Deepeners (With More Punchy and Rude Writing Than Usual)(Courtesy of the XX Erotic Hypnosis Peershare)

The useful information from this post brought to you by the XX Erotic Hypnosis Peershare and the insults to the audience are brought to you by me and MindPlayTop.

You've completed an induction! Good for you. And while you're busy eating your celebratory cookie, you're probably not sure what to do next.

The answer is to immediately start a deepener.  The instant the induction is finished, proceed immediately, with no hesitation, into a deepener. Put down the fucking cookie.
And I do mean immediately. Like "Three, two, one, sleep! AND got deeper, and deeper." And straight into deepeners.

When someone has just gotten into trance, especially for the first time, starting a deepener instantly is an excellent way to display confidence and to keep the momentum going. Leaving a silent gap is roughly like putting a megaphone up to their ear and asking "IS IT WORKING?"

One way to cheat here is to give the suggestion, "and any time I'm quiet, you find yourself missing my voice, missing how nice it is just to follow instructions, and every time my voice comes back, you feel amazing relief and relaxation flowing over your body."

What is a Deepener?

In case you've never heard the word "deepen" before, a deepener's purpose is to make a hypnotic subject go deeper into trance. Deepening a trance means increasing suggestibility, opening up possibilities for different and more intense and vivid experiences, and potentially getting to different trance states.

Here are some ways to deepen a trance:

• Patter
  If you're casting around for a quick and immediate deepener, start with some calming hypno-patter. Even you can do it. This can be as simple as putting on your "calming" hypno-voice and counting down from a number of your choice or saying "and now go deeper, and deeper, and deeper, good. And deeper. And deeper. That's right. Deeper." You get the point. This will give you an opportunity to come up with a real deepener, you lazy fuck.

• Visualizations
  Guide the hypnotee through a visualization. Visualizations require the subject to use their imagination. The combination of following suggestions and using imagination deepens trance. Examples include walking down stairs, sitting in a warm bath or taking a shower (which you can do research for by actually taking a shower, you dirty Bernie Sanders loving, trance seeking hippie), walking down a long corridor, bobbing in the ocean (tentacles optional), lying on a beach, writing descending numbers or their name on a chalkboard, or that glow ball nonsense. 

• Body Relaxation
  If you've ever done any guided meditation, you have probably experienced a "body sweep." This is where the meditation guide painstakingly mentions every single body part and suggests that it should relax. Surprisingly, somewhere in all of the "and now relax your tensor fasciae latae," this is actually an amazingly effective deepener and can even be a great step towards inducing the Esdaile State (which is a super deep, extra suggestible, somewhat catatonic and anesthetic state). I like to ask my hypnotees to try and notice and hold the feelings of their pulse in as many body parts as possible. This is less relaxing and more about overloading awareness, but it's another good deepener.
  Other relaxation-focused deepeners are physically moving someone gently downwards. Take their arms from a raised position to a relaxed slump. 

 - MASSAGE.
 - Rocking
 - Rhythmic tapping
 - Paying attention to breathing
 - Blowing gently across skin
 - Blow jobs

• Deepen with Suggestions
  
  Hearing and following suggestions is a deepener, in and of itself. This reenforces the expectation that suggestions should be followed, and also gets the hypnotee used to allowing their conscious, critical mind to be bypassed.
  
  One way to do this is to draw attention to a sensation that the hypnotee is feeling, and slowly suggest that it transforms to a different type of sensation. "Feel the warmth of my hands on yours? You might notice them getting warmer." "Feel how sexy this is? You might start noticing yourself getting a little more turned on."

• Convincers
  
  Many hypnotists find success in deepeners designed to convince and reassure the hypnotee that they are under trance. I can't be bothered to re-write this, so here are two links. One is a link to an Inductions blogpost detailing Testers and Convincers, and one is a link to a youtube video of Jensen Ackles reading Misha Collins' fifteen year old resume. ~ Link ~ Roulette ~!

• Rapport
  
  There. There's a link to a slightly less rude blog post about rapport and how to achieve rapport. Rapport is important. Tldr; deepening the rapport between the players naturally deepens trance.

• Mantras
  
  Mantras are suggestions that the hypnotee memorizes and repeats. Mantras are suggestions that the hypnotee memorizes and repeats. Mantras are suggestions that the hypnotee memorizes and repeats. Mantras can be simple or complex. They can be unprompted or call-and-response. Mantras are a great way to occupy the mind of the hypnotee while the hypnotist is busy thinking of more things to do or hastily and clumsily shucking off their pants. Achieving a totally blank mind is difficult; pushing out all other thoughts to be replaced with mantras is a lot easier. 

Some examples of mantras:
"I am deeply hypnotized."
"I obey my mistress."
"I am always turned on by semi-colons; grammar makes me hot."

 Some call and response mantras:
"You're weak." => "I'm weak."
"How do you feel?" => "I feel so good."
"Trust me." => "I trust you completely."
"Do you need to be punished?" => "Punishment makes me a good boy."
"Does this seem familiar?" => "I'd forgotten until now, but of course I recognize my mantras written into a blog post, Professor."

Mantras are a great way to reenforce suggestions. I once awoke in the middle of the night to find a partner of mine who had been skeptical about whether or not he'd been hypnotized quietly chanting "I'm weak, I'm weak, I'm weak" in his sleep after a mantra scene.

• Fractionation
  A poem 

Fractionation --

which is a real word
 (definitely not a lexicographical artifact)
NEVER concocted by a small-dicked white hypnotist
 pretentious-ass pipe
making up long words
 you know.
small pendulum.
 ~didn't work
 "fractionation"
still only 2.25 inches
(in 31pt font)

 -- is the idea that every time a subject goes under hypnosis in any given session, they go deeper than before. This means that repeatedly and/or rapidly bringing someone in and out of trance will deepen the deepest parts of the trance, and make the waking moments a lot more fuzzy and confusing (in a good way) and suggestible.
Here is a sophisticated graph tooled up by our engineers to demonstrate some of the psychological concepts detailed above.

And that's all. You've been deep'd.

XX Erotic Hypnosis Peershare

The XX Erotic Hypnosis Peershare is a monthly hypnosis munch in San Francisco. It happens on the second Sunday of the month in the Wicked Grounds Cafe (which is accessible and has free parking on Sundays), San Francisco's awesome kinky cafe from 3 PM until 5 PM. At 1:00 before the munch, the leaders Allie (I) and Felix teach a Hypnosis 101 class to bring anyone new to hypnosis up to speed so that they can comfortably participate in the discussion.

Each month, the peershare discusses a different topic in depth. The level of discourse is high because even people who are new to hypnosis and the munch have enough information from the pre-session to engage with hypnosis vocabulary and concepts. The group discusses the topic of the month, often demonstrates and practices techniques brought forward by attendees, and socializes afterwards. To date, the munch has discussed how to best bring new people into the Hypnosis community, inductions, fun suggestion and play ideas, suggestion building, and rapport.

The peershare is a high-consent space for physical contact and any type of play. We welcome all races, orientations, ages, genders, and levels of experience. The munch is free, though we ask that attendees purchase something to support the cafe.

Rapport (Courtesy of XX Erotic Hypnosis Peershare)

What is Rapport and Why is it Important?

A hypnotic relationship requires trust and comfort. Only after those are established can a kinky hypnotic relationship build on that trust and comfort to craft intentional, consensual mistrust and discomfort.

Rapport is the subconscious or conscious connection between one or more people. This post talks about what kind of rapport to establish for a hypnotic relationship, and how to do that.

Rapport is not binary, nor is it a spectrum. A hypnotee might have rapport to do character play with one hypnotist, and not with another, but might be able to do memory play with the other and not the first. Rapport for hypnosis can affect overall comfort, trance depth, states of consciousness, suggestibility, submission, and the out-of-play relationship. 

A good goal for rapport is to have the same energy and mood, and have the same intentions. Good rapport is often enough to begin creating trance and altered states of consciousness on its own.

How To Establish Rapport

Here's a play-by-play of what to do when.

To be clear, none of these things should be used to make people want to play with you. These are things to improve rapport with people with whom you have already negotiated consent! Otherwise, you are being a creepy pick-up artist. Do not groom people as subjects. It's gross. The BDSM equivalent is calling people "pet" or "princess" when you first meet them. The vanilla equivalent is staring at someone's breasts for the whole first conversation. 

Sighting

The rapport process begins at first glance and never ends. Here's what to do when you spot your play partner across the room.

