Did you know you've experienced hypnosis before and without even knowing it?
That's because hypnosis is all around you. You do not necessarily have to work with a skilled hypnotist to be hypnotized. You’ll see what we mean….
Hypnosis and trance are, in our view, identical. We interchange the two words with reckless abandon. This may irritate some hypnotists who suggest that “hypnosis” happens between a client and a hypnotist, but “trance” happens naturally.
We disagree. It’s all natural. Differentiating between hypnosis and trance is like saying that breakfast is a meal made by a professional cook, but if you make your own breakfast, It’s something else entirely.
You do not have to understand how hypnosis works in order for it to be effective. You can be experiencing trance as you read this blog. After all, there are people in trance all around you.
Since hypnosis is such a naturally occurring phenomena, one wonders why there is so much controversy surrounding this topic. A plant doesn’t need to understand how photosynthesis works in order to grow and bloom. It just happens, naturally - like hypnosis.
Have you ever gotten glassy eyed while watching your favorite show, to the exclusion of everything and everyone around you?
Something similar occurs when you’re focused intently on a sporting match like the Olympic Games or the World Cup. Depending on the team that you support you could experience an ecstatic state or absolute despair as your emotions play an important role in bringing about these extreme states.
A great book can cause trance, too. You get lost in the pages of the narrative and lose all sense of time and purpose whilst reading.
Another common form of hypnosis is what is commonly called ‘highway hypnosis’. You experience time distortion while driving and have no idea how you got from point A to point B. Your brain went on auto pilot and your muscle memory kicked in, to enable you to drive, while your mind indulged in daydreams.
We always teach hypnotists to calibrate their subjects. That just means to notice changes from their baseline (waking) behaviour. Guess what? You can also calibrate a person watching television. You can watch for trance indicators like a shift in their breathing, muscle relaxation, a change in blink reflex and even non-responsiveness towards others in the room.
Click here to understand External Trance Indicators (ETI's) and how to spot them.
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Have you ever called a child to the dinner table only to get no response because little Johnny has his head buried in TikTok? That’s hypnosis.
If you understand the true benefits of trance states, then you can actually harness those states to bring about amazing changes in your life through self hypnosis as well.
Another great example of a naturally occurring trance is when you are dreaming during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. You create vivid imagery in your mind as you sleep and suspend disbelief with no awareness that it is not real. Somewhat akin to a person being hypnotized on stage by a hypnotist (Read: How To Enjoy Lucid Dreaming).
In fact the catalepsy (deliberate halting moments) that occurs during hypnosis experienced in a therapeutic setting, also occurs while dreaming. The imagination is an amazing thing! We go on all kinds of adventures in our sleep, yet we remain stationary and asleep.
We don’t physically carry out what we imagine. Sleep wouldn’t be restful if we were busy fighting aliens or chopping down trees in a forest! The brain shuts down movement during sleep to keep us safe.
Think of dreams like a kind of trance. Hypnotists can help people change by creating similar trance states.
Now that you know that hypnosis is all around you, ask yourself: what will you begin to pay attention to and what will you notice?
What's Next?
When you are ready to continue your journey toward becoming world-class hypnotist, we'd recommend starting a 100% free Test Drive of the Mike Mandel Hypnosis Academy. It's the easiest way to get started learning hypnosis.
Click here to start DOING hypnosis today.
