What Is Hypnosis?

Let’s make some sense of the many and varied answers given when people ask, “What is Hypnosis?”

“Hypnosis is like electricity; very few people understand what it is, or how it works, but everyone uses – some more efficiently than others.”

So let’s begin with the official answer, as defined by the U.S. Government:

Hypnosis is an altered state of mind identified by the following two characteristics: (1) the bypass of the critical factor, and (2) the establishment of acceptable selective thinking.

What does that mean?

Hypnosis is a natural state of mind that happens when 1) our concentration becomes so concentrated that critical factor (the part of our conscious mind that compares this to that) takes a break; and 2) with the gateway left open, our subconscious and unconscious minds are then open and receptive to suggestions.

Here is a short list of what Hypnosis IS and IS NOT:

* A naturally occurring state of mind that everyone has already experienced, either by accident or design;
* Hypnosis is NOT supernatural, NOT magic, nor result in zombie-like mind control as portrayed in the movies;
* Hypnosis is NOT sleep (if it was, how could you hear and respond to the suggestions?);
* Using hypnosis is like upgrading the software in your brain;
* Hypnosis IS a state of highly focused concentration that occupies the attention of the conscious mind, opening up access and receptivity with the subconscious and unconscious parts of the mind;

Let me give you an example, have you ever casually heard a song while you were focused on some other activity, but that song seems to stay with you all day, echoing in your head? Why, because at the time you heard the song you were in a focused or light hypnotic state – and that song (hopefully a good one) got past the guardian.

Or, have you ever been so absorbed in an activity (driving a car, watching TV, reading a book) that time flew by and when you looked up, you had driven several miles down the road past your exit? That’s called highway hypnosis. You weren’t asleep (you wouldn’t have been able to navigate and avoid accidents) but you have no recollection of the trip. It happens to all of us several times each day.

While many people routinely experience a trance-like state while they are watching television or sitting at a red light. A person in a trance or deeply focused state is unusually responsive to an idea or image, but this does not mean that a hypnotist can control his or her mind and free will. On the contrary, hypnosis can actually teach people how to master their own states of awareness. By doing so they can affect their own bodily functions and psychological responses.

Even advertisers utilize this science. TV creates programming to entertain AND induce a light trance, then presents you with hypnotic suggestions – that we call commercials. It works amazingly well. How else could you so easily finish this sentence, “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz…”

Or how about “I’m a Chiquita banana…”

Did you know those advertising jingles haven’t run in decades. But the power of the subconscious mind can call upon them at a moments notice when the suggestions have been properly embedded.

So to go back to that government definition, the “bypass of the critical factor” simply means the release of limiting beliefs. For example, the use of hypnosis for anesthesia has been accepted by the American Medical Association since 1958.

It is well established that hypnosis is useful for creating anesthesia. However, if you have the limiting belief that the mind cannot create a powerful anesthesia, you will be unable to do so. However, in hypnosis, this limiting belief can be bypassed, and hypnotic anesthesia can be quickly created.

“The establishment of acceptable selective thinking,” the second part of the definition, refers to the process of guiding someone into hypnosis by using a hypnotic induction. The establishment of selective thinking creates the mental environment or state of mind that enables you to reject limiting beliefs (that you picked up by living in our society), so that you can accept new more empowering ones, and sharpening your mental edge to win the Game of Life.

Why Is Communication with the Unconscious Mind So Important?

Your conscious mind is only able to process approximately 50 bits of information a second, while your unconscious mind processes approximately 11 million bits per second.*

* Source: Zimmerman, M. (1989). “The nervous system in the context of information theory.” In R. F. Schmidt & G. Thews (eds.), Human Physiology, pp. 166-173. Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag.

That means your unconscious mind is about 220 THOUSAND TIMES FASTER than your conscious mind. This is like accessing a supercomputer to sharpen the mental edge of your game!

But Hypnosis is not JUST for sports…

Medical institutions also advocate the use of hypnosis.

Clinical hypnotherapy has been widely researched and endorsed by many medical authorities for a wide variety of medical, dental, and psychotherapeutic uses. The consensus in the medical community is that hypnosis shortens treatment time and can provide invaluable relief when other treatments fail. Hypnosis is used and recommended by such prestigious and well-respected institutions as the AMA, ADA, NIH, Kaiser Permanente, and Stanford University Medical Center.

* AMA approved the use of hypnosis in 1958, the British Medical Association in 1955;
* American Dental Association (ADA) for dental phobia, treatment pain, when anesthesia cannot be used;
* American Psychology Association (APA) for help with PTSD, ADD-ADHD, phobias, panic attacks, grief;
* National Institute of Health (NIH) 1995, supports for treatment of chronic pain, side effects of oncology treatment, pediatric and elderly;
* Stanford University Medical Center – David Spiegel, MD, major researcher in medical uses of hypnosis, in cancer treatment to reduce nausea, pain and anxiety being only one;
* Harvard Medical University – reported that hypnosis seems to block the nerve receptors …those that affect pain, anxiety and discomfort;
* Blue Shield of California, Medicare, Kaiser Permanente, hypnosis sometimes covered by insurance;
* University of Washington Harborview Burn Center Center, David Patterson, MD – Hypnosis works miracles in burn care, which requires pulling off bandages and scrubbing the burned skin;
* UCLA School of Neurovisceral Sciences and Women’s Health – Dr. Bruce Naliboff, PhD – hypnosis is very helpful in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS);
* Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Boston, MA – Dr. Elvira Lang, MD has been using hypnosis for 13 years to provide pain-free breast biopsies and to calm patients, cutting treatment time and need for sedation.

Related posts:

1. Hypnosis Works! What Can It Do For You?
2. Hypnosis Research
3. Maine Sports Hypnosis
4. Why Try Hypnosis?
5. Hypnosis FAQ’s and Answers