• Appearance and Hygiene: Hypnotists should cultivate a "look." For some, this is a power-suit and shiny shoes. For others, it's crystals and dangly earrings. For others, it's all about the cleavage or chest hair. What ever your hypnotist look, be clean. Smell doesn't come into play at first sight, but it really really does later. 
• Body Language: Emit confidence with open, strong body posture. Stand up straight, keep shoulders back and take up some space. Keep arms and legs uncrossed. 
• Eyebrow Flash: Humans in most cultures (except Japan) subconsciously flash their eyebrows when seeing or making eye contact with someone familiar or friendly. Cultivating an eyebrow flash can accentuate those feelings, even in someone you've just negotiated with for the first time. An eyebrow flash is a slight perking of the eyebrows upon eye contact. Spot your play partner across the room? Try an eyebrow flash.
• Smile:
  

Rapport-Building Conversations

• Handshake: Practice a good handshake. This is not subjective: there is a right and wrong. Maintain eye contact the whole time. Meet hands web to web first before clasping to ensure the correct positioning. Keep hands vertical--do not put your hand palm down or up. Clasp firmly but with a soft, warm grip, like a vagina. Do not shake the hand; sort of lightly jerk it once, and then let go. Practice this. You will get a job and your grandfather will be proud of you. That being said, some people don't like handshakes. I sometimes verbally ask "can I shake your hand?" while I'm reaching out to give the other person the ability to say "my hand's all sweaty. Let's bump elbows instead."
  
• S.L.A.N.T.: Sit up, lean in, ask questions, nod, track what the speaker is saying. 
• Ask Real Questions: Ask a question that is pertinent to the situation. Bonus points if it's a person-specific question. Ask questions that may elicit real answers, as opposed to automatic answers like "how are you," which elicits "doin' pretty well. Doin' fine." Try asking "have you been to this venue before? How do you know the host?" or even "tell me something cool about you."
  
  Remember that in BDSM and kink contexts, it is not polite to ask about work, school, family, or other personal identifying items. It can be polite to volunteer such information about yourself, but not to ask. Most people don't want to talk about their kids at a dungeon, and most people don't want to reveal in public that they work for the government while wearing leather and a tutu. 
• Listen to the Answers: Show that you are actually interested. If you aren't interested, you probably shouldn't play. 
• Laugh: It's validating and creates positive associations. And you probably look good when you laugh.
• Body Language: Keep the open posture. Square hips towards the other person to indicate that they have your attention.

Mirroring

• Energy: Match the other person's energy level. Interpret "energy" loosely. It can mean a lot of stuff.
• Body Language: Match body language like head-tilt and arm positions. You can even match their breathing. Do not imitate them gesture for gesture, but if they sit with their legs crossed, you can, at a time that isn't weird and noticeable, do the same. For best effect, this will be an easy mode to slip into without thinking about it.
• Speech Patterns: Match the formality of their speech and the tone. Match pace and flow. Do not do that cool-dad thing of using words that are clearly out of your lexicon...groovy, -izzle, hella hyphy. Do not imitate accents or speech impediments or anything noticeable that might sound like you are making fun of them.
• Modality: Listen and look for their modality and try to match it in your speech and when in scene. 

Negotiation

Negotiation should precede specific efforts to build rapport, but a good negotiation builds rapport on its own. Negotiating good consent and sticking with that negotiation builds trust. A good conversation about consent takes a while and makes sure that everyone's limits and interests are heard and respected. Here's a sample negotiation for erotic hypnosis. 

In Scene

• Consent: Remember and respect the negotiation. 
• Validation: Use validating language. "Good, you're doing great." 
• Check in: Check in frequently. Acting like you can read someone's mind does nothing for rapport building even though you might think it makes you look omnipotent. It makes you look...overconfident and bad at communication--like that guy who's sure you're about to cum when you're sort of feeling soggy. Ask for check-ins frequently. "Tell me about that." "What are you feeling?" 
• Suggestions: Suggestions themselves build rapport. Listening to and following out suggestions is a form of communication that requires and reinforces trust. Rapport builds as a scene goes on. 

Time

Some rapport just takes time. Don't force it. Longevity is the best test of trustworthiness. The value of collecting and internalizing many social data-points is enormous. Do nice things for each other. A hypnotic relationship improves as the social one does.

Rapport goes both ways.

Often, rapport conversations are about how a hypnotist can establish a hypnotee's trust, but the inverse is equally important. Trust in the subject is imperative in order to confirm that the consent is genuine and well-informed on both sides.

Hypnotists shouldn't feel comfortable playing with someone who may or may not understand the play and/or potential risks. A hypnotist needs to be able to vet a potential hypnotee to decide whether or not they should play. With good rapport, the hypnotist will more easily be able to sense red flags for subjects who may be dangerous candidates for mental health reasons, dependency issues, poor current mental state, or are under the influence of substances that shouldn't be mixed with hypnosis.

Rapport improves a hypnotist's ability to read a hypnotee to create effective suggestions, notice what's working and what isn't, and to notice if something's going wrong. Rapport is also tied to desire; the more two players know about each other, the more inspiration there is for interesting, specific play.

Rapport can be created or destroyed. 

There are a lot of times when rapport or certain levels of rapport are undesirable. When a friend of yours walks into your space while you're in scene and you want to ignore them. When someone is being predatory and creepy. When that Hummus Lady at the farmer's market offers you a sample of her over-packaged, overpriced hummus for the eighth time. 

There are also situations with someone you like and want to play with where limiting rapport can be a good thing. Keeping a scene light, exploratory, and friendly can be unintimidating and easier with new play partners.

The XX Erotic Hypnosis Peershare meets on the 2nd Sunday of the month at 3PM at Wicked Grounds cafe on 8th and Folsom in San Francisco. People who are new to hypnosis should come at 2PM to get the Hypnosis 101 language, terms, and practices.

Suggestion Building (Courtesy of XX Erotic Hypnosis Peershare)

Now that you have amazing ideas for what to do in a  hypnosis scene and can achieve trance, you'll need to be able to effectively form and administer the suggestions to make it happen. Here are some ideas from the Peer Share.

After the inductions, deepeners, and safeties come the meat of play: suggestions. A suggestion is the communication between a hypnotist and the hypnotee's subconscious. What you will learn here is essentially the programming language for the human computer. A lot of it looks a lot like English (if that's the language you're speaking).

• Positive Suggestions: Always phrase suggestions in the positive. For example, "you will notice that your legs will remain straight, your knees locked," as opposed to "your knees can't bend." This is because as soon as a negative like "do not bounce in your seat" is suggested, the mind has to first imagine bouncing in the seat, which makes it a pretty strong suggestion to bounce in the seat.
• Replacement: To add on to the positive framing of suggestions principle, if you want something gone, do not suggest that it's gone; replace it. Instead of "do not think of pink elephant" say "think of an orange hippo."
• Use Simple Language: Eschew obfuscation. Refrain from pontificating in such manner as to fatally quell subconscious comprehension.

  

  There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class.

  
  
