Bed-Wetting

Bed-wetting is also called nocturnal enuresis.  It is an involuntary urination. The person cannot control the urine or simply put, not even consciously aware that he needs to urine at that particular moment. This is a common occurrence and should be viewed as normal in a child development.

Bed-wetting commonly happens in children from age 5 to 7. Some may even continue it after 7.

What could be the cause?

1. A small bladder that could not hold a bigger capacity of urine.
2. Urinary Tract Infection.
3. Hormone imbalance or a lack of Anti-Diuretic hormone during sleep.
4. Link with stress and anxiety, such as being in an unfamiliar environment.
5. Family history – inherited gene.
6. Attention Deficit Disorder

It may cause several unpleasantness like the child feels embarrassed; having a foul smell; have to constantly change bedsheet; psychological impact on the child resulting in low self-esteem.

But bed-wetting can be treated. Some of the cures include:

–  Placing a bedwetting alarm.  This is a form of therapy where flexible wires are connected to alarm unit and on a pad place under the pant. When the child starts to have a first few urine drips out, it will detect and the alarm will sound to wake the child up so that he can go to the toilet to continue his urine. This is a conditioned response.

• A common treatment is the use of synthetic anti-diuretic hormone called desmopressin that controls urine at night.
• Motivate the child, explains to him the importance of hygiene and not to reprimand him.
• Bladder control – however this requires brain, nerves and muscle co-ordination

• evelop a bedtime routine of drinking less water at night and not taking water an hour before sleep.
• Wear a disposable absorbent underpants so as to avoid wetting the bed.
• Avoid intake of caffeine

In addition to the above, parents can get self-hypnosis tape to help the child overcome this problem. If they understand English and can follow instruction well, this would be an effective form of treatment.

The reason why bed-wetting occurs mostly in children is because children can easily enter into hypnosis (or the subconscious part of their mind). If they do not have a good training or awareness of going toilet when they feel like urinating, then it may be etched in their subconscious mind. Another reason could be they are too deeply asleep such that they are not consciously aware the need to wake up for urine.

Since it is a subconscious issue, the recommended way is to use a subconscious treatment. Hypnosis will relax your child, asks him to imagine being in a very relaxed setting and enjoying his favourite drink. He is thirsty and drinks a lot. After a while his bladder is bloated. He is suggested to go to toilet when he feels a need to urinate. This suggestion is planted in the child’s subconscious mind so that it can re-program and form an association between “need to urine” and “going to the toilet”.

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Small Lake Vs Big Ocean

How would you understand your mind?

One way of seeing it is that our conscious mind is comparable to a small lake while the subconscious mind is like a big ocean.

Like a small lake, the conscious mind is shallow and limited in its operating capacity. In contrast, the subconscious (big ocean) is deep and wide. What you may experience deep down the ocean is a sea of calmness and quietness.  This is where the real inner power of our mind resides.

To tap into these power, you have to go deep into it.

Automatic Vs Hypnotic Writing

In my earlier posts, I talked about Automatic Writing and Hypnotic Writing separately.

I shall put the difference here:

> Automatic Writing is a writing that comes automatically from a person under hypnosis. He may not even have a prior knowledge of the things he writes.

> Hypnotic Writing is writing done at wakeful state. It uses words and phrases to get readers’ attention, makes them want to keep reading on and even purchase the product or service offered.

Which Consciousness Is Better?

In general, we have two consciousness – the conscious and subconscious. Which one is better?

Well, one is not inferior or superior to another, because each plays an important part in our life.

Mentalism

The definition of Mentalism says it is a performing art in which the mentalists appear to demonstrate high mental or intuitive abilities. This includes claivoyant, mind control, hypnosis, telepathy, precognition etc.

I would disagree that hypnosis is classified as mentalism. This is because mentalism is the creation of false realities, to let tbe audience in awe, admiring the great abilities of the mentalist.

Hypnosis though is also stage performance with some entertainment values, it is however not false realities.  It is demonstratin of true mind power that resides in each person.

 

 

Stage Fright

Stage Fright

For people who need to stand on stage or in front of audiences, especially a big crowd, feeling fearful is a common reaction.

Some are able to overcome the fear while others may have to struggle with it.

If you are unable to overcome your stage fright issue, there is one good way you can use.

Use hypnosis – it goes direct to your subconscious mind without interference from your critical mind.

The result could be amazing!

Law Of Reversed Effect

The Law of Reversed Effect says that when you consciously try to get something (eg remember something), the more you cannot recall it.

Why is this so? To know the reason, we have to know how our subconscious mind works.  The subconscious mind works best when our mind is relaxed. 

In the memory example, it shows the conscious attempt to remember things very hard is only impeding the working of the unconscious mind. When you give up thinking, you are actually surrendering to your subconscious mind, letting it takes over the baton.

Then all of a sudden, you remember the thing.

Fall Asleep, How?

If a hypnotherapist conducts a hypnosis session and it so happens that the client falls asleep in the process? What would you do (if you are a hypnotherapist)? Panic? Of course not.

Simply let the client continues the sleep for a while. Most of the time the client either did not sleep well for the past few days or is too tired from work or the relaxation is effective enough to let him or her fall asleep.

It is okay! After some time of rest, use your hand to lightly push the client’s hand while asking him or her to wake up. Do some conditioning if you wish: now your eyes are opened and you are wide awake. You feel good and can go about your daily activities. You feel lively and energetic.

Metaphor Using Room

Hypnosis brings out positive responses

I have a metaphor for hypnosis, and that is using the rooms in your house.

Let us say there are 5 rooms in your house. It is at night and the whole house is dark because the lights are not switched on.

You now have a thought, and that thought belongs to say, room A. It is now light up.

Similarly, during hypnosis, your mind is closed to many other things (just like the lights of the rooms are off). The hypnotherapist suggests something and now the room that represents this thought is turned on. You can see it clearly. All other thoughts still exist. It is just that it is dark and you don’t see them. They have taken a backseat.

Inner Resources

Hypnosis is a means that help to uncover the abundant inner resources inside each person.

For instance, under normal circumstance, a person may be very clear and confident that he can lift up a pen to write something. But when put under hypnosis, and being suggested that his hand is so wezk that he is not able to lift the pen, he fails to lift it.

What does this says? It reveals the person has much more resources and power within him that his conscious mind may not even know. He can deny all he wants, but the power within him is still as real as day and night. It may be dormant most of the time until certain technique/ event/ circumstances bring tap or trigger it to make it active.

The Phrase “How To”

There are plenty of books being written on how to get things done. Examples, How to make quick bucks / How to clean your car / How to do a pizza / How to build rapport etc.

Though there are many such books, you can bet that many more will be published. Reason? Because there is a high demand.

People are basically too busy or have no clue how to get certain things done. They are always looking for the “How to” books or articles to help them cut short learning curves, save time and some headache. In an era where information changes at such a great speed, the more you can expect to see people turning to those who have updated information and are able to arrange them nicely for people’s convenience.

“How to” are hypnotic words.

Senses Used In Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy is a therapy using hypnosis. The process involves a hypnotherapist sitting beside her client to apply the induction procedure.

This form of hypnosis is mainly by voice, that is auditory. The therapist speaks and the client listens.

Hardly there is any touch or kinesthetic involved. There is also no visual since the client will be closing the eyes during the process. But there is “inner visual” using the mind to imagine something.

Some people are more inclined to visual, some to auditory and for some, kinesthetic. If their sensory are strong at Visual or Kinesthetic, it  does not mean hypnotherapy is not suitable for them. What the therapist could do is to speak clearly and slow down the talking pace so that his client can follow the pace and understand the words.

Subconscious’ Working

How does our subconscious mind works?

