What Does Hypnosis Really Feel Like?

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If you've ever wondered if hypnosis will feel like an out-of-body experience, you are not alone. Popular culture has painted a variety of vivid and often misleading pictures of what it's like to be hypnotized. From clucking like a chicken at the snap of a finger to the unsettling portrayals in movies, it's no wonder people might be hesitant to explore this therapeutic practice. 

Join board-certified hypnotist Nicole Hernandez as she unpacks what hypnotherapy actually feels like and debunks some of the myths surrounding it.

Want to learn more about sessions at the Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown, visit, www.thetravelinghypnotist.com/four-seasons-hotel-ny-downtown

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you've ever wondered if hypnosis will feel
like an out-of-body experience,you are not alone.
So in today's episode, we'regoing to discuss what is being
hypnotized actually feel like.
Welcome to the TravelingHypnotist Podcast, the ultimate
destination to elevate your lifethrough the power of travel,

(00:23):
modern hypnosis, neuroscienceand time-tested wellness
practices.
I'm Nicole Hernandez, theTraveling Hypnotist, and, as a
board-certified hypnotist,creator of the TTH Method and
wellness expert for the FourSeasons Hotel, new York downtown
, I'm here to guide you on atransformative journey.

(00:44):
This podcast featurestravel-inspired hypnosis, real
client sessions, belief-shiftingtravel stories and interviews
with experts who are shaping theworld of conscious living.
All right, it's time to journeywithin and go beyond.

(01:05):
Welcome to the TravelingHypnotist podcast.
I'm your host, nicole Hernandez, and today we're just going to
discuss a topic that often comesup for people that are new to
hypnotherapy or new to clinicalhypnosis, and they have watched
so many movies and seen stagehypnosis that they have a very

(01:30):
old idea of what hypnotherapyactually feels like.
Now a lot of people think ofhypnosis and imagine a hypnotist
waving a pocket watch in frontof someone's eyes and suddenly
that person begins to cluck likea chicken, or they begin saying

(01:51):
things that they just don'trecall later, or perhaps they
completely fall over in a stateof sleep.
Maybe you've watched movieslike Get Out and you probably
remember that scene where thewoman is stirring her tea and
all of a sudden the maincharacter finds himself moving

(02:13):
into this otherworldly state,completely losing control of his
mind and his whereabouts, andthen throughout the movie we're
not quite sure whether he's justhaving a bad dream or what's
exactly happening.
And I get it.
If we've only seen these twodirections of hypnosis, then how

(02:36):
would we ever come up with theidea that it could actually be
helpful for us and that theremight be any science behind
hypnotherapy?
These are the things I thoughtas well, and I was so dismissive
of hypnotherapy especiallybeing someone who has an
education in both psychology andgraduate work in integrative
communications and when I heardabout it I completely dismissed

(02:59):
it, and it wasn't until I had toreally address some anxiety
that was just taking me downfrom a health perspective that I
even considered it.
But hypnotherapy has become oneof the things that has really
been life-shifting for me.
It's changed so many things forme and I want to be able to

(03:22):
educate those who it can also behelpful for, and it's the
reason I do the work that I donow.
So let's talk about whathypnosis actually is as we get
into this.
Hypnosis is a state of focusedawareness that allows you to
detach from your immediateenvironment and become absorbed

(03:43):
in a state of calm, alertnessand I want you to remember that
phrase, calm alertness becausethat's what I really want you to
think about as you think abouthypnotherapy.
And let me give you an example,because a lot of people don't
realize that they actually arein this trance state or hypnotic

(04:04):
state during a day-to-day,during the week.
You know you might move throughit even without knowing it, and
maybe you're just on a straighthighway, or maybe you're headed
to your home and you knowexactly how to get there, and a

(04:25):
great song comes on, maybesomething from your college days
or from high school orsomething that, just a song that
makes you feel good, and we allhave those songs.
And all of a sudden your mindgoes off as if it was just
traveling and focusing on this,these scenes and this time, and

(04:48):
you can feel all those feelingsagain and you move into this
state of of happiness, you moveinto this state of reliving or
reintegrating all those feelingsinto your body, and it all just
started with a song, and as youare listening to this, all of a
sudden you find yourself whereyou need to be even faster, and

