Auto Suggestion Techniques to Help You Change Your Life
Includes 9 Auto Suggestions for Boosting Your Self Love
By Susanna Sweeney, MSC, MBACP, CHT
In this article, find detailed auto suggestion techniques to help you design, administer and troubleshoot your self hypnosis affirmations successfully so that you can use them to change your life. Includes 9 affirmations for boosting your self love.
Auto Suggestion Techniques- How to Formulate Your Self Hypnosis Affirmations for Maximum Impact
According to Émile Coué (1857- 1926), the originator of the concept of auto suggestions, you must be very particular with your use of language, if you want your auto suggestions or affirmations to work.
Positive Language
Your use of language must be positive rather than negative. This is because your subconscious mind is not able to distinguish between positive and negative language. That means if you tell it NOT to do something, it will take it as a command to do just that.
First and foremost, this boils down to avoiding the words 'no' and 'not' in your auto suggestions. Also avoid any 'don't', 'won't', 'can't' and so on.
Instead use positive language, stating clearly what you DO want your subconscious mind to do, for example: "All of me wants to quit smoking."
Present Tense
Your auto suggestions should mostly be written in present tense. Again, this is because of the way the subconscious mind works. You have to give it very literal instructions. As you want to stop smoking right now, you must specify the exact timing to your subconscious mind. Say: "now" or "right now" to indicate this.
If you were to use future tense as in "will stop smoking", your request would be filed away as 'not urgent'- along with a stack of other files, and would not be acted upon.
According to this principle "All of me wants to quit smoking." now becomes: "All of me wants to quit smoking now."
Below find a more advanced technique that does use past and future tenses for a particular purpose, but do take it that mostly your suggestions should be in present tense.
Conviction
A more modern addition to these ideas on how to design self hypnosis affirmations that work is the concept of letting your affirmations speak to your subconscious mind with conviction.
The idea behind that is again about how the subconscious mind works. The filing system there will give priority to items that are charged with emotional content. Therefore, if you infuse your affirmations with plenty of positive emotion, they should work better.
"All of me wants to quit smoking now." then becomes: "I am quitting smoking now and very cell in my body feels enthusiastic about it." While saying this quietly to yourself, the recommendation is to connect with the positive emotional content and to feel it as much as possible.
Advanced Auto Suggestion Techniques
Charging Your Suggestion With Imagery
The language of the subconscious mind is largely image based. Therefore, another clever auto suggestion technique you can include to make your affirmations or auto suggestions stronger is to include positive images. These images can either be incorporated into the affirmation itself, or you can simply elicit an image while saying the auto suggestion quietly to yourself.
In the first scenario, your affirmation to quit smoking could now become something like: "I am quitting smoking now and very cell in my body feels enthusiastic about my bright and healthful future full of light, success and positive feelings." Where in the second scenario you could charge the same affirmation further by designing an image that stands for this 'bright and healthful future' for you. For example, you could see yourself playing sports being cheered on by your friends and family, or you could see yourself going on your dream vacation to a beautiful spot.
Using Past Tense and Future Tense to Strengthen Your Auto Suggestion
One of the most clever auto suggestion techniques is to pretend to your subconscious mind that your goal has already been achieved and all the work is in the past and that your future has already arrived.
Here, your auto suggestion for quitting smoking could become something like this: "I have stopped smoking for good now and will never smoke again. Every cell in my body feels enthusiastic about my new bright and healthful reality which I embrace fully."
Can you see how you are cheating your mind by pretending that the job is already done? Once your subconscious mind accepts an affirmation like that you can expect the job to become really easy, without any struggle.
Accept no Limitations
Coming back to the work of Émile Coué, here is another design principle you should always keep in mind when writing auto suggestions: never accept any limitations.
According to Émile, the only limitations there are in real life are those posed by the laws of nature itself. It follows that outside of that, anything is possible for you to achieve.
There are many, many inspirational stories about people who achieved what was believed to be the impossible- be it in sports, politics, science or any other area. What propelled them forward and made them continue against the perceived odds? Nothing but their vision and determination.
If you hold a clear vision and let that spurn your determination and if you support that by using auto suggestions, anything is possible. Personally, I used these principles when studying for an MSc.
I had been out of education for more than 15 years and was dreading academia- I never did enjoy it all that much. With the help of auto suggestions I developed the vision and determination to not only finish it but do very well. In the end, I finished on a First Class Honors- a fact I am not mentioning to brag but simply to illustrate that you, too, can achieve anything you set your mind to, and the auto suggestion techniques in this article can help you with that.
Auto Suggestion Techniques Exercise
Take out a pen and paper or use your favorite notes app. Set aside five to ten minutes where you will be undisturbed.
Design an auto suggestion for yourself now. Start with an auto suggestion for general well being. Bring it through all the stages that I outlined above. Your end result should be one or two sentences loaded with imagery and strong positive emotional content.
