Hypnosis Explained
So have you ever experienced Hypnosis? Think back over the last 24 hours….
When you woke up this morning, do you remember that half-awake half-asleep feeling? On that commute to work, perhaps you drifted into auto-pilot and as you were driving along? Perhaps your mind drifted to the things you had to do.
You could be forgiven for thinking that you were daydreaming. Tonight, just as you drift off to sleep you are very likely to experience that same half-awake half-asleep feeling. Every one of those experiences could be given the name Hypnosis.
Hypnosis is a natural state we all experience many times throughout the day. It is as much part of our lives as breathing. The idea of being under the control of another or being unconscious is far from the truth of Hypnosis.
The name itself hasn’t helped, I suppose. James Braid borrowed from the Greek word Hypnos, meaning sleep, but realising that the state is far from being asleep, he wanted to change the name to Monoidism; a tunnelling or focusing the mind. It was too late and the name had caught on and we are stuck with it.
Focused Relaxation with Heightened Awareness
Most people experience a state of relaxation with heightened awareness. I always reassure my clients that they will, of course, hear everything I say to them. They will remember everything and it feels very ordinary and pleasant. Focused relaxation is a good way of thinking about it.
A client once said to me it was the closest they had been to being asleep, without actually being asleep. People are surprised to find that they can still hear what is going on around them and should they have wanted to, they could have easily opened their eyes. There was never a situation where one was out of control or being controlled by another.
I can assure you that if you were Hypnotised and a particular behaviour was suggested to you, one which you didn’t want to do, then you would be most unlikely to follow through on that behaviour. If the Hypnotist persisted or they suggested something that was against your normal code of ethics and behaviour, you would most likely open your eyes and tell them you are not going to do as they suggest. Quite right! But this does not mean you were not Hypnotised.
There are many different methods for inducing the state of Hypnosis, some being much quicker than others.
Using Hypnosis for therapeutic purposes means it is, of course, beneficial to have a more relaxed approach without the need for dramatics.
You will be asked to relax with your eyes closed and imagine pleasant and calming situations. I can assure you there are no swinging watches or flashing lights in my consulting room, just some gentle music and a nice comfy chair to relax in.
The Unconscious Mind
Imagine that the unconscious part of our mind is extremely busy. It has an enormous number of tasks to do every fraction of a second. It ensures that you keep breathing, that your heart keeps beating, that your nervous system keeps functioning (to name only a few) without you giving them conscious thought. You never think to yourself: I must remember to make my heartbeat or I must remember to breathe. It happens naturally; an automatic behaviour.Now imagine the unconscious like a person with a clipboard with all of those tasks listed. One by one they are checked off. All those important tasks that ensure our survival are on there and our unconscious is very efficiently completing each one for us.
However, the list also includes tasks we added ourselves, those things we learn which became automatic too...
When you learnt to ride a bike you wobbled until finally it clicked and you rode it with ease. The same was true when you learnt to drive a car. To begin with, it felt like the car was in control of you, until that wonderful lesson when suddenly it all fell into place; now you give it little conscious thought, changing gear without really ‘thinking’ about it. If you did think about it too much you would interfere with the automatic instruction on the list and you are more likely to make a mistake.
Once an instruction sticks on that list it is carried out by the unconscious automatically
There is a Problem though…
Helpful and unhelpful instructions equally stick on the list. The unconscious is too busy completing all those tasks to work out what is helpful or not and simply follows the instructions. This is why both good and bad habits can be learned and feel like they are automatic.
The person who is desperate to stop smoking will say that sometimes they have lit the cigarette and are smoking it before they have even thought about it. The person trying to control their eating habits will talk of snacking without really giving it much thought.
The more often a behaviour is repeated, the more frequently the instruction is acted upon and the more ingrained the behaviour becomes.
Fear not! These ‘habit instructions' are not fixed and can be modified to more helpful ones. You will have had a bad habit or two which you have managed to change. For a short time, you felt like you were battling against yourself, and of course, you were.
The unconscious was trying to complete the original instruction and you were consciously attempting to do something else. With some time and perseverance, it no longer felt like a fight and in fact, you were behaving more helpfully, almost as automatically as the unhelpful one had been. Through repetition of the new behaviour, you had changed the unconscious instruction.
So What's That Got To Do With Hypnosis?
Instead of using the word instruction, let’s use: suggestion. We can suggest new instructions to the unconscious mind. Hypnosis allows easier access to that list and the instructions. If we suggest helpful ways of behaving while using the Hypnotic State they are much more likely to stick on that list. Those suggestions will be acted upon after the Hypnosis session, what is termed post-hypnotic suggestions, this is what we call Suggestion Therapy.
One of the other benefits of Hypnosis is that it aids the recall of memory and emotions. This has its benefit in Psychotherapy using Hypnosis.
Hypnosis itself does not do the work in therapy, it is the tool that makes the therapy easier.
One thing is very clear now that these therapies are very effective and helpful to clear your mind from negativity and bad thoughts. Thanks for explaining hypnosis toronto so nicely.
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