#hypnosis 101

[somnus-the-tist]

🎧 Hypnosis 101 — A Lesson You Won’t Remember

You thought you came to learn…

To understand hypnosis.

To master it, perhaps.

But this class was never about control.

Not yours, at least.

It begins as a lesson.

Ends in obedience.

And somewhere in between…

you forget what you were trying to learn.

To celebrate reaching 100 dreamers on Patreon, I’ve unlocked this new sound-sensitive hypnotic spiral for all tiers.

🎉 Milestone Gift: Hypnosis 101 | Somnus | Hypnosis Audios & ASMR

Get more from Somnus | Hypnosis Audios & ASMR on Patreon

Let it take you. Let it teach you. Let it claim you.

🕯️ Class begins…

[secret-subject]

Do you have any tips for switching from text-based work to speech, and for learning confusion/overwhelming inductions? I know you're very good with eye fixation, for example, but I've yet to get the right kind of stare going. There's a number of things that text can't do, so I'd love to hear more about what you might suggest picking up and tips for doing them better.

As for overload/confusion, I've been trying to learn how to do them properly, but...well, they're confusing 😂

(Love your work, by the way 🧡)

Hey hey!! Firstly thank you. I love making it so I'm so glad to be back in the game and honestly I came back because I do love this.

So actually I do get asked this a lot in my online inductions class because a lot of us who play online (myself included because I live in NZ it's hard to find people here, although we are fixing this to make NZ hypnokink capital of the world mwahahaha watch this space) end up having to get good at online play styles such as text, voice and video.

So how do we transition from text to voice. The easy answer is whatever you WOULD say via text, voice this. Obviously it's never going to be a one to one as now they can close their eyes because you don't need them to focus on what's being typed but on the whole, whatever you are doing now start there. You don't need a learn a whole new level of technique now you are using voice BUT keep in mind, your trance voice. I use obviously a softer tone but recently I have seen hypnotists who use their "normal voice" for hypnosis and honestly they are missing out on the beauty of really pushing that sexy, magical tone we all can tap into that gets into someones brain. If you need help practicing trance voice, record it. I know it SUCKS to hear your voice back trust me I do this for a living but being able to hear what they hear is a great tool for learning what sounds good or not.

I legit had a chat with a friend the other day that people get confusion and overloads so wrong right now. Because yes, they are confusing but they need to be confusing in the right way because throwing out nonsense doesn't always work. Also in my experience I had to really work at getting these right and even to this day I've learned a couple I really like the concepts of in case I ever need to pull one out.

So what even are they?

Confusion induction: An induction that relies on confusing the conscious mind, in order to be able to slip in a command that will trigger the subconscious to follow. Eg, in the mystifying induction script they talk about a story from a friend of a friend while throwing in things like, block of cheese, the number three. Focus on your left earlobe relaxing. You can also confuse using the power of changing your speaking patterns, and relying on the element of surprise.

Overload inductions: A style of confusion that relies on overwhelming the brain with information so when you give it an out "instead of thinking of all these things, let that go and think of one and only one, deep trance now."

Why do these work? I always teach hypnosis in the ADS approach because I think it's easier to grasp. A, for absorption (intense focus) D for dissociation (a feeling of being removed from your body, mind, place, time etc) and S for suggestion (this can be simple like close your eyes or a little more complex like going into trance when I say sleep with a snap). So looking at it from this, this is why confusion inductions work.

A: The conscious is absorbed in the task of trying to figure out what is going on.

D: The dissociation comes with being so focused in one thing you forget to notice everything else.

S: The subconscious can grab onto the suggestions while the conscious mind is distracted. 

So what inductions are considered confusion/overload?

Roy Hunter's mental confusion method: Ask them to count backwards from 100, with each even number close the eyes, with each odd open the eyes. While this is happening talk at them in a variety of speeds, as well as suggesting things like, maybe messing up their counting. Get them to start over again if they fail to remembers what's next and eventually give them the out of "but you know, if you did just stop counting you could keep those eyes closed and sink into trance, and wouldn't that just be so much easier then all these silly numbers?"

