Getting In Touch with Kinesthetic Hypnosis (Class Notes)
Description: Lots of us do lots of our hypnosis via the internet, listening to files and reading from the same old scripts. But how do you hypnotize people who prefer the physical to the auditory (listening to your soothing voice) or the visual (fixating on your shiny pocket-watch)? And what kind of fun, whacky ways can you hypnotize someone when you get the chance to do it in person? Kinesthetic hypnosis—that is, hypnosis focused on the body—is a great tool to have in your toolbox. Come learn some fun ways to trance more body-oriented subjects, and explore the world of possibilities of trancing someone via physical interaction.
This class talks about some principles of kinesthetic hypnosis, and goes over a grab-bag of techniques and tricks that you can use to create your own body-rockin’ kinesthetic inductions! This class is primarily hypnotist-directed, but subjects are welcome as well; hopefully everyone will come away with neat ideas to use in their hypno-play.
I’m a dancer/singer + physicality: do a lot of this intuitively
This is a class on INDUCTIONS, not so much suggestions
Mostly addressing tops, hope bottoms get stuff out of it too
Hypnosis centered around physical sensation / the body
Includes: motion, texture, proprioception (awareness of body in space), breath, heaviness/lightness, sensation in 1+ body parts, temperature…
One of 3 main “modalities”, let’s review:
3 basic modalities: kinesthetic, auditory, visual (tho there are others). We talk about most ppl being esp. strong in 1+ of these…
Grain of salt, most ppl middle of bell curve and have some comfort with all… but can be useful tool for reasoning about diff kinds of inductions
How tell KH might work well for someone:
you do an induction with a little of everything (e.g. modified cerbone butterfly) and give them options, and they are visibly more affected by the physical stuff (or tell you so later)
lots of ppl like KH cuz it seems more direct, less cerebral (so can be esp. Neat for analytical subjects / people historically not in touch w/ their bodies, as much as for ppl who generally are.)
if someone has done a lot of online/long distance hypno, they may not have experienced KH, so worth a shot!
When in doubt, scattershot – mix in everything, give them options (and check in after about whether this feels effective)
KH hard to discuss on its own: there are kinesthetic elements to all our (least) fave inductions:
Elman: eye catalepsy, arm drop
Cerbone butterfly (hand wiggle)
Eye fixation: eye fatigue/blinking
visualization: sprinkle in physical components as well (eg beach: “feel the sand in your toes” etc)
…and also visual/verbal elements in even specifically kinesth. Inductions
Can do not-necessarily-kinesthetic inductions (like the above) with a kinesthetic bent/emphasis, OR specifically kinesthetic stuff, where the primary focus IS on the body.
This class = kinesthetic toolbox tips and tricks that can be used for KH-specific inductions or to add kinesth. elems to any induction
My goals for this class: you come away with some specific tricks, but more importantly, some framework for KH so that you can make up your own
hypnosis is a hyperfocused state; relaxation is a subset of focus on the body (i.e. it’s more about the focus than the relaxation)
tl/dr: kinesthetic hypnosis is all about focusing the subject on their body/on the physical
Esp. ppl newer to hypno are used to thinking of it as being about relaxation, but it’s NOT – it’s about focus, of which relaxation is a subset.
Focus on relaxing, a visualization, a touch, a kiss, sensation, motion, pleasure, pain… basically you can make a kinesthetic induction out of any way you can get someone to focus on their body
To show you that the focus is more important than the relaxing (insert hair-pull induction demo here)
other D/s inductions: choking, slapping, getting up in their space
Doesn’t have to involve physical interaction
Just about focusing on body! A lot of the things i demo will be touch-based but a lot won’t; remember that you can do KH when not proximal/with a partner w/ whom you haven’t negotiated touch
Dangers of flopping (DON’T DROP YOUR SUBJECT)
ask if they’re floppy! i.e. liable to fall over. If yes, be ready to catch them / have them sit down or even lie down. (even if they say no, still be on alert)
maintain enough contact with them that can feel if falling, direct their motion into you
position your body btwn them and the ground
patter to the effect of: “easily able to stay upright and in control of your body”
don’t assume! Negotiate this explicitly!
If they don’t give you permission to touch somewhere that you’d have to catch them if they flop, check in about that. If they’re really not okay being touched there when falling, maybe they should lie down etc.
What does trance feel like in your body?
Good indicator of trance – worth it to take some time to figure out what trance feels like for you so you can use it as an indicator
harder to psych yourself out about than mental indicators
Respect your own physical limits! Can still play w/ this stuff with no/minimal touch
speak up about things that hurt, don’t feel right, aren’t working (incl bad metaphors)
Know your flop tendencies and communicate to your top
Grab-bag of tips, tricks, techniques:
Use natural body tendencies against them (i.e. credit for stuff happening anyway)
why take credit for stuff that’s happening anyway?
“quick win”; it’s less likely that these will go sideways. esp good for subjects doubting their ability to be tranced
build conscious and unconscious credibility (“they said X would happen, and it’s happening! they must know stuff!”)
“omg the Hypnosis is Working™!”
Holding arm up and feeling it get heavier (cuz it’s tiring to hold your arm up forever)
NOTE: escape hatches: if it’s not working, don’t force it, be willing to re-route
e.g. finger steeple doesn’t move automatically together: instead make it about how slowly they can consciously bring them together (still v. focused on body/movement)
e.g. they’re cataleptic and arm doesn’t sink:
focus on the sensations that are there / switch to floaty language
give them something to push against
many ppl used to using breath to relax
(not relaxing for everyone tho! some people overthink it.)
