The typical definition you will see when you look up the word hypnosis is: A Heightened State of Suggestibility. Now, normally when I say this to people I have in front of me, they look as though they have just seen a ghost, or that I am speaking to them in some foreign language. They nod their heads in agreement as though I have already given them a hypnotic command to pretend to understand. So, let s break it down a bit better so you really understand what it is. What is Suggestibility? Responsiveness to suggestion. What is a suggestion? The process of inducing a thought, sensation, or action in a receptive person. What is receptive? Capable of receiving. P a g e 1 5
Going back to the definition again: A Heightened State of Suggestibility. So, now we can deduct that a person who is in a state of hypnosis is simply a person who is: Responsive to Capable of receiving Being Influenced by A thought, sensation, or action. Now, let me ask you an all important question. Have you ever had your thoughts influenced by a person, place, action, or even your own perceived idea about something? Whether you are aware of it or not, throughout your entire day, you are constantly being exposed to suggestions, and with rare exception, you readily accept just about everything you see and hear. In other words, you are almost always in a state of hypnosis. A suggestion can be anything that you can detect with any of your five senses. For example: Let s take television ads; also known as hypnotic suggestions. The ad says: Our big juicy burgers taste the best. Now, you are left with your mouth watering and you truly do believe, at least for that moment, that they are the best. P a g e 2 5
And at some level, you may wish that you had one right now. And the next time you are driving by that hamburger joint, you may find yourself recalling that ad and sitting in their drive through. So, based on our definition, are you in hypnosis when you are watching TV? Here are some other times when you are very receptive to suggestion: Anytime you are in a heightened emotional state, you are very receptive to suggestion. For example, when you experience anxiety, the stimuli that is causing that anxiety goes straight to your subconscious mind and influences how you will respond whenever presented with that same stimuli in the future. That is how many phobias are created. You have an automatic response to it. Your sense of smell or taste can be a hypnotic suggestion. Say that when you were a young boy or girl, you came home from school and your mother had just baked a batch of your favorite cookies, or your favorite pie, or whatever it was. It made you feel safe and happy. And now, whenever you smell your favorite pie or your favorite cookies she used to make, you get a feeling of comfort or happiness. You have an automatic response to it. P a g e 3 5
You receive suggestions through your sense of sight. We all know what to do when we come to a red light or a green light or a yellow caution sign, or a stop sign. These shapes and colors are constant for a reason, because we have an automatic response to react to them in the same way. The end result of hypnosis is to learn automatic response. The difference between learning new automatic responses when we are aware versus when we are not aware is that we can control and monitor what we want to accept or reject when we ARE aware. Yes, we control this in an intended state of hypnosis. It is an absolute MYTH that anyone or anything has control of you in an intentional state of hypnosis. All suggestions are FILTERED through your conscious mind before they are absorbed by your subconscious mind. You allow the suggestions you want. Hypnosis is NOT: A state where you lose or give up control. When you are in an intended state of hypnosis, whether it be with a trained professional hypnotherapist or on your own in self-hypnosis via your own internal thought dialogue or an audio program you listen to, YOU are in control of the thoughts that are going to influence you in the future. Hypnosis is NOT: A state only some people can access. Everyone, unless you have an extremely low I.Q. or brain damage can be hypnotized. We will talk in a later step about HOW to become hypnotized. The main point of this step was to make sure you understand what it is and that you have already experienced hypnosis many times in your life, in fact probably several times throughout the day and you just were not aware that is what it was. P a g e 4 5
Congratulations! You made it to the end of part two. I acknowledge you for doing this for yourself. I have a good feeling that you have a burning desire for something more and that desire will cause you to take whatever action you need to take in order to create the best life available to you. Next Step Within next day or two you ll receive Step 3: Conscious Mind vs. Subconscious Mind which will focus on The Conscious Mind and the Subconscious Mind. So, make sure to keep an eye on your email! I ll see you then! Sincerely, Victoria Gallagher http://www.hyptalk.com/ P.S. While you are enrolled in the e-course, you are entitled to receive a special ONE-TIME student discount of 30% off all of my products. Go back to http://www.hyptalk.com/learn-hypnosis to grab your discount code! P a g e 5 5