The+Jedi+Way,+Jedi+Exercises

Jedi Exercises
(Return to the Jedi Way) (Return to Literature Archives)

Jedi Exercises Many Jedi "feats" performed by masters may spread myths of the magical powers of the Force user. Such feats, however, are performed not by the Force or magic, but by skills that haven taken years of hard training to develop. They are no less marvelous because of this. First Cadence: Preparation: 19 candles, 19 candles stands of about 3 1/2 feet high, lighter, and a sword. Cadence: Start by placing one lighted candle and stand directly ahead of you at a distance of one to one and a half meters. Then, from the rest position, draw your sword and strike the wick. Your objective is to completely cut the wick without harming the candle. Having successfully completed one candle, place two stands and candles in front of you, by hand, with a 10-degree angle between them. The first few times you perform this maneuver you should check that accuracy of your placement. No more then a two-degree error is permissible. When you become comfortable with placing them, you should be able to place them with no more then a tenth of a degree error without needing to check. Then as you did with the first cut the lighted wick without cutting the candle. Having successfully completed two candles, you should attempt three, again spaced at 10-degree intervals ahead of you, at a distance of one to one and a half meters. Then four then five, and so on until you cover the full 180-degree spread with nineteen candles and stands. There are a number of orders that you should practice this in: From right to left; left to right; alternating left and right working out from the center; alternating left and right working in towards the center, and, random. Only when you can perform all possible permutations two-handed, left-handed, right-handed, and blindfolded with equal skill are you ready to advance. This is both a physical and mental training exercise. Second Cadence: Preparation: 72 candles, 72 candles stands of about 3 feet high, lighter, and a sword. Cadence: The candles and stands must be placed at five-degree intervals (Rather then 10-degree intervals as in the first cadence); by the end of the cadence a full 360-degree circle is covered. There should be two candles at the zero position, so that you can start and end at zero-degrees. This cadence requires the Jedi to be able to strike at all points around him. In the beginning, you are permitted to turn to face the point at which you are striking. Once you have mastered this, you are expected to be able to strike at any point around you without having to turn at all simply reach out with the sword and use the Force to guide the stroke. Third Cadence: Preparation: 180 candles, 180 candles stands of about 3 feet high, lighter, and a sword. Cadence: The Candles are placed at 2-degree intervals, and the strike patterns used involves cutting every fifth wick, then every fourth of the remaining, then every third, and so on until none are left. One exercise the Jedi student should practice is standing in a special position called Horse-Riding Stance (Horse Stance, for short). It is called this because the position resembles how one looks sitting on a horse --- both legs wide apart, knees bent, and back straight. The Jedi should practice this exercise by standing in Horse Stance for as long as one hour at a time. Through this training the Student develops good balance and exceedingly strong legs. Along with the physical training, the Jedi does mental exercises. The Horse Stance, for example, should also be done as a "meditation" exercise. This means that while the Jedi are holding this position, they should concentrate very hard on one particular thought. They should not let their minds wander even though this exercise is extremely boring. They should not move, no matter what. If they have an itch, they cannot scratch it. If a mosquito landed on their forehead, they cannot swat it. The pain is even worse, for holding a sitting position without anything to sit on is very painful indeed. The Jedi has to learn to conquer this pain, to make their minds so strong they can endure it. With this disciplined training the Jedi develops such good concentration and such keen awareness of their surroundings as it attunes them to the Force. In addition, students who endure months of pain and struggle with the Horse Stance will be unlikely to crumble under the pressure if they are forced into an actual fighting situation. Training in iron palm is usually done in the following way: Students begin by repeatedly thrusting their hands into a bucket of very fine sand. They practice daily, and after each session treat their hands with special medicine to keep them soft. When the student becomes used to the sand, they graduate, using the same techniques, to a bucket of small pebbles, then small rocks, and finally iron fillings or ball bearings. When they can finally strike full force into iron, then they have what is known as the iron palm or iron hand. This training can be dangerous, and should only be practiced under the direction of a qualified instructor. It cannot be accomplished without the use of special herbal medicine that will prevent serious injury to the hands. When people lift very heavy objects, they unconsciously breathe in and hold their breath. If they exhaled instead, they would find it very difficult to lift that same object. This feeling of extra strength comes from the operation of the Force. Even though all people have the Force, in most cases it is untapped, undeveloped, and uncontrolled. For the Jedi, however, the Force is recognized as the practitioners' primary source of energy, and they consciously train to develop or cultivate the Force. One exercise for cultivating the Force is meditation. It is done by practicing special breathing exercises while sitting, lying, or standing in certain body positions. Meditation requires that the body be in proper posture and alignment so that the pathways in the body are free and not blocking each other. A beginning posture, for example, is to sit on a chair with back and head in a straight line, thighs parallel to the ground, and knees and lower legs at right angles to the thighs. Hands are on the knees. This is very simple to do, and everyone can try it. From this position, students are taught special ways to breath, and at the same time, they meditate --- that is, they think deeply and concentrate on their breathing. Horse-Stance is an example of a more difficult version of this concept. Practicing these increasingly difficult exercises for many years' leads to the development of what is called "inner strength." Said another way, people who have inner strength have gained control of the Force inside themselves. Those few who have done so can perform many miraculous feats. Masters can be so powerful they can point a finger in the direction of an opponent, concentrate on sending the Force toward the other person, and almost like the wind, knock down the opponent with this invisible force. Through the development of this control of the Force, Masters can also make their bodies extremely light or heavy. Some masters can actually produce a kind of invisible-force field around their bodies that acts as a shield against attack. Opponents find that when they face the master in a fight, they somehow just can't begin to attack. On eye contact they feel weak and inept, and will know they have been defeated. If a person who is stronger then you pushes against you, and you push back head-on with your weaker strength, you will certainly be defeated. If instead you step back and give way in the direction your opponent is pushing, and in addition pull the opponent in the direction he or she is already pushing, you can actually throw your opponent down very hard. This is called using one's strength against them. Each training session should begin with warm-up exercises. While they may be boring to watch, they are very important, for even the greatest Jedi must stretch and loosen up to keep from pulling muscles and getting other injures. Students should also do strengthening exercises like push-ups for arm muscles, and sit-ups and leg raises for stomach muscles. Sometimes "bridging," in which one makes one's body into a bridge in order to strengthen ones back and neck is also a good idea. Falling practice should usually be a regular part of training for every Jedi. Since students are thrown in all directions, they must learn how to fall every which way. They should learn special ways to fall backward, to both sides, and to the front. One Good throw is done this way. When a Jedi executes this throw, he or she pushes the opponent backward, breaking the opponent's balance to the rear. When the opponent tries to step back and regain balance, the Jedi steps in and hooks one leg around one of the opponent's legs, sweeping it out from under the opponent, who will normally then fall to the ground. Another good throw is done this way. This sacrifice technique is used when you opponent moves in to attack. As he or she attacks, you step in close, grab the person by the lapels, and fall down on your back, placing one of your feet in your opponent's stomach. As you fall, you pull hard on the opponent's lapels and straighten out the leg that is planted in your opponent's stomach. As you do this your opponent will go flying over your head and land on his or her back. But always remember for every hold, choke, or lock, there is an escape, just as there is always a countermove for every throw. Students should practice these as well, and can often prevent their opponents from getting good chokes or locks and throws on them. A proper fist is made in this way: First clench the fingers of your hand tightly together into a ball. Squeeze as firmly as you can, as if trying to get all the air out of your fist. Then close your thumb tightly over your first two fingers, binding your fingers together firmly. A description of how to execute a punch will help explain. Picture a Jedi standing in a straight and natural posture. The only part of the body that has any tension is a special part called the tant'ien (A Chinese word.) The tant'ien is that point on the body about two inches below the belly button. This point is considered to be the center of balance and strength in the human body. The Jedi's hands are held in fists at his or her sides, just above the hips, palms facing upward. The arms and shoulders are relaxed (not limp, but relaxed). The Jedi starts moving one hand out toward the target in front of him, the elbow rubbing close against the body as the arm moves forward. The arm thrusts straight forward and at the last moment, before the arm is completely extended, (extended, not locked straight) the fist twists like a corkscrew so that the palm faces downward as it strikes the target. The body is relaxed until the point of contact, and at this moment the tant'ien tightens completely and creates a chain reaction, with all the muscles of the body tightening as a unit. This happens for only a fraction of a second while the punch is executed, and then the body relaxes again. A Jedi must learn to control himself and his actions at any speed. It is not at all true that slow means easy. It might look easy, but try, for example, to get up from a chair in slow motion, or even harder, try sitting down in the same way. Do this without wobbling, with perfect control and balance, and you will see that slow can be very hard indeed. PUSH-HANDS: Push hands is a two-person practice technique. The partners face one another with their wrists and forearms touching. They move their hands, arms and bodies in a prearranged circular fashion, maintaining contact with each other at all times. In the advanced section of this technique. When person A pushes, B yields, and when B pushes, A yields. Both trying to yield at exactly the time they are pushed, and only as far. They don't want to give way sooner or any more than they have to. In this practice, students learn to feel when their opponents are weak or off balance. It also helps them locate weaknesses in their own bodies that they would have difficulty finding if they worked out only by themselves. In the even more advanced version of this. No special pattern is followed, and students practice "free-style" push-hands. This free-style practice is a very different kind of exercise. The object is to break contact with your partner. You try to escape from your opponent's hands while the opponent tries to "stick to" or keep contact with your hands. At the same time, you want to make sure you stick to your opponent's hands, and your opponent tries to escape from you. Through push-hands practice, one develops keen sensitivity to one's opponents, learns how to "become one" with them and "feel" what they are going to do before they do it. THE UNBENDABLE ARM: An example of how powerful the mind and body are when used together is "the unbendable arm." Try this experiment with a friend. First, make a fist and out strength into your arm, bending it up a little at the elbow. Then ask your friend to try to bend your arm the rest of the way. You can resist as hard as you want. Since your friend is allowed to use both hands, he or she will probably not have much trouble bending your arm. Now, take the same position, only this time open your fist and don't put any strength at all into your arm. Relax your shoulder and elbow completely. Instead, pretend that your arm is like a fire hose, and that waves of the Force sent from your mind, like water, are flowing with terrific force through your arm. These powerful waves flow out of your hand and fingertips straight to the ends of the earth without stopping. If you can really imagine this, really believe this is true, then your friend will find it very difficult to bend your arm. If you think, "Oh, this will never work," or you lose concentration for even a second, then it won't work. Another experiment of this kind can be done with the whole body. Just stand in one place and have a friend or friends lift you up off the ground. Then, stand in the same place, close your eyes, and think of sending the Force from your mind down into the center of the earth. If you can keep up this concentration without breaking it, your friends won't be able to budge you from the spot. PROJECTED FIGHTING: You light a candle and place the flame about a half-inch to an inch away from your extended fist; you then withdraw your hand and practice punching at the flame. While Projecting the Force toward the flame using your punch as the guiding force or pathway for it to follow. (This skill is taught in the technique called the unbendable arm above this) Keep moving the flame farther and farther back as you gain range with this technique. If one wants to learn how to keep the Force turned on while moving one's body, then it is important to practice an exercise, which looks like mowing the lawn. In this exercise one moves back and forth with one's hands in front as if grasping a lawn mower. While moving, one practices special breathing, keeping one's concentration on the tant'ien area, and sending the Force from the hip area out through the wrists. EAGLE TRAINING TECHNIQUE: Firstly if you have bad shoulders you might want to take caution while using this technique for it is very strenuous on the shoulders. You must be standing to do this technique because gravity plays an important role. To start this technique you touch your two middle fingers together with your thumb. This is sort of like the lotus hand but with your middle and ring finger. It should look almost like the heavy metal sign. Now that your and are in the right position go to give the imaginary person standing in front of you a hug. This should make a sort of a circle with your hands and body. Make sure your elbows are down and your hands are right in front of your chest. Now comes the hard part. Turn your hands so that the back of your hand is facing you and your fingers are facing outwards. Now close your eyes and see how long