One way of looking at it is through metaphor: imagine there are a host of items in button format for your selection on your computer. But they are all grey out, until you point your cursor and click it will it then turn to bold.

Yes, our subconscious (ever at its randomness), select the “items” for us. Especially so for addiction or cravings like smoking. It automatically selects this item and surface it to our conscious mind.

With hypnosis, you are deliberately influencing your subconscious mind so that it selects the positive “items” for you.

Hypnosis Theory (Revisit)

Earlier I mentioned about the two theories of hypnosis – State Theory and Expectancy Theory.

The State Theory says that hypnosis is whereby a person enters into a state called trance through relaxation or other induced methods.

Expectancy Theory says that hypnosis is whereby a person, out of his expectation, enters into a hypnosis (if he expects to behave well in public so that he projects a good image, then he will co-operate with the hypnotist). He induces himself.

In other words, State Theory says other people induce you into hypnosis. Expectancy Theory says you induce yourself into hypnosis.  And there is a third theory which I shall name it Nature Theory. Nature Theory says you can be induced into hypnosis not by yourself or other person but by things around you.

 

 

Direct And Indirect Suggestions

Direct Suggestion is a direct form of suggestion to the hypnotized person, with him or her being aware of.

An example is “You are now going to close your eyes on the count of three.”

Indirect Suggestion is a suggestion made with the hypnotized person, with him or her being unaware of.

An example is “One is always feeling good when one is at a relaxed state.” In this statement, “One” is mentioned to refer to anyone and not directed at the person. Nevertheless, he will still feel himself as part of the “One”.

Hypnosis’ Awareness

People are becoming more aware of hypnosis, like what hypnosis is and what it can do to help for our well-being.

The old day’s mentality was gradually giving way to a better understanding.

The present hypnosis awareness is better than last time, but it is still not a fuller understanding. More work has to be put in by hypnotherapist and association to promulgate even greater understanding and awareness.

 

Does Tone Help?

The tone of a hypnotherapist can help in the hypnosis process.

Take for example in this statement “You are now going DEEPER into relaxation.”  The emphasis on the word “deeper”, spoke in a slow and stretched manner, helps to put the hypnotized person deeper into relaxation.

“When you see the colour GREEN, you automatically think of nature.” Here, the word “Green” is emphasised by a slightly louder tone. The tone emphasis gives the hypnotized person’s mind an alert so that he takes note of it.

Hypnotism Day

As in any important matters, a day is marked to celebrate an event that is of significance and remembrance for people.

Some events have no physical and national boundaries. They are supported and cherished by the world people or international communities.

A day is marked for hypnosis, known as Hypnotism Day. It is on the 4th January every year.

Unlimited Potential

Unleash Unlimited Potential

Our mind is really filled with unlimited potential. It is that powerful.

As Milton Erickson said “It is really amazing what people can do. Only they don’t know what they can do.”

Milton Erickson was a very outstanding hypnotherapist, these words came from him do carry some weights.

As you have seen in life that there are numerous unbelievable things being accomplished. But most people do not demonstrate their unlimited potential not because they lack of, but they don’t know what is it they want in life.

By setting and focusing on the goals (desire you have), you can unleash your inner power and achieve great things.

Change

Quote from Milton Erickson:

“Change will lead to insight more often than insight will lead to change.”

I agree with the statement. Very often people hope they can access the part of the higher mind to gain some insights. But this is something that is not easily achievable to most people.

A surer and easier way is through change. Change can include the change of your perspective – on how you look at things. By changing your perspective, you are expanding what is possible. When your context is enlarged, you have more newer information. And this is Insight.

Appreciation And Understanding

A quote from the famous hypnosis Pioneer, Milton Erickson:

“One’s appreciation of, and the understanding of the normal or usual is the requisite for any understanding of the abnormal and unusual.”

Based on this quote, I adapt it to:

“If one can understand and appreciate the brain’s structure and functions, and know the two minds – conscious and subconscious, he would have gained the fundamentals to hypnosis.”

Circumstances Not For Hypnosis

Circumstances Unsuitable For Hypnosis

A few circumstances are not appropriate to do hypnosis. They are:

• Under medication influence
• Intake Of alcohol
• Not feeling well, especially headache and drowsy
• In extreme emotional feeling such as very angry or very sad

Any Time For Hypnosis?

Is there a suitable time (timing) for hypnosis? Actually, there isn’t.

But it would be good if one can avoid the following time to do hypnotherapy:

a. When you just wake up (including after a short nap)

b. When you are about to fall asleep (short nap included)

The above are time when your mind is sleepy/drowsy.

Deep Hypnosis (continue..)

Deep hypnosis is normally reached through a long induction of about 20 mins. At this level, there is mental and body relaxation.

Broadly categorized, somnambulism is one of the deeper hypnosis level. But do you know that we seem to enter into this level of hypnosis naturally without the need to be induced?

Surely you have some experiences where you were looking for something and cannot find it, when it is just right in front of you! One level of somnambulism is that we can’t see something that is physically there.

Isn’t this peculiar? We enter into deep hypnosis when we are awake and not mentally or physically relaxed?

What is the possible explanation?

Overt Hypnosis

We have learned about Covert Hypnosis, which is a form of subconscious mind communication. It is done in normal conversation and the targetted person who is in conversation is not aware that he is being hypnotised.

Conversely, Overt Hypnosis is done openly whereby the hypnotised person is aware he is in hypnosis. He could tell from the body language of the hypnotising person.

The Risk Of Hypnosis

Hypnosis’ Risk

One risk of hypnosis is after emerging from the trance. The person may not have completely ‘recovered’ from the hypnotized state. If he drives his car back after the session while still in half daze, there is a possibility of a car accident.

It is like you just wake up after a night’s sleep, and goes right ahead to drive your car. Your mind is still in a drowsy state and is not able to focus well. That is the danger! Of course, accident may not necessarily occur as a result but it does increase the possibility of you getting into danger.

Deep Hypnosis

Can deep hypnosis be experienced naturally and does not necessarily have to be induced?

If you are curious, keep a lookout for the next post for the answer. At the meantime, I leave it to you to ponder.

Hypnosis Is Wide

I can tell you that if you were to ask people what is hypnosis in detail, most of them will only give you the few characteristics of hypnosis – trance like, relaxation, heightened awareness, focused attention etc.

Even trained hypnotherapists may not give you a more complete answer.  This is because hypnosis is too wide that to contain it within a few characteristics and descriptions is actually shortchanging it. 

Perhaps I will come up with a book on the definition, characteristics and concepts of hypnosis in the near future. The book will give a more complete answer (current hypnosis’ understanding by people are limited). When the time comes, I shall disclose it in this blog! Keep a lookout!

Hypnotic Writing

Hypnotic writing is writing filled with emotional words and phrases to capture readers’ attention.

It is often use by advertiser and marketer such as in copywriting to sell products or services.

Hypnotic Word

Words like FREE and ATTENTION are but two of the many words that can get people’s attention.

How You Can Benefit From Hypnosis

Hypnosis is an alternative medicine that can resolve an array of issues faced in life. It is one among a few disciplines that is adopted to resolve a wide range of issues. Though it is used for many issues, it is generally effective in the many areas applied to.

This includes:

a. Illnesses – insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, stop smoking….

b. Achieving goals  – Get good study grades…,

c. Performances  – Improve concentration, better memory….,

d. Sports – Better mental focus and discipline….

How Long Can Hypnosis Last

The lasting effect of hypnosis really depends on individual.

Some people can enter into hypnosis rather easily. Some upon entering will stay in this state for quite Long. Some will drift in and out of the conscious and subconscious minds at will.

There is no hard rule that says you must stay in hypnosis for a certain duration.

