Trance Hypnosis and Will Power
(free article below)

Trance Hypnosis and Will Power

First some basics: Yes, it's true that most professionals who practice hypnosis will have you close your eyes. And it's also true that no one ever does anything against his/her will or anything that would be immoral unless he/she would normally do immoral things. Now, that's not to say that some people don't do immoral things as I'm sure you've seen others do immoral acts  and they never went to a hypnotist. And yes, some will do outrageous things all on their own. Having a hypnotist to blame just makes it easier to drop inhibitions and do outrageous things. 

So why close the eyes? The most famous hypnotists of all times, Milton Erickson, rarely had his patients close their eyes. In fact he is recognized as the master of hypnosis. He used wakened hypnosis--gave suggestions without having his patients close their eyes.

You're probably wondering about trance. When you buy because of the skillful suggestions used by advertising and marketing geniuses, or when the ghetto students are motivated by the educator to be more than they believe they can be, or when you purchase as a result of the salesman's presentation, where's the trance? Make no mistake--it's there. 

That's the irony. Trance has no feeling. It happens the moment the analytical questioning conscious mind is bypassed to the subconscious mind resulting in a change of behavior.

Suggestions as used by Mesmer and his tub with iron rods in the 1700's wouldn't work today because man has become far more sophisticated and analytical than he was centuries ago. Today's man would ask, "what's this stupid tub and iron rods about anyway?" Never the less, depending on the hypnotist's charisma, tubs and iron rods could be made to work even today--guaranteed--just not so practical. Why go to that extreme? The hypnotist would need a huge room just to house the tub when simply an improved suggestive technique will accomplish the very same thing.

The "art of suggestion" is simply to cause a change in behavior in the subject. Example: suppose you wanted to modify the behavior of a hundred people walking out the front door of a building over the course of several hours (not rushing out). You wanted to have as many of them look upward into the sky as they exited the building. What would you do to bring about that change in behavior? What kind of suggestion would you use? Would you stop each person and tell them that they should look up in the sky because...?

Today's sophisticated man would question your motives and ignore you thinking you might be distracting them to pick their pocket. The answer is to position yourself so that as they leave the building, they will see you glance upward. Their curiosity will cause them to accept the visual suggestion and look upward. That's hypnosis! That's trance!

Years ago I commuted to NYC from NJ via a commuter bus. Smoking was not allowed in NJ, but was allowed in NY. Soon after we entered the Lincoln Tunnel, one smoker would realize that smoking was ok and light up. Within seconds, another and another, and another--visual suggestion. Sometimes, we'd get all the way through the tunnel before the first smoker would light up. I always hoped that they'd all forget until we were off the bus.

So why do hypnotists generally have their subjects close their eyes? In reality, suggestions given with eyes wide open can be far more effective--that is if they are the right suggestions. And there in lies the secret. The hypnotist needs to be highly skilled and adaptable to handle all situations creatively and effectively. He/she really needs to "think on his/her feet," as they say.

Quite frankly, much hypnosis does occur with eyes wide open. For many years I conducted group and individual sessions for stop smoking and weight management. Both were a single session. The first portion was done with the participants in the wakened state. By the time we got around to the eye closure portion, my job was done. The eye closure was simply a relaxation that was expected by those taking the program. So often relaxation is simply often a formality. 

And over the years I developed scripts for many other problems and issues. But to answer the question, most hypnotists couple relaxation with suggestions. And the best way to get relaxed is to close one's eyes. Often, with the experience of deep relaxation, the critical conscious mind is set aside making it easier for the subconscious mind to accept suggestions.

Will power? The only will power required is to take the first step to making change and that usually is to seek help in the form of cd's or make a telephone call to a professional.

One particular advantage of programs on cd's is that nearly a hundred hours goes into the writing, editing, production, reediting and final production resulting in the most effective scripts possible as opposed to depending on a creative spur of the moment suggestion in a live session. Once one has used a cd, then if live sessions are desired, far more progress can be made as the cds have already laid the foundation of suggestion--it's usually a matter of fine-tuning.