I can also say from my experience that bodily relaxation is vital! And this is a field of constant improvement. If I accomplish deeper bodily relaxation in a session, it has a retroactive effect on my mind that makes me much more receptible.
My routine on my bed is a product of me trying to get myself in a situation like in a floating tank (disclaimer: I never was in such a tank).
- I use in-ear Bluetooth earphones.
- I use a sleeping mask that, in a room as dark as I can make it, doesn't let me perceive any residual light, even when the eyes adjusted to darkness and I look around. The mask also doesn't touch my eyes. These traits are important to me. I often tend to naturally open my eyes. I also had situations where my unconscious was obviously engrossed in the hypnosis and was frantically using my eyes to search around for any clues. But since it was completely dark for me so that it didn't find clues and my eyes didn't touch the mask, the hypnosis effect was maintained and let me make deep progress.
- I bought an inflatable head cushion with a hole in the center and don't pump it up fully to get equal weight distribution on the head.
- I use a folded scarf (quite flat) under my lower back.
- I use bed shoes stuffed with feathers to not get cold feet (when it's not summer). (Blanket weighing on feet would be bad.)
- I use a weighted blanket (in the summer this may be too hot, but then I need a bit of other cloth around my ankles, so my feet don't fall to the sides).
- I use two cushions for my arms and hands to get a natural position for them like astronauts on a space station naturally have them hanging/floating around.
- Very important is also that I always tape my mouth shut with 3M Micropore tape. (I recommend to fold a tiny bit of one end, in case you ever need to sneeze.) I do this in conjunction with using a nasal spreader to get enough air. On the one hand, the tape prevents drying of my mouth and some of the saliva-related annoying effects when the mouth falls open, or having to pay attention to keeping the mouth closed. On the other hand, it has the retroactive effect of thinking that I'm not allowed to say anything against what is said to me, which makes me more receptible.
- In the winter, I also use gloves.
- (Otherwise, I'm naked.)
And I avoid movements, because it stirs up my mind which destroys the mental state. Over the years, I had it to do with a number of disturbing effects: itching skin, an easily triggered swallowing reflex, and - further down the road - saliva running down the throat while I didn't want to swallow because it's movement. But conditioning myself from session to session to session - sometimes under considerable difficulty - to turn to the things of higher priority, i.e., deepening hypnosis long-term, made it possible for me to achieve a number of breakthroughs.
For reference: The last years, I always have sessions with a length of 1.5 to 2 hours, lately always 1.5. At the start, I had to push myself through a bit when the mental chatter was still more intense. Then, my mind got to know the routine. Just like with meditation, the mental chatter still can be there from time to time, though. For this to work smoothly, I adjust the volume of single sessions losslessly with MP3Gain (with a little fidgeting also available for AAC in .m4a) and use the Windows equalizer program Peace with a custom setting that reduces sharp high-frequency noises that works well for different tists including 4t|-|alia. That way, I don't have to move to adjust the volume mid-session when a new file starts.
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