Hypnosis - What Does It Feel Like? - written by Milos Pesic

Even though a hypnotized subject seems to retain the features of a person asleep, they are truly extremely aware. Hypnosis is very difficult to define, as nobody actually knows what is hapenning inside the mind of a subject under hypnosis. What we do know is that whilst in trance state the hypnotic subject becomes pretty suggestible. A subject`s attention, while they are going into hypnosis, is narrowed down steadily. Firstly, the sense of sight is lost as the subject is required to close their eyes. After some time it is not uncommon for the subject to lose absolute consciousness of their body. Though one by one the senses are gradually slipping away, one sense is to a great extent enhanced by the process of induction. This is the sense of hearing. A subject put under hypnosis can frequently hear distant sounds that they wouldn`t be able to hear in the ordinary waking state. This, certainly, means that through the whole process the subject can hear everything that the hypnotist might say. When you begin to induce hypnosis in people you will repeatedly find that upon awakening the hypnotic subject, they will believe they could not have been hypnotized as they could still hear your voice. The mistaken belief that they will not be able to hear your voice regularly comes from those subjects who suppose hypnosis to be the same as sleep.

A person in the hypnosis state is extremely suggestible. One of the main reasons for this is that, while in the state of hypnosis, you are only able to focus on just one thing at a time. For example, if I were to tell you that you are a pretty ballerina, you would instantaneously compare this suggestion with what you already know to be authentic, and, unless of course you are a ballerina, you would tell me I am talking nonsense. The hypnotised subject though is not able to entertain the thought that they may not be what I have suggested, as their partial awareness is taken up by the thought that they are in fact a dainty ballerina. The end result, as desired, ends in the hypnotic subject hopping to their feet to perform a series of pirouettes across the stage.

The human mind is split into two truly different areas. The conscious mind, which is accountable for all our conscious thoughts and decisions, and the subconscious mind, which governs our autonomous activity. The mind can be best called a computer, the subconscious as the processor and the conscious as the monitor and keyboard. Our subconscious mind is a type of guardian; it watches over our body and helps us to stay alive.

Although our subconscious can do varioustasks that consciously may be unviable, it also has one exceedingly elementary characteristic. Somewhere between our two minds is what we call the critical factor. This is most likely best illustrated as a door, at which is a keeper. Our subconscious mind will process anything that enters it no matter how out of the ordinary. So, as long as you can get a suggestion through the door it will be acted upon. This is indeed the reason why hypnosis works. The guardian's door can be uncaringly opened while we are under hypnosis.