Hypnosis – How it Works, and Why it’s so Effective

Posted On November 9, 2017 / Written by Dr. Linda Gadbois

The term hypnosis refers to a mental state that’s also referred to as mesmerism or trance, which is where the body is in a fully relaxed state while attention is fixed on an idea given as a form of suggestion. A trance state occurs when the conscious aspect of the mind, which thinks by talking and is what we experience as the dominant aspect of the mind in terms of being awake, self-aware, and able to evaluate ideas in order to make decisions regarding them, is subdued, made inactive, and put to sleep. The conscious mind is what you can think of as the “gatekeeper” of the subconscious, because it’s the rational, discriminating part of our mind that makes decisions regarding what ideas we accept and “let in”, allowing them to take hold in our imagination, and what we reject and “keep out”, preventing them from taking hold. By putting the conscious aspect of our mind to sleep, or making it inactive, a seeded suggestion (idea) can be readily introduced into our mind, where it takes hold and is turned into an internal reality. Once a suggestion is made into an imaginary reality, it acts as a seed or nucleus that we continue to grow and develop by continuing to think about it, and forms the basis for producing a correlated set of natural behaviors and an outer experience of a similar nature. It literally shapes our perception of reality while determining how we feel.

The conscious aspect of our mind is the part of our mind that “sleeps”, which is why hypnosis is often referred to as being asleep, while the subconscious mind never sleeps and is always active and functioning. Whenever our conscious mind is made inactive, our subconscious mind becomes dominant while also being unguarded and readily conceives whatever suggestion is being given to it by an outside source of some kind. Because will is an exclusive function of the conscious mind, which is always directing the subconscious through thoughts made into mental pictures, is inactive and not guarding the subconscious, the will of another person or outside source can act to give suggestions to the subconscious instead, which is why deep forms of hypnosis requires a hypnotist or practitioner to perform. Once we go deep enough into a trance state, the part of us that normally directs our subconscious is no longer aware or capable of directing in a clear and intentional manner.

Yet the state of hypnosis itself is very natural to us and forms the natural relationship between the conscious and subconscious minds, as well as the higher mind of the Soul. Anytime we passively engage in some idea or activity, we enter into a trance-like state, and readily take in the suggestions being given to us without questioning or evaluating them, where we turn them into an inner reality by continuing to think about them. Once an idea is introduced into the subconscious it’s turned into a full-fledged reality in approximately 14 to 17 seconds. As we begin thinking about something, we internalize and imagine as an experience of reality, turning it into a form of virtual memory, and act to program ourselves with that idea. Many people believe programming is something that requires an intentional act or actual process, when in fact, we’re constantly programming ourselves with the reality of our own imaginary thoughts.

The biggest difference between hypnosis and meditation, which can be virtually identical, is that hypnosis has a purpose and is designed as a means to accomplish a desired goal or end result, whereas meditation takes place anytime we become present, remove our attention from distractions, and concentrate forming a single-minded state. Hypnosis tends to go deeper into the actual trance state because its purpose is to bypass the critical mind and work directly on and with the subconscious mind, which is the creative powerhouse of the body and material plane, and the aspect of the mind that turns an idea into a reality as the experience of it. All perception, feelings, emotions, memories, and behaviors or actions are naturally produced by our subconscious. So it’s here that all physical change takes place. Our subconscious is what we also refer to as body-consciousness and any idea it conceives it builds into a physical reality.

