Customized Self-Hypnosis Training (updated Jan 25, 2015)

Crossing the Brain/Mind Barrier

If you believe that ‘thoughts are things’ – and yet still struggle to consistently create the ‘things’ you want with your thoughts – you might be interested in what I’ve recently discovered.

self-hypnosis listening

Understanding how you use the senses to unconsciously organize your thoughts and experiences is a very powerful way of changing your life. What if you understood the internal mechanisms that you use – unconsciously – every moment of every day to either generate motivation, self-confidence, gratitude, love and positive expectations about life; or to sink into fatigue, resentment, low self-worth, unsatisfying relationships, and declining vitality and relevance?

Why Are Certain Negative Patterns So Hard to Change?

Finding the answer to that question has been the driving force in my life’s work thus far.

Despite being blessed with many talents and (according to standardized tests, anyway) above-average intelligence, I’ve struggled with fear, self-doubt, and low self-esteem for much of my life.

I made a firm commitment to change my life in the fall of 2001, not long after the 9/11 terror event. I decided I would rather die than keep on living a life that wasn’t mine.

During the intervening 14 years (!), I would study and practice various forms of meditation and energy work. I went on shamanic journeys, both the inner kind and the “journeying to remote places to take plant medicine and shit yourself blind” kind. I studied hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). I became certified as a hypnotherapist and – with the help of some of my more daring astrology clients – I eventually created my own system of soul healing.

Working with this system I have helped hundreds of people from all over the world liberate themselves from old trauma, negative beliefs, and family-of-origin issues –  and live happier and more authentic lives. (I still do this work, by the way.)

Over the course of those 14 years, my life got a whole lot better!

But I have continued to struggle with one key life area: money and self-esteem. The two are intimately connected in astrology, and this is the life area shown in my natal horoscope as the core soul lesson I came to Earth to master in this lifetime.

“Life is a vale of soul-making,” wrote the poet John Keats shortly before his death from tuberculosis at age 25. Or to put it more bluntly, “life is hard!” It’s also beautiful. But, based on my extensive experience of working one-on-one with all types of people from all types of cultures, what I’ve described about myself seems to be a universal fact of life.

Each of us seems to struggle with one central pattern across the arc of a lifetime. For some it’s finding a loving partner. For others it’s health. For some, it’s body issues or work or money or career or family. Even after years of therapy, energy work, books and workshops and meditation, this core pattern – “The Big One” – seems incredibly resistant to change.

A Mind-Blowing Insight

At the end of November, I acted on an intuitive prompting I had been trying to avoid for more than a year:  I announced to my readers that I would be closing my astrology website and making a career transition. After having lived, breathed and slept astrology for the past decade, I needed to give myself the freedom to explore other avenues for my creativity. I wasn’t quitting astrology, but I was going to stop writing regular astrological forecasts and creating my monthly audio horoscopes.

I’m sure to some people, it seemed a form of career suicide. I was effectively killing off a public identity that had been very good to me.

Do you remember the first time you got up the nerve to jump off the high dive, or something similarly scary? That’s how I felt at first. Stunned, but simultaneously euphoric and relieved. Finally, after saying “no” for too long, I was following my heart’s call.

The euphoria and relief lasted for a few days. And then the terror set it. People were disappointed. My business had been faltering for months. I know that when I trust my intuition, life has a way of getting better and better in the long run. But now I had to face the fact I was lacking any kind of viable short-term plan for replacing the 60 percent slice of my monthly income I was saying good-bye to.

For the next several days, I went through a “dark night of the soul” experience. (After every new version of these, I tell myself surely this is the last time!)

I plummeted down into a well of fear, shame, panic, and stress. I couldn’t sleep. I was living in a nearly continuous fight-or-flight state. I knew that my anxiety and worry was creating a future I didn’t want, but I couldn’t seem to break free.

And then, in the midst of this intense and prolonged experience of my own core wounds, I received an amazing gift. The clues to a mystery I had been trying to solve for years suddenly began appearing in my mind.

