Think that hypnosis is just for cartoon characters or detective stories? Think again.
Hypnosis is a real and powerful phenomenon. Professionals use it for everything from thrilling audiences and stage shows in Las Vegas, to providing therapy, to recalling abuse.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t see special or supernatural abilities to learn hypnosis. With dedication and practice, just about anyone can learn this skill.
Ready to get started? Here’s how to learn hypnosis.
What is Hypnosis?
Before you can learn to hypnotize someone, it’s important to understand what, exactly, hypnosis is–and what it isn’t.
Simply put, hypnosis is a trance-like state where the hypnotized person becomes extremely relaxed, suggestible, or experiences heightened imagination. People become hypnotized frequently during regular activities. For instance, if you’ve ever been driving for a long period of time and felt yourself losing focus on the road, you might have experienced road hypnosis.
Self-Hypnosis
To get started with learning hypnosis, it may be a good idea to start with yourself. This can help you get the hang of the process before moving on to other people.
Hypnotizing yourself doesn’t have to be just for fun. It can also help you achieve your goals! For instance, many people successfully use hypnosis to break bad habits like nail-biting and smoking.
The key for self-hypnosis is to to get yourself into a calm state where you can quiet your conscious mind. Choose a private area, focus on your breathing, and concentrate on your intention (whatever you are trying to hypnotize yourself to do).
To break away from thinking about your surroundings, try picturing yourself doing a rote activity, like descending stairs or swimming laps.
Then, focus on repeating affirming statements to yourself that focus on your intention. For instance, you may consider repeating to yourself, “I will pass my test,” or “I understand the material I studied.”
In this way, hypnosis can be a good way to combat the negative self-talk that brings us down. Using hypnosis downloads with audio can help you work through this state.
Hypnotizing Someone Else
Once you’ve successfully practiced self-hypnosis, you may be ready to hypnotize someone else.
As a beginning hypnotist, it is important to choose a willing partner. Someone who is resistant to hypnosis or does not believe in it will be more difficult to hypnotize.
In reality, hypnotizing someone else is not that different from hypnotizing yourself. You are simply guiding the other person through their hypnotic state.
Encourage your partner to relax, listen to your voice, and focus on their breathing. It may be helpful to encourage them to relax each part of their body separately, starting from the head and working down to the toes.
Once they are in a trance-like state, you can focus on specific issues. For instance, if you are hypnotizing someone to help them with their anxiety, you could encourage them to picture a world without their problems.
When bringing someone out of a hypnotic state, make sure to go slowly. Counting backwards from five can be a good way to do this.
Get Ready to Learn Hypnosis
With these steps in hand, you will soon be ready to learn hypnosis!
Just remember that hypnosis is not a game. Working with someone’s mind is a very serious responsibility.
Have you ever been hypnotized? Have you tried learning hypnosis? Tell us more about it in the comments!
