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Most people often relate hypnosis to a pocket watch being waved back and forth before one’s eyes and having them in a sleep-like state where they can be controlled. On the contrary, that is not how hypnosis works. Suppose you are wondering what hypnosis is and if it works, read on to find out.
How to define “Hypnosis”?
Hypnosis is a trance state that is characterized by relaxation, heightened imagination, and extreme suggestibility. The subject is alert throughout, so it is not like sleep as people often believe. During hypnosis, one is fully conscious but they are not in tune with the things around them, for instance, you can compare the feeling to that of “losing yourself” in a movie or book, or that of daydreaming.
You fall into hypnosis everyday through an activity like watching a movie because it is an imaginary world that seems real to you, and it happens because you are fully engaged emotionally. Think about it, when you watch a movie you may experience, happiness, sadness, fear, and you may even be startled by a scene and find yourself jumping of your chair. It is worth noting that there are two main elements of hypnosis, suggestions and induction.
How Does Hypnosis Work?
Hypnosis is often used to guide one’s attention from the regular everyday activities and from the world, so they can concentrate on a particular goal like quitting smoking, or overcoming their fear. What one experiences under hypnosis is often referred to as an altered state of consciousness. This means that although you are awake, you will not be able to pay attention to the conscious world in the same manner.
Your thoughts will be focused inward during hypnosis, and you will go into a mild trance. It is worth noting that hypnosis is derived from a Greek term that means sleep, because the subjects that were hypnotized appeared to be asleep. However, for hypnosis to be effective the subject must be awake.
By the way, What is a Trance?
A trance is a natural state that one enters when they undergo hypnosis. It is not a frightening or mysterious form of mind control as people often think, and it is likely that you have experienced a trance before. A trance can occur when you are doing a regular activity and your mind wanders off, like starring out of your window when it is raining.
What Happens During Hypnosis
As mentioned earlier, hypnosis can safely and naturally help you achieve your goals. When you are under hypnosis, your mind is relaxed, so it does not wander searching for new ideas. Therefore, it removes resistance by blocking out any distractions that often hinder you from embracing change.
Hypnosis makes it easy for you to bypass the critical conscious mind that usually makes you naturally analyze everything, that is why during hypnotic shows you see individuals who are often reserved do things on stage that they usually wouldn’t do. It helps you to finally have access to the unconscious mind, since you will not be distracted anymore. Therefore, you can focus on what you would like to change through making powerful suggestion that ensure the change is long lasting.
Your conscious mind is responsible for making decisions, evaluating thoughts, and putting ideas into action but your subconscious mind is responsible for thinking and doing all of the small significant stuff. For instance, you do not have to think or practice how to breath throughout the day, you just do. Therefore, during hypnosis, your conscious mind is subdued and calmed by the deep focusing and relaxation exercises, so that it is less active in the thinking process.
When your conscious mind is not actively thinking, you can effectively work with your subconscious mind directly. Your conscious mind will not have to filter through everything, so you may be more creative and freer to do things. It is worth noting that your subconscious mind has a conscience, its own ideas, and a survival instinct, so there are things it will not agree to do even under hypnosis.
3 Main Stages in Hypnotic Session
There are various methods of hypnosis but the one thing that stay constant is, the subject has to be willing to get hypnotized, believe they can be hypnotized, and be relaxed and comfortable. There are three main stages in a hypnotic session. Below are the three main stages:
1. Induction – Getting Attention
During the induction stage, you have to relax your mind and body. In order for you to enter a trance, you will have to be fully relaxed since it makes it easier. To achieve this, you will have to use a combination of deliberate and slow breathing, visualization and counting.
2. Making Changes
After being fully relaxed and focusing your attention inward, it will be easier for you to accept the hypnotist’s suggestions without any distractions. Their suggestions are often spoken aloud into your unconscious mind. For it work, your unconscious mind has to believe that these suggestions will be beneficial to you.
As mentioned earlier, your unconscious mind has its own consciousness. If it believes in the suggestions, it will easily accept them and from that point you will be able to reflect on these new changes and create the desired change in your life.
3. Exit – Get back from a Trance
The exit is the final stage when you come out of your state of trance and get back to your regular wakefulness state. This stage is usually dependent on the method of induction that was used, for instance, your hypnotist can count from one to five. After each number, they could offer you a suggestion that is supposed to help you come back, such as you feeling relaxed, refreshed, and fantastic.
It is worth noting that hypnosis cannot work against your will, that is why you need to be open to it before the hypnotist starts. You have to be motivated to make the change you would like to see for it to have results.
Uses of Hypnotherapy
Hypnosis can be used by a trained hypnotherapist or hypnotist, to induce a state of focused attention or intense concentration. The methods used may vary from each hypnotherapist. Often, hypnosis is used for various reasons, depending on a subject’s desire.
Hypnosis is used in Europe and the United States currently, to relieve multiple medical conditions and help people give up bad habits that could have a severe impact on their health. Hypnosis can be used in areas such as:
- Quitting smoking. Hypnosis is applied in hypnotherapy to help people that would like to quit smoking to quit, especially when it is paired with other forms of treatment.
- Irritable bowel syndrome. Although it has not yet been established if hypnosis can offer relief from IBS symptoms long-term, studies suggest that it relieves the symptoms short-term.
- Sleep disorders and insomnia. Hypnosis can help in managing sleep terror, nightmares and insomnia. It can also help with other disorders that are unusual like sleep walking. Self-control and relaxation suggestions are often used to address these.
- Clinical pain control. In cases of acute clinical pain, hypnosis may have an analgesic effect. Acute pain is pain that results from surgeries. Some studies suggest that hypnosis can also help with childbirth pain.
- Migraine. There is research that suggests hypnosis can be used to effectively treat tension headaches and migraines. This can make it a more desirable alternative since it does not have any side effects.
As long as you are working with a professional, hypnosis is a safer therapy option. Although hypnosis rarely has any risks or side effects some people may have mild side effects. This include situational anxiety, dizziness, drowsiness, and headache.
Some Powerful Suggestions Used in Hypnotherapy
There are exceptions to various rules in hypnotherapy since most hypnotists use different methods. Listed below are a couple of powerful suggestions that are used in hypnotherapy.
- Keep the suggestions simple and be more specific on the “what”
- For the suggestions to be effective, they must be in line with the subject’s beliefs and values.
- When making suggestions, make them with the expectation that they are going to be followed.
- Only make positive suggestions that suggest what you want.
- The suggestions have to be phrased in the present tense.
- You have to use and engage the power of imagination.
- Remember that repetition is hypnotic.
Apply Hypnotherapy by Yourself at Home
You can employ self-hypnosis at home since it is considered a short cut to help one boost self-confidence and achieve relaxation. The techniques used in self-hypnosis are simple. For instance, you can get your child to sleep without a fuss by reading them a book.
Self-hypnosis can also significantly help one reduce stress and open the mind up to a new thought process or idea, especially in the case where one is dealing with a problem like an addiction. There are various materials you can use to help guide you in self-hypnosis, but you need to ensure they are from trained and reputable hypnotist.
Have the idea you would like to plant in your subconscious before you begin, ensure that they are simple, positive, honest and genuine. It would help if you told someone nearby what you are doing, so in case of an emergency they can ‘wake you’.
Conclusion
Hypnosis has been around for several years and yet its mechanisms cannot quite be grasped or explained because it all lies in the brain. It is an effective and safe way to change bad habits and deep rooted issues in a fast and efficient way. Ensure that you work with a trained hypnotist, and if you decide to try self-hypnosis, make sure you have done thorough research.