Am I in a Trance?

The part of the hypnotic process that people tend to feel nervous about is the trance state.

Will I get stuck in a trance?

Will I be powerless?

Will I forget everything that happened during this time?

Some people may also be nervous that they are not hypnotizable and that this will all be a waste of time.

The good news is that you have likely already been in a trance state, and probably have been in a trance state many times in your life, such as

• any time you have been "zoned out" or "zoned in"

• sitting at a stop light and your eyes are looking at the stop light, but you don't notice it turn green and you initially don't notice the honking behind you

• staring at clouds and not realizing there are ants crawling on you

• playing a video game and your phone is ringing but you do not hear it

• swimming laps in the pool and not realizing that you've been in there much longer than you had planned

• watching a camp fire and you suddenly realize you have no idea what your friend has been saying to you

• sitting in class and doodling in your notebook and not realizing the teacher has called your name

  
  

Hopefully one of those examples is something close to one of your experiences or has brought up a memory of another experience similar to those.

There are a few important things to note about those times when you have been in an trance state:

You maintained total control of yourself.

Even though you had decreased awareness of your surrounding, some part of you was still aware of it and that is the part that will bring you out of the trance so that you can react to the situation (e.g., brushing ants off of you)

You maintained awareness of your situation.

Again, even though you had decreased awareness of what was going on around you, if someone asked you what was going on, you would have the same level of knowledge as anyone else who was not really paying attention (e.g., "Yeah, I heard you talking... I just wasn't listening!").

No one could have taken advantage of you in that moment.

Having decreased awareness of your surroundings does not mean that you are paralyzed or unable to take action. In the teacher example above, the teacher could not have made you stand up and walk out of the room without your willingness to do that.

You do not get stuck in the trance state.

Even though it can sometimes feel difficult to pull yourself out of the trance state, you are fully able to do it. You may gently come out of the trance state (e.g., your campfire friend gently saying, "hey are you listening to me?") or you might come out of the trance state very quickly (e.g., your mom yells at you because your phone won't stop ringing while you're playing your video game).

During the trance state, you are deeply focused and your mind is quiet, with little distraction. You are conscious and aware of yourself and your surroundings and can bring yourself out of the trance state any time you want. If I ask you to nod your head, you do not have to do that if you do not want to.

So, if it is such a normal state of mind, then what makes it special? In the trance state, you are inwardly focused and it is one of few times when you do not have the typical voice in your head telling you what you can and cannot do/be/think. This allows us to not only get a sense of what you really want, but it also allows us the ability to set intentions without the naysayer tearing the plan apart before it has even been formed.

You will learn how to put yourself into trance, whenever you want. However, feel free to try it out right now and play around with what types of things tend to quickly and easily make you "zone out" or "zone in." It would be most helpful to know which sensory experience tends to facilitate the trance state for you - auditory (e.g., listening to relaxing music or the hum of a monotone voice), visual (e.g., staring at a flame, fan, clouds), or tactile/kinesthetic (e.g., rubbing a smooth pebble between your fingers, tapping your fingers).