How Anyone Can Use Hypnosis to Be More Creative
Creativity can help you solve problems and generate new ideas. Even more, tapping into your right brain is a powerful skill that can help you achieve your goals at home or work. Grace Smith, a hypnotherapist and stress relief expert, agrees that creativity is a key component for achieving success.
“If there’s anything that I’ve learned thus far during my mission to make hypnosis mainstream, it’s that following someone else’s path too closely can slow or derail your growth,” she notes. “Creativity can be such an elusive thing for those of us who emulate others or identify more with our tactical business-building strengths. When you really harness your creativity, you can tap into who you are to stand out; no one wants what someone else is already providing really well in your watered-down version. They want you.”
To tap into her own creativity as she grows her business, Smith uses hypnosis to slip into a relaxed and inspired state. “I make myself delicious recordings that I can listen to with my eyes open all day long. Like my one of my students says, ‘hypnosis is a massage for your brain’ — and I massage mine all day long. I listen to my recordings before I get out of bed in the morning, throughout the day while I’m working, and at night before bed.” Smith says her dialogues remind her what she wants to be, like happy, peaceful, brave, a great mom, and more. “These kinds of mind-hydrating, soul-nourishing thoughts flood my system all day long,” she elaborates.
The 5 Steps of Self-Hypnosis
“Self-hypnosis can help increase confidence and help you access your intuitive and creative states by turning inward,” Smith says. “If you find yourself looking outward for answers, it may be time to turn down the noise that comes with being influenced and get to work on your own vision.” Here are five steps Smith says anyone can use to access their creativity with hypnosis:
1. Know what you want. Smith says you need to know what your desired destination is before you can get on the jet plane to fly there. “Hypnosis is meditation with a goal, so know which specific results you want to achieve,” Smith advises. “Ask yourself: What are all the problems in your life? Who do you blame them on? How do you want to feel?” According to Smith, your answers might surprise you. Start by journaling and see what unfolds; keep your mind open as you go to allow yourself a sense of freedom.
2. Relax. Once you know where you’re headed, it’s time to kick back and relax. Have a hard time chilling out? Smith says that while letting your worries and anxiety fade away may be easier said than done, anyone can use hypnosis to relax deeply and quickly. “You relax by turning off the stress response of fight, flight, freeze in order to allow new information to enter your mind,” she explains. “Next, you become open to suggestions; this is the reason why hypnotherapy is as effective as it is.”
To enter this state, Smith instructs to begin by closing your eyes and imagining every muscle in your face and body relaxing from the top down. “Imagine a white, bright healing light flowing in through the top of your head, all the way through your body, and then out the bottoms of your feet. This light is relaxing you… Finally, count backward (either aloud or in your mind) very slowly from 10 to one, saying ‘I am going deeper and deeper’ after each number.”
3. Repeat. “Hypnosis is a process of conditioning; luckily, it works quickly because once you’ve deeply relaxed, you’ve started to condition your subconscious mind without your conscious mind getting in the way,” Smith tells us. “Now you’ll repeat positive and powerful hypno-affirmations that reflect exactly what you hope to create, rather than what you don’t want.” Need an example? Smith offers using “I am powerful” instead of “I am not weak.” To perform this step of the exercise effectively, she suggests picking up to three mantras that feel good; repeat each 21 times.
4. Imagine. “Now imagine your desired result has come true — see, feel, and experience that you are truly powerful, successful, happy, healthy, in love, or whatever it is for you. Use all of your senses to make it feel real,” Smith offers. “Marinate in this for two to three minutes, then smile and open your eyes.”
5. Practice. Tap into your practice all day to make self-hypnosis effective. “By deciding how you want to feel, relaxing, repeating ‘I am’ hypno-affirmations, and imagining your destination as real in the here and now, [it] will help you override negativity faster than you can imagine,” Smith says. “With this transformative power, you’ll unlock your creativity.”
Have you tried self-hypnosis? Tell us about your results on Twitter @BritandCo!
(Featured photo via Grace Smith / @gracesmithtv)