What does trance feel like?
Trance state is more common than you may think. For instance, many of us are in a trance while engrossed in a television show or reading a book that we can’t put down. More commonly, we go into a trnace state right before falling asleep.
The feelings that you will experience during hypnosis are similar to dozing off, dozing off, dozing off… but not entering sleep. Most people feel pleasantly physically relaxed and mentally alert while they are being hypnotized. Some say it feels like meditation, others that they feel like they do after a massage, and others that it is similar to the heightened feelings induced by certain drugs. The experience of each individual under hypnosis is entirely different. Suggestions to put yourself in a relaxed state have the effect of changing muscle tension, heart rate, oxygen consumption, blood flow, and skin temperature.
However, I had people say to me, “I don’t think I was really asleep when you said ‘Deep Sleep’, so I was not hypnotized.” I would then tell them they are not supposed to be asleep – That’s the job of sleeping clinics, otherwise they would have been unable to respond to questions. There is a world of difference between altered state of consciousness in trance and actual Delta sleep.
In trance we become very aware, we lose neither consciosness nor control; we may notice a peaceful deep relaxation, however. During hypnosis there is marked relaxation of physical and psychological processes. It encourages the cessation of movement, but occasional involuntary movements, such as the fluttering of the eyelids, or twitching of the fingers, can occur. The muscles relax and the pulse and breathing rates become slower as the parasympathetic nervous system (associated with conscious activity), the frontal brain regions, associated with conscious reasoning, become less active. When I experience hypnosis, I sense a narrowing of my attention, a kind of tunnel vision, a deeply focused concentration.
I have had people before the first session saying to me, “I don’t think I can be hypnotized.” or “I can’t picture myself being hypnotized.” All I can say is, “If this is your first session, be open for the experience. Any experience you are going to have is your first hand experience.”
After the first session, some would say, “I’m not sure if I was hypnotized, but it surely felt very good.” or “I had my full awareness, so I was not hypnotized.” or “I drifted to sleeping for a while and had no idea what you were saying so I was not hypnotized.”
Hypnosis is not normal awareness. It is increased awareness. It is not unconsciousness but a keen awareness. This is a state in which the mind works so well and the law of self-preservation works so beautifully that no one could ever take advantage of you in the hypnotic state. That is why in the history of the world no harm or damage has been done by hypnosis. People who don’t know to how to explain these things and wrote books about hypnosis have infested hypnosis with a lot of false ideas. David Elman said, ” It is perhaps one of the most beautiful states that God has made possible to mankind, and this beatiful state contains nature’s own anesthesia which He makes available to every one of us.”
During your first session with a hypnotherapist, you may hear a statement “All hypnosis is self-hypnosis.” This is so because hypnosis is a consent state. No one can force another person into the hypnotic state. Ok you say on stage some people are hypnotized and do all sorts of funny things, like barking like a dog. What do I have to say about that? You are not that person and how do you know he is not enjoying the show?