All of a sudden, I was able to see, step-by-step, how my mind was creating the negative thoughts and emotions that were causing me to suffer. I didn’t sleep much for the next few days, either. But this time excitement and gratitude were the culprits for my insomnia. “I’m cracking the code!” I kept hearing myself say. “This is the key!” My heart flooded with gratitude. And then, the next day, I’d find myself back in the fear and depression. Until, soon, another clue would appear…

Flash forward to the Winter Solstice…

A Personalized Self-Hypnosis Program Based on Your Brain’s Unique Processing Style

I’ve spent the last three weeks making discoveries, losing the thread, picking it up again, making connections, experimenting to see which connections hold and which don’t. Weaving together a framework that should work for just about anyone with a modicum of meditation experience and a strong desire to crack their own personal mental code.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned (reluctantly, painfully) over the years, it’s how resistant our core programming is to our attempts to change it. The thing about this method is that it’s scientifically valid, based on decades of research into the brain/mind connection. It makes sense rationally, as well as spiritually.

What I’m talking about is a way of understanding the mechanics by which your particular brain generates both your negative and positive experiences and then a personalized self-hypnosis system that will reinforce the positive pathways and disempower the negative patterns. So you can feel a new confidence in your ability to actually use your mind to create the reality you want in 2016 and beyond.

Based on initial results in my own life and with clients who have been open to experimenting with it, the results are promising! I’ll tell you about the method in more detail, but first I want to explain a little bit more about the mechanisms the mind uses to generate the experience we call ‘reality’.

How Does Your Brain Create Your Reality?

mental roadmap DK Brainard hypnosis MP3

Your customized self-hypnosis MP3: a mental road map to success.

Back in my early days of using hypnosis, I got interested in the “sensory processing modalities” theory espoused by NLP gurus and other successful hypnotherapists. I had tried to apply this theory in working with my clients – with some success – but attempting to use it on myself was incredibly frustrating. I never really quit working on it – one year my wife and I watched the entire Lost series on Hulu. Maybe one reason Lost is my favorite TV show of all time is that I spent that year using Jack and Kate and Sayid and Sawyer to study mental-processing cues!

But at some point I think I gave up on ever being able to successfully use what I’d learned to change my own mental patterns.

And then: here it was again! And I could track it!

Great athletes often talk about reaching a point in their careers where the game slows down. “When I first came into the league, the game was so fast,” the star quarterback says. “I was just trying to get the ball out of there and throw it to a guy wearing the same color shirt as me.” But with experience and practice, the great athletes make a huge mental leap. They start to go into “the zone” – a place where things seem to happen in slow motion. They’re often able to anticipate what the opposing team will do next, without having to think about it. They feel ecstatic, at one with the game, totally suspended in the moment.

Who knows why it took a major career transition and the accompanying stress to enable me to finally slow my own inner game down? Maybe it was a result of all the work I’d put into it with my conscious mind, combined with eventually forgetting to think about it – giving my subconscious mind the time and space it needed to crack the code. Maybe I wouldn’t have worked so hard to help so many people heal from trauma if I’d made the leap seven or eight years ago. Maybe it was just the right time.

The great thing about this new program is that you don’t have to ‘get it’ on the nuts and bolts level I’m describing in order to use it. Because the game has slowed down enough for me to be able to track how you generate both your positive and negative mental, emotional, and physical-feeling states, the MP3 we’re going to create for you will be designed to work specifically with your own particular mental patterns.

Is that cool or what?

Stop, Look, and Listen (Or feel)

You’ve probably heard of V-A-K or VAK. It stands for Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic. Although most of us possess five physical senses, we tend to primarily use those three (seeing, hearing, feeling) to pattern our internal reality. And, extensive research has shown that most people tend to favor one of the Big Three over the others:

  • Some people are primarily visual: “I see what you mean.”
  • Others are  kinesthetic: “It just didn’t feel right to me.”
  • Others are auditory: “I heard this little voice in my head telling me to buy that book.”

Hypnotize Me! | What’s In It For Me? | FAQ


Negative and positive loops

self-hypnosis brain hemispheresMany of us tend to lead with one modality when we are stuck in a negative thought pattern. If we lead with the kinesthetic sense (K), it might look like this: “We feel depressed. We feel tired all the time. We don’t feel up to it.”

The same individual might use the visual modality (V) when he is creating a positive internal reality. He see himself kissing that person he is so attracted to, or he sees his artwork hanging in that gallery.

These patterns tend to be self-perpetuating until interrupted. Unfortunately, life is hard and most of us didn’t get the best education in how the mind works as children. So, especially if you’re a trauma survivor, abuse victim, or the child of a parent who was a narcissist, borderline, or addict, you may find that the negative patterns seem much more tenacious than the positive patterns.

