What is Hypnosis?
When people think of hypnosis, they usually think of something a magician on stage does or something that they have seen on TV. Some people think it’s real, while others believe that hypnosis just does not exist. And while a magic trick is something that can be called hypnosis, it’s much more than that.
Some form of hypnosis can be dated back to around the 1700’s. The word hypnosis was taken from the Greek word for sleep. When first starting out, it was used as a way to use the power of suggestion to cure illness. It was also used as a surgical anesthetic where the patient has the ability to reduce pain by focusing on the imagination. However while this was practiced a long time ago, there are many theories on what hypnosis actually is.
Many people believe hypnosis is related to brain activity while others believe it is something more magical. Some feel that an altered state of consciousness in fundamental to hypnosis, and others believe that focused attention and expectation are explanations of hypnosis. Each of these is difficult to define, especially altered state of consciousness, which seems to be different for everyone.
One thing that is misleading about hypnosis is what a magician does on the stage show. There is no proof that a magician can make you cluck like a chicken or bark like a dog. However another person can change the way you feel. They can talk about water, hot or cold, and even something scary to change how you feel. If your relaxed, your body can react and tense up to different images and sounds heard. You take what is being said to you as reality.
Everybody has, in some form or another, slipped out of a conscious state of mind. It can happen with a lot of things. Activities like reading, watching a movie, or even driving are a form of hypnosis. When you are reading or watching a movie, you feel as if you are part of this movie. While you’r driving you sometimes forget about what you are actually doing for a second. This could be characterized as self-hypnosis.
Magic shows and hypnotist shows are a great source of entertainment. Everybody wants to see people, especially people they know, make a fool out of themselves. While once can’t rule out these shows as reality completely, it’s an idea that for some is hard to swallow. While the idea of an altered state of mind exists, the idea of hypnosis can be argued upon.
(c) D. C. Wartenberger
Although there does seem to be some controversy over certian hypnosis
courses on the internet, is there really cause for concern?
At the end of the day most people never carry out the “underhand” or “underground”
courses available as they lose interest and move on to something else.
Its long been an opinion of most that hypnosis does not work, but i disagree.
Just my opinion though
March 16th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Thanks for your comment.
And I agree. Many people just don’t take a hypnosis-course serious and to its full power and are missing the important points and results.
Dougi
March 16th, 2008 at 4:14 pm