Tony Guadagnino is a marketing consultant. Located in New Jersey, his clients are based across the country, focusing on social media to build their presence on the internet. He studied creative writing in college and is currently working his first novel on the subject of bullying. He lives with his partner Mark.
With this month’s article, I thought about discussing something off the LGBT topic, and in the process, possibly educate my readers on an area that nobody truly understands. (The teacher is coming out of me, and yes, I do have a teaching license.) This month’s topic — HYPNOSIS! Later in my article, I am going to reveal something that will probably surprise all of you about hypnosis, but before I say it, allow me to educate you and possibly change your hypothesis on the subject. Nobody really understands hypnosis for one very good reason: we weren’t taught about it. Schools do not teach the subject, so nobody truly comprehends it unless you’ve studied it on your own.
In addition, both television and movies have distorted people’s beliefs about it by portraying unrealistic capabilities, and people seem to adapt it as truth. When it comes to fictional programming, people will throw reality out of the window for the enjoyment of their favorite show. We all know that the best nanny in the world will not be flying to the ground with an open umbrella, having the answers to everything about caring for children. Nobody expects their next door neighbor to be a silly but lovable Frankenstein monster with a Dracula wife. Soap opera are full of unrealistic storylines: botched DNA tests, baby switches, and the overused doppelganger. We understand that it is fiction; it’s not real. However, when we see a man using hypnosis to take over someone’s mind or humiliate a person by having them dance like a chicken in front of their friends, most people immediately assume that is how hypnosis works. I am writing this article to say this: IT IS NOT!
Hypnosis is a state of consciousness involving focused attention and reduced outer awareness and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestions. During hypnosis, a person is said to have heightened focus and concentration. The person can concentrate intensely on a specific thought or memory while blocking out sources of distraction. People under hypnosis are said to show an increased response to suggestions. Hypnosis is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction involving a series of preliminary instructions and suggestions.
If that is too scientific for you, let me break it up for you this way: Your conscious mind becomes more and more passive, while your subconscious mind is heightened. It is in your subconscious mind where hypnotists will make suggestions to their patients to help quit smoking, stop overeating, or (if you’re watching a stage show), perform to people to entertain. A hypnotist cannot make someone do something he/she wouldn’t do in their conscious state. Mentalists cannot put people under hypnosis and have them rob a bank. You cannot go under hypnosis and strip naked and run through the streets of town. If you wouldn’t do it in life, you won’t do it under hypnosis. Under hypnosis, you do not lose control of yourself. That is a guarantee.
Earlier, I promised I would reveal something that will surprise you, here it is: You go in and out of hypnosis all day long. Hypnosis is pure concentration. When you are focused and concentrating on something important (business report, athletic game), you are actually hypnotizing yourself. Have you ever been so focused on something that when someone walks by or says “Hello,” you are startled? The real truth is that you were just broken out of hypnosis.
Have you ever had a very relaxing massage, so relaxing that you’re about to fall asleep? In truth, you’re falling into hypnosis.
Women have babies every day under hypnosis; it’s called Natural Child Birth. Doctors didn’t want to call it “Self-Hypnosis” for fear that women would be frightened of the procedure. People who practice yoga are self-hypnotizing themselves. Martial artists also use self-hypnosis … a deep focus on concentration; how else could they break a cement block with their hands or bare feet? Those who also walk on hot coals find a level of their subconscious mind to do it without feeling any pain.
Reaching your subconscious mind is where the most amazing things will happen. In recent weeks, I have been started studying self-hypnosis. I have been tapping into my own subconscious to plant the seeds to be more successful with my own personal goals. We all have these amazing computers right on top of our shoulders. We all have the equipment, but nobody ever taught us how to use it. If everyone took the time to understand and learn about hypnosis, you could change your whole world.
One last point … have you been mesmerized by this article? Have you read it completely without breaking your concentration, possibly so focused that you didn’t even hear outside noises? VOILA! I just hypnotized you. You experienced a hypnotic moment; you just weren’t aware of it.
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