Shifting Is Comfortability

Betty Erickson Self-Hypnosis Technique

Okay, because @moonwillow473737 (sorry, your account isn't showing up to tag) asked, and nobody ever asks me anything, I'm writing this step by step guide on one of the most famous (and misused) self-hypnosis techniques out there: The Betty Erickson Method, also known as the 54321 Method. It was invented by the wife of American psychologist and psychiatrist Milton Erickson and is widely renowned as one of the best, and easiest self hypnosis techniques out there.

Once we get into the steps, you might notice the technique sounds familiar to you, as many psychologists recommend a variation of it as a grounding technique, and some shifters have attempted to include it in their methods. HOWEVER, I will point out that most people are doing it wrong, so if you think you already know how it works, I invite you to read on anyway and check your technique.

The Steps

The basic technique is pretty straightforward:

It's recommended that you have a plan for what you're going to do once you're hypnotised. Come up with your affirmations/suggestions ahead of time and repeat them to yourself a few times so you know you'll remember them when you're a dopey hypnotised mess.

Get into a comfortable position somewhere you can relax without being interrupted.

Keeping your head and body still, look around your room for 5 things you can see.

Repeat with 5 things you can hear.

Repeat with 5 things you can feel.

Then repeat steps 3-5 with 4 things you can see, hear and feel. Then 3, 2, and finally 1.

What Most People Get Wrong

These are the most common ways I've seen people get this technique wrong before:

Bringing in extra senses

Taste and Smell are very difficult senses to work with, and trying to find MULTIPLE things you can taste at any one time is insane. They're great for enhancing a visualisation session, but they're not helpful here.

Not using repetition

The most common mistake I see is people going "5 things you can see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can feel" and so on, rather than the above method. Focusing on each sense multiple times is important, for multiple reasons:

It makes the technique last longer, giving your mind time to settle into the rhythm.

It slowly narrows in your focus. You start out being aware of 5 things for each sense, then 4, then 3 and so on, until you've phased them all out and are focused inwards.

Repetitive tasks lull your brain into a sleepy state, which is what we want when we're working with hypnotic suggestions.

Examples

The more specific you can make the things you're noticing, the better. So here are some examples to help you.

Sight

Shadows on the wall

Beams of light coming through the window

The movement of a fan blade

Leaves moving in the breeze

Hearing

Your breath leaving your lungs

The Inner Sound - often manifests as a high pitched ringing that only appears when you relax or try to meditate. (Note: This is NOT tinnitus. Tinnitus is present at all times, often very difficult to ignore, and does not go away as soon as you stop paying attention to it.)

Your bedroom fan, if you have one

The breeze

Cars going past on the street

Birds singing

Touch

The weight of your blanket

The texture of your mattress

The sensation of your chest moving as you breathe

Air moving around your room

The feeling of your clothes on your skin

The weight of your glasses on your face (if you're wearing any)

Finally

I had a few more things I was going to say but, honestly, this is plenty. If it doesn't work the first time, try again. If you think you can't do it because you have ADHD - you're wrong, because I have clinically diagnosed, combination type ADHD and I can do it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, me and my boyfriend are going to the zoo tomorrow and it took me 90 damn minutes to write this when it was supposed to be quick and now it's nearly midnight. Good luck and good night.

Okay everyone is panicking over this all over Tumblr right now and as someone who worked on an IT helpdesk for four years I'd like to set the record straight:

Notion employees have the ABILITY to access your notes, much in the same way Microsoft or Google can get access to documents you have stored in Drive/OneDrive. HOWEVER, please note that this is in the same way that bank employees technically have access to your bank account or a Facebook employee could change your password. Just because they CAN does not mean they DO.

Employees at these companies have this access so they can help you fix technical problems that may come up, and they are under strict data privacy regulations in their workplace not to look without your express permission. It is possible that a rogue employee could access your data without your consent, because that is possible literally anywhere at any company, but if it was discovered this had happened there would be severe legal consequences for that employee.

