Automatic Writing with Self Hypnosis

Automatic Writing may conjure up images of nineteen century parlour games and spirit contact, but in reality it is another useful tool for uncovering what is hidden in the subconscious mind...

Automatic writing works in a similar way to ideomotor signalling (IS) except that IS is usually limited to yes, no and don't know responses, whereas any amount of wording or sentences can by written automatically.

The subject is usually seated with a pencil and paper nearby, and whilst in hypnosis may be given suggestions that he or she will write down a certain word or words, either at that time, in response to a given signal, or sometime in the near future.

The action is then carried out without conscious awareness. Subjects may put away the piece of paper on which they had written until a later date. Upon inspection it is sometimes found that they have written a prediction or a solution to the problem bothering them.

In a book entitled 'My Voice will go with you' by Sidney Rosen, Milton Erickson tells of an experiment in automatic writing with a young lady who was engaged to be married. He told her in trance that she would write 'It's a beautiful day in June'. Instead she wrote the name of a man, (not her fiancé) whom she later married. At the time of the automatic writing she was very happy in her relationship with her fiancé and had no inkling that their relationship would not last, however, her unconscious mind had already recognised that she would not marry him.

It is not unknown for writers and artists to claim that their hands had been 'taken over' by past masters, and for them to write or paint in a language style totally alien to them.

When we were young, my friend and I would allow our hands to relax whilst holding a pen over a piece of paper. Eventually the hand would begin to move and a page full of scrawl would appear. Sometime the scrawl could be deciphered and little bits of nonsense or otherwise would appear out of it - other times we could make out nothing at all except repetitive lettering.

You can use automatic writing in your own regression work or with your clients. If you're using it on yourself with self-hypnosis you could simply give yourself the suggestion that information relating to your previous lifetime will be written by you in the unconscious state. You could record the following script onto a cassette and play it back to yourself, whilst sitting comfortably at a table, with a pen or pencil in your non-dominant hand, over a sheet of paper.

I am going to hypnotize myself for the next thirty minutes. During this time, if any urgent situations arise that need my attention, I will come out of hypnosis by counting from one to five, and I will deal with the situation promptly and efficiently.

I am now ready to begin. I am sitting comfortably on a chair. Both my feet are resting on the floor and I am aware of a very slight tingling sensation in the soles of my feet. Each of my toes relaxes and my feet are feeling heavy. This heavy feeling is comfortable and is beginning to flow up over my ankles, into my legs, my thighs, my pelvis, my hips and my stomach. My tummy muscles are relaxing more and more, as my chest relaxes, my breathing becomes easier and more regular. Easier and more regular. Becoming more relaxed and comfortable with each breath that I take. My shoulders are relaxing, sagging, letting go of all tension and I am becoming more and more comfortable with each moment that passes and each breath that I take.

My back is relaxing, especially my spine and those big muscles on either side of my spine. And my arms - from the top of the shoulders - all the way down, through the muscles of the arms, are relaxing more and more.

My elbows relax, as do my lower arms, which are resting lightly on the table, my wrists feel loose and flexible, my hands are so relaxed - and even though I can feel the surface of the pen/pencil in my right/left hand, I am feeling more comfortable and peaceful than I have felt for a long, long, time.

My fingers are lightly holding the pen/pencil and I am aware of a very slight movement in my fingers. My neck and throat are comfortable and relaxed - as are all of my facial muscles as I relax and let go, letting go, of all tension.

As my eyelids close gently I am aware of a slight fluttering of the lids, this is a sign that I am relaxing even more deeply, even more comfortably, than I have previously done, in a long, long time.

I am now going to count slowly down from ten to zero. With each and every descending number, I sink deeper and deeper into comfort and relaxation. When I reach zero I will be in a comfortable state of relaxation. I will remain in this comfortable state for twenty minutes (or specified time). If at any time during this twenty minutes, my unconscious mind wishes to review a specific memory from a previous life time, it may leave impressions on the paper upon which my hand rests.

At the end of this specified time I will gradually return to full awakening consciousness, I will count to five and my eyes will open. I will feel wonderful.

Don't be disappointed if you need to repeat this exercise two or three times in order to condition yourself to writing whilst in hypnosis. With a bit of practice you will learn to hypnotize yourself almost instantly, by simply counting down from ten to one.

You may find yourself writing off the edge of the paper so it's a good idea to have some bigger than expected, or use it landscape. You can strengthen the suggestions if you wish, or adapt them for use with a client. You don't even necessarily NEED to be in hypnosis for this to work - a nice deep state of relaxation will do just as well.