What is trance
One of the properties of the human psyche is falling into a trance, but not all people have access to it. A change in consciousness usually occurs consciously or with the participation of a specialist. Trance changes the activity of parts of the human brain, focusing attention on internal organization.
During a trance, a person becomes available to visions, memories, even deep ones, which in a normal state a person does not remember, as well as dreams embodied in real form.
Entering a trance on your own allows you to get rid of many problems, such as complexes, old experiences, past traumas, including childhood, depressive disorders. During a trance, the brain begins to filter information, process it and “sort it out.”
Failures in the functioning of the nervous system are easily eliminated by entering a trance state.
Alpha waves of the human brain
The brain generates electrical oscillations of different frequencies and does so constantly and continuously. There are seven main rhythms of the process, different in amplitude, and corresponding to certain modes of human activity. When the oscillation frequency is in the range of 8-13 Hz with an amplitude of 5-100 μV, the trance or alpha state occurs. At this moment, the creative potential of the individual increases, which causes the emergence of additional energy and opportunities.
Alpha waves appear when the body is relaxed but not asleep. Every person enters a trance state at least twice a day: when waking up and before going to bed. Usually consciousness controls the thought process, actions, and filters incoming information. In half-sleep, this mechanism is turned off and the individual gets the opportunity to look at the world around him impartially, find a shortcut to success or see the future.
This state is natural for the body, but in order to learn how to enter it at will, you need to try. A person who has been practicing trance for a long time can enter it in five minutes, but a beginner may not be able to force the brain to produce alpha waves for the first time.
There are quite a few ways to enter a trance, so at the first stage of preparation it is important to choose the most convenient one. Let's look at the simplest and most effective techniques to achieve half-sleep. It is worth considering that self-hypnosis is part of any of these methods.
The benefits of trance states
Psychotherapists use hypnosis to treat many psychosomatic diseases. One type of hypnosis is Ericksonian hypnosis, but its implementation requires the participation of a specialist. But you can independently immerse a person in a trance without the help of a specialist.
While in a trance, the brain begins to activate activity processes in the body, processes information, helps eliminate deep-seated experiences and long-standing stress. During trance, the right hemisphere begins to work actively. The body directs all its resources to relaxation and solving problems at the physiological level, which in real life are not always possible to realize.
Trance allows you to work with long-term stressful conditions, due to which a person feels tired and depressed for a long time, but the roots of this problem are unknown to him.
During trance, a person often receives a solution to many of his problems, insight comes to him, problems are solved by themselves.
How to prepare
In order to independently enter a trance state, you need to find a suitable place, but it should not be noisy or crowded. It is best that no one interferes with the process or enters the room. Often practicing trance people can enter this state, regardless of the place and time of the ritual, but for beginners it will be difficult at first even in complete solitude.
Before entering a trance, you need to satisfy your physiological needs so as not to be distracted by them in the future. There is no need to go into a trance hungry or vice versa on a full stomach. The condition should be comfortable. Also, you should not start entering while you are sick.
All irritating factors, such as sounds, noises, distracting luminous objects, must be eliminated. The body position should be comfortable and as relaxed as possible.
Monotonous movements
Monotonous movements will help you get into the desired state. Hypnotists often use this method when asking people to focus their gaze on a shiny pendulum. Any repetitive movements of the same type contribute to a change in consciousness, this is especially effective for people who are emotionally malleable and have well-developed sensory systems.
To relax and distance yourself from extraneous influences, you can, for example, look at a flashing dot on the screen for a long time. Interestingly, people often fall into a special state of mind using this method on their own. Surely many have noticed that sometimes they look at a white television screen for a long time, although the programs are no longer broadcast. This happens when a person tries to make an important decision, or in case of severe stress.
To force the brain to generate alpha waves, you can use motion sickness. To do this, you need to rock the person, simulating motion sickness on a train. It is no less convenient to swing on your own in a sitting position. Typically, relaxation and immersion in semi-sleep occurs in 10-15 minutes, without any other preliminary preparation, which will make it easy for a beginner to enter a trance.
Entry techniques
To enter a trance, there are some techniques that allow the body to adapt quickly and easily in a short period of time. However, they all require significant effort, since it may not work the first time. Entry must be practiced frequently.