In hypnotherapy, the hypnotherapist will use long induction method to get the person enters into a trance and stays there longer so that suggestions can be carried out.

Stage hypnosis, in contrast, uses short or rapid induction.

The “Easy” Word

“Getting slim is easy if you follow this formula.”

”Easy payment through instalment.”

“5 Easy ways to save money.”

How do you react to the above statements?  They are in fact quite appealing to us. People always like something that gives them ease and convenience.

‘Easy’ is a hypnotic word.

Alcohol Addiction

Many people like to drink alcohol. It is okay to consume in moderation at times. However, getting addicted to it could be a serious problem. Alcohol does not really benefit our body.

But it is easier said than done if you intend to quit alcohol drinking.

I would definitely advise people to try hypnotherapy or if you are a private person and do not wish to reveal your medical condition to others, try using self-hypnosis CD on quitting alcohol addiction. You can play it a few times and after some time you should see the result.

Double Bind

Double Bind is used by sales person as well as in hypnosis. It is basically stating that there are 2 outcomes (by assuming that the person would prefer either one).

Example could be:

“Would you rather have the windows facing the garden or the sea?”

”Would you like to pay by cheque or credit card?”

Statements worded in this manner assumes the other party wants it. It is ‘either’ or ‘or’. Things that fall outside these choices are not included. It gives people as few choices as possible so as to make them come to a decision.

Miss Your Station

Have you ever taken a train with some friends.  You were chatting happily for a short while and then you look up at the train signal – OMG! You have missed the station.

You thought you were in the conversation for only a short while but in reality, an hour could have passed. This is a result of you being too immersed in the chats that it makes the time flies.

This time distortion is an aspect of hypnosis. It happens to us commonly.

Try Answer This

Attempt to see if you know which of the following is hypnosis:

1.  You are half sleeping on a bench in a peaceful garden. When you open your eyes, you saw a big ferocious dog in front of you.

2. You are strolling in the garden and you happen to see the lady carrying a baby girl walking in front of you accidentally drop a napkin. You walk up and pick it up for her.

Answer will not be provided.  You are encouraged to drop in the comment your choice of answer.

 

When Does Hypnosis Begin?

Hypnosis is a natural state of mind.  It began since civilization started.

Beginning Of Hypnosis

1111

As I write this blog post, it is on 11 Nov 18.  This is a special day for the world, especially the asian.  This date is dedicated as “singles day”.

What would single person do on this day? In fact, it is not confined to only single person but anyone else who has a shopping spirit on this day will go into a shopping spree. They will buy in a frenzy.

A special day is a form of hypnosis.  It triggers people to think or act in a certain way when they see/hear about it.

Fear Of Height?

Do you fear height?

Some people are afraid of height.  Their fear could be either born with or acquired.

Whether it is born or learned, it can be addressed. Try hypnotherapy or use self-hypnosis tape. Your fear will be eliminated and replaced by powerful suggestions so that you can live a life of no longer phobia of height.

Is Trance Required?

To get into hypnosis, trance state is not necessarily required.

If you understand that hypnosis is about the automatic responses from our unconscious mind, you will understand that even in wakeful moments, you can still be hypnotized.

Embedded Command

Embedded Command is a command being embedded into a sentence or question that do not come across as telling a person to do something. It is used not in a forceful manner but in a gentle and subtle way. Yet, it carries a command to the person. 

The following are two examples:

”As you become more relaxed, you will become more opened to my words.”

“You will become more opened” is an embedded command.

”As you listen to my words, you are getting ready to accept my suggestions.”

”Getting ready to accept my suggestions” is an embedded command.

“All of you, step up for good!”

Here, you do not feel pressured to do what is being told because the “All of you” refer to everyone in the audience. It does not say only you step up.

“You have seen how I work. You probably feel confident with me handling this issue for you. Do you wish me to represent you…”

The words “seen how I work”, “feel confident”, “represent you” are embedded commands. Is there any pressure tactics used? Definitely not! The statement is a fact and it is also logical that you accept it.

Next – I wonder!

One Medicine Cannot Cure All

We cannot assume that one type of medicine when taken, can definitely cure everyone with that same illness.  This is a wrong thinking.

The reason is because there are a few different body types or constitutions existing. Which body type will affect how your body response to the medicine.  Coupled with the other factors like your belief and mood, the medicine would turn out to be ineffective to one person but totally effective for another.

The same applies to hypnotherapy and any other type of therapeutic methods.

Certificate

If you have been to any clinics, including general practitioner, psychotherapist and hypnotherapist, you would notice most offices display their profession certificates.

Though not a must, I find that the display of certificates give clients a dose of confidence in the doctor or therapist. It also shows the authencity of the doctor or therapist.

Hide-and-Seek

There is a game called hide-and-seek whereby you close your eyes, turn 10 rounds (while you are turning, the other players go into hiding). Upon the 10th turn, you open your eyes and start to ‘hunt’ for the players.

What is in your mind when you are turning? Most likely it is blank. The dizziness sent you into trance state. Your logical mind cannot think and you enter into a subconscious mode.

When the subconscious takes control, you are said to be in hypnosis.

Fractionation

Fractionation means getting a person into trance state, emerge him and again put him in trance state. It may be done a few rounds. The objective is to put the hypnotized person into a deeper trance.

Have you been awaken by alarm clock before? You sleepily open your eyes, look at the time, turn off the alarm and return back to sleep. You felt so sleepy that you don’t wish to wake up. This is fractionation.

The difference is one is deliberately induced by a hypnotist while the other occurs naturally.

Aversion Therapy

Aversion therapy is a form of association that gets the person to negatively associate with the things they want to get rid of, especially a bad habit.

Take for instance a person wants to rid smoking. Aversion therapy can use negative association like “the cigarette has a disgusting smell” or “putting the cigarette in your mouth is like putting _______(the thing that the person dislikes eating eg. chillie) into your mouth.

The association of negative emotion to the things you want to eliminate creates pain in your brain, which is totally relevant as it makes you want to avoid that thing.

Hypno Drama

Hypno Drama requires a skillful hypnotherapist to conduct. It is a process where the hypnotized person is brought back in timeline to a time where an incident occurred (usually a traumatic experience). The person is then told to re-live the experience. The hypnotherapist will give close guidance in an attempt to change how the person perceived the incident so that she can then handle it differently.

Since recalling or reliving the sad experience can cause emotional outburst, this process is best be conducted by an expert with many years of age regression experience.

The ‘Thank You’ Phrase

Words Can Trigger Emotions

You might already know that words can trigger our emotions. The phrase ‘thank you’ is one such powerful words that can make people feel appreciated.

Even a mechanical ‘thank you’ is better than none. I believe you know what I mean. When you go to a shop to buy things, how would you feel if the counter staff does not say ‘thank you’, especially when you spent quite a lot there? Not very satisfied, right?

A simple ‘thank you’ can make you feel good.  That is the power of words. It can make our days.

Deepener

In hypnosis, there is a term called “deepener”.

As the word suggested, it is about deepening.  It is a process of deepening the person in trance state.

One example could be:

Imagine you are at the beach lying down on the soft sand relaxing. The tide that comes on shore washes your body. With each washes, you will feel relaxed and more relaxed.

With each relaxation, you are deepening yourself into trance.

Unexpectedly…

Have you ever come across a time where you did not give any prior thoughts to that event or activity? Of course you have.

”You are a cat lover. One day on your way home, you saw a cat stuck in the big drain. Your first impulse is to rescue it.’

”You went tour in a country and unfortunately that place has an earthquake. It is very sudden. What is your first response? Run to a safe place or find some shelters to hide under.”

In above two scenarios, do you stop to think to make a decision? No, you don’t. They called for an immediate unconscious response.

