Definitely not stuck

I may have, in the last few months, communicated certain feelings I've had about my own response to hypnosis, or apparent lack thereof.

Sure I've been able to do the hand levitation trick for a few months now, and I have experienced a number of other things that imply hypnosis, such as amnesia for what's been said to me in trance (or was I just asleep?). What I have been lacking up until this point has been a post hypnotic suggestion that is undeniably present and real.

I'm pleased to say that over the weekend that changed.

Now, as I understand it, about 20% of the population are natural somnambulists and respond very well to hypnosis, 20% of the population respond very poorly, and the remaining 60% are somewhere in the middle. It's a little known fact that if one kept putting the same audience back into hypnosis stage shows, the same few faces would most likely keep appearing on stage.

Of course, if you're one of the unlucky few with a poor response, as I am, it can be incredibly disheartening if you really want to experience hypnosis for yourself and it appears that you really can't. My self given challenge of the last few months has been to find out whether it is possible to learn how to be a better hypnotee. Is it possible for someone who has no noticeable response to start with to develop the skills to experience some of the more intense hypnotic phenomena? If so how does one go about doing that?

The trouble is that, at least in my limited experience, hypnotists are often quite useless on this topic. There is a general tendency amongst hypnotists, especially amongst stage hypnotists, to just skip over the boring people and concentrate on those who respond well. They are, after all, much more fun. I am as guilty of this as anybody else; see my remarks in my previous post about magnetic hands. Some hypnotists, most notably Jon Chase, will even go so far as to say that a whole 20% of the population cannot be hypnotised.

I have always somehow clung onto the point of view that anybody can be hypnotised. Of course this is different to staying that anybody can be hypnotised by any hypnotist using any method at any time and get good results first time, or indeed that anybody would want to try. What I'm getting at here is that what I've always wanted to believe is that anybody who wants to experience hypnosis can do so, if they find what works for them and give it enough time.

I am glad that I never completely gave up on that belief, because I feel that recent developments have vindicated this viewpoint somewhat.

The big breakthrough for me came from some advice I was given recently. I was chatting online to a girl by the name of Liz. Now, I think it's fair to say that Liz is an expert when it comes to hypnosis, but from the other side. Her boyfriend is a hypnotist, rather a good one at that, she loves being hypnotised, and needless to say that arrangement has led her to gain rather a lot of insight into what it's like to experience some of the more extreme hypnotic phenomena.

In fact if you have ever found yourself wondering what happens when a couple practice hypnosis on one another then you may find their blog interesting. If you haven't, I warn you now don't even go there.

Anyway, when I first heard about some of what she'd experienced I immediately found myself thinking "Well it's alright for her! Bet she's a somnambulist!". In fact I was completely wrong about that; her first experiences of hypnosis sounded as though they were rather lukewarm and in fact they sounded a heck of a lot like mine. She just kept at it to get to where she is now.

So the first thing I learned was that, yes, it is absolutely possible to become a better hypnotic subject through practice, practice, practice.

What I am most grateful for though is the advice that Liz was able to offer me about what she calls the "acting dilemma". I've mentioned this before; feeling as though I could always just act along with whatever suggestion is given, but is that hypnosis or just bad acting? Her advice was to get used to that dilemma for now, but just go along with things and don't worry. Ultimately it's not a case of the hypnotist making the subject do things, it's the subject making the subject do things, and so if they don't do anything nothing happens.

This makes a kind of sense. A post hypnotic suggestion is a sort of subconscious behaviour pattern. Another example of such a pattern is, say, changing gear in a car. When a skilled driver is driving they don't have to think consciously about moving their hand to change gear because it happens automatically; the subconscious takes care of it. One doesn't, however, learn how to change gear by sitting in the car, listening to the instructor, and expecting the arm to move by itself.

For everyone the process of learning goes through three phases: Conscious incompetence, to conscious competence, to unconscious competence. Somnambulists just do it a lot quicker!

All of this leads me on to describe what I experienced this weekend.

The close friend with whom I have been practicing a lot recently tranced me, but at the end of the trance, just before waking me up, she told me that my hand would be stuck. My mind had wondered off during the deepening, but as suggestions were being given I was completely aware of every word, as usual, and maybe feeling a bit cynical.

I opened my eyes and sure enough I was acting as though my hand was stuck. There was absolutely nothing holding my hand where it was but me, and I could move it any time I wanted.

Except I didn't.

It was the weirdest experience and quite hard to put into words.

The best way I can describe it is to compare it to that moment in the morning when you decide that you really should get out of bed but you just don't move. For me such a moment of resolution can last for over half an hour of complete inaction. Lying in is one of my fortés.

Or perhaps I can better describe it by saying it's more like a situation where there's someone across the room you have a huge crush on. You can decide as much as you want that you should walk straight over there and talk to them, but the signals never seem to reach your legs.

For that matter it reminds me of a situation there's a group of people nearby that you want to approach as a hypnotist and offer to hypnotise, but you just can't bring yourself to do it...

So there I was with my hand apparently completely free and yet no amount of "I'm going to move it... right now... yep, now... I'll show her! Right now!" would make my arm move! It was as though I was play acting it, but I couldn't really consider doing anything else. Actually no, not "couldn't consider", more "didn't consider".

I finally got myself free by miming giving it a good tug with my other hand, which seemed to break the mental block that I had and restored control of the hand.

I'd no sooner consolidated control of my own arm when my friend tranced me again. Again the way in which I stopped talking mid-sentence, let my face go blank and I just slumped felt as though I was acting it, but the strange thing is that I did it without even thinking about it.

I didn't feel particularly deep when I was in that trance in fact, but my friend proceeded to tell me that my right arm would freeze motionless if she said "freeze". It actually worked! I froze my arm motionless in mid air just as she said that word, again it was as though acting but from there I couldn't move it! I genuinely couldn't! It didn't feel confined or physically locked in place, but I sure as heck couldn't move it. In fact as I tried I could feel the catalepsy in my hand and fingers! Amazing!

So needless to say I'm feeling pretty good right now. I am making progress! What to try next I wonder?