What is Hypnosis?

While hypnosis is not a word we hear everyday, it is a word that many people seem to have a preconceived definition for. The most common thought is that hypnosis is an altered state of mind that brings the subject to a trance like state.

The rest of the definition not quite as well known is subject is vulnerable to suggestions in order to change their lives. When combined this is a correct assumption and a rather accurate description.

However hypnosis entails more than just the trance like state you see depicted in many movies and television shows, it is a deep and complicated relationship held between hypnotist and subject that comes complete with a desired set of goals to achieve.

Hypnosis is an altered state of mind. When a subject is under hypnosis they are much more responsive as they experience their inner world the subject’s thoughts and ideas become more vivid and actionable through the art of suggestion and language.

The responsiveness in a hypnotic trance is much more sensitive than that of a normal state of being; thoughts and suggestions presented by you, the hypnotist, will become part of your subject’s inner world creating a pallet for you to work with and mold into the desired outcome.

This is important to remember, because as you sharpen your skills as a hypnotist you will always be affecting your subject, everything that becomes a part of your clients inner world will eventually become a part of their outer world as they put your hypnotic suggestions into action.

Another thing that hypnosis is is a very natural way of being, it is not magical or strange, and in fact many people spend a large amount of their days in hypnotic trances, as you learn to entrance people you will start to notice those around you who are experiencing hypnotic trances in everyday life.

An example of an everyday experience that can often result in a hypnotic trance is driving. Many times we get behind the wheel and know where we started, and suddenly we are at our destination. We don’t recall how we got there or any of the events that happened along the drive, this is a hypnotic trance.

The rhythms we are used to, such as the feel of the car, can relax us to the point that our subconscious takes over and does the work for use while we, excuse the term as many like to call it, ‘zone out’. This may sound strange at first but when you really consider all the activities we do everyday we have been conditioned all through out our lives to enter hypnotic trances.

Have you ever watched a movie and later realized that the only thing in your mind and field of vision was a 15 inch screen, obviously you can see the rest of the room, people, cat and dog while focusing on the screen but the concentration and trance that is produced makes it seem as though the only thing that exists in the room is that little screen and the action it is producing.

Reading a book, we often get lost in the story and never realize what the ‘real world’ is doing around us. As you read you experience changing emotions, happiness, fear, suspense, sadness and tears. This interaction with the words and information being relayed to your mind alters your state of mind and becomes a hypnotic process in itself.

There is almost always the effect that the book you are reading will change either your mood, emotion, ideas and ultimately could change how you live your life, such is the objective of a hypnotist.

This emotional response is unconscious, the changing of your emotions, ideas and life, is one of the fundamental and guiding themes when learning hypnosis. You have no choice in your emotions, you do not get to choose how you feel about a thing, it is simply a conscious response by your unconscious mind as a reaction to the suggestions you are presenting to yourself.

Hypnosis can and usually will result from any repetitive task you enjoy engaging in. Runners experience runners high, they alter their mind and experience a trance like state while their body works they feel healthy and alive. Entering this altered state of mind is a form of self hypnotherapy which is a very powerful place to put yourself, and a powerful thing to be able to accomplish for yourself.

Clifford Mee is an author, hypnotist and wilderness explorer. You Can Learn Hypnosis with the latest Hypnosis Training & Hypnosis Cds at Conversational Hypnosis