Can I be Hypnotized?
I very often have people tell me “I don’t know if I can be hypnotized.” I think that what a lot of people are really saying is “I don’t know if I would cluck like a chicken if you told me to.” Many people have a misconception of what hypnosis is and what hypnosis is not so I want to help people get a better understanding of why hypnosis works and what hypnotherapy will and won’t do.
Hypnosis works directly on the subconscious mind which is more of the center of habits and emotions. It is a feeling part of the mind and it doesn’t always make sense to us. It feels what it feels through life experiences or imagination. Hypnosis requires some suggestibility from the person being hypnotized which requires the use of some imagination.
Here are some things to try to see if you are open to suggestions:
Read this through completely first then try it with your eyes closed.
Imagine that you are holding a lemon in your hand. Bring your hand up to your mouth and take a really big bite of that lemon and start chewing. Feel the pulp in your mouth and taste the squishy pulp sliding over your tongue. Keep chewing and keep the lemon sliding all around your tongue and mouth.
Here is another fun exercise to try:
Again read this through first
Put your arm out in front of you and point your finger. Now keeping the rest of your body still swing your arm to the side and around to the back just as far back as you can go until your finger is pointing in back of you as far as it can go. Mark the spot your finger swung back to. Relax your arm. Now close your eyes and imagine that your shoulder is very stretchy, like a piece of flexible rubber or like Stretch Armstrong (if you know who that is). Tell your arm and shoulder joint that they are made out of soft stretchy rubber that can really stretch, bend, and flex. Put your arm out in front of you and point your finger keeping the stretchy image in mind. Now keeping the rest of your body still swing your arm to the side and around to the back just as far back as you can go until your finger is pointing in back of you as far as it can go. Mark the spot your finger swung back to.
Did your mouth water or pucker when you tried the first exercise? If so, your subconscious simply linked with your imagination to remember the taste of a lemon and your body responded with increased salivation and/or puckering from the habit and remembering of past experiences. Were you able to reach back further after imagining that your shoulder was stretchy and made of rubber ? If so your subconscious responded to the suggestions you gave yourself. Most people will notice that when they imagine their arm and shoulder joint as stretchy, they can rotate further back. Your subconscious didn’t have any objections and might have even thought it was fun to use imagination in this way.
During hypnosis, the subconscious has the choice as to whether or not to take a suggestion. It won’t accept a suggestion just because the suggestion is given. If a suggestion goes against a strong moral code or a strong personal code the suggestion will be dismissed and the subconscious will refuse the suggestion. Let’s go back to the “I don’t know if I would cluck like a chicken if you told me to.” Many people who volunteer for stage hypnosis shows are people who really like to make others laugh. Remember too, the stage hypnotist always asks for volunteers, because volunteers are more likely to listen to the suggestions the hypnotist gives so that they can make others laugh. If someone loves to make others laugh they will not only willingly accept the suggestion to cluck like a chicken, they will act on it enthusiastically. If the hypnotist told such a volunteer cluck like a chicken then “rob a bank and bring me the money”, that person clucking enthusiastically would refuse if they lived their life being taught that stealing is bad, or simply act out robbing a bank in the show because that was acceptable to them. They wouldn’t actually go out and rob a bank in real life. The subconscious would either reject the suggestion, make the suggestion more acceptable as in the case of the person who just acts out the robbery, or accept the suggestion.
Hypnotherapy works the same way. The subconscious has to like the suggestion being given or it will not accept the suggestion being given. That is why it is important to select a hypnotherapist who tailors a program for your own needs. A skilled hypnotherapist, through interviewing you and working with your likes, dislikes, and upbringing, will provide suggestions more acceptable for you than a hypnosis tape or a one size fits all approach, making it more likely that the suggestion would be accepted and tried.
I welcome your comments!