Hypnosis Techniques That Produce Hypnotic Trance

HYPNOSIS may sound like something only experts can do, and that's what many people think. What most people don't realize is that all of us have been applying "hypnosis" ever since we learned how to use language to communicate with others. "Hypnosis" is very common in human interaction, and in fact, we even do it everyday. The value of learning "hypnosis" lies in attaining the power of the subconscious mind. These powers include the ability to heal your own body and guide other people in healing theirs, the ability to learn, and the ability to create positive changes in your life and the lives of other people. WHAT IS HYPNOSIS?"Hypnosis" is a form of dialogue between the hypnotist and the subconscious mind of the person being hypnotized. Most of our actions are governed by the unconscious mind. Normally, you think that you are conscious of the things you do everyday, but when you realize the fact that the unconscious influences all your drives, desires, intentions, beliefs, values, needs, etc., you will notice how much you remain unaware of the things that happen to you both internally and externally. You will also understand the important role that the unconscious mind plays in the process of "hypnosis". If you can learn how to communicate with the unconscious mind, you can give it instructions to perform specific tasks.HYPNOSIS AND HYPNOTIC TRANCETrance is a state of mind wherein "hypnosis" takes place. It is a state we regularly and unknowingly enter each and every day of our lives. In a trance state, the unconscious mind opens itself to receiving information directly and uncritically from any kind of source to create changes in the way a person thinks and behaves. In reading this article, for example, you don't realize that you are actually in a state of trance. You are paying attention to the words you are reading, but not your breath, the temperature in your room, the intensity of light, the beat of your heart, the dog barking, the birds chirping, and everything else that's happening around and within you. There are various categories of trance states. Hypnotic trance is just one category. Ordinary activities like watching TV, dancing at the bar, driving a car, and so on can also be considered as trance states. Mystical, out-of-body, psychedelic, and near death experiences belong to a different class of trance states altogether. If trance states can be classified into different types, then correspondingly, there are a variety of ways to enter each one of them. Since the focus of this article is on hypnotic trance, let's look at some of the techniques used to produce this particular state of mind. TECHNIQUES USED IN HYPNOSIS
1. RELAXATION TECHNIQUESOne of the most important techniques in "hypnosis" is relaxation. Anyone who wants to put someone in a hypnotic trance must first be able to put that person in a relaxed state. Through relaxation, a person becomes more receptive to the messages given by the hypnotist because more of that person's energy and focus are directed towards the process of "hypnosis". "Hypnosis" works best when both the mind and body have fewer things to pay attention to. A few examples of relaxation techniques used in "hypnosis" are deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and visualization.2. RAPPORT BUILDING TECHNIQUESWhen you are in a date, you are in rapport with the person you're dating, with the food you're eating, or with whatever you and your date are doing. When you are in a TV trance, you are in rapport with the television. In "hypnosis", rapport is used to build relationships with others quickly and to gain their trust and confidence. When performing "hypnosis", you and the other person should be in rapport with each other so that his/her unconscious mind can be open to your suggestions. 3. HYPNOTIC INDUCTION TECHNIQUESHypnotic induction is also an essential technique in the process of "hypnosis". The process basically involves placing the person's conscious attention on any subject or object while you do your work on the unconscious mind. There are many induction techniques out there. A classical example is the use of a pendulum or a swinging watch. Waving a couple of hundred dollar bills in front of someone while your instruction may also work. Just kidding.4. HYPNOTIC SUGGESTIONSA hypnotic suggestion is just a way to produce a conditioned reflex response in people. It can take the form of stories, requests, insinuations, metaphors and other rhetorical figures of speech. Personal development gurus, for example, use a lot of stories in their seminars, books, and websites to put people in a state of trance. After the so-called "gurus" get their audience emotionally pumped up, they are then able to make them buy their products. 5. POST-HYPNOTIC SUGGESTIONSA post-hypnotic suggestion is a suggestion that activates and operates at a time (or times) in response to a cue after the person has come out of trance. Typically, the person will feel a compelling need to act on the post-hypnotic suggestion, often without remembering or realizing what has prompted the desire. Advertisers often make use of image/sound associations and symbols to create post-hypnotic suggestions. 6. QUESTIONING TECHNIQUESQuestioning techniques are used in "hypnosis" to induce trance states and to determine your values, beliefs, desires, or basically anything that can provide useful information to create the desired effect in yourself or other people. Asking a question also allows people to turn on their imaginative faculties, which enable them to think of future scenarios, causes and effects, past events, and whatnot.7. EMBEDDED COMMANDSEmbedded commands are commands "hidden" within sentences. These usually take the form of phrases interspersed in the middle of conversations that tell people what to feel or do while bypassing the conscious mind. For example: "There are tons of reasons for learning to USE EMBEDDED COMMANDS WISELY". In this sentence, the conscious mind may be distracted by the surface meaning, but the unbconscious would notice and respond to the embedded command, which is to "use embedded commands wisely"." Embedded command can also be combined with punctuation ambiguity like when you say, "I want you to share only the things you want to share everything"." The embedded command, "You want to share everything"," would tend to bypass the conscious mind. It may sound ridiculous, but many trained hypnotists know how to use this technique effectively.8. IDEOMOTOR SIGNALLINGThe term "ideomotor" is derived from the terms 'ideo' (idea or mental representation) and 'motor' (muscular action). This is where your knowledge of gestures and other non-verbal cues can help you communicate effectively with the unconscious mind of another person. Most of the time, we tend to only focus on what other people are saying during a conversation. With "hypnosis", however, you should be able to consciously recognize simple gestures and body movements so that you can align your suggestions, questions, and commands to what is actually going on inside the other person's head.9. UTILIZATION TECHNIQUESUtilization techniques involve making use of everything that people say or do to put them in a deeper trance state. A simple way of applying utilization in "hypnosis" is by saying, "That's right." Suppose that you say to someone, "In a moment you're going to blink." (Blinking is an automatic thing, by the way.) After a long or a short moment, the person will blink, and you say "That's right!" When the person blinks, her unconscious mind begins to accept the idea that it triggered the blink in response to your suggestion. And in accepting the suggestion to blink, her unconscious becomes more accepting to additional hypnotic suggestions.10. METAPHORSA metaphor is a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is used to represent something else. When you use a metaphor, you are basically asserting that 'X' is 'Y' as in "love is blind." When we say "love is blind," we frame the mind of the person by associating his idea of being blind (Y) with the idea of love (X). This process could then elicit several other meaningful associations for the person reading or hearing this phrase. Communicating with people using metaphors softens them up and reduces their control, thus making them more open to suggestions.There are many other techniques used in "hypnosis" such as reframing, time distortion, anchoring, pacing, role-playing, expectation, and mind-dissociation. You may get the impression that these are sophisticated routines, but it's very likely that you unconsciously apply some of them yourself in your day-to-day interactions. Just remember that in "hypnosis", learning how to become aware of your own words and actions is just as important and useful as learning about those of other people.