• Speak Clearly: And speak loud enough. There are few things more distracting from trance than having to say "what? Can you speak up, please?"
• Choose Your Tone: Choosing a hypnotic voice comes before the induction, but there are many tones to choose from for specific suggestions that may augment the effectiveness of that suggestion. Here are some tones.
• Dominance/Control
• Warmth/Relaxation
• Monotone
• Humiliation/Condescension
• Expressive
• Dreamy
• Shock: Changing tone or pace rapidly can also be effective, for example a dreamy, relaxing induction followed by a commanding, dominant, sudden suggestion.
• Meter: Use pacing and meter to emphasize your suggestion. Deepeners are often...slow......down, whereas bringing someone into an energetic suggestion may require a different tactic.
• Use Repetition: Use repetition. Use it. Use repet...sorry. Repeating a suggestion gives the subconscious more time and opportunity to process. Try to repeat using approximately the same language every time. It can be tempting to say something a bunch of different ways to make it clearer, but try to say it one way. If it doesn't work, try it a different way next time. Repeating different ways can be confused as conflicting or separate instructions.
• Suspension of Disbelief: If you're doing a cool mindfuck or amnesia suggestion, especially for the first time, do not disturb the suspension of disbelief. If they think they're Severus Snape, don't say their real name, don't ask them if they're sure they're Severus Snape, and don't point stuff out to the contrary unless you're trying to confuse them or break the suggestion. Similarly, the suggestion is to forget, say, the number 3, when you're waking them up, perhaps count "one, two, four, awake!"
• Passive vs. Direct: Consider the language for the suggestion itself. Which one might be most effective for the hypnotee in question? Direct suggestions sound like "you will wake up in a moment and you will be Severus Snape, and it will be as if you have always been Severus Snape." A passive suggestion sounds like "you may find yourself that feels a lot like your potions classroom, and it may seem like you belong there as the potions professor, Professor Snape." Passive suggestions work better on people who don't necessarily like being told what to do. Passive also work better for suggestions that rely on the senses. "It would be okay for you to begin feeling more and more aroused." "You may notice your arms getting heavier." As you can see, there are many different ways to word passive suggestions. "You don't have to remember all of these wordings, but they may come in handy."
• Use Metaphor: Metaphor can be a powerful tool to create imagery, sensation, or to distract. For instance, when doing memory play, I use the patter "it's slipping like water through your hand, like sand through an hourglass, fading away like a dream after you wake up. The harder you try to remember, the more you focus on the image of water trickling away down the drain, going, going, gone."
• Cater for Modality: Modality refers to whether someone's more visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. There are a bunch of ways to figure out someone's primary modalities. Look forward to a post all about that! For the meantime, look for clues in someone's descriptions. If you ask someone about their bedroom or office and they talk most about the decorations or colors, probably visual. If they talk about layout, textures, or clutter, they're probably kinesthetic. If they talk about how it's in a quiet part of the building or within earshot of their boss, auditory. Another good test is "imagine you're on a beach." Ask what they notice. Once you have established their modality use that sense most in your suggestions and descriptions. "You'll be awake and alert as if you've just stepped out of a nice hot shower." "You'll be awake and alert as if you're half way through listening to your favorite peppy song." "You'll be awake and alert as if you've slept for hours and the sun is streaming through your window."
• Mantras: Establish mantras of suggestions to continually reinforce. Have a hypnotee memorize them word for word. A hypnotist can prompt the hypnotee to recite or think about their mantras on a cue. Mantras can take the simple form of a personal statement like "I have patience, warmth, and compassion for others," or "every day I enjoy shampoo more and more."
• Write it Down for Review: For important or "permanent" or tricky suggestions, write them down to get the wording right. Negotiate the wording. Edit.
• Use Anticipation: Expectations are a powerful tool in hypnosis. Drawing out expectations before the suggestion is actually supposed to take effect can make the suggestion even more powerful when it does, especially if the hypnotee is excited about or particularly interested in the suggestion. "In a moment, not now, but in a moment you will find yourself very aroused." And then stall.
• Naturalize: When giving suggestions for characters or compulsions, make the suggestion feel natural. Language for that might look like, "and it will be as if you have always been Severus Snape. It feels perfectly natural for you to shout at your students and brood over your steaming cauldron many hours of the day, whipping through assignments with your red pen, always regretting Lily..."

  

  And regretting that smock you wore when you met.

  
  
• Anchoring: anchoring is an NLP term referring to associations that the subconscious makes between two things that are concurrent but not necessarily related. For example, if a person were to flex their calf muscles to fatigue every time they had an orgasm, that person may also become aroused when exercising their calves to fatigue in the gym. Anchoring can be more subtle. If I casually gesture to myself every time I say a positive adjective in conversation, my conversation partners may begin to associate those positive adjectives with me. Please, for the love of god, use this with consenting partners to better do things that they have already consented to.You are being a creepy rapist pickup artist if you use this to pick people up or get them to sleep with you.
• Nonverbal Suggestions: Use body language, gestures, eye contact, and touches to create suggestions. This is what partners do when they dance. This is what you do for your puppy when you pat the chair next to you.  It's simple and an important tool to keep in mind amidst all these verbal suggestions.
• Incremental Suggestions: Some suggestions work best in absolutes, for example "you are Severus Snape," and some can be increased and manipulated incrementally, for example "every time I snap my fingers, you become a little more dour and sadistic," one of which may have a stronger effect depending on the hypnotee and suggestion at hand. This works well for sensation manipulation and things that tend to happen gradually anyway like arousal and feelings of being awake. 

  

  Incremental Snape

  
  
• Conditioning: There are instructions and a description for conditioning in the bottom of this post. Check it out.

Interested in joining the Peershare discussions? Check out our description.

Inductions! (Courtesy of XX Erotic Hypnosis Peershare)

The following is a write-up of the notes and ideas from the XX Erotic Hypnosis Peershare.  The XX Erotic Hypnosis Peershare meets on the 2nd Sunday of the month at 3PM at Wicked Grounds cafe on 8th and Folsom in San Francisco. People who are new to hypnosis should come at 2PM to get the Hypnosis 101 language, terms, and practices.

The Topic of the Month on 11/9/14 was....Inductions!

Here are some inductions that folks shared at the peer-share munch and how and when they might be used most effectively. After most inductions, immediately begin deepenrs and then safeties. 

Focus Inductions: 

Eye Fixation/Eye Fatigue (easy, 1-3 min)
This is the classic pocket watch, candle, crystal, finger wave, or spiral induction. Ask the hypnotee to watch whatever thing it is and not to move their head. Keep the object slightly above eye level. Patter about how their eyes might start feeling tired. If it's in the evening, ask them what time they woke up and point out that their eyes have been open for a long time today. If the room is dim, point that out. If they have glasses, point out how wearing glasses might make their eyes tired. Give the suggestion that they might start blinking more often and that every time they blink, it feels better and better and it's harder and harder to open their eyes again. When they're blinking a lot or their eyes look glazed, fluttery, or bloodshot, tell them that they can relax/close their eyes. A forehead tap (with consent) or finger snap with "sleep" works, as well. Begin deepenrs immediately.

Eye Contact (intermediate, 1-3 min)
This induction plays off the idea that humans don't really like holding eye contact for longer than about five seconds. Eye contact is tied in with dominance and submission, and a hypnotist can use eye contact and attention to induce trance. This induction could go a little something like this:
"Look into my eyes. Don't look away. Did you know that humans don't really like to hold eye contact for longer than about five seconds? You may start noticing around now the urge to look away, but please keep looking right back into my eyes. After about five seconds, the flight or fight or fuck response kicks in, but you're not doing any of those things right now, so you may start feeling more and more like looking away, but please keep looking into my eyes. You may be noticing how nice it would be to close your eyes so that you don't even have to look away, but please keep your eyes open right now. Your conscious mind doesn't like thinking about looking into my eyes for this long, so it may be drawing on your subconscious so that you don't have to think. The deeper into trance you go, the more it feels like your eyes are already closed..." Look for bloodshot, glazed, or fluttery eyes, and then, with consent, tap them on the forehead and say "sleep" and begin deepeners. 

Relaxation:
Good for quiet, intimate settings and mood-setting

Handshake #1 (intermediate, 1-3 min)
Reach out to shake their hand. Once their hand is in yours, turn it palm towards their face, and move it quickly towards their face. "Watch your hand moving towards your face and feel all of the tension drain from your body. Feel your arm relaxing in my hands. When your hand touches your face, you can sink down into a deep, relaxing trance." Begin deepeners. 

Massage Induction (easy, 5+ min)
With lots of very specific physical contact consent, this can be paired with any guided meditation or progressive relaxation type induction. This induction consists of giving the hypnotee a massage and using the massage to bring out relaxation and trance. Draw attention to the relaxation and positive sensations in each muscle. In an erotic context, the hypnotist can also bring forward feelings of arousal. "Your skin will feel more and more sensitive as I touch you, warming you up, bringing the blood to the surface. Every time I touch you it will feel better and better." "My hands will melt away the tension in your muscles, replacing them with feelings of calm energy and pleasant floaty sensations." Transition into other deepeners. 

Progressive Relaxation (easy, 4+ min)
Verbally draw attention to each part of the body and instruct the hypnotee to relax that part of the body. Start with toes and work your way up. "And now feel your ankles relaxing." With particularly attentive subjects, the hypnotist can ask that the hypnotee see if they can feel their pulse, and then try to feel it in those specific areas of the body. That might be especially effective for kinesthetic hypnotees. Visual hypnotees might respond well to imagery of a glowing ball of warm relaxation energy flowing through their toes, ankles, etc. The hypnotist can use imagery of the tension flowing down out of them into the ground, or have the subject feel heavier and heavier, or lighter and lighter. 
This induction takes a long time, and isn't necessarily more effective than shorter inductions. It might be good for someone who wants to calm down a lot. Abbreviated or at full length, this can be a good deepener. 