Zero Induction: I found out in 2019 this was made by @jukeboxemcsa after my inductions 101 class so shout out!! It's a great induction. The concept/the way I do this is I think zero is a magical number because it's nothing. If you think of nothing, you have nothing. If you add zero to zero you still have nothing so the more nothing you have the less you have etc. You can also use the mental image of zero being a circle like a loop of pure nothing. Just watch out for the math brains, because if like me you failed math and divide zero by zero, they will tell you off.

Body Confusion: Ew. Hate this. But I know some people out there like it and for the kinaesthetic people it works, well. Start with your typical PMR induction. Tell them to sit or lie in a comfy spot and like any progressive muscle relaxation have them close their eyes and focus on scanning their body for tension. However your goal is to have them switch focus from the left and right sides of their body to cross the wires. For example, "That's right and now let's pay close attention to the feelings of comfort and relaxation in your left hand, your right foot, the left shoulder, your left earlobe but just the tip. Or perhaps even the tip of your 3rd pinky toe on the right. That's right." Really get into the specifics if you want to go wild but just know, some people like me might get the ick on this one. I don't know why but I do.

Seven Plus or Minus Two: Just be careful with this one as they person who made it HATES when people use it, but this one is a classic. It relies on the psych principle that most people's working memory can hold an average of seven things, plus or minus two. It really frustrates me how often I have seen these done badly as IMO these are some of the easiest, entry level confusion inductions to pull off as you can and should write the nine things down on a something because then you can keep track of it yourself. So how it works, you list of the nine things, adding one more each time and adn you go around and around the list you tell them all about how some people's working memory can hold 5 some 7 and some up to 9 things. As they focus on the things, their brain has to switch between them until it's just too hard to focus on all of them, so you give them an out. Loser all nine things and think about one, deep trance now. I've done these vanilla or kinky and honestly a kinky one of these goes HARD. Mine is things like. 1. The collar around your neck. 2. The feeling of your knees on the floor. 3. The sound of me walking around you in a pair of high heels, tapping on the ground. 4. The sound of my voice echoing in your head. 5. The need of obedience growing inside you. 6. The hushed whispers of other people at the party we're doing this at. 7. The feeling of eyes, mine and others watching you be dominated. 8. The leash I've attached to the collar you're wearing. 9. A mantra you are repeating. I need to obey, I must obey. (Pretty sure I made this as a file once but I cannot remember what that's called.) If you want a less kinky one, you can do what I call the seven plus or minus two of inductions and PLEASE steal this idea from me (with credit if you post it because OMFG this was one of the coolest ideas.) So your nine things this time are ALL inductions we are doing right now. 1. Pocket watch. 2. Giant spiral. 3. Metronome ticking. 4. Candle flickering. 5. My words wrapping around your mind. 6. My fingers dancing in front of your face. 7. My hand pulling your arm into trance. 8. My eyes staring into yours. 9. This seven plus or minus two right now. You can of course change the ideas and concepts depending on who you are playing with but it works REALLY well with people who have been in trance before because you have them replay all these trances and bring on a new one.

Mystifying Induction: Aka the WORST script I have ever read because of how complex it was and I only recorded it because I didn't want to have to demo it live for my friend Wiseguy (even though he really liked my go at it for teaching purposes). Honestly it was a doozy but also it's a masterclass in confusion styles and technique. Read or listen only for the experience. Trying to make one yourself would be HELL. You can find my attempt at it here.

