Hypnosis, the 21 Secrets You Need to Know About Hypnosis

There is still an enormous amount of confusion about hypnosis. Consequently, many people have a totally wrong idea of what hypnosis is exactly. Are you interested in hypnosis, or would you like to learn how to hypnotize yourself or someone else? Then better make sure that hypnosis no longer holds any secrets for you.

Here we chart no less than 21 secrets you need to know about hypnosis, whether you're just interested in hypnosis or really want to do something with it. Hopefully, after reading this, you will have a better understanding of what hypnosis is exactly, and you will start to realize that it is not at all as mysterious hocus pocus as people sometimes think. Brace yourself in advance for the 21 secrets you need to know about hypnosis!

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1. Everyone is always in some form of hypnosis.

This first secret is immediately a real eye-opener, as it is so nicely said in English. When you begin to realize that everyone is always under some form of hypnosis, you are immediately much closer to understanding exactly what hypnosis is all about.

First, let's take a look at how hypnosis is defined by a resource we all consult first when we want to know about a topic of interest?

Right! Wikipedia. I translate briefly from the English Wikipedia page, as the Dutch page puts a rather separate emphasis (more on that later).

"Hypnosis is a state of human consciousness that involves focused attention, decreased awareness of your surroundings and increased susceptibility to suggestion."

In fact, this definition is also held by the American Psychological Association. At first glance, this seems like a very broad definition, but it is actually quite fine. Hypnosis is a much broader concept than people often think, and in this sense it is easier to understand that everyone is constantly in a very light form of hypnosis.

In fact, hypnosis does not have to involve deep trance at all, and certainly does not have to be induced by a hypnotist all the time. When you are very concentrated at work or completely absorbed in a book you are reading, isn't that also a state of focused attention?

And isn't there any reduced awareness of your surroundings? Indeed, often you don't even have an awareness of time, and in some cases (when you are completely absorbed in what you are doing) a bomb might explode next to you, without you noticing. This is pure self-hypnosis, although hardly anyone gives it that name.

In other words, you are constantly imposing a light form of self-hypnosis on yourself, because that's just how we think, how to focus on one thought, how to solve problems in our heads and how to show creativity.

Not only that...

In addition, you also respond all the time to all kinds of suggestions instilled at an early age. Everything your father, mother or teacher said to you has become your hypnosis, so to speak. A lot of those things you still believe, and you may wonder if that is so helpful.

So as a parent, you are essentially a hypnotist who does not know exactly what he is doing. This is why we believe everyone should learn hypnosis to learn how suggestions work.

Children from zero to five are continuously even in deep hypnosis, at least they have the same brain activity as someone under deep hypnosis. So in children between zero and five, suggestions come in even harder. Hence, as hypnotherapists, we also see, that many problems arise between the ages of zero and five....

2. Most of what you do is unconscious and that is an entry point to hypnosis.

That hypnosis really is everywhere can likewise be understood when you begin to realize that most of the things you do are unconscious. Think for a moment about all the things you are doing right now: you are breathing, you are hearing all kinds of environmental sounds, you are shifting in your chair, you are blinking your eyes, your brain is in the background working on all the things that need to happen today, you are processing all kinds of other events, etc.

The list goes on and on, and you are completely unaware of most of them. Which is just as well, because imagine if your every breath was supposed to be a conscious decision? Then things are not going well....

For the most part, we live on autopilot, so we should spend as little brain activity as possible on things we can perfectly leave to our subconscious. That may sound scary, but that's also just what allows us to really think. When you let your subconscious mind do most of your thinking and activities, you make room in your brain for really important things.

Often your unconscious is also compared to the bottom of an iceberg and that is a nice metaphor although I think your unconscious does much more even. In any case, this nicely shows that you do a lot of things unconsciously.

The link to hypnosis is then not far off, because as we just mentioned, hypnosis is a phenomenon associated with diminished consciousness. We have just seen that diminished consciousness is not an exotic phenomenon at all, but rather an everyday reality. In fact, any unconscious activity you do is an entrance into hypnosis.

