What Is Hypnosis?

If you've never been hypnotized before, and I were to ask you what you think hypnosis is, some of your answers might be "sleep," "unconsciousness," "surrender of control," or even "magic" and "voodoo." Remember the old late night movies: "You are in my power!" "At the count of three you will do my bidding!" "You are under my spell." Nothing could be further from the truth. Nevertheless, there are still many misconceptions that cause real fear about hypnosis—even if they did come from the movies or stage shows. So let's explore and explode some of the myths and fears surrounding hypnosis. First of all, hypnosis is not sleep. When hypnotized, you are fully aware of what I say to you and are even able to respond, either verbally or with a signal. Nor are you by any means unconscious. And fear not, there is no surrender of or loss of control of your mind. You are in full control of yourself and fully aware of your surroundings. The person who does not want to be hypnotized cannot be; nor can they be induced to do or say anything which would violate personal standards of behavior or beliefs. Those who volunteer for stage shows and run around the stage clucking like chickens are doing so because they want to be the entertainment. You'll usually find them sitting in the front row shouting, "Choose me, choose me." The important point here is hypnosis cannot make you do anything you don't want to do.

What Hypnosis Is

So if that's what hypnosis is not, then what is hypnosis? Actually hypnosis is better described than defined. I use the thought that it is a "relaxed state of focused concentration"—concentration on what is relevant to the change you are trying to accomplish. The hypnotist provides the guidance towards that state of concentration. Or, in the case of Self-Hypnosis, you can guide yourself there. Yes, you can hypnotize yourself. Once you are taught Self-Hypnosis, you can give yourself a lifetime of benefits.

Hypnosis is a rapid means of changing habits and behaviors. How does it work? All humans have two distinct minds—the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. The unconscious mind, some scientists say, represents 95% or more of our brain power, yet it is the least understood and the least used by us. The unconscious mind has two elements—the subconscious (the storehouse of all your memories) and the superconscious which deals with the spiritual.

The subconscious receives and stores all the messages we receive from the moment we were born, plus all the conflicts (big or little) that enter our lives every day. But the subconscious mind does not judge or analyze these messages, and accepts them in the literal sense. Analyzing and judging is a function of the conscious mind. Hypnosis is really a means of communication between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind.

Since the subconscious is the storehouse of all your memories, traumatic events can be buried there. One of the benefits of hypnotherapy is the ability to uncover the buried information or experience which may be a reason you are distressed, disturbed, or simply not living life to the fullest.

What Is Hypnosis For?

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the use of hypnosis for Weight Control or Smoking Cessation. But its uses go far beyond that. Hypnosis has been proven effective for improving self-confidence, self-esteem, motivation, memory, relationships, sports or academic performance. It has also been used for career advancement, pain control, and even used in place of anesthesia in some surgeries.

How can you use hypnosis to improve your life? Ever catch yourself thinking or saying "I should have (done/said, etc.)"? Ever have feelings of self-doubt, or feel a lack of self-confidence in some way? Well, you're not alone. Those feelings, like a dense fog, drift over all of us at various times. And it's so much easier to put ourselves down than it is to accept ourselves as we are. After all, most of us heard many more "No's" than "Yes's" and "Don'ts" than "Go for its." Most of our young lives were filled with people telling us what to do and how to do it. And these same people were the ones we looked to, to tell us if we are doing well and whether our appearance was all right. They set the level of our self-image. We tend to keep the child's level of perfection, but even worse, we decide what this perfection is by asking or listening to someone else.

As adults, we struggle with the need to find the levels of our personal best and self-image from within. We need to set aside the old behaviors and scripts of looking to others for approval. If you find yourself always trying to please someone else or be like someone else, learning Self-Hypnosis could be a powerful tool in your self-exploration. If you are not happy with your life, if you've simply grown tired of waiting for things to get better, then it's probably time to make changes. Hypnosis is a very powerful, rapid way to improve your life.

The Wizard Within

Dr. A. M. Krasner, in his book, The Wizard Within, compares the subconscious to the "Wonderful Wizard of Oz." You remember how everyone wanted the Wizard to grant them something. The Scarecrow wanted a brain, the Tin Man a heart, the Lion some courage. Of course, each of them had those things already; they just didn't believe they had them. And though the Wizard was just an ordinary man, he was magical because he had the ability to change their beliefs about themselves. Our Wizard—our subconscious—has that very same ability. Through hypnosis, you can change your beliefs and the 'commands' that have been given to your Wizard, for as Krasner points out, hypnosis is your very own "Yellow Brick Road."

It's up to you now to take the first step on that road through hypnosis to a happier, healthier way of life. And it's all there within the power of your own mind.