pleasant.

Concent-rating o~ such an imaginary scene will tend to take

you still deeper.
The beginner probably will be wondering if he is getting results.
Your mental attitude should be positive rather than negative. ln your
early practice sessions do not care if you are having success. Practice
will bring it. Be sure not to "try." T rying holds you back, while being

l
S4 The 1cey lo a happier 1ife
passive and not caring will help. Take it for granted that you are at
least lightly in hypnosis, as is probable.
How to measure the depth of hypnom. A person in hypnosis
does not remain at any given depth. There is a Huctuation. ln a deep
stage you may become aware of a kind of wave pattern. You tend to
sink down into the trough of the wave, then to come up on the crest,
very slowly. If you sense this, you undoubtedly have reached a good
depth.
Hypnotic states are usually classed as light, medium or deep (deep
is often termed somnambulism). You may wonder how deeply you
have gone. ln your 6rst half-<lozen practice sessions, pay no attention.
Subsequently you can leam from your inner mind as to the depth you
reach. If we give the subconscious a yardstick with which to measure,
it can supply this information. lt seems to have the ability to establish
such a measurement quite accurately, as tests have shown. You can
leam the depth by questioning your subconscious with ideometer re-
plies.
A yardstick for the inner mind to use can be an imaginary yard·
stick of thirty-six inches. We can arbitrarily say that a light state is the
fust foot, one to twelve inches. A medium state is twelve to twenty·
four inches, and a deep one is twenty-four to thirty-six inches. There
is a still deeper stage which has been called a plenary trance, but for
even an excellent subject to reach such a depth takes severa! hours of
continued induction. Few are able to go so deeply and it is probably
impossible with self-hypnosis. You may disregard this entirely. lt has
no advantage, except in research.
While you are in hypnosis you can 6nd the depth by using 6nger
responses to questions; after you have awakened you can use either the
tmgers or the pendulum to leam from your subconscious the depth
you reached.
Questions can be worded something like this: "What is the deep-
est I have been today? Have I been as deep as or deeper than twenty
inches on my )ardstick?" If the answer is m, you should ask, "Have I
been as deep as or deeper than 6fteen inches?" If the first answer is
yes, ask as to twenty-6ve inches. By bracketing in this way you can
find the exact depth. You could narrow it down to a de6nite figure iE
you wish, but within five inches is enough for all practical purposes.
Awakening yourself-relaxed and refreshed. When you wish
to awaken yourself, you need merely think, "Now I am going to wake

The 1cey lo a happier life 55

up." Then count slowly to threc, or 10 6vc if you prcfor. You will 6nd
that you will always awaken relaxed, refrcshed, feeling exceptionally
well. However, it is well to give yourself a suggcstion to that effect.
Subjects have, on occasion, complained of a slight headache on awak-
ening. This is rare and sbe wanr [os il is FOI arrawm Any possibility
ni:' th;('.,.,,..,; hã TGãhãh#BA fm @'1Ah li SitRA½fffAn
 ~uesuons can oe woraeo sometnmg JJKe tnis: w nat 1s tne aeep-
est I have been today? Have I been as deep as or deeper than twenty
inches on my )ardstick?" If the answer is no you should ask, "Have I
been as deep as or deeper than fifteen inches?" If the first answer is
yes, ask as to twenty-five inches. By bracketing in this way you can
find the exact depth. You could narrow it down to a definite figure if
you wish, but within five inches is enough for ali practical purposes.
Awakening yourself-relaxed and refreshed. When you wish
to awaken yourself, you need merely think. "Now I am going to wake

The 1tey to a happier life 5S

up." Then count slowly to threc, or to livc if you prefer. You will lind
that you will always awaken relaxed, refreshed, feeling exceptionally
well. However, it is well to give yourself a suggestion to that effect.
Subjects have, on occasion, complained of a slight headache on awak-
ening. This is rare and the reason for it is not apparent. Any possibility
of this will be prevented by such a suggestion.
While in hypnosis time may seem to pass very quickly. You may
6nd you have been in the trance for half an hour when it has only
seemed like a fcw moments. If you are tired whcn you induce self-
hypnosis, you may drop olf into a normal sleep. This can be prevented
by suggestions of remaining in hypnosis until you awaken yourself.
The length of time you wish to be in hypnosis can be regulated. While
looking at the candle, or before beginning the relaxation process, give
yourself a suggestion of awakening spontaneously after a given num-
ber of minutes or at a certain time. You will then doso.
ln a deep state there is considerable lethargy, both physical and
mental. It is too much trouble to move or even to think very much. It
may be hard to concentrate your attention on whatever you may be
trying to accomplish. Therefore, when giving yourself suggestions, it
is much better togo no deeper than a medium stage. Probably the ideal
depth for most autohypnosis is from about twenty to twenty-five inches
on our yardstick. Much can be accomplished even in a very light state;
a medium one is best.
When the idea has been olfered to the subconscious and repeated
about three times, letting yourself sink a bit deeper will permit the
subconscious to register and digest the suggestions more thoroughly.
While it does this, your mind should be diverted from whatever sug·
gestions have been made to something else.
Practicing self-induction and testing the resulta. ln your initial
sessions of induction, allow about a half-hour or at least twenty min-
utes for getting into hypnosis and deepening the stage. For tlte first
four or five attempts you should not try to find out ho-w deeply you
have gone. lt might be discouraging if you learned it was only a very
light stage or none at ali. Each time you practice, you should slip in a
little deeper. After about eight or ten sessions you probably will be
reaching about as great a depth as you can achieve, though this is not
always so. After the fifth session some tests may be made. Of course if
you are sure you are reaching quite a deep state after one or 1:1110 at-
tempts you can proceed sooncr -,;;ith tests. When vou have succeeded

56 The key to a happier life

with some of the tests, then you can begin producing some of the
interesting and often valuable phenomena.
Ibe 6csr test J I11 I li 1 1 J lexiratioo " Tf! yo_ur