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Dispelling the Myths Surrounding Hypnosis

You’ve seen the stage acts where a hypnotist selects someone out
of the audience and when he claps his hands, the unwilling
participant struts around the stage clucking like a chicken.
You’ve also seen movies where the hypnotist waves the pocket
watch in front of the subject as he utters, “you’re getting
sleepy … very sleepy.” Hypnosis is a little more than what
Hollywood or Vegas make it out to be. Below is a brief
overview.

Hypnosis is a naturally occurring altered state of consciousness
in which the critical faculty is bypassed (mind in the conscious
mode) and acceptable selective thinking established. Wow!
That’s a lot of technical jargon! Simply put, this means that
the reasoning, evaluating, judging part of your mind (conscious)
is bypassed.

Hypnosis deals with the subconscious. Have you ever driven to
work or home or anywhere, arrived at your destination but then
had little to no recollection of the drive? Your reasoning,
evaluating and judging parts of your mind were still intact and
functioning (read: you safely arrived at your location) but your
cognizant mind was bypassed. Hypnosis feels very much like that.
It’s the same or similar feeling as when you day dream. People
under hypnosis know exactly what they are doing.

What about control? Many people fear being hypnotized because
they falsely believe they will have to give up control of their
mind. Not true. Think about when you are so engrossed in a movie
and you find yourself in tears. If you’ve ever watched Saving
Private Ryan, the Titanic or the Passion of the Christ you know
this scenario all too well. During these movies you were so
involved that you actually felt emotion. You were literally in a
hypnotic trance. Most importantly, though, you still had the
power to emerge from that state if desired.

Your mind may be guided by a movie, self-hypnosis tape, or
hypnotist, but you still have the power to resist. If you fully
believe and acknowledge that you have the power to resist any
control of emotions, then hypnosis is nothing to fear.
Unfortunately, some people seem to give up partial control of
their minds because they misunderstand who has the power.
Unquestionably, someone can be fooled into believing that he has
given up control in some forms of stage hypnosis or other
experiments. That is likely what often happens in stage shows.
But just because someone was tricked doesn’t mean it is right or
that it will happen to you that way.

Think about it. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. You are the one
who allows your mind to be placed into deep states. You are the
one who has the power to resist any unwanted suggestions. It’s
really a misnomer when people say they were hypnotized. What
they really mean is that they allowed their mind to be hypnotized
or they allowed a hypnotist to give suggestions that they chose
to follow.

Just remember that no one controls your mind unless you first
grant permission!

The information contained in this article is for educational purposes
only and is not intended to medically diagnose, treat or cure any
disease. Consult a health care practitioner before beginning any
health care program.

About the Author

Emily Clark is editor at Lifestyle Health News and Medical Health News
where you can find the most up-to-date advice and information on
many medical, health and lifestyle topics.

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