based hypnotist hypnotherapist Greg Beckett. You can read more about this experiment, what motivated it and what we hope to accomplish here.
One of the reasons Greg chose me to do this project with him is he knew I’d commit myself 100% to the conditions we agreed on. There was someone on deck before me, but he flaked early on. And all he had to do was show up at Greg’s office every day to be supervised as he listened to his recording; at that point, the idea was more to see what progress one could make if one repeated the lesson for 30 days in a row.
The first five days were more intense than either one of us could have anticipated. We backed off a bit to give my poor brain time to digest, trying some “fun” experiments (making me forget, making me cluck like a chicken); as the weekend approached, we talked about and agreed to let me listen to my recording at home, checking in to assure Greg I’d done the work.
Both days, I chose to listen at night, before sleep. Typically, I have problems falling asleep unless I’m sick and/or exhausted, so it was immensely pleasurable to go O-U-T before the recording had finished—I woke up about 90 - 120 minutes after putting on the 20-minute recording, pushed away the headphones and nano, and went back to sleep.
Last night was a bitch, though. It had been a long weekend, The BF had freshly laundered sheets for the bed, and as I got ready to go night-night, I realized with horror that somehow, the last iPod sync had wiped the hypno file from the drive.
For the splittest of seconds I considered blowing it off…and then, at 10:55, I got in my car and drove the five miles back to my place so I could resync and do it right.
Everything about hypnosis, it turns out, is a choice: even whether you do it in the first place…
xxx
c
Image by websteria via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license
TOPICS: change, Hypnotherapy Project.
4 Comments, Comment or Ping
LizMo
I’m new to reading your blog, I found it mentioned in another blog (sorry can’t remember which one). I am REALLY enjoying reading about the Hypnotherapy Project and going back and reading some of your past projects. Keep up the good work, you’re an inspiration to me.
Jul 17th, 2007
Jean Browman
My heart goes out to you about having to forestall sleep to keep from skipping the night’s listening. That brought back a lot of similar memories. Good for you for following through! I, too, am thoroughly enjoying this series.
Jul 17th, 2007
Ian
This is a very interesting series of posts, thanks for sharing the experience. I always wonder if I try hypnosis will I just fall asleep and start snoring. Same with meditation. It sounds like a perfect state of relaxation though because you are momentarily free of knee-jerk impulses that lead to lapses in judgment like flipping off the guy in th SUV who just cut you off or eating two quarts of ice-cream. I suppose the point is to carry this relaxation into day to day life to deal with these impulses. Being coerced to cluck like a chicken for fun is different, maybe even liberating. I’m a convert already.
Jul 17th, 2007
communicatrix
LizMo - You’re welcome! I’m glad you’re finding it interesting/useful. And thanks for stepping up and telling me. One of the great things about the internets is the ability for us to be inspired and then inspire others, in turn. Happens to me all the time.
Jean - Thank you! Yes, I hate missing sleep. But I’d miss a lot more of it if I went back on my word. In the end, love and integrity are really the only currency that’s worth anything.
Ian - It’s fine to fall asleep - sometimes I do! In fact, I wish I could fall asleep more often. It does start to carry over into waking life if you practice enough, and do other things to reinforce it. Although there are plenty of asshole yogis and yoginis who prove that it’s not just about what you do in the room.
Jul 22nd, 2007