A Typical Negative Loop

People who suffer from depression might appear to be unconsciously perpetuating the depressed state using a mental pattern that looks like this:

We feel depressed (K) -> We hear a negative internal dialog: “I feel so depressed. How come things never work out for me?” (A)  -> We feel hopeless -> (K) We hear more negative words: “I’m such a failure. There must be something wrong with me.” (A)

We could spell this pattern:

K-A-K-A-K…

A TYPICAL Positive LOOP

Someone who leads with the visual sense when creating positive internal states might have a pattern that appears to be:

V-K-V-K-V… 

She sees herself successfully landing that big client (V) -> She feels warm inside (K) -> as she sees herself weaving through the lunch hour crowd on 42nd Street (V) -> she feels full of confidence (K) -> she sees herself in the kitchen that night after work -> she feels pride in how hard she has worked to get to this point in her career (K)….

What happens when one of the ‘Big Three’ SEnses goes underground?

So here’s the fascinating thing:

We are often unconscious of the modality our brain leads with when it triggers our negative patterns.

Example: Someone who is chronically depressed may talk repeatedly about feeling heavy, down, or empty inside. This person is completely unaware that the physical and emotional feelings she associates with her depression are always preceded by pictures in her mind. These pictures – based on earlier trauma – are so scary that she has learned to repress them instantly into the unconscious! So she doesn’t even know they are there in her mind, triggering the bad feelings.

I’ve known about this phenomenon for years, but finally being able to experience it in my own mind was the key that unlocked this whole paradigm for me!

You Can’t Spend Money You Don’t Know You Have…

Why is knowing about your invisible sensory mode so potentially paradigm-busting, jail-breaking, and freedom-activating? Because it’s hard to beat an enemy you can’t see.

Say your life’s mission is to travel from Toledo, Ohio to Paris, France – where the Bohemian life of your dreams awaits you. You’ll have a hard time making it from Toledo to Paris if you’ve got a great car and a pretty reliable dinghy — but remain ignorant of the existence of airplanes.

When you understand the cues that show you how your mind creates your own unique persistent self-defeating thoughts and self-sabotaging emotional states, you can interrupt those negative patterns and consciously choose to shift into a positive state. And decades of research has shown that the simple act of repeatedly interrupting a subject’s subconscious negative mental patterns is often sufficient to resolve the underlying issue.

In other words, you are now free to stop driving your car into the Atlantic Ocean and then cursing the Fates for always stopping you from going to Paris!

Getting stuck in the past – all the kids are doing it!

Most of your personal self-sabotage code was written and embedded in the brain before you were seven years old. Up until around age seven, your brain spent most of your waking hours vibrating at the extremely suggestible, dream-like theta frequency level.

For reference,  your brain produces electrical waves at the rate of 4-7 cycles per second in the theta state. At the delta level – characteristic of deep sleep – your brain pulses at between one and four cycles per second..

Because our core wound patterns were experienced as so intense and scary, we had to repress the memory of these events into the subconscious in order to survive/maintain some semblance of normalcy.

But the subconscious is the part of the mind that creates our actions, reactions and responses to external stimuli –  aka, Life.  In fact, brain/mind research indicates the subconscious mind is responsible for up to 85-90 percent of our actions.

The conscious mind can analyze, rationalize, categorize and choose among options presented by the unconscious – but it can’t generate its own ideas. So, as we go through life, most of us are constantly being held back by fear or squashed by shame that was implanted deep into the subconscious mind decades ago.

The remarkable thing about these repressed fear and shame responses is not only that they secretly control most of our habitual responses to life. The repression mechanism built into the mind to ensure our survival is so powerful it can completely suppress any awareness of the pictures, sounds and feelings it is using to keep us in survival mode!

Like a computer virus, this childhood defense mechanism is able to ‘cloak’ itself so that it appears to be a normal, healthy program. When in fact, it is hiding from us the very information that could set us free to live as healthy, vibrant, productive adults.

So, what if – in just a few hours – I could train you to see:

  • Recognize the particular sensory pathways your brain uses to generate negative thoughts, feelings and inner dialog
  • Understand the sensory pathways your brain uses to create positive feelings, expectations and pictures of your ideal future
  • Consciously choose to interrupt the negative patterns and switch over to the positive track

And create, with your input, a personalized self-hypnosis audio recording that would program much of this work to happen at a subconscious level. So that every time you listened to your personal MP3, your subconscious mind would be learning to reinforce your conscious mind’s intentions?

Want to Be One of the First To Use This Tool?