(05:12):
so there's an element of timedistortion that happens within
the process, within the process,and so hypnosis is very much
like this, because you are calm,you're in a state of alert
awareness, so you are aware ofwhat's happening, and yet our
minds can move into differentscenes and we can begin to look

(05:34):
at things differently orreintegrate a state of being
that made us feel good in aresourceful way during a session
.
Now, what's also important hereis that we are less critical in
this trance or hypnotic state,and therefore we're open to
suggestion, and that's a goodthing, because when we think

(05:58):
about being less critical, it'snot that we aren't using our
intelligence.
It's more that we all filterout information based on beliefs
or a certain point of view thatwe have already established,
and so you might be movingthrough the world and actually
receiving information that couldbe helpful to you about the way

(06:19):
things are, and you aredeleting it.
And when we're open to newinformation now, our brain can
process it and we can change theold way that we looked at the
world.
Essentially we can upgrade ourperception of the world and how
we fit into it, and that'sreally important how we fit into

(06:42):
it and that's really importantNow in this therapeutic process.
In hypnotherapy we areutilizing language and
visualization and the suggestionof sensations to direct the
nervous system towards a betteroutcome, like again changing
those old narratives aboutyourself or reducing anxiety and
stress and pain.
And essentially, what's the mostimportant piece to take away

(07:06):
from understanding hypnotherapyand what we can and our ability
to conduct some of the studiesthrough brain imaging, we know
now that hypnotherapyaccelerates neuroplasticity and
that is the ability of theneural networks in the brain to
change through reorganizationand growth.

(07:28):
So typically, whenever youlearn something during the day,
that information isn'tconsolidated, it doesn't change,
it doesn't reorganize until youactually go to sleep.
But with hypnotherapy we are inthat state of calm, alertness
and in that state you'reactually supporting the

(07:51):
neuroplasticity change withinthe hypnotherapy process and
that's why people come out ofsessions and things happen for
them so quickly.
It's like speeding up thetherapeutic process because now
you're not waiting during theday to have that nighttime sleep
to actually consolidate thatchange.

(08:12):
All right, so let's move on andtalk a little bit about how
hypnotherapy can actually feel,and the first way it can feel is
calming.
So we talked about that earlierthat it can be a calming and
alert state, and that's reallyone of the top additional
benefits of hypnotherapy is thatit's scientifically proven to

(08:36):
activate the parasympatheticnervous system.
So what does that mean?
It means it's just a fancy wayof saying your body's natural
ability to rest, digest, healand restore.
Now hypnotherapy can also feelconversational, which might be
surprising to you.
You don't actually have to belying down or to have your eyes

(08:59):
closed, and this is one of thethings that I utilize within my
TTH method sessions.
That's my own process forhypnotherapy is that we combine
that focus attention withself-inquiry, and so a lot of
the times I'll have my clientsbefore I lie them down and
actually move them into a deeptrance.

(09:19):
We're actually already startingthe process from the beginning.
They're just not fully aware ofit, but that process of me
speaking to them and havingconversations might feel like
slightly like they'redaydreaming while they're awake
and they're aware of what'shappening.
They're having the conversation, but we're using a lot of
metaphors and symbolic languageto help to unpack concepts and

(09:43):
to reframe unsupportive beliefs,and so it can feel just like
having a conversation.
Now, another way hypnosis canfeel, or hypnotherapy can feel,
is like meditation or yoga nidra, and essentially, when someone

(10:03):
is very new to me and they'venever had any experience before
other than movies and stagehypnosis, I'll ask them if
they've ever experienced a yogaclass.
At the end of yoga there isshavasana, where you're lying
down and you're essentiallyreceiving your work, or maybe
your yoga instructor is movingyou through a visualization or

(10:25):
just some time to reflect and todo some deep breathing.
Now, I used to teach yoga for awhile and it was probably a
decade ago and it wasinteresting that once I started
to study hypnosis that Irealized that a lot of what I
was already doing in myvisualization was very akin to
hypnotherapy, so they all canreally nicely fit together.