Such response is hypnosis.

Count Down

One induction method that is rather common is the use of countdown.

You may begin with the number, say 100. Imagine you are going into a deep basement and there are staircase leading you downwards.

With each step you take, your number decreases, from 100, 99, 98, 97..,,,,all the way to 1.

Each step enhances your relaxation so much so that when you are close to 1, you feel so relaxed and comfortable that you are in hypnosis state.

Outside The Question

Have you ever experienced being in a conversation that you find so warm and hearty that you are totally engrossed in it. And all of a sudden, your conversation friend changes the topic and says in a serious and loud tone “stand up”? You may not have an exact experience of such but you could have some similar version.

Your brain is confused and you could not continue the conversation.

This experience of suddenly changing a topic gets that person’s mind blank.

It becomes a hypnosis experience.

The Way To Mastery

If you want to master something, what process do you think you need to go through?

If it is a completely new area, your mind is probably blank or confused at first while diving into the pool of data.  But after some time, you get yourself organised and is able to proceed with greater ease.

Through more data plunging and thinking, you get better and better, And you would reach mastery through even more practice and repetition.

When you are at that confused state of learning, not sure which direction to take, you are in the hypnosis state. You have to pass through this stage to gain your mastery.  There is no shortcut.

Breathe Into Hypnosis

Breathing is one way to get us into a relaxed state of mind and body.

From a wakeful state of mind, we can shift into a relaxed mode by a few deep breath. When your muscles begin to loosen up, breathing slows down, heart rate decreases, mind becomes calm, you have reached hypnosis.

Stuck In Hypnosis?

Some people believe that you can get stuck in hypnosis. Is this true?

Well, it is obviously false. How can you be trapped in a natural state?  You could possibly be trapped momentarily but will soon return back to normal. 

Just like when you are having a nightmare, you may feel trapped for a moment but would soon be released from your nightmare. You cannot be stuck forever.

Daily Routine

What do people do when they woke up? Brush teeth, have a bath, read newspaper…..

Do you have to deliberately think in order to do these things? Hardly.

It is because it has become habits. And habits reside in our subconscious mind. It is an automatic response.

Routine is a form of hypnosis.

Hypnosis Images

By now you know that words are powerful tool used in hypnosis. What about images?

Image is equally powerful, if not more powerful than words. That is why you can see in hypnosis script that you imagine a certain thing eg, seeing yourself confident in a situation.

One powerful image around us is national flag. When we see national flag, we automatically feel proud and patriotic (unless you hate your country)!

Colour

Colour can be a form of hypnosis.

This is because it means something to us.  The colour Red means danger to one person but is auspicious to another. The colour Green almost has a universal representation. It means greenery and peacefulness. The colour White mostly represents purity to people.

What the colour means to you will be stored in your mind and when you see it again, it automatically  triggers you to think or feel a certain way.

 

Walking Hypnosis

“Did you write correctly, is it waking?” 

Well, it is correct. I am talking about walking hypnosis.

Many people are in such situations, especially in today’s society.  Do you see people walking and immersing themselves in handphone? What about solely listening to favourite music? Their thoughts are absorbed in the task at hand, though they are still aware of the environment.

This is walking hypnosis.

Standing Hypnosis

Most people think that hypnosis must be conducted when a person is lying on a recliner or bed. Or at least, be seated comfortably on a chair. This is a limited understanding.

A person can simply enter into a trance state when standing.

Have you ever stand in front of a bush of flowers and see the butterfly hanging around them? You marvel at nature at that point of time, and your mind is not filled with other thoughts.

Or have you stand in the bus or train and half-sleeping? Your mind is drowsy and you don’t really think of anything else.

These are instances of standing hypnosis.

The Use Of ‘AS’

The word ‘as’ is very relevant in hypnosis. Read the following statements:

“As you walk into the spacious room, you feel instant freedom.”

”As you continue counting the number, you feel more relaxed.”

”As you become relaxed, you feel peaceful.”

The reason it is effective is because it is a continuing process. When the person hears ‘as’, her mind will give attention to it and see what happens next.

In any therapy, your objective is to get the client’s attention. Otherwise, it will not be effective.

Not Much Analysis

Hypnosis Does Not Analyse Much

One characteristics of hypnotherapy is that it does not analyse much on the client.

Many therapy or consultation place emphasis on getting as many information as they can from their clients and try to analyse them.

It is not that analysis is no good, it has its importance. However, this is the compartment of our left brain.

To get more effective results, we need to use the right brain as well, which is a portal to our subconscious mind. There is less obstruction as most defenses come from our left brain.

Image Of Authority

Hypnotherapists should have a certain image, especially that of authority.  Actually this is basic. If you are seeing a doctor, you expect to see one that is friendly yet composed and project an image of authority, the go-to guy.

There are a few ways to enhance the authority image.  One way is to put on a doctor’s uniform.  Wearing a spectacle that is darker in colour would also help to make you look more mature and serious.

 

Bed vs Recliner

For hypnotherapists, majority of them would have a recliner to conduct hypnosis for their clients.

Compare to bed, recliner is a better choice because bed is too flat and it may be too comfortable for the client and lull them to fall asleep. Recliner is not totally flat but tilt at certain degree.  At a certain angle, it is between normal sitting on a chair and flat lying on the bed.

Besides, if the clinic uses a bed for therapy, client may get the impression that they are in hospital lying on a flat bed.

Recliner can serve as a normal chair when not in use for hypnosis session too.

The Things You Love

Everybody surely has something that they are deeply passionate about. Some love painting, some love music, some love dancing, some love helping people.

What actually happened when you are doing the things you love? It could be:

– it is so much easier to do

– you become more productive

– time passes fast

– your adrenaline is flowing and you find yourself feeling energetic

Doing the things you love send you into a state of focus and concentration. This state is called hypnosis.

Pattern Interruption

 

When a person is sad about something and she comes to you to pour out her emotions, what do you think she expects to hear from you? The answer is the usual “I understand”, “Please don’t cry”, “It will be Okay” etc.

What if while she is expressing her emotions, instead of comforting, you say in a bit of harsh tone “Stop! Stand up and get a wash on your face.”

It will literally interrupt her emotional pattern. Her thought will stop. She will enter into hypnosis.

Note: This technique is best used by psychology or related experts as they know how to handle this kind of situation, because if not done properly, it will be backfired.

Carry Heavy Things

If you have carried something heavy by yourself, whether It is a piece of furniture, bags of food, pail of water or others, what is your mind thinking at that point of time?

Most of us will only be concerned about the weight, the heaviness of the object or feeling the muscle pain. During the carry process, you hardly will entertain thoughts like admiring the beautiful surrounding, thinking of what clothes to wear later or what you are going to eat for lunch or even whistling to enjoy yourself. All these become much lesser in priority during the process.

This is focused attention on one particular thing.  It is hypnosis.

The Small Print

Generally, in agreements and contracts, they contain many clauses and small prints. Most people do not and will not go to the extend of scrutinizing the details.

This is due to our conscious mind wanting to avoid being overwhelmed. In some occasions, they may read the clause but would only give up halfway through.  Why is that so? They back up because their mind is confused!

Our brain works in such a way that when it is met with confusion, the first tendency is to escape from it. That is why the conscious mind escapes and the subconscious mind automatically takes over.  It does not need to be told to do so. 

This is hypnosis.

Stories

Some hypnotherapists use stories to communicate with their client’s subconscious mind.

Stories are a good way to communicate with a person as it is indirect and is non-intrusive.  As you know, sometime people do not like to be told to do things, they just want to have their own way of thinking.

The “tortoise and the hare” is a story that can bring across the messages of being confident with oneself, perseverance and focus. It is good for people who are not determined or lack direction in life or lack self confidence.