- The easiest technique to perform is holotropic breathing. You can perform this either with a quick noisy exhalation or with slow and deep breathing. The number of breaths per minute should be at least 50 if you use the fast intermittent breathing technique. It is best to perform lying on a flat, flat surface, with dim light. During breathing exercises, the body is saturated with oxygen, which leads to a slight change in consciousness, as well as immersion in a trance.
- One way to enter a trance is to use sound. You can use a mantra, which will need to be repeated monotonously, observing a certain tone. The concentration of sensations should be only on sound. Feeling the vibration of the vocal cords and the flow of oxygen into the lungs.
- The technique of monotonous movements is often used. The easiest way is to sit on the floor and swing your body in different directions, slowly and monotonously. This method can be supplemented with the sound method.
- Concentrate on one action or sound. It can be the sound of an hour or drops of water evenly dripping into the sink, for example. You can focus on your own body and try to listen to your heart.
While entering a trance, a person feels lightness and even some kind of floating. Some people feel leaving their body. Reality is blurred, consciousness is dulled. The state resembles a state of half-asleep, when you are not yet completely asleep, but at the same time you are no longer quite in reality. Self-hypnosis is achieved experimentally. The most popular techniques allow you to achieve a trance state after just a few workouts. Some manage to achieve the desired result already in the first session.
Self-hypnosis methods
The most effective techniques for entering a trance:
- autogenic training;
- affirmations;
- visualization;
- fixation.
Immersion in trance is available to a person who is fully prepared and has the skills to relax the body and self-control.
Autogenic training
One of the simplest methods to put yourself into a trance is autogenic training. Suitable for beginners, it allows you to relax and calm the nervous system. Based on self-control and knowledge of your body.
A person can plunge into a trance on his own, doing monotonous work, feeling lazy, and not concentrating on thoughts. Purposefully focusing on the heaviness in the body helps relax the muscles, and fixating on the lightness will force them to work. Before entering a trance, a beginner should prepare.
- Create a comfortable environment so that there are no distractions.
- Wear comfortable clothes.
- Find a cozy place.
The “driver on a droshky” pose can be used anywhere there is a chair, armchair or stool. Sit on the edge of the seat so that it rests on the buttock folds, and not on their entire area. Give your legs a stable position by spreading them wide. Your shins should be perpendicular to the floor. If tension remains in the leg muscles, build a pose until it disappears.
Tilt your head forward, round your back. Lower your forearms onto your thighs. Gently hang your brushes down. Do not press your forearms onto your thighs. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing.
After resting in this position, you need to get out of it correctly. Pay attention to the state of your body, feel rested. Start slowly moving your fingers, clench and unclench your fists. Feel the strength flowing into your body. Clenching your fists tightly, stretch your arms forward. As you inhale, raise your arms up, lean back, bending at the waist, lift your face up. Do all the manipulations without opening your eyes. Stay in this position for 1-2 seconds. Exhale completely through your mouth, unclench your fists and open your eyes at the same time.
Exiting trance incorrectly will cause severe fatigue. Take your time, control your movements, breathing and concentrate on the energy you received during the session.
Affirmations
The simplest technique for entering a trance is the use of affirmations. A person is given complete freedom of choice in the frequency, place and types of affirmations. They are short phrases containing a formula for success. It all depends on the goal that a person sets for himself. For example, you are afraid of the dark or want to improve your financial situation: “I am brave, the darkness is not scary for me,” “Tomorrow I will gain new opportunities and receive financial rewards.”
You can use any phrases you create yourself. You need to repeat them daily before bed for 15-20 minutes. Having taken a comfortable position, let the flow of thoughts pass through you. Breathe deeply, measuredly. When you feel that your body has relaxed and your mind has prepared to perceive the desired attitude, begin to repeat the phrase (you can do it out loud).
You can conduct such sessions in the future on your way to work. The more you repeat, the faster your mind will tune into the right frame of mind.
Another type of affirmation is gratitude: but not for what already is, but for what will be. If you want a car, say “thank you for the new car.” The point is not in words, but in focusing on a powerful positive emotion. You need to clearly imagine your feelings at the moment of achieving the goal and at the same time say words of gratitude.
Visualization method
The technique is used to understand the causes of nervous breakdowns. Allows you to find the right resource in the body to combat the problem. Relax, take a comfortable position. Concentrate on your breathing. Feel how your body becomes warm, pliable, nothing bothers you. Imagine a place that evokes a positive emotion or person in you.
