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Hypnosis is a naturally occurring state of mind. Everyone has already experienced hypnosis, if not with a hypnotist, then by accident.

As long as there have been human beings, there has been hypnosis. We use this commonly occurring, and natural state of mind, unknowingly, all the time. It is just natural for us. For example, if you have ever watched a television program or movie and become really absorbed into the program, you were probably in a trance. This trance is what caused you to not hear your mother calling you to dinner, until she raised her voice for the third time. (Advertisers understand this. They use television programs to induce a hypnotic trance and then provide you hypnotic suggestions, called commercials!)

Here is another common example of this naturally occurring state of mind. When you are driving down the road, with your mind focused on some other task (a day dream perhaps), and next thing you know, you have passed your next turn. That is called "highway hypnosis".

The U.S. government defines hypnosis as having two parts: (1) the bypass of the critical factor, and (2) the establishment of acceptable selective thinking.

This seems to be a useful and accurate definition of hypnosis.

This "bypass of the critical factor" simply means the release of limiting beliefs. For example, the use of hypnosis for anesthesia has been accepted by the American Medical Association since 1958. It is well established to be a fact that hypnosis is useful for creating anesthesia. However, if you have the limiting belief that the mind cannot create a powerful anesthesia, you will be unable to do so.

However, in hypnosis, this limiting belief can be bypassed, and hypnotic anesthesia can be quickly created. "The establishment of acceptable selective thinking," the second part of the definition, refers to the process of guiding someone into hypnosis by using a hypnotic induction. The establishment of selective thinking creates the mental environment or state of mind that enables you to reject limiting beliefs (that you picked up by living in our society), so that you can accept new more empowering ones.

The hypnotic state is an optimum state for making changes in your life. You can set aside limiting beliefs that may have been preventing you from moving toward a more healthy and happy you.

So now you know that you can be hypnotized. You have done it literally thousands of times. You did it yourself when you were daydreaming and missed that turn (self-hypnosis), you have been hypnotized when you enjoyed a television program (being hypnotized by someone else), and you have followed hypnotic and post-hypnotic suggestions when you preferred some brand name that you saw repeatedly on television (hypnotic compounding of suggestion).

Now let's use hypnosis to make your life better. I urge you to contact a National Guild of Hypnotists Certified Hypnotherapist or Board Certified Hypnotherapist near you for more information.

Hypnosis Training is also available at the Banyan Hypnosis Center for Training & Services, Inc. website, including National Guild Hypnotists Hypnotherapy Certification Training, and 5-PATH? Advanced Hypnotherapy Training.