Okay?

Notion staff are not reading your JJK porn.

Edit: I was feeling stressed after I wrote this so I ran it past my bf who works in CyberSec and he said it's good and I'm right.

WAIT NOTION... employees can read your scripts???? (hold on because WHAT) please be false i have so many things.. written there.....

I love that you have essentially invented Mnemonic Induced Shifting.

Guess who just came up with a new super simple "method" to help people affirm and shift to their desired realities!!!

(I'll give you a hint. It's me.)

So, obviously we all know that methods are absolutely unnecessary when it comes to shifting. Like COMPLETELY unnecessary. They're just tools to help, but they aren't what make you shift. YOU make you shift.

But with that being said, I did just think of something that I believe will help a lot of people. Because we all know that there are still a lot of shifters that overcomplicate shifting, even if they aren't intending to. I think some people aren't even aware of it. But when you try for a super long time, I think some people subconsciously think it's more difficult than it is and struggle to believe that they'll shift during their attempt, even if they do believe in shifting. So I thought of this last night, and I think a lot of people will find it useful because it makes it feel a lot less complicated and lower stakes (in my personal opinion).

So I was thinking last night about how weird it is that I struggle with lucid dreaming more (don't worry, this is not about the lucid dream method), even though I have always had super vivid dreams my whole life and will even sometimes find myself in a dream partially aware that it's a dream, but still not really lucid. And I was thinking about how many times I've had dreams based on just thoughts I had before bed or like content I was interacting with before I fell asleep. Like I'll watch something and it'll be in my dreams, or I'll think of someone and they'll be in my dreams.

So I started thinking, why not use that to my advantage? I'm not even talking about using it to lucid dream and using the lucid dream method. I feel like that might work for some people, but it hasn't worked for me. No, this is much simpler. I was thinking, why not think of a specific thing to incorporate into the dream and when you see it in the dream, you know you'll shift. Hear me out for a second because this might be a bit hard for me to explain.

My theory for this method sort of follows the theory that sometimes when you're dreaming about your desired reality, you've actually shifted to that reality but you don't realize because you woke up in your cr. So dreaming is a process that involves your consciousness. Shifting is also something that involves your consciousness. When you communicate an idea to your subconscious, it holds onto that and it's part of how you get the dreams that you have. So for example, if you set your intention to have part of your dream take place in a grocery store, you can tell yourself that when you have that dream, you are in your desired reality. That your consciousness will know that when you dream that you're in a grocery store, you're actually in your desired reality and you will wake up there.

It's sort of like the lucid dream method, except you don't have to worry about the step of becoming lucid. Because I know part of the lucid dream method that a lot of people follow is that they'll make a portal and they'll shift through the portal. But a lot of people will use the lucid dream method to just set the intention of waking up in their desired reality and affirm to themselves that they're just dreaming in their desired reality at that moment. So it's like that, except you don't even have to become lucid.

So basically, all you have to do is think of something before bed. It can be a person, a place, an object, whatever. You could think of being in a store, or a friends house, or an open field, or think of talking to your s/o, or a family member, or a friend, or you could be around lava lamps, or a sword, or a basketball. Whatever. Just relax before you go to bed and affirm to yourself that something will be in your dream and let it happen. And maybe you'll become lucid too, which would also be great because then you can use the lucid dream method. But you don't have to. Just trust that it'll happen and that your consciousness will know that once you see xyz in your dream, that you are in your desired reality already.

I thought of this because I was thinking about how many times I've just thought of something and then it ended up in my dreams and I realized a good practice for affirming/setting intentions would be to just affirm what I want to see in my dreams and let it happen. But then I took it a step further and thought about applying it to shifting. It is a super simple, low stakes, lazy girl method. You don't have to do anything except relax, trust yourself, and dream. No laying in a specific position, no counting to 100, no subliminals or anything necessary (unless you want).

