In this Instructible, I'll cover the steps to performing a simple hypnosis induction that, when properly handled, allows you to hypnotize most willing volunteers. I'll also cover basic terms and concepts important to learning hypnosis. This induction is most suitable for a basic demonstration 1 on 1 or at a party.
**DISCLAIMER**
Hypnosis can be dangerous if not used carefully and properly. You should always respect the fact that you are working with someone else's mind. Don't practice hypnotherapy if you are not a trained therapist. In general, you should not make suggestions dealing with involuntary systems of the body or age regression. I am not responsible for any injuries, mental or physical, resulting from the use of this Instructable. If your subject does have an adverse reaction, wake them, reminding them where they are and that they will be okay.
**End Disclaimer**
What is hypnosis? That's a fairly complicated question, and the answer you receive will vary greatly depending on who you ask.
In simple terms, my opinion is that hypnosis is a tool that allows you to bypass certain critical faculties of the conscious mind. This definition works well enough for simple one-on-one demonstrations like this one.
This induction is typically called 'Hands Closing Together' or 'Magnetic Hands.' It's a little showy, but it gets the job done.
For more information, check out our websites: iHypnoU.com and deeplyhypnotized.blogspot.com
**DISCLAIMER**
Hypnosis can be dangerous if not used carefully and properly. You should always respect the fact that you are working with someone else's mind. Don't practice hypnotherapy if you are not a trained therapist. In general, you should not make suggestions dealing with involuntary systems of the body or age regression. I am not responsible for any injuries, mental or physical, resulting from the use of this Instructable. If your subject does have an adverse reaction, wake them, reminding them where they are and that they will be okay.
**End Disclaimer**
What is hypnosis? That's a fairly complicated question, and the answer you receive will vary greatly depending on who you ask.
In simple terms, my opinion is that hypnosis is a tool that allows you to bypass certain critical faculties of the conscious mind. This definition works well enough for simple one-on-one demonstrations like this one.
This induction is typically called 'Hands Closing Together' or 'Magnetic Hands.' It's a little showy, but it gets the job done.
For more information, check out our websites: iHypnoU.com and deeplyhypnotized.blogspot.com
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Signing UpStep 1: Materials
The list of things you need to hypnotize someone with this induction is very simple.
You need:
A Volunteer - the person you will be hypnotizing, called a Subject. Some are easier to hypnotize than others, but with the right method, most anyone willing to be hypnotized can be.
A Location - where you will be hypnotizing. Anywhere will work, but someplace quiet with a chair is ideal.
Confidence - hypnosis is all about the power of suggestion. If you believe you will succeed, become not just a person who knows hypnosis, but The Hypnotist, you will cause your subject to believe in your abilities as well.
You need:
A Volunteer - the person you will be hypnotizing, called a Subject. Some are easier to hypnotize than others, but with the right method, most anyone willing to be hypnotized can be.
A Location - where you will be hypnotizing. Anywhere will work, but someplace quiet with a chair is ideal.
Confidence - hypnosis is all about the power of suggestion. If you believe you will succeed, become not just a person who knows hypnosis, but The Hypnotist, you will cause your subject to believe in your abilities as well.
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Hypnosis actually has very little to do with sleep, and everything to do with focus. Imagine reading a book, watching tv, soldering a tiny wire into a tiny connector or any task you tend to zone out whilst carrying it out (walking to the shops?). In actual fact, you're not zoned out but zoned in!
In your natural waking state you have this innate need to be distracted by as many things as possible - it makes you alert, ensures that your backside is covered no matter what you're doing etc... but when you focus intently, your conscious mind becomes too preoccupied to be bothered with outside distractions - think about times when someone has had to shout your name repeatedly because you were concentrating and didn't hear them (or did, but your brain ignored it).
Hypnosis is simply a method to help you focus intently. A side effect of hypnosis is relaxation - not to make you sleep, but to help your focus narrow further, until finally your subconscious is listening but your conscious mind isn't.
Then, your hypnotist, hypnotherapist will be able to make suggestions, which your subconscious will listen to - not directly, suggestions like, "You are a prince and have a billion followers on twitter" will be rejected immediately (unless you're a prince, and do have a billion followers on twitter). Guiding the subconscious in to a world where anything is possible, either using the imagination of the subject (and guiding it) or story telling is a much better way to talk to the subconscious.
Once the subconscious experiences something, it believes it to be a fact... if it experiences it a few times, it is part of life! (think about it ... the moon has very little gravity - fact, but can you live that, does your subconcious just KNOW or does it actually BELIEVE?)
So to help all those people who say, "It doesn't work..." I say, it does! I've used the magnetic hands method myself in my training. If it doesn't work you got something wrong - probably the pretalk. More commonly you give away the fact that you've never done this before... and the conscious goes into defensive mode, refusing to leave its little brother alone with your for a moment.
Practise, practise, practise.... and once you have the induction in place, learn to use it to take people into relaxation and back again - but nothing else until you've studied more. You don't want anyone suing you just cos they can on false claims.
There's a reason why I list confidence as one of the required materials on the first page - whether or not you think it can work, you're probably not going to be surprised with your results. And even worse, if you tell your subject that you don't think it'll work, you're just setting yourself up to fail.
No disrespect intended, rimar2000, but if you've distanced yourself from hypnosis and not studied it, precisely what qualifications do you have to offer such warnings? You seem to hold the very commonly-held belief that hypnosis is some sort of magic mind-control power. It's not. In the hands of a competent therapist, it's a powerful diagnostic and corrective tool. In the hands of the layperson, such as myself, it can still be useful for a wide range of beneficial things. I'll restrict my examples to the very obvious here and start with sleep training. One of the hallmarks of hypnotic trance is physical and mental relaxation, and it's very simple to put it to use in a practical way. Another very easy one is quitting smoking, by replacing the pleasure associated with smoking with revulsion. Both are things I've done myself, without formal training and without significant (or appreciable, really) risk to myself or others.
What I've never even heard of is anybody coming to any harm whatsoever due to a botched session. Sure you can have a freak-out when playing with altered states, but that's more common in other forms of trancing than in hypnosis. I'm interested in your case, rimar2000, as I've never heard of anything even close to this happening. How did it come about? What were the circumstances? It's been my experience that getting it wrong most commonly results in nothing happening at all. That's quite common in a lot of the commercial theraputic stuff you find nowadays.
Now, what someone would "normally do" is an important distinction, because people are not "normally" up on stage being hypnotized for entertainment. I do believe that stage hypnotists have an easier time getting people to do things because the volunteers on stage have an excuse to be more ridiculous than they might normally admit.
Things could, under the right circumstances, possibly be arranged so that someone is taking an action that they might normally oppose because it would be acceptable within some other context.