What You Should Know About Self-Hypnosis
Hypnosis has been defined as a state of heightened suggestibility in which the subject is able to uncritically accept ideas for self-improvement and act on them appropriately. When a hypnotist hypnotizes his subject, it is known as hetero-hypnosis. When an individual puts himself into a state of hypnosis, it is known as self-hypnosis. In both cases, the subject has achieved a heightened state of suggestibility. Even in hetero-hypnosis, the subject really controls the response to suggestions. Actually, all hypnosis is really a matter of self-hypnosis. The subject enters into the hypnotic state when he is completely ready to do so. This may require from one to many attempts before it is achieved. Even if the subject insists that he wants to be hypnotized immediately, he may be resisting hypnosis unconsciously.
In self-hypnosis the same thing usually takes place. The subject is anxious to achieve self-hypnosis, but somehow the state eludes him. What's wrong? It may be that he is unconsciously resisting it, hasn't conditioned himself sufficiently, or has achieved the hypnotic state and doesn't know he is in the state. This last statement may be surprising, but we will examine it in detail a little later on.
Most experts agree that about 90 percent of the population can be hypnotized. My own feeling is that probably 99 percent can be hypnotized. Who among us is not influenced by suggestion? Aren't we all, as we have seen, influenced by the suggestions of advertising? Don't we all have a tendency to believe what we read in the paper, hear on the radio or see on television? Aren't we all convinced that a name-brand article is better than one that is not so well-known?
Suggestion plays a tremendously important role in our daily lives. It begins from naming the baby with an appropriate name to securing a suitable place for interment. I would like to call the reader's attention to a fascinating book dealing with the unconscious reasons why we do many of the things that we do. You will be intrigued with every page of the book. It is called The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard.
My contention is that we are all suggestible and, therefore, being hypnotized or hypnotizing ourselves is just a matter of increasing the suggestibility that we already possess. Doesn't the hypnotist begin by suggesting relaxation? Doesn't he usually begin by requesting the subject to fix his attention on a particular object? Next, he suggests to the subject that his eyes are becoming heavy and tired. As soon as the subject closes his eyes, he suggests that he will be in a deep hypnotic state. I am sure that you are familiar with this procedure. With each step, the hypnotist is guiding the subject along directed lines to get him to accept further suggestions without question or doubt. When the subject achieves the ultimate state in this procedure, he has been hypnotized. He then accepts suggestions without equivocation.
Let us continue with this same thought. Suppose I say to you, "I'm going to stick you with this pin. It won't hurt." Would you let me stick you with the pin? Obviously not. Let us suppose that you have been hypnotized and I repeat the same suggestion. What happens then? You readily accept the suggestion as being factual. Should I proceed to stick you with the pin, you do not even flinch. In fact, you do not even feel the pain. Does this sound incredible? Isn't this exactly the same procedure that the dentist uses with his patient when he has hypnotized him for the purpose of painless dentistry?
Achieving hypnosis, therefore, is a matter of directing this suggestibility that we all possess into the channels that will finally produce the hypnotic state. It can be much more complicated than this explanation in many cases, but let us use this as a working premise.
Everyone can be hypnotized. The time required for achieving hypnosis will vary from subject to subject. We will discuss some of the reasons for this in a subsequent chapter, but for our discussion at this time we need to understand this point. I have encountered numerous individuals who were extremely disappointed because they did not respond to hypnosis immediately or after several attempts. They wanted to know "what was wrong." An explanation that nothing was wrong somehow did not satisfy these individuals. "After all," they argued, "didn't I go to a hypnotist especially to be hypnotized?" Some insinuated that perhaps the hypnotist wasn't too good.
Let me explain that most subjects need to be conditioned for hypnosis, and this conditioning is helped when the subject practices certain conditioning exercises that I shall discuss in detail in [chapter six], titled "How To Attain Self-Hypnosis." In my teaching, I have found that about one out of ten subjects responds to the first attempt at hypnosis. One cannot make a definite statement as to the length of time necessary to learn self-hypnosis, but it is my experience that this usually takes about one month. I have had subjects learn self-hypnosis in about 30 minutes, but I must also relate that I have worked with subjects for one year before they achieved it.
