what is hypnosis?

Hypnosis is a pleasant state of deep mental and physical relaxation. It is not, as is sometimes believed, a state of sleep or unconsciousness. Every day our brains actually operate in four different states, moving between these four states easily and naturally depending on what we are doing. These states are measurable in terms of the frequency of the bio-electricity within our brains. As you are reading this you are most probably in the first state, that of normal conscious awareness with a frequency of 14-35 Hertz, called the beta range. If you were to become very engrossed your brain frequency might well slow down to 8-13 Hertz - the alpha range. It is within this range that hypnosis occurs.

Everyone passes through this hypnotic stage every evening when they go to sleep, and every morning as they are waking up. When you are falling asleep your brain first slows down to 4-7 Hertz - this is the theta range where dreams occur. Then the brain moves into the last state that of deep sleep which occurs at 0.5-3 Hertz, at the so called delta range.

Hypnosis is therefore a natural function and ability of the human brain. In hypnotherapy this hypnotic state is induced by the suggestions given by the therapist, but it is nonetheless one which the client allows themselves to enter. Because of this it is true to say that all hypnosis is really self-hypnosis. Furthermore, the client can leave the state of hypnosis should they wish to, and has conscious or subconscious control over what he or she does during it. With a few extremely rare exceptions, any one who wants to be hypnotised can be.

The essential value of hypnosis is that it enables us to take negative thoughts and feelings out of the mind more easily, and to replace them with positive ones. It is also important to remember that hypnosis has no negative side effects, and its use in Hypnotherapy should not be confused with its use for entertainment.