Is hypnotism trickery? I’ve stated before that when you learn hypnosis you have to be a little tricky to bypass the critical factor, that skeptical guard that stands watch outside the gateway to the subconscious mind. Those who have been hypnotized before can attest to the fact that it takes a little practice to get your mind in the right frame. Once you’ve done it a few times it’s a lot easier to simply fall into the hypnotic state without a long induction. But what if it’s your first time? Or what if there is emotional resistance to going into the hypnotic trance even on a subconscious level?

The Truth Shall Set You Free?
When I was in high school there was a neighbor boy about 10 or 12 years old who had always spoken with a very noticeable stutter. One day I saw him walking past my house and I stopped to talk to him. Within moments I interrupted him and said, “you don’t stutter anymore!” He smiled and told me that a doctor gave him a new medication that stops stuttering. Even in high school I knew there was no such medication for stuttering and started to say, “Oh, a placeb… Well, that’s really cool!” I thought it was really amazing that he had stopped stuttering after all those years. A few weeks later I saw him again and noticed that his severe stutter had returned and I asked him what happened. He said, “M-m-my s-s-sister s s-s-said i-i-it w-w-w-was a s-s-sugar p-p-pill.” His stutter was gone completely for weeks, and was back in full swing. The sister told the truth and the doctor told the lie. But the key is that there was undeniable proof that his mind was completely capable of fixing the problem. Why did he stutter when obviously he didn’t have to? Too bad there wasn’t a hypnotist that could have stepped in and acquainted that boy with the power of his own mind because the truth is that he had the power to stop stuttering.

The Placebo Effect
The placebo effect is something that researchers have been studying for a very long time with varying conclusions. When a new drug is being tested they have to find out what percentage is responding to the placebo effect so they can determine a more accurate success rate in the drug. It’s so well known that a significant percentage of people will feel better just by thinking they are taking a wonderful new cure that they have to factor them out of the equation. I’ve recently read about a study in which the subjects were told that they were going to be involved in a new chemotherapy regiment. Although the treatment was inert and had no real affect at all, 31% of the participants lost their hair. The expectation to loose hair during chemotherapy was there, so it seems the mind can and does respond to the positive and negative suggestions. Makes you think twice about the friends you hang out with, the movies and TV shows you watch and the music you listen to. I do not recall the sales trainer that said this but I believe what he said to be true, “You live in the house that you live in because that’s the house you believe you can live in. You drive the car you drive because that’s the car you believe you can drive and you have the life you live because that is the life you believe you can live.”

Is Mankind Too Advanced To Believe?
I get a strange sense that the human population takes so much pride in our immense knowledge and sophistication that we don’t fall for hypnosis or the power of thought anymore, as if what all we learn from the placebo effect is “don’t be so weak minded.” Doesn’t it make more sense to believe that the more we progress intellectually, the more we will see, embrace and utilize the power of our minds? I can hear everyone saying (and I definitely have said it too) how can this illness be related to something my mind has control over or how can this situation have resulted from me and my mind… it just happened to me. I hear you and still wonder about it sometimes myself, but I certainly can’t dismiss the idea that our minds make and break us all the time. Remember that great subconscious realm consisting of nearly 90% of your mental functions is a repository of secrets that it the conscious mind isn’t very interested in knowing for the most part. What is that secret part of our mind doing in there at all hours of the day and night?

Delusional vs. Optimistic
Are there limits? It would seem logical to me that there are limits, but I’m not going to be the guy who sets them and then looks like a Neanderthal-man to my grandchildren’s generation who knows so much better. But some say, “It’s impossible to fix this” or “do that with just your mind.” Shhhhh!!! The guy who just did it might hear you! Everyone has a line they’ve drawn between delusional and optimistic, where does yours lie?

Hypnosis - It’s All In Your Head
It is all in our heads, so let’s experiment with the power our minds possess so that we can harness it. It’s been said that if you believe you can or you believe you can’t, you’re right. Imagine if the first Olympic athletes could see our men and women today. I think it would appear to them like some sort of trick or magic because a hundred years ago it wasn’t possible for men and especially women to run that fast, jump that high, skate that amazingly or endure that much. What if we didn’t have to trick our selves, but learned and believed the power of our minds to excel or to heal?

I think the trick runs the other way. My experience tells me we are tricked into doubt, fear and disbelief.

Photo Credits: Lauren Kristin, J. R. Bernstein, Little Dan 77

Shane Kester
May 2010

Source: http://www.shanekester.com

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