So, in fact, we are constantly in connection with hypnosis, and are always largely guided by our subconscious mind. This illustrates once again that everyone is actually constantly under a gentle form of hypnosis. If you want to come under full (self) hypnosis, you can use these unconscious behaviors as an easy access to hypnosis.

3. You have three brains and at your gut brain and heart brain is not a critical mind.

Just so you know, you shouldn't take this entirely literally, but there is indeed a neural network in your gut and in your heart similar to how the brain works.

Leopold Auerbach (neurologist) discovered 100 years ago that the intestines harbor a complex network of nerve cells similar to our brains. Later Professor Wolfgang Prinz, of the Max Planck Institute would speak of this "gut brain" as "our second brain.

Of course, there is a huge difference between the three. This is because the heart brain and the gut brain are completely different from your rational mind. When you make a decision with your normal brain, you can still think about it with your rational mind. You can properly weigh all the arguments for and against, you make calculations, planning, and so on.

But far from all decisions are made that way. When you just feel you want to be with someone or, conversely, when you just know you are out of place somewhere, there is very little reasoning involved. You follow your heart and listen to your gut feeling, without paying attention to the critical mind that is present in your brain.

In other words, two of the three "brains" in your body do not have a critical mind. If you as a hypnosis therapist or hypnotist can work with this, you have a huge advantage. When you engage your heart brain the client immediately feels trust and when you engage your gut brain the client immediately feels safety. And that is exactly what you need for a session to be successful.

4. When you look into someone's eyes that is already
tranceopwekkend

A phenomenon often associated with hypnosis is trance. However, there are also many misconceptions about what a trance actually is. Actually, a trance is not so special at all and is more common than you think.

It doesn't require a magic show, and in fact, it is already trance inducing when someone looks very deeply into your eyes, for example.

Let's take a quick look at how a trance is defined:

"A trance is a dissociative phenomenon in which a person has a different level of consciousness. Whe who is in trance is less sensitive to outside stimuli, but is neither unconscious nor asleep."

A trance is a dissociative phenomenon. That is, it is a phenomenon in which you briefly feel that you are outside yourself, that you are "dissociating" from yourself. Only in extreme cases, however, do you lose your entire self-awareness.

Indeed, often a trance is simply a phenomenon where you experience "another level of consciousness." Think for a moment about moments in your life that really moved you, such as when a loved one looked very deeply into your eyes....

Chances are, you'll also feel some sort of other level of consciousness in those moments, which is really nothing more than a trance.

Even when you are just very focused on something, your state can be described as trance. You are less sensitive to outside stimuli, yet you are not at all in a state of unconsciousness or sleep. In short: trance (and hypnosis, as we said above) are phenomena that are both much more common than you might think at first glance.

And if you want to put the effect to the test. At a birthday, say you are a hypnotist and look someone in the eye for a long time, without blinking. You will immediately see that someone then creates an unconscious trancereaction which is an entrance to hypnosis 😉

5. Everyone feels something and you can suggest that as hypnosis

We are all susceptible to hypnosis, and that's simply because we are all human beings. Humans are not only beings who think, but also beings who feel. Your emotions are often related to events or thoughts that you can use as access to hypnosis.

Let's illustrate. Hypnosis counts on a diminished state of consciousness and a diminished perception of your surroundings. Indeed, when you are in an emotional state, you are often less aware of your surroundings. Moreover, you are also more susceptible to suggestion.

Other people can take advantage of that, by the way. For example, when someone is very sad, that person is often not as firm in his or her feet.

Similarly, you can turn the things you feel (mis)use into suggestions to access hypnosis. Ask yourself what your very deepest emotions are and you will find the way to self-hypnosis. Think of moments when you were very sad or just very happy and try to focus on that? Chances are you will already be in a light form of trance.
In addition, you now feel a difference between your left and right hand. You could also use that difference as an entrance into hypnosis....

6. Focus is trance inducing

This is related to some of the things we mentioned earlier. One characteristic of trance is that you are less aware of stimuli from your surroundings. This is a characteristic that focus and trance have in common. When you are very focused on something, such as a book or a movie or a particular thought, you are not as aware of your surroundings at all.

