Are you here to find out What is Hypnosis and How does it work? You have no idea what is the big deal about Hypnosis.? Then you have landed on the right page.

My first expression about Hypnosis, just as many of you was the visualization of the swinging pendulum. I also believed that someone will control my mind while I am under Hypnosis and make me do funny things. I am glad to have found that I was wrong and I am happy to share all the factual insights.

What is Hypnosis? and How Does it Work?

The aim is to clear all your myths about Hypnosis and understand what Hypnosis does? Understand the conscious and the unconscious mind.

The Conscious and the Unconscious Mind: What is Hypnosis?

Hypnosis is a natural state of mind. We have one brain one mind but it has two characteristics or functions. Conscious Mind and the Subconscious Mind. Let’s use the common metaphor to represent the mind. The ICEBERG concept. What you see on top, or the surface of the water is 5%-10% of the Iceberg. What you see in the bottom is 90%-95% of the Iceberg. The 5-10% is your Conscious Mind and the 90-95% is your Subconscious mind.

In general, both these characteristics/functions of the mind are in constant conflict. But in Hypnosis what happens is the conflict stops. Both characteristics of the mind i.e., Conscious and Subconscious mind works in harmony towards the same goal. So what Hypnosis does is, it calms your conscious mind and it lets our conscious mind take a back seat from all the multitasking and the chaos that is happening around us. On its own, Hypnosis cannot bring about a lot of change other than enhancing relaxation.

How does Hypnosis Work?

Two major things happen in your mind when in Hypnosis.

Focused Concentration

Bypass the Conscious Critical Faculty. (CCF)

1) Focused Concentration: Focused Concentration is mainly to narrow your attention. Narrow your attention from the outside world, work, family to something more inward like breathing, body scanning. This is essential to keep your conscious mind busy.

2) Bypass the Conscious Critical Faculty (CCF): Conscious Critical Faculty is like a filter or a retractable wall between the Conscious and the Subconscious mind. In the normal state, it’s standing up and erect filtering the information. Once the conscious mind is busy scanning the body and focusing on breathing and starts to relax the filter starts to go down making it easy to reach the subconscious mind. This is bypassing the Conscious Critical Faculty. To be honest we keep going on and off hypnosis a number of times during the day. while driving, while reading, while watching television, etc. Continue to read further to relate more.

Who can be Hypnotized?

If you remember I said Hypnosis is a NATURAL state of mind. What it means is that even while you are reading this Hypnosis resources you are hypnotized. You are so focused that you don’t notice the messages popping on your phone unless it is urgent. Another example that everyone can relate to is while watching a romantic movie and crying when the lover dies or watching a scary movie and getting startled when the monster shows up, even though you consciously know that it is a movie and you are at the cinema.

Why does this happen? This happens because you are so focused on the activity (Focused concentration) and the conscious critical faculty is at rest (bypassing the CCF) allowing information to go to the subconscious. So, for example, while watching the movie your subconscious accepts this movie and its character as a real character. Another relatable example would be being on a road trip. How many times you have found yourself on a beautiful road trip and have lost track of time and the next thing you know you are parking your car. If you could relate to a few or most of the above scenarios, then congratulation you have been Hypnotized before and you can easily accept Hypnosis. As all Hypnosis is Self-Hypnosis.

Myths about Hypnosis:

It’s time to clear the first myth about hypnosis, that someone will control my mind or I will be “under” hypnosis. What we see on TV about stage hypnotist is true but it’s because you believe that he has the power and you are awed by his tricks just like magic and just like that it becomes easy for the hypnotist to manipulate you in doing something that you didn’t want to do.

In the stage, Hypnosis subjects get hypnotized because they want to impress the Hypnotist and go with the flow or due to peer pressure of the other subjects that are with them. The people around, the confusion that has been created, all the attention and the manipulation involved and boom your hypnotized next thing you know you are speaking another language or surrendering your belongings. Hypnosis will not and cannot MAKE you do things that you genuinely would NOT WANT to do. And you cannot be “under” Hypnosis. It is instead, a natural state of mind.

Time to clear myth number 2: The information that you might have read in a dictionary or the Greek meaning Hypnos=Sleep. Well, now you understand that Hypnosis is not SLEEP however, it may appear that way. It is just an altered state of consciousness. You are not semi-conscious or unconscious either. In fact, you are highly receptive in this state. Remember your subconscious mind is always there to protect you.

(That’s how you wake up from the deep slumber hearing a fire alarm because it is telling you to run)