Natural thing body does (ease of trance metaphor)
Can also stall w/ breath (put your subj on autopilot): “Take a moment to breathe. Feel how every breath relaxes you…”
to use your breath to pace your induction, underscore points
e.g. exhale to signal relax, down, release of tension.
Great to pair with physical vocab of “down” (will discuss in a sec)
Sync up w/ subject’s breath (one kind of mirroring)
Builds rapport/makes them feel like you’re paying attention
When in rhythm together, can start to lead (e.g. slowing down your own breathing)
Signaling hypnotic intent
With verbal hypnosis, intent often obvious. With physical hypnosis, need to signal the intent to hypnotize (esp. if it’s a kind of touch you might do normally)
Eye contact / intense focus on subject
Change your physical affect, esp. to something slow, still
Super neat to go from extra high energy to slow, still, commanding top-space
75% of hypno is focus on subject; to see where they’re at, micro-adjust what is/isn’t working, but also to make them feel paid attention to
(this is also part of what’s so connective, and so hot)
Physical cues for tranciness
presses, tugs, etc. that signal “down” and weight
Signals down/heavy/trance, but also calls attention to the touch/the body–focus! For instance:
raise arm up and then press it down
signal arm loose and heavy and take the weight of it so can lower it slowly down
for a first time subject: “When I say ‘down’ / ‘deeper’ i mean…”
(i.e. “down” isn’t INHERENTLY trancy, it’s a learned association; so for a beginner, explain it)
Escape hatch: what if someone trances light/floaty instead of heavy/down?
Rocking also good: soothing, relaxing, focusing, repetitive
All this is metaphor for “don’t have to do anything” / “let me take control”
which can be D/s-y and hot
Small movements require more/different focus. Explore micro vs macro mvts
Can establish shared physical vocabulary
e.g. up and down – stroke up/down the arm
first few times, pair it with explanation and words, then pare away the words, soon all you’ll need is the gesture.
Great set-up for non-verbals!
good for stalling :P what to do when you need a sec to think?
physical “patter” – rocking, stroking, playing with hair, etc.
showing the desired state in your body
tops often get a little trancy from all the focus; can capitalize on this to demonstrate tranciness to your subject
Ambiguous touch – very light touch, tapping, etc.
basically, confusion induction via touch
novel physical sensations draw more focus
We all know surprise inductions are fun, but please negotiate them!
“Pattern interrupt” : take a well-known pattern (a handshake) and do something weird instead so their brain goes “whaa…??”
Handshake and grip them extra firmly to still them: interrupt by making everything still and slow
Handshake and slowly draw your hand out of theirs, a la ambiguous touch from above
Handshake and manipulate their arm so bends at the elbow, their hand coming towards their face. Guide their hand towards their face, patter about focusing on the hand and/or motion.
idk, make something up! as long as you interrupt the pattern of a normal handshake interaction
For all of these, biggest thing is signaling hypnotic intent!
Kinesthetic hypnosis w/o touch (e.g. over skype, or subject who doesn’t want to be touched)
Focus on the body! Draw attention to body parts, sensations, textures, whatever
Esp. interesting/weird/novel/counterintuitive sensations that take more focus, work almost like confusion inductions
IMAGINING motion, sensation, etc. works the same parts of the brain in re: kinesthetic hypnosis
Doing things slowly, lightly, etc. = great for drawing focus
E.g. see how slowly you can lower your arm, blink, etc.
“Use body against them” from above
Many things you might do to a subj – ask them to do to themselves
E.g. rocking, hair pull, arm drop
For most of the stuff above, just take out the language and it works fine! Esp. with experienced subjects who have an expectation for where they’re going
Might feel silly; but all about attention + intent!
pay close attention to subject and micro-adjust to meet them where they are, capitalize on what’s working
give them signs that they’re doing what you want
show desired state in your body
For new subjects: nonverbals are harder b/c don’t have a clear idea of where they’re going. But can probably work with sufficient verbal setup. ESP: what trance does/doesn’t feel like, so they can feel confident that they’re going into trance.
Kinesthetic suggestions and how to improve them
Describe sensation in as many different ways as possible–increases chance that one of your descriptions will work for the subj.
Appeal to other senses too e.g. visualize fly paper sticking you to something
have them conjure up/experience the sensation while in trance (easier than while waking, and if it’s a waking suggestion they have a head start)
Do the thing as describing it to cement it/anchor
sometimes adjacent sensations/more abstract things easier to call up/imagine
e.g. maybe don’t feel an ice cube but feel goosebumps
can also be emotional reactions:
maybe you don’t literally feel a hand on your clit but you feel the excitement/pleasure
instead of a literal hand on your throat, feel the freeze up and focus etc.
Let it be abstract/different from real life
Everyone experiences kinesthetic hallucinations different, ppl experience it more or less viscerally, and that’s okay! Doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.
But also, this is a practice-able skill
Wrap-up: What now? How do I practice?
Go do the thing! And: get feedback!
Have it done to you, take note of what’s effective/intriguing
Practice gestures to get it into your muscle memory (can practice this non-trancily)
Moving together, being in tune; micro-leading/following
(…take a partner dance class?)
how to signal catalepsy vs. flop vs. …
Keep thinking of fun new ways to focus ppl on the physical! Can use basically any sensation/physical exp. as focal point, so get creative!
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