GWB origami wrote:most interested in tricks and maybe a little therapy. i already know the basic steps: induce trance, deepen, give orders, wake up. getting past induce trance is hard for me which is why i'm asking.
What sort of induction are you using?
Some people go into trance more easily than others, so it maybe be that the person you're trying on just isn't very well suited to it.
It's important to have your subject spend some time relxaing and focusing before you try to bring them down into a trance.
I would suggest starting with a sequence of them relaxing and focusing on their breathing.
It can help if you can see the rhythm of their breaths and speak along with it, mentioning breathing in and breathing out at the times when they're doing that.
From breathing you can move on to sequentially relaxing muscles. Starting from the head or from the toes and slowly moving through from one end to the other, have them concentrate on each muscle relaxing and becoming limp and heavy, sinking into the chair or bed.
After all that they're likely to be in or close to a light trance, but I'd suggest a numerical descent to deepen it into a good solid trance.
Have them imagine walking down a flight of stairs slowly, counting the steps, or riding an elevator and watching the numbers change.
Try to engage all their senses in this imagining. Ask them to feel the texture of the carpet under their feet and the banister under their hand as they descend the stairs, listen to the grinding and whirring of the elevator as it descends, have them pay attention to the visual details of their imagined elevator or staircase, and so on.
Keep reminding them that they're going deeper and deeper and becoming more and more relaxed with each number.
Depending on how susceptible they are, a count of 10 or 20 should do the job.
Once that's all done they should be fairly deep and you can run a couple of tests to check how they're doing.
My favourites are an imaginary balloon tied to their wrist, which makes their arm rise apparently without any effort from them, and having them clasp their hands together, imagine them being glued like that and then not being able to separate them.