Types of Hypnosis – Overview
Before we learn how to hypnotize your friends and enemies, we’ve got to first understand what hypnosis is. While you could memorize a script, and it would do the trick, unless you had an idea of what you were creating in the minds of your subjects, you wouldn’t have much flexibility.
Focused Relaxation
One way to look at hypnosis is focused relaxation. There are several kinds of hypnosis, (we’ll look at each in detail later) but one is where you know you are being hypnotized. And you are being hypnotized for a specific purpose. If this is self hypnosis, you put yourself in a light trance, and then run over the procedures in your mind.
If you are having somebody else hypnotize you, then they are doing all the talking, and you are busily following along inside your brain. They are supplying the words and you are creating the visualizations inside your mind based on those words.
Movie Hypnosis
This is more or less the same thing as directed hypnosis and focused relaxation. Only our eyes are open, and most of the visualization is done on the screen in front of us. But we are in a relaxed, passive state. Even reading a book is a form of hypnosis. Books, movies and hypnotists help us forget the real world outside, and focus on a “made up world,” either for personal growth, or for entertainment.
Highway Hypnosis
This doesn’t just happen on the highway, but it’s a good way to describe it. You are doing something important, and if you crash, you’ll be in trouble. Nevertheless, most of your brain shuts off, and most of your body is on auto pilot. (We sort of already DO have self driving cars!)
This can be any time we are doing any kind of routine, repetitive tasks. This is also why ancient tribes used drums during religious ceremonies. The repetitive beating and created a state of hypnosis for both the listeners and the players. You can call this “drum hypnosis.”
This is also why people enjoy doing hobbies that are simple and repetitive. They allow for a kind of relaxed, introspection where the mind just shuts down a little and wanders around wherever it wants to.
Hypnosis Is Natural
Any kind of hypnosis is natural and organic. It’s not artificial. Hypnosis didn’t need to be invented or engineered. It’s a natural state of mind that most people pass through several times on a daily basis. People have told stories to one another long before written language was invented. You can think of the ancient storytellers as the first hypnotists.
The tribe was finished hunting for the day, and the tribal storyteller would conjure up tales of gods and monsters to not only keep them entertained, but to carefully implant important teachings and ideas into their brains that would help them when they were back out in the real and dangerous world.
Direct Hypnosis
Direct hypnosis is the easiest to learn. It assumes the person you are hypnotizing wants to be and has given you permission. It’s easy because you are helping to guide them into a natural state. There are a few different ways to do this. Later on we’ll go over the specific words to use. First we’ll understand what all the different parts are, then we’ll use how to do each one.
Pacing and Leading Hypnosis – Permissive
Pacing and leading hypnosis is a kind of direct hypnosis, in that it requires that your listener have given you permission. Depending on your subject, this technique may be easier on them. Many people are hard to hypnotize, even if they want to be hypnotized. There are a lot of factors, one of which is how easily they are willing to give up complete control.
Pacing and leading hypnosis is a little more subtle, so this type is easier to use on somebody that may have a hard time otherwise. The structure is simple. You speak in a way so that simply by following your voice, you will lead them to a deeper state.
You can think of the difference between direct hypnosis and leading hypnosis as being the difference between telling somebody where to walk, and taking them by the hand and slowly leading them. So long as they’re willing to follow, leading is easy.
Pacing and Leading Hypnosis – Covert
A second method of pacing and leading hypnosis is altogether covert. Meaning they really have no idea you are intending to hypnotize them, or lead them to a relaxed state of mind. When using covert pacing and leading, you’ll need a lot of rapport, meaning they’ll already need to feel very comfortable with you. Otherwise they’ll just look at you funny.
But if you do have a lot of rapport (with your friends or lovers) you can get very, very sneaky, and get their minds into some fantastic places. Especially when you combine pacing and leading hypnosis with some other techniques (which we’ll learn a bit later) you can do some put some powerful ideas and suggestions into their mind.
A skilled covert hypnotist can give somebody an experience that is far better than any blockbuster movie or even book they’ve read recently! Consider that as you begin your career as a covert conversational hypnotist!
Direct Hypnosis Technique
This is the easiest. There are a few ways to do this. One is to simply ask them to close their eyes. Ask them to focus on their breathing. As they do, you can do the same, focus on their breathing. Start off at ten, and each time they breathe out, count down one. Here’s a sample script.