you can hold this position. When you inhale try drawing the force into your body from the ground. Feel it entering through your feet and climbing up your legs. Feel it climb up your spine into your mind. Once in your mind hold your breath for a second. Feel the force flowing in your mind. Then send the force to your arms and shoulders to energize them. The object of this technique is to free your arms so that you may hold them in that position forever. BREATHING EXERCISE: Breathe in through your nose to a count of four, Hold your breath for a count of seven, and then exhale for a count of eight beats. Using your heartbeat to set the count. With each breath let tension flow out of you. THE FOUR STAGES OF BREATHING The four stages of breath control are inhalation, compression, exhalation and intermission. In practice, these four stages are strung together in a smooth continuous sequence, like the rise and fall of waves on the sea, with each one playing a particular role and all of them orchestrated by the diaphragm. Inhalation: With empty lungs and nostrils flared, relax the diaphragm and commence a soft, slow, smooth inhalation through the nose, deliberately drawing the air deep down into the bottom of the lungs so that the diaphragm descends and the abdominal wall expands. As the lower lobes of the lungs fill up with air and the abdomen swells, continue breathing in slowly and deeply so that the mid-sections of the lungs begin to fill next, causing the ribcage to expand. When the lungs feel comfortably full and both the abdomen and ribs have expanded, draw the inhalation to a halt. Do not try to 'top off' the upper lungs by taking an extra gulp of air, for this will make you hunch up your shoulders and tense your neck and also cause the diaphragm to rise. A 'full' breath means that the lungs are about two-thirds to three-quarters filled, with most of the air packed down into the lower and middle sections. In shallow chest breathing, only the narrow upper pockets of the lungs get filled, which represents only about a quarter of the lungs' capacity, but due to years of shallow breathing, people tend to feel that they must fill up these pockets to get a 'full' breath. Practice will eliminate this tendency. Compression: This phase is quite brief --- usually only three to five seconds --- but its benefits are deep and manifold. Longer retentions of breath should only be practiced under the personal supervision of a qualified teacher. The first step in the compression phase is to press the diaphragm firmly downward to settle the air into the bottom of the lungs and compress the abdominal cavity. As you do this, apply the 'three locks', which are described in the next section. When properly performed, this brief retention of breath provides several important benefits. It slows down and deepens the pulse of the heart and balances blood pressure throughout the circulatory system. By increasing the pressure of the air against the surface of the lungs and holding it briefly, this compression greatly enhances the exchange of gases, enriching the blood with extra supplies of oxygen and allowing more elimination of carbon dioxide. It also improves gas exchange between the bloodstream and cells throughout the entire circulatory system, increasing the partial pressure of oxygen against the walls of the capillaries. Even the briefest breath retention triggers cellular respiration, an innate response that causes cells to 'breathe' by themselves whenever breath is held in the lungs. When this happens, blood sugar is spontaneously broken down by the cells to release oxygen and produce body heat. This is the basis of the so-called 'dive response' that allows seals to dive deep into ice-cold water for prolonged periods without breathing and young children who fall into frozen rivers and lakes to survive underwater for up to two hours and revive without brain damage when rescued. In most adults, this response has atrophied, but a few years of deep breathing practice usually suffices to restore it. Never hold the compression phase of breath beyond what feels comfortable. If you feel compelled to gasp or burst out on exhalation, it means that you've held the compression too long and lost control of your breath. Exhalation: When you're ready to exhale, release the three locks (see next section), relax the diaphragm and ribs, and begin exhaling slowly and evenly in a steady continuous stream through the mouth, which facilitates elimination of stagnant air and energy. Empty the lungs in reverse order of inhalation, starting from the top of the lungs, then the middle, and finally the bottom. Continue exhaling until the lungs are empty, letting the abdominal wall collapse and contract inward and the diaphragm ascend upward into the chest, and then expel the last residues of air from the lungs by drawing the abdominal wall further inward. The entire exhalation should be performed in a long, slow, even stream, not in a sudden explosive burst. If the latter occurs, shorten the compression phase on the next round. Intermission: When the lungs are empty and exhalation is complete, do not immediately start drawing in the next inhalation. Instead, pause briefly to let your diaphragm and abdominal wall relax and fall back into place in preparation for the next breath. If you start inhaling while the diaphragm and abdominal wall are still drawn in, the breath will tend to rise up in the lungs, making it more difficult to sink the air down to the bottom. The intermission phase should also be used to check the shoulders and neck are fully relaxed and posture is correct, but do not pause too long, or you'll find yourself sucking in the next inhalation in a short sharp gulp. THE THREE LOCKS The three locks are used to create a therapeutic compression within the abdominal cavity. This compression gives a strong boost to venal circulation, opens the meridian system, and helps activate the pneumogastric nervous system. The locks are applied at or toward the end of inhalation, held in place briefly during compression, and released on exhalation. At first it may seem difficult or awkward to apply them without interrupting your breathing, but with practice they will become an integral part of your natural breathing patterns. Like the four stages, the three locks should be performed smoothly and without excessive effort. The Anal Lock: The anal lock is designed to raise the entire pelvic floor in order to lock in and enhance the compression created in the abdominal cavity by the diaphragm as it descends from above during inhalation. The resulting increase in abdominal pressure has profound therapeutic benefits for all of the internal organs and glands, driving stale blood and cellular wastes from the tissues and stimulating the secretion of essential hormones. The pelvic floor consists of a flexible web of muscle and tendon that supports the colon, prostate, uterus and sacral glands. By flexing this lower diaphragm, the anal lock massages all of the organs and glands within the sacrum, strengthens the tissues of the pelvic floor, and gives a stimulating tug to the sacral roots of the pneumogastric nerve endings, which helps activate the immune responses of the nervous system. It also pulls on the nerves of a small gland, known as the 'Luschka gland' that hangs from the tip of the coccyx, stimulating secretions that further enhance neuro-immunological healing responses. As inhalation approaches completion, the anal lock is applied by contracting the outer ring of the anal sphincter, a tough band of muscle that controls the external aperture of the anus. This maneuver lifts the anus and contracts the webbing of the entire urogenital diaphragm. For the more powerful effect, the contraction may be extended deeper to the inner ring of the anal sphincter, located about one inch above the external ring. This raises the entire perineum between the anus and sexual organs and deepens the compression throughout the sacrum. However, for regular practice, contracting the external ring is sufficient, while the internal ring may be used when stronger stimulation of the sacrum is desired. Due to the benefits of the anal lock it is often practiced by itself. The Abdominal Lock: The purpose of the abdominal lock is to seal in the therapeutic compression in the abdominal cavity when the diaphragm descends and the pelvic floor is raised with the anal lock on completion of inhalation. If the abdominal wall is simply allowed to expand outward, much of this compression is lost, diminishing the stimulating massage effect on the internal organs and glands. Furthermore, the powerful boost that the diaphragm gives to circulation depends largely on enhanced abdominal pressure against the vena cava, a major vein that draws stale blood up from the abdominal organs for replenishment in the lungs. The increase in abdominal pressure exerts a powerful propulsive force on the vena cava, pushing blood up into the chest like a pump and thereby taking a huge workload off the heart. This effect is particularly beneficial early in the morning, when up to half the body's blood supply lies dormant in the liver and pancreas. Try doing just a few deep diaphragmic breathes with the three locks while sitting up in bed the moment you wake up in the morning, and you can feel this propulsive power on circulation from the head to foot. When inhalation is complete with the anal lock in place, the abdominal wall will be fully expanded. To apply the abdominal lock, simply pull the lower part of the abdominal wall inward toward the spine. It is neither necessary nor desirable to pull it in very far or with excessive effort. Just draw it slightly inward with a light contraction of the abdominal muscles, hold it briefly, and then relax it completely as you commence exhalation. That brief moment of enhanced abdominal pressure saves your heart at least twenty beats of work, so if you practice this sort of breathing throughout the day, you can well imagine how much it extends the working life of your heart. The Neck Lock: The neck lock serves several functions. By partially constricting the carotid arteries in the throat, it prevents excess blood from rushing straight up into the brain due to enhanced circulatory pressure from below, instead diverting some of it out to the extremities for more balanced distribution. Carotid compression also slows and deepens the pulse, thereby further benefiting heart function. The neck lock seals the breath down inside the lungs after inhalation, so that it doesn't rise up and cause uncomfortable pressure in the throat, nostrils and Eustachian tubes during compression. It also stretches the entire spinal cord from skull to sacrum, stimulating all the nerves and ganglia along its entire length and opening the energy channels that run along the spine. Also the small pressure it puts on the carotid sinus nerve is known to facilitate mental calm and the internalization of awareness, which are helpful factors in breath control, particularly during meditation. To apply the neck lock, wait until the anal and abdominal locks are in place, then contract the throat muscles and clamp the glottis over the trachea. (If you're wondering how to do this, try taking several short inhalations one on top of the other. As you 'pack' each one into the lungs, what prevents it from coming out before you draw in the next one is clamping the glottis over the trachea.) Some practitioners find it helpful to swallow first, which facilitates the neck lock and helps pack air and energy into the chest cavity, but this is not an essential step. When the throat is closed and contracted, tuck the chin slightly in toward the chest and stretch the back of the neck, but without actually bending the neck forward. Be sure to keep the shoulders relaxed so that they do not hunch up and cause tension in the neck and shoulder muscles, blocking energy flow from the spine into the head. When your ready to exhale raise your chin a bit, relax the throat, and let the air stream out. HEALING BREATH Syllable: hoo (pronounced 'who', with lips rounded and tongue suspended in mid-mouth, as though blowing out a candle) Method: Stand in Horse posture. Bring hands out to front, just below the navel, with palms facing up to the sky and fingers aligned. Start inhaling slowly through the nose while raising both hands together up the center of the torso. When hands reach the heart and breath is full, start exhaling through the mouth aspirating the syllable hoo. At the same time, turn one palm out and around 360 degrees so that it faces the sky and continue raising it upwards, and turn the other palm in and around 180 degrees so that it faces the ground and bring it back down the front. When breath is empty, one palm will be extended up towards the sky above the head, while the other is extended down towards the ground at the groin. Turn both palms around so they face one another, and slowly bring them toward one another on the next inhalation. Palms should reach heart level just as inhalation is complete. Start the next exhalation and aspirate the syllable hoo, while continuing to move the descending palm downward and turning the ascending palm around 360 degrees and continuing to push it upward, reaching full extension above and below just as exhalation is completed. The syllable need not be sounded out loud; the important point is to form the mouth and throat as though pronouncing that specific syllable. Turn the palms and bring them slowly together at the heart as you start a new inhalation. Repeat 6 to 12 times. Benefits: Improves digestive functions of spleen, pancreas and stomach. Promotes secretions of digestive enzymes. Helps heal ulcers. Eliminates bad breath caused by incomplete digestion in the stomach. Calming Breath Technique This is a simple breathing exercise, to be practiced every day. It is useful in stressful situations, or when you feel threatened, for it helps you to remain calm, and to relax. It is presented in three easy steps. Start with the first step, until you've mastered it. Then progress to the next step. Once you have reached the third step, you will have learned the Calming Breath Technique. Preparation Wear loose fitting attire, so that you are comfortable. Make sure that you can breathe through your nose. If you have a cold, do not practice this exercise until you can breathe clearly. Step One Lie flat on your back. Put one hand on your stomach, and the other hand on your chest. Relax. Inhale so that the hand on your stomach rises, while the hand on your chest is still. Exhale so that the hand on your stomach goes down again, and the hand on your chest remains still. Repeat for 5 breaths. Now, when you inhale, breathe in so that the hand on your chest rises, while the hand on your stomach is still. Exhale so that the hand on your chest goes down again, while the hand on your stomach remains still. Repeat for 5 breaths. Alternate between stomach and chest breathing for 5 minutes. Make sure you've mastered this step before moving on. Step Two This step combines stomach and chest breathing into one breath. This is the Calming Breath. Lie flat on your back. Put one hand on your stomach, and the other hand on your chest. Relax. Begin by stomach breathing. When you feel you can't inhale any more in this manner, switch to chest breathing, until the upper part of your lungs are filled. Then exhale by chest breathing first, progressing to stomach breathing so that you empty the lungs fully. Repeat for 5 minutes. Breathe slowly. If you feel dizzy, slow down, you are breathing too fast. If you are out of breath, you are breathing too slowly. Listen to your own body's messages. If you are having difficulty distinguishing chest breathing from stomach breathing, go back to Step One. Step Three Stand or sit with your back straight. Use the Calming Breath and follow this pattern. You will have to count the rhythm in your head. I will teach you the rhythm 4-4-4. Count to 4 while inhaling, hold your breath and count to 4, then count to 4 while exhaling. Once you've mastered