Thursday, 14 January 2010

Hypnosis - What It Is And What It Is Not

By Sarah Cox

Hypnosis and its healing offshoot, hypnotherapy, have always been mired in myths. Some consider them to be black magic whereas others discard them as pseudo science. Some of the popular myths associated with hypnosis and the reality behind them are discussed here.

Hypnosis has no link with any sort of mystical arts. It is a very simple technique, which can be explained easily with the help of psychology and other scientific methods. Even people who have observed hypnosis on others often refuse to believe in it. They believe that the subjects who have been under hypnosis are mentally not strong enough to withstand the influence of the practitioner. But nothing could be more distant from the truth. Hypnosis can be done on anyone irrespective of his or her levels of will power.

Another myth is that hypnosis is an alternate state of consciousness, which again is a serious misconception. A person under hypnosis does not get shut off from the external world, but stays completely conscious of the happenings around him. That individual is just in a calm state where the attention spans are very high and the person can accept suggestions easily.

Some scientific findings have claimed that only about 5% of humanity is capable of being hypnotized, which is the third myth on this list. The researchers are somewhat true in their own way, because they tried hypnotising their subjects by the same hypnosis method without considering individual differences in character and disposition. Hypnosis can't be oversimplified like that and works only if there are different approaches for different characters.

Meditation and hypnosis are usually thought to be the same by people. However, meditation is a purely personal experience that has got nothing to do with communication, on the other hand communication is a fundamental part of any successful hypnosis. The state of trance is not a hypnotic state either. The person doesn't interact to achieve a state of trance, whereas hypnosis is not possible without communication.

It is often thought that hypnosis training or hypnotherapy cannot bring changes in physique or in behavioural patterns of a person. Hypnosis definitely cannot transform the body in abnormal ways. But it can bring about a development in physical health by altering behavioural patterns like overeating and constant smoking by raising motivation levels in an individual.

If a person believes in all the misconceptions that prevail regarding hypnotherapy and doesn't venture to participate in a hypnotic session, then he will himself block his way to a happier and healthier life.

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