Don E. Gibbons, Ph.D., NJ Licensed Psychologist #03513
This Blog is published for information and educational purposes only. No warranty, expressed or implied, is furnished with respect to the material contained in this Blog. The reader is urged to consult with his/her physician or a duly licensed mental health professional with respect to the treatment of any medical or psychological condition.

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Hyperempiria for Cultural Enrichment


Suggestion-enhanced experience is not merely for helping people to solve problems, but also to maximize their potential for personal growth. For example, with hyperempiric suggestion designed to involve the whole person in the content of a musical experience, people are actually able to become the music itself, and all that it conveys. The following suggestions, or similar ones which you compose yourself, may be used after an induction as a form of experiential theater to enhance the following videos, or others which you have chosen. Then, turn up the volume, and enjoy! (Special thanks to Lisa for providing the first video and for help in constructing the suggestions.)
What I am about to tell you will multiply your enjoyment many times over. You will be able to follow it not only with your senses alone, but with your entire being. Just remain open to it and It will happen. Your emotional responsiveness will be considerably enhanced. All of your senses will suddenly begin to feel much keener, and the sights and sounds will dazzle you like fireworks. The music is going to feel exquisite: light, playful and soaring, and pleasurable beyond description. Dancing, swirling, leaping, and soaring. A wave of tones crashing and spraying upon the shoreline of the mind. You will feel the sea spray and taste and smell the unique taste of the ocean. You will especially enjoy the refreshing feel of the air around the salt water. The feeling of the immense force of the tide. The cooling of the sea spray as you feel it on your skin. The warmth of the sun as it replaces the coolness. When the musicians switch locations to the valley area, you will feel the lush soft green vital smell of the vegetation and earth is so profoundly evocative. The colors are incredible and feel very pleasurable to behold. The more keenly you feel these experiences, the more you are able to feel them. And the more you feel them, the more you want to feel them, and the more enjoyable they become. You will always remember this concert, even as you look forward to more exciting ones in the future. As you continue, you will develop an ever-increasing ability to experience life itself in a richer and more rewarding manner.




Now you try it. Make up your own suggestions for the following video of the Hallelujah Chorus of Handel's Messiah (or another one, if you prefer) and see what happens. A friend of mine who is a music teacher put it this way: "I listened first with eyes open. Not so good for me. So I listened again with eyes closed. Now the music personified transcendence and the mystical and the jubilation of the human/divine spirit. At some point I recalled a performance of the Messiah that I was in while in college. (THAT was a spiritual experience) Instantly I was transported into the score and became one of the joyful/playful/dancing/raining notes (I think that might have been in your suggestions). It was so wonderful to exalt in my own energy/sound while playfully dancing in and about the others. (Also at some point prior to the notes, the voices became just vocal colors, the words became meaningless or beside the point...they just blended into the experience). . . .TRANSCENDENCE. Simply divine. Try taking a journey into the purity of that sound with your eyes closed! :-) Really FUN!




And, if you would like something lighter to put a spring into your step, try using hyperemiria to enhance the following video of a flash mob:



Finally, now that you are ready to "stretch your wings" a bit, here is a YouTube link to a collection of the works of several major classical composers. See how much better they all sound when the quality of your listening experience is enhanced by the power of suggestion! 


In no prticular order, here are just a few the other practical applications of hyperempiria, or suggestion-enhanced experience, contained on this Blog,  You can learn how to:
See also the following print sources:

Gibbons, D. E. (2001). Experience as an art form. .New York, NY: Authors Choice Press.


Gibbons, D. E. (2000). Applied hypnosis and hyperempiria. Lincoln, NE: Authors Choice Press (originally published 1979 by Plenum Press).

Gibbons, D. E., & Cavallaro, L (2013).. Exploring alternate universes: And learning what they can teach us. Amazon Kindle E-Books. (Note: It is not necessary to own a Kindle reader to download this e-book, as the Kindle app may be downloaded free of charge to a standard desktop or laptop computer and to most cell phones.)

Gibbons, D. E., & Lynn, S. J. (2010). Hypnotic inductions: A primer. in S. J. Lynn, J. W. Rhue, & I. Kirsch (Eds.) Handbook of clinical hypnosis, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 267-291.