this you may use a 4-4-4-4 rhythm is you prefer. It adds and extra step of holding your breath after exhaling and counting to 4. Take care not to hold your breath too long. Again, listen to your body. Repeat for 5 minutes, or until you are calm. Practice so that the Calming Breath becomes effortless, and inaudible. You should breathe no louder than usual. Once you have mastered the technique, it should be invisible to the untrained eye, making it useful in almost any situation. The calm mind can more readily feel the ebb and flow of the Force. Jedi Meditation - Basic Technique Jedi meditation techniques have been handed down through the ages as a way of gaining insight and wisdom in the force. There were many different meditation techniques, but most have been lost to the ravages of time. The following is the first step in the most commonly practiced method. Like all force training, the Jedi meditation technique follows a hierarchy of steps: Control, Sense, and Alter. You must learn control of your own abilities, before you can truly sense the Force. Once you have mastered sensing the Force surrounding you, you can use the force to perform actions and alter the events and objects around you. The basic technique teaches you to control your own mental process, and allows you to focus your thoughts on one object, thought, or goal, the object of your meditation. This object must have a clear objective or subjective reality to you, so it is easiest to begin with a physical object such as a ball or a candle. After you have mastered meditating on physical objects, you may proceed to mental objects such as mental images or goals. Make sure your mental object is clearly defined in your mind. How to start: Sit in on the floor, or on a cushion, with the spine and neck kept straight. Place your hands in your lap, palms upward. Relax your entire body deeply and quickly, using the Calming Breath Technique. After you are relaxed, regulate your breathing to a calm and peaceful rate. If you are using a physical object, focus your vision on the object, otherwise close your eyes. Begin to shut out distractions (noises, etc.), as you focus your attention inward. Try to keep your thoughts from wandering, shutting out stray thoughts. Concentrate your thoughts upon the object of your meditation. Practice these steps until you are able to concentrate on the object without distraction. Once you have mastered these steps, you should gain a sense of that object through the Force. Stretch out with your feelings, and perceive the object. IMPORTANT POINTS OF PRACTICE When practicing The Jedi Way, the following points may serve as general guidelines to derive maximum benefit from your practice and keep body, breath, and mind in the state of balance and functional harmony required to attune yourself with the Force. General Points Always practice in the three-stage format of warm-up, main practice and cool-down. The warm-up stage balances body, breath, and mind in preparation for the main practice of mobilizing and circulating the Force, and the cool-down stage relaxes your body. If you practice without adequate preliminary preparation, your system will not be properly balanced to work with the Force, and if you fail to take measures to relax your body, you lose much of the benefits of the exercise. Make your practice an integral part of your daily routine, and practice regularly. If you only practice sporadically, your system will lose its synchronicity with the Force. Only with regular practice will you obtain the cumulative benefits, which The Jedi Way confers. Even if you only practice for 15 to 20 minutes, as long as you do it daily you will still realize the benefits, albeit at a slower rate then those who devote more time to practice. The Jedi Way is not a 'magic bullet' that will immediately correct all problems, especially in an unbalanced lifestyle. It works best when practiced as an integral part of the overall healthcare system. This includes diet, a positive attitude towards life, emotional equilibrium, and other factors that support health and nurture life. Don't bring the problems of your daily life into your practice, but do bring the results of your practice into your daily life. This will gradually solve all your problems and integrate all aspects of your life with your practice. Points of Attention for the Body The spine is the most important part of the body for Jedi practice. Known by some as the 'stairway to heaven', it serves as a conduit for the Force to flow from the lower body to the upper body and brain. It's the central pillar of balance for the entire torso and head and the conductor of nerve signals from brain to body. For best results in practice, the spine should always be kept erect and in straight alignment with the neck and head, with the buttocks tucked in a bit to reduce the curvature in the lower spin. Try to keep the spine flexible and responsive to synchronized movement with the rest of the body by relaxing the muscles along the spine and keeping the vertebrae evenly aligned. Limbering and loosening the spine is one of the main purposes of the warm-up stage of practice. The tensest part of the human body is usually the shoulders and neck area. Tension here blocks the free flow of the Force up from the spine into the head. Try to keep the shoulders loose and the neck muscles relaxed throughout a session of Jedi practice, even if that requires you to take a short break and perform one of the shoulder-loosening warm-up exercises. Points of Attention for the Mind Turn mental attention and sensory perception inwards. Rather then listening to external sounds, listen to your breath and heart. Don't let external sights and sounds distract your attention during a practice session. Silence the mind by turning off your 'internal dialogue'. This does not mean the cessation of thoughts and feelings, which continue to appear and dissolve on their own accord. Just stop talking to yourself about particular thoughts, and instead let the stream of consciousness flow naturally in the background of your mind. Set all problems and worries of daily life aside prior to a practice session. Emotional equilibrium is a basic prerequisite for success in practice. Cultivate the 'Right Mind' for practice. This means having respect and confidence in your practice, but no preconceived notions about it, and no grand expectations regarding results. Stay calm throughout your practice sessions, and try to bring that calmness into your daily life afterward. Cultivate calmness as a spiritual virtue, and your control over the Force will increase as a result. Keep the mind focused on the body and the Force as points of reference throughout a practice session. Inevitably your mind will wander off in thoughts or external distraction, and whenever that happens, body and the Force lose their synchronicity. The moment you catch your mind paying attention to something else, simply apply intent to shift attention immediately back to body and the Force. The harmony of the body, Mind and the Force is the key to success in the Jedi practices. Auto-Suggestion This is an adapted technique that is akin to Self Hypnosis... The method is fairly simple and effective... The only thing you need to do this is a length of string or yarn... Into which you tie 20 knots with around an equal amount of distance between each one... Close enough you can move the string by slipping your thumb down to the next Knot and slidding it forward.... With this simplistic counting device... when you lay down to goto sleep stretch out and get relaxed... then holding the string at the first knot... Begin repeating a simple helpful phrase. ((( Never use any sort of negative phrase or overly impoosiable phrase .... Such as I will sprout wings and fly... Or such things as.... Even though I am unsure of it... I will get better....))) For the purpose of this excersise the Phrase you will want you to use is this "" Everyday in everyway, I am becoming a better Jedi."" The idea here is to say it softly while in the relaxed moments after your body has loosened it's muscles and with your eyes half closed..... Don't really focus on it... Just repeat it in a soft but audibale whisper... One time for each knot... Don't keep count in your head either... Let the string keep count for you.. "Control, control, you must learn control..." Control is the key in any Jedi's life. Control of themselves must first be achieved if they are ever to control the force or someone else. This technique is in three parts, each must be completed before the next is begun. The first is concerned with clearing your mind, in effect controlling your thoughts. The second deals with the amount of time it takes to get your mind clear, while the third covers controlling your body. Each of these tasks will be ones that are practiced everyday of your life. Part 1: Clearing your mind This is a rather simple technique, yet difficult to describe or do. What you need to achieve through it is to stop any thoughts going through your mind at any one time. Your mind must be blank. To do this I can simply 'turn off' my mind, but it took a long to to achieve. I began this technique by visualising a blank screen in my head. That's all. Concentrate on the blackness and don't let anything else in. Think of nothing. In time other thoughts will try find their way in, but don't let them. You'll have to fight them back, but when you do, don't think about fighting back, that would mean your thinking of something. You have to just clear them from your mind. Once you can clear your mind for at least seven minutes, you should be ready to continue, but remember, you will need to practice this technique for the rest of your life. Clearing your mind can help you in many areas. It will help in meditation and times when you need a clear head to think, like times of panic. It is also a good defense against people reading or probing your mind. If you're not thinking of something, then it make it a lot harder for them to enter your mind. Part 2: Speed It is important to be able to achive a clear state of mind, but when action is called for it is most important to quickly clear your mind. For example you may need to clear your mind as a defense. I think you would agree that you would want you mind clear ASAP, but if it takes you ten minutes to clear your mind, then it doesn't do you much good. At any one time you have thousands of thoughts going through your mind, in the next instant, you need to have your mind clear. That is how you know you have completed this task. To achive this, you must simply practice the first task, but instead of having your mind clear for a long time, work on the amount of time it takes to actually clear your mind. Practice, practice, practice is the key. Part 3: Body Control Another technique that is hard to teach. Like the previous one, it deals with a lot of will power. Your will power can be strengthened by the force by simply connecting with it and focusing on the task you want to achive. This technique is concerned with controlling any body movements or functions. Remember, your mind controls your body, and from the previous tasks, you now control your mind, and therefor, your body. You simply have to control your mind and tell it NOT to do what it is going to do. The possibilities for this are endless. It can be used to stop pain, control balance, control muscle or reflexes. Any thing your body can do, can be controlled by this technique. This is also a technique that will take a long time to master. I suggest keeping it in mind as you go about your daily business. Heating and Cooling Force Heat is a technique that is aimed at forming a heating sphere around the user, which would serve to protect him/her from harsh temperatures found in many environments. First, how does this sphere work? Much as any heating device would. It uses the energy of the Force to fuel itself, thus creating heat in the fluid around the user's body. It works best with gaseous fluids as these are easiest to transmit heat to, and draw the least energy to do so. It works, albeit with lesser efficiency in liquids, and is almost totally useless on hard materials, due to the enormous amount of energy that is to be harnessed from the Force. How to use this technique? First make sure your mind and body are rested as to avoid any physical and mental distracton. When these conditions are met, proceed as follows: Form an energy barrier around your body, approximately 10-20cm from your skin. It is good to visualize this barrier the color you associate with heat and fire. Make this barrier feel unbreakable and solid. This will help contain the Force energy you will be harnessing. Once the barrier is complete and without any holes and/or weak spots in it, open yourself to the Force. Let it first fill you and flow through you. Once you are comfortable with the sensation, exude the flow of the Force through your body (arms, hands, entire body, whatever suits you) at the same time drawing more of it in, like a black hole that converts the Force into heat. There will be no damage to the Force, as it permeates many forms, including the thermal energy. At this stage you must divide your mind. This is the most difficult part as it requires you to both draw from the Force AND exude the thermal energy into the field contained within your barrier. The barrier once set will remain there for an amount of time, or until deliberately broken, so you need not attend to it. Depending on the conditions of the environment you are in, it will take various amounts of time and energy to heat the air (or a fluid) to a comfortable level. Also remember that the barrier helps but is not 100% proof. Energy will be lost rapidly and will constantly need to be replaced. It all depends on your ability to draw from the Force. When there is no more need for this technique, simply stop drawing/exuding energy. The temperature will drop sequentially, and if you disperse the barrier, it will simply vanish - returning to normal levels. This technique works well on stable conditions, while turbulent movements of the fluid you are in will make maintaining the whole effect that much harder. Yet it can be of great help when heat is needed and can protect well if there is shelter but no alternate source of heat. Remember, however that it requires great control over the Force and the best that can be expected is a rise of a few degrees Celsius, enough to prevent freezing, but not enough to offer substantiate comfort during low temperatures. Also important is the repeated practice. With repeated performing of this technique, the amount of time required will drop drastically, from a few minutes to a few seconds. The above technique can also be easily adapted to cool in hot weather. Sphere of Responsibility The Sphere of Responsiblity is one of the Jedi's most crucial abilities and one of his most crucial concepts to be understood. The Sphere shows a Jedi what all he is entrusted with by the Force. Some Jedi have asked exactly how far their responsibility goes to give aid. You see, as a Jedi, your Sphere serves this purpose. Anything inside the Sphere of Responsibility you can sense is something the Force is entrusting you to deal with. For example, say that you sphere stretches out in a 10 yard radius, and you are sitting in a classroom listening to your proffessor and you feel a fight going on in the room directly to your back. Now you can't very well get up and go break up the fight, and it probably wouldn't do too much good if you did. What you could do however is begin to smooth out the roiled emotions that cause all those disturbances in the Force. This will allow the people involved to think more clearly and more rationally. If you are capable of other abilities that should be used, you should use them. This gives you an idea of what you need to respond to. Now to the actual technique The basic Jedi's Sphere of Responsiblity goes something like this. You must concentrate inside of yourself and find your center. Gather your internal Force energy