This post shows you how to make your own self-hypnosis audio that you can later listen to to help improve motivation, habit change, and other aspects of personal development.
Materials needed
- Some kind of microphone, MP3 recorder, or way of recording your voice.
- Basic audio editing software (Audacity is a popular free one. There are probably some options that come with your computer too – I used Garageband.)
- If you already have some talent with music feel free to incorporate that.
What is hypnosis?
Think of hypnosis as nothing more than suggestion. Whether you are talking to a friend, listening to something on the radio, watching a movie, or just thinking a thought – you are being suggested some sort of idea.
Bad hypnosis is when the suggestion doesn’t hook. It goes in one ear and out the other and we remain unaffected. Maybe we were just too bored or apathetic to really pay attention to what was being suggested or our critical mind found the suggestion to be bogus.
Good hypnosis is when a suggestion captivates you and creates a change. It is like being moved by a really compelling movie. Anything that peaks your interest and makes you tune in more intently can be considered a form of good hypnosis, like a compelling speech or even watching the World Series. It concentrates your attention and keeps your mind engaged.
How do affirmations relate to hypnosis?
A popular form of hypnosis within the personal development niche is affirmations. When the technique was first introduced as a tool for psychotherapy by Emile Coue in the late 19th century, when it was first called autosuggestion.
If you don’t yet know what an affirmation is it is basically this: you create suggestions for yourself towards certain changes in feelings, thoughts, or behaviors. For example:
- I will be more friendly to people I don’t know.
- I will try not to overreact when I get angry.
- I will spend more time at the gym.
- I will pay better attention to my eating habits.
These are all affirmations but you can structure them in all kinds of different ways. Different language patterns may be more or less effective depending on the suggestion and the person being suggested to. Since you are writing your own suggestions, you should experiment and find what ways work best for you.
Writing your own script
What types of suggestions do you think will work best on you? This part takes a bit of experimentation and practice. You won’t necessarily nail it your first shot.
Some people are more suggestible when they are being directly commanded to do something: “Be a better listener! Study more! Watch less TV!”
Other people are more suggestible when they are given options to compare, “Imagine what your grades would be like if you didn’t study more? Now, imagine what your grades would be like if you did study more?” This is called an indirect suggestion – because there is an implicit message that your grades would most likely be better if you studied more.
For your first script, I recommend trying out both direct and indirect suggestions. Don’t be afraid to also incorporate things to visualize by starting sentences with,
- “Picture this….”
- “Visualize that…”
- “Imagine if…”
- “See what happens when….”
The more vivid you make your suggestions, the more captivating and effective they will be. People who have a naturally tendency towards good story telling or a strong imagination will have a distinct advantages over those who don’t – but it is a skill that we can all develop with practice.
Try to make your first script a good 2-3 pages, double spaced, 12 sized font. This should make your hypnosis track about 5-7 minutes if you pace your delivery appropriately. You can structure the script in different ways or you can make it more stream-of-conscious – it really depends on the message you want to get across. Some scripts are designed to drive home a single point or lesson, while others are designed to simply develop a general good sense of well-being and motivation.
The voice and delivery
Voice and delivery can be important in how suggestible your message is but again it depends on the type of suggestion and also the person being suggested to. Your tone matters. For example you wouldn’t want to screech out “Relax!!!” when you want someone to be in a relaxed state. Similarly you don’t want to have a boring and apathetic voice when you say, “Be sexy and fun around others!”
Experiment, experiment, experiment! Sometimes listening to a slow and drone-y voice can heighten your trance, while other times it can put you to sleep. You don’t want to fall asleep. You want to be engaged. Hypnosis is most effective when it is an adventure. Add different colors and dynamics to your voice to amplify the importance of the message and keep your attention fixated.
When you read the script (or even if you are doing an impromptu script) you want to role play the experience as you speak it. You want to be there as you tell the story. The more engaged you are when you deliver, the more engaged you will be when you listen back. It is just a basic rule of all good communication.
How to butter up your final product
Once you are done recording the main script, there are certain things you can do to make the listen even more attractive and enjoyable.
You could add music that compliments the message. Good music for hypnosis should fit well in the background and not take away from the language of the track. It should be designed to create a certain mood or feeling. Sometimes a sense of inspiration or awe can make the strongest impression.
