by Joy Johnson

Created on: July 13, 2009   Last Updated: July 14, 2009

When a new client enters my office for a hypnosis session the first item of business is to talk about what hypnosis is and what it is not. Most people who come for hypnotherapy have never been hypnotized and are anxious as well as excited about the idea. For most people, hypnosis is the last resort for working on an issue. Typically, people try other ways to deal with issues and have failed to adequately alleviate their problem. They come with hopes and prayers that this alternative therapy will work for them, despite any reservations they may have.Often times, they leave feeling grateful they decided to try hypnosis and for many it proves to be life-altering as they become aware of the ongoing value it has in their lives.

Hypnosis is sleep but not the kind of sleep you experience at night. It is the relaxation of the body and the nervous system. The feeling of hypnosis is different for each person. For some, it is a feeling as though their body is as heavy as lead and they do not want to bother to move. For others it can be a floating sensation. Generally speaking, it is similar to the feeling you have just before you fall asleep at night, the space between being fully aware and sound asleep.

It is very important to understand that in reality there is no such thing as "under hypnosis". People go into and out of hypnosis each day, for most of us, several times a day. The best way I have found to explain hypnosis is in discussing the trance state by likening it to a radio frequency. In order to get the station you want on your radio, you must first turn the dial to the specific frequency. Likewise, in order to experience hypnosis you need to also "tune in" to a specific state of mind. Hypnosis is just a frequency for a particular state of mind that we call the trance state. If you move the radio dial, the other stations don't go away, you are just tuned into a certain frequency on the dial. When you want to change the dial and listen to another frequency, that is easy to do. So it is with hypnosis. You can tune in and out of hypnosis but you do not "go under".

Just like the other stations on the radio dial are silent when you listen to your favorite station, so is the monkey-mind when in hypnosis. Your monkey-mind is responsible for the way your mind keeps running thoughts through your head, it is the voice that won't be quiet. Once the monkey-mind is silent a focus state of mind is achieved and during that time period amazing progress can be

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