The visualization method is used to analyze the causes of nervous breakdowns.
Transport yourself to the last unpleasant moment for you.
Analyze what you feel (pain, annoyance, irritation). Try to remember events from early childhood in which you had similar feelings. Analyze what resource you lacked in order not to experience those feelings. Then recall the event in which this resource is present. Return back to the nearest conflict situation and use the extracted resource. The technique is quite complex and a beginner will not be able to perform such an entry on his own for the first time. Practice the technique with a partner first.
Fixation of attention
The technique allows you to quickly enter a trance. Before you do this, set a goal for yourself. You can describe it on paper. In the installation, you cannot use negative words: “no, you can’t, get rid of”, etc.
How to put yourself into a trance by fixing your attention:
- create a fixation point by drawing it on the wall or a white sheet of paper;
- sit comfortably;
- relax;
- peer at the point without being distracted by extraneous sounds or thoughts.
Sit in this state for several minutes. Then proceed to installation. Say it out loud, clearly and clearly, 5-10 times. Close your eyes and relax. Gradually return to reality.
Meditative music
You can enter a trance using various techniques. One of them is the use of meditative music. Meditative trance music is sold on audio media in specialized stores, it can be found on the Internet, or you can chant the mantra yourself, having previously studied the correct tonality and sound combination.
Music, not only for trance and meditation, in general allows a person to relax and put his feelings in order. It is not without reason that psychologists recommend listening to calm, relaxing music as often as possible, both for adults and children. Classical music has a significant impact on improving the health of the body, normalizing mental processes and balancing a person’s state of mind.
Meditative music is aimed at helping to enter a trance, but it can be used not only solo, but also in combination with other techniques for entering an altered consciousness.
Definition of "trans"
In science, the word “trance” refers to a number of altered states of consciousness (ASC). Another definition can be formulated as follows - a functional state during which a person consciously or unconsciously performs any actions, his critical perception of information disappears, and his analytical and semantic abilities decrease.
Translated from French, trance means “to become numb”; in Latin, this word means “crossing the border of something.”
The peculiarity of the ASC is that consciousness is focused not outward, but inward. Attention is concentrated on memories, fantasies, images, sensations.
Consciously entering a trance is called meditation. This method is actively practiced in spiritual practices. Many experts understand meditation as a certain form of self-hypnosis.
Mandatory conditions of trance:
- concentration of attention,
- decreased conscious activity,
- passivity of actions,
- activation of the unconscious.
Signs of ASC:
- Stillness, concentration of gaze on one point.
- The desire to close the eyes, slow blinking.
- General relaxation, decreased reaction.
- Changing pupil size.
- Normalization, slowing of heart rate.
- Decreased respiratory activity.
- Short muscle contractions, smooth shaking of the head, trembling eyelashes.
- Literal understanding of speech addressed to a person.
Purpose
From the point of view of the human body, the ability to enter such altered states is a reaction to protect the psyche from stress, overload, and strong traumatic influences.
From a psychological point of view, trance is actively used for medicinal purposes. With the help of ASC, a person overcomes previously experienced psychological trauma. Trance allows us to give an answer to the reasons for the development of painful human conditions.
Psychologists use numerous ASC methods: accompaniment, guidance, dissociation, self-hypnosis, etc.
Accompaniment is aimed at deep and detailed immersion of the patient into his memories and experiences. The psychologist, using the “vague words” technique, creates a semantic framework that is understandable to the patient. These frames are “filled in” by the patient himself.
Management involves using the patient's existing experience to construct a new experience. To guide the patient, the psychologist uses a special script.
Dissociation allows a person to “separate,” see his body from the outside, and live through memories as an “observer.”
stimming
Monotonous body movements are called stimming. This is one of the techniques for entering a trance. This technique is considered the most popular and easiest to perform. To achieve an altered consciousness, it is necessary to take a comfortable body position and make monotonous repetitive movements of the body. You can sway from side to side or back and forth. In this case, all your attention should be focused on relaxing all the muscles of the body.
Often during this method additional influence is used on active points of the human body. They are stimulated with fairly strong pressure, and then, releasing, the meditation continues.
No additional help
It is possible to enter a trance on your own. Some skills are required, which can be obtained from specialized literature, a knowledgeable person, or after several independent attempts.
