How does hypnosis work?
Logic works with the conscious mind, but often not with the subconscious. Hypnosis helps the subconscious.
Whilst a person is in hypnosis, the hypnotherapist is able to communicate directly with the subconscious part of his or her mind. Since the subconscious mind does not analyse nor criticise anything that is said to it, it will accept as literal almost anything that is said and will do this automatically without the person even knowing.
A good example of the conscious and subconscious mind is as follows. When you are learning to do something, for example drive a car, you are using your conscious mind. You may think ” I’ll never remember all this”, but once you have taken your examination or passed your driving test, then all of a sudden, things seem to come more easily. You seem to go onto “auto pilot”. Well, this is because all the information has been passed on to the subconscious mind, so that you no longer have to think about what you are doing.
Remember how difficult it was when you were learning to drive, and compare this with how easy it is now.
Why does hypnosis work?
Hypnotherapy works by empowering people to change and update subconscious beliefs. Through hypnosis, we can reframe and update old beliefs – that quitting smoking, for instance, will be difficult and painful – and replace them with new, more helpful assumptions, that it will be easy and comforatable.
Hypnosis is a highly relaxed mental state, in which we bypass the critical mind. In other words, the mind is relaxed and ready to learn; the mind becomes much more susceptible to suggestion.
In deeply relaxed hypnosis, we can override these automatic thoughts, and update this thinking with new suggestions. Hypnosis works by allowing us to alter our unconscious thought processes to help us achieve specific goals.
Hypnosis works with the power of suggestion.
As a baby we are born a completely blank canvas with only two fears, the fear of loud noises, and the fear of falling. But as we grow up and we become influenced by our parents, teachers and peers, we are bombarded with suggestions as to how life should be. We take on board these suggestions and make them our reality.
How many times in life have you not done something, because someone suggested to you that it would be a bad idea? That person has altered and influenced your life path.
So, what you are today is a result of all your accumulated experiences from the day you were born right up to this very minute.
Reframing Our Preconditioned Beliefs through Hypnosis
Here’s a great example of the power of our preconditioned beliefs. A group of participants were asked to take a wine taste test. They were given two choices: A glass of “expensive” wine and another of moderately priced wine.
The truth was: Both glasses were the same wine. But participants expected the expensive wine to taste better, and therefore, they gave it much higher marks for taste.
The suggestion was subtle – one was more expensive – but it clearly shows how easily a suggestion is used to construct our perception.
Unfortunately, the critical mind isn’t as receptive to suggestion. You hear a suggestion, and then you analyse and critique it.
But with hypnosis we empower the mind to better accept suggestions? In the deeply relaxed state of hypnosis, our minds are more susceptible to suggestion.
