How does hypnosis work? An age-old question that can be answered through science or just a simple description. This article gives the simple description!

How does Hypnosis Work?

If I want to know how an aeroplane works, I'm just not interested in airfoils, yaw, stall speed, and so on. It's enough for me to know that moving air fast above the wing makes the air pressure less, and so the air below pushes the plane up.

In the same way, most people reading this article don't want to know about MRI scans, the conscious and unconscious, changes in brainwaves, and so forth.

No, they just want a simple answer to their question, "How does hypnosis work?"

Let's see if we can simplify hypnosis in the same way.

Simply put…

Hypnosis is the power of suggestion

Now, the power of suggestion is nothing new. Politicians use it all the time. As do parents, peers, newspapers, your own well-intentioned friends… in fact, anyone who wants to persuade anyone else to do something.

If you doubt how effective a simple suggestion might be, you may want to consider a nice experiment. In this experiment, researchers gave some students beer with an unexpected ingredient. When told about the new ingredient before tasting the beer, the students didn't like the new version; but when told only after tasting it, they preferred the new version!

Hmm…

So, what do we need hypnosis for if suggestion is so powerful anyway?

Resistance is not futile!

Well, you resist suggestions that you don't like or don't trust. It's a natural trait, more so for some people than for others. That's why stage hypnotists take great care over which people from the audience they choose.

(However, suggestions can be reworded. If the researchers had simply reworded the way that they told the students about the ingredient, many more would have preferred the new version. Any parent can tell you that!)

A Special Ability

Here's the thing: Hypnosis releases a special ability.

While in hypnosis, your brain becomes more willing and able to accept suggestions, especially if you approve of them. If you then go and create the suggestions in a certain way, it will allow you to change your behaviour and beliefs far faster than if you had simply repeated an affirmation many times a day.

In this way, you can increase acceptance, and reduce or even eliminate resistance.

Hypnosis is a wonderful thing! (Now, that's a suggestion for you!)

Useful links

• About Hypnosis — Describing hypnosis, what it's like, and what we use it for.
• Hypnotherapy — What is it? What can you use it for? What do hypnotherapists do?