What does hypnosis feel like?
The answer is that hypnosis probably feels different for everybody. Many hypnotists (researchers & clinicians) use elements of relaxation procedures, so people commonly associate a feeling of relaxation with hypnosis. Different people have all sorts of bodily responses to relaxation instructions – some feel as though their body is very heavy, whereas some can feel very light, almost as if they were floating. Mentally, again people have all sorts of responses. People typically report feeling very focussed or absorbed, often effortlessly so. Since instructions for imagery are often used people can have very vivid imaginative experiences – many report feeling ‘as if they were there’. Erika Fromm wrote a great book on self-hypnosis, based up the results of extensive research, which contains a lot of interesting descriptions from participants in her studies. View full reference View book at Amazon.
Believe it or not, there will have been many times in your life when you have already felt it, but maybe don’t even know about it. Think back to a time when you’ve been watching a TV program, and before you know it, the program has finished, and, although you were watching, you can’t remember how the program ended. You might say to yourself “I missed that; I was ‘miles away'”. You can remember what you were thinking about to make you miss the end of the program, because it had your full concentration.
The feelings you have are similar to dozing off to sleep, being very peaceful and calm. The word ‘sleep’ is often used but in this context means a dreamlike hypnotic sleep and not a natural sleep. You probably won’t feel as though you are in a trance but what you will be aware of is a very particularly pleasant feeling of mental and physical relaxation. Some of the other signs of hypnosis that you may be able to detect are: watery or fluttering eyes; changes in your breathing, usually slower; feelings of a heaviness or lightness, warm or tingling feelings in the arms or legs; feeling that you are sinking deeper into the chair; not wanting to move even though you ‘know’ you could; feeling that time has gone very quickly; experiencing little muscle jerks in your hands, arms, feet or legs.
