Hypnosis - Unraveling The Mysteries Behind It

By Benjamin Cox

Hypnosis and its subset, hypnotherapy, have always been steeped in misconceptions. People either believe them to be falling in the domain of the occult, or don't regard them to be serious scientific pursuits. Some of the popular misconceptions linked with hypnosis and the truth behind them are given below.

Hypnosis has nothing to do with black magic of any kind. Psychology and the other sciences have a critical role to play in the hypnotic method, and it is very easy to acquire and practice. The authenticity of hypnosis is doubted even by people who have seen it working on subjects. They hold that the subjects who have been under hypnosis are mentally not powerful enough to withstand the impact of the practitioner. But this again is a complete distortion of truth. Hypnosis can in fact be successfully practised on people who are mentally tough and are trying hard to resist the spell.

Another belief is that hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness, which again is a big misconception. A hypnotized individual is totally aware of his environment. That person is just in a calm state where the concentration levels are very high and the person can accept suggestions easily.

Some scientific discoveries have stated that only about 5% of humanity is suitable to be hypnotized, which is the third myth on this list. Researchers have come up with this low result because they have used the same hypnosis procedure on all people without considering their individual natures. People differ in their characters and personalities, and thus there have to be different hypnosis techniques to suit the temperaments of different people.

Many people take hypnosis to be a variant of meditation. But while hypnosis is an interaction technique, meditation is all about a mental state and normally has no communication involved in the process. Trance too is not related to hypnosis at all. Just like meditation, trance is a state of mind, and it is not associated with communication in any manner, while the very crux of the hypnosis method is communication.

It is often thought that hypnosis training or hypnotherapy cannot bring transformations in physique or in patterns of conduct of a person. Hypnosis is obviously not magic that it can change the physique of an individual just like that. However, it can propel the body to a better shape through behavioural changes like eating in a controlled manner, and giving up smoking and other addictive habits by ensuring a good amount of of inspiration in an individual.

Hypnosis, and specifically hypnotherapy, can have a significant function to play in the overall welfare of an individual, and not trying them out just because of some false notions is a missed opportunity.

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