Focus is trance inducing, and that shouldn't surprise you when you take another look at the definition of trance. In fact, focus and trance are so similar that you can look at focus as the perfect vestibule to trance.

So if you want a very easy way to induce a state of trance, you know what to do. Just pick up a good book or put on your favorite music and close your eyes. Concentrate as intensely as possible and let the world around you fall away. The trance will come naturally. Hopefully you will enjoy it!

7. Relaxation works very well to bypass the critical mind

When you want to engage in (self) hypnosis, the critical mind is your biggest stumbling block. We talked about that critical mind just now, but what exactly is it about?

The critical mind can be thought of as that part of your mind that wants to keep everything rational. The critical mind wants to be fully aware of its surroundings, wants to be aware of everything there is to hear, feel, smell and taste.

Moreover, the discerning mind wants to make informed decisions. There is nothing wrong with that in itself, and your critical mind is probably your greatest ally in daily (professional) life. After all, you constantly have to make decisions, and you constantly have to make sure that you are aware of your surroundings, for example, when you want to cross the street safely. But also when you hear, read or see things. You don't take everything at face value, and that's a good thing, of course.

But that doesn't mean the bow should always be tight. That same critical mind can also be deadly exhausting, and it can feel incredibly good to be able to turn it off for a while. You do that very simply by relaxing.

Sit back and start daydreaming a little.... 

you will find that you will bypass your critical mind in no time. As we explained earlier, bypassing the critical mind is a great opening to starting (self) hypnosis.

8. Confusion is an opening to hypnosis

Time for the next secret: confusion and hypnosis go hand in hand. Just now we mentioned that focus, relaxation and trance are openings to hypnosis, but to that list you may well add confusion.

In fact, confusion is a unique state of consciousness that opens the gates to hypnosis. When you are confused, you are less aware of your surroundings and more open to suggestion.

If someone gives you an instruction and you are in a very confused state, your brain is more inclined to accept that instruction. Your critical mind is bypassed at that point, and that is one of the prerequisites for hypnosis.

This is also true from the hypnotist's perspective. For example, when you want to hypnotize someone, you may first confuse them.

9. When people do exactly what you say, they go into hypnosis

There are many misunderstandings about the relationship between hypnotist and hypnotized, and this is quite understandable. Indeed, from the outside, it often looks as if the hypnotist is exerting some kind of supernatural pressure on the hypnotized person, who becomes a kind of will-less puppet.

That's not quite how it works, however. First, a person must be open to hypnosis. If someone has absolutely no desire to be hypnotized, or doesn't even believe hypnosis really exists at all, then it can become difficult (but not impossible!). If you really want to hypnotize someone, make sure you are on the same page with that person. You both have to believe in it.

Hypnosis therefore often begins with simple instructions for the hypnotized to follow. As a result, the hypnotist creates a bond of suggestion: "When I say something, you must do it. As a result, you turn off the person's critical mind at some point, until he or she is completely susceptible to suggestion.

When you manage to get someone to do exactly what you say, that person goes into hypnosis.

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10. Take a stand and stick to it. People then have almost no choice but to go along

The next question then goes without saying, "How do you get people to do what you say? Actually, this is very simple, but you should always keep in mind that this only applies during a hypnosis session. If you try to apply the following techniques in a normal social situation, you are guaranteed to run into a frustrated interlocutor.

The technique many hypnosis experts use is simply repeating a statement or idea until the person goes along with it. By saying it over and over again, the statement gains strength until the suggestion is so strong that the person has to go along with it. For example, you say, "Your arm is going up now," and that might not work the first time.

Then simply repeat, "Your arm just starts to go up. Or, 'You can feel your arm almost going up now.' Make sure you are well prepared when you want to hypnotize someone. Simple commands such as raising a hand work great for getting a person into hypnosis and making them feel the power of suggestion.

