What’s hypnosis?
According to the American Psychological Association, hypnosis is a therapeutic technique in which clinicians make suggestions to individuals who have undergone a procedure designed to relax them and focus their minds.
What we are often not so aware of is that hypnosis is much more than that and hypnotic-like states occur for us on a daily basis. Have you ever watched an interesting movie that really “hypnotised” you or perhaps read a book so captivating that made you “forget about the whole world”? I am sure you know what I am getting at.
In Britannica, section about hypnosis we can read that when in a hypnotic state, we function at the level of awareness other than the ordinary conscious state.
Why can it be of great use?
Hypnosis is referred to as a trance-like state, when we can get deeply relaxed and therefore you can be much more suggestible. Let me go back to my movie metaphor. If you want to enjoy it, you wish to forget that the actors are playing, that the special effects are just a stunt. You want to be immersed. Can you imagine getting into a movie, if the person sitting next to you in the cinema is snacking loudly or talks on the phone? It would make enjoying that movie very difficult.
Think of the constantly chattering mind of an average human as that annoying, badly behaving person sitting next to you in the cinema. Think about your nagging thoughts as if the sound of someone’s phone constantly beeping in the background. You plan to enjoy the movie, follow the plot, appreciate the music and colours and you just cannot do it with ease with a companion like that. And if you do, it makes the whole experience much more unpleasant.
How to use it to your advantage?
Let’s say you want to stop procrastinating or you wish to become more confident and somehow it’s just not happening. Neither your good intentions and sheer determination works. It cannot happen because of that constantly chattering monkey mind that, whether you are aware of it or not, never stops and continuously feeds you with the reasons why you cannot do it. It is much more difficult and requires much more time to work out some of your issues from the conscious mind only.
In a hypnotic state, while relaxed and focused you can address your issue calmly and at ease and you can understand why it is an issue for you in the first place. While in hypnosis, you are in control, you are completely aware and calm. It’s like while watching the movie, the power is yours, you can just leave the cinema if you do not wish to see the movie. Or you can watch it and be amazed at the stories you were telling yourself over the years.
Why is it so beneficial?
As Marisa Peer, the founder of Rapid Transformational Therapy says “Understanding is power” and I strongly believe that to understand the plot of your very own movie you need to be able to truly see it for what it is, without overthinking. Once you see things for what they really are, the meaning you assigned to them in the past can be changed and can give you a new perspective. Figuring out your “why” can offer a solution to the issue and can bring a permanent result.