The subconscious is the faculty that our conscious mind uses to program our DNA, which, like the subconscious, functions using memory to construct and maintain our physical existence. Our DNA acts to store the memory produced by our conscious mind, and shapes our physiology as a correspondence to our thoughts and whatever memories we replay in our mind in a consistent manner. Our mind is synonymous with our body and cellular structure, because they operate according to the same principles in a unified and analogous manner. Our body and outer reality are always a reflection of our thoughts and beliefs. By reprogramming or re-engineering the subconscious mind, we simultaneously re-inform the DNA of our cellular structure, determining how it forms new sequences as dynamic relationships. In this manner, our conscious, subconscious, and DNA of our body are designed to function as a single unit, providing us with the means for creating ourselves and the outer reality we exist in, which are formed as a mental projection. But unfortunately, most have never learned how their own mind-body system works, how to operate it efficiently, or have lost touch with their ability to determine themselves altogether. We allow our conscious mind to be consumed by the will of others and the mindless entertainment and distractions that bombard us on a daily basis, and often fail to recognize the affect it has in subconsciously programming us. Many have lost the ability to willfully direct their own thoughts and use their imagination as the primary means of programming their own subconscious on what to create as a physical reality and experience.

The subconscious speaks a different language than the conscious mind, forming a barrier in their ability to communicate effectively. The conscious mind is intellectually oriented and thinks in words and thoughts formed as internal dialogue that are somewhat abstract in nature, whereas the subconscious, which is intuitive and experiential in nature, thinks in pictures and images. The conscious mind functions in a rational and practical manner, whereas the subconscious, which forms all our natural behaviors, functions out of feelings and emotions. The conscious mind is hopelessly distracted and lost in time (past, future, yesterday, tomorrow), thinking by using memories of the past to predict the future, whereas the subconscious is always present in the moment, producing and dealing with what’s actually happening in the immediate environment. The conscious mind tends to think about and occupy itself mostly with others, the events of the world, often entertaining itself with theories as possibilities that are often mistaken as facts, while the subconscious forms our body awareness, is feeling oriented, emotionally driven, and is what produces all of our natural behaviors and tendencies formed out of our personality, affording us the time to busy ourselves thinking and dreaming about things that aren’t real.

So when we use our conscious mind to program our subconscious, we use words as the means of directing our subconscious in what to imagine as pictures and scenarios, and to guide it through an imaginary process designed to elicit compelling feelings, emotions, and insights. The key component of the subconscious is it operates in a natural manner according to the law of correspondences and analogy, and recognizes the principles being conveyed in any symbolic idea or metaphor, which is what allows it to adapt the idea to a variety of different situations to produce a similar type of experience. It’s instinctual in nature, and intuitively understands the meaning and message inherent in ideas, and the fact that it’s the attributes and characteristics of the internal nature that form objects and determine how they behave. It understands and connects to the inner nature of things (feelings and emotions), and sees physical attributes as properties that can be used to perform similar operations under numerous circumstances to produce the same type of result or outcome.

So whenever we’re working with the subconscious, which is what hypnosis is all about, we fix the attention of the subconscious onto an idea, and guide it through an imaginary process as the reality or actual experience of the change we want to produce. We create it not as an abstract set of instructions that require a concept to understand, but as an experience infused with sensation that gives rise to correlating emotions. We produce it as an actual experience that follows a metaphorical story-line. Because the subconscious doesn’t have a will of its own, it requires a memory to use as a blueprint and instructions for manifesting a reality as a physical state or condition. Words spoken with an emotional tone of voice are used to guide the subconscious on what to picture as an experience. The experience is created as feeling sensations (what  you’re seeing, hearing, touching or feeling, smelling, tasting, telling yourself, etc.) that creates an inner experience that invokes a corresponding emotion, which alters the chemistry of the body to match or form as the result of the experience. As we alter the chemistry of our body through the experience created, we re-inform it with chemical messengers, adjusting our state and how we naturally function, and what we tune ourselves to and manifest as a correspondence.

All hypnotic processes, which are simply entering into a passive state while taking in whatever suggestion is being given and imagining it as an inner reality, are designed to direct the subconscious mind to produce an imaginary experience that it takes as being real (it doesn’t know the difference between imagined and real, because they’re both produced the same way) that provides it with a new memory as a pattern and biological process for manifesting as a corresponding reality. The emotion produced by the experience is the key to manifesting and is what determines the nature of the manifestation in terms of its meaning. All behaviors and actions are emotionally driven. It’s not emotion in the generic sense of generalizations such as happy, joyous, sad, and so on, but the emotion we would feel at the accomplishment of the goal being created as a reality and what the experience means.

