Leisure Induction Steps
Here’s the overall structure:
- Ask them about a leisure activity they enjoy.
- Ask them what they like about it.
- Ask them about a specific time they were enjoying this activity.
- Focus on and increase a feeling from that activity, shifting modalities.
- When you see signs of hypnosis, point them out.
- Create a conditional drop.
1. Finding an Activity
Find a leisure activity the subject likes, conversationally, and ask them what they like about it. Start collecting nominalizations and feelings.
2. What do they like?
Ask them about what they like about the activity. Really just start finding something relaxing until you can find an entry point to a specific time.
3. A Specific Time
After starting the conversation, ask them about what, when, or where they enjoyed it, as a venue to get to a specific time that they were enjoying the activity. This can be as straightforward as asking them about the last time they experienced it. Begin to slow the pacing of their language with your subject, and start to watch closely for signs of hypnosis.
This isn’t just to fill time, asking them about a specific time they enjoyed the activity helps lift it up to a specific event, rather than a concept. This way, the subject can delve deeper into that feeling.
Hypnotist: “When was the last time you were able to let go and get your twitch fix in?
Subject: “Oh man… it’s been a few weeks. I think last Sunday, I was hanging out with a few friends on Discord… We were all watching MarkyBlaster69 play some old games.”
Continue to collect their verbiage, and encourage them to continue talking about it. Keep your language clean - and avoid directing the modality of the experience. EG: “What’s that like?” is better than “How does that feel?” Start using parrot-phrasing occasionally to encourage them to speak more on the activity. EG:
Subject: “I love just letting go (nominalization) and chilling out with the lights off with a few friends.”
Hypnotist: “Letting go…” (parrot-phrasing in a tone to encourage them to explain more.)
Subject: “Yeah… it feels like I can just finally let my hair down (nominalization) and enjoy the moment (nominalization).
Hypnotist: “Ah that sounds wonderful… So just a time where you can chill out and enjoy the moment. (parrot-phrasing the nominalizations)
Subject: “Yeah… it’s nice.” smiles
4. Focus in
Now that we have some tools ready, we can start to assist the subject in focusing inwardly.
Another nice touch you can do is try a Transderivational Search (TDS). Give them a mildly ambiguous question to help fill their focus more on the memory.
Hypnotist: “So, when you feel you can just let your hair down and relax… where do you feel that in your body (TDS)?”
Subject: thinking “It’s like my chest is becoming a bit heavier, maybe like a weight is lifted off of your shoulders…”
Hypnotist: “Weight off your shoulders…”
Subject: “Yeah… Just letting go..”
Hypnotist: “I wonder what it would be like (permissive language) if you tried to increase that feeling in your chest. Do you think you can do that?”
Subject: Letting out a sigh “Yeah… it feels like I can really just settle in… like my body itself is floating.”
5. Pointing out Signs of Hypnosis
Watch for signs of hypnosis. This is a little bit more difficult on VRChat, but you can sometimes see their breathing or their body language. If your subject is lying down, straight up ask them to put their hand on their chest - you can watch their hand move.
Hypnotist: “I don’t know if you’ve noticed (permissive), but as you’ve started to sink into that feeling, your posture has comfortably sunken down, and your breathing has slowed down a bit as well.”
Subject: “Huh?”
Hypnotist: “And maybe you’ve noticed as well (permissive) that your eyes have begun to blink… I assume. And as they do (sneaking in a suggestion) you can find you can just sink much deeper into that feeling if you let yourself (permissive.)
Subject: Hm…
6. Conditional Drop
You could suggest they drop into trance - but the idea is here to get them to do all the work for you. As an extra perk, at this point, you have a perfect set of experiences to throw your subject right into trance again in the future.
Hypnotist: “And I’m not sure if you know… but these are the beginning signs of hypnosis and trance… And you may begin to feel your eyes become heavier and heavier, but I don’t want you to close them just yet… Not until you’re completely ready to drop into trance…”
Subject: Letting out a deep sigh, slumping into the chair Mmhmmm…
Hypnotist: “That’s right (Ericksonian sound bite)… Just letting go (pacing the subject) and feeling that weight lift off your shoulders (pacing the subject), enjoying the moment (pacing the subject) as you slip deeper and deeper into that nice… relaxing feeling… slumping off into trance (leading the subject.)