What Is Hypnosis?
Hypnosis And The Mind Explained
Let's begin by viewing the definition of hypnosis as given by The United States government.
Hypnosis Is The Bypass of The Critical Factor of The Conscious Mind And The Establishment of Acceptable Selective Thinking
Now you are most likely thinking, "Hold on. What does that mean?" Allow me to break this down so it makes a little more sense and we will begin by understanding how our minds work.
Our Minds Are Divided Into Three Basic Functions
** Unconscious Thinking Mind - Our unconscious mind controls automatic bodily functions such as breathing, digestion, heart rate, metabolism, ect... all the bodily functions which you never need to think about in order for them to work. But with the heightened focus, created through hypnosis, we can improve the functions of the unconscious mind for a more efficient body.
** Subconscious Thinking Mind - Our subconscious mind is where we store patterns of behavior. These are the behaviors which we have developed over time and have created patterns of action/response related to events that happen within our environments. For example: A smoker will, without thought, desire a cigarette after a meal or someone with anxiety will, without knowing why, feel panic at the idea of being in a crowd of his/her peers. These are examples of actions/responses that happen at the subconscious level of the mind based on patterns which were created through past experiences.
The subconscious mind is also where we store our beliefs, beliefs we have formed over our lifetime about ourselves and the world around us. A fascinating fact to be aware of is that the subconscious mind does not bother to differentiate between a belief based on truth and a false belief. As we uncover what our beliefs are, we usually find that the beliefs which have been holding us back are almost always false.
** Conscious Thinking Mind - Our conscious mind is where we do all of our present thinking, the thoughts we have in each moment and the thoughts which we are very aware of. Our conscious minds are designed to perform the functions of being analytical and critical. These functions are to provide the preservation of our beliefs so we can carry out the same behaviors and responses to our environments.
Basically, what happens is that you observe your environments, through your sense - visual (sight), auditory (hearing), olfactory (smell) and kinetic (emotional and physical feeling) - and your conscious analyzes this information coming in through your sense. The conscious mind automatically begins to criticize this information to determine whether or not it supports the beliefs and behavioral patterns within your subconscious mind. If it supports your existing beliefs, the conscious mind allows this information to pass into the subconscious mind to build upon pre-existing beliefs. If it does not support your existing beliefs, the conscious mind blocks this information from entering the subconscious mind. This analytical and critical function is very important in preserving who you are as an individual person, but it is also why we cannot create the changes we want in our lives with just simple conscious thinking.
This Is Where Hypnosis Enters The Scene
With the process of hypnosis, we can distract the conscious mind with deep relaxation to the point where it no longer is analytical and critical of our environment, allowing information supportive of your desired goal to enter the subconscious mind. This creates the opportunity to observe new perceptions conducive to forming positive beliefs and the opportunity to implement new outcomes to negative behavioral patterns.
So what is hypnosis? To sum this up, hypnosis is a very natural state of mind which you have experienced many times before. You will learn more about the natural states of hypnosis when you listen to the "Intro To Hypnosis" track on your hypnosis CD or the MP3. Hypnosis is the bypass of the analytical and critical factor (functions) of the conscious mind and the establishment of acceptable selective thinking. The establishment of acceptable selective thinking means that, while in hypnosis, you have the ability to accept or not accept, into your subconscious mind, any information that is being provided to you by the hypnotist/hypnotherapist. Yes, that's right. Even in hypnosis, you have total control. You will also learn more about this when you listen to the "Intro To Hypnosis" track on your hypnosis CD or MP3.
Now, imagine what hypnosis can do for you as you look through the hypnosis products on our site.
Have questions? Please take some time to look through our Common Questions area.