Start using this auto suggestion immediately. How is it making you feel?
Let our community know in the comments at the bottom of the article.
Once you have designed a general auto suggestion and have understood the principles outlined in this article, move on to designing more specific auto suggestions that support you with reaching your goals or changing your life.
Auto Suggestion Techniques- How to Deliver Your Auto Suggestions
Repetition
As Émile Coué moved away from hypnosis and started teaching clients how to work with auto suggestions, he recommended frequent repetition as the only delivery method. In other words, you must recite your suggestions to yourself- out loud or quietly inside yourself, as you prefer- several times a day.
The idea here is that the subconscious mind likes repetition. Even unfamiliar items which upset the existing subconscious mind programming can gain acceptance into the subconscious if they are repeated often enough. (This fact is used by advertisers extensively. They know that if they can get their message in front of you multiple times, you will eventually become curious and buy.)
Trance
The other delivery method that is sure to soften your subconscious mind towards the new ideas you are trying to introduce is self hypnosis trance. The underlying concept here is that when you are very relaxed, the censors around your subconscious mind recede somewhat and are more likely to get you to embrace new concepts- which they usually will reject when in ordinary consciousness.
So if you practice self help hypnosis regularly, you can include the auto suggestions you have designed. Not only will you benefit from the deep relaxation that comes with self hypnosis, but- by using auto suggestion techniques, you can now also use it to change your life.
Troubleshooting Your Auto Suggestion Techniques
If you start working with auto suggestions or affirmations and are getting stuck- this next section gives you some ideas for what to look out for.
Be Mindful of Your Use of Language
Above you have read about what you must look out for in designing your auto suggestions. I brought your attention to the particular use of language you must adhere to in order to make them work for you.
The same is true for your overall use of language- while working with auto suggestions and even if you are not. My article "Does Self Hypnosis Work?" explains in detail how we are constantly conditioning ourselves with our thoughts and beliefs and our resulting internal self talk.
We do the same with the language we use in conversation.
Be mindful of using phrases like:
"I am dying to have ..."
"This is such a pain."
"I hate..."
Every such statement has the power to become a negative auto suggestion and, in the long run, may bring about negative consequences for your emotional well being as well as your physical health.
Start directing your attention to the language you use, and when you find yourself making any such negative statements, correct them immediately and make them into a neutral or positive statement instead.
For example: "I am dying to have a cup of tea." becomes "I would really enjoy a cup of tea now."
Also, be mindful of complaining a lot, as complaining will bring about more and more negative emotions which in turn might well attract more negative energy into your life. Instead, consciously start bringing positive emotions and positive language into your thinking and into your conversations.
Cross Purposes
The purpose of auto suggestions is to focus all your energies towards your goal. However, look out for cross purposes that might emerge as soon as you start working with your affirmations.
What are cross purposes? In your conscious mind you want to change your life. You use affirmations to do so. But then your subconscious mind says, not quite so fast. Here are a few obstacles you must negotiate first. We refer to cross purposes when your conscious goals are in conflict with your subconscious mind programming. The resistance that surfaces is in direct contradiction to your stated goal.
Imagine for example that you want to stop smoking. You have designed your affirmations and start to use them. Things are going well for a couple of days, but then cross purposes start to come up. Thoughts emerge, such as: I always did enjoy a cigarette with my coffee in the morning- maybe I'll have just the one cigarette. One won't hurt. An emotional craving emerges.
How can you overcome cross purposes?
Good question.
When cross purposes emerge you have to commit to the change process even more and keep going with your auto suggestions until all of you agrees with them.
As long as there is any disagreement from inside you, either in the form of emotions or thoughts, these cross purposes are in danger of undermining you.
There is no easy way to get rid of cross purposes.
These are the action steps you must take:
- You have to work through them.
- You have to bring them into your conscious awareness.
- You have to recommit to your goal every time cross purposes come up.
- You have to keep going with your auto suggestions.
- Keep the repetition going until all of you agrees with your goal.
9 Affirmations for Boosting Your Self Love
What is Hypnosis? Other Articles on This Topic
Understand the Basics
Discover the Power of Hypnosis
Discover the power of hypnosis through 10 amazing facts about hypnosis you most likely have not heard before.
Six Wonderful Benefits of Hypnosis for Creating the Life you Love
Find out the benefits of hypnosis over coaching and traditional talk psychotherapy in helping you change your life for the better and achieving your goals.
You may have heard anecdotal reports about hypnosis being nothing more than unscientific ‘mumbo-jumbo’ which might have planted this question in your mind. So, does hypnotherapy work? Find out my answer to this charged question, and it probably isn't what you would expect.
The 3 Worst Mistakes Hypnotists Make
Find out the three worst mistakes any hypnotist can make so that you can avoid them and find the right hypnotist for you.
Evolution has given humans a powerful tool that enables us to be the most dominant species on the planet- yet this tool contains a critical flaw that is limiting many people and preventing them from living their dream. This may be limiting you, too...
