Untrue. Although some hypnotherapists traditionally use the term “sleep” or “deep asleep” when inducing and deepening the hypnotic state in their subjects, they do this in order to take advantage of the emotional connotations engendered by that term. But hypnosis is not sleep. The subject is aware of everything going on around them. Most people don’t recognize the state of hypnosis, expecting to become unconscious. Unless they are the one in ten who easily achieves the deep – or somnambulistic – level of hypnosis, this is not at all what the experience is like. This does not mean that they weren’t hypnotized. It simply means that they are experiencing a hypnotic level somewhere between a light and a medium state which, for purposes of behavior and habit modification, is generally more effective than deeper level hypnosis.

Although everyone experiences the hypnotic state differently, when asked to describe the physical feeling of hypnosis, many people who have experienced it liken it to the “twilight state.” This is the sensation experienced upon going to bed and/or awakening when one is neither fully awake nor fully asleep. It’s a peculiar frame of mind characterized by awareness of external physical stimuli, such as smells and sounds. Yet it also carries with it a certain listlessness, lethargy and disinclination to move or be disturbed until one is fully ready to awaken.

Most people base this erroneous assumption about hypnosis on stage acts. The truth is, those members of the audience volunteer to get up on the stage; so, they are volunteering to have fun. They willingly allow themselves to participate in silly suggestions. You cannot be made to quack like a duck or cluck like a chicken … unless you want to!

In truth, the more strong-willed, intelligent and imaginative an individual is the better subject he or she tends to be. Research indicates that while virtually everyone is capable of being hypnotized, those subjects with above average intelligence are the more readily hypnotizable. This is probably due to a greater capacity to concentrate and an ability to use their imagination.

This is one of the more absurd myths about hypnosis. If, for some reason, the subject chooses not to come out of hypnosis when instructed to do so, they will, in every case, do one of two things: 1) come out on their own in a very short time, or 2) fall into a normal sleep until they awaken naturally.

Contrary to popular belief, everyone can be hypnotized. A hypnotized person is not asleep. They’re just exceptionally relaxed, intensely focused, aware and always in control.

Since, as we have seen, hypnosis is a naturally occurring phenomenon, which we all experience, there is no such thing as not being able to be hypnotized. Once an individual overcomes their initial apprehension through understanding the truth about hypnosis, it is an easy experience … one in which the subject will awaken feeling more relaxed, at ease and more positively motivated than before going into hypnosis.