I’d like you to close your eyes and breathe naturally. Fantastic. (speak slowly and with the rhythm of their breathing). As I count from ten (inhale) down to one (exhale) you will become very (inhale), very (exhale) relaxed and open. Every time I count down (inhale) you will become very relaxed (exhale). (Inhale). (Exhale) Ten, you are starting to feel very relaxed. (Inhale). (Exhale) Nine, you are getting even more relaxed, feeling comfortable and limp. (Inhale). (Exhale) Eight, every exhale makes you so feel so comfortable. (Inhale). (Exhale) Seven, really settling in. (Inhale). (Exhale) Six, feeling content to let go of all your anxiety. (Inhale). (Exhale) Five, releasing all those old worries and doubts. (Inhale). (Exhale) Four, opening up to the vast amount of comfort within. (Inhale). (Exhale) Three, so relaxed and comfortable, eyelids are so heavy.(Inhale). (Exhale) Two, arms and legs so heavy and limp, like a wet dishrag. (Inhale). (Exhale) One, completely open up and ready for new ideas.
Once you’ve got them nice and comfortable, continue using their exhale as opportunities to input new ideas. For example, if they’ve asked you to help them stop smoking, just come up with as many simple statements as you can, and repeat them with every exhale. Statements like these would be appropriate:
(Inhale). (Exhale) You enjoy breathing only cool, clean air.
(Inhale). (Exhale) Your lungs are healthy and natural.
(Inhale). (Exhale) You easily let go of stress every time you exhale.
(Inhale). (Exhale) You are happy about your healthy lungs.
(Inhale). (Exhale) Your healthy lungs support you.
And continue on as long as you want. Consider coming up with ten or twenty short, positive statements to help them overcome whatever issue they are overcoming, or ten or twenty short statements to implant whatever idea or belief they’d like to have.
Pacing and Leading Hypnosis – Permissive
This is bit trickier than the count down. The way pacing and leading works is pretty simple. You pace somebody when you say something that absolutely must be true. “You are reading this sentence,” is an example of a pacing statement (unless of course you are listening to his via a text to voice program). When you say pacing statements that people hear, the result is it lowers their resistance.
For example, if you said ten pacing statements in a row, your listener would end up feeling very relaxed. When we listen to a spoken sentence, there is part of us that is always on alert, in case somebody’s trying to take advantage of. This is an instinct, and it’s something we can’t manually shut off. But the more pacing statements we hear in a row, the more that mechanism will just naturally to go to sleep.
For example, consider saying this to somebody who was sitting across from you in a comfortable chair:
You are listening to my voice, and you are feeling the surface you are resting on. You are breathing in, and out. You are feeling your chest rise, and fall, with every breath. You can hear the sounds in the room. You can feel the sensation of the air on your skin. You are thinking thoughts, and as I speak, you are noticing the thoughts naturally flowing through your mind.
If you said this slowly, and made sure you matched your rate of speaking with their rate of breathing, they would become VERY relaxed. But when you add on leading statements, it gets even better.
Leading Statements
Leading statements are things that aren’t quite true, but they naturally follow from whatever pacing statement you just said. For example, “you are sitting in that chair” is a pacing statement, but “you are feeling relaxed” is a leading statement. Being relaxed might not be true, but it usually follows from sitting in a chair.
The idea is to start with a bunch of pacing statements. And then switch to a few pacing statements with a couple of leading statements thrown in. Then you pace and lead, and pace and lead. Pretty soon the leading statements become the next pacing statements.
Wait, What?
If you said, “You are sitting in that chair,” it would be a pacing statement. Suppose you followed that pacing statement with the leading statement, “and your eyelids are feeling heavier,” that would be a leading statement, since it hasn’t actually happened yet. But if they started to droop their eyelids, they would be following your leading statement (which is also a suggestion). But since they are doing it, the statement, “your eyelids are feeling heavier” has turned into a pacing statement, since it’s happening.
Observation Is Crucial
When using the pacing-leading technique, watching them carefully is vital. You need to make sure each leading statement actually turns into a pacing statement, so you can then make another leading statement, which will hopefully turn into a another pacing statement. Once you’ve got a few of these in a row, you can get them to close your eyes, and you’re ready to roll.
Pacing – Leading Example Script
As you sit in that chair and listen to my voice, you are feeling the weight of your body on the surface you are resting on. As you feel your weight sinking down into the chair, you can start to notice your breathing. And as you breathe in, and out, you start to feel comfortable and relaxed, allowing your breath to help you relax even further. As you continue to listen to my voice, and the other sounds in the room, you may notice that the muscles in your face are feeling relaxed and comfortable. You can notice that the feeling in your arms and chest and shoulders are feeling relaxed and comfortable. And as you feel your shoulders and chest feeling relaxed and comfortable, you may start to notice your eyelids are feeling heavy and relaxed. (Pay close attention to any fluttering of their eyelids). As you feel those eyelids and how heavy they are becoming, you might decide that it’s a good idea to close your eyes. Because when you close your eyes, you can feel even more relaxed, allowing my voice to help you get so relaxed you can open your mind, completely, to the new ideas that are about to become familiar.
