what is hypnosis?

Hypnosis is a very natural state, one which we all go into at least twice every day. That moment just before we go to sleep and just after we wake, that sleepy feeling is in fact a trance. If we drive somewhere and suddenly wonder where the last 5 miles went, that is a form of trance. If we are engrossed in a book or a TV program and we don’t hear when someone speaks to us, that is a trance.

In fact we do spend a lot of our lives in a trance and it is a perfectly natural, normal phenomena. When we are in this state it is as if our conscious mind, that seeing, doing, thinking, rational part of us, is having a little sleep and is suspended for a time. During this time, the sub-conscious mind, that part of us which is emotional, habit-forming and protective, is more active and is also reactive and suggestible. This is why we can drive home and wonder how we got there. And also why we can hear a song on the radio in the morning and it plays in our head all day.

During the trance state, the mind will be open to suggestion. So while a person is in a hypnotic trance, a therapist can suggest better ways of living or suggest ways of overcoming habits, even suggest ways of overcoming physical pain or illness. The mind controls the body so if we can help the mind, then the mind can help the body.

It all sounds rather glib and simple and for the straightforward issues it really is as simple as this. For a more in-depth problem there are many techniques we can use and the process gets a little more complex. But I am the one to worry about that – you don’t have to!

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