In the simplest description, hypnosis is where the conscious mind is directed somewhere else and the subconscious mind is then able to be accesses for any of a number of reasons. Physical and mental relaxation, preparing the body for upcoming events, removing or altering existing thoughts/beliefs/habits, establish the opportunity for focusing toward new learning.
Something else that can be accomplished is going into the subconscious and finding where you put that important document or prized item that you have been looking for without success. Another area that I will cover later is pain control.
Usually one starts out working with someone who is already familiar with hypnosis to get grounded in the basics of how it works and how it feels. After that then, if you feel adventurous you can then venture consciously into the arena of self hypnosis. This is an absolutely excellent tool for personal growth and understanding. I recommend it highly.
Have you ever been driving along somewhere and while you were driving, you started thinking very focused on some subject? After a period of time you release focus and find yourself in someplace other than where you had intended on being.
Your unconscious mind had taken over the operation of your body while you were elsewhere engaged and pulled up an old destination that you usually go to over this route. Whether this is where you wanted to go does not matter, the unconscious pulled up built in programming and took you there while your conscious mind was elsewhere occupied.
This is an example of how our subconscious programming controls us. These built in programs are continually running and we keep getting the same results. The way to get new/different results is to install new programming with the concurrent removing or modifying of the existing program(s).
If you have had an experience along these lines then you are a good candidate for hypnosis.
I have worked in the personal development field for many years and as a clinical therapist the main tool that was recommended was talk therapy. This is good and the drawback is that it can take a long period of time to accomplish a given goal, where as using hypnotherapy the goals can usually be accomplished in a much shorter period of time.
Sometimes people do not think that they have been hypnotizes because they were present and watching everything that was going on during the session and so how could they be hypnotized? During most hypnosis sessions you are present at a distance, you see, hear, and are watching everything. When you are brought back to conscious control there is usually a feeling of being relaxed and refreshed from the session.
There are occasionally sessions where you get to go into such a totally relaxed state that the conscious shuts down like slee, the subconscious is still deeply in tuned with the session and what is progressing and when coming to full consciousness it can feel as refreshing as a full nights sleep.
