Practical self-hypnosis

A question

This practical self-hypnosis article is written in response to a question from Smita, one of our Indian readers , who wonders how self-hypnosis can be used to find objects that are lost.

We all find ourselves in that position from time to time.  Smita doesn’t say exactly what was lost but the principles are much the same.

Sometimes when we cannot find small articles they are not actually “lost”; we just don’t see them.  That is a phenomenon known as negative hallucination. 

He who looks outside dreams;  he who looks within awakens
Carl Jung

Finding lost objects with practical self-hypnosis

I keep my cuff links in a particular position on a chest of drawers and from time to time I complain that someone has moved them and they are missing.  

My wife always says, “Let me look for you”, finds them within seconds and tells me that I didn’t look properly.

When I enquire further I discover that when the cleaning was done my cuff links were moved just two or three inches away from the position where I normally keep them. 

So although I looked in the position I always did, and whilst they were clearly within my field of vision, my brain blocked them out because they were not where I expected to see them.

The objects that are most commonly “lost” or mislaid in our house are car keys.  It aids efficiency enormously if you allocate places for particular items.  We have a board with hooks just inside our hall where everyone keeps their car keys.

Practical self-hypnosis and regular habits

So when anyone is about to leave the house all they have to do is to go to their hook and remove their particular car keys.  But, every once in a while, the keys are not there. 

Probably when they last entered the house they were in a hurry or distracted and absent-mindedly put their keys down in a strange position.  

When they next look for them they haven’t the faintest idea where they put them.

Furthermore, the conscious mind cannot assist because at the time the keys were mislaid, the individual was, so to speak, running on automatic:  that is to say, the unconscious mind had taken over.  

Practical self-hypnosis and the conscious mind

That being so, the unconscious mind knows where the keys are and needs to be accessed.

Unfortunately, when something appears to be lost, we tend to get hot and bothered and go into panic mode.  Often we need to get somewhere in a hurry and don’t feel we have the time to look.  

But, if it is your car keys that are missing, you are stuck until you find them so, first of all, you need to calm down and clear your mind.

Take yourself to a quiet place, sit down and still your mind.  Focus on a point across the room, perhaps a spot on the wall or the top corner of the room, take a deep breath in through your mouth and then let it out slowly through your nose.

Practical self-hypnosis and relaxed concentration

Concentrate on the object you wish to find.  Now take another deep breath, again in through the mouth and out through your nose.  Relax and allow your eyes to close. 

Imagine the tension flowing like golden syrup from the top of your head down through your shoulders and arms, out through your fingers, down through your body, down your legs and feet and out through your toes.

Now, imagine that you are floating out of your body to the other side of the room and you can see yourself sitting in the chair totally relaxed and, as you look at your body in a totally relaxed state, you notice that you relax even further and go deeper and deeper still.

And all the while your mind focuses on the missing object, drifting back to the time it was last seen.  

Hold that deep concentration and relaxation and if at any time feelings of tension reappear, let them drift off into the distance and you can just allow them to wander away.

Now, if you recall where the missing item is or feel you know where it might be, you can bring yourself out of trance and wake up fully.  

Likewise, if it doesn’t immediately come to mind, after a while bring yourself back into the room but maintain your state of relaxation and do something else for a while.

All the time you are in that state of relaxation your unconscious mind will continue to search in the background.

Practical self-hypnosis and your timeline

An alternative method of self-hypnosis in order to find an object is to use your timeline.  You may have read about that elsewhere on this website, but if you haven’t, it works like this.

First of all, you will need to ascertain where you imagine the past and future to be.  There is no right or wrong answer to this; we are all slightly different.  

When I think of yesterday, I imagine that it is slightly behind me over my left shoulder.  Last week, month and year are in the same direction but further back.

When I imagine tomorrow, next month, next year, I see them in front of me slightly at an angle and going off into the distance.  

Other people imagine the past and future going from left to right across their bodies (rather than through the body as I see it) or from right to left, and a smaller number of people imagine it even differently.

For these purposes, it doesn’t matter how you see it.  It is just important that you know where the past and future are to you.

Again, take yourself to a quiet place, still yourself, relax and close your eyes.  Imagine yourself in the present moment and place an imaginary flag pole in the ground to mark that present moment.  Fly a large flag of your choice from that pole.

Now, imagine yourself rising above that flag pole until you are high above your timeline and, in one direction, you can see your past and in the opposite direction you can see your future.

Gradually start to float back along your timeline to your recent past and, as you go along that timeline, recall in as much detail as you can the recent events that have taken place. 

Go to the point where you last saw the object you are now looking for and mentally hover over that point in your timeline.  Look very carefully.  

Analyse everything that happened around that time and move forward in time only as quickly as it enables you to follow what happened to the missing article.

When you have discovered where it is, gradually float back along your timeline to the present moment until you see the flag in the ground and descend to the present moment.

If you have been unable to discover what you were seeking, concentrate on relaxing still further and repeat the exercise.  

A useful method of practical self-hypnosis

I know from my own experience and from working with others, that these methods are extremely useful and the more relaxed you are and the more you use them, the more effective you will be.


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