Last month, I began a series on the common universal laws governing hypnotic suggestions. Last month we disused the "Law of Reverse Reaction". This month we will continue the series with a discussion of the "Law of Repetition".

The Law of Repetition is an easy one to understand, since it's the basic way we develop any new skill. When we first begin to learn something new we find it difficult or awkward but, over time, as we condition our minds and bodies through repetition, we get better and better at the new task, until it becomes an unconscious effort. By applying this law when working with our clients, we can compound the effectiveness of a suggestion by repeating it over and over again, while the subject is in a hypnotic state. This helps to develop new neuropathways and ingrain the suggestion as a newly developed habit.

Notice he comment about conditioning our "minds and bodies". You're probably already familiar with the concept of "muscle memory", whereby you learn a physical skill, like throwing a ball, or riding a bike, over time, through repetitive practice. You may also recall in your early learning years, when you had to memorize facts and figures, through a technique called "rote memorization", whereby you committed information to long term memory by repeating it over and over and over again. These are examples of the Law of Repetition at work.

Unfortunately, it's not just useful skills and information that gets committed his way. We can negatively program ourselves with these same techniques. Smokers develop the 'habit' of smoking through repetition an association. We program our selves to forget names, by repetitively telling ourselves "I can never remember names" or "I'm terrible at remembering names". Sound familiar?

What negative beliefs are you programming into yourself, or that your clients re programming into themselves, because of this common, but not always consciously considered Law of Suggestion?

We train hypnotists about the "Rule of 21", that is, to repeat a suggestion at least 21 times to our subjects while they are in trance. Jerry Kein, one of my mentors, used to say "Repeat it until you get sick hearing yourself say it...then repeat it 10 more times."

Be mindful of this Law at work in your own life, and educate your clients about it. We criticize what others say to us, but we never criticize what we say to ourselves. So the next time you find yourself repeating a negative suggestion, then change it to a positive suggestion or reframe, and let that be the one that gets compounded in over time.

Michael C. White, C.Ht.