Meaning is the core and common denominator between haphazard creations and intentional ones. It’s not just what manifests that’s important, but the fact that you caused it to manifest using your mind-body system in a strategic manner. That’s an emotion hard to describe or categorize in the conventional sense because it brings a dynamic series of realizations that open up new doors into the true power of your own will and mind to create yourself and your life in an intentional and deliberate way. The experience of actual empowerment is quite different than contemplating the idea from a dissociated and theoretical position. Once you’re able to produce results, you know it works in a factual manner, and no longer requires a belief in it.

Hypnosis, like meditation and healing, is not something that’s done for you or to you by someone else, but is something you do yourself. All the practitioner does, or whatever outside force is leading you through an imaginary process, is guide you through the process of entering into a hypnotic state by following their directives. They will only lead you through the suggestions you’ve decided on and that will produce the inner experience of what it is you want to accomplish. Contrary to popular (uneducated) belief, you can’t be made to do something that goes against your moral values (will) while in a hypnotic trance, no matter how deep it is. We are only ever capable of doing what’s in our nature to do, even when we’re unconscious and not being guarded or protected by our conscious mind, which is the part of us that’s moral and has a conscience. The minute an idea is suggested that goes against our values, the conscious mind kicks in and engages and begins the process of discrimination and evaluation, and acts to reject the suggestion, often breaking the hypnotic state.

In a like manner, only changes and creations that we have honestly decided on can be installed successfully with permanent results. A decision comes as a balance between both the conscious and subconscious, between intention as an idea, and the feelings, emotions, and memories regarding it. The subconscious is the womb of the conscious, willful, decision making mind. If we’re still wavering on an idea, still harbor a desire for it somehow or have an emotional connection to it, still debating and negotiating it, so to speak, then the hypnotic process probably won’t be successful as a way of making the decision for us. The subconscious has no will of its own, and even while given a program in a receptive state, can be vetoed by the conscious will, which will override it and simply re-inject the willed decision as the pattern for the subconscious to use instead. Our own will always overrules the will of another when used with awareness.

The will provides the seed (masculine) that the subconscious conceives (feminine) and grows into a physical form. So before hypnosis is used as the method for impregnating the subconscious, a firm decision has to be made and a clear intention set as to what the subconscious will be instructed to create. And again, care must be taken to produce the appropriate emotional response to how the idea is created, because the emotion is the formative element, and is what connects us with the elements outside of us necessary to produce it as an outer experience. Feeling (sensation) and emotion (chemistry), both of which are complementary aspects associated with the heart center of our body, are what connect us with the collective unconscious of others and our environment. The subconscious is the aspect of our mind we share with all of Nature. So always keep this formula in mind in everything you do. It’s the translation of an idea into an imaginary reality that invokes a corresponding feeling and emotion that determines what actually manifests. Whatever manifests will be an expression of the emotion animating it with life and will serve to produce more of it.

Once we understand how this process works, we can take control of it and utilize it in an intentional manner to self-create and transform ourselves. We can discipline ourselves to remain aware when engaging with others and media of any form, and actively using discretion in choosing what we expose ourselves to and willingly take in, allow to take hold, and continue to think about as a way of forming it into an inner reality that becomes a part of our normal thought process and outer reality. We can learn how to direct our own thoughts and imagination to produce the reality we want to experience rather than engaging in the mass programming of society and others. Hypnosis simply provides us with the process for programming our subconscious using our conscious mind, and creating ourselves and our life in a deliberate manner as a result. We are not only fully responsible for who we become, but we have the inherent tools and means for administering our own growth and development. We simply have to become aware of it and learn how to use them in an intentional manner as the means of self-creating.

Dr. Linda Gadbois

Transpersonal Psychologist, Personal Transformation Coach, and Spiritual Teacher