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5 Things You Must Know About Hypnosis

1. Contrary to popular myth, a person in a hypnotic state is actually totally awake. While a hypnotist may use phrases like "You are getting sleepy", this is just a suggestion to help the person be relaxed. The word hypnosis is actually derived from Hypnos, who is the Greek god of sleep. There is, however, plenty of evidence to show the difference between being in a hypnotic trance, and being asleep.

2. Most people actually experience hypnosis of some sort every single day. There are a whole lot of hypnotic effects that manifest themselves to people on an everyday basis. If you are unable to find something that is actually right in front of you, this is called a "negative hallucination". Another effect is called "catalepsy", which shows itself when we are in the middle of a movement and we become enraptured in something, for example forgetting you are holding food in mid-air in a particularly exciting bit of a film. Yawning when someone else does shows the simple power of suggestion. And any seemingly shortening or lengthening of time is as a result of hypnosis. If you are in deep concentration on something, it can feel like only ten minutes has passed, whereas it has actually been closer to an hour. And vice versa, if you are bored or waiting in a queue, ten minutes can sometimes feel more like an hour.

3. There is nothing magical about hypnosis. Again, contrary to the popular myth, there is absolutely nothing magical or paranormal about hypnosis. It is simply a more suggestible state, allowing ideas and suggestions to flow into your subconscious with greater ease. Stage hypnotism is notoriously unscientific, and many of the effects being brought about by the 'hypnotist' can be attributed either to simply trickery and sleight or hand, or to mere obedience of those participating on stage. The American Medical Association has actually officially accepted hypnosis as a tool for therapy. While it is often seen as an 'alternative therapy', it really isn't. The only distinguishing point of an 'alternative therapy' is that it has no scientific evidence or support, whilst hypnosis and hypnotherapy has both proof, and support from scientific communities.

4. Subliminal messaging has never been proven to have any effect. There was a famous cinema experiment that flashed up messages for milliseconds, asking the audience to buy food, or cola. At the time, the study reported back with totally false positive results, and while they have since owned up and been proved otherwise, this initial experiment still fuels the subliminal messaging myth we often hear today.

5. When a person is in a state of hypnosis, they do not lose all control. is not mind control. During hypnosis, one will remain totally awake and aware of what is going on. If something is said that is considered to be beyond or against your moral code, or that you deem unacceptable, it is more than likely you will be aroused into alertness. It is impossible to use hypnosis to cause a person to do anything they wouldn't be willing to do under normal circumstances.