Confusion/Distraction/Overload:
Good for analytical and busy-minded people.

Accelerating numbers (easy, 1-2 min)
This is a good induction for analytically and mathematically minded subjects. "I'm going to say a number, and I want you to say the number after me. So when I say one..." They say one. The hypnotist can then count upwards going faster and faster. It's okay to make patterns and then break them. It's okay to backtrack. Once the hypnotee is getting a little glazed, firmly command "sleep!" and begin deepeners immediately. 

7+/-2 (intermediate, 2-5 min)
This classic induction for analytic, busy minds plays off the idea that the conscious mind can only hold 7 plus or minus 2 items (somewhere between 5 and 9, that is) in it at any given time. When the conscious mind gets overloaded, it begins to rely on the subconscious, which handles tons of things at once, such as walking, breathing, and emotions. 
The hypnotist can begin this induction by explaining the premise. "And we're going to see how many your mind can hold." The hypnotist should then slowly begin drawing the attention of the hypnotee to different things. "I'd like you to start by listening to the sound of my voice, which you are already doing, good, and now I'd like you to pay attention to your breathing. In your head, every time you breathe in, I'd like you to count one two, and when you breathe out, three four. Good, and listening to the sound of my voice. Next, I'd like you to pay attention to how your hands feel in your lap. Feel the temperature, the air around them, how they feel on that fabric, and don't forget to pay attention to your breathing. Next, I'd like you to pay attention to the ticking of that clock, and while you're listening to that, make sure to be paying attention to the sound of my voice, and the feel of your hands, and counting your breathing one two, three four. Very good."Try to pick items that cater to different modalities, but heavier on their modality. For example, with a more auditory person, choose some items like sounds in the room or a song that they know playing in their head. For kinesthetic people, draw their attention to the feel of their tongue in their mouth, the temperature in the room, their butt in the chair. For visual, do their nose, their hair in their face, the light level in the room. This induction can also be combined effectively with the eye contact induction. Just start with "look into my eyes. Did you know that humans in this culture only like holding eye contact for about five seconds..." etc., and then eye contact is one of the 5-9 things for them to pay attention to.
This is a simple induction in theory, but challenging to execute for new hypnotist because it requires a mastery of "patter"-- the ability to yammer and improvise indefinitely, and to remember all of the items on the list. A hypnotist can make it easier for themself by adding the suggestion "and in the silences when I'm not talking, your mind will be constantly reminding itself all of the different items to remember." 
Ramping up to the end of the induction, the hypnotist can suggest how nice it would feel to not have to keep all of these items in their mind, but to keep trying for now. When the hypnotee looks sufficiently glazed or blinky, tap them on the forehead and say "sleep, and let all of the items fade from your mind leaving only my voice, and go deeper," and continue deepeners. 

Laughter (hard, 3-6 min)

Use laughter as an induction. This induction works best when there's a group of people around or involved. This also works best on people who enjoy laughing and being silly.

One way to do this induction is by being genuinely funny, god forbid, or the hypnotist can, instead, start building suggestions that things that aren't actually that funny are funny. "Have you ever noticed how difficult it is not to laugh when someone tells you not to laugh? And have you ever noticed how it's hard not to smile when you're thinking about not smiling?"  Once the hypnotee is laughing, the hypnotist can then suggest something like, "The funniest number, the number that makes you laugh more than anything, is the number ten. Can you count your fingers please?" and have them do it slowly. Or "this set of car keys has an intrinsic property that it's funnier the closer it gets to this table," and then move the keys closer and farther away from the table. Create incremental increases--"keeps getting funnier," fingersnap, "and funnier," finger snap. Choose a moment when the hypnotee is laughing hysterically (preferably sitting or rolling on the floor laughing), and then tap them on the forehead and say sleep, pushing them gently into a more relaxed position. Begin deepeners immediately.

This is marked as hard because this requires a lot of charisma and comedic timing and this induction can sometimes result in people glaring at you, stone-faced.

Kinesthetic:
Good for touchy people.

Hand Pass + Face Touch (intermediate, 1-3 min)
Use a combination of passing a hand in front of the hypnotee's eyes and stroking their forehead with downward motions along the cheek. Optional: ask the hypnotee to hold eye contact, but suggest that they can start blinking and closing their eyes as it feels natural. Flow into calming deepeners. 

Catalepsy (hard, 1-3 min)
This is only marked as hard because I'm terrible at it. It's probably intermediate. The idea here is to find the natural hovering resting places of someone's limbs. With consent, lift someone's wrist up, and move the arm around, feeling for when their arm goes limper. Feel for natural hover points in their range of motion--we all have spots where, when placed there, our limbs tend to hover naturally. When you find one through this movement, stick the limb there. Then patter about the arm lowering itself naturally and getting heavier, and the weight bringing them into a trance. Begin deepeners.

Sensation Manipulation (easy, 2-5 min)
This can be done a bunch of different ways. The general idea is to take a sensation that the hypnotee is already feeling, and change or increase it. A good way to start is to ask them to put their hands together, with eyes open or closed, and then put your hands around theirs. Ask them if they can feel the warmth. Lighten the grip on their hands and ask them if they can still feel it. Move your hands a tiny bit away, and they should still be able to feel the warmth, and you can even suggest that the hands are getting warmer. Keep slowly moving your hands farther away suggesting that they can still feel warmth in their hands. You can then change the sensation by, for example, saying that the warmth is spreading to other parts of their body, or that they'll experience a cooling effect instead.
This creates results in a waking trance/waking suggestibility that the hypnotist can use or turn into a "sleep trance." 

Hug Sway (intermediate, 2-4 min)
After negotiating consent, invite the hypnotee into a hug. Notice their breathing and the way they sway, and mirror it. Slowly make calming downward strokes on their back with your hands. Begin adjusting the sway to subconsciously get them used to following instructions. This is trance provoking on its own. The hypnotist can then use other physical suggestions and cues to lead the hypnotee to do what they want, or transition to verbal suggestions.

Revivification:
Good for people who've already been in trance

Favorite Pass Time (easy, 2-5 min)
This induction plays off the idea that when we are doing something that we love, we go into a "flow" state, or trance. This also plays off the idea that creating vivid imagery induces trance, and that we can experience some of the most vivid, colorful imagery of things that we love doing.
Ask the hypnotee to close their eyes and imagine something that they love doing. Then lead them through that experience, making it more vivid and real and joyful for them. Help them bring out the positive emotions. Move from here into deepeners. 

Remember Previous Trance (easy, 1+ min)
This can be done two different ways. One way is simply to ask the hypnotee to remember what trance feels like. Help them conjure back the feelings of being in trance, and, surprise, they'll go into trance quickly.

The other way is to ask them to remember a specific trance experience, preferably a pleasant and recent one. Ask them to tell you about it. Ask them to describe feelings from it, actions, sounds, etc. Bringing back a specific experience that happened while in trance will trigger trance both by recalling an experience in detail (like the Favorite Pass Time induction) but also recalling a trance, specifically (like the Favorite Pass Time induction, but more explicitly).

Pretend You're Hypnotized (easy, <1min)

This is the easiest induction in the world. Ask the hypnotee to close their eyes and pretend they're hypnotized. Move into deepeners after quietly high-fiving yourself.

Shock:
Good for especially susceptable people or people who are already in trance or well primed, or have especially good hypnotist-subject rapport

Handshake #2 (intermediate, < 1 min)
After negotiation and physical contact consent, ask them if they want to be hypnotized. Reach out your hand as if to shake theirs, maintaining eye contact. Put your other hand on their shoulder. When they grab the hand to shake, pull it towards you and down, and say sleep, guiding them downward into your shoulder (not letting them collapse to the ground--ever). Begin deepeners immediately. 

"Put Your Hand on Mine" (easy, < 1 min)
Put out your hand palm up. "Look into my eyes. Put your hand on mine. Press down. I'm going to count down from five. With every number, press down twice as hard. Ready? Five, four, three--" Somewhere between four and one, pull your hand out from under theirs, and at the same time, with the other hand, quickly but gently tap them on the forehead or push their face a little downward and say "sleep." Begin deepeners immediately.

Testers/Convincers:

Pendulum (easy, 1-2 minutes)
Give the hypnotee a pendulum--anything with a string or chain and a weight at the end. Favorites are crystals and pocket watches. Have the hypnotee hang the pendulum from two fingers. Patter about how the hypnotee's subconscious will automatically begin swinging the pendulum in a pattern. Notice what the pattern is and allow the hypnotee to notice, and then give the suggestion that the swinging pattern might change. 

