What is Hypnosis?
"Hypnosis is a form of highly focused attention" from Newsweek’s article Altered States
The educational division of the US government defines ‘Hypnosis’ as:
(a) Hypnosis is the bypass of the critical factor
(b) Hypnosis is the establishment of acceptable selective thinking
To understand what this definition of hypnosis means you need a few more definitions;
The conscious mind
The conscious mind contains the rational and analytic parts of your mind. When you reason out something, do math or analyze a situation you are using your conscious mind. Will power is also a part of the conscious mind as exerting your will power requires conscious effort.
The subconscious mind
Everything that happens in your life is recorded in your subconscious mind. You may not remember the lunch you had 3 years ago but your subconscious mind does.
You subconscious mind also contains all your habits and emotions. In fact, everything you have learned is stored in your subconscious. For example; when you are learning how to drive you use your conscious mind but once you have learned driving then this knowledge becomes a part of your subconscious mind. If you need to hit the brakes you do it automatically without any conscious decision. You react from your subconscious mind. When you are driving you can think about work or weekend plans without having to think of pressing the gas pedal or the brakes. You do so automatically. In other words, once you have learned a skill or habit then you operate from your subconscious mind in that area. The same applies to beliefs. If you were told as a kid that ‘you are dumb’ or ‘you will never succeed’, and you believed it, then that is a part of your subconscious mind and it dictates your behavior and accomplishments. If you are a smoker then you smoke automatically rarely aware of each drag on the cigarette. The smoking habit is also something that has been programmed in to your subconscious.
The subconscious is lazy. When your subconscious mind has been programmed with a new habit it is a part of you. This habit is something you have learned and your subconscious values it as knowledge. It could be learning how to ride a bike. Once you have learned how to ride a bike you can do so at any time in your life. It’s knowledge in your subconscious. In the same way if you smoke then that too will become a habit and this habit will also be considered to be learned knowledge by your subconscious mind. The subconscious mind doesn’t differentiate between good and bad; it just learns and acts on the knowledge that has been programmed into it.
The subconscious is protective. Once a new skill or habit (good for you or bad for you) has been programmed into your subconscious mind it tends to become rigid. That’s why it’s a well known fact that habits are hard to change. Exerting will power to change is a conscious effort and after a while you just get tired. That’s why so many people start things and drop out (like dieting or trying to quit smoking). However, if you can change your subconscious programming then making the change you desire becomes easy and automatic. If you have been smoking for many years then the habit of smoking is very strong in your subconscious and since smoking has been done for so long your subconscious mind considers it to be valuable knowledge. To change the smoking habit means you have to replace all the habits involved in smoking with new habits. The power of the suggestions and emotional force behind those suggestions has to be stronger than the original habit for it to be removed and new beliefs to get programmed into your subconscious.
The critical factor
The critical factor blocks new beliefs and habits from entering your subconscious mind.
The critical factor is your awareness of the suggestions. If you like what you hear then the critical fact is ‘bypassed’ and the suggestions go into your subconscious. The number and emotional power of the suggestions still have to be more than the original programming for your subconscious mind to get reprogrammed which means you may have to absorb lots of similar suggestion and maybe do a hypnosis session more than once. However, if you genuinely desire the suggestions you hear and believe you can make these new beliefs a part of you then there is enough emotional power behind the suggestions for reprogramming your subconscious mind with ease.
In everyday life you encounter many situations where your critical factor is bypassed. Such as watching advertisement and getting a sudden craving for McDonalds or some KFC. However, when you are with a hypnotist your critical factor is on high alert so the “Critical Factor Bypass” (referred to as CFB in marketing), that advertisers are able to pull off, won’t work in hypnosis.
Acceptable selective thinking
If you are doing hypnosis for self-confidence then the affirmations and suggestions you focus on to increase your confidence is what you consider to be ‘acceptable selective thinking’. On the other hand, affirmations and suggestions that are about feeling insecure and fearful of others would be ‘unacceptable selective thinking’. In self-hypnosis you choose the affirmations and visualizations you are going to do during your practice, so you have chosen the selective thinking that you want to reprogram your subconscious with, i.e. you chose what is acceptable to you. If you go to a hypnotist you may hear some suggestions that don’t fit with how you view the world, for example, if you are very materialistic and your hypnotist says ‘you trust that the universe is helping you’ then you might just start laughing. At the very least, if you don’t laugh, you will think the suggestion is silly and it won’t work. The only attitude that works in hypnosis is one of genuine interest. All other attitudes make hypnosis fail. ( For more info read article “The Only Mental Attitude That Makes Hypnosis and Self-Hypnosis Work” and "Suggestions and Suggestibility (and Stage Hypnosis Suggestibility)")
So, what is hypnosis?
Hypnosis is being in a focused state of awareness – focused on suggestions and visualization – to a point where you can block all else out and focus on only one thing at a time. When you do this in a relaxed state with your mind locked on the ideas with genuine interest then you are connected directly to your subconscious mind and you can reprogram it. In other words, you have ‘bypassed your critical factor’ to establish ‘acceptable selective thinking’.
Myths of hypnosis
Hypnosis is not sleep. You will be aware during the entire process. Most people believe hypnosis is a kind of subconscious state so they don’t believe they are in hypnosis when it happens.
Your mind can’t be controlled. You will not become a zombie. You can even lie under hypnosis.
Learn more by reading the article “What Is Hypnosis? The Basic Myths of Hypnosis”
"One of the interesting ironies about hypnosis is that old fantasy that it takes away control," says Dr. David Spiegel, professor and associate chair of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and a leading expert on the practice. "It's actually a way of enhancing people's control, of teaching them how to control aspects of their body's function and sensation that they thought they couldn't." from Newsweek’s article Altered States
What is Self-Hypnosis?
Once you understand hypnosis you will see that all hypnosis is really self-hypnosis. The audio-videos here contain suggestions and affirmations but it is up to your to focus on them and want the change. Going to a hypnotist is more involved and depending on the expertise of the hypnotist you will almost always be able to experience hypnosis and self-hypnosis properly. If you haven't done hypnosis before then you need to practice relaxing deeply while saying affirmations to yourself and doing positive visualizations. The audio-videos on this website are perfect for learning how to use self-hypnosis with skill as the binaural beats guide you to a deeply relaxed state which helps you focus and the suggestions guide you on the path of proper selective thinking. This is also the sort of selective thinking that you should make a part of your 'self-talk' as how you think about yourself and the stuff you say to yourself is also a form of self-hypnosis.
Regular use of the videos is the easiest way to become familiar with deep relaxation which will help you focus your attention better and better over time. Download your favorites and enjoy!