You can create another overlaying script. Often practiced in the form of “dual induction hypnosis,” it is when two hypnotists are giving suggestions at the same time. With the wonders of modern technology, you can create a dual induction all by yourself. With some basic audio editing you can even pan one voice to the left and the other voice to the right. So you will have a different exchange of suggestions going into each ear. This can be used as a way to create stimulus overload, often resulting in confusion, which is a very great way to amplify trance states.
Add effects to the voices. A little bit of echo and reverb never hurt anyone. Sure, it may make your voice sound like some robot from a cheesy 80s scifi movie, but it can make your voice easier to listen to and be fixated on. For “edginess” you can add some distortion or flanger. Most basic audio-editing softwares (including Audacity which I recommended above) have some pre-packaged effects that you should be able to use.
Do panning and volume changes throughout the track. This may be something that only experienced audiophiles can do, but by having your voice shifting between speakers and changing volumes is one really fantastic way to keep your track engaging.
My example
You can download my first attempt here (approx: 10:20, 14mb) . My original intention was to do a dual induction: with self-improvement suggestions on one side and world-improvement suggestions on the other side.
I didn’t write a script for this one, just recorded each track individually, stream-of-consciousness. Each recording was 10 minutes and then I just overlapped them and added some reverb, echo, and distortion (only because I felt my voice sounded too dry and weak without the effects).
After the scripts were recorded I created a simple synthesizer sample using Reason (it is a program for electronic music makers). I basically improvised an organ/space-y synth sound to go with the suggestions.
Things I learned to help improve future recordings:
- I need to make my voice more animated.
- The music is a bit cheesy and simple, but it does have an interesting drone/trance-inducing effect.
- Because I didn’t write a script, the message of the audio is a bit scattered and incoherent. Creating this kind of confusion isn’t necessarily bad for creating a hypnotic effect, but writing a script with something more coherent and structured is usually better.
- There will always be room for improvement whether it be writing better scripts, stronger vocal delivery, or even becoming a more intent listener to the final product.
Things I learned from the creative process in general:
- Making your own self-hypnosis tracks can be really fun.
- The act of putting together the project in-itself is a great exercise in personal development.
- It is a great way to express yourself.
Listen to it
Once you finish your creation you will probably be eager to listen (and re-listen) to it. I recommend doing this whenever you have time set aside to let go of your earthly obligations; it could be early in the morning before you get to work or late at night before bed.
Try listening to it every other day for a week and then continue with it on a weekly basis. Consider it your daily mantra or prayer, a healthy reminder of the things that matter to you in life and the things you want to improve.
Don’t be afraid to also listen to it with a critical eye. Jot down some ways you can improve your next recording. Pay extra attention to which suggestions “clicked” with you and which ones just passed by. Work on developing better language, better delivery, and more colorful and dynamic tracks. Follow these principles and you will be the king of your world in no time. I mean it.
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This is great information. I just started working with a hypnotherapist and she sent me home with a relaxation CD. So far, I'm loving everything about the process and it will be good to know how to make my own audios.
Thank you for helping to get this information about hypnosis out there. I feel a lot more people would be open to experiencing hypnosis and the many positives it brings if only they were a little more informed.
Unfortunately the first thing most people think of when they think of hypnosis is stage hypnosis which really detracts from the therapeutic side of hypnosis, hypnotherapy.
I think that hypnosis can be effective for some, but some people, like me, are not the easily suggestible types, and it becomes ineffective for us. It is a good tool and I know that it does work for some, but not for everyone.
@HypnosisGuide – I agree. Thanks for the support.
@Charlotte – Thank you! Hypnosis is a really effective tool – keep with it!
@Dan – EVERYONE is suggestible, it just depends on what suggestion is being given. Especially when taking part in self-hypnosis – it is up to you to make the change take place. You have to take the liberty to sacrifice your will, to be one with the experience, and learn from it.
Nice guide Steven! Making your own hypnosis track sure looks like a fun process, and creating the suggestions yourself must make them even more effective than those on a professional hypnosis track.