(10:49):
I fall asleep so easily now,but with yoga nidra you're lying
there, your eyes are closed,you're in a state of calm and
you're being directed towardsdifferent visions and
essentially allowing yourself toactivate the parasympathetic
nervous system.
But essentially that's how itcan feel like meditation or yoga

(11:14):
nidra for a lot of people.
Now it can also feel like areduction in pain and tightness
in your body.
So often within a hypnotherapysession I'm asking clients to
notice the sensations withintheir bodies, and this is really

(11:34):
important, especially forpeople that are very much
go-getters, that are busy busyall the time and they don't stop
and they don't notice theirbodies and so, unconsciously,
they're tightening and tensingin the stomach and their
shoulders and their back andthey don't realize it until

(11:54):
they're actually in pain.
So when we shift the focus fromall the ideas and all the
things we need to do back to ourbody and our breath and we
bring that awareness into thecurrent moment, it's helpful for
those of you that tend toruminate or to worry and you're

(12:14):
naturally being guided into thiscalm state and we can use
suggestion to help you torelease the tightness.
So I might say something likego ahead and notice in your body
where things feel good and easyand light and notice other
places in your body that feeltense and tight, places in your

(12:38):
body that feel tense and tight.
And as you take a nice deepbreath into your body, now begin
to bring that breath to thoseplaces where it feels tight and
allow that breath to begin torelease those muscles and allow
them to become easier andlighter, getting a sense of ease

(13:02):
and calmness in your body.
Now, as we went through that,you might have began to notice
that your own muscles begin torelax and your whole body begins
to relax.
And it's really important forpeople that experience a lot of
pain.
And there are people that focushypnotherapy just on pain
relief, where maybe you have achronic pain you've experienced

(13:26):
your entire life or for a longtime and you can utilize
suggestion, learn how to utilizesuggestion to alleviate that
pain or to reduce the pain.
I should say I think what'simportant for you to understand
is that hypnotherapy can feelvery different based on the
individual.
So for some of my clients Ithink of one client specifically

(13:49):
who I've worked with over thelast few years and she's I just
really am so excited for themany ways that she's changed her
life.
But whenever I work with her,she has a sense of warmth
throughout her body, and sothat's almost a signal to her
that things are changing.
When she feels that warmth,things are changing inside of

(14:11):
her body, inside of her mind,that she is perceiving the world
differently.
Now some different clientsmight feel nothing.
They might also feel a sense oflightness or kind of an ease in
their body, and it's just goingto be different for each person
.
I remember having a session withsomeone at the Four Seasons and

(14:32):
they had a sense of floatingwhen they were in their session.
Now, I hadn't suggested thatthey have a sense of floating,
but it was just something that Ithink they had seen in a movie
or had seen in a show, and sothey had suggested that to
themselves, which wasinteresting.
So that really wraps it up fortoday, and I hope that today's

(14:56):
episode was educational for youand that you're taking away
something here that can help youunderstand hypnotherapy even
better.
And so if you're alreadysomeone who is seeing me and
you're doing sessions and maybethis helps you even appreciate
the process even more, or maybeyou know somebody who could
benefit from hypnotherapy butthey have been a little

(15:17):
reluctant to try it Maybe thisis a great episode for you to
share with them so they canunderstand the science and the
research that we now haveavailable to help us understand
what really happens during thehypnotherapy process.
Now, if you are personallyinterested in moving through a
one-on-one session with me, knowthat they're available both

(15:39):
online and at the spa at theFour Seasons Hotel, new York
downtown.
If you have questions aboutwhat hypnosis can help you with,
then I would invite you to justcheck out the link in the show
notes and you can schedule afree discovery call with me.
And if you don't see that forsome reason, then you can always

(16:00):
just go tothetravelinghypnotistcom.
All right, well, thank youagain for joining me.
If you appreciated this episode, please leave a little review
and let me know what you tookaway, or let me know what you'd
like to hear about next.
I love hearing from you, soplease feel free to leave a

(16:20):
comment, reach out whateverworks for you and until next
time, just remember that whenyou journey within, you can go
beyond.
Thank you,