On the other hand, you must also realize that you cannot go too far. Obviously, you must not abuse the power of hypnosis. Once someone is under hypnosis, you as hypnotist are fully responsible for that person.

I myself take a stand and I stick to it until the client finds a way to prove me right....

11. Use sympathy as an opening for hypnosis

When you want to hypnotize someone, the most important thing is to find an opening. We've just seen that confusion, focus and relaxation are excellent hypnosis openers, but that doesn't mean your toolbox as a hypnotist is up to its last trick.

In fact, sympathy is also an important opening when you want to get someone into hypnosis, and to some extent it is even necessary. After all, you want to build a friendly relationship with the person you are going to hypnotize, so that the power of your suggestions becomes stronger. You are more likely to accept suggestions from someone you like than from a complete stranger.

That said, there must be a clear distinction where you clearly define the roles: I am the hypnotist, you are the hypnotized.

So how does that work specifically? When you are going to hypnotize someone you don't know (at a show, for example) you start with a preliminary conversation. During that conversation, you ask some questions that show that you are interested in the person.

Try not to embarrass the person, as that only makes the situation more uncomfortable. Do your best to have a sincere conversation with the person you are going to hypnotize. This way you will generate sympathy, and open the doors to a successful hypnosis session.

12. Rapport is very important, even if someone is going into hypnosis very well. If there is no report then it becomes difficult

By report in hypnosis, we mean something very special. Rapport has to do with how people interact, how they act toward each other, both on a verbal and non-verbal level.

When rapport develops between two people (e.g. hypnotist and hypnotized), it increases the efficiency of communication between the two parties and causes people to be less critical of each other.

There again lies the key to successful hypnosis. By building rapport between the hypnotized and yourself, you increase the power of suggestion.

Rapport involves verbal and nonverbal cues. First of all, two people between whom rapport exists will talk in the same way: they use the same words to describe the same things, they agree on everything, and a kind of verbal cooperation develops.

Non-verbal rapport, however, is just as important. Copying body posture, manner of movement, facial expression and other behaviors is an essential feature of nonverbal report. This copying behavior, by the way, is not only important in hypnosis.

You've probably noticed that you tend to copy the behaviors of people you have a good relationship with. This is due to the mirror neurons in your brain that make you unconsciously copy the behavior of your conversation partner.

Create that "click," so to speak, with the person you would like to hypnotize and it definitely becomes a lot easier.

13. Tone of voice is not important, your state of being is

A hypnosis show where the hypnotist raises his voice to all sorts of strange heights quickly runs the risk of being ridiculous. And for good reason - anyone who knows a little about hypnosis knows that the power of hypnosis does not lie in the tone of your voice.

There is no magic frequency at which you need to speak your words to achieve maximum suggestion, any more than you need to make crazy hand gestures to put someone into hypnosis. People who believe you can put others into hypnosis with just your tone of voice are confusing hypnosis with magic. There are no magic words, no secret pitches and no hocus pocus. A normal, easily understood voice is all you need.

What is important, however, is your state of being. What we mean by that is that your attitude toward the hypnotized and your disposition in general are of paramount importance. In the first place, you yourself must believe in it completely. If you do not believe in hypnosis, it will be very difficult to suggest the power of hypnosis to the person you want to hypnotize.

On the other hand, it is also important that your attitude toward the hypnotized is friendly and open. As we mentioned earlier, rapport must be able to develop between the two of you: your verbal and nonverbal behavior patterns must be in sync.

14. Phenomena are easy to generate when you build them in with a certainty. For example, "When you are sure your hand is stuck then try to pull it free...

A hypnotic phenomenon is an event that can only occur under hypnosis. At hypnosis shows, phenomena are invariably the highlight of the evening, which should not surprise you: they are often hugely impressive, especially for people who have yet to be convinced of the power of hypnosis.

When the hypnotist manages to make a person forget who they are, or can command them to raise their hand, the audience is certain: this is a professional.

But how do you awaken these phenomena?

There are several ways to do this, but first you need a state of hypnosis. It also helps when you frame the phenomenon with a certainty.

