Hypnosis “De”-Mystified
Hypnosis, what does this word conjure for you? A shaman? A stage performance with people running around clucking like chicken? A being with power able to control the very will of the people in front of him with a single word, or even, a single glance?
Sitting in my hypnosis class my teacher stresses the fact that he has no super human powers. He is not gifted with the power to bend people to his own malicious wants. The only thing he is good at, he claims, is the power of suggestion. ‘Suggestion’ is the very thing that holds all the power when it comes to hypnosis. The hypnotist is the channel of suggestions to the audience in front of him.
Here are a few signs that you may be hypnotizable.
- Are you suggestible? As mentioned this is highly important when it comes to hypnotism. The hypnotist simply implants a few minor ideas and then builds up from here.
- Do you believe that hypnotism works? This ties in to the “are you suggestible”. Hypnotism will not work if you do not believe it will. Yet, on the other hand, pain medications and wart removal techniques may not work either if you believe that they won’t.
- How good is your imagination? Can you easily picture a red apple in front of you? Can you easily picture a beach with a clear ocean lapping at the hot sand in front of you while you drink cold Pina Coladas in the shade? Once more this ties back to a person’s suggestibility. Those who are more suggestible can more readily see a scene unfold in front of them when asked to.
Hypnotism can be used to cure migraines, pain from cancer radiation and warts. It can help with time management, phobias and so much more. It isn’t magic. It is simply the path to unlocking the mechanisms inside the person. We each have the ability to cure ourselves of ailments and the hypnotist is simply one way of tapping into this power that we do not yet fully comprehend.
The hypnotist can be seen in the same light as a traditional healer who also uses the power of the mind to cure people of curses and physical ailments. The gypsy physic who uses people’s expectations and beliefs to predict the future or past. Even, the priest, who miraculously cures people because people believe in the power of God.
Hypnotism simply uses the power of suggestion and belief.
September 24th, 2007
There is so much to hypnosis, but this about wraps it up. Great post!
October 1st, 2007
I am a hypnotist and have on occasion had remarkable results for people who did not beleive that the hypnosis would work. One fellow at a bar who had a stiff neck from a car accident 4 mos. before. While he was raving about the results and moving his head around after the hypnosis he told me that he had only closed his eyes to humor me. He has been reccomending me for years.
A woman came with her parents to stop smoking. When it did not work for her parents but did work for her she told me that the whole thing was her parents idea, that she hadn’t beleived in hypnosis and get this, she didn’t even want to stop. That certainly is contrary to conventional wisdom.
My own mother never beleived I could help her with her excruciating tooth pain. She was a tough subject and was practically fighting me with her negative expectations. She kept saying “This is real pain. This is not in my mind.”
She was 100% pain free for 11 days when I took her to her appointment to have the tooth pulled. She wanted the anesthetic to be loaded in the needle and ready to rescue her.
The dentist said she did much better than his chemically anesthetized patients.
Certainly, beleiving hypnosis will work is likely to increase the likelyhood of success but in my experience it certainly is not an absolute.