What is Hypnosis?

If you believed half the things you see in films or on TV you’d probably think it was some sinister form of mind control involving men with staring eyes and swinging watches, some clever trick perhaps that someone plays on some innocent victim but that it isn’t true at all. Hypnosis is a normal state of the mind, it just describes a time when the conscious, which is keyed into the everyday world around us, takes a break and a different part of the mind, the unconscious, takes over. In this state our imagination kicks in just as it does when we day-dream or are absorbed in reading a book, visualising what the characters look like.

Generally, as you’re being hypnotised you will have your eyes closed and be reclining or sitting in a comfortable position with your feet up. You might feel very relaxed and calm, but then again, just because you’re not feeling relaxed, does not mean you’re not hypnotised. Some people remain tense, others, like children, often twitch and shift around while they’re under hypnosis.

You might find you experience certain physical sensations while you’re under hypnosis. Some people find their limbs feel unaccountably heavy or at the other extreme very light, like they’re about to float away. Some get the disjointed feeling that they’re not sure if they’re limbs are where they left them. A few people will register a “pins and needles” type tingling sensation. Nearly everyone experiences time differently while they’re under hypnosis and are surprised how long they were lying there having a lovely, relaxed break. Scientific researchers have observed that most people’s brain wave cycle will slow down when they’re hypnotised and the electrical resistance of the skin surface will fall by 20%. So, in that context, hypnosis is an altered physical as well as mental state.

As for who can be hypnotised, the answer is pretty much anyone over the age of seven, who isn’t under the influence of drink or drugs, or suffers from very low concentration ability. It isn’t the therapist who can hypnotise anyone against their will. At some level everyone who is hypnotised is choosing to be so and is collaborating in achieving that state. A prominent hypnosis practitioner, Jay Haley, said “I can only hypnotise you by you hypnotising yourself; I can only help you by you helping yourself”. So, if your expectation is that the person in front of you is able to hypnotise you then you are already most of the way to being hypnotised. On the other hand, if you’re convinced no one is strong enough to hypnotise you and you’re going to resist that person every step of the way, hypnotherapy is probably not for you!

A good hypnotherapist will relax you in such a way that you feel free from any tension and any external interference, to the point where you have nothing else to focus on but yourself. Our lives are so hectic and busy that we rarely, if ever, make time just to sit down and check in with ourselves. In fact, many of us stay busy so we won’t have to think about ourselves at all. Take part in a hypnotherapy session, however, and it will create the sort of precious ‘you’ time which allows so much positive transformation to take place and much quicker than in normal talking therapies.

If you have any further queries about hypnosis please don’t hesitate to call me on 07760 996043, or email me at emma@malvernhypnotherapy.com