In one way or
another, everyday brings us a lesson in life. The great teacher of
the universe tries daily to open our eyes with some event or
situation. Life confronts us with challenge, mystery, something
interesting or maybe just an important but everyday detail for us to
note. Such lessons would seem obvious to all of us - and indeed they
are. But then again - Sometimes there are those cases that fall
between the cracks of life, hiding in the shadows in ways that make it
unclear - what did I just hear? Is it true? Or is it otherwise - and if
so, why did the person want me to believe it?
During a recent health fair, I had an information table set up about hypnotherapy. People streamed by, picking up my literature, asking me all kinds of questions, etc. Then suddenly, a woman challenged me, telling me that hypnosis was evil. It against her faith. I tried to ask her more about what she meant. However, she quickly shied away and wouldn't engage me in conversation. It was clear she was afraid. Far less clear was the reason why. Perhaps she feared that as a hypnotist, I might beguile her, trick her into believing something false, instead of the true faith. But, since she wouldn't talk with me, I will never know.
I assume she was Christian. I can only surmise that she had learned something (untrue) about hypnosis - probably from a conservative preacher who instilled fear in her about its dangers. In reality, I have many Christian clients. I am Christian myself, as are most of my clients , at least to some degree. Yet I sometimes hear from conservative Christians about how hypnosis is dangerous, how it lays you open to - well, whatever. And my question is - what exactly is that "whatever?"
I've been told that hypnosis can corrupt the soul. By doing hypnosis, I am laying the client open to beguiling by - who? By Satan? By me? I have to ask any person who believes that, why? Who told them that? And who is that person to them? Are Christians forbidden to think for themselves? Are we forbidden from using our own minds?
During a recent health fair, I had an information table set up about hypnotherapy. People streamed by, picking up my literature, asking me all kinds of questions, etc. Then suddenly, a woman challenged me, telling me that hypnosis was evil. It against her faith. I tried to ask her more about what she meant. However, she quickly shied away and wouldn't engage me in conversation. It was clear she was afraid. Far less clear was the reason why. Perhaps she feared that as a hypnotist, I might beguile her, trick her into believing something false, instead of the true faith. But, since she wouldn't talk with me, I will never know.
I assume she was Christian. I can only surmise that she had learned something (untrue) about hypnosis - probably from a conservative preacher who instilled fear in her about its dangers. In reality, I have many Christian clients. I am Christian myself, as are most of my clients , at least to some degree. Yet I sometimes hear from conservative Christians about how hypnosis is dangerous, how it lays you open to - well, whatever. And my question is - what exactly is that "whatever?"
I've been told that hypnosis can corrupt the soul. By doing hypnosis, I am laying the client open to beguiling by - who? By Satan? By me? I have to ask any person who believes that, why? Who told them that? And who is that person to them? Are Christians forbidden to think for themselves? Are we forbidden from using our own minds?
Anyone,
whether they are Christian or non-Christian alike, has probably read a
good novel. Have you ever found yourself getting into the story,
identifying with the main character(s)? Have you ever shed a tear in a
sad movie? Have you ever gotten so deeply into something (like a hobby)
that you lost track of time? If so, then you were hypnotized.
Last I checked, even the most conservative Christian has experienced this. And yet, I would bet money that no demon possessed them as a result. In spite of their in-the-groove moment, their faith is intact - or maybe even stronger than it was before.
Last I checked, even the most conservative Christian has experienced this. And yet, I would bet money that no demon possessed them as a result. In spite of their in-the-groove moment, their faith is intact - or maybe even stronger than it was before.
In
addition, we live a certain percentage of our daily lives in hypnosis.
Any time you have a daydream, you are in a spontaneous state of
self-hypnosis. Each pass through the roughly 90-minute cycle of
consciousness called the ultradian rhythm, the mind passes through a few
moments of spontaneous hypnosis. Anytime you have an "aha" moment, you
are in a momentary state of spontaneous hypnosis that allows your
creative subconscious to come through.
In reality, hypnosis is nothing more than selective focus and the momentary suspension of disbelief - allowing yourself to get into the moment, to go with the flow.
We live much of our lives in a degree of light hypnosis, focusing on an idea and suspending our disbelief. As a result, we live nearly the entire day in a light state of trance. Indeed, the belief that hypnosis is evil is in itself, a trance. The foremost person to meet that description was probably the very person lecturing me about how hypnosis was evil. She had suspended her own disbelief and allowed some person to convince her that this process was somehow evil.
I often hear statements about how hypnosis is all about control - that the client is somehow surrendering control to the hypnotist. (I hear this from other religions besides Christianity. I often hear if from Islamic, Vedic, Buddhist believers, etc.) However, I have found that while I'm doing hypnotherapy work with someone, their discernment is quite intact. In fact, I have experienced at least one moment when something I said accidentally annoyed a person who was already in trance. In the particular case, she was quickly assured that I had no intent to offend her beliefs. Yet as a useful side effect, she also had a far greater understanding about how one's her own discernment remains intact while in hypnosis.
Back to the wellness fair - even though the woman confronting me was afraid of being controlled or beguiled by some hypnotist (me?), I was not the one she needed to beware of. In fact, as a follower of whatever teacher she was quoting, she was far more subject to manipulation by this person than she ever would be from someone like me. For her, the controller was the preacher who who she believed when he told her she should not trust the gift of the human mind that is hypnosis. Her suspension of disbelief allowed her to be inadvertently hypnotized, giving him direct access to her subconscious.
In reality, hypnosis is nothing more than selective focus and the momentary suspension of disbelief - allowing yourself to get into the moment, to go with the flow.
We live much of our lives in a degree of light hypnosis, focusing on an idea and suspending our disbelief. As a result, we live nearly the entire day in a light state of trance. Indeed, the belief that hypnosis is evil is in itself, a trance. The foremost person to meet that description was probably the very person lecturing me about how hypnosis was evil. She had suspended her own disbelief and allowed some person to convince her that this process was somehow evil.
I often hear statements about how hypnosis is all about control - that the client is somehow surrendering control to the hypnotist. (I hear this from other religions besides Christianity. I often hear if from Islamic, Vedic, Buddhist believers, etc.) However, I have found that while I'm doing hypnotherapy work with someone, their discernment is quite intact. In fact, I have experienced at least one moment when something I said accidentally annoyed a person who was already in trance. In the particular case, she was quickly assured that I had no intent to offend her beliefs. Yet as a useful side effect, she also had a far greater understanding about how one's her own discernment remains intact while in hypnosis.
Back to the wellness fair - even though the woman confronting me was afraid of being controlled or beguiled by some hypnotist (me?), I was not the one she needed to beware of. In fact, as a follower of whatever teacher she was quoting, she was far more subject to manipulation by this person than she ever would be from someone like me. For her, the controller was the preacher who who she believed when he told her she should not trust the gift of the human mind that is hypnosis. Her suspension of disbelief allowed her to be inadvertently hypnotized, giving him direct access to her subconscious.
Inadvertently, she was playing out a chapter in her daily, unconscious trance journey. The more she denied hypnosis, the deeper she was into hypnosis and the more control she was ceding to the preacher. It was another round in her own private drama of The Christian and the Hypnotist.
