Prayer, Hypnosis, and Reprogramming

As I have been evaluating where I am and where I want to be in the future, I recently revisited the audio book of A Practical Guide to Self-Hypnosis, by Melvin Powers. It is probably a little old, and outdated, but it serves as an introduction to the practice of self-hypnosis. It is an interesting topic to me. I have seen practices that could essentially be considered self-hypnosis, or at the very least self-hypnosis-lite.

One such occurrence is the use of affirmations, or some sort of positive statement read regularly.  I have seen it applied in a volleyball team setting where players were encouraged to repeat affirmations about being a good teammate, setter, or something similar. In a certain sense, I have employed it in the form of reading a certain passage of scripture daily. I would even say that (possibly in a subconscious way) a coach saying "We're going to have a fabulous practice" is a sort of affirmation.  "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better" made popular by Émile Coué would be another example.

While I can't speak to all of these, I can speak to some. In a team sense, I have seen this work. I don't know that it could be demonstrated empirically, I saw a difference when the coach leads with and stays true to the sentiment in the affirmation. When the players buy into it, it shows in their attitudes, and I believe, in their effort. When I have seen coaches teach one thing and act contrary to the sentiment, the players don't respond favorably. In the positive example, the players rose to the challenges. In the negative example the players would fold under pressure.

In my exercise (reading the passage of scripture, namely Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-46) I had a very interesting experience. I would read a section that included, "Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost". I have a bit of a problem with my temper when I'm dealing with my kids. One time when I started to lose my temper during this exercise with the scripture, I mentally stopped and questioned myself about whether or not I was reproving, or if I was moved on by the Holy Ghost to do so, or if I was just losing my temper again. It was powerful enough to make me stop in a situation where I wouldn't otherwise. While I might say that it had to do with the scripture, and the power of the Holy Ghost acting upon me, I also would say the practice of daily reading something that prescribes a certain behavior will also have a lot to do with it.

I would also suggest that prayer can also act in a similar way. Set aside for a minute prayers that express gratitude or ask for divine help. Prayer asking for help developing some trait or virtue logically could provide benefits in the same way hypnosis or affirmations could. I think the important thing is regular participation. Daily prayer asking for help in developing a desired trait, and reading some mantra/litany/scripture that promotes that trait could go a long way to reprogramming that grey matter in our skulls. I've had little tastes of how this can work.

That brings me back to where I started, hypnosis. A while back when I first listened to Mr Powers' book, I gave self-hypnosis a try. I tend to be a little skeptical, and I had some previous notions of hypnosis that might not be fair or accurate. As such, I wanted my first attempt to be something innocuous, so I decided to hypnotize myself to pray the first thing in the morning. My regular morning habits involve getting up sluggishly and if I think about praying, it is after I am out the door on the way to work. The next morning, I just rolled out of bed onto my knees. It was such a dramatic result that it scared me, and I left hypnosis alone.

Now that I am at the beginning of a project of sorts to reprogram and redefine myself, I'm taking another look at hypnosis. I'm not sure what role it will play, if it will play any, but I can see putting hypnosis-like practices (like affirmations, reading, and prayer) into use to affect some significant change. Now if I can just iron out what exact changes I want to make.