I agree with Dan on this. I can assure you that nobody could ever hypnotize me in anyway. Its more about the belief in the process than the actual scientific process itself. If you believe that a certain pill can give you energy, the pill probably will make you feel energetic even if it is just sugar. Its amazing what the mind can do when you believe in something so strongly. If you believe that hypnosis can help your problems – and the belief is so strong, then it will definitely work for you. Its not the hypnosis that does it, its yourself. That's all just my opinion…
You're totally wrong. But your strong resiliance and belief that you can't be hypnotised will be proven to yourself by many a hypnotist who are unable to break down that resiliance into a strong rapport required for a traditional relax induction. (On that note there are many psuedo hynotists who are nothing more than relaxation specialists and completely miss out on the hypnosis state). A good hypnotist will use that stubborness and work with it in a covert way to induce you. As a hypnotist I'd pounce on your own belief that a pill can make you feel better with that placebo effect as a starting point for your induction. Indeed it is amazing what the mind can do. If anything, your missunderstanding of what hypnosis actually is makes you a much easier target than you might think. Scanning down to some of your other comments, I totally agree with Steve Handel. Religion is totally a hypnotic occurence as all beliefs and learning is. It is simply acceptance of suggestion. We're all hypnotists, we're all hypnotic subjects, all of our lives.
Hypnosis IS suggestion, so yes – of course it is yourself that is accepting the suggestion! I am with Bandler and Hypnotica in the fact that I believe ALL hypnosis is self-hypnosis. Placebo pills too are a form of suggestion/hypnosis.
So, Travis, the only limitation to how suggestible you are is your very own ability. If you want to tell yourself, "I can never be hypnotized," – then you just hypnotized yourself into the state of "non-hypnotizability."
Trust me, there is no one that is more of a skeptic than me, but self-hypnosis is an ability – not a trick. Thanks for your comment though Travis! I hope I cleared up any confusion.
I don't know if hypnosis will work on me. I do know that hypnosis is being practiced by some doctors as therapy on patients with severe psychological trauma.
That's not fair because your basically putting a definition on "hypnotism" than can mean practically anything. If I tell you to do something and you do it, is that hypnotism too? or is it simply following directions? What about religion? If you believe in a certain creed that restricts specific thoughts and actions, is that hypnotism? I thought hypnotism was where you sit in a chair and a guy says "Your getting sleepy, very sleepy" and instead of you that falls asleep its the other guy…lol.
Actually Travis yes, I do consider all of those forms of hypnosis – most of those being what I would call social hypnosis or mass suggestion: religion, media, and institutions that exercise obedience and discipline (like governments and schools) all contribute to that. It plays a very large role in what I would describe as the "illness of society," or you could even call it "the dream we refuse to wake up from."
Hypnosis is any state of mind where your critical thinking is being bypassed. We live much of our lives on "auto-pilot," blindly accepting suggestions out of familiarity, tradition, redundancy, or mere convenience. We are always being suggested something (whether it is by others or our own self). So, like hypnotists Milton H. Erickson and Richard Bandler, I don't draw a distinction between different mental states in regards to discussing "hypnosis" (which again, really means nothing more than the science of suggestion and persuasion).
Sorry if this didn't clear up anything. Hypnosis is a very easily misunderstood topic (it has a lot to do with stage hypnotists and false impressions in movies)…check out "Related Links" under this article for some additional information you may find helpful.
wow!.. this is really great! I can learn how to make my own self hypnosis audio. Thanks a lot. But before I can do that I think I better study this first more carefully. I really loved hypnosis and how it can help people.
I enjoyed reading this. My band is thinking of making meditation tracks along with binuaral beats.
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I'm taking my psych classes now and we are 'just' starting to touch on hypnosis. I'm still a bit skeptical as I've never experienced it personally but.. I do look forward to learning more about it.
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Thanks for the information. I have been wondering how to make these kinds of audios. I heard about it through a friend who is already doing it but i wanted some kind of expert opinion on it. Thanks!
Travis,
I have to disagree with you. I use to think that no one could hypnotize me either, but then it happened. In fact, the more I tried to resist, the more I fell into it.
As for the belief in the process that you are referring to, I do not believe that is the case at all. Most of the time the placebo has no effect no matter how much the person believes it will.
As for hypnosis helping solve ones problems, I do not believe that hypnosis by itself will solve anything. However, hypnosis coupled with other types of therapy will definitely change someone's life.
Steve
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