The Things You Should Know About Hypnosis

By Adam Cox

Hypnosis and its derivative, hypnotherapy, have been the focus of many myths created by popular imagination. People either believe them to be falling in the domain of the occult, or don't regard them to be serious scientific endeavours. Following are some of the well known myths about hypnosis and the reality behind them.

There is no mysticism or rituals involved in hypnosis. It is a very easy technique, which can be understood easily with the help of psychology and other scientific procedures. The authenticity of hypnosis is suspected even by individuals who have watched it working on subjects. They say that hypnotised people allow practitioners to be successful in their art by not exhibiting enough mental strength to block the influence of their words. But this again is a complete fallacy. Hypnosis can in fact work on people who are mentally strong and are trying their best to resist the spell.

Another notion about hypnosis that people have made up without reason is that it is an alternate state of consciousness. A hypnotized person is fully awake to what is going on in his surroundings. During the hypnotic state, the subject calms down entirely and is thus able to concentrate fully on the inputs provided by the practitioner.

Some scientific discoveries have claimed that only about 5% of humanity is suitable to be hypnotized, which is the third myth on this list. The scientists are somewhat true in their own way, because they tried hypnotising their subjects by the same hypnosis method without considering individual differences in nature and disposition. People differ in their characters and personalities, and therefore there have to be different hypnosis methods to fit the temperaments of different individuals.

Many people consider hypnosis to be a form of meditation. But while hypnosis is an interaction technique, meditation is all about a state of mind and usually has nothing to do with communication. The state of trance and the state of hypnosis are entirely different from each other too. Trance is again a mental state devoid of any communication, on the other hand communication forms the very basis of the hypnosis technique.

A majority of people believe that it is not possible to bring about alterations in one's appearance and behaviour through hypnosis training or hypnotherapy. Hypnosis is obviously not magic that it can change the physical appearance of an individual on its own. However, it can guide the body to a healthy shape through behavioural changes like eating less, and giving up smoking and other addictive habits by ensuring a good amount of of inspiration in a person.

Hypnosis, and particularly hypnotherapy, can have a vital role to play in the overall welfare of a person, and not trying them out just because of some misconceptions is a missed opportunity. - 31857

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