Can you use self hypnosis for insomnia? Yesterday I got an email from someone on our email list asking for a solution. She has been studying a foreign language, and the excitement of it all has her lying awake for hours at a time when she should be sleeping. She can’t seem to “switch off” at night, and it has her feeling pretty awful. As with many people, she wondered if Mike Mandel does any private sessions. Again, as always, the answer is “no, he doesn’t”.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t offer help!
When I first got a copy of Mike’s “Stress Relief” CD, I thought that the coolest part of it all was the lesson on self hypnosis. Mike teaches you his own particular method for entering trance, and accomplishing a therapeutic purpose – whatever it might be.
With a method to enter trance and create unconscious change, you don’t need to worry about having your iPod with you so you can listen to a recording. You don’t need any tools aside from your own brain.
I used to lie awake at night as well. I had so many ideas spinning around in my head that I found it hard to switch off – just like the woman who sent in the email. In my experience talking to people, this is a very common problem – especially for people who are really motivated and excited about life.
After learning how to do self hypnosis using Mike’s method, I found it has become very easy to switch off. I use his protocol, but with a slight change. If you have his CD you’ll understand in a second. If you don’t have it – get it here!
Creating a nice trance with Mike’s method takes no more than a minute. You are cycling through external visual, audiory and kinethetic experiences 3 times in a row with your eyes open. Then you close your eyes and continue cycling through, but this time with a focus on internal experiences.
For the purpose of going to sleep, I simply replace the eyes closed part with something very simple: I close my eyes and let my unconscious mind bring stuff to my awareness and simply enjoy whatever it is. What happens is that my unconscious will deliver really cool images, sounds, or feelings to me. I’ll just watch / listen / feel and enjoy. I have no expectations, no stress, and no fear.
This leads very naturally to a profound state of sleep.
When you learn to use self hypnosis you’ll quickly realize that that “off” switch can be pushed anytime you need to sleep. You’ll have a process that works much better than lying in bed, cycling (consciously) through all of the crazy thoughts that have been preventing you from sleeping.
Going to sleep is a skill. Insomnia is not a disease. It’s simply the outcome of a bad sleep strategy.
All the best,
Chris