What is Hypnosis?
How many of you have ever engaged in day dreaming? All of the
sudden you wake up with the realization that you are actually sitting at your desk in the office, you've shifted your gaze from looking out the window, and now are back in the present moment of the task in front of you. That far off dream you were in touch with, perhaps on the sandy beach of Maui, is no longer around you, but you felt as though you were there just a moment ago. Day dreaming is a similar experience to that of hypnosis. A person may go in and out of trance-like states several times a day, depending upon their suggestibility.

When hypnosis takes place, both the conscious and subconscious minds are present. It is not being asleep and neither is it being in a state of wakefulness. It is somewhere in between. It is a heightened state of awareness an altered state of consciousness. When in the state, a person may be aware of all other noises around them, and then on another level, feel so very far away from those sounds. It's as if there is absence of time. Actually, time distortion does take place in the hypnotic state. A client may feel as if they've only been in hypnosis five minutes, when it has been fifteen. And conversely, the experience may have felt like about twenty minutes, when in fact it was only ten. Hypnosis is a concentrated focus of experience where imagining and visualizing take place. During the state of hypnosis, the subconscious mind is more open and receptive to receive positive suggestions. When working with a hypnotherapist, the actual journey taken in hypnosis is specifically designed, based on the needs and desires of the client. Whether a person goes into hypnosis with purposeful self inducement or because they have allowed a professional hypnotherapist to help facilitate the state, the subject must want the experience. Since the client must have a desire to be hypnotized, all hypnosis is really self-hypnosis. Why in the world would a person want to be hypnotized? Ultimately, being in the hypnotic state is very comfortable and relaxing. That's one reason. More specifically, however, being in the hypnotic state is the most conducive state to be in to receive new positive information for the purpose of creating desired positive change.