What is Hypnosis?

“A relaxed, focused state of concentration”.

Most people simply feel relaxed. An easy way to understand hypnosis is to say that you are in the state between being fully awake, and that place where you are just before you actually wake up, when you think you might have heard your phone ring, but you aren’t sure if it really happened or if you dreamt it. During this time (between awake & dream state), the mind is very open to visualizations and creating a rich sensory experience. The more real the experience becomes in the subconscious mind during this state, the more effect it will have on your waking behavior.

Another more common experience showing how so many of us actually enter the hypnotic state without giving it too much thought: you drove your car from your house to your destination, and when you arrived there, you didn’t remember the drive there at all, although you were fully alert throughout the whole trip, stopped at all the red lights, etc., you have no recollection of the entire drive there. You were actually in a light hypnotic state during the drive. Another fact on hypnosis – when we watch TV, we are in a hypnotic state, (just look at a child sitting in front of their cartoons!) and that is precisely why the sponsors pay so much money to advertise – we are already in a highly receptive state of mind, wide open to the sponsors’ suggestions and great marketing strategies!

The brain operates in four general states: Full Conscious Awareness Hypnotic State Dream State – we are in the dream state at some point, when we sleep Sleep State. – we go into various levels of sleep each night

Full Conscious State is where we spend most of our waking hours. In this state, our mind is attentive and uses logic to reason, evaluate, assess, judge, and make decisions. Unfortunately, when making life changes, the conscious mind often gets in the way.

Hypnotic State - the doorway between the conscious and the subconscious is opened, memories become easily accessible, and new information is stored. In the Hypnotic State, you are not really "thinking" in the traditional sense. You are "experiencing" without questioning, without critical judgment or analysis. You remain open to positive suggestions which you have discussed with the hypnotherapist prior to your session. In the hypnotic state, the hypnotherapist offers your (previously discussed) desires for the area in which you would like to bring about positive change. In my opinion, this is true hypno- THERAPY!