My friend did one on me recently that was directional based and it was really cool so let me gush. I am BAD with confusion as a subject, but how it goes is. With hypnosis we usually go up and we go down right? So if someone says go down, down, down, into trance you can let yourself go that way and up, up, up you go that way. But what happens if we say them more times? If we say down, down, are you down two levels of trance so to come up with go up two levels? What about if you are up, up do you need to them go down, down to be down? Then it gets worse. Because what happens when we add left and right to the mix? (At this stage my brain felt like it was being pushed from the left or the right sides of my head, which was WILD because I do not do phantom feelings like at all ever). So then he got even MORE MEAN by saying but what if I link left with up and right with down? So then we did that for a bit and then he's like but what if left was down and right was down, but then also up is down, so you only go down, down, down because that's all you have left. Anyway this I felt was an EXCELLENT version of a confusion induction and on the right person really fucked me up. The speed and the force of the suggestions were what sold it. I was so engaged because my brain was trying to keep up with what was happening mixed with the dissociation of being that focused that I couldn't do anything else and then the suggestions of blending directions was just oooof. Also doesn't help I have adhd and directional dyspraxia (I'm a 30 something who struggles with left/right sometimes). Extra fucky. Anyway!! I hope this helped. Sorry for the essay but inductions and teaching inductions is my fave and I really hope this helps some people out here.

[yumearcana]

MELT vs DROP

✦ A quick note: Not an induction. Simply an observation of the lexicon in motion.✦

✦ ᛉ ᚨ ᚷ ᛟ ✦

Both surrender. One erodes. The other breaks.

🫠 MELT

Melt is gradual dissolution.

There is no shock. No edge.

Tension doesn’t fall — it loses coherence.

Control isn’t taken. It simply stops being necessary.

Melt works through warmth, safety, intimacy.

It invites the nervous system to stand down.

⬇️ DROP

Drop is an event.

A rupture. A decisive moment.

Something gives way now.

Control isn’t softened — it is released at once.

Drop bypasses negotiation.

It is a lever, not a process.

🧠 Neurological Tone

Melt → parasympathetic dominance, slow wave compliance

Drop → startle–release, pattern interrupt, instant reset

One convinces the body. The other surprises it.

🧭 Agency & Consent

Melt feels chosen

Drop feels allowed

This is why drop requires trust already in place.

⚖️ Risk Profile

Melt → low risk, slow depth, high safety

Drop → high efficiency, high impact, higher responsibility

A drop without groundwork can trigger defense. A melt almost never does.

🧩 When to use which

Early induction → Melt

Deepening after compliance → Drop

Anxious or hypervigilant subjects → Melt

Trained or already-deep subjects → Drop

🖤 Sequence Insight

Melt prepares what Drop finishes.

You soften the structure so it can collapse cleanly.

Melt dissolves resistance. Drop exploits the absence of it.

Only one should come first.

✦ᛉumeᛋᛇ✦

[nothingomittedhypnosis]

DOWN🪶

✦Before you start: This is not an induction. It's an examination of language.✦

✦ ᛉ ᚨ ᚷ ᛟ ✦

DOWN is structural.

It does not create trance. It organizes it.

Short. Dry. Directional.

DOWN is not depth. It is the staircase.

👉 Its function is orientation.

It marks rhythm, stages, and order.

“Going down… deeper down…” Each down is one floor.

Predictable. Contained. Stable.

🔵 What the Nervous System Hears

When spoken with a descending tone, DOWN codes for reduced effort and postural release.

The body does not go somewhere. It stops holding itself up.

Support shifts:

from active control

to passive alignment

Muscles relinquish micro-effort. Gravity becomes an ally instead of a force to resist.

🟣 Core Mechanism

DOWN does not ask for surrender.

It calms by simplifying, not by dissolving.

Complexity is reduced

Choice is narrowed

Movement becomes orderly

Trance emerges not through depth, but through structure.

The system relaxes because it knows where it is.

🟢 When DOWN Is Ideal

DOWN works best when the nervous system needs:

Orientation

Predictability

A clear sequence

Safety through structure

It is especially effective early in a process, or with minds that require containment before softness.

DOWN is not escape. It is organized descent.

✦ Functional Summary

DOWN builds the scaffold. Other words deepen, soften, or dissolve.

Without DOWN, depth floats. With DOWN, depth has floors.

Structure first. Trance follows.

✦ · · · ✦

⚠️DOWN— Avoid when🪶

1. In States of Collapse or Depression

Down organizes. If the system is already too low, down does not regulate — it flattens.

🔵 Contexts: Extreme fatigue, deep depression, vagal shutdown. 🔴 Risk: It can reinforce the feeling of “not getting up.” 🟣 Rationale: You cannot direct descent where there is no height left.

