How does Hypnosis feel?

It's a question I get asked more than any other and it's often because people have seen faked up stooges in stage hypnosis and think it may be a loss of control and someone else taking control of their mind.

That's simply not true at all. It's really just a natural state. Here's a short youtube video on hypnosis where I explain all about how you will feel during a session of hypnosis.

Here's the transcript of the video so you can read exactly my thoughts on hypnosis.

Lots of people ask me what happens in hypnosis. What is hypnosis? This is all because they are worried about programmes they have seen on television like Derren Brown or Paul McKenna where it looks like someone is taking over their mind. 

Well, it's not like that at all. Hypnosis is a perfectly natural and normal state. It's a bit like daydreaming, where you are half awake or half asleep.

Driving in the car and forgetting where you are

You will probably know the feeling if you have ever been in a car where you are driving along and you think, suddenly you have missed your exit. All because you were daydreaming and working on automatic pilot. So it feels a bit like that.

The important thing to remember is that you are always in control. In fact you can open your eyes if you want to. If you are lying there with your eyes open, well of course, if you open your eyes perhaps it won't be quite so relaxing.

You will remember everything in hypnosis

You can remember everything that is said. Sometimes you will see hypnotists on television saying "When you wake up you won't remember anything that has happened." then people open their eyes and say that they don't remember anything. That's just because they have been told to say it, by the person on television or the stage hypnotist, but of course you do remember everything, because you hear everything, because you are totally aware.

When you are relaxed, and all that is happening is that you are letting yourself be a little bit more relaxed, just as much as feels right and comfortable for you, your subconscious mind, the part that causes all the problems with the niggling thoughts, is just more open to suggestions. 

So, you are always in control and you can open your eyes.

Here's another thing you can do!  You can move. Sometimes, someone may be sat with me and thinking that their nose is itching, but if they itch it then I will think they are not hypnotised. Well, it's the opposite. If I see someone itch their nose, the next thing they normally do is breathe a sigh of relief and then relax further.

So, if you ever worried, or thought you could not by hypnotised, well just ask yourself what it is exactly. Perhaps it is just being relaxed, and then being relaxed you are more open to suggestion. 

There is nothing to worry about, and in fact you may well be surprised that it is a very pleasurable experience...with great benefits to you in the long term.

Derren Brown blows the lid on stooges in stage hypnotism

As an entertainer and showman Derren Brown uses his charisma and showmanship to make us think that things we are seeing are really happening in front of our eyes. But, can we really believe what we are seeing with him or with any other performer or mentalist who may well be trying to pull the wool over our eyes?

Well, of course we can’t believe it. That’s part of the reason that it can be so entertaining. If what we see seems impossible, but somehow seems to be happening in front of our eyes then we will have a natural curiosity towards how it’s being achieved.

Although he is of course famous for his television specials on Channel Four, Derren Brown still tours extensively and explains that he loves live work even more than his TV shows.

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Often in the past we have witnessed him hypnotising people on stage and television and then influencing them in the way that they think. It’s something that I have written about before and how we sometimes need to take things with a pinch of salt. The ITV hypnosis game show “You’re Back in the Room” was a great example of what I describe as people just playing along.

Now that Derren is touring his new show Miracle he has been lifting the lid on how stage hypnotists work and why we shouldn’t believe all that we see.

Speaking to the Argus in Brighton before appearing there, he explained that in this show he was doing no hypnosis on stage at all.

There is no hypnotism in this show. Hypnotism is quite a grey area – of what is and what isn’t hypnotism. It’s a word like magic – a shorthand term for something. You know a magician isn’t doing magic – he’s doing a series of things creating an experience. If you go to see a stage hypnotist you can have people playing along – is that a form of hypnotism? Is a charismatic speaker or someone who helps you give up smoking a form of hypnotism? It’s very difficult to say what it is.

If you see what he is saying he is basically explaining that when you see someone on stage they really are just playing along. It is a chance to do things they would never normally do and have an excuse, because they can say they were hypnotised! What a stage hypnotist is looking for is someone who wants to play along. They need the most outgoing people on stage, especially if those people would not normally do that kind of thing.

If you want to see a master showman at work then I highly recommend his live shows. Just bear in mind that not everything you see can be believed!

You can see some of the secrets of You're Back in the Room in the video below...

 You're Back in the Room 2016 returns to ITV in March