The Secret Language of Hypnotherapy
Learn the secret language of hypnotherapy geared towards the requirements of your subconscious mind so that you can reach your goals more easily.
Find out the most common issues that hypnosis can help you with and see what you could do with hypnosis to change your life.
This article is a great starting point to understanding what to expect from hypnotherapy treatment, including what you can do to get the most from your treatment.
Hypnosis has been shrouded in mystery. There are many myths or, simply, false beliefs attached to hypnosis. You, too, have likely picked up a few of them as they are ‘around’ in public consciousness. Let me bust those myths for you so you can be free to enjoy and appreciate hypnosis for what it is.
Hypnosis or Self Hypnosis Trance
Hypnotic trance is referred to with much mystery. Is it really that spooky? Allow me to talk you through what the experience is like.
Hypnosis Methods and Ways of Working
This article covers everything you want to know about suggestion hypnosis, including what it is, what it can do for you, how it works, what techniques are used and how you can get the very best out of it. Suggestion hypnosis can help you to reach your goals and change your life.
Regression Hypnosis can help you to clear blocks relating to the past which are causing you trouble now. Find out how it works, how it compares to coaching and psychotherapy and see if it is suitable for you.
This article fills you in on how you can get the very best from regression hypnosis and is a must read if you are thinking of embarking on hypnotherapy treatment for a complex personal issue.
Some hypnotists offer specific sessions to uncover past life memories. Is this a good idea? Find out what my thinking is on how to get the best results from past life hypnosis.
Does online hypnotherapy work or is it inferior to face to face work as some people say? Find out what's involved and form your own opinion about advantages and disadvantages working online with us.
What is Havening and how Can it Help you Change Your Life?
Find out about a novel psychosensory treatment we combine with hypnosis which can help you clear trauma, fears, phobias, anxiety, low self esteem and more while also supporting you in building resilience and positive emotions.
Discover how well hypnosis could work for changing your particular bad habit and how you can make it into a starting point for changing your life.
Hypnosis for Permanent Rapid Change
No more scripts. The new way to work with live issues. It's dynamic, fast, gentle and powerful.
Self Help Hypnosis Articles
Can you help yourself with hypnosis? Find out here...
You will find this question answered but in a way you probably would not expect. Find out how self hypnosis is always at work, whether you harness it as a skill or not...
The Benefits of Self Hypnosis
Find out in this article how you can benefit from self hypnosis in your life, including what issues you can use it for.
Self-Hypnosis Relaxation Techniques
A good place to start practicing self hypnosis techniques first before infusing them with images regarding your specific goals, or changes that you want to make in your life is with relaxation techniques. Find a sample relaxation script on this page that you can start using today.
Self Hypnosis for Goal Setting
Goal setting is key in working with personal goals. If you don’t get your goals just right, you are much less likely to get good results. Find out how to overcome the seven most common mistakes with goal setting when you use a self hypnosis based approach.
Self-Help Hypnosis- 7 Challenges and How to Overcome Them
Like any other form of therapy, self-help hypnosis, too has some limitations which you should be aware of before you start practicing. I also offer some practical tips and solutions to help you overcome most of these limitations.
Auto Suggestions
In this article, find out the history of auto suggestions, the science behind them and how you can use them to your advantage to change your life.
In this article, find detailed instructions on how to design, administer and troubleshoot your auto suggestions successfully so that you can use them to change your life.
I have written this article on auto suggestion techniques to put you on the road for your work with suggestions and affirmations. I do hope you feel more confident now and have sharpened up your skills on how to formulate and apply your suggestions.
In the comments below, let our community know what progress you are making! I look forward to hearing from you.
Here is to your success and well being.
Regards,
Recent Articles
-
Havening Technique Training auf Deutsch
Feb 08, 24 11:02 AM
Havening Technique Training auf Deutsch- Details und Buchung -
Client Testimonials
Oct 06, 23 06:08 AM
Client Testimonials of my Online REPAIRenting® Program that uses various psychosensory approaches for safe and quick transformation -
Smoke Free Thanks to This Amazing Resource
Aug 02, 23 09:26 AM
Oh thank you for this simple resolution to all my worries! I feel like I have had a weight lifted off my shoulders. It is like cheating on giving up smoking.
About Me | Contact | Privacy Policy | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | Twitter
Hello Venturer,
Welcome to my Online Hypnotherapy Clinic.
I am Susanna Sweeney, accredited psychotherapist and hypnotherapist.
I have been helping people to overcome their blocks and move forward for 30+ years.
Along the way, I have fallen in love with hypnotherapy.
Please note that any content or advice provided here is not intended as a substitute for medical advice.
Always consult your doctor before starting any health regimen.
Outcomes of hypnotherapy vary between individuals and cannot be guaranteed.
New! Comments
What do you think? Leave a comment in the box below.