How to be hypnotised

Or, if you think hypnosis isn't working for you, think again!

Many people reading the title of this article will wonder what on earth I can mean by this; after all surely isn't it the hypnotist, using their hypnotising skills, who does all the work?

Well, yes and no.

Over the last nine months I have devoted a lot of time and energy into learning how to be a hypnotist. That, however, has been extremely easy when compared with the effort I have had to put in whilst learning how to be a subject.

It seems to me that an extremely large number of people who want to be hypnotised have tried and been disappointed with the results. For a significant proportion of the population going into hypnosis is not something that comes to them quickly or naturally, and I count myself in that number. The term "analytical" is frequently used to describe this personality trait, those who have trouble dropping their critical faculty and experiencing hypnosis, and whilst it's a term I don't particularly like it does seem to be the best word for it.

There is good news though and that is that, as far as I can tell, hypnosis is a skill which anybody can learn given time. If you, dear reader, want to be hypnotised, and yet seem not to be able to, there is no reason why you can't learn how.

I intend this article as a sort of FAQ guide on how to go about doing just that, based on my experiences so far. It is by no means comprehensive, and I'm sure it won't be without the occasional controversial point, but at the very least I hope it's helpful for others who find themselves in the position I was once in.

So, on to my FAQ:


Q1. "Can I be hypnotised?"

Yes. Absolutely.

In my opinion, and my experience, everybody has the capacity to be hypnotised.

Of course, it's not quite as simple as that; there are obviously people who do not respond to hypnosis. There are various reasons for this, and generally speaking I believe these are:

They do not want to be hypnotised. If someone ultimately doesn't want to cooperate with the hypnotist then they will not respond to the suggestions they are being given. Their loss if you ask me.

They believe they can't be hypnotised. Hypnosis, in the context of being overtly hypnotised by a hypnotist generally works because the subject believes that it will. If somebody firmly believes that they cannot be hypnotised they will find this to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Arguably one of the best examples of self-hypnosis that there is.

They don't know how to be hypnotised. This something on which I feel I am able to shed a lot of light, but bear in mind that my insight is based upon my own opinion and experiences. To put it simply, everybody thinks differently and consequently some people are better able to take up a particular skill than others. Going into a deep hypnotic trance is a skill which comes to some people (ie somnambulists) quite naturally, but to others, especially those who are particularly analytical in their thought processes, it doesn't and these people have to learn how to do it.

The lesson here is that if you are willing to be hypnotised, believe that you can, and keep working at it, you can theoretically experience any hypnotic phenomena you want given time.


Q2. "Why don't inductions work on me?"

This seems to be quite a common complaint amongst people who find hypnosis difficult. The so called, analytical types. I have seen such subjects wanting to try every kind of induction under the sun, with every hypnotist they can find, and with all sorts of fancy language patterns, in the hope that they can find the one special combination that will "work". Of course once I was doing so myself.

The good news, and the bad news, is that usually the induction is in fact working but you just don't realise it. This is provided of course that you are a willing subject.

Quite often this is a question of expectations. I have often asked people who haven't "gone under" how will they know when an induction has worked. The usual response is that they don't know, but they expect to feel something.

Most people have seen stage hypnosis shows where volunteers from the audience have gone up and been hypnotised. These people seem to drop easily into an unconscious and comatose state, completely out of it, at the click of the hypnotist's fingers. The implication being, firstly that hypnosis renders you unconscious, and secondly that anybody who dares try will be affected in that way. This builds up expectations.

The truth is that hypnosis doesn't knock the subject unconscious, and indeed the sensation of being in a light trance is so indistinguishable from sitting there with ones eyes closed that anybody looking for some kind of affirmation that they are hypnotised often won't find one and thus believe that nothing is happening. One such individual once saw me in a trance and commented "Wow, you were completely out of it!", but of course they were completely unaware that in contrast to my outwardly lifeless appearance I was still completely aware of my surroundings, which is quite normal with trance.

The other thing that most people don't realise is that only a small proportion of the population naturally respond to hypnosis to the degree that would make them worth watching in a stage performance; say, 10%-20%. Stage hypnotists are adept at fishing these people out as their volunteers; it's fair to say that if the same audience went to another hypnosis stage show the odds that the same faces would be appearing on stage a second time would be quite good.

Against this backdrop it is easy to understand why some people believe that inductions haven't worked. The truth is though that inductions aren't magic; they only work because the hypnotist says so, and the subject believes they will.

The best thing you can do as a subject is drop all preconceptions about what hypnosis is and should feel like, go along with what you're being told by the hypnotist, and above all have faith that it is working.


Q3. "Why don't phenomena work on me?"

There are many different kinds of hypnotic phenomena, but generally for the analytical subject I think there are two reasons why a given phenomenon isn't working.

It is working but they don't realise it. Hypnotic phenomena rarely manifest themselves in quite the way one would expect. Often it is a case of simply giving it a bit more time and allowing something to happen, other times it is merely learning to recognise and accept the way in which it is happening.