I just think it's such a great practice for anyone who has any doubts. I mean, you know that dreaming is real, right? You know that when you sleep at night, you'll be able to dream, right? So you can at the very least practice setting your intentions for your dreams. So even if you end up not waking up in your desired reality, you're at least getting in practice for affirming and setting your intention. And if you can do it in a dream, you can do it for shifting. Because it's all just tied to your consciousness.

A step by step example for anyone who needs a little extra clarity-

(And remember to take what resonates and leave what doesn't. You can do whatever feels right for yourself.)

Step one: do what you normally do to go to bed. You don't have to do anything extra unless you want to do anything extra. Do whatever you need to do to relax. I enjoy watching asmr before bed until I start feeling super relaxed and like I could fall asleep and then I'll turn on rain noises or brown noise or something like that to keep me in a relaxed state.

Step two: as you're relaxed, start thinking about what you want to see in your dream before you fall asleep. For this example, we'll say that I want it to snow in my dream. So I'll affirm to myself that it will snow in my dream. I'll say things like "I want it to snow in my dream" "at some point, it will be snowing in my dream" "it will be snowy in my dreams tonight" etc. Just do whatever works best for you.

Step three: as you start affirming and setting your intention, start incorporating shifting. Tell yourself that when you have that dream, you'll know you've shifted and you will wake up in your desired reality. I'd tell myself things like "when it's snowing in my dreams, I know I'm in my desired reality" "I am already asleep and dreaming in my desired reality" "I will wake up in my desired reality" "when I see the snow, I am already there" etc. Again, just say whatever you want.

Step four: go to sleep. That's it. Think about snow as you fall asleep (or whatever you want) and just trust yourself. This is a sleep method. Don't worry about "symptoms." There are no symptoms. Shifting is not a physical process. Don't worry about shifting while you're doing the method. You will shift in your sleep and wake up in your desired reality. That is the point. Trust yourself and really, genuinely believe that it will happen. Honestly, try not to even think about the act of shifting and focus more on just knowing that you'll wake up in your desired reality. Trust that when you're dreaming, you are dreaming in your desired reality.

If you decide to try this, let me know how it goes and how you like it. Remember, methods are not at all necessary to shift. And if you don't feel like this resonates with you, you don't need to try it at all. I just like it because it's simple, just like shifting is. You don't need elaborate methods. Just trust and intention.

Another Facebook find shamelessly appropriated to my shifting blog.

Not feeling great today but another quick update. No shifting yet, but all but one of my last 7 dream journal entries were some level of lucid. At the moment I'm playing around with meditating on the inner sound before bed.

Reblog if you’re polyamorous, support polyamorous people, or think polyamorous people and relationships are valid

There have been some downright rude posts on here for a while now that I think started out as people trying to show "tough love" a la personal trainers, but it's incredibly irritating. If you have nothing constructive to say about shifting then just stick to memes/mood boards/storytimes.

Next person who swears at me over the fact I haven't shifted or tells me I'm an idiot for saying it, I'm going to shift to a reality where I have homing teleportation, warp to their location and smack them six ways to Sunday.

I know everyone likes to think that shitblr is significantly better than shiftok but it's slowly starting to become the same with the recycled advice and judgmental mindsets. Every single advice post is the exact same with the exact same rude "it's your fault you haven't shifted" vibe to it. Which, especially for mentally ill and neurodivergent people is extremely harmful and does nothing but make them feel worthless and like they'll never shift. It's not difficult to be kind, and if it is for you then don't make content that people will listen to.

Found this on Facebook. The shifting coded posts are everywhere.

anyone else feel guilty when they stop focusing on one dr to script another

One of my shifting pet peeves is that so many people call guided meditations, soundscapes and subliminal hypnosis videos by the same name. Like if it's any kind of shifting video whatsoever it's a "subliminal" now, no matter the contents. 🙄