You Have Been Hypnotized
I run into a lot of people who either think they can't be hypnotized, they've never been hypnotized, or that hypnosis is evil or bad and shouldn't be experienced. Wow!!!
Bad news. Everyone goes through hypnosis every night, whether you want to or not. So much for it not happening, thinking you can't be, or it being evil.
Hypnagogia and Hypnopompia
Hypnagogia is a naturally occurring state that happens as you start to fall asleep. It's that moment between being awake and drifting off before you hit non-REM sleep.
If you think back about when you fall asleep, you might remember some of the following sensations. Very brief auditory or visual sensations. Sometimes it's even kinesthetic or tactile, like you're falling.
That's because your brain is switching from full-on consciousness to rest. So, systems are beginning to switch off and unhook from one another, which can produce dream-like fragments while you're still semi-aware.
Hypnopompia is the opposite of hypnagogia. It happens when you start to awaken. That's because the same systems that were decoupling and turning off are now doing the reverse.
The sensations are very similar to hypnagogia. You'll experience dreamlike imagery, auditory sensations, and sometimes something called sleep paralysis.
Again, it's completely natural. The system is gearing up for you to get out of bed and get moving.
The only difference between people's experience with this is the level of intensity someone feel's. People who practice meditation often notice them more clearly because they're trained to spot subtle shift's in consciousness.
Highway Hypnosis
State troopers have a name for when a motorist crashes their vehicle, but there are no skidmarks at the scene of the accident. It's called "highway hypnosis," and it happens enough that they came up with a name for it.
It happens on long monotonous stretches of highways and can also occur on tree-lined roads when the sun is low on the horizon. The flickering light of the sun through the trees or the white lines on the highway alters the driver's level of consciousness.
If you've never experienced it on the highway, I bet you have in your own neighborhood. Have you ever pulled up in your driveway and realized you don't know how you got there? In other words, you zoned out for a few minutes of the trip.
That's the same state as hypnosis. Your conscious mind switched off for a moment while your unconscious took over. Your body does that because the brain is an energy hog, and so your system tries to conserve energy by running things on autopilot. It knows your neighborhood, so it takes over.
It's nothing to be concerned about. Your unconscious is so clever it's watching for anything out of the ordinary, so if a kid kicked a ball into the street, in about 0.25 milliseconds, the unconscious will have alerted the conscious mind to take over again.
So, Yes, You've Been Hypnotized Many Times
So, there you have it. Whether you wanted to or not, whether someone told you it was unnatural or someone was taking control, nothing could be further from the truth. Hypnosis is a completely natural state.
At Hypnotic Shift in Cornelius, Huntersville, and the Lake Norman area, we specialize in helping individuals harness the power of their subconscious mind to create real, lasting change. If you’re curious about how hypnosis can work for you, contact us today to learn more or book your first session!
