What Is Hypnosis?
These Are The  Key Point To Understanding Hypnosis....

The individual when in a hypnotic trance state creates a situation were by the so called "critical factor" (the critical and evaluative parts in the mind) are suspended or bypassed creating a very focused selective state of awareness that will follow the suggestions given by the hypnotist.

Individuals can react in a variety of different ways when in an hypnotic trance state. While there are certain criteria that will be there in most people most of the time when engaged in hypnosis, there are as many different possible responses to the induction of trance as there are people who engage in hypnosis.

Many will experience what is refered to as an altered state of awareness. Other people could experience an increased subjective awareness of sensations and feelings. In a clinical situation hypnosis is commonly accomplished with an extended hypnotic induction that usually involves a process for relaxing the mind and body as completely as possible.

But hypnosis is not limited to a clinical setting with many people experiencing hypnotic like trance states when they are totally engrossed in a film or book, driving along the freeway (commonly known as "highway hypnosis") and interestingly, trance like phenomenon can also occur in times of extreme stress. Many of these examples fall under the category of waking hypnosis.

How To Induce Hypnosis

The hypnotic Induction process relates to the process of bringing on an hypnotic trance state. At present there is no widespread agreement on what is the most efficient induction process however one of the most common and well known is a method that utilizes eye fixation such as the use of a swaying pendulum or the "Look into my eyes" style induction.

Additional techniques applied include a wide array of relaxation techniques where, for example, the suggestion is given to the person being hypnotized that their eyes eyelids are feeling heavy and will continue to get heavier and heavier as they relax more and more.

It must be remembered however, that while relaxation techniques are commonly used in many hypnotic inductions it is not a requirement for hypnosis to occur.

Susceptibility And Hypnosis

In hypnosis a persons level of susceptibility is the level of response that the subject has to the suggestions given while in hypnosis. Not everyone reacts to hypnosis, however approximately 10 percent of subjects respond very well to suggestions and get to experience all of the deeper levels of hypnotic phenomena. These especially susceptible people are known as somnambulists and they can pretty much be hypnotized under any situation or circumstance.

Susceptibleness has no relation to an individuals level of intelligence or a specific characteristic of their personality. However research has shown that there's a connection to a persons level of imaginativeness and their ability to concentrate and their level of susceptibility to hypnotic techniques. The findings indicate that individuals with hightened sensory awareness and perceptual gating skills which permit them to block out certain stimuli from conscious awareness, demonstrate a much higher level of susceptibility and suggestibility.

One of the biggest obstacles to susceptibility is the fear often associated with hypnosis and going into trance.

The elimination of this restrictive fear permits the hypnotic subject to be more open to hypnotic suggestion. Once this fear is eliminated, almost everyone can then be hypnotized profoundly in as little as 10 seconds.

There's a general perception that says you can't be hypnotized against your will. Many hypnotists however, believe that although you can't force someone to do anything that goes against their sense of will and morals, you can alterwhat they want to do and create a context where the out of normal behavior would be totally in place. This is known as disinhibition, and accounts for those occasions where someone can be hypnotized and led to behave very differently to how they normally would, often partaking in activities that under normal circumstances would be unacceptable to them.

As you can see answering the question what is hypnosis is not a simple matter. For an experienced hypnotist being able to answer the question what is hypnosis? is not nearly as important as being able to recognize it when it occurs.