Art Or Science

Is hypnosis an art or science?

Hypnosis is both an art and a science.  An art because it requires techniques to lead a person from an eye open wakeful state to a eye closed sleepy trance state.

It is a science as it involves the study and understanding of the brain, the mind and human psychology as well as our behaviours.

Hypnosis is both an Art and Science

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Enter Into Hypnosis

Entering into hypnosis is no hard work. Anyone can easily enter into hypnosis. The challenge is how you see hypnosis.

If you have an overview of hypnosis that it involves the conscious and unconscious mind, and know that there are many hypnosis levels, then you can understand why entering into hypnosis is easy.

Most people are not clear about hypnosis.  What they have in mind is about stage hypnotist that demonstrates the hypnotist is actually the one possessing the power.

 

Group Mentality

Is it easier to influence an individual or a group?

The answer is group.  Reason being people’s IQ tend to drop when in a group as compared to when they are alone.

Most people’s mind will take a backseat when in a group because they prefer to let one or two people to do the talking and leading. They prefer to just listen passively and follow those who are more active.

When we don’t think much, what happen is we are letting our subconscious mind to lead us.  Isn’t this hypnosis?

Engage

Some people say hypnotherapy does not involve much active participation on the part of the hypnotized person.

This may be correct since the person just need to relax and follow the hypnotherapist’s instructions.

However, it does engage the hypnotized person in some ways. For instance,  the person has to use his imagination to think of something, eg. feeling relaxed lying on the beach.

Also, the focused attention on a certain thing is an engagement of the mind. 

A Comparison

Is there any difference between the approaches of hypnosis and any other related disciplines? Let us take a look:

Psychotherapy – work on conscious mind

Counselling – conscious mind

NLP – conscious mind

Meditation – subconscious mind

Reiki – subconscious mind

Hypnosis – conscious and subconscious mind

Direct Eye Contact

Direct eye contact is said to be a polite way in personal grooming.  This is because it is not good manner to look somewhere else when a person talks to you.

However, most people are not comfortable with long period of direct eye contact.

The reason is simple.  They are afraid that they will lose themselves.  Why?  This is because the longer you look into the eyes of another person (or even animals), the more you are absorbed into it).  Yes, this is hypnosis.  When you are absorbed in it, what will happen is you are actually stepping back from your conscious mind into your subconscious mind.  You may have difficulty thinking straight.

Sales Copywriting

You may have come across some sales copywriting on the internet.  They are usually long but are definitely able to hold readers’ attention. Why is this so?

It is because they use words that has hypnosis in nature or put it another way, words that can trigger, impact and influence people.

Some of these words are:

Announcing       Instantly       Hurry      Free       I will not tell you      Beautifully    Percentage (eg. 90% cured)

Black Friday

Have you heard of Black Friday?  Well, it is not associated with some evil activity.  It is the day where people all over the world (especially the western) buy things like crazy.  It is a one-days crazy shopping spree.

Do you think this is a form of hypnosis?  I shall let you think about it.

What Is The Price?

To attend a session of hypnosis, it may cost an average of $150.  You need not have to attend a lot of the sessions.  On average, a 4 to 6 sessions would be able to see the results.

If you calculate, it just costs you $900 for a 6-session to get your problem addressed. Isn’t that a wise investment?

If you want cheaper than that, try hypnosis CD. For ideal result, combine the hypnotherapy session with self-hypnosis CD.

Power Words

Remember a time where you felt so relaxed and were so comfortable that as if you were in paradise. As you recall, your body becomes relaxed, so very relaxed that you felt limp and loose like a piece of cloth. Because you relax, you feel more and more calm and because you feel calm, you feel in control.

The above paragraph has used a number of power words. Do you know which are the ones?  Make a guess.  Answer is below.

Answer:

remember, as if, as, like a piece of cloth, because

Repetition

One key characteristics of hypnosis script is repetition.

Many words are repeated, such as a single word like ‘always’. Words that are synonymous in meaning are also being used. Eg. Calm, relax, tranquil.

The objective is to enhance the compounding effect to add strength to the suggestions. It is sort of like mantra, you repeat them constantly to get the desired effect.

Hypnosis Script

If you do notice, hypnosis script generally uses long sentences. There is a reason to this. It is meant to ‘overcrowd’ our conscious mind so that it gives up and let the subconscious mind takes over.

In event that the sentences used are not long, but you will notice the sentences tend to link one to another smoothly like a flowing stream. This is made so that your mind is kept engaging in it and has little time to notice other things.

Negativity

What would you do if you found that your mind has more negative things than positive?

One way is to use positive words to counter them. You can enhanced it by imagining positive outcomes as well.  Work with words and your imagination to bring more light into the mind to dominate the negative thoughts.

Negative things exist in our mind or our life for a reason.  It is not at all that bad.  Unless you like the experience of negativity, then you need to change your thoughts to change your world.

Left or Right Brain

Our brain can be divided into two hemispheres, the left and the right.

Most people would say a person is left-brain or right-brain. But this does not mean the person is using only one side of her brain. It means the person’s dominant use of the brain is left or right.

If you are the freedom type who like to imagine and dislike a lot of thinking and planning, you are more of the right-brain type. And those who tend to talk more and whose language expression is good can be classified as left-brain.

But again, it may not be accurate by just observing a certain aspect of what the person tends to do. To be more accurate, we need to consider more aspects.

Unlearn and Learn

Pick up new and positive thoughts

We are hypnotized by the society.  We have learnt through all those conditioning, whether it is good or bad for us.

Since you know now that some attitude, behaviour, mentality and actions we currently have are learned through friends, relatives, school, at work etc, you can unlearn them and learn those positive things that benefit you.

Unless you are satisfied with all that about who you are, if not, you should start unlearning them and then pick up new thoughts.

Good Hypnosis Blogs

If you wish to know more about hypnosis, you may try this website:

https://blog.feedspot.com/hypnosis_blogs/

It features TOP 100 hypnosis blogs. They contain blog posts, feeds, articles and video.

Law Of Attraction

One universal law that operates for our mind is the Law of Attraction.

The law says what thought you hold dominantly in your mind will be manifested as reality.

If you entertain negative thoughts, you get negative things. Likewise, immerse yourself in positive and empowering thoughts and you get positive things in your life.

It works on the principle of like attracts like. Hypnotherapy is one way to help people build up positive thoughts so as to get more of the like thoughts.

Conditioning

All our life, we are subject to mind conditioning. We are conditioned to do certain things and not do other things. Eg. “Do not talk so loudly” and “You must listen to what I said”.

Such conditioning is like mind programming. It is just a different choice of word.

Similarly, you can say mind conditioning and mind programming are hypnosis. We are being hypnotized by ourselves and our environment all along.

Different Interpretation

Human mind interprets things differently

We have one brain but divided into 2 hemispheres, the left and the right.  Though they work together, sometime there could be conflict.

This is because each brain has its own functions and has different languaging system.

For eg your left brain that is logical knows you need to do thing this way but you end up doing it another way. The right brain sees things differently and thus surface to you another way.

The side that has a more dominant thought wins.

Stage Hypnosis Takeaway

Though stage hypnosis is portrayed as a form of entertainment, it is real.

There could be a few takeaways from stage hypnosis:

•  Not everyone can be hypnotized as seen in the selection process by the hypnotist.
•  You can literally enter into hypnosis within seconds.
• The immense power of our mind to perform something quite extraordinary.

Proper Hypnosis

To administer the right procedure for hypnosis is important, these include:

a.   A longer time for the induction, preferably 20 mins.

b.   To emerge the subject properly upon the completion.

c.   To avoid using authoritative words that client feel uncomfortable with eg. you must do….