Heavy/Light Hands (easy, 1-2 min)
Have the hypnotee close their eyes. Ask them to put both arms straight out in front of them. Then ask them to imagine that one wrist has a heavy chain and a cement block attached to it, weighing it down, heavier and heavier. Ask them to imagine that a balloon is tied to the other wrist, now a whole bunch of balloons, making that wrist lighter and lighter. Keep describing this. They may move one arm up and the other arm down. The manner with which and the amount that they do this may give you a good idea how to proceed next; whether to continue with sensory manipulation like this, or to try a different style. If they don't move, you can smoothly and seamlessly move on to a new induction without letting them know that that's what you're doing. If their arms do move or you feel like continuing, ask them to open their eyes and see how their hands have moved, and then ask them to close their eyes again, only, this time, ask them to imagine both arms are heavy and as they get closer to their lap, they can feel all the tension of straining against the weight fade from their body and they can relax down into a nice, relaxing trance.

Magnetic Hands (intermediate, 1-2 min)
Ask the hypnotee to put both hands out in front of them facing each other, about a foot apart. Ask them to imagine that there's a super powerful electromagnet on each palm, pulling the hands towards each other. "Now I'm going to put a big rubber band around your hands." Mime stretching a thick rubber band and putting it around their hands. Then, tell them you're turning up the magnet. Put another rubber band on. Tell them it's taking more and more effort to keep their hands apart. When the hands are getting close together, hypnotist can push them together and say "sleep."

Sticky Hands (intermediate, 2-3 min)
Ask the hypnotee to put their palms together and suggest that they keep them together firmly. For a while and in detail, ask them to pay close attention to the way their hands feel together. Draw attention to how their hands look together, and to imagine that there's glue between them, rubber bands around them, and suggest that they're so strong, that if the hypnotist tried, they couldn't get the hands apart. Test that. Have them push them together so hard that the hypnotist can't pull them apart. Next suggest that they're so stuck together, as if in cement, that not even they can pull them apart and test that. 

When an Induction Doesn't Work...

Try something else. If an induction doesn't work, say "Great, good job. Next, we're going to..." and begin another induction. Do not acknowledge that something didn't work. Do not allow them to think they've done poorly. Always indicate that they're doing well. If they act like they don't think they're doing well, distract them by telling them they're doing great! Don't lie. If someone thinks you just couldn't tell that it wasn't working, you lose credibility.  A good trick is to avoid telling the hypnotee what you're looking for in terms of success. If you do a Sticky Hands induction and their hands don't stick, it would be best if you didn't tell them they were supposed to stick in the first place. If you didn't tell them, you can make it look like part of a greater exercise.
When you start a new induction, try something different than before. If you did a convincer, try a distraction induction, or an eye fixation.  If you did relaxation, try something faster or use different modalities. Check in with open-ended questions like "tell me about that," not "did that work for you?"

Got a favorite induction? Share in the comments.

Asking The Right Questions

A Story

A hypnotist stands at the front of the class.
"Raise your hand if you've never been hypnotized," he says.
A woman in a corset and combat boots is the only person to raise her hand. She is sitting with her submissive at the back of the room.
"Wonderful," says the hypnotist. "Would you like to be hypnotized?"
"Uh. Sure." She goes to the front of the room and has a terrible experience that she didn't want in the first place. She's uncomfortable the entire time, and goes back to her sub afterwards unhappy and embarrassed.


What happened? He got consent. He asked if she wanted to be hypnotized, and she said yes. What went wrong?

No. It's not working.

Unfortunately, he asked the wrong question. He asked, "Would you like to be hypnotized?" As it so happens, this woman did want to be hypnotized. The questions he did not ask, however, were...

• Would you like to be hypnotized by me?
• Would you like to be hypnotized now?
  and
• Would you like to be hypnotized in front of all these people?

The answers for all three of those questions were no. The wrong question combined with the social pressure of a classroom of people and a hypnotist asking you to be hypnotized led to a failure of consent.

How do we improve our consent language?

Ask the right questions and ask them the right way. Here are some ways to do that.

• Use neutral language
  Ask "can you tell me about what just happened?" when checking in. Or, "how would you feel about me hypnotizing you today?"Do not ask leading questions like "is this something that happened in your past life?" 
• Be specific
  Ask all of the questions, even if the answer to one implies the answer to another. "So, you are interested in doing rope. I see that you're wearing a nice dress and doing rope on your torso or legs would require you to take off your dress. How do you feel about taking that off here? Would you like to do that, or just do rope on your wrists, or we can find something else to do?"
• Ask questions with more than one option of equal weight
  Give more than one option. "Would you like to be hypnotized, or shall I see if I can find another volunteer." 
• Hesitant "yes" means, "not today. Ask again next time."
  If you ask a question and someone says they need to think about it, or seems hesitant with their "yes," ask again another time and pick a different thing to do. Play with enthusiastic yes consent only. It is possible that the person just needed a minute to think about their response, but hesitance can be a lot of other things, too. Take it off the table and try again next time.
• Don't require a "no" to decline.
  "No" can be hard, especially for people of a gender conditioned by society to be polite and obliging. Ask questions that don't require a "no" to decline. For example, "let me know if you want to play" works really well. All it requires for a decline is "thanks," and then silence, whereas a yes is still "ooh, sure! That sounds like fun!"

You are a star.

Bringing New People into the Hypnosis Community (Courtesy of XX Erotic Hypnosis Peershare)

The following is a writeup of the notes and ideas from the XX Erotic Hypnosis Peershare.  The XX Erotic Hypnosis Peershare meets on the 2nd Sunday of the month at 3PM at Wicked Grounds cafe on 8th and Folsom in San Francisco. People who are new to hypnosis should come at 2PM to get the Hypnosis 101 language, terms, and practices.

The topic of the month (October):

 How do we incorporate new members into the hypnosis community?

• What values should we impart?

That shaddowy place is the land of stage hypnosis. You must never go there, Simba.

• Negotiate ONLY before trance! If you forgot something in negotiation, do it next time. Your first scene will not be your only scene, so you don't have to do it all at once. In fact, if you do it all at once, it may be your last scene. 
• Be confident but humble. Acknowledge to yourself what's not working in scene and try something else. Look for feedback from your partners and peers.
• Create the ability for informed consent. Don't tell hypnotees that nothing can go wrong. Don't tell them that they won't do anything they don't want to do. Instead, suggest that they'll have a good time and remind them that you and they will be checking in frequently. Then do relevant safety suggestions.
• You are never done learning. There are no masters in this community, only more experienced students. Keep learning.
• Make your own decisions about every person you meet.  Never assume any leader in the community is always right or ethical or knows everything.

• How should new people find partners to hypnotize?

• Go to munches. Hypnosis munches are fine, but the BDSM community is excited about hypnosis right now and a lot of people would love for you to explain what hypnosis is to them.
• Be passionate about hypnosis and explain it to people you meet. Usually telling someone that you're a hypnotist is enough to get them interested. If they're not interested, don't try to make them interested.
• Get to know somebody a little before asking them to play. Don't be desperate. Desperation feels yucky to your potential subject and you may be inadvertently pressuring them (which invalidates the consent).
• Get a Fetlife profile. Fill it out. Fill out the whole thing. Filling out the whole thing makes you look like a real person and not someone trolling the internet to get laid. Don't message people unless you've met them or they're the leader of a community and you have a question for them. Do not ask people you have not met if they want to play. Use Fetlife to find events and to communicate with people you've already met at events.
• Bring your crystal or your pocket watch and mess around with it at bars and munches. It's a good conversation starter. 
• Talk about hypnosis with your friends. Who knows? One of them may be interested!
• If your existing partner or existing play partners are interested, try with them.

• What should a first scene look like?

Make sure they don't mind control you back.



• Do a full negotiation. Consider following a Negotiation Guide to make sure you've remembered everything important. 
• Playing with experienced subjects is a good idea because they go under more easily which will build your confidence, and can give you feedback.
• Try something small first. Sensation, humor, small compulsions, etc. Don't go straight for the hands-free orgasm. See if it works. Go from there.
• Try starting with non-erotic scenes. It may be less intimidating for everyone involved. Aim to explore, not to get off. If you like hypnosis, it should be interesting/hot anyway.
• Check in early and often. Use neutral language like "How are you?" and "Tell me about that." Use the feedback.
• Make sure to turn off your cell phone.