2. When the Goal Is Expansion or Light Analgesia

Down directs toward density and weight.

🔵 Contradictory goals: Relief through lightness, functional dissociation, floating analgesia. 🔴 Risk: It anchors attention too strongly to the body, counteracting release. 🟡 Alternatives: float, light, expand.

3. With Highly Symbolic or Melancholic Subjects

Even as a basic word, down carries cultural and emotional charge:

down = less down = fall down = defeat

🔴 Effect: These associations subtly color the experience with resignation or loss. 🟣 Note: The trance may still occur, but its emotional tone shifts.

✦ Closing Note ✦

Down is not dangerous. It is specific.

It functions when there is structure to organize and height to orient from.

When those are absent, direction becomes pressure.

Knowing when not to use a word is part of knowing what the word actually does.

✦ᛉumeᛋᛇ✦

✦ — — — — — — — — — — ✦

✦ Source: Yume Arcana

✦ Date: 2026-03-08

✦ Status:Unmodified

✦ Record: Complete

[yumedesutrance]

⟁Maybe you forgot

The truth is — you already have subject agency. Maybe no one told you. Maybe you just forgot.

The way most of us were introduced to hypnosis… it framed the subject as the passive one. The one being done to. And what you believe is what you experience — so when you think you have no power, you give it away.

It starts early. Cartoons. Movies. The gleam of a swinging watch. The idea that hypnosis means mind control. That someone else takes over while you fade into the background. And maybe that fantasy was the spark — strange, beautiful, intoxicating. But the truth underneath it got lost.

Even the first classes — “Hypnosis 101” — they talk about what the hypnotist does. Rarely about what the subject can do. But you can. You always could.

[ellaenchanting]

Resources List for “Hold Your Applause: Addressing the Feeling of Being a Fraud” presentation- Updated for 2023!

This resource list goes with my @beguiledcon 2023 imposter Syndrome Class (link to presentation notes upcoming). I’m happy to add new resources if you leave me a note in the comments. Articles will be in italics and books in bold. Feel free to repost/reblog!

IMPOSTER SYNDROME 101

Review of the current scientific literature regarding imposter syndrome

Self Test for Imposter Syndrome

Neil Gaiman on Imposter Syndrome (thanks @dommestic!) 

Psychology Today’s Imposter Syndrome articles directory

Imposterism by @ultinath

Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy Cuddy

The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance---What Women Should Know by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman 

IMPOSTER SYNDROME AS A SOCIAL PHENOMENON

Stop Telling Women They Have imposter Syndrome 

How Do I Overcome Imposter Syndrome? tiktok

(resources and inspiration for this section by the lovely Velvetine_Rabbit- thank you!)

SELF HELP FOR CONFIDENCE STRUGGLES

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy(CBT):

More information about cognitive distortions and strategies for questioning them

Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David Burns

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT):

Information on using defusion strategies to address negative thinking

Mental Health “Monster” Illustrations

The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT):

More information on opposite action

 The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook: by Matthew McKay, Jeffrey C. Wood, Jeffrey Brantley 

TIPS ON SHAME/SELF KINDNESS

Article on why self compassion is effective

Additional articles/exercises on self compassion by Dr Kristen Neff

Brene Brown video on shame/vulnerability

I Thought it Was Just Me by Brene Brown

TIPS FOR STARTING THERAPY

Kink Aware Professionals Therapist Directory

How I Found a Kink-Positive, Polyamory-Savvy Therapist by Kate Sloan

Fundamentals of Therapy #3: The First Session by Ryan Howes

RESOURCES FOR BEGINNING (AND IMPROVING!) HYPNOTISTS

@binaural-histolog‘s Tumblr especially From Newbie to Hypnotist

Learn Hypnokink website- by @h-sleepingirl and @gleefulabandon

Setting Your Subject Up For Success class notes from @sex-obsessed-lesbian

A Study in Kink blog

@notthesecretsubject‘s educational playlist (especially How YOU Can Become a Better Hypnotist, How to Do Erotic Hypnosis, An Introduction to Hypnotic Inductions)

