What is Hypnosis?

You are getting sleepy ... Massimo Regonati / Flickr

Hypnosis is a very natural and amazingly simple way to engage your brain for a variety of purposes, including relaxation, the development of creativity or solving of problems, inducing lucid dreaming, attaining spirituality and more.

For many people, the word hypnosis seems to bring up images of Svengali radiating helpless slavishness from his fingers directly into the brain of an unwilling victim.

But rest assured, hypnosis isn't brain domination of one person over another, nor will it ever make you walk like a chicken or kiss a stranger against your will. Rather, hypnosis is a very natural mechanism - and you already do it every day.

In short, hypnosis is an alteration of the brain's state. This can be as casual a state as alpha, the light "daydreamy" condition you may find yourself in while driving a car and thinking of a fun date the night before, for instance. It also occurs when you're reading a book or watching a movie.

What is the "Normal" (Non-Hypnotized) State?

Your normal, fully alert day-to-day state is called the beta state. When you're in beta, you're fully alert and engaged in your surroundings. When you have a conversation with another person, when you're playing sports or when you're engaging with your children, you are in beta.

Alpha, a different state, is how your brain engages when you are meditating, daydreaming, thinking about something that isn't currently going on in your sphere or when you are engaged in a state of hypnosis.

How Does Hypnosis Happen Naturally?

Have you ever been deeply engrossed in a movie on TV and suddenly realized you hadn't "seen" the rest of the room for a while because you were so into what was happening on the screen? That was a light state of hypnosis.

Hypnosis can involve deeper brain states as well. It all depends upon how deeply you wish to be hypnotized. That's right - contrary to Hollywood stereotypes of the process, you can not be hypnotized against your will. Whether you become hypnotized, and how deeply you go into the state, is always within your control.

Your mind uses hypnosis throughout the day to daydream, plan ahead, relax, work out problems regarding events that aren't directly happening, or sometimes to avoid situations. Although you already self-hypnotize in a very natural way, you can refine the process so that your self-hypnosis sessions are more directed and produce better results.

How Does One Become Hypnotized?

Generally, you can either hypnotize yourself or you can ask someone else to hypnotize you. The latter requires a degree of trust on the part of the individual being hypnotized.

You can also choose to use a CD or MP3 of a guided meditation in order to induce the state you want. This will help you feel more in control of the process while receiving the benefits of an expert in the field, who knows what to say and how to say it in order to induce a hypnotized state.

In future posts, we'll be discussing hypnosis in general, including tips to get you into a state of hypnosis and various ways you can use it to make your life truly amazing.

We're glad to introduce you to the concept of hypnosis on this blog and we hope you'll join us on our journey as we explore self-hypnosis, directed hypnosis/guided meditation and more. Welcome!