• What is positive behavior for experienced members welcoming in new members (without being predatory)?

Pass me the newbie and some sugar, please.



• Leave "outs" in solicitations, or wait for others to solicit you. "Let me know if you want to do some hypnosis" is a lot easier to turn down than "So, do you want to be hypnotized?"
• Use neutral language with equally weighted options. "Would you like to be hypnotized, or shall we continue our conversation?" "Are you interested in trance, or should we grab some food?"

• How can new people determine their limits?

• Go through a Negotiation Guide on your own. 
• Write down your limits.
• Talk about your limits with a friend. 
• Think about things you really want to do, and do only those. An enthusiastic yes is the only answer that matters. 
• Check in during scene if something feels weird. If you are the hypnotee, make sure your hypnotist checks in with you and that you feel like you can check in with them.

• What are some practical hypnosis newbie tricks?

• Do your first scene(s) with someone who's been in trance a lot. They'll go under easily for you, boosting your confidence, and then they'll probably be able to give you feedback, boosting your skills.
• Practice with switches who can give you feedback from both perspectives.
• Practice on yourself. Do auto-hypnosis to practice your "patter" and flow. Maybe try some self-therapy like for sleeping better or exercising more, or try some erotic hypnosis to see what your mind can do all on its own.
• Try using a suggestion like "the pauses between my words will send you deeper" in order to make sure your subjects keep going deeper if you have to pause to think. This will make you more confident. "My speech patterns will seem perfectly natural in your mind."

Here are some items that we may explore in upcoming munches. 

• Can someone hypnotize from the bottom? What does that look like? Is that safe?
• Demonstrate and dissect a scene
• Induction intensive--learn and practice a handful of inductions presented by the group
• Theory of hypnosis and technical information
• Hypno-duel
• Pair off and practice
• Rapport workshop
• Receive homework assignments for the month and share what we learned next time

And we leave you with this hypnosis duel to tango theremin from the 1950's Dr. Seuss Musical, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T. You should see the movie. 

Erotic Hypnosis Negotiation Guide

This is a template for an hypnosis scene negotiation. I actually walk through this whole thing every time I play with someone for the first time. It's a good way to make sure our interests line up and that my skill-set matches what the hypnotee wants. Some of the items on the list aren't relevant for every scene and can be skipped, but it's good to be on the same page--"we're skipping the pain section, okay?". There's nothing so hot as someone looking up into your face and saying “I trust you” and nothing worse than “wait—I trusted you! I didn't want you to vomit in my mouth! We're never playing again!”
At the bottom of this document is a shorthand negotiation that you can use to play with someone with whom you've played before. It cuts out some of the items that are less subject to change.

This guide is to be used before hypnosis starts. Do not bring someone out of trance mid-scene to re-negotiate. This is unacceptable due to the hypnosis hangover; people are still suggestible right out of trance, which makes any negotiation invalid as if they were drunk. If you think of something you really want to do mid-scene that you didn't negotiate, negotiate it next time. If you're worried that there isn't going to be a next time, you should probably think about why that is. If it's an insecurity, you should leave it at the door and not pressure your subjects with it.

Before you start your negotiation, think about this: consent with hypnosis gets kinda complicated. We play with the power of suggestion, and must refrain from doing so in negotiation. Note how all of the questions in the negotiation are phrased with options of equal weight and has “outs” that don't ever require a disagreement or “no.” I, myself, go so far as to avoid specifically soliciting people to be hypnotized by me. “May I hypnotize you?” requires a “no” to decline, whereas “let me know if you want to do a hypnosis scene,” only requires a “thanks” and silence to decline, which is easier. “No” can occasionally be hard, especially with a pre-established power dynamic of “I hypnotist, you subject.”

Once all parties involved have established preliminary interest in an hypnosis scene, proceed through this guide.

Names and Pronouns

What is your name? What would you like to be called in this scene (name/scene name/title/pet name)?
What are your preferred gender pronouns (she/her, he/him, they/them, xi/xir, etc.)? What gender pronouns would you like for me to use for you in scene (she/her, he/him, they/them, xi/xir, it/it's, etc.)?
Note: asking someone their preferred gender pronouns is not the same as asking them their gender. Pronouns are simply the language someone prefers to have used for them, and it is always polite and encouraged to ask for someone's pronouns.

State of Mind

How are you today?
How do you feel about playing with me today?
Are you happy and in a good mental space to play today?
Have you ingested any drugs and/or alcohol and/or any other mind altering substances?
Note: topping or bottoming hypnosis or any BDSM is not recommended while under the influence of any mind altering substances as results become less predictable.

Time Constraints

How long are you imagining this scene will go?
Do you have any time constraints?

Participants

Of which parties is this scene comprised?
How many people are in this scene?
Are other parties allowed in the scene (if so, who, and how may they be involved)?
Note: it is recommended that hypnotists minimize their number of subjects in trance at any time for attention purposes. Multiple hypnotee scenes may, however, be accomplished safely with sufficiently experienced hypnotists and hypnotees.

Safewords

What safe words do you like to use?
Do you like the stoplight system?
What does "red" mean for you?
What does "yellow" mean for you?
Note: during scene, the hypnotist should actually program in and reenforce these safewords for good measure. See 10 Hypnosis Safety Suggestions Everyone Should Use.

Language/Topics/Phobias/Allergies to Avoid

Note: Use your judgment on these questions. Some of them may be important and others may not. I ask about allergies when suggestions or scenarios might involve moving around a room or food or animals, but don't bother if my hypnotee is going to be sitting in a chair in the middle of a clean empty room for the whole scene not fantasizing about peanut butter or shell fish. Similarly, I don't bother asking about phobias if I don't plan on using any particular imagery or interacting with anything or anyone.

Do you have any allergies that are relevant for keeping you safe here?
Do you have any phobias that it would be good for me to know about?
Are there any words or phrases that I should avoid calling you or using? (Stupid, slut, mommy, coward, Rosebud, Professor Snape?).
What general areas or topics should I avoid (racial slurs, family, etc.)

Physical condition

Do you have any injuries or physical limitations that I should be aware of (bum knee, cuts/bruises, soreness, etc.)?
Are you on any medications that I need to be aware of (ones you have to take soon? Blood-thinners?)
Have you eaten and are you hydrated?
**Make sure to use the bathroom before starting the scene!

Clothing

• What clothing should remain on?
• If you'd like clothing removal, should I take it off you, or should you?
• What clothing needs to remain intact?

Physical contact

Remember: no physical contact is actually necessary for a hypnosis scene, but any contact that happens NEEDS to be negotiated in ADVANCE of trance. There are some types of physical contact that can be very helpful to your induction; hand-hand contact is nice, forehead taps, knee taps, hugs, swaying, etc. are super helpful, massage-level touch can be very helpful, and intimate contact can also be fun. Do not negotiate this in trance, and bringing someone out of trance to re-negotiate doesn't count! If there's something you want to try mid-scene that you didn't negotiate, save it for the next scene.

• Can I touch you?
• If so, where can I touch you?
• Above the clothing or below?
• Where are you okay with touching yourself in front of me?

Sexuality

• Would you like to have an element of sexuality in this scene?
• If so, what does that mean? What are you comfortable with? (Kissing? Hands and/or mouth on external genitals? Fingering? Penetration? Vaginal? Oral? Anal?)
• What about hypnotic sexuality? Hypnotic arousal/pleasure/orgasms?

Fluids

• What fluids are you okay with in the scene? (Saliva, sweat, tears, orgasmic fluids, blood, urine).

Protection/STIs

• Do you have any STIs?
• When was the last time you were tested?
• What protection would you like to use?

Specific play

Trance

• Have you been hypnotized before? Tell me about that.
• How do you communicate in trance?
• What do you like about hypnosis?
• Do you have a preference for how I speak as a hypnotist? Do you prefer clinical speech? Erotic? D/s themes with words like “obey” and “submit?”

Types of Suggestions

• What kind of play are you looking for today? What are you interested in doing?