in that center. Feel it compress into something about the size of a softball. Now expand the edges of the ball to encompass your body, but nothing outside. Imagine the inside being water. Once you can feel things within your body as such, then you can move on. Reach out to the Force outside your body. Infuse it with the Force that is inside of you and once more push the edges. This time let them extend in a spherical shape outside of your body. The trick with this is to find the point at which you can still sense everything inside, but if you expand it any further, then you will not be able to sense anything inside it anymore. Once you have found this edge, if you think you aren't channeling as much Force as you potentially could into the sphere then channel more into it and expand it. You might be able to get a few more inches this way. Now it isn't enough for me to simply explain how to do it, I will also explain how this works. As you already know, the Force you feel outside of yourself is the links between the internal Force that exists in all living things. The links in between all these living things are so numerous that they all become compressed into a veritable pool of energy all around you. When you expand your sphere from inside of yourself outside, your sphere will detect everything living inside itself, because the sphere is made of Force and therefore is connected to the living things. The sphere will also detect the non-living things because of the gap they leave in the Force. You may ask, "Well, if I am connected to all of these things, why can I not sense them innately?" The answer is such, some people can. Some people's inate connection is strong enough that they might have sensations of sensing something long before they undergo Jedi training. This is due to their connections through the Force. As a Jedi though, when you expand your sphere, the amount of your own internal energy that you have also in the sphere gives it a stronger connection with you allowing you to sense it better. Think of it this way. Let us say that your sphere is a giant glass orb, in which you sit in the center. You fill it up with your energy, which we will say is salt. When you pour the outside Force into it as well (which will be represented by water), you get salt-water. Well the higher the concentration of your energy is present the better the sensing is inside of it. So if you expand it to double the distance it was when you were just using your internal energy, then you have half as much of your own energy in it, so therefore you can only sense half as well. Your energy becomes diluted in the outside energy, making your personal connection to everything inside the sphere diluted. As your Jedi skills increase the shear amount of energy you have inside of you will increase allowing your sphere to enlarge, encompassing more and also symbolizing your Jedi responsiblities expanding with your abilites. This also ensures that any responsiblities that are laid onto you, you can handle. So if you are ever feeling like you are buckling under the load, just take heart in the fact that the Force considers you worthy of the load and considers you capable of bearing it all. And so it will aid you in all you do...... The Chalkboard Here is a simple exercise for you to do: Sit down and close your eyes. In your mind, picture a chalkboard like the kind you had in school. The chalkboard tray has chalk and an eraser on it. Picture yourself in the first person perspective picking up the chalk. Try to imagine the smell and the feel of it in your hands. Draw a circle on the chalkboard. Now put the letter "X" inside the circle. Now sit down the chalk and pick up the eraser. Imagine the smell of the chalk inside it and how it feels in your hand. Now erase the "X" from inside the circle without erasing the circle. Now erase the circle. Now open your eyes and forget the chalkboard. If you can do this simple exercise then you have good visualization skills. Something that you will need to be able to expand your mind to the point you can work within the Force easily. Colored Balls Concept: With your eyes closed you will allow a series of seven differently colored balls to enter your mental vision from right to left. One colored ball at a time will float gently as it enters from right edge of your mental vision and crosses to disappear at the left edge of your mental vision. These balls will have a specific color in a specific order, and each color is associated with certain thoughts for you to reflect on as the ball crosses your mental vision path. The sum total of the colors and the accompanying thoughts are designed to put you into balance, relax your mind, and instill refreshing mental energy. Once you have allowed the balls to go from right to left, you will then allow them to enter from left and float to the right, again reflecting on the same thoughts associated with each color. One session of right to left and left to right is an excellent mental tune-up and is usually sufficient to dispel most mental fatigue. However, you may repeat this exercise as often as you want to achieve the energizing you desire. If your mind is really fatigued, you may want to repeat the exercise several times. You will be able to tell when you are as tuned-up as you want to be. Exercise: Sit down in a comfortable chair or on the floor if you wish. Close your eyes and take three deep breaths, allowing yourself to relax. I want you to imagine now that a red ball is entering at the right edge of your mental vision. Allow the red ball to float slowly, gently toward the left, while you mentally dwell on this: Feel pure, warm energy flood into your body, giving you renewed strength physically and mentally just as the sun floods all things with warmth and strength. When the red ball reaches the left edge of your mental vision, allow it to disappear from view. I want you to imagine now that an orange ball is entering at the right edge of your mental vision. Allow the orange ball to float slowly, gently toward the left, while you mentally dwell on this: The warm energy is stimulating every facet of your body. Feel the tingling. Notice how relaxed your mind is. When the orange ball reaches the left edge of your mental vision, allow it to disappear from view. I want you to imagine now that a yellow ball is entering at the right edge of your mental vision. Allow the yellow ball to float slowly, gently toward the left, while you mentally dwell on this: Your mind is crystal clear now, and it is eager to take on new creative challenges. When the yellow ball reaches the left edge of your mental vision, allow it to disappear from view. I want you to imagine now that a green ball is entering at the right edge of your mental vision. Allow the green ball to float slowly, gently toward the left, while you mentally dwell on this: You are maturing mentally and spiritually as the seeds of your creativity grow in the warmth of your newly found energy. You feel successful and happy. When the green ball reaches the left edge of your mental vision, allow it to disappear from view. I want you to imagine now that a blue ball is entering at the right edge of your mental vision. Allow the blue ball to float slowly, gently toward the left, while you mentally dwell on this: A comforting blanket of peace surrounds you. You feel self-confident and protected. Your body is in perfect balance. When the blue ball reaches the left edge of your mental vision, allow it to disappear from view. I want you to imagine now that an indigo (very deep blue) ball is entering at the right edge of your mental vision. Allow the indigo ball to float slowly, gently toward the left, while you mentally dwell on this: Your self-awareness deepens and you have great respect for yourself and for others. When the indigo ball reaches the left edge of your mental vision, allow it to disappear from view. I want you to imagine now that a violet ball is entering at the right edge of your mental vision. Allow the violet ball to float slowly, gently toward the left, while you mentally dwell on this: You are part of the Force. Feel it flooding into you. You are calm and at peace with all things. When the violet ball reaches the left edge of your mental vision, allow it to disappear from view. Now repeat the preceding exercise by having the balls enter the edge of your mental vision and float to the right edge and disappear. Use the same colors in the same sequence with the same thoughts to reflect on. Then open your eyes and go on about your business unless you want to repeat the exercise again. Notice how much better you feel and how much clearer your mind is functioning. I recommend using this exercise frequently as a tune-up for learning even more sophisticated mental exercises. You also may have noticed the colored balls follow the same color scheme as a rainbow. ROYGBIV as such keeping it in mind may make your beginning practices easier to accomplish when it comes to recalling what the next color is. Colored Ball Meditation: Perform the "Colored Balls Exercise" above as directed by allowing the red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and indigo balls to enter from the right and disappear to the left, with the accompanying thoughts specified. Then when the violet ball appears at the right, allow it to reach the center of your mental view and then stop the ball at that point. Cause the violet ball to enlarge until it envelops your entire body, bathing you in an ultraviolet light. Allow the ultraviolet light to fill your body completely, driving out all fear, all doubt, all negativism, all hate, filling you peace, knowledge, serenity, and the Force. At this point, allow your mind to focus on only one thought on which you seek help, information, enlightenment, or on which you desire to expand your skills. You may stay in this state for as long as you wish. You will know when it is time to remove yourself from this state. It is also important to keep the proper level of respect for what you are doing. Keep in mind that in doing this you are taping into the Force. In doing so you are taping into everything and everyone. Not doing so may close the connection forever. Self Hypnosis (Jedi Version) Hypnosis Exercises : The most important aspect of Hypnosis is TONE and PACE. Use the voice you were born with. Don't deliberately alter your voice in an attempt to make it more resonant, deep, or theatrical sounding. It isn't needed and is in fact a hindrance. The other aspect is Pace. Your speech pattern should be slow enough to give the subject time to respond to your directions and yet fast enough to retain their attention and interest. If you go to slow, the subjects mind might wander to other thoughts; you want to maintain the subject's attention to your voice. Some people may need a faster pace while others need a slower pace. Experience will help you find the right pace. A pause of two to five seconds is a good average. For example: relax your knees (two-second pause); relax your calves (two-second pause); and now relax your toes (one-second pause) ; Relax your toes (two-second pause). In some visualization routines you may need longer pauses. For example: I want you to imagine now that you are standing at the top of a spiral staircase (three-second pause); create the staircase (three-second pause); it is carpeted. Create the carpet (three-second pause). Do not use your watch for timing these pauses; develop a feel for the timing. One way to do this is to perform the instructions yourself as you give them, thereby keeping a comfortable pace. Speak in a rather dull, monotonous voice. The idea is to bore the subjects conscious mind to the point that it stops being active, allowing the subconscious mind to be accessible and receptive to your suggestions. If there is too much inflection or drama in your voice, the subject's conscious mind tends to retain interest, thus remaining active and thwarting your goal of deep relaxation and susceptibility to suggestion. It is also important to observe the subject. The key items you look for are breathing patterns and muscle tone. As the subject slips into deep relaxation, breathing will be easy and rhythmic. There will be an occasional very deep breath with easy exhaling. Watch the hands of your subject. Are they gripping the arms of the chair? Fidgeting? Twitching? Or are they resting without apparent tenseness? The head should droop as the neck muscles relax. The jaw should slacken. There should be no signs of muscle strain or tenseness. The eyelids may flutter. This is not tenseness but rather an indication that the subject is in a state called REM. Or rapid eye movement. This state occurs at about 10 cycles per second of brain activity, which is well within the alpha range. If you observe REM, You know for sure the subject is under hypnosis. But the subject can also be under hypnosis without REM so don't be concerned if you don't see it. In general look for sings of relaxation to indicate the hypnosis is working. Signs of nervousness or tenseness indicate the subject is not ready. Two pre-hypnosis exercises. Used to familiarize your subject with hypnosis and put them at ease.. Say only the italicized words. Exercise 1: I want you to close your eyes now for a brief exercise. I want you to picture a chalkboard in your mind. Create the chalkboard. It can be black or green or whatever color you wish. Create it. It has a chalk tray with chalk and an eraser in it. Do you have it? (Wait for a response. When you get a yes response, proceed.) Fine. Now take a piece of chalk and draw a circle on your board. Do you have a circle? (Wait for a yes, then proceed.) Good. Now print the letter A inside the circle. Do you have the A in the circle? (Wait for yes, then proceed.) Now erase the A from inside the circle, but don't erase the circle. Say okay when you have done that. (Wait for okay). Very good. Now erase the circle and open your eyes. Done At this point you may want to have a brief dialog with the subject about their experience with the chalkboard. Assure them that whatever their experience was, it was fine. Each person responds differently. Some actually see the board. Others sense it. Others know intellectually that it is there. All responses are correct. There are no wrong experiences in hypnosis; whatever you experience is the way it is for you, and is alright. Make a point of telling the subject that this sort of response happens frequently in hypnosis. Exercise 2: Close your eyes again for one more training exercise. This time I want you to focus your attention on the tip of your nose. Are you doing this? (Wait for yes, then proceed.) Good. Keep your attention focused gently and casually on the tip of your nose and go on listening to the sound of my voice. In some of the hypnosis techniques we will be doing together, I will ask you to focus your attention on the tip of your nose in order to intensify your concentration and deepen your state of relaxation. If at any time during hypnosis you find your mind wandering, all you need to do is focus your attention on the tip of your nose as you are doing now and your mind will stop wandering and will once again follow my voice. Now open your eyes. Done Again have a brief dialog about the experience... and answer any questions the subject has truthfully and as completely as you are able to do. Everything so far has been about using hypnosis on others... What follows now are the 6 session plans as well as the individual sections used to comprise those sessions.... After that I'll move on to Self-Hypnosis and how to use the individual sections found in this area to create self-Hypnosis tapes for personal use. As well as offer a few suggestions to get you started and give you a basic idea concerning phrasing and concepts you can use them or create your own. Hypnosis Session 1 Session 1 consists of 12 sections in the following sequence: A, 1A, B, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 1G, 1H, 1I, 1J. ((Between sections 1I and 1J give your suggestions. Using the following