NLP

NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming. It consists of mind programming techniques.

Hypnosis is also a form of mind programming.

NLP is used more on a conscious level while hypnosis puts the person in a trance state. Both aim at helping people achieve goals, improve performance, eliminate bad habits, get rid of phobia etc.

How We Look At Things

See Things Differently

How we look at things determine how we response and feel mentally, physically and emotionally.

This is an aspect similar during hypnosis.  Our mind when in hypnosis, is no longer focusing on the problem but more so on the positive suggestions instructed by the hypnotherapist.

When you change how you look at things, you get a different outcome.

Focus On The Hypnotist

There is a saying that the hypnotist has the power and ability to resolve challenges faced by his client.   Understanding this, when a client visits a hypnotherapy clinic, she trusts and believes that the hypnotist has the professional knowledge to help her with her issue.

Because of the trust on the hypnotist, the client focuses her attention on what the hypnotist says and excludes everything else. Such focused or narrowed attention is what produces the desired effect for the client who undergoes the hypnosis.

Healing

Our mind is imbued with healing power that automatically heals, say, an emotional wound. But the healing may take a while as it is a natural curative process.

Some people use hypnosis as a way to accelerate the healing. Hypnosis is about tapping into the subconscious mind by giving relevant suggestions to speed up the healing process. It is by no accident why it can be effective.

Turning Inward

During hypnosis, our attention is turned inward. What is happening around us is still happening but our attention is not on those occurrences.

There is a saying “if you do not go within, you go without.” Going within ourselves is a must if we want to remain sane and balanced.

Eyes

Very often, hypnosis is conducted with the hypnotized person’s eyes closed.

It may be good to have eyes closed so that we can reduce the environmental distractions. But it is not mandatory.

Sometime hypnosis occurs when our eyes are open, like during car driving or daydreaming.

Not Brainwashing

Brainwashing is about a person or group giving people some ideas in attempt to change their value, belief and thoughts towards what the brainwasher wishes to accomplish.

This is unethical but rather commonplace.

Hypnosis has sometimes be misunderstood as brainwashing people. 

Hypnosis is ethical and its aim is to help people attain what they want eg. eliminate a bad habit like nail biting. It is based on the consent of the hypnotized person rather than forcing the person do what he does not want to. There is no change in the person’s value, belief and thoughts before and after hypnosis.

Phobia

Everyone has something they are afraid of

Having a phobia? Fear not.

Almost everyone has phobia of something.  Things that people are afraid of include snake, lizard, cockroach, elevator, dog, being alone in a small room space, height etc. The list is plenty.

If you are scared of something, chances are you will be continually afraid of it. It is rather tough to overcome it.

One solution is to seek therapist to help you eliminate the phobia. Visit a hypnotherapist or consult one first.

Not Conscious, Then Subconscious

If you are not in your conscious mind, then you are in your subconscious mind. There is no other way.

Our mind is always “floating” in and out of these two areas. Our brain is designed as such because we need to give our conscious mind a rest at intervals. Otherwise it will have information overload and we will be out of our mind.

Why Hypnosis Is / Will Be Popular?

Hypnosis is getting popular among people.

Hypnosis will be popular in the near future.

Reason?  Because hypnosis is associated to mystery.  And mystery is always a subject that is sought by people.  This is probably due to how our brain is wired. We love mystery.

The fascinating mind is always looking for answers to satisfy. Unless you could easily solve the subconscious mind, if not, hypnosis being a mystery is always a fact.

The Hypnotist And The Hypnotized

Who is the hypnotist and who is the hypnotized?

If you go by professional thinking, hypnotist is the one who is trained and certified to do hypnosis and the hypnotized is his client (the layman).

If you go by a wider overview, then each person is both the hypnotist and the hypnotized.

Why?

I am not giving the answer here….if you are keen, please write in your view in the comment.

Improve Concentration

If you are a student or parents having children in school, then you know that concentration is important.

To sit down and study require concentration.  With concentration, then you can study easily and remember the facts easily.

But not everyone has good concentration.  How then can we study for success?  Here comes hypnosis.  Remember that hypnosis itself is a form of high concentration? It can help students to concentrate their studies for better academic performance. 

Conscious Control

What happen when you know you should refrain from eating sweet things but you still end up eating?

Your conscious mind, being logical, knows what to do but end up defeated by the subconscious mind.  Which mind, then, is stronger?

The subconscious is more powerful than the conscious mind. But as human being, we are given the conscious mind to exercise control over the subconscious mind. By conscious control, I do not mean only to deliberately resist and fight the habitual pattern, You probably know this usually don’t give you much success.

Consciously think of a way to break habitual pattern, such as seeking help from hypnotherapist.  This is conscious control.

Group Test

One good method which hypnotist used to find out if a person is a good subject for hypnosis is the use of hand clasp exercise.

Simply ask the group to take a few deep breath and follow the instruction. They are to clasp their hand tightly together while you give suggestion that when they try to pull apart, they can’t do so because the hands stick like glue.

There will be people who break away the hand clasp despite the suggestions. These people do not make good candidate for hypnosis.

Disruption

There is one induction method that causes disruption to the mind. It is the handshake technique.

Instead of the normal handshake that is polite and with good intention and manner, this technique is by pulling the person’s hand forward with a handshake. It disrupts a person’s train of thoughts.

As this technique causes a bit of body imbalance, do not anyhow use it for safety reason.

Distraction

Have you ever be distracted, either by yourself or others?

For instance, you are attending a meeting and halfway through, your eyes are caught by a painting on the wall. The picture is something you are familiar with and it sets you  thinking about a past. When your boss asks you a question, you did not hear it.

This is rather common form of hypnosis in daily life.

Be-Do-Have Paradigm

As mentioned before, there are several ways to tap into our subconscious mind.

One way is the Be-Do-Have method.  Basically our self-image is a strong pull factor that can give rise to the relevant actions and behaviours.

For instance, if you see yourself as a leader, your behaviour and action will centre around motivation talk, books and seminar, also positive talk and good traits like showing good example.

Living In A Hypnotized World

We are living in a hypnotized world.  There are so many things that can affect our brain and get us into a trance state.

A book can hypnotized you.  Loud noise can hypnotized you.  Soothing sound can hypnotized you.  Words can hypnotized you.  Daydream is a form of hypnosis.   Boredom can let you into a state of hypnosis.  Music can send us into hypnosis.

And plenty more……

What Determines Hypnotizability?

Not everyone can be hypnotized. There are a few factors affecting hynotizability .  These are:

a.   Belief

b.   Expectation

c.   Willingness

d.   Co-operation

e.   Imagination

If you have a combination of these, you are a likely candidate for hypnosis.

 

One Finding

There are many research and finding done to hypnosis.

One important finding is the decrease of brain activity on the region that is called Dorsal Anterior Cingulate. This is the part of our brain that controls self-awareness by integrating our emotion, cognitive and sensory input.

It is known that in hypnosis, a person though being aware of its surrounding environment, is not aware of certain bodily reactions.  One example is being told to bark like a dog.  Even a reticent person can do this without fear of embarassment in the public, when in hypnosis.

Hypnosis & Subconscious

We have known about our subconscious mind and its power.  We also knew a few ways to tap into this power.

Hypnosis is one such method that helps us to uncover the limitless potential of our subconscious mind.

Snap Of Finger

One way a hypnotist used to hypnotize people is by snapping a finger. When the finger is snapped after saying some words, the person immediately closes his eyes and gets into a trance.

Why is that so?  The reason lies on:

The words of instruction by the hypnotist – The subject wants to be co-operative and simply follows the hypnotist’s instruction without fail.

