Hypnosis: Demystifying the Trance

What happens when you go under hypnosis?  I am asked this question all the time by individuals waiting to be reassured that they won’t lose their self-control or sense of self.  The question is legitimate, since for so long the word “hypnosis” has been portrayed in movies as a tool for manipulation and mind control.  Images of villains with pendulums and unsuspecting victims with spinning eyes are all too familiar.  Not to be forgotten is the amazing display of control some truly talented stage hypnotists posses, working diligently to embarrass participants who cluck like chickens and sing like Elvis.

In a sense, hypnosis itself has been conditioned for some as a manipulative tool.  So how can we possibly demystify it?  Quite easily, we must learn what a trance state is.  Simply put, it is a heightened sense of awareness and attention to details that we wouldn’t normally have.  This heightened sense of awareness refers to anything that is different from our normal waking state.  In our normal waking state, which we are in for the majority of the day, the information that we are bombarded with is handled in a relatively similar fashion throughout the whole day.  But when we are in a state of trance, we handle things a little bit differently.  

In fact, we are always swaying in and out of our trance.  If you’ve ever felt light and full of energy, so happy that nothing could bother you, or so sad that it felt like the end of the world, then you were likely experiencing a state of trance.  If you’ve ever completely lost track of time, felt pressured as time moved too quickly or slowly, been caught up with the lives of characters in a good book or movie, noticed details in paintings or the lines of your hand that you had never seen before, heard the words to your favorite song in your head, had the taste of your favorite food appear in your mouth when you were hungry, day dreamed of being on the beach, or noticed how hard your heart was beating, then you were in trance.  If you’ve ever taken the time to concentrate on a deep breath, rehearsed an event in your mind, imagined someone being happy or angry with you, tried to figure out a problem by working it out in your mind, day dreamed of your significant other or a person you desired to be with, thought of yourself as a child in the past, smelled food that made you remember a family gathering or event in detail, then you were in trance.  If you’ve ever repeated an action at work so often that you could complete it without even thinking, if you’ve ever been lost in thought, if you’ve ever felt your life flash before your eyes, if you’ve ever had a an epiphany, then you were in a state of trance.  The list can go on and on to infinity, since everything that happens in your life can be interpreted in your normal waking state, or in a heightened state of consciousness, which is trance. 

Perhaps you are still unsure how it is that a person may unknowingly slip into trance.  Well, a more detailed example would look something like this.  You’re drinking your morning coffee when you find yourself staring at the swirling steam floating up from the warm cup.  You begin thinking about how interesting it is to see almost recognizable forms appear.  This conjures up the image of a camp fire, which makes you think of going camping, and how much fun you had the last time you were there.  Then you glance at the clock and five whole minutes have passed in what felt like seconds.  Well, in that moment, you may not realize it, but you’ve been in trance!

As you can discern from my examples, the experience of trance can be quite different for each individual, and can vary at any time to a great degree.  People’s perceptions of the world around them are a delicate mixture of their five basic senses, emotions, intuitions, and a healthy dash of perceived logic. That is why it is so difficult to describe trance on a personal level, and expect everyone to understand it.  Although it is possible to understand the techniques of inducing trance, it is harder to pinpoint the actual experience, since each individual will create a unique recipe of the aforementioned ingredients.  The reason I am emphasizing similarity in what causes trance states, yet subtle uniqueness in experience, is important in understanding why people may assume they have never gone into trance.  Some people may think they are unable to experience a state of trance, or they may have a skewed perception about what trance actually is.  However, all we need to do is take the time to expand our limited perceptions of trance, as discussed above, and then it becomes impossible to ignore its constant influence in our lives.  Now that we understand trance states and how easily we fall in and out of them, we can move on to hypnosis.

First, I would like to explain a little about stage hypnosis in order to demystify certain misconceptions.  Many people assume that hypnotherapy and stage hypnosis are one in the same, but they are not.  Both use induction into the state of trance, also known as hypnosis, but for different purposes and in slightly different ways. 

Keep in mind that although the state of trance can be easily attained and suggestions can be easily followed when the hypnotist and recipient are focused on a specific subject matter, a person must already be comfortable with and aware of the subject matter beforehand.  That is why you cannot force someone to do something they are not comfortable with if there is not a part of them that truly desires it.  Also, the recipient must be comfortable and at ease with the hypnotist.

Remarkably, although it doesn’t seem like it, this is what happens in stage hypnosis.  What we see happening during the show is not really what is being exchanged between the stage hypnotist and the participant.  In the example of stage hypnosis, the hypnotist does a general induction on the audience before the “real” show begins. Normally about 20-30% of people can fall easily into a somnambulistic trance, a state of trance that is deeper than just day dreaming and closer to the idea of sleepwalking, which makes it perfect for stage hypnosis.  After selecting those who have reacted very well to this induction, the stage hypnotist makes a deal with the subject that they are always in control, but are here to entertain an audience, so it would be fun to play along.  While this negotiation is subtly happening, the audience members simply perceive the hypnotist to be making final selections with individuals before sending some back to their seats, and then starting the show with those who are seemingly under his mind power.  The idea is whether the participants were consciously aware of it or not, they felt like putting on a show for the audience.  The hypnotist did not exert his will on them, so it is necessary to not make it appear as such in order to put on a good show.

Another point I would like to make is that sometimes people are purposely awoken abruptly during stage hypnosis, and although it appears that they are dazed and confused, it is done more for audience reaction.  It is actually very similar to being suddenly awoken from a nap.  If the stage hypnotist took his time to gently bring people out of trance, they would feel quite rested and energized.  All of this is just to say that trance is not the strange and mysterious state that it is often made out to be. 

Now that we have clarified a few points, we can move on to explain hypnotherapy in more detail.  What kind of sensations, or reactions do people generally feel in hypnotherapy?  Generally, people feel relaxed, at ease, and fully aware of what’s going on.  In fact, a lot of people say that they are very conscious of everything, as though everything is sharper and crisper in the room.  Unlike what some people imagine, our senses actually become more refined as we go into trance, because normally we ignore most our senses in our waking state.  A lot of people are amazed that they remember everything, and afterwards feel that it is just like describing a slight day dream, or even a very vivid dream.  Some people have even commented to me that they were constantly questioning whether they were in trance or not, but just tried to go along with what I was saying, and the results were remarkable.

The level of trance needed in hypnotherapy does not have to be as deep as in stage hypnosis.  The reason is that even a light trance state allows significant changes and perceptions to occur when we look at issues that we would like to improve upon in our lives.  Trying to solve a problem in your life without the proper resources may make you feel inept and confused.  But imagine being able to access the specific feelings, state of mind, concentration and creativity for every problem that you have ever solved.  That is the subtle power of a guided state of trance, or hypnosis.  It is not necessary to go very deep into trance to access an enormous amount of resources that we can add anywhere we need in our lives.

So there you have it.  Trance is simply a heightened sense of perception where your senses, creativity, and other perceptions of the world are intensified, and hypnosis is a great tool to guide you into trance to achieve a specific goal.