Once they close their eyes, you can follow the same procedure as before. Give them suggestions each time they exhale. Do this for ten or fifteen minutes, or as long as you are both comfortable, or any pre-agreed upon period of time.
Pacing Leading – Covert
The structure is the same, but you’ll need to be very sneaky. This is not to be confused with the “yes set” that sales people use. They ask a bunch of questions they know you’ll say yes to, hoping that you’ll keep saying yes.
You did say you wanted a blue right, didn’t you?
Yes!
And you did say you were thinking about a six year loan, right?
Yes!
And you wanted an automatic?
Yes!
With a sunroof, correct?
Yes!
Here’s one right here! Why don’t you buy this one?
Um….Wow, look at the time, I need to get going….
Easy, Pilgrim!
The problem with the above is that agreeing to something you wanted (a blue automatic with a sunroof) is a long ways from actually buying one. When doing this for real, you need to be very careful. The vital component is to make sure each lead is only a slight expansion of a pace. Being comfortable is mentally very close to sitting in a chair. So when you say, “you are sitting in a chair and feeling very comfortable,” it’s automatic. But if you say, “This is blue car and you want to buy it, don’t you?” that will NOT cause anybody to go into a trance!
Naturally, it’s pretty hard to come up with a specific script (other than playing around) since covert hypnosis is highly dependent on the situation, what they are doing, what you want them to do, and how many steps you can come up with, on the fly, between what they are doing and what you’d like them to do. But here are some examples for some common situations.
Having Dinner
That looks pretty good, is it? (Yes). (Watch them take a bite). As you chew that, and feel the taste in your mouth, you might decide what you will do next, maybe take a sip of wine, and feel how the taste of the wine compliments the taste of the food. (Wait for them to sip the wine). As you notice that in a new way that you hadn’t before, you can imagine how good it will feel later tonight, lying in bed, remembering this wonderful meal, remembering this wonderful conversation, and that can give you a deep appreciation for what is happening right now, as you can imagine how you’ll see it later tonight. Just breathing in (watch them) and out (wait for them) will make you feel so happy, that you want to pay for this meal. And the next one, and every one after that, because it’s so obvious.
This will sound corny, but if you have any amount of rapport with them, even though they’ll laugh, they might end up paying!
Driving In The Car
This works best if you are driving. You don’t have to look at them, you can just talk while driving, as if you are thinking out loud.
It’s interesting when people have highway hypnosis. When you’re just watching the scenery go by. Imagining what happened a few minutes ago, as you continue traveling forward, both in time and in space. Thinking of that can lead you to wonder where we might be in a year, or two, and as you imagine that, you might wonder what you can do to increase your satisfaction with what is happening now, between us, as we think about going forward, together, and the speed, that’s right, for us to arrive at the destination together, so comfortable, so relaxed (listen for their breathing).
How To Write Your Own Scripts
Find a place where you can sit and watch other people who are also sitting. Coffee shops are perfect for this. Find somebody who is sitting a few tables way. Think of something you’d like them to do, that would be realistic. Then write down a few things they are doing now. Things that you could use for pacing statements. Then take a few statements you could use as leading statements, that would slowly lead them from what they are doing, to wherever you want them to be.
The more you practice this, not just thinking but in writing out all of the statements, the more quickly you’ll be able to do it on the fly.
Halfway Covert
A great way to use these pacing-leading chains is with a significant other, as you are laying in bed. You’re already in deep rapport, so even if they suspect you are doing something a little strange, they won’t mind, especially if you are making feel more relaxed and open.
Advanced Technology
The words alone are pretty powerful. But there are two other techniques you can learn (and practice) that will add a lot of power. These are things you may have heard about before. They are very simple and extremely powerful if you do them correctly.
Anchors
These are from Pavlov and his dogs. He was able to transfer their salivation response from the smell of food to the sound of his bell. This means you can take any natural response, and transfer it. From whatever causes it naturally, to whatever you want.
Spatial Anchor Example
Let’s say you are talking about somebody who is excited about going on vacation. And as most people do, when they say certain things, they light up more than on other things. These are the things they are most looking forward to. To set a spatial anchor, just pay close attention to the things they say that make them really happy or excited. Then repeat these back to them, don’t paraphrase, say them exactly. Like this:
Them: Next week we’re going to learn how to bake chocolate cake!
You: You’re going to learn how to bake chocolate cake?
Them: Yes! I can’t wait!
You: Wow, that sounds fun to learn how to bake chocolate cake!