The gaze should not be focused, the body should be completely relaxed. All thoughts are turned off, you need to concentrate only on a specific action or sound. At first it will be difficult to turn off your thoughts, since their constant flow is familiar to a person, it seems impossible to stop it. However, this is not so, and after several attempts, entering a trance will become easy and accessible.
How to exit
The exit from the altered consciousness must take place gradually, just as the immersion was. Visually, you can imagine yourself swimming out of the depths, emerging from under the water, or going down the stairs.
Gradually, thoughts and feelings will come to consciousness, the brain will assimilate the new existing reality. Slow counting will help you come to your senses after falling into a trance. You can perform several relaxing, but toning, movements, like gentle stretching. After entering a trance, it is advisable to drink a glass of warm water and not begin your daily duties for some time so that the body can adapt and tune in to the desired wave.
Self-hypnosis - how to go into trance
The first thing to do to enter a trance is to identify the reason for entering this state, mentally tune in and try to control thoughts, because thoughts directly affect a person’s life and habits.
- You need to focus on breathing. Breathing should be sustained and deep. First, you need to breathe in 3 counts. Inhale for 3 counts, hold your breath for 3 counts and exhale in the same way. It is necessary to perform the exercise for 10 minutes, after which the cycle time can be increased.
- After breathing exercises, imagine walking up the stairs into a dark space. The main thing is to feel this path. It is necessary to carry this feeling along with your breathing, for example, when you inhale you are on a step, and when you exhale you go down. On the last step, just take a step into the void and feel the moment of falling. It is this falling effect that will put you in a trance state.
In a trance state, various images may appear to you. Or maybe emptiness will simply appear, your brain will choose a comfortable state for itself at the moment.
Is there any harm
Some scientists believe that going into a trance has only benefits, while others are inclined to believe that it is as harmful to the body as it is beneficial. However, each person should decide for himself whether a trance state will bring him benefit or harm.
First of all, it should be remembered that changes in consciousness affect the functioning of internal organs. The heartbeat slows down, nervous processes are suspended, emotions are suppressed and some numbness of consciousness occurs.
While entering a trance, a person can see some hallucinations or visions that are associated with his internal subconscious fears, which were deposited in early childhood in the subcortex of the brain, and since then the person has not remembered them. Unpleasant memories can cause depression, since a person is not always ready to accept that past reality again.
During a trance, oxygen starvation occurs as breathing slows down. A certain amount of endorphin, the hormone of joy, enters the blood, which causes enlightenment and a feeling of insight for a while. However, this feeling gradually passes, and is followed by a state of lethargy and apathy.
Relaxation
In order to enter a trance, it is necessary to completely relax the physical body and turn off all thought processes. Only by relaxing can a person plunge into an altered consciousness and experience the benefits of a trance state.
Relaxation may not occur immediately, but initially you need to physically try to relax all your muscles, including the muscles of your face, because people often forget about them. After the onset of complete relaxation, achieving an altered consciousness will occur easier and faster.
No special conditions needed
Having mastered the process using auxiliary means, you need to learn how to change consciousness in uncomfortable conditions. After all, the modern pace of life will not allow you to enter the alpha state every day with musical accompaniment or rocking on a chair.
Knowing how to enter the alpha state in noisy and crowded places can help you calm down before an important meeting, make the best decisions, and reduce stress levels. The self-hypnosis technique in this case is based on the fact that the body and brain have already remembered the state of half-asleep, and consists of simply counting from 20 to 1, with your eyes closed.
Freeing yourself from emotions and thoughts
One of the most difficult tasks when entering a trance is turning off the consciousness from the constant stream of thoughts. People are accustomed to conducting an internal monologue without interruption for a second. This constant flow of thoughts allows us to control our actions, concentrate our attention, and direct our movements and actions. However, when entering a trance or during meditation, it is necessary to completely turn off consciousness, relax and not think about anything. Only in this state will entry be possible.
Entering a trance is possible for almost every person. It must be remembered that for some diseases it is impossible to use sound effects or flashing signals, for example, for epilepsy. But otherwise, a person can fall into a trance quite easily.
Many composers and great writers have used trance to gain insight. Each of us can easily use this method to solve our everyday problems, or even children's fears that have accumulated over many years of life.