The best way to view hypnosis is as a state of intense relaxation and concentration, in which the mind becomes remote and detached from everyday cares and concerns, often more deeply relaxed than ever felt before. The body is relaxed first, and the conscious part of the mind second.

Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness. Your awareness differs somehow to your everyday sense of reality. This is often referred to as being in a trance. For many people being in hypnosis does not seem much different than how they feel at other times. Hypnosis enables a person to experience thoughts and images as though they were real.

You are neither asleep nor unconscious. You are in an altered or alternative state of consciousness in which you “let things happen” through your subconscious mind rather than trying to make them happen with your conscious mind. Because you are deeply relaxed, the suggestion given to you will be acted upon more easily by the subconscious.

The Subconscious And The Human Mind
The human mind is like an onion with many layers. The outer layer is our conscious mind which helps with our daily decision making processes working according to the reality principle. It is intelligent, realistic, logical and proactive, especially in new situations where we have to apply rational thought processes to work out what to do and how to do it. However, it can only deal with between five and nine things at any one time and is easily overloaded.

The subconscious or main hidden layer of the onion works on “auto pilot” i.e. reacting according to the pleasure principle in that it seeks to avoid pain and obtain pleasure and survival, regardless of external considerations. It is concerned with our emotions, imagination, and memories as well as our autonomic nervous system which controls our internal organs automatically. These four main functions are very closely interlinked - in other words the mind affects the body and the body affects the mind. It is powerful and very clever at dealing with many complex instructions at any one time, but is not “intelligent.”

There is growing evidence now that the conscious mind, as it is generally understood, is located in the left-hand side of the brain and the subconscious mind is located in the right. Each hemi-sphere has very different attributes or functions.

Unconscious Hypnotism
We often use self-suggestion in everyday life in the form of spontaneous thoughts or
observations. Thoughts such as “I cannot stop smoking, no matter how hard I try,” or “I’ll never be able to do this” are often powerful but very negative self-suggestions.

We are also continually subjected to “unconscious hypnotism” in our daily life by parents, teachers, peer pressure, politicians, etc. Newspaper and television advertising, for example, try to persuade us to do things e.g. buy a particular product. Repetition reinforces the suggestion. If you have every found yourself at the checkout counter not knowing why you put something in the basket?  This may be the reason.

If we are unaware of these negative suggestions we may cause ourselves all manner or disabilities or ailments. Thankfully suggestion is a two edged sword. Those who are instructed in its use can relieve the symptoms or unwanted behavior patterns which negative suggestions may have caused.

Conscious Hypnosis
Our Subconscious mind often stubbornly prefers to cling to known behaviors and symptoms even if they are negative and interfere with our peace of mind and quality of life. As far as it is concerned change is potentially scary. In order to make positive changes and become mentally fit you must be consciously aware of the need for change, be motivated to get better, and be pre-pared to devote the time and effort necessary for doing the mental relaxation exercises. We all know that getting your body into shape involves more than merely thinking about going to the gym. Mental fitness calls for the same level of dedication.

Self-Hypnosis
It has been maintained that all hypnosis is essentially self-hypnosis. It is certainly impossible to be hypnotized by someone else unless you want or allow it to happen. Self-hypnosis is a way of safely bypassing the conscious mind and should only be practiced on the advice of a professional therapist. But once you have learned how to hypnotize yourself, practice will enable you to put yourself in a “trance” whenever you wish to, quickly and easily.

Brief Early History Of Hypnosis
Hypnosis has been around since the dawn of recorded time, and at least to the time of the ancient Babylonians, Greeks and Egyptians. It was know to Hippocrates. Hypnosis is named after the Greek word for sleep, hypnos, although the actual state of hypnosis is very different from sleep. It has, however, been called by different names, by different cultures, different religions, and different individuals. The use of chants, drumming, and monotonous dancing rituals to change or alter consciousness fall under the definition of hypnosis. Such methods have been used successfully by the Druids, Vikings, Indian Yogis, Dervishes, Hindu priests, and holy men of all religions and denominations for centuries. In 2600 BC, the father of Chinese medicine, Wong Tai, wrote about techniques that involved incantations and passes of the hands. Accounts of what we would now call Hypnosis can also be found in the Bible, the Talmud, and The Hindu Vedas written in about 1500 BC.