Here are some categories to ask about that cover most things:

• Hypnotic bondage—making the hypnotee stuck
• Hypnotic characters—making the hypnotee or hypnotist a character
• Memory play—temporarily removing or altering memories, or making the hypnotee not remember suggestions or triggers
• Sensation manipulation—giving the hypnotee sensations that aren't there, or exaggerating sensations that are there. Hypnotic arousal/pleasure/orgasms.
• D/s—elements of domination and submission in the suggestions. Service, control, etc. What about humiliation/degradation? What does that mean?
• Posthypnotic suggestions—giving the hypnotee suggestions that last out of trance. This should be done with caution by advanced hypnotists, and also negotiated separately. Negotiate how long the suggestions should last, where they apply, within what contexts they apply. I'd go so far as to say negotiate and draft specific language for these so that all parties are on the same page before suggestions are put in. Imagine posthypnotic suggestions like writing with a sharpie in someone's head. Talk about it first. Also, don't do therapy. You probably aren't a therapist. Even if you are, don't do therapy in scene. Don't try and “fix” people or help people. The farthest I go down this path is helping people have a good night of sleep that night.

For Any Pain Play

I strongly discourage any but expert hypnotists mixing pain and hypnosis. There are a lot of ways to do mix pain and hypnosis, and a few ways to do it with relative safety. I never mix pain and hypnosis unless my bottom is an extremely experienced pain bottom, and/or hypnosis bottom, and even then, it's tricky. Seek specific instruction from an experienced hypnotist if you don't know how to do this.

• Are you interested incorporating pain?
• What is your experience with pain?
• What are your pain limits like?

For hypnosis, there are three types of pain: real physical pain (with actual impact, pinchy, scratchy, bitey, etc), hypnotic “physical pain,” (“Snapping my fingers and tapping you on the back will make you feel the sting of the flogger just how you like it right where I tap”), and emotional pain (shame, humiliation, sadness, fear, etc.).

• Is there a type of pain that you are interested in?

Real physical pain should be monitored carefully; make absolutely sure your bottom can and will yellow out before attempting. Hypnosis can increase pain tolerance dramatically to the point where people will allow a lot more pain than they intend, sometimes to the point of physical harm. Do not hypnotize people to translate pain into pleasure!
Tip: Develop pain-scale system. I use a ten point scale. What is a ten? What is a five? What number would be your max for the scene?

• What kinds of pain do you like? (Thuddy, stingy, scratchy, hot, cold, pinchy, bitey?
• How do you warm up?

• What toys can I use?
• Can I leave marks?
• If so, where is ok?
• How long can they last?

With hypnotic “physical pain,” it's important to reference specific experiences of pain and describe it such that it feels the way you want it to. Don't leave room for the subconscious to misinterpret and accidentally feed the hypnotee bad pain or overwhelming pain.
For emotional pain, oh my god, proceed with caution. This is extremely edgy. Do not attempt unless you are an expert hypnotist with an experienced subject who has experience with emotional edgeplay outside of hypnosis. Aim for positive suggestions, for example: “and you'll feel the humiliation that you know you love” instead of “and you'll feel terrible humiliation that makes you feel terrible and terrible!” That could just end up being terrible.

Aftercare

• 
  
• What kind of aftercare do you need? (Cuddles vs. space, food and water, blanket, discussion, decompress)
• Will you need transportation somewhere after?
• What kinds of interaction do you need in days to come? (Check in, privacy, space, photos of marks)

Other

• If you start crying, what should I do? (Or, shaking, inability to stand, talk).
• Tell me some things I should know about playing with you.
• Please enjoy your hypnosis play! Let me know what questions you have and what you think I should add.

For a general BDSM scene negotiation, check out... Negotiation Guide
And here's a link to 10 Hypnosis Safety Suggestions Everyone Should Use

10 Safety Suggestions Every Hypnotist Should Use

10 Safety Suggestions Every Hypnotist Should Use

I've been having a lot of discussions recently about Hypnosis safety. There are a bunch of different schools of thought about discussing abreactions (unexpected and/or bad reactions) that may occur, and how to prevent them or prevent them from being a problem if they do occur.

School of thought #1 (which I have seen very often): If you don't talk about stuff going wrong, stuff won't go wrong. Discussing abreactions in front of subjects has actually been proven to increase abreactions.

School of thought #2: While it is true that discussing abreactions with hypnotees may seed ideas that don't really need to be there, abreactions (which aren't necessarily ever bad if the hypnotistsis paying attention, and I will be referring to these as "the Unexpected" henceforth) can happen whether or not the hypnotee knows about them and hears about them a lot, and the only prevention is an active prevention with suggestions and an educated hypnotist.

Having seen The Unexpected happen with brand-spanking-new hypnotees with no discussion of The Unexpected, I have to be in school #2. School of thought #1 seems a lot like rhythm and prayer--it may reduce the risk, but it doesn't prevent The Unexpected from happening. The best method for keeping hypnotees and hypnotists safe and happy is for hypnotists to educate themselves on responding to The Unexpected (which is mostly about paying attention, empathy, and improvisation), and putting in suggestions to prevent The Unexpected.

So, while I do avoid mentioning abreactions to hypnotees, and I certainly don't tell them the stories that have led to each and every one of these suggestions being created and put on my "always use these" list, there's still a list. Here are the suggestions that I always use, and I would suggest that you use them, too. Please feel free to use them, contextualize them, and adapt them to your play.

These do not take place of a hypnosis-specific negotiation! Do your negotiation before putting someone into trance at all!

1.) Safeword Suggestions

These suggestions give the hypnotee a trigger that not only allows but compels them to safeword if they need to. It is imperative that this is not just an allowance, but a compulsion. Word this in a way that does not create a stigma for safewording! Use "if something could be better," not "if something is wrong."

Yellow:
This can be modified slightly depending on how the hypnotee defines their "yellow."
"Whenever you are in this trance, if at any point in time you would like to check in, alert me that I could do something to make you happier and safer, change a suggestion that I've given you, or make the scene better, it will seem perfectly automatic to say the word 'yellow.' Saying the word 'yellow' is an automatic process that your conscious mind doesn't even need to think about, because your subconscious will be compelled to say it aloud. In fact, you may find that if you hear yourself say 'yellow,' whatever suggestion needed to be removed will just fall away, and you'll find yourself ready to check in. This will be true whenever you are in trance, and, in fact, it seems so natural that it may seem like this has always been the case."

Red:
"If at any point in time it might be better for you to be out of trance or for the scene to end, it may seem perfectly automatic to say the word 'red.' Saying the word 'red' is an automatic process that your conscious mind doesn't even need to think about, because your subconscious will be compelled to say it aloud. In fact, you may find that if you hear yourself say 'red,' you will find yourself coming out of trance on your own. This will be true whenever you are in trance, and, in fact, it seems so natural that it may seem like this has always been the case."

2.) Only my voice

This is a suggestion to make sure that the hypnotee is only listening to the desired hypnotist's suggestions. This can be reworded slightly depending on whether the hypnotee has only one play partner or multiple. The point here is to protect the hypnotee from random "splash" from other things being said in the room.

"It will be easy and automatic to accept fun and appropriate suggestions from hypnotists of your choosing. When playing, you will find that the voice of the hypnotist you negotiated with is the only important and influential voice in the room.  This will be true whenever you are in trance, and, in fact, it seems so natural that it may seem like this has always been the case."

3.) Articulate Check-In

This suggestion ensures that the hypnotee can and will check in if the hypnotist needs them to. Particularly with subjects who go deeply into hypnosis in a way that makes it difficult for them to speak lucidly, this will help. Some subjects find that a suggestion like this can also help them collect their thoughts.

"Whenever you're in this state and you have something to say to check in, or I ask you to check in by saying 'it's time to check in,' you may find it easy to speak, and easy to articulate what you would like to say. It will seem perfectly automatic and easy to respond to the questions that I ask that you want to answer. This will be true whenever you are in trance, and, in fact, it seems so natural that it may seem like this has always been the case."

4.) Not Mind Control

This helps reinforce the safe word suggestions, but it's good to add this suggestion in outside the context of safewording. This gives the suggestion that they don't even have to safeword to ignore a suggestion that they don't like.

"If at any point in time there is a suggestion that your subconscious mind does not want to follow, the suggestion simply will fade away, ignored, and you will find yourself relaxing back down into this wonderful sleep state [or whatever the hypnotist wants you to do]. This will be true whenever you are in trance, and, in fact, it seems so natural that it may seem like this has always been the case."

5.) Coming Out of Trance

This is good for bathroom breaks and fire drills, among other things. Again, this reinforces the safeword suggestions, but makes it so that they know they don't even have to safeword to get out of trance if they need something quickly.

