"Before we begin, I'd like to describe the goals we're going to be working to achieve with today's session. If these goals don't interest you, or if you don't feel safe and comfortable with them, you can simply make the choice to stop listening and find a different experience to enjoy. You are always in control of your trance state, and any suggestions you hear will only apply if you feel safe and comfortable accepting them.
"The goal of today's trance is to train you to more easily accept suggestions related to hypnotic amnesia, making it easier to forget events or information when commanded to by a hypnotist you trust. There are no specific hypnotic triggers I'm asking you to accept-we're going to teach your mind to recognize situations that are invitations to experience hypnotic amnesia, and to enjoy following those commands when given. This is more flexible and open-ended than a trigger, and may result in you forgetting your trances unexpectedly... although, again, only when it is safe and comfortable for you to do so.
"Although there are points in this session where you may be encouraged to pay less conscious attention to the hypnotist, the only direct amnesia suggestions incorporated into this session are entirely permissive, and there are no suggestions or triggers that are intended to be forgotten after the session is over. Even so, spontaneous amnesia does happen to some people during hypnosis, especially during a session focused on developing the skill of concealing memories from your waking self, so you may find yourself experiencing difficulty recalling details of the trance experience. If you enjoy forgetting your trances, your mind is going to work to make that happen. You have permission to remember or to forget as much of this session as you want-again, within the boundaries of what is safe and comfortable for you.
"This session contains instructions to disrobe and masturbate. If you believe you will have difficulty resisting these instructions, please wait until you have some privacy to begin. If you do not feel safe or comfortable following any of the described suggestions or instructions, this would be a good place for you to stop. Otherwise, please get comfortable for me so that we can begin.
"I'd like you to begin by imagining what it looks like inside your mind. Not the physical structure of your brain, but a metaphorical map of the architecture of your thoughts, ideas, beliefs and opinions. Much like we sometimes make a map that doesn't accurately show distances in order to get a better idea of relationships between places, a picture of your mind doesn't necessarily have to correspond one-to-one to places in your brain. Your mind lives inside your head, but it doesn't necessarily look like it.
"Up at the top of your mind, you have the conscious self. You can picture it looking just like you, if you like, and imagine it saying all of the things you're thinking right now. Your conscious self is the narrator of your mind, giving you a train of thought that goes on whenever you're awake and deliberately thinking about an idea, an object, or an event happening around you. The part of you that's wondering, 'When is this going to hypnotize me?' That's your waking mind, and it's very good at concentrating on one thing at a time and forming conclusions about it.
"But even though your conscious mind seems to loom very large in your awareness, that's mostly just because it's your waking self that's doing the thinking about it. It's right up at the very top of your mind, and it's very close, so it seems like it's doing all the work. But it's really just the tiny tip of a very large iceberg. The rest of your mind, the submerged part, is your unconscious. We sometimes call it the 'deep self'. And that part of you is very good at paying attention to a whole lot of different things and absorbing a lot of information at once. You can think of that as a version of you, too. The two selves work together, but they're very different in a lot of ways.
"When the waking self gets interested in something, like a pretty crystal or a swinging watch or just the warm, soothing sound of a human voice, it starts to tune out everything else. It puts the job of paying attention to those other, uninteresting things in the hands of the subconscious. If you were to begin concentrating on a math problem right now, for example, like counting up by sevens, you'd find very quickly that the more you got invested in that, the less you'd really notice what I'm saying. You'd still take it in, because your unconscious mind is paying careful attention to my words, but it's like only one of you is really aware of what I'm telling you. The other one just keeps counting by sevens, up and up and up. From seven to fourteen to twenty-one to twenty-eight...
"And the unconscious self, the version of you that can pay attention to lots of things at once, it's not very good at really unpacking the information it receives. So while the waking mind is trying to keep those numbers going higher and higher, getting more and more invested in the pattern of increasing digits, the deep self hears every word I say... but it can't really think about it. It can't really decide whether the words I'm pouring into your mind are true, or just very convincing and delivered in a smooth, calm, steady voice that soothes you deeper into focusing on the math problem that just keeps getting harder and harder as the sums get bigger and bigger. Your unconscious likes to accept things. That's what it's good at.
"So there are two versions of you, two selves. The self that's focusing on one thing right now, concentrating intently on making the numbers go higher and feeling little pulses of happiness with every correct answer, that's your waking self. That's the part of you that could really think about what was happening to you, but it's distracted at the moment. Then there's the deep self, the unconscious mind. That's the part of you that's absorbing every word, soaking in everything I tell you and agreeing with all of it. Normally, that part of you would tell your waking mind if there was something it needed to pay attention to... but you feel safe and comfortable and happy right now, and your waking mind can stay relaxed and centered on the numbers. That's all that's important to it right now.
"And that's all hypnosis is. It's just that simple. It's a matter of keeping the two parts of your mind occupied with different things, so that your waking self can do what it's best at and stay focused and attentive while your deep self does what it's best at and accepts instructions. Right now, you don't need to pay conscious attention to anything that I'm saying. Your deep self will remember all of it, and anything that's important later, it will easily and effortlessly flag for your waking mind to recall. It's just that easy. And we're going to make it even easier.
"Because your deep self, your unconscious mind, it's very good at retaining all that information that your waking self doesn't always remember right away. It's all stored down there below the surface, in that big space that's distant and far away from your conscious thoughts. You can picture it almost like a library down in that lower part of your mind, a library with hundreds and hundreds of rooms full of memories. Sometimes the unconscious mind keeps those memories to itself, almost like a game it plays with your waking self. And sometimes it hides them very, very deep so that you don't even consciously know they're there. As long as you feel safe and comfortable, they can stay very well hidden like that. It's okay.
