I hope that any one with an enquiring mind will find that this series of articles provides a few answers to many questions connected to hypnosis. It is for anyone who is fascinated by how the mind. The information I share comes from my research into the subject over many years.
Primarily, my research has been centred on how people learn, but inevitably my knowledge has increased in other areas too. One result is that I believe that hypnotism is being ignored as an important natural aid to healing, for no other reason than a lack of understanding of how it works.
The prime purpose of this series of articles, therefore, is to spread knowledge and a basic understanding of hypnotism, in the hope that it will become less marginalized and can be used to better effect for the benefit of everyone.
Let me start by asking this question - Who has seen the wind? Can we see the wind - or do we see only the objects it moves?
Most people accept that there is such a thing as electricity, even though it cannot be seen and is not universally understood. If only the same were true for hypnotism! A remarkable number of people refuse to accept the existence of hypnotism. They feel it is an invisible power, and they certainly do not understand it, so they reject it.
Let me make one thing perfectly clear from the beginning: hypnotism does exist. It is a natural phenomenon common to everyone. We all experience hypnotism on an almost daily basis.
Remember those occasions when you have woken up in a strange room and for a few seconds your brain tries to make sense of the situation? Remember an occasion when you had been watching television and your head had fallen forward and jolted you back to consciousness? During those moments you have experienced a brief state of hypnosis.
It is not magic, voodoo or any of the other crazy titles it is sometimes given. Moreover, it is perfectly safe when used with common sense. It is the misuse by individuals that makes otherwise innocent things dangerous. A ballpoint pen is not dangerous unless someone decides to poke it into the eye of another.
It can be to the benefit of some to keep to themselves knowledge of hypnotism and how it works, or even to shroud it in mystery. Some stage hypnotists, for example, would prefer you to think that they have special powers. Many stage hypnotists have little more understanding of hypnotism than that which you will glean by reading this article. What they have learnt is how to motivate and inspire members of an audience to believe they have a special ability to hypnotise.
The enormous benefits people can gain by having an understanding of what hypnotism is and how it works far outweighs the reasons people often give for maintaining the €secret'.
For decades tobacco companies hid the dangers of smoking from the public. It was only by others making people aware of those dangers that they could finally make an informed and intelligent decision as to whether they wished to continue smoking or not.
People-power is now making governments introduce legislation to ban smoking in public places. This only came about because the general public were made aware of the dangers of passive smoking.
It is not by creating mystery that we protect the public. It is by educating them and then giving them a choice.
In article two in this series I will describe how hypnotism was used to motivate and inspire others in history.
Primarily, my research has been centred on how people learn, but inevitably my knowledge has increased in other areas too. One result is that I believe that hypnotism is being ignored as an important natural aid to healing, for no other reason than a lack of understanding of how it works.
The prime purpose of this series of articles, therefore, is to spread knowledge and a basic understanding of hypnotism, in the hope that it will become less marginalized and can be used to better effect for the benefit of everyone.
Let me start by asking this question - Who has seen the wind? Can we see the wind - or do we see only the objects it moves?
Most people accept that there is such a thing as electricity, even though it cannot be seen and is not universally understood. If only the same were true for hypnotism! A remarkable number of people refuse to accept the existence of hypnotism. They feel it is an invisible power, and they certainly do not understand it, so they reject it.
Let me make one thing perfectly clear from the beginning: hypnotism does exist. It is a natural phenomenon common to everyone. We all experience hypnotism on an almost daily basis.
Remember those occasions when you have woken up in a strange room and for a few seconds your brain tries to make sense of the situation? Remember an occasion when you had been watching television and your head had fallen forward and jolted you back to consciousness? During those moments you have experienced a brief state of hypnosis.
It is not magic, voodoo or any of the other crazy titles it is sometimes given. Moreover, it is perfectly safe when used with common sense. It is the misuse by individuals that makes otherwise innocent things dangerous. A ballpoint pen is not dangerous unless someone decides to poke it into the eye of another.
It can be to the benefit of some to keep to themselves knowledge of hypnotism and how it works, or even to shroud it in mystery. Some stage hypnotists, for example, would prefer you to think that they have special powers. Many stage hypnotists have little more understanding of hypnotism than that which you will glean by reading this article. What they have learnt is how to motivate and inspire members of an audience to believe they have a special ability to hypnotise.
The enormous benefits people can gain by having an understanding of what hypnotism is and how it works far outweighs the reasons people often give for maintaining the €secret'.
For decades tobacco companies hid the dangers of smoking from the public. It was only by others making people aware of those dangers that they could finally make an informed and intelligent decision as to whether they wished to continue smoking or not.
People-power is now making governments introduce legislation to ban smoking in public places. This only came about because the general public were made aware of the dangers of passive smoking.
It is not by creating mystery that we protect the public. It is by educating them and then giving them a choice.
In article two in this series I will describe how hypnotism was used to motivate and inspire others in history.