intro to them. "Repeat the following statements to yourself as I say them:" A few useful ones are "Every day in every way, I am getting better, better, and better." Or "Positive thoughts bring me benefits and advantages I desire." You can use these or tailor your own based upon the situation being worked upon... But you should at least put one suggestion in and probably no more then three at this point. Once done with your suggestions... move on to the closing section 1J.)) Just before starting session 1, give the following brief instruction to the subject: In a few moments I am going to ask you to close your eyes and follow my instructions. Shortly after we begin the session, I will ask you on three separate occasions to open your eyes. I when I do ask, I really do not want you to open your eyes. I want you to pretend to try to open your eyes by stretching the eyelids, but I do not want you to open them. Then I will say something like, "Now relax your eyes,: at which time you may stop pretending to try to open them and just relax. Here is what I mean. (Give a brief demonstration of the eyelids stretching) Now you try it. (Wait for a few moments to allow the subject to try it with their eyelids) That was fine. Of course, at the very end of this session I will really want you to open your eyes when I say something like "In a few moments I will count from one to five and you will open your eyes and be wide awake." Do you understand? In the beginning we will have three brief tests where I do not want you to open your eyes, but at the very end of the session I really do want you to open them. (Wait for the subject to acknowledge that they understand. If they don't go over it again exactly until they do understand) Now let's begin. (Begin with section A and move through the order to section 1J. Remember TONE and PACE are the key factors) Hypnosis Session 2: In this session you get down to business and achieve two goals: To begin specific routines and suggestions to deal with the problem, habit, or area we wish to deal with, and teach the subject self-hypnosis. Session 2 consists of 16 sections in the following sequence: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q. (((In this session You begin implanting suggestions during section J through M. I have chosen to use suggestions concerning the Jedi Path... But you can and should tailor these to fit your own needs... For example you could suggest placing a piece of chocolate on the tongue and that while it melts it is bitter and gets more and more so as it melts... until they can barely stand it... Or some similar type of suggestion to help with dieting or smoking or some such issue))) (((Section K is split into a male (K-2 subsection) and a Female (K-1 subsection) Depending on the subject being worked with. Use the appropriate one in the K area of the sequence))) (((Sections N through P teach the subject a simple self-hypnosis practice as well as implant the habit of doing this practice))) After this session is over., ask the subject how they feel and answer any questions truthfully. Then give them a sheet with the instructions for practicing self-Hypnosis (((Self Hypnosis Instructions: Stretch! Then sit in a comfortable position. Focus your attention on a spot, and as you do, mentally say the number 5 three times as you exhale. Then close your eyes. Take another deep breath. And as you exhale, mentally say the number 4 three times. As you say the number 4, picture it at the same time. Take another deep breath and do the same thing with numbers 3, 2, and 1 consecutively. Now imagine a relaxation force emanating from your eyes and flowing out all over your body like a warm blanket of soothing, warm, gentle air going all the way down to your toes. Then count backward from ten to one. After reaching the number 1, give yourself these suggestions: "I will always be relaxed and calm. I will always be the best Jedi I can be." Then picture the same spot in your mind that you looked at originally. Imagine this spot moving all the way to the back of your head taking the suggestions with it. Then forget the suggestions, so that your inner mind will absorb it. Then count from 1 to 5 and awaken and feel the effects of the suggestions.))) Hypnosis Session 3: Session 3 consists of 14 sections in the following sequence: A, B, C, D, E, F, I, G, H, R, L, S, T, Q. (((Section R is split into a male (R-2 subsection) and a Female (R-1 subsection) Depending on the subject being worked with. Use the appropriate one in the R area of the sequence))) Hypnosis Session 4: Session 4 consists of 14 sections in the following sequence: A, B, C, D, E, F, I, G, U, V, W, X, Y, Q. (((Section V is split into a male (V-2 subsection) and a Female (V-1 subsection) Depending on the subject being worked with. Use the appropriate one in the V area of the sequence))) Hypnosis Session 5: Session 5 consists of 13 sections in the following sequence: A, B, C, D, E, F, I, G, U, W, X, Y, Q. (((This session is strictly a reinforcement session.))) As with all sessions before this... You should discuss the time spent between each session by the subject and how their self-hypnosis is going and answer any questions they might have truthfully and honestly. During this discussion remind the subject that the room they created in session 4 is an especially important tool. They can return to this room via their self-hypnosis anytime, they want for any good purpose they want to. In this room, they can create their own reality for a better and more enriching life. They are in direct contact with their own higher mind in this room and through it the Force. So they will be able to get results more effectively as well as strengthen their skills or learn new ones. Hypnosis Session 6: Session 5 consists of 13 sections in the following sequence: A, B, C, D, E, F, I, G, Z, W, X, Y, Q. Again this is mainly a reinforcement session but it does have one new section. Z is designed to help the subject begin to expand their mind and explore the vast resources and energy found within the Force or energy they are contacting. This section is designed to give the person an idea of how to create many different scenario's for exploring or training the mind.

SECTIONS: I would suggest printing each section out onto an index card or separate sheet of paper so that you can easily put them in the proper order for each session. Section A: First I want you to stand up and take a good, complete stretch. Get all the kinks out. (Wait for a few moments while the subject stands up and stretches thoroughly) That's fine. Now just sit in the chair and relax. Close your eyes and take a nice deep, full breath and exhale completely, all the way to the bottom of your lungs. All out. Do it again now. Just relax and let it all out. One more time, and this time hold your breath when you have filled your lungs with clean, refreshing, relaxing air. Hold it in. Keep your eyes closed. Now let your breath out slowly and feel yourself relaxing all over. Section 1A: Focus your attention on your knees now and relax everything below your knees. Relax your calves. Relax your ankles. Relax your feet. And relax your toes. Everything below your knees now are loose and relaxed. Now relax your thighs as completely as you can. Let your thighs just droop limp and loose and heavy into the chair. Relax your hips and relax your waist. Now relax your chest as completely as you can. Allow your breathing to be easier and deeper, more regular and more relaxed. Relax your shoulders now. Let the muscles in your shoulders be heavy and loose. More and more completely relaxed. Relax your neck and throat. Let your head just droop as all the muscles in your neck just relax. Now relax your face as completely as you can. Allow your face to be smooth and loose, relaxed and easy, your jaws all loose and relaxed, your teeth are not quite touching. Everything smooth and loose and easy. Now relax as completely as you can all the little muscles around your eyelids. Feel your eyelids growing heavier and smoother. More and more deeply relaxed. In a moment, I am going to ask you to open your eyelids, When I ask you to open them, your eyelids will be so relaxed and heavy they will just barely open and when I ask you to close your eyelids again you will allow them to relax even more completely. Now try to open your eyelids. Now close your eyes and feel yourself relaxing even more. Section B: I want you to imagine now that all your tensions, all your tightness, and all your fears and worries are draining away from the top of your head. Let it drain down through your face, down through your neck, through your shoulders, through your chest, your waist, your hips, your thighs, down through your knees, your calves, your ankles, your feet, and out your toes. All your tension, all your tightness, all your worries and fears are draining away now from the very tips of your toes, and you are relaxing more and more. Section 1B: We are going to do this relaxation exercise again. This time I want you to allow yourself to relax even more fully and completely than you did the first time. Focus your attention on your knees once again and relax everything below your knees. Relax your calves. Relax your ankles. Relax your feet, and relax your toes. And now relax your thighs even more completely. Allow your thighs to droop limp and heavy into the chair. Relax your hips and your waist. Feel the relaxation within your chest now. Relaxing the vital organs within your chest, your heart, your lungs, allowing your breathing to be more intense, more regular, more and more completely relaxed all over. And now relax even more all the little muscles around your eyelids. Feel your eyelids heavy and smooth, more and more deeply relaxed. In a moment when I ask you to open your eyelids, your eyelids will be so relaxed, so lazy, that they may not even work. But whether your eyelids open or whether they don't open, in either case when I ask you to close your eyes again you will allow yourself to relax even more completely. Open your eyelids. Now close your eyes, and feel yourself relaxing even more. Section C: Focus your attention on your toes now and allow your toes to relax completely. Each toe is loose and heavy. Now let this relaxation flow into your feet, into your ankles, your calves, and your knees. Feel it flowing into your ankles, your calves, and your knees. Feel it flowing into your thighs, into your hips, into your waist, flowing up into your chest now. Feel your breathing easier and deeper, more regular and more relaxed. Now let the deep-relaxed feeling go into your shoulders, down your arms, into your upper arms, your forearms, and into your hands and fingers, and flowing back into your forearms, your upper arms, your shoulders. Flowing into your neck, over your face, your chin, your cheeks, even your ears are relaxed. Feel it flowing into your eyes and eyelids now Your eyelids are so heavy and smooth. Flowing up into your eyebrows, over your forehead, over the top of your head, down the back of your head, and down the back of your neck. Section 1C: We are going to do this relaxation exercise once again. This time I want you to allow yourself to relax completely. There is nothing to fear you will always hear me, so just pull out all the stops and allow yourself to sink into perfect relaxation. Focus your attention again upon your knees and relax everything below your knees. Relax your calves, relax your ankles, relax your feet, and relax your toes. Now relax your thighs completely. Feel the deep and heavy relaxation flowing into your hips now. Feel it going up through your waist, flowing into your chest, to your shoulders, heavy and loose, completely relaxed. And now this heavy relaxed feeling is going into your neck and throat, all over your face. Your face is all smooth and loose, completely easy and relaxed, and the heavy relaxation is flowing into your eyes and eyelids now. Your eyelids are so heavy and so smooth. Even more deeply relaxed. Section D: A new heaviness is starting in your toes now. Twice as heavy as the first time. Imagine a heavy weight on each toe. Feel the heaviness deep and even more relaxed. And this heavy, deep feeling is going into your feet, your ankles, your calves, your knees, going into your thighs, your hips, into your waist. Flowing up into your chest now, relaxing your heart, relaxing your lungs, allowing your breathing to be more intense, more regular, more and more completely relaxed. Now the deep heavy feeling is flowing into your shoulders, and down into your arms, your upper arms, your forearms, into your hands and fingers. And now flowing back through your forearms, your upper arms, into your shoulders and into your neck. Flowing over your face, into yours eyes, over your eyebrows, over your forehead, over the top of your head, down the back of your head and down the back of your neck. Section 1D: In a moment when I ask you to open your eyelids, I want you to believe very very strongly that your eyelids are glued together. I want you to imagine that your eyelids are one piece of skin. Like one piece of skin. Don't be antagonistic or skeptical and say that you can open your eyelids. Just believe, just imagine that your eyelids are glued together. And if you believe and if you imagine that you cannot open your eyelids, you will really not be able to open them. Believe now very very strongly that your eyelids are glued together. Imagine your eyelids are like one piece of skin. Now try to open your eyes. Now let your eyes relax. Feel yourself relaxing all over. Section E: And a new heaviness is starting now at the top of your head. Twice as heavy as before. Twice as heavy. Imagine a heavy weight on the very top of your head, soft and relaxed and heavy. Feel the heavy relaxation flowing down into your face and eyes now, down through your neck, your shoulders, flowing down through your chest, your waist, your hips, your thighs, your knees, into your calves, your ankles, your feet and toes. Deeply relaxed, loose and limp, and comfortable from the top of your head to the very tip of your toes. Section 1E: I want you to imagine now that you are looking at a blackboard. And on the blackboard is a circle. Into the circle put an X. And now erase the X from inside the circle. And now erase the circle. Forget about the blackboard now as you just go on relaxing more and more deeply. In a moment, I am going to count backward from 100. I want you to count with me silently to yourself. Say each number to yourself as I say it, then when I ask you, erase the number from your mind and allow yourself to relax even more deeply. 100... say the 100 to yourself. Now erase it from your mind and go deeper. 