What exactly is Hypnosis?

It is a shame that hypnosis is still believed by many people to be a state in which a hypnotist controls the will of their subject; causing them to do nefarious acts they would not normally do if they were conscious. We have seen it in the movies, on stage, in books, and on television. The hypnotist always exerts some sort of mystical power using a sinister gaze and unmistakable words of authority. I still talk to some people who believe they will lose control of their body and not remember anything which took place after a hypnosis session.

Although hypnosis implies the one being hypnotized may be in a more suggestible state, they wont ever do anything against their own will; anything that goes against their own moral code. If they barked like a dog or clucked like a chicken, they may have seen it as a chance to show that exhibitionist side they already had.

Hypnosis is a mental state to be sure, a mental state each and every one of us drifts in and out of all day long, every day. Hypnosis does not necessarily indicate a specific mental state, but may cover many levels of consciousness, and not necessarily altered states of consciousness. Are you confused yet? I was.

I first accepted the idea of a hypnotic trance being a natural state of consciousness after I got my drivers license. My conscious mind would drift into thoughts of fantasy or memory and my unconscious mind would take over the wheel. Sometimes I could not remember the trip at all, and yet I still arrived at my destination safely. How could this be and did this only happen during driving or all the time? Are you still with me or were you just thinking about your own driving experiences? Could that be hypnosis?

I tried to be more aware of my surroundings and my actions. I began observing myself as long as possible without losing awareness of my external world. It was much more difficult than I thought it would be. Even a simple whiff of some passing fragrance might send me briefly into my own internal world of vivid feelings and pictures. Was this hypnosis? It was happening all the time, little triggers throughout my day sending me into mini-trances. The trigger could be someones peculiar tone of voice, their body language or even one simple word would do it. If I was reading a really good science fiction novel someone could be sitting beside me talking and I may not even notice for some seconds. Is that hypnosis?

The truth is people put themselves and others in hypnotic trances all the time without knowing it. Im doing it right now as you read these words. Advertising and marketing agencies are very keen on peoples trances and how they can control them to an extent. Did you ever walk into a room where a group of people were watching a movie, fully involved in the storyline, and were not even aware of your presence? If you looked closely, you may have noticed certain body signals indicating their state of hypnosis. Perhaps their eyes were dilated, their skin flushed. It doesnt take very long to recognize the signs with a little practice.

This sparked my curiosity. I had to find out if there were methods to put people into hypnotic states without them knowing, if there were methods to influence someones internal feelings, dialogue, and pictures. What I found was astonishing. There exists an extensive amount of information on techniques to covertly hypnotize and persuade others. The question now is whos trance are you living, your own or someone elses trance?

2007 - CovertMetaphor.com