What You Need to Know About Self-Hypnosis

Believe it or not, you have already experienced hypnosis. With New Yorkers, it happens on the subway. Have you ever been so focused on your phone or lost in your thoughts that you almost miss your stop (or actually do)? That is hypnosis: a state of mental absorption so heightened that you briefly stop paying attention to your surroundings. Daydreaming and movies are also examples. People who drive regularly might experience “highway hypnosis,” where they get lost in their thoughts momentarily, and then look up and see that they are at their exit.

When to Try Self-Hypnosis and How it Helps

Hypnosis improves the communication between your conscious and unconscious mind. When these two parts are disconnected around a particular problem, it can feel like you are “blocked,” “stuck,” or like you have tried everything to change but nothing works. Not only is this enormously frustrating, but over time it contributes to a sense of powerlessness and helplessness that is further immobilizing.

Your mind has powerful resources (intuition, imagination, the capacity to learn from new experiences) that are just under the surface of your everyday awareness and can be accessed at any time. Hypnosis connects you with them and empowers you to use them intuitively and creatively. You start feeling lighter and more hopeful, and your problem begins to change.

What Hypnosis Feels Like

In hypnosis, your mind and body can unwind and release tension. Images, thoughts, sounds, and feelings flow freely. Most people report feeling deeply relaxed and some sleep more deeply after beginning to use self-hypnosis regularly.

There are many stages of depth in hypnosis. Full alertness is characteristic of the lightest stages - you are aware of where you are and hear the sounds happening around you. In moderate stages your mind wanders off and returns. Only in the deepest stages (usually only used as anesthesia for medical or dental procedures) is there a sense of not having been fully conscious. Many people are surprised how aware they are during hypnosis.

Why Self-Hypnosis is Safe

You are always in control of yourself and your actions in self-hypnosis. You will only go as deep as you are comfortable with and your mind will only accept content that it finds helpful and positive. If you don’t feel genuinely safe, nothing will happen. This is why choosing the right self-hypnosis techniques for you is essential, whether its using recordings or learning how to induce trance yourself. As long as you adhere to common sense guidelines and don't try to use self-hypnosis while you are driving a car or operating machinery or otherwise moving around in public, it is safe.

How You Will Change

It’s common to notice increased energy and commitment to changing behavior and the ability to follow through with pre-planned goals after starting to use hypnosis tools. Some people experience “aha!” moments in which a thought pops into their mind that helps them recognize what they need to do to change. Others will experience insights after hypnosis. For others, they simply start feeling better and notice behavior changing.