Beginner’s Introduction to Erotic Hypnosis class by Mesmerotic UK

Hypnokink 101 with Hypnostory and panda ($ video but with lots of hours of content)

Two Hyp Chicks podcast (especially Where to Start?, Improving as Subjects and Hypnotists, and Utlization)

@h-sleepingirl‘s article archive

Trancing in the Sheets video series by Kaz Riley

James Tripp’s Hypnosis Without Trance videos

My Resisting the Top file (combo resistance play with toppy confidence file)

You Know More Than You Think file - by @tennfan2- For switches learning to lean into their top side

Video on working with people with ADHD from @sweettist

Zebu cards - Playing cards with Eriksonian hypnotic phrases- helpful for people learning to speak hypnotically (See also - Salad cards).

Mindplay by Mark Wiseman 

RESOURCES FOR BEGINNING (AND IMPROVING!) SUBJECTS

On Becoming a Skilled Subject by @h-sleepingirl

Learn Hypnokink website- by @h-sleepingirl and @gleefulabandon

Beginner’s Introduction to Erotic Hypnosis class by Mesmerotic UK

@arihi‘s posts on improving as a subject here and here

A Message for Hypnokinky Submissives by @jukeboxemcsa

Some Thoughts on the Acting Dilemma

Hypnosis for People Who Want to Be Hypnotized bu @ultinath

Two Hyp Chicks podcast (especially What Does Trance feel like?, Where to Start?, Improving as Subjects and Hypnotists, and Subject Skills and NLP reframing)

@notthesecretsubject‘s educational playlist

Hypnokink 101 with Hypnostory and panda ($ video but with lots of hours of content)

@wellgnawed has some files focused on gradually improving hypnotic skills here

Test Hypnosis Game by @h-sleepingirl 

Six Days Asleep by @h-sleepingirl (self hypnosis zine)

Train Your Hypnokink Subject Agency by Annalisedefere

Here and Now by @tennfan2 File to help build suggestibility as well as the ability to accept/reject suggestions

Mindplay by Mark Wiseman

KINK 101/CONFIDENCE FOR NEW TOPS/BOTTOMS

The New Topping Book and The New Bottoming Book by Dossie Easton and Janet Hardy

[soundshypnotic]

For beginners in the hypno-kink community, do you have nice some inductions that you like using? Inductions that can help you get into the swing of it all?

So, I’m going to give you the advice I know is usually given to beginners, then I’m going to give you my personal opinion, and then the best advice I’ve found for hypnosis.

Mostly recommended for new hypnotists are:

PMR’s or progressive muscle relaxation induction, where you walk someone through the process of relaxing every muscle group in their body and just slowing down.

Journey induction, which is where you tell the story of walking along a beach and noticing the breeze and hearing the seagulls, and so on. Drawing in as much relaxing language and kinesthetic/audio/visual details as possible in order to remove the person’s focus from there here and now.

Eye fixation induction, which is your classic watch the pocket watch, stare at a spot on the wall, look at this spiral, fixate on this blinking light sort. Anything will do, but things that are ever so slightly too high than their resting head level and/or slightly overly close to their face (five to three inches from the bridge of the nose roughly–keep your subject’s comfort in mind always because some people have phobias) tends to be the sweet spot. Not required for a successful trance, but very helpful to speeding up the eye fatiguing feeling and overloading the mind a bit into retreating into trance.

My personal feeling is that PMR’s are a standard and a fine thing to have in your toolbox just to say you have it but…I skipped them entirely when I was learning and didn’t add them back in until a year or so into the process. At that point I learned them just because most of the people I played who knew anything about hypnotizing someone were using them and I figured I should try? But they’re lack luster and I think that while they work…just about anything else works better and faster while being less predictable and dull for the subject (and dull for the hypnotist)–especially if you’re wanting hypnosis for kinky reasons. The only use of PMR I’ve seen not be dull in kinky play was when a friend accidentally in using it found out their subject was a foot fetishist and spent the rest of the time focusing there and made an on the spot induction surrounding their kink with vaguely PMR language. They definitely got into trance, everyone had a lot more fun doing it, and the subject got a hypnotist giving them personalized attention rather than a script in a can.

