Written by Rajgopal Nidamboor
Simple Self-Hypnosis Practice
Sit in a comfortable armchair, or lie down, and relax. Close your eyes and imagine yourself at the top of a staircase with ten steps, which leads down to a beautiful place of great calm and peace.
Descend the staircase slowly – counting the steps. Try to synchronize the count with your breathing – one step on every second outward breath. Now, tell yourself as you descend that you are feeling increasingly relaxed and comfortable; and, when you reach the bottom you will be content and at peace. Also, tell yourself that you are going deeper and deeper into your inner self.
As you reach your special place, find a nice spot where you can sit comfortably. Now, dwell on your suggestion, or mantra – e.g., I will be more relaxed and confident – allow this suggestion to get sink deep in your mind as you gently fall asleep. Or if you use this simple self-hypnosis technique during the day, you can also reverse the process and finish with a energetic command.
To to this, simply reverse the process to move from the state of self-hypnosis – climb back the stairs and count back from ten to one. As you slowly open your eyes, suggest to yourself that you are going to feel refreshed and alert. You will sure feel nice, confident, relaxed, and refreshed ready to greet your daily tasks.
Light and Sound Machines: Natural Sleep Aids
Light and sound machines come in many different forms. Some combine strobe light with strobe sound to more fully entrain brainwave states. Some have pre-set programs which allow you to explore various states: focus, alertness, learning, peak performance, dreams, visualization, sleep or meditation. With light and sound devices you are equipped with a pair of light glasses and earphones and the programs put your brainwaves in the brain zone you’ve selected depending on which program you choose. Sound and light therapy machines are often used extensively by creative people and athletes to stimulate the creative process.
Another form of sound machines are white noise machines which can help with insomnia causes. They are designed to help you relax and they are designed to disguise background noise to help you stay asleep. The white noise is translated by the brain and easily integrated as a repetitive pattern that is calming to the mind and acts as a natural sleep aid.
We use a sound machine that sounds like ocean waves and it works wonders. On Kauai there are wild roosters everywhere that crow throughout the night, especially on moonlit nights. Spiritual retreats on Kauai have learned creative ways to incorporate rooster crowing into morning meditations! Thank goodness for our sound machine that drowns out their manic crows. Many machines also have a selection of nature sounds depending on your preference. Acoustic relaxation is a great term for these sound machine devices and they work.
If you are having a hard time sleeping or relaxing you might also enjoy the sounds of nature, whether it be ocean waves, chirping birds, or crickets. They readily bring on relaxation and will help you sleep at night. You might want to check out the Obus Forme Sound Therapy Relaxation System for Acoustic Relaxation. This wonderful affordable Sleep Sound Generator helps to create a calm environment and masks any unwanted noises (such as rooster’s crowing in the middle of the night!) with ten high-quality digital recordings of natural sounds.
We love the simplicity of the white noise from the Marpac Sound Screen 980A Electro-Mechanical Sound Conditioner. This sound conditioner is great for travel, is very durable, and masks noise beautifully.