The snap of finger is a cue for the subject to go into a trance.

It is more of a “want to co-operate” mentality that makes it works.

It Is The Thought

Why can a hypnotized person overcome pain? What about amnesia – forget a number for instance? Exhibit some behaviours that is inhibited when the person is at wakeful state?

The answer lies in our thought – the thought that our mind sends to other parts of the body. It does not matter whether it is during wakeful state or trance state. When we are conscious, the thought we have (say we cannot remember the number 5) will allow us to deliberately control and forget that number. When in hypnosis, whether you intend to forget number 5 or not, it does not matter. Your subconscious is much more powerful. It can override your conscious intention and response to the hypnotist suggestions.

 

 

Don’t Take It Lightly

Although it has been said that we experience hypnosis on a daily basis and it is a natural occurrence, please do not practise hypnosis on another person if you are not qualified to do so.

Hypnosis can occur at many levels. To put it simply, it could be a light, intermediate or deep hypnosis. Only certified hypnotherapist can attempt to hypnotize people because the attempt is usually that of the intermediate or deep level hypnosis.

Complexity Of Hypnosis

Hypnosis is complex, this is for sure. Scientists are curious in studying and knowing more about hypnosis but the progress made is still very small.

The basic reason is because we do not really know much of our left brain, right brain, levels of consciousness and human psychology.

The time when we can say that we knew these fields with conviction, we can then say we knew about hypnosis.

Social Pressure

In stage hypnosis, you could see people spontaneously response to the hypnotist’s suggestions.

One school of explanation is the need to comply because of social pressure.  The hypnotized subject when on stage, realize that he is under the watch of so many people. Subconsciously, he knew he has to behave and perform well to show his best side to the audience.

As such, he co-operates with the hypnotist.

One Side Effect

Like everything else, there are 2 sides to a coin. There just isn’t any perfection in anything. So, hypnosis is the same.

One side effect of hypnosis could be regression. Regression is used in hypnosis to bring a person back in timeline to maybe the childhood time. Some people have unpleasant memory in the past and has too much emotional garbage attached to this particular memory.  

If the person undergoes hypnosis and is regressed to the time of the bad experience, it may unleash inside her and brought back to the present time.  That person may then suffer from distress simply because her bad memory was “digged up” again after so many years of suppression.

This side effect could be overcome if you have an experienced hypnotherapist doing the hypnosis.

Finding A Hypnotherapist

If you have some ideas about hypnosis and wish to look for a hypnotherapist to help you with your issue, such as insomnia or weight loss, the following are some guidelines:

a.   A certified hypnotherapist from recognized authority eg. National Guild of Hypnosis.

b.  Have at least a few years of practising experience.

c.  Has the patience to listen to your issue.

d.   Do not coerce you to keep returning back to the clinic for your main issue or some other issue that he says you need to attend to.

e.   A good environment – suitable temperature, quiet, comfortable recliner.

 

Why Hypnosis Work?

Hypnosis works because it is based on our mind and body own internal healing.  Our mind is powerful enough to send healing thoughts to the body to recuperate or resolve certain challenges.

Hypnosis is a method that people can use to activate this inner power hidden in each person’s mind.  It is just like a car and a car key.  Your mind is the car that has all the functions in place (like the steering wheel, engine, windscreen, seat belt, handbrake etc). But the car won’t move until you insert the car key and ignite it.  The same can be said of using hypnosis as a car key to ignite our mind’s power (to move the car).

Does Hypnosis Work?

Hypnosis works.  A more accurate way to look at it is that hypnosis works most of the time for most people.  It is not some perfect miracle.  Therefore, there bound to be people who do not find hypnosis work for them.

As in anything, some people will not be able to positively react to certain medication, certain doctor, certain environment, certain therapy method etc.

The key is to find out what is working FOR you and benefiting you, then continue using it.

Breathing

Breathing is a useful tool to calm our mind and body and get us into real relaxation.

Relaxation is hypnosis in a way.

Again, it depends how you see hypnosis. If you see it as a therapy, relaxation is only half the equation because you need suggestions as well to effect changes in the person in order to resolve his issue.

Is There A Forever Hypnosis?

Well, that depends on how you define hypnosis. If you think along the line of our consciousnesss level, then hypnosis could be forever.

Hypnosis can occur at Alpha, Theta or Delta level. When a person falls into coma, he most probably entered into Theta or Delta level. He could still hear if  you speak to him.

If you define hypnosis as a therapeutic approach, then it cannot be forever. Even if you were to fall asleep during hypnosis, you will still wake up again.

Sound Hypnosis

Apart from words and images, hypnosis can be induced through sound.

Relaxing sound like the sound of nature is a good form of hypnosis tool. It can relax our mind and body fast. When we are at the relaxation state, we have entered into hypnosis.

Hypnosis Without Words

In my earlier post, I mention about words being an essential tool to induce hypnosis. Though essential, it is not the only way.

Hypnosis can be induced without words or verbal communication. By simply letting a person look at an image, such as a restful and calm beach, it can relax the person to a trance state.

Is Hypnosis A Persuasion?

First, let us take a look at the meaning of Persuasion – The action or process of persuading someone or being persuaded to do or believe something (synonym includes coercion, inducement, urging etc).

You could easily find that the internet is filled with websites that have very long sales copy writing that is deliberately designed to persuade people to buy their products. They use persuasive words like “limited stock last”, “discount for now only”, and paint rosy images if you were to own them and make you feel bad if you miss them now.

Yes, in a way, hypnosis is a form of persuasion. However, it is only one of the many aspects. You have to look at the context to determine it. For instance, when used in a therapy setting, it is not persuasion but positive suggestions.

Living In The Moment

One definition of Hypnosis is: a state of relaxed focus.

The hypnotized person is basically absorbed in a task or focus on one thing in particular and seems to be excluding everything else.  As such, we can call this “Living in the moment’.  

As our brain is subject to many external stimuli as well as our own internal thoughts flowing in and our, there are just too many things going on around us for us to pay attention to. Hypnosis is one way for us to get to be living in the moment.

Relax Is Fast

You have heard of this phrase “Slow is Fast”. What it means is sometimes we need to slow down in order to reach our goal faster. Being too hasty may hinder our progress in achieving what we want.

I adopt a new phrase out of “Slow is Fast”, which is “Relax is Fast”.

You do not need me to tell you how important is relaxation to us.  It is how our body is designed to operate – to relax or rest and not to keep moving forward.

One very good way to relax yourself is through hypnosis.  The key element of hypnosis is to get you to relax.  It is a relaxation for power.

Acceptance

Acceptance is a sure sign that you are moving in the right direction. 

If a person has illness, the first thing he needs to do is simply to accept it. Why accept, you may ask.  The reason is because only when you accept, then you are making inner peace with yourself.  And then you would be willing to look at it face-to-face and take whatever necessary action to deal with it.

Hypnotherapy is a method using hypnosis to help people with certain illness or problems such as insomnia, overweight, fear and phobia.

As mentioned earlier, if you don’t accept the illness, you would have simply given up any hope to cure your illness – for instance, using hypnotherapy.

What Does Hypnosis Reveal?

One fact that I am certain of about hypnosis – It reveals to us that we have a mind that is very powerful.  Its potential is unlimited.

If we based on studies about our conscious mind, it may still bring us some amazing results. But in comparison with our subconscious, it pales in comparison.

The power of our subconscious mind brought on through hypnosis gives us a glimpse of what our mind is capable of. For example, if we were to immerse our hand in cold icy water, we would withdraw our hand after a few second. But under hypnosis, this is not the case. The person is able to withstand the coldness under the suggestions by the hypnotist.

The key is you must know the technique of hypnosis (and be trained well first!)