I’ve been beta-testing this process with clients in January. Early returns are encouraging! If you’re interested, read on:

Ideal candidates will have some prior practice experience with meditation, energy work, mindfulness, or any form of self-examination (with the exception of yogic self-mutilation or medieval self-flagellation). And also be passionate about “getting it” – i.e. you feel your real life calling you in 2016 and you’re ready to make a big leap forward in how you use your mind as a reality-generating tool.

You’re also realistic – while you’re open to miraculous changes happening overnight, you know that mastering any new skill requires repetition, focus, and practice.

Here’s what you’ll get from me:

  • one-on-one personal training via phone or Skype
  • email support
  • a customized self-hypnosis MP3 based on your sensory processing cues, set to the background music of your choice
  • fresh confidence, renewed hope in life’s possibilities, and a sense of awakening personal freedom (provided you do your part)

Personal training

In order for me to map your sensory processing patterns, I’ll need time with you. I estimate that I’ll need a couple sessions with you to really nail down your default patterns and identify the key words, sounds, feelings, and images your mind uses to create both your positive and negative futures.

I’m not selling this training as x number of sessions + self-hypnosis MP3 because what you’re getting is a process and a result you’ll use for the rest of your life.

Some people may need less personal training time, others more. My commitment is to take as much time with you as is needed for me to feel confident the self-hypnosis MP3 will be life-changing for you. And I want you to feel confident that you understand your own pathways so that you can continue refining the process in the future. .

Email Support

In addition to the one-on-one consulting, I’ll be asking you questions by email and giving you a little bit of “homework”. The homework will be oriented to develop your awareness of your particular patterns. We’ll work on:

  • Clarifying your intention: What do you most want to create in your life in the near future
  • Motivating you to take the action that will lead you to the realization of this goal.
  • Demystifying the subconscious negative belief systems that sabotage your progress toward your goals and keep you from living the life of your dreams.
  • Identifying the triggers (environmental stressors, relationships, physical and emotional feelings) that throw you into your negative patterns.
  • Developing catalysts for change: What are the pattern interrupts you can rely on to jar you out of a negative pattern and empower you to replace it with a positive pattern?

I will be in email contact with you throughout the duration of this program and will also be available by phone if you need me.

A one-of-a-kind, uniquely powerful (for you) customized self-hypnosis MP3

connect head and heart with healing sounds

  • In this audio program, I will use the key words and metaphors, resonant images, and feeling states that we have identified in our personal work together to embed your desired outcome deep into your subconscious mind.
  • This MP3 is written and recorded specifically for you, based on what we’ve learned about your unique mental and emotional signature, your core beliefs, and your desired outcomes.
  • You will get to select the music for this program from among several styles and moods.
  • Choose either a single vocal or a dual hypnotic induction. (See FAQ)
  • The MP3 will be short enough so you can use it any time you need to hit your “mental reset button”and shift from a negative thought loop into a positive one.
  • Your custom self-hypnosis MP3 is co-created with you by an experienced, grounded, intentional practitioner who has invested countless hours developing the skills necessary to make this work for you.
  • (Yes, that’s me – and if you don’t know me by now, I’m also a singer and voice talent blessed with the ability to transmit soothing and healing frequencies with my voice.)

As one of my audio subscribers recently said:

DK, your voice is a “treasure” – the tone (timbre) in your voice just plain and frank: heals.”


Ready to Rewrite Your Personal Script in 2016?

If you’re ready to experience fresh belief in yourself and your vision, renewed enthusiasm, and a reality-altering framework that will change the way you see Life, call or email me today for a mini-consultation to see if this program is a good fit for you.

Yes, I want to know more!

Every time you listen to your personal self-hypnosis program, you’ll be reprogramming your brain to:

  •  unconsciously and automatically interrupt the “legacy” thought patterns generated from old limiting beliefs in your subconscious mind; and
  • generate vibrant new images and feelings of peace, accomplishment, worthiness and excitement about the desired outcomes you are now choosing to create.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

How do we do the personal consultations?

Personal sessions can be done by phone or Skype. After the initial session (typically 90 minutes), I’ll start mapping your sensory pathways, you’ll start collecting data, and we’ll make a plan for how to proceed.

When Can I expect my Personalized MP3?

This depends on how long it takes for us both to feel comfortable that we have successfully mapped your positive sensory pathways. You should receive your MP3 within two weeks of the last personal session we do.

What if I don’t like the MP3?

