Back in college, I had a psychologist who wanted me to do a hypnosis session with him. I hesitated because of all the crap out there that makes hypnosis sounds scarey. I would never hand control over to someone else like the movies make out hypnosis. He said that that is not what it is. It is just a relaxed, more focused experience. He did progressive muscle relaxation and had me say two phrases over and over again. He claimed that I said the phrases for about a minute each but it seemed longer to me because I didn't have any thing else on my mind by that point.
I now use a visualization thing to help myself to go to sleep. I also read of the idea of a chalk board that has your negative thinking written on it. I imagine it sitting next to the pond that is my place. Then, I have an eraser and erase the statements. I like that part. I like to watch the words be erased. Then, I write a positive affirmation on the board. If you can tell, I memorized the basic plot and do it without a tape. I shortened it though because the words are too long for me. Since I have gone on an imaginary walk to the pond a lot, I have actually made up a version for each of the seasons. But, the chalk board one has to go back to the original version which was fall. I like the visual aspect of the chalk board. I sometimes feel like I have a peice of chalk in my hand when I do it too. I'm not sure if this is hypnosis, but it feels the same to me. The idea from the book had more suggestions in it. I found that it was too wordy for me. I might try it tonight though and see if I can get into the habit of listening to the book's version. I did like some of it.