talkmagic.co.uk

Hi everybody!

I have been reading quite a lot about hypnosis and related things (you can see my post in the "Introduction" session) and decided that I want to give it a try, starting with some basic exercise.

So here's my thought (long introduction needed, sorry).

Fact 1: I read few days ago about an interesting and fast relaxation exercise, consisting in basic muscle relaxation and breathing followed by a period of "imagine yourself doing something you have never been able to do or think is impossible", with all the usual sense-related stuff. I tried it on myself and it worked quite well in its simplicity.

Fact 2: I sing in a choir. It is quite well known that (especially for amateur choirs) a good half of the problems with the "sound" of the choir are basically psychological: i.e. the singer is so focused on singing in the "right" way that they "block" their muscles and phonatory apparatus, and this hurts the singing. I have witnessed an extremely good director asking the choir to lift a chair while singing and I could hear the sound improving quite a lot *while they were lifting the chair*. What happened, basically, is that the singers focused their attention on the chair, thus being distracted and "forgetting" to block their voices.

So here is the
QUESTION: I am planning of suggesting my choir the same exercise, but I would like to modify on the base of my specific needs.

So here's what I want to obtain, mainly:
1 - Relaxation: I want them to focus on the singing experience and forget about their daily troubles
2 - Self confidence: I want them to be confident that they can sing very very well (which is absolutely true, as soon as they are not nervous)
3 - Distraction: I want them to think about the sound of what they are singing, not on the difficulties of the singing (and not too much on the technique: I'd like to use them what they know without thinking).

Do you have any suggestion on how to structure the exercise (what to suggest after the relaxation phase). Please keep it mind that it must be quite quick and not sound too much "hypnotic"...

Thanks for the help,

MiKo

Hey MiKo.

My simple advice to you would be to allow your choir to focus on the aim, not on what your avoiding.

Do not say `You no longer feel self-conscious` (which brings attention to self-consciousness)
You would say: `Realize now you /can/ feel confident, being yourself and allowing your true, natural inner-talent, to flourish and, blossom among each other.`

Also, words like `can` `allow yourself` are really permissive, which cause your subjects to go along with what you are suggesting.
While a word like `inner-____` causes them to look inside themselves.

-Danny.

Thanks for the advice. Should I let their mind wander for a bit ("think of yourself doing something you have never been able to do") or should I focus on the specific result ("think of yourself singing this particular song, gear the voices around you etc...")?

Danny's right. Never use negative words like "can't", "don't". They raise tension because they're associated with scolding and punishment. Also, the subconscious mind has only a primitive grasp of language and doesn't understand negatives. So if you say "don't tense up", the subconscious only gets the message "tense up".

Working with a group, I'd avoid becoming too specific. Some people love thinking about "doing something you've dreamed about but never done"... others might fixate on the feeling of deprivation and get upset that they haven't realised a particular dream. Some might get upset because they can't think of anything. Some might be afraid you'll ask them to talk about something they'd rather keep private.

A lot of people are really afraid of hypnosis, so I'd avoid using that word. Whatever you decide to do, describe it as relaxation exercises. You don't need them to go particularly deep anyway, just to relax and then carry this relaxed state into their singing.

Personally, I'd start with simple muscle tension and relaxation, working from feet to head. "Tense up your feet and toes, really tight... and now relax your feet, relax them completely." And so on up the lower legs, thighs, buttocks, abdomen, back, chest, neck and shoulders, arms, head, face. It's easy to do and surprisingly relaxing, with no need for anyone to visualise or imagine anything to start with.

After that, you might do a relaxation exercise with visualisation. Maybe a ball of warm light moving slowly down the body, warming and soothing each section in turn; that's fairly easy for anyone to imagine, even if they're not very good at visualising. One that I like, but that requires more imagination, is imagining your body as a glass vessel. A warm golden liquid flows in from the top of your head, filling up the body. When the body is filled, the liquid not only soothes it, but dissolves away all the tensions and problems of the day. You visualise the liquid going darker as it dissolves all the bad stuff. After a few minutes, you imagine a tap opening at your toe and all the liquid flows out, taking the bad stuff with it.

Since they're already a choir, how about getting them good and relaxed and then having them sing while still in this state? Maybe begin with some slow deep breaths, then everybody take a deep breath and sing a simple "la" with everything relaxed. You could do this at various pitches, then perhaps a scale (not too fast). If they start tensing up, have another plain breath or two before starting again. They should hear the result right away. Be sure to give plenty of praise.

I've pretty much reached the limits of my musical knowledge here, but you get the idea, I hope!

Take it slow. The first session or first few sessions, just the relaxation exercises. They need to learn to do them, and with practice the exercises will work deeper and faster. Then for the next session or two, add the simple "la"s and a scale. In later sessions, you can start including suggestions about how they know instinctively how to sing, their bodies will remember this wonderful relaxed feeling every time they sing, etc.

Thanks a lot! That's really helpful!

I agree with always using 'permissive' words. I don't practice hypnosis but have read some things about it. You want to use some pre-supposition, i.e. 'as you find yourself singing very well, notice the sounds you are making and how harmonious they are', that kind of thing, so basically 'supposing' that they are already singing well so they assume this is what they can do rather than focusing on trying to do that, therefore switching the focus to being in tune etc.

You sound like the actual Svengali from 'Trilby'! Good luck.