Your MP3 isn’t going to be like: “Surprise! I ran out of New Age flute tracks so here’s your heavy metal affirmation tape instead.” You’re going to be me telling me what you like and don’t like from the beginning. However, I’m extremely sensitive to sound and noise, so I will understand if you need me to tweak some settings or remove a certain sound. I’ll send you a draft version of your MP3. I’ll incorporate your feedback into the final product. And if something’s still not right, you can send it back for a free final revision within the first seven days.

Can I get more than one MP3?

Yes. If you would like the same induction put to different background tracks, I can do that for a reasonable add-on fee.

Can I use my own music?

Absolutely, as long as it works on a listenability level. Of course you can’t legally share or distribute your MP3 if it contains copyrighted material. Not that you would want to – your personal hypnosis script is going to be very personal.

What is dual hypnosis and why is it considered so effective?

Dual hypnosis is the practice of recording two hypnotic inductions so that they play simultaneously, one voice in each ear. It’s exceptionally potent because the brain can’t fully attend to either voice. Sooner or later, the brain gives up and you drop almost instantly into a very pleasurable state of relaxation – perfect for reprogramming the subconscious mind and generating the feelings, thoughts and sounds that will bring you what you want in life.

How long is the MP3?

Negotiable: I envision your MP3 running approximately 5-8 minutes – about the length of a Pink Floyd song. The reason being twofold:

The more you listen, the more you’ll be changing the patterns in your unconscious mind. I feel you’ll tend to use your MP3 more if you don’t have to block off 30 or 60 minutes for a listening session.

The background music I’m creating for these is designed to make them infinitely loop-able. The more you listen, the more effective your personalized script will be. If you just want a quick mind refresh, you can listen on the train, in the parking lot before work, or right before making that important phone call.*

Plus, dual hypnotic inductions tend to be highly effective. Your MP3 is short enough for you to use every day – as opposed to longer programs you actually have to schedule into your routine.

*(Don’t ever listen while driving or using potentially dangerous tools or machinery!)

9 thoughts on “Customized Self-Hypnosis Training (updated Jan 25, 2015)

  1. Sharon says:

    I was just wondering if you have your 5-7 people already and what the charge is. I have tried everything I can think of, have worked so hard at healing for years and years and nothing helps, nothing relieves the self hatred and hopelessness inside. I am very cynical and skeptical of any new method as I have been disappointed so many times. But I need change somehow. I have followed your astrology posts for some time and they always resonate for me.

  2. Z Bambi Lynn says:

    Hello DK!!!
    I am jazzed about this!!!
    COUNT ME IN!!!!!
    A present to myself for my 60th birthday. 🙂 I gave myself your soul reading for my 2012 birthday, and WOW! The changes are phenomenal — I have a new name, a new home, new pets, a new love, and moved three states away since we last connected. This offering is perfect for this point in my life: the reason I am me, on gaia, the reason I survived with my heart intact, BEGINS for me AT AGE 60. I am so greatfull that YOU, DK, are here to assist!!!!!
    Woo Hoo! 🙂 <3

  3. Irene N says:

    I am very interested. Have studied Many modalities .. Meditation-NLP -Hypnosis–healing-etc. I know I am talented-capable-intelligent yet find myself ‘Frozen’ nor able to comimit to anything I say I want in my life now. My positive thinking is getting less and less.. Can I be one of your 5-7 people ?
    Thank you.

  4. marci-faith says:

    Hello to you, DK. I’ve been walking this walk for what feels like lifetimes… up many nights, as of course the veil is thinner!, and “attracting” exactly what my heart needs to hear. Today, a bit different… it’s a Sunday afternoon! And I found you! A fellow Pisces. Feeling the big big energy of this time right along with you. Love your story. Love your work. Can’t believe I’m just finding you NOW. Supposed to be. How can I join you?! Love, Marci.. Seattle

    • DK Brainard says:

      Hi Marci,

      Sorry I missed this! Glad to see you. We Fishies need each other! Thanks for asking. My Connect page is probably the best way to get on board with my nascent (and very Piscean) circus. If you’re interested in doing the self-hypno course, I’m about to release an invitation to version 2.0. Send me an email if you want to talk about it in person.

      And thank you for the kind words from a fellow many-lifetimer 🙂

  5. Dawn Grant says:

    Hello DK! Very informative blog you have shjared. I know that Self-hypnosis induces a state of extreme relaxation and increased suggestibility to treat a host of mental and physical conditions. It creates the same ‘calm mind’ state in you to teach your unconscious mind to narrow your concentration and focus exclusively on your chosen goal

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