Our Ego

Our Ego is what gives us unique individual identity. It is our self.

Ego keeps us alive and in-check.  It directs you to think and act in a certain manner. In a way, it protects us.  It makes us desire for more and better life.

However, too much ego will not be good for us also. It blocks us from doing certain things. Hypnosis is able to put ego out of the way to do those certain things. Things such as acting in a dramatic manner which, in your usual self, you will  not do it.

It Is The Subconscious

Since the earliest of time, people were already aware of the power of the subconscious mind. 

Take for instance, the Sleep Temple was a healing sanctuary for people with mental and physical problem.  They were put in a trance state and before they proceed to fall asleep, the physician would make appropriate suggestions to them so that when they fall asleep, the gods will visit them and do the healing on them.

In reality, the gods are their belief. It is what they believe that activate their powerful subconscious mind to react positively to their illness.

Long Distance Hypnosis

Some people agree that hypnosis can be conducted in long distance mode, such as over telephone or face-to-face video call. Some don’t.

My view is that long distance hypnosis is possible. This is because the ‘magic’ of hypnosis does not lie in the hypnotist but the hypnotized person.

As Long as during the hypnosis process (like the one conducted in a therapy room), the person follows the instruction and relax, suggestions from the hypnotist will still take effect in the hypnotized person. It is the hypnotized person’s response to the suggestions that makes the kong distance hypnosis possible.

Eliminate Of Bad Habits

When we do something over a period of time, we don’t need to think about it next time we do the activity. It becomes automatic. This is what we called habitual pattern.

The habits and addictions that we have are stored in our subconscious mind. To eliminate them, we cannot use the conscious effort like Willpower. We need the subconscious mind to influence and affect the stored habits to make real and lasting change.

Since it is stored in the subconscious mind, the best approach is to influence the subconscious to get the desired results.

Conscious And Subconscious Mind

As you know, our mind is divided into Conscious and Subconscious.

But we could have mistaken that both are working independently. This is not true.

Both our minds work together. The conscious mind does the thinking and rationalizing and then the data seep into the subconscious mind. Similarly, when we make a decision, the subconscious mind surfaces the facts and data for the conscious’ mind references. They are always working hand-in-hand.

Like Search Engine

Our subconscious mind has one function which is to recall memory or data.

In this regards, it is comparable to a computer database and search engine. The difference is the capacity of a computer search engine may be limited in information, however, our subconscious mind has unlimited data and information. It has the entire universe’s information.

You can recall every single moment of your life or even find insights and solutions to every problem encountered.

It is literally that powerful. So, make good use of it.

Learn Hypnosis

Hypnosis can be learnt quite easily. The best approach is through practice.

However, if you want to be proficient in it, then you got to take up a professional course and get certified.  It is the same as learning anything. You could do self-learning and understand the concept, but to apply the theory, you need a coach or instructor to guide you through.

Especially for hypnosis, which is about altered consciousness, caution is still required when applying it.

The “Imagine” Word

The word “imagine” is a hypnotic word.  It does not let the person’s resistant kicks in so easily.

Because to imagine something, it does not cost the person anything.  Also, if what is imagined is something positive, it acts on the “feel good” effect in that person.

That is why some sales persons like to use the word “imagine”.  It gives their buyer more hope for a better life through their imagination. Usually they can get a positive outcome from the use of this word.

Simple Way To Understand Hypnosis

To understand hypnosis in a simple way, just note that when we start to use less of our conscious mind and more of our subconscious mind, we are entering into hypnosis.

Sharing

It is good to share your thoughts or experience of hypnosis with people.

What you think about hypnosis may not be accurate, especially if you are not trained in this field, nevertheless it provides people who studied hypnosis another perspective of hypnosis.

Hypnosis is very wide and is hard to understand it completely, at least your sharing provides a basis for learning and possibilities.

Conditioning

We are constantly being conditioned by people around us – our parents, teachers, friends, employers etc.

The question is are we being conditioned negatively or positively? If it is positive, like “you can do it”, it is good for us. If negative, as in “you are beyond hope”, and you believe it, it will spiral you downwards.

Beware of negative conditioning because it is also a form of hypnosis.

Words

Words are the most basic tool in human’s communication. Unless you are an advanced being and need no verbal communication, words are still an essential form of communication tool.

What words you use and how you use them affect the power and quality of the message.

That is why in hypnosis, words are truly essential. It also helps to bring on people’s imagination, which is an important success element in hypnosis.

Relationship

What kind of relationship do you want to have with your mind? Of course, a good and healthy one.

To do that, we need to nurture our conscious mind ie. what we put in. This is because it is the source for the subconscious data/information.

The subconscious mind, if flooded with positiveness, will most likely extract positive information and surfaced to you.

 

Change Your Future

As quoted from one of the pioneer of hypnosis, Milton Erickson “People don’t come to therapy to change their past, but their future.”

How aptly this quote is. When we seek any form of therapy or see a doctor, we expect to have a good health from there on.  People intuitively understand that what is past is past and there is probably nothing much that can be done.  But the future is hopeful and full of potential.

Quotes

I believed you are familiar with quotes. Below are two:

“Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.”

“I love those who can smile in trouble.”

Quotes are used as a deep structure hypnosis.  By ‘deep structure’, it means going deep into the subconscious mind level.

Don’t you feel that what is being said in the quote is as if implying you.  Although indirectly, our mind will take it as if the person is speaking directly to just one person – you.

Meditation

When people meditate, they usually enter into a consciousness level between alpha (drowsiness) and Theta (light sleep).

A person also enters to somewhere this level during hypnosis.

The two therapy methods have some commonalities.  They are both a subconscious activity.  The conscious mind’s activity is being reduced significantly. There is a focused attention of the mind.  The body and mind are relaxed.

Suggestibility

Suggestibility is a term used in hypnosis to describe how suggestible a person is. In other words, how a person responses to a suggestion.

For example, a hypnotist may ask the person to swing his right hand forward in a big round.  

Some people respond by swinging the hand backwards. Some may swing in a smaller circle. Some swing the left hand instead of right.  Some may not do so as instructed. 

Suggestibility is a means for the hypnotist to gauge a person’s ability to co-operate and follow instruction.

 

Hypnotize To De-Hypnotize

People who undergo hypnosis (to hypnotize) are actually de-hypnotizing themselves. This is because we have been conditioned for various habits and behaviours since young.

For instance, some people hypnotize themselves to stay quiet in a social setting because they ‘learned’ it since young that it is not polite or appropriate to talk much. As a result of such conditioning, it landed them an introvert and quiet person.

When they go to a hypnotherapist to get their anti-social behaviour cured, they are de-hypnotizing from their anti-social habits.

Susceptibility

In hypnosis, the term ‘susceptibility’ means how easily a person can be hypnotized. 

How easily to be hypnotized has to do with our consciousness/ movement.  As it is known that we move in and out of our consciousness on a constant basis. Some people stay in a consciousness longer while some move in and out easily.

A person who has no difficulty getting to a state of drowsiness / mind tune out of conscious activity can enter into a trance or hypnosis fast.

Reactions In Hypnosis

Different people will have different bodily reactions and feelings to hypnosis.

Some may feel light while some feel heavy.  

Some have a feeling of almost like they are sleeping while others are more alert and awake.

Some can relax easily while others take more time to relax.

Some have open mind and accept the suggestions readily while others resist.

Can A Person Hypnotize Himself?

Yes, a person can hypnotize himself.

In hypnosis process, the hypnotist appears to be hypnotizing his subject. But in reality, if without the cooperation from the subject, the hypnotist will find it difficult to put the person into a trance.

So, in short, it is the person being hypnotized who does not resist the words of the hypnotist that makes the process possible.