Hypnosis - Misconceptions, and the Invisible Dog in the Room

There's nothing strange about hypnosis. It's the people who don't understand it who make it strange. That's a pretty blunt opening, but broadly true nevertheless.

There are so many misconceptions about the practice. It's the same sort of misconceptions that people have over mental illness. The problem is that you can't see the mind and that which can't be seen is to be feared. Not feared, exactly, but suspect.

All too many people think that hypnosis is putting someone in a mystical sleep-like state and telling them to perform various acts. We've seen this on the silver screen, where a man or woman has been placed in some sort of trance and then been told to go out and kill someone. This is sheer nonsense.

True, our minds have the potential for enormous power, and hypnosis is the most powerful tool our minds have at their disposal, but there's a sort of in-built braking system so that it's impossible, despite all you may read to the contrary, to tell someone to do that which he or she doesn't want to do, that's against their nature to do.

If it were possible to put someone in a trance and have them kill someone, think of the legal chaos.

"Did you kill Joe Bloggs' wife?"

"Sorry, your Honour, I was hypnotized. I don't remember a thing."

We haven't heard a great deal about hypnosis being used as a defense, have we?

What hypnosis does, at the most basic level, is to re-educate your unconscious mind. Let's look at an example.

Whenever you think about a Labrador dog, you feel anxious. You don't have to see one, merely think about one. You like dogs and all the other breeds don't cause you any worries at all. So why does this happen just with this one breed?

Probably, way back in the mists of childhood, you were bitten or nipped by one. Or for whatever reason, a Labrador frightened you. Owing to a mini-hypnotic state during this episode, fear was welded to the Labrador breed. You may not even be able to remember the occasion, you were so young.

Hypnosis may be used now to change this feeling of fear. The therapist will relax you and suggest you imagine those things that make you feel peaceful and happy. While you're in this pleasant state, they'll suggest you think about Labradors again. Depending on how deep this feeling goes, it may take more than one session to clear you of your fear, but it will be cleared.

The way you feel about something, your emotional re-action, if you like, is probably the most fundamental use for hypnosis. For instance, a smoker may have the way he feels about cigarettes changed, or someone who wants to lose weight may have her feelings about fried foods and cake changed.

But that's just the beginning

Mike Bond, clearing up some misconceptions regarding hypnosis and explaining its amazing efficacy. There's so much more to discover on his Website, The Hypnosis Attraction. We're sure you'd like to learn self-hypnosis, and this may be found by clicking on The Hypnosis Attraction. You'll immediately find yourself at the page you want