Yes, it sounds lame. But since they get excited when THEY say it, they’ll feel a little excited when YOU say it. (Especially if you are honest and not making fun of them!) The trick is to set a spatial anchor when you say it back to them. Make a gesture with your right hand. In the above example, whenever you said, “bake chocolate cake” you would set a spatial anchor.
Set Good Anchors On Several Good Ideas
If you talk to them long enough, you’ll be able to find a few different things that make them happy when they say them. If you remember to set the same anchor (right side gesture, for example) whenever you repeat them back, then you’ll have connected that good feeling to your anchor.
Fire Away!
This means when you say something (like “buy this,” or “give me your number”) and use the anchor, they’ll subconsciously feel the same good feeling associated with whatever you just said. Can you imagine how you might use this along with pacing and leading statements? There’s one more trick.
Embedded Commands
A command is a verb-noun combination that gives an order. Sit down. Eat breakfast. Study hypnosis. Practice the violin. When you say these buy themselves, they are obviously commands. Things a teacher would say to a student, or a parent would say to a child. But you can “hide them” in sentences.
For example, let’s consider the simple command, “study hypnosis.” Say it out loud, like you would if you were a parent talking to a child, or a teacher talking to a student. Seriously! You probably said it with a downward tonality. The “hypnosis” was said with a slightly lower town that “study.” You can say it the same way, but when it’s inside of a sentence.
People that make the decision to study hypnosis find out that it’s a really fun way to get people to do whatever you want.
If you pause just a little bit before the “study hypnosis” part, and just a little after, and say it with the same “command tonality,” it will have the same effect as you giving them a direct command, only they won’t really notice. They’re subconscious will notice and follow the order, but their conscious mind won’t really notice what’s going on.
Combine Everything Together
Whether you are using direct hypnosis, or pacing and leading hypnosis, both overt and covert, if you combine spatial anchors and embedded commands, you will be a powerful hypnotist!
Party Tricks
Even if you do this as a party trick it’s a lot of fun. Just get somebody who’s willing to be hypnotized, and try some direct hypnosis or pacing and leading hypnosis. Find out what they want before hand (more confidence, feel sexier, whatever) or you can just play around. One way to really get better is to not tell them what the command will be (the statements you make when they are fully hypnotized).
Just keep pushing the limits a little bit, and see how far you can go without them waking up and getting angry! For example, you can tell them to sit down, use a bunch of pacing and leading statements, along with spatial anchors and embedded commands, to get them good and relaxed. Then you can start to play around. Here are some examples. (They assume they are relaxed, and their eyes are closed).
As you breathe in….
And breathe out…
You can trust my voice….
Breathe in…
And breathe out…
You can feel really sexy…
And breathe in….
And breathe out…
You can imagine…
And breathe in…
And breathe out…
That you are a famous actress..
And breathe in…
And breathe out…
Who is totally famous…
And breathe in…
And breathe out…
And loves to express yourself…
And breathe in…
And breathe out…
Because it feels so natural…
And breathe in….
And breathe out….
Right now…that’s all you want to do… is feel free…
The longer you can go and the more crazy stuff you can get them to do, the better!
Bringing Them Back Out
Of course, you have to bring them back out. Just do the opposite of what you did to get them deep down. Start to tell them (in the slow, breathing matched voice) that it’s time to come back. Let’s imagine you got a girl at party to take her shirt off. She’s sitting there, smiling, feeling fantastic. Just say something like this:
As you sit there, so relaxed, having had this wonderful experience, it’s time to come back to normal. As I count from one, up to ten, you are going to slowly come back to awake and alert. You will remember everything, and remember this as a wonderful experience.
One…putting your shirt back on (or whatever else they did)
Two…starting to feel the air around you.
Three…hearing the voices in the room.
Four…remembering this fantastic experience.
Five…feeling awake and alert.
Six….breathing normal.
Seven…feeling awake.
Eight…rolling your shoulders around.
Nine…sitting up, excited.
Ten…open your eyes. Welcome back!
Practice!
Hypnosis isn’t something that you can memorize in a few minutes. It’s something you need to practice. Luckily, most of the practice can be done on your own, in your car, in front of your mirror, etc. But just like anything else, the more you practice, the better you’ll get!
What Else Do You Want To Learn?
Got anything you’d like to know how to do? How to sell things to people? How to ask a girl or a guy for a date? How to hypnotize yourself? Leave a comment down below and let us know. We’ll be happy to help!
Further Study
Mind Persuasion has plenty of cool comprehensive courses to teach you how to become a powerful hypnotist. If you like having fun at parties, our course on Street Hypnosis is a great start.
Street Hypnosis
Learn how to hypnotize strangers in under three seconds. Get people thinking the craziest thoughts possible. Get people to obey the craziest commands. Become the star of every party. Click image for more information.