99.... And erase it all away. 98 and erase it. 97 and now erase it so completely there is nothing left at all, just deeper and deeper waves of relaxation. Section F: I want you to imagine now that you are looking at a blackboard. On the blackboard imagine a circle. Into the circle we are going to place the letters of the alphabet in reverse order, and with each letter after you place it in the circle, you will erase it then from inside the circle and allow yourself to relax more and more deeply. Picture the blackboard now. Picture the circle. Into the circle put the letter Z. Now erase the Z from inside the circle, and go deeper. Put Y into the circle, and erase it and go deeper. X, and erase it and go deeper still. W, and erase it. V, and erase it. U, and erase it. T, and erase it. S, and erase it. R, and erase it. Q, and erase it. P, and erase it. O, and erase it. N, and erase it. M, and erase it. L, and erase it. K, and erase it. J, and erase it. I, and erase it. H, and erase it. G, and erase it. F, and erase it. E, and erase it. D, and erase it. C, and erase it. B, and erase it. A, and erase it. Now erase the circle and forget about the blackboard. Just go on relaxing more and more deeply. Feel yourself sink into the chair, mind and body drifting deeper and deeper into relaxation, deeper with each breath. Section 1F: Focus your attention now on the very tip of your nose just as we practiced before. Keep your attention gently focused on the tip of your nose until you reach the point where your entire attention is on my voice. And when you reach that point, you can forget about your nose and just go on listening to my voice and allowing yourself to relax more and more deeply. And as you keep your attention focused very gently on the tip of your nose I am going to take you down through four progressively deeper levels of relaxation. Section G: I want you to imagine now that you are looking at a clear, blue summer sky. And in the sky, a sky-writing airplane is writing your first name in fluffy, white cloud-like letters. See your name floating fluffy, white, and cloud-like in a clear, blue sky. Now let your name just dissolve away. Let the winds just blow your name away into the blue. Forget about your name. Forget you even have a name. Names are not important. Just go on listening to the sound of my voice and allowing yourself to relax more deeply. Section 1G: I will label these levels with letters of the alphabet, and when you reach the first level, level A, you will be ten times more deeply relaxed than you are even now. And then from level A we will go down to level B, and when your reach level B you will be ten times again more deeply relaxed than you were before. And from level B we will go down even farther, down to level C. And when you reach level C you will be ten times again more deeply relaxed than before. And then from level C we will go all the way down to the deepest level of relaxation, level D. And when you reach level D, you will be ten times again more deeply relaxed than before. You are drifting down now, two times deeper with each breath that you exhale. Two times deeper with each breath. Your hands and fingers are so relaxed and heavy, and they keep growing heavier. Feel the heaviness growing in your hands and fingers. Heavy...heavier still until now they are so heavy it is as though your hands and fingers were made of lead. And this deep relaxed, heavy feeling is flowing up through your forearms now. Feel it going up into your upper arms. Flowing through your shoulders, into your neck, over your face, over your eyes. Flowing up to your eyebrows, your forehead, over the top of your head. The deep relaxed, heavy feeling is flowing down the back of your head and down the back of your neck. You are now approaching level A. Section H: I want you to imagine now that I am placing on each of your knees a heavy bag of sand. Feel the sand pressing down on your knees. Your knees are growing heavier and more relaxed. In the sand is a very powerful numbing ingredient and the numbness is flowing down into your knees now. Your knees are growing numb and more numb under the sand. And the heavy numb feeling is flowing down into your calves, into your ankles, into your feet and toes. Everything below your knees is numb and more numb from the sand. And now the heavy, numb feeling is going up your thighs, flowing into your hips, through your waist, and into your chest. It flows into your shoulders, and they grow numb and heavy. It flows down your arms, your upper arms, your forearms, into your hands and fingers. Flowing back now through your forearms, your upper arms, your shoulders, and into your neck. Over your face, your eyes. Flowing up to your eyebrows, your forehead, over the top of your head, down the back of your head, and down the back of your neck. Section 1H: You are on level A now and still going deeper. Five times deeper now with every breath you exhale. Five times deeper with each breath. Your mind is so still and peaceful. You're not thinking of anything now. Too relaxed to think. Too comfortable to think. And this heavy relaxation in your mind is flowing onto your face and eyes. It is flowing down through your neck and chest. Flowing down to your waist, down through your hips, your thighs, your knees, your calves, your ankles, your feet and your toes. You are now approaching level B. Section I: As you breathe in, imagine that you are breathing in a pure, clean, odorless anesthesia. This anesthesia is flowing all through your body now, a warm, numb, tingling feeling. And the more you breath in the more you want to breathe in, and you allow your breathing to become even deeper now, bringing in more and more of this peaceful, relaxed, tranquil feeling. From now on until the end of this session, with each breath you will allow yourself to relax more and more completely. Section 1I: You are on level B now and still drifting deeper. Floating smoothly and gently into perfect relaxation. Your arms and legs are so relaxed and heavy they feel like logs. Your arms and legs are stiff and numb and heavy.... Simply immovable. Your arms and legs are like planks of wood. You are now approaching level C. You are on level C now and still drifting down. Sinking into the chair. Sinking deeper and deeper into perfect relaxation. And as you go on drifting even deeper, I am going to count backward from 15 to 1. Each number that I say will take you deeper and deeper still, and when I reach 1 you will be on level D. 15, deeper, 14, deeper still, 13...12...11...10...9...8...7...6, let it all go now, 5...4...3...2...1...1...1, so deep, so dreamy, so heavy, so misty. You are now on level D an still drifting down. There is no limit now...no limit. Go on floating, drifting deeper and deeper into perfect relaxation, deeper with each breath. Section J: As you go on floating, drifting smoothly and gently, more and more deeply relaxed with each breath, I want you to focus your attention on the very tip of your nose. Keep your attention focused gently and lazily on the tip of your nose until you reach a point where your entire attention is on the sound of my voice. And when you reach that point, you can forget about your nose and just go on listening to my voice and allowing yourself to relax more and more deeply. (From this point on is when you begin to work in the suggestions. Again I have tailored these for the Jedi usage. But anything could be used here.) As you keep your attention gently focused on the tip of your nose, I want you to imagine now that inside you is the seed of Jedi wisdom. And that it is a part of you. It holds all the wisdom you now have. It is growing day by day as you learn more and more. It is growing so large that it is filling you. That it is becoming a part of you. From now on it will always be with you. A part of you, that you wish to help grow bigger. You will desire to learn more about the Jedi. But will do so in a slow and safe manner. You will become more Jedi like every day from now on. Section 1J: The next time I see you, or whenever you hear my voice on tape, you will allow yourself to relax ten times more deeply then you are now. And the suggestions I give you then will go ten times deeper into your mind. In a few moments I will awaken you. When you awaken you will feel alive and alert, very refreshed. Full of energy. You will feel just wonderful. You will keep on feeling relaxed and fine all the rest of today, and all this evening. Tonight when you are ready to go to sleep, you will sleep just like a log all night long. And the first thing you know it will be morning, and you will awaken feeling on top of the world. I am going to count from 1 to 5. At the count of 5 you will open your eyes, be wide awake and feeling fine, feeling relaxed, refreshed, alert, and in very high spirits. Feeling simply terrific! 1...2... coming up slowly now ...3... at the count of 5 you will open your eyes, be wide awake and feeling fine, feeling better than before ....4...5. Here you may wish to snap your fingers at the count of 5 and say Open your eyes, your wide awake and feeling fine, feeling better than before, and this is so! (Things to note: At the beginning the words "or whenever you hear my voice on tape." If you are not going to tape any sessions, omit this. If you think you might perform relaxation over the telephone, add "or whenever you hear my voice on the telephone" to help pre-condition your subject for future sessions.) Section K-1: (Use only with Female Subjects) I want you to imagine yourself. See yourself as you really want to be, the real you. Alive and vibrant, in full control, serene and lovely. This is you. This is the real you. This is the woman you can really come to be. At this moment you are making yourself a promise. Not a promise to me... a promise to yourself... a commitment to become the real you. This commitment will be with you, stronger every day. From now on, every day you will become more and more completely the lovely woman you want to be. You will be relaxed and serene no matter what is going on around you. And anything that does happen, you can handle it in a relaxed and sensible manner. And you will feel so good, you will have all the energy in the world every single day. And it will be very easy for you to stay on the Jedi path every day. No matter where you are, no matter what you are doing. Section K-2: (Use only with Male Subjects) I want you to imagine yourself. See yourself as you really want to be, the real you. Confident and energetic, in full control, healthy and trim. This is you. This is the real you. This is the man you can really come to be. At this moment you are making yourself a promise. Not a promise to me... a promise to yourself... a commitment to become the real you. This commitment will be with you, stronger every day. From now on, every day you will become more and more completely the trim, handsome man you want to be. You will be relaxed and calm no matter what is going on around you. And anything that does happen, you can handle it in a relaxed and sensible manner. And you will feel very good, you will have all the energy in the world every single day. And it will be very easy for you to stay on the Jedi path every day. No matter where you are, no matter what you are doing. Section L: Each day when you wake up you will spend around ten minutes stretching and then eat a healthy breakfast. As well as a healthy lunch and dinner. You will begin to cut back on snacks between these meals as well. And each night before you goto sleep you will contemplate and study the Jedi path for at least a half hour. Section M: You will always act in any situation in a calm and Jedi like fashion. And you will seek to help others when you can. That is your main goal right now. You will have no desire to attack anyone without just cause. You will seek every chance to study yourself, and the situations you are in, and compare them to the Jedi way of life. The longer you stay on the Jedi path, the easier it will be and your bad tendencies will just melt away. All those extra habits that hinder or harm you and others, will slowly stop happening. And you will also practice faithfully everyday in using the Force. You will also practice everyday the little exercise in self-Hypnosis that we are going to do together now. Section N: In a moment I am going to ask you to open your eyes and look at a spot I am going to hold before you. You will not awaken when you open your eyes. You will not awaken. You will go even deeper into relaxation. Open your eyes now and look at the spot I am holding before you and take a deep, full breath. (as you tell the subject to open their eyes, hold up a card that has a large, bright red spot on it for them to direct their attention to. A handy size for this is a 6 x 6-inch preferably white card stock. On which is drawn as large a circle as you can get on the card. The circle should be colored in bright red. Hold the card at eye level about 4 feet in front of them.) Deep and full. Now close your eyes, let the breath out and think 5...5...5... and go deeper. Again now, a deep, easy breath and think 4...4...4... and let it out. Again a deep breath, deep and full, think 3...3...3... and let it out. More and more deeply relaxed. Take in a deep breath and think 2...2...2... and let it out. Once more a deep breath, let it out and think 1...1... let it all go now...1. Imagine now a heavy, deep force of relaxation just behind your eyelids. Feel this deep, relaxing Force flowing down from your eyelids. Down through your face and neck, down through your shoulders and chest, your waist, your hips, down through your thighs, your knees, your calves, your ankles, your feet and toes. Section O: In a moment, I am going to count backward from 10 to 1. I want you to count with me silently to yourself. Think each number as I say it, and allow each number to take you deeper. 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3... 2...1. You are now very deeply relaxed. You can give yourself the following suggestions. Say the words to yourself with me as I say them: I will always be relaxed and calm. I will always be the best Jedi I can be. Now picture the spot you looked at during the beginning of this exercise. Imagine the spot floating in, traveling together with your suggestions. Traveling all the way to the back of your head, all the way to the back. When you have your spot and your suggestions together at the back of your head, erase it, forget about the spot, forget about the suggestions, just let it all disappear. Allow yourself to relax. Section P: Between now and the next time I see you, you will practice this self-hypnosis exercise faithfully at least three times every single day, even if you think you don't need it. It makes you feel just wonderful. And each time you go through this routine in self-hypnosis you will relax completely. You will go just as deep as you are now. Just as you are now, and the suggestions that you give yourself will go deeper, and deeper into your mind. By practicing your self-hypnosis faithfully every day, you will have perfect control over your own mind and body. You can dissolve away any tension. You can dissolve away any hunger or pain or negative emotion you shouldn't have. Every day your wisdom and abilities as a Jedi will get better and better, and you will keep on feeling good every single day. Section Q: The next time I see you, or whenever you hear my voice on tape, you will allow yourself to relax even more completely then you are now. And the suggestions I have given you will keep on going deeper and deeper and deeper into your mind. In a few moments when you awaken yourself, you will feel very very relaxed, and you will be completely refreshed, alive, alert, and full of energy, full of confidence. You will feel a deep connection to the Force. All you have to do to awaken is to count with me from 1 up to 5 and at the count of 5, open your eyes, feeling relaxed, refreshed, alert, and a deep connection to the Force within you. 1...2...3...4...5. Section R-1: (Use only with female subjects) As you go floating, drifting smoothly and gently more and more deeply relaxed with each breath, focus your attention on the tip of your nose. Keep your attention now focused gently and lazily on the tip of your nose until you reach a point where your entire attention is on the sound of my voice. When you reach that point you can forget about the tip of your nose and just go on listening to my voice and allowing yourself to relax more and more deeply. As you keep your attention gently focused on the tip of your nose, I want you to imagine for a minute. Imagine yourself as you really want to be, looking good and feeling fine, so full of energy and vitality, wearing the clothes that look good on you. This is you. This is the lovely woman you are becoming. Every day from now on you will be more and more completely the woman you really want to be. You will be relaxed and calm no matter what is going on around you, and anything that does happen you can handle in a relaxed and sensible manner. And you will feel so good. You will have all the energy you can use every day, and you will find it easier and easier to stay on the Jedi path every day, no matter where you are and no matter what you are doing. Section R-2: (Use only with male subjects) As you go floating, drifting smoothly and gently more and more deeply relaxed with each