Hypnosis and the Subconscious Mind

May the Trance Be With You! A 21st Century Look at Hypnosis

Art courtesy: alekseyzuravlov.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - “I want you to know that there are no colors in the real world, there are no fragrances in the real world, that there’s no beauty and there’s no ugliness. Out there beyond the limits of our perceptual apparatus is the erratically ambiguous and ceaselessly flowing quantum soup. And we’re almost like magicians in that in the very act of perception, we take that quantum soup and we convert it into the experience of material reality in our ordinary everyday waking state of consciousness.”

- Sir John Eccles, 1963 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the understanding of the synapse

Our mind appears to be divided into conscious and subconscious functions. The conscious mind is that little voice in our head that represents who we believe ourselves to be. It is the part of us that is us when we say “I think, therefore I am.”

The other part of our mind is the subconscious. It’s a much bigger part of our mind. It’s the rest of the iceberg beneath the water. It’s our body’s operating system controlling our unconscious breathing, blood pressure, body temperature, food digestion and so on; it’s where our memories are stored, where our emotions emote, and where apparently we make our decisions before they’re passed onto the conscious mind.

When we learn a new skill like riding a bicycle, it’s awkward at first as the conscious mind, limited to about seven simultaneous tasks, tries to steer, balance (an inherently complex process all by itself), pedal, watch where it’s going and so on. Once the process is learned (that is, has transferred to the subconscious, which has the capability of managing trillions of tasks simultaneously) the riding becomes smooth and effortless.

The subconscious mind is the workspace of the hypnotist.

The subconscious mind apparently processes using images and symbols; it is non-critical. This last quality is valuable. If we can plant an idea in the subconscious mind, that idea can grow and make changes in our behavior and perception of reality.

Hypnotists are skilled at implanting suggestions. They, for the most part, don’t hide the fact that they’re seeding ideas into your subconscious inasmuch as they’re doing so for your benefit. Advertisers also manipulate your subconscious, albeit covertly, and not always with your best interests in mind.

We all experience the world around us through our senses. We perceive colors, sounds, shapes, smells, tastes, textures and so on and make decisions about how they affect our being. These senses are our only connection to reality. If the senses are manipulated, your reality is changed. And so it is that a hypnotist can lead someone to believe that the hypnotist is invisible, for example. It’s a parlor trick of sorts, but it demonstrates a power that might be put to better uses.

A hypnotist needs to be creative to develop suggestions that will tweak your perception of reality just enough to improve the quality of your life. If you're stressed a hypnotist will suggest a way for you to periodically shift those stresses aside. If you are trying to quit smoking, the hypnotist can give you suggestions that will allow you to tap into your innate sense of determination (some might say stubbornness) and focus it on a tobacco-free lifestyle. If you're trying to lose weight, the hypnotist can nudge your sense of your eating habits and exercise toward healthier patterns. If you are in pain the hypnotist can teach you to adjust the sensation, sometimes to fade it, sometimes to move it away from your body, sometimes to banish it completely.

It’s your subconscious mind. It’s the hypnotist's job to help you to use it to help yourself.

Glen Bledsoe is a Consulting Hypnotist who practices hypnotherapy in Salem, Oregon.

For more information please visit: glenbledsoe.com