For example, you can start by simply describing the situation: "You now have both arms beside your body, you are calm." Then you work in more and more suggestion: "You start paying attention to your breathing (people automatically start paying attention to their breathing when you say this, so that's helpful) and you feel your arm getting heavy. Heavier and heavier, until you can't move it anymore."

At that point, you can be sure that the person will try to loosen his arm. If the suggestions are accepted, they will not succeed. The phenomenon is complete. There are lots of phenomena such as levitation, amnesia, sticking, DTI and hallucinations. A good hypnosis training course will cover all of these.

15. The preliminary consultation is the key to success in hypnosis

The pre-talk at a hypnosis session covers everything that is said before the actual hypnosis begins. When you watch from the audience, such a pre-talk may seem like nothing more than a nice chat meant to fill the time, but nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, during the preliminary interview, a number of essential points are determined. The relationship between the hypnotist and the hypnotized person is defined during this period, which is very important: in fact, it is at this time that the aforementioned report is created. Through both verbal and nonverbal imitation, a bond of trust and sympathy is established between the hypnotist and hypnotized.

But a preliminary consultation does not just serve to build rapport. In fact, you can also learn some important things about the person during such a preliminary interview. Does he or she have experience with hypnosis? Is he or she skeptical about it?

Are there certain fears or memories that are better avoided, or conversely, does the person want to seek them out? These are all valuable pieces of information that you, as a hypnotist, had better keep in the back of your mind.

We often tell trainees in hypnosis 2.0 training, "You don't start until you're ready." And that means that your preliminary conversation has been so good that the problem has already been tackled. Of course, that's an art.

16. Fear is the biggest opponent of hypnosis so it must go away

Fear is the biggest enemy of any form of hypnosis. When a person is afraid of being hypnotized, it is a huge stumbling block. This is because the person will completely cramp up when he or she begins to experience the first symptoms of hypnosis.

In general, it is very difficult to hypnotize someone who does not want to be hypnotized at all. That person's critical mind will then remain constantly in the foreground, making suggestion difficult to penetrate.

Therefore, you must first remove all fear before you can begin a successful hypnosis session. You can do this, for example, during the preliminary interview. Ask the person if he is afraid of being hypnotized and then work together to find the cause of that fear. If you want to be well prepared, prepare some arguments to convince the person.

But not everyone is so easy to get rid of a fear with words. In many cases, it will be your attitude as a hypnotist that removes the fear. You must be self-confident, but also sincere, trustworthy and responsible. Only then will someone with a fear of hypnosis feel comfortable and let go of the fear, and then the hypnosis can begin.

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17. Anyone can get into hypnosis, but it doesn't go as deep for everyone

Another misconception about hypnosis is that many people think that not everyone can be in hypnosis. For example, they believe that hypnosis wouldn't work at all on its own because they can't quite imagine how great the power of hypnosis actually is.

However, the truth is that everyone can experience some form of hypnosis, even if not everyone succeeds in very deep hypnosis. Even in people who are very stubborn or difficult to hypnotize for some other reason, you can induce a mild form of hypnosis, as long as the person cooperates.

So when someone makes the argument that hypnosis is simply not for them, you can point out to that person that hypnosis is indeed for everyone.

18. Hypnosis shows are often full of tricks and manipulation, but very good hypnotists do not use tricks

Let's face it: most hypnosis shows are a lot of show and little hypnosis. Hypnotists use all sorts of tricks that seem a bit ridiculous to a true connoisseur: crazy hand movements and weird voice intonations are no exception, giving many people the idea that hypnosis is some kind of magic.

This is very unfortunate: the hypnotists who use so many tricks and manipulation in shows kind of ruin it for everyone else. They give hypnosis a bad image and make many people forget what it is actually about: a good preliminary conversation, a powerful report between hypnotist and hypnotized, and full cooperation from the hypnotized.

Therefore, a good hypnotist does not use tricks. His shows will consist of very simple performances, but the audience will be amazed. They will say, "so this is real hypnosis!" and their image of hypnosis as some kind of magic disappears like snow in the sun. So a really good hypnotist does not need to rely on tricks to captivate his audience and bring a person into hypnosis.

