Most everyone experiences hypnosis. As you learn something new, such as riding a bike, swimming, or doing Kung Fu, you are undergoing self-hypnosis. When you watch television or a movie with focused intent, you are encountering self-hypnosis. If whatever you hear or see changes your mind about what you feel or think about something or someone, you are experiencing self-hypnosis. Hypnotherapy uses this same principle to help people to change their mind about a behavior that is creating difficulty in their life.

How Does It Work?
There is more to hypnosis than simply reading words on a page or listening to a creative visualization or relaxation tape. The shift occurs as a result of both how relaxed and aware you are.

There are four types of brain waves: beta (waking state); alpha (focused concentration); theta (deep meditation); and delta (dream state). Hypnosis works when brain waves resonate at a level of focused concentration and deep meditation. When in these states, the mind can be influenced by anything close by that is perceived by the senses. Voice as well as visualization cues are the most powerful elements in inducing hypnosis.

Have you ever been driving and missed the turn-off because you were singing a tune with the radio, rehearsing in your mind something you did earlier or need to do later, or conversing with someone? Your brain wave activity was in the alpha (focused concentration) state. It was your subconscious mind that was actually driving the car. Similarly, it’s actually my subconscious mind making my fingers type these words while my conscious mind is thinking about what to type. Our conscious actions are a by-product of the subconscious movement of the mind through the electrical circuitry of our brain, while conscious thoughts are delayed by a fraction of a second. This means that my typing movements happen before I have a conscious thought connected with the movements.

In short, the subconscious mind is the connection between the nervous system, which is under the direction of the physical brain, and the conscious mind. The subconscious mind is the storehouse of all memory, including our current life and past lives. When there are memory blocks, hypnosis helps the conscious mind access the subconscious mind's "library" through deep meditation and focused concentration.

The Power of the Subconscious
The subconscious mind is the aspect of our being that opens to healthy suggestions that create change. All it needs is something new to remember! When our subconscious mind has no direction or experiential memory to draw upon, the conscious mind rules. However, the conscious mind is often stuck in moments of instant gratification influenced by subconscious memory of past results from instant gratification. It's that out-of-control conscious mind that elects behaviors which create unhealthy consequences, while the subconscious mind repeats that pattern at an unconscious level.

For example, we can easily convince ourselves that we really need that fabulous painting or trip to the Bahamas. When we make our purchase, it is because the subconscious mind has not learned to discriminate based on consequences. The subconscious mind does not "think," so there are no consequences at this level unless it has been trained. It has nothing but old physiological patterns to go upon and, thus, directs the brain to tell the hands to pull out the pocketbook.

Hypnosis can train the subconscious mind to realize (not "think") the consequences of any behavior by seeing the future. Simply, the behaviors you need to change are replaced by activities with positive outcomes. As a result, the subconscious mind automatically influences the brain to create the activities in the body that move away from behaviors with consequential negative outcomes.

The Key of Suggestion
An important key in hypnosis is your level of awareness, or concentrated and focused absorption. If you can look at a spot on the wall and perceive it without thinking about it or letting your mind go dull, you have achieved a level of awareness required for hypnosis. In this focused state, you can experience deep meditation. You can also experience suggestion.

Suggestion is the key and solution to problem-solving in hypnosis. Suggestion is reflexive. When given a suggestion in the theta state, the subconscious mind grabs hold of the concept and redirects it through activity.

Clearly, hypnotic suggestion requires educated wisdom regarding deciphering how the individual perceives his or her world. Words and phrases are specifically designed to recreate the receivers' world into one that is accepting of positive change.

A person who is self-motivated for changing unhealthy behaviors or is in need of discipline for changing old habits or addictions may benefit from hypnosis. If your spouse or friend encourages you to use hypnosis to stop smoking, don't even attempt it unless you can see yourself as a non-smoker and truly want to quit. If your partner suggests hypnotherapy to lose excess pounds but there are secondary gains for being overweight, then hypnosis may not be the choice of the moment. It is more important to want to reduce weight because you feel it is right for you, not because someone else wants you to do it.

Other Uses for Hypnosis
In some cases, hypnosis is used to uncover blocks to stopping an addiction or creating the discipline necessary to start a new project. Some popular methods for releasing blockages include age or past-life regression. There are numerous accounts of how past-life regression has uncovered a cause for a current life medical condition.