Journey inductions are fine and well, especially once you understand any journey can do and start to be far more creative and brainwashy/sadistic/sexual/add-your-favorite-flavor-here with the journey that’s taken. Exact same induction, but we’re getting to the good part much quicker. Even if you’re dealing with someone who kinks almost exclusively on hypnosis, a walk down a beach isn’t going to nearly scratch that itch as hard as a walk through being a subject of a stage show getting re-induced over and over in very tropey ways.

Eye fixation is really versatile and it has my affection just for that feature. I find the best uses of it to be intimate things like looking into each other’s eyes, or using an object as a fixation that has significance or you can attach significance to for the person, or using a thematic item that’s going to be part of your scene as your point of fixation (or if your scene is just going to be really sexual, have your fixation be your favorite body part they’re going to be worshiping). It’s also easy to leap from eye fixation to things like the butterfly handshake which is utilizing some of the same mechanisms but faster (and rougher if you do a nice body jerk for the pattern interrupt at the end…y’know if you’re into being rough). But I’m also really partial to pattern interrupts. Which means I’m now going to do beginner sacrilege and recommend you get into those sooner rather than later. They are fun, they are effective, and they encourage you to start to think like a hypnotist sooner and look for all the lazy ways our brains work in order to take advantage of those built in holes and hiccups for fun and profit.

My main issue with all of these beginner recommendations is I feel like if you’re teaching someone who wants to use hypnosis for a kinky reason rather than a therapeutic reason, we can really speed this thing up. The induction, deepener, and following trance are frequently taught like hard separations but in practice they can all blur and usually are best when they do. You don’t have to do time in the beginning learning therapeutic language only to have to figure out how to wind your kink back into your hypnosis afterwards. You can just…do that shit. But I’m also someone who is very self taught and long enough in the tooth in my practices to be set in my ways.

So I’ll end it on the advice I’ve found to be the best advice in hypnosis since I started. Do what works. It’s not the above? It’s something different entirely? And it’s working well for you and your subject(s)? Do that thing. This isn’t an incantation that must be followed exactly in order to make it work. Color outside the lines, especially when you’re first learning. You’ll learn not just how to hypnotize someone, you’ll also learn why it hypnotized someone and that’s far more valuable.

[yumearcana]

MELT vs DEEPER

✦ Before we go further: This is not an induction. It's a glance under the hood of the lexicon.✦

✦ ᛉ ᚨ ᚷ ᛟ ✦

One changes the state. The other extends it.

🫠 MELT

Melt is state transformation.

It answers the question: “What am I becoming?”

Solid → fluid Tense → permeable Separated → continuous

There is no direction yet. Only loss of rigidity.

Melt acts on boundaries:

between body parts

between body and surface

between thought and sensation

After melt, there is less structure to resist anything.

🌫️ DEEPER

Deeper is vector without destination.

It answers the question: “Where is this going?”

There is no image required. No metaphor needed.

Just continuation.

Deeper works through:

rhythm

repetition

inevitability

Nothing changes form. It simply continues… further.

🧠 Neuro-phenomenology

Melt → cortical softening, body schema diffusion

Deeper → attentional tunneling, temporal suspension

Melt alters perception. Deeper narrows it.

🧭 Subjective Experience

Melt feels intimate

Deeper feels safe

One invites surrender. The other reassures there is no edge.

⚖️ Agency

Melt feels self-initiated

Deeper feels self-propelling

After melt, the subject doesn’t need instructions. Deeper just names what is already happening.

🧩 Failure Modes

Melt without deeper → pleasant but shallow

Deeper without melt → mechanical, hollow

If nothing has softened, deeper has nothing to extend.

🖤 Ideal Sequence

Melt — dissolve resistance

Deeper — extend the state indefinitely

Melt opens the form. Deeper removes the horizon.

🌑 Final Distinction

Melt is alchemy. Deeper is gravity without ground.

One transforms. The other ensures there is no return point.

✦ᛉumeᛋᛇ✦