We've all heard of hypnosis but what exactly is it and what does it do?
Most people are aware that those under hypnosis are in some kind of trance-like state but do you know that we all slip into this hypnotic trance several times a day!
You don't believe me? Okay. Have you ever been sitting at work then suddenly realise that you have been reading the same word for the last 5 minutes? You aren't quite sure what happened, you just "zoned out". This is just like a hypnotic trance, in fact this is a hypnotic trance.
I'd like you to try and remember the last time this happened to you. Do you remember the background noise? I'm betting that it just melted away, or it sounded like you were underwater?
You see the hypnotic trance isn't like being asleep as most people think. It's the exact opposite in fact. It's a heightened state of awareness. What happens is that you become so focused on one particular thing that your conscious mind just can't cope with everything.
The brain is made up of two parts that work side by side. The part that we are most aware of is your conscious mind This part of your brain deals with all the everyday stuff like logic, reasoning and understanding. The second part is the unconscious or sub- conscious mind This part deals with all the primal stuff like breathing and memories.
As you grow up you have more and more information to deal with. When your conscious mind has made the same decision several times it begins to seep through to your unconscious mind. Eventually your sub- conscious mind begins to control things like instincts and personality. After a while all your moral decisions are made by your unconscious mind.
The two parts of your brain start to take on distinct roles. Your conscious mind becomes the adult and deals with all the serious decisions and rationalising. While your unconscious mind which is used less but has a longer memory becomes childlike and deals with imagination and dreams.
Your conscious mind works on a million different things at once. When you drift into this hyper-aware state your conscious mind goes into over-load and to cope he drafts in his buddy, the unpredictable unconscious mind.
Now this is the interesting bit. Since the conscious mind likes to take control all the time the unconscious mind is still a bit naive to the ways of the world. The unconscious mind believes everything it hears. It hasn't had the chance to become cynical like the conscious mind Good hypnotists can take advantage of this opening. They can use the unconscious mind gullibility to re-write some of the brain's basic programing.
When the conscious mind is distracted by your hyper-aware state a hypnotist can go in and talk directly to the unconsciousness. They can convince the mind that phobia's are less scary, they can increase confidence, or lower inhibitions. Anything the unconscious mind can imagine it can be encouraged to create.
Now just because the unconsciousness is easily suggestible doesn't make it an idiot. Even this part of the brain isn't going to think that it's a good idea to try and fly from the top of a skyscraper. The survival instinct kicks in. It's the same when you suggest something that is against the person's moral code. The unconscious mind thinks, "Wait a minute, I'm out of my depth here." and calls the conscious mind back in to deal with it. Which usually results in the person quickly coming out of their trance.
Your suggestions need to be practical and obtainable. It may even take a few attempts to over write the years of programing that you already have in place but it's much easier then dealing with the conscious mind directly. You will find much less resistance when you get the sub-consciousness involved.
