Richard Bandler - Trance–formations. Neuro–Linguistic Programming™ and the Structure of Hypnosis

Now I want to give you a more official example of hypnosis, because too many of you are not looking around the room and noticing what's going on in here. So I'd like to take somebody out of the audience and put him up here. There are certain advantages to sitting in this chair, because you get to watch 100 people go in and out of altered states, and they only get to watch one. Is there somebody in the audience who would volunteer?

OK. What's your name?

Woman: Linda.

OK, Linda. Are you married? (Yes.) Can you think of anything that your husband does that makes you feel some way that you don't like? You don't have to talk about what it is, but I'd like for you to think of some idiosyncratic behavior of his—perhaps some tone of voice, some gesture, some set of movements—that makes you feel unpleasant, If he didn't do that behavior, you wouldn't have to feel unpleasant, but if he kept it and your response to it was really positive, it would make your life a lot easier. So he could do exactly what he does, but rather than feeling bad, you could still enjoy yourself—perhaps even feel very pleasant… .

OK. Take a few moments. Close your eyes and look at times and places where you've seen him do those things. And when you look at him in those situations, I want you to be very sure … that you can discern which of his hands moves the most… . In each memory notice specifically how he's dressed … and approximately what time of day it was. , . .

It's not that these facts are important in and of themselves … because what's important here … is not necessarily , . . going to be … facts at all… . Because in your past you've had the experience … where what you thought was an absolute fact … became the opposite of what you came to believe later on. … That's the nature of time… . Time changes everything. … In fact, without time … nothing at all changes… . Light wouldn't exist without motion … and motion doesn't exist without time, …

Right now, I want you to take the time to go way, way back into your own childhood, and find there some past, pleasant memories that you haven't thought about fora long time… . Because many things happened to you …in your own childhood … things that were fun … things that were important… . Right now, the most important thing … is that your unconscious mind … begin to learn … to separate out. . , one thing from another …to begin to work actively … and sort through those childhood memories …to find one that is just … pleasant … enough… .

And I want you . , . that's right …to enjoy that process …. When you find that pleasant memory … I want you to experience those feelings… . Get inside that memory… . Notice the smells and sounds and the tastes … of what goes on. … Because inside that memory … is enjoyment for your conscious mind… . And inside that memory … is the foundation that your unconscious mind … can use to build an entirely new learning… .

Now, inside that memory … that pleasant memory … something is occurring. … Do you know what the name of that something is? … That's right… . Remember that name… . That's a set of words … that you can remember later on. Now, when you went through life . . , you went from one memory to another. Only they weren't even memories yet, they were just experiences… . And as you moved from one experience to another … you'd have an enjoyable one … but as time went on, your enjoyment would change to something else . . , because there were also experiences which were very, very unpleasant … some which really scared you … some which you fought your way through … and from which you learned a lot about living… . That's right… .

And as you got through those experiences, you said to yourself "Never again." … And as time went on … those unpleasant experiences faded into the past . . , and they became the basis … of powerful learnings … about how to cope with the world in a way that was effective… . They were useful… . However, they're not nearly as useful …as what happens when you say the name …of that pleasant memory… . Say that name to yourself… and as you do … you can go back there again… . That's right. … Go back inside that memory … the pleasant one … and find the enjoyment… . That's right… . Because you forgot to do something… . Lots of people forget… .

When you go from a pleasant experience to an unpleasant one, you don't use the pleasantness as a way of coping… . On the other hand when you leave an unpleasant experience and go to a pleasant one, somehow or other it's so easy to take the unpleasantness with you. … It seems foolish somehow, but yet it's easier that way. And if you take some time … take a deep breath … and let that unpleasant memory really fade … and then move forward … and go back into that pleasant memory … that enjoyable memory … and when you're in that memory this time … you tell yourself … "I'll never forget this again… ." Because some things … are a resource … that you want to take with you … to be at your beck and call… . And some things are a burden . , . and they're no longer needed… .

A long time ago … my aunt told me … that whenever something bad happened … I should never forget it because if I would ever forget it, it would happen again, … If I had taken her advice, 1 would have spent a long time trying to remember a lot of bad things… . But if you have a bad experience and you say to yourself "Never again" … you can trust that your unconscious will allow you to know what to avoid in the future… . And if you say "A few moments ago I forgot to take that pleasant memory with me, and I felt all those bad feelings, and I'm never going to do that again" … you can go back into that enjoyment … go into that pleasant memory … and perhaps remember another one that's even more pleasant… . Find one that may even have a giggle under it or a giggle over it … perhaps one that has tenderness … perhaps one that just has a lot of fun… . Because you

went through your childhood … you became a teenager … and now you're an adult… . You made it, so to speak. But since you've made it … that's no reason for you to give up all the good things… . It's much more effective to take them with you… .

See what is the most pleasant memory your unconscious mind can find. , . , You can consciously look for memories, but unconsciously you know how to sort through memories much faster … and much more effectively… . Your unconscious knows much more about your own experience than I do … and it can sort through memories at a high rate … until it finds one that it thinks your conscious mind would never have thought about, which is pleasant in a very unique way. … It can find more than one if it chooses. …It might show you a piece of one … a fragment of another; it might show you a whole sequence of pleasant memories… .

And as it does so … you might not realize it … but you're doing the same thing you did … every day of your childhood for the first four years and every day thereafter… . You're sorting through memories and experience, trying to make sense of them … in a way that's useful… . And if you find that thread … that allows you to have a good feeling … then very, very slowly I want you to feel the palms of your hands … begin to touch one another, slowly … the warmth and texture… .

And as they come together I want you to keep those good feelings , . . and I want you to see your husband doing that special idiosyncratic behavior … that in the past you didn't like … and I want you to see him do it … and keep those good feelings … and know how good it can feel to have somebody special in the world. , . . That's right… . The most unique experience that a person can have … is to have someone who is special for them.