Tell yourself that every thought you think takes you deeper into hypnosis and then do one or all of the following strategies to start developing a numbness and anaesthesia in your hand:
a) Use cognitions and internal dialogue: Affirm to yourself that the area of your arm you are focusing on is going numb. This needs to be done in a way that convinces you that it is the truth; that is, say it all to yourself in a way that you believe 100% at an emotional level.
Do
not say it with stress and do not 'try' to will it to happen, just convince yourself with a good level of assuredness.
Focus your attention on a particular spot on your hand or your arm and begin to imagine and notice that it is growing numb. Then tell yourself it is going numb. Convince yourself using your internal dialogue that it is so.
Utilise any accompanying twitches, or slight sensations by telling yourself that they are proof of it taking affect and working for
you.
"My arm is more and more numb. Feeling is fading, disappearing... More and more numb" or whatever kind of other cognitions really convince you.
b) Use of hot or cold: This is your choice - some people find a numbing icy sensation the best way to numb a stitch, whereas others prefer a warm soothing, relaxing sensation to ease it gently.
For cold: Imagine that you are putting
your hand, finger tips first, and then slowly the rest of the hand and arm, into a bucket of icy water. Imagine the coldness and numbness spreads and then imagine it getting colder until the water turns to ice and the arm is encased in case.
Again, add belief and convince yourself of it.
You can tell yourself that the arm is getting colder and colder, but ensure it is not an uncomfortable coldness that would harm us in real-life terms. No self-induced frostbite here please!
;-)
Some of my students have imagined pure white snow falling on the arm, building up and getting colder. You may use icy, barren arctic conditions as a stimulus to dominate the mind and accompany what you do with the arm directly, thus creating an internal environment for your thoughts that supports and encourages the coldness in the arm.
For heat: Now imagine being in a scene where a heat source was. Notice the colours, the sounds, and all the details of the place as
vividly as possible.
Imagine moving your hand closer to the heat source (you can move it in actuality if you want to, but it is not essential) and then imagine the hand getting warmer and warmer. Notice and imagine all the sensations happening that you experienced earlier.
Imagine your hand getting warmer, imagine all the qualities of the hand changing to really be a warmer hand (colour, sensation, etc.) and start to notice it getting warmer. Tell yourself that it is feeling as if
it is getting warmer - convince yourself, say it as if you truly believe it 100%, undeniably convince yourself by imagining it so realistically that it becomes your reality.
For a more in depth version of the heat inducing process, read this article:
http://www.adam-eason.com/2013/07/01/using-self-hypnosis-for-that-deep-heat-effect/c) Numb colouring: With either of the previous options and with those that following, you may choose to use your imagination to colour the area in a way that leads to numbness or increased sense of easiness.
Ideally,
white and blue tend to get associated with cold and that may prove useful.
However, when I do this with clients or students with hetero hypnosis, I have often noticed the actual change in colour in the arm as blood is mobilized. Often the arm loses some of it's usual colour and turns a more yellow or pale colour. You might consider suggesting the same thing to yourself using colour and imagining that the arm is becoming more pale.
If using heat, then imagine red or orange, for
example.
This use of colour can advance and enhance any of the other options given here.
d) A numbing injection: This is particularly good and effective if you have had an experience of a numbing, analgesic injection in the past, at a hospital, doctors surgery or dentist.
You might notice or imagine being in a doctors surgery or a surgical environment if that helps create the right feel
for you. Then imagine the injection and focus on the cooling, numbing sensation that occurs, focus on it and even add in the use of your internal dialogue, colouring and coolness imagery to advance it.
e) Turn the arm into something else: This is the kind of process used by Derren Brown in his recent stage show. This is whereby you use your imagination and imagine that your arm and hand are actually
made of a different substance. You imagine that the arm takes on the qualities of that substance.
You imagine that the arm and hand are beginning to change gradually into a piece of wood, plastic, or the same as an arm of a clothing shop mannequin.
You imagine the arm becoming inert, like painted wood or soft plastic, you tell yourself that it is becoming more and more numb as it takes on those qualities. This is my method of choice. I do not like using cold to deal with a stitch
(on the contrary, I prefer warm sensations, to be honest) so I use the notion of my hand becoming wooden,
f) Distraction: This is working upon dissociation principles. While inducing the numbness, you shift your awareness and focus to another completely different part of your body, you become so aware and tuned in to your toes or foot, for example, that you lose any awareness of the arm and it becomes
numb by default.
I recommend that a combination of many of these techniques and processes be used to develop the desired outcome. Remember to convince yourself and add as much belief as possible without unnecessary stress being placed upon yourself.
When you have built up and developed the numbness, congratulate yourself positively and move on to the next step.
