Well, it doesn’t have any special feeling. And it can be different for different people. There is no special sensation or feeling that you can identify and say "This is it this is what they told me about, I'm hypnotised."
After a session some people report that during the trance they felt very heavy, as if the body had turned to cement, solid. On the other hand others say they felt like a baloon, floating, weightless. There are a few, not many, who say that they felt nothing at all. They just had their eyes closed. And it doesn’t really matter. Most people experience time distortion when in trance. They are surprised that what seemed like five minutes with their eyes closed was in fact, a period of 35 or 40 minutes.
Most people don’t know, or realise that they have been hypnotised until they are coming out of the hypnosis at the end of the session. Coming out of hypnosis is a bit like coming out of an afternoon nap or siesta. Perhaps with a bit of that, “Where am I”, feeling.
The important thing to note here is that the subject has NOT been asleep norunconscious. No, hypnosis is neither of those two things-it is a state of deep relaxation and nothing else. In this states the barriers are down and the therapist can access the subconscious to implant the necessary suggestions and ideas.
In my practice I always explain all of the above in what I call my pre-induction talk. I also say,” During the session you will be aware of everything that is going on, like the sound of my voice, passing traffic in the street etc. Because you will not be asleep and you will not be unconscious.” However, in spite of all this there are a goodly percentage of people who come out of the trance state and the very first thing they say, sometimes a bit indignantly, is, “I was aware of everything that went on- I remember everything.” Or, something like, "You didn’t put me out.” They usually say this as though it were something exceptional, even though I have told them in my pre-talk that it is quite normal to be aware of everything that goes on during the trance.
Some people are nervous or apprehensive at the thoughts of going into hypnosis. Normally my pre-induction talk does much to take away this nervousness, especially when I explain that hypnosis is neither a state of sleep nor unconsciousness-just deep relaxation.
Incidentally, I’d like to say here that I have found that the majority of these people who approach a hypnotic session with some degree of nervous tension, seem to relax quicker and go deeper into trance, than many of those who appear to have approached the session with calmness.
During the session some people find that they drift off and start thinking about other things that have nothing to do with the problem being addressed. They may feel that they have spoiled the session through lack of concentration. In fact it doesn’t matter because that was the conscious mind that was thinking about something else, say football, but the therapist is talking to the subconscious on the other side of the brain. In this wonderful state of hypnosis we have complete separation of the two halves, so it’s OK. The subconscious is still receiving the therapist’s message.
I always advise people that if they want to get the best out of their hypnotic session they should, once the proceedings are under way, just ‘go along with’ and accept everything that the therapist say. Don’t try to analyse what he’s doing. If you do this then that is the conscious mind coming to the fore. The conscious will be there it’s true, but we want to keep it in the background.
I hope that in the above I have been able to give some idea of what hypnosis is and how it feels. It is not some dark mysterious art, as portrayed by some movie makers, but a real scientific entity – a tool for better living.
Lou Ravelle
***********************************
MINI ARTILCLE
SMOKING, HYPNOSIS AND THE NUMBERS GAME
I have, over the years talked to and worked with, thousands of smokers. And the subject of numbers often comes up. I have learned that the number of cigarettes smoked daily seems to have little or no bearing on the hold that the habit has on the victim. In other words it doesn't matter whether you smoke 10 cigarettes, or fifty a day, it can be just as hard to eliminate the habit in either case.
I have known people who, by tremendous will power and effort have cut their consumption down from two or three packets a day, to a mere 5 or 6 cigarettes. Then they get 'stuck'and very often their consumption begins to climb back to its former level. When you use hypnotherapy to stop smoking it’s quite a different ball game. The therapist is aiming for a dead stop. There is no gradual cutting down. A really good hypnotherapist can stop the habit in one single session in ninety-odd percent of cases. The number of cigarettes smoked does not affect the success rate. To put it another way, it doesn't matter whether you smoke half a packet, or four packets a day, you have the same high chance of success. That's the magic of hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is both a science and an art which harnesses the enormous power of the subconscious and in doing this it is able to bring about dramatic changes in people's behaviour and so, in their lives. Just think about it. When a sixty a day smoker suddenly becomes a non -smoker, that's an awesome change, is it not?
Lou ravelle