breath, focus your attention on the tip of your nose. Keep your attention now focused gently and lazily on the tip of your nose until you reach a point where your entire attention is on the sound of my voice. When you reach that point you can forget about the tip of your nose and just go on listening to my voice and allowing yourself to relax more and more deeply. As you keep your attention gently focused on the tip of your nose, I want you to imagine for a minute. Imagine yourself as you really want to be, trim and healthy, looking handsome and virile, full of confidence, energy and vitality, wearing well-fitting clothes that look good on your proportioned, firm, trim, body. This is you. This is the man you are now becoming. Every day from now on you will be more and more completely the man you really want to be. You will be relaxed and calm no matter what is going on around you, and anything that does happen you can handle it in a calm relaxed and sensible manner, And you will feel so good. You will have all the energy you can use every day, and you will find it easier and easier to stay on the Jedi path every day, no matter where you are and no matter what you are doing. Section S: You will always act in any situation in a calm and Jedi like fashion. And you will seek to help others when you can. That is your main goal right now. You will have no desire to attack anyone without just cause. You will seek every chance to study yourself, and the situations you are in, and compare them to the Jedi way of life. The longer you stay on the Jedi path, the easier it will be and your bad tendencies will just melt away. All those extra habits that hinder or harm you and others, will slowly stop happening. And you will also practice faithfully everyday in using the Force. For you are now beginning to form the habit of applying the Jedi Philosophies and skills to your own life. Section T: You will continue to practice this self-hypnosis exercise faithfully at least three times every single day, even if you think you don't need it. It makes you feel just wonderful. And each time you go through this routine in self-hypnosis you will relax completely. You will go just as deep as you are now. Just as you are now, and the suggestions that you give yourself will go deeper, and deeper into your mind. By practicing your self-hypnosis faithfully every day, you will have perfect control over your own mind and body. You can dissolve away any tension. You can dissolve away any hunger or pain or negative emotion you shouldn't have. Every day your wisdom and abilities as a Jedi will get better and better, and you will keep on feeling good every single day. For you are in control now, and whatever you set your mind to do, you can and will do it. You will be completely successful and you will enjoy your success. You will enjoy looking better and feeling better and having a stronger connection to the Force every single day. Section U: I want you to imagine now that you are standing on the top step of a heavy wooden staircase. Feel the carpet under your feet. The carpet can be any kind and color you wish... create it. Now extend your hand out and touch the railing. Feel the smooth polished wood of the railing under your hand. You are standing just ten steps up from the floor below. The stairs are curving very smoothly down to the floor below. In a moment we will walk down the stairs. With each step down you will allow yourself to relax even more deeply. By the time you reach the floor below you will be deeper then you have ever gone before. Take a step down now, down to the ninth step smoothly and easily. Feel yourself going deeper. Now go down to 8, deeper still. Now down to 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1. Now you are standing on the floor below. There is a door in front of you. Reach out and open the door. You are inside the room now, look around you. This is your room, and it can be anything you want it to be. Any size, any shape, any colors. You can have anything in this room that you want. You can add things, remove things, rearrange things, paintings, windows, carpets, or whatever you want because this is your place... your very own private place and you are free here. Free to create, free to be who you are. Free to do whatever you will, and the light that shines in this room is your light. Feel the light all around you, shining on the beautiful things in your room. Shining on you; feel the energy in the light. Let the light flow all through your body now. Going in through every pore in your skin. Filling you completely. Pushing away all doubt. Pushing out all fear and tension. You are filled with the light. You are clear and radiant, glowing with the shining light in your room. Section V-1: (Use only with female subjects) While you are standing in the light in your room, I want you to build an image. An image of yourself as you really want to be. Not as someone else wants you to be, but as you really want yourself to be. See your image standing in front of you in the light. Your image is beautiful, serene and free, wearing the clothes you feel best suit you. This is you. This is the real you. This is the woman you are now becoming. Walk closer to your image now. Walk closer. Now walk into the image. Let it blend into your very body. Your own best self, a living part of you now. Stronger every day. Section V-2: (Use only with male subjects) While you are standing in the light in your room, I want you to build an image. An image of yourself as you really want to be. Not as someone else wants you to be, but as you really want yourself to be. See your image standing in front of you in the light. Your image is trim, healthy, handsome, calm and free, wearing well-fitting clothes that you feel most comfortable in. This is you. This is the real you. This is the man you are now becoming. Walk closer to your image now. Walk closer. Now walk into the image. Let it blend into your very body. Your own best self, a living part of you now. Stronger every day. Section W: From now on every day you will be more and more completely the person you really want to be. You will be relaxed and calm. And no matter what is going on around you, you can handle it in a relaxed and sensible manner. And you will feel so good. You will have all the energy you can use every single day. And it will be so easy to stay on the Jedi path every day no matter where you are. Section X: You will always act in any situation in a calm and Jedi like fashion. And you will seek to help others when you can. That is your main goal right now. You will have no desire to attack anyone without just cause. You will seek every chance to study yourself, and the situations you are in, and compare them to the Jedi way of life. The longer you stay on the Jedi path, the easier it will be and your bad tendencies will just melt away. All those extra habits that hinder or harm you and others, will slowly stop happening. And you will also practice faithfully everyday in using the Force Your mind and body are adjusting to this habit more completely every day, it is becoming no longer a habit, but your normal every day way of doing things. Section Y: You will continue to practice your self-hypnosis exercise faithfully as often as you can every single day. And each time you go through your little routine in self-hypnosis you will relax completely. And very, very swiftly. Within just a few seconds you will go just as deep as you are now. Even deeper. And whatever suggestions you give to yourself will be stronger and deeper all the time. For you are in control now. Whatever you choose to do, you can do. Whatever you set your mind to achieve, you can and will achieve. You will be completely successful, and you will enjoy your success. And you will enjoy becoming more and more Jedi like every day. You will enjoy being more and more intune with the Force every day. And you will enjoy being more and more your real self-every day. Section Z: (Mountain Trip) Find yourself lying on a soft, green meadow of grass with the bright sun overhead. Notice the flowers around your head. The gentle breeze gently blows across your body. Notice the grass and flowers spring up to about a foot above your head. See how the breeze gently blows the blades of grass back and forth. Smell the fragrance of the flowers. Now stand up and look to the north. See a majestic mountain. There is a stream on the right of you. Bend down and notice the cool water. Take a drink of this absolutely pure clean cool water. Listen to the rush of the small rapids on this bubbly brook. Since the stream seems to come from the mountain. Let's follow it. Now we come upon a pond that is at the head of this stream. Notice how warm the water is here. Since at this level of mind we are all expert swimmers, lets go for a swim. Feel the warm sun. Feel the warm water surrounding your body as you quietly move through the water. It is now time for us to continue up the mountain. As we climb, listen to the birds chirping. Smell the pine trees. Look at the rocks on the bank to our left. Once in awhile, we can see the valley and our meadow on the right between the trees. We are halfway up the mountain now. Let's stop to rest on the rock to our right. Our Meadow is in full view from here. It is now time to continue up to the top of the mountain. Listen to the squirrels chatter in the trees above. The breeze is blowing the smell of the small cedar trees to us as we near the top. We are on the top now. We can see a wise Jedi sitting in front of a small temple before us. The Jedi looks at us and says " Ask the questions you most want answered or request to learn the skills you most wish to learn. And I will answer them or show you how to do them. So ask your questions now Or request the lessons now... and I will give the answers to you or teach you the lessons. Now it is time for us to return to our meadow. See the sun starting to set on the hills to the left. If we hurry, we can be off our mountain before it gets dark. Halfway down the mountain now, and we stop to rest on our rock again. We can watch the beginning of the sun set. Start on down the mountain again. Hear the chirping of the small night animals. Passing our pond, we see the reflection of the sunset in it's mirror surface. Our small stream is cool and refreshing as we pass along it's side. Now we are back to our meadow. Lie down again in the tall grass. Smell again the flowers' fragrance. Notice the grass and flowers return to their original height as our meadow and mountain now gently fade from view. SELF-HYPNOSIS EXERCISES Before you begin to learn self-hypnosis, use the following simple conditioning exercises. Exercise 1 Sit down comfortably and face straight ahead. Roll your eyes upward as far as you can. This is quite uncomfortable. Hold your eyes upward for as long as you can. When the strain is more than you wish to continue enduring, Close your eyes and let your eyes return to normal. Sit there with your eyes closed for a minute or two, relaxing and allowing your mind to be as blank as you can. The benefit is that you have actually forced yourself into a light level of the alpha state. When the eyes roll upward, alpha is triggered, Since alpha is necessary for hypnosis, this exercise begins to train you (and your mind) for entering alpha at will. Exercise 2 Sit down comfortably and close your eyes. Visualize the letters of your name slowly, one letter at a time. Then visualize your entire name all at once. Then erase your name and open your eyes. This helps you develop your ability to visualize. Visualization is key to successful self-hypnosis and going beyond hypnosis into the psychic realm. Self-Hypnosis Sessions: Case 1 Simply put just record all six of the control sessions for use on someone else to tape and then sit and listen to and follow them yourself. You can do them all in consecutive days... but at least space them out to one a day and no less then one a week. Case 2 This is a quick method for those who don't have the time to use case 1 though it is the better method. Again you will need a recording of yourself to hypnotize yourself. For the quick method use these six steps: Step 1. On the first day. Record and listen to the entire Session 1 tape. Step 2. On the second day, record and listen to sections A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H in that order. Record the following after section H: You have now learned how to relax your mind and body. In the future, all you need to do to relax your mind and body this much or even more is to close your eyes and mentally count down from 10 to 1. Or 5 to 1. Or 3 to 1, visualizing each number as you think it. You are learning the skills of self-hypnosis, which you can practice anytime, any place, for any worthwhile purpose you choose. Step 3. On the third day, record and listen to sections A, B, I, and U in that order. Record the following after section U: This room is a very powerful place for you to come to practice your self-hypnosis. You can do anything you wish here. You create your own reality. You can bring anyone into your room you wish simply by asking them in. You can consult or converse with anyone here. The resources of universal intelligence are available to you here. You can solve problems, ask questions, practice any skills or speech, shed bad habits, adopt good habits, plan, program goals, seek inspiration and ideas, consult with the Force directly. There is no limit. No limit to what you can achieve in your room. It is your private inner space in your mind. It is your temple. It is your special domain from which you can control your life. I am now going to stop speaking. Stay in your room for as long as you wish. When you are ready to leave your room, you may count slowly from one to five and open your eyes at the count of five. NOTE: Leave the rest of the tape or CD blank... so that it won't distract you. Also don't set it to repeat... just let it play out and then shut off. This way you remain in your room as long as you wish. Step 4. On the Fourth day record and listen to the following: Sit comfortably in your chair and face straight ahead. Roll your eyes upward and focus your attention on a spot or object in your line of vision that is high enough to make your eyes uncomfortable. About a forty-five degree upward angle of your eye movement. Keep your eyes open and focused on the spot. Take a deep breath and as you exhale mentally say the number 5 three times. Now close your eyes and relax. Take another deep breath, and as you exhale, mentally visualize and say the number 4 three times. Again take a deep breath, and as you exhale, mentally visualize and say the number 3 three times. Again take a deep breath, and as you exhale, mentally visualize and say the number 2 three times. Once more, a deep breath and visualize and say the number 1 three times. You are now deeply relaxed and you will continue to relax deeper and deeper with each breath you exhale. As you continue to relax more and more completely, mentally repeat the following suggestions as I say them: "I have now mastered the skill of self-Hypnosis." "I can use self-hypnosis anytime I wish, any place I wish for any worthwhile purpose I desire, and this is so." "In the future, all I need to do to achieve levels of hypnosis this deep or even deeper is to close my eyes, take a deep breath, and slowly count 3...2...1. As I exhale. At that point, I can go to my private room by simply visualizing my staircase, walking down my stairs, opening my door and entering my room where I can program for any purpose I desire. Step 5. On the fifth day, record and listen to the following: Close your eyes, take a deep breath and as you exhale, mentally count three and visualize the 3, two and visualize the 2, one and visualize the 1. Take a deep breath and continue to relax. Now visualize your staircase. Go down your staircase and enter your room. (Do not speak on the tape for ten seconds to allow yourself time to go to your room.) You are in your room now. From now on you can enter self-hypnosis