Before I tell you about hypnosis, let’s get a few common myths out of the way.
Hypnosis is not a cure-all, or a magical power. It isn’t going to make you a millionaire or let you ‘cast spells’ to make women fall madly in love with you. It’s not an exact science, however it is an art.
The state of Hypnosis is a natural state of mind we as humans go through several times a day. The most common type of hypnosis is in the morning when you are just starting to wake up and you have not opened you eyes yet. You are just so comfortable and becoming aware of sounds and other senses. You are aware of them but just do not want to be bothered with them. This is what is called the hypnoidal point and is hypnosis.
Other times you may experience hypnosis is when driving down the freeway and day dreaming, sometimes called “zoning out”. Then suddenly you realize that you have passed your exit. This is commonly referred to as Highway Hypnosis, you were perfectly safe as your subconscious mind took over the driving and your conscious mind took a break.
Hypnosis itself is simply the relaxation of the conscious mind so that it does not filter out and analyze suggestion made to the subconscious mind.
Can I Be Made To Do Something I Do Not Want To Do?
A Hypnotist does not posses some strange power. Hypnosis itself is a cooperative process and you must be willing to be hypnotized and follow the suggestions of the Hypnotist. If the Hypnotist makes a suggestion that do not agree with your ethics, morals or beliefs, one of three things will occur. First you might simply ignore the suggestion, second you might emerge yourself from trance or thirdly you may emerge from trance and be very angry.
Many people have gotten incorrect perceptions of hypnosis from Stage Hypnosis Shows where people on stage do all sorts of outrageous things. You must remember that each of these people volunteered to be on stage. At some place inside them, they have wanted to be the center of attention. Following the suggestions of the Hypnotist on stage is their way of getting that attention. You may have also noticed how some of the people do not perform all the skits in a show, sometimes just sitting there doing nothing even though the Hypnotist has suggested they participate. This is because for some reason that particular skit did not agree with their belief system and they simply ignored the suggestions.
What If I Can Not Be Hypnotized?
As I showed above, all humans experience hypnosis each and every day even though they are not aware of it. Although a very small percentage of people for what ever reason can not focus and relax to enter this natural state of mind in some settings. If you are able to focus, relax and follow simple instructions then you can easily be hypnotized. The most common reason someone can not enter a hypnotic trance is fear of one of these myths.
What If I Do Not Wake Up or Get Stuck In Hypnosis?
This is impossible. Over the last two centuries of recorded study of hypnosis there is not a single documented case of this happening. If you stop following the Hypnotist voice you are going to emerge from trance shortly or go to sleep and take a short nap until you are fully rested.
At some Stage Hypnosis shows there are occasionally people who do not emerge from trance right away. This is usually because they have not been this fully relax before and are truly enjoying the experience and do not want it to end. Also some of these people, usually kids, do not emerge because they want to further be the center of attention and not emerging is their way of getting that attention.
Summary
As you can see Hypnosis is a natural state of mind and the Hypnotist is only guiding you into that natural state of mind. There is nothing at all to fear from hypnosis.