As Justin shows below. The images can be quite shocking and controversial. The one thing I always thought when I saw it was, "If people can do this, surely they can resolve their blockages quickly...

Looking at it this way, it might not be so bad....

19. Hypnosis is an everyday phenomenon but for hypnotists it is helpful if people don't believe that

Probably the biggest secret you've read here is that everyone is always in some form of hypnosis. Not many people know that, and actually, it's kind of convenient for hypnotists if no one knows that.

This is how they manage to make their profession (i.e. practicing hypnosis) something very special, something that requires an expert: that is, the hypnotist himself. This is how hypnotists sell themselves, because they make people believe that what they do is unique, and that you cannot do it yourself.

However, the truth is completely different: hypnosis is an everyday phenomenon that you can actually apply to yourself just as well. On the Internet you can find extensive manuals on how to hypnotize yourself, or how to discover the hypnotic edges of many everyday activities. In fact, hypnosis is already a part of your life right now and you only need to become aware of it.

20.Most fears people have about hypnosis do come from somewhere....

We mentioned earlier that fear is the single greatest enemy of someone who wants to go into hypnosis. When you are afraid to go under hypnosis, it simply does not work. A question you then immediately ask yourself is: where do these fears actually come from?

First, there is a kind of fear of the unknown. Hypnosis has an image problem that makes many people associate it with divination, auras and other quatsch. However, the truth is that hypnosis is a powerful scientific discipline with well-defined rules and boundaries.

That said, some elements of hypnosis can seem very frightening. Consider famous American hypnotist George Estabrooks, who "hypnoprogrammed" U.S. government agents during World War II : he programmed their minds through hypnosis.

One of his most famous statements is that he claimed he could hypnotize any person - without their consent - and cause them to commit treason against their homeland. This speaks very much to the imagination and immediately evokes a lot of scary images. In reality, however, it mostly illustrates the power of hypnosis. Estabrooks himself once said that hypnosis could be an extremely dangerous weapon under certain circumstances.

Another fear that people often associate with hypnosis is the so-called hypnotic coma. This is a state in which the hypnotized person is no longer aware of anything at all, a very deep form of hypnosis in other words.

There are horror stories of people falling into hypnotic comas and never coming out of them. That sounds very gruesome, but fortunately those kinds of stories are only fiction. Anyone who is hypnotized by a good hypnotist can always get out, even if it is a very deep form of hypnosis.

So most fears related to hypnosis have little grounding in truth, but hypnosis is now a powerful phenomenon and - purely hypothetically - in the wrong hands can lead to very fearful consequences. This is why it is incredibly important that as a hypnotist you have the right intentions for people. You carry a powerful weapon, so carry it with responsibility and use it as Power for the Good!

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21.Hypnosis is very easy to learn

If you've carefully read through the previous twenty secrets, then the very last secret about hypnosis certainly shouldn't come as a surprise. After all, hypnosis is everywhere, and everyone is constantly in a slight state of hypnosis.

Moreover, there are many simple openings to hypnosis: when you want to hypnotize yourself, you just need to relax or focus very intensely on something. If you want to hypnotize someone else, then sympathy, a good preliminary conversation and report are the key concepts. So hypnosis is actually very easy to learn.

If you are interested in learning hypnosis, you can start with some simple self-hypnosis exercises. On this site or on my youtube channel you will find plenty of helpful tips and exercises to get started with hypnosis. Often you just start by breathing deeply and closing your eyes. Certainly not difficult things.

Learning to hypnotize other people is also not that difficult. For example, when you have mastered self-hypnosis, you can start practicing on other people. Of course, it is then useful that you know what you are doing and you can learn that. To the right you can press the button to learn.

If your ambition is to one day perform public hypnosis yourself (during a show, for example), you need to make sure you are well prepared. Make sure that you are firm in your feet and that you have a confident and calm appearance. However, if you keep these tips and secrets all in mind, then learning hypnosis should be pretty easy.

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