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Hypnosis and hypnotism explained  Hypnosis
As coined by James Braid from the Greek word (Hypnos) means 'to
sleep'.While in the state of hypnosis, a person is very, very relaxed. ‘ Hypnosis is a state of relaxation and concentration at one with a state of heightened awareness’. And really has to be experienced to be fully understood and appreciated. For most people they simply feel relaxed. During hypnosis your senses, creativity, concentration and awareness are actually heightened So really Hypnosis is a very normal state of mind, a very safe form of mind. Hypnosis is a most natural human phenominan and has resonanted with humankind since primordial days. As we have seen in many areas before, it is not always new technology that improves a new situation, but often the application of an old tool in a new way. Such is the case with hypnosis and its uses are widespread throughout both the medical and mental health fields. Myths and misconceptions about hypnosis It is a pity that most peoples' awareness and knowlwdge of hypnotherapy is from that of stage hypnotists. People would automatically build a field of resistance towards anything that would make you behave like some of the people in those performances, so please let me put your mind at ease and eliminate some of the fears and answer some of the questions I regularily come across from the public. One such question is…..will it make me tell secrets ??? Not at all. You will not divulge any information that you would not ordinarily divulge. You always have a choice, and your brain does not stop functioning or reasoning. However, you may find that you discover some inner truths about yourself, or your situation, or some self sabotage, that you did not know about consciously. Another fear people have is that, will Hypnosis make me do something against my will? Again, Absolutely not. This is probably the biggest myth of all. Stage hypnotists seem to make people do strange things while hypnotized, but the truth is that these people are doing these things because they have a desire to be outrageous. If the stage hypnotists chooses their subjects carefully they will have willing participants. You will never do anything, or accept any suggestion that violates your morals or values. If that was possible, all the hypnotists in the world could make you go rob the banks and bring back the money. Obviously, this is not the case. Imagine if you never woke up?? LOL No one has ever got stuck in a terminal state of hypnosis. It simply cannot happen. If the hypnotist left the room, or if you were listening to a tape and the power went out, you would either fall asleep and wake up naturally, or your subconscious mind would detect that there is no voice guiding you and bring you to conscious awareness. People also wonder Will they forget everything during the session? The fact is, Most hypnotists want you to be aware of the session. You will be aware of everything around you, and remember most, if not all, that happened in the session. Usually, you will remember it better than a conversation we had, because your mind is in such a focused state. Let me see…another good one is Can anyone be hypnotized? Yes, anyone who is compusmentus, and not under the influence of drugs or alcholoh And wishes to be hypnotized can in fact be hypnotised. It can also be a learned trait, You can teach your body and mind to go into trance, and get better and better at it as you practice your self hypnosis. Actually a lot of people don't think they have been hypnotized after a session. What they do notice is that some things have changed - maybe that day, maybe the next week. Sometimes the effects are subtle and sometimes profound. Let me take you through a brief history of hypnosis In the modern age hypnosis enjoyed a revival of sorts through the work of Franz Anton Mesmer. An 18th century Austrian physician, Mesmer applied his hypnotic method of "animal magnetism", raising controversy in his path, and leaving his legacy in the phrase "to mesmerize". Many labeled his work as fraud, claiming any cures brought about were due to the patient's imagination, thus leading Charles d'Eslon, a pupil of Mesmer, to exclaim, "If the medicine of imagination is the best, why should we not practice the medicine of imagination." Hypnosis was further explored by James Braid, who, in the late 19th century, developed the eye fixation or swinging watch technique which many today consider almost synonymous with hypnotism. And indeed it was Braid who coined the term "hypnosis", after the Greek word for sleep, hypnos. Braid initially felt the trance was a form of sleep, but later grew to understand it as a different state entirely. He also brought to light the understanding that hypnosis is a state that a person reaches internally, with the therapist serving merely as a guide. Emile Coue, was an advocate of hypnosis near the turn of the century. Coue felt that the patient's own resources were most important in healing, and thus he became a pioneer in the area of autosuggestion. He would have his patients engage in affirmations, repeating mantras such as "Every day, in every way, I get better and better." twice a day. Coue's ideas foreshadowed the increasing focus that medicine is beginning to place, once more, on the patient's innate ability to heal himself. Perhaps the largest luminary in the field of mental health is Sigmund Freud. Freud's involvement with hypnosis is an interesting one. The eminent neurologist initially was really taken with the methods, having learned them from his mentor Jean-Martin Charcot, who used them extensively in dealing with hysteria patients in his Paris practice. Indeed, this early exposure to the powers of the mind may have greatly shaped Freud's future ideas on the unconscious. In fact, the father of psychoanalysis once quipped, "If ever we are to develop the perfect form of mental therapy, it would, by necessity, have to include hypnosis". In the 1950's both the British and American Medical Associations officially recognised hypnosis as a valuable therapeutic tool.
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