Light Switch, How To

Light Switch Self-Hypnosis with Written Suggestions

As powerful as it is, most of us just don’t give ourselves the time to use self-hypnosis for 15 or 20 minutes each day. In fact, even I get excited when I give myself one 15 minute self-hypnosis in a week–it truly is like going to a beach on Maui! I teach all my clients the one-minute Light Switch technique where they use written suggestions and go into a hypnotic trance and bring themselves back up in one minute.

First you need to learn how to use your Light Switch

These written instructions are provided so that you can use the power of your own mind to create the changes you want in your life–you can’t simultaneously read these instructions and do these techniques.

1. Place yourself in a SAFE and COMFORTABLE position.
2. GIVE YOURSELF A TIME LIMIT (one minute).
3. Raise and lower your index finger. When your finger touches whatever it is resting on, close your eyes and drop into a deep state of hypnosis. TURN YOUR LIGHT SWITCH OFF.
4. While you are in hypnosis DO NOT THINK ABOUT THE TIME. Your subconscious mind does that for you.
5. Emerge when you have the feeling that your time is up.

Light switch technique

Click here for audio instructions.

Let’s begin by practicing just getting into trance. First, you are going to look at your watch, a clock, your computer or your cell phone and note the time both in minutes and in seconds. Learn to use hypnosis in one minute. You can take several one-minute periods throughout your day. Most of us would struggle to find time for one fifteen-minute session, let alone several fifteen-minute sessions. If you’ve ever had the experience of waking up just before your alarm clock goes off, it’s the same thing.

Ask your subconscious mind to let you know when a minute is up. Then imagine that your finger is a light switch that magically controls all the muscles in your body. You and you alone control your light switch. No one else can turn you on or off. Only you can do that. When it is off, do not move. If you want to scratch an itch or answer the phone, simply turn your light switch back on.

When you are comfortably seated, raise your index finger and when you are ready, close your eyes, lower your finger and shut off your light switch. (I suggest using your index finger to represent your light switch. You may choose to use a different finger, your whole arm, or tap your foot–just use some physical signal.)

Upon shutting off your light switch, imagine an endless staircase of relaxation. Imagine that as you descend these stairs, each step down takes you deeper, deeper, 100 times more deeply relaxed. Go to your favorite, relaxing place. For me it is Paipu Beach on Maui. I can feel the straw mat under my back and the heat of the sand coming up through that mat and the heat of the sun on my body. I hear the cardinals in the bushes behind me, the coconut leaves rustling in the breeze and the waves crashing. I smell the sweet scent of plumeria mixed with the salt air, and I am quickly very deeply relaxed.

Do this for one minute. For our purpose, a minute is roughly 55 to 65 seconds. (Don’t get hung up on exact timing.) You do not need to climb back up the stairs, but you do need to turn your switch back on as you open your eyes. Don’t worry about your thoughts or where your mind goes at this stage. This is not meditation, where you are trying to eliminate mind chatter. Later, when you add suggestions, your mind will have something to focus on. But for now, just experience being in your favorite place.

When your subconscious mind lets you know a minute is up, turn on your light switch and see how close to a minute you came. Like all skills, the more you practice, the better you become. Practice self-hypnosis five times a day every day. Connect self-hypnosis with activities you do everyday.

Create reminders.

You need reminders and you need to anchor or hook this to other activities you are already doing. Great anchors are brushing your teeth, putting your watch on in the morning and taking it off at night, a morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack and bedtime teeth brushing. Connect your self-hypnosis to activities you do every day. If you tie it to going to work, you will do it Monday through Friday, but then miss the weekend. If you’re the sort of person whose best intentions vanish into your daily tasks, then you might want to make one self-hypnosis minute mandatory as your very first action each day. That way you’ll know you’ve gotten your day off to a great start. If you’re working on eating suggestions, doing your light switch technique right before each meal can be effective in keeping your eating plan front and center in your thoughts.

Sticky notes work great. I kept sticky notes in my Franklin Planner for two years before I realized I was doing it on my own. Don’t expect to retain this as a new behavior in just a few days or even weeks. One of the best reminder ideas I’ve heard from my clients is to put a sticky note for each hypnosis minute on the left side of your bathroom mirror and/or your computer monitor. Throughout the day as you do your self-hypnosis, move one note to the right side of your mirror or computer monitor. Some women use hoop bracelets. They will have five on one wrist at the beginning of the day, and by the end of the day they are on the other wrist. Other possibilities are five buttons in a pocket or five pebbles on one side of your desk that you move to the other side. The bottom line is, find a reminder system that will work for you.

Be sure to practice your light switch technique in noisy places, such as riding the bus, sitting in Starbucks or by turning on the TV and radio at the same time at home. (It’s okay to close your eyes in public. No one will notice, and if they do, they won’t care!) If you can only do this in a quiet place with soft music in a comfortable chair, then it’s not a functional tool. You want to be able to use self-hypnosis at work or in an airport. Sometimes the only place you can find to use your light switch is while sitting on the toilet–and I hear from moms with young children they may not even get to do that alone! I recommend to my clients that they practice their light switch technique for seven days before adding in suggestions.

Watch Light Switch Self Hypnosis.

Hypnotic Suggestions and Imagery

You should now be able to enter into hypnosis entirely by yourself. The next step is to formulate your own hypnotic suggestions. There are several important points you should consider before beginning. Read More.

 

For those of you who love the beach, here is the original video I made about how to hypnotize yourself with the Light Switch self-hypnosis technique. The beauty of it is that no matter where you are, you can go to the beach several times a day, everyday!