Becoming happy using self-hypnosis

Being happy is a state that everyone naturally wants to achieve, but which is harder for some to achieve than others. Lately, a photo with a quote by Keanu Reeves, an actor, has been circulating on the Internet that the only one standing in the way of your happiness is yourself. He had a depressive episode and when he realized that he was trapping himself in his slump he started doing things differently.

To help you, too, escape from your own slump, I discuss how self-hypnosis can help you do so.

In another blog, I talked about how being happy is a choice. Now when you get angry that if it was that easy you really would have done it and that this is total bullshit we are going to make sure your brain is happy first so you can be happy next.

To do this, we will apply a few simple tricks. The first of these is laughter, by which I don't even necessarily mean laughing out loud, but smiling. Smiling causes certain areas of the brain to be stimulated that have to do with a good mood (1). That already helps, at least somewhat, to become happy.

Self-hypnosis exercise

Now we are going to do a self-hypnosis exercise to make your brain happy and make yourself feel a little lighter.

1. Stick that smile on your face and breathe deeply through your nose. Hold your breath for two seconds and exhale deeply through your nose until all the air is out of your lungs. Remember to keep smiling.
2. Repeat the following statements five times during this relaxed state while continuing to smile:

I am calm.

I'm Safe.

I choose to live in the now.

3. Now close your eyes and think of the cutest, happiest and most joyful thing you can think of. For me, that's kids playing happily, but for you, it could be kittens or puppies that are still a little clumsy. The weather is beautiful and they are playing in a meadow full of flowers. For you, this visualization may be a little different, but remember to keep smiling and that this is the cutest, happiest and happiest thing. Visualize this for about 1 minute.
4. Now ask yourself these questions: Why am I so relaxed right now? Why do I feel somewhat (or maybe even completely) happy right now? And give yourself a minute to answer this.
5. Conclude the process by taking another deep breath through your nose while smiling, holding it for two seconds and then exhaling all the air through your nose. Remember to keep smiling.

Are you at least a little lighter now? Has at least 1 haze of negative energy gone away? Let me briefly explain why this can work.

Explaining the practice of self-hypnosis

What you just did is a form of meditation and self-hypnosis. First, you have started to relax which has already released muscle tension that can make you feel stressed. By getting rid of that muscle tension, at least your body no longer reinforces the feelings of anxiety or stress and you get to the basics.

Next, you've given yourself hypnotic suggestions. Which make you feel safe and cause you to live in the here and now for a moment. Everything that is not within your field of vision is then not there. It is there, but you don't think about it (3).

For example, if you're preoccupied with the news a lot, it can make you feel unsafe. Not only because there is a threat of terrorism, but also because of news about the economy that you may think affects you. While most people never have to deal with terrorism or a really bad economic situation, such as homelessness, in the Netherlands. So there is really no reason at all to let the news ruin your mood. You don't have to let it upset you and make you react angrily that everything is going wrong.

Also, everything from the past is gone for a moment. Because you live in the here and now for a moment during that exercise. Thoughts about something that once happened or what should have happened don't bother you for a while. Fears about the future are not there. Living in the here and now is actually very peaceful.

With this knowledge and implementing this self-hypnosis tip, you can also implement the tips from the blog on being happy is a choice, if you still find this a bit tricky, read on.

The science on self-hypnosis and happiness

Scientists want to make everything measurable, so everything must be "seeable." For example, did you know that scientists cannot define love? They can define affection and kindness, but not love because it is a feeling and not something they can see. Fortunately, they can measure happiness. This makes it possible to conduct research on the effect of hypnosis on your feeling of happiness (2).

If you have a job that is stressful or otherwise makes you feel unhappy, thoughts about it also stop bothering you for a while during self-hypnosis. Research on self-hypnosis in people working in healthcare found that self-hypnosis helped ensure that they could continue to enjoy their work, they were more resilient after a negative moment and therefore had a higher quality of life.

Being sick can also make you feel unhappy. If you are seriously ill, it can damage your confidence in your body, which can send you into a slump. A study of people who had to undergo heart surgery showed that self-hypnosis the night before surgery allowed you to undergo the surgery more calmly. Self-hypnosis also improved quality of life by reducing depression, anxiety and fatigue. And that after only 1 self-hypnosis session.

Hypnotherapy and getting happy

Scientific research also shows that hypnotherapy can help make you happier in three different ways.

Hypnotherapy, for example, gets you to do more of the things you set your mind to. You get more focus on what you are doing and more control over your emotions when things go differently than expected.

For example, you may be stuck in your "unhappiness" because you don't think you can perform a certain action that will make you happy. Your hypnotherapist can help you realize that you can perform those things. This will also increase your self-confidence and thus you actually kill two birds with one stone. Because you become convinced that you can do something about your happiness and that you can do those things that are necessary to do so, it becomes a lot easier to take the steps. After all, if you can do it, why wait?

The exercise of visualizing something cute was a small visualization of some kind of goal. Visualizing your happiness strengthens the idea that it is in your control and that you know and can walk the path to happiness. This also makes you more likely to take the steps necessary to become happy because you have a clear goal in mind. Like enjoying nice weather or that nice cup of tea. It can already be in the little things.

In the process, hypnotherapy not only helps temporarily eliminate emotions triggered by your past, present circumstances or thoughts for the future. Hypnotherapy under the guidance of a hypnotherapist can actually change these emotions. As a result, you do not have to be in a slump because something did not go well. For example, when it comes to emotions caused by things that happened in your past, regression therapy can help.

In the process, a hypnotherapist can also give you suggestions you can use during self-hypnosis that are completely applicable to your situation.

In short

Self-hypnosis can help make you happier by briefly putting aside all worries and thoughts, when you do this while smiling you also directly influence your brain to feel more positive. Self-hypnosis makes you relax which is already incredibly de-stressing. The suggestions put you in a good mindset about your ability and feeling you want to have at that moment. A visualization can provide an upbeat feeling and also give you a goal to work toward.

Scientific research conducted on heart patients, caregivers and others also shows that self-hypnosis gives you more control over your life and your sense of happiness.

In addition, you can get help from a hypnotherapist to really work on your sense of happiness.

Want to learn more about hypnosis and what it can do for you and others?

Then come to a free online master class on hypnosis.

Or check out Hypnosis Institute Netherlands' training programs.

Also, pin this helpful exercise on Pinterest as a reminder:

Sources:

http://pss.sagepub.com/content/4/5/342.short

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ch.382/abstract

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00029157.2013.846845