Instant Inductions

Okay, so having talked about rapid inductions in a recent post here is my post on instant inductions.

By my definition, an instant induction is a rapid induction that uses momentary shock or confusion to induce trance, usually with the hypnotist saying "sleep!" at this point.

In truth no induction is truly instant because the key to any instant induction is the buildup beforehand. I have nearly always done a set piece like magnetic hands to get my subject in the right frame of mind, and even if I haven't I always tell them "what's going to happen is...". Even without such preparation however, any good subject is already in a suggestible state. As Jon Chase says, "from the moment they realise you're a hypnotist everything you say becomes a suggestion".

Whilst the mechanics of all the various instant inductions may be drastically different the principle is the same. The idea behind an instant induction is to create a moment of imbalance, a "what the hell?!..." moment in subject's mind, and to use this moment to deliver the suggestion to go into trance.

From the advice I've had and my own experience I would say that the most important thing to remember the first time one tries any of these inductions is KEEP GOING! One shouldn't ever stop to see if it has worked, because doing so will probably mean that it won't have. Having a deepening routine ready and going straight into it with confidence is essential.

Now, in truth I only really use one instant induction by the above definition, the hand drop, or "8-word" induction, but I will point out some others that are worth a look. Maybe sometime when I've been doing hypnosis for a bit longer I will feel I want to try some of the other instant inductions.

8-word induction
If I have a very keen subject or I'm feeling confident of success I will nearly always use this induction. I like it because it is simple, fast, effective, and above all it is quite gentle compared with a lot of other instant inductions. I learned the 8-word induction from this video. There are plenty of examples of hand drop inductions on YouTube so if you want to see more go and do a bit of searching.

Mechanically the way this induction works is that the hypnotist has the subject place their hand palm down on top of the hypnotist's hand, which is palm up, and press down. It doesn't matter if they are seated or standing. They are then told to close their eyes. This only leaves the shock, which comes from the hypnotist letting their hand drop away from underneath the subject's.

The eight words are as follows:

"Press on my hand... close your eyes... SLEEP!"

I've never felt as though this induction has to be strictly limited to 8 words. Telling the subject to "relax" once they have their eyes closed is sometimes useful, as is telling the subject to "take a deep breath" just before I drop my hand.

I've never been a fan of some of the more physical deepening techniques I've seen, especially something like a head rotation, but following the 8-word induction I've sometimes rocked the subject's body from side to side by the shoulder as I've deepened, and this seems to help things along.

Other instant inductions

Undoubtedly the best place to look for more information on instant inductions is in the "Speed Trance" work of Richard Nongard and John Cerbone. Whilst I've not used any of their stuff as such I have seen it used quite a bit at HypnoMeets. See my previous post for a video which includes plenty of footage of Darren, who recently trained under them in Manchester, zapping people under very quickly indeed. Their YouTube channel is here.

Someone else who seems to favour instant inductions for his street hypnosis is Sean Michael Andrews. He seems to like to use an arm pull induction, which is interesting to watch if you want to get an idea of just how quickly someone can be put into hypnosis. His YouTube channel is here.

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Anyway, that's all for now. Again I hope this serves for a useful point of reference for those who don't know much about the rapid side of hypnosis and want to know where to look next.