Hypnosis – Some General Information

At an “hypnosis evening” I met a woman who was interested in hypnosis, and just wanted to learn more about it. I asked if she’d like to contribute an article on hypnosis to my site, and she agreed, so here it is. It makes some good points, for example it mentions that really everybody is hypnotizable, contrary to what is still believed by many people. Read for yourself:

I find this subject of Hypnosis very interesting. I might not be an expert; however, I think anyone’s opinion matters. I remember at our prom we had the hypnotist come for entertainment purposes and picked about five people and made them do silly things once they were under and once they woke up. This is not necessarily how a hypnotist might want to be recognized.

I think that that relaxing the mind and making yourself subjected to different situations when you are not in control of yourself can tend to be dangerous, yet, necessary at times. What do I mean by necessary? There are times when your mind blocks out things that you might not even realize are affecting your everyday life.

There has been research that abuse can cause the repression of memories and sometimes with therapy and hypnosis it can be brought up in a safe environment and revealed so that the person can deal with their memories and make their lives better for themselves having been able to deal with the issue whatever it might be. Hypnosis can also assist in trying to remember an event of a tragic situation such as a car accident.

Hypnosis is brought in to see if the person can recall certain events that happened at that time while in a relaxed state and free of the fear or block they might have when they are awake. I have read other studies done that might be able to prove or disprove the theory that hypnosis can work for quitting smoking or overeating.

So why does it work with some people and not with others?

Is it something psychological with that person?

If they don’t believe it can be done – will their unconscious mind just not allow for them to be hypnotized?

It was thought that many years ago that not all people could not be hypnotized, however, with more methods and the technology we have today available, it has been found that if you have not suffered brain damage and can sleep and dream, being hypnotized is possible.

Can you really self-hypnotize?

Hypnosis is considered a skill and you can become better with it in time. There are several steps you would need to follow in order to give this a try. You would want to do this at a time when you won’t be disturbed by others and in a quiet environment that you can concentrate in.

Relaxation would be the first step. You would just tense up the major muscle groups one at a time and then release them. Don’t rush when doing this step it is important. Next you want to move to a deepening procedure where about you are going into the hypnotic state.

If you are doing this for the first time don’t expect to “feel” hypnotized. It might be something that takes a few weeks or months to learn or it might happen the first time you try it. Once you reach this point you want to continue on to making your suggestion while being under hypnosis. You want to use the form or “I” and say something like “ I will make better decisions about my money.”

You want to suggest to yourself whatever you want to. This can take a few sessions while others will notice an immediate result. It is pretty easy to just be completed with the hypnosis by ending the session with making yourself aware you are fully awake and counting to three to come back to a more conscious state.

This is very similar to meditation and I have tried it and it is a very good relaxing technique as well.