HYPNOTHERAPY

Hypnotherapy has been proved to be very successful in cases of enhancing performance, will-power & confidence as well as in treating depression, anxiety, habits, fears, phobias & obsessions. What is Hypnosis? Hypnosis is also considered as an altered state of awareness. Four states of awareness have been delineated on the basis of brain wave frequencies measured by EEG. The Beta Wave, The Alpha Wave, The Theta Wave, and The Delta Wave (.05-4 cps): Hypnosis has been shown to span the alpha to alpha-theta to theta brain-wave states. Hypnosis is a state of heightened suggestibility. Suggestibility is an openness to the suggestions. A person may be more or less open to suggestions. The more open a person is to suggestions; the more susceptible he is to hypnosis. Feeling of warmth, coolness, visualization, rigidity, lightness, levitation, forgetting in response to suggestions are the instances of suggestibility. Hypnosis is a state of heightened focal concentration. Under hypnosis, a person tends to get absorbed in the object of awareness. Hypnosis is a state of attentive, receptive concentration with a relative suspension of peripheral awareness (Spiegel and Maldonado, 1999; P. 1244).

MYTHS ABOUT HYPNOSIS

Hypnosis and pastlife regression have become quite popular especially after wide media coverage. These procedures elicit natural curiosity in large segment of population. It is observed that common people have one or the other myths regarding hypnosis; some of them are enumerated below: 1. Hypnosis is sleep: The term hypnosis is derived from the Hypnos (Sleep). Therefore, some people think that hypnosis is a form of sleep. This is a myth. If a person tries to talk under sleep; his sleep would get terminated. Sleep and communication can not be done simultaneously. Whereas, when a person isunder hypnosis, even lengthy communication can be done with him without termination of hypnotic trance. 2. There is total loss of awareness in hypnosis: The total loss of awareness is observed in coma and generalized anaesthesia. A person who is comatose or under the influence of anaesthesia, can not know what is happening to him and in his surroundings. You can not talk to a person in such a state. Whereas in hypnosis; a part of awareness remain active. A hypnotized person remains partially aware of himself and his surroundings. This at times, causes a misconception in a subject that since he was aware of the surroundings; he was not hypnotized. Retention of awareness is not the criteria to determine the trance state. 3. Hypnotic mind control: Some people may think that through hypnosis, a hypnotist can take control of ones mind and get immoral or criminal acts done or he may become slave of the hypnotist. This is not true. Under hypnosis, a person can not be made to break his moral code.

The suggestions of the hypnotists are acceptable to the extent they are permitted by the moral code of the individual. Since a part of awareness remain active under hypnosis; all suggestions are evaluated by this aware part of the mind and allowed to accept only when they are in congruence to the moral code. 4. Fail to exit: A few persons remain afraid of being hypnotized because they think that they can get stuck in hypnosis infinitely. It is not possible because hypnosis is a psycho-physiological state achieved by psychological procedures. If a person in deep hypnosis is left alone; he would either pass into natural sleep and come out of it or directly exit the hypnotic state. The idea of getting stuck is simply baseless. 5. Being hypnotized is an indication of weak mind: A mentally challenged person, a brain damaged individual or a person with chronic schizophrenia may be considered as the person of weak mind. It is difficult and often impossible to hypnotize persons with such a condition. Hypnosis is best accomplished in persons of average or above average intellectual functions. 6. Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy is the same thing: Hypnotic trance is a state of awareness just like a waking state or a sleep state. Passing into sleep and awakening does not involve any therapy. Similarly, getting into hypnotic trance and coming out of it does not involve any therapy. Hypnotic trance provides a special platform under which psychotherapeutic work is conducted. So, hypnotherapy is hypnosis plus therapeutic utilization of hypnotic trance. 7. Hypnotherapy can cure any illness: No therapy on the earth can cure all the illness. Hypnotherapy can be used for a variety of psychological and psychosomatic conditions. But it can not cure all illness, for example, AIDS, cancer, disabilities, schizophrenia and neurological impairment. 8. Deep hypnotic trance is necessary for positive effects: Counselling can be effectively conducted even in waking state. The deepest level of trance is required for surgical procedures where the goal is to induce anaesthesia. Hence deep trance is not necessary for positive effects. 9. Formal hypnotic induction is essential for pastlife regression: Past life regression can be experienced without any formal hypnotic induction and this manual is specially designed for experiencing non-hypnotic pastlife regression through an innovative and most advanced procedures. 10. Sadhna is required to acquire power of hypnotizing others: You can find some literature which advise you that if you do some sort of sadhna like tratak you would be able to acquire the power of hypnosis. It is a myth. No sadhna is required. The hypnotic trance can be achieved by using well defined procedures; which is also available in self-hypnosis audios. 11. One can vomit dark secrets of ones life under hypnosis: A person in hypnotic trance remain partially aware of his mental state and the surroundings. Whatever is asked from him in this state; it gets filtered from this partial awareness. There are subjects who withheld solicited information during hypnotic trance but later on voluntarily shared such information. 12. The power of hypnotizing rests with the competence of a hypnotist: Many people think that it is the power of hypnotist which hypnotize others. It is a myth. Whether a person would enter a hypnotic trance; depends upon subjects own hypnotic susceptibility. There are individual differences in hypnotic susceptibility. Some persons enter lighter state, others medium and a few deeper level of trance. Hypnotic susceptibility is a characteristic of the subjects which determine whether a person would be able to enter hypnosis and the depth of it. If a hypnotist hypnotizes 100 persons; you would find that some persons went into deeper levels; some in lighter state and majority in a medium trance state. Hypnotist is the same; giving the same instructions but there are variations in response of the subjects; and these variations are the

result of subjects own suggestibility not the power of hypnosis. 13. A person in a deep trance state reveal true events: Trance depth is associated with vividness of imagination which may convince a subject or a hypnotist about the reality of the experience. One should remain alert while handling a deep trance state; that because of increased suggestibility at this level, a subject may pick up contextual cues and integrate with the on-going experience. A demonstration was conducted for this phenomenon. A person while narrating a scene of forest; scent was sprayed over his shirt; he immediately began narrating that there were beautiful flowers and the forest was full of fragrance. (We have compiled above guidelines based on our own experiences. Other practitioners may have their own experiences and a set of guidelines. We would like to welcome suggestions and questions from the persons to update our database and help others to resolve their problems through Hypnotherapy)

- With Love & Light, Sanjay Rishabhdev Past Life Regression Facilitator, Hypnotherapist, Reiki & Spiritual Healer, Patna, Bihar, India. Mobile : +919771463355