Considering that hypnosis probably dates back to when, for the first time, someone gave another the “evil eye”, it’s surprising how much misinformation there is and how little it’s utilized.

An article I recently read on the internet, published by a famous medical school, noted that it took ten to twenty minutes to “hypnotize” someone and mentioned the use of a swinging watch. Let me tell you that the watch went out with Abbot and Costello and if takes the hypnotist more than five minutes to lead someone into a very fine state of hypnosis, the client should find someone else. In fact, a famous hypnotist, Dave Elman, who spent his career teaching hypnosis to medical personnel, always insisted that if his doctors couldn’t hypnotize someone in one minute it was valueless to them. Be assured, you can lead someone into hypnosis in a single minute and you don’t need a pocket watch. Let me clear away some cobwebs.

Absolutely everyone can be guided into hypnosis and utilize its value, suggestibility is nonsense because there is no such thing as being “hypnotized”- all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. As long as the subject wants to experience a deep sense of relaxation, absolutely everyone can experience it. You are always aware, in control and simply must be motivated, willing and focused during the process.

Being in hypnosis feels much like having a daydream; a state one goes into in an instant, very peaceful, extremely relaxing, essentially having a private conversation with oneself. Ever drive by your exit on the highway because your mind was wandering? The conscious mind, analyzing and sorting information, is busily absorbed in thought; the subconscious mind, on autopilot, is driving the car, you never are asleep, distracted perhaps but definitely not asleep; a good example of road hypnosis.

The subconscious mind receives and retains all the messages and conflicts gathered from our daily experiences, hypnosis is a means of easing communication between our conscious and subconscious mind so we may make the desired improvements or the changes we seek. Hypnosis is best described as an altered state of consciousness where selective thinking enables you to better understand the connections between some of your long term memories and conclusions derived from them, rightfully or wrongfully, and thereby potentially change the way you view yourself and your world. Guided into a specific area of concentration or, in the case of self-hypnosis, guided by trained individuals themselves, one essentially has a managed daydream. Whether engaging in hypnosis for childbirth, to heal faster, reduce pain, lose weight, stop smoking, deal with non-organic sexual or other difficulties, self-hypnosis can be a fabulous life skill.