Why do some people do better in life than others? There seems to be a huge divide between the Steve Jobs’, and the Michael Jacksons of the world, but it might turn out that their abilities and their successes are based on strategies and characteristics that we all share. This hypnotist shares his view on how his work is based on similar strategies that all people have in common.
It took me like two weeks to figure out that hypnosis is the art of communication. When I discovered that hypnosis works because humans share common characteristics in learning and expression, I felt like I knew the one secret that should never have been a secret in the first place. When I learned about these characteristics I became an expert in interacting with other people. I can look at almost anyone and guess things about them in a few minutes that would make them feel like I knew them personally.
When you think about hypnosis, you usually think of trance – that sleep-like state where you’re slumped over and ready to do other people’s bidding. Although this is trance, it’s only one kind. Modern hypnotists now think of every state as a kind of trance, and we use communication tools to bring up experiences, feelings, and reactions of any kind. I was working with a woman who had depression for seven years, and it took all of twenty minutes to eradicate that depression by asking tough confusing questions. She was so overwhelmed by trying to look at the problem in a different light that she burst out laughing from the effort. From there I asked her to try and think of the problem and she just laughed even harder. This isn’t an extreme example of my work.
I mean, if someone has ever made you laugh, you’ve been hypnotized. If you’re afraid of bugs and the mere thought of maggots literally fills you with a shiver of disgust you’ve hypnotized yourself – there’s no real maggots anywhere, but you shivered just like they’re climbing up your arm right now!
Seduction artists use specific techniques to put people into states of lust, turning them on with specific body language and communication styles. If you’ve ever had a friend who had a problem and wouldn’t take your foolproof advice, they were so tranced-out by their problem that they weren’t able to imagine anything even remotely helpful at that time.
You can hypnotize someone by boring them into submission like a university lecturer, or by pumping them up, like those dramatic pep-talks in sports movies right before the big game. Movie theatres are places people go to be hypnotized – to turn lights and sounds into an emotionally gripping drama where you feel like you’re part of the story, and can empathize with the characters is such a perfect example of trance! You even forget that you’re sitting in a chair in a dark room with hundreds of strangers!
I use a simple formula when I hypnotize people, and that every human on the planet uses with others and with themselves virtually all the time. When I teach hypnosis I al ways talk about the same three simple steps. Number one, you hold someone’s attention; number two, you bypass the conscious filters; number three, you stimulate the unconscious mind.
Think about every encounter you’ve had with a stranger. Maybe you make eye contact, say hello, deliver a witty line or do something weird like stand too close to someone in a room with lots of space. POW! You’ve got attention. Next you might have some awkward banter with them about the weather, a pretty necklace they’re wearing, or about how your religion is more relevant than theirs.
Before you know it, you’re hitting it off, and you seem to have an unlimited amount of things to talk about. WHAM! You’ve bypassed conscious resistance, and there’s a steady stream of conversation material. That’s an example of a stimulated unconscious mind at work. If you want to test if the conversation is flowing naturally and in accordance with the formula you can stick in a direct suggestion. Maybe you’ll ask for a stick of gum, or maybe you want the one they’re already chewing. Or perhaps you’ve actually enjoyed the person’s company and you want to hang out again so you ask for their number. If you don’t get it, the “critical factor” is still at work – they’re not comfortable with you yet. If you got it, you’ve successfully followed the same steps that all master hypnotists use to make their subjects forget their names, cure phobias, and prepare patients for a pain-free open heart surgery without the use of drugs.
Everyone is a hypnotist. Everyone hypnotizes others as well as themselves, because hypnosis is the art of communication. It works on the principles of what humans are naturally capable of doing, learning, and imagining. If you think you’re not a hypnotist – think again. And think about how you communicate with yourself and others. I’m hypnotizing you right now as you listen to me, and you’ll hypnotize someone else when you tell them about what you did last weekend. When there are two or more people in the room you’ve got some kind of hypnosis going on. Learning hypnosis is really learning about who you are and what you’re capable of, and if everyone on Earth knew hypnosis there would be a lot more Einstein’s and Gandhi’s because they used the same tools we all have – imagination and communication.
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