The Super Mental Training Book Read Online Free PDF Page A

yourself to relax. Think yourself into relaxation in your own words (whatever words seem to work best for you).
    Keep staring at the spot all the while. This focus of attention, combined with the command to relax, causes an inhibition effect in the cerebral cortex (the part of the brain concerned with complex mental processes), allowing you to enter the hypnotic state of mind.
    It is wise to tell yourself to relax once every 20 or 30 seconds. There is no hurry. Instructions given at machine gun rate, however, are not conducive to relaxation. Assuming you are in a reclined position, you will know you are relaxing when your lower back feels as if it is sinking into that on which you are resting. This will be a different, but pleasant, feeling because many athletes, through overdevelopment of their hamstrings and calf muscles, are swayback.
    (Spend about 5 minutes on this relaxation stage.)
    3. By now, your eyes will probably feel tired and want to shut. Go ahead and let them shut. Still talk relaxation to yourself. After another minute, tell yourself: "On the count of three, I will slowly open my eyes. One ... two . . . three." Most likely you will then slowly open your eyes. Keep them open for 20 or 30 seconds. Then tell yourself: "On the count of three, I will slowly close my eyes. One . . . Two . . . three." And, odds are you will slowly close your eyes.
    (Keep practicing this eye opening and closing drill for about 5 minutes.)
    If you are not successful with the eye opening and closing drill the first time, keep thinking relaxation, and try again, and again if necessary. It is quite easy, really. Spending a few extra moments to master this drill is well worth it!
    Having succeeded at the eye opening and closing drill, congratulations are in order, for most assuredly you have attained the hypnotic state of mind. It is not necessary to attempt any further drills to "prove" you are under hypnosis. You could try a different drill, as occasionally do the athletes with whom I have worked, whereby you practice folding and unfolding your hands across your stomach. But, you do not need to do this. The mastery of the eye opening and closing drill does not constitute, of course, the deepest stage of hypnosis; it is a state, though, that will respond favorably to hypnotic suggestions. You do not have to be "real deep" to successfully program into your subconscious the hypnotic suggestions you give yourself. The hypnotic stage represented by control over small muscle groups—such as the eyes—is sufficient.
    are very much awake. In fact, if the house started to burn down, you would not keep lying there. You'd get out!)
    To "awake," simply tell yourself: "On the count of three, I will awake. One . . . two . . . three. I'm awake!"
    After saying this, you will probably look around, slowly sit up, and generally puzzle over the experience through which you have just been. This is a common reaction. The first session at learning self-hypnosis is an out-of-the-ordinary happening. So, you should be puzzled afterwards, especially if you did not believe in hypnosis or thought you could not be hypnotized.
    5. Now that you are "awake" again, you should attempt to put yourself back in the hypnotic state. This is done to make sure you have learned self-hypnosis. To reenter the hypnotic state, you do not need to repeat the entire routine (which you already know works). Perhaps just close your eyes and talk relaxation for a minute. However you go about it, you know you are succeeding when these sensations typical of hypnosis come over you: 1) a detached feeling, 2) a heaviness or numbness in your arms and legs, and 3) a disinclination to exert yourself and move about.
    At this stage you may still be unsure that you have reattained the hypnotic state. If this is the case, it is all right to try, for example, the eye opening and closing drill. By the third or fourth self-hypnosis session, though, you should be able to dispense with such proofs and