They sat there like zombies as we walked past them, their eyes vacant, their bodies frozen in place.
Last night I continued my deep dive into the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, not imagining for a moment that the game between Edmonton and Las Vegas would end in such a bizarre and unexpected way.
It was an intense match, and as the third period wound down with the score tied, everyone assumed overtime was inevitable. That is how these games usually go. Hard-fought, tense, and often decided in those dramatic extra minutes that stretch nerves to the breaking point.
And then, with just four-tenths of a second remaining, Las Vegas scored. Just like that, it was over. Vegas had won.
But it was not the goal itself that stayed with me. It was the reaction of the Edmonton fans. They didn’t boo or argue or storm out. They just sat there. Stunned. Silent. As if someone had hit pause on the entire building. Their expressions were vacant, their bodies limp, their minds clearly still trying to catch up with what had just occurred.
That moment was a textbook example of a PGO spike in real time.
Whenever we are hit with something shocking, novel, or completely unexpected, a powerful neurological impulse surges through the brain. This burst of activity lights up the pons, the geniculate body, and the occiput.
That is the PGO spike.
It happens during moments of emotional shock or disorientation, and it essentially wipes the mental screen blank for a short time.
In those few critical seconds, sometimes up to a minute, we become extremely suggestible. Our conscious minds step aside, and we search for direction.
If someone gives us a simple, clear instruction during that window, we tend to follow it immediately and automatically. There is no inner debate or analysis. It is a natural trance state, and unless something specific fills the gap, we remain stunned until our higher brain functions come back online.
As one of my students, French psychiatrist Christophe, once said, the PGO spike clears the mind and opens it to suggestion. He was absolutely right. And if nothing comes in to fill that blank space, the person simply drifts in confusion. The system is on pause, waiting for a reboot.
That is what happened last night to those Oilers fans. They were not indifferent. They were not suppressing their disappointment. They simply had not come back yet.
It reminded me of something that happened to me a few years ago after a full day teaching my Architecture of Hypnosis course at the University of Toronto. I was riding the subway out of downtown during rush hour, completely exhausted but relaxed, when the train suddenly slammed to a halt.
The lights flickered. The air conditioning cut off. We were plunged into a strange kind of dim silence. There were no announcements. Just nothing.
A woman near me looked faint and panicked, so I helped her into a seat beside one of the emergency exits. In that kind of moment, a very specific part of me tends to show up. It is a cool, assertive, and resourceful ego state that I trust to run the show during emergencies. And sure enough, it took over.
I glanced into the subway car ahead and noticed it was slightly brighter. The front of the train had made it into a station, though the rest of us were still stuck in the tunnel. Still no updates or guidance.
Just more silence.
So I made the decision to take action. I moved toward the emergency door at the front of the car to lead people forward and get them out.
That is when a man blocked my way, visibly shaken. His eyes were wide, and his posture was tense. He raised his voice, almost shouting.
You cannot open that door, he said. That is only for emergencies.
I looked him in the eye and said calmly …
“This is an emergency.”
Then I turned to the others nearby and said, Follow me. We are getting out.
That was all it took.
About a dozen people responded immediately. No hesitation. They got up and moved with me, as though they had just been waiting for someone to tell them what to do. Their expressions were mostly blank, but their bodies followed my words.
As we made our way forward through the cars, I looked around. In the cars ahead of us, people remained seated, watching us walk by. Their faces showed no emotion. No curiosity.
They looked like mannequins. Still caught in that stunned trance, waiting for something to jolt them out of it.
Eventually we reached the end of the train and forced the last door open. We stepped out onto the Coxwell Station platform and made our way up to the street level. We had exited safely.
But as I looked back, I realized that most of the train’s passengers had not moved at all. They were still sitting there, suspended in that blank moment.
We later learned that someone on the train had experienced a medical emergency, and another passenger, in a panic, had tried to activate the alarm. Instead, they had mistakenly pulled the emergency brake, which locked the train in place and disrupted the systems.
But what stuck with me was not the technical issue. It was the frozen faces of those passengers. It was the eerie stillness. It was that unmistakable trance state.
And last night, I saw that exact same look on the faces of the Edmonton fans. You can probably find footage online. It is worth watching just for that moment.
So why am I telling you all of this?
Because it is something I have taught to police, first responders, and professionals across North America for years.
Shock creates a PGO spike in the brain and temporarily wipes the mind clean. When that happens, people instinctively seek structure and direction. They want someone to take the wheel, even for just a few seconds.
So if you find yourself in the presence of someone who is clearly startled, overwhelmed, or confused, give them clear and simple instructions.
Do not overtalk. Do not overthink. Just speak with calm certainty.
In that moment, you will be operating as a world-class hypnotist, using the person’s natural trance to help bring their conscious mind back online. You are stepping into the vacuum and filling it with clarity.
Because hypnosis is not just a technique. It is something that happens around us every day. You just need to know when it is happening and what to do about it.
- Mike Mandel
P.S. Our Brain Software Syndicate community is perfect for people who want to master communication, but not become certified hypnotists.