simply by closing your eyes, taking a deep breath, and mentally counting down from 3 to 1 while visualizing the numbers as you say them. At that point, you can do whatever programming or suggestions you wish. For especially powerful programming and experiences, you can go to your room simply by visualizing your staircase and mentally descending the stairs to your room. From now on you can awaken whenever you wish simply by desiring to do so and opening your eyes. You no longer need the recording to enter or exit self-hypnosis. You can do it all by yourself whenever you wish. You may use the recording anytime you wish for refresher or for special programming sessions that would be easier to do by recording if you choose, but you no longer are dependent on the use of the recording. I am going to stop talking now. You may open your eyes and awaken when you wish. NOTE: Leave the rest of the tape or CD blank... so that it won't distract you. Also don't set it to repeat... just let it play out and then shut off. This way you remain in your room as long as you wish. Step 6. On the sixth day simply close your eyes and do the 3...2...1 countdown. Then visualize your staircase, descend it, and enter your room. Stay in as long as you like. And when your ready to leave simply open your eyes. Or if you wish to awake slowly count yourself out from 1 to 5, opening yours eyes when you count 5. Case 3 For those without a tape recorder. In this case do all the things as outlined in case 2 but without the recorder. This means you memorize everything and mentally instruct yourself while relaxing and listening to your mental commands. The downside to this is the part of your mind used to give the commands wants to stay at the beta level of brain activity to do so. While the part of your brain that wishes to respond to the commands tries to goto alpha. As a result your brain frequency tends to jump back and forth between beta and alpha. This means each session is likely to be less effective. So you will need to repeat each step a number of times to achieve results before moving on to the next step. Lightsaber Fighting Now while I have termed this area as Lightsaber Fighting. I am doing so mearly for my own amusment. In reality these explanations refer to actual Martial Art and Sword fighting techniques and as such can be dangerous. If practiced with a live blade. Footwork If your feet pass each other they should move in little arcs, coming first in toward the other foot before arcing out to their final position. More often your feet will not pass each other, as the leading foot needs to stay in front for the combat system to remain effective, especially against another Jedi. Move the foot closest to your opponent into position first, then pull the other foot into position as fast as possible to avoid being off balance for too long. The feet should slide or skim the floor so that you are never really off balance. If the foot is lifted at all it is usually the heel that lifts leaving the toe to skim the surface. There are similar to silent stalking techniques used by Ninja and North American natives, where all movement is toe-to-heel rather than the usual heel-to-toe. An interesting note is that most samurai and apparently Jedi also, wore long flowing robes to conceal their footwork, as it gives away their next move. The Grip Most actions are taken with the lightsaber held in both hands, the lower, left hand does all the work while the right guides the blade. Interestingly enough, there is no left handed grip in Japanese martial arts. In fact, a left hander actually has a slight strength advantage with a slight loss of directional control with this grip. The proper grip is firm, yet relaxed until just before the moment of contact with your opponent's body. Then, the grip tightens, not unlike wringing water from a towel, as the wrists transmit the final snap of power into the blow in a kind of whipping action. Grip the base of the handle using your left hand with no part protruding below the smallest finger. The smallest finger grips most tightly, with grip decreasing in strength up to the index finger and thumb. The web of skin between thumb and forefinger does not touch the handle. Your right hand grips just below the guard. The strength of grip is similar to the left hand. Some martial artists have the right forefinger very loose, crooked almost as if it were on the trigger of a gun. Your hands should be about 2 finger widths apart. Your left hand is the primary source of power. Your right hand guides the blade. Moves The following are based on a mix of Batto Jutsu, Kendo and Arnis. Batto Jutsu is a combat art using katana and was last used in combat by Japanese officers as recently as WWII. I used Kendo and Arnis as the basis for blocks, as you can block with bamboo swords and rattan stick, but a katana should never be used in that way. There are other Japanese sword arts, such as Iai Justsu, which is the art of cutting someone down as you draw your sword. In order to allow energy to flow easily, all moves must form flowing circular arcs. This means that Return to Ready Position will be a smooth arc from where you finished the previous move. Each move assumes we start from the Hasso Ready Position, so they often move through another ready position before actually striking your opponent. In some cases these alternate ready positions could also act as blocks. In addition I end each description with "Return to Ready Position". In most cases this is simply moving of the hands back to Hasso but several will also require an adjustment in foot position. In others I mention returning to Hasso through another position, usually a block. In combat this will make some moves better than others, depending on which side your opponent is standing. Some strikes will also take longer to execute, which will make their use more dangerous. I have also included the Japanese words for each position or move Basics Salute Lightsaber is off. Hold in both hands, right hand above left, and bring handle up vertical to the face as though you were going to kiss it. Ready Position - "Hasso " This was Vader's favorite ready stance and appears to be so for the younger Kenobi and Jinn in APM images released to date. There are at least 5 alternative ready stances, but this one seems most dynamic and has real fighting benefits. Many serious martial artists use the same stance. It's not as "classic" as the centre position, but is considered more powerful as most other ready stances block your view of your opponent's feet. Left foot is forward on centreline of the body with knee bent, right foot is back and slightly bent with feet flat on ground and heels about 3 foot lengths apart. Weight is balanced between both feet, hips are rotated to face forward. Lightsaber is held at shoulder level to the right side of your head just behind your ear with blade vertical, tilted slightly backward and slightly to the right. Shoulders are rotated slightly to your right and upper arms are horizontal. Defensive Moves - Blocks Block Up to Left Rotate hips to left and swing hands across body to place handle just below your face and slightly forward. Tip of lightsaber is almost fixed in space. Rotate hands, again with tip almost stationary, until handle is above head level with blade almost horizontal above your head. This will result in your shoulders dropping and both knees bending. Note: Blade should not be horizontal, but sloping with tip higher than handle. Your lever action is greatest closer to the handle so you need to keep the tip up to allow you enough power to deflect the blow. Return to Ready Position through Center Ready Position. Block Up to Right Similar to previous move but the block goes to your right. This time your hips rotate to the right as your hands move to just above head height to the right of your body. The blade is again almost horizontal with the tip slightly elevated. Return to Ready Position Block Left Drop hands across your body to your left side at waist level rotating your hips strongly to the left just as you contact your opponent's blade. Blade is almost vertical with tip forward and handle slightly further out to your side. Note: From the front the blade should just be to one side of your body. Return to Ready Position through Block Right. Block Right Swing hands across your body towards the left side then drop your hands to your right side at waist level. Rotate your hips strongly to the right just as you contact your opponent's blade. Blade is almost vertical with tip forward and handle slightly further out to your side. Note: From the front the blade should just be to one side of your body. Return to Ready Position. Block Low Left Pull left foot back parallel to your right foot. Drop hands and swing blade out and down across your body to your left side at chest level whipping the blade and rotating your hips strongly to the left just as you contact your opponent's blade. Blade is almost vertical with tip forward and slightly further out to your side. Return to Ready Position Block Low Right Pull left foot back parallel to your right foot. Swing hands across your body towards the left side then across your body to your right side at chest level whipping the blade and rotating your hips strongly to the right just as you contact your opponent's blade. Blade is almost vertical with tip forward and slightly further out to your side. Return to Ready Position Aggressive Moves - Attacks Chop - "Shin Choko-Giri" Left elbow lifts over head bringing upper arm almost vertical and bringing both hands to centerline of body behind head with blade horizontal. At the same time slide your left foot to your left and bring your right foot up then circle out to about 3 foot lengths apart, square to your opponent, arching you back and raising your power as you move. Swing down bending your knees and lowering your center of gravity to add power as you strike your opponent. Swing through until your elbows act as a brake on your stomach. Note: the left hand is doing all the work here, your right hand is merely steering all the force from your left. This move is rarely used in combat, except for dispatching an injured opponent, as it leaves you wide open to attack. Return to Ready Position by moving your left foot first then sliding your right foot back into position while holding you lightsaber in Center Ready Position. Slice Left - "Kesa-Giri" Drop tip back and down, push hands to upper right of head and lift left elbow above your head with blade almost horizontal above your head. Step forward with right foot placing it on centerline, heels about 3 foot lengths apart. Swing lightsaber forward and downward at 45 degrees slicing across your opponent's body from shoulder to hip. Arms are fully extended and blade is almost horizontal at point of contact. Swing through and allow your elbows to act as brakes by hitting your body (this stops you hitting the ground or yourself.) Return to Ready Position through Block Right. Slice Right - "Kesa-Giri" Drop tip back and down swinging left arm up and across your face bringing your hands to the left side of your head with blade almost horizontal above your head. Bring right foot up almost touching your left foot then step forward with your left foot, heels about 3 foot lengths apart. Swing lightsaber forward and downward at 45 degrees slicing across your opponent's body from shoulder to hip. Arms are fully extended and blade is almost horizontal at point of contact. Swing through and allow your elbows to act as brakes by hitting your body. Return to Ready Position. Swing Left - "Yoko-Giri" Rotate hips and shoulders to your right rotating your right foot, on its heel, out to your right side, perpendicular to your centerline. Swing tip back and down dropping hands down to your chest level with blade horizontal behind you. Shift most of your weight onto your right foot and swing your left foot to your rear so that both feet are about 3 foot lengths apart and square to your opponent. Swing the blade horizontally across your body like a baseball bat, leading with your left elbow as you slide your left foot to the left. As you make contact with your opponent's body shift your weight to your left foot and rotate your hips strongly to the left. Follow through but avoid going beyond your left shoulder. The right foot can pivot on the ball, but avoid lifting the heel - it means you've gone too far. Return to Ready Position through Block Right. Right Swing Pull your left foot back in towards your right then slide it out to your left until it is about 3 foot lengths apart from your right foot. Rotate hips and shoulders to your left while dropping your lightsaber tip back and down swinging left arm up and across your face and your hands down to your chest level with blade horizontal behind you. Rotate hips and shoulders to your left rotating your left foot, on its heel, out to your left side, perpendicular to your centerline. Shift most of your weight onto your left foot and swing the blade horizontally across your body like a baseball bat, leading with your left hand. As you make contact with your opponent's body shift your weight to your right foot and rotate your hips strongly to the right. Follow through but avoid going beyond your right shoulder. The left foot can pivot on the ball, but avoid lifting the heel - it means you've gone too far. Return to Ready Position Upper Cut Left - "Kiri - Age" Rotate hips and shoulders to your right rotating your right foot, on its heel, out to your right side, perpendicular to your centerline. Swing tip back and down dropping hands down to your side to point tip at ground, elbows almost locked a little like a golf swing. As the tip comes forward slide your left foot forward and move hips forward, rotating left and leaning into the blow as the blade swings up and across your opponent. Arms are fully extended at point of contact and hips rotate strongly to the left as you cut through your opponent's body from hip to shoulder and follow through. Blade ends up almost vertical with tip out to the left and arms fully extended. Return to Ready Position through Block Right. Upper Cut Right - "Kiri - Age" Pull left foot back beside your right foot, drop tip back and down swinging left arm up and across your face bringing your hands to the left side of your head with blade almost horizontal above your head. Rotate hips and shoulders to your left rotating your left foot, on its heel, out to your left side, perpendicular to your centerline. Swing tip around and down dropping hands down to your side to point tip at ground, elbows almost locked a little like a golf swing. As the tip comes forward slide your right foot forward and move hips forward, rotating right and leaning into the blow as the blade swings up and across your opponent. Arms are fully extended at point of contact and hips rotate strongly to the right as you cut through your opponent's body from hip to shoulder and follow through. Blade ends up almost vertical with tip out to the right and arms fully extended. Return to Ready Position. Thrust - "tsuki" Move your hands to the Center Ready Position. and thrust the blade into your opponent's chest bending the leading knee to drop your center of gravity. Lean forward into the thrust. Note: This move is rarely used against a skilled opponent, as it is very easy to block and counter. Return to Ready Position Alternative Moves Center Ready Position - "Chudan " This was the older Kenobi's preferred ready position. Not surprising really, as it requires the least movement to react, especially with a blade that can cut in any direction. In other words, it's better for an older Jedi because it protects him by allowing a longer reaction time. Left foot forward, right back, weight balanced between feet. Hips and shoulders are square to your opponent. The lightsaber is held in front of you, both hands centered on your body with your left hand is 4 inches in front of your navel. Both elbows are slightly bent. The tip of your lightsaber is at your opponent's throat.