"If, at any point in time, you find yourself preferring or needing to be out of trance for any reason, you may find yourself quickly coming out of trance awake, and alert, and feeling good and ready to do whatever you need to do. This is a perfectly automatic process for you to come out of trance if you need to come out of trance. This will be true whenever you are in trance, and, in fact, it seems so natural that it may seem like this has always been the case."

6.) Bodily and Space Awareness

This is super important, and gets overlooked a lot. While I'm refraining from story-telling on a lot of these points due to School of Thought #1, this one has a really good (and harmless) story to tell-- One reason for this suggestion is that I once hypnotized a pretty pretty girl in a short short skirt to think she was a cat, and this was not in an erotic context where it was socially acceptable for her bare ass to be presented to the world--but she was a cat, and cats tend to be on all fours and, well, mini-skirts, man.
Even if you are in a context where it is socially acceptable for pretty girls to be flashing the whole room while meowing, this is still super duper important for other reasons, and if you'd like more details on that, PM me. I'd go so far as to say this is one of the most important suggestions on this list.

"Another process that you subconscious does automatically is taking care of your body. You may find that your body will keep itself safe, always aware of the limitations of your space, your clothing, and your physical ability. It will also make sure to take into account the well-being of the other people and items in your space. This is an automatic process that your body will take care of without you thinking about it at all. This will be true whenever you are in trance, and, in fact, it seems so natural that it may seem like this has always been the case."

Also, (thank you for reminding me, StoryEyes) it's good to be clear where you would like the hypnotee to remain in the space while hypnotized. I suggest giving them a suggestion to stay at least in the room.

"You feel safe, warm, and comfortable in this [room, space, chair, etc.], and you may find that there is no need to be anywhere but this [room, space, chair, etc.]. It is a wonderful [room, space, chair, etc.], and you may find yourself compelled to stay in it. If at any point in time you need to be in a different place, you may find yourself compelled to check in with me about it."

7.) Sleep Trigger

Whenever doing hypnosis play, you should have a sleep or freeze trigger that returns the hypnotee to a calm, relaxed, passive, quiet headspace where they can be especially receptive to the hypnotist's suggestions immediately, and un-affected by outside stimulus. I use "sleep" with a finger snap, and it returns the hypnotee to a "sleep" state in a relaxed position. Another part of this suggestion is that going into "sleep" state removes whatever active suggestions were happening. Usually this is implied, so I do it in a more subtle way like suggesting that my hypnotees are "blank" and "relaxed."

"You may find that whenever we are playing and I snap my fingers and say 'sleep,' you will find yourself sinking down slowly and safely into a comfortable, pleasant sleep trance state. Going into a relaxed sleep state is a totally natural response to me snapping my fingers and saying sleep. In this wonderful, relaxed sleep state, you may find yourself more and more receptive to my suggestions every time, finding that my voice is the only important sound in the room. Every time you go into this wonderful, deep, sleep state you may find that you go deeper each time. In this state, you may find your thoughts fade into the background until they aren't there at all as you relax in this warm, comfortable state. This will be true whenever you are in trance, and, in fact, it seems so natural that it may seem like this has always been the case."

I have occasionally needed to use this in contexts where the hypnotee was standing up and moving around, and I've occasionally needed to do it fast--it's good to give hypnotees suggestions about "sinking slowly and safely into a sleep-state position."

8.) Remember What You Want/Need to Remember

Memory play is super neat. I'm a fan. Making someone forget their trigger words or not remember that you fiddling with your pen is making them have an orgasm is a lot of fun. It's also fun to take away someone's memories of a whole session temporarily, so that each time can be like the first time. This can also work for abduction play or consensual non consent (if you do it carefully and thoughtfully!). Whatever your thing is--super cool.
Bringing back memories is a little more complicated. One time, I hypnotized a friend of mine to be a character in a play that we'd been in 8 months earlier, I pulled out the script and read her cue lines, and she remembered every single one of her lines to the letter. So. It works sometimes, but sometimes the mind manufactures random memories. Trying to get people to remember lost memories from a long time ago doesn't necessarily work super well.

Similarly, sometimes thoughts or experiences occur in trance that don't really need to be remembered or aren't intended to be remembered. Whenever doing memory play, I tell my subjects to "remember what they want to remember" when I'm giving them memories back, or to "remember all of the pleasant memories from this experience."

This suggestion is in the context of waking someone up and giving them their memories back.
"In a moment, not now, but in a moment, I'm going to wake you up on the count of ten, and you will be awake, alert, and feeling fantastic. When you awake, you may find that you will remember whatever you want to remember from this amazing experience. The wonderful memories from this experience will be yours to keep. Looking back on this experience will be wonderful."

Or, alternatively:
"In a moment, not now, but in a moment, I'm going to wake you up on the count of ten, and you'll be awake, alert, and feeling fantastic. When you awake, you may find it unimportant to remember the details of your trance--it may all seem like a pleasurable blur. Anything that you absolutely need to know will be accessible to you or may become accessible to you, but everything else about this experience may slip through your thoughts like water through your fingers, like a dream after you wake up, and when you think about today, it will just seem like a pleasurable blur."

9.) Feel Good

Telling someone that they feel good is a good thing to do! (NO WAY!)

"Relax down deeper, notice how your limbs are feeling relaxed, feeling safe, warm, and comfortable. You may find yourself feeling an amazing floating sensation."

I also do:
"In a moment, not now, but in a moment I'm going to tap you on the forehead. My fingers may feel warm, and I'd like you to imagine a wave of warmth and relaxation spreading from my finger tips on your forehead, all over your body, down your neck, down through your chest, your torso, down to your legs, filling you up with peace and warmth. These wonderful feelings will remain with you whenever you are under hypnosis."

Or, alternatively and additionally:
"You may actually find that this state is just a little bit arousing, being here, all warm and comfortable at my mercy. Most of your body may be so relaxed that some parts may be getting more and more active. You may find yourself becoming more aroused, and the more you notice your arousal, the more noticeable it becomes. Being warm and comfortable and aroused and my mercy may make you feel even more aroused. Whenever you're in this state for me, you may find that just being in trance for me is arousing."

10.) Have a great time!

Duh.
"As you relax down and go deeper and deeper for me, your body and mind may be preparing themselves for the fantastic time you're going to have, and may already be having here today. You may find that this is one of most wonderful sensations you've experienced, and you may be looking forward to having the smoking hot memories from today."

And that's my list of the ten suggestions to give hypnotees under hypnosis!
If you have more that you think should go on this list, please tell me.

Here are a few other safety-oriented tips for hypnotists, as well.

1.) Keep your hypnotee happy with you!
Here are some good ways to do that:

• Always pay attention to your subjects. Attend them at all times while they are in trance! Most of the time, this means limiting the number of hypnotees that you are hypnotizing at a time to one. Make sure to keep other people from disturbing your hypnotees, as well.
• Make sure that if your hypnotee is in a standing position when you need to put them in "sleep" state, make sure they either don't fall, or that they sink slowly down, or that you or a piece of comfortable furnature catches them.
• Stick to suggestions that your hypnotee likes!

2.) Ask people why they want to be hypnotized.
If they say "cause it's really fucking hot" or "I'm curious about what it's like to be hypnotized," that's awesome.
I would suggest that you do not hypnotize people who cite the following reasons for wanting to be hypnotized:

• "I just need to be out of myself right now."
• "I can't handle being awake."
• "I'm afraid I might do something bad right now, and I need someone to control me so that I don't."
• "If I'm hypnotized, I won't have to think about my problems."
• Hypnotize people who want to be hypnotized, not people who don't want to be not-hypnotized.

3.) Check in with yourself.
Are you having a good time? Have a good time! If you aren't, stop. Hypnosis is safest if the hypnotist is engaged. Good hypnotists go into trance, too, and that makes us more empathetic and attentive. The best thing you can do for your hypnotee is to have an awesome time and go into trance with them so that you can be as focused as possible. Also, it's more fun that way, and you shouldn't do things that aren't fun. :-P

4.) Do a complete negotiation.
Do it. This will not necessarily make your scene any less spontaneous--in fact, it will keep you from wondering if the stuff you're doing is fun for your hypnotee, and the less you're wondering, the more creative you can be! Any good hypnotist can have an fantastic scene with a negotiation beforehand. The great thing about hypnosis is that you can even hypnotize your hypnotee to not consciously remember the negotiation if you want to do con-non-con. Cool, right? So, do it.
For resources on how to do a hypnosis-specific negotiation, check out the Erotic Hypnosis Negotiation Checklist

Please let me know what else I should add to this!
Thanks for reading, and happy hypnotizing!