To begin, the first understanding
that we should have is that trance, or hypnosis is
simply a level of mind. So what do we mean by a level of mind, it's
simply this: the frequency at which your brain is operating. The faster
it operates, the higher the frequency, and the more wide awake one tends
to be.
There are basically four levels
of mind of which we speak, with many levels in between, but the primary
ones are, Beta, Alpha, Theta, and Delta.
Beta: is our normally wide awake state
of consciousness at which we operate throughout the day.
Alpha: is the first level of trance
we experience, and is considered the mildest, yet still useful level
of hypnosis.
Theta: is considered a deeper level of
hypnosis, and also has a few other terms of which you will
learn about within other sections here at Hypnotic
Advancements.
Delta: is a level of deep sleep which the
body uses for tissue repair and recovery. The interesting thing about
these levels, is that we experience them every day of our lives. Once
we get going in the morning we are in Beta, and as we head off to dream
land at the end of our day, we pass through both the Alpha and Theta
levels as we fall asleep soon entering REM, our dream state, and then
Delta, then cycling through REM and Delta until we awaken again.
Now, the hypnoidal state
refers to precursors of hypnosis, usually induced by non formalistic
hypnotic
techniques. Through fixation of attention, for example, the
monotonous stimulus of a white line on a highway induces a tiring effect
upon the driver. This eventually leads to some degree of dissociation
that can produce a hypnoidal effect, and this, in turn, can
merge with true sleep. Depending upon the degree of dissociation, it
resembles hypnosis. The hypnoidal state is characterized
by some detachment as well as by physical and mental relaxation. The
attention span fluctuates more toward abstractional states. Since critical
thinking is reduced, enhanced suggestibility
results.
Our lives are full of hypnoidal contacts and relationships
that are referred to by psychologists as waking
hypnosis. Repetitive radio, television commercials, advertising
propaganda, and good actors heighten the attention span in a meaningful
manner and enhance our suggestibility. When watching an interesting
motion picture, our attention is focused on the screen, and we soon
enter into a hypnoidal state. Varying degrees of emotion
are registered as we identify with the action in the film. Whenever
the necessity for consensus reality thinking is obviated, a type of
waking hypnosis occurs. Without realizing it, we are in a hypnoidal
state and on the way to being effectively hypnotized.
Waking hypnosis here occurs as the result of utilizing
ordinary experiences.
Mass suggestion, mass hypnosis, subliminal
projection, brainwashing, propaganda, and evangelistic appeals
leading to altered behavior are also produced by non formalistic hypnotic
methods. Thus knowledge of the everyday aspects of scientifically
applied suggestion – hypnosis – has profound implications
for an understanding of all mental functioning.
Though different, animal hypnosis, or immobility reflex,
displays some of the hypnotic phenomena noted in humans. A
chicken placed in a horizontal position develops a tonic immobility
characterized by an extensor rigidity of the limbs known as catalepsy
, when a line is drawn from the eye that is closer to the ground. The
immobility may be due, in part, to restriction of activity. Other illustrations
of seemingly hypnotic
phenomena are seen throughout the animal kingdom. The female
spider, which is much larger than the male and ordinarily kills him,
is rendered immobile by stroking her belly just before copulation. A
snake is hypnotized or charmed by the to-and-fro movement of
the flutist; and the bird that sings the most sweetly attracts the preferred
potential mates.
Older literature posits a similarity between animal hypnosis
and a hypnoidal state, the latter being a primitive type of
resting state noted in animals. The more primitive the animal, the more
apparently hypnoidal is its sleep state. From a philogenetic
standpoint, sleep and hypnosis may have evolved from primitive
hypnoidal mechanisms. However, it should be stressed that the
capacity of a human to enter into hypnosis is due primarily
to the social and interpersonal relationships induced by the symbolic
or experiential meaning of words and other stimuli. In animals, on the
other hand, hypnosis is produced chiefly by physical manipulations,
such as restraint which leads to fear, torpor, and regressive behavior.
Defining
Hypnosis
Firstly, is hypnosis
a clearly definable state?
The question of definable, I believe to be one truly of a personal nature.
It first must be understood that our minds are simply manifestations
of our own subjective experience, forever changing, and hopefully growing
with every impression engraved within by all of our doorways of perception
(sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell).
When Bruce Lee, the late unstoppable master of the martial arts
lived, he developed a fighting technique. The brilliance of the man
caused him to be on a never-ending journey, forever searching out the
best within all styles. Eventually he developed what I would prefer
to term a formula, rather than any specific technique. His suggestion
was to always keep an open mind, and use anything that works, because
what works on someone today will be different tomorrow, yet always,
something will work somewhere. Then at times one will encounter an adversary
with abilities so profound, that you must let him into your space, taking
his inflicting damage in order to put him down. The man, like a god,
was virtually unstoppable.
Eventually, he was asked the big question, "what do you
call this technique of devastation", and for the longest time he
refused to answer. Bruce Lee was afraid that if titled, the essence
of what he did would be devastated, for the truth of what it was, was
adaptation to whatever worked.
I truly believe that a definition could only demoralize, reduce,
and possibly, put a stop to what I believe is a knowledge that I feel
even the best, the late Dr.
Milton H. Erickson, barely spoke a whisper of. As its very
own categorized name proved defiantly wrong. Hypnosis, meaning
sleep surely doesn’t fit, but a wonderful ring it certainly has.
Can hypnosis be defined, certainly, but characteristically
only by the specific subject’s present experience. I state this
because, although I have found many similarities within my own experience,
they are always yet so different, and the reader will find that book
after book, there are as many definitions as there have ever
been hypnotists. So below I have provided
the reader with a few of the most popular definitions to date
along with my favorite elaboration composed from Milton H. Ericksons
notes.
In Krasner’s
“The
Wizard Within”, pg. 2, 1999, he states:
“I believe hypnosis to be
a process which produces relaxation, distraction of the conscious mind,
heightened suggestibility, and increased awareness, allowing access
to the subconscious mind through the imagination. It also produces the
ability to experience thoughts and images as real.”
In Ormond McGill’s, “The
New Encyclopedia of Stage Hypnotism”, pg. 12, 1996,
one finds:
“Basically, hypnosis
can be regarded as a state of mind produced by the transference from
one level of consciousness to another; a state with capacities for mental
activities distinctly its own directly keyed to the automatic nervous
system rather than the sympathetic (central nervous system) productive
of the state of mind of somnambulism, i.e. subconscious behavior.”
And we couldn’t possibly leave out Dave Elman’s,
“Hypnotherapy”,
pg. 26, 1964:
“Hypnosis is a state of mind
in which the critical faculty of the human is bypassed, and selective
thinking established.” Continuing that, “the critical faculty
of your mind is that part which passes judgment.”
Personally I must add that I far prefer Topher Morrison’s
(Instructor for the Accelerated Hypnotherapy Certification
Weekend Seminar put on by APU) interpretation of the critical
faculty as “the part of you that cares to distinguish between
reality and fantasy.”
In Stephen Gilligan’s
“Therapeutic
Trances” he states:
“Hypnosis
is conceptualized as an experientially absorbing interactional sequence
that produces an altered state of consciousness wherein self-expressions
begin to happen automatically, without conscious mediation."
(Gilligan, Stephen, G., 1987)
And finally from our dearly
beloved Dr. Milton H. Erickson
In “The
Collected Papers of Milton H. Erickson, Volume I"
page 113, Dr. Erickson is quoted as stating:
“The hypnotic state is an experience
that belongs to the subject, derives from the subject’s own accumulated
learning's and memories, not necessarily consciously recognized, but
possible of manifestations in a special state of non waking awareness”.
And one of my favorite explanations can be found within The
Collected Papers of Milton H. Erickson, Volume IV of the same series,
page 224, “It is a state of consciousness
– not unconsciousness or sleep – a state of consciousness
or awareness in which there is a marked receptiveness to ideas and understandings
and an increased willingness to respond either positively or negatively
to those ideas. It derives from processes and functioning within the
subject. And is not some mystical procedure, but rather a systematic
utilization of experiential learning's– that is, the extensive
learning's acquired through the process of living itself.”
For those preferring something very easy to remember, from “Experiencing
Hypnosis”, pg. 187, 1981, Erickson so eloquently
states:
“All hypnosis is, is a loss of
the multiplicity of the foci of attention.”
To define hypnosis
myself, I would have to say that it is all this and much more yet to
be understood.
From my experience, I would define hypnosis or trance
as a state of mind ranging within a multitude of depths that allow for
greater learning, and astounding control of one’s body and mind.
I believe that every state of mind is a trance of a sort, but
when concentration is directed to thought, or focused within, profound
realizations occur. Levels of acceptance to hypnotic suggestions
are heightened.
At deeper levels of this trance phenomenon, it seems that all
one has left, is “mind”. Now, what really is mind, but a
myriad of thoughts, images, internally heard sounds and sensations,
all possibly occurring at once. Yet still being far off, who knows where
this “mind” is, seemingly everywhere and anywhere all at
one time, one still remains connected, and grounded by the soothing
voice of their dream weaving guide.
Hypnosis, on one’s own termed self
hypnosis, at times can also be quite profound and similar to
the experience above. At times the mind seems to go for a ride, a voyage,
riding a killer whale while feeling the ocean spray and wind, yet being
able to redirect one’s own thoughts and work with one’s
goals, whether they be learning, healing, or simply changing our patterns,
so come now, and take a magical trip with me, to that mystical, magical
place within your mind, using that magical tool, hypnosis.
With all said, I must add a quote I find cherishable for the
clinical hypnotherapist by Milton Erickson, from “Hypnotic
Realities”, pg. 20, 1976, as to the definition of a successful
session.
“A successful clinical hypnotic
experience, then, is one in which trance alters habitual attitudes
and modes of functioning so that carefully formulated hypnotic
suggestions can evoke and utilize other patterns of associations and
potentials within the patient to implement certain therapeutic goals.”
So how would
I define hypnosis? If asked again I am sure that my answer
would grow more profound. My answer simply put is that hypnosis
is really and quite truly the most profoundly misunderstood phenomena
of mind, consisting of ummeasurable qualities and possibilities. If
you have a definition for hypnosis, I would love to read about
it, and if you like I might even puplish it here, along with your name
below it, with your permission of course, so just click the link found
here below, and tell me your thoughts, titled "Hypnosis Definition".