About hypnosis
Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness. Although the hypnotized person may move in and out of conscious awareness as it is normally experienced, the person is never unconscious. Consciousness is simply altered, as happens in the common everyday trance while daydreaming or drifting off somewhere during a really boring lecture. Hypnosis employs trance and trance occurs when the unconscious or subconscious mind dominates experience. During trance the conscious mind may observe or rest or interact on some level. Hypnosis provides an opportunity to learn much greater control over mind-body dynamics as the unconscious process taps into so many inner resources and psychobiological functions. Hypnosis is not at all about losing control.
Using hypnosis or trance for affecting change is not a new process. The first recorded use of hypnosis was found in the Euero Papyrus of Egypt over 3,000 years ago. We also know that all primitive cultures used hypnosis or trance for healing, and induced it with rhythm and music.
More modern hypnosis has been known and used for over 200 years and is considered to begin with Franz Anton Mesmer. Dr. Mesmer was a physician who originally practiced in Vienna and later moved to France. He developed a theory that the body has a magnetic polarity with a force field, which he termed "animal magnetism." Dr. Mesmer’s success treating various conditions with hypnosis was significant and of public note. The term mesmerize comes directly from Dr. Mesmer’s name.
There are a number of misconceptions about hypnosis or how the unconscious mind works. A trance is something that happens very naturally when a person becomes absorbed in what they are experiencing and the focus of attention is narrowed. In this state a person may respond to someone who speaks to them but may not remember what the person said, or may not even hear the other.
The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis says, "Hypnosis is a state of inner absorption, concentration and focused attention. It is like using a magnifying glass to focus the rays of the sun and make them more powerful. Similarly, when our minds are concentrated and focused, we are able to use our minds more powerfully."
We should not confuse hypnosis with sleep. It is not the same as sleep nor is it like being under an anaesthetic. While in trance, you would be able to respond to any emergency situation as needed and you are always able to come out of your trance at any time you want or need to. You are also able to go deeper into your trance as you allow yourself or as you desire.
In numerous studies, researchers have compared the physical changes of hypnotic subjects with those of unhypnotized people. They have found that hypnotized subjects generally have slower heart and respiration rates, which are attributed to the relaxation involved in the hypnotic process itself, not necessarily the hypnotic state.
There does seem to be changed activity in the brain, however, with those in a hypnotic state. Electroencephalograph measurements of electrical activity of the brain demonstrated that hypnotized brains produce different brain waves and rhythms of electrical voltage, than do non-hypnotized brains. It was also found in these studies that deep sleep has a different rhythm than dreaming and being alert has a different rhythm than being relaxed.
In some studies, EEG measurements from subjects under hypnosis showed a boost in the lower frequency waves associated with dreaming and a drop in the higher frequency waves associated with full wakefulness. This pattern fits the hypothesis that the conscious mind backs off during hypnosis and the unconscious mind takes a more active role.
Researchers have also studied patterns in the brain’s cerebral cortex that occur during hypnosis. In these studies, hypnosis subjects showed reduced activity in the left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex, while activity in the right hemisphere often increased. By allowing the left cortex to "rest" and the right cortex to be more active, we are allowing our brains to be in a more creative and open state.
The Unconscious Mind at Work
For purposes of weight loss it is important to understand how the unconscious mind (subconscious mind or inner mind, as it is sometimes called) works. The unconscious mind is capable of thinking and reasoning, but it does so in a different way than the conscious mind. The "inner mind" seems to operate in a very logical way. It is concerned with the end result and it takes things very literally.
This is a very important aspect to remember when working with the inner mind. If we are ambiguous, the inner mind simply does not receive the message as we intended it. For instance, if you ask a person "will you tell me where you were born", most people will answer with their conscious mind and respond with a city and state. When a person is in trance and using their unconscious mind, they are most likely to respond literally to the question of "will you tell me where you were born?" with the answer, "yes".
Have you ever had a conversation with someone and later pondered whether there may have been a completely different meaning to what the other party was saying than what you understood at the time? The information you received in that conversation likely had more than one meaning but didn’t seem so at the time. This is a common experience.
The word ambiguous implies something having two or more possible meanings or being unclear. The written and spoken English language is ripe with ambiguous words. Consider the words "right" which can mean direction, privilege or correct and the word "write" which can mean to form or inscribe words. Another example is the word "fall" which could mean to drop down, or it might mean a season, as in Fall, or it could even mean a hair piece. Then there is the word "light", meaning, not dark, or relative weight, or to ignite.
As a listener or a reader, we interpret ambiguous language in a particular way or note the lack of clarity and suspend the attribution of meaning. The unconscious mind, however, tends to assign the most literal meaning to ambiguous language. For example, addressing someone with "You have the right to wave goodbye" may inspire a noticeable movement in the listener’s right hand. The words "wave" and "right" both have multiple meanings.
When used intentionally and purposely, ambiguous language can deliver some very direct messages to the unconscious mind without conscious perception. These messages can be effective vehicles for change or prescribed action.
The unconscious mind tends to dismiss negative words like "don’t" and "no" as it receives information. The result is that quite often the intention of one’s message is received in an opposite manner by the listener’s unconscious. Consider a parent telling a child "don’t fall down" or "don’t bite your nails". Remove the negative command word don’t and recognize what is being received by the child at an unconscious level. A more effective instruction to the child would be "keep good balance" and "keep your fingers out of your mouth".
We have all been subject to the powerful influence that ambiguous language, unconscious literalness and dismissal of negative words can have on us. We may have absorbed good intentioned messages from caregivers that were interpreted in a manner contrary to their intention or our best interest. The particular way information is delivered does make a difference.
Media and the Unconscious Process
Many marketing professionals understand how effectively messages can be delivered to the unconscious to sell product. Those watching television commercials will often notice much ambiguity between the picture being shown and the words being spoken. It may be a junk food commercial depicting fit, lean, healthy looking people miraculously sustaining themselves on very unhealthy food. Or maybe it’s the pharmaceutical commercial depicting happy, vibrant individuals oblivious to the mandatory warning about possible heart disease, vision impairment or malignancy announced rapidly toward the end of the commercial.
The words and the picture don’t really fit together, so we instinctively choose one or the other—most often the "picture" is the one that is chosen. Marketing professionals know the visual imprint of a picture is much more powerful and lasting than the spoken word. They are well aware that a picture is worth a thousand words.