For example, the first time I actually got my hand to "stick" to something, back in February, it wasn't as though anything that I was feeling actually changed, it was more the case that I suddenly recognised how it was supposed to work. Naturally I had been expecting something like a kind of force to hold my hand where it was, and no matter how much strength I applied I would be unable to move it. Hypnosis isn't an outside force though, it's all in the mind, and the revelation came when I realised that although I was disappointed that I couldn't feel any force, I was still willing to humour the hypnotist by leaving my hand exactly where it was, and didn't really consider moving it. That is how being "stuck" manifests itself to me; there is nothing physically holding my hand where it is, but as long as I am comfortable and having fun there is absolutely line of thought I can pursue that leads to my being able to move my hand.

Pretending to pull against an invisible force is just part of the fun.

They don't yet know how to do it. I have described the background to my learning to achieve the effect of my hand becoming stuck; it has been much the same for other phenomena. Ultimately being hypnotised and going into trance is a skill, and for most people that skill has to be learned and exercised before it can be used to full effect. Don't expect to play Grieg's piano concerto the first time you sit down at a piano. Great things will come with practice.

Hypnosis is never like what one would expect it to be, but as every subject gains experience they acquire new abilities and expand the range of phenomena they are able to achieve. The best thing you can do as a subject is have an open mind and to give yourself the time you need to learn.


Q4. "Am I just pretending?"

A lot of people who are slow to pick up hypnosis, especially analytical people who are looking for an affirmation that it's working, often become frustrated when they are given a suggestion and nothing happens. So they wait, and they wait, and the influence of hypnosis that they are expecting and waiting for never happens.

"Do I sit and wait for something to happen in which case nothing does, or do I consciously follow the suggestions, in which case it's not hypnosis doing it, just me, and surely I'm just acting?"

I had this problem before hypnosis started to work for me, and this is where we enter the territory of what I and a few others refer to as the "acting dilemma". Resolving this point was, for me, the big breakthrough I needed to make and I'm significantly indebted to the person who helped me past it. They know who they are.

The dilemma:

"Am I doing this because I'm hypnotised, or am I just pretending that I'm hypnotised?"

I think it's important to get used to acting dilemma, because it's something that doesn't go away. Consider, though, the possibility that it's also a bit of a false question. Hypnosis isn't some magical effect from outside the body; it's something which exists within the subject's mind. The hypnotist doesn't produce the phenomena, nor does some disembodied force called hypnosis, it's the subject who does it. Anybody who expects a hypnotist to issue instructions to them and to find their body immediately flailing around on its own like a puppet will probably be disappointed to hear that anybody under the influence of hypnosis is in fact, in some sense, acting.

So perhaps being hypnotised, and pretending to be hypnotised are in essence the same thing. The result is, after all, the same.

The advice I was given, and the advice I will pass on, is to accept the dilemma exists but don't worry about it. Endeavour to follow the suggestions, even if it feels as though you are doing so consciously. Soon enough you will find that responding to suggestions willingly becomes second nature and is actually happening before you have time to think what you're doing, or even without you being aware of it happening at all. Now that is hypnosis!


Q5. "I can hear/analyse the suggestions. Is that bad?"

This comes back to the common misconception that hypnosis by definition renders the subject unconscious, which is of course false.

It stands to reason that if a subject cannot physically hear the suggestions they are being given there is no chance of that suggestion working. So the question is more about how much attention the subject's conscious mind is giving to the hypnotist's words, and how much of that they subsequently remember.

It is actually quite rare for new subjects to have amnesia for their trances, and so it is quite the norm for the subject to be able to hear what is being said, and to be able to think about or analyse it.

I have found that this is only a problem or a hindrance to the suggestions if you, as the subject, believe that it is. Conversely, believing that the suggestions you are being given will work, and being willing to humour them and act as though they are working, is the best way to overcome this hangup, in my opinion.


Q6. "How do I 'let go'?"

In my opinion telling a subject that they need to "let go" is just about the most useless thing that any hypnotist can ever say.

For my part I found the worst part of being told to "let go" was the implication to the subject that it is them preventing the hypnosis from working by holding something back. To the subject who is genuinely giving it everything they've got, but who is unsure exactly what they should be doing, this advice is of no use whatsoever and ultimately only serves to cause the subject to blame themself and question their own abilities and potential.

In my opinion a hypnotist who tells a subject that they need to "let go" is neglecting to make the effort to properly understand the nature of their subject's hangups or to reassure them that they can be a good subject if they persist.

I do not endorse acts of violence against such hypnotists, however burning effigies, letting the air out of their car tyres or signing them up for adult spam email are all perfectly acceptable.


Q7. "Am I just not good enough?"

It is an incredibly unpleasant feeling to think that you just aren't good enough to experience all of the amazing things hypnosis has to offer; that perhaps there's something wrong with you.

Let me assure you, as someone who once couldn't be hypnotised, and who once felt as though the above applied to him, that it simply isn't true.

If you want to be, you can be a really good subject.


Q8. "How do I become a really good subject?"

Three words:

Practice. Practice. Practice.