"You are completely relaxed... there is a wonderful warm feeling spreading through your body..., you have a great desire to sleep... your eyelids are getting heavy... heavier... and heavier... you hardly can keep them open any longer... now they are closed... with every word I am saying, you are getting sleepier.... and sleepier.... you are going to SLEEP... deep, sound sleep... deeper and deeper asleep... SLEEP!" You just read the exact words of a hypnotist, using the classical technique of verbal suggestion. His subject is sound asleep. Is this a science --- or just a fascinating fraud, a little frightening? What is hypnotism? According to the Webster's New International Dictionary: "The induction of a state resembling sleep or somnambulism, which is called hypnosis or hypnotic sleep; also loosely -- the induced state of hypnosis..." "There are degrees of hypnosis which have been characterized as lethargic, cataleptic and somnambulistic hypnosis and, again, simply as light and heavy hypnotic sleep, with corresponding variations in suggestibility." Hypnotism can be divided into two categories: Hetero-hypnosis, the state of sustained suggestibility is induced by a hypnotist. Auto-hypnosis, the state is self induced. The results are both the same. Any suggestion that is carried out a period of time after hypnosis, is known as post-hypnotic suggestion. And here we have, just for you, a special, one-of-a-kind auto-hypnosis program that you can download for free. Hypnotize yourself. Hypnotize your dog! Hypnotize your mother so you will always get breakfast in bed! Download 'Optical Illusion' here. (just 11k, zipped) O.K. You can keep reading now. The use of hypnosis is extremely wide, ranging from psychoanalysis of hysteria and nervous disorder --- to an anaesthetic in dentistry, surgery and childbirth. It has been used at times as a pain killer in WW-II, when drugs were not available. On the average, approximately twenty-five people out of a hundred are highly susceptible to suggestion --- meaning that this percentage is very easily hypnotized. Almost all children belong to this group. About 50-55% are fairly good subjects, but it takes a longer period of time to hypnotize them, and the remaining 20-25% may never be hypnotized. The percentage varies with the personality, technique and experience of the individual hypnotist. People who can not maintain focused attention, for whatever reason, can not be hypnotized. No person can be hypnotized against his or her will, and it is generally accepted by the majority of practitioners that, while under hypnosis, the subject will not act against his religious beliefs or moral principles. In the hands of a competent operator, there is absolutely no danger involved in the use of hypnosis, for the obvious reason that any suggestion that can be "put in" the subconscious can also be "removed" just as easily. The false, monster-like image created by the radio, television, movies and sensation-thirsty newspaper reporters has done a great deal of harm to the scientific study, development and application of this science. STAGE HYPNOTISM Stage Hypnotism is a unique branch of hypnotism which focuses on providing theatrical entertainment for money. Stage hypnotists face many unique challenges that are not encountered in a clinical setting. Timing, pace of the show, and the entertainment value must be maintained by the performer to hold the spectator’s attention for the entire duration of the show. Rigged props and occasional human confederates sprinkled amongst the spectators are not unknown to stage hypnotists. Generally, hypnotists preselect participants before the show to speed up the induction process during the show. The people whom the hypnotist selects are not plants, they are just the best and most susceptible hypnotic subjects available from the current group of spectators. Stage hypnosis produces a normal mental state in which suggestible people act out the role of a hypnotic subject and behave as they think hypnotized people are supposed to. Stage hypnotists make use of certain characteristics of the stage to perform their act: Suggestibility. We are all more or less open to suggestion, but on stage people are unusually cooperative because they want the hypnotist to succeed - they don’t want to ruin the act. As a result, they will readily follow almost any instruction given by the performer. Getting the right subjects. Only volunteers are allowed to appear on the stage. This alone ensures that participants are relatively uninhibited and ready to participate. Next the group is hypnotized and anyone who doesn’t succumb (or go along) is eliminated. This means the hypnotist has a group of subjects who are ready to perform. No responsibility. The movies, TV and such stage acts have instilled a common perception about how hypnotized people should act. One of these perceptions is that "hypnotised" people are not responsible for their actions. They therefore can sing, dance, act silly or whatever without fear of embarrassment. Directing the actors. It doesn’t take long for participants to loosen up and after responding to a few suggestions suddenly find themselves the star of the show. The audience response often brings out the "ham" in many participants so that all the hypnotist has to do is direct the action. Using tricks. Stage hypnotists use impressive stage tricks for impact. A common one is to rigidly suspend a person between two chairs and then stand on the person’s chest. This is impressive only because the audience doesn’t question it. The reality is that anyone can do it. Inexperience. People who have appeared on stage will generally always say they were hypnotized or felt they were hypnotized. But since most people don’t know what it is like to be hypnotized, the combination of bright lights, nervousness and the things they did convince them that they were. So What's Going On? Recently psychologists have dramatically revised their ideas about how hypnosis works, and the modern theory is that of social compliance. Broadly, this means that there is no altered state when you are hypnotised - no trance, no sleep, and nothing mysterious at all. Hypnosis simply works because the subjects believe it will. On stage, it works through the hypnotist's skill in combining three factors: Suggestion: when we are told to feel something, there is a strong subconscious force which makes us really feel it. Social pressure: people want to behave the way their friends are behaving; if their friends appear to be under a hypnotist's power, they will want to act the same way. Simple obedience: people will generally do as they are told, especially by someone in authority. So there you have it! All the facts about what hypnosis is, and why it works. Now here's something for you to try: Stare into the circle. Relax. You are completely relaxed... there is a wonderful warm feeling spreading through your body..., you have a great desire to sleep... your eyelids are getting heavy... heavier... and heavier... you're asleep. Repeat after me ... you will always do your homework... you will always do your homework... [Some information for this